Heath Bar Cake

Mel from Mel's Kitchen Cafe posted this Monday.  I called my husband on his way home from the gym to stop and buy the Heath bars so I could make this cake that night.  It sounded that good to me.  And it did taste as good as it looked on Mel's blog.  Oh it was one of the best tasting cakes I've ever made or eaten.  My favorite parts were the edges of the cake but honestly all parts of this cake were great.  I used six candy bars since I love Heath bars.  Also I had a little bit of caramel sauce leftover from banana splits the night before so I threw some of that on top before baking.  Overall it was a great cake and one that I'm drooling just thinking about it again.

Also don't forget to enter into the contest I am having here.


Heath Bar Cake
Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe


1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 (1.4 ounces each) chocolate covered toffee bars (like Heath), chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, flour and butter. Crumble these ingredients together with a pastry blender, whisk or two forks until the mixture is crumbly and coarse. Remove 1/2 cup of the crumbs to a small bowl and set aside. To the large bowl with the remaining crumbs, add the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to the edges. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the reserved crumbs and chopped Heath bars. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is no longer gooey but a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. The cake may fall slightly in the center leaving the edges raised. No fear! It will still be delicious.

Pear Pie with Streusel Topping and Caramel Sauce

This turned out to be a really yummy tasting pie. It was simple to make and since it uses refrigerator dough it easy for even those who haven't made a pie before. My streusel had a few problems relating to three little boys who were helping so trust me there is streusel on the pie you just can't see much in the picture. Also I used two eight inch frozen pie shells so my pie wasn't as thick as the recipe calls for. I used the frozen cause it was what I had on hand. Overall everyone who tasted the pie loved it. It's a nice change from the typical pumpkin or apple pie that dominates the holiday season. It's also perfect when you have oodles of pears on hand like I did when I made this pie.

Pear Pie with Streusel Topping and Caramel Sauce
Cooking Light Magazine Nov. 2008

Pie
3 ounces all purpose flour, divided (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 medium firm pears, peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick wedges
1/2 (15 ounce) package refrigerated pie dough
cooking spray
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Sauce
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
To prepare pie, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 1/2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a larger bowl. Add juice, and pears to flour mixture; toss gently to coat. Roll dough into an 11 inch circle; fit dough into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under and flute. Arrange pear mixture in an even layer in prepared crust.
Combine remaining 1 1/2 ounce (about 1/3 cup) flour and 1/3 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons cold butter to brown sugar mixture; cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle butter mixture evenly over pears. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.
To prepare sauce, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, cream, and 2 tablespoons softened butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook one minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 2 teaspoons water. Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed with pie.

Yield 12 servings, serving size 1 wedge pie and about 1 1/2 teaspoon sauce. 287 calories in a slice, 11 grams of fat (sat. 5.5 g, mono 1.7 g., poly 0.35 g.), carb. 47.5 g.

Pumpkin Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

These were a hit with the whole neighborhood. Or to be honest with my three boys and the neighbor girl mainly. They ate the whole sheet full of them in a matter of oh about a 1/2 hour. I did manage to get five hidden from their view so a few other people were able to try them. They are delicious and full of pumpkin flavor. And the cream cheese frosting took them over the top flavor wise. Trust me you won't be disappointed in these bars. The only problem with them is I am sure they are chocked full of calories and as such not so good for the waist line.

Pumpkin Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Cake
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, or 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon each ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
1 cup (7 ounces)vegetable oil
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup (9 1/2 ounces) pumpkin puree


Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons(1 3/8 ounces) maple syrup
2 cups (12 ounces) confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 18 x 13-inch half-sheet pan.

For the cake: Put the first five ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well incorporated. Set aside. Beat the oil and the sugars together until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the pumpkin puree.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes and turn onto a rack to finish cooling. Frost the cake and cut into bars when cool.

For the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and the butter together. Add the maple syrup and stir well. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until the frosting is the right consistency; adjust the consistency with more maple syrup or confectioners' sugar. Frost the cake. Cut into bars; a pizza wheel works well for this chore. Yield: 36 (2 x 3-inch) bars.

Nibbler Cookies 1st Place at Davis County Fair

Sorry to brag one more time but I promise this was the last entry I did for the fair this year. I wanted to do a cookie recipe and I just couldn't find one that I had all the ingredients on hand for the day I did my cooking so I made this scone nibbles and renamed them. I wasn't too happy that I didn't have a chance to do a trial bake of this dish, thanks to my oven dying, but I was really happy when they turned out so tasty. Very easy dish to make and they were definitely a hit with my family and the judges. The judges ate 4 of the cookies when judging, compared to 1-2 of all the other entries. If your looking for something different for school lunches, treat night, or just for the heck of it give these a try.

Nibbler Cookies aka. Scone Nibbles
King Arthur Flour Late Summer 2010 catalog

2 3/4 cups (11 1/2 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup (2 3/8 oz.) sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup (4 oz.) cold butter, cut into pats
1 to 2 cups (6 to 12 oz.) mini chocolate chips
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 to 2/3 cup (4 to 5 3/8 oz.) half and half or milk

Glaze
3 1/2 cups (14 oz.) confectioners sugar
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 oz) water, enough to make a thin glaze
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Work in the butter just until mixture is unevenly crumbly. Stir in the chips.

In separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and 1/2 cup milk. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, adding more milk if the dough seems dry.

Scrape the dough onto a well floured work surface, and pat into an 8 inch square, a scant 3/4 inch thick. Cut the square into sixteen 2 inch squares, then cut each square in half diagonally, to make 32 small triangular scones.

Transfer scones to a parchment lined or well greased baking sheet. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Bake the scones in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Cut each scone in half again to make a total of 64 tiny triangles.

Stir together glaze ingredients. Coat the scones with the glaze. Place them on a rack to set.

Peach Brown Betty

This dish did not last long in our house. Everyone snapped it up and enjoyed it. The peach flavors stood out and the topping was nice and crunchy. The dish was easy to make and while not a thirty minute dessert it was done in about 45 minutes. I can imagine this dish would have been even better if the peaches we in season from somewhere local. I used some that were rock hard and somewhat tart. However it still turned out pretty tasty.

Peach Brown Betty
Cooks Country June/July 2010

Topping
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Peach Filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 lbs peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Pulse bread and butter in food processor until coarsely ground. Set aside. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.

Melt butter in large nonstick ovensafe skillet over medium high heat. Cook peaches , stirring occasionally, until they begin to caramelize, 8 to 12 minutes. Off heat, stir in 1 cup crumb mixture, sugars, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.

Top peach mixture with remaining crumbs. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool ten minutes. Serve warm.

Baked Doughnuts

I made these doughnuts on a whim. I was gifted a doughnut pan for my birthday and finally decided it was time to give it a try. These doughnuts were so easy to make. Given the fact my kids love doughnuts a quick and easy recipe was needed. Start to finish it took me 25 minutes for 6 doughnuts. Everyone has loved these doughnuts. We are selling them at a yard sale today and everyone who bought one asked for the recipe. Next time I make them I plan on trying to make a chocolate flavored doughnut.

Baked Doughnuts
King Arthur Flour

1 cup Unbleached Pastry flour or Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons dried buttermilk powder
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water




Directions

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, oil and water (or buttermilk or yogurt) until foamy.
Pour the liquid ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Butter or grease the doughnut pan; non-stick pan spray works well here. Note: even though the pan is non-stick, since the doughnuts are low-fat they may stick unless you grease the pan first. Fill each doughnut form half full.
Bake the doughnuts in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. When done, they'll spring back when touched lightly, and will be quite brown on the top.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven, remove them from the pan, and allow them to cool on rack. Glaze with icing, or coat with cinnamon-sugar or any non-melting sugar.

Genesee Valley Apple Crumb Pie

Another dish I made for Thanksgiving. This apple pie was really good. Everyone who tried some loved the pie. I felt it was a fairly simple pie to make and an added bonus was I didn't have to roll the pie crust out. The pie crust is a pat into the pan recipe.

Genesee Valley Apple Crumb Pie
Junior League of Rochester Cookbook

Crust
2/3 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups flour

Cream shortening with salt.
Add boiling water and mix.
Add flour.
Press crust into 9 or 10 inch pie plate.

Filling
6 apples, pared, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

Fill crust with apples.
Sprinkle sugar, cinnamon, and salt on apples.

Crumb Topping
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour

Cream butter with sugar and flour.
Spoon mixture on top of pie.
Place pie in preheated oven 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
Reduce temperature to 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Short (2 inch) straws inserted in the pie will keep juice from running over.

Yeast Raised Glazed Doughnuts

Last chance to enter my giveaway for the tubes of tomato paste. 5pm tonight is the closing of the giveaway and I'll announce the winners tomorrow. Click here to enter.

My boys love doughnuts. They are always asking for a doughnut when we go to the store or drive past Krispy Kreme. I think the price of doughnuts are high and hate buying doughnuts. My husband usually treats them to a doughnut once a week or once every two weeks. However now that I've made my own I think our days of buying those overpriced doughnuts are over. These doughnuts barely last one hour in the house. They were that good. They really weren't hard to make. You can even start making these the night before and then refrigerate the dough for hot doughnuts in the morning. Just complete the recipe through the first rise the day before, then refrigerate the dough overnight, then roll, cut, and cook them in the morning.

Yeast-Raised Glazed Doughuts
King Arthur's Baking Companion

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups (2 pounds) vegetable oil or shortening (2 1/2 pounds), for frying

Glaze
1/4 cup (2 ounces) milk
2 cups (8 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla and stir into the flour mixture, mixing until well combined. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead 6 to 8 minutes by hand or mixer until you have a smooth, soft dough. Place the dough in a buttered bowl, turn it over to grease the top, and let it rise; covered in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Deflate the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with a round cutter (or, using a pizza wheel, cut into strips to make cruellers). Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and let rise again for about 1 hour, until doubled again.

Place oil or shortening in a heavy pan or deep skillet and heat to 350 degrees. Place the doughnuts in the oil, two or three at a time, and fry until golden brown. Turn over and cook the second side. This should take no more than a minute for each side. Overcooking will make the doughnuts tough. Drain on paper towels.

To make the glaze, stir the milk into the confectioners' sugar until it is smooth, then add the vanilla.

When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle (but still warm), dip the tops of the doughnuts in the glaze, then place on a rack or plate to let the glaze drop down.

Peach Puzzle

This is a great dessert for using up fresh peaches. An added bonus is how easy it is to make. The hardest part is flipping the pie pan over without spilling the sauce. I managed to only lose about 1/4 of the caramel sauce with my flip. This dessert would be great served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. The peaches blended well with the caramel sauce. The biscuit like bottom was nice and tasty too. If you have a few fresh peaches left give this recipe a try.

Peach Puzzle
America's Best Lost Recipes

Peaches and Syrup
7 medium peaches, peeled
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Dough
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces and chilled
6 tablespoons milk

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 6 ounce custard cup or ramekin upside down in the center of a 9 inch pie plate and arrange the peaches around the cup. Combine the brown sugar, water, butter, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts, about 5 minutes. Pour the syrup over the peaches.

Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the flour mixture is pale yellow and resembles course cornmeal. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the milk into the flour mixture, pressing the mixture against the side of the bowl to form the dough. Squeeze the dough together and flatten into a disk. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 9 inch circle. Lay the dough directly over the peaches and press and fit the dough so that it fits snugly around the peaches. Do not attach the dough to the pie plate. Bake until the top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes.

Place a large rimmed serving plate over the top of the pie plate and quickly invert the puzzle onto the plate. Cut into wedges around each peach and serve, pouring syrup over each portion.

Halloween Treats Part One

Over the next month I will be posting some fun ideas for Halloween. Today I start with these cute bone cookies. Using my favorite sugar cookie dough I made these cute cookies. I found the bone cookie cookies at The Cookie Cutter Shop. I made a royal frosting, recipe to follow, and used food safe markers to outline in black after the frosting was dry. They turned out really cute and they were the hit of the neighborhood. This would be a simple and fun activity to do with kids.

Royal Frosting
1 pound confectioner's sugar
4 teaspoons powdered egg whites (not reconstituted)
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients with an electric mixer at medium speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat icing, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until it holds stiff peaks, 3 to 5 minutes. Use immediately or cover surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days.

Peach Shortcakes

Overall this was a very simple recipe that turned out tasting great. My biscuits overcooked in the oven very quickly so be sure to watch them very closely. The peaches were nicely flavored without being overly sweet. I used fresh orange juice in place of the peach schnapps called for in the recipe. Honestly I could taste the orange juice but no one else could. I am guessing its because I knew there was orange juice in the dish. Next time I think I will go for the peach schnapps. You can bake the biscuits up to 24 hours in advance.

Foolproof Peach Shortcakes
from Cook's Illustrated July/August 2008 issue

Fruit
2 pounds ripe but firm peaches (4 to 5 medium), peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch thick wedges
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice

Biscuits
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cold buttermilk
1 large egg
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Fruit:
Gently toss three quarters of peaches with 4 tablespoons sugar in large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Toss remaining peaches with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and orange juice in medium microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high power until peaches are bubbling, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Using potato masher, crush peaches into coarse pulp. Let stand 30 minutes.

For the Biscuits:
Adjust over rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt in large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and egg in medium bowl; add melted butter and stir until butter forms small clumps.
Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Continue stirring vigorously for 30 seconds. Using greased 1/3 cup dry measure, scoop up mound of dough and drop onto parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create 6 biscuits. Sprinkle remaining sugar evenly over the top of biscuits. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, about 15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

For the whipped cream:
Using mixer beat cream, sugar, and vanilla on low speed until bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium; continue beating until beater leave trail, about 30 seconds longer. Increase speed to high; continue beating until nearly doubled in volume and whipped cream forms soft peaks, 30 to 45 seconds longer.

To assemble:
Split each biscuit in half and place bottom on individual serving plates. Spoon portion of crushed peach mixture over each bottom, followed by peach slices and any exuded juices. Top biscuits with 2 tablespoons of whipped cream, cap with biscuit top, and dollop each shortcake with some of the remaining whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Chewy Caramel Popcorn

I love caramel popcorn. I don't like Cracker Jack or other caramel where it is a hard caramel. I just really like the ooey gooey chewy soft kind. This recipe was really chewy and soft until the next day. Even the next day it was not a hard caramel but just not as soft and chewy. This recipe is also very simple and has items most people have in stock in their home pantry. I don't use microwave popcorn but I'm sure you could use a batch of microwave if you did not want to pop your own popcorn.

Chewy Caramel Popcorn
From RecipeZaar

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup popcorn, unpopped

Pop your popcorn and place in a greased bowl.
Melt butter on medium heat in a medium size saucepan.
Turn heat down to low, and add brown sugar, stir until blended together well.
Making sure that the sugar does not burn turn the heat back up to medium, and add corn syrup. All the while stirring and making sure there is no sticking.
Add the salt and baking soda. This will make the sugar double in size be careful not to let it go over the sides of the pot.
Immediately pour onto popcorn.
Stir until the caramel has covered popcorn completely.
Transfer onto a cookie sheet with wax paper, and let cool.

Simple Blackberry Sherbet

Oh goodness this was delicious. Simple and easy to make were only an added bonus. I did not make any adjustments on the actual ingredients but I think you could get away with a little less sugar. I think 1 1/2 cups of sugar may be the perfect combination but I'd definitely taste before freezing since some berries can be much sweeter than others . Also this recipe has you processing the sherbet in a food processor right before serving and I did not do that. I purchased the blackberries at Costco where they had a big box of them for $3.99.

Simple Blackberry Sherbet
Taste of Home magazine June/July 2009 issue

4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed
2 cups sugar (I'd suggest 1 1/2 cups unless you want really sweet)
2 cups buttermilk

In a food processor, combine blackberries and sugar; cover and process until smooth. Strain and discard seeds and pulp. Stir in buttermilk. Transfer puree to a 13 inch by 9 inch dish. Freeze for one hour or until edges begin to firm. Stir and return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours longer or until firm.
Just before serving, transfer to a food processor; cover and process 2-3 minutes or until smooth. (I skipped this step.)

Banana Bars

These bars turned out to be very popular in our house. My kids preferred their bars without frosting so I left half frosting free. This is a great way to use up bananas without having to resort to banana bread or smoothies. I love sour cream in combination with bananas. My all time favorite banana bread calls for sour cream. My Sister's Kitchen used a whipped cream cheese frosting but I was out of whipping cream so I just used a simple cream cheese frosting.

Banana Bars
My Sister's Kitchen

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese frosting, or homemade cream cheese frosting or Whipped Cream Cheese frosting.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese frosting. Makes approx 35 bars.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

I've been making this cobbler recipe for years now. It's simple, easy, and it works with almost any fruit. My all time favorite fruit to use is peaches but blackberries rank right up there with peaches. The recipe calls for ingredients that almost everyone has in their kitchen. The sweetness of the cobbler works well with the fruit although with some fruit I do toss the fruit with a little sugar. I like to serve it with homemade whipped cream but store bought works in a pinch. My husband loves it with vanilla ice cream.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler
Don't know where I found the recipe as I've been making it for years.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
2 cups fruit

Melt butter in baking dish, a casserole dish works well. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and stir until combined. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter but do not stir. Drop the fruit on top of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and check. It may take up to one hour to cook the cobbler depending on the size of cooking dish you use.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

This was a fun and simple dessert. The best part is you could make everything yourself, if you so desire. Hint to my family, my birthday is coming in a few short days and an ice cream maker would make a wonderful gift! Anyway we had a cookie dough package that someone gave us for Christmas and for some reason I had not donated to the food bank so we made cookies. But I was not in the mood for just cookies that day so I decided we'd make ice cream sandwiches. The boys thought it was the "bestest" idea ever and really liked their ice cream sandwiches. The recipe is simple.

cookies
ice cream

Allow the ice cream to thaw a little then place a scoop between two cookies. Wrap and place in freezer until hardened. Remove about 3 minutes before serving to thaw just a tad.

Texas Sheet Cake

Today I am linking you to a few pork recipes for the upcoming holiday along with a few sides for the pork.
Chicago Style Barbecued Ribs
Lexington Style Pulled Pork
South Carolina Pulled Pork
Barbecued Pasta Salad
Coleslaw
Easy Baked Beans


I've never had this cake before, that I know of, but I have to say this was pretty darn good. It almost tasty like a really good brownie. The kids loved helping me make this cake and it was simple enough to let them help. The original recipe calls for chopped pecans but we don't like them so we left them out. This cake did not last long in our house it was too good to let sit in the pan for long. This cake is full of chocolate flavor and the icing forms a gooey layer near the cake. Give this cake a try, you won't be disappointed.

Texas Sheet Cake
adapted slightly from the Cook's Country Cookbook.

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 18 by 13 inch rimmed baking sheet. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla together.
Melt the chocolate, oil, water, cocoa, and butter together in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly whisk in the flour mixture until combined. Whisk in the egg mixture until combined.
Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking sheet, smooth the top, and gently tap the sheet on the work surface to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Icing
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

During the cake's last few minutes of baking, cook the butter, cream, cocoa, and corn syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off heat, whisk in the confectioners' suga and vanilla until combined.
Spread the warm icing evenly over the hot cake. Let the cake cool in the pan to room temperature, about one hour, then refrigerate until the icing is set, about one hour longer, before serving.

Banana Cream Pie

This was the best banana cream pie I have ever made. Course I usually just make banana cream pie with instant vanilla pudding, a Nilla Wafer pie crust, and whipped cream. The flavors were perfect with this pie and I will never go back to pudding for banana cream pie. I never would have thought of using cinnamon and nutmeg in a banana cream pie but it helped take the recipe over the top. This really is a simple recipe to make although it sounds like it would be complicated.


Banana Cream Pie
from Baking From my Home to Yours by Dori Greenspan

For the custard
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar, pressed through a sieve
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

3 ripe but firm bananas

1 9 inch single pie crust, fully baked and cooled

For the Topping
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, shifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sour cream

To Make the Custard: Bring milk to a boil.
Meanwhile in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until well blended and thick. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in /4 cup of the hot milk-this will temper, or warm the yolks so they won't curdle-then, still whisking, add the remainder of the milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking constantly (make sure to get into the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes before removing from the heat.
Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk in bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the custard to create an airtight seal and refrigerate until cold.
When you are ready to assemble the pie, peel the bananas and cut them on a shallow diagonal into 1/4 inch thick slices.
Whisk the cold custard vigorously to loosen it, and spread about one quarter of it over the bottom of the pie crust-it will be a thin layer. Top with half of the banana slices. Repeat, adding a thin layer of pastry cream and the remaining bananas, then smooth the rest of the pastry over the last layer of bananas.

To Make the Topping: Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream until it just starts to thicken. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the cream holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently fold in the sour cream.

To Finish: Spoon the whipped cream over the filling and spread it evenly to the edges of the custard. Serve, or refrigerate until needed.

7 Up Pound Cake

Oh my goodness this was really good. I never imagined it would taste so good. The flavor was lemon-limey and without knowing it had 7 Up in it I never would have guessed. There was no dryness to the cake and it produced a near perfect crumb. The buttery richness was rich without being over the top. This is definitely a cake to try! It was really quite easy to make and only had eight ingredients for the cake. Give this cake a try, you won't be disappointed.

7 Up Pound Cake
recipe from Cook's Country Magazine June/July 2009

Cake
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup 7 Up, room temperature (needs to be fresh and not flat)
1 tablespoon grated zest 2 tablespoons juice from one lemon
1 tablespoon grated zest plus 2 tablespoons juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 1/4 cups cake flour

Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour 12 cup non-stick tube pan (you can also use bundt pan which is what I did). Process sugar, eggs, 7 Up, lemon zest and juice, lime zest and juice, and salt in food processor until smooth. With machine running, slowly pour in butter and process until incorporated. Transfer to large bowl. Add flour in three additions, whisking until combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Gently tap pan on counter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet to cool completely, about 2 hours.

Glaze: Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and lime juice in bowl until smooth. Pour glaze over cooled cake. Let glaze set 10 minutes. Serve. Cake can be wrapped in plastic and held at room temperature for 3 days.

Stained Glass Cake

I feel in love with this cake from the picture in Cook's Country June/July 2009 issue. Sadly my cake did not look as picture perfect as theirs. Trust me though this cake tastes much better than my pictures. The kids were loving the looks of the cake. The flavors all came together great and this was actually a really easy cake to make. I used the jello I had on hand so I added a green color, melon fusion flavor, which is not called for in the recipe.

12 graham crackers, crushed to fine crumbs (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cups sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 (3 oz) boxes of Jell-o (2 red , such as cherry or strawberry, and 1 blue, such as berry blue)
4 1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Stir in cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter in bowl until crumbs resemble wet sand. Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and bake until edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling: In 3 separate large bowls, whisk each box Jell-o with 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Pour into 3 loaf pans or pie plates and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. Once Jell-o has solidified, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and keep chilled. Combine 1/4 cup pineapple juice and unflavored gelatin in bowl. Microwave, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved, 1 to 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in remaining pineapple juice. With electric stand mixer set on medium speed, whip cream, vanilla, salt, and remaining sugar until stiff peaks forms, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add juice mixture until combined. Gently fold Jell-o cubes into cream mixture. Scrape into prepared pan and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.