Dolci di Noci or Italian Nut Cookies

 

Italian Nut Cookies/Dolci di Noci

2 room temperature egg whites

½ teaspoon of cream of tartar

pinch of salt

¾ cup white sugar

3 cups finely ground nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, etc)

a few drops of both vanilla and almond extract (optional)

1 tablespoon corn starch

powdered sugar for the balls, about ¼ cup

Whip the the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until just starting to inflate, don't whip until stiff. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except powdered sugar) until well mixed and the egg whites are well incorporated. You can either bake now or chill for a while.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Take about 1 tablespoon of the dough and form into a ball. Roll the ball of dough in the powdered sugar and place on the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the sides are just lightly browned. Remove the parchment sheet to a rack to cool. Do not attempt to remove the cookies until completely cooled. Store in a tight container. This should make about 2 dozen cookies, according to how big you make the balls.

For the nuts, place whole or pieces of nuts in a food processor and process until it looks kinda like wet sand. Do not over process or you will end up with nut butter. You can also use premade nut flours, but the freshly ground ones will have a better flavor.

Granny Sielert's Applesauce Cake

 

Growing up in Poplar Bluff, we had some awesome neighbors. One in particular, Granny Sielert, was more like family than just a friend. I was going through some of my mom's old recipes and found one that I hadn't seen before, it is titled "Granny Sierlert's applesauce cake".  You can tell it is an old time one, by the use of lard instead of butter or shortening.   The recipe, like a lot of old recipes, took a bit of deciphering, but this is it. Sounds like it would be a good one.

 

Cream together: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup lard (you can use half butter) and 2 eggs.

Mix together 2 cups unsweetened applesauce with 2 teaspoons baking soda and set aside.

Mix together in a large bowl, 3 cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp. cocoa powder, and 1 tsp. salt.

Beat the lard, sugar and eggs together, then add the applesauce, mixture and dry ingredients. Beat in the 1 cup raisins and 1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans). Bake in a well greased tube pan at 350 degrees for about an hour.  Cool in the pan about 10-15 minutes before removing and cooling completely.  

Panna Cotta, an Italian Treat

 If you love the taste of ice cream, you will love the taste of panna cotta.   Panna cotta is Italian for cooked cream, although the cream isn't really cooked, more barely heated to simmering.  What in the old days, we would call scalded.   It is easy to make, although it can take 6-8 hours to set to it's jiggly succulence.  

1 pkg unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, white or brown or even Splenda (or to taste)

2 tsp GOOD vanilla extract

2-3 DROPS almond extract (be careful not to use too much or it will over power things, you may omit if you wish)

Place the gelatin in a small bowl and cover with the milk.  Allow to sit around 10 minutes, which is about the amount of time needed to prepare the other things. 

In a saucepan, combine the milk and sugar or Splenda.  Place over medium heat and bring to just barely a simmer.  Don't boil.   Remove from heat and whisk in the softened gelatin, it should dissolve almost instantly, if not, stir gently until it is.   Add your extracts, mix well and then pour into four small serving dishes.   Cover and chill about 6-8 hours or until set.   Serve in the dish with some fruit or a spoon full of fruit syrup or your flavored booze of choice.   You can also serve with nothing at all.   

You can vary the flavor by using other extracts or flavorings.  

Almond Macaroons

 

Almond Macaroons

 

4 egg white whites

2 cups white sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

3 cups fine almond flour

a few drops almond extract

a few drops vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip on high speed until the whites begin foam and turn white. At a tablespoon at a time, add the sugar as the whites continue to whip. When you add the last bit of sugar, add the extracts and continue to beat until fairly stiff. At this point, fold in the almond flour until it is well incorporated. Chill at least an hour.   Using a tablespoon or a scoop that hold about that much, place balls of the dough about two inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven about 10-15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and appear to be dry and cracked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the parchment a few minutes, giving them time to set, before removing to a rack to finish cooling.

 

German Chocolate Cake

My mom was well known for her German Chocolate cake and it was also one of the few sweets that my brother Steve really liked.   So Mama would make it for his birthday and other special occasions.  The rest of us all liked it too.  But, because it can be a bit of a pain making the frosting, we didn’t have it all that often.   After not making one for a long time, I have had the pleasure to make two in the past week.  And, everyone that ate them was very pleased in how it turned out.   You can just as easily make the cake using a mix, but here is a simple cake recipe that you can also use for homemade flavor.   As always, enjoy!
An Easy Chocolate Cake   (this is the traditional recipe from Hershey’s, but with a couple of additions of my own.  It is very easy, tender and moist.   Great flavor, too!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Grease a 9X13 inch cake pan and set aside.   In a large mixing bowl add the following:
2 cups white sugar
¾  cup cocoa powder, dark or regular
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsps. Baking powder
1 ½ tsps. Baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp instant coffee (unless using hot coffee instead of the hot water)
Stir well to combine.
In another bowl beat together:
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
Stir this into the dry ingredients and mix about 2 minutes or until well blended, scrapping the bowl once.  Then, all at once add the boiling water or coffee.  
1 boiling water (or coffee)
Continue to beat until well mixed, then pour into the prepared pan and bake about 35-45 minutes.   The cake will feel dry on top, pull slightly away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick in the center will come out clean.   Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.   

When the cake comes out of the oven, you can make the frosting.  

In a heavy pan, an enameled Dutch oven is perfect, beat together:

1 ½ cups white sugar
1 12-ounce can of evaporated milk (1 ½ cups)
5 egg yolks

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil, add 1/2 cup butter and then cook until the mixture becomes very thick, about 9 minutes or so.    Remove from heat and add 1 ½ tsps. Vanilla.   Stir in 2 cups of sweetened coconut, lightly toasted is good, but untoasted is good too, and about 1 ½ cups chopped pecans, again lightly toasted is very tasty, but untoasted is good too.  
Allow to cool completely, then frost the cooled cake.    

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

A very easy and pretty cake, made using a boxed cake mix.   Very tasty too!

1 box dark chocolate cake mix with pudding in mix

1 can cherry pie filling

1 tsp almond extract

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 1 minutes. Scrape bowl with spatula, then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape into a well greased 9x13 inch cake pan, spread out to fill pan and smoothing top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until it is beginning to pull away from the side of the pan and top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven make the glaze. Place in a small saucepan the following:

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk or cream

Stirring continuously, bring to a full boil over medium heat. Cook stirring for 1 full minute. Remove from heat and add 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, stirring until they are completely melted and the mixture is very smooth and shiny. Pour over the top of the warmed cake and spread quickly to cover the whole cake top. This sets very quickly. Cool cake completely before cutting.

 

Baked Apples

Baked apples are an old timey dessert that you don't often see anymore, a shame too, as they are very tasty and easy to make.   When I was a child, every so often mom would make them for my dad.  They were always well received.  I tend to make mine on the simpler side of things, as some use chopped nuts, raisins and other things in the filling.     They are good served as they are, topped with ice cream or even some plain unsweetened heavy cream over the top.    No matter how you eat them, they are good!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Wash, halve and core apples, about one apple per person and place in a shallow baking dish that will just fit the number of apple halves.   Sprinkle the apples with a good quality cinnamon, then put about a tablespoon of brown sugar on top of each half, then top each one with about a teaspoon of butter.   Put a little water in the bottom of the pan and put it in the oven.   Bake about 45 minutes or until the apples are very tender.    Allow the apples cool slightly before serving and serve warm.    Top each serving with some ice cream or plain heavy cream.      And as always, enjoy!   

Instead of apples, you can also use halved and cored ripe pears or halved pitted peaches or apricots.   The peaches and apricots may not take as long to cook, so start checking for tenderness after 30 minutes for those.  

Nutella Cream Sauce

  A very decadent and delicious dessert sauce can be made in minutes.   I guarantee that if you like Nutella and chocolate, you will love this!  Serve it over cake, ice cream, flan, cheesecake, you name it.  

Equal parts of heavy cream and Nutella.  Put the cream in a small pan and warm gently to just below simmering.  Add the Nutella and stir until it is well blended with the cream and the mixture is creamy and smooth.   Cool and either use at room temperature or chill.  If you chill it, it will thicken a bit.   Store any leftover sauce in the refrigerator.  

Gluten Free Almond Flour Sour Cream Cake

 My brother in law has celiacs disease and I am always on the look out for good recipes that are both gluten free and tasty, as close to regular baked goods as possible.  This cake is just that.... tender, moist, flavorful and flat out delicious.  Even if you don't have to eat gluten free, this is a good one try.  And if you are trying to eat lower carb,  just get rid of the sugar and use your favorite non-sugar sweetener.   

3 1/4 cups fine almond flour

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup melted butter (for a bit more flavor you can lightly brown the butter)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Butter an 8x8 inch square cake pan and set aside.   Put the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.    In another smaller bowl, beat the sour cream and eggs until well blended, then stir in the butter and flavorings.   Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix well, then spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the  top.    Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown and a tooth pick stuck in the center comes out clean.   Remove from oven and allow to cool before cutting. 

 If you wish you can either frost with a butter cream frosting or, my favorite, make a like glaze to drizzle over the top.   It is also tasty eaten with fresh fruit and whipped cream. It isn't a very sweet cake, so if you wish to use more sugar in the batter, I would add about another 1/2 cup.  There is no no reason you couldn't use brown sugar in place of the white, either.   A butter, flour and sugar streusel on top of the cake would be tasty, too.   Just either more almond flour or any gluten free all purpose flour with sugar and butter.    

Cream Cheese Cookies

 1/2 cup softened butter

8 oz softened  cream  cheese

2 cups white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter, the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the  eggs and extracts.   When well mixed, add the flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix until well blended.   Place in a covered dish and chill at least three hours, overnight is better.   The dough will be very sticky.  When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  With wet hands, form the dough into balls and flatten slightly. Place the balls on a cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart.   Bake for 11-12 minutes, until the bottoms are just slightly starting to brown.   Cool slightly on the cookie sheet, then place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.   Enjoy!   These are addictive!

Streusel Coffeecake

Streusel Coffeecake

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2  cups white sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1  tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

2/3  cup yogurt

2/3  cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Beat the sugar and butter together until smooth, then beat in the yogurt, sour cream, oil and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients together and then stir into the wet mixture. Spoon about 2/3 of the batter into a greased 9X13 inch cake pan. Sprinkle your choice of fillings as below, then dot the remaining batter on top of the filling. Finally, evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over everything. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until nicely browned and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting.

Streusel: ½ stick soft or melted butter, 1 ½ cups sugar, 1 cup flour. Mix together with fork or your hand, until it makes clumps. Sprinkle the clumps over the everything.

Fillings:

Sprinkle heavily with brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans.

Or: Sprinkle heavily with some sort of berry or cherry, fresh or frozen. If you use cherries, add a small amount of almond extract to the batter, in addition to the vanilla.

Or: Rhubarb, chop fresh or frozen rhubarb, sprinkle lightly with a couple tablespoons of sugar, then put over the batter.

This is especially good with fresh or frozen gooseberries.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Preheat over to 400 degrees and spray the cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray or grease very well.

In a large mixing bowl place:
¾ cup sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
12/ cup milk

Beat together until smooth.

Then add the following:
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp baking soda
Mix until all are moistened, but do not over mix. Portion into the muffin tins and bake about 20 minutes. The muffins will be rounded and nicely browned. Cool in the pan about 5 minutes, then gently remove to a cooling rack that is over a cookie sheet.

Melt about ½ cup more butter and put in a bowl. Mix together ¾ cup sugar with 2 tsp cinnamon. Dip each warm muffin completely into the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. You may need more melted butter and sugar mix to coat all of them. Finish cooling and then eat!

Pineapple Carrot Cake

Pineapple Carrot Cake

To be honest, I have never been that great a fan of carrot cake. There was just something about it that I didn't care for. It may have been the spices (it usually contains nutmeg and I am NOT a fan of that spice), the carrots may have been in too big chunks, too many nuts and or raisins, the cream cheese frosting may have been too cloying, who knows. It just wasn't one of my favorites. However, I have a very good friend who loves the stuff and I wanted to make something special for him. I have tried different recipes, but always on the lookout for one that is “better” in some way. I think I may have found it here. It contains crushed pineapple, no nuts and no raisins. The carrots are supposed to be grated, but I put them in my food processor and finely chopped them. For spices, mostly cinnamon, but just a little bit of ginger to perk it up a bit. And for the cream cheese frosting, only half the amount of cream cheese that most call for. The frosting is lighter and not as rich as most and quite tasty. I think you will like it. This cake should probably be refrigerated if not going to be eaten within a day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9x13 inch cake pan and set aside.

3 cups finely chopped or grated carrots (I used a 10 oz bag of shredded carrots that I then finely chopped in my food processor, but you can do as you please)

1 8 oz can of crushed pineapple, well drained (or use about a cup and a half of fresh pineapple chopped with the carrots)

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 cups dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put all in a large bowl and mix until well blended

Then add to the bowl:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Using a spatula or large spoon, mix until just blended, then spread in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until nicely browned and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool until completely cooled.

For the frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Mix the butter and cream cheese together until well blended, stir in the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time and continue mixing until it is a fairly spreadable mixture, adding more sugar as need be or it gets too stiff, a little bit of milk can be stirred in. Spread a fairly thin layer on top of the cake.

Coconut Milk Rice Pudding

1 cup arborio rice
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 can coconut cream
sprinkle cinnamon

Mix the milk, rice and brown sugar in a large dutch oven and bring to a simmer.   Keep the heat to the lowest heat that will keep it bubbling, stirring every so often, cook until the milk is very creamy and thickened, and the rice is tender.    Takes about 30 minutes.   Stirring more often the thicker it gets.   Then add the can of coconut cream and continue to simmer until very thick, creamy and the rice is very tender.   Sprinkle in some cinnamon to taste.    Serve either warm or chilled.   

Lemon Chess Pie

This is a very old, southern dessert about which is there is a lot of speculation where the name and the pie came from.   Like pecan pie, another traditional southern dessert, it is tooth achingly sweet, but at least this one has a very tart and lemony counterpoint to all the sweetness.  Even so, it is an extremely sweet and rich pie that no one should ever eat more than a tiny sliver of.   It is good, but also quite deadly!  If you try to eat more than just a sliver, I warned you!    As always, enjoy!

Lemon Chess Pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch pie pan with pie crust. Set aside.

Beat together the following until smooth and well blended:

2 cups sugar

½ cup strained fresh lemon juice

grated rind of two lemons

2 tbsp corn meal

2 tbsp flour

½ cup butter milk or yogurt
4 eggs

¼ cup melted butter

pinch of salt

Pour this mixture into the pie shell and bake about 45-60 minutes. The top of the pie will be lightly browned and the filling will jiggle a little bit when shook. Remove pie from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve pie room temperature or chilled. Store leftovers in the fridge. Some like to top with whipped cream, but as rich as this is, it doesn't really need it.

German Apple Cake

While this is called a cake, it actually closer to an apple pie or crisp.   Middle and Eastern Europe doesn't really have a "pie" tradition as such.   This is pretty much as close as they get to what we would call an apple pie.  This one has all the requisites of a good apple pie though:  lots of tender sweet apples, with just a hint of cinnamon and lemon.   The top is a buttery streusel and the bottom of the "cake" is a tender shortbread.    It does take a while to bake, but is well worth the wait.   Before cutting, do allow it to cool completely, giving the apple juices time to set up and not be runny.   Top it with some heavy cream, whipped or not, or some ice cream and you will not be disappointed.    While it is supposed to be eaten the same day as baked, I actually like it better the next day or later.  The bottom crust soaks up the apple juices and then actually has more of a cake like texture.    Fresh or a day or two later from the fridge, you are still going to love it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.    

3 1/2cups all-purpose flour divided (500g)

1 1/2 cups butter divided (340g)

1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (70g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

4 cups chopped apples

1 1/2 cup applesauce sweet or unsweetened

½ cups brown sugar

1 tsp lemon zest freshly grated (optional)

juice of one lemon (optional)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

     Peel, core and chop the apples, you want about 4 cups of chopped apples.  Add to a large bowl and then add the applesauce, brown sugar if using and the cinnamon.  Lightly grease a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside.   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, ¾ cup sugar, vanilla extract, 2 cups all-purpose flour. Press into the bottom of the cake pan and set aside.   Spread the apple mixture evenly over the bottom crust.     Now make the streusel topping:  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the remaining soft 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter with 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1 cup sugar The mixture will be crumbly.  Use your fingers to crumble the crumbs on top. Press some crumbs together to form bigger crumbs, you don't want the crumbs to be too fine. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes until the crumbs are lightly golden.  Let the cake cool off completely. It will be a little bit soft while hot.

    Other options:   replace the apples with firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped.   Add raisins or dried cranberries to the apples, say 1/2-1 cup.   Use cooked dried peaches in place of the apples and applesauce, use firm ripe plums, pitted and sliced.  If using plums, I would suggest in a teaspoon of cornstarch or flour when tossing with the sugar and cinnamon and omitting the apple sauce.   Pitted cherries would probably be good too, but again you would need flour or cornstarch.

    To make this a gluten free treat, just substitute your favorite gluten free all purpose baking flour or even just gluten free oat or sorghum flour.   It will be tasty no matter what you use!   

Browned Butter Peach Bars

 I love peaches and grew up eating lots of peaches.  We lived not too far from Campbell, MO, which grows some the absolute best peaches you ever tasted.   During peach season we would make the trek over there and buy 3-4 bushels of over ripes.   I think the variety was Elbertas.   They were big, dead ripe, juicy freestones.   They would be canned (my dad loved home canned peaches), frozen and Grandma Casey still dried some.   And there would be lots of home made peach cobblers too.    So we all grew up eating and loving peaches in any form.   We all still do.   In the past couple of years I have rekindled a love affair with dried peaches.  I love to simmer until tender, using water and a couple tbsp. of cider vinegar.   Then mash with a potato masher, as some cinnamon, not too much, just enough for a bit of fragrance, some brown sugar and some white sugar, tasting so they aren't too sweet.   Then allow to simmer uncovered until thickened.   It is a good substitute for peach butter on toast, used as a pie or cobbler filling or in this case, used in peach bars. 

I have a liking for peach bars, but too many of them are most just sweet than having any real peach flavor.  The shortbread also tends to be a bit bland and boring.   I decided I wanted some thing that was neither bland nor boring.   Also having a good peach flavor.   I decided to try using my cooked dried peaches for the filling and they were perfect, peachy, but not too sweet.   For the shortbread, I decided to kick things up a bit using browned butter, a bit of almond extract and some almond flour.  It was a hit!   If you don't have almond flour or choose not to use it, just use an extra cup of all purpose flour.  

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup browned butter, cooled
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup browned buttter
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup almond flour (or another 1/2 cup of all purpose)
1 1/2 cup sugar

 2 cups of cooked dried peaches as above, or a can of peach pie filling or a jar of peach jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch cake pan.    Make the crust by mixing all of the crust ingredients until well blended and no lumps.  Press evenly over the bottom of the cake pan and about half way up the sides.   Spread the peaches evenly over the crust.   Mix together all the crumb topping ingredients until they are crumbly.   Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the top of the peaches, then bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes, until the bottom and the crumb topping are both golden brown.    Cook completely before cutting into serving sized pieces.    

No reason you can't use other types of fruits for the topping.   They just need to be cooked and not too runny or two sweet.    You could also add some chopped nuts to the  crumb topping as well. 

Grandma Casey's Dried Peach Pie Filling

My Grandma Casey was an old timey Ozark farm wife.   She had little formal education, but she knew about making do with next to nothing.   She also knew her way around the kitchen.   Like most poor farm women of her era, she knew all about preserving foods.    She still dried apples apples in my time, but most of her foods were either canned in jars or frozen.   I loved her fruit butters and canned peaches.   We still enjoyed a lot of old time stuff, but she also had no trouble adapting to new ways of preserving them.    She no longer dried peaches, that I remember, but we all loved the old time fried dried peach pies.    Instead of cooking dried peaches, she would prepare this from fresh peaches and either can or freeze it for fried pies.   Good stuff, too.  She added no spices to it, so if you want to add cinnamon or a pinch of cloves, go right ahead. 

1 gallon sliced over ripe peaches with peel
1 cup cider vinegar
4 cups sugar

Mix together and allow to sit overnight.    Then simmer until cooked down very thick.   Either use at once or freeze or can.     Good stuff!

If you want spices, I would say 2 tsp high quality cinnamon,  if you like cloves, add about 1/4 tsp or less.   Cloves can easily overpower foods if you aren't careful. 

Imperial Cake

Imperial Cake

This is another recipe that Bea Drury gave to my mom.  It was found on the box of Imperial Margarine and still may be as far as I know.   It was a favorite that my mom didn't bake all that often.  It is a very good one too.

Imperial Cake

1 lb softened Imperial stick margarine

1 lb. Sifted powdered sugar

6 eggs

3 cups cake flour

2 tsp vanilla

Beat the powdered sugar and Imperial margarine together until light and fluffy, then beat the eggs in one at a time, carefully fold in the flour and vanilla. Grease and flour a large tube pan and spoon the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake batter with some powdered sugar and chopped pecans if you wish. Bake in preheated oven at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hours. When done, place the pan on a rack and cool completely before removing from the pan.

Bea Drury's Orange Cake

As I have posted before, growing up we had some wonderful neighbors, the Sielerts and the Drurys.   Bea Drury was a Sielert before she married Bill Drury.   (Bill also happened to be my godfather!). Bea worked for the phone company and was always sharing the best recipes with my mom.  The only banana bread recipe that I will ever use comes from Bea.   This is another recipe that she shared with my mom and I consider it the best orange cake I have ever tasted.   Like many recipes from the 60's and 70's it uses a boxed cake mix, it also uses a box of orange gelatin too.   For the glaze you can either used thawed orange juice concentrate or freshly squeezed orange juice.  I like to use the orange juice concentrate for two reasons, you get more orange flavor and it was what my mom always used.  As always, enjoy!

Bea Drury's Orange Cake

1 box orange cake mix

1 small box orange gelatin

¾ cup of vegetable oil

¾ cup water

4 eggs

1/2 can of thawed orange juice concentrate boiled with ½ cup white sugar

(or juice of three oranges boiled with 1 cup white sugar)

Beat the cake mix, gelatin, water and oil together, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Grease a 9x13 inch cake pan and spoon batter into pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. When cake is done, poke holes all over the top with a toothpick and then drizzle the hot orange syrup over the baked cake and allow to cool completely before cutting.