Recipes sent in from readers like you everywhere

I love it when I have pieces of reader mail, and this week I have several pieces. It is always fun to see where mail comes from and what readers are wanting to pass along. Enjoy all of today's recipes and maybe they will find their way into your "favorite recipe" file.

Roberta Humphrey of Cape Girardeau shared this recipe with me some time ago and it does sound delicious. With strawberries coming into season in other parts of the country, they are available in the grocery stores and the price will come down as the season progresses.

Strawberry Tiramisu

1 cup strawberry jam

1/2 cup warm water

1/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup Grand Marnier, plus one tablespoon extra

1 1/4 pounds mascarpone, at room temperature

1 1/3 cups whipping cream [35 percent]

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ladyfingers or Savoiardi [you'll need about 50]

1-1/2 to 2 pounds strawberries, washed, dried and sliced

2 tablespoons lemon zest

In a bowl, combine the jam, water, orange juice and half of the Grand Marnier. Mix well. The mixture should be liquidy. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the mascarpone and the remaining Grand Marnier. Mix well. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream with the sugar, vanilla extract and remaining 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier. Beat until stiff peaks form. Take a quarter of the whipped cream mixture and stir into the mascarpone to lighten the mascarpone. Then add the remaining whipped cream mixture and fold gently into the mascarpone mixture. Set aside. Spread 1/2 of the jam mixture in the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. The mixture will be very liquidy but don't worry about it. The Ladyfingers will absorb the liquid. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the lemon zest over the jam mixture. Line the bottom of the dish with Ladyfingers, making sure to fill in every spot. If you have to snap the Ladyfingers into smaller pieces in order to make them fit. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture evenly over the Ladyfingers. Layer half of the sliced strawberries over the mascarpone. Spread the remaining jam mixture over the strawberries. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon zest over the strawberries and jam. Create a second layer of Ladyfingers over the strawberries and jam. Again be sure to completely fill in the layer. Spread the remaining mascarpone mixture over the Ladyfingers. Layer the remaining strawberries on top. Chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

Donna Telle of Uniontown shared this recipe on her Facebook page and it reminded me that I have not made this in a long time. I enjoy bringing back recipes and making them again after giving them a rest for awhile.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding

3 cups milk

1 (8-ounce) container cool whip (you won't use the whole container) or one batch of homemade whipped cream

Chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan.

For the Éclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides, so make sure to just lightly grease. Bake for 25-40 minutes or until golden brown. You may want to check it occasionally -- you don't want to over bake the crust. Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).

Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in refrigerator. When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with chocolate syrup. If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

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Pam Burden of Brookport, Ill., shared this recipe and I immediately thought of my sister, Pat. She loves orange dreamsicles and orange soda ice cream floats, so I had to include this recipe today.

Orange Dreamsicle Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

2 boxes orange gelatin

1 box vanilla instant pudding

1 cup 2 percent milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Bake the cake as directed in a 9-by-13-inch pan. Let cake cool completely. Poke holes in cooled cake. Mix 1 package orange gelatin dessert with 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup cold water. Pour over cake. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. Mix pudding mix with cold milk the other package of orange gelatin dessert and vanilla. Beat by hand with a whisk until thickened. Fold in the whipped topping. Frost the cake with the pudding mixture. These instructions will make a single layered amazing cake that is delicious.

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My friend Sheri June Moses of Moscow, Russia shared the next two recipes. It is much less expensive for her to make up mixes, like the brownie mix included here, than to buy a packaged mix. She can make up several of these batches at once, then bake as she wants to. In her recent visit home, she told me about paying $17 for a box of cereal and prices for other common items that we can't even imagine.

Brownie Mix, for a fraction of the cost

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

At baking time, add:

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes in an 8-by-8 or 9-by-9 pan, remove when brownies are done. Store the dry mix in plastic bags or mason jars.

Garlic Cheese Bread

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

1 1/4 cups milk

3/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons of butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5 loaf pan with oil. In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Carefully stir in cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture; this will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.

In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture, stir until just combined and do not over stir. Spread the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving. Brush warm loaf with melted butter and garlic powder until absorbed into the bread.

Have a wonderful week, and until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at news@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourain staff.