Meridy's
Texas Sheet Cake
2 c all-purpose flour
2 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 c brewed coffee or water
1/4 c dark, unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
Frosting:
1/2 c
butter
2 T dark cocoa
1/4 c milk
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
In a large
bowl, combine flour and sugar. In
saucepan, combine butter, shortening, coffee/water, and cocoa. Stir and heat to boiling.
Pour
boiling mixture over the flour and sugar in the bowl.
Add the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well,
using a wooden spoon or high speed on a mixer. Pour into a
well-buttered 17½X11-inch jelly roll pan.
Bake at
400 for 20 minutes until brownies test done in the center.
While
brownies bake, prepare the frosting.
In a saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa and milk.
Heat to boiling, stirring. Mix in the powdered sugar and
vanilla gradually until the frosting is smooth. Pour warm frosting over the brownies as soon as
you take them out of the oven. Makes
48 bars.
Tina's Microwave Fudge
Get a microwaveable 2-3 quart glass bowl
Dump in ONE BAG of powdered sugar
Dump in 1/2 cup of "Hershey's" Cocoa
(Mix these two ingredient together with a mixer ON LOW SPEED...or you will have a mess)
Set on Top of Powder Sugar Mixture:
2 sticks of butter
1/2 cup of milk
DO NOT STIR!!!
Put in microwave for 4 minutes on high
Take out and Mix with a mixer and add 1 T Vanilla and 1 - 2 Cups of crushed walnuts or pecans
Pour into a greased cake pan and let cool in refrigerator for 10 - 20 minutes.
If you want to make a double batch, you can spread creamy peanut butter between each batch for another great version!
Betsy's Ricotta
Cookies
1
stick butter
1 egg
1/2 c.
ricotta
2 c. sifted flour
1 t.
vanilla
1/2 t.
baking soda
1 c.
sugar
1/2 t.
salt
Allow
butter to soften. Blend with
ricotta until creamy. Add
vanilla and mix well. Add
sugar gradually, beating until well blended. Add
egg and mix well. Slowly stir
in dry ingredients and blend well. Drop
from a teaspoon on a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Yield: 30-36
cookies.
Lynn's Banana Bread
1
c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 c. butter-flavored Crisco
1 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 or 4 mashed bananas
1 c. nuts (optional)
Cream
together sugar and shortening. Beat
in eggs. Add
mashed bananas, flour, vanilla, and soda.
Fold
in nuts, if desired. Bake 1
hour at 350 in greased/floured bread pan.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Cheryl's Almond Creme Cookies
Cookie
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons chilled butter
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons light cream
1 tablespoon (approx.) light cream
Almond Crème
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon soft butter
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
TO PREPARE
COOKIES:
Using pastry blender cut butter into flour until pieces are the size of
small peas. Sprinkle 1 T of cream over part of mixture. Toss gently with
fork; push to one side of bowl. Repeat until all is moistened. Form ball;
divide in half. On lightly
floured surface, roll to slightly less than 1/8 inch. Cut into 1 1/2
" rounds with floured cutter. Dip one side of each cookie in sugar.
Place sugar side up, 1/2" apart on ungreased baking sheet.
With fork, prick each cookie in 4 parallel rows.
(more on back)
Bake at
375 for about 8 minutes or until golden & puffy. Remove at once to
rack. Sandwich cooled cookies
with Almond Crème.
TIME TO
PREPARE: Approx.
1 hour 25
- 30 cookies
TO PREPARE
ALMOND CRÈME:
Thoroughly combine the sifted confectioner’s
sugar, the soft butter, the almond extract and the light cream until well
blended and smooth. Use a
little more of the cream, if necessary, until of spreading consistency.
Pepparkakor
(Christmas Ginger Snaps)
Pepparkakor, or Swedish ginger snaps, are more spicy
than sweet. But they are delicious, especially warm from the oven.
The dough should be rolled thin to make the eventual cookies crisp.
Thinly-rolled dough can be a bit hard to work with in larger shapes;
choose smaller cookie cutters for easier handling. In Sweden, the cookies
are traditionally cut in heart shapes.
3/4 cup (1
1/2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
About 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
Put butter into a large mixing bowl. Combine
water, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a saucepan. Heat to
boiling; boil 1 minute, stirring. Pour hot spice mixture over butter; stir
to melt butter.
Sift flour, measure 2 cups, and sift again with
baking soda. Add to spice mixture; stir to blend thoroughly. Cover
dough tightly or wrap in waxed paper or aluminum foil. Chill in
refrigerator 12 hours or overnight. Cut
off small, workable portions of dough. Roll each out very thin -- about
1/8-inch thick -- on a lightly floured board. Cut into shapes with fancy
cookie cutters.
With a flexible spatula, lift cookies onto
greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.
Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Risgrynsgrot
(Rice
Porridge)
Rice Porridge is the traditional dessert on Christmas
Eve. A single almond is put into the porridge; according to tradition, the
unmarried porridge-partaker who finds the almond in his or her bowl will
get married within the coming year.
3/4 cup
round-grained rice
1 1/4 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
3-3 l/3 cups milk
About 1 tbsp sugar
Bring the water to a boil, with salt and butter. Add
the rice; cover, and simmer on low heat until the water has been absorbed
(about 10 minutes).
Thin with the milk and bring back to the boiling
point. Cover the saucepan. If you have an electric stove, turn off the
heat and leave the pan on the coil; the rice will swell and absorb the
milk, and as the retained heat is low, the porridge will not burn. If you
have a gas stove, let the porridge and milk simmer, covered, for about 10
minutes; then place the saucepan on a wooden carving board. The porridge
will be cooked after 30-40 minutes.
Season with sugar. If you wish, you may add a pat of
butter and one single almond (blanched and skinned) just before serving.
Serve with milk, ground cinnamon, and sugar (optional).
The
periodic table of desserts (click to enlarge):
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