More Stitching and She Cooks…

Here’s where i stand on Beacon House:

I mostly filled in some water at Thursday stitching group. I had worked on it a little last weekend finishing up the deer ad the variegated snow.

This evening I’ve been invited to supper at my good friends Dianne & Jen’s house. I made a Flat Apple Pie for the grown-ups, and some Vanilla/Vanilla cupcakes for the kids.

I used this no-mess-frosting tip from Our Best Bites. It worked beautifully! Although I wish my frosting recipe made just a scooch more – I divided the white 4 ways to add the color and piping that 3rd cupcake involved me jamming my thumb all the way into the tip to squeeze enough out to cover the cake top. The 4 cupcakes on the bottom you can see are a bit wonky.

But I’m sure they’ll taste fine.

TTFN

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope your day is blessed with sunshine as we remember those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

This is the first Memorial Day weekend in 3 or 4 years  that I’ve had “off” off, because of my barn owner’s show horse having colic surgery. KoKo is recuperating well, with no problems (quick knock on wood). Next weekend she can be turned out into a small pen; she’s been out of her stall only for brief periods to  hand graze 3 or 4 times a day for the past month. She’ll have a month of “pen” rest, then another month of pasture rest, which will bring her to the beginning of August before she can go back to work.

Here’s my progress on Beacon House. This is 2 weeks worth of stitching and it really doesn’t look like much, but I’ve dipped into the water:

I’ve been procrastinating on doing all the snowflakes scattered in the sky areas. There are 3 different size Smyrna Crosses to do and I’m dreading them!

I made a Peanut Butter sheet cake for snack at stitching last week:

I thought it was excellent. Jeanne had the idea of Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Sheet Cake with the Peanut Butter sheet cakes’s frosting.  A must-try for sure!

Have a nice quiet holiday tomorrow!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes…

This makes a great weekend breakfast treat (hint for those who have house guests this weekend!)

Cinnamon Swirled Bread (for the bread machine)

Makes one 4” x 9” loaf

BREAD:

• 1 egg plus enough water to equal 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 TBSP plus 1 tsp sugar
• 6 TBSP butter, softened
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp yeast (bread machine or quick active dry)

FILLING:

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup Demerara sugar (you can substitute brown sugar) mixed with
• 2 tsp cinnamon

1. Place all ingredients for bread in bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select “Dough” cycle. When machine cycle ends, turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and cover with a clean towel and rest for 10 minutes.
2. Then gently roll dough to approximately 9” x 15”. Spread with ¼ cup of softened butter leaving a ½” margin clean around the perimeter.
3. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar. Roll dough tightly into a log 9” wide, pinching along ending seam to close.
4. Place log into greased 4” x 9” loaf pan, gently tucking in ends as necessary, seam-side down.
5. Cover with clean towel, and let rise about 1 hour in warm, draft-free space, until dough reaches top of pan or is roughly doubled in size.
6. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Top should be golden brown, and bottom should sound hollow when tapped, or get an instant read thermometer which should read 190 to 200 degrees to be done.

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipes

Do you remember Vanilla Cupcakes for 2? Here’s the chocolate cake for one (well, 2). The cake is a bit brownie-like, but it has peanut butter cream filling!

From Picky Palate:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for Two

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray 2 mini bundt pans with non stick cooking spray . Or you can recycle a 12.5 ounce can, such as the type cooked chicken comes in, washed & dried thoroughly.

2. Place flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda, egg, oil and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals until smooth. Pour into bowl and mix all ingredients until well combined.

3. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until baked through. Check with a toothpick for moist crumbs. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan by flipping over firmly. Let cool completely then cut in half lengthwise.

4. Place peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk into a small bowl and mix until smooth. If mixture suddenly turns dry, add a bit more milk. Spread over bottom cake and place second cake on top.

5. Place chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and melt in 30 second intervals until smooth. Place butter and powdered sugar in small bowl, mixing to combine and add melted chocolate, mixing until combined. Spread evenly over cake and top with sprinkles if desired.

Please pardon my deficient frosting skillz.

And the inside:

My peanut butter filling needed that tiny bit more milk.

But it sure tasted good!

The Return of Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes!

In honor of fulfilling another day of NaBloPoMo, I am re-instituting WWW. I hope you’ll enjoy!

I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen a couple of years ago. I tried it by halving the filling and making mini cheesecakes, and they were fabulous for gift-giving.

I made a large one for a party my local rabble-rowser group was having last month. I altered a few things to my tastes. Keep this one handy for the holidays:

Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake
Via Smitten Kitchen:Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2002

Crust
one 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies or 9 ounces of chocolate graham-y bears
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
7 tablespoons hot melted unsalted butter

Ganache
1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
20 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur

Filling
three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder or coffee crystals
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
3 large eggs

Topping
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Make crust: Finely grind cookies and brown sugar in processor. Add butter and process until crumbs begin to stick together, scraping down bowl occasionally, about 1 minute. Transfer crumbs to 9-inch-diameter spring form pan with 3-inch-high sides. Wrap plastic wrap around fingers and press crumb mixture firmly up sides to within 1/2 inch of top edge, then over bottom of pan.

Make ganache: Bring cream to simmer in large saucepan. Remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlúa. Whisk until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Pour 2 cups ganache over bottom of crust. Freeze until ganache layer is firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve remaining ganache; cover and let stand at room temperature to use later for decorating.

Make filling: Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until blended. Scrape down bowl, making sure you get to the bottom. Beat in flour. Stir rum, espresso powder, vanilla, and molasses in small bowl until instant coffee dissolves; beat into cream cheese mixture. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.

Pour filling over cold ganache in crust — it will go nearly all of the way to the top. Place cheesecake on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until top is brown, puffed and cracked at edges, and the center two inches moves only slightly when pan is gently shaken, about one hour. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Cool 15 minutes while preparing topping (top of cheesecake will fall slightly, making room for topping). Maintain oven temperature.

Make topping: Whisk sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl to blend. Pour topping over hot cheesecake, spreading to cover filling completely. Bake until topping is set, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer cheesecake to rack. Refrigerate hot cheesecake on rack until cool, about three hours.

Run small sharp knife between crust and pan sides to loosen cake; release pan sides. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Spoon reserved ganache into pastry bag fitted with small star tip. Decorate top of cake with piped stars and/or lattice. Chill until lattice is firm, at least 6 hours.

Do ahead: Cake is best made a day ahead, so the flavors have time to settle. The cake also takes enough time to make that it’s best not to rush through it the day you want to serve it. It can be made up to four days ahead. Wrap loosely in foil, forming dome over lattice; keep chilled.

My poor decorating skills! At least the flavor made up for its appearance!

A Request for a Recipe!

Catherine wanted to know how I made the Lime Cream Cheese Frosting for my vanilla cake.  Here you are, Catherine:

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 4 TBSP softened butter
• 1 (1 lb. Box) confectioners sugar (4 cups?)
• zest from 1 lime
• 2 TBSP lime juice (or from 1 lime, whichever is less)

In a large mixing bowl, whip butter and cream cheese together with a hand-held mixer. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar until thoroughly combined and smooth. Beat in the zest and juice.

Yield: enough to generously frost a 9 x 13 sheet cake, with extra leftover for a few cupcakes.

Like these:

Heaven:

White Chocolate Chip and Toasted Pecan Butterscotch Blondies

I came across these today on Tastespotting. They were a hit at stitching. I substituted semi-sweet chips for the white (that’s what I had on the shelf), and was able to whip them up fast! I got home at 4:30, and was out the door by 5:10 to Jeanne’s house!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

Hey! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I saw this recipe about a month ago, and since I’m on my third week of nightly walks and limiting snacks, thought, “What a great idea! Cupcakes for 2! Better than 12 on my fat ass!”

Here’s the link to the original recipe from Bakergirl. You’ll note that her recipe actually makes TWO cupcakes, using only the egg white. Since I’m a cheap Yankee beyotch, I doubled the amounts to utilize the whole egg because I can’t stand to throw out a perfectly good egg yolk. For some reason, her baking time was also way off from mine. Here is MY version, with revisions to make 5 cupcakes (a more realistic amount for two people, if I do say so myself!)

Vanilla Cupcakes for 2

(makes 5!)

• 1 egg
• ¼ cup sugar
• 4 TBSP butter, melted and cooled
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp almond or butter flavoring
• ½ cup flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• scant ¼ tsp salt
• 3 TBSP milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 5 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk egg and sugar until combined. Add in vanilla and melted butter and stir until mixed.
3. In separate small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, & salt, then add to egg/sugar mixture. Stir until smooth, then stir in milk.
4. Divide between the lined cupcake wells.
5. Bake for 15-19 minutes, or until tops are pale golden brown and tester comes out clean.

Cool completely, and frost as desired.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

I found another scone recipe, and this one is my favorite so far. The original recipe was just a plain scone; I added the orange zest and craisins. (I like to live on the wild side.)I bet you could substitute chocolate chips if that’s how you roll.  These were tender and almost light- just shy of perfect!

Best Scones

• 2 cups cake flour, more as needed
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 5 TBSP cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ to ¾ cup heavy cream, more for brushing
• zest from one orange
• 1/3 cup craisins

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and 2 TBSP of sugar in a food processor and pulse 3 times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles cornmeal. Turn into large bowl.
2. Add egg and zest and just enough cream to form a slightly sticky dough. Add craisins and mix to combine. If dough is too sticky, add a little flour. Dough should still stick a little to your hands.
3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice, then press into a ¾ inch thick rectangle, about 8” x 8”. Cut dough into approximately 9 squares, and arrange on a parchment lines baking sheet, about an inch apart. Brush the top of each scone with a bit of cream and sprinkle with reserved sugar.
4. Bake at 450 degrees for 9-12 minutes, or until scones are golden brown. Serve immediately.

Give away Alert!

I just came across a new blog, I Meant To Do That! on Peggy Lee’s Kentucky Sampler blog. It seems another Peggy is having a floss give-away! She has some wonderful photos of her stitching, as well as her Mom’s stitching. Please head over to check it out.

I’ve been in a stitch-y, blog-y rut lately. I just can’t seem to get in gear to pick up a needle or write a post. Maybe I don’t feel compelled to write because I haven’t been stitching?

It’s my turn for snacks at S & B tomorrow night. I made this:

It’s Almond Poppy Seed Bread from My Best Bites. It’s supposed to be baked in 2 loaf pans, but I only have one, so I baked it in my tube pan. I made it this way in a test run a couple of weeks ago, and it was very good- like a pound cake. I thought it was even tastier after a couple of days, so I made it last night.

American Idol starts again tonight. I haven’t been a regular viewer in the past few years; I was finding the cattle call rounds too painful to watch. They know certain people have no talent whatsoever, why be so mean as to put them on national television for public humiliation? The last season that held my attention was the David Cook year, and even then, I was late to the party- I only watched the contest portion. (Did I mention my huge crush on David Cook?) Anyway, the Steven Tyler/Jennifer Lopez thing sounds intriguing. I read an opinion yesterday that Steven is being a combo of Simon and Paula: honest but kind, which makes me want to watch. I best get supper cooked and the dishes washed!

SnOwCD

That would be OCD when it comes to shoveling snow. I can’t seem to go out and just do my own car; I have to do the whole driveway in my own precise methodical way. And regret it for the following 3 days.

Then come in & have a big bowl of oatmeal. Not instant or quick-cooking, but the old fashioned kind- YUM!

with milk & maple syrup! This is Silver Palate brand oatmeal- very tasty, a little more coarse than Quaker Oats.

In preparation for our snowstorm, i baked a cranberry bread (thanks for the idea Jeanne!) AND a batch of brownies last night. I think it’s PMS.

The 2 guacamoles helped out this afternoon for round two(they also came out to clean out the rest of their own cars in the am), and although I picked up the shovel “just to make a path to the cars”, I handed my weapon over to Em when they came out, and picked up the windshield brush/scraper to clean off the cars.

Chickie is exhausted from all the shoveling and is now sacked out on the couch.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

My favorite cookie blog, Cookie Madness, did a Loft House cookie-clone test. I’m not sure she ever came up with a perfect copy, but she came close. In one of her comments, someone mentioned this recipe from the back of the Jiffy Baking mix box. It’s been years since I bought Jiffy or Bisquick, but I wanted to try this recipe!These were really close to the real Loft House, and so yummy tasting, I never even frosted them! Try to let them get a touch of color (don’t under bake!)  because they got softer in the cookie jar day by day.

Jiffy Sugar Cookies

• 2 cups JIFFY Baking mix
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 5 TBSP shortening
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. Vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, or lightly grease.
2. Add baking mix & sugar in medium mixing bowl. Add shortening and using a pastry mixer-tool or two knives, cut shortening into dry ingredients until mixture is the size of small peas.
3. Add remaining ingredients, and stir with wooden spoon until combined.
4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheet; allow 2” between mounds.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes and lightly golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Frost if desired.
7. Makes about 30 cookies.

Bake until they’re a little more brown than this.

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipes…

I came across this a couple of weeks ago, and it caught my eye because it’s one of my favorite breakfast treats, and it says “Easy”.

It came out good- I’d definitely make it again. It was very sweet, I’d add a pinch of salt to the filling next time. I also had less than the required 8 oz. of cream cheese, so I adjusted the amount of sugar to compensate. The amount of filling I ended up with was more than sufficient. Also, it definitely needs to be eaten at cool room temperature- it was too much “too much” to be eaten warm. I would say it’s even better the next day.

 

Easy Cheese Danish

Danish Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 oz. softened cream cheese (less than 8 oz. package)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 can (8 oz. tube) refrigerated crescent rolls

Icing Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 or 3 TBSP cream
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• optional 3 TBSP sliced almonds for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla & salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Open crescent roll dough and unroll, leaving rectangles intact. Lay out the crescent roll rectangles out side by side, long sides touching. Dough should be almost the entire length of a half sheet pan.
4. Press edges together, and push perforations together to seal any holes.
5. Carefully spread the filling down the center of the dough to be about 2-3” wide.
6. Cut ½” diagonal strips up each side of the dough. Fold the ½” strips up over the filling, alternating sides over each other and pressing down lightly to seal. It should look like a braided pattern. Fold the end pieces as neatly as possible.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until filling is set and dough is golden in color.
8. Cool before removing from baking sheet to a serving platter.
9. In a small bowl, mix icing ingredients, use only 2 TBSP cream to start, adding more as necessary for desired consistency. Spoon icing into a small zip top baggie, close, and snip 1/8” off one corner. Pipe in a drizzle over cake. You could sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top for decoration.

It definitely tastes like crescent dough, but I honestly thought it improved a lot by the next day, but it was  EASY! It would be a great quick take along to a small brunch party.

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipe

These look deliciously sinful:

Maple Nut Oatmeal Cream pies

I’m baking a double batch of my Mostess cupcakes, and a batch of Ree’s Homemade Restaurant Salsa for a Victory party this weekend with my merry band of whacko vigilantes (as we’ve been *AHEM*  affectionately called here in town). Not much other cooking yet.

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes…

I came across another “donut muffin” recipe; this one is sans cinnamon. Eaten warm from the oven, I decided these were a bit lackluster; they really do need more spice (cinnamon?) In my opinion, they were actually tastier the second day. The cake was still moist and fresh tasting, and I didn’t mind the absence of spice at all. Go figure! I made a few adjustments to the original recipe, which I found on Tastespotting (scroll down the page a bit). I like the extra moistness that sour cream adds to muffins, and I knew without the cinnamon, extra nutmeg was a must. The superfine sugar had a  less grittier feel on the tongue.

Sugar Donut Muffins

Makes 10

• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup milk
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 TBSP butter, melted
• ½ cup superfine sugar (or regular if that’s what you have)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar and egg until light in color.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
4. In a measuring cup, measure oil and milk, and add the sour cream and vanilla. Whisk with a fork to combine thoroughly.
5. Add wet ingredients to butter/egg mixture and combine well. Dump dry ingredients on top, and mix just until combined, but DO NOT overbeat!
6. Divide batter evenly into 10 wells of the muffin tin.
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until tester comes out clean, and tops are lightly golden brown,
8. While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl; measure superfine sugar into another.
9. When muffins are done, dip into butter, then into the sugar. Cool on a wire rack, or serve warm.

While finding the proper link to the original recipe, I came across a lemon flavored donut muffin recipe! That will go on the “To-Do” list!

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipe

First up is a home economic tip:

Kids- read your shelf prices!

The package says “$2.79”, but the shelf says “$2.89”. And my local supermarket offers a price scanning guarantee. So I grabbed my cheese with giggle and skipped to the register:

Sure enough, the cheese rang in at $2.89. But look what they did:

I got the 10 cents difference back, plus they deducted $3.79, which is either a 130% back or the $2.79 plus a dollar. Regardless, they ended up paying ME to buy the cheese! Yay me! I’ve gotten lots of items free, plus the bonus money back, numerous times, just by paying attention at the register.

……….END OF LESSON……… on to the recipe………….

Rustic Apple Pie

makes 2 small pies

• 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/3 cup Splenda sugar substitute (or use real sugar)
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 TBSP butter, cut into bits
• 1 package refrigerated pie crusts (Pillsbury or store brand)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel & chunk apples into a large mixing bowl.
3. In a small bowl, combine Splenda (for diabetic boys) or sugar, flour, cinnamon & nutmeg with a whisk, then sprinkle over apples in large bowl and toss to combine. 
4. On 2 separate pieces of parchment, open up the 2 pie crusts. Divide apple filling between each crust, mounding in the center. 
5. Top each apple pile with a tablespoon of butter bits. Gather up sides of crust around apples, pinching folds together, and pressing into apples.
6. Lift each pie by the parchment onto a large baking sheet. The 2 pies should fit side by side on a large commercial cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 30 minutes in 400 degree oven. Test for doneness by inserting the tip of a sharp knife into the apples- if they’re soft, it’s done. 
8. Cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I use one of these apple slicer/corer things:

It makes it really easy to peel. Just be sure to remove the bits of the seed pockets that may remain- those are tough little buggers to get in your nice slice of pie!

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipe….

I know everyone may not own a bread machine, but maybe you’re clever enough to alter this recipe for “by hand”. This is a very tasty bread, ever-so-slightly sweet, and hearty from the oats.

Honey Oatmeal Bread (for the bread machine)

Makes one 1-1/2 pound loaf

• 1-1/4 cups water
• 3 TBSP honey
• 1-1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP softened butter (I cut it into little cubes when chilled, then micro for 13 seconds on high)
• 3 cups bread flour
• ½ cup old fashioned or quick-cooking oats
• 2 TBSP dry milk
• 2 tsp bread machine or quick active yeast

 

Measuring carefully, place all ingredients into bread machine pan in the order as given. Select “sweet” mode and “light” crust. This sets my Betty Crocker machine to cycle in about 2 hours 50 minutes +/-.

When done, remove immediately from pan and cool on a wire rack.

I read somewhere recently that salt will inhibit the action of the yeast, so I started adding the salt directly to the water; my bread definitely rises higher! I dare you to NOT eat a slice right out of the machine!

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

This recipe started as the Cook’s Illustrated version, but I didn’t have buttermilk and I didn’t feel like using the mixer. I think some finely chopped walnuts would be a splendid addition to the topping. Here we go:

New York Crumb Cake

Topping:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ¾ tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 8 TBSP (1 stick) butter, melted & still warm
• 1-3/4 cup cake flour

Cake:

• 1-1/4 cups cake flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 6 TBSP (3/4 stick) butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened, but still firm
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS:

Topping:

1. Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt & butter together in a medium bowl.
2. Add flour and stir with spoon until mixture is the consistency of cookie dough. Set aside while you prepare the cake.                                                                                           

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8” or 9” square pan with non-stick foil, or use regular foil and spray with vegetable oil + flour non-stick spray.
2. In a large food processor bowl, pulse the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together about 5 times.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
3. Add the chunks of butter, and pulse until mixture resembles moist crumbs no bigger than a pea.                                                                                                                                                         
4. Add egg & yolk, vanilla, and sour cream, and process about 30 seconds. Stop & scrape down sides of bowl, and pulse again if necessary until all ingredients are combined in a smooth batter.                                                                                                                                 
5. Spoon batter into prepared pan & spread evenly.                                                                                                                         
6. Take the ball of topping, and break apart into pea-size pieces. Sprinkle evenly over top of batter, starting at edges and working towards center. DO NOT press topping into cake!!!                                                                                                                                                                      
7. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, and crumbs are golden and test skewer comes out clean.                                                                                                                             
8. Cool at least 30 minutes then lift cake out of pan with foil edges. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving if desired.

No dusting for me- I was too lazy and too hungry!

Wicked Wednesday Wrecipes…

I’ve been busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger  for the past week. Work has taken off like crazy, including personal stuff. I’m going to have to work my last month of Fridays off to keep/catch up. Not much cooking has been going on, except for a chocolate cake for Bob (my Chocolate cupcake recipe), and a couple of batches of Creamy Chicken Taquitos for the freezer. I came across some sinful recipes today for the “Try-Sometime” List:

Butterscotch on Butterscotch Cake

Peanut Buttercup Popcorn from My Best Bites (OMG! The perils of having a Type I diabetic in the house! Do I DARE make this recipe????!!!!!)

and this one , which at first glance seemed similar to my Chocolate cupcake recipe:

Everyday Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen. Actually, it’s a bit more than a little different, aside from the buttermilk. (I wish I had thought of baking in a loaf pan. I baked Bob’s in a single round layer; I turned it onto a wire rack (upside down) to cool. When I got back to it about an hour later, the bottom had cracked in 3 huge crevasses, so my plan of filling it went out the window. The top had domed so high, the weight of the cake edges pulled the whole thing apart when I cooled it upside down. Damn the luck!)(I flipped it over & just frosted it.)

And just for visual stimulation:

Wonderful Wednesday Wrecipes

I came across this recipe in my weekly King Arthur newsletter, and then The Pioneer Woman also featured a similar recipe on her blog the same week. I don’t know how hers came out, but these were great! They were moist, dense, and indeed, tasted like a plain donut! Don’t skimp on the nutmeg- that’s the source of the secret flavor crystals! Also, more than a few of the reviews on the K.A. recipe indicated that by baking these in mini-muffin tins resulted in spot-on donut-hole replicas. I baked mine in a traditional size muffin tin. If you decide on the minis, you’ll have to adjust your baking time/temperature.

Donut MuffinsMakes 14 muffins

Batter

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-2/3 cups flour
• 1 cup milk

Topping

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 tablespoons super fine (or granulated) sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin(s). Or line with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. Add the eggs, beating to combine.
3. In another bowl, stir the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and flour with a whisk. In a measuring cup, add milk and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
4. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.
5. Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean. Remove them from the oven, and let them cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them.
6. While they're cooling, melt the butter for the topping (this is easily done in the microwave). Mix the 3 TBSP sugar with the cinnamon. Use a pastry brush to paint the top of each muffin with the butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Or simply dip the tops of muffins into the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Store for a day or so at room temperature.

The ones on the left were coated with real sugar; on the right with Splenda substitute.

Yum! Perfect for a Sunday breakfast with coffee!