Aunt May’s Rum Balls from Deb H.

Posted by on Sep 25, 2013 in Desserts

3 boxes Nabisco Vanilla Wafers 1 cup sifted powdered sugar 2 tbsp cocoa 2 tbsp white corn syrup 1 cup finely chopped pecans 5-6 tbsp rum Roll wafers very fine (or use a food processor) Sift sugar and cocoa together. Mix dry ingredients together.  Add rum and corn syrup and work a little at a time till it makes a firm ball. Roll into little balls (I inch) then roll in powdered sugar. Ripen 3-4 days to 1 week. The kids love...

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Mary’s Fudge Brownies with Symphony Bars

Posted by on Sep 25, 2013 in Desserts

4 1-oz squares unsweetened chocolate 2 sticks unsalted butter 2 c granulated sugar 1 c all-purpose flour 4 eggs 2 tsps vanilla extract 3 Symphony bars Melt chocolate over hot water with butter.  Cool. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add sugar to butter mixture and mix until creamed. Add flour and mix until well incorporated. Add 1 egg at a time.  Then add vanilla and mix well. Turn half the mixture into a well buttered 8” by 8” pan, then layer bars on batter and finish by pouring other half over bars. Bake for 25 minutes, cool to room temperature for about one hour, cut into...

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Cranberry Walnut Bread

Posted by on Sep 25, 2013 in Desserts

¼ cup butter 1 cup brown sugar 1 egg 2 ¾ cups flour 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 cup canned whole cranberry sauce ¾ cup honey or wheat beer (Try different beers to vary the taste) 2 tbsp grated orange peel ¾ cup chopped walnuts Cream the butter and sugar and egg in a large mixing bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Combine the cranberry sauce, the beer, and the orange peel. Add the flour mixture and the cranberry mixture alternately to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Add walnuts. Bake in an 8” loaf pan in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 60 minutes. Cool bread before cutting. This recipe keeps...

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Barbara’s Lemon Pie

Posted by on Sep 23, 2013 in Desserts

One  9” pie shell (homemade or store bought) ½ stick butter melted 5 eggs slightly beaten juice of 3 lemons grated rind of 1½  lemons 1¼ cup sugar Preheat oven to 325 degrees Combine eggs, lemon juice, rind and sugar. Stir in melted butter (be sure its not too hot). Pour into pie shell. Bake 30-40 minutes.  Cool. Serve with unsweetened whipped cream.

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Noah’s Strawberry Shortcake

Posted by on Sep 23, 2013 in Desserts

The next recipe is my son, Noah’s, favorite birthday cake.  He’s been eating it since he was six years old. Genoise 6 large eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup sifted flour ½ cup sweet butter melted and clarified 1 tsp vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and lightly flour two nine -inch layer cakes pans Put eggs and sugar in a large bowl.  Stir until they are combined. Set bowl over a saucepan containing one to two inches of hot water.  Water in the saucepan should not touch the bowl, nor should it be allowed to boil.  Place saucepan over heat for five to ten minutes or until eggs are lukewarm.  Stir four or five times to prevent them from cooking at the bottom of the bowl. When eggs feel lukewarm to your finger and look like a bright yellow syrup, remove bowl from heat.  Begin to beat, preferably with an electric mixture.  Beat at high speed for ten to fifteen minutes, scrapping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula when necessary until mixture becomes light and fluffy and has increased in volume  to almost three times its bulk.  The mixture will look like whipped cream. Sprinkle a little flour at a time on top of egg mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula.  Use a gentle motion.  Then add the butter and the vanilla using the same technique.  Be careful not to over mix. Pour batter  into pans and place in oven.  Bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when touched.  Cool on racks. Rinse and hull two pints of strawberries.    Put ten large ones aside for the top of the cake.  Take the others, slice, and put in a bowl.  Add  powdered sugar according to taste – probably one or two tablespoons and about a tablespoon of lemon juice. Allow to macerate. Whip two pints of  heavy cream.  When whipped, add three tablespoons of powdered sugar (or more if desired) and one teaspoon of vanilla. Remove first cake layer from pan and put on serving plate. Thinly spread two teaspoons of melted strawberry jam on cake or sprinkle two tablespoons of Grand Marnier on the cake layer or do the same with the juice that has accumulated  at the bottom of the bowl the strawberries are in.  Spread a thick layer of whipped cream on the cake and put the strawberries over that.  Then add the top layer.  Frost with the rest of the whipped cream.  Take the reserve strawberries, dehull,  glaze them with melted strawberry jam, and arrange on the top of the cake.   Take handfuls of finely chopped pistachios and use them to decorate the sides of the cake.  Serve and...

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Sarah S’s Mother’s Milk Chocolate Cake

Posted by on Sep 23, 2013 in Desserts

2 ¼ cups sugar 3 tbsp water  2 squares melted unsweetened chocolate ¾ cups soft butter or margarine 1 tsp vanilla  4 eggs, separated 2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour 1 tsp cream of tartar ½ tsp soda ½ tsp salt 1 c milk A standard thickened custard filling from the Joy of Cooking Chocolate Cream-Cheese frosting Add ¼ c sugar and the water to chocolate. Cream butter well. Add remaining 2 c sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla then egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add chocolate mixture and blend. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk, beating until smooth. Fold in egg whites beaten until stiff but not dry. Pour into 3 round 9-inch or 4 round 8-inch layer pans lined on the bottom with greased waxed paper. Bake at 350 for about 40 to 50 minutes. Let stand five minutes then turn out onto racks to cool.  Remove paper.  Put the layers together with custard filling and spread top and sides with Chocolate Cream-Cheese...

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