Tag Archives: flour

Recipes - Desserts

Mississippi Mud Cake

Perhaps it was watching our beloved St. Louis Cardinals slugging it out in the mud last night at Busch Stadium (only to lose the game) but I woke this morning with a Mississippi Mud Cake on my mind. Whether the State of Mississippi or the mighty Mississippi River as it flows beside the city of St. Louis, I will leave to my readers!

This well-known Southern favorite is rich with melted butter, cocoa, sugar, and eggs.  Make it in a jelly roll pan and cut in squares.  The chocolate cake layer is the perfect complement to a sweet-crunchy topping made of mini-marshmallows and chopped pecans.  Allow the marshmallows to soften for five minutes after returning to the oven. When they begin to brown on top, take the cake out and drizzle the chocolate frosting over the top.  Yum Yum GOOD!  The chocolate frosting recipe makes 2 cups; I saved half of it for another purpose.

A great cake for sharing as it serves 15-18 easily, and a great ball game today: Cards win it 3-1!

Mississippi Mud Cake

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1 (10.5-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
Chocolate Frosting

Directions Whisk together melted butter and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in flour and chopped pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; top warm cake evenly with marshmallows. Return to oven, and bake 5 minutes. Drizzle Chocolate Frosting over warm cake. Cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk $
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Beat all at medium speed until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Store leftover frosting in fridge to be used for frosting cookies.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Toffee Chip Cookies

Oh, how I have missed blogging! A family situation found me away from my computer, and my kitchen, for the past two weeks, but hopefully we are on a good track again health-wise, and today I couldn’t resist some much longed-for kitchen time! This recipe for Toffee Chip Cookies is a real winner; if you are also desirous of some upcoming kitchen time, do bake up a batch of these fabulous cookies!

The recipe, from HersheysKitchen.com is for a basic sugar cookie with the addition of the toffee bits and, for me, some chopped pecans for even more crunch. Soften your butter before beginning and then cream the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla and add the dry ingredients. The cookies are chewy inside with crisp outer edges with the buttery-toffee flavor that is so perfect with coffee or a tall glass of milk when you want something sweet and chewy.

If you’re a cookie fan, this one will put a smile on your face! Enjoy!

Toffee Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH English Toffee Bits
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 48 cookies. Store airtight.

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Recipes - Desserts

Blackberry Cobbler

My BFF down in Florida was mentioning blackberry cobbler a lot, at least three times last week, so when I spotted fresh blackberries at my local market yesterday, I knew we had to have our own cobbler, up here, and soon!  These were large beautiful blackberries just made for cobbler or blackberry pie and they did not disappoint. The photos above took as long to fuss with as the actual cobbler prep work did.  35 minutes and its in the oven! The larger photo is as served out of mama’s room tonight at Woodland Hills.  I have to say, “the cobbler thing” was a pleasure, from start to finish!

Do cook your blackberries to thicken, then cool the filling off the stove before adding the topping; cook it just long enough for the juices to coat a wooden spoon; 5 minutes.  The sugar, berries, and the whiff of cinnamon take a minute to boil, as the sugar must melt first.   The cornstarch-water mixture thickens the sauce perfectly.  Taste it as it cools because you might want a little more cinnamon.  The biscuity topping is a terrific complement to the berry filling.  I like to drop it willy-nilly over my berries as that  makes for easy serving.  It does taste like abiscuit, browned on top with a  cake-like texture, perfect for soaking up the ample juices from the berries.  Fresh blackberries, are, of course, a given for this recipe.  These berries were from my local market; youknow, the only “real” grocery store in town; they were beautiful to look at, big as large Bing cherries, and they held their shape nicely too, once cooked.

If you have 60 minutes total, and 3 cups of blackberries, you are in business my friend!  Half of that time is the cobbler baking and you cleaning up the kitchen quickly, right? Start to finish, there was nothing more pleasant to be doing with that hour, and the results were amazing!  Ahhh, the many flavors of Spring!  Dig Right In!

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients for berries

3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. cornstarch
1 cup cold water
1 T. butter

Biscuit Topping

1-1/2 cups flour
1 T. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup milk

Directions In a large saucepan, combine the blackberries, sugar and cinnamon. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into fruit mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Dot with butter.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Drop by tablespoons onto hot berry mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream. Yield: 9 servings.

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

Pimento Cheese Biscuits

Geeze Louise, I meant to make and blog about these biscuits yesterday in honor of the Kentucky Derby but my “just do 3 hours of work in the yard” turned in to “it’s 5:30 and I haven’t made biscuits yet!” Determined to make up for the neglect yesterday, I baked these before I went out to the yard this afternoon. You might be tickled to find these tasty little treats on a Kentucky Derby buffet next year, even your own buffet table if you plan on hosting a Derby party (and what could be more fun?).

The recipe comes from a blog I enjoy reading, “Syrup & Biscuits” and though I followed the recipe exactly, I did not have 12 biscuits to bake after I was finished, only 7 biscuits.  Next time I will add more flour as I work the dough.  Today I also used a fresh jalapeno pepper, not a pickled one, and that was fine. I haven’t tasted these yet but they will be greatly enjoyed with my supper I know.  If you get 12 biscuits they will make a great appetizer for your Derby party or as a special side dish with a simple supper as I have planned.

The dough is very sticky so you will need to add enough flour for it to become smooth and elastic as you work with it.  I can imagine adding at least 1/2 cup additional flour as you roll it out.  I love the look of these with the cheese topping and the jalapeño slices.  The jalapeño gives just enough warmth to these pretty puffs and the pimento cheese is a great surprise when you bite into them.  Go on, put on your Derby hat, think about a cool mint julep, and have a Run for the Roses yourself!!

Ingredients

¾ cup soft winter wheat all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup plain cornmeal
¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
½ cup buttermilk
½ to ¾ cups pimento cheese
15 pickled jalapeño pepper slices

Directions: Place flour, baking powder, kosher salt and cornmeal in a bowl and stir lightly. Rub or cut in butter until flour resembles coarse meal.  Pour in buttermilk and stir until dough is wet and sticky. Turn out onto a well-floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top. Gently work in the flour, adding more as needed, until the dough is no longer sticky and holds its shape.  Roll out to ½ inch thick. Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour. With the back of your hand, flatten out the cut out biscuit as much as possible.

Spray a mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray. Place about a teaspoon of pimento cheese in the center of the biscuit cut out. Press the edges of the cut out toward the center to form a flower shape. Place the biscuit in a mini-muffin cup and top with a pickled jalapeño slice. Repeat with each biscuit cut out.  Place in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly brown and the biscuit is done.  Remove from oven and transfer each biscuit to a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Best served warm.

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

The BEST Raspberry Bread

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I wanted “something raspberry” with the small pack of berries I bought Thursday, and a quick late night Google search brought this recipe up immediately. I used it exactly as I found it on Averiecooks.com blog page except using less raspberries than called for and adding chopped pecans to the batter. Moist and dense, this sweet bread is just Plain ‘Ole Raspberry Perfection! Right here! Make it early in the day and let it mellow before slicing if you can wait. It’s only going to taste even better!

I used fresh berries as recommended; they are available now in my local market and frozen berries do produce extra juice, not needed here. It’s always so exciting spotting those first shelves of fresh berries in the produce aisle, and if I had 12-oz of berries I would definitely use them. Omit the nuts if you wish; I like them for the texture they bring and they make up for using less fruit. The batter is rich with buttermilk, oil, and melted butter; don’t over stir it; it is lumpy and shouldn’t be smooth. The fats added lightness to the batter and it slid right from the bowl under its own steam into the loaf pan. Those fats also guarantee a dense moist bread, bursting with flavorful tang of buttermilk and melted butter. The brown sugar casts a lovely golden color and adds sweetness.

I did bake the bread for 55 minutes today as it was still wet at 45 minutes. I turned the oven off then and let the bread sit in the oven 5 more minutes. It browned nicely and dropped easily from the pan after it cooling 20 minutes. A small knife run around the sides of the pan will loosen the bread perfectly and it drops right from the pan. Cool completely on wire rack with bread wrapped in lightly in foil. A dollop of Cool Whip on each slice will be extra good tonight!

I followed the directions as given but rewrote them using my words and my results today. I couldn’t agree more with Averie that this is the BEST raspberry bread around! At my house, today, at least! It won’t last until tomorrow because it was made for sharing, but if there are leftovers, wrap slices in foil and store in an airtight bag. This will be even better the next day, guaranteed! I have no idea what’s for supper but, with a glass of cold milk, following half a day of water sloshing all-out cleaning on the front porch, i found that two slices of this raspberry bread made a wonderful late lunch. Hey, now, it’s Spring! Get Raspberries! Be Delighted!

The BEST Raspberry Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 to 12 ounces raspberries, about 2 cups (today, 6 oz.)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, add the flour, the brown and white sugars, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine; set aside.

Melt the butter. Allow butter to cool slightly then add the egg, buttermilk, oil, vanilla. Whisk well.

Pour wet ingredients over the dry and stir until just combined; don’t over mix. Batter will be somewhat lumpy; don’t try to stir the lumps smooth or bread will be tough; set aside.

In a medium bowl, add raspberries and 2 tablespoons flour; toss lightly to combine. Add the floured raspberries to the batter nad fold in, along with the pecans, if using, very lightly to combine. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and distributing batter well in pan.

NOTE: Recipe recommends if using frozen berries, bake for 1 hr 17 minutes. Tent foil over the pan after 30 minutes. Today, using fresh berries, I baked it for 55 minutes, with foil tented over it at 30 minutes) then turned the oven off and let it sit for five more minutes. Test the batter after 45 minutes and adjust. Bread is done when the top springs back and a tooth pick inserted has no batter on it. Allow bread to cool in pan for 20 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

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