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

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

Fruit-Nut Fiesta Quick Bread (Gluten Free)

1c corn flour

2c oat flour (or quick rolled oats

~ pulverized in a food processor)

1T fresh ground cinnamon

1t baking soda

1t salt

1/2t baking powder

 ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~

3 eggs

1c vegetable oil

1-1/2c sugar

2c fresh or frozen cranberries

1 banana - mashed

3/4c finely chopped canned pineapple

1/2c coconut flakes

1c chopped pecans or walnuts

1T pure vanilla extract

I don't bake often because my discipline is very weak regarding brownies, cookies, cakes, etc.  I can't even THINK about baking lemon bars!!!  This is a total adulteration of a recipe my sister gave me in the '70's.  Hers uses regular flour, and only 2c of either apple, orange or zucchini.  In this rendition, I used more cinnamon but the 3 leavening agents proportions are exactly according to the original recipe.  (I don't understand the science-chemistry behind all that, so I leave that alone.)

Over the years I've made this MANY ways, but the time I used pecans, grated zucchini and carrot with orange zest, was probably my favorite.  It's nice to just use what you have, that needs to be 'gone' from your fridge, freezer or pantry.  Today I had bananas and cranberries in the freezer, and a cup of walnuts that I wanted to use.  I built on that as my foundation.

Combine the first group of (dry) ingredients in a medium bowl.  Meanwhile, whisk the eggs until the whites and yolks are blended and getting a little fluffy, in a large bowl.  Add the rest of those (wet) ingredients, fruit and nuts, blend well with a wooden spoon and let sit so the sugar dissolves and the flavors blend a bit.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  After the oven is preheated, stir the wet ingredients and add the flour mixture to that big bowl.  Stir well to blend, then pour into a buttered 9" x 13" glass pan.  (This recipe could also be baked as muffins.)  Sprinkle the top with coarse, baker's sugar or raw sugar.  Bake for 40 minutes or until it passes 'the toothpick test.'  Bake at a shorter time for muffins.  This is great for a fruity-nutty-grainy breakfast or dessert. . .Lin

Vanilla Ice Cream with a Balsamic Vinegar Drizzle

Having a great Super One Grocery Store 3/10 a mile from my new home, here in Duluth, is a mixed blessing. Decided I really need some Kemps Homemade Vanilla ice cream tonight. If you've never had vanilla ice cream with some excellent Balsamic vinegar drizzled on top, you probably need to try it.

On my move here a week ago, my One-Must-Stop was the Chocolates and More Shop in the Minocqua Boardwalk where I restocked on many of their fabulous vinegars and olive oils. Raspberry Balsamic is thick and syrupy. Excellent for ice cream and a great Raspberry Balsamic Salad Dressing. The Dark Chocolate was a new adventure. I might use it with a touch of cinnamon when browning and deglazing chicken or beef for a big pot of Mexican Mole Chili, however, it's not my favorite on ice cream. 

There is a Cinnamon Pear, Fig, and a Coconut Balsamic that are just wonderful! If you're living in the Rhinelander, Wisconsin area, you need to make a trip up there. . . Lin

Buttermilk Bran Muffins

4 beaten eggs

1c canola oil

1qt. Buttermilk

3c sugar

5c unbleached flour

5t baking soda

2t salt

12oz. chocolate chips

1c chopped pecans

1 15oz. box raisin bran

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir together the next 5 in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well. Add the raisin bran and combine with a big wooden spoon until well mixed. Drop into paper-lined muffin cups. Bake 15 minutes at 375° or until muffin springs back when touched gently in the center. Makes 6 dozen muffins! This is not an original recipe, but this blog wouldn't be complete without it.  

Orange-Raisin Rice Pudding

¾c 20 minute rice
1½c water

1 orange - zest and juice

¾c golden raisins

½c sugar

2T butter

1½-2c milk

1t cinnamon

Combine rice and water in a 2qt. kettle. Cook until water is evaporated then add the juice of the orange, zest, raisins and butter. Mix these then stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer low, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed – 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a pretty glass bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Serve warm or cold. . .Lin

Butter-Cream-Cheese Frosting

3oz cream cheese

3T softened butter

1T pure vanilla

pinch of salt

2c powdered sugar

2±T half & half

a little food coloring

Beat cream cheese and butter, add vanilla, salt and alternate sugar with a little drizzle of half and half. Leave as is, or color a bright Spring color. Chill frosting a little while if too soft. Frosts 8 large or 12 regular cupcakes. . .Lin

Meringue 'Cookies'

These are FULL of sugar, so if that's a concern for you, just pass on this recipe. The one partially redeeming quality with these is the egg whites are also FULL of protein! They are really pretty for a special occasion but not something you'd serve every day.

Lemon Meringue Cookies

4 egg whites at room temperature

¾c white sugar

¼t cream of tartar

7 drops of dietary quality lemon oil

5 drops of yellow food coloring

Beat all the above until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop on big spoonfuls of meringue. Sprinkle with a bright decorative sanding sugar. Bake at 275° for one hour. Cool at least one hour then peel off the parchment paper and serve. They're great with a cup of hot tea. Makes about 2 dozen. . .Lin

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Meringue Cookies

4 egg whites at room temperature

¾c soft brown sugar

1-2T ground cinnamon

¼t cream of tartar

1-2t pure vanilla

Follow the above instructions. These are slightly carmel and spicy flavored as opposed to the light fruitiness of the lemon meringues. Makes about 2 dozen. . .Lin

Orange-Maple Butter

This is a nice change from butter and jam for toast.

½c – 1 stick – regular butter @72°F

½c pure maple syrup – room temperature

1t finely grated orange zest

Stir and mash together, soft (NOT melted) butter with maple syrup and orange zest. If temperatures are right, it will blend into a smooth homogenous spread. If not and there is some curdling, beating with an electric mixer, for a couple minutes, will incorporate all the ingredients. . .Lin

Nutty-Grainy Bread Pudding

8-10 large pieces of bread

~ crusts cut off and cubed

1c coconut

1c chopped walnuts or pecans

1½c milk

½t salt

1c raisins-craisins-dried sweet cherries

½c sugar, white or brown

1t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1-2T Balsamic vinegar

3 eggs

1 stick melted butter

In a buttered 9x13” glass pan, layer the bread cubes, coconut and nuts. In a medium bowl, combine milk, salt, raisins, sugar, spice and stir. 

Warm just a little in the microwave to plump up the raisins. Let these ingredients rest in the bowl half an hour. Then add vinegar, eggs and butter. Whisk together well, then pour over bread, coconut and nuts in the pan. Let stand again while preheating oven to 350°. Bake 35 minutes, covered with foil, then uncovered 5 minutes until mixture is set, lightly browned all over and a knife inserted half way to center comes out clean. Serve warm or cold for breakfast or dessert. . .Lin

Coconut Macaroons

3 lg. egg whites at room temperature

1/8t salt

1/4t cream of tartar

3/4t almond or vanilla extract

3/4c superfine sugar

14oz shredded sweetened coconut

Beat in large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Add salt and cream of tartar. Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add vanilla and gradually sprinkle in sugar while continuing to beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold in the coconut being careful not to over mix and deflate the egg whites.

Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper Bake 18-22 minutes, in a preheated 325° oven. Cookies will be lightly browned and set on the outside, soft and chewy inside. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 30, 1-1/2” cookies. . .Lin

A "Go-To" Sweet Thing

In the past I've been able to completely give up desserts and most carbs to lose weight. After a few days it becomes a non-issue since it takes that long for the cravings to disappear. However, when the carb habit is deeply ingrained it may be good to have SOMETHING you can feel a little good about eating if going cold turkey isn't an option. It beats the alternative = going to the grocery store for a gallon of vanilla ice cream and special hot fudge sauce in your jammies and bunny slippers at midnight. . . !

Recently there has been a lot of press about honey and cinnamon being a winning 1-2-punch against many health issues. You can read about it here while having a little snack:

http://fatalfacts.com/index.php?/topic/1308-facts-on-honey-and-cinnamon-it-is-found-that-a-mixture-of-honey-and-cinnamon-cures-most-diseases/

1 rice cake

2T± fresh almond butter

1/2-1t ground cinnamon

1-2T fresh Farmer's Market honey

Spread the rice cake with almond butter. Sprinkle with a generous amount of ground cinnamon. Drizzle with honey. Savor it with a big steaming mug of hot green tea. . .Lin

Almond Butter - Raisin Bars

When I cook, I just have a 'feel' for what goes together. That doesn't work for me with baking. When I get an idea, I Google all the main ingredients I want to use and spend a lot of time noticing the proportions of the leavening agents of several recipes. Salt, baking powder and baking soda are still very mysterious to me. When using them I feel a bit like an Alchemist! Eventually I decide on the correct amounts of everything and then – I proceed with caution. Things have to turn out well before I'll post anything I've baked – it's all just a wild ride until I try the finished product. This turned out very well as bars. I'm thinking I wouldn't change any of it, but next time will bake it as cookies.

1½c flour – for this recipe I used ½c each of these
organic flours: sprouted whole grain wheat flour,
unbleached white flour & oat flour)

¾t baking soda

¾t baking powder

1t sea salt

2t pumpkin pie spice

¾c golden raisins

2T water

1c sugar: all brown or half & half white & brown

½c (1 stick) butter at room temperature

¾c almond butter

1T good quality vanilla

1 lg or jumbo egg

Check and separate the raisins, picking off any stems you find. Put these in a ceramic bowl and drizzle the water on top. Cover and microwave on 70% power for about a minute and a half – or just use 2T boiling water. Cover to keep the steam and heat in. Let stand a while to rehydrate the raisins.

Stir dry ingredients together. In a medium size mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar(s), almond butter, egg and vanilla until smooth and a little bit fluffy. Add the dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the raisins.

Bake in a greased 9”x13” pan at 325° for 25 minutes±, then let baking pan cool before cutting. - OR - drop balls of dough on cookie sheets, flatten a little with a fork and bake at 325° until the edges dry and brown a little. Let cool on a platter. . .Lin

Adventures With Vanilla Ice Cream!

My love for chocolate has sort of subsided over the last few years. I've now found that vanilla ice cream, in all its many varieties: rich, simple, complex, warm, heavy and light, is more to me now than just a vehicle for home made hot fudge in all ITS many varieties! Now a little bit of sweet and tangy fruit sauce is a really nice change. I make my own depending on the flavor wanted, with just 2 ingredients that combine surprisingly well. Fruity Balsamic vinegar and jam or preserves.

So far I've made the following combinations: Orange Marmalade and Raspberry Balsamic, Plum Jam and Pomagranate Balsamic, and Blackberry Preserves and Fig Balsamic, shown here.

Start with 2T jam or preserves and about 1t of vinegar. Stir well together, heat a little and drizzle over your favorite vanilla: French Vanilla, New York Vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, Old Fashioned Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, and lots more. Have fun with this one. . .Lin

Coconut-Pineapple Ice Cream w/ Seedless Blackberry Jam

Oh my!  —  A Splurge!!!

I don't crave chocolate much anymore.
However, give me some ice cream
with good quality vanilla as the
base, and I might be in trouble.

~    -    ~    -    ~

I just discovered Edy's Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream.

Today I put a spoonful of Seedless Blackberry jam
in the bottom of the bowl, heated it just enough
to make it soupy, then added the ice cream.
Oh, it was good.  :-D

~    -    ~    -    ~

I'm thinking next time though,
I'll use some Citrus Marmalade I have.  Mmmmm. . .Lin

Cloning - Of The Fruit Cocktail Cake

I had company this weekend and when the dust settled this morning, this is what was left of the original 9x13” Fruit Cocktail Cake. I could put it out for the birds/squirrels, save it for later, throw it away. . .no. . .Never mind that it's 81° with 58% humidity in my house – and I hate heat this weather – I wasn't really ready to be done with this cake. So, I rework all this and baked another one – which works nicely since I have another wave of company coming tomorrow. :o) I tried this a while ago with cornbread and if I remember right, liked it both ways.

Cube remaining original cake and set aside – this yielded 1-1½c.

In a little pan, combine the following:

2/3c brown sugar

½t cardamom

1-2c fresh fruit – finely chopped
¼c water

Bring to a boil then simmer 5 minutes. This should have the consistency of chunky applesauce. Cool to room temperature. Transfer to a plastic mixing bowl and add:

1 lg egg

1t real vanilla

Stir together fruit and egg mixtures until well blended. Stir together the next 3 dry ingredients then add to the fruit mixture, along with the cubed cake pieces, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition:

1c flour

½t baking soda

a pinch of salt

When blended, pour into a buttered-floured 8” or 9” square glass baking pan and let stand while preheating oven to 325°. Top with chopped pecans and some coarse raw sugar. Bake for ±20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. It's great! Sometimes the redux is better than the original.
Happy cloning! . . . Lin

Fruit Cocktail* Cake

1½c sugar–brown and/or white

2 lg eggs

1t good quality vanilla

½c± craisins or raisins

1 14-16oz. can fruit cocktail* and juice

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs a few minutes on medium speed. Add the craisins and fruit cocktail* (you could substitute a can of crushed pineapple, apricots, peaches or pears) a little at a time alternating with dry ingredients which have been stirred together in a smaller bowl:

2¼c flour

1t-1T cardamom

1½t baking soda

½t salt

Add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, alternately with the canned fruit and juice. When all is combined in the large bowl, beat at medium for several minutes. Pour into a greased-floured 9x13” glass pan.

Top with chopped pecans and sprinkle some coarse, raw sugar over the cake for texture, before baking in a preheated 350° oven 20-25 minutes, or until the top holds its shape when touched, edges are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in a couple test spots.

This can be served as is, with a sauce, or a powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and cream glaze. Shown here is a topping made by combining: ½c sour cream, a ½t of vanilla and a tablespoon or so of real Maple syrup. 

This recipe is not an original of mine, but I've had lots of fun altering it over the years :o)