Category Archives: breads/cakes

Thanksgiving Corn Bread Pudding

Corn Bread Pudding out of the oven

My friend Audrey gave this to me many years ago, and it has become a staple on our thanksgiving table ever since. It just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it. It is a favorite in the Kolen household. Can be doubled easily just will need to cook a little longer. I cooked my double corn bread pudding for at least 45 minutes and sometimes a little longer. You’ll want to press down on the middle and make sure that it’s not too soft. If outside edges start to burn put a piece of aluminum foil over it if it’s not done. Usually another 10 – 15 minutes will work on a doubled recipe and it should look like picture. Outside edges will brown a slight bit.

*I really do think this recipe comes out best not doubled, you’d almost be best off finding a larger baking dish or using 2 9×12 dishes. You will not have the issue of it being too soft if it is in a larger baking dish or 2 9×12 baking dishes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (unsalted) 1 stick

8 oz. sour cream (lite ok but not fat-free)

8 oz.  can sweet corn (drained)

8 oz. can creamed corn

8 oz. pkg. corn muffin mix

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter, mix in beaten eggs, then add the rest of the ingredients.

Pour into glass baking dish (Pyrex is good and I spray it first.) 9 x 12 works fine, it’s not a very deep pudding.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for single recipe and double recipe will probably cook for another 10 – 15 minutes. You’ll want middle to spring back to the touch and not be too mushy.

Shelly’s Pumpkin Ginger Muffins – I love Pumpkin

My friend Shelly who is an excellent cook and baker gave this recipe to me back in 2012.  I wanted to try them because I love all things Pumpkin and ’tis the season. I was leaving Colorado for the season and  planned on freezing these delicious beauties so they would be here when we return. Shelly said that she freezes them, then takes them out for breakfast individually by putting the frozen muffin in the microwave  or toaster oven. A little butter and jam don’t hurt either. The list of ingredients may seem daunting. I had to shop for a few of the items, but don’t let this stop you because these are fairly healthy and a perfect brunch/breakfast item, or good for just mid-afternoon tea. They contain fiber and aren’t cloyingly sweet. I love ginger and I love pumpkin. If you don’t like the ginger spice you can cut down or eliminate the crystallized ginger. Wow, pumpkin and ginger. What more can I say? Thanks so much Shelly for your contribution.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups wheat bran

approx. 1/3 cup of crystallized ginger (very small pieces), available in Whole Foods and most supermarkets

2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling- be careful)

2/3 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs (room temperature please)

raw sugar to sprinkle on top

Muffin cups (the paper kind are perfect)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees .

Combine flour, whole wheat flour, wheat bran, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, then make a well in the center.

Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla and eggs, and whisk it all together until well combined. Add this mixture into the flour mixture and stir well until moist. Mix in the crystallized ginger.

Coat muffin tins with baking spray. I use a 12 muffin tin. Spoon mixture into cups. I used a large tablespoon and just dropped in. (See picture.) Sprinkle raw sugar on  top of muffins before baking (use as much or as little as you like).

Bake for about 16 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Mine baked for 17 minutes. Let cool down and remove from pan onto wire rack. If you have no wire rack just a baking sheet will do.

Enjoy! These are delicious and pretty nutritious. Serving size should make about 24 muffins.

Pumpkin Walnut Bread (no butter)

I just love pumpkin and I can’t stop posting about it. Pumpkin Season is here.  I love baking this bread because the smell in the house is beyond. I usually serve pumpkin bread and a banana bread in my bread basket on Thanksgiving. It’s hard to believe that there is no butter in this moist, delicious bread. I make both of these way ahead of time, because they freeze so well. You can even double the recipe if you have two loaf pans, and eat one now and tuck one away for another day like Thanksgiving. It’s a nice thing to bring to someone’s house as a gift as well if you’re so inspired.  This recipe will make one perfect loaf.

*this bread freezes beautifully for up to 8 weeks. Double wrap it in plastic and put in a resealable plastic freezer bag, and put the date on it. Defrost, still wrapped in the plastic to avoid condensation on the bread, at least 2 hours before serving. I take out of freezer the night before I’ll be using it.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I sift)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts (obviously this is optional)

You will need a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, parchment paper, large bowl, medium bowl, whisk, silicone or rubber spatula.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and position oven rack in the center of oven.

Lightly coat the loaf pan with melted butter and dust with flour, or spray with Pam. I line my loaf with a piece of parchment paper that extends one inch beyond the edge of the pan (this makes it easy to life the bread out. It is optional , just make sure you grease pan in one way or another first. If you’re not comfortable working with parchment paper, skip it. I like it but it can be tricky in a loaf pan. Just grease well, or give it a good spray.)

In a large bowl, sift the flour. Then, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and salt until thoroughly blended. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and the water. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and blend well. Add the pumpkin moisture to the dry ingredients and whisk until well blended and smooth. Add the walnuts and stir until they are well distributed. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 55 – 65 minutes, until the bread is firm to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean from the center of loaf.  I let it cool for about 10 minutes, then I turn it out onto a rack to cool completely. I don’t freeze it until it is completely cool.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake – I love Pumpkin

It’s pumpkin time again! and I am clearly obsessed  with pumpkins. This is a pretty easy  to make bundt cake. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any time. You can make it ahead of time and freeze for another, or make two. While you’re making the mess anyway, you might as well bake two, and freeze one. Got this one from Gourmet Magazine. Just saying while I’m not a big raw cookie dough person I am a very big batter person and this batter was pretty delicious right out of the bowl!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan (or spray with Pam) I buttered this time

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting the pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can; not pie filling)

3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs (room temp. is always best for baking)

Icing:

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons well shaken buttermilk

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

You will need a 10-inch nonstick bundt pan (3 quart)

Directions:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter/spray bundt pan generously then dust with flour and knockout excess flour.

Whisk together flour ( 2 1/4 cups) , baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, 3/4 cup buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter ( 1 1/2 sticks) and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 – 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat another minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, then bake until a cake tester or wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 45 – 50 minutes. Cool cake on a rack for about 30 minutes, then invert cake , mine slid right out onto rack. I completely cooled cake for a few hours before I iced it. You can ice while cake is still warm however. I would let it sit for at least 1 hour before I iced though. It came out perfectly. Icing will get hard on the cake and be very white, it’s a beautiful presentation.

Icing:

While the cake is cooling, whisk together buttermilk and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Drizzle icing over warm cake, then cool cake completely. Icing will harden slightly.

Cake can be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container, I would ice it when I planned on serving it.

Break-the-Fast Food – Blintz Souffle

Here we go again…another holiday to cook for. Most of breaking the fast is taking in bagels, fish, etc. Easy to do. But I still try to make a few dishes and this recipe is an oldie but a goodie. I have been making this recipe since 1975 and it never gets old.  This dish can be assembled ahead of time, kept in the refrigerator and baked right before eating. This is a keeper and a tradition in my house. Always delicious. You can buy almost any of the frozen blintzes. Some stores have homemade ones, but it doesn’t really make that big of a difference with this recipe. Enjoy! This is super easy, with excellent results.

INGREDIENTS:

6 blintzes (you can use cheese or fruit-filled, whichever you like. Depending on how many people I’m feeding, I usually make 1 fruit and 1 cheese tray)

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp. unsalted butter or margarine

3/4 cup sour cream (lite is fine but I wouldn’t use fat-free)

1 tsp. vanilla

Dash of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter or margarine in saucepan. Spray baking dish with Pam spray (Original). Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl together. Place frozen blintzes in baking dish. I usually use a 9×13 size dish but anything close to that will work. You can double the recipe, in which case you’d obviously need a larger baking dish (you need room for the blintzes to expand a little and for the egg mixture to rise around it. Don’t spread it too thin.) Pour the melted butter on top of the frozen blintzes, followed by the sour cream mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 30-40 minutes. Let it sit for a few minutes out of the oven before cutting into it.

Baked French Toast — all time best

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DSCN4294I posted this originally back in October 2011 for Yom Kippur break fast. It is truly one of the best French toast recipes I’ve ever made.  I include it every year since my friend Ilene Stern gave it to me. I never have a single piece left. Delicious and decadent, perfect brunch and breakfast food. I almost always include it in my Mother’s Day Brunch as well. Once you’ve made this recipe there is no turning back, your whole family will love it and you’ll have to make it every time.

The only downside is that you must prepare and refrigerate the night before without cooking it, you cannot cook this dish till you’re ready to eat it, the bottom will get hard like a caramel candy would. So cook right before you’re going to serve. Enjoy!

*recipe as is should serve 6- 8 if you have more people make 2 trays!

Ingredients:

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

2 tbsp. corn syrup ( I use Karo Original light corn syrup)

5 eggs (room temperature please)

1 1/2 cups milk ( you can use low-fat, I use Skim Plus)

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 package of sliced cinnamon bread. ( Pepperidge Farm is fine) if you can get thick slices it’s great , but the thin kind will work just double stack them it will be fine) You probably will use 12 slices of bread per tray. You will have 6 stacks of 2 slices each, 12 slices total, or 6 thick slices of cinnamon bread. If you can’t find just cinnamon bread use raisin cinnamon bread it’s easier to find .

Directions:

Melt butter, add brown sugar and corn syrup and combine well. Spray a 9×13 baking dish, Pyrex works well here. Pour butter mixture into baking dish and arrange bread slices flat in the mixture ( you will double stack the thin sliced bread) Unless the bread is 1″thick you will be doubling the standard sliced bread. Squeeze the bread to fit–it should hold 12 slices ( 6 double stacks), 3 on each side of a 9×13 baking dish.

In a blender mix the eggs, milk and vanilla and pour over the bread slices, covering them completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The bread will absorb all the liquid by the morning, so if you need to travel with it will be fine.

Uncover and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Once it’s out of the oven you can dust with powdered sugar, but not necessary. Serve right from the baking dish.

*if you let this sit out too long before serving, the bottom may get hard like a praline candy. It never ever lasts long enough for this to happen at my table.

Look at my original recipe post on October 5 2011. More Break Fast: the all-time best Baked French Toast, I swear.

Applesauce and Raisin Cake – an Homage to the Bundt Queen

I always call my friend Susan the Queen of the Bundt Cake. It certainly seems to be her calling, as she is always coming up with new and delicious Bundt Cakes for all of us to try. I just hope I do her justice in trying to duplicate it. She made this cake for everyone last New Years  and I have been wanting to try it ever since.  I had to change one of the ingredients because I bought chunky applesauce instead of plain applesauce. Of course, if you’re so inclined you can make your own applesauce (I wasn’t so inclined today!).  The original recipe hails from The Silver Palate, and I have to say this is one cookbook you don’t want to be without. There are so very many wonderful recipes in it. This cake has a slightly spicy flavoring, and is just so darn good. I am very happy to report that this cake came out awesome! Super Delicious with the chunky applesauce. Very moist and delicious, cooked perfectly at 1 hour and 10 minutes. Thanks Suki and the Silver Palate!

This cake can be a wonderful addition to your holiday table, applesauce and raisins just so perfect for Rosh Hashana.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing the pan (Butter should be at room temperature.  I woke up early and didn’t have time to let it sit so I just put it in microwave to soften for 15 seconds.)

*if baking for the Jewish Holidays and don’t want to use butter you can use margarine

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 eggs (at room temperature)

2 cups applesauce (I used Chunky because probably didn’t have reading glasses in market and grabbed it.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or 1 teaspoon freshly grated

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup raisins

Lemon/Orange Icing ingredients:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl (electric mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the applesauce and vanilla.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda together then add to applesauce mixture. Next, sprinkle in the raisins, and blend gently but thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the tube pan and set on a rack in the center of the oven. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. 1 hour and 10 – 15 minutes. I cooked it 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes (I will leave it all day as I go out hiking, and turn it over when it is completely cool when I return.)  When it is completely cool, I will make the icing and drizzle over the top. A little trick is to poke little holes in the cake (on top, with cake tester or toothpick) and pour icing over the cake and it will go into cake and infuse some of the lemon/orange directly into cake.

Instructions for icing:

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl.

Dribble in the juices, stirring constantly until the icing is smooth. Drizzle over completely cooled cake.

*should be enough icing for 1 Applesauce Raisin Cake

Summer Blueberry Cake

I just keep finding new recipes for blueberries. I love blueberries and they are so abundant right now and in peak season. I love them right out of the containers, and I love them in muffins, pies, cakes and cobblers. Here is another delicious cake which you can freeze and a few months from now when fresh blueberries aren’t really around ,you will bring back that summer day that you baked this. I cut this in 1/2 , 1/2 for now and 1/2 for when I return in the winter. You can always make this with frozen berries but I have never done so. To me it’s all about cooking with fruits and vegetables that are seasonal.  There really is nothing like fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, and I can’t get enough of them . This is a fairly easy cake to bake. I baked it for 45 minutes, and the tester came out clean. You’ll have to check your own oven for cooking time . It can vary from 40 – 50 minutes depending on your oven.

I found this recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs , Smitten Kitchen. I may have made a few changes which I often do, but it is pretty much the same.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all – purpose flour, plus another tablespoon to dust blueberries with

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 sticks unsalted butter ( softened) YIKES

3/4 cup light brown sugar packed

1/2 cup sugar ( regular granulated sugar)

3 large eggs ( room temperature)

1 cup buttermilk ( I used low-fat buttermilk)

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray and lightly flour a 9 x 13 baking pan. ( I prefer Pam baking spray)

Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium size bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium high-speed until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is just incorporated. Don’t overbeat. Reduce speed to medium and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, and beat in 1/2 of the buttermilk. Beat in another 1/3 of the flour and the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour mixture. Toss  blueberries with a tablespoon of flour just lightly dust them. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 1/2 of the blueberries. Spread batter into prepared dish.( see photo)

For the topping:

Scatter remaining 1/2 of the blueberries over the top of the batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle all over the top of the batter. Bake until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean in center of cake. I cooked for 45 minutes. It should take anywhere between 40 – 50 minutes. Cool in pan for about 1/2 hour, then turn it out of baking dish or cut out pieces. I turned it out, cut in 1/2 and froze 1/2 of it for the cold months. This is a delightful cake served for dessert, and so perfect for breakfast and a great afternoon snack with ice coffee .

I threw in a photo of me and my grandson, Riley who was out here at the time.

Blackberry Clafouti (Blackberry Cake)–Simple and Easy to make

I made this cake because I love blackberries and I had all the ingredients in my house. If you like blackberries, this is a light cake which will be perfect for dessert and not too heavy at all.  Clafouti is actually french for a cake made with cherries. If it’s made with blackberries or other berries it is called a Flaugnarde, which sounds super fancy and difficult to make and this is anything but that so we’ll just call it Clafouti! We aren’t going to get too technical here and I hope I don’t offend the French chefs out there. This is pretty much the same as the cherry Clafouti which I plan on baking soon and will post that once I’ve cooked that, but we have to wait for the cherries to be super ripe.  This cake is so very easy to make, requires no fancy equipment, and you can whisk ingredients in one bowl. Just use a pie baking dish to bake in. I had a glass dish and am happy that I did, because I could see the blackberries in the cake. This cake would be a most amazing breakfast type of cake–not too thick, but sort of like a blackberry muffin flattened out. Blackberries are so plump and delicious right now, you gotta cook this as soon as possible.

*In order for the blackberries not to sink in cake, I made sure they were dry after rinsing and then I put in a bowl with some flour and coated the berries in flour before adding them , not too heavily floured just a dusting.  It came out perfectly. I have made it where I forgot to dust with flour and they did sink. It didn’t look as pretty but it tasted just fine.

Ingredients: 

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup of sugar for top of cake

1 cup Self-Rising Flour  Presto), sifted

1 cup whole milk

2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen (I used fresh)

* A little extra flour for dusting the blackberries before baking with them (see note)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I sprayed the baking dish with baking spray but you can also butter it.

Rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Melt the butter in microwave. Pour 1 cup sugar and flour into a mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk and mix well. Then pour in the melted butter and whisk it all together well.

Dust blackberries with a little bit of flour and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter, distributing evenly.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until golden.  Yum!

Chocolate Banana Bread

IMG_6987FullSizeRender (9)This is an amazing banana bread made with chopped bittersweet chocolate . Totally amazing and very hard to resist. You can make ahead and freeze up to 3 months! Of course I had 4 very over-ripe bananas and I had all of the other ingredients in the house so why not bake a banana bread but with chocolate this time out. By chopping up the chocolate you get different sizes of chocolate bits , some small and some large. I prefer chopping up the chocolate to using chocolate chips in this bread, it definitely adds more interest.

*FullSizeRender (6)FullSizeRender (3) If your bananas aren’t ripe enough and you really want to bake this bread, put them in a 300 degree oven unpeeled for about 15 minutes to soften. Make this bread–you won’t be sorry.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt ( table salt)

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature please

3 – 4 mashed over-ripe bananas app. 1 1/2 cups

2 tablespoons greek yogurt (plain) I used 0% fat or you can use sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped . Chocolate comes in bars available in the baking section of most supermarkets. There are many kinds of baking chocolate but this recipe calls for bittersweet not unsweetened.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 5×9 inch loaf pan , I love Bakers Joy cooking spray for baking. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy app. 3 minutes or so. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Beat in mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients and chocolate on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of loaf comes out clean, app. 50 – 60 minutes. I baked mine for about one hour.

Let bread cool in pan for about 15 minutes then turn out and let cool completely on a wire rack.