Spiced Apple Cake

Yesterday I saw a recipe for a pear cake! I love pears, but only have apples at the moment, that I'd like to use up. I made some additions to the original and it turned out well. Perfect for morning coffee, afternoon tea, or dessert.

The original recipe used a 10" cast iron skillet, but this made way more than that could contain. I used two buttered, 2 quart casseroles.

Combine in a medium bowl, then divide between the baking dishes:

2T melted butter

⅓c brown sugar

1c craisins

1c chopped pecans

3 lg. Envy apples - Cored, scrubbed and sliced 

In the empty apple bowl, whisk together:

2 lg. eggs

½c sour cream

1c brown sugar

1T Mexican vanilla

1-2t fresh lemon juice

1t white Balsamic vinegar

6T melted -slightly cooled- butter

In a large bowl, combine:

1⅓c all purpose flour

1½t pumpkin pie spice

½t ground nutmeg

½t ground ginger

1t baking powder

a sprinkle of salt

½t baking soda

Mix the wet and dry ingredients in the big bowl, using a heavy wooden spoon. Pour this over the apples in the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool at least a half hour before flipping this onto a large round plate.

This would be excellent topped with lightly sweetened, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or just as it is. . .Lin

Apple Pecan Crumble

1/3c all purpose flour

1/3c coconut sugar

1/2c cane sugar

1T pumpkin pie spice

1T ground chia and flax seed

a good shake of salt

1/2c rolled oats

1c chopped pecans

1 stick of cold or frozen butter

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium glass bowl. Grate in the butter, mixing it well with everything in the bowl. Use a metal pastry blender if needed. Set this aside while you preheat the oven to 350°, butter a 2-3 quart baking dish and prepare the fruit.

2-3/4# apples - I used Envy and a couple Macintosh

2 whole Cutie type Mandarin oranges

2/3c craisins

several slices of candied ginger

1T Mexican vanilla - optional

Wash and peel the apples. If you'd like, you can just rough peel them, to leave a little color and texture. I did that with the Envy apples but not the Macintosh since those skins are like eating a plastic bag 😑 

Chop-slice them into a large bowl, adding the finely chopped oranges. Toss to coat and bring out the juices, this will also keep the apple slices from browning. Add the craisins and finely chopped ginger. Sprinkle with a couple tablespoons of spiced turbinado sugar, toss again then pour all the fruit into a buttered 8x11x2" glass pan. Top with the pecan, sugar, crumble and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Serve warm or cold. This is good just as is, or with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. . .Lin

Fresh, Fruity Strawberries and Cream

This is a grab and assemble sort of thing.  I didn't create a recipe, since amounts, and even some ingredients, are for you to determine. But for sure, it has have really good strawberries! Fresh, juicy, bright red STRAWBERRIES! When you know how many servings you want, then decide how much of each of the following to add, following the directions below.

fresh lemon juice and zest

local organic honey

thin slices of candied ginger

little pieces of dried pineapple

a good shake of black pepper (!)

cashews, macadamias or blanched almonds

sour cream (really!)

Combine the first group in a medium bowl and microwave 30 seconds, stir to coat everything. This will rehydrate and soften the pineapple. Set this aside while you wash, core and chop the strawberries into quarters. Add them to the bowl, stir in the nuts and serve in individual bowls. Top each with a big dollop of sour cream, give everything a tiny, gentle stir to incorporate it just a little and blend the flavors. Mmmm, it's good! . .Lin

Orange-Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

OH MY. . .SO Much Rhubarb!!

When I first moved here; that spring, several years ago; I noticed a little mound forming in my back yard. It grew daily. Finally, curiosity won. I cut through the landscaping mesh that had been laid down during reseeding my back yard, to find a TINY patch of rhubarb, trying really hard to make itself known! I had to laugh! These tiny leaves and stalks occupied a whole 8"x10" area, but they were SO determined to break free! I pulled the grass around it and watered it when I remembered.

I had some landscaping done a few years later and my landscape guy insisted transplanting it was a waste of time. Well, au contraire Mr. Landscaper—Rhubarb Expert! I took this photo just now. This is after already harvesting 8 cups between me and my next-door neighbor. Sometimes, things just need time, space and someone to believe in the possibilities. . .

 

2c diced rhubarb

3 Cutie mandarins - diced with peel

diced strawberries - enough to bring this fruit mix to 4 cups

1T good quality pure vanilla

3/4c light brown sugar

2t pumpkin pie spice

1T corn starch

Combine the fruit ingredient group in a medium glass bowl, then pour it into a greased 9" casserole.  Preheat your oven to 375° then assemble the pastry-batter, for the topping.

1-1/4c flour

~ I used 1/2c corn flour

~ and 3/4c all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

1T baking powder

3T pure cane sugar

1/2c sour cream - mixed with. . .

~ 1 beaten egg + 1-2T water

6T very cold -or- frozen butter - grated into the bowl

Drop batter in spoonfuls and spread over the fruit mixture, swirl both layers together a little if you'd like, then sprinkle coarse sugar over the top (I used turbinado and coconut sugars) Bake for 40 minutes.

It's RHUBARB SEASON! 😁
Bake up something special today..😊..Lin

Another (bigger) Rhubarb Cake

2c finely chopped rhubarb

1 cutie or navel orange - chopped

1c chopped pecans or walnuts

⅔c coconut almond milk

⅔c melted coconut oil

½c light brown sugar

1t lemon extract

2t white vinegar

2 lg. egg

1⅓c stirred, unbleached, all-purpose flour

⅓c Linwoods ground seed-berry mix

⅓c corn flour or VERY fine corn meal

1T pumpkin pie spice

2t cardamom

2-3t baking powder

1t baking soda

½t salt

½-⅔c club soda*

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a big container, combine the first group of ingredients stirring occasionally so they sort of marinate. Meanwhile, in a larger bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Grease an 8"x11" or 9"x13" glass pan. Once the oven is ready, pour the first group into the dry ingredients, mixing well with a big wooden spoon. *(Mine batter was a little heavy. I almost added more  coconut almond milk, but instead used orange flavored club soda to thin it out a bit! Stir in just a little at a time. Water would work also.)

Pour the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle the top generously with turbinado sugar for a nice sweet crunch. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted toward the middle comes out clean.  Cool an hour. Loosen the edges and cut into squares. Serve as is, with coffee, or add a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream for dessert. I forgot I had caramel sauce in the 'fridge. Mmmm. . .It's Rhubarb Season! 🥰. . .Lin

A Quick Orange-Strawberry-Rhubarb Cake

A friend posted a simpler variation of this from today's NY Times who published it as "Pudding Cake or Spoon Bread?" It sounded good, although maybe a little plain. I wasn't in the mood for a biscuit-type dessert, nor something resembling shortbread or something like a molten lava cake. . .I wanted real cake! With a little more fruit and spice. So, I made changes: increased the fruit, added orange peel, vinegar to make the milk into 'buttermilk' - which always creates more flavorful cake, muffins, pancakes. I also added an egg, pumpkin pie spice and cardamom.  Other than that...followed, almost word-for-word! 😉 🙃 😊 

6-8oz. frozen strawberries and rhubarb

1 'cutie' finely chopped orange peel only

~ eat the orange ~ 🙂

⅓c light brown sugar

Chop the fruit, mash it a little if necessary, add the brown sugar, stir and set aside.

1 stick butter - melted

⅓c light brown sugar

½c coconut almond milk
(¾c coconut almond milk)*

1t white vinegar-optional-vinegar combined with milk 
turns it into buttermilk, which adds more flavor

½t salt

1 egg

Barely melt the butter, then remove from heat. Add the next ingredients whisking after each. Before adding the egg, check the temperature. If it's too hot, cool everything before adding it.

1c all purpose flour
*¼c corn flour
*¼c Linwoods seeds-berries

1t baking powder

1t+ pumpkin pie spice

½t+ cardamom

*I thought of these additions after I baked and posted this.  I'll make it this way next time.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Whisk the dry ingredients together well, in a separate bowl, then stir them into the other bowl of wet ingredients. Stir only until all four is absorbed. Pour into a greased 8"x8"  baking pan. Spoon the thawed, stirred fruit and sugar mix on top and swirl it into the batter a little, with a knife. Sprinkle the top with coarse turbinado sugar, for a little added crunch. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Cool an hour. 

This is SO good!  The areas on each edge where it touched glass are nice and crispy!  Serve as is, for dessert or as a coffee cake, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. . .Lin

S.T.R.A.W.B.E.R.R.I.E.S. ! !

Aldi's had beautiful strawberries a few days ago when I shopped.  1# containers for $1.29 each.  I saw them later at another store, didn't look nearly as fresh, at 2 / $5.00.  I separated them according to ripeness.  The ripest ones needed to be preserved somehow, so I washed, sliced, sugared, peppered and added orange zest.  Wait, you say. . ."Peppered??"  Yes.  Black pepper and fresh fruit go SO well together.  One of my favorites is ripe Bartlett pears sliced, drizzled with a little fresh lemon juice, fruity balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar and black pepper.  Serve those over crisp sliced romaine lettuce, with your favorite strong crumbled cheese.  Mmmm.  So back to the strawberries.  Today I had half a lemon cut so I used that for the juice and the zest from a CaraCara orange.

1# fresh ripe strawberries

fresh lemon, lime or orange juice

2T light brown sugar

zest of a lemon, lime or orange

a generous sprinkle of good black pepper

These will keep 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Good with plain Greek yogurt and granola, on top of vanilla ice cream, or just like this, out of the bowl. Also combined with other fruits for a flavorful fruit salad, halved grapes, cherries, pineapple, kiwi. Or here, a CaraCara orange, mini avocado a sprinkle of salt and pepper.   . . .Mmmm. . .

Buy Strawberries - The Season is short!  Lin

Impossible Coconut Custard Squares

½c all purpose flour

¾t baking powder

¼t salt

1t pumpkin pie spice

2T butter

¾c light brown sugar

4 lg. eggs

1t pure vanilla

1c flaked coconut

1 13.5oz. can coconut milk

Preheat your oven to 400°.  Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl making sure to break up and incorporate any lumps.  Sift this if necessary.  In a medium size glass bowl, microwave the butter for about 30 seconds.  When it's melted, whisk in the sugar.  Once that's all smooth, add the eggs one at a time and whisk well.  Add the remaining three ingredients.  Butter an 8' or 9" glass pie pan or square pan.  Once the oven's ready, pour the egg and coconut mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring well, quickly, with a wooden spoon.  Pour into the pan, bake for 25-30 minutes.

Check it at 25 minutes.  If the top is browned and a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted toward the middle, or the top springs back when touched in the middle it's done.  Turn off the oven and leave it for another 5 or 10 minutes.

Cool half an hour before cutting and serving.  Mine was a little underbaked  but it's hard to mess this up.  And, it tastes wonderful! . .Lin

Lemon-Orange Pound Cake

1c (2 sticks) soft butter

2c organic cane sugar

⅓-½c fresh lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon and 1 orange

2t baking powder

2c all purpose flour

5 lg. whole eggs

Beat the butter and sugar together well with your mixer.  Slowly at first, then at high speed, in a large bowl.  After several minutes, when it's fluffy, add the zest and juice and again, beat this mixture well.  Whisk the baking powder and flour together well, in a medium bowl.  Add spoonfuls of this alternately with the eggs, one at a time, just until well combined, but not over mixed.

Pour into an angel food cake pan, or bundt pan, that's been greased and floured.*  You might also want to cut a piece of parchment paper to exactly fit the bottom of the pan, if the one you're using has a flat bottom.  I didn't do this and the bottom did stick.  Bake at 325° for 45-55 minutes.  Let cool completely before removing from the pan.  After about 10 minutes you can loosen the edges with a kitchen knife if that works okay with your pan.

After another half hour or so, shake in the pan to be sure everything's unstuck.  If baked in an angel food pan, invert the cake onto one hand then flip it right-side up, onto a plate.  If your bundt pan is intricately grooved, just invert the open part of the cake directly onto a plate.

Dust the top with powdered sugar, make a glaze, *or you could just sprinkle it with flavored or plain sugar before baking.  I didn't have powdered sugar, but almost experimented with the juice of half an orange, butter and coconut sugar.  I was going to get that bubbling then cooled enough to pour over, to glaze the cake before serving.   Changed to an easier option though, as you can see.  Well. . .this didn't turn out as beautiful, blond, tall or fluffy as I had hoped, but it's really good!

Be creative!  Remember, I'm not a baker!
Sometimes it's fun to jump out of our comfort zone a bit and try something new. . .Lin

Warm Spice Pecan-Raisin Rice Pudding

¾ c long grain white rice

1½ c water

3T butter

⅔ c raisins

¾ c chopped pecans

1t pumpkin pie spice

2 lg. eggs

1t pure vanilla

⅓ c coconut sugar

½ c coconut-almond creamer

Rinse the rice, then simmer with the water in a 2 qt. pot.  When 5 minutes remain in cooking time, add the next group of ingredients, stir, turn off heat, cover and let stand while whisking the next ingredients together in a medium glass bowl.  Add these ingredients to the rice pot.

Gently combine everything, then bake, at 350° for 20 minutes, in a buttered 8" x 8" glass pan, or one of a similar size.   At this point, if it seems too liquid, bake another 10 minutes.  When the liquid has absorbed and it's the consistency of heavy pudding, turn heat off and let it stay in the oven, with the door cracked open, another 10 minutes.  Serve warm with a sprinkle of coarse sugar, for breakfast or dessert. . .Lin

Rhubarb Sour Cream Bars

1½c unbleached organic flour

1T pumpkin pie spice

½c organic oat flour

2t baking powder

½c sugar

1t salt

2 beaten eggs

1c sour cream

½c melted butter

3c rhubarb sauce made with ¾c sugar

a coconut sugar - cane sugar blend

As most of you know. . .I don't bake much.  However, every so often an idea just won't let go.  Such was the case with my rhubarb.  I have a tiny (1' x 1½') patch and froze some from last year.  Sooo, I had 5½ cups of it staring at me every time I opened the freezer!  I Googled a couple recipes for ideas, but they weren't what I wanted, so I had to get creative and figure out my own ingredients.

Mix the first group to make the batter.  In a 12x8x3" buttered glass pan, spread half the batter, then spread the rhubarb sauce over that and top with the rest of the batter.  Sprinkle with coarse sugar or coconut and cane sugar.  Bake 40 minutes at 350°.  Cool then cut into 6-9 squares.  This is good for dessert or breakfast. . .Lin

"Pretty Please". . . Rice Pudding

½c long grain white rice

½c golden raisins

3T raw Turbinado sugar

¾c water

½t nutmeg

1+t pumpkin pie spice

Simmer this group of ingredients together, slowly until the liquid is absorbed.

6-8oz heavy cream

1 egg

1t pure vanilla

2T raw Turbinado sugar

Beat the cream, egg and vanilla together until thick.  Stir into the slightly cooled rice mixture.  Pour into a 1½ quart casserole.  Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle. . .

. . ."With Sugar On Top!" 😃 The sugar will melt and caramelize.  Makes 4 servings . . . Lin

Berry Lemon Cake - Breakfast Bread

2 eggs

1c sugar

1c sour cream

½c light vegetable oil

½ frozen-grated lemon -*-

1t lemon or almond extract

1# mixed frozen fruit

1T corn starch

2T sugar

1½c organic flour

½c corn flour *

½t salt

1t cinnamon

2t baking powder
1c chopped pecans (optional)

With your mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy in a medium size bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients in that group beating well after each addition.  Set that aside and chop the frozen fruit, stirring that together well with the corn starch and sugar in another medium size bowl.  In a third bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients to the first bowl with the eggs, etc.  Mix together well.  

Pour half the batter into a well buttered 8"x12" glass pan, then crumble-spread the berry mixture over that.  Pour on the remaining batter, then top with the rest of the berries.  Sprinkle some coarse sugar on top, and bake at 375° for 350minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350° for an additional 20 minutes.  Take out of the oven and cool on a rack, about an hour before serving.  This created the most wonderful scent in my kitchen as it baked!

* I've always loved the combination of corn flour and crushed quick cooking rolled oats as the 'flour' base for my cornbread.  I always add peppery and fruity elements to it.  Instead of just regular flour I decided to substitute a little corn flour to give this 'cake' a hint of that fruity cornbread flavor.

This would be great for breakfast or as a dessert. . .Lin

Fruity Coconut Frozen Yogurt

Assorted Frozen Fruits - I used a variety today.  Orange peel, half a banana, pineapple, cranberries, and a cherry-berry mix containing sweet cherries, tart cherries, blueberries and strawberries.  I used my chopper on all this while partially frozen.  It measured 2 cups.  Put that aside for now so it thaws a bit more.  The juice will help everything come together in the blender.  This recipe almost filled both a 30 and a 41oz. container, so I had to blend in 3 batches.

1c coconut milk

1½c coconut cream

2c Chobani Greek yogurt

¼-⅓c honey (or Maple syrup)

1-2t pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

2c chopped assorted fruit

Put the ingredients in the blender in the order given, blending well, then pouring out a couple cups into a bowl to make room for the rest.  I've been working on perfecting a couple ice cream or frozen yogurt recipes, rather than buy regular sugar-filled ice cream that often has artificial ingredients and chemicals.

I just put this in the freezer.  It's 7:00 in the evening now, so I may even switch it to the 'fridge if it doesn't freeze to the consistency I want tonight.  Then I'd pop it back in the freezer tomorrow morning.  I don't use an ice cream maker, so it's important to stir this AS it's freezing, to keep it aerated so it doesn't freeze really hard, like a fruity ice cube.  Making this sort of dessert is time-intensive, so it's good to start it on a morning when you're hanging around the kitchen, doing 'house things.'  Last year, I said I was going to try making lemon frozen yogurt.  That'll probably be my next dessert project!
Be Bold, Be Creative and most of all, I wish you Fun and Happy Cooking 😉 . . . Lin

Lemon Berry Sorbet - Frozen Yogurt

1 lemon - zest and juice

2-4T organic, local honey

1c plain Greek yogurt

3c frozen Cherry Berry Blend

~ cherries, blueberries, strawberries

Combine first 3 ingredients, and half the frozen fruit, in the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add the remaining fruit and a tiny bit of water, if needed, to blend.  

Blend then stir, and repeat to help incorporate everything, making sure everything moves when the blender is on.  Pour into a glass container and freeze several hours, stirring in the frozen edges every 20-30 minutes, to keep it aerated and scoopable.  Makes eight 1/2c servings.  68 calories, 0gm of fat, 16gm of carbs, and just under 3gm of protein per serving.  The lemon gives this a nice 'zing' 🍋 😋 . . . Lin

Rhubarb - A Wonderful Fruit

Rhubarb is something I've learned to 'harvest as it grows.'  If I were to wait 'till the end of the season, it would be really big, tough and not nearly as flavorful.

Every couple weeks, I go out, pull the biggest stalks, wash them well, chop and freeze the fruit.  I get between 4-5 cups of chopped rhubarb each time from this tiny little clump of mine.  

It's so good as a sauce, coffee cake, desserts of all kinds.  I recently made a rhubarb dessert with a ginger snap—lemon shortbread crust that turned out so well!  An old friend of mine recently posted on his Facebook page that he'd just discovered Rhubarb Lemonade!!  Now doesn't THAT sound awesome!!

If you can develop the ability to Think Outside The Norm, it's amazing how much interesting stuff you can create.  Currently, I have an idea rolling around my mind regarding Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt! - Don't Just Think It - Do It!!  😊 . . . Lin

Lemon-Ginger Rhubarb Dessert

1c crushed gingersnaps

1¼c lemon shortbread cookies

⅔ stick melted butter

½c sugar

5c rhubarb

2c sugar

1t lemon extract

2T flour

a pinch of salt

½t pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs

½c half and half

Crush the cookies and combine with butter and sugar.  Keep aside a couple tablespoons of this to sprinkle on top before baking.  Press into a 9x9" baking dish.

Combine the rhubarb, and that group of ingredients, in a heavy pot.  Heat until the rhubarb starts juicing and the sugar melts.  As this happens, the flour will begin to thicken it.  When it does, remove from the heat and allow to cool.  Once you're sure the mixture isn't too hot (so as not to curdle it) temper the egg mixture with a little of the warm rhubarb, then stir the beaten eggs and half and half into the rhubarb mixture. 

Once combined, pour this filling into the pan with the crust.  Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes.  Serve with a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream, berry ice cream, lemon sorbet, or fresh vanilla whipped cream 😋 This is not a bar dessert, but one that you scoop out into a bowl.  I wasn't sure how the texture would turn out, but the flavor is oh, so good!!

Normally I don't bake.  For a couple reasons.  It doesn't come naturally to me.  Since I don't understand leavening agents very well, I'm never quite sure which to use to create the desired effect.    So baking, for me is far less certain than cooking.  More science involved.  Cooking is blissful, freeform art!!  It the kitchen I'm far more an Artist than a Scientist.  Many months ago, I bought a container of amazing lemon shortbread cookies.  Immediately my mind began concocting a crust recipe, using them to go with the 5c of rhubarb I got from my little plant last year, that was now in my freezer.  Those cookies never appeared again, but I did find these and decided that since they didn't have quite the flavor I wanted, I'd combine them with Gingersnaps!  It worked!!  The other reason I don't bake a lot.  I have zero willpower!  If I bake something that turns out well, the whole pan could be gone in 24 hours!  And I live alone!!   If I make this again - (which I probably will 😉) - I'll add 1c crushed soda crackers, increase the butter to 1 stick and the sugar to ¾c.  It turned out so well the way it is, but this would have added a bit more crust and made it a little less caramel-y.  I once ran out of graham crackers while making a graham cracker crust.  I ended up using ⅔ the amount of graham crackers needed and filled in the rest with ⅓ of the amount being soda crackers.  I've never gone back to the original way of making graham cracker crusts since then!  It's a great balance with the little bit of neutrality the soda crackers provide, as well as the addition of that little bit of salt.  Try it!  You too may never make graham cracker crusts the same way again!

As always:  Be Bold - Be Creative - And I Wish You Much Time Spent Happily Cooking. . . Lin

Vanilla-Honey-Spice-Pecan Sundae

This is for when you absolutely, positively HAVE to have something sweet!  

a nice big bowl of really good vanilla ice cream

heated, flavorful organic honey

Pumpkin Pie Spice

finely chopped pecans

Scoop the ice cream into a nice big bowl.  Drizzle with some warm organic honey, then sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice.  Top with the chopped pecans and then, (also add really good whipped cream if you'd like) - but either way - dive in with your big spoon.  Oh, so good! . . . Lin

Coffee Pound Cake

Many, MANY years ago, I was 21, newly married and a brand-new resident of north central Wisconsin with my husband, my daughter, who was a year old, and pregnant with my son.  We had just relocated from the Chicago suburbs.  This was about the time I started to really love cooking and baking.  It was a long slow process, but that's when and where it all began.  The little family-owned grocery store where I shopped, Reeve's Foodlane, often had big, free (very important when you're $truggling) recipe cards from Roundy's that were fascinating to me.  There was a ground beef, rice and green bean casserole that my little family particularly loved.  I might still have that somewhere!

After one shopping trip, I was making breakfast and noticed, inside the yellow styrofoam egg carton, a recipe for Golden Pound Cake.  My artistic daughter, later sort of carved-drew a smiley face in the corner of the recipe, which is still visible on the yellow styrofoam.  This has been my basic go-to for a recipe idea when I want a pound-cake-type dessert.  I've made both subtle and huge changes to it over the years, depending on the desired results.

Today I had Key Lime Pound Cake on my mind, so I put the old yellow styrofoam recipe 'card' on the counter.  Meanwhile, I had my Community Bible Study this morning, then ran some errands in town.  Once I got home, it was clean-the-kitchen-time before baking and cooking.  I put my French coffee press aside, but kept looking at it.  Then it occurred to me. . .not lime pound cake. . .Coffee Pound Cake!  So, my modification of the recipe for today changed 1c of milk to 1/2c VERY strong coffee and 1/2c half & half.  I had some really good vanilla, but the 2t of lemon juice was replaced by a little more coffee.  I also added the cinnamon and cardamom.  Instead of just white sugar, I used 1c light brown and the rest pure organic cane sugar.  I'm also trying a new technique. . .Instead of buttering and flouring the bundt pan, I buttered and sugared it!  I've been told that adds an interesting little crispy brownness to the edges.  Okay, enough talk, time to bake!!

2 sticks butter

1c light brown sugar

1-1/2c white sugar

4 eggs

2t pure vanilla

1/2c very strong coffee

1/2c half and half

3c unbleached-organic flour

1t baking powder

1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1T organic cinnamon

1/2t cardamom 

Preheat your oven to 300° and adjust the oven racks so the top one is in the middle of the oven.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the first 5 ingredients together.  In a medium size bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients to blend.  Alternating between the dry and the liquids, add these to the large bowl.  Beat until all is blended well.  The batter will be very thick.  Spoon into the buttered and sugared bundt pan.  This cake bakes long and slow.  The original recipe says 1-1/2 hours.  Check toward the end to see how it's doing.  Continue to bake until the cake is lightly browned on edges and the top is firm.  Check with a toothpick.  Place pan on cooling rack.  Let stand until pan can be touched and is barely warm.  Turn the cake out from the pan onto a cake plate.  Serve as is or drizzle with a cream cheese or coffee glaze. . .Lin  

Whole and Sprouted Grain Bread Pudding

2 whole grain English muffins

3-4 pieces Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread

1c Greek yogurt

1/2c half and half

1 egg

1/2 stick butter - melted

2t cinnamon

1-2t nutmeg

1c craisins

1c chopped almonds

1/2c brown sugar

2t pure vanilla extract 

This is a great way to use up bread that is getting older.  Works great with stale bread.  Put the cubed bread into a 9x9" baking dish.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes to rehydrate the craisins.  Pour over and work into the bread and let this stand another 10 minutes while preheating the oven.  Sprinkle some raw sugar over the top.  Bake at 350° 30-45 minutes until top is nicely browned.  Cool then cut into squares.  Great for dessert or breakfast. . .Lin