Easy Cherry Crunch for George

If it had been your son who chopped down the cherry tree, would you have punished him or would you have let him off the hook because he told the truth about it? What if he was standing there, axe in hand, and then nobly said, "I cannot tell a lie; I chopped down the cherry tree." Good for you, Georgie. Who cares about that cherry tree when you are such a virtuous child? I have a child who is as honest as George. He never, ever tells even a fib. "Yep-I smacked my sister." "Yes, that was me that ate all the Oreos." "Me again-I didn't finish my spelling homework." "I was jealous that Sailor got more ice cream so I switched our bowls." I don't even have to ask. Sometimes I don't even know there is anything to ask, but he volunteers his misdeeds anyway. So the boy hasn't chopped down any fruit trees as of yet, but telling the truth hasn't exactly earned him a get-out-of-jail-free-card either. Or maybe it has. With him, I find myself saying, "Oh....well, just don't do that again." So let's hope he doesn't chop down the ornamental pear trees we just put in the backyard. But if he does, I won't have to stand around trying to figure out who did it. The boy cannot tell a lie. Maybe he's headed for the Oval Office.
Here's our favorite cherry dessert for President's Day. It's easy enough that honest young chaps can make it all by themselves. It's suprisingly good for having a mere three ingredients. If you don't get to it for George's sake, it would be nice with ham on Easter or with barbecue chicken for Fourth of July. Who am I kidding-it's good all the time. Honest.
Cherry Crunch
Estimated Cost: $8.00
Notes: Any fruit pie filling will work here so choose one that you can get for a reasonable price.
2 (21) ounce cans cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped nuts, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour pie filling into greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix over pie filling. Dot with butter and sprinkle with nuts, if using. Bake for 40 minutes, or until browned and bubbly. Serve with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
Next Up:
Chicken Paprikash with Buttered Noodles

Candy Cane Chocolate Sheetcake

I know, I know. I was planning on making bark, and lots of it, sistuh. I'm armed with multiple bags of chips-white, mint, milk chocolate, semi-sweet, peanut butter, and butterscotch. Oh, I've got the nuts, too. (Don't even go there.) I'm talking about peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans. I just don't happen to have any bark to show for all my bite. But I do have peppermint sheetcake. I called my niece to wish her a Happy 10th Birthday on Saturday. She's my little namesake, Prudy-leigh Jr. My sister had just put a Texas sheet-birthday cake in the oven. I can't hear the word Texas sheetcake without going into cold sweats and deep longing. I ditched the bark and started baking. Don't judge me too harshly; I actually needed a dessert to take to a church party that night. I made the Texas sheetcake and then I covered it with a CHOCOLATE frosting and crushed peppermints. It looked scrumptious. I sliced up about half of the cake and toted it off magnamimously to share with other church goin' folk. I planned to photograph the rest in the morning so I could share it with all of you, who are home in your pajamas presumably. I have this little trick with myself where I hide especially tempting food in the oven. It is such a clever, sly little trick. I forget that the sugar-devil is in there and I can stop munching. It works, it really does! I don't see it, so I go about my business, hmm, hmm, hmm, grading papers, hmm, hmm, hmm, folding laundry, hmm, hmm, hmmm, preheating the oven for dinner, hmm, hmm, HMMMM????? Sniff, sniff. Yep, I burnt my precious sheetcake. Out of sight, out of mind. I sent my sugar-devil straight to Hades, covered in warped Saran wrap. But don't worry. I'm making more tonight. I've got another party; who doesn't this time of year? I'm putting the cake in a baby front carrier and toting it around the kitchen this time. There's no way I'm going to let it out of my sight, even for a second. Of course it might be all gone by the time the party starts, but at least I know that someone will have enjoyed it. Namely me. Here comes the recipe. Turns out I had pictures of my last peppermint sheetcake with vanilla frosting. I'm not sure which one is better. I'll let you decide.

Candy Cane Chocolate Sheetcake

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for at least 16 servings

Money Saving Tips: Use already-broken candy canes or peppermints. By using some vegetable oil, the cake will stay moist the next day and cut the cost of using all butter. Make your own buttermilk substitute, by combining 1 teaspoon vinegar with 1/2 cup milk. Let stand for five minutes.

1/2 cup cocoa powder, such as Hershey's

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

For Vanilla Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

6 tablespoons cream or milk

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

about 3/4 cup smashed candy cane bits

Notes: For chocolate frosting, simply add 6 tablespoons cocoa powder and an extra tablespoon of cream when you melt the butter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour large cookie sheet. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring cocoa powder, water, butter and oil to a boil, stirring just until well combined. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, soda and salt in large bowl. Pour boiling chocolate mixture over dry ingredients and mix well. In a separate small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes, or until center springs back at touch. While cake is baking, melt butter in medium saucepan. Add cream and mix until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. Whisk in powdered sugar, adding more cream if needed to make a thick glaze. Pour over warm cake and smooth out with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with candy cane bits.

Up Next: Bark in a splendid variety

Swedish Visiting Cake

Last night I went to bed about midnight, but I couldn't sleep. More accurately, I could sleep, but I couldn't sleep well. I tossed and turned, thinking about the stack of 100ish term papers that need grading this week. When I wasn't tossing and turning, I was grading. In my sleep. Grading in my sleep, with a red pencil and a furrowed brow. None of the papers were any good, in my sleep, that is. Finally, at 3 AM, I decided to get out of bed. I mean if I'm going to be grading term papers in my sleep, I might as well get out of bed and do it wide awake, so I can mark it off the to do list. And speaking of that to do list, here it is days away from Tuesday and I'm finally getting around to posting this Swedish Visiting Cake. (For any newcomers, Tuesday is the appointed day for my weekly baking club, Tuesdays with Dorie.)If it were any less delicious, I would have forgotten about it and forged ahead to my next assignment. But this cake is special. It has a buttery almond and vanilla flavor, and a lovely tight crumbed texture. The top is slightly crispy with sparkly sugar and toasted almonds. It's rather plain, so you may not want it for your soiree dessert, but I promise that you'll adore it with a cup of herbal tea in the afternoon, or a jug of milk in the morning. I happened to have the perfect little cast iron skillet to bake it in, small enough for perfect half batch. This little 6 inch baby was part of the prize package for all the finalists at last year's Cornbread Cook-off in South Pittsburg, TN. (And incidentally, I'm headed there next weekend to participate as a finalist again with my Crunchtastic Chicken Chipotle Cornbread. More to come on that...) It's awful cute, ain't it? Well, have a wonderful weekend, friends. I'll sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the papers are almost graded and the cake has been virtually delivered to you. Sweet Dreams.
Swedish Visiting Cake

Estimated Cost: $2.00

Notes: This one is a bargain, full of inexpensive pantry staples. For variation, you can throw in some chopped fruit, like apples or berries. You can also use the zest of an orange or tangerine, if that's what you've got on hand.

I'm posting a full size portion, to be baked in a 9 inch skillet, or cake pan.

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for preparing pan

1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

1 cup flour1/4 cup sliced almonds (blanched or not)

Center a rack in oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter a seasoned 9-inch cast-iron skillet or other heavy oven-proof skillet, a 9-inch round cake pan or even a pie pan. I used a my favorite pan in the whole world — a 9-inch oven proof, heavy skillet.Pour sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon zest and blend zest into sugar with your fingers until sugar is moist and aromatic. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Whisk in salt and vanilla and almond extracts.Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in flour. Finally, fold in melted butter. Scrape batter into prepared skillet or pan and smooth top with rubber spatula.Scatter sliced almonds over top and sprinkle with sugar. If using a cake or pie pan, place pan on baking sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and a little crisp on outside; the inside will remain moist.
Next Up:

My New Favorite Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing

Shattered Glass, Restoration, and Marble Cakes

There's been a lot of excitement around here. Who would have thought one extra large pane of shattered glass could be such an event? Maybe it's because we live in a small town, where there is very little crime. When a pint size pistol impulsively hucks a few stones, it creates a bit of a stir. (Pint size pistol completely forgiven; those things can happen and often do when you are pint sized.) I have to admit without taking any credit, dear readers, that we do have a beautiful door. We didn't design it, but the previous owners (read my parents), had it made custom. It is gorgeous wrought iron and tempered glass, sturdy and imposing on one hand, but also whimsical and beautiful. I worried a bit when the glass broke-could it be fixed? Last week, the glassman came out to measure, but I was still skeptical, since the glass had a beautiful marbled design and an arched top. On Wednesday, right in the middle of an Art lesson on Japanese print making, the glassman arrived. The first thing he did was to drill out all of the remaining glass. (Not all of the pieces had crumbled to the ground on their own. ) It was a sunlit spectacle, with bits of falling crystal. The charges gathered up all the bits they could find and are saving them. I'm not sure what for, but they are like ferrets. When they see something pretty and shiny, they go into hoarding mode. The glassman was slow, thorough, and deliberate, excellent qualities for one who deals with fragile glass. (I am skittish, jumpy, and clumsy...so maybe I'd better stick with my current job. Kids aren't too fragile, right?) In the end, we ended up with a lovely new pane of glass. It's a little different than the previous glass, but it's every bit as beautiful. The swirled pattern reminded me of the swirls in pound cake, which reminded me that I was late for my assignment for Tuesdays with Dorie. But there is redemption and repair, even if it requires patience. And good things are always worth waiting for, whether it be glass of pound cake. And speaking of waiting, this one's even better if you let it sit for a day...if you can.

Chocolate Marble Pound Cake

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Estimated Cost: $3.00

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk

1 and 1/4 cup flour, divided use

1/3 cup cocoa powder

powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Stir in salt and soda. Add half of buttermilk. Stir in 1/2 cup flour. Add remaining buttermilk, and just 1/2 cup flour. Divide batter in half. Add cocoa powder to half of the batter, and remaining 1/4 cup flour to the other portion. Spoon alternating large dollops of overlapping batter into the loaf pan. Swirl gently with a knife just a couple of times. Don't get too crazy or you'll ruin the marble. Bake for about 40-5o minutes, or until top springs back when touched. Let cool for ten minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Next Up:

My Mom's Chicken Scampi

Living in the Moment with Chocolate Loaf Cake

This morning, in approximately 89 minutes, this little girl will get braces on her teeth. I don't really understand all these toothy terms yet, but this will be the first of two phases of braces to correct a crossbite, among other dental disgraces. I wonder how I can be old enough to have a child in braces, but then I remember the high school friend I just made contact with that is already a grandmother. I'll just try to deal with the braces for now. It's easy to dread them, because it means, well, that she is not a baby. What baby has braces on their teeth?

Sometimes I wish that we could go back to this. Or this. Or this time. Four years old is the last year that they truly belong completely to you. When they are five, there is School that must claim its portion.

But I know that to be happy, the secret is to live in the moment, and not pine for times goneby, or whittle away the present waiting for the future. (Like the day when she'll get those braces off.) I've got to embrace this moment, the moment when my little girl has traintracks all over her once pearly whites.

And speaking of embracing the moment, what about dessert? My offering this day is a treat from my weekly baking club, Tuesdays with Dorie. We were supposed to make a Chocolate BANANA loaf, but I ask you, can you really live in the moment with black bananas aging on the counter top? Visually, their black and blistered appearance belongs to the distant past, maybe even the Dark Ages. So I tossed them, and stirred in some buttermilk and made it simply Chocolate (No-Banana) Loaf Cake. (Recipe here.)

I planned the pretty treat for a Sunday after dinner dessert. But friends stopped by on Sunday afternoon, just as I pulled it out of the oven. And since I am practicing living in the moment, we ate it right then and there. Before lunch, even. (Ahem, before I could take any decent pictures.) But we enjoyed it. And that is enough for this moment.
Next Up:

Three Bean Vegetarian Chili in the Crockpot

PSS Peanut Buttery please click over to vote for my son West's Jif contest entry: More Rockin Moroccan Peanutty Pitas. He might win some serious cash for college.

Candy Cane Ice Cream Cake for New Year's

This morning we have visitors coming: my brother from California with his five children, my mother and father in law from New York, my sister-in-law from Arizona with her three kids, and later my niece from Nevada with her four children. (Post Edit: I just found out another niece with her three is on her way also. It's a good thing my mom and I live just 100 footsteps from each other so we can keep all of our company housed and fed. Plus, we don't miss out on any of the fun!) But there is one more visitor on the list. This top-secret visitor is coming especially to see West, but we are sworn to secrecy until after New Year's. I'm bursting with his good news, but I must tape my mouth shut for the remainder of 2009 and hold it in.

But let's talk about the good news that I can share with you: this beautiful ice cream cake for New Year's Eve. I love making ice cream cakes for New Year's because I can make it today and it will sit happily in the freezer until I'm ready to serve it-at midnight or otherwise. An ice cream cake in the winter is so unexpected; I love the suprise value of a frozen dessert in the cold and snow. Just be sure to sit in front of the fire for this one. And you know, ice cream cakes are so delicious and easy to make, but ridiculously expensive to buy. I mean really really ridiculously expensive, don't you think? I'm glad you agree.

I start off with a Texas sheet cake baked in two rounds, which will yield two ice cream cakes. You can use a cake mix if you're rushed, but never ever use a brownie for the base. Trust me when I tell you that they freeze rock tooth-breaking solid. Choose any flavor ice cream, but this peppermint candy cane Dreyer's flavor is F-U-N for the holidays. Press softened ice cream into the same size cake pan and freeze both parts separately. Stack them together and run a knife around the ice cream to smooth the edges. Make a quick batch of ganache and cool it down in the fridge for an hour or two. It's basically spreadable hot fudge and it will make you go weak in the knees. Frost the entire cake and refreeze until serving time. Give it a little squirt of whipped cream just before serving, and if you're more organized than I am, you could even sprinkle some crushed candy canes on top. Imagine them here, please. I'll be back tomorrow with one more dessert for New Year's.

Candy Cane Ice Cream Cake

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 10 servings

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 gallon favorite ice cream flavor or Peppermint Dreyers

Ganache:

1 cup cream

1 and 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Grease two 8 or 9 inch rounds. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, soda and salt. In a saucepan bring the water, oil, butter and cocoa to a butter and whisk until smooth. Pour over flour mixture and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour into chocolate cake mixture an dstir until smooth. Scape into pan and bake for 18-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove cake from pan and place on plate. Freeze for at least two hours.

Line same cake pan with saran wrap. Place softened ice cream into pan. Freeze for at least two hours. Remove ice cream from pan and place atop cake. Run knife along side to smooth edges. Freeze again.

Make ganache by placing cream in large microwaveable bowl and microwaving on high just until cream simmers. Stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Place ganache in fridge and chill until cold, at least one hour. Frost cake with knife and refreeze until serving time. Serve with whipped cream.

Up Next:

One more make ahead dessert: Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Tart

Christmas in France and the Cake of Kings

Instead of blogging, I have been grading term papers. Instead of blogging, I've been running many miles. Sewing pillowcases, too. (That's a suprise for my church group of Young Women.) Teaching lectures on Existentialism, Einstein and Freud. Homeschooling the charges on various topics including Lewis and Clark, the Islamic Empire, the excretory system, and transitive verbs. Under this heap of work, I'm here still and there is a Christmas light at the end of the tunnel. So let's plug it in and get started.

Joyeux Noel, or Merry Christmas in France, our next stop in our Christmas Around the World series. Christmas is a religious holiday and French families celebrate Christmas with a creche (or nativity) in their homes or at church. Carols are sung as baby Jesus is placed in his manger bed.

The three wise men are not placed with the creche until Epiphany Eve, on January 6th. At that time a "Cake of Kings" is baked with a hidden bean inside. The finder of the bean receives a lucky crown and becomes king or queen of the party. We make one every year.

I promised the charges that last night we would make our Cake of Kings. And by golly, a promise is a promise. It was 10:30 when I was finally pulling my little French chocolate almond cakes out of the oven. I put a bean in each cake, since it's no fun to have only one winner. West found his bean immediately and was henceforth known as "King West." But the future Queen ran into trouble. At first she couldn't find her bean, or so we thought. But then we realized that she had EATEN it . A cold hard pinto bean, right in the middle of her beautiful chocolate cake! She laid her head down on the table, and I thought she might actually cry a little. Sneakily, I slipped another bean into her cake crumbs and encouraged her to look again. Tragedy averted! I love it when I can save the day. Queen Sailor, the bean eater, went to bed happy last night. She said she is planning on keeping her bean forever. Take a lesson from the French and make a little cake a kings for the royalty in your family, only take care that the young monarchs spit out their beans.

And one last thing: As testimony that too much work can make one a little batty, I realized that those sables I promised to write about, I'd actually already written about. Sables are sandy and delicious and well worth making. You can roll them in green sugar or red sugar and give them away as Christmas gifts. They are the original slice and bake cookies.Here is the recipe. And here is the cake.

French Chocolate Almond Cake

Estimated Cost: $4.00

I made a half batch and baked it in three 8 ounce ramekins.

4 ounces semi sweet chocolate

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon flour

3/4 cup finely chopped almonds

pinch of salt

Melt chocolate in microwave until just melted. Cream butter and sugar in separate medium bowl. Add chocolate and mix well. Stir in egg yolks. Add flour and almonds, mixing gently. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour into 8 inch cake pan (slip in a dried bean or two) and bake at 325 for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Here are some of my pics from my trip to France last year...

See you in a couple of days with Christmas in Sweden and Sweet Rolls