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Bakery Miscellaneous

Peach Cobbler

After finding the sweetest, largest, and juiciest of peaches from Eckert’s Nursery last week at Schnuck’s Market, it was a no-brainer that a peach cobbler soon appear in my kitchen as quickly as possible. Mine and mama’s favorite cobbler (with blackberry cobbler being an equal favorite if that’s possible), peaches are never better than when baked up cobbler style and topped with the sweet crunchy crust in this recipe.

There’s nothing hard at all about making cobbler. Peel the fruit, slice it, and toss with a minimum of sugar (ripe fruit doesn’t need a huge amount of sugar) and flour to thicken the juices then stir up your topping, add it over your fruit, and IN the oven it goes! I sometimes use cinnamon for spice, sometimes nutmeg, but use either sparingly; you want just the barest whiff to enhance the fruit.

Vanilla ice cream is, of course, the perfect accompaniment to a fruit cobbler. You absolutely cannot go wrong combining the two. It is only right. And right on! Use the recipe below from my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook to create the very best of summer deliciousness!

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients

For the fruit
1 cup sugar
2 T. flour, heaping
1/4 tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon
4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced

For the topping
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1. tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cold butter or margarine, diced
1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Place fruit in large mixing bowl and combine sugar and flour and pour over fruit; stir to coat. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon and pour into a lightly-greased 11x7x2 (2 qt.) baking dish. Prepare topping by stirring the dry ingredients together in mixing bowl then cutting in the cold butter until the dough is crumbly. Add the beaten egg, stir to combine, and drop by spoonfuls on top of the fruit or just sprinkle it evenly over fruit. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes until brown and bubbly. Cool before serving; top with vanilla ice cream.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Summer Rum Cakes

Today’s post is a somewhat of a cheater; I already blogged about this cake on practically the first of these pages, but, because I have orders for eight cakes, and I will be baking cakes and little else all weekend, I’m making another rum cake post today, dedicated to hopefully the ONE individual surfing out in cyberspace somewhere who actually wants to learn to bake a good rum cake, or who is already adept at the process but thinks the sound of having a rum cake, right now, is lovely.  Here you go then; as they say in songs and award acceptance speeches world-wide, “This one is for you!”  The recipe is as listed in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook; it’s detailed, for the beginning baker, but once you get the hang of mixing up this wonderful cake, you won’t even be using a recipe book at all to put it together.

Most people who love rum cakes associate them with winter and the holiday season, and were surprised that I am taking rum cake orders now, in June, but, the truth is, a rum cake is actually a cake for all seasons. Simple and quick, 10 minutes from greasing the bundt pan to sliding it in the oven and then you’re good for the next 50 minutes!  Prepare the rich buttery-rum glaze 10 minutes before you remove the cake from the oven and you’re all pau (done!).  You only pour the glaze over the cake and paint some glaze on any dry spots before wrapping the cake to sit at least, overnight.

The glaze will sink through the holes you made all over the cake’s surface using the tines of a fork and it doesn’t take long for a person to realize that it is those wet spots in the cake where the glaze has landed and moistened the cake sublimely. That awareness is, apparently,  the art of eating a rum cake as well as baking one.

This is definitely an “it only gets better the longer it sits” recipe.  The best-tasting rum cake to me is the second day after it’s baked when the juices of the glaze have thoroughly permeated the dense cake, but i have friends who swear that these cakes are best enjoyed once frozen for several months then eaten when just thawed or even half-frozen.  For breakfast.  You just can’t go wrong with a cake with THAT many good qualities, folks!

If your family is small, the cake will last for three days, sliced in liberal pieces and eaten at a good clip.  Do invest an hour today and keep this cake tightly covered under heavy foil or a cake cover, sitting on the counter, and then just go on, and, well feel good about spending an hour with such big results for you and your family.

And thanks to you ladies who ordered the eight cakes!  Baking them for you has help fund my vacation in Florida next week.  Not totally funded it, of course, because the rum cake profits alone will go next into buying the jars and the ingredients for the mango chutney Susie and I will be making while I’m there and laying up heavy foil, walnuts, flour and eggs for the many loaves of mango bread we will turn out. What a blessing then that the droves of mangoes we will need are free and husband-picked for us daily! It’s definitely summer again, people, and time to enjoy summer’s bounty: from rum cakes to mangoes!  Enjoy!

Misses’ Rum Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 box Duncan Hines Supreme Butter Recipe Golden cake mix
1-(3 oz.) box vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Bacardi Light Rum
1/2 cup Wesson oil
5 eggs

Directions Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 12” bundt pan and sprinkle the pecans around the bottom. In large bowl, stir the cake mix and the dry pudding mix, add the water, oil, and rum. Crack the eggs into your bowl last and mix with electric mixer until batter is glossy, about 2″ on medium speed. Allow batter to breathe in bowl 5-7 minutes then scrape batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake exactly one hour.

GLAZE Ingredients and Directions Prepare 10 minutes before cake is finished baking. In medium saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup rum, and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil then add 1 stick butter. Reduce heat and boil low for 5-7 minutes. When the cake is just out of the oven, poke deep holes all over it with the tines of a fork. Pour the hot glaze into a large glass measuring cup and slowly pour the glaze over cake. Use a spatula to gently pull the cake away from the sides of the pan and pour some of the glaze around the sides so it coats the sides, flowing to bottom of the pan and adding gloss to the top of the cake. Let the glaze sink in slowly then keep pouring until glaze is good and gone. Let cake cool in the pan for 50 minutes then invert onto your serving plate. Cover it tightly with a generous piece of heavy-duty foil tucking foil under edges of platter. You can also make this well ahead and freeze, tightly covered with the foil. On the day you want to serve it, take it out of the freezer and allow to thaw slowly. Never microwave this cake or you will end up with nothing but a puddle of rum and butter. Also do not refrigerate once it has been cut; just keep covered tightly with heavy foil on counter top or well hidden from your hungry spouse and other family members.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Summer Strawberry Shortcake

There’s no reason at all to keep buying the twinky-like prepared round disks of shortcake at the store when there is a recipe this simple which produces everybody at the table a biscuit-like serving of shortcake for that quintessential summer treat: strawberry shortcake with fresh berries and whipped cream. Oh, joy! Oh, summer! These biscuit-like shortcakes are the perfect foil for ripe strawberries and they will stand alone as well the next day with a spot of berry preserves I feel sure. I saw this recipe last week in our Southeast Missourian newspaper, just in time for the beginning of many strawberry treats of the summer. It is a versatile recipe as any berries can substituted for the strawberries here with equally great results.  Blackberry shortcake sounds fine to my ears actually!

The recipe is 2-in-1 really as the filling recipe is also included. I had oranges today so I did include orange zest in the filling but it would be fine without it or substituting lemon zest. Smash the berries a little with a heavy fork after you sugar them and set them on the counter, then the fridge. The berries macerated in the sugar and produced plenty of sweet juices for soaking up the shortcake. The results today were amazing!

The cream in the shortcake dough provides both the fat and the liquid needed so the biscuits have only 4 ingredients. What could be easier? You will have to work with the dough to decide the exact amount of cream to use. I began with 1 cup then mixed and then added a little more liquid until the dough stuck together when squeezed, probably 1-1/4 cups total cream. The dough needs little rolling, just quickly shaped into a rectangle and cut into 6 pieces.

One mistake I made today was not buying enough berries this morning. Do use the at least 2 lbs. of berries. Today, I ate two of these myself and saved one serving for mama tonight. The other three shortcakes went into a zip lock for use tomorrow when I can prepare more berries. I don’t believe the remaining three biscuits will be any the worse for it, and, guaranteed, there will be many summer smiles for those enjoying both nights!

Summer Strawberry Shortcake
Southeast Missourian June 7, 2015

For the shortcakes

2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 to 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Extra cream for brushing tops of biscuits
2 t. sugar

For the filling

1-1/2 lbs. strawberries, hulled and quartered, sliced smaller if large
1/-4 to 1-2 cup sugar
1 t. finely grated orange zest, optional
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Cool Whip, or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Directions Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour in enough cream to just form a dough. The dough will be shaggy and clumpy but moist. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times then use your hands to shape into a 6” x 3/4” rectangle. Cut into six equal servings. Place 2” apart on baking sheet; brush lightly with extra cream and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely then split horizontally and fill with sweetened berries. Close and add whipped cream or ice cream. Add sweetened berry juices over all.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Mr. Beachy’s Butter Dips

 

Because I made a big pot of tomato sauce yesterday, I wanted homemade bread sticks for spaghetti tonight and Mr. Beachy’s Butter Dips were the perfect choice!  A quick and easy dough to assemble these little treats are a just-right accompaniment for any  pasta dish.

A note about Mr. Beachy:  He is the proprietor of a fantastic store deep in the Amish country in Arthur, Illinois.  My sister, Mamie, and I love to visit the store for its amazing array of fresh herbs and spices, the vast selection of flours of every kind and texture, dozens of bags of diverse tapioca grains, and the awesome choices of fresh baked goods. If you ever find yourself near Arthur, DO visit Mr. Beachy and his family!  We make the trip as many times a year as we can manage and it is worth every mile traveled.  Two of the thumbnail photos above I included to give you an idea of the huge variety of the merchandise at Mr. Beachy’s!  The store itself is a  baker’s Heaven!

The ample amount of baking powder in this recipe ensures a great rise to the bread. I  roll them out almost an 1″ thick so there is plenty of substance for soaking up the accompanying sauce with which I serve them. Since I was using them with pasta and sauce today, I sprinkled them with a dash of garlic salt before baking.  The small sticks have an almost biscuit-like flavor with nicely browned and crunchy edges.

If you are a pasta-sauce-bread person, these will please you with every bite.  They are also delicious without the garlic and accompanied with a bit of jam or jelly for breakfast.  However you decide to feature them, you’ll be happy with the results.  Enjoy!

Mr. Beachy’s Butter Dips

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter
2-1/2 cups flour
3-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 T. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 450. Melt butter in bottom of 9×13 glass baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon in large mixing bowl. When dough forms a ball, turn out on a floured surface and roll out 3/4” to 1” thick. Cut dough into strips 1” wide and about 5” long. Roll in the melted butter in the baking dish and lay strips side by side in pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Serve warm.

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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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