HOT SPICED PUNCH

Tonight was our Young Women in Excellence and I was in charge of refreshments. We served pumpkin rolls and Wassail. This recipe is in Grams Cookbook (pg. 3) by Melanie. I think it's the best Hot Drink (Wassail type) ever!

5 qts. water
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
4 c. sugar
1 large pineapple juice
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 c. lemon juice
Boil water, sugar, cloves and cinnamon together for 5 minutes. Add the juices. Heat all together and serve hot.

Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Photo courtesy of Pinch My Salt

I found this recipe on the website Pinch My Salt. It was delicious! You must try it with the Salted Caramel Sauce.

Adapted from Gourmet

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup peeled and chopped baking apple (I used granny smith)
heaping tablespoon of raw sugar (demerara, turbinado or Sugar in the Raw)
extra cinnamon for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan*

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Add vanilla and egg and beat well. With the mixer set to low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add half the buttermilk and continue beating on low speed until incorporated. Scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, beat in another 1/3 of flour mixture then remaining buttermilk. Finally beat in the last 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined.

3. Scrape batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Scatter apple pieces evenly over the top of the cake batter then sprinkle evenly with raw sugar. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.

4. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool until warm. Invert onto a plate. Serve plain, or with whipped cream and salted caramel sauce.

Salted Caramel Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Stir together sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan, place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boill. Let boil until amber in color, about 3 minutes.
2. Immediately add butter and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat, add cream and salt, and mix well. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate

Blonde Brownies

Melt 2/3 c. butter in sauce pan
add 2 c. brown sugar and mix in well. Let cool for a minute.

stir in:

2 slightly beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

add:

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Spread in greased cake pan.

Sprinkle 1/2 pkg of chocolate chips over top.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Pumpkin Bliss Cupcakes

Marsha posted a picture of my Halloween cupcakes, I'll re-post the picture. These cupcakes are delish! I love pumpkin anything though. The frosting is good too, but not if you are my mom, Marsha, or Tawnya! Katie and Abby did the decorating of them. (Sorry I've been MIA on this blog, I have a list of 10 things to post, we'll see how long that will take me)

Pumpkin Bliss Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pans or spray them with baking spray. Sift together the flour, spice, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl combine the sugar, pumpkin, and eggs, whisk until smooth. Whisk in oil and orange juice until the batter is smooth. Add the flour-spice mix to the mixture and fold together until well incorporated, but do not overmix. Bake 20-25 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

The frosting I use is Anne Strawberry's (Aaron's cousin)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package of cream cheese, softened (I like to use Neufchatel, less fat and I don't notice much difference)
1/2 C. butter, softened (one stick)
2 T. milk
2 t. pure vanilla extract
dash of salt
6 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency, this is a baseline)
1 T. meringue powder

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the milk, vanilla, and salt, and blend.

Next, add the powdered sugar and meringue powder, cover the bowl of the mixer with a dish towel, and turn it on low until everything is combined. Then increase the speed for a minute or so until the frosting is light, fluffy, and delicious. The meringue powder will help set the frosting after it dries so it holds its shape.

New Orleans Bread Pudding

*** pictures now included***

I was watching GTU the other day and Barbara Smith (4 News anchor) made this bread pudding. It looked so good so I tried it and it is yummo!

Katie took picures of it so she'll have to post them for me.


NEW ORLEANS BREAD PUDDING:

1 - 10 oz. loaf of stale french bread, crumbled (6-8 cups any type of bread) (My loaf was 16 oz. and I used about 3/4 of it)
(I used french bread that I had bought a few days ago.)
4 cups milk
2 cups sugar
8 TBS. melted butter
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
t tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
optional:
1 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 c. coconut (didn't add)
1 c. raisins (don't like!)
Combine all ingredients in blender. (except bread and optional items). Place crumbled bread in 9x13 buttered (sprayed) pan. Pour mixture over bread. Should be very moist but not soupy. (I used almost all of the mixture) Place in NON-PREHEATED oven. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes until the top is golden brown. Serve warm with sauce.





Cream Caramel Sauce:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 TBS. flour
1 cup whipping cream
Bring to a boil for 3 minutes then remove from heat and add:
1/4 c. butter
2 TBS. vanilla
Spoon over bread pudding.
DELICIOUS!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I was talking to Shara and we were both making soup for supper. She was making Chicken Noodle and I was making this. She told me to post it so here it is!

CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP - (Aunt Jeanie's)

2 cans chicken broth

1 -8 oz. cream cheese

2 c. cooked diced chicken

2 - Lg. cans (28 oz.) Las Palmas Green Enchilada Sauce (mild or medium)-(I would use mild if I could find it.)

3 c. 1/2 & 1/2

1 can corn - drained

1 1/2 c. uncooked rice (can use minute rice also)

Simmer altogether until rice is tender

Ham

I made this ham for dinner last Sunday, and everybody was a little worried because I was experimenting again, but it was so good!

Bake a ham as the instructions say. (It would be best to buy a spiral sliced ham, so then you don't have to cut it yourself)

Then mix the following in a bowl:

1 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground clove

1/8 tsp. paprika

dash of ground ginger

dash of ground allspice

Sprinkle the mixture onto the cooked ham all over it. Then use a blow torch with medium flame and caramelize the sugar. Wave the torch back and forth so the sugar browns and bubbles but doesn't burn. Continue all over the ham until it is well glazed. Then serve it right then or you can put it in the oven to reheat it some more.