French Breakfast Puffs

This is one of the first recipes I remember baking. Kate and I used to make them all the time when we lived at home. Now my kids love them! They are better as mini-muffins but also work as regular sized muffins. Makes 24 mini muffins.

Sift together:

1 1/2 Cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

In another bowl combine:

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir by hand JUST until moistened. (do not overmix)

Grease mini-muffin tin and fill with batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden. While baking combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. After removing from oven, immediately tip tops in 3 Tablespoons melted butter then into cinnamon sugar mixture.

Sweet Pork Salad

This was the best dish I've made in a long time! We ate the leftovers for dinner the next night and we NEVER do that--usually I just send leftovers with Barry for lunch the next day. But I would have eaten this every night for a week. It's really that good. And don't leave out the tomatillo dressing--I toyed with the idea of just being lazy and serving it with ranch dressing, and I'm so glad I didn't because the dressing is amazing! I found the recipe at the sister's cafe http://www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com. They have some awesome recipes, go check it out!

Shredded Sweet Pork

3 lb pork roast

1 c brown sugar

1 c Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp powdered ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 Tb dried minced onions

Cook all ingredients in a crock pot on low all day (abt 8 hours). One hour before serving, remove roast and shred it. Dump out all cooking juices and place shredded pork back into crockpot and add...1 c brown sugar and 1 c red enchilada sauce

Cilantro Lime Rice

3 c water

3 c rice

4 cubes chicken bouillon

4 tsp garlic, minced

1 Tb canola oil

2 Tb fresh lime juice

1/2 bunch of cilantro

1/2 onion1 can green chilies

Blend cilantro, onion, and chilies in food processor. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Garlic Black Beans

1 can black beans

1/3 c tomato juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

2 Tb canola oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tb chopped cilantro

Heat oil then add cumin and garlic until garlic begins to pop. Add rest of ingredients and serve warm. *I would at least double this recipe--but I really like beans!

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 tomatillos, peeled and quartered

juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

1 pkg dry buttermilk ranch dressing

1 c fresh chopped cilantro

6 green onions with ends, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tsp sugar1 jalapeno, sliced thin - add to taste

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

To assemble salad: Grate cheese onto a tortilla shell and place in oven under broiler until cheese is melted and shell is puffy. Top with romaine lettuce, beans, rice, and pork. Garnish with tomatoes, avacado, pico de gallo, whatever you like. Top with dressing and crispy tortilla strips.
*The recipe calls for cotija cheese, but I used sharp cheddar.

My Favorite Cake--tres leches cake

I love, love, love this cake! Unfortunately, it's also probably the most fattening, unhealthy cake recipe I've ever seen--but it's worth it, I promise! Just try to make it when you're having company, so you don't wind up eating the whole cake. I got this recipe from a cooks illustrated magazine a couple of years ago (love that magazine!). It is a little tempermental, make sure to beat the eggs and sugar until very thick so they will be sturdy enough to support the milk mixture.

Milk Mixture
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (14 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting
1 cup heavy cream (I think this is a little skimpy--I usually use 2 cups. Look at the recipe--one more cup of cream isn't going to matter that much!!)
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. For the milk mixture: Pour condensed milk into a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on low power, stirring and replacing plastic every 3-5 minutes, until slightly darkened and thickened, 9-15 minutes. You want it to resemble dulce-de-leche--if you've never used/made dulce de leche, you're missing out! Remove from microwave and slowly whisk in evaporated milk, cream, and vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.

2. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 13x9 inch baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in bowl. Heat butter and milk in small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted; set aside off heat.

3. With electic mixer on medium speed, beat eggs in large bowl for about 30 seconds, then slowly add sugar until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until egg mixtre is very thick and glossy, 5-7 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly mix in melted butter mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, scraping down bowl as necessary, then mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Using rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.

4. Using skewer, poke holes at 1/2 inch intervals in top of warm cake. Slowly pour milk mixture over cake until completely absorbed. Let sit at room temperature 15 minutes, then refrigerate uncovered 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

5. For the frosting: Remove cake from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat heavy cream, corn syrup, and vanilla to soft peaks, 1-2 minutes. Frost cake and serve. The assembled cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days--or so they say, mine's never lasted that long!

Classic Carrot Cake

Isn't it nice to get a vegetable serving in by eating a cake? I love carrot cake (I love alliteration too - maybe that's why). It's always been my favorite. My wedding cake was a carrot cake - all three layers. It was delicious and this recipe reminds me of it, so I have happy memories every time I eat it. And, in my opinion, if there is one type of cake that should never be made from a box, it's carrot cake. The dehydrated, shriveled carrots in a box mix just don't cut it.

Cake:

1 1/2 cups oil
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
3 cups grated raw carrots
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Combine oil, eggs, and sugar. Mix well. Add carrots. Sift dry ingredients together and add. Pour into a cake pan and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.

Frosting:

1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz), softened
3/4 cube butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar (about 4 cups or half a bag)
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together until smooth.

I'm not really a nut person, but if you are, go ahead and sprinkle some chopped nuts on top. It doesn't really matter if you use regular or baby carrots other than it is easier to grate the regular carrots (particularly if you are grating by hand - this cake became much easier to make once I got a Cuisinart).

Sandtorte

I found this recipe a couple of years ago in a sunset magazine (I love their recipes!) They called it a "viennese-style" cake, whatever that is. It's a dense bundt cake, similar to a pound cake but with an almond flavor. I love it in strawberry shortcake with lots of REAL whipping cream, but it would also go well with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and any berry. It's also good all by itself, especially warm out of the oven.

3 1/2 Cups cake flour (yes, you really need to use cake flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 Cup butter, room temperature
3 Cups sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 Cup sour cream
2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. (or use pam for baking or bakers joy no-stick cooking spray--I've had great luck with both of them) In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder.

2. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each, then add sour cream and almond extract. Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing well after each addition.

3. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 75-90 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely

Lemon Cake

I got this recipe from the March Family Circle magazine. I don't subscribe to this magazine, but I was starving at the grocery store and the muffins on the front looked delicious. I haven't tried the muffins yet, but found this recipe and love it. I love lemon - it has such a natural taste- and I think it's perfect for spring. This cake is really moist and quite dense. It's also quite pretty (particularly if you can frost better than me) and would be nice for an Easter lunch.


Cake:

1 lemon
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 container (6 oz) lemon yogurt (I've made it with both lemon & plain - there is little difference)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Frosting:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups, or half a bag)
2 Tbsp lemon juice reserved from cake
2 Tbsp water
Yellow food coloring

Directions:

Zest lemon peel (about 2 tsp) and set aside. Cut lemon in half and squeeze out juice. Reserve juice for frosting. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, and vanilla. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. On low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture in three additions, alternating with milk mixture. Beat well after each addition. Fold in lemon zest. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. When cake is cool, prepare frosting by beating together butter, reserved lemon juice (2 Tbsp), water, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Gradually add more sugar until frosting is a good consistency for spreading. Tint with yellow food coloring.

Apple Nut Cake with Butter Sauce

This is a recipe from Barry's childhood. It is his favorite cake, and he has passed his love for it on to Savannah--she requests it for everything!

1 Cup shortening
2 Cups sugar
3 eggs
4 Cups apples, peeled and grated (try to use a mixture of tart and sweet--granny smith and golden delicious, for example)
1 Cup chopped walnuts
3 Cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in apples. Sift together dry ingredients and stir in. Bake 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Butter Sauce

1 Cup sugar
1 cube butter (do not use margarine!)
1 can evaporated milk

Stir together over medium heat until thoroughly combined and bubbly. Serve warm over cake.

Left over cake should be refrigerated, and actually tastes better the next day! This cake freezes well.

It's Cake Week!

We decided that this week should be cake week. We have many good cake recipes to share, so each day this week (or until we run out of cake recipes), we will post a new cake recipe on the blog. These cakes are much, MUCH better than store-bought or from-a-box cakes, so enjoy.

Chocolate Cake with Almond Frosting

At my brother's wedding this month, several of us were enjoying the cake. We quickly decided that it wasn't really the cake itself that was so good - it was really quite ordinary. What made it good was the frosting. It was almond-flavored. So, last week I made this chocolate cake, which is very moist, and paired it with almond buttercream frosting. I really liked the results, as did the rest of my family. You can, of course, frost this cake with a different flavor of frosting, but I think this is a great combination.



Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1 cup water
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, partially beaten
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional - my husband loves them but the cake is still good without them)

Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan, add butter and cocoa. Cook while stirring until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Mix the dry ingredients well in a large bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and mix well. Add the eggs and vanilla and again, mix well. Add sour cream and chocolate chips and stir until just blended. Pour into greased pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Almond Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened but not melted
2 Tbsp milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract

Cream butter and shortening. Add almond extract and milk. Stir in sugar one cup at a time until frosting is the consistency you want.

Snickerdoodles

I love cookies. Snickerdoodles are one of my favorites, and this is my favorite snickerdoodle recipe (although I'm always open to trying new ones!)

3 Cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar

1 Cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1/4 Cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated.

3. Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls and dip in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Bake until light and golden.

Creamy Italian Dressing

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Tbls. corn syrup
2 Tbls. Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls. Romano cheese
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
1 Tbl. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender or processor until well blended. You may need to add a little sugar, depending on taste.

Easy Breadsticks

We are carb lovers at our house, and breadsticks are no exception. I've tried a lot of different "quick" and "easy" breadstick recipes, and this one is my favorite. It really is quick and easy, plus they're yummy'!

1 1/2 C. warm water
2 T. sugar
1 C. butter, melted
1 T yeast
3 1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
garlic powder, kosher salt, parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve yeast in water. Add sugar. Make dough with yeast mixture, flour and salt. Dough will be very sticky, add flour as necessary while kneading. the trick is to keep the dough as wet as possible, yet still workable. Knead for three minutes (really!! only three minutes--no need to even get out the kitchenaid/bosch!) and let rise for 10 minutes. Roll out right away on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips and dip into buter. (Or, be lazy like me and just cut off lumps of dough then roll into sticks). I usually twist my breadsticks. Place onto baking sheets. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, and parmesan. Let rise for 15-20 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with remaining butter.