Poppy Seed Cake

May 7, 2017 Angela Thorell

You will want to have this cake in your arsenal for spring and summer; it's light, refreshing and quite delicious. Warning - even with the time-saving steps of a cake mix and Cool Whip it takes time to soak the poppy seeds and make the butterscotch custard but it's well worth the advance planning.

POPPY SEED CAKE

Soak 1/3 cup poppy seeds in water for two hours. Drain well.

Mix one (1) package Pillsbury white cake mix (with pudding in mix) per directions. Adds seeds to batter and bake in 11" x 14 pan. (A 9" x 13" pan will also work). Bake per directions and cool.

Custard Layer

3 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

In heavy saucepan over medium heat, cook the above ingredients until thick approximately 12-15 minutes. This burns easily so whisk constantly. Cool custard mixture.

Spread cooled custard mixture on top of cooled poppy seed cake. Frost with whipped topping (aka Cool Whip).

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German Chocolate Cake

March 11, 2017 Angela Thorell

Why not have one more German Chocolate recipe? This one is, well, a bit more involved than the German Chocolate Bars.

As this beautiful slice of cake was lifted out I asked which one of my family members was going to take a bite and give me their review. No takers. Zero. Nada. Zilch. They don't like coconut. What?! Ranger Cookies are one of their very favorites, so let's just keep it a secret coconut is a main ingredient.

What would Grandma do with an unwanted cake? The real answer: It would meet the garbage disposal. True. If something was deemed subpar down the disposal it went. It was a family joke her garbage disposal ate better than most households. I couldn't do it. I simply did not have the will to destroy this project. So, the cake found its way to my husband's office. A much, much better ending. (It was loved).

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 - 4 oz. bar of sweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Over low heat, melt the baking chocolate and water until melted. Remove from heat and cool.

Combine the flour, soda and salt in bowl. Stir, set aside.

In mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat again until combined (1 minute). Beat in the cooled chocolate mix. Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beating on low after each addition until just combined.

Grease and flour baking pans. Cake can be made in either 8" or 9" layers. For 8" layers, bake approximately 35-40 minutes; for 9", approximately 30 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, remove and cool completely. Frost middle and top with coconut-pecan frosting and sides with chocolate buttercream frosting.

COCONUT-PECAN FROSTING

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1/4 lb butter (1/2 cup of butter)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup flake coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla in saucepan over medium heat. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Add coconut and chopped pecans. Beat until thick enough to spread.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

6 T butter

2 2/3 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and powdered sugar together; add remaining ingredients mixing until smooth.

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German Chocolate Bars

March 4, 2017 Angela Thorell

I'm back! There's no better way to return after a hiatus than with a recipe marked wtih one of Grandma's infamous (good!) notations in the corner of the card. My family agreed with her assessment. Rumor has it they are also wonderful as an accompaniment to a bowl of ice cream.

Incredibly easy, very gooey, lots of chocolate....how could they not be good?!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE BARS

32 caramels

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 box German chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 package (6 oz). chocolate chips

1 cup nuts (I used pecans)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt caramels with 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Stir by hand the cake mix, melted butter and remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Place 1/2 cake mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 6 minutes.

Remove from oven and while hot, sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle with caramel mixture over the top. Place remaining cake batter over caramel drizzle. (There will not be enough to completely cover so dab "here and there").

Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool, cut and enjoy!

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Grandma's Gingerbread

December 29, 2016 Angela Thorell

Grandma's Gingerbread - a holiday tradition. My recipe is a photo copy out of one of her old cookbooks and I especially love the lead-in description: "Deliciously rich, black and moist. Grandma knew it as "Fort Atkinson Gingerbread" in the popular old brown covered Gold Medal Cook Book that was a treasure trove for brides in the 1870's."

This is not sweet and cake-like, the emphasis is on the bread in gingerbread. In fact, my father likes to eat it buttered just like a slice of bread. It's his favorite....and one of my favorites to make at Christmas.

GINGERBREAD

1/2 cup soft shortening (butter)

2 T sugar

1 egg

1 cup black New Orleans molasses

1 cup boiling water

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Thoroughly mix together the shortening, sugar and egg. Blend in the molasses and boiling water. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon; stir into the wet mixture beating until smooth.

Pour into a well-greased and floured 9" square pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Cut into 3" squares in pan. Keep hot and serve piping hot with sweetened whipped cream or topping of your choice.

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Spice Cookies

December 16, 2016 Angela Thorell

I read Marcus Samuelsson's autobiography, Yes, Chef: A Memoir and was inspired to try recipes from his cookbook Marcus Off Duty. These cookies are his Swedish grandmother's recipe and in the comments he notes her kitchen was one of his favorite places to hang out as a kid. Sounds familiar. In Swedish, Mormor means grandmother.

The first time I made these, I planned to serve when having guests to our home. My oldest son consumed so many I had to hide the rest. If you like a soft, spicy, molasses cookie then this is the recipe for you.

MORMOR'S SPICE COOKIES

Recipe courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson, Marcus Off Duty cookbook.

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 T baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

10 T unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves in a small skillet over medium heat and toast, stirring with wooden spoon until fragrant 2-3 minutes. Immediately scrape the spices into a bowl. Add flour, baking soda, salt and white pepper and whisk to combine.

Beat the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the molasses. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake until the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool, line with fresh parchment and bake rest of cookies.

Store in airtight container for up to 5 days.

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Simple Sugar Cookies

December 14, 2016 Angela Thorell

Simple sugar cookies! I received this recipe from a friend a few years ago and it's become a staple at our house during the holidays. No refrigeration required, easy to roll out and delicious.

Of course, even easier when I do not frost individually but quickly drizzle holiday colors across all of the cookies. Enjoy!

SIMPLE SUGAR COOKIES

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, blending after each addition. Blend in vanilla and lemon juice. Add flour, salt and baking powder. That's it! Roll out and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Decorate as you desire.

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Double Chocolate Crumble Bars

November 11, 2016 Angela Thorell

A fun little gooey, sweet chocolate bar.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE BARS

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

2 T cocoa

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup nuts, optional

2 cups miniature marshmallows

6 oz (1/2 package) chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krisipie cereal

Cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and nuts (if using). Spread into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle on marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes. In large saucepan, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter. Add rice cereal , then spread over top of marshmallows. Refrigerate and cut into bars.

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

September 28, 2016 Angela Thorell

Chocolate and bananas are - to me - a match made in heaven. My family loves banana bread so how could they not love it with the double addition of chocolate? The kitchen was filled with glorious scents, the loaf was cooled just enough, my boys came home from school and refused to even eat a slice. To them, it was simply awful to add chocolate to banana bread and I was crazy to even think it would be good, let alone delicious.

Well, I had to slice into to take the picture so of course I tried the loaf. It is fantastic. So, I begged for them to just give it a try. Nope. Not happening. Clearly I did not need nor want to consume the entire loaf and in a fit of frustration sent a text to a friend that my delicious double chocolate banana bread was going into the trash. The family was willing to rescue the loaf.

I am happy to report they agreed with my assessment - it's a really good combination.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD

Recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour.

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 T Dutch-process cocoa

1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)

1/2 cup cold sour cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - regular or mini-sized

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; lightly grease 9" x 5" loaf pan. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa. In separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in egg; then stir in vanilla, banana and sour cream. Gently mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips until well incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. When finished allow to rest in pan 10 minutes. Turn the bread out onto a rack to cool completely.

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4th of July Cherry Pie

June 30, 2016 Angela Thorell

Happy Independence Day weekend! How can you go wrong with cherry pie on the 4th of July?

Perfect pie crust, rolled out into two rounds. Chill once rolled out. (or your pie crust favorite recipe)

1 cup sugar

2 T arrowroot

2 T cornstarch

2 lbs cherries, pitted. (I used Bing and Rainier).

Fit one of the crust rounds into pie dish, refrigerate. Preheat oven to 425.

Stir sugar, arrowroot and cornstarch together and then add to cherries. Stir mixture and allow to sit for about 15 mins.

Pour cherry mixture into chilled pie crust. Top with second pie crust, feel free to be fancy and make it lattice.

Brush crust with one egg yolk that has been beaten with approx. 1 T milk. Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce oven heat to 350. Bake until cherry juices are bubbly. (A little foil on the crust does this trick if it gets too brown before the cherries are bubbling away.).

Allow to cool for a couple of hours before serving. Highly recommend serving with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

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Triple Chocolate Scotcheroos

June 17, 2016 Angela Thorell

Everybody needs a great no-bake recipe in their arsenal for those "mom, we need to take a dessert" moments. This one is a winner. After taking this to recent outing, I received an email that said "Thanks for bringing those amazing chocolate crispy chunks of deliciousness."

The original recipe notes: These are pretty intense and certainly on the sweet side so bite-sized portions are in order. Agreed!

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE SCOTCHEROOS (recipe compliments of David Lebovitz)

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup Nutella

6 cups rice cereal - a mix of chocolate-flavored and original or simply all chocolate

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Butter or spray a 9x13" pan. In large saucepan, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a full boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, then stir in the peanut butter and Nutella. Mix with the rice cereal until completely coated. Press into the greased pan making sure the top is smooth.

Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in a clean, dry bowl over set over a double boiler or in a microwave, stirring gently until smooth and well blended. Spread over the rice cereal mixture and cool until set.

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Arizona Pineapple Bars

June 3, 2016 Angela Thorell

No clue why they are called Arizona Pineapple Bars...but these are sweet and refreshing, perfect for summer.

ARIZONA PINEAPPLE BARS

2 cup flour

2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple with juice

Grease and flour jelly roll pan. Mix all ingredients together all ingredients, spread batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

4 T butter

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Beat all ingredients together until creamy. Add the chopped nuts if using. Spread on bars when warm.

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Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

March 23, 2016 Angela Thorell

A truly fitting name - these little guys melt in the mouth.

MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

4 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, sugars and oil together. Add eggs - beat until smooth. Add flour, salt, cream of tartar, soda and vanilla. Mix well. Refrigerate dough overnight. Form into walnut-sized balls; place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten cookies with glass dipped in sugar and nutmeg (if using). Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Cool on rack. Yield about 5 dozen cookies.

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Milk Bundt Cake

February 24, 2016 Angela Thorell

This falls into the category of cake my boys love...dense and buttery. It did no last long in our house. In fact, a friend stopped by and when I lifted the cake dome to offer a slice I was greeted by a knife and an empty plate. So, I guess it was good.

MILK BUNDT CAKE

Recipe compliments of cookrepublic.com

12 ½ T unsalted butter, softened

3 eggs

1 cup caster sugar

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bunt pan with butter and dust with flour.

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth and mixed for about 5 to 6 minutes. Pour batter in prepared bunt pan. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove from oven.

Allow cake to cool for several minutes, then tap pan on all sides to loosen cake. Turn it over onto a plate to dislodge the cake from the pan. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.

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Snippy Doodles

January 10, 2016 Angela Thorell

Snippy Doodles? Perhaps these were a precursor to the Snickerdoodle cookie.

Dainty, moist, more cake-like than cookie. Highly recommended with a cup of coffee. Snippety-doo-dah-day!

Snippy Doodles (Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book, 1947)

2 T butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup cake flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

1 well-beaten egg

Thoroughly cream shortening and sugar; add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk and egg. Spread thin in waxed-paper-lined 9" x 13" pan. Bake in moderate oven (350) 15 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and continue baking 10 more minutes. Cut in squares. Serve warm or cold. Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

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Monster Cookies

December 4, 2015 Angela Thorell

Happy National Cookie Day! I've decided to celebrate it with the Monster of all Cookies.

There are many versions of the Monster Cookie. These are the ones from my childhood - loaded with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut M&Ms. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of peanut M&Ms which I find is not enough when making the smaller cookies as each cookie should contain some, right?

MONSTER COOKIES

4 eggs

11 T butter or margarine

2 cup peanut butter

1 2/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

6 cups oatmeal

6 oz. chocolate chips

6 oz. butterscotch chips

1/2 cup peanut M&Ms (or more!)

Cream eggs, margarine, sugars, vanilla and peanut butter. Add baking powder and oatmeal, mix well. Mix in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and M&Ms. Dough can either be shaped into fairly large balls or scooped with cookie scoop.

Bake at 350 on parchment lined or greased cookie sheets for ~12 minutes.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

November 28, 2015 Angela Thorell

A perfect pumpkin bar for all things fall.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 T pumpkin-pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium high until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away form sides of pan and toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 35-40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Lift cake from pan using the foil as an aid. Peel off foil, cut into squares.

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Butter Cake

November 16, 2015 Angela Thorell

As promised: Butter Cake, the decadent cousin to Cheap Cake. This is my sons' all-time favorite cake - simple, not too sweet, clearly rich and buttery. They would eat it morning, noon and night (and probably do behind my back).

BUTTER CAKE (compliments of Cooks Illustrated)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

scant 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened or room temp

1 cup sugar

1 whole large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 375. Butter 9" round cake pan, line bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment. Lightly dust with flour.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add whole egg, yolk, zest and vanilla; beat one minute. At low speed, mix in flour mixture and milk in alternating batches.

Spread batter in cake pan and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool cake in pan ~10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack. When cool, dust with confectioner's sugar.

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Cheap Cake

November 10, 2015 Angela Thorell

The real name is truly Cheap Cake. It's from an old church cookbook compiled by the ladies of Huntley M. E. Church; I'm guessing it dates to the early 1900's. The ads include lunches for 30 cents and phone numbers that are simply two or three digits.

So, with a name like that and the ingredient list how could I not resist giving it a whirl? One of the ingredients is flavor of choice. I added 1 tsp vanilla and orange zest (from one orange), because, after all if the name is cheap it deserves a little zest. The batter resembled one of my boys' favorites cakes: Butter Cake from Cooks Illustrated (which calls for orange zest). When this cake was cooking I compared recipes....hmmm....no wonder one is called cheap and one is called butter. Butter cake recipe coming soon - along with more Huntley Church recipes.

CHEAP CAKE (recipe courtesy Huntley M. E. Church cookbook)

I cup sugar

1 egg

Butter the size of an egg

1 cup milk

1 pt. flour

2 tsp baking powder

Flavoring of any kind.

[That's all folks, no other directions. Recipe was made with softened butter the approximate size of egg. All ingredients were placed in bowl and mixed with electric mixer until smooth. Baked at 350 in 9" round greased and floured cake pan for approximately 30-35 minutes.]

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