Dianne, a friend of mine brought me a new cook book the other day and it is filled with several old recipes that I had never seen. This recipe says that it won a Blue Ribbon at the Michigan State Fair. Can’t wait to try it. Very different from the usual pound cake.
2 cups butter, softened (Randy has found that it is much quicker and easier to just melt a stick of butter and drink it, rather than having to get in his butter quota of the day through baked goods)
16 Oz package of powdered sugar
6 eggs
1 tables almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
Beat butter until light and fluffy; add powdered sugar, mixing well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extract and flour; mix just until blended. Pour into a greased and floured 10″ tube pan. Bake at 350 for one hour and 15 min or until cake tests done in middle. After 15 minutes, turn cake out onto serving platter allowing to cool.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired after cake has cooled completely.
Category: Cakes
Whiskey Cake (Or If you are a Bapt, like me, we like to refer to it as a Cake With a Kick)
This summer we have had to adjust to living back in Texas, which means that we stay in the house alot. At our age, dealing with heat just means that you learn where the coolest (and I don’t mean “hip”) stores in town are and where the closest ice cream shop is located. Some of our kids are coming to dinner tonight and they had requested that we have whiskey cake for dessert. Mandy and Cameron have taken me to Whiskey Cake on several occasions for us to have that dessert and I told them that I was determined to find the recipe for it. Wa La, lo and behold, the chef at WC was featured in the Dallas paper with his recipe for this amazing cake, which the restaurant has been named having the best dessert for 4 yrs in a row, according to the article. So tonight is the unveiling of this creation that I hope resembles the “real thing”. It takes some time, but since I “don’t have a life”, as our kids seem to think, what else do I have to do but spend hours in the kitchen making any and all of their request. Oops, I guess that didn’t sound very nice. I just hope they remember this when it comes to them picking out my nursing home.
The recipe does take about an hour, but it truly is so worth it.
And for all you Baptist out there, if you decide to bake it for dessert when you are having the preacher over, it will be our little secret what’s in it.
1 lb of dates, chopped
(I buy the chopped dates in the box that are coated in sugar and it worked great.)
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups boiling water
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup self-rising flour
2 jumbo eggs (I had extra large so used two eggs and 1 egg yolk)
1 teas vanilla
Place the dates, baking soda and boiling water in a bowl. Stir and allow to sit 15-20 min to soften the dates.
Place the date mixture in a food processor and pulse until it becomes a paste. Set aside.
Cream butter and eggs, vanilla & sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the flour and mix to combine. Fold in the date mixture and pour into a 9×13″ baking pan which has been sprayed with Pam and then coated with a little sugar on bottom.
Bake at 350 in preheated oven. When cake tests done, cool for 20 min then flip cake out onto paper lined plate or tray.
Leave at room temp to cool completely. Once cool, wrap in plastic and keep stored at room temp or serve immediately.
Whiskey Sauce
1 cup heavy cream
2 tables granulated sugar
1 teas vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
1 teas Whiskey
Bring cream, 2 tables sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the other 2 tables sugar until foamy.
Temper 1/2 of the heavy cream into the mixing bowl and then return the mixture to the rest of the cream.(I actually drizzled gradually about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture to the egg mixture, stirring constantly before adding it to the rest of the cream)
Continue to cook until thicken. (This did not take but a couple of mins).
Add the vanilla and whiskey.
Remove and cool. Store in fridge until ready to use.
Toffee Sauce
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter
1 lb light brown sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 tables whiskey
1 tables vanilla
Place butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan and melt. Add the brown sugar and cook over medium heat for 10 min.
Add the heavy cream and allow to cook for an additional 7 min, stirring occasionally.
Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to ensure it is cooking evenly
Remove from heat and add the whiskey and vanilla. Stir.
Cool. You can store in fridge up to 3 days.
When ready to serve the cake pieces, place the needed amount of cake pieces on a baking sheet. Poke holes in the cake pieces and spoon some of the toffee sauce over each piece.
Place in a 500 degree oven for about 2-3 min or until toffee is bubbling and cake is warmed throughout. After placing each piece on individual plates, spoon a little of the Whiskey Sauce over the pieces. Serve with additional whipped cream if desired.
Truly Different Cupcakes
Have been going through a cookbook my sister-in-law brought over the other night which is dated back to the 20’s and has been in the Cox family for years. It includes recipes from 1928 to early 2000. This recipe caught my eye and am going to make them tomorrow. Today the weather is rainy and in the 80’s so have to make a peach cobbler. It just fits the weather we are having.
2 sticks butter
1 bar German Chocolate sweet chocolate
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1/4 teas butter flavoring
1 teas vanilla
Combine melted butter and chocolate. Set aside. Beat BY HAND, the flour, sugar, eggs and flavorings. Add chocolate mixture. Refrigerate batter, covered overnight. Line an 18 cupcake pan with paper liners. Divide batter evenly among pan. Bake at 325 for 25 min or until cupcake tests done in middle. Do not overbake.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with Cocoa frosting.
Or peanut cream frosting:*
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
2 tables milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
Combine marshmallow cream and milk, mixing with mixer until well blended. Add peanut butter, beating until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes.
Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake
The grandkids are gone so I can put away the chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, frozen pizza and get back to sugar. Since we have been entertaining kids/grandkids and have tried to cook all their favs while they were in town, we tried to convince them that we were “giving up” healthy foods just for them, when in reality, the boxed mac & cheese was a delight as was the pizza that graced out table several nights during that time. While the kids feasted on frozen pizza, the adults indulged on gourmet pizzas from our favorite take-outs. But since they thought that we were giving up all our normal healthy foods, just for them, we think that we earned a couple of visits from them when we are in the nursing home. But now we get to go back to our normal way of eating. Chicken fried steak, chocolate cakes baked at 8 p.m. and cheesecakes that sometimes take the place of dinner.
After Randy took me to Nordstrom’s for my best dessert treat ever, white chocolate bread pudding, the crave to have more white chocolate desserts began to surface. Seeing this recipe in the Taste of Home April/May 2014, I knew that it would be the next big dessert I made.
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tables butter, melted
5 packages (8 oz ea) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups white chocolate baking chips, melted and cooled
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 teas coconut extract
1 teas vanilla
4 eggs, beaten lightly
3/4 cup flaked coconut, divided
Preheat oven to 325. Place a greased 9″ (3″ deep) spring form (cheesecake pan) on a double thickness of heavy duty foil. (about 18″ sq).
Wrap foil around pan.
In a bowl, mix crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in cooled melted chips, coconut milk and extracts.
Add eggs; beat on low speed just until blended. Fold in 1/2 cup coconut. Pour over the crust. Place spring form pan in a larger baking pan. Add 1″ of hot water to larger pan.
Bake 60 min to 70 min or until center is just set and top appears dull.
Remove pan from larger pan. Cool on a wire rack for 10 min.
Loosen sides from pan with a knife; remove foil. Cool 1 hour longer.
Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
Remove rim from pan. Serve topped with toasted coconut*
To Toast Coconut: Bake at 350 on a jelly roll pan for 5-10 min, or until golden brown, stirring frequently.
Pumpkin CheeseCake
I am not waiting for Fall to make this luscious dessert. Just looking at the picture made me want to push aside the can of cocoa to find a can of pumpkin. So here is the new Fall Favorite cheesecake.
Crust
Use an 8″k spring-form pan
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup ginger snap cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teas cinnamon
8 tables melted butter
Cheesecake Filling
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2/3 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teas vanilla
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/4 teas ground ginger
1/4 teas ground cloves
Sour Cream Layer
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teas vanilla
1/8 teas cinnamon
1/8 teas nutmeg *freshly ground if possible
Whipped Cream
2 pints heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
Additional toppings if desired: Caramel Sauce and crushed gingersnap cookies
Crust
In medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, ginger snaps, sugar and butter; mix well. Press crust into a spring form pan. Press crumbs about 1/2 way up sides of pan. Refrigerate crust while you continue preparing filling.
Allow extra time for mixing up this filling.*
Remove the pumpkin puree from the can and place in a couple of large paper towels.
Wrap the pumpkin puree with the paper towels.
This will soak up the excess water from the pumpkin for about 1 hour before making the pumpkin cheesecake.
Bring the remaining ingredients for the filling to room temperature while the pumpkin puree is being drained. With a mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth, add eggs one at a time and then combine all ingredients for the filling in a mixing bowl, including the drained pumpkin puree. Blend until very smooth. For best results, allow all ingredients to reach room temperature.
Remove crust from fridge and pour filling over crusts.
Bake cheesecake at 350 for 30 min and then reduce oven temperature to 325 for an additional 30 min. When you remove the cheesecake, it should be slightly jiggly in the center. The cheesecake will set up nicely as it cools.
Sour Cream Layer
When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, combine the sour cream, sugar and spices in a bowl. Blend well. Spread the sour cream mixture over the baked cheesecake filling evenly. Place the cheesecake back in the 325 oven for about 8 minutes or until the sour cream layer is set.
Whipped Cream
Allow the cheesecake to cool completely. Allow to sit in fridge at least 6 hours or overnight.. When ready to serve top with the whipped cream.
In medium bowl, beat cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Serve with cheesecake, caramel syrup and crushed gingersnap cookies sprinkled over each slice
Chocolate Dream Cake
There is a new site that is giving dozens of recipes on FaceBook called Thinkarete. Just seeing the pictures has made me wish I were 35 again so I would have more time to test them all. But at my age, I’m pretty sure that I will be hearing from the Dr. “now you know you don’t need to be eating any salt sugar or anything that doesn’t taste like cardboard”. But until I actually hear him say that to me, face to face, I am going to pack in as many sweets as I can. This recipe will be one of the first and since we have kids here for the next two weeks, I’m sure that lots of desserts will be consumed.
Cake
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup plus 1 tables cocoa powder
1 tables baking soda
1 1/2 teas baking powder
1 1/2 teas salt
3 eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 cups milk, plus 2 tables vinegar to sour the milk
1 1/2 cups strong black coffee (warm, not hot)
3/4 cup melted butter, not hot
4 1/2 teas vanilla extract
White Frosting
3/4 cup butter, at room temp
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup half & half (more or less for desired spreading consistency)
2 teas vanilla
Chocolate Frosting
3/4 cup butter at room temp
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup half & half (more or less for spreading consistency)
2 teas vanilla
Chocolate Ganache
4 oz dark chocolate
2 tables butter
1/4 cup cream (whipping cream)
Garnish *if desired
2 cups mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate sprinkles
2 oz grated dark chocolate shavings
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 3 (8″) round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, grease and lightly flour the paper and sides of pans.
Measure out the milk and vinegar and mix. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, using mixer on medium, mix the eggs, soured milk, coffee, melted butter and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix for 2-5 min with mixer, scraping down the sides until all is well combined.
Divide the batter between the 3 pans equally. Bake for 30 min or until cake tests done in middle, about 30 min. Test cake but do not over bake. You do not want a dry cake.
White Frosting
Using mixer, cream the butter, adding the vanilla and the powdered sugar alternately with the cream, in increments until you reach a good spreading consistency.
Chocolate Frosting
Using electric mixer, cream the butter, adding the vanilla and cocoa. Add powdered sugar with the cream until you have a good spreading consistency.
Chocolate Ganache
Over low heat, or in microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate and the butter. Mix in the cream and stir until the sauce is thick and smooth. Let cool before drizzling onto the cake.
On a cake platter, alternate the cake layers with the white frosting, but leaving the top layer without. Frost the sides and top with the chocolate frosting.
Garnish with the sprinkles, chips and shavings and drizzle the ganache over the garnishes.
Chocolate Monkey Bread
I guess you can tell from the latest posts that I am in a chocolate mode. We are just getting back from Corpus Christi where we go a few times a year to see my mom, who is 91. One of the first things I pack is the bag of peanut M&M’s, the bag of Hershey almond chocolate bars, Dove Chocolate with Toffee Chips and of course to wash the chocolate all down, my diet Dr Pepper. It is always good to be prepared in case we get stuck someplace and I want to always have plenty of chocolate. We got home Friday night and first thing Saturday after unpacking I went to the kitchen to make the caramel filled chocolate cupcakes that I posted last week. We had friends over Saturday night which enjoyed them. Last night we took them for dessert to our friends’ house where we dined on lobster and finished the evening with the cupcakes, They truly are divine. But today, this recipe caught my eye. Will be heading to the store to buy the biscuits.
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 tables unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teas cinnamon
1 cup butter, melted
2 (12 oz) cans refrigerated biscuits, cut into fourths
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cocoa and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, place melted butter. Dip each cut biscuit in butter; dredge in sugar-cocoa mixture and layer biscuits in prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour, covering pan with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan 10 min. Invert pan onto serving platter.
*If desired, drizzle cream cheese frosting over inverted bread before serving.
Texas Style Chocolate Sheet Cake (More Chocolatey than Original One)
Sunday evening we had some couples over to just visit and have cake. Going through a few of my cookbooks, I found this new version of the Texas Sheet Cake and decided to make it. I will never go back to the original recipe. The brown sugar and the chocolate squares make such a difference. Out of 9 people here, I think I was the only one that didn’t go cut a 2 or 3rd piece and that was simply because I had had one even before company arrived.
1 cup butter
5 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teas vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teas baking soda
1/4 teas salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
Poured Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350. spray a 13×9″ baking pan with baking spray and flour.
In a small small saucepan combine butter, chocolate and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium-low heat until chocolate and butter are melted, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool for 15-20 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat sugars, eggs and vanilla with mixer on medium until mixture is fluffy.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Stir in chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tests done in center. Pour over warm Chocolate Frosting while cake is still warm. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and store in fridge up to 3 days.
*I ended up making the homemade caramel sauce from the chocolate-caramel filled cupcakes recipe and poured it over the cake, topped with vanilla ice cream then drizzling the caramel sauce over all. Was delish….
Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teas vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (opt)
IN a medium saucepan, combine butter, chocolate and buttermilk. Cook over medium low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and pour over powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the 1 teas vanilla and stir in pecans if desired. Pour over warm cake.
Chocolate Cherry Creme Cake
Last weekend had me making several cherry pies to help celebrate our son, Cameron’s 30th. He is a cherry pie addict. I guess I had really never noticed recipes on the backs of Oregon Fruit Product Pitted dark sweet cherries in heavy syrup but for some reason, last Saturday I did. This recipe was written on the back of the label. I never thought I would be able to say that I didn’t have cream cheese in my fridge, ready to bake in an instant, but today, I have no cream cheese. As soon as I can get to the store, I am making this cake. I might even add a little hot fudge to the individual pieces when serving.
1 Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake Mix, baked according to directions on box for 9×13 using the eggs, oil and water.
1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teas vanilla or almond extract
2 cans Oregon Dark Sweet Pitted Cherries, drained, reserve syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cake according to directions on box and pour into prepared and greased 9×13″ pan. Bake as directed on box. Let cake cool completely. Make cream cheese filling.
Cream Cheese Filling
In small bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in Eagle Brand milk until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and extract. Spread on cooled cake, leaving an edge of the dark cake showing all around for a nice presentation. Refrigerate until set.
Topping:
Drain cherries, reserving syrup. In small saucepan, combine syrup from cherries, cornstarch and sugar. Mix until smooth. Heat and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the cherries. Let cool. with a small spoon, arrange the cherries only on top of the cake. Do not use the thickened syrup, only what stays on the cherries. Keep cake in fridge. When serving, use syrup to spoon over individual pieces and top with whipped whipping cream if desired.
Sweet & Salty Caramel-Chocolate Cupcakes
On our last trip out to California a couple of weeks ago, some friends and I celebrated a good friend’s birthday at a well-known restaurant in downtown Pasadena called, La Orange, where they have platters of the best(and free, which I know you are suppose to only take one, but since I don’t live there anymore and if they kick me out, well,) chocolate chip cookies that have sea salt sprinkled on top. So I candidly kept making excuses to pass the front door and took a cookie each trip I made. I told the hostess I was just going to go look outside to see if any more of our party had arrived., I wonder if she noticed that as soon as the platter was empty, I didn’t come to see If any more friends would be arriving? All that to say that I have come to love the flavor of salt on desserts. When I saw these cupcakes, I knew that they would be awesome. When my son comes over and teaches me how to download pics from my new Note 3 to my computer will post a picture. These cupcakes have a simple homemade caramel sauce that can ben made up to 2 weeks before so when you have a minute, whip the filling up so when you are ready to make the cupcakes, the filling will be ready for you to use.
*If you are in a time crunch make a box of Duncan Hines Fudge cupcakes because with the homemade filling and frosting, no one will guess the cupcakes are from a box. I do this sometimes and just substitute milk for the water the directions call for, and add about 1/4 cup sugar to the boxed mix before mixing.
Cupcakes
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa
3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tables vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour
2 teas baking soda
1 teas salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Salted Caramel Filling:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tables light corn syrup
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
1 tables sea salt
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
3 (4 oz) boxes semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 (12 cup) muffin pans with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla with mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in butter mixture.
In a medium bowl, c.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beating until just combined after each addition.
Spoon Salted Caramel filling into a squeeze bottle with a long narrow tip. Insert tip of squeeze bottle into center of each cupcake and allow about 1 teas caramel to fill center of each cupcake.
Spread or pipe frosting over cooled filled cupcakes.
Frosting:
In a small saucepan cook chocolate and cream over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, beat butter with mixer on medium speed with the chocolate mixture until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until combined and smooth. Frost cupcakes immediately.
Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cupcakes tests done in center. Remove from pans and cool completely
Chocolate Castles 