Southern Molasses Cake

Molasses. What a sweet word. Since I can remember, we've had a jar of Sorghum Molasses on our table right next to the honey and butter. I grew up in a small town just outside of Nashville, TN and this is something we take seriously in our family! My second cousins will drive 2 hours just to get an authentic jar of this thick, black stuff. It's hard to find in grocery stores, they'll try to sell you corn syrup or Black Strap molasses. While good in its own rights, this is not what we aim for, what we cook with, and what we slather our biscuits in five nights out of the week. 

Molasses can be put to use to make grits edible, to substitute sugar in oatmeal, to give meaning to a biscuit, or to bake with. My all-time favorite molasses recipe is the famous Molasses cookie, but we'll save that for another day. 

I came across this in a cookbook for Armour's Hotel in Red Boiling Springs, TN. It's one of the first recipes I found myself when I started to bake as a teenager. I'm hooked, it's in my collection forever. 

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

1 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1 1/2 tsp soda

2 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs, beaten separately

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream butter and sugar together, add molasses and water. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add flour mixture slowly while folding in. Add eggs, don't over beat. 
• Pour into well greased bundt pan. 
• Bake 30-40 min or until toothpick comes out almost clean. 
• Start sauce recipe 10 min before cake is done.
• Cool for 5 min, then turn onto serving platter. 
• Pour sauce over hot cake and serve! 

Sauce:

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup half and half

1/4 tsp each: Cinnamon, ginger, allspice. 

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. (Did you hear me? turn that burner down. ) Add sugar, stir until dissolved. Turn off heat, add spices and cream, mix well. 

Enjoy!

Cooking Tips:

• grease your measuring cup before putting the molasses in, or use Pampered Chef's Measure All Cup, great for sticky and thick things like Crisco or peanut butter. 
• If the cake is stuck and won't come out of the pan, freeze it then pop it out with a flexible spatula knife. (If this happens, reheat it before pouring sauce over it since it won't absorb it cold) 

Mocha Tart

This recipe will impress everyone! Beware, it has caffeine content!
My favorite food magazine for years was Family Circle. This is one of the gems I collected from there. Perfect for grown-up events.

1 ready-made pie crust
2/3 cup semisweet choc chips
1 cup rough chopped walnuts
3 Tbl butter
3 Tbl instant espresso powder
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream (recipe can be found on my other recipes)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fit pie crust into a 9 in removable-bottom tart pan.
• Sprinkle chocolate and walnuts evenly over crust. Set aside.
• Microwave butter in large glass bowl 40 or until melted. 
• Whisk in espresso powder.
• Beat in brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
• Pour into crust.
• Bake in lower third of oven for 35-40 min. Cool on rack to room temp. Remove outer rim and garnish with whipped cream before serving. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

A Holiday dessert to please two requests! My sister in law gave me this recipe from a very impressive HyVee (grocery chain) magazine that her mother brought her from Iowa. What better time to try it than Thanksgiving?













1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 cup of sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl rum or 1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/4 cups pumpkin from a can
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place refrigerated crust in a pie plate, fluting with fingers as shown or folded and pressed with thumb for edging. Or use my favorite brand, Marie Callendars frozen crust.

Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg, nutmeg and rum with a mixer until smooth. Spread evenly in prepared piecrust.

In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin, evap. milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, cinn, ginger, cloves and salt until thoroughly combined. Begin by pouring near the edge of the pie and slowly pour pumpkin mixture over cream cheese layer. Bake for 40 min. Remove crust shield and add steusel topping and bake for another 15-20 min, till crust is golden. Cool to room temperature. Chill and serve with Rum Whipped Cream. Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.

Meanwhile, make streusel topping.

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbl flour

2 Tbl butter

1/2 cup pecan pieces
Combine brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender (if you read my blog, you'll want to buy one!) until mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in pecans.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl sugar
1 tsp rum or vanilla

Beat with a mixer on high until soft peaks form.

Cooking tips:

• Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.
• Make your own crust shield with aluminum foil. Fold the foil in half and cut a half circle out. Gently place over pie. 
• Chill your glass or metal bowl before you beat the whip cream and it will go faster. 
• Don't add until it's time to serve.

Cranberry Orange Scones

One of my favorite flavor pairings is cranberries and oranges, especially in muffins or scones. The main problem Americans have with scones is that they are too dry for our liking. Some people try to substitute muffin mix for the dough, but it just doesn't have the same texture. I have tried a couple of different recipes, and find that this one was a big hit! 

I am a part of a Jane Austen Movie club, and this month we had a tea party while watching A&E's Pride and Prejudice. Since food is such a social thing, every month we pick a recipe to make together before hand so people can share cooking tips. This was the recipe of the month. 

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves
2 tbsp. sugar
Zest of an orange
1/2 cup Craisins or golden raisins, chopped
1 stick of cold butter
2/3 cup buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
coarse sugar for sprinkling

Whipped Cream (recipe at the end)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

• Mix all the dry ingredients together. 
• Cut the cold butter into small cubes 1/4-1/2 inch. With a pastry blender or stand mixer, mix until the butter is just coated with flour, leaving chunks the size of dimes. 
• Stir in the Craisins and the zest. 
• Stir in 2/3 cup buttermilk and mix for about 30 seconds, or just until the liquid is absorbed. (The batter will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl). 
• Using clean hands, scrape the dough down and form it into a ball. Place the ball on a baking stone, baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a buttered sheet of wax paper. 
• Pat the ball into a flattened circle 1 inch thick at the center, slightly thinner around the edges. Divide the circle into eight wedges and separate the wedges out leaving a 1/2-inch space between them.
• Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk or an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm with butter, jam, whipped cream or clotted cream. The tops of the scones may be lightly dusted with confectioners sugar, if desired.

Cooking Tips:

• Use the Pampered Chef Food Chopper to quickly and cleanly chop the cranberries.
• Put your bowl in the sink when whipping the cream to make clean up easier. 
• Don't knead your dough! The chunks of butter, when melted, create air pockets that make the scones flaky. 
• When zesting an orange, don't get the white. If using a zester, do short strokes to get smaller pieces. 
• Invest in a zester and pastry brush. You can get them at Dollar Tree or the grocery and they make life easier!
• Substitute Chocolate Chips for the cranberries. Get creative! Raisins, dates, poppyseed, you name it!

Whipped Cream

1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of juice from orange (used earlier for zest)

Beat on high for 5 minutes or so until soft peaks form. If you under beat, it will be runny. If you over beat, it will turn to butter. When it's getting close, turn off the mixer and test the peaks every minute. 

Mini Fruit Pizzas

Recipe and samples complements of Baylee Steele, roommate extraodinaire.

I came home one day in December to these delightful treats that Baylee and her sister Leslie were working on. Definitely worth posting! This is very similar to my Strawberry Tarts in an earlier post. Get creative, make your own "food art!"

Ingredients:

Pillsbury sugar cookie dough

2 pkgs Cream Cheese, softened

Sugar

1 tsp Almond extract

1 tsp Vanilla

2 tsp Lemon Juice

2-4 Tablespoons Milk

Various fruits, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, peaches, mango, blackberries, etc

Start with Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, roll it out thin, about a 1/4 in.  By placing a piece of wax paper on the counter and another on top of the dough, you eliminate messes and the problem of dough sticking to the rolling pin. Until I got a feel for thicknesses, I used a ruler to measure in a couple of spots and then you can feel with your hand if it's even. 

Cut large circles out with a round cutter or a large-mouthed glass. 

Check the package directions for oven temperature, but cut the cooking time in half. You want them to be done, but not turn brown.

Meanwhile, to soften cream cheese, leave out for several hours. If it's not quite there by the time you're ready, you can microwave it for 30 seconds. Be careful, it will pop or if heated too long will get chunky. 

Add sugar, lemon juice, flavorings and milk. Mix well. Wash, slice, drain, dry fruit, whatever it needs!

Once cookies are cooled, spread 2 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture then top with fruit. 

Serve that day. They are hard to store and the fruits will get juicy and the cookies soggy. If traveling, spread cream cheese ahead of time, stacking fillings together, then add fruit at arrival.
Thank you to the Steele girls for this inspiration!