Cherry Cobble Cake

This is one of those lovely little cakey things that work so nicely as a dessert or as a breakfast coffee cake.

I love cherries, and so this was a natural for me.

You could use either frozen sweet cherries or canned sweet cherries.

Don’t use the cherry pie filling.

As a matter of fact, don’t use any kind of pie filling ever. It’s not good.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can of sweet cherries in juice or 1 bag of frozen cherries, thawed (place in a sieve and drain, SAVING the juice)
• 1 3/4 c flour
• the juice (up to 1/4 c)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 lg eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c sugar
• 5 tbsp butter, softened
• 4 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 c cream
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 c flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Grease a 12 x 12 pan, or similar size pan. Pre-heat oven to 350°.
2. In a mixer, beat together the cream cheese, 5 tbsp butter, sugar, and eggs, until fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla, and the cherry juice, blend.
4. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, whisking together.
5. Alternately add the flour and the cream until all incorporated.
6. Spoon into the pan. Then put the cherries on top, and press lightly, about half way into the batter.
7. Make the topping by combining the flour, rest of the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. (while cake is baking)
8. Bake for about 35 minutes. Check with a skewer for doneness.
9. Add the topping dotting the top, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or less if the cake is pretty well done. Just turn off oven and leave cake in, until topping soft. Spread it with a knife around the top.

Serves: 9

NOTES: It might be nice to add some toasted almond slices on the top after it comes out of the oven.  

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Pucker Up Lemon Meringue Pie

This is one of my most favorite pies. It is so tart, and yet so deliciously smooth. The meringue beautifully offsets the intense lemon flavor.

I have been using this recipe for years, and other than an occasional Lemon Chiffon pie, this is the only one I ever use.

There is NO substitute here for real lemons. Don’t buy that terrible bottled lemon juice. It’s unfit for man and beast alike. In fact, no animal would touch it.

Pies are more labor intensive I guess than cakes are, but the rewards are great.

This recipe is essentially no fail as long as you follow the directions.

And enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 /2 recipe of Primary Pie Crust
• 1 1/4 c sugar
• 1/3 c cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1/2 c strained fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
• 2-3 tsp grated lemon zest
• 4 lg egg yolks
• 2-3 tbsp butter, cubed
• 1 recipe of Marvelous Meringue Topping

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Make a half recipe of Primary Pie Crust, and cool in the fridge for 30 min.
2. Roll out and bake as directed in  Pre-Baked Pie Crust.
3. Reset the oven to 325°
4. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Add the water and lemon juice and zest and whisk.
5. Whisk in the egg yolks and the butter, as the mixture comes up to a low simmer, cooking for one minute  after it begins to just boil.
6. Mixture will be very thick.
7. Pour into the baked pie crust. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and proceed to the Meringue recipe.
8. When meringue is made, spread it on top, anchoring along the edges.
9. Bake for 20 minutes. Place on a rack to cool, and then refrigerate.

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Apricot Bundt Cake With Almond Dust

I feel like I’m delivering a present.

Because I am!

This recipe is simply divine. And all the credit goes to Traci Bentz who posted it at JustAPinch. I tweaked it just a little bit, mostly due to what I had on hand and what I didn’t.

It was so moist, and lovely. It is huge, and heavy, and it makes a bit more batter than you can fit in, and it takes a bit longer to cook, and well, it’s worth it!

The picture doesn’t do it credit, since our camera photo program doesn’t interface with this computer, so this is a google image. So imagine the whole top covered in sliced almonds and you have it.

So make this for New Years. Make it. Trust me. You’re welcome!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c sugar
• 1 c butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 6 eggs
• 1 c sour cream
• 1/2 c apricot nectar (comes in a six-pack in my store)
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp rum extract
• 2/3 c of dried apricots, diced small
• 2/3 of a 18 oz jar of apricot preserves
• 3 c flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

GLAZE:

• balance of the apricot preserves
• 1/2- 1 c apricot nectar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 oz bag of sliced almonds

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 325° Generously butter and flour a large bundt pan. (Frankly I think canola oil might be better, I’ve read that butter releases its water and doesn’t release near as good as either oil or vegetable shortening)
2. Cream together the butter and the sugar in a standard mixer until creaming and fluffy. Add each egg, one and a time, and mix in well. Add everything up to through the preserves. (Note that Traci used 1 tsp lemon extract and 1 tsp almond extract in place of my zest and rum extract).
3. Whisk the baking soda into the flour and then add in small increments until all incorporated in the batter. Then beat for about one minute.
4. Pour it into the pan. (My bundt was full to almost the top. It doesn’t rise too much, but it did rise over the top, and when it settles down after it cools, it stuck on one side, making it break the rim when it was turned out. Other than presentation, it was fine. So I would make sure that you don’t fill beyond a one inch margin at the top. Put the rest in a small buttered ramekin and try to bake it off as well if you wish.
5. Bake for 80-90 minutes. (it took me an additional 15) until wooden skewer comes out clean. Let sit for 20 minutes and then turn out onto a serving dish. Cool completely.
6. For the glaze: Place the remaining preserves into a saucepan and add about 1/3c or so of the nectar. Heat, and then add 1 tbsp of cornstarch, cook until it thickens and then add as much nectar as you wish to thin it down to the consistency you wish.
7. Prick some holes into the top the of cake and pour about 1/2 c of nectar around the top, then pour on the apricot glaze. You will have a pretty generous amount. Then just sprinkle on the almonds. They stick nicely.

Serves: 10 at least.

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Sweet Apple Fritters

Apple fritters are pretty easy to make. Recipes don’t vary that much.

So just follow a few tips and you should have some delightful morsels to indulge in.

I prefer mine for breakfast, but that’s me. You can eat them as a dessert just as well, and they make a fine finger food for holiday plates.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 c of chopped firm apples, peeled and cored. (I’d opt for smaller dice (about 1/2″)
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 lg egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• powdered sugar and additional milk for a glaze, or just the sugar for dusting
• Oil for deep-frying (at least 1 inch deep). Use a smaller cast iron skillet and work in small batches.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk.
2. Mix the egg, vanilla and 1/3 c of the milk–retain the rest if the batter is too dry
3. Add the wet to the dry and mix with a fork until batter is formed. Then add apples.
4. Mix lightly, adding additional milk to loosen if necessary.
5. Heat oil to about 375°.
6. You need to cook for about 4 minutes. So take a 1/2 tsp of the batter (sans any apples) and drop in the oil. If it sizzles and floats and doesn’t brown to quickly, you’re good to go. Otherwise either wait longer or turn the heat down. I find on an electric stove, about medium works best.
7. Use a ice-cream scoop for ease, and drop by scoops into the oil. Turn over when browned well on one side and remove when finished on the other. (About 3-4 minutes is needed to cook the apples and cook the batter on the inside)
8. Place on paper towelling to drain.
9. When cooled, either dust with powdered sugar, or make a loose glaze of powdered sugar, and a bit of milk. Dunk them in the glaze, fish out with a skewer and place on wire rack or plate to dry up.

Serves: You are really asking me that?

Leftovers can be reheated in a warm stove for a few minutes. Glazes will melt off but you can redust with powdered sugar. Like there will be any leftovers!

 

Be A Kid Again Jello Salad

Don’t start. I know this is so grade school, so 50′s. But it holds fond memories for me. It was the salad my mother made for Thanksgiving or Christmas, and it subs as dessert. And those holidays were the best when I was a kid.

What is more to the point, is that it is utterly adaptable to whatever fruit or nuts you like.

Explore the jello aisle, pick your poison, and then hop over to fruits and go wild. Mix and match as the holiday dictates or the tummy yearns for.

This is kid-friendly, and you know you sophisticated types sneak it when nobody is looking. So indulge!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 3 oz boxes of jello of your choice
• 1 pt. vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup fruit of your choice
• 1/2 c nuts of your choice
• 1 c miniature marshmallows

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dissolve the jello in 2 cups of boiling water.
2. Add the ice cream and melt, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place in fridge for about 45 minutes. Take out and stir (it wants to separate)
4. Continue to do this until it starts to thicken.
5. Add the rest of your ingredients.
6. Stir. Place in a mold if you desire. ( I never bother)
7. Place in fridge until set.

Serves: 10

Possible choices:

• lime jello, pineapple, walnuts
• cherry jello, cherries, almonds
• orange jello, mandarin oranges, pecans
• peach jello, peaches, walnuts
• tropical jello, mangos or papaya, macadamia nuts
• clear jello, strawberries and blueberries, walnuts
• raspberry jello, raspberries, almonds

 

Awesome Peach Cobbler

Of all the fruit desserts I can think of, I think I like peach cobbler the best.

And, mostly I like mine slightly undercooked and gooey. Jamie Owensby at JustaPinch had the perfect recipe for me.

If you like yours a bit more cakey or biscuity, then this is probably not your first choice. This is childishly goo, if you get my drift.

I am giving the recipe substantially as written, just reducing the butter a tiny bit, and I think the juices some too. It won’t affect the taste, which is so so good.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 29 oz can sliced peaches, remove 1/4 c of the juices (can use fresh peaches or frozen but defrost if frozen)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 c milk
• 1/3 c water
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 Tbsp butter melted
• cinnamon and nutmeg to dust the top

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches with remaining juice, the 2 tbsp butter, the initial cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add to the peaches. Mix and set aside.
4. In another bowl combine the milk and sugar, then add the flour, baking powder and salt, mixing with a whisk until batter is smooth. It will be fairly thin.
5. Place the 6 tbsp of melted butter in a 9 x 13 pan, and swirl to cover the bottom. Pour in the batter, and then with a ladle, spoon the peaches in. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and nutmeg.
6. Place in oven for at least an hour. (mine took 1 hr and 10 minutes, and I still wasn’t sure it was done!) Knife should come out substantially clean when dipped into the center.

Serves: well that is a problem isn’t it. Depends on how much you like peach cobbler. But should feed six.  

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PineApple Upside Down Cake

Well, let me tell ya. I haven’t made a pineapple upside down cake in decades. Literally.

I recall my mother made them. I am more a frosting kinda girl, so I pretty much dropped it off my repertoire. Until.

Until I joined Justapinch and started seeing recipes in large doses, and saw this one, and just had to try it. And it was amazingly good.

So, now I found another recipe in Cook’s Illustrated, which calls for fresh pineapple and one of these days I’ll make it too, and let you know, if fresh is better than canned. For now, just weep over this, and bring out the whipped cream if you dare.

This recipe is Teresa Dilbert’s and can be found here. I reduced the sugar a bit, but that’s all.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/3 sticks of butter
• 1 c brown sugar
• 1 20 oz can pineapple slices
• Maraschino cherries
• 1/2 – 2/3 c chopped pecans
• 1 1/3 sticks of butter
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cinnamon
• 1/2 nutmeg
• 1 c buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using a cast iron skillet (12 inch), melt the first 1 1/3 c of butter. When melted add the brown sugar and stir until all melted in. Take off the heat.
2. Place the pineapple slices around and one in the middle and then add a cherry in the center of each. Scatter the pecans around.
3. In your mixer, place softened 1 1/3 sticks of butter and the white sugar. Cream until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and fully incorporate. Add the vanilla and mix in.
4. Add together all the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk. Then add alternately to the mixer batter, the dry ingredients and the buttermilk.
5. When mixed, using a spatula to push the batter into the skillet over the pineapple. Use a frosting off-set spatula to spread it around evenly. (Batter is fairly thick)
6. Place in a 350° oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

Serves: 8

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