Tag: baking

Sugar cookie recipe

I had a request for this recipe from Idaswear’s blog.  The measurements are US, so I hope you still have some of your US measuring cups and spoons…

Holiday sugar cookies

1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon *
¼ teaspoon nutmeg *

Color sugars, etc. to decorate

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add egg and water, then beat until light and fluffy.

Combine dry ingredients.  Blend into creamed mixture.  Divide dough in half, and then chill for 1 hour. (Do not over chill as this will make dough hard to work.  If dough is chilled overnight, you will need to let dough sit for awhile before you can roll it.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough to ⅛ inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes, sprinkle with colored sugar, etc. to decorate the cookies.

Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Makes 6 dozen cookies.

Originally from JC’s mom.

* Notes:
Original recipe did not call for spices.  We discovered that adding spices made a more flavorful cookie

Indian Pudding recipe

Yesterday, I posted about my poem “Making Aunt Gert’s Indian Pudding” which precipitated several requests for the recipe. So, here it is, with various notes, because I can never seem to share a recipe without side commentary. Sorry that the measurements are all US ones.  The recipe is pretty forgiving, so if you do have to estimate amounts, don’t worry about it.

Indian Pudding

2 Tablespoons cornmeal*
3 Tablespoons tapioca
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses
1 quart warm milk
1 cup cold milk
butter size of egg

Add first four ingredients to molasses – then add cold milk and mix well. When the quart of milk is thoroughly heated, add gradually to above mixture. Pour into buttered 2-quart casserole. Add butter and bake two hours at 300 degrees F.  Stir occasionally first 1/2 hour.  Serve with ice cream.

*For a thicker texture, increase cornmeal to 6 Tablespoons and stir occasionally for the first hour. I’ve been doing this variation lately.

Other notes:
I’ve made this with whole milk, 2% milk, skim milk, and lactose-free milk. I have absolutely no idea what would happen if one attempted it with soy milk or almond milk.
It’s best to bake this a day ahead and then store in the refrigerator. The flavors seem to meld better after they set.
You can reheat individual servings in the microwave or reheat the whole casserole dish in the oven or microwave. You definitely want to serve it warm so that the ice cream melts over it as you eat it.
You can experiment with adding spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I happen to like this recipe without them, but many Indian pudding recipes do add them.
Indian pudding is deceptively filling. Don’t try to eat a large bowl unless you are very hungry.

Fruitcake recipe

A college friend who reads my blog asked if I’d share our fruitcake recipe, so here it is. Enjoy!

1 16-ounce package (3 cups) pitted prunes, aka dried plums
1 8-ounce package (1 1/2 cups) dried apricots
1 15-ounce package (3 cups) raisins (we usually use golden raisins)
1 8-ounce package (1 1/3 cups) chopped pitted dates
16 ounces additional dried fruits – we usually use cherries and pineapple and additional apricots
1/2 cup apple juice or other clear juice
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups pecan or walnut halves

Cut prunes and apricots into quarters. (If any of the other dried fruits are in large pieces, you may want to cut them, too.) In a large bowl, combine all the dried fruits. Pour the juice over them. Cover and let stand overnight.

In large mixer bowl, cream brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each. Stir together flour, salt, and spices. Add flour mixture alternately with banana to butter mixture. Stir in nuts and fruit mixture. Divide the 15 cups of batter into any of the following very well-greased loaf pans:
9x5x3-inch – 4 cups of batter – 3 hours baking time
7 1/2×3 1/2×2-inch – 3 cups of batter – 2 hours baking time
4 1/2×2 1/2×1 1/2-inch – 2 cups of batter – 2 hours baking time

Bake in 250 degree F. oven for time indicted or until golden. (You can check with a toothpick if you can find a bit that has enough cake to test.) Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool on wire rack. Wrap and store in refrigerator. It will store nicely for several weeks in the refrigerator, but also freezes well for longer term storage.

Fruitcake

Jokes about fruitcake at Christmas are standard, but fruitcakes are not universally worthy of derision.

Most years, we make several loaves of a wonderful fruitcake. The base recipe came from a co-worker of B’s in his first post-college job and we have modified it over the years to suit our tastes. The main thing that sets it apart from other fruitcakes is that it uses no candied fruits and peels. No unnaturally bright red and green cherries. No citron. All the fruits we use are dried – prunes, apricots, dates, raisins, pineapple, and cherries. (There is also mashed banana in the batter.)

We just finished chopping the dried fruits and have set them to soak until tomorrow in a bit of cider. The recipe calls for brandy, but we prefer non-alcoholic fruitcake, so we use juice.

Ordinarily, the fruitcake would have been made prior to Christmas Day, but this is not an ordinary year. We will keep a couple of mini loaves for ourselves and bring one to B’s mom, but most of the loaves will go to my parents. My father is especially fond of our fruitcake and will slice, wrap, and freeze it to enjoy over the coming months. He likes to bring a slice to enjoy with coffee at Wegman’s while Mom is picking up a few items in the store. He especially loves apricots, so we put extra in for him.

Our fruitcake is definitely too tasty to re-gift!

Update:  A friend asked if I’d share the recipe.  Enjoy!