Category Archives: Recipes

Chocolate, Desserts

Really Fudgy Hot Fudge Sauce

2 Comments

This fudge sauce is, as advertised, really fudgy as well as thick and smooth – just exactly what fudge sauce should be.   It will make you wonder why you ever wasted any time with Hershey’s syrup.  There is really no comparison.

Source:  my mom, of course

Difficulty:  Easy

½ cup butter

2 ½ squares unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 cup evaporated milk (use 3/4 cup evaporated milk and 1/4 cup whipping cream to really take it up a notch)

½ cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or kahlua or other flavoring of choice)

IMG_1722

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together.  Add the sugar and stir until blended.  Then add the corn syrup and evaporated milk gradually, stirring to incorporate.  Continue stirring over low to medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Then bring to a boil and let boil for 1 ½ to 2 minutes or until a little thinner than you want it to be.  It thickens as it cools – see the difference between the hot and cooled fudge sauce as it runs off the spoon in the pics below.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

IMG_1724

IMG_1725

IMG_1730

Serve warm over ice cream.

IMG_1735

Recipe yields about 3 1/3 cups of fudge sauce.  This fudge sauce can be made weeks ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.  Of course, it will likely suffer some attrition over time if you have a sweet tooth like mine!

The Story:  When I was growing up my mom and her friend started the Christmas tradition of a fudge sauce and peppermint ice cream swap.  My mom would make fudge sauce for both families, and her friend would make homemade peppermint ice cream for both families.  This fudge sauce served warm over any ice cream is excellent, but it really takes it to another level to serve it over homemade peppermint ice cream.

I hesitated to even mention Hershey’s syrup in the description at the top, because really, it doesn’t belong in the same sentence with this fudge sauce. Let’s leave Hershey’s syrup to what it does best – flavor milk.

 

Email this page
Share Button
Breads

Grandmother Sarah’s Rolls

2 Comments

These rolls are fluffy and buttery and versatile – they taste great without toppings, with sweet toppings like honey or jelly, or as a little sandwiches.  They are also great as leftovers – cold, reheated, toasted with a little butter, etc.  I could go on and on, but these are always crowd pleasers.

Source:  family recipe that shows up at just about every family gathering

Difficulty:  Medium (no need to be afraid of dealing with yeast) 

Time Required:  you need a few hours one evening and a few hours the next day (this includes rising times)

Quantity:  one 13”x17 ¾” pan full of rolls, plus a few extra rolls

½ cup sugar

½ cup shortening

1 Tablespoon salt

2 cups whole milk, scalded

2 packages dry yeast (or 4 ½ teaspoons yeast)

½ cup warm water

2 cups all purpose flour + more as needed (buy a small (2 lb) bag of flour and don’t use quite all of it)

Melted butter

Scald milk in heavy saucepan or in microwave until tiny bubbles form around rim of milk in pan.  Pour over shortening, sugar and salt in mixing bowl.  Stir until dissolved.  Let rest until warm to touch.

Meanwhile, stir the dry yeast into warm water (warmer than body temperature, but not unpleasantly hot) in a medium sized bowl.  Add a sprinkle of sugar to feed the yeast.  It will begin to bubble and grow showing you that it is alive.

When milk mixture has cooled to lukewarm, stir in yeast mixture.  With mixer running on low speed or stirring by hand, add about two cups flour.  When this is blended add more flour gradually.  When you have added enough flour the dough will pull away from the spoon.  Test by scooping up dough and turning spoon or rubber spatula upside down over your bowl.  If the dough drops off and leaves your spatula or spoon almost clean, then you have added enough flour.

Allow dough to rise covered with waxed paper or saran wrap until doubled in bulk.   Stir down and store, covered tightly, in refrigerator until ready to roll out (up to 24 hours.)

When ready to roll out, stir dough down and spoon some out onto well floured surface.  Pat with flour and gently roll out to about ¼ inch thickness.  Cut with biscuit cutter, dip both sides in melted butter, and place on rimmed cookie sheet, folding over to make pocketbook shape.  Try to get as many rolls out of each time you roll it out as possible, since the quality of the rolls will decrease with every roll-out as more flour gets pressed into the dough.  I use a ½ size jelly roll pan (13×17¾ inches).  Nestle rolls fairly close together.  Cover with waxed paper and a dishtowel on top of the waxed paper.  I like to use my lidded quarter or half sheet pans for this.  Let rise for 2 hours, or until doubled.  To determine if they’re risen enough, poke on with your finger.  If after a few minutes the dent is still there, the rolls are ready to be baked.

Bake at 425 degrees (400 convection) for about 13-15 minutes, or until browned on top and bottom.

IMG_0519

Freezing:  These rolls freeze well after they are baked.  After they are completely cooled, wrap them in foil and seal the edges tightly.  They can be made and frozen for several weeks before you need them.  Thaw on the counter (still wrapped tightly in foil so that the condensation does not get on the rolls).  Then reheat for 5-10 minutes at 425 degrees (400 convection), opening the foil a little for the last few minutes.

The Story:  I have so many memories tied to these rolls, since we have them at every family gathering.  No one will let my aunt forget the Thanksgiving when she chose to let the rolls rise outside… and of course, they never rose in the cool air.  And I won’t let my mom forget the time she forgot the salt… that tablespoon is VERY important.  My uncle makes them with a larger biscuit cutter than the rest of us and calls his version “Less Embarrassing Rolls,” since you don’t have to eat quite as many.

Email this page
Share Button
Cakes, Desserts

Pumpkin Cake

Leave a comment

What’s not to like about this pumpkin-shaped cake?  It doesn’t require a huge amount of effort, and it’s a Halloween treat that looks and tastes great.  Note:  there is no pumpkin flavor in the cake or the frosting.

Where I got the idea: a picture on Pinterest (the link did not work)

What I like about this recipe:  It’s really cute (and seasonal) without requiring a huge amount of effort, and it tastes great as well.

Difficulty:  Medium

 

The Recipes

Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake (1 recipe cooked in 2 6-cup bundt pans)

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/grandmother-sarahs-pound-cake/

Buttercream Frosting (make 2x this recipe)

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/buttercream-frosting/

 

The Process

Cake:  Bake one recipe of Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake divided into two small bundt pans.  Let cool on cooling racks.  If the bottoms of your cakes (top while they’re in the pans) are rounded, cut most of this off to get the desired pumpkin shape when the cakes are placed on top of each other bottom to bottom.

IMG_1702

IMG_1703

Frosting: Make 2x the Buttercream Frosting recipe, using a little less milk than it suggests since you’ll be adding quite a bit of moisture with the food coloring.  I used Wilton orange food coloring and next time will add some yellow food coloring to make it closer to a real pumpkin color.

IMG_1704

Pulling it all together:  Place one cake upside down on your cake plate with several strips of wax paper tucked under the edges to catch extra frosting.  Frost the top of this cake (actually the bottom of the cake that is facing up) and place the other cake on top of the icing.  Next ice the cake with a thin layer of icing (a “crumb layer”) to seal the crumbs.  Then ice the cake, using extra icing in the hole in the center, while still leaving room for your stem.  Use upward strokes on the frosting to create the look of a grooved pumpkin.  Cut a bunch of chocolate twizzlers to the desired height (they can be tall enough to rest on your cake plate), and place them in the middle for the stem.  Touch up the frosting around the stem and add twizzlers to the edges to cover up any frosting that has gotten onto the twizzlers.

pumpkin cake

 

IMG_1716

The Story:  I saw this on Pinterest the week before Halloween and just HAD to try it.  So I made it for book club and served it with ice cream and fudge sauce.  It was a hit both at book club and at the office as leftovers.

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/really-fudgy-hot-fudge-sauce/

 

 

Email this page
Share Button
Desserts, Frostings

Buttercream Frosting

2 Comments

This is an excellent basic buttercream frosting recipe that I use to frost cinnamon rolls as well as cakes…and sometimes just eat it with a spoon!

Difficulty:  Easy

1 pound powdered sugar (sifted if you’re adding food coloring)

1 stick salted butter (softened)

¼ cup milk

A splash of vanilla

A couple of shakes from the salt shaker

Place ingredients in mixer bowl, and beat until fluffy.

IMG_1587

Email this page
Share Button
Chocolate, Desserts, Frostings

French Silk Frosting

2 Comments

The search for your favorite chocolate frosting recipe is now over!  This is far and away the best chocolate frosting I have ever eaten.   

Difficulty:  Easy

Source:  as with so many recipes, my mom

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

3 ounces melted and cooled unsweetened chocolate*

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cognac

3 tablespoons milk

*The most important (and easiest to botch) part of this recipe is melting the chocolate without cooking/burning it.  If when you mix the chocolate into the mixture, you have tiny chocolate pieces all throughout, you overheated the chocolate.  The frosting will still taste pretty good.  It will just not be homogeneous and won’t taste as great as it would have tasted.

In mixer bowl, blend sugar, butter, and vanilla on low speed.  Then add melted chocolate and cognac.  Gradually add milk.  Beat on high speed until smooth and fluffy.  The frosting gets lighter colored when it is fluffy enough.

The Story:  Our family refers to this as “Don’s First Birthday Frosting,” since that was the first time my mom used this recipe.  Don is the dad of the 2 year old whose birthday cake was the train cake, so we’ve been using this frosting recipe for quite a long time.  When a friend of mine tried this frosting (and learned the name of it), she said, “Tell Don I’m SO thankful he was born!”

This pic is of my godson’s third birthday cake.  So far each year I’ve changed the cake shape but never the frosting!

IMG_0262

Email this page
Share Button
Cakes, Desserts

Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake

Leave a comment

Grandmother Sarah’s recipe makes an excellent basic pound cake.

Difficulty:  Easy to Medium (lots of sifting and some folding)

2 ¾ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

6 eggs, separated and at room temperature

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

3 cups flour, sifted

¼ teaspoon soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon almond flavoring (if you don’t like almond, just double the vanilla)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar.  Add yolks of eggs one at a time.  Sift flour with salt three times.  Seriously, the recipe calls for this – just think of your own grandmother as you sift again and again.  Mix sour cream and soda.  Alternate sour cream and flour into butter sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing just until ingredients disappear.   (I sift the flour onto a piece of waxed paper and then divide it into four sections so I can get the amounts right when adding to creamed mixture.)  Add flavoring.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but still moist and fold in by hand.  (I use a handheld mixer for this.  Do not do this step first because they will begin to separate while you are creaming the butter, etc.)  Pour into greased pan and bake at 350 (325 convection) for 50 minutes or so.  If you’re splitting the batter into more than one pan, check before 50 minutes.  Test for doneness by inserting toothpick in center of cake.  It should come out clean.

pound cake batter
I used two 6 cup bundt pans.

IMG_1702

Email this page
Share Button
Cakes, Desserts

Train Cake

Leave a comment

This cake provides the wow factor for kids and adults alike.  If you need a birthday cake for someone who likes trains, this cake is for you – it was quite the hit!

Where I got the idea:  http://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplibrary/birthdays/train-birthday-party

Difficulty:  Labor intensive but worth it for a little one who loves trains

Recipes:

Grandmother Sarah’s Pound Cake (cooked in 5 mini loaf pans)

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/grandmother-sarahs-pound-cake/

French Silk Frosting (for engine)

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/french-silk-frosting/

Buttercream Frosting (for train cars)

http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/buttercream-frosting/

 

The Process

Cakes:  Make Grandmother’s Pound Cake (or your favorite pound cake) batter.  We used pound cake so it would be less flimsy and easier to work with than regular yellow cake.  Spread batter into 5 greased mini loaf pans (5.75”x3.25”) and one cleaned out corn can (we used a can that held corn and sprayed it with Pam).  Turn out onto cooling rack once the cakes have cooled for about 10 minutes.

Once the cakes have cooled, you’re ready to make your engine.  Cut a rectangular sized chunk out of one of the cakes by cutting about halfway lengthwise and cutting down about halfway so that you still have the entire bottom portion of the cake but the top only has about 1/3 of its original part.  You are going to place the cake baked in the corn can on its side in the place of the piece you cut out of this cake.  You may want to cut the bottom part of the chunk in a curve so that the corn can part will nestle nicely into place.  Use a dab of icing to secure the corn can cake in place.  Then place the part you cut out of the cake on top of the remaining top at the back of the engine.  A dab of frosting will help this stay in place.

Now your train cars and engine are ready to be frosted.

photo 1

Frosting:  Make one recipe of French Silk Frosting and 2 recipes of Buttercream Frosting.  If you don’t want to make French Silk but still want chocolate for the engine, make a third recipe of Buttercream frosting and add cocoa to taste.  You may need to add a little more milk as you add the cocoa.  Divide the Buttercream frosting into fourths and place into bowls to add the food coloring.  I used Wilton gel food coloring from Michael’s.  Just keep adding coloring until the frosting gets to your desired color.

Frost the train cars.  If your cakes are a little rounded on top, you can cut the rounded part off and flip the cakes before frosting.  It can be frustrating to frost the cut sides of cake.  We did not cut the rounded parts off our cakes, and you can see ours are a bit rounded.

Spread frosting on sides, going from the bottom to the top as you go around the cake.  As you do this, form a little rim of frosting above the top edge of the cake.  Last, spread remaining frosting over the top.  Having that little rim of frosting sticking up keeps the cake from looking like it is drooping its shoulders.

IMG_1594Iced train cars

Board:  Place the cake pans on the counter in desired arrangement to measure the size board you will need.  We used a wooden board covered in foil.  You could also use wrapping paper to cover the board and then cover that with saran wrap.

For the tracks, we used chocolate Twizzlers held in place by small dabs of French Silk Frosting.  We put the cross ties on top of the rails (opposite of real train tracks) to make it easier to keep everything in place.

photo 3

Pulling it all together:  Place the frosted train cars on the tracks, and then decorate the cars.  We used red and yellow Twizzlers for borders on the top and different candies to top each car.  Our wheels are gummy Life Savers and peach gummy candies for the bigger wheels on the engine.  The light on the front of the engine is a Dot, and the top of the engine is paved with mini Kit Kats.  The smoke stack is a stack of two Rolos.  The cow-catcher (a term I learned during the making of this cake) on the front of the engine is made of chocolate Twizzlers.  Enjoy!

IMG_1600 train cake IMG_1642

The Story:  My mom and I volunteered to make the cake for my nephew’s second birthday, and we had a few days to plan but only one evening to make it happen.  Having several older nieces and nephews who are “over” the magic of some of these things, I knew it is only for a few years of a child’s life that a birthday cake can be truly magical.  So we wanted to find something fun for us to make that would be magical for him.  I found a few ideas on the internet (see link above), and the train was our favorite.  But we wanted to change the engine, so we got to work on planning.  My dad was consulting engineer and all-around helper, not to mention both bowl-licker and bowl-cleaner.

Email this page
Share Button