Plum Cake

My mother used to make the most delicious Plum Cake. Unfortunately I couldn't remember her recipe, but I found one a few years ago in "Heartland Baking" that is pretty close to my mother's Plum Cake.

"Plum Cake"

2/3 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 lbs of purple plums, pitted and cut into halves

For the topping:

1 cup flour

2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 1/2 tsps cinnamon

6 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350. For the topping, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon and add the butter with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. Line a 9-inch round or square pan with wax paper and grease. Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and fold into the butter mixture. Pour the batter into the pan. Cut the plums into half once more and layer the plums on top of the batter. Sprinkle the Streusel topping over the plums. Bake approximately 45 minutes, or until done. Let cake cool down, and then serve slightly warm. It is also good the next day with your morning coffee.

Enjoy!

Cherry Pie

I made a pie,

a Cherry Pie

For the record,

I ate a few

Enough,

that my fingers turned blue

Now the crust was ready

and I filled it high

with the bowl of cherries

for my Cherry Pie

I put it in the oven

And watched the time

I couldn't wait to eat

My Cherry Pie

But, so ugly is my pie

Have you ever seen an ugly pie?

Not I.

I'm telling the truth

I would not lie

I ate a piece

of my ugly Cherry Pie

And it was good...so very good
My "Rustic Cherry Pie"

(photo from flickr - Dani 9-5 photostream)

(c) 2010 Anita M. Ashworth

Coffee Cake and Tea Break

I'm in a baking mood once again. This cake didn't last long. It's great for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea. I didn't have any nuts on hand, so I omitted the walnuts. It's good either way.

"Streusel Coffee Cake"

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sour cream

(Topping)

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

6 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch square pan with wax paper and grease thoroughly. For the topping, place ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork or your fingertips, until the mix resembles coarse crumbs (streusel).

For the cake, cream the butter with electric mixer until soft. Add the sugar. Continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until mixed well. In another bowl, mix the flour and other dry ingredients. Fold the flour into the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream. Pour half of the mixture in the prepared pan and sprinkle half of the brown sugar topping mix over batter. Pour the remaining batter in pan and top with the remaining sugar mixture. Bake until browned, 60-70 minutes.

Black Forest Cherry Cake

A friend asked me to bake her a Black Forest Cherry Cake for her birthday, so I did. Here is my very simple recipe.

Black Forest Cherry Cake

1 Box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 Pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 Cup confectioner's Sugar
1 Can Cherry Pie Filling

Pre-heat oven to 350. Bake cake as instructed on back of cake mix in two 9-inch pans. When cool, place first layer on cake plate and spread 2/3 can of cherry pie filling over the layer. Top with second layer. Whip the heavy cream with the confectioner's sugar until stiff enough to spread. Put remaining cherry pie filling on top layer and ice the whole cake with the whipped cream. You may garnish with Maraschino cherries or chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!

The Crystal Bowl

My son-in-law celebrated his birthday on Monday, so I invited my daughter and her family over for dinner. My son-in-law is accustomed to good ole Southern food, but I decided to make a couple of German dishes, like Red Cabbage and German Potato Salad, and Black Forest Cherry Cake.

My mother made the best potato salad and I've tried to duplicate her recipe through trial and error, sometimes coming close, other times missing the mark entirely. Mom, like most good cooks, didn't follow a recipe. And she served her potato salad in a crystal bowl. That crystal bowl graced many holiday tables over the years.

My mother always loved pretty things. It was natural that she used a crystal bowl, as natural as using real tablecloths on her dining room table and real silverware. Mom loved china and tea pots and coffee services, a trait that all of us girls inherited. When she passed away my three sisters and I divided up eight sets of coffee and tea services, each of us ending up with two sets a piece. As for the crystal bowl? I proudly serve my potato salad in the same bowl my mother used all those years. I'm sure that I'll pass it down to one of my daughters.

"German Potato Salad"

Approx. 10 Idaho potatoes or Yukon Gold

1 stalk celery, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

2 pickles, chopped

1/2 lb bacon, fried and crumbled

4 boiled eggs, chopped (optional)

Approx. 1/4 cup Oil

Approx. 1/4 cup Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Boil the potatoes until you can pierce them with a fork, but do not overcook them. Cool and peel the skins. Use a large bowl and cut up the potatoes and add the remaining ingredients. I use a German vinegar, but you can use Apple Cider or Salad vinegar. Mix well and marinate until serving time.

Guten essen!

Apple Strudel & More

My daughter had been begging me to make Apple Strudel, which I usually make around this time of year. Since I work full-time, I often don't have the energy to spend as much time in the kitchen as I would like. The Apple Strudel takes a little time, but is well worth it. I found the recipe in "Taste of Home" several years ago and lost it, but had made it enough in the past, that I remembered it. This time, instead of making three strudels, I used the last batch of apples and made an apple pie and took it to work.

"Apple Strudel"

2 sticks of butter, the real thing

1 8 oz. container of sour cream

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp Salt

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled & chopped

1 cup bread crumbs

2 cups sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted

Cinnamon

Raisins (optional)

Cut the butter into the flour and mix well. Add the sour cream and mix until a ball forms. The dough will be sticky. Add enough flour to form a ball. Cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.

Let the dough rest at room temperature until soft enough to roll out, at least 1/2 hour. Divide dough in thirds and roll out into a rectangle. In a large bowl, mix the chopped apples, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Spoon the apple mixture over the dough and roll up in a strudel. Brush melted butter on top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on a large, ungreased cookie sheet. This will make three small strudels, one to eat and two to share. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

"Apple Pie"

For the pie, roll out a pie circle from the strudel dough and place in pie plate. For the crumb topping, use a pastry cutter to mix 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done.