Poppyseed Bread - By Valerie

This delicious poppyseed bread has to be one of the most moist sweet bread recipes ever!  We just love everything about it: with the wonderful almond flavor; being sweet and super moist; having a flavorful glaze that seeps into the warm bread and a delight to the eyes; being baked in a bundt pan with a dusting of powdered sugar.  (How was that for descriptive adjectives? :) Another very nice thing about this recipe is it is all mixed in one bowl by hand, so no mixer needed!  It is the perfect thing to bring to a spring or summer party and is sure to be a big hit!  This recipe has been a family favorite for a long time and came out of our Desert Treasures cook book.  

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/8 cups oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons poppyseeds

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/2 teaspoons butter extract

3 cups sifted flour, measured after sifting

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Glaze

1/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/2 teaspoons butter extract

• Mix eggs, milk, oil and sugar with a fork.
• Add poppyseeds, vanilla, almond extract and butter extract.
• Add flour, salt and baking powder.  Beat thoroughly by hand.
• Grease and flour 2 loaf pans or a bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes our clean.  Cool 10 minutes (45 for bundt.)
• Glaze:
• Mix glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Heat to dissolve sugar.
• Pour glaze over warm bread.
• Serves 10-12.

 

 

Best-Ever Carrot Cake ~ by Valerie

We have found this recipe in the

12th edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook,

to be a keeper!

It is very moist and delicious! 

It also doesn't seem super sweet,

which is perfect for when we add the rich cream cheese frosting!

Our family and everyone we have ever made it for agree  . . .

it really is the best-ever carrot cake! ;-)

 

4 beaten eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups finely shredded carrots (Lightly packed. We use our little food processor to chop them finely.)

3/4 cup cooking oil

 

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting (posted below)

 

1.  Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, grease and flour two 9 X 1 1/2 inch round cake pans; set pans aside.  In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon (If desired.  We also add a little nutmeg and cloves, as we like it to taste almost like a spice cake ;-)

2.  In a medium bowl combine eggs, carrots and oil.  (Sometimes if we have it on hand, we add a 1/2 cup or so of applesauce to make it even more moist.) Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined.  Pour batter into the prepared pans.

3.  Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 30 -35 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans.  Cool thoroughly on racks.

4.  Frost tops and sides with Cream Cheese Frosting.   Store cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. (Ha! . . . 3 days!  That's funny!  Ours doesn't last a day! ;-)

 

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons of vanilla

5 3/4 to 6 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar (Don't worry, we don't sift ours either! ;-)

 

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well.  Gradually beat in additional powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. 

 



 







Beau's Blueberry Bundt Cake

We usually like to make things from scratch as much as possible,

but sometimes when we need to make a quick and easy dessert, 

this recipe comes in handy!  And our Daddy LOVES blueberries,

so this makes a perfect dessert for our family to enjoy and share with others. 

(The blueberries make it somewhat healthy, right?)

 

 

1 box yellow cake mix

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

8 ounces of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup corn oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1  1/4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (NOT ENOUGH in our opinion!  We add 3 cups!)

 

Glaze: 

 

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

(We just use 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 TB. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla, but usually double or triple this amount!)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, stir cake mix and sugar.  Add eggs, cream cheese, corn oil and vanilla; beat on low until blended, then beat on medium speed 4 minutes.  Stir in blueberries by hand.  (We coat in flour first, in hopes of them not sinking to bottom.)  Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch bundt pan.  Bake 45-55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove from oven; cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

 

Mix all glaze ingredients; drizzle over cooled cake.

 

Makes 16 servings. 

 

Source:  The Joy of Blueberries, by Theresa Millang, 2003





Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake ~ by Valerie

 

This is a perfect dessert for strawberry season!

Although, frozen strawberries work well, too!

It is very moist and delicious!  

 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 TB. fresh lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup vanilla yogurt (you can use greek yogurt if desired)

2 cups fresh strawberries, diced

 

For glaze:

 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1  cup powdered sugar

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease and flour 10 inch bundt pan.

Mix together 2 1/4 cups of the flour with baking soda, salt and lemon zest.  Set aside.

In your mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Stir in the lemon juice.  Alternate beating the flour mixture and the yogurt into butter mixture.  Beat just until combined. Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.  (This helps prevent the strawberries from all sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking.)  Gently fold the strawberries into the batter.  Pour batter into your greased bundt pan.  Place the bundt pan into the preheated oven.  As soon as it's in the oven, turn the temperature of the oven down to 325 degrees.  Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let sit in pan for 25 minutes to cool.  Turn cake out onto wire rack to cool completely. 

 

Once cake is completely cooled, transfer to your serving plate.  Make your glaze by mixing the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth.  Use your spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cake.   Just keep drizzling and drizzling until all your glaze is used up. 

 

Source:  DoubletheDeliciousness.blogspot.com



Apple Dapple Cake ~ by Caroline

I once entered this into the Spring Youth Fair
and it won a "Grand Champion" ribbon! 

It is soooo moist and flavorful (and a bit healthy with the apples in it ;-)

The recipe comes from a special cookbook that was given to me
by Richie and Lydia for Christmas. 

(Although, Richie had purchased a copy of this cookbook
for Lydia before they were married,
and so this recipe was first discovered by us girls a couple years ago. :-) 
The cookbook is a compilation of family recipes by Frances Anna Gillette,
who was born in Vancouver, WA, and raised in Yacolt, WA. 
It also has wonderful pictures in it!!

Cream together:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil

Sift together:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix egg and flour mixture together.

Add: 
1 cup coconut (optional ;-)
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional ;-)
3 cups apples, diced
2 tsp. vanilla

Batter of cake is stiff.  (Put into 13 X 9 greased baking dish.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes. 

Icing:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk

Boil together for 3 minutes.  Put icing on cake right after baking when cake is hot.  After pouring icing on cake, use a meat fork, piercing cake all over the top so icing will seep in.

Source:  The Old Farmhouse Kitchen, cookbook published in 2007.

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe . . . Ever☺- By Valerie

Our parents' special 25th wedding anniversary was on Tuesday and I wanted to make a cake to celebrate.  We have several "tried and true" cake recipes, but I wanted to try a new recipe. I was hoping for a chocolate cake that would be very moist and have a really dark chocolate color and rich flavor.  I looked up the "best☺" chocolate cake recipe and found  this one!  We all really enjoyed this cake and I think it has definitely become a new favorite.  The recipe calls for espresso powder in both the cake and butter-cream frosting which was all new to us and we didn't have any on hand.  So, we did some research on possible substitutes and found that you can use instant coffee granules after they have been ground in a food processor.  Also you should double the amount of instant coffee as espresso powder. Hope you enjoy!

 

Chocolate Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
2. For the cake:
3. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
4. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
5. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

Perfect Chocolate Butter-cream Frosting

 Ingredients

• 1½ cups butter (3 sticks), softened
• 1 cup cocoa
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder

Instructions

1. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.
2. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well-combined.
3. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.
4. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
5. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

Source: Addapinch.com