Irish Apple Cake for St. Paddy's Day!

 

The sweet juicy apples nestled in the 

delicious cake 

made a big hit here!

 

 

That awesome crumbly struesel topping makes the cake a glorious treat to enjoy with a "cuppa" to soothe your nerves any time!

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies, Yum!

 

Rich sticky molasses helps keep these 

incredibly delicious cookies magically 

fresh and chewy for days!

 

I truly love this cookie and so does Bubba ~ it's my favorite ginger cookie.  It’s spicy, loaded with plenty of molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and allspice, but not too spicy or overwhelming.  The spices fuse and trigger your taste buds, popping that unique gingery molasses flavor.  

 

Baked Donut Holes----Two Versions

 

You might be satisfied with eating just one ~ 

not me ~ 

it’s 2 or 3 of these sweet tiny gems for me.  

And because they’re baked, not fried, 

that’s OK!

 

 

I made chocolate donut holes the other day for the chocolate lovers here and then I thought about...

 

Tasty Banana Bread with Dried Cherries

 

Tweaking a classic banana bread 

works for me, 

particularly when 

dried cherries are in the mix!

 

 

As bananas ripen to their prime squishiness ~ when they are barely yellow ~ but streaked with black and brown, even solid black, that’s the time to make banana bread.  

 

Two Cobblers That are Lip-Smacking Good and Lightened Up!

 

Tis' the essence of summer...

 

Cobbler!

 

Homemade Baked Cinnamon "Sugar" Donuts

Lately, (like the last 5 years) I’ve seen a plethora of bloggers praising how good their baked donuts ~ I secretly wondered ~ how good are they, really?  

The food blogger side of me is just a touch embarrassed to admit I’m more than a little late in hopping on the baked-donut-band-wagon.

Spicy Cardamom and Molasses Ginger Cookies

Tis’ the holly jolly
cookie baking season again!

It’s the molasses here that keeps these cookies fresh and chewy for days, with the generous amount of peppery ginger giving them their tang, and the nice compliment of cardamom adding its zesty, spicy herbal flavor to the cookies.

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie for Thanksgiving

You’ve heard that phrase, “As American as apple pie.”   Well, come to find out ~ that’s not actually true.  

The most iconic pie of America’s culture is not American at all.  Apples were, in fact, brought to America in the 17th century by Europeans.  

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Ripe juicy peaches with spicy cinnamon and a 

buttery cobbler crust,
baked until golden brown and delicious ~
who doesn’t like a sweet treat now and then...

Here, we all like fresh peaches and I was happy to see ripe white peaches at the farmers’ market the other day.  

'Tis Cookie Season ~~~ Spicy Crinkle Cookies

’Tis the season, bags of flour, sticks of butter and jars of spices on the counters, with cookie tins ready to be packed. 

 
Every year at this time, I make a plethora of Christmas cookies ~ last year the tally was 51 dozen.  Cookies for my family, and cookies to share with neighbors, friends, and more.

Easy, But Different, Peach Cobbler

A bushel and a peck ~ that’s how much we love fresh peaches here!

I knew it was time for 'summer-time comfort food' last Saturday when a bounty of great looking Michigan peaches was on display at the farmers’ market!

Impossibly Easy French Apple Dessert Squares

Apples and cinnamon, oh my! 

This is a really close cousin to Dutch apple pie, actually maybe more like a crisp, and  there’s no crust to roll out!  French apple dessert has a buttery crust, and is packed with apples, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

Homemade Banana Crumb Muffins

Use up your ripe bananas with this

banana muffin recipe!

Speaking of muffins ~ remember the Seinfeld episode, “The Muffin Tops?"

Peachy Keen Classic Cobbler

It was a warm summertime day, didn't matter!  I cranked up the oven because there were hungry mouths here salivating for a sweet treat!

It all started when Bill and I saw that the farmers’ market still had a plethora of peaches…

I got the peaches, tossed them with sugar and spice, spread them in a baking dish, dropped spoonfuls of dough over the top and baked it up.  Easy as pie!

Simply put, a cobbler is a casserole of baked, syrupy sweet fruit with some sort of pastry topping. 

To the peaches and sugar, I added a touch of cardamom for its distinctive sweet and savory taste.  You know the spice, it’s a longtime staple that  Swedish bakers use in a lot of confectionaires, like my Swedish MIL did.  

Next, I stirred in small amount cinnamon along with a splash of lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the mixture.

But ~ the secret to this great tasting cobbler is all about the orange zest in the biscuit topping.  It’s a surprising aromatic addition that will make everyone at your dinner table smile.

This cobbler delivers a crisp and tender crust with sweet jammy fruit underneath.  Serve it with a scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream, or not, serve it warm or room temperature, whichever you like.

Drop-dead delicious, for sure ~ it’s probably the best reason to turn on the oven in the summer!

Enjoy!

Yield:  8 servingsAuthor:  Pam

Peachy Keen Cobbler

This cobbler bakes up into a crisp and tender crust with sweet jammy fruit underneath.

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 8 cups sliced peaches, about 10-12 medium-sized peaches

For the topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Splenda (or sugar)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teasppon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a large bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and cardamom.
3. Add peaches and lemon juice, toss well to combine.
4. Transfer to an 11x7-inches baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the first six topping ingredients; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6. Add buttermilk, stir just until moistened.
7. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls over peaches in baking dish.
8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
9. Serve warm or room temperature.

 

Heavenly Mini Blueberry Splenda Pies ~ in Muffin Tins!

Blueberries

“You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson’s pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green
And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!” 

Robert Frost 

When summertime rolls around, I’m thrilled ~ warm weather, sunshine and Blueberries!

The aroma of these little pies baking was mouthwatering!

I’m always on the lookout for blueberry recipes, and now can't remember where this one came from.

I mixed Splenda with the fruit instead of sugar, it measures the same as sugar.  I didn’t tell Bill it was made with Splenda until later; he didn’t notice a difference with Splenda, and neither did I.  

For the filling, I added a splash of lemon juice, and a couple of pinches of cinnamon.  

The pies are easy peasy to pull together, but to make them even easier, use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust.  You’ll be eating dessert in a flash!

Baked in a muffin tin, the pies are a perfect-size yummy dessert or snack!  

These blueberry pies a great dessert for anyone who needs/likes a dessert with low sugar.  

It’s hard to eat just one!

Yield: 6 servingsAuthor: Pam

Mini Blueberry Splenda Pies

These blueberry pies are a great dessert with less sugar!

prep time: 20 MINScook time: 25 MINStotal time: 45 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 recipe for double-crust pie or Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust (2 crusts), at room temperature
• 1½ cups fresh blueberries
• ¼ cup Splenda Sugar Blend
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   Grease 6 cups of muffin tin.
2. Dust counter top with flour, roll pie crust out.
   Cut six 3” circles of crust, press into the bottom and sides of muffin tin.
3. Combine blueberries with Splenda, cinnamon and juice.
   Fill the cups with the pie filling.
4. Cut another 6 circles of dough and press them on top of each pie, sealing the bottom and top layers of dough tightly with your fingers.
5. In a small bowl, whisk egg and water to make an egg wash; brush over the top of each pie.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes until crust is golden brown.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing each pie from tin and onto a cooling rack to cool.
   
   Serve warm or cool.

Enjoy!

Summery Peach Loaf Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

We all really like peaches here, some more than others, but we all are hooked on this cake!

This is a scrumptious summer dessert starring fresh peaches!

Peaches have been “iffy” here this summer.  Most of them not ripe, and when they do ripen up, they’re rotten.  Thankfully, our favorite farmers’ market had a huge supply of Michigan peaches.  They looked near perfect ~ I couldn’t resist them ~  fragrant, ripe and drip-down-your-chin juicy.  Just what this cake called for!

The simple streusel topping is spiced with fragrant cinnamon and cardamom.  It’s equally good for breakfast, brunch, a snack or dessert.  Finish it off with a scoop of ice cream or a swirl of whipped cream, or just eat it plain, like we do.

It’s a moist cake filled with little chunks of sweet peaches!


Enjoy!

Yield: 1 large or 3 mini loavesAuthor: Pam

Peach Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

This is a delicious, moist and sweet cake!

prep time: 20 MINScook time: 30 MINStotal time: 50 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2-3/4 cups flour
• 1 -1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1-1/2 cups diced fresh peaches

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   Grease and flour three - 3x5x2-inch or one - 9x5-inc loaf pan(s).
2. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the sugar and oil. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat until well combined. Stir in diced peaches. Spread the batter into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean; about 25-30 minutes for small loaves and about 55-60 minutes for large pan. Allow to set for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before slicing.

For Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

1. Cream softened butter well, add remaining ingredients. With a fork or pastry blender, combine until crumbly.
2. Scatter over cake before baking.

Bourbon-Soaked Pork Tenderloin with Brown Sugar Honey Glaze ~ a Cookbook ~ and Distilleries

If you like a lingering bourbon flavor in meat, you will have to use this marinade the next time you prepare pork.  The bourbon flavor comes through just enough to notice but not enough to overpower the meat.

One of my very favorite Southern cookbooks is The New Low-County Cooking by Marvin Woods.  The jacket liner of his cookbook says, “There’s a whole world of flavor packed into an eighty-plus-square-mile area surrounding the cities of Charleston and Savannah.  It’s called the Low Country of South Carolina.”   

It’s a great area to visit for cuisine and beautiful scenery.  Marvin Woods transforms standards into updated dishes, which leads to this recipe for Bourbon-Soaked Pork Tenderloin.  Actually, his recipe is intended for pork chops but I had pork tenderloin and used it instead.  

The marinade in this recipe is a super tenderizer for the pork with the end product being tender and succulent.  If you are apprehensive about using bourbon, substitute it with apple, cranberry or grape juice, sparkling cider, vegetable or chicken broth.  

After the pork marinates for 36 hours or so, it can go on the grill, as Woods does, or in the oven, my way.  Then brush it several times with the Brown Sugar Honey Glaze while roasting.  

Bourbon is really the only distinct American spirit, according to Woods, with most of it coming from Kentucky.  I know that for a fact as I grew up in Louisville, and there are countless distilleries in the surrounding area.  Check out this post that was made just after I began blogging. 

I learned a lot about bourbon as a great family friend was a Federal inspector over-seeing many distilleries ~~~ he had so many stories for us and samples too, in unlabeled bottles!

Bourbon-Soaked Pork Tenderloin with Brown Sugar Honey

 1 (2 pounds) boneless pork tenderloin

Bourbon marinade

Brown Sugar Honey Glaze

For the bourbon marinade:

1 cup bourbon

¾ cup orange juice

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

In medium bowl, stir together all the marinade ingredients.

Place the tenderloin in a deep baking dish.

Pour the marinade mixture over the pork, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 36 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove from refrigerator and place in roasting pan.

Roast pork for about 40 minutes or until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 160 degrees.

During the last 10 minutes, brush with the Brown Sugar Honey Glaze several times.

Brown Sugar Honey Glaze:

¾ cup honey

¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon Marv Spice*

Method:

In a saucepan, combine the honey and brown sugar and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved. 

Stir in all the remaining ingredients.

Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 months.

Marvin Woods:  This flavorful sauce with an Asian accent can be used in place of most barbecue sauces.  I especially like it on spare ribs, pork and lamb.

*Recipe for Marv Spice:

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon celery salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until combined.

Store in airtight container for up to 6 months.

Marvin Woods:  I use this spice mixture in my macaroni and cheese as well as in fish, chicken and meat dishes that I feel can use a touch of inspiration.

This is especially delicious for all you pork and bourbon lovers!

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda, at My Kind of Cooking!  She’s hosting a great giveaway now ~ one of her cookbooks and cute kitchen towels.

Cherry Muffins and Marshall Field’s

RIP, Marshall Field’s!

Well, I don’t know when I clipped this from the “Heirloom Cooking” column in the Chicago Tribune, but I do know it was before August 30, 2005 because the prize for printing a reader’s recipe was a gift certificate for $25 to Marshall Field’s department store.  

Marshall Field's on State Street, Chicago, note the clock!

It infuriated many area people when Marshall Field’s doors closed on that August day to become Macy’s.  Its massive retail store at State and Washington Streets in the Loop—built in stages between 1893 and 1915—occupied an entire city block and was one of the world's largest retail buildings.

A fun Christmas time outing was to go to Marshall Field’s on State Street to take in its gorgeous animated holiday window displays.

Then, off for a delicious lunch in the wood paneled Walnut Room; seating 450 diners, under crystal chandeliers ~ surrounded by imported dark Russian wood paneling.  

While enjoying lunch, the diner had an up-close view of the 45-foot tall Christmas tree with over 1,000 ornaments in the center of the dining room.   

Walnut Room at Christmas time

45 foot Christmas tree in the Walnut Room

Actually, Marshall Field’s is credited with the tea room concept. 

Back in the 1800’s, ladies shopping in the city had to return home for lunch, as being unescorted by a gentleman was frowned upon and not ladylike.  

One day, a Marshall Field’s clerk shared her chicken pot pie lunch with a tired shopper; providing Marshall Field’s the concept of opening a lunch/tea room.  

Hence, the Walnut Room opened in 1907, allowing ladies to shop and enjoy lunch with friends; a place for ladies to socialize.  

That chicken pot pie became “Mrs. Herring’s Pot Pie” and is still served there today filled with tender white meat chicken, peas and carrots in veloute sauce, hidden just below a thick puff pastry!

On the menu, in later times, you would see Peach Nest, the famous chicken salad in a nest of shoestring potatoes, with peaches,  grapes, strawberries, and a trio of bread  ~ plus, coconut shrimp, skewered to a chunk of pineapple and dipped into sesame-mango and chipotle-cream sauces. 

Also, Spinach Ricotta Ravioli, with asparagus, smoked tomatoes, garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese and chili flakes, in a light roasted yellow pepper sauce.  

Then, to top off  the meal:  a dessert of another Chicago classic ~ the Frango mint chocolate ice cream pie!  Heavenly!!!

I could go on and on, but seeing this recipe for Cherry Muffins brought back great memories of the most magnificent store you could imagine and there are still rallies occasionally to bring back the old Marshall Field’s!   That would be dreams come true for thousands of shoppers, including me!

Back to the muffin recipe:  Even though the fresh tart cherry season is over here, this recipe adapts well to frozen or canned cherries.  The muffins are moist and flavorful with the cherries, cinnamon and cloves blended together. 

This is a delicious fruity muffin to enjoy with your morning cup of coffee, for afternoon tea time or a tasty treat any time of the day. I hope you bake them!

All ready for baking

Cherry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon each:  ground cinnamon, baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick (½-cup) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries

Method:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and clove; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg until smooth.

Reduce mixer speed to medium-low.

Alternate mixing in the flour mixture and the buttermilk to batter, beating just until combined.

Fold in the cherries.

Fill lined muffin tin three-quarters full with batter.

Bake until a tester tests clean, about 35 minutes.

Cool on wire rack.

Yield:  12 muffins

Love these cherry muffins!