Sapelo Island Hard Time Cake.

Sometimes I take for granted what a luxury it is to bake.  Baking ingredients aren't a necessity like vegetables and fruit are for healthy, substantial meals.  Butter, sugar, flour, chocolate, nuts - these ingredients are an indulgence to keep in the cupboard and sometimes it takes an unfortunate instance to bring us back to reality.  It's not that anything earth-shattering happened but last night before bed I thought "Hmm, brown butter blondies with toasted coconut, dried pears and pistachios... "  So this morning I woke up, made a batch, portioned them into mini cupcake pans (because I apparently have to make everything miniature), put them in the oven and you know what happened?  The tops expanded and became crispy and dark while the insides sunk and were raw in the middle.  I couldn't bear to throw them away, so they're sitting on a piece of foil right now, waiting to be dealt with.  Blondie cake balls, anyone?

I didn't want to waste more butter, eggs, nuts and sugar today.  I figured I'd just stay frugal and bake this cake I remembered reading about when I first bought this book a couple years ago - no sugar, just 1 tablespoon of butter, and no eggs.  It's extremely easy to mix and put together and although it doesn't look as nice as I imagined my mini blondies to come out, the homey gingerbread-like taste definitely makes up for it.  I substituted 1/2 cup honey for half of the molasses and dusted the top with some powdered sugar, but it doesn't need it!  And anyway, how could you not want to make a cake that has this in the description?: "Cornelia Walker Bailey, author of God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man, remembers her mother stirring up a pan of hard time cake, creating a delicious and nourishing treat for her family out of what she had handy: molasses, flour, spices, a dab of butter, and an abundance of love." <3 :)

This cake was perfect for a rainy Wednesday with a cup of tea.  Lightly spiced, soft and comforting.

Sapelo Island Hard Time Cake
Adapted from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup molasses
1 tablespoon of butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease a 9" cake pan or square pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combined the flour, cinnamon and cloves and mix with a fork.  Add the molasses and melted butter and use a large spoon to mix into a smooth batter.  Stir the baking soda into the warm water and then add it to the flour mixture, stirring until you have a smooth and thin batter.  Quickly pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.  The cake should be very golden brown on top with a slight shine and a toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean when it's done.

Let the cake cool on a wire rack or kitchen towel before serving.  Store leftover cake, wrapped in plastic, up to 3 days.

Cornbread.

To go with some cozy chili for dinner, I made these adorable cornbread sticks.  The recipe comes from another book I picked up in North Carolina last month called "Making Do: How to Cook Like a Mountain MeMa," and you can imagine why I had to buy it!

 

It's filled with recipes like "Daddy's Hoecake," "Real Honest-to-Goodness Butter,""Roasted Possum," and even has a chapter called "For Medicinal Purposes - Really!"  It's definitely one of the most authentic southern cookbooks I own!  This cornbread recipe is called "Cornbread Cake" in the book and I theorize this is because it includes some sugar, therefore not making it regular cornbread.  But I've asked southerners before about putting sugar in their cornbread, and perhaps it's just because they're being nice, but they say if you want sugar, add sugar!  It doesn't make it any less of a "real" cornbread.

I used my cast iron cornbread stick pan for this recipe and got exactly 21 (3 batches), and the recipe doesn't state what size pan to use ("Pour into a greased skillet and bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes.") but a 9x9, 8x8, any smallish baking pan would work just fine, and I imagine you could get about 12 regular-sized muffins out of this recipe.

Cornbread

Adapted from Making Do: How to Cook Like a Mountain MeMa

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 heaping tablespoons sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.  Grease a baking pan and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda and sugar.  In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and water.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is incorporated, but don't overmix.  Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake until the cornbread puffs up in the middle and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Delights.

Or PBD's, as my boyfriend likes to refer to them.  I've been hearing about these for years now, a candy my boyfriend's mother makes especially around the holidays.  I knew about the general idea of them and a few of the ingredients, but I wasn't able to come up with a recipe that looked accurate at all on the internet.  So luckily we got her to write it down for me :)  And sure enough, it's nothing like the ones I've seen floating around the web.  Apparently these are a very localized thing down there, they even sell them at gas stations!

These are a great little peanut butter and chocolate flavored candy, flecked with oatmeal for a lovely and addictive texture.  I highly suggest making a batch to add to your gift-giving this holiday season, or any time of year.  I plan on putting a bunch on my cookie plates as well! 

Peanut Butter Delights
Adapted from James' Mom
1 stick of butter (she wrote down margarine, I always have butter in the house, but feel free to use either one)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk (I used skim, works great!)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the sugar and bring to a boil, and let it bubble away for 1 minute.  Add the other ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.  Drop teaspoonfuls onto wax paper and let cool.

Sidenote:  as you can see, I attempted to put sprinkles on these because you can't get enough sprinkles, especially around Christmas, (although no one ever puts sprinkles on PBD, according to James, he called this a "very Beth touch.")  This proved a bit difficult, maybe because it's so cold here, but I did have to sprinkle as soon as I dropped the spoonful onto the wax paper, otherwise the sprinkles didn't stick. 

Pumpkin Cranberry Cake with Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting.

We like to buy in bulk at my house.  So I don't just buy the 15oz. cans of pumpkin, we buy the 32oz. cans of pumpkin.  So generally I have leftover pumpkin after making recipes.  I just store the leftover in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.  I had just under a cup left and didn't want to open another can so this is what I decided on.

I don't think it's any wonder why I'm obsessed with Southern food and baking since my beloved lives in North Carolina.  This recipe comes from Nancie McDermott's book Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistable Recipes For Everyday Celebrations, a book I go to whenever I need an easy and simple yet delicious cake.  This recipe was no exception, the only difference I made was to increase the spices and add a few additional ones as well as use dried cranberries in place of raisins.  I also halved the recipe in order to use the pumpkin I had left, but I'll post the original quantities with my changes here since I realize most people will probably want to make a whole recipe, not a mini cake and a mini loaf as I did.

This recipe calls for self-rising flour.  I'm lucky enough to have my lovely friends in North Carolina provide me with White Lily Flour, but if you don't have that available just add 1 1/2 teaspoons of of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of all purpose flour.

Pumpkin Cranberry Cake with Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes For Every Day Celebrations
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a 9x13'' baking pan or 2 8 or 9'' round layer cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and spices until well mixed.  In a smaller bowl, stir together the oil, sugar, eggs and pumpkin.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until almost mixed, then add the cranberries and nuts.  Scrape the batter into the cake pan(s) and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the cake is set on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups confectioner's sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat the cream cheese and butter together in a large bowl until well-mixed and fluffy.  Add the sugars a little at a time until it's all added, then beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed.  Add in the pinch of salt and cinnamon and beat until everthing is incorporated.

As you can see I went for the easy method this time of just putting some frosting in the middle and on top of the cake but feel free to slather this cake well as there will be plenty of frosting :)

Pear Walnut Bread.

I'm probably jinxing things by saying this, but today was the first day it felt like spring was finally on its way - lovely sunny skies, above 32 degrees F, people were out and about. I love it when everyone starts emerging from their hibernation after winter. Due to this good mood swing, I had the urge to bake something. 4 d'Anjou pears getting soft on the counter... pear bread! Easy and it can be frozen for future use and I don't have to eat it all now.

Last week I found 5 mini loaf pans in the back of my baking pan cupboard and since then I've been baking all loaf bread recipes in mini. So much cuter than a large loaf, don't you think? These also look adorable wrapped in a cellophane bag and tied with shiny ribbon for giving to friends and family.

This recipe comes from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott - a highly recommended book for anyone who loves to bake cakes! The recipes have always been delicious, easy to follow and don't call for anything exotic. You can bake this in any size pan(s) you'd like - tube pan, Bundt pan, or mini loaf pans. I'd bet it would even make muffins rather well.














Cornelia Walker Bailey's Pear Bread
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup butter, softened or 3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 cups peeled and grated ripe but firm pears
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease the pan(s) you're using lightly.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, take about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and stir with the chopped walnuts until coated.

In a medium bowl (I used a handheld mixer), combine the butter, eggs, sugar, pears and vanilla until everything is well blended. Scrape this mixture into the dry mixture along with the walnuts and stir just until everything is evenly moistened.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 60 to 70 minutes (my mini loaves took about 20, so make sure you check depending on what size pan you're using), until golden brown and risen on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I sprinkled mine with more chopped walnuts and turbinado sugar before baking - you can sprinkle with powdered sugar after baking or make a simple icing sugar glaze as well. Enjoy :)