Delicious Pumpkin Pie Cake

The only thing that could possibly make this NY better, is if it had a caramel sauce drizzled on top of it!!

This is my son-in-law's favorite cake. It's his mother's recipe, but since the family was with us for Thanksgiving, I decided to give it a try.

I was disappointed, to say the least! It was nothing like I remembered the one time I tried it.

A week later, I decided to give it one more shot for our church's Ladies Christmas Party. Wow!! Apparently, I did something wrong when I made it for Thanksgiving and something right when I made it for the Christmas party!! It didn't have time to refrigerate so it was warm and that made it so much better!!

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Cake

1 white (or yellow) cake mix

1/2 c butter, melted

5 eggs, divided

4 tsp cinnamon, divided

14 oz pumpkin

2 tsp nutmeg, divided

13/4 c sugar, divided

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 c heavy whipping cream

1/4 c butter, cool

Preheat oven to 350.

Measure out 1 cup of cake mix and set aside. Combine remaining cake mix and melted butter. Add 1 egg, 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of nutmeg. Mix well and press into the bottom of a 10 inch form pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin with whipping cream. Add remaining 4 eggs, 1 1/2 c sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and remaining 1 tsp of nutmeg. Add salt, ginger and cloves. Mix with whisk and pour over unbaked crust. Set aside.

Combine reserved cake mix with remaining tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup cool butter. Mix until crumbly and sprinkle over pumpkin filling.

Bake 90 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean. Let cool 3 minutes. Remove from pan. Refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream.

Tip: baking cake on a lower rack in oven may help filling set better. Also, put foil in bottom of oven as cake pan might leak.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

This is the sugar cookie recipe I'm using as of now. Especially the chocolate variation! I got this from Cookie Crazie and I absolute love it!




1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Here's how I do mine:

Cream together butter and sugar. Add sour cream, egg and vanilla. Mix well. In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine. Roll out to 1/2 - 5/8" thick, depending on how thick you want your cookies. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 1" apart. Place cookie sheet with cookies in freezer for at least 10 minutes. Remove from freezer, making sure cookies don't slide together, and place in 325 degree preheated oven. Bake for 14 - 18 minutes, depending on your oven and how you like your cookies. I don't like my cookies the least bit crunchy, so I take them out sooner rather than later.

For the chocolate variation, substitute 1/2 cup of the flour with 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder. You can use regular cocoa, but one you try the dark, you will never go back to the regular!!

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Glaze Recipe Revisited

I posted here about the glaze recipe I used. I thought I'd give an update since I've started using a different variation. Same ingredients, just a thicker version.

The original recipe is a lot thinner. In order to do the detail work, it had to be thickened by adding powdered sugar.

With this version, I use the same recipe to outline, fill and detail. I got this version Cookie Crazie's blog. I love her cookies!!

Recipe
(This recipe is doubled. I rarely make a single batch)

2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 c white corn syrup
1/2 c water (I add gradually until I get to the consistency I'm looking for)
1 - 2 t flavoring

Mix ingredients together until smooth, holding a little water until the proper consistency is achieved. To get the correct consistency, peak with your finger. It should go smooth in 10 seconds (see Cookie Crazie's 10 second rule). Divide and color as desired.

I use bags and tips to outline, fill and detail. Most often I use tip #'s 2 and 3. Sometimes I use #4 or 5 to fill if the cookie is large.

I recently found this tutorial that has made cleanup a dream come true!! Keep watching until you see how she fills her bags.

Happy cookie making!!

About Making Dulce de Leche

If you use the recipe for Dulce de Leche recipe that I posted here, don't use Great Value sweetened condensed milk. It doesn't thicken like the other brands do!

Yesterday, I sent my hubby to the store and he bought the GV brand. I stuck it in the oven and it took forever. I kept checking it, but it was still white. Finally, I stirred it and there was a white liquid layer on top with the caramelized milk on bottom. So I stirred it in with a whisk and baked it a while longer, but it still didn't thicken like it's supposed to. Great Value must add a LOT of water to their sweetened condensed milk! Stick to Eagle's Brand or Carnation. I've used Golden Meadow and it did fine.

Just wanted to let you know!!

Elegant Strawberry Torte

This recipe has been in my family since the early 1970's. It is my absolute favorite strawberry cake. Mine doesn't exactly look elegant, but it sure did taste good!


Elegant Strawberry Torte

3 c. flour
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 c. butter, softened, not melted
1 c. sour milk (add 1/2 T. vinegar to milk)
1 egg
1 t. baking soda

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two 8" round pans. (You can also bake it in a 9" x 13" pan).

Combine first four ingredients with a pastry blender.


Mixture will be crumbly. Reserve one cup of mixture. Add remaining ingredients to mixture and mix together. (I sprinkle the baking soda over the crumble mixture, then add and mix together the remaining ingredients).

Batter will be somewhat lumpy.


Pour batter into prepared pan(s). Sprinkle reserved cup of mixture evenly over top.


Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. (Mine, shown here, were a tad over-done.)


Filling and Topping

1 lb. fresh strawberries, sliced (add more or less, however you like it)
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. sugar

Add sugar to whipping cream and beat until thick. Add sliced strawberries and mix well. Use this mixture as both filling and/or topping of cake.

Glace' Icing Recipe

This is the icing recipe I use for my decorated cookies. I've used it since I first started doing the cookie bouquets three years ago. I know several people who use the rolled buttercream and the rolled fondant, and I've used both of those as well, but I always come back to this recipe and technique.

Glace' Icing

1 lb. powered sugar ( a little shy of 4 cups)
1/4 C + 2T whole milk (I usually use 2% since it's what I have)
1/4 C + 2T light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract - I use the same as I used in the cookies)

Combine sugar and milk with whisk until smooth. Be sure to get all the lumps out. Stir in corn syrup and extract.

I use this same recipe for the glazing and the piping. For the piping, take a small amount and add powered sugar to make it thicker. If it gets too thick, just add a few drops of milk.

I figure out what colors I'm going to need for my cookies. I then divide the glaze up in small bowls and mix in gel food coloring.

For the Valentine's Day Cookies and the St. Patrick's Day cookies, I outlined the cookies with the thicker glaze, then filled in with the colors I wanted.

For the previous cookies and cookie bouquets, I put waxed paper under the cooling racks and poured the glaze over the cookies. I then piped the thicker glaze on them.

I'm not sure which way I prefer - still trying to figure that out!

On the V-Day and St. P-Day cookies, I used a toothpick to make the designs. Just drop a dot of a contrasting color onto the just-glazed cookie and pull a toothpick through the dot to make the designs.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Here's the recipe I used for the decorated cookies on this blog.

Sugar Cookies

2 C butter (not margarine or spread)
2 C sugar
2 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract ( you could use almond extract as well)
6 C flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and extract and mix together.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until combined.

Refrigerate dough for 1 - 2 hours. *

When you're ready to roll out the dough, lightly sprinkle your work surface with flower and roll out.

Bake at 350 for 8 - 12 minutes. I do mine for 8 or 9 minutes because I like them soft. For a crisper cookie, roll the dough thinner and bake a little longer. Just play with it until you find what you like.

Remove onto cooling racks. Let them cool completely before decorating.

* If I'm in a hurry, I will chill the dough for just a few minutes, then roll out. I then put the cookies on my baking sheets and put them in the frig to chill before baking. You can also shape the dough into two disks between wax paper and chill. It won't take near as long. But your dough needs to be chilled or your cookies won't hold their shape very well.

I use this recipe to make 34 - 38 large cookies or 44 - 48 medium cookies.

Enjoy!

Lemon Curd Recipe

A customer asked for my Lemon Curd recipe so I decided to post it here. This recipe is not original to me - I found it at ArtofDessert.blogspot.com. Most of her recipes have been amazing.

Lemon Curd

1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin with 3 tbsp. water
3/4 cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon (or 2 tsp. of natural lemon flavoring, or 1 tsp. lemon extract)
4 large eggs
1-3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes

In a small bowl, sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the water. Set aside. Mix together the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat then add the unflavored gelatin. Mix until the gelatin is dissolved completely. Refrigerate for a few hours before using.

Notes:
I beat the eggs lightly before adding them. I also pour the hot curd through a strainer before letting it cool. Doing this will give you a smoother curd.

Enjoy!!

For the past few weeks, I have been lightly toasting a slice of my homemade bread, lightly buttering it and then spreading it with a couple teaspoons of the lemon curd.

Absolutely delicious!!

Easy Dulce de Leche

I found this recipe while searching for another recipe on the Internet. It's a very easy way to make Dulce de Leche. Works great as a filling for a chocolate or white cake.

Preheat the oven to 425° F .

Pour one can (400 gr/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish.

Set the pie plate in a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches half way up the side of the pie plate.

Cover the pie plate tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check it a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary. I found that my oven takes more like 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours. I also like mine to be stiff enough that I can pipe it on cupcakes.)

Once the milk is browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. When it is cool, whisk it until smooth.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. If you need it warm, put it in the microwave for a few seconds or set in a pan of warm water.