Desserts

Apple Hill Cake

Makes 1 cake

  • 2 cups sugar (or 1 cup brown & 1 cup white sugar)
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 cups diced apples
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups walnuts

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs, then add the apples. Sift together the  flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. Combine with apple mixture. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for one hour.

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Beatles Cookies

Makes 8-10 dozen

  • 3/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 3 eggs
  • 5 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar (plus 2/3 cup more for topping)
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp soda
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chocolate pieces or mini chips
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon (for topping)

Cream butter and 2 1/4 cup sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Sift flour, salt, soda, and baking powder. Alternately add with sour cream. Add vanilla and fold in chocolate pieces. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Combine 2/3 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle some on each cookie. Bake at 375°F for 12 minutes or so.

(one of Beth’s favorites from her jr. high school kitchen)

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Chocolate blancmange (pudding)

Serves 8

  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 7 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 quart milk
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Gradually blend in milk. Cook slowly stirring constantly, until thickened. Add grated chocolate. Cook several minutes more to remove raw cornstarch taste. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and cool 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Pour into a 5-cup mold. Chill until firm, about 3–4 hours.

Box mixes of chocolate pudding are a pallid imitation of the real thing! Try this — it’s delicious.

Per serving: 288 calories, 10g fat, 5g protein, 49g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 130mg sodium.

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Chocolate marshmallow cream fudge

  • 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) toasted and chopped pecans
  • 1 can (5 ounces or 2/3 cup) evaporated milk
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 7-ounce jar marshmallow cream
  • 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Line bottom and sides of 9 X 9 X 2 inch pan with aluminum foil.

Pour evaporated milk, butter, sugar, salt, and marshmallow cream into a heavy 2 1/2 – 3 quart saucepan. Place over medium heat and, with a wooden spoon, stir the mixture constantly until it comes to a boil. Adjust the heat and let this mixture boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. During this time it will caramelize slightly and should get to about 230–234°F.

After 5 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the nuts and vanilla. Immediately pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Let stand at room temperature until cool. Carefully lift the fudge from the pan by lifting the edges of the foil. With a long, sharp knife, cut the fudge into the desired-sized pieces.

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Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 4 dozen

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups oatmeal
  • 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream shortening and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Sift flour, salt, soda, and baking powder together and add to batter. Add cocoa and milk to batter. Add oatmeal and nuts. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls to greased sheet. Cook at 350° F for about 7 minutes.

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Fruit Cocktail Cake

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups sifted flour
  • 2 tsp soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 can fruit cocktail (with juice)
  • Frosting:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (or less)

Mix cake ingredients and pour in greased pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup light brown sugar and 1 cup nuts. Bake at 300°F for 35-40 minutes. Boil frosting ingredients 5 minutes and add 1 1/2 cup coconut. Spread on cake.

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Heavenly Delight/Ambrosia

  • 2 bunches grapes (red or green seedless), cut in halves
  • Canned pineapple
  • 1 bag marshmallows, cut in qtrs.
  • Walnuts or pecans
  • Whipping cream (amount-personal preference)

Mix everything well together. Chill and eat!

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Jill Sinclair’s Cookie recipe

  • 2 cups applesauce
  • 2 cups dates, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup wheat germ
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup dried milk
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 3 cups flour

Combine applesauce, dates, and water. Heat to soften dates. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Spread 1″ thick. Bake 350°F for 25 minutes.

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Kitty litter cake

Serves 20 people with strong stomachs

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
  • 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies
  • green food coloring
  • 1 (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls

Prepare cakes and pudding according to package directions. Chill pudding until assembly time.

Crumble sandwich cookies in a food processor. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.

When cakes have cooled, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. You probably won’t need all of the pudding. You want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.

Line kitty litter box with plastic kitty litter liner. Put cake mixture into box.

Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave-safe dish and heat until softened. Shape the ends so that they are no longer blunt, and curve the tootsie rolls slightly. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.

Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs. Heat the remaining tootsie rolls until pliable and shape as before. Spread all but one randomly over top of cake mixture. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs. Hang the remaining tootsie roll over side of litter box and sprinkle with a few green cookie crumbs. Place litter box on some newspapers and sprinkle out some of the contents onto the papers. Serve with the pooper scooper.

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Lemon & ginger muffins

12 regular size muffins

  • 2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh ginger
  • 1 or 2 lemons
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 Tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 375°F. Grease muffin cups or use paper baking cups. Put ginger, peel of one of the lemons, and 1 cup sugar in food processor. Process until peel and ginger finely chopped. Add butter, process until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, processing briefly after each. Remove mixture to mixing bowl. Stir soda into yogurt or buttermilk (it will foam). Fold flour into ginger mixture one-third at a time, alternating with the yogurt (or buttermilk) mixture. When well-blended, scoop into muffin cups and place in oven.

While the muffins bake, juice the lemons to obtain 1/4 cup juice. Add to the 2 Tbsp sugar, stir until sugar dissolved.

Bake muffins 18 to 20 minutes. When the muffins are done, remove from oven and cool 3-5 minutes. Dip tops and bottoms into the lemon juice-sugar mix.

These give you an extreme lemon/ginger experience.

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Maple pralines

Serves 36

  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups pecans

Butter sides of 3-quart saucepan. Combine sugar, syrup, and cream in saucepan, stirring to blend well. Bring to boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Wash down sides of pot, then, without stirring, boil to the soft-ball stage (234°F). Remove from heat and let stand until 150°F. Stir in nuts. Beat until candy just begins to thicken but is still glossy (about 3 minutes). Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. If candy becomes too stiff, stir in a few drops hot water. Store tightly covered.

Per serving: 100 calories, 5g fat, 1g protein, 14g carbohydrate, 2mg sodium.

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Mom’s Coconut Cake

White cake mix—make as directed.

Drain juice from coconut and put aside. Grate coconut meal. Take a toothpick and with bottom layer of baked cake (put on cake plate first), punch holes and put in coconut juice. Use the “7-Minute White Frosting” recipe and spread on bottom layer. Then put on layer of coconut, then top cake layer. Repeat—>punch holes, sprinkle with juice, frost, and add coconut to top. Yummy!

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Paisley Shortbread

  • 8 oz. butter
  • 12 oz. plain flour
  • 4 oz. sugar
  • 4 oz cornstarch

Cream butter and sugar very thoroughly. Sift flour and cornstarch. Gradually work into the creamed mixture with a fork and then with the hand. Knead in the last part of the flour on a board. Place the mixture right on the baking sheet and divide in half. Pat into 2 rounds and prick all over with a fork. Bake in slow oven at 300°F for about 40 minutes or until light golden color.

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Peanut Blossoms

Makes 3 dozen and can be doubled

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup Crisco
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup gran. Sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Sift together flour soda and salt, set aside. Cream together Crisco, peanut butter, and sugars. Add egg, milk and vanilla to creamed ingredients. Add dry ingredients gradually to wet until mixed. Shape into balls and roll each in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet at 350°F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven—place chocolate kiss on top of cookie so it cracks around edge. Return to oven for 2-5 more minutes.

Per cookie: 120 calories, 6g fat, 2g protein, 14g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 90mg sodium.

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Peanut brittle

Serves 36

  • 1 1/2 cups peanuts
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp baking soda

Oil pan and spread nuts on it, in one layer (may need two pans.) Near the end of cooking the syrup, place the nuts in a 300°F oven to warm.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a heavy 3 or 4 quart pot, stirring to blend well. Stir over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Wash down the sides of the pot (may butter pot before using—also may cover pot briefly before washing it down.) This step is to remove all sugar crystals.

Without stirring, continue to boil over moderate heat to the soft-crack stage (280°F). Remove from the heat and drop the butter in, swirling the pan gently so the butter melts; the syrup will turn golden. Return to the heat and cook to the hard-crack stage (295°F). Remove from the heat, thoroughly stir in the vanilla and baking soda (the syrup will foam up), and pour evenly over the warmed nuts. When the brittle is cool enough to handle, in just a few minutes, pick it up and pull and stretch it as thin as possible. When cold, blot with paper towels and break into pieces. Store in an airtight tin.

If using unsalted peanuts, increase salt to 1 tsp. May make with almonds instead (use 2 cups almonds.)

Per serving: 110 calories, 4g fat, 2g protein, 19g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 120mg sodium.

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Pecan pie

Serves 8

  • pie crust
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup corn syrup
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 2 Tbsp bourbon (optional)
  • 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup) (optional)

Heat oven to 375°F. Prepare crust.

Beat sugar, butter, corn syrup, bourbon, salt and eggs in bowl until well blended. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until center is set.

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Rhubarb cake

Serves 8

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Cream 1/2 cup butter, eggs, and 2 cups sugar. Sift together 2 cups flour and soda, add to butter mixture. Then add buttermilk rhubarb and vanilla. Pour into baking dish. Mix 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and cinnamon for topping and sprinkle over top. Bake at 375°F for about 35–40 minutes.

Per serving: 560 calories, 19g fat, 6g protein, 93g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 380mg sodium.

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Rhubarb pie

Serve 8

  • 4 cups rhubarb, diced or sliced 4mm thick
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • dash salt
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • Pie crust (top and bottom)

Prepare pastry and roll out undercrust; fit into 9″ pie pan. Combine flour sugar, salt with unpeeled rhubarb and place in crust. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust which has been pricked. Bake at 425°F for about 40 minutes.

Per serving: 390 calories, 14g fat, 4g protein, 64g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 300mg sodium

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Rose-Lynn’s Farfel Cookies (for Passover)

Makes about 5 dozen

  • 3 cups farfel
  • 2 cups matzo meal
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 4 eggs-beat first
  • Applesauce (~1 cup or to taste) OR use 2 smashed bananas
  • Cinnamon to taste (~1 1/2 tsp)

Mix all together and beat well. Cook at 350°F or until brown, about 10-15 minutes.

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Salted Peanut Crisps (cookies)

Makes 6 dozen

  • 1 cup soft shortening (part butter)
  • 1 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp soda
  • 2 cup salted peanuts

Heat oven to 375° F. Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients and stir in. Stir in peanuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2″ apart onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten with wet glass dipped in sugar. Bake about 10 minutes.

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Toffee butter crunch

Serves 48

  • 1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped

Line a 13X9X2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts in pan. Melt butter in 2 quart saucepan. Swirl butter to coat sides. Add sugar, corn syrup, and 3 Tbsp water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat to boiling.

Clip candy thermometer to pan. Cook and stir over medium (to medium-low) heat to 295°F, soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes). Watch carefully after 280°F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Let stand 5 minutes or until firm; sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When softened, spread chocolate over mixture. Sprinkle with nuts. Cool until firm. Lift candy out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered. Makes about 1–1/2 pounds.

Per serving: 81 calories, 6g fat, 1g protein, 7g carbohydrate, 40mg sodium.

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Vanilla blancmange (pudding)

Serves 8

  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 6 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 quart milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Gradually blend in milk. Cook slowly stirring constantly until thickened. Cook several minutes more to remove raw taste. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and cool 10 minutes, stirring now and then. Pour into a 5 cup mold. Chill until firm, about 3 to 4 hours.

Per serving: 165 calories, 4g fat, 4g protein, 28g carbohydrate, 130mg sodium.

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