So…did I ever mention that my hubby makes children’s books? Well…he does (check out http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com) and last night he was doing a Livestream and practically forced me into the headset to keep him company while talking to some of his readers…he’s not a very talkative kind of guy! Can I just tell you…I meet (and talk to) some of the nicest people online! Anyway…I guess we were getting hungry because we started talking about food…desserts mostly and then all of sudden we talked about swapping recipes! Some of the people thought we should do #twicipes…which sounds cute…but I’m not sure is practical since you only get 140 characters to tweet a whole recipe! So here we are…on my barely updated, mostly complaining about life Blog! I hope no one reads my previous posts…but here we are! Happy Fall everyone! I’ll start with this awesome pound cake recipe…but don’t eat it until the second day…wrap it up and put it aside so the flavors can gel together…trust me…it will be worth the wait! Get your tea ready!
Citrus Pound Cake
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and zests. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of sugar and the salt and beat for 2 minutes. Slowly add the egg mixture. Beat for 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add the flour. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the cake from the pan. Invert it onto the rack to finish cooling. Serve how you’d like!
So there it is! It’s delicious!
Who’s next?
Happy Baking!
Donna
Apple Pie:
6 large Granny Smith apples, the largest you can find the store
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 package of pre-made pie crusts, or you can make your own dough. I always get the pre-made pie crusts.
1 large mixing bowl
Cutting board
Pie dish
Aluminum foil
Wash, peel, and cut the apples into small cubes. This can be very time consuming as I average an hour of just cutting apples. This ensures that when you bite into the pie, you always taste apple. First, cut the sides off of the apple, going as close as you can to the core to maximize how much apple you have. Now cut the apple slice into thin strips, and then cut again horizontally until you have several small chunks.
Once the apples are cut, put it into the mixing bowl first, and then add the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sprinkle a little extra nutmeg and cinnamon into the bowl for an added kick. Mix contents of the bowl with a spoon until the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon become a liquid that thoroughly coats all apple pieces. Coat the empty pie pan with a thin layer of flour to prevent sticking, and then put the first dough layer in the pan, pressing the dough firmly against the pan. Pour the contents of the bowl into the dough and level out the apple chunks. It doesn’t matter if the apples are above the edge of the pan, the top layer of dough will keep them in.
Put the second layer of dough on top of the pan, and make a crust by applying the bottom of the fork. Once the crust is firmly in place, make four large slits from the center of the pie to just before the edge. Cover the crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning. Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Best served warm but it is just fine when cool.
i like to make what i call “birthday cake biscuits”, which is my own variation on a birthday cake recipe, oddly enough.
preheat oven to 180C (350F)
cream 200g butter with one cup of sugar.
add a splash of vanilla essence and three eggs, and beat well.
fold in 1.5 cups self-raising flour, and 1 cup plain flour.
spoon dollops onto a well-oiled or lined tray, leaving plenty of space.
bake until they start to go golden, about 8-10 minutes.
(they should go a bit flat)
cream some more butter with icing sugar and another splash of vanilla, and ice pairs of biscuits tgether.
mum has banned me from making this recipe except for special occasions, because it makes a lot of biscuits, and they are so addictive we eat them all within two days.
Hi Donna!
I could have sworn I had some good recipes on my computer somewhere, but I can’t find them right now. I’ll be back once I dig them out of the digital dust …
Anyway, Happy Birthday! (Belatedly, I know, but still … )
I’m a big fan of your husband’s work; I’m currently working my way up through the archives (right now I’m up to about 2 weeks behind current – Alex just flew the first time). I’m taking a lot longer than most to catch up because I’m reading ALL the comments along the way. (OCD is a blessing and a curse … )
I’ve got you bookmarked now; so I’ll be back later once I find a good recipe to contribute!
Okay, I’m back!
I haven’t tried this recipe, but I did try Gorditas de Nata on a recent trip to Mazatlan, Mexico (a friend won the trip on the Wheel of Fortune Wheel-Watchers Club, and took me with him; how cool is that!) and I think they are delicious. This recipe seems to be pretty close to what I had, so here it is if you want to give it a try:
GORDITAS DE NATA (makes 24)
INGREDIENTS:
1 kilo (2.2 lbs) white flour
1 Tbsp refined sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
Grated rind of two limones (or 1 lemon)
5 eggs
1 cup nata (you can buy a liter of raw milk and boil it, taking off the nata [skin] to use in this recipe)
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and grated citrus rind on a clean surface (a cookie sheet or a clean table). Mix together well. Add the two eggs and the nata. Knead until it no longer sticks to your hands. If it continues to be sticky, add a bit more flour. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Make small balls (about 2″ in diameter), flour a cutting board or cookie sheet and roll out the balls with a rolling pin until they’re about 1/2″ thick. Cook them over low heat on a very lightly greased (with butter) griddle until they puff up, turning them once. These gorditas de nata should be light golden brown on both sides when they’re done.
Eat while hot, they’re best right off the griddle.
(Note: “nata” translates to English as “cream”, so you could probably substitute cream or even condensed milk for that, but this is speculation only. Have fun!)
These look like wonderful recipes. Have you ever thought about adding Scott’s characters in a cooking themed comic to promote not only the recipe but Dreamland Chronicles as well?