Something Sweet on Sunday/An Orange Cake to Die For

Back before Christmas, I received the weekly email from Kevin Lee Jacobs. That particular week, he showcased a boiled orange cake that uses the entire orange. Yes, the peel and all!!! I was intrigued! As it turns out, the basic recipe is quite old. He changed up the original recipe a bit by using almond flour, so it's gluten free.

Begin by boiling 2 oranges for at least an hour. Boiling them for a little longer really helps to reduce the bitterness of the orange  peel. Once boiled, just quarter them and then place them in a food processor and puree. 

As usual, I can't leave well enough alone. After I made the first cake, I decided to dress it up a bit with a slivered almond crust. Once the pan has been buttered and floured, sprinkle on a layer of slivered almonds.

I did add 1 other ingredient, and that was 1/2 cup of  shredded coconut. Love it!!!

Cook the cake as directed, place it on a serving plate, and dust with powdered sugar. As you can see, I was quite generous with the powdered sugar. 

The cake is moist, sweet, tangy, and most of all...DELICIOUS! I served the first cake that I made at a dinner party with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Everyone loved it. The second cake was not only eaten as a dessert, but for breakfast too! Why not? ;) 

You can find the recipe HERE. 

It's a cake that can be frozen and served at a later date. I have 6 oranges in the refrigerator that I have already boiled. Such a great way to use up oranges before they go bad. 

Enjoy!
I know you will!!!
 Rhonda

Something Sweet on Sunday/Pumpkin Dump Cake

Fall is here!!!, and I am so very happy. I truly love this time of year, the cool temperatures, the changing colors of the leaves. It's a time of year that seems absolutely magical. 

Family heirlooms have always been important to me. I have the most eclectic collection of things that belonged to my family. There's a crochet hook that my great-uncle whittled for my grandmother. An old dime store ring that my grandfather gave to my grandmother when they were dating. A quilt that my grandmother made when she was 15 years old. That quilt hangs on the wall in 1 of my guest rooms. Another quilt that my great-aunt made when she was only 9 years old. Both of these quilts mean the world to me. There are many other items like this. They have no real value, other than my knowing that when my hands touch these items, the hands of those I have loved have touched them as well. I also have a cast iron griddle that belonged to my great-great-grandmother. And, another cast iron skillet that belonged to my great-grandmother. Cooking with these 2 pieces is like cooking with history. Such an honor! 

I came across a recipe for an unbelievably easy cake that uses a skillet. The recipe said to use a non-stick skillet, but my cast iron skillet is so well seasoned that nothing sticks to it! You literally mix everything in the skillet and then bake the cake. So easy. It's called;

   Deep Dish Pumpkin Snack Cake  

This is not a diet recipe by any means, but a small slice is quite satisfying.

Begin by melting the butter in the skillet.

Add the brown sugar and the white sugar, and stir well to combine. Such a pretty color.

Mix in the pumpkin.

Then the flour, spices and baking soda.

The final ingredient was chocolate morsels. I was tempted to leave them out, but I am happy that I didn't. You could also add chopped walnuts or pecans for an even more decadent cake.

Place in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes, and you have a delightful, delicious cake. 

You can find the recipe HERE on the Colorado Country Life website. You can also find another dump and go cake recipe HERE for a Gingerbread Apple Cake. I just made a huge pot of fresh applesauce, so I will be giving this recipe a try this week! 
Enjoy!

Rhonda

A Delicious Treat For Easter/ Champagne Carrot and Raisin Cake

There's a new word for people who are obsessed with a healthy diet, Orthorexia, at least it's new to me. The termed was first coined in 1997 by a physician to describe his own approach to food and his pattern of eating. Orthorexia has not officially been recognized as an eating disorder, but many healthcare workers and nutritionists have seen an up rise in patients who are so consumed with food purity and quality that they are restricting their diets in potentially dangerous ways. Well, that's not me!!! While I basically follow a vegetarian lifestyle, and I try to limit sugar and processed foods, I LOVE a piece of cake from time to time, and Easter has cake written all over it...at least for me :)

If you by chance are looking for something a little different for your Easter dinner feast, this is a cake that is easy to make and delicious. The basic recipe is straight off of a box of cake mix. I was initially lead to the cake as I hate to waste much of anything, and it always seems that when I have a dinner party, wine is left over. Quite often, I will pour left over wine in a baggie and freeze it. I love to cook mussels in leftover white wine, or Prosecco. I'll use red and white wine in pasta sauce mixes, and so on. This cake will use up a good bit of leftover white wine, or Prosecco. Prosecco is my preferred white wine. I love the delicate sparkle. Although Prosecco is not champagne, the cake could be made with leftover champagne, and I thought it a better title :) 

To begin, combine 1 cup of leftover white wine with 1/2 cup of raisins. Bring to a boil, turn heat off, leave lid on pot and allow the raisins to steam for 1/2 hour or more. They will plump up nicely. 

Drain the raisins and reserve the raisin liquor.

Sprinkle a small amount of the cake mix over the raisins to coat. This will keep them from falling to the bottom of the cake while baking. Set aside. 

Once the cake batter has been assembled, add 1 cup of shredded carrots, the raisins, 

And 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix well.
 

In a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup of chopped pecans, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. 

Grease and flour bundt pan and sprinkle a layer of chopped pecans over the bottom. Be generous!

Spoon half of the cake batter over the pecans. 

Sprinkle half of the sugar, pecan and cinnamon mixture over the cake batter. 

Pour remaining cake batter over the sugar mixture and then sprinkle the rest of the sugar mixture on top of the cake batter. 

Take a knife and swirl the sugar mixture through the batter being careful not to disturb the pecans on the bottom of the pan. 

While the cake is baking, make the glaze, using 1 stick of butter, 1/4 cup of water, and 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The glaze will take on a pretty pale yellow color. 

Turn heat off and add 1/4 cup of white wine.  

Once cake has baked, remove from oven, and while still in the pan, spoon 2/3 of the glaze mixture over the cake. I like to take a wooden skewer and poke lots of little holes in the top of my cake prior to pouring on the glaze. 

Allow the cake to sit in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and place on serving dish. Spoon the rest of the glaze over the top of the cake. So pretty:) If you would like, for a prettier presentation, you could dust a little powdered sugar over the cake. 

Champagne Carrot and Raisin Cake
downloadable recipe

Ingredients;

Raisins;
1 cup white wine(or sparkling white wine like Prosecco)
1/2 cup raisins

Cake Batter;
1 box yellow cake mix
1 3 oz. box instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup water 
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Reserved wine from raisins plus enough white wine to equal 1/2 cup
4 eggs
1 cup shredded carrots
Reserved raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Sugar Streusel;
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Glaze;
1 stick of butter 
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white wine(or sparkling wine)

Approximately 1/2 cup of chopped pecans for bottom of cake.

Directions;
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Baking Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Begin by placing raisins and wine in pot and bringing to a boil. Cover and allow to steam for at least 30 minutes to allow the raisins to plump up and absorb some of the wine. After the raisins have steamed, drain and reserve the liquor from the raisins. Sprinkle a small amount of the dry cake mix over the raisins, and stir to coat. Set both raisins and liquor aside.

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, vegetable oil, water, reserved liquor from raisins, and eggs. Beat well for 2 minutes to combine. Stir in shredded carrots, reserved raisins, and cinnamon.

Combine sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans for sugar streusel.

Grease and flour bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped pecans over bottom of pan to coat. Pour half of cake batter over chopped pecans. Spoon half of the sugar streusel over the cake batter. Pour remaining cake batter over streusel, and finish with remaining streusal. Take knife and swirl the streusel mixture through the cake batter being careful not to disturb pecans on the bottom. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Make glaze. Combine butter, water and sugar in pan. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in white wine. Set aside until cake is removed from the oven.

Once cake has baked, remove from the oven. While still in the bundt pan, poke holes all over the top of the cake with a wooden skewer. Spoon 2/3 of the the glaze over cake. Allow the cake to remain in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and place on serving dish. Spoon remaining glaze over cake. 

The cake is best made a day ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. If you would like, sprinkle cake with powdered sugar. Sliced strawberries make a lovely accompaniment too!Serve and enjoy!  

If you are having guests for Easter, they will probably enjoy a piece of this cake for breakfast too!!!

  
Happy Easter Everyone!

Rhonda

Something Sweet On A Special Day

Whether you are a mother or not, a little something sweet, I think, is most appropriate on this day :) It may not be healthy in the traditional sense of healthy, but something sweet, something special, can nourish the soul and that's important too!  

As I've shared before, I really enjoy the blog Dust Jacket Attic. Although I think she has changed the name to just Dust Jacket, but regardless, she finds some of the most beautiful pictures and the posts are always inspiring.

This past week, she posted a picture of a piece of Tres Leches Cake for her Weekend Edit post. One look and I had to make the cake, and since it's Mother's Day, I thought it might be a nice surprise for my mother too!   

This recipe has quite the chain. I saw it on Dust Jacket. She found it on AverieCooks, and I think she originally found the original version on The Pioneer Woman. AverieCooks adapted the recipe. I have not tried the Pioneer Woman's recipe, but I think I like AverieCook's version a little better. I took the recipe one step further and added 1/4 cup of rum to the milk mixture. YUMMMMM!!! Really gave it a special touch. My cake is below. Look closely and you can see the milk mixture oozing out from the bottom of the cake. This is a super moist cake.

Just a few pointers if you decide to make the cake...and BTW, you should :) Unless you can't tolerate milk products or have other health issues.

Be sure to get a nice peak on your egg whites. 

Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter. You want to retain the volume, but yet have the two mixed well.

Once the egg whites have been combined with the batter, you will have a batter that has a spongy consistency and it will also be super light. 

Wire whisk the milk mixture together and if you like, add the rum at this point.  

Once the cake has baked, slowly pour the milk mixture over the cake and give it time to absorb the liquid along the way. 

Be sure to allow the cake to cool for at least a few hours before covering the cake. It's best to let the cake sit overnight in the refrigerator before adding the whipped cream frosting.

Just in case you missed it, you can find the recipe I used HERE.

However you are spending this day, I hope you are able to add a little something that makes you smile.

Happy Mother's Day!
Rhonda