Chocolate Birthday Cake

This cake recipe comes with a story. 

A long time ago when McKay and I were dating, I celebrated my 19th birthday. McKay decided to surprise me with a chocolate birthday cake. The recipe came from his Japan Fukuoka Mission cook book. He baked the cake and then put some candles on top in the shape of the Japanese kanji symbol that stands for love. (I know, very romantic!)  He left it outside my Campus Plaza apartment door on his way to work at 8:00 am. I was happily sleeping the morning away (my classes didn't start until noon) and the cake sat outside my door until I went to class. I am very lucky that it didn't get taken and I got to enjoy it. I think he had to explain the kanji candles to me later.  I don't think that he has missed making this cake for my birthday since that time (32 years). It is always fantastic! Now this cake is requested by quite a few of the family members for their birthdays and McKay is usually the one who makes it.


Crazy Cake
from McKay S Matthews

2 cups sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. vinegar
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups cold water
3/4 cup oil


Mix the dry ingredients together and add the others. Stir well with a rice spatula. Bake in 9 x 12 pan at 350° for 25 – 30 min.

That is the “official instructions” from the cookbook. Here is what he really does.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add the others. Mix with mixer until well blended. (We don’t have a rice spatula) Line bottom of two 9” round pans with parchment paper. Trace the pan with pencil on the paper, then cut out. Fill each pan with half the batter. Cook at 350° for 25 – 30 minutes. To test for doneness, insert toothpick in center of cake, if it comes out clean it is done. Or gently touch center of cake, if it bounces back it is done, if it leaves an indent, cook for a few more minutes.

After removing from oven, let cake cool for 10 minutes in pan, then move to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Trace pan size

Cut out and line pan

Cool in pan 10 minutes, then move to racks

This is our current favorite chocolate frosting recipe:

Chocolate Frosting

From Esther Prestwich

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter (softened)

½ cup cocoa

¼ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together with mixer until smooth. Add a little more milk if the frosting is too stiff to spread easily.

Here is another yummy frosting for this cake.

Coconut Frosting

6 oz. canned milk (3/4 cup)

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup butter

1 slightly beaten egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cup coconut

½ cup chopped nuts (pecans are my favorite)

In saucepan combine milk, sugar, butter and egg. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Let cool a little before using.

Floating Island Pudding (Apple)

Here is a copy of my original recipe:

I love the card that it is written on. So 70's!

Here is a more measured and precise recipe that I can really follow:

6 medium apples (cored, peeled and sliced)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together in bowl. Set aside.

Biscuit dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil instead of shortening like the original recipe said)
3/4 cup milk (or 2 Tbs dry milk and 3/4 cup water)

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and milk: stir with fork just until dough is mixed. Too much handling makes the dough tough.

Put half of the dough into the bottom of a large casserole dish and spread with fingers. Add apple mixture on top. Put the rest of the dough on top of the apples.

Dough on the bottom

Add apples

Dough on the top

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Cut 1/2 Tbs butter into little pieces and place on top of dough. Pour 2 cups hot water (just from the tap) over the whole thing. Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Note: If you like a little more "pudding" you can put it in a deep oven proof dish and add 3 cups hot water.
Some of my family likes more, some like less.

This is good served hot with ice cream or whipped cream on top.

Brownie Muffins

From Jaynann

Makes 12 brownies

1 pkg brownie mix

4 fun size candy bars

Follow the instructions on the box to make brownie batter. Spray muffin tin with Pam. Pour a little batter in each cup, about ¼ inch deep. Slice each candy bar into 3 pieces. Place a piece in each muffin. Fill cups with the rest of the batter. Cook for 18 minutes at 350°. 

I was really glad Jaynann shared this recipe with me tonight. I needed something good to post. I was excited about a fresh tomato soup recipe that I had found, but I made it tonight and it wasn't that good. I was disappointed. I wanted to love it.

Jaynann said that she wanted to make brownies, but didn't have a pan, only a muffin tin. She decided to make them in the muffin pan and added the candy bar. They are good. They are cute. I wasn't disappointed with these.

Blackberry Cobbler

My blackberries are ripening so we had our first taste this week.

Filling:

¾ Cup sugar

3 Tbs. flour

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. cinnamon

Dash of cloves

2 – 3 Cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)

Combine above ingredients in 8 or 9 inch pan.

Topping:

1 Cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ C. buttermilk or sour milk (just add a little lemon juice to ½ C milk)

3 Tbs. butter, melted

Stir together and place large spoonfuls on filling. Sprinkle with 1 Tbs sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon.

Bake at 375 for 30 – 35 min.

Banana Nut Bread

I'm still using those bananas I got on sale.

(Originally from Rosemary Markham in “Making Eat a Part of Wheat”)

I've changed it a little from her recipe. 

3 bananas (very ripe)

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 ½ cup whole wheat flour (from soft wheat)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 Tbs. yogurt (or milk or sour cream)

½ cup chopped nuts (I added 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds to the chopper too)

Preheat oven to 350° F  (325° convection oven). Put bananas in bowl and mix until mashed. Add brown sugar, oil and eggs. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Grease 1 large or 2 small loaf pans.  Pour batter in pans and cook for 45 – 60 minutes.

Koolaid Slushies

1 cup cold water

½ to ¾ cup sugar

1 pkg Koolaid

Ice Cubes

Blend 1^st three ingredients in blender. Add ice cubes a few at a time until there is about 4 cups of slush. If the mixture becomes too hard while blending add a little more cold water.

A yummy vanilla version: (like a silver fox)

1 cup cold water

½ to ¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp vanilla

Ice cubes

Follow same instructions as above. Before eating pour 1 Tbs. cream on top if desired, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

This is a variation of my chocolate chip cookie recipe found here.
Enjoy!

Monkey Bread

This is a family favorite that one of the boys brought home from pre school many years ago. I'm sure the reason it is a favorite is all the butter and sugar. We don't have it too often, but it still gets requested sometimes.

Serves 4 - 5
2 pkgs. refrigerator biscuit dough
2 Tbs butter (melted)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix cinnamon and sugar together and put in a shaker. (like a salt shaker) I just keep one filled with cinnamon and sugar in the cupboard. Open biscuit dough and cut each biscuit into fourths. I do this by laying them in a row on a cutting board and using a pizza cutter to cut them. If you have a child helping you, this is their favorite part. Place half of the biscuit dough in a 9 X 9 baking dish or casserole dish. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the dough. Add the rest of the dough and sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar

Stir the brown sugar into the melted butter and sprinkle this on top of the dough.

Brown sugar added

Bake at 375 for 15 - 18 min.
Remove from oven and turn pan upside down on plate. Serve.

Out of the oven

Ready to serve

Strawberries and Cream

Last night for dinner I opened some cream for the chicken alfredo and had some left over, so I washed and cut into bite size pieces a quart of strawberries and then added 1 Tbs sugar, 1/4 tsp. almond flavoring and
2 Tbs cream. Stir it up and serve. This was really good!

Cinnamon Crispies

From Betty Crocker’s Easy Breakfasts and Brunches

½ cup margarine or butter (1 stick)

2 cups flour

¼  cup sugar

2/3  cup milk

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Sugar

Heat oven to 425°. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Heat margarine until melted; reserve 2 Tbs. Mix remaining margarine, the flour, ¼ cup sugar, the milk, baking powder and salt in large bowl until dough forms. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times.

Divide dough into halves. Roll or pat one half of dough into rectangle, 9 x 5 inches. Brush with half of reserved melted margarine. Mix 1/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon; sprinkle half over rectangle. Roll up tightly, beginning at 5 inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut roll into 4 equal pieces with sharp knife. Place cut sides up on cookie sheets; pat each into 6 inch circle. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets with spatula. Cool on wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough, melted margarine and cinnamon-sugar mixture.

This one is not sprinkled with sugar before cooking because my family likes a little vanilla frosting on top instead. 

Easy Cheesecake Dessert

Easy Cheese Cake Dessert

1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese (room temperature)

1 - 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

½ pint whipping cream (whipped)

½ cup lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

In small bowl beat cream until stiff. Set aside. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk; blend thoroughly. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla, then stir in whipped cream. Pour into 9” graham cracker pie crust. Chill at least 2 hours. Top with a can of pie filling.

For 9 x 13 pan:

Grind 7 graham crackers in food processer. Stir in 1 Tbs sugar. Add 2 Tbs butter cut into small pieces. Mix until crumbly.

Press into bottom of pan and microwave for 1 min.

Pour cream cheese mixture over crust and refrigerate.

Strawberry Glaze: (from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook) sort of

Slice 1 cup fresh strawberries and cook with 1 cup water about 2 minutes. Drain liquid into bowl to use in next step.

In another bowl combine ½ cup sugar and 3 Tbs cornstarch. Mix well; then stir into berry juice.

Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Add 1 lb fresh sliced strawberries and stir together. Spoon over cheesecake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (and some variations)

1 cup butter (softened) (I use real butter, it’s just better)

¾  cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Mix thoroughly, then add:

3 cups flour     

¾  teaspoon salt             

¾  teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts (finely chopped)

1 ½  cups chocolate chips

Mix and drop by spoonfuls on greased or lined cookie sheet. Makes about 3 doz.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. (325 convection oven)

Tips for perfect cookies:

If softening butter in microwave, soften on defrost setting. Don’t let the butter melt, only soften!

My favorite mix of chocolate chips is ¾ cup semi sweet and ¾ cup milk chocolate.

Don’t over cook. 9 minutes is perfect for my oven. They should barely be turning brown on the edges when you take them out.

If you want pretty cookies, use your hands to shape them a little. This is a firm dough.

You can dip the tops of your cookie spoonfuls into a bowl of sugar before baking if desired.

Some variations:

For double chocolate chip cookies, substitute ½ cup of the flour with cocoa.
For a light coconut taste, substitute ½ cup of the butter with coconut oil (found at health food stores).
For chocolate coconut cookies, make both substitutions above and add 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut.

Ready for the oven

Ready to eat

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 lb. powder sugar

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 cube butter (softened)

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.

Cinnamon Rolls

I use the roll dough found here.

Grease your hands with Pam or butter to handle the dough a little easier. Roll out ½ batch of roll dough onto floured surface into a rectangle about 20” X 12”. It should be about ½” thick.

Make filling as follows:

¼ C butter

½ C brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbs. flour

1/3 C chopped nuts (about ½ cup un chopped)

1/3 C raisins

There are two ways of mixing the filling. If you have a food processer, cut the butter into a few pieces and just put everything in and mix until crumbly. This chops the nuts for you. It also chops the raisins.

To mix by hand, soften the butter, then mix the sugar, cinnamon, and flour in with a fork. Add nuts and raisins.

Spread filling over dough and roll up. Cut off the end then cut into about   1 ¾" slices. I use dental floss to cut or you can use a serrated knife. Put on greased or lined baking sheet and gently press down each roll. Let rise about an hour. I let them rise in the oven with the light on (no heat) and a bowl of hot water in the bottom.  It makes a warm, moist environment for rising. Take out to preheat oven. Bake at 350 ° for 15 - 20 minutes.

Makes 12 rolls.

Frost with vanilla or cream cheese frosting.

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

2 – 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese (room temperature)

2 C powdered sugar

1 C dairy sour cream

1 C cream

½  tsp vanilla

1 T sugar

1 angel food cake (torn into bite-size pieces)

2 quarts thinly sliced strawberries

3 T sugar

¼ tsp almond extract

In large bowl, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar; add sour cream; set aside.

In a small, deep bowl, whip the cream; add vanilla and 1 T sugar. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Add cake pieces; set aside.

Combine strawberries, 3 T sugar and almond extract. Layer together in large glass bowl, starting with strawberries, then adding cake mixture. Continue layering; finish with strawberries. Cover and chill well.

This is a fussy recipe, but it sure is good. I only make it about once a year. 

Banana Breakfast Cookies

From this...

to this! 

¾ C honey or sugar

¾ C coconut oil (can use shortening or butter)

1 egg

1 C mashed bananas (about 3)

     Or 1 C applesauce

2½ C whole wheat flour

2 C oatmeal

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

½ C chopped nuts

½ C chocolate chips or raisins

½ C raw pumpkin seeds

½ C unsweetened coconut

Mix until blended. Bake on non stick cookie sheet at 350 for 8-12 min. These freeze well.

I have some over ripe bananas on the counter so I'll be making some of these today. I think that these are cute when I leave the chocolate chips out of the batter and put three on top of each one before I bake them.