April 26, 2012

Caramel Cinnamon Muffins


Valerie makes the muffins in our house.  Me and muffin pans don't like each other.  She'll be the first to tell you she doesn't cook, but she can bake muffins with the best of 'em.  When I saw this recipe, I showed it to her and asked her to make them for the family, and she happily obliged.

The ingredients in this recipe are very simple and we had all of them on hand.  The batter comes together easily, but what sets this recipe apart from others is adding brown sugar and butter to each muffin pan before the batter.  This technique reminded me of pineapple upside-down cake where batter is poured directly on a butter, brown sugar mixture.

The recipe calls for the use of 14 muffin pans, but we only did 12 since that is the number of openings our muffin pan has.   So we only needed 6 teaspoons of butter and 12 teaspoons of brown sugar.  We followed the rest of the recipe as written.

The muffins were delicious.  I was a little nervous about them sticking to the pan, but had little issue with it.  There is a slight crunch on the bottom from the sugar caramelizing and the muffins are light and not too sweet.  They did not store well, however, so it is best to eat them fresh.  I don't see that being a problem next time.


Caramel Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients
6 teaspoons butter
12 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk or 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons melted shortening

Instructions
Grease 12 muffin pans; into each place 1/2 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon brown sugar.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and sift. Beat egg; add milk and melted shortening; add remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir quickly until just mixed and appears lumpy.
Quickly pour into pans, fill about 2/3 full. Bake in hot oven 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

April 19, 2012

Hamburger Potato Pie


I've had bags and boxes of family recipes for a long time, and spent several weeks scanning them all into my computer, as I've mentioned before.  The problem was easily accessing the recipes so I really knew what I had and could plan what to make.  It was cumbersome to shuffle through the recipes in the box and it always seemed like I was looking at the same recipes over and over.  The laptop was a little better, but it's bulky and I didn't want to print the recipe I was going to use, and it took up a lot of counter space if I took it into the kitchen with me. 

Enter, the iPad.  I had the idea to transfer all the scanned recipes onto my iPad and it has proven to be most helpful.  It is like carrying around a digital cookbook, and it doesn't take up much more room on the counter than a recipe card would.  Ah, technology.  Since I transferred the images, I have been trying more and more recipes.  Hence, more posts on Family Tree-Eats!

Hamburger Potato Pie caught my eye as a nice dinner option for the family.  It's hard to go wrong with meat and potatoes and this recipe proved that point.  Simple to make and with not a lot of clean up.  It reminded me of cottage pie, with a little bit of a meatloaf flavor.  Very tasty and the leftovers reheated well.  I definitely see this as a recipe to revisit.


Hamburger Potato Pie

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup cooked, drained peas
1 3/4 cup crushed canned tomatoes
2/3 cup catsup
3 cups hot mashed potatoes
1 egg, beaten

Instructions
Saute onion in butter or margarine. Add meat and seasonings. Cook until meat is browned. Add peas, tomatoes, and catsup. Mix well. Pour into greased casserole (2 quart). Combine mashed potatoes and egg. Spoon mounds of potatoes onto meat mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

April 13, 2012

Chocolate Pistachio Cake



I first had this cake as a teenager.  I think my mom was reminiscing about recipes from her childhood and she remembered this cake.  She talked about how much she liked it, so much so, that she found the recipe and baked one!  I enjoyed it to, and I baked this cake a few times, myself.  I hadn't made this cake since I moved out of my mom's house, but seeing the recipe again inspired me to make one for my kids.

The recipe is very simple with the inclusion of a box cake mix.  I used yellow cake, since that is what I remember doing in the past, but I'm sure white cake would be delicious as well.  The recipe doesn't specify what size of pudding mix to use, so I just went with the smaller option.  The rest of the recipe is very straightforward, and comes together easily.

I think the most interesting part of the recipe is the chocolate syrup.  It lends a lot of moisture to the cake and gives it a unique chocolaty flavor that isn't found in other cakes I have made.  Since the syrup is only added to a quarter of the batter, is also makes that part of the batter heavier, creating a neat design inside the cake as it is baking.  Plus, the green and brown colors are fun to see visually in a cake.

I do not know the origins of this recipe, but I am glad I have it.  It is moist, delicious, and visually whimsical.  The kids enjoyed it, too, so I see this cake being requested again in the future.


Chocolate Pistachio Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 package white or yellow cake mix
Pistachio pudding mix (Royal)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
4 Eggs
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup chocolate syrup

Directions
Combine all ingredients except the chocolate syrup and mix thoroughly. Pour about 3/4 of the batter into a well-greased and floured bundt pan. Add chocolate syrup to remaining batter. Mix well. Pour over batter in pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

April 4, 2012

Buttermilk Herb Bread


As I was scanning recipes into my computer, this one was visually the most interesting.  It was folded several times, and seems as if the slightest tug would rip it.  As I was unfolding it some of the inner folds, I found flour that had been trapped in some of the creases.  Needless to say, I had to be very delicate with this piece of paper, and it looks as if it has seen a lot of use.

The bread itself was fairly easy to make, quite reminiscent of pizza dough.  My neighbor gave me access to her herb garden, so I was able to use fresh parley and chives.  I also had an onion on hand, so I chopped some up and added it as well.  The dill seed, though, is what really adds a flavor punch to this bread.

This recipe makes two loaves, and it was the first time I have ever had to braid bread.  I actually have never braided anything, so I enlisted Valerie to teach me.  She braided the first loaf so fast, I didn't have time to see what she did.  On the second loaf, she suddenly forgot how she did the first!  By the time we finally got the second one braided, I was more confused than ever, but at least it was done, and I still don't know how to braid.

The bread is delicious.  Soft and dense, with lots of flavor.  Very good right out of the oven with a little butter.  It also holds up well for a few days after baking, preferably toasted.


Buttermilk Herb Bread
Ingredients
2 packages yeast or 2 1/2 tablespoons powdered
5 - 5 3/4 cups unsifted flour (unbleached)
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 cup chopped chives or onions
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (warmed)
1/2 cup chopped parsley or 1/4 cup dried
1 tablespoon dill seed


Instructions
In large mixer bowl dissolve yeast in water, add 2 cups flour, buttermilk, oil, sugar, salt; beat at low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium, add herbs and mix well. Add 3 1/2 cups flour - knead approximately 5 minutes. Let dough rise in greased bowl for 1 hour.

Grease two long cookie sheets. Punch dough down. Divide in half - then each half into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a 14 inch long rope - braid 3 pieces into a loaf. Bake in 350 degree oven 35-40 minutes.

Mm mm - Good!