Lincoln Cake

Happy Birthday Lincoln!  January 19th was Lincoln's (nephew) birthday.  I made cake to help him celebrate!

I was searching the internet to find a special cake to honor Lincoln.  What better find than Lincoln Cake, vanilla almond cake.
Here's the website: http://www.visit-gettysburg.com/mary-todd-lincoln-cake.html.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup almonds (I didn't have almonds so I replaced them with 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 tsp almond flavoring.)
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/3 cups milk
6 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar (I didn't use the confectioners' sugar for the topping.)

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (I didn't have any on hand, so I went without.)
Dash of salt
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease and flour two nine inch round layer cake pans or one bundt cake pan.  (I accidentally 'floured' the pan with powered sugar.  It still turned out just fine.  I also used the bundt cake pan because I didn't want to go to all the work of a two layer cake.)  If using almonds, use a food processor to grind them into a course flour.

Cream the butter and sugar to and mix until well blended.  Sift the flour and baking powder.  Fold the dry flour mix into the creamed butter/sugar mix, alternating with milk, until well blended.  Stir in the almond powder and mix thoroughly.  (At this point I added 1/4 cup all purpose flour.  Folded it in, then added the almond flavoring and folded the batter a couple more times.)

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  Add a pinch of salt for easier stiffening.  Add vanilla extract as eggs are forming still peaks.  Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the pan(s) and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool for at least 15 minutes before flipping the cake out of the pan.  Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.  If layer cake was made, use a jam for filling.  Sift confectioners' sugar on top for decoration or make the frosting and smother the cake with it.

Frosting Preparation:
Bring to boil sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt.  Boil until sugar dissolves.  Beat egg whites in mixing bowl.  White egg whites are beating, very slowly add hot syrup.  Beat until still peaks form, about 7 minutes.  Beat in vanilla for 1 more minute.

Cut the cake and scarf it down!

 Happy Birthday Lincoln!  I hope you enjoyed the look of the cake!  It was delicious!

Zucchini Cobbler

This is what happens when I have an extra zucchini just chillin' on the kitchen counter.

One of my co-workers brought this into work and I just had to have the recipe! 
Everyone that takes a bit will think it was made with apples.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Cobbler-2/Detail.aspx?prop24=etaf
I've made a few changes from allrecipes.com.

Saucepan Ingredients:
8 cups peeled, chopped zucchini (I didn't chop it.  I cut off thin slices to resemble apples for apple crisp.)
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Topping:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, chilled
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Saucepan Ingredients: In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir zucchini and lemon juice until zucchini is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.  Stir in sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cook one more minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 dish.

Topping: In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir 1/2 cup of topping into saucepan ingredients.  Add cinnamon to remaining topping.  Press half of remaining topping into bottom of dish.  Spread zucchini mixture over top of crust.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden.  Serve warm or cold.

I felt like the end product was to deep.  Next time I'm going to either cut the recipe in half and still use the 9x13 dish or make a full batch and split it between two 9x13 dishes.

Double Frosted Brownies

This recipe came from http://www.tasteofhome.com/.  It is a very rich dessert.

1 package fudge brownie mix (13x9 inch pan size)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
2 to 3 tablespoons 2% milk
1 can (16 ounces) chocolate fudge frosting

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.  (I bought a Duncan Hines fudge brownie mix.  It called for 2 eggs for fudge like brownies or 3 eggs for regular brownies.  Since the Double Frosted Brownies called for fudge frosting, I choose to use 2 eggs for more fudge-ness.)  Spread the batter into a greased 13x9 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean.  Cool completely on wire rack.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and pudding mix until blended.  Add enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.  Frost brownies.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Spread with fudge frosting.  Cut into bars.  Store in the refrigerator.

Cinnamon Almond Cookies

BATTER:
1 1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
3 cups all-purpose flour

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks.  Gradually add flour and mix well.  Using cookie press fitted with bar disk, press dough one inch apart into long strips onto ungreased cookie sheet.  In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; brush over dough.  Combine all topping; sprinkle over stripes.  Cut each strip into 2 inch pieces.  Do not seperate pieces.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm.  Do not brown!  Remove to wire racks to cool.


*Next time I make these there are going to be a few changes from the recipe.  The only almond flavor in these cookies is the almonds on top and I feel that only gives them crunch.  I couldn't taste much almond at all.  I'm going to add some almond flavoring to the batter.   
*Another change I will make, the topping made WAY to much so I will cut it in half next time. 
*I do not have a cookie press so I split the dough into fours and rolled each forth into a long "snake".  I then just flatted each "snake" a bit to make it look like a used a cookie press.
*I do not think I baked them long enough.  When I moved them from the pan to the cooling rack they all fell through (except the few you see in the picture) and looked really doughy.  Luckily I had set a cookie sheet under the cooling racks before moving the cookies over so they fell through onto the cookie sheet.  I did get a lot of compliments about the flavor and texture even though they didn't look that great.

Marshmallow Crisp

5 cups rice cereal  (I didn't measure.  I just poured a little in a bowl and kept adding more cereal as needed)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (14 oz.) caramels
1 cup butter, cubed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 pkg. (16 oz.) large marshmallows

Line two baking sheets with wax paper; set aside.  Place cereal in shallow bowl.  In large saucepan, cook and stir milk, caramels, and butter over low heat until melted and smooth.  Remove from the heat; stir in cinnamon and vanilla.  With toothpick inserted in each marshmallow, dip into warm caramel; turn to coat.  Press marshmallow bottoms in cereal; place on prepared pans.  Let stand until set.

I had troubles with the rice crispies and caramel running off the marshmallows and "pooling" at the base, but they still tasted great!

Homemade Pecan Sandies

This recipe turned out more difficult than it sounds.  I would suggest trying this when you have lots of patients and time!

1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

In food processor, finely chop the pecans. (I bought pecans already chopped so there was no need for a food processor.)  Cream softened butter, confectioners' sugar, and brown sugar using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy or about 3 mins.  Add egg yolk and beat until smooth.  Gradually stir in flour and salt until just incorporated.  Then add chopped pecans.  Divide dough into 2 equal portions.  (When I got to this point the dough was way to dry and would not stick together at all so I added more butter until it would stick together.)  Roll each portion into a log about 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Wrap each log individually in a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or overnight (I think I refrigerated it only for 1 hour and it came out fine).  When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Slice dough into 1/3 inch thick rounds and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.  HINT (this hint was in the original recipe): rotating the log of dough often to prevent it from becoming flattened as you cut.  Bake about 15 minutes or until edges are light golden but the top is still soft.  Leave cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

Snickerdoodles Recipe

This recipe is one mom used to use when she was a kid.

Cookie:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Coating:

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Using hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth (about 2-3 mins).  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla extract.  In separate bowl mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; stir into other mixture.  Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch round balls.  Mix coating in a separate bowl.  Roll balls in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Space cookies about 2 inches apart and gently flatten each cookie on the pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges.  Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Can be stored in airtight container, at room temperature, for about 10-14 days.

Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

Bars:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2-3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. cinnamon, optional
Cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, mixing well. Stir in bananas. Dissolve soda in sour cream. Add flour, salt and cinnamon to batter alternately with sour cream mixture until well blended. Pour into greased 10x15 baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
6 oz. cream cheese (I use 8 oz. because I can't find a 6 oz. cream cheese)
4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. milk or cream (I use milk)
2 cups powdered sugar (I use 2 1/2 to 3 cups because I like thicker frosting)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer.  A mixer will give you a fluffier frosting than mixing by hand.  Spread over cool bars.

Peanut Butter Fudge

My mom used to get a little peanut butter fudge when she went to craft shows.  She no longer goes to craft shows so I decided to find a peanut butter fudge recipe and make it for her.

1/2 cup butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in brown sugar and milk.  Bring to boil and boil for two minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter and vanilla.  Pour over powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Beat until smooth; pour into a 8x8 inch dish.  Chill until firm and cut into squares.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I use the recipe off the back of the Nestle Toll House bag of chocolate chip and typically double the recipe as one batch just isn't enough.  The posted recipe is for one batch only.

The recipe (not doubled) says it makes 60 cookies but that all depends on what size you make them.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 9 minutes
Cooling time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. package) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I have never put these in as my family isn't a big fan of nuts)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe states: May be stored in refrigerator up to 1 week or in freezer up to 8 weeks.  I leave my cookies set on the counter in a covered container until they are gone.