Apple Walnut Squares

This dish was sent to me by Lillian, my co-author for my cookbook Think With Your Taste Buds – Desserts.? Its simple to make, with a delicate taste of apple and cinnamon.? You have to love it. Lillian – This was given to me by a friend from a 1976 cookbook that she had. This looks as though it would be very moist and is so simple to put together. Changes may be to use English walnuts or pecans instead of black walnuts, add a bit of coconut, use apple pie spices instead of just the cinnamon. Martha – I made this dish and it is wonderfully moist! I did make a couple of changes. I found myself running short of flour so I used Cake Flour instead of all-purpose. I also used pecans instead of the black walnuts. For the apples, it takes about 5 small or 4 medium size and I used Granny Smith. This is one great dish to make. View the full recipe by going to Martha’s Kitchen Korner

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Apple Walnut Squares

Simple Substitutions

SUBSTITUTIONS: 1 tablespoon cornstarch? = 2 tablespoons flour. 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cake flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder = 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar. 1 cup whole milk = 1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water. 1 cup sour milk = 1 cup? milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice added or use 1 cup ???? buttermilk. 1 cup sour cream,commercial? = 1/3 cup butter and 2/3 cup milk in any recipe calling for ? ?? sour milk. ??? 1 cup honey = 1 cup molasses. ?FOR ONE CUP OF: Broken graham crackers , you will need? 9 crackers. Graham cracker crumbs, you will need? 11 crackers. Broken saltine crackers , you will need? 7 crackers. Broken vanilla wafers , you will need? 22 wafers. Vanilla wafer crumbs , you will need? 26 wafers. FOR BAKING CAKES: If using a glass baking dish or a dark coated pan, lower the oven temperature by 25º. Don’t open the oven door to peek at your cake baking.? You will lose heat and could alter the baking time or the quality of the cake. To test when cake is done, poke a toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean, cake ???? is done; or lightly touch with finger and if it springs back, cake is done, or the cake starts ???? to pull away from the sides of the pan, it is done. ??? Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to coo completely. ?? Loosen around the edges before turning onto rack. Cool completely before frosting, unless otherwise stated in recipe. A pastry brush is a wonderful tool to lightly brush away all crumbs before frosting. You can ??? also just lightly brush crumbs with your hands.

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Simple Substitutions

Whiskey River Pound Cake

This is another recipe that will be going to Mary Kennedy, Author of Dead Air to make up for our troops.? I feel sure she will use the whiskey in the actual cake but I doubt she will add it to the glaze since it will be sent to the troops.? (remember, the alcohol cooks out of the whiskey that goes into the cake) 3 cups cake flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp.nutmeg 1 cup butter, softened 2 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs, at room temp. 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup Whiskey River whiskey (or whiskey of your choice) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.? In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.? In another large bowl, with an electric mixer at med. speed, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.? Gradually beat in the sugar and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes.? Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.? Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in about 1/3 of the flour, 1/3 of the sour cream and 1/3 of the whiskey.? Continue this until all has been added and well blended.? Pour into a

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Whiskey River Pound Cake

Daring Bakers do Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking . They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession. It turned out perfect.? The only thing I will do differently next time is to dip the cookies in the espresso mixture for longer.? I was afraid of them becoming mushy! And what an incredible challenge this was!? And not because I screwed anything up this time!? They made us make this from complete 100% scratch.? Right down to? making our own mascarpone cheese.? I had to read through the directions several times just to be sure they didn’t want us making our own vanilla and rum extracts!!! I truly loved this challenge and for me it was probably one of the most rewarding.? If I had never done this challenge I would NEVER …

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Daring Bakers do Tiramisu

Ingredient Substitutions (Part 3)

Dates – 1 lb. – Substitute – 2 1/2 cups pitted Eggs, Whole Uncooked – 1 large (3 Tbl.) – Substitute – 3 Tbl. and 1 tsp. thawed frozen egg or 2 1/2 Tbl. sifted dry whole egg powder and 2 1/2 Tbl. lukewarm water, or 2 yolks and 1 Tbl. water (for cookies), or 2 yolks (good in custard and cream fillings), or 2 whites as a thickening agent Eggs – Uncooked – 1 cup – Substitute – 5 large or 6 medium Egg Whites – 1 large (2 Tbl.) – Substitute – 2 Tbl. sifted dry egg white powder and 2 Tbl. lukewarm water Egg Whites – 1 cup – Substitute – 8 large egg whites Egg Yolks (1 1/2 Tbl.) – 1 yolk – Substitute – 3 1/2 Tbl. thawed

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Ingredient Substitutions (Part 3)

Daring Baker’s do Puff Pastry and Vols-au-Vents

The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon . She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan. ? Wow, was this month’s challenge ever a “challenge” .? Our temps here in Southwest Florida are still in the mid 90’s every single day and if I turn my A/C to more than 80F I end up with an electric bill that is $350+!!!? Anyone who has ever worked with puff pastry knows that these are not ideal circumstances for making the dough…But I DID IT!!!!? And look how pretty and puffy these turned out!!! There was a lot of refrigerating going on though and I had butter popping through and melting all over my counter so I was shocked at how nicely these turned out.? Unfortunately they took me a whole day to make and then I let them chill over night.? After all of that I just ran out of time for making the wonderful lemon mousse that I had planned to fill them with.? Whatever, the girls loved them filled with fresh blueberries and drizzled with chocolate.? Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway??? For this challenge we had to make puff pastry (Michel Richard’s recipe) and form at least part of it into vols-au-vent… The recipe and directions: Equipment: -food processor (will make mixing dough easy, but I imagine this can be done by hand as well) -rolling pin -pastry brush -metal bench scraper (optional, but recommended) -plastic wrap -baking sheet -parchment paper -silicone baking mat (optional, but recommended) -set of round cutters (optional, but recommended) -sharp chef’s knife -fork -oven -cooling rack Prep Times: -about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule) -about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.) Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the…

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Daring Baker’s do Puff Pastry and Vols-au-Vents

Strawberry Banana Nut Cake

I’ve added a new recipe to Martha’s Kitchen. Yes, it’s very easy to make. The original recipe called for more ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, white sugar and mashed bananas. I’ve simplified, made it easier and a lot quicker. This is a must try dish. Yes, I did remove a recipe – Carrot Cake Bars. Sorry!

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Strawberry Banana Nut Cake