Just Like Each Year…

Caramelized Apple Spice Cake

2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and grated on the large holes of a box grater (4 cups)

1/2 cup apple cider

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups pecan halves (5 ounces), toasted dark and finely ground in a food processor

Put 1/2 stick butter into a large nonstick skillet. Using the tip of a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into skillet, and toss in pod. Cook over medium heat until butter is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in apples, cider, and 1 cup granulated sugar. Raise heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are golden and translucent and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Discard vanilla pod. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Dust with flour, and tap out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Reserve 1/4 cup flour mixture.

Beat remaining 2 sticks butter, remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, and the brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the sour cream and scraping bowl as needed. Add remaining 1/4 cup flour mixture to apple mixture, and toss. Fold in apple mixture and pecans.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until tops are dark golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen. Unmold cakes, and let cool, right side up, on rack. (Cakes can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Assemble cake: Trim each cake so it's 1 3/4 inches high. Place 1 cake, cut side up, on a cake stand. Spread 1 1/2 cups buttercream over top. Place remaining cake, cut side down, on top. Spread 1 cup buttercream over entire cake. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. Spread remaining frosting over cake. (Cake can be refrigerated, uncovered, overnight.)

Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 large egg whites
1 2/3 cups packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

Put egg whites, sugar, and salt into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until mixture registers 160 degrees, about 4 minutes.
Beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Beat until frosting is smooth and glossy, 3 to 5 minutes. Buttercream can be refrigerated airtight for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature, and beat before using.

I pick one new Martha Stewart Recipe to have at my Thanksgiving Table. This year, I’ve invited this cake to end our dinner. My mother brings her pumpkin pie and I make a different version of a pumpkin pie as well, but that said, this cake looked too gorgeous to pass up, plus the monochromatic hue of caramel just looked unbelievable and I imagined it immediately on my terra cotta pie plate with orange and yellow leaves. Gorgeous.

I cannot wait to sink my teeth into an apple spice cake. Don’t get me wrong, I adore pumpkin pie and don’t consider myself a big chocolate fan. So when it comes to different sorts of cakes and pies, fruit spiced items tend to get my attention. I’m usually a lemon lover here, but that’s a bit summery for this season. Apples are a nice change up from the traditional spice cake and it’s not another pie to sit down. Plus this doubles as a lovely centerpiece, eschewing the flowers!

Let them Eat Cake

For the Cake:

4 ounces or squares semisweet chocolate melted with 2 Tb rum or coffee
1/4 lb. or 1 stick softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 Tb granulated sugar
2/3 cup pulverized almonds
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup cake flour (scooped and leveled) turned into a sifter

Equipment:

A round cake pan 8 inches in diameter and 1-1/2 inches deep
A 3-quart mixing bowl
A wooden spoon or an electric beater
A rubber spatula
A cake rack
A small covered pan
A larger pan of almost simmering water
A wooden spoon
A bowl with a tray of ice cubes and water to cover them
A small flexible-blade metal spatula or a table knife

Instructions:

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Butter and flour the cake pan. Set the chocolate and rum or coffee in a small pan, cover, and place (off heat) in a larger pan of almost simmering water; let melt while you proceed with the recipe. Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar together for several minutes until they form a pale yellow, fluffy mixture.

Beat in the egg yolks until well blended.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

With a rubber spatula, blend the melted chocolate into the butter and sugar mixture, then stir in almonds, and almond extract. Immediately stir one fourth of the beaten egg whites to lighten the batter. Delicately fold in a third of the remaining whites and when partially blended, sift on one third of the flour and continue folding. Alternate rapidly with more egg whites and more flour until all egg whites and flour are incorporated.

Turn the batter into the cake pan, pushing the batter up to its rim with a rubber spatula. Bake in middle level of preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, and 2-1/2 to 3 inches around the circumference are set so that a needle plunged into that area comes out clean; the center should move slightly if the pan is shaken, and a needle comes out oily.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run knife around the edge of the pan, and reverse cake on the rack. Allow it to cool for an hour or two; it must be thoroughly cold if it is to be iced.

Bavarian Cream Filling: http://www.juliasrecipecollector.com/pdf/Bavarois_au_Chocolat.pdf

Need a Fix?

Forrest’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C melted BUTTER (must be butter)
¾ C brown sugar
¾ C white sugar

Cream together with an electric mixer

Add 2 large eggs

Continue to mix until combined. Add in:

1 T vanilla
2 ¾ C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt.

Fold in 3 cups of chocolate chips (and up to 1 ½ C nuts – optional)

Using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ C measuring cup (yes, that’s large, yes, trust me.) Bake at 325 degrees for 15 – 17 minutes. They will be soft and raw looking – this is ok!

Forrest was the guy who sat behind me at Garden Ridge. He answered everything starting with “Dude….”. These cookies came in a foil tray piled high. They are HEAVY. They taste like cookie dough at it’s best. They are fantastic. Follow the recipe TO THE LETTER, and I don’t say that often. Use butter. Use the scoop. Mix in order. You must. They are worth it!

My Best Cake

Wacky Cake

3 C flour
2 C sugar
2 t baking soda
2 t vanilla
1 t salt
½ C cocoa
2 C water
1 C oil
2 t vinegar

Mix and bake for 35 minutes.

Icing:
Boil 1 ½ C Milk, ¼ C + 1 heaping T of flour and pinch of salt until combined. Let cool.

Using electric mixer, transfer hot mixture and add 3 t of vanilla and 1 ½ C of sugar. Beating in 1 ½ - 2 ½ C of crisco until consistency of icing is reached.

This is my mom’s homemade chocolate cake and heart attack “butter”cream frosting. I can say that this isn’t the BEST cake overall, this is the BEST cake from my memories as a kid. It’s moist, it tastes like mom made this for you when you were extra good that day. It’s not overly sweet cake, it’s overly sweet icing. It’s not overwhelming, or underwhelming – it’s homestyle. The best way to be.

Sweets for my Sweet

Flourless Chocolate Cake

1/2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c white sugar
18 squares of bittersweet chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
6 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease one 10" cake round and set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine water, salt and sugar. Stir until dissolved.

Melt chocolate in large bowl in the microwave. Cut butter into tablespoons and as you continue to stir chocolate while it melts, drop in butter one pat at a time until each is combined. Then add the sugar water in fourths until each is combined. Then add eggs one at a time until each is combined separately.

Pour batter into round cake pan. Place pan in a larger dish and pour boiling water into a larger pan until it reaches up to half way mark on the cake pan. (a hot water bath for the cake)

Bake cake for 45 minutes - it will look wet in the middle still. Chill cake in fridge and unmold next day. If it's not removing from the pan well, dip in a bit of hot water.

According to the man in my life…it’s his new favorite. Enough said!

Let them eat Cake....a bit differently

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box of "any kind of cake mix" - Suggested: Pillsbury Moist Supreme Yellow or Strawberry
DO NOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ON THE BOX OF ANY KIND.

Add 2 eggs, 1 stick of unsalted softened butter (I used margarine) and 1/2 t vanilla

Mix and add any sort of chips (nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, etc...)

Bake at 350 in dropped teaspoons on a cookie sheet. Time varies by type of cake mix, for the suggested brand above, yellow is 8 minutes, for strawberry it's 7.5 minutes. just until the edges start to brown.

These came to me from a childhood friend via facebook. I tried them over Christmas using a box of Cherry Chip cake mix and red and green sprinkles. The results, even after the cookies had sat a few days, were still perfectly moist cookies that had a new place in my cookbook! Enjoy!

Oh Bring us some Bread-y Pudding

Bread Pudding



6 Cups of cubed potato bread
4 cups of whole milk
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of pecans
1/2 cup of raisins



Place bread in a 10x13 pyrex dish that's been sprayed with Pam. Pour milk over top. Mix remaining ingredients and stir in with bread and milk mixure. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.



This was on my Christmas Eve table last night. It was hands down the best bread pudding recipe ever - I got it from a coworker's cookbook in Berwick LA. It was fantastic! Optional is to add coconut, I'm doing that next time!



Merry Christmas!

Amazing Taste How Sweet this Sounds!

Banana Pudding

1 (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups cold water
1 (4oz)french vanilla pudding mix (instant mix)
2 cups (1pint) whipping cream
Box Vanilla Wafers
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 medium bananas sliced

Preparation
1st whip the whipping cream.
Then in a large bowl combine milk, water & pudding mix
Beat well then chill for 5mins
Remove from refridgerator and fold whip cream into the chilled mixture.
Dip the bananas in the lemon juice.
Then in a 2quart dish (preferably glass) put one-cup pudding mix then top with wafers and bananas and then pudding again. Repeat twice-ending w/pudding.
Cover and chill for at least 2hrs.
Garnish as desired.

Oh good god. This was served at a convention we participated in - they won 2nd for best dessert. I'm not kidding you, I'm a sucker for banana pudding, this is the Holy Grail as far as I'm concerned!

and a good ending....

Ambrosia

1 large container and 1 small container of Cool Whip
16 oz can of Fruit Cocktail
1 flat can of crushed pineapple
1 small box of Cherry Jelllo
16 oz container of cottage cheese

Mix all ingredients, adding jello last. Refrigerate.

This sometimes gets marshmallows added. Sometimes the pineapple is mandarin oranges. I even made it with orange jello once. Yes, you can do sugar free with this when it comes to jello and the cool whip. I've even thrown in tropical fruit cocktail over traditional. Add nuts? Why not!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This is my last in the Thanksgiving series. Add the aforeblogged macaroni and cheese, canned cranberries, a few baked sweet potatoes, a few ears of corn, a relish tray with sweet pickles, green and black olives & cream cheese stuffed celery. Have a few heat n serve rolls, with real butter. Serve red wine and egg nog. You're on par with what I'll have this year.

ENJOY!

Round 2

Diane's Pumpkin Pie
1-1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. quick or old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
2/3 c. butter or margarine, melted
4 eggs
2 cans (15 oz. each) solid pack pumpkin
2 cans (14 oz. each) sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. salt
Cool whip
Pecan halves (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats and brown sugar. Add chopped pecans. Melt butter and add to dry ingredients. Press mixutre on the bottom of a cookie sheet pan with high sides. Bake 15 minutes. Beat eggs and add remaining ingredients. Pour over crust and bake 30-35 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

I know, I've posted two pumpkin pies here. This one is so very uniquely different that I can't omit it from my table. Plus it's from my beautiful ex step mother in law, who makes desserts like no ones business. It's like an oatmeal cookie crust, and while I'm not a huge fan of nuts, something here lends itself in a way that says "I'm not just pumpkin pie". Don't be fooled by the flat square shape, this is not a pumpkin bar, this is still very much a delicate pumpkin heaven!

Fruits of our Labor

Baked Mixed Fruit

30 oz canned whole plums, halved and pitted
29 oz canned peach halves, drained
16 oz canned pear halves, drained
16 oz canned apricot halves, drained
8 oz can of sliced pineapple
1/3 C packed brown sugar
1 T butter
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves


Grease a 3 quart baking dish. Layer fruit except the pineapple. Drain the pineapple reserving 1/2 C of the juice. Place pineapple on top of fruited. In a small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients and juice. Cook until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Pour over fruited. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until it's heated through.

This dish is fantastic on and off the Thanksgiving table. I combine different fruits sometimes - add nuts, or even some oatmeal to the top. Makes for a nice base for alot of different creative ideas.

When the Moon hits your eye like a big pumpkin pie....

Mom's Pumpkin Pie

3/4 C Sugar
1/2 C Bisquick
2 T Margarine
13 oz. Can of Evaporated Milk
2 eggs
16 oz canned Pumpkin
2.5 t of pumpkin pie spice
2 t of vanilla

Grease a pie plate. Beat all ingredients until smooth. Pour into pie plate and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Warning - this pie is crustless! Which I love, I'm not a crust fanatic by any means - you'll find me next to a pie scooping out the middle usually...so this works me over just fine!

Fall is Here

Apple Butterscotch Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust
1 can of Apple pie filling
1 jar of Butterscotch Sundae Topping
1 small package of pecan halves

Mix all ingredients and pour into pie crust. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Let cool and set up before slicing.

This is an easy peasy recipe. I was inspired by one of the signs of the fall holiday season - the bake center appearance at Walmart. (See photo). This always inspires me to get to baking and taking places! (I can't have those calories sitting at home).

This one is sugary sweet, but reminds me of the Halloween candied apples that everyone likes to make. It's fantastic with a cup of coffee or after a rich Sunday dinner of roast and potatoes. Enjoy!

Poor Man's Cobbler

1 can of crushed pineapple
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of margarine

Grease a deep round casserole dish. Dump pineapple on the bottom, followed by the pie filling and cake mix. Cut butter into pats and dot the top. (Do not mix!). Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until heated through.

This is one of my favorite dessert in the whole world as a kid. It's cheap, it's fast, it's done. It's a sugar rush and super sweet. So I warn you, you gotta be "in the mood" for sweetness when you make it.

I make this for office parties - it works as a sugary side to a good strong cup of coffee just as much as it compliments a dinner at someone's house. It's easy, homey and comfort food-y enough. I've tried it with peaches instead of cherries and fruit cocktail instead of pineapple and spice cake, it's not as fabulous (I'm nostalgic I guess) but it's still different!

Both warm or cold, leftover or right out of the oven, this dessert lasts awhile. A la mode? A la YES.

Making Friends at the Office

Kahlua Vodka Cake

1 box yellow cake mix (the kind that says it has pudding in the mix)
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup Kahlua
For the icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, water, vodka and Kahlua; beat for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with electric mixer.

Bake at 350 in a greased and floured bundt pan 55 to 60 minutes.

Icing: In small pot, stir confectioner's sugar and butter. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Just before pouring over the cake, stir in Kahlua. Once cake has cooled, drizzle icing over the cake.

This cake is to die for. It's absolutely amazing. It starts off as your basic yellow cake mix - but it morphs into this delicately moist chocolatey heaven! I wouldn't opt for icing, I would use the glaze above, it is a bit sweet and the kahlua adds a nice richness that I think buttercream or any other frosting would just tip the scales on "too much".

This cake travels well because of the lack of frosting though, it's good for coffee cake in the morning, good for a fun thing to bring to parties. It can be broken off just as well as it can be sliced. The longer you let the icing ooze into it, the richer it gets. Although just after you make it and it's warm and gooey is fabulous as well.

Who doesn't love the sound of a cocktail and cake? This is always a hit!!

Treats and Eats

Oreo Balls

1 bar of cream cheese, Softened
18 ounces package of Oreo cookies, crushed
1 package of chocolate bark/ candy coating - regular or white

Mix cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add the crushed Oreos and beat on high until well mixed. Chill for at least 2 hours in the freezer. Then roll Oreo cookie mix into one inch Oreo Balls.

Dip the Oreo balls completely into the melted chocolate bark using tongs or a toothpick. Put on wax paper. After the Oreo balls harden, keep them in the refrigerator.

I first made these using the golden oreos and white chocolate and have never gone back to the original chocolate on chocolate you thought it would be intended for. I try and bake for my work team weekly and these were actually gone by 10 AM. Admittedly, they are amazing and I really stress, they are easy to make.

Plus what's great is that there's no baking, a bit of mess (which who doesn't like a little hands in the bowl action) and the results are near perfection for a three ingredient wonder dish. I invite you to try other cookies even, you may have to add cream cheese in for missing filling, but why not chocolate chip or even ginger snap? I"m sure there are ways you can use any cookie here. Experiment - that's the best part of cooking!!