Christmas Cookies Time

 These cookies are history already.

Cinnamon & Cocoa Cake

I made that cake not long ago - I felt like making a cake but did not have any raisins or anything special to make the cake with so I used this recipe. The cake was quite tasty and rather light - not too sweet. I am not a big fan of cocoa cakes but that one was good.

 

What you need to make it:

• a loaf cake tin,
• flour: 2 and 1/4 cup,
• sugar: 3/4 cup,
• eggs: 2,
• milk: 1 cup,
• butter: 170g,
• cinnamon: 1/2 tsp,
• cocoa: 4 Tsp,
• baking soda: 1Tsp,
• jam/marmalade: about 30 dag (1 small jar).

For the icing: about 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1-2 Tsp of milk, 1 Tsp melted butter.

What to do with it all:

1. Grease and flour the loaf tin (do not use too much flour - just a bit).
2. Warm up the oven (375F).
3. Mix the melted butter with marmalade, add eggs and (gradually) milk. Mix it of course.
4. Mix all the dry ingredients and add them to the liquid ones, Mix again.
5. Pour the cake mixture into the greased and floured tin.
6. Bake it for about 45 minutes - check the cake with a toothpick at the end of baking.

When the cake is cool, you can decorate it with some icing. I made it with powdered sugar, milk and a bit of butter.

Our Microwaved Peanut Brittle

My husband likes peanut brittle so we bought it from time to time. Once, I wanted to taste the purchased treat (I had not eaten any peanut brittle before) but it was too hard to bite it, so I quit tasting.

Anyway, when I saw the recipe for homemade, microwaved peanut brittle, it caught my attention. I scanned the recipe to see what was needed to make the sweet thing. Since I found it all quite easy and the article mentioned that peanut brittle was supposed to be a traditional Christmas delight, I thought I would try to make it too.

Attempt 1

Was highly unsuccessful. It was my mistake not the recipe, though. By accident, I set the express microwave cooking and the sugar and cane syrup mix got burned totally. It was smelly, sticky and scary as it was spreading in the microwave very fast, covering everything and turning into stone immediately. Luckily, it was only sugar so the hot water dissolved the stone creation and removed it from my kitchen utensils, kitchen tops, and the microwave.

Fortunately, I had not read the recipe carefully enough and I missed the peanuts part - I did not add them to the sugar and sugar cane syrup mixture before putting the bowl in the microwave. Therefore, that was not much a waste. Mostly a lot of mess in the kitchen.

The experience was a bit upsetting and disappointing - well, I assumed it was simply not my cooking day at all.


Attempt 2

I read the recipe one more time - carefully! - paying attention to all the details. With some hesitation, I tried again a few days later.

I buttered a big piece of aluminum foil (instead of the baking sheet mentioned in the recipe). I also prepared all the needed ingredients - measured them and put aside.

All went fine!

How I cooked it:

• 3 minutes in the microwave,
• stirred the mixture,
• 3 more minutes in the microwave,
• stirred again,
• then, 3 more minutes of microwaving.

After taking the bowl out of the microwave, I added the baking soda, vanilla extract, and butter to the mixture, stirred it all and, as fast as I managed, I spread the brittle with a spoon on the buttered aluminum foil.

When the brittle hardened, it seemed to be a bit too thick. It was thicker than the brittle we had bought in a store. But it was soo good! Very sweet but soft enough to enjoy it without teeth braking. I liked it very much. It was so tasty! And not too thick at all.

We will definitely not buy peanut brittle anymore. Whenever we feel like having some, I will make it again using the same RECIPE by The Southern Lady Cooks.