Monthly Archives: August 2014

Chocolate Whole-Wheat Biscuit Cake

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Baking, Food, Photography

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A chocolate, biscuit cookie cake with dried cherries and walnuts.

A chocolate, biscuit cookie cake with dried cherries and walnuts.

 

I decided to take a break from my great grandmother’s recipes and try one I’ve wanted to make since the late 90s. This is a Martha Stewart dessert I got from one of her magazines years ago. I probably never made it before now because I did not have a spring-form pan. Ironically, I did not end up using our spring-form pan because it was too big for this recipe. So I used a regular cake pan lined with parchment paper instead. It worked just fine.

This is by far the best dessert I’ve ever eaten. And trust me, I’ve eaten my share of sugar. I probably did not crush up the English biscuits enough, but it does not matter. It is so incredibly good, I will definitely make it again and try to perfect it.

I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate and Biscoff English Cookies with Coffee instead of what the recipe calls for. I don’t have the time or the money to go to specialty shops for certain items. I bought both of these at Wal-Mart. I chose these cookies because they were the only ones that said they were English – close enough for me. Turns out, they’re really good. Also, I substituted vanilla extract for the rum.

Even though this recipe is online, I don’t feel comfortable printing it here. I’ll include Martha Stewart’s link for it here. It’s really easy to make. If it’s summer, though, you’ll need to keep it in the refrigerator or the chocolate tends to melt.

Chocolate squares for Chocolate Whole-Wheat Biscuit Cake

Chocolate squares for Chocolate Whole-Wheat Biscuit Cake

A chocolate, biscuit cookie cake with dried cherries and walnuts.

A chocolate, biscuit cookie cake with dried cherries and walnuts.

 

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Date Ice Box Cookies – (Aunt Lucy)

25 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by in Baking, Food, Photography

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DateIceBoxCookiesAboveTonedReadI love dates. So any recipe that contains them gets my attention pretty quickly.

I have no idea who Aunt Lucy is, but that is how it was printed in the newspaper article that my great grandmother cut out for her collection. Unfortunately there is no date (no pun intended) on the clipping. But Mama died in 1976, so it was way before then.

These are pretty good. Not too sweet. I think they will make a good compliment to coffee. They are pretty easy to do and they make a ton.

Date Ice Box Cookies 

Filling:
1 pound chopped dates
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Cook mixture together until thick. (In a medium-sized pot on a low heat. I stirred frequently.)

Cookie dough:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together sugars and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to mixture. (You may need a little bit more flour) – I definitely did need to add some.    Add vanilla.

Divide the dough into three equal parts. Roll dough about 1/4-inch thick. Spread filling onto dough and roll tightly into tight, oblong stick. Put cookies in refrigerator until well-chilled or store in freezer. Slice and bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

DateIceBoxCookiesTagTonedReady

Larchmont Muffins

11 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by in Food, Photography, Recipes

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LarchmontMuffinWithMamaReadyThis is a photo of my great grandmother. One of her cookbooks that I am using for this photo project, “Rumford Complete Cookbook,” has a recipe that apparently was her very favorite muffin recipe. Larchmont Muffins.

Inside the cookbook was a hand-written note saying that they were the best muffins she ever ate. They must be good, then. . . if you make them correctly.

We’ll see.

Larchmont Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour (I used all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Rumford Baking Powder (I used Clabber Girl – sorry Rumford)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 eggs (separated)
ABOUT 1 1/2 cups milk (“About”) That kills me. I did not use quite that much, but I think I poured too much. Might want to start with 1 cup.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder; add the sugar, then the beaten yolks of eggs, milk and melted butter. Beat thoroughly and fold gently the stiffly-beaten whites of eggs. Half fill greased pans (muffin tins) and bake twenty minutes in a moderately hot oven. (I set it to 350 degrees)

LarchmontMuffinsReady

Butterscotch Brownies

07 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by in Food, Photography, Recipes

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ButterscotchBrownieAloneReady

Butterscotch Brownies

1 1/3 sticks butter
2 cups light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour (I used all purpose)
1 cup pecans (I chopped them just a little bit)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Melt butter and mix well with sugar. Stir in other ingredients and pour into a square cake pan. (I used an 8×8 glass dish). Bake in a very slow oven – 250 degrees — for 1 ½ hours. Let cool slightly, cut into squares and roll in sifted powdered sugar. (I did not roll them in the powdered sugar. I did not have time. I just dusted the tops with it.)

Ok. This recipe was pasted right next to the Branbury Tarts recipe in my great grandmother’s recipe book.

No wonder. This one is pretty good, too.

My oven is really slow, so it took a lot longer than 1 1/2 hours to bake. In fact, I had taken them out and decided they needed a little longer to finish. I’m still not sure if I cooked them long enough because they sort of fell apart when I was trying to get them out of the pan. So you may have to adjust the temperature a bit if you have somewhere to be.

Oh, and I burned my arm on the oven rack. For 250 degrees, it sure did smart.

Anyway, these are super-easy to make and extremely delicious.

Enjoy!

BrowniesWithLakeWinnieReady