In the upcoming animated film Wreck-It Ralph we follow Ralph on an arcade-hopping adventure. For 30 years he has been stuck playing the bad guy and being overshawdowed by the good guy “Fix it Felix” in an 8-bit game. One day he decides enough is enough and takes matters into his huge hands and sets out to become the hero.

This film of self exploration in quest to be a better person is something everyone will be able to relate to. When all the odds are against Ralph and things seem impossible he keeps moving to a different video game. At first he encounters defeat, a tough-as-nails sergeant, and war-infested with big bugs in an action game called Hero’s Duty.

When that doesn’t work out for him, he makes his way over to my favorite video game — the delicious Sugar Rush Land. A game where everything is candy sweet.

Visual developement artist “Lorelay Bove” tapped into her Spanish roots and her LOVE of Antoni Gaudi to help influence the style color and character design for Sugar Rush. A swirly mosaic sweet landscape that would be melt-in-your mouth edible. I was taken by this portion of the film and wished I could be a gumdrop amongst the ice cream, cookies, cake and cotton candy. This is also where Wreck-It Ralph finds his first real friend in the movie. I won’t go into further detail about the film, but I will say Disney has definitely hit an all time high score with this video game escapade. It will have mass appeal, attracting various generations of gamers to a theater November 2nd. I will be one of the first in line to savor it again.

Here is a Sugar Rush inspired cake I made to hold me over till the movie hits theaters.

Ingredients for Sugar Rush inspired cake:

2 – 8 inch strawberry cake rounds

1 – can of strawberry frosting

a package of oreo cookies

12 – strawberries (sliced)

marshmallow ropes

shredded coconut

Mike and Ike candy

smarties

mentos

a peppermint candy

Start with two cake rounds. Frost the top of the bottom layer then carefully place strawberry slices on top of frosting. Next top with second cake round to sandwich frosting/strawberry layer.

Now frost entire cake. Take one side of an Oreo cookie and place all around the edge of cake. Then I topped the cake with marshmallow ropes to form a complete circle.

Next I took coconut shreds and formed a circle inside of the marshmallow ropes. Then anpther circle was formed on the inside of the coconut shreds with Mike And Ike candies, and I kept decorating till my cake looked like a wonderful fantasy animated candy encrusted cake.

WRECK-IT RALPH smashes into theaters on November 2, 2012.

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About a month ago my daughter and I met up with my mom – la abuelita – who flew from El Salvador to meet up with us to travel around Florida for some work and leisure. I really needed a helping hand since I had two conferences to attend in Florida within 10 days of each other and figured it would ease the craziness of my travel schedule is I just brought my daughter with me and we made it a trip for her to bond with abuelita.

Part of the trip was to visit my aunt (my mother´s sister) who lives in Tampa with her boys and husband. During our short stay there, we wanted to celebrate my cousin´s 16th birthday, but it had to be simple, yet very special. I mentioned that I´ve always wanted to learn how to make the decadent Cardenal (also known as Pavlova) cake my mom used to make or buy for  most holidays and celebrations. I thought it was a Salvadoran tradition, but I found out it´s just my mom´s favorite pastel and she loves finding any excuse to have one!

Well, this was a perfect excuse, but we just didn´t have the time to make one before the birthday dinner. So, inspired by the conversations we´d been having about my Cool Whip ad (they´re so proud and had gone out to buy copies of every magazine it was in!), we realized we could make our own, super easy, no-bake, 3-ingredients only Cardenal and all it would take would be a quick trip to the supermarket!

A regular Cardenal is a bit complicated to make because of the consistency required for the meringue which should be crunchy outside, but chewy inside. We decided ours would be super crunchy, creamy, delicious and oh-such-a-treat!

Ingredients for a No Bake Cardenal Recipe

1- Store-bought meringue cookies, enough to cover three layers of your cake dish

2. One 16 oz bucket of COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

3. One pint of sliced strawberries

Directions:

Select a round cake dish and start out by spooning the Cool Whip all over the dish to create a smooth base to start layering.

Place the meringue cookies one after the other so they completely cover the dish´s surface.

Add a layer of Cool Whip over the meringue cookies.

Follow with a layer of sliced strawberries.

Repeat the steps above one more time and end with a layer of strawberries and a dollop of Cool Whip.

Place in the refrigerator for about an hour just to let the layers set in.

What you´ll end up with is a delicious, sweet and unique treat you can put together in no time to make any occasion extra special!

Disclosure: I am working in partnership with the COOL WHIP brand and I am receiving compensation for my participation in this campaign. All thoughts/opinions, stories and this recipe are 100% my own.