Brown Sugar Pound Cake

Happy New Year 2013!! This is my first blog post for 2013.  I think it's good luck to have a sweet treat as a first post for the New Year, it's a sign that this year will be sweet for us all, not salty, not sour, not bitter, but a very sweet year, or as the kids like to say, "SWEEEEET".!!

Brown Sugar Pound Cake is a dense wonderful cake, perfect with tea, or accompanied with whipped cream and strawberries, as my daughter would prefer. This cake doesn't have a lot of extra liquid such as milk added to it, as other recipes call for, which makes it more like a bread than a light cake. It reminded me of a brown sugar cookie. It would also be nice drizzled with chocolate or caramel sauce.

Pound Cake:

• 1 cup - packed  Light Brown Sugar
• 1 cup - (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 4 - eggs
• 1 teaspoon - vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups - all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon - baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon - salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to sugar mixture. Pour batter into pan. Bake one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan and turn out on rack to cool completely. Top with whipped cream and fruit if you like.

Recipe adapted from Domino Sugar

Carrot Cake

This was the cake that I was supposed to have for my birthday. If you know me, you know that I am totally addicted to carrot cake, it is my favorite cake, the more carrots and nuts the better. This has been my favorite since I was a girl. Going through all of the recipes on the Internet, I made my favorite recipe from my Mom and Baby Wayne. This was the cake that we would make for parties and birthdays. When it was baking, all the memories of those parties started flooding back, my Mom and I with all the guys from the Floral Market. Since I told my daughter that I was going to make this cake and then made my Gingerbread Cake. She hadn't forgotten, and asked if I could make it when I got a chance. Since Amy's Annual Wreath Making Party was coming up, I thought this would be perfect for the party. Everyone loves Carrot cake.

 

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

4 unbeaten eggs

3 cups grated carrots

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease tube pan or two cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sift these ingredients. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream oil, sugar and eggs. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Add carrots. Pour batter into tube pan or two cake pans. Bake for 45 minutes in tube pan or 30 minutes in cake pans or until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes on cooling rack. Invert cake on to plate, let cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick butter- softened

8 oz cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans ( optional)

Method

With a mixer or Kitchen Aid, blend butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. On low speed, add 1 cup of sugar, mix until blended, add another cup of sugar. Frost cakes. Sprinkle nuts on top of frosting.  

Apple Pie

I have been wanting to bake since we arrived home from NJ and Philly. I was so happy to see everyone was safe and  sound  after Hurricane Sandy. Baby Ray had surgery today and is on his way to recovery. Sweetest Baby Boy! Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words. All of your prayers have made a difference.

This is a very simple recipe for Apple Pie. It's hubs favorite and since he picked the last batch at the apple orchard, had to make it. If you want your kitchen to smell like heaven, I think this is pretty close to it.

 

Apple Pie

Ingredients

• Pie Crust (for a double crust pie)
• 2 1/2 pounds  apples, sliced ( I am so lazy, I don't peel apples!)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons flour
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine the apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
2. Give everything a toss and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring a few times.
3. Meanwhile roll out your pie crusts.
4. Fill the crust with the apple mixture. Scatter the butter over the top of the pie.
5. Cover the top with the second crust. See, you can’t even tell how ugly my bottom crust is.
6. Cut a few slits in the top to let steam escape. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
7. Bake the pie for 30 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven. Slip a baking sheet underneath of it, and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake until the fruit feels just tender when you poke a knife through one of the steam vents. The juices will thicken and they will bubble through the vents.  It should take another 30 to 45 minutes more. Foil edges of crust so that it doesn't get as brown as mine did.
8. Recipe adapted from Baked Bree.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

This was supposed to be a weekend of catch up. But life doesn't always work like that.  Since there is a world record  storm coming up this way, FRANKENSTORM, worst storm since 1938, that is a priority. So we have been buckling down, getting the generator ready, putting away boats, furniture, draining pipes, and I have been been baking up my own kind of storm. Since I used most of my flour last week, I cut this recipe for Vegan Pumpin Bread in half, unfortunately, because this is such a delicious moist pumpkin bread, no eggs, no dairy, perfect storm bread!  The only ingredient that I switched was walnuts for pecans, still very good! If you would like the recipe for Vegan Pumpkin Bread, make sure to check out Joy the Baker Cookbook for so many amazing recipes including this one. Nettie

Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting < Sunday's With Joy>

Our grandson was born last night. Our sixth grandchild, Baby Ray.  The sun is bursting from behind the clouds and I am thinking of you Baby Ray! Since we are miles away from our family and were not able to be at his birth, I baked him a BIRTH CAKE. Happy Birthday Baby Ray. We are so excited to meet you and hold you and kiss you, sweet baby boy.

This week, our group Sunday's With Joy, is baking up a Peanut Butter Cake. I have never baked a Peanut Butter Cake and I have been missing out! Peanut Butter is such a wonderful ingredient to bake with, it is dense and flavorful. I decided to make a Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting to go with the Peanut Butter Cake, kind of like a peanut butter cup, but even better!

What a great choice, the peanut butter and the chocolate combination are just delicious. Not an overwhelming flavor, very subtle. A perfect birthday cake to celebrate the birth of Baby Ray!

If you would like the recipe, click HERE

PUMPKIN BLACK AND WHITE COOKIE < Sunday's With Joy >

 

We are having a magnificent fall, the weather has been cool at night and beautiful and sunny in the day. The colors of the leaves are at their peak, with vibrant oranges, yellows and reds. I just want to sit and admire the trees as I am hurried running errands. But today, I took a leisurely walk and enjoyed the smells of fall. The tide was low and calm and the trees looked perfect reflecting on the water's movement.

Neighbors are already decorating for Halloween. We decorate the day of Halloween to surprise our kids. That's my excuse, we aren't as organized as our neighbors. Pumpkins are abundant. Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere. Pumpkin pies, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cocktails, pumpkin soup, I see it on Facebook, Pinterest and  Twitter.

Today, I made Pumpkin Black And White Cookies. I have never tried a Black And White Cookie, I have seen them before in the New York City bakeries, they are the size of my hand. But today I baked Joy The Baker's Recipe of Pumpkin Black and White Cookies. This is a soft cookie, with a wonderful chocolate and cinnamon glaze, hence the black and white. To get the recipe click HERE .

Banana Spice Cake

When I was a little girl, my favorite cake to bake was a Spice Cake. I thought it sounded so fancy, with lots of  exotic spices. Of course I baked a lot of cakes using cake mixes, it was easy for me to do by myself, add water, oil and an egg. 20 minutes later, you have a cake! Miracle of miracles. I haven't thought about spice cakes in years. But today, something just triggered that memory as I was looking at my very ripe bananas. BANANA SPICE CAKE....this tiny little girl's voice said to my brain! It has been rainy and cold and when it is rainy and cold, baking is my emotional therapy. It grounds me and makes me feel like all is well in my little world. The aroma of the spices bring me back 40 years. Wait 40 years? Yes, 40 years! It's time to make a Banana Spice Cake. This is long overdue. This cake is a tribute to the little girl who loved to bake cakes. This is a treat for me who loves to eat Banana Spice Cake! 

Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer or a Kitchen Aid.

Mix dry ingredients and spices together.

Add mashed banana, milk,vanilla and eggs to butter sugar mixture.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until flour mixture is completely wet. Bake in a greased pan for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees . Let cake cool for 10 minutes before taking it out of the pan and placing it on a cooling rack. You can frost this cake if you like but I prefer to sift powdered sugar over the cake.

 

 

Banana Spice Cake

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 to 3 bananas, mashed, about 3/4 cup
• 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour an 8- or 9-inch square pan. In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg, milk, vanilla, and mashed banana until blended. Combine remaining dry ingredients and spices. Stir the dry ingredients into the first mixture until moistened. Spread in prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched with finger. 

Frost with a cream cheese frosting or sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

It's Judy's Surprise Birthday and I have been wanting to make this incredible cake ever since I saw it on The Pioneer Woman Cook's Blog. She says it's The Best Sheet Cake Ever, and I trust her. Everything that I have made from her blog has been delicious and my kids have asked me to make it all the time! Well she was right! Friends were going back for second and third pieces! I wanted to make a delicious cake for Judy and her friends, since I didn't know how many people were going to be there to surprise the HECK out of her, I thought that a sheet cake would be perfect! I read every single one of the comments on TPWC Blog, which is saying a lot ( she usually gets around 800 comments or MORE per post) and so many people commented that this cake was really difficult to mess up. I thought of this the whole time that I was talking to my best friend while trying to make the cake and frosting. Do you ever do that? Leave out an ingredient while you are having a serious conversation on the phone? I have, sugar , while making pies, not good at all!I didn't leave out any ingredients for this cake, but my mind was really concentrating on two things at one time. I recommend this if you are feeling lazy and need to be challenged! Talking and Baking!

This sheet cake is wonderful warm after just being freshly frosted or perfect the day after for breakfast, or as a late snack, or before lunch, or after a hike! My kids are asking me to make another sheet cake since this one was whisked away for the party, okay kids, for your birthday! Make sure to decorate the cake if you like, I am in no way a skilled baker-ess, I drew out JUDY and a Heart, but it was still hard to tell what that exactly was...

As we were all hiding waiting for Judy and Tom to come back from their date night, Judy's Mother called Judy from the back room asking her if she could show her something on the computer, the lights were off, we were quiet as mice, we all jumped out and yelled SURPRISE!! Thank goodness, Judy is young and has a very strong heart, I would have collapsed, don't yell at me and come jumping out at me from a dark room, years will come off my life! You are an amazing sport Young Judy!!

Judy still trying to recover, you did a great job Tom keeping it a secret!

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa Powder2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
1/2 cup Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

FOR FROSTING:
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
1-3/4 stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake. Enjoy! Take this sheet cake to your next party, you will make lots of friends! Nettie This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Somehow I imagined that my daughter and I would be baking peanut butter cookies for her Girl Scout Troop Meeting, but the days get away from us and I ended up baking them, which really is such a therapy for me. I really love to bake, I feel like all is well with my world. Plus, I know that when we are having snow blizzards in a couple months, we will be having lots of mother/daughter bake -a - thon's going on!

Peanut Butter cookies are one of my favorite cookies. One reason is that they are very easy to make, the other reason is that I always have all of the ingredients on hand. My family loves PB & J  and PB & Fluff sandwiches. Have you ever seen an exploded PB & Fluff sandwich? Don't leave it in your locker all day! I have used Natural peanut butter to make these wonderful cookies. Peanut butter cookies are instantly recognized for their crisscross pattern . I used crunchy peanut butter for these cookies, but you can use smooth peanut butter if that is what you prefer. P.S. In case you were wondering, the Girl Scouts loved them! 
Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

1.Mix butter and sugars together using a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid. Add in all remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
2.Roll the dough into small 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Squish to about 1/4 inch thick using a fork, making a crisscross pattern.
3.Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Inspired from The Joy Of Cooking Cookbook. This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs:

Foodie Friends Friday

{ End Of Summer } Brownies

I am so sad that summer is coming to an end. I remember back in June, I had my long list of things to do and places to go this summer. I think I did about five of those fifty things, of well I still have fall! Our Girl Scout troop is having their end of the summer party and I thought that these wonderful brownies would be loved by all. I think I should have tripled this recipe and made two trays because the whole house smelled so amazing and I didn't think they would make it to the car! Well half of them did and the Girl Scouts were very pleased! I think they will be your favorite too!

 

I added semi sweet chocolate chips on top of the brownies as they were cooling, just an extra bite of sweetness!

{ End Of Summer } Brownies

Ingredients

• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 6 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. flour
• 3/4 c. nuts (if desired)

Method

1. Butter 9 x 13 inch cake pan. 
2. Melt chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth. 
3. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. 
4. I double this recipe. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until dry on top and firm to touch. This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs! Nettie

{ Off to College} Chocolate Oats Cookies

Going off to college is so exciting and wonderful! But going off to college can be scary and entering the unknown. Our good friend is going off to college so I baked her a batch of these delicious Chocolate Oats cookies to help her with the transition, I know it would help me! I used my Kitchen Aid to make these cookies, love my Kitchen Aid, it makes baking so easy.

{ Off to College } Chocolate Oats Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup Ghiradelli's Double Chocolate Bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.( I use Silpat's on top of my baking sheets)
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Makes 3 dozen cookies. This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs!

Blueberry Skillet Cake

I am so lucky to be living in the land of bountiful wild blueberries. I decided to make a cake that is very similar to the very popular Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Instead of pineapple, I used Blueberries. This is a very simple cake recipe with blueberries and almonds. The cake is very moist and the blueberries are sweet and tender, an easy recipe perfect for a Sunday Brunch or for a light dessert.

Perfectly picked Blueberries.

Melt butter in an iron skillet.

Add brown sugar.

Stir over low heat.

Add orange juice.

Remove from heat.

Layer one cup of Blueberries on top.

In a pot, melt butter.

Remove from heat.

Add milk to melted butter.

Add one egg.

Whisk, butter, milk and egg until blended.

In a large bowl, add dry ingredients, set aside.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients.

Blend cake batter well until lumps are smooth.

Add toasted almonds to blueberries.

Pour cake batter over blueberries and almonds.

Bake in oven until cake is brown and blueberries are bubbly, about 20 minutes.

Blueberry Skillet Cake
Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Melt 4 Tbsp butter in an ovenproof skillet ( or an 8-9 inch cake pan). I used and old fashioned black iron skillet. 
3. Stir in brown sugar and continue to stir over low heat until it dissolves. 
4. Remove from the heat and add orange juice. 
5. Layer one cup of blueberries on top, then add the almonds on top of the blueberries. Set aside.
6. In another pot, melt the remaining 8 tbsp of butter. 
7. Remove from the heat and stir in milk and egg, beating well.
8. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar. 
9. Add the milk-egg mixture and beat until smooth, add 1/2 tsp almond extract. 
10. Pour cake batter over blueberries and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center of the cake. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. 
11. Turn over on to a plate, berries side up. Serve with whipped cream if you wish. I have linked up to these fabulous blogs!
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