Almond Cake

 I'm going to post this so I don't lose it.  And that's because I can tell already this is destined to become an Els Family Classic.  Sarah made it on the spur of the moment one night over Fathers Day weekend.  I didn't think much about it since I was full.  Then I tasted it the next day.  Wow!  It's unforgettable.  In both flavor and texture. When you don't want chocolate or fruit this is your Go To Dessert:

Ingredients:

Almond Cake mix (Sarah said there was only one choice available at Walmart)

package instant vanilla pudding mix

8 ounce package of sour cream

4 eggs 

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

almond extract.....when I asked her how much she couldn't say.  I asked was an "Els measure" and she said yes....this means about a Tablespoon.  We tend to convert teaspoons into Tablespoons when it calls for flavorings. 

.........Then I think she just baked it however the cake mix box told her to. 

......... I see this more like a pound cake with maybe a powdered sugar and almond extract icing drizzled over it.  It's moist enough to not need a lot of icing.  More of a coffee cake type dessert.   

Blueberry Dutch Baby

 

Most of these ingredients I keep on hand except for the blueberries and lemon zest.  The blueberries are usually sold in a quantity that ends up being two cups so I need to buy two lemons.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 cup  whole or 2% milk
• 1/2 cup  all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• the zest of one lemon

+++

• 1 cup blueberries
• Confectioners sugar for dusting

Maple Syrup

---

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet over low heat on your stovetop. Keep it over low heat while you prepare the batter. 
2. Melt two tablespoons of the butter in the cast iron skillet, then transfer to a blender. Add the milk, flour, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest, and blend until smooth. (Do not skip this step — the batter will be lumpy if you do.)
3. Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the cast iron skillet. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Let the butter melt, add the blueberries, and give the skillet a shake. Immediately pour the batter over the blueberries and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake until the pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
4. You might be tempted to open the oven to check on things-especially if your oven glass door is dirty like mine and you can't see.  Resist this temptation and trust your oven temperature.  It will be ready in 15 minutes; no sooner and no later.  If you open the door you run the risk that it will fall and maybe you have invited guests that you want to see the dramatic tall dish that will then fall right before them and not in the depths of your oven.  
5. Remove pan from the oven, and dust with confectioners sugar, if you wish. Cut and serve immediately with maple syrup. Yes, it will fall.  You have not failed.  And if you can't serve it immediately, that's OK, too.  Hot blueberries can be overwhelming. But nobody is going to want to wait.  This is tasty. 

Donut Souffle

 3 large glazed donuts....from that morning or the day before

1 cup of milk

3 eggs

2 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

grated nutmeg

+++++++++++

slice the donuts into discs and lay flat in a dish

blend rest of ingredients well and pour over donuts

get the donuts submerged into the liquid until it starts soaking up the liquid and cover it with plastic wrap.  Put into the refrigerator and let set for a while until it soaks up all the liquid.  It might be ready in a couple of hours.

Heat the oven to 375 and cook for about 30 minutes until it is puffy and set--not jiggly.

You might make a carmel sauce for it.  

Chocolate Salted Carmel Pie

Chocolate Salted Carmel Pie

A lot easier to make than it might seem.  There are three main steps with a waiting time between them.  The hardest for me is the carmel.  It’s hard to let it sit without stirring and hard to know when to take it off the heat.

Also, I didn't use sea salt.  And the original recipe was for a tart.  I used a pie pan.  

Also there's nutrition info at the bottom.  Avert your eyes.

Almond Chocolate Sweet Pastry

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small (1/2-inch) cubes

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1-2 tbsp ice water

Caramel

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

5 tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 oz (120g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Garnish

sea salt crystals

Directions

Prepare the sweet pastry. In a large bowl mix flour with ground almonds, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. 

1.    Incorporate butter to the flour mixture, using a pastry blender, a fork or a pastry processor, until crumbs are formed. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix them in. Add water and incorporate into the dough. Wrap it with plastic, knead slowly to form a disc and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

2.    On a floured surface or over the plastic wrap roll the dough to a circle with about 1 1/2 inches larger than your tart pan. Lift up the rolled dough and place it on a greased 9 inch tart pan. Remove the edges and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.

    Prick the dough with a fork, line a parchment paper over the dough. Fill      

    with dry beans, rice or pie weights.

3.    Bake for 15 minutes in preheated 350 F (180C) oven. Remove the weights and the parchment paper. Return to oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from the tart pan.

4.    Prepare the caramel.  Place the sugar and water in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook without stirring until sugar dissolves and gets a caramel color.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream. It will bubble a little bit.

Cook for about 1 or 2 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat and add butter and salt. Stir well until smooth.

Let the caramel cool slightly and pour over the chocolate crust. Refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.

Prepare the chocolate ganache.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.

Pour the chocolate ganache over the caramel. Spread it evenly and refrigerate for another 2-3 hours before serving. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve.

Nutrition facts1 Serving - Calories:560, Fat:31.0g, Saturated Fat:18.7g, Unsaturated Fat:0.0g, Carbohydrates:69.7g, Sugar:51.4g, Fiber:2.2g, Protein:5.4g, Cholesterol:94mg, Calories from Fat 279, Sodium 497mg, Potassium 188mg, Vitamin A 17%, Vitamin C 0%, Calcium 6%, Iron 10%, Nutrition Grade F, daily percent values are based on a 2000 calorie diet

Peach Cobbler

My step-mother, Lois, came from West Texas Plains folks who cooked with the fruit and vegetables their backyards yielded and everyone in the South has a peach tree or two.  Their food was like their lives:  nothing fancy: basic and sturdy.  

When I was a young mother and not working she had me come over one day to “put up” peaches.  She went to the Farmers Market and got a bushel of fresh peaches.  Then we spent the rest of the day peeling and cutting up peaches into bags that she froze.  We peeled so many peaches that the acid from the fruit not only turned my hands prune-like but it ate the callouses off my hands and a few fingerprints, too.  At the end of the day she was delighted with our bounty.  She could make a peach cobbler anytime in the following year with the next best thing to fresh.

There was only one catch:  Lois was a horrible cook. Fresh peaches or frozen, old family recipe not withstanding, she could take perfectly wonderful ingredients and do horrible things with them.  I think part of the reason she wasn’t a very good  cook is that she wasn’t much of an eater.  She could take food or leave it.  To her cooking was something she did for other people because it was expected of her. 

Lois’ father was a circuit riding preacher and many times the situation was reversed with visiting preachers at their house for days on end plus their entire large family.  She had watched her own mother cook for a houseful of family and strangers, spending the entire day in the kitchen then wake up in the morning and do breakfast the same way. 

Ma Wood always had two kinds of meat at a meal with just about every vegetable in the garden on the table in one form or the other. And, of course, pies and cobblers.

Alas, the family cooking gene skipped past Lois completely. 

And Beaven made the biggest mistake of his life the first time he was invited for dinner with my family.  He told Lois the peach cobbler was delicious and he loved it.  From that moment on, whenever she cooked for us she would parade the cobbler around the kitchen and place it in front of him.  Then she would pronounce with great pride: “I made Beaven his favorite!” 

 

For the next 30 or so years until she stopped cooking he had to eat the cobbler and pretend it was delicious. Other family members developed severe allergies to peaches but Beaven was not as clever too honorable.

But you can trust this recipe.  I got it from the internet and everyone knows the internet doesn’t make mistakes.  Also, Beaven likes it and he wouldn’t lie to me.  There have been times I wished he would lie so I know he’s being honest when he says this is a good recipe.

Instead of a biscuit topping I use pie crust.  And it doesn’t need to be fancy shapes or intricately latticed strips.  A cobbler can be kind of messy.  Actually, you could just tear off globs of crust and throw them around.  The bar is set pretty low for cobbler in my house.  If it’s even edible we call it a victory.

AND the BEST part of this recipe is that you don’t have to spend the day putting up peaches until your fingerprints disappear.  Walmart sells frozen peaches in a one pound package. 

·       2 lbs frozen peaches

·       1/4 cup sugar

·       1 teaspoon cornstarch

·       1 tablespoon lemon juice

·       1 pinch table salt

·       Pie crust: from “scratch” or ready-made….I won’t tell

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

 Defrost peaches completely in colander. Gently toss peaches and sugar together in large bowl; let stand for 30 minutes, tossing several times. Drain peaches in colander set over large bowl. Whisk 2 tablespoons of drained juice (discard extra), cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt together in small bowl. Toss peach juice mixture with peach slices and transfer to 8-inch-square glass baking dish. 

Bake until peaches begin to bubble around edges, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the topping: While peaches are baking, get out the pie crust recipe and cut into strips. Lay the strips in a relaxed lattice-like design.

To assemble and bake: When peaches bubble around edges, remove baking dish from oven and place dough strips in a relaxed lattice design.. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake until topping is golden brown, about 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack until warm, about 20 minutes; serve. 

If you invite Beaven and he tells you it’s the best he’s ever eaten, the chances are pretty good that it is. He’s learned his lesson.

Carrot cake

Yeah--just what I need: another dessert recipe.

Carrot Cake

Cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 whole eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated carrots
• Butter, for greasing
•  

Icing:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecans, chopped finely

·         Directions

·         For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the granulated sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and combine. Then add the carrots and mix well. Pour the batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake until done, about 50 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

·         Meanwhile, for the icing: In a larger bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and blend. Then mix in the pecans. Spread the icing on the cooled carrot cake.