Heart of the Kitchen

Gingerbread Cake

Oh. My. Goodness.  Mary Ellen's gingerbread cake is fabulous!  The kids and I made it this afternoon.  It is positively yummalicious.  We doubled the recipe and served it just as she suggested, warm with vanilla ice cream.  I had two very big pieces. :) 

Do make some for your family.  You won't regret it.

Stir Up Sunday White Fruitcake Recipe

This is a simple fruitcake to make and has a mild flavor.  It is a great fruitcake for people who do not like fruitcake! :)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 c. butter, softened

1 T. vanilla extract

1 T. lemon extract

5 eggs

7 1/2 cups (total) dried fruits and nuts (I use 3 cups pecan pieces, 2 cups apricots, 2 cups dried glace cherries, 1/2 cup white raisins but you can use any combination including dark raisins, walnuts, dried glace pineapple, dried glace cranberries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease well and lightly flour either 2 eight inch cake pans or one jelly roll pan. 

Cream butter and sugar briefly.  Add flour, salt, baking powder and extracts.  Add eggs one at a time.  Then add all of dried glace fruits and nuts.  Mix all together and place in pan(s).  Bake until done 30-60 minutes on two eight inch pans, 20 minutes on the jellyroll pan.  Done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cut into rectangular/square pieces the size of an average brownie.

Serves 16.  I make a double batch and store in tins until Christmas.

Ok, who am I kidding.  About half of it makes it until Christmas and the rest is eaten throughout Advent. :)

Advent Sugar Cookies for Week 2

I usually make a couple batches of this dough so that each person in the family can have one cookie per night during the second week of Advent devotions.  This dough does not need chilled before cutting out.

3c. sifted flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp.  baking soda

1 c. butter or butter flavored shortening

2 eggs

1 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Cut in shortening as for pie crust.  Beat eggs, add sugar and beat well.  Blend egg mixture into flour mixture.  Roll out to 1/8 " thickness on floured board or counter.  Cut and lift with spatula to ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 6-8 minutes.  When done, remove very carefully and cool on a wire rack.  Be especially careful with the key and scepter cookies as they break very easily.  Store in a tin for use during the week.

Here are the patterns for the cookies to be cut into freehand with a knife (make at least one per family member) or use cutters if you have these shapes. 

Sunday (Day 8): Crown

Monday (Day 9): Rose

Tuesday (Day 10): Scepter

Wednesday (Day 11):Rising Sun

Thursday (Day 12): Key

Friday (Day 13):  Star

Saturday (Day 14): Lamb

Grandma Fitch’s Kolachi

Also called Kolachki, Kolacky, Kolachy, Kolace, Kolache, Kolachke

4-5 cups flour

1 lb. butter

1/2 tsp. salt

4 egg yolks

2 TBS lemon juice

1 yeast cake

1 cup warm milk

Fruit Fillings (Grandma usually used Solo Brand): Prune, Apricot, Strawberry, Pineapple, but you will still have to make your own poppy seed and walnut (see below)

Make your own fillings as follows:

Apricot-1 1/2 cups dried apricots, 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Cover with water and simmer for about 1/2 hr. Mash and cool for filling.

Nuts- 1/2 lb. finely chopped walnuts plus honey to bind

Pineapple-1 can crushed pineapple, 1 1/2 TBLS. cornstarch, Combine, cook until thick and cool.

Poppy Seed-1 lb. Poppy Seed, 2 cups scalded milk, 1 1/4 c. sugar.  Mix together, allow milk to be absorbed, ready when cool.

Prune (Lekvar)-1 1/2 cups prunes, pitted, 2/3 cup water, 1 tsp. lemon zest, 3 TBLS lemon juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar. Simmer all ingredients except sugar until soft (about half an hour).  Mash, stir in brown sugar.  Cool.

Dissolve yeast cake in warm milk.

Beat egg yolks, add to milk and yeast once bubbly.  Add lemon juice.  Combine flour and salt.  Blend liquid milk/yeast/lemon juice mixture with flour mixture.  Work until dough is smooth.  Put in refrigerator for two hours.  Sprinkle sugar on board.  Roll out dough like pie crust thickness.  Cut into approximately 2-2 1/2 inch squares with wet knife or pizza cutter.  Add small spoonful of filling and fold opposite corners.  It is important not to add too much filling or it will overflow and burn.   Bake in 350 degree oven until ever so lightly golden brown (I don't remember the amount of cooking time, probably about 15 minutes-just watch the color)  Cool on sheet for a minute or two, then on rack.

Makes about twelve dozen.  Enjoy!

I will post photos as soon as I make these again this season.

St. Martinmas Horseshoe Cookies

1 c. butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. quick oats, rolled

2 c. sifted all purpose-flour

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Stir in vanilla, flour and salt.  Blend in rolled oats. 

Roll out to 1/4 inch thick on floured board.  Cut in strips six inches lon and 1/2 inch wide.  On ungreased cookie sheet, shape strips to resemble horseshoes.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Remove carefully, as they break easily.  Makes three dozen.

Recipe from The Cook's Blessing, Random House

Michaelmas Blackberry Pie

Blackberry Pie is traditionally eaten on this day because the legend says that the devil spits on the blackberries after Michaelmas. 

The crust for a double crust pie:

2 cups all purpose-flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening or lard

6 to 7 tablespoons cold water

Stir together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas.  Add water and mix with hands.  Divide in half and toll out in a circle on a lightly floured surface.  Wrap pastry around rolling pin and unroll onto a 9" pie pan.

Filling:

4 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen, slightly thawed)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Coat berries with flour and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Transfer filling to waiting pie crust.  After filling, top with second pie crust.  Pinch edges of pie together, cut slits for steam.  Cover edges of crust with foil.  Bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Remove foil, bake for another 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Easy Peach Cobbler

Peach season is upon us!  Here is a recipe for a simple, delicious cobbler.  It tastes best with fresh, ripe peaches but I have been known to make it in the winter with canned or frozen as well. 

You'll need:

6 peaches

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

Peel and slice peaches.  Melt butter in 2 quart casserole. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and milk.  Pour batter mixture over melted butter.  Spoon peaches over batter.  Do not stir.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.  Enjoy!

Creamy Rice Pudding

The weather here is a bit nippy and rainy.  Nothing tastes better than rice pudding on a day like today!

3 cups cooked brown rice

2 1/4 cups milk

5 eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

2 TBLS. grated orange peel

2/3 cup raisins

2 medium apples, cored and finely chopped

Butter a deep casserole dish and set aside.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a blender or mixing bowl combine milk, eggs vanilla, spices and honey.  In large bowl, thoroughly mix the rice, egg mixture, grated orange peel, raisins, and chopped apples.

Pour the pudding into the casserole dish and bake uncovered for an hour, until the custard is set and the pudding begins to brown slightly at the edges.  Stir the pudding thoroughly at 20 minute intervals while it is baking and add a small amount of milk if it becomes too dry.

Serve hot from the oven or chill it and serve cold later.  A dollop of fresh whipped cream adds the perfect finishing touch to each serving.

Marshmallow Peeps…

... an Easter must-have.  I prefer mine to sit on the counter for a couple days and get crunchy.  How about you?  Peep lovers take note:  You can join the "Official Marshmallow Peeps Fan Cub" by calling 1-877-88-PEEPS or visit www.marshmallowpeeps.com .

Elizabeth’s Lamb Cake

For a number of years, I tried with much pain and effort, to make a lamb cake for Easter.  Usually the batter didn't spread to fill the mold or it stuck to the pan and broke when I tried to remove it.  This year Elizabeth posted a foolproof recipe for a delicious lamb cake, complete with hazelnut frosting.  I decided to give it another try, forgoing the poppy seed cake that I usually make.

I baked the lamb cake early in the afternoon on Holy Saturday.  Not only did it smell heavenly while it was baking but it emerged from the pan unscathed, just as Elizabeth promised.  The cake takes most of a day to cool. I, being a bit of a last minute person, began to ice it at 2 a.m. on Easter morning, only to find that I did not have the icing decorating tips needed to make the curly lamb's wool.  I then decided to frost it with a butterknife. 

The end results are a delicious tasting cake that, through my own decorating fault, looks a bit, well...sheepish. As I began to take a photo of the cake to post, two year old Mary Kathryn commented, "Say cheese, doggie!

Nevertheless, Elizabeth's lamb pound cake and icing is truly scrumptuous.  Just don't try to frost it without decorating tips! 

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Vanilla Pound Cake

Follow the Wilton instructions for baking to the letter, including the cooling instructions.

Here's the recipe for a pound cake that is dense enough to fill the nooks and crannies, stand up alone in the pan half, and hold the shape:

1 1/2 cups butter
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs, one at a time. Sift flour and add to batter. Add vanilla; mix well.
Place batter into a greased and floured pan; follow Wilton baking instructions.

Double this recipe and you'll have plenty to completely fill the lamb pan and some leftover batter for a little cake.

Hazelnut Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Butter
5 cups Confectioner's Sugar
4 TBS Frangelico (or more to get the right consistency)

Directions:
Cream butter and shortening with mixer for 3 minutes on high speed. Add Frangelico. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Mix on high speed for 5 minutes.

This frosting works to make star-swirls on the lamb. Use jelly beans and licorice for eyes and whiskers. Colored coconut on the plate is a nice touch for grass or just use Easter grass from baskets.