INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
300g whole milk
300g heavy whipping cream
25g sugar
400g dark chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, and sugar; place over simmering double boiler. Heat mixture whisking constantly until the mixture reaches 168ºF (75ºC). Remove from heat and whisk in dark chocolate until fully melted and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap touching surface and refrigerate overnight.
The not so German, German Chocolate Cake is an American creation. The recipe comes from a Texas homemaker, Mrs. Clay, whose cake recipe calling for German’s Sweet Chocolate was published in the Dallas Morning News in 1957.
German’s Sweet Chocolate was created in 1852 by Samuel German (an American baker of English descent) for Baker’s Chocolate Company. Originally the cake was called German’s Chocolate Cake, but eventually the ’s was dropped from the name.
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
1 pkg (4 oz) Baker’s German sweet chocolate
½ cup water
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
Frosting:
4 egg yolks
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1½ tsp vanilla
1½ cups sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter
1 pkg (about 2⅔ cups) coconut
1½ cups pecans, chopped
DIRECTIONS
Cake: Preheat oven to 350º. Cover bottom of 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; grease sides of pans. Microwave chocolate and water in large microwavable bowl on high for 1½ to 2 minutes, or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after each minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.
Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, betting well after each addition. Blend in melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.
Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Pour evenly into greased pans.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Immediately run small metal spatula around cake layers. Cool in pans for 15 minutes; remove layers from pans to wire racks. Discard wax paper. Cool cake layers completely.
Frosting: Beat egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large sauce pan with whisk until well blended; add sugar and butter. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 12 minutes or until thickened and golden brown. Remove from heat; add coconut and nuts. Mix well and cool. (We often use a double batch of frosting!)
Spread filling and frosting between layers and onto top of cake. Makes 16 servings.
NOTE: If using a box cake mix, prepare according to directions, but substitute melted butter for oil, increasing the amount by ½ cup. Substitute milk for water and reduce amount by ¼ cup. Add 2 extra eggs.
INGREDIENTS:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
DIRECTIONS:
Remove label from can and place unopened can in Instant Pot. Add water to cover can. Process on high for 30 minutes. Allow Instant Pot to cool naturally. Remove can and continue to cool until warm to touch. Open can and place contents in bowl; whisk and serve.
This recipe came from Joyce Updegraff, our neighbor two doors to the west of our home on Tudor Street.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups apples (chopped)
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup flour
1 cup pecans, chopped
DIRECTIONS
Mix together apples and egg. Stir in oil, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix in flour. Add chopped nuts and pour into an 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 350º for 35 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
Rolls
1 cup water
1 cup milk
½ cup butter
2 tbsp yeast (instant)
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
4 eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten with fork
8-10 cups flour
butter, softened
brown sugar
cinnamon
Frosting
1 pkg (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
⅛ tsp salt
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Rolls
Combine water and milk to a saucepan and heat to near boiling. Pour water/milk mixture into bowl of stand mixer; melt in butter. Add sugar and salt; mix to dissolve. Mix in 4 cups of flour; check temperature (should be approximately 99°). Mix in yeast; add eggs. Mix in 4-6 cups flour, until is elastic, and not sticky. Knead for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove dough to an oiled bowl. Roll dough over to coat and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray; allow to rise in a warm place until dough has doubled in size. Punch down; divide in half.
Roll out two rectangles of dough to ⅓ to ½ inch in thickness. Rub softened butter over dough; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll and slice into rolls and place on large baking sheet lined with parchment, release foil, or silpat. Let rise a second time covered with a plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. When doubled, bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Frosting
In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter. Mix in salt, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
INGREDIENTS
Pâte à Choux Pastry
1 cup water
½ cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
4 eggs
Custard Filling
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 egg yolks (or 2 eggs), beaten
2 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)
Chocolate Icing
1 square unsweetened chocolate (1 oz)
1 tsp butter
1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
2 tbsp boiling water
DIRECTIONS
Pâte à Choux Pastry
Preheat oven to 400º. In saucepan, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Add flour in one installment; stir vigorously over medium heat until mixture no longer sticks to the side of the pan and forms a ball (about 1 minute). Remove from heat. By hand, beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat until mixture is smooth and velvety. Drop from spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.1 Bake until dry (approximately 45-50 minutes). Allow to cool slowly. Makes eight puffs.
Cut cooled pastries, fill with Custard Filling and ice with Chocolate Icing.
Custard Filling
In a saucepan, mix sugar, salt, and flour; stir in milk. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir a little more than half of this mixture into beaten egg yolks. Blend into hot mixture and bring just to boiling point. Cool and blend in vanilla.
Chocolate Icing
Over a double boiler, melt together chocolate and butter. Remove from double boiler; blend in sugar and water. Stir until smooth but not stiff.
Notes:
1 For Éclairs, place pâte à choux pastry dough in a pastry bag and pipe 12 fingers approximately 1-inch wide and 4-inches long. Bake as above; fill with custard and frost with chocolate icing.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups brown sugar
1 ⅔ cups flour
½ cup butter, melted
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients and spread evenly into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Bake at 350º until the top is dry and edges begin to pull away from the sides (25 minutes). Remove from oven and cool completely before slicing.
Ginger Cranberry Bars
½ tsp ginger powder
¼ cup crystallized ginger, chopped
¾ cup dried cranberries, chopped
8oz white chocolate chips
Crust
2 cubes butter, melted
1½ cups flour
1 cup pecans, chopped
Combine ingredients and spread in 9×13 cake pan; bake 20 minutes at 400º, cool.
1st layer
1 pkg (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cool whip
Fold together and let set for a few minutes; spread carefully on crust.
2nd layer
1 pkg (6 oz) instant chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
Mix as per instructions on box. Be sure to use only 2 cups milk; spread on first layer.
3rd layer
1 pkg (6 oz) instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
Mix as per instructions on box. Be sure to use only 2 cups milk; spread on first layer.
4th layer
1 cup cool whip (or more)
Spread Cool Whip vanilla layer; top with shavings from Hershey’s chocolate bar. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours.
INGREDIENTS
Filling
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
4 tbsp butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 lg egg
2 tbsp flour
2 tsp vanilla
Cake
1 pkg red velvet cake mix
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
½ cup water
½ cup oil
Frosting
1 pkg (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
In stand mixer, make cream cheese filling by beating cream cheese, butter and sugar until fluffy (+/- 2 minutes). Mix in egg, flour and vanilla; beat until smooth and set aside. Mix all cake ingredients. Pour half of the cake batter into greased bundt cake pan. Top with cream cheese filling, leaving about a 1″ cake border around the edge. Pour remaining cake batter into bundt pan. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing from pan. Combine frosting ingredients. Drizzle over cake.
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays, and our neighborhood on Tudor Street knew how to do Halloween right. Each year the parents got together to organize a haunted celebration for the kids. The annual party included a spook alley, games, and traditional neighbor treats–we all have great memories. Grandma’s homemade popcorn balls were a big hit every year!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup white corn syrup
⅓ cup water
¼ lb butter
¾ tsp vanilla
¾ tsp salt
3 to 4 quarts popcorn, popped
DIRECTIONS
Boil until soft ball stage (in cold water); add vanilla and pour over pepped corn and make into balls. Wrap balls in wax paper and put in brown paper bag to store.
This Sweet Potato Pie is a modified version of Grandma Lena’s Southern Sweet Potatoes.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs beaten
½ cup butter melted
½ cup half-and-half
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp cloves (optional)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1 uncooked pie crust
DIRECTIONS
Place pie crust in pie tin. Combine remaining ingredients; pour into pie crust. Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
1 pkg chocolate cake
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
½ cup water
½ cup oil
1½ cups chocolate chips
Frosting:
1 pkg (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1½ cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Mix all cake ingredients except chocolate chips. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into a greased bundt cake pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing.
INGREDIENTS
1 box (18.25 oz) devil’s food cake mix
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl, stir (by hand) dry cake mix, oil and eggs until a dough is formed. Scrape onto parchment paper; wrap and chill for 3 hours. Dust hands with confectioners sugar and roll dough into small balls (+/-1 inch). Double roll balls in confectioners sugar and place spaced about 2 inches apart on uncreased cookie sheets. Bake for +/-7 minutes or until center is just set. Cool for a minimum of one minute before placing on wire racks to cool.
NOTES
Betty Crocker Super Moist cake mix works best. Larger cookies will crinkle more but will require a longer baking time. Allowing rolled dough balls to sit for a few minutes prior to double rolling in confectioners sugar works best for coating the cookies.
INGREDIENTS
Cake:
2 eggs
1¼ cup sugar
½ cup oil
½ tsp cinnamon
1½ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1½ cup zucchini, grated
Frosting:
½ cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
Cake:
Beat eggs; add sugar, oil and cinnamon. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to eggs. Stir in zucchini. Place in a 8×8 baking dish and bake at 350º for 30 to 35 minutes.
Frosting:
Use mixer to combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar.
INGREDIENTS
2¼ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ginger powder
¾ cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
DIRECTIONS
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl cream oil and sugar; beat in egg and add molasses. Pour in dry ingredients and mix well. Roll dough into small balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or on release foil) and bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing cookies from cookie sheet.
(Updated 21 Dec 2018)
INGREDIENTS
Box Cake Mix
Eggs
Butter
Milk
DIRECTIONS
Prepare box cake with the following changes:
Change 1: Add 1-2 more eggs than box instructs
Change 2: Replace oil with double the amount of melted butter
Change 3: Use water instead of milk
Bake as directed on the box
This amazingly easy recipe uses a sous-vide bath with a mason jar to cook cheesecake to the perfect temperature.
INGREDIENTS
32-oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
6 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
DIRECTIONS
Prepare sous-vide using a pot deep enough to submerge a 1 gallon mason jar; preheat water to 80˚C.
Place cream cheese, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process again until all ingredients are fully incorporated and no chunks remain. Stir in buttermilk. Pour contents into a 1 gallon mason jar; hand tighten lid.
Submerge filled mason jar in heated sous-vide bath and cook for 90 minutes; remove from bath and cool. Spoon into bowls and serve with slightly crushed Golden Grahams cereal (omit for GF) and your topping of choice.
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup water
2 cups sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
½ tsp red food coloring
1 tsp cinnamon flavoring
6-8 apples
DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients except apples. Bring to boil over high heat; reduce heat to medium-high and boil until temperature reaches 290°. Push wooden sticks into clean, dry apples and dip apples into mixture to coat. Place on silpat to cool.
This tastes a lot like apple cobbler and is a great way to use some of the zucchini from the garden.
Filling:
12 cups zucchini (seeded, peeled and sliced)
1 cup lemon juice
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
Crust:
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cold butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pecans, crushed (optional)
Filling:
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, cook zucchini and lemon juice for +/-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is tender. Add remaining filling ingredients; cook for five minutes. Set aside.
Crust:
Combine flour and sugar; cut in butter. Stir 3/4 cup into zucchini mixture. Press half of the curst mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Spread zucchini mixture over crust. In remaining crust mixture, stir in pecans (optional) and sprinkle over zucchini mixture. Dust with cinnamon.
Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup apple cider syrup
In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly combine salt, and spices; set aside.
Coat a 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on opposite sides to lift the caramels out. Spray the parchment as well.
In a 4+ qt saucepan, combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, sugar, butter and apple cider syrup. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and continue cooking without stirring until the mixture reaches 248˚; remove from heat and stir in spice mixture. Pour caramel into prepared pan; cool completely at room temperature.
Remove caramels from pan and cut into squares; wrap in parchment paper to store.