Crispy Peach Cobbler

This is my kind of cobbler- crispy on top. More cake-like, less bread-like.

• 8 large peaches (about 4½ pounds), unpeeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
• Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
• 1-2 T minute tapioca, OPTIONAL
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar, DIVIDED
• 1½ cups (about 192 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup hot tap water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put the peaches in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Pat the peaches into a roughly even layer, then, using a zester or a Microplane, zest the lemon evenly over the fruit and squeeze the lemon juice evenly over the top. Spread tapioca over dish.
3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and 1½ cups of the sugar on medium speed about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat again for another 30 seconds, until all the flour is incorporated and the mixture is evenly crumbly. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the milk. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (Add a little more milk, if needed, to make it spreadable)
4. Plop the batter in large blobs over the top of the peaches. Carefully spread the batter evenly over the fruit, so it’s no more than about ½ inch thick in any one place.
5. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup sugar directly over the batter. Drizzle the hot water evenly over the sugar, using it to melt the sugar into the topping.
6. Bake the cobbler for 70 to 80 minutes, or until the top is browned and cracked. (A toothpick inserted into the topping should come out dry—be sure to check in a few places.)
7. Let the cobbler sit for about a half an hour to firm up before serving.

Apple Pie Recipe, never leave me again.

Combine 1/4 c apple juice, 1/2 brown sugar, 2 T corn starch, 1 tsp cinnamon

Add 4-5 large apples, cut into pieces, mix everything together and put in crust.

Dot with 4T butter (cut into pieces, room temperature)

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
4 T. cocoa (we like to use special dark)
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
4 T. oil
2 t. vanilla
2 c. nuts (optional)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
3 1/2 c. hottest tap water
vanilla ice cream

Heat oven to 350°.
Mix flour, sugar, 4 T cocoa, baking powder and salt in ungreased 9x13 pan. Mix in milk, oil and vanilla with fork until smooth. Stir in nuts, if using. Spread in pan.
Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 c. cocoa. Pour hot water over batter.
Bake 40 minutes.
While warm, spoon into dessert dishes and top with ice cream. Spoon sauce from pan onto each serving.

Basic Sweet Bread Dough

Rapid Mix Sweet Dough

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt; stir well. Cut in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add warm water to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs and 1 more cup of flour; beat until thick. Stir in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover dough with a damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Punch down dough and form into desired shape. Cover and refrigerate dough for up to 48 hours. Let dough come to room temperature before baking in a 375 degree oven.

Banana Cream Pie

• 1 (9 inch) pie crusts, baked
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 bananas

Directions:

1. 1
   Have baked 9-inch pie shell ready.
2. 2
   In a large saucepan, scald the milk.
3. 3
   In another saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt; gradually stir in the scalded milk.
4. 4
   Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened.
5. 5
   Cover and, stirring occasionally, cook for two minutes longer.
6. 6
   In a small bowl, have the 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten, ready; stir a small amount of the hot mixture into beaten yolks; when thoroughly combined, stir yolks into hot mixture.
7. 7
   Cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly.
8. 8
   Remove from heat and blend in the butter and vanilla.
9. 9
   Let sit until lukewarm.
10. 10
    When ready to pour, slice bananas and scatter in pie shell; pour warm mixture over bananas.
11. 11
    If desired, make whipped cream.

Reliable Pie Crust

Great Grandma Stott's Never Fail Pastry (makes enough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies)

Mix together: 2.5 c flour

1 tsp salt

Cut in:

1 c shortening, until the mixture is part meal, part pea-sized.

To the side, combine:

1 T vinegar

0.5 c cold milk (maybe a touch more than 0.5)

After a few minutes pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir. Divide, roll out, etc.

Creme Brulee

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1/4 vanilla bean (split) or some vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoonish?)

3 egg yolks

1 whole egg

1/4 cup sugar

White sugar (brown sugar will catch on fire and make a real fine mess)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F

2. Combine heavy cream, milk (and vanilla bean if using) in sauce pan; heat to boil. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Scrape bean seeds into the milk mixture or add vanilla extract.

3. With an electric mixer, combine eggs and sugar. Add the milk mixture in a steady stream. (After fully blended, strain mixture through a fine strainer if you used the vanilla bean.)

4. Divide mixture into 4 ramekins. Set ramekins in baking dish and pour hot water around the ramekins so they are 1/2 submerged.

5. Place in center of oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just set. Remove from oven and chill for several hours.

6. Set ramekin on a flame resistant surface (such as large cookie sheet). Cover top with white sugar and caramelize the top with torch, using a smooth motion working from outside towards the middle until golden brown.

Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream

This recipe makes 1½ qts.

2 cups half-and-half
1½ cups sugar
½ cup baking cocoa (we like Hershey’s Special Dark- it's so tasty)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream

1 row of oreos, broken into rough pieces

Combine half-and-half, sugar, cocoa and vanilla in a blender; process on low until smooth.
Stir in heavy cream.
Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions.
When it's almost done, add in the oreos

Scones

These are the breakfast type scones, not the frybread type scones. And they're delicious.

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1.5 cups dried fruit/chocolate chips/cinnamon chips/nuts/whatever combination you want (don't use fresh fruit (especially if it's really juicy))

2 cups cold whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease baking sheets.

2. Combine dry ingredients, then mix in fillings. 

3. Whip the cream, so it's good and frothy. 

4. Fold the cream into the dry mix, and form the dough into two balls. Pat down to a thickness of about one inch and cut into 8 wedges (this can be done in different combinations, based on the size you want. One ball, or three balls, or 6 wedges. But remember, they grow). You may need a flour-dusted surface to do this, but be careful not to add too much flour.

4. Bake until just a bit golden on top, 18-20 minutes.

Deep Dark Moist Chocolate Cake

2 cup sugar

1 ¾ cup flour

¾ cup cocoa

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. In large mixer bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with butter cream frosting.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

6 tbsp butter or margarine, softened

2 2/3 cup powdered sugar

½ cup cocoa

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

In small mixer bowl, beat butter. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Blend in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups frosting. 

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch pie 

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons white sugar

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Banana cake

4 oz butter
1 cup sugar
3 mashed bananas
1 egg, whisked
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda (dissolved in 2 Tbsp milk)

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, bananas and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients together and Mix with the rest. Bake at 350' for 30-40 minutes. Cake will be brownie pan sized.

Glaze:
Mix 1/4 c brown sugar and 1 1/2 ox butter in pan. Add 1/8 c milk and stir over heat. Add 1/4 tsp vanilla and 3/4 c icing sugar. Pour over slightly cooled cake. Eat most of cake by yourself w a fork.

Sister Chalmer's (whomever she was) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Maybe you guys all have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, but we always just make the one on the back of the package, with sort of so-so results. I had these at a friend's house, and they are mmm mmm good.

1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1/3 c crisco
1/3 c butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 - 3/4 c semi sweet chocolate chips

1) blend shortening and butter until creamy
2) blend in sugars, egg and vanilla
3) blend in all dry ingredients
4) fold in chocolate chips

Bake at 375* for 8-9 min.

(This is only a 1/4 batch from the original. It makes a little over 2 dozen. Can be easily doubled.)

Carrot Cake

2.5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. vanilla

3 cups lightly packed shredded carrots (about 6 medium)
3/4 cup dark seedless raisins (or blueberry infused craisins)
1 8-8.5 oz can crushed pineapple, in juice

cream cheese frosting (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9"x13" metal baking pan.

2. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

3. In large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat eggs until blended. Gradually add granulated sugar, then brown sugar; beat two minutes, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in oil and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture, and beat about one minute, until smooth, frequently scraping bowl.

4. Fold in carrots, raisins, and pineapple with its juice.

5. Pour batter into pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool cake in pan on wire rack, 10 minutes or more, before frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat 3 cups confectioners' sugar, 6-8 oz. cream cheese (softened), and 1.5 tsp vanilla extract, just until blended. Increase speed to medium. Beat one minute, or until smooth and fluffy, frequently scraping bowl.

Linda Porter's Strawberry Pie

This is one of the best pies I have ever eaten. Maybe it's the cream cheese, or the shortbread crust, but Mmm Mmmm.

Crust: 1 1/2 c flour, 1/3 c pwdr sugar, 3/4 c soft butter. Mix and press into pie pan. Bake at 350 until golden (10-15 min?)

Stir 1 T white sugar into 8 oz of cream cheese. Spread over crust in thin layer.

Filling:
1 c sugar
1 c water
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 T cornstarch
2 T strawberry jello powder

Combine in saucepan and heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring frequently. Place strawberries (whole or in large pieces) on top of cream cheese layer and pour mixture over top. Allow to cool/set.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Ok, Gordon and I made this Sunday evening, and it was delicious. I think we ate half of it that night.

Ingredients:

* 2/3 cup sugar (the original recipe called for maple sugar, so we added a little maple flavoring to this, and it was pretty tasty)
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* 2-1/4 cups diced fresh or frozen rhubarb
* 4-1/2 teaspoons sugar
* 6 tablespoons butter, softened
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs, separated
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (4 1/2 ounces)flour
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup whole milk (I used a mixture of the milk I had on hand, plus some cream)
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar


Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. In a small bowl, combine the sugar & melted butter. Spread in the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer with the rhubarb & sprinkle with 4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Set aside.
2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter & 3/4 cups of maple sugar until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg yolks & vanilla extract and mix.
3) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer running on low, slowly add half of the flour, the milk, and the other half of the flour, beating well after each addition & scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
4) In a clean, medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold into the batter. Gently spoon over the rhubarb in the pan.
5) Bake in preheated oven until the cake springs back when lightly touched, about 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

Wednesday Wars Cream Puffs

We made cream puffs in honor of reading "Wednesday Wars".

(They are on pg 137 of Grandma A's cook book) I have made 1/2 a batch before and they work fine.

They are easy. Behold:

1 C water

1/2 C butter or shortening (choose butter!)

1C flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

Some kind of good, gooey stuff and opptional powdered sugar.

So you heat the butter (good choice!) and water and salt to a boiling point and add the flour all at once, stiring quickly (it says "vigorously", but sheesh, don't hurt anything). It will thicken quick, but keep beating it and stiring it till it leaves the sides of your pan and balls up around your wooden spoon. Let it cool slightly, then beat eggs in one at a time (doing all 4 at once is hard!), beating each in well. You can use a machine- it makes it lighter.

Then drop by spoonfuls (the bigger the spoonful, the bigger the

puff) onto greased baking sheet. Spread 'em out - they puff.

Bake at 400* for 30 min (this is a lie, as mine were too dark by min 18). They just need to be dry and browned. Cool, cut the tops off, gut them if necessary, and fill with pudding, whipped cream, jam, a bit of syrup, sugared strawberries, etc. etc. They aren't all that great by themselves (no sugar to speak of), but they are the vessel to hold all the other goodness. We used instant choc pudding. Very nice.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is delicious.

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 cup rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 tbsp. butter
Pastry for double crust pie

In large mixing bowl stir together sugar, cornstarch, salt and ground nutmeg. Add rhubarb pieces and sliced strawberries, toss gently to coat fruit. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare and roll out pastry. Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Trim pastry to edge of pie plate. Pour fruit mixture into pie plate. Dot with butter, place pastry on top of filling. Cut slits in top to allow steam to escape; seal and flute edge.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

Banana Cake

Cream together 4 oz butter and 1 cup sugar.

Add to mix:
3 mashed bananas
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 Tbsp milk

Bake at 350 for 30-40 min

Glaze (make extra, this is the best part):
mix together over heat:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 oz butter
1/8 cup milk

add 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and beat all together over low heat. Pour over cake.

Cake Truffles

1 baked cake - I started with my favorite cake
1 container cream cheese frosting (although any frosting will do)
1 package chocolate chips

Put the cooled cake into a mixing bowl and blend it together with the container of frosting. I did this in the kitchen aid.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on cookie tray.
Freeze for 3-4 hours.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler. Let it cool a bit before dipping. Dip frozen truffles into chocolate with a fork, push off fork using a toothpick. Return to fridge or freezer. Decorate tops with melted white chocolate.

Don't let Claire anywhere near the operation.