Mystery Cake

This recipe has a note on it - "Came from Aunt Ruth's." There is no title; nothing signifying what you are actually making, so I had to call my mom and read the ingredients to her. I got as far as "one of the ingredients is hot coffee" and she knew right away it was one of her favorite cakes.


For the topping, you mix together 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat until soft, and then add 6 ounces chocolate chips. I finally got to use my new mixer, and it made my life so much easier.


In another large bowl, you need to mix the following:

2/3 cup oil (I used vegetable oil)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups hot coffee (or water, but I would definitely recommend the coffee)


After you mix this, pour it into a 9x13 greased pan.


Then pour the topping on top, and then sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar on top.


Next it says to bake at 350 degrees, but it doesn't give an amount of time. I searched online for typical cake baking times for a 9x13 pan at 350, and the average seemed to be around 35 minutes. My mom suggested I leave it in about that long, and then turn the oven off but leave it in for a few more minutes, which is what I did. I also tried to put a toothpick in and see if it came out smoothly. It did in some areas and not in others. I always have a tough time with that one.


It was delicious. The only thing I think i will do differently next time is take a knife and swirl in the topping after I pour it on, so it covers the entire surface. And I probably could have left it in the oven a few more minutes (my mom said she found a copy of the recipe she had, and it said to bake for 45 minutes).

My mom confirmed, it tasted just as it should, while we had some wine and read each other trivial pursuit questions. It was like old times.


Next week - sweet potato biscuits!

Peanut Butter Candy

For this very challenging recipe, you need:

2 cups sugar
1 can canned milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

I was baffled right from the start. First of all, I had no idea what kind of candy this was. Fudge, brittle, hard candy? The first line says, boil sugar and milk together over low heat until mixture forms a soft ball in cold water. I had no idea what that meant, so I looked it up and it was explained to me that if you put a small amount into a cup of cold water it would form a small soft ball that you could pick up and squeeze. It also indicated that if this was the first step, the candy was more of a fudge consistency. Of course, it would have been helpful if there was some mention of how much time this would take, because I stared at this for about 20 minutes.


When I tried the cold water test, nothing happened. But I thought, there's no way it takes this long, I must have missed the small ball phase, or just have no idea what I'm actually looking for, so I removed it from the heat and added the vanilla, butter, peanut butter and peanuts.


Stir it all together and when it becomes glassy, pour into a greased pan.


I let it sit for a very long time and it didn't start to set or firm up even a little bit. I thought maybe I had removed it from the stove too soon, and once again checked online to see if there was anything I could do to fix it. I found another cooking blog that said even though I had already mixed all the ingredients together, I should be able to reheat and then pour back into the pan. I put the mixture back into the pot and on the burner, and almost immediately it bubbled over.


Now with a nice sticky stove, I poured the mixture back into the pan, and I left it overnight thinking maybe it just needed more time. I had also poured it into a bigger pan, thinking that maybe if it were thinner it would set faster.


But I woke up in the morning to the same runny mess I fell asleep with. It tasted great, but it was like a sauce. I thought it would probably be a good ice cream topping, so I tried it on my vanilla yogurt.


So the next day, I decided to try again. First, I put on a CD I had gotten from my Grammy, to set the mood.


I talked to my friend Kathryn, who used to make candy with her grandma, and she gave me some advice. She said that the first stage, making the sugar mixture, takes a very long time and I just needed to be patient and wait for the soft ball to form. So I kept an eye on the mixture and tested every few minutes.


For the first 45 minutes or so, the mixture just dissolved into the water and nothing happened. And then, finally, about an hour in, this happened.


The soft ball! It was so different; all the previous times, the mixture had just formed a white cloud in the water. This time, it sank right to the bottom and formed this little ball right away. While the texture was a little sandy, it was definitely solid. I was ridiculously happy to see this little boogery looking thing.


I stirred the rest of the ingredients in and poured it into an event bigger pan. It barely covered the bottom, but I figured the thinner the better. I could tell in only a few minutes that this time I had done a better job, since when I moved the pan the mixture didn't budge. The directions said to cut the candy while still warm, so I tried to slice it into little squares.


This was kind of difficult, but I got it without messing up the candy too much. I let it sit overnight, and the next morning I tried to remove it from the pan. This time I think I actually should have used a smaller pan, since this definitely had a fudge like quality and it was sticking to the bottom of the pan, making it very difficult to get out since it was so thin. I used a spatula and was able to get most of the pieces out. The ones that stuck too much, I just rolled into little balls.


I put them upside down on a baking sheet and let them sit all day, to see if this would help the other side firm up. When I got home from work, my apartment was pretty warm and the candy hadn't hardened up at all. I put it in the refrigerator and took the dog for a long walk and when I got home... success!!


It finally seemed like real candy. Thin slices of fudge. If I did it again I would definitely use a smaller pan so the pieces would be thicker. But considering all the effort I had put into this, and how messy and sticky my poor kitchen was, I was very happy with this end result.

Next week, a cake recipe with no name! I read the ingredients to my mom and she identified it as one of her favorites so I am making it to bring home to her this weekend. I will make one for her, and one for my dad who isn't doing very well at the moment. Hopefully it will help cheer everyone up! For the purposes of this blog, we can call it, mystery cake!

Crispy Chicken Bites

I had a party to go to on Sunday, so I once again looked for something good to take with me, some kind of finger food that everyone would like. I found the recipe for crispy chicken bites and got right on it.

First, I made the two dipping sauces. Super easy. 1/2 cup of mustard and 1/4 cup of honey makes honey mustard (who knew?) and 1/2 cup of hot sauce and 1/2 cup of ketchup makes buffalo sauce.


For the actual chicken, you will need:

1/2 cup buttermilk
salt and pepper
2 cups cereal flakes, crushed (I got the generic brand of corn flakes)
1 and 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

First preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I didn't have parchment paper, so I just used foil. In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Place the crushed cereal in another shallow bowl.


Dip the chicken in the buttermilk, and let the excess drip off. Then coat the chicken in the cereal and place on the baking sheet. I had actually found a recipe before that also involved coating chicken with corn flakes, but it didn't have the buttermilk element. That seemed to make it stick more easily. I was a little proud of myself that I had previously found a recipe on my own that incorporated one of my grammy's elements.


Bake until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 10-12 minutes.


It came out pretty good. They weren't that crispy; it was more like they were breaded. But they were still tasty, especially with the sauces. I brought them to Gretchen's and we put them out with the rest of the spread.


I am lucky to have Gretchen as an always willing taste tester. She gave me a good review, and especially liked the honey mustard.


Everyone seemed to enjoy them, and then we had a pleasant afternoon tasting potential cakes for Gretchen's wedding. A day full of good people and good food - couldn't be better!

Next week, a tricky one - peanut butter candy!

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

A lot of these recipes, I have never experienced right from my grammy's kitchen. Seeing her mostly only on holidays, I actually didn't get to try a lot of her cooking (though everything I ever did have was the most delicious food ever). But a holiday standard, for many grandmothers I'm sure, is the cookie. The last time I saw her I left with a giant plate of them. So, I was pretty excited to make my first batch of cookies from these recipes.

For these amazing cookies, you need:

1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups uncooked quick oats
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a cookie sheet. Then combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl. The recipe says to beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, but I did not own a mixer so I had to put some muscle into it.

This first step basically makes a simple icing:


I remembered being young, probably around ten years old, and being at my friend Janine's house. We would just stick our finger in butter, and then in sugar, and then in our mouths. It sounds disgusting, but it was pure ten year old bliss.

Then you "beat" in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Just to warn you - this can be quite messy, since as soon as you put anything into the powdery mixture, flour and cocoa shoot out all over your microwave.


Stir the powder mixture into the creamed mixture, and then add oats and chocolate chips.


The dough will be very stiff. You can add up to 1/4 cup of water if needed. I didn't find this necessary. You then form tablespoon sized balls and place on the prepared cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.


I had a hard time picturing what "tablespoon sized" looked like, but they actually turned out perfectly. They didn't all run into one another, which is what has happened to me in the past when I've tried making cookies, maybe because the batter is so dense.


Bake 10-12 minutes (I split the difference and did 11 and they came out perfectly). The recipe makes 4 dozen. There is a note that you can also add an additional cup of chocolate chips and/or 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts if you'd like. Either one is probably really good, but they were very chocolaty so I don't think it's necessary.


Dave loved them. I shared the fact that I had to mix everything by hand, and the next day we went to Target and he surprised me with this little guy!


I'm not sure what's up with my mouth there, but I think I was probably just so excited about my new purple mixer I couldn't control my face. I'm glad he is so supportive of my cooking resolution (of course, it works out pretty good for him too).

Next week - crispy chicken bites with honey mustard and buffalo sauces!