Red Velvet Cake

It's birthday season again! Chet & Larry's birthdays are back-to-back (February 24th and 25th), so this year, I made a shared birthday cake for them. Last year, they got individual desserts (Larry's is here and Chet's is here), but neither of them told me waht they wanted this year, so I got to pick. For some reason, I've been looking for a reason to make a red velvet cake, so that was this year's birthday treat! When I took the cake in to my parents' house, Larry said, "What kind is it?" When I told him it was red velvet, he said, "I don't know a single man who doesn't like red velvet cake." And what is that about, anyway? Remember in Steel Magnolias...the armadillo groom's cake? Why do men like red velvet cake? It's delicious, that's why! I think I may have overcooked (or overmixed) my cake layers, but they were still quite tasty. But the icing? Divine. I have found my go-to cream cheese icing!

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Brown Eyed Baker, via Joy the Baker

For the Cake:

8 T unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

5 T unsweetened cocoa powder

6 T red food coloring

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups + 2 T all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz. butter, at room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

5 cups powdered sugar

2 T vanilla extract

To Make the Cakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans.

On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with teh remianing milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda, and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, and then remove cakes from the pan. Place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

To Make the Frosting:

Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

* Note: This recipe can be halved to make 12 cupcakes.

Peach Cobbler

I've done a pretty horrible job of keeping up with the blog lately. Honestly, I've just lost interest in it. I think I've gotten lazy. I still enjoy cooking, but I've gotten to where I don't want to upload pictures to my computer, then fight with Blogger to get them inserted into the posts. But I'm going to try to keep it up a little better (I know, I know...how many times have I said that lately?). I was looking through my pictures, and I've got a pretty serious backlog of food pictures, which is good, because these days by the time I get dinner ready, all of the natural light is gone. I found this picture of a peach crisp I made this summer, and it reminded me of just how delicious it was:
This summer, my mother-in-law brought me some fresh peaches from the Henry County Harvest Showcase. My father-in-law really wanted some more peach shortcakes, but I was more interested in a peach cobbler. Besides, I had a new cookbook that I wanted to use! This recipe comes from the Cooking for a Cure cookbook that was created by the Dillsburg (PA) Relay for Life, Team Lollipop. David's aunt and two cousins have tons of recipes in the cookbook, but this wasn't one of their recipes. (Sorry Aunt Mary! We'll try more soon!) Anyway, the peaches were perfect, and this crisp was delicious. I'm certainly aware that there are probably very few (if any) people who can get a fresh peach this time of year, but I don't see why frozen peaches wouldn't work.

Peach Crisp

Kim Walden

4 cups sliced peaches

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup butter, softened

whipped topping or ice ream

Spray an 8x8 square baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange peaches in pan. Mix together brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter; sprinkle over peaches. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream.

TWD: Gingered Carrot Cookies

My copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours has a flaw in it. I guess it was a misprint...it's missing about 50 pages from the cookie chapter, but I have a repeat of 50 pages of the brownie chapter. It's been a bit of a pain, but at the same time, kind of exciting because when TWD members choose a recipe from the 50 pages I'm missing, it's a surprise because I've never seen it. When I saw that this week's pick was Gingered Carrot Cookies, I thought it must have been a recipe I was missing. But when I checked, I had this page...somehow, in the 5,000 times I've flipped through this book, I've never noticed these!
When Dorie was developing this recipe, she was trying to make carrot cake in cookie form. She mentions that the carrot flavor doesn't really come through, and I would agree. These cookies are much like a scone...so much in fact that I've thought about trying to make them as scones...maybe this fall. With a cream cheese glaze! Yum. Butanyway, the only downside to these cookies is the fact that they look like the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster, no?
These delightful little cookies were chosen by Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina, and she'll have the recipe on her blog. Happy Baking!

TWD: Chewy Chunky Blondies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick was chosen by Nicole of Cookies on Fridays. They were the perfect dessert for a summer pool party! David and I had a group of friends over (and their kiddos!) last Saturday for a swim, and these cookies were gobbled up in no time!
These blondies really are chewy and chunky! They're absolutely full of good stuff...nuts, chocolate chips, and Heath bar pieces. I left out the coconut because...well...I forgot to put it in until I slid the pan in the oven. But I decided that it was probably best that I left it out, because lots of people don't like coconut.

Look at the fudginess! Yum! I had a couple of problems with these, but I'm not exactly sure what caused them. First, they baked up in the same way as my Chipster Topped Brownies...with lots of gaps and holes around the edges, with super-flat middles. The other problem was with baking time. I baked them for the prescribed 40 minutes and let them cool for 15 minutes. I went to turn them out of the pan...and SPLAT! part of them plopped onto the cooling rack and the other part stayed in the pan. I was able to get it all back in the pan and cooked it for another 10 minutes. Not done. Another 10 minutes. Not done. Another 10 minutes...still not done, but I was tired of dealing with them. I let them cool overnight in the pan, then inverted it, and they were still a little moist, but not really underdone. But they were good. And sweeeet! They're pretty rich, but that didn't keep us from eating the whole pan on Saturday! These are definitely a recipe to make time and time again...and maybe next time I'll remember to add the coconut. If you want to give these blondies a try, visit Nicole's blog, Cookies on Friday for the recipe. Happy baking!

TWD: Brrrrownies

This week's recipe is one that I've considered baking several times over the last year or so. And I'm not sure why, because I'm really not that big of a fan of peppermint. So I was glad that Karen, of Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life chose these for this week's installment of TWD. It gave me an excuse to take the plunge!
The brownie recipe is great (a little fudgy with a crackly top), with little chunks of peppermint patty mixed in. David and I enjoyed these, but we both decided that we prefer our brownies without peppermint. I think it overwhelmed the chocolate flavor. But then again, we're not really "peppermint people." They were good, though! I made them Saturday evening, then we had them on Sunday evening (at room temperature) with vanilla ice cream. Then, we each had one last night as an appetizer before dinner (again, at room temperature). I much preferred them on their own.
I think that my future baking endeavors will probably include this base brownie recipe studded with Reese Cups, or maybe with a ribbon of caramel running through them. Yum!
Please stop by Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life for the recipe. Happy baking!

TWD: Tender Shortcakes

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Over a week, to be exact. I apologize. As I told David yesterday, I think I've lost my mojo. I just have been in kind of a funk over the last week or so and haven't felt like doing much of anything...even cooking. Things around here have been pretty darn boring lately. But I think I might be getting a little bit of my mojo back. At least I made my shortcakes!
Aren't they pretty? These were just right for getting back into the swing of things. As I was mixing the dough, I thought to myself, "I really enjoy this." However, I was very afraid that I would overwork my dough. It's what I do, remember? I like to knead and knead and knead! But I used some restraint, even though I thought that maybe I had kneaded too much. But it looks like they turned out okay!

David's mom and dad just got back from Florida. They brought us some delicious peaches, and as soon as Shirley gave them to me, I knew they were destined for shortcakes! They were delicious, and they were perfect with the slightly sweet shortcakes and the lightly vanilla-flavored whipped cream. YUM! These shortcakes were so good...better than the ones I used to make with Bisquick (gasp!), but really just as easy!
We've got Cathy, of The Tortefeasor, to thank for this pick. This was a perfect choice for this time of year! If you've got fresh berries or peaches, please click here for the recipe!

TWD: Quick Classic Berry Tart

Dorie's description of this tart is spot-on. However, I'd add one more adjective to the list: forgiving. I did everything wrong when I was making this tart, but it still turned out great! Thank goodness...because it was Mother's Day dessert!
First, I made the crust, but when I dumped the crumbs into the tart pan, I realized I hadn't buttered it. So I dumped them back out, buttered the pan, then dumped them back in. After covering the crust with the buttered foil, I threw it into the oven. Yep...forgot to freeze it beforehand. I decided to go with it and see how it came out. It worked perfectly!
Then, I cooked my pastry cream too long. When I tried to give it a little whisk to loosen it up to pour into the shell the next day (after being refrigerated overnight), it looked like scrambled eggs. It was the consistency of scrambled eggs, too. Chet suggested that I dump it into the KitchenAid for a quick spin with the whisk attachment. We decided I couldn't make it worse than it was, so I turned my mixer on high and let it go for a bit. Still, it seemed like scrambled eggs. So I poured in some more half and half and mixed some more. Then more half and half, then more mixing. Finally, by the grace of God, it came together and looked like perfect pastry cream!
Kroger thinks an awful lot about their berries this time of year, so I just bought a pint of blueberries for the top. My tart doesn't look quite as lush as the one in the book, but it sure was tasty...especially considering all of the disasters I encountered along the way.
If nothing else, I learned this from Dorie's Quick Classic Forgiving Berry Tart: do not bake when in serious emotional distress. Bake a batch of boxed brownies, buy a quart of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, and make hot fudge sundaes instead. But if you're not having one of the worst days of your life, PLEASE make Dorie's tart! It's wonderful! (And forgiving.)

Florida Pie

Last weekend, I made dinner for my father-in-law's birthday. Last year, I gave him a choice about his birthday dessert, and he chose banana cream pie. This year, I didn't really give him a choice. But Earl loves Florida, so I thought I'd make Dorie's "Florida Pie."
It was delicious, as are most things I bake from Baking: From My Home to Yours. The pie starts out with a simple graham cracker crust (which is delicious on its own!), and then it gets a little fancy. It's a double-decker pie. The bottom layer is a coconut cream, and the middle layer is lime filling. Dorie's recipe calls for Key limes, but I had no intention of juicing a bazillion little limes to get 1/2 cup of juice. I used regular limes, and they were delicious. I took the recommendation of several TWDers who made this in the past and I included the zest of one lemon in the lime filling. It was tart and limey and incredible! Of course, the top of the pie is covered in meringue.

I got a little over zealous and let my meringue whip a little too long. It was awfully stiff and not so pretty. Not anywhere near as pretty as the meringue on David's grandmother's (Mama) pies, but I guess I don't have quite as much practice as she does, either! All in all, this was a wonderful pie. It was perfect for a springtime birthday, but it would also be a welcome treat during the hot and humid Kentucky summers we'll be experiencing before too long. If you'd like to try the Florida Pie sometime soon, just click the link above, or you can find it on page 340 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

I've been a member of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group for just a little over a year now. I flip through the cookbook pretty regularly, because I love the pictures (which are so delicious!), and because I like to fantasize about what I might choose when (and if) we get to my turn in the rotation. I waffle between choosing something dramatic and rich, or something simple and rustic (because honestly, I'm a little lazy in the kitchen). This cake is something that I've looked at almost every single time I've opened my copy of Dorie's book.
Every time I look at the picture and the recipe, I think it's just a sweet cake, but it's certainly simple. Look at it...it's made in a cast-iron pan, there's no frosting, and it's pretty squatty. I've wanted to make it so many times, but for some reason I never had. Usually, when I bake something from this book it's for one of two reasons: 1) it's what I'm supposed to make for TWD that week or 2) I'm taking the dessert somewhere and I want something a little impressive. I guess that's why I've never made this cake before...it doesn't fit either of those criteria. So when I saw April's selection of recipes, I was glad that Nancy, of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs, chose this one. It was so good.

When I made this cake on Saturday, I'd already had a marathon cooking session. I'd been in my kitchen cooking and washing dishes for about six hours. At about 9:45pm, I jumped up from the couch and decided to make this cake. Thank goodness it's so simple! Here are the dishes that were dirtied in the making of this cake: 1 bowl, 1 whisk, 1 spatula, 1 cast iron pan. The whole thing took about 10 minutes to throw together, and my house smelled delicious while the cake baked. David wanted to eat the cake when it came out of the oven at about 10:30, but I told him he'd have to wait until the next day. I planned to take it to my parents' house for our dessert after our Sunday dinner.

When Mom cut slices of the cake, David said, "Oooh! It looks like those Danish butter cookies in the blue tin!" (By the way, lots of things look like Danish butter cookies to David.) But I don't think it tasted (or looked) like those cookies. In fact, I think Nancy hit the nail on the head in her post. It tastes a lot like a thick, chewy, almondy sugar cookie! I loved how dense the cake was. There's lemon zest in the cake batter, but I could only taste a hint of it in the cake. It was a perfect complement to the almondy-vanilla flavor. I'm usually not a fan of almond flavored desserts, but I'm certainly a convert now. This will certainly be a cake that's in my regular repertoire. In fact, my church women's group will be going to a nursing home on Thursday night to take desserts to the residents and spend time with them...and I'm pretty sure this will be my contribution. I have a feeling that it will be well-received. If you like almond, or if you like simple, delicious desserts, please visit Nancy's blog to get the recipe.

TWD: Brownies for Julia

I've got conflicting opinions on these brownies. The flavor is absolutely wonderful. They are sinfully chocolatey. But they're...too gooey. I love a fudgy, gooey brownie, but these go beyond the beyonds. Maybe I underbaked them, but I'm not so sure. After reading Dorie's description and checking out the other TWDers, I think they pretty much turned out like they were supposed to.
See? They've got the dry, crackly tops. When I inserted a thin knife in the middle, they were still "pretty gooey."

But then, I started cutting them, and this happened...

Yikes! I salvaged the brownies around the edges for the Super Bowl party, but I think only one or two were eaten. I put the gooey brownie mud back in the fridge, and I've been eating it bit by bit with a spoon. Oh, it's good. If you're a batter-licker (like me), you will love these. I just had a hard time serving them to other folks because I was terrified that someone would get sick. Or think I can't cook. Yes, I could have cooked them longer, but I was hosting a Super Bowl party and was on a deadline! I had cookies, dips, and pizzas to cook, too!

If you want to try your hand at these delicious (but gooey) brownies, visit Chocolatechic's blog. That lady loves her chocolate!

White Chocolate Covered Peppermint Rice Krispie Treats

Late last week, I was in Cracker Barrell looking for an exchange gift, when I saw a box of white chocolate covered peppermint Rice Krispie treats. They looked absolutely adorable, and so festive. I didn't buy a box, because I knew I could recreate them very easily at home, and probably much cheaper! So...on my way home, I stopped and bought marshmallows, vanilla almond bark, and candy canes. I had the Rice Krispies and butter at home.
I whipped up a batch of Rice Krispie treats using the recipe on the box, which only took a matter of minutes. Instead of pressing them into a 9x13-inch pan, I used a rimmed cookie sheet. I wanted them thinner than a traditional Rice Krispie treat. After they cooled and set up, I cut them pretty small..about 2x2 inches. Then, I melted the almond bark and added a couple of teaspoons of shortening, just to make the almond bark a little thinner. Instead of dipping them, which took ages when I made the Chocolate Billionaires, I put the treats on a cooling rack, then poured the melted almond bark over them. It worked much better! Not all of the treats were completely covered, but I think they looked nice! I sprinkle of chopped candy cane finished the treats off. I packaged them in a festive Christmas tin and gave them to my Secret Pal for Christmas. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, so I feel pretty safe in showing them here!

Speaking of Chocolate Billionaires, I had a little of the dark chocolate left over from that recipe, so I used those on a few of the Rice Krispie treats that wouldn't fit in the gift tin. I topped these with mini chocolate chips and chopped peanuts. Honestly, I liked the chocolate covered treats better than the peppermint version, but that's mostly because I'm not really a huge fan of peppermint. These were an easy and quick food gift to make, and they're a nice change of pace from a plate of cookies. Yum!

TWD: Sables

Every Christmas, David and I look forward to those blue tins of Royal Dansk butter cookies. It seems like someone always has one of those tins, and he and I love them! I always go for the pretzel-shaped ones with the sugar crystals on them, but they all taste the same. When I pulled these cookies out of the oven, David said, "They look like those Christmas cookies in the blue tin!" And they do. Only they taste even better!
Bungalow Barbara chose this week's TWD recipe...Sables! They're sandy, buttery shortbread cookies, and they're delicious! This week's recipe can be found on Barbara's blog, or in Baking: From My Home to Yours on pages 131-133. Dorie offers several variations on the basic sable recipe, and I chose to make the spice sables, since we're so close to the holidays. They're full of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg...some of my favorite flavors!

It's important to have a light hand when mixing the dough, so that you can keep the sandy, tender texture that's characteristic of sables. I tend to have a heavy hand when mixing, so I purposely tried to work the dough less. And this time, I think maybe I didn't work the dough enough, because some of my cookies fell apart. But they still tasted great! Isn't the sugar on the outside pretty? Some of the TWDers rolled their cookies in pretty sanding sugar, but I just used regular ol' turbinado sugar. Still a very pretty effect!

These cookies would be perfect if you're going to a cookie exchange, or if you plan to give some food gifts to friends and family. Visit Bungalow Barbara for the recipe, variations, and a couple of tips on how to get perfectly round logs of dough. Happy baking!

Pumpkin Caramel Pound Cake

Baking is my thing. If you're having an event, and you invite me over, put me down to bring dessert. I'll bake a pie, a cake, cookies...whatever you want. Just let me do dessert.
Thanksgiving was no exception. I told Mom that I would bring sweet potato casserole and a dessert. I cut this recipe for Pumpkin Caramel Pound Cake out of the Louisville Courier-Journal over a year ago and hadn't made it yet. The recipe comes from Chris Weppler, who's Pumpkin Caramel Pound Cake won a ribbon at the state fair. I had high hopes for this one. I was honestly kind of disappointed.
The cake was simple enough to make, but the flavor just didn't have as much "oomph" as I thought that it would. And parts of my cake never baked completely through, even though I rotated the cake halfway during the baking time. (But maybe that problem was due to operator error...who knows?) The cake was fine, but it wasn't as special or tasty as I hoped it would be for the Thanksgiving holiday. But I guess that's what you get when you make an untested recipe for a family gathering!

Pumpkin Caramel Pound Cake

Chris Weppler

Cake:

2/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

3 cups sugar

3/4 cups caramel ice cream topping

1 cup canned pumkin pie mix (not pure pumpkin puree)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

5 eggs

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbs. caramel ice cream topping

4 tsp. water

Pecan halves for garnish, if desired

Finely chopped (or crushed) pecans for garnish, if desired

For the Cake:

Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine shortening, butter, and sugar, and beat to blend evenly. Beat in caramel icecream topping and pumpkin.

Combine and sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and other spices. Add eggs and dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating eggs with dry ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Bake 70 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove and cool completely.

For Glaze:

Combine sugar, caramel topping, and water, and beat until no lumps remain. Drizzle over completely cooled cake. Garnish with nuts if desired.

Thanksgiving Recap

Thursday afternoon, David and I headed to Mom and Chet's for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. Aside from setting aside time to really consider the many blessings we have in our lives, it's about the food. And I love the food! This year, the celebration involved David and I (of course), Mom and Chet, Allison and Larry (my sister and brother-in-law), and Paul and Marty (Mom and Chet's neighbors). We had quite the spread for the eight of us...by the end of the afternoon, we were stuffed. Here's a recap of the Thanksgiving deliciousness! Chet carved the bird. He brined it overnight, and it was moist and delicious! I focused on the dark meat this year...something new for me. And oh, it was good!
The stove was a busy, busy place! Gravy, broccoli, and noodles up top, and rolls in the oven.

Here's the platter piled high with turkey. This was maybe half of the bird. Again, most and delicious!

One of my favorites...cranberry sauce! This year, Chet made his own, and it was wonderful! It was full of fresh cranberries, apples, pecans, and orange zest. He has promised me the recipe. Oh, it was good!

And the dressing/stuffing...whatever you want to call it. Chet's stuffing is a mixture of cornbread and regular bread (I think). Anyway, it's good. It's not dry and crunchy like some dressing is. This stuff is moist and full of yum!

This is fall broccoli that just came out of Chet's garden last week. I didn't even know you could grow fall broccoli, but now I know. Oh, it was good. I love fresh broccoli.

And noodles! I know...you guys are probably thinking that we're some kind of freaks at Thanksgiving. No mashed potatoes in sight, but we do have broccoli and egg noodles! I never really thought of egg noodles as Thanksgiving food, but when Mom and Chet got married, Chet fixed them for Thanksgiving because his family alway had them with Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah, I thought it was weird at first, but now, they just seem like a part of Thanksgiving. It wouldn't be the same without them. I like to pour dressing over my noodles and dressing, then eat a little noodle and a little dressing at the same time. Carb overload! Yum!

This sweet potato casserole was one of my contributions. I love this stuff. There aren't words to describe how much I adore this stuff. It's really sweet, but I love to have it with holiday (Thankgiving and Christmas) meals. The sweet potatoes are mashed, and then there's the crunchy, sweet topping. Oh, mercy. It's the perfect foil to all the savory stuff. You'll find the recipe at the end of this post.

These yeast rolls are absolutely wonderful. They're Chet's mom's recipe. And they're made with lard. Don't even think about trying to make them without the lard. Chet's pretty much got the recipe down pat, and they are the hit of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've got to learn to make these...it'll force me to get over my fear of yeast.

Here's the holiday table, ready for us to devour everything in sight. See the pretty fruit salad? Paul and Marty brought that, and it was wonderful!

For dessert, I brought this. It's a pumpkin caramel pound cake. I was less than impressed, but I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Paul also brought one of his famous cheesecakes...pumpkin! How in the world I got out of the house without a picture of it is beyond me. I was snapping pictures like a fool. Allison said I was the food paparazzi. Anyway, as you can tell, we were gluttons on Thanksgiving. We ate too much, but it was so nice to spend a lazy Thursday afternoon with family and friends.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Cathy Lawrence (my mom)

For the Casserole:

40 oz. sweet potatoes in syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar (you could probably back off to 1 cup)

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the Topping:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup Rice Crispies

1/2 cup crushed nuts (optional, but I always use them)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain sweet potatoes well. Mash potatoes, and add sugar, eggs, milk, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Pour mixture into a greased casserole dish (9x13 is a good size, but I used a 12-inch round tart pan) and bake for 30 minutes. To make the topping, melt the butter and mix in brown sugar, Rice Crispies, and nuts. Spread over sweet potato mixture and return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes.

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

I had planned on making these little Cran-Apple Crisps last week for TWD, but life just got in the way, as it is wont to do these days. I finally got around to making them late tonight, just in time for David to have a little snack during the UK game. These were the perfect warm-up for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast.
These little crisps are the perfect fall dessert. The apples, cranberries, and raisins are perfect complements to one another. The crisps aren't too sweet; in fact, it's the tart cranberries that make it work, I think. The crumble on top is wonderful...David said it was his favorite part. With brown sugar, oats, and sweetened shredded coconut, what's not to like?!
Dorie's recipe makes 8 individual crisps, but tonight, I just made two...one for me and one for David. But I made the whole recipe of the crumble topping. I thought it would freeze well and be very handy to have for future impromptu crisps this winter!
Em, of The Repressed Pastry Chef, chose these tasty little desserts as her TWD selection. And her blog is actually right above mine in the TWD blogroll, so we're neighbors! You can check out her blog for the recipe. These came together very quickly and easily, which is always a plus, especially this time of year. Great choice, Em!

Pumpkin Pie Dip

Last Saturday, I took this Pumpkin Pie Dip to a get-together at a friend's house. My friend Leslie said, "Is that that pumpkin dip?!" She'd had it at a party at my house last year, and I took it as an ultimate compliment that she remembered it that well over a year later! But this Pumpkin Pie Dip is absolutely delicious, so I shouldn't be surprised. It's a breeze to make, and everyone loves it. It's the perfect dessert to take to any holiday party! And the leftovers also made a delicious swirl in my Double Pumpkin Cake! It's got all of the flavors of pumpkin pie, but it serves a crowd. Plus, you don't have to make a pie crust. It's a winner!
There are actually two ways to make this yummy dip, and I've used both of them. Which one I make mostly depends on whether I happen to have a can of pumpkin pie filling in my pantry or not. I think I actually prefer the recipe made with the pumpkin pie filling, but both are delicious. You choose! But if you're not sharing this dip with lots of friends or family, either be prepared for leftovers, or cut the recipe in half.

Pumpkin Pie Dip I

recipe by ratherbeswimmin'

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

15 oz pumpkin pie filling (not pure pumpkin puree)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

apple slices, for dipping

gingersnaps, for dipping

cinnamon graham crackers, for dipping

Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add pie filling, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well.

Cover and chill 8 hours.

Serve with gingersnaps, apple slices, and graham crackers

Pumpkin Pie Dip II
recipe by Yvette Swearingen

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

15 oz. canned pumpkin

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 cups powdered sugar

4 oz. Cool-Whip

Gingersnaps, for dipping

Cinnamon graham crackers, for dipping

Apple slices, for dipping

Using an electric mixer on low speed. Blend the pumpkin and cream cheese until smooth.

Add pumpkin pie spice and powdered sugar and blend with mixer until smooth and creamy.

Fold in the Cool-Whip and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Serve with gingersnaps, cinnamon graham crackers, and apple slices.

Double Pumpkin Cake

Happy National Bundt Cake Day...a day late! I've been mesmerised by Mary the Food Librarian's Thirty Days of Bundts leading up to yesterday's big day. Seriously, the lady baked a different bundt cake every day for thirty straight days! I really enjoyed checking her blog every day for the latest bundt, and I've got quite a few new recipes I'll have to try now! Anyway, I'm a day late posting my bundt, but I figure now is better than never!
Since it's fall, I decided that I wanted to make some kind of a pumpkin bundt, but it needed to be pretty quick because I had lots of stuff to get done this evening. I pulled out my Citizen's Union Bank cookbook (it's my husband's workplace, and they made cookbooks as fundraisers for their Relay for Life team last year) and found a recipe to use as a starting point. I knew I was going to "doctor" whatever recipe I chose. You see, Saturday, David and I went to the 10th Annual Waford Bowl at our friend Brett's house. For the past 10 years, a bunch of our friends have been getting together to play football each fall. When we were young and carefree, all the girls played, and we played full tackle footbal with the guys. Now, the guys are getting older, and most of the girls have babies, so the game is now all guys, and it's flag football. Anyway, we always have more food than we can eat. My contribution was my Pumpkin Pie Dip with gingersnap cookies and graham crackers. We had lots of dip left over, but no gingersnaps or graham crackers. I didn't want to throw my dip away, so I decided to use it as a filling in my cake. It was just an experiment, but it worked out pretty well!

See that line that looks like it's not quite set? That's the pumpkin dip filling. I knew it wouldn't really show up, seeing as how it was pumpkin-colored, but you can taste it. It makes a nice addition to the cake. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. A quick drizzle of Dorie's maple glaze finished it off and made a nice little snack for David while he watched the UK game.

Here's the recipe for the Double Pumpkin Cake...I'll post the Pumpkin Pie Dip tomorrow (TWD will have to be WWD this week). Enjoy!

Double Pumpkin Cake

adapted from Lisa Mullins' Pumpkin Bread recipe

1 box spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

3/4 cup (more or less) Pumpkin Pie Dip

Maple glaze:

6 tbs. powdered sugar

2 tbs. maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Do not use mixer. Stir cake mix, pumpkin, sugar, water, oil, and eggs together. Pour 1/2 of the batter in a well-greased bundt pan. Top batter with Pumpkin Pie Dip, then cover with remaining cake batter. Swirl with a knife. Bake for 1 hour, or until cake tests done with a toothpick. Glaze cake with maple glaze.

TWD: All In One Holiday Bundt Cake

I love bundt cakes. Maybe not quite as much as Mary, The Food Librarian, but they do have a special place in my heart. They're a homey dessert. Simple, not fussy at all. You can frost them, or just dust them with powdered sugar. They're perfect. And I've had my eye on this one ever since I got my copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours...the Dorie Greenspan cookbook that inspired the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group. I love fall flavors, and I love bundts, so this was perfect.
It's full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger...fall spices that I adore. And diced apples, fresh cranberries, pumpkin puree, and pecans. All of the flavors of our favorite holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas!) are in there. What's not to love?! As is the case with all bundts, this one is very simple to put together. Britin, of The Nitty Britty, made a great choice...it's probably what I woudl have chosen, if I didn't happen to be the 251st person in the recipe rotation!

Anyway, I'm very thankful that Laurie has given us permission to bake the recipes out of sequence this month. I wouldn't have had time to make (or acquire the ingredients for) the Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake this week, but I could throw this together in my spare time Sunday night. If you visit the other TWD bakers this month, you'll see that we're all probably baking out of sequence, which I think will be pretty fun and interesting. You'll notice in my pictures that I didn't make the maple icing... and that's because this beautiful bundt is going in the freezer for a future date.

There it is, all wrapped up. I loved the scent of this bundt baking, but it's killing me to not know what it tastes like! I'm keeping it for any number of upcoming holiday events. It might end up at CUB's Thanksgiving potluck, or I might keep it myself for our Thanksgiving dinner. I can't decide. But I do have plans on making another batch of the batter and baking it in my mini loaf pans for Christmas gift. Yum!

Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies

Happy Halloween! We really don't get any trick-or-treater's where we live (unfortunately), but every once in awhile, a couple of our friends will stop by with their little girl, if they happen to be in the area on Halloween. I like to have a little something ready for her, just in case. I can't imagine what would be worse than stopping by a house for trick-or-treating, only to find that there was nothing there! Last Sunday, I bought a big ol' gummy spider for her, in case she stopped by. But the more I looked at it, the more I thought it might terrify a 3-year old. It gave me the perfect excuse to make cookies. Four dozen of them, in fact. I wanted something that was a bit "Halloween-y", but not too labor intensive. I visited The Sisters' Cafe to see what they'd been up to, and I found this recipe, which I changed up a teensy bit.
The original recipe from The Sisters' Cafe called for Reese's peanut butter chips, but I had mini-Reese's Pieces. Earl and Shirley were cleaning out their pantry and brought me a bag of mini-M&Ms and this bag of mini-Reese's pieces. David and I ate the bag of mini-M&Ms, but I decided to save these for something special. And today I decided they would make the perfect "Halloween-y" cookies! These cookies are wonderful! I have a horrible habit of overbaking cookies. I like a chewy cookie, but when I take cookies out of the oven at the point where they'll be chewy when cool, I convince myself that they're not fully baked. Then I end up with hard, crunchy cookies. Today, I resisted temptation and pulled the cookies from the oven at 9 minutes. They seemed raw, but once they cooled, they were perfectly chewy!
It's almost 9pm, and I'm pretty sure that official trick-or-treating hours are over. We didn't have a single spook, ghost, or goblin show up, so now I've got about 3 1/2 dozen yummy cookies in my kitchen begging to be eaten. Help!

Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies

The Sisters' Cafe

2 cups flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cup butter, softened (I used 1 cup)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (10oz. bag) of Reese's peanut butter chips (or mini-Reese's Pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips or Reese's Pieces. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Cookies will puff up during baking, but will flatten when cooled. Do not overbake! Cool slightly and remove to wire rack.

The Cake That Started It All...

We buried my grandmother today. She passed away Monday afternoon at age 95. As we were at the funeral home, everyone talked about what a great cook she was. At one point, it seemed the whole family was in the funeral home's kitchen, snacking and talking. My cousin Marcia said, "Isn't this exactly how Mommy (that's what her side of the family called my grandmother, whom we called Emmy) would have wanted it? You couldn't walk in the house without being offered a plate of food!" She was exactly right. Food was a big part of Emmy's life, and it was the way she showed love.
My sister and I went to Emmy and Pa's house every Monday and Friday afternoon after school, and we spent most Saturday mornings with them as well. Emmy was the person who "infected" me with the baking bug. All of my vivid memories of her involve cooking, canning, and baking. She even had a fully equipped kitchen in her basement, in addition to her main kitchen upstairs! We spent many hours in both of those kitchens, but I was always most interested in baking with her.
She always made lots of pies...your traditional apple and cherry pies, but also things like gooseberry pie and rhubarb pie. I always got the scraps and loved to cut shapes, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar, and bake my own little snacks. She always encouraged my love of the "domestic arts," my favorite of which was cooking. Anytime I ever asked to cook or bake, she was ready to help. One day while at her house, I baked a cake "all by myself," which meant that I was under her watchful eye and had plenty of help with measuring and cutting! It was called a "Doctor Bird Cake," which I think is similar to what a lot of people call a Hummingbird Cake. I decided that there would be no more fitting way to honor Emmy's memory than to make that same cake tonight.
It's incredibly simple to make. My recipe, which came directly from Emmy, states in large, capitalized letters "DO NOT USE MIXER!" So I didn't. But I wonder if that has more to do with simply not wanting to clean up the mess that an 8-year old might make with a hand mixer than the texture of the completed cake! The whole cake is made in one bowl, and you need nothing more than a wooden spoon. The ingredients are simple (and fattening!), and the result is delicious.

This cake is full of bananas, pineapple, pecans, and cinnamon. It's topped with a simple cream cheese frosting. The next time I make it, I might increase the cinnamon and maybe add some nutmeg, but tonight, I made it just like Emmy taught me.

Doctor Bird Cake

Emma Bickers

3 cups flour, sifted

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups cooking oil (I used canola)

1 cup crushed pineapple in juice (undrained)

3 eggs

2 cups diced banana

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

DO NOT USE MIXER! Preheat oven to 350 degrees Sift all dry ingredients into large bowl. Add banana, oil, vanilla, eggs, and crushed pineapple (juice and all). Mix until just blended. Do not beat. Pour batter into a greased and floured tube pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on cooling rack. After 10 minutes, turn cake out onto cooling rack to finish cooling.

For Frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat cream cheese on medium. Add melted butter and confectioner's sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Frost only the top of the completely cooled cake.