Poppyseed Cake

It is beginning to look a bit like Christmas … and that means there are all kinds of get-togethers, at the office, in the neighborhood, etc.  This is an old stand-by, one of my favorite “go-to” recipes, especially when I haven’t planned ahead for something special!  I’ve got a meeting at work tomorrow morning and decided I needed to bring something in to share.  I conveniently keep the ingredients for this yummy cake on hand at all times.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 box butterscotch instant pudding

approx. 1 Tblsp. Poppy seeds (original recipe calls for 2 oz. — a small spice container — but, in this case I think “less is more” and can get 3-4 cakes out of one container)

1 cup water

4 eggs

2/3 cup oil

Powdered sugar

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients (except
powdered sugar).  Add water, eggs and
oil.  Mix on low speed for 30 seconds,
until well combined.  Mix on medium speed
for 2 minutes.  Pour into lightly greased
bundt pan.

Bake at 350° for 40-45
minutes (until tester comes out clean).
Let cool about 10 minutes and invert onto plate.  This also works well in loaf pans. Cool
completely and then dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Tags: Baking, Cakes, Christmas, Debbie

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Style)

I know I have hit the nail on the head when my husband tells me I have outdone myself.  He is definitely a foodie, and VERY honest when it comes to the stuff I set in front of him.  He does not spare my feelings when it comes to his food opinions.  I know in seconds whether the recipe is a keeper in his book.  I also know when I need to immediately toss it, or if it is so amazing he doesn’t even know what to with himself (see the chocolate bomb recipe from the “30 Days and 30 Bites” challenge as well as the peanut butter cupcakes…yum!!!). 

When I made these pumpkin cinnamon rolls, he went on, and on, and on, and on about how delicious every single bite was.  Not just for one roll.  When he had leftovers the next day he did the same thing.  And the day after that.  I have to agree with him.  This is one darn good cinnamon roll.

I adapted the recipe from this one I found at allrecipes.com (you know how much I love that site).  The original recipe is fantastic on its own, so if you are looking for a plain Cinnabon style sweet roll, try it as is.  After having made it several times, I decided to make a few alterations for something just for fall.

This is a dough you can use the bread machine for (below), but you can also make it by hand if you are familiar with proofing yeast and the two rise times needed.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
3. Roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt.
5. Remove rolls from oven and invert on a serving plate.  Leave the pan over the rolls for at least five minutes to allow the caramel from the pan to soak into the rolls.
6. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

I highly recommend making the rolls the night BEFORE.  Who really wants to make these first thing in the morning?  If you make them the night ahead follow these directions instead: Roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon/nutmeg mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Also, I only cook six rolls the next day for the four of us.  I freeze the other six for another time.  So here is what I do: Place 6 rolls in a lightly greased 8×8 baking pan (or round). Place the other 6 rolls in the same size freezer-friendly pan.

Place both pans in refrigerator over night. They will slowly rise overnight. In the morning, remove from fridge at least 20 minutes prior to baking to bring to room temperature. Place the freezer-friendly pan in the freezer and save for another day (if you let it stay in the fridge the next day it will deflate so don’t forget to transfer it! To thaw, simply place in fridge overnight and follow the rest of the directions).  Bake rolls as directed in step 4, but you will probably require an extra 5 to 15 minutes depending on how cold they still are from the freezer.

These are simply to die for and you will find yourself making them over and over again!

Tags: Baking, breakfast, cinnabon, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin

Coffee Crumb Cake

I don’t know about where you live, but summer is “officially” here in May despite what the calendar says; and, because we live here  (Visit Pensacola), summer means visitors. What better way to get these visitors ready to spend the day seeing the sights around our beautiful adopted hometown than with a yummy coffee cake for breakfast?  Now, I know Marissa has bragged previously about find the Coffee Cake recipe to beat them all, but this old family favorite will never be replaced as far as I’m concerned…and, if those are surprise visitors, you don’t have to worry, chances are you’ll have all of these ingredients on hand! We’ve even called it “Poor Man’s Coffee Cake” because the ingredients are simple and bound to be found in your kitchen pantry.

 Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 stick margarine or butter

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 egg, beaten

½ cup milk (I use 2%)

 Optional:

½ cup chopped nuts (I like to use pecans)

½ cup raisins

Directions:

Beat together sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and margarine until you have fine “crumbs” – RESERVE 1 cup of dry mixture. Into the remaining dry mixture (still in the mixing bowl), stir beaten egg, milk, baking soda and baking powder. Add nuts and raisins (optional, but make the cake so much better!).

Sprinkle half of the reserved dry mixture in bottom of lightly greased 8”x8” baking dish.

 Spread the batter and then sprinkle the remaining reserved dry mixture over the top.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350°, or until pick comes out clean.

And, if you don’t believe this is an old family favorite, take a look at this recipe card … tattered and stained — proof! :-)

Enjoy!

Tags: Baking, Cake Decorating, Debbie, Entertaining

Hot Cross Buns

I love my bread machine and use it almost exclusively to make yeast breads; but there are two exceptions to that rule — Christmas (Stollen) and Easter (Hot Cross Buns).  Easter is late this year, but for some reason it still seemed to sneak up on me. Knowing Jen and family would be out of town until Sunday afternoon, I decided Thursday night (LATE!) if I was going to make any of these balls of deliciousness I’d better do it and take them in to work to share on Friday (so I didn’t sit at home and eat the whole batch all by myself!). I think they were a hit — only a couple left and I sent those home with co-workers (since I knew I still had some left at home!).

Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients:

1 pkg. yeast

¼ cup warm water

¾ cup milk

½ cup butter or margarine

1/3 cup sugar (granulated)

½ cup raisins

½ tsp. salt

4-5 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. allspice

1 egg

Directions:

 Soften the yeast in the ¼ cup of warm water.

Heat milk on stove or in microwave until scalded (bubbling at edges) – took about 4 minutes in my microwave. Pour milk over butter (cut into small pieces for quicker melting) in large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Wasn’t thinking and had the dough hook on here — actually need the regular “paddle” for the next couple of steps!

 Stir in yeast mix. Add cinnamon, allspice and 3 cups of the flour. Add raisins. Mix on medium speed until combined.

 Switch to dough hook (yippee for my Kitchen Aid!) or place dough on floured surface, adding additional flour until you have a nice smooth and elastic dough.

Place in a glass bowl, cover loosely with a towel, and let rise for about an hour (I turn my oven on low and set the bowl on top of the stove).

Punch down, divide (a fancy recipe term to say “pull pieces off about the size you want”) and roll into 24 buns. Brush with egg white and cut crosses (I often skip this step – like them just as well soft, without the egg white “crust”). Let rise again. Oops! Forgot to “cut” in the crosses (I did mention that it was LATE Thursday night!).

 Bake at 400° for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Frost crosses.

Frosting:

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (use clear flavoring if you want the frosting to stay pure white)

Enough water to make it “drizzling” consistency

Enjoy! And have a Happy Easter!

Tags: Baking, Debbie, Easter, Hot Cross Buns

Three Ingredient Brownies

Are you looking for a delicious dessert to make but don’t have many ingredients or don’t feel like going to all the effort?  This was exactly the case for me last night.  We had an improptu gathering of friends at our house and I wanted something sweet to share (not to mention my husband hates a night with no dessert!).  The first recipe to pop into my head was my mom’s Three Ingredient Brownies which happens to be published in the Country Quick and Easy Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch (who’s blog we were also recently featured in). 

I know I have mentioned before that my daughter, K, loves to work in the kitchen with me.  So of course, this was also a perfect recipe for her to be able to do ALL the work.  There are only three ingredients and all you do is mix them in a bowl, spread into a pan, and bake!  They are a rich, wonderful, different style of homemade brownie and it had been FAR too long since I made them.  Thanks for dessert mom!

sorry about the picture quality, I took it with my phone!

The recipe can be found on page 174 of the Country Quick and Easy Cookbook or here:

Three Ingredient Brownies, by Debbie Douma

• 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 14.5 ounce can sweetened condensed milk (I was so excited when K, who is only in Kindergarten, read the word “sweetened” all by herself out of the recipe book…such a good sound-er-out-er!)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and spread into a greased 9×9 baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes (mine took 30 exactly).  Allow to cool completely before cutting.  Serves 12.  Enjoy!

Tags: Baking, brownies, Marissa

Morning Glory Muffins

Good for me, good for you!  Today’s post is another healthy living post, which I am trying so desperately hard to do!  I found this recipe for Morning Glory Muffins on my favorite, of course, allrecipes.com.  It is fantastic! 

And why is it good for me and good for you?  Well, it is full of:

• carrots, great for vision, and lowering blood cholesterol
• wheat flour, packed with calcium, iron, and fiber
• cinnamon, there are too many reasons why this may be good for you to list, so go check this link out yourself :)
• apple and apple butter, one a day keeps the doctor away, right??  check this out
• cranberries (I used these instead of raisins), full of antioxidants and all these other reasons
• eggs, great source of protein and vitamins
• about 150 calories per muffin of all that goodness (I yielded several more than the recipe called for and made a few alterations)

Not to mention, it tastes wonderful!  My alterations: I used craisins instead of raisins because we just prefer them around this house and I only added one TSP of vanilla instead of a TBSP, by accident really, but it didn’t hurt the flavor at all.  I would still put a full tsp in next time.  Also, I did not do the nut/wheat germ topping because I was too lazy and they looked just fine the way they were!

This really reminds me of a recipe I think my mother made while I was growing up and I am sure I HATED them back then.  I don’t remember eating them, I just remember seeing them, and probably wishing they were brownies. :)  Alas, a lot has changed since then and I think this is an excellent breakfast or snack muffin.  Great on the side at dinner too!

Tags: Baking, healthy, Marissa, muffins

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Or in English…”Let the good times roll!”

It is times like these that I really miss Pensacola (Florida).  Today is Fat Tuesday.  If you live anywhere other than Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, or Mississippi, this might mean a few beads and some masks.  However, if you are a true southerner, Mardi Gras season is a lifestyle.  The New Orleans’ influence spread throughout the south and it is not unusual for people to take a day or week off of work to celebrate.  Beads, beer, bushwhackers, beignets, and more are found in abundance at parties, on the streets, at masquerade balls, in parades, schools, and workplaces.  Mardi Gras is a time for everyone to celebrate life and happiness and for many, the preparation for Lent.  Fat Tuesday is a day of serious indulgence before Ash Wednesday.

You cannot throw a Mardi Gras party without the ultimate Fat Tuesday centerpiece…the King Cake.  This cake is a Danish creation rolled up jelly roll style and filled with cinnamon, raisins, and more.

The tradition is that each person takes a piece of cake hoping to find the plastic baby inside (I think my cake was cut perfectly…the baby reaching out for someone to pull it from the cake!).  Whomever finds the plastic baby in their piece is crowned King or Queen for the day.  They are also supposedly obligated to host the Mardi Gras party the next year and supply the King Cake.

You can order your cake from an authentic bakery in New Orleans or elsewhere in the south.  They are shipped all over the nation around Mardi Gras.  OR you can make your own!  It really is not difficult, though it does involve yeast and rising time.  I found an excellent recipe here at allrecipes.com.

Instead of doing all the proofing, rising, and kneading on my own, I stuck the ingredients in my bread machine.  For most machines you start with the liquids first (I did use warm milk and softened the butter in the microwave).  Then you put all the dry ingredients in and make a well in the top of the mound of flour.  This is where you put the yeast (no proofing and letting it bubble in with the sugar, etc.).  When using a machine you do not want to let the yeast and liquids mix (I also keep it away from the salt) until the heat is spreading through the dough.

You see though, I only have a 1.5 pound bread machine.  The most dry ingredients (I think all combined) you are supposed to put in the machine is 4 cups.  The recipe calls for 5.5 cups of just flour.  Guess what happens when you don’t follow directions?

Oops!  Hee hee, silly me!  Really though, I would probably do it the same way again, even though my dough tried to escape from the machine!  It was still a time saver and still rose perfectly fine.

After the first rising you roll the dough out into a rectangle and sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the rectangle.  Then roll it up jellyroll style beginning on a long side, pinching the seam firmly together.

Repeat the process with the second half of dough and place on a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet, forming a ring.  Again, press the two ends together on each side of the ring, firmly sealing the ring.  Here is the ring after cutting slits in it, and again after the second rising.

HOW DO I LET MY BREAD RAISE???  Thank you for asking!  I preheat my oven to 175 degrees and then turn it off!  Crack the oven door open with a wooden spoon and after it has had about 5 minutes to air out, put the dough in the oven.  This should provide the perfect temperature for the next hour or so to allow your bread to rise.

After it has fully risen, bake it in the preheated oven, cut a small hole in the bottom and stick the baby inside and drizzle the topping over it.  I let my cake rise for a LONG time.  This caused two problems.  One, I should have baked it for about 5 minutes less (possibly even shorter).  The outside was SO tough.  But the inside was still great and it tasted wonderful.  Two, I had to quadruple, yes, quadruple the icing recipe so I would have enough to cover the cake.

Make sure everyone knows there is a baby in the cake before they start eating!  These days with choking precautions, etc, a lot of people will simply put the babies on top as decorations.

Decorate it with some beads and Mardi Gras colorfulness and you are ready to party with the best of them!  So here is my ode to Pensacola Mardi Gras…I’m with you even if only in spirit.

Tags: King Cake, mardi gras, Marissa

Baked Whiskey Tortes

Holy Cow, I have a new favorite cookbook!  Well, dessert book!  Recently, while searching for inspiration, I went to my local library and checked out a few of the cookbooks.  I have been looking for books that will not just give me recipes, but teach me how to bake.  Why baking powder and not soda?  Why eggs or just the yolks or only the whites?  Paddle attachment versus whisking balloon?   Though I LOVE to bake and can reproduce pretty much any recipe, admittedly, I have no idea how these people came up with this stuff.  I am tired of reproducing recipes and ready to start creating my own.  Why re-invent the wheel?  I don’t know…a new sense of ownership in what I am working so hard on all the time?  As you can see, I have a lot of questions when it comes to baking.

Well, now a LOT of them are being answered.  By Sherry Yard.  Although I do not know anything about this woman except what the biography in the book says and the little I have looked at online, I can tell you she is most certainly good at what she does.  Just Google her name and see what you find.  Her book,

is phenomenal.  Not only does it provide wonderful recipes, but for me, the main attraction is the fact that she gives you wonderful details about how to do things, why you are doing them, what you can do differently, and how you can personalize it to make it your own.  I enjoy the way she has the cookbook organized.  One recipe leads to the other with a great fluidity.  For instance, the ganaches are all grouped together, then categorized by soft, medium and firm.  All the recipes that are similar to ganache, or use ganache as a base to build on, are also put in these categories.  She recommends which recipes you can combine and how. It is simply fantastic!

This is no new book, in fact, it was published 8 years ago.  But it is new to me and I am in love!  I will be trying a great deal of recipes from it and checking it out from the library over and over again.

I will go ahead and post the first recipe I made from the book, but I think after this one, I will just continue posting a link to places you can purchase the book.  So go buy it, or go look for it at your local library!

Baked Whiskey Tortes

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (or Pam)
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I purchased the Ghirardelli chips)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons whiskey (I used Johnny Walker Black Label)
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• Whipped crème fraîche for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Adjust the rack to the center of the oven.  Brush the inside of four 6 – ounce (medium) ramekins with melted butter (I used Pam and it did just fine).
2. Using a serrated knife, finely chop the chocolate into 1/4 inch pieces and place it in a medium heatproof bowl (I didn’t do this since I purchased the bittersweet chips).
3. Bring the cream and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Immediately pour the cream over the chopped chocolate.  Tap the bowl on the counter to settle the chocolate into the cream, then let it sit for one minute.  Using a rubber spatula, stir in a circular motion, starting from the center of the bowl and working out to the sides.  Stir until all the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.
4. Combine the whiskey and eggs in a bowl.  Whisk them together then gently stir them into the ganache.  When the eggs are thoroughly incorporated, pour the mixture into the ramekins, filling them three-quarters full.
5. Place the filled ramekins in a large baking pan.  Carefully pour hot water into the large pan until it comes halfway up the ramekins.  Bake the tortes for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they feel firm to the touch (mine took right around 30 minutes I think.  I started watching them at 20 and my finger was still sinking into the torte when I touched them.  I waited until it barely gave at all and didn’t stick to my finger when touched).  Allow the tortes to cool slightly before serving.  The tortes can be made up to one day in advance and rewarmed before serving in a 325 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes.  Serve with a small dollop of whipped crème fraîche (I used vanilla ice cream and it was lovely!).

This recipe was VERY easy to make, even if you don’t know what you are doing.  The chocolate was so smooth going down and blended very well with the ice cream.  Prep and bake time took no more than an hour.  Any company you have will most certainly call you a gourmet baker if you prepare this for them!  Though, it should be noted that this is NOT a low calorie dessert!!!  The recipe makes 4 servings and each one is over 675 calories!  YIKES!  Glad I looked that up so I could plan my whole daily caloric intake around eating one of these tonight!

Tags: Baking, chocolate, Marissa, torte

Marissa vs. Chocolate

Do you ever have those days?  You know, the ones that you wake up totally unaware of how terrible it is going to be?!?!  I certainly do and this day was no exception.  The day proved to bring on a serious match for me. 

In one corner, 5 inches tall and weighing in at 5 pounds, born from a serious love for all things chocolate, the infamous Chocolate Bomb cake.  His opponent, 5’10”, blankety blank blank pounds, brunette, known to her friends as Betty “the Beat” Crocker…Marissa.  The battle began in the early hours of the afternoon.  Marissa started out with a quick mix, tossing all the ingredients she had at the Bomb.  After throwing in some serious heat (350 degrees to be exact), the Bomb took a shot back and came out swinging and burning.  Marissa went at him again, pouring in a whole other round of flour power, beaten eggs and some pudding to make him extra gushy.  She came out ahead after this one and the two proceeded on to the next round.  The Bomb resisted the gooiness of the ganache and went all grainy on Marissa…creating the necessity for ANOTHER repeat.  He was trying to slowly wear her down and stomp all over her gusto and glory.  Marissa, “the Beat,” wasn’t through yet.  Oh no.  She melted the Bomb’s ganache the second time like the Wicked Witch of the West.  She covered the Bomb with a right, then a left, then a solid pass around the top of him.  It looked like there was no hope left and he was done for.  Finally defeated by the super mom.  But wait.  What’s this?  Marissa is getting into the car to leave and what does the Bomb pull out in the final minutes of the match???  That’s right!  He slides to the right and INTO the wall of the ring, smooshing his ooey gooey frosting all over the ropes!  His beautiful icing detail work all a mess!  Marissa has been conquered!!!  She falls to the ground as the crowd is yelling “boos” and “oos.”  She cries back, hands over her eyes “Not right now kids!  Leave Mommy alone!!!!”

That was at 6:32.  The cake was supposed to be in my friend’s hands at 6:30.  I ran into the house, scraped off the damaged buttercream, whipped up a new batch and re-iced the details.  I managed to get it over to her house by 7:00 after threatening my son’s life if he were to tilt, drop or squish that cake.  Well, not really, but I’m sure HE felt that way!

I have made this cake a MILLION times.  It is by far my favorite, and popular with everyone else who has tried it.  I am certainly no master baker, but I am proud of my Chocolate Bomb.  I guess we ALL have our off days. 

Tags: Baking, Cake Decorating

Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies

As I surveyed our pantry, I realized that although we just went grocery shopping we did not have much by way of snacks.  I decided to make sugar cookies with the kids and we had a blast.  I absolutely love the way the kids wear flour and powdered sugar and don’t bother trying to hide the fact that they are sneaking sugar cookie upon sugar cookie as soon as they hit the plate. 

This is the sugar cookie recipe that my mom has used since my sister and I were little girls.  It is just the perfect flavor.  We make these cookies every year for Christmas but this is the first time I have made them for another holiday.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

1 t. cream of tartar

1 cup margarine, softened

1/2 t. almond extract

2 1/2 cup flour

1 t. baking soda

Mix powdered sugar, margarine, vanilla, almond extract, and egg.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  I usually start with my Kitchenaid mixer and then finish mixing the dough by hand.  Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.  When it comes out of the refrigerator, it may seem crumbly.  Mix it up and knead the dough by hand.  Roll out on a lightly floured surface (or my favorite Pampered Chef pastry mat!) and cut with cookie cutters. 

Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes.  The longer they cook, the crispier they will be.  Cool on a baking rack. 

Once completely cool, frost with your favorite frosting.

I usually use a buttercream frosting, but this time I used a powdered sugar frosting.

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

2 T. vanilla

2 T. milk

food coloring if desired

Mix the vanilla and milk and add powdered sugar.  Continue to mix until it is almost a pourable consistency but not quite. 

I also made a chocolate powdered sugar recipe.  Following the above directions, I just added 2 T. of cocoa powder to the powdered sugar before combining with the liquid.  Next time, I will probably not add the vanilla or only add about 1/2 teaspoon.  I felt like the frosting was much overpowered by the vanilla.  The kids don’t have a problem with it though!

Once you cover the cookies with frosting (it will be messy!!), allow to dry for at least an hour.

Tags: Baking, cookies, decorating, dessert, frosting, Holidays, Jennifer, valentine's day