Tag Archives: sugar

Bakery Miscellaneous

Hot Apple Dumplings w/Crescent Rolls

I told my girlfriend I wasn’t “going to mess with blogging today” since my mama just got out of the hospital yesterday and I am playing catch up at home, BUT, I certainly wanted something to take to the staff who cares for mama here in town to celebrate her homecoming, and I thought about these great, and quick, apple dumplings! The recipe is also included in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook.  Here we are then!

Most of the ingredients you will have on hand for this recipe; you will need two apples and two packages of refrigerated crescent rolls and a can of soda, however.  The dumplings are easily prepared and ready for the oven in under 15 minutes.

I used Granny Smith apples today as they hold up well for baking and I like the contrasting tartness they offer to the butter-sugar mixture in the recipe.  The apples bake up soft and moist and the crescent rolls provide the dumpling taste.  Flavor with ground cinnamon.  Do try this one when you want something fast yet delicious!  Enjoy every bite of moist dumpling!

Hot Apple Dumplings w/Crescent Rolls

Ingredients

2 Granny Smith apples
2 tubes crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-(12 oz.) can of 7-up or Mt. Dew soda

Directions Preheat oven to 350. Peel apples, core, and cut each apple into eight slices. Roll one apple slice in one crescent roll triangle. Repeat until you have 16 dumplings. Place in a 9×13 pan; sprinkle with the cinnamon. Melt butter in small saucepan. Add sugar to the melted butter and mix well. Add a little more cinnamon to this mixture, to taste, or not at all, and drizzle over the dumplings. Pour the can of soda over everything. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream or prepared whipped topping.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Sugar Crusted Raspberry Muffins

 

Knowing there was no way I was not going to use the last cup and a half of fresh raspberries today, I went looking for a recipe for raspberry muffins.  The recipe I used, from Real Simple magazine, resulted in 12 large moist muffins flavored with the first  raspberries  of the season.  Hello Spring!

The batter is simple and was ready in just 10 minutes.  It is a soft batter with milk, melted butter, and an egg for liquid.  Combine your dry ingredients then whisk the milk and egg and add to the dry ingredients.  Fold in the raspberries and nuts gently then scoop the batter into your muffin tins filling each tin 3/4 full for a nice pop to the muffin tops.

Today I added chopped pecans to my batter knowing the nuts would provide texture.  Cool slightly in the muffin tins then remove and cover tightly with foil until ready for serving. This healthy looking batch is today’s  Added Bonus for mama and myself with 10 muffins left for the staff at Woodland Hills; fresh, warm, and savory they make a great start to everyone’s Easter weekend!

Sugar Crusted Raspberry Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1/4 cup pecans, chopped small (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or coat it with cooking spray, vegetable oil, or butter. In a medium bowl, combine 1-3/4 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and combine. In a second bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla. Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined; the batter will be lumpy. Toss the berries with the remaining flour in a bowl. Gently fold the berry mixture into the batter .Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Sprinkle the batter with the remaining sugar. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Serve while still warm.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

I was SO excited to find raspberries at my local market because I had almost given up on the idea of making this delicious coffee cake for Easter, and when I spotted those raspberries yesterday, my arms went up in a victory sign and i danced a jig right there in the produce section! I have made this coffee cake for many years now and especially love enjoying it for Easter morning when we are visiting my sister and her family in Illinois.  Everybody likes this moist cake, from great-granny to the little kids, and because it is so beautiful to behold that is our  Added Bonus for this dish!

It might seem a good deal of work for only a small one-layer cake, but it bakes tall and small wedges make it a perfect breakfast offering. Although the recipe in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook says you can use frozen raspberries also in this cake, I never do; fresh berries are definitely worth the wait. The tart berries contrast with the sugar, flour, and eggs in a dense batter flavored with fresh lemon zest. Do press the raspberries gently into the half-baked batter so they aren’t merely decorating the top of the cake (save that happiness for just a sprinkle of powdered sugar).

Because this cake usually travels, I bake it the day before, and it is even more delicious on the second day. Every bite is moist and sweet, and every berry, perfection! This is, of course, just made for coffee, but I know that our little kids like it with milk. Whatever works for you, you will be glad the cake is on the table. Wishing you and yours a Happy and Blessed Easter morning as well!

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel (zest)
1 egg
1 cup fresh raspberries (or frozen if you must)
Powdered sugar

Directions Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease bottom of 9×1-1/2” round cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour bottom of parchment; set aside. For cake, in a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In separate large bowl, beat 1 cup of the sugar and the softened butter with mixer on medium until combined. Add 1 egg and the vanilla. Beat on low for 1 minute. Alternately add flour mixture and the 3/4 cup buttermilk, beating just until combined after each addition; set aside.

For cheesecake filling, in a small bowl beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with mixer on medium until combined. Add lemon zest and 1 egg. Beat well until combined.

Spoon half the cake batter into prepared pan, spreading to edges. Spoon cream cheese mixture on cake batter, spreading carefully to edges (so the two layers don’t combine). Dollop remaining cake batter on top of cream cheese layer, carefully spreading to edges of pan.

Bake 20 minutes or until puffed then take out of oven and gently press raspberries into cake. Bake another 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen edges of cake from the pan then turn out to a plate then turn out again on serving plate so cake is right side up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired; so pretty!

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Recipes - Desserts

Buttermilk Pie

There didn’t seem any better day to bake a Buttermilk Pie than April 1st (and no April Fool’s indeed!).  A spanking new calendar page, spring daffodils already in bloom, and the sweet tang of buttermilk are a perfect way to greet this beautiful month!

This pie will remind you of a southern Chess Pie with the same creamy texture.  Today I used a heaping 3 T. of flour to be sure that there was enough flour to thicken the liquids in the batter.  The buttermilk is the most distinctive taste in this pie; just a hint of tartness with the sugar complementing the buttermilk tang.

You really must make your own crust for this pie; using a store-bought crust will not give you anywhere close to the results you will get rolling out a homemade crust, flaky but sturdy enough to provide texture to the creaminess of the pie.  As always, I used 4-5 T. of ice water for my crust and worked the shortening in quickly to the flour-salt mixture using just my fingers to cut the shortening in until the dough resembled small peas.

Once your crust is ready and in your pie plate, you need only to mix up the filling.  Sprinkle the top of the pie lightly with nutmeg, and dessert is in the oven in no time.  Hello April!

Ingredients

½ cup buttermilk
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 T. flour
Pinch of salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 unbaked 9” pastry shell

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Set pastry shell aside. In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the nutmeg and the pastry shell and stir well with a wooden spoon to blend then use a wire whisk to incorporate the liquid ingredients more thoroughly. Pour batter in the unbaked pie shell; sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg. Bake 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake another 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Cool well, allowing the filling to set well before cutting into wedges.

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Food for Thought

Snow Ice Cream

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Surely you enjoyed snow ice cream as a kid!  My first thought when I looked out my window this morning was “I want snow ice cream and I want it for lunch!” What else would a person think of with this much snow on the ground?  Just a quick trip outside to the yard to scoop up the clean snow and you’re almost there! This recipe uses raw eggs; omit them if you like if they don’t agree with you. Snow ice cream melts fast so this is the quintessential “make and eat immediately” recipe. Turn your snow day into a FUN day; your kids will love it and so will you!  Winter kitchen frolic!

Snow Ice Cream

1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 gallon fresh clean snow

In large bowl add milk, the beaten eggs, vanilla, and sugar and beat briefly with an electric mixer to blend well. Add the snow and stir gently, folding well. Scoop into bowls and top with sprinkles! GO on: smile, do a snow day happy dance  and say ahhhhh!

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