Cranberry Loaf Cake

This Cranberry bread is a recipe of my grandma's, and it's become a tradition for me to make it around the holidays. Her recipes usually require some interpretation, so I'll do my best to make sense of it for you. It uses almond extract (my favorite of all the extracts) and I think that's what makes it so yummy. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/4 pound) butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 pint (1 cup) sour cream

1 tsp. almond extract

1 bag fresh cranberries

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat softened butter, sugar and eggs until creamy, add almond extract. Add dry ingredients gradually with sour cream. Pour half of the mixture into a well-greased and floured loaf pan or tube pan, add the cranberries over the mixture and add the rest of the batter. Top with nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes.

Cool. Drizzle top of loaf with a mixture of:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 tbsp. warm water

Notes: I usually mix half the cranberries in with the dough before putting it in the pan, but otherwise follow directions to place the rest of the cranberries in the middle. Also, it usually takes longer than 55 minutes. Test with a toothpick to test doneness.

South African Melktert (Milk Tart) - All Recipes

While on my mission, I ate a lot of pudding (desserts). Of all the many confections, milk tart was/is my favorite!!! I have been missing my mission this past week but a little bit of this tasty custard pie brought me back and made things right again. Enjoy!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups milk
3 egg white
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Coat a 9 inch deep dish pie plate with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold into the batter. Pour into the prepared pie plate, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top.
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the center is set when you gently jiggle the pie. Serve hot or cold."

Martha Stewart's Marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows are the BEST! I bought myself this great cookbook with all manner of candy recipes (which I highly recommend) but I must admit the marshmallows caught my eye. I saw this particular version of the recipe on Martha's website and thought I would share. Tis the season for hot chocolate, make some of these babies to share tonight!

Ingredients
(Makes 24)

Vegetable oil, for brushing
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1)Brush a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with oil. Line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Brush parchment with oil; set aside.

2)Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, without stirring, until mixture registers 238 degrees.on a candy thermometer, about 9 minutes.

3)Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer; sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.

4)Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With mixer on low speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Set aside, uncovered, until firm, about 3 hours.

5)Sift 1 cup confectioners' sugar onto a work surface. Unmold marshmallow onto confectioners' sugar; remove parchment. Lightly brush a sharp knife with oil, then cut marshmallow into 2-inch squares. Sift remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Spicy Turkey Burgers

This recipe comes from one of my uncles via the awesome cookbook my M-O-Hs made me for a wedding gift. A couple of notes - for one, don't be scared of the picture - I haven't quite mastered the grill yet, so you don't have took cook yours until they're black like I did. When I went to the grocery store, I forgot the parsley and it was just fine without it. Also, I thought 3 tablespoons paprika sounded like a lot, so I only used about 2. Finally, my husband doesn't really like spicy - so I mixed all the ingredients without the green chile pepper and cayenne pepper to form his patties, then added those ingredients at the end to make mine. This is a recipe you can really play around with because you can't really go wrong. (And even charred, our burgers were delicious!) For a little extra kick, I enjoyed mine with Tabasco Ketchup. Now, on to the recipe ...

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds lean ground turkey

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup diced yellow onion

2 fresh green chile peppers, diced

3/4 cup finely chopped red pepper

3/4 cup finely chopped yellow pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon ground dry mustard

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Dash or two of crushed chillies

1. Best prepared when charbroiled on the grill. Preheat the grill for high heat.

2. In a large bowl, mi the ground turkey with all the ingredients. Form the mixture into 4-5 big burger patties. (I made 6).

3. Lightly oil the grill grate (Depending on your grill, you might want to do this before preheating - I'll leave that up to your judgement). Place turkey burgers on the grill and cook 5-10 minutes per side, until well done.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Custard

Ingredients
2 cups milk, scalded
3 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Soft Recipe, Beat the egg yolks slightly with the sugar and add slowly the scalded milk.
Place on a slow fire and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Remove from fire and add the vanilla extract.
Serve hot or cold

Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these delicious cupcakes (from "Martha Stewart's Cupcakes") last weekend for a potluck picnic for my sister's 10-year high school reunion. I chose these because they had to travel (and would be outside) and they didn't require any frosting. They turned out pretty good, though I would recommend keeping an eye on them as the recipe calls for a 40-minute bake time and mine were done in about 30.

Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes (Makes 12)
Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Peanut Butter filling

Peanut Butter Filling:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Stir together all ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly. (Note - I melted the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between.)
2. Whisk granulated sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
3. Spoon 2 tablespoons chocolate batter into each lined cup, followed by 1 tablespoon peanut butter filling. Repeat with another tablespoon of batter, and top with 1 teaspoon filling. Swirl top of cupcake batter and filling with a wooden skewer or toothpick.
4. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 40 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Gingerbread Pancakes

This is a Christmas tradition Bobby and I established. They make your house smell wonderful!

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup water
4 large eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Vegetable oil for brushing griddle

Directions
Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. Whisk together water, eggs, and butter in a large bowl. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Let stand 15 minutes (batter will thicken).
Brush a griddle or 12-inch nonstick skillet with oil and heat over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.
Working in batches of 3 or 4, pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto hot griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until cooked through and edges are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a platter and loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Brush griddle with oil between batches.