Baking Day

A few weeks ago, I asked my mentee Kayla if she wanted to bake something for a mentor activity over the summer. She answered a quick "Yes, cupcakes!" So, that we did. I needed to make a dessert for a fundraiser on the weekend and so we had baking day. She, being a fan of the originals, decided to go with white cupcakes with white vanilla frosting. And sprinkles. :-) 

Coincidentally, I used the same really simple white cake recipe for my cupcakes. Mine were a bit more complex, with brownie on the bottom, white cake on the top, and peanut butter frosting to finish it off. The cupcakes should have been simple with a brownie mix and a white cake mix, but being generally against mixes, I made them both from scratch. The white cake was really fantastic, as long as I mixed in the eggs one at a time, and alternately added the dry ingredients and the milk. The peanut butter frosting was amazing. Period. Make it and try not to eat it all out of the bowl. Since they weren't particularly pretty when I was done, I shaved some dark chocolate over the tops and they looked great! After the fundraiser, apparently the fundraise-ee proclaimed how wonderful they were from the stage ;-) (I didn't hear this, since Pax and I left early, as he was being noisy baby.)

Simple White Cake

1 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 3/4 t. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 9x9 inch pan. 

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each egg. Add vanilla.

2. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, alternating with adding milk. 

3. Pour into pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes (18-25 minutes for cupcakes).

Yield: 12 servings or 12 cupcakes. 

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting 

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. smooth peanut butter

3 T. milk, or as needed

2 c. powdered sugar

Blend butter and peanut butter together. Gradually mix in powdered sugar. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches desired consistency. 

Family Favorites

Yay for summer! It always takes me at least two weeks of summer, saying every day, "Oh, it feels SO good to be home!" to get over the joy of it :-) I think I should have more time to post now, in the evenings after the baby goes to bed. Which is good, because I've been writing posts in my head for weeks.

I have a cookbook binder that has a cover that bends in the middle so that it stands up while you're looking at it (no cookbook stand necessary). I love this feature. However, my original purple one broke at the hinge, it got used so much. I could have just ordered a new one, but mom had an old one sitting around that she wasn't using. (She'd bought a few old cookbooks with that kind of cover just for the cover and thrown out the things in the binder part :-) So, I inherited one. The cover/spine says "Family Favorites," and it's from Paradise Adventist Academy in California. I have no idea what the place is, but it holds my recipes. And not just any recipes, only my favorite recipes, that I want to make routinely (which is rare for me) get put into the binder.

This is the recipe that advanced to the binder today (and that I am eating as I type): Berry Lemon Applesauce. I'm not a big applesauce person, though my husband is. He grew up eating it as a side dish at many (if not most) meals. To this day, he prefers his mac and cheese with applesauce. However, since I do the cooking around here and applesauce isn't my thing, it doesn't get made. Until I found this recipe. As they say, this changes everything. The redeeming feature is the berries (strawberries in my case). They give it a nice juicy tang and make it amazing! :-) No red hots needed here for extra interest!

Berry Lemon Applesauce
Yield: 6 servings

5 apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
1/3 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. apple cider or juice
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey
2 c. raspberries, blueberries, or sliced strawberries
1 T. lemon zest

1. Combine the first five ingredients in a saucepan and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add water or more juice if the rest has boiled off.

2. Mash apples with spoon to desired consistency. Stir in honey and cook for 1 minute.

3. Remove from heat and stir in berries and zest. Serve cold, room temperature, or warm.

Makes 4-5 cups.