Christmas Cookies Time

 These cookies are history already.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

 Made from scratch for the very first time.

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.

Garlic and Butter Dinner Bread

Goes well with fried fish or pork chop dinner. Recipe here.

12 Cakes 12 Months: #4 Carrot Cake / Ciasto Marchewkowe

Last month I decided to make a classic carrot cake by Aldi. It was not the first carrot cake I made but I had never used a cake mix before. Encouraged by the info on the box: 'Real Carrots and Raisins', I decided to give Baker's Corner a try (and make my life easier using the cake mix). There was no problem with making and baking the carrot cake. Following the the manufacturers instructions, I just added some oil, water and eggs. Then baked it using a springform cake pan.
I decorated it with cream cheese frosting (the recipe by the Southern Lady found here).
The results were great! The cake tasted as if it all (not only the frosting) had been made from a scratch. Fluffy and very tasty!

Read more about my New Year's Project: 12 Cakes, 12 Months / Projekt 12 Ciast, 12 Miesięcy,

W kwietniu postanowilam ułatwić sobie życie robiąc ciasto 'z pudełka'. Wczesniej robiłam już ciasto marchewkowe (jest to jedno z ulubionych ciast mojego męża), ale nigdy dotąd nie wykorzystałam do pieczenia ciasta w proszku. Do zakupu tego produktu (w sklepie Aldi) zachęciła mnie informacja na opakowaniu 'prawdziwe marchewki i rodzynki'. Pomyslałam: 'może warto wypróbować'.

Zarówno z przygotowaniem ciasta, jak i pieczeniem nie było problemu. Stosując się do instrukcji producenta, dodałam do proszku trochę oleju, wody i jajka. Wymieszałam wszystko łyżką i przelałam do dużej tortownicy. Potem tortownica do nagrzanego piekarnika i już! No, prawie już - czas pieczenia wyniósł około 50 minut.
Krem do ciasta marchewkowego (widocznego na zdjęciu) zrobiłam sama, według tradycyjnego przepisu Southern Lady.

Wszystkie składniki należy wymieszać mikserem do uzyskania jednolitej masy.

Kiedy ciasto ostygło, przekroiłam je na dwie częsci (dwa krążki) i posmarowalam przygotowanym kremem.
Efekt był rewelacyjny. Nikt by nie powiedział, że to ciasto 'z pudełka'. Puszyste i bardzo smaczne!
Kiedy ów carrot cake Mix znów pojawi sie na półkach sklepu Aldi, nie omieszkam kupić ze dwa opakowania. naprawdę warto.

Dla osób zainteresowanych zrobieniem ciasta marchwkowego, polecam przepis, który wypróbowałam kilkakrotnie. Na dużą tortownicę trzeba podwoić ilosć składników podanych tutaj.

Inną opcją do wypróbowania jest przepis na tradycyjne ciasto marchewkowe podanego przez Southern Lady.

Udanego pieczenia!

Cocoa Swirl Cake

This cake is actually called German Marble Cake. While making it, I swirled the cacao and yellow batter with a knife, probably more than it was required in the recipe. I did that as I do not like the bitter taste the cocoa layers in any cake.

The overall effect is quite good, as the cake is tasty and not too sweet. However, I skipped making the chocolate mocha frosting (see the recipe) to have a lighter treat and to adjust it to our tastes also (not everybody likes coffee as an ingredient). Besides, the swirly pattern, which would be covered by the frosting,  made the entire cake look quite interesting.
All in all, it is a good and easy to make coffee cake.

Another Southern Recipe

I love trying new (to me), traditional, Southern recipes. Of course I am always glad when we are pleased with the results of my tries. Recently, I have mostly made some new/old cakes. The one you can see in the picture is a yellow cake (made from a scratch) - a very useful and easy recipe which can be a basis for various baking creations. The fudge-like frosting reminds me the taste of the Polish fudge called 'Krowka'. All in all, together with the cake, it makes a deligthful (but quite sweet) dessert.
To bake the cake, I used two round 9" meatl tins (baking time was 20 minutes). Unfortunately, when I was making it, I had not enough vanilla extract to add to the frosting, which did not spoil its flavour though. However, next time I will cut down on white sugar, to make the frosting a bit lighter.

I followed the original recipe (with white sugar for the frosting). It was not difficult, you just need to cook and boil the fudge mixture long enough, stirring it all the time. It makes the white sugar dissolve/ change its structure and blend with all the other ingredients. As you can see I put pecan halves on both layers of the frosting. It makes the taste of the cake even more interesting.

The traditional recipe was found here.

Very Good Coffee Cake

This is a great cake with a touch of cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans. Not too sweet, just right to enjoy it and have more than one piece at a time. It is a good everyday dessert option and a wonderful treat which would be appreciated at any holiday gathering as well.

Since the ingredients are the basics, which are always available in my kitchen (flower, butter, cinnamon, an egg, baking powder, brown/white sugar and pecans), there is no need to do special shopping to make this cake. I like it as it makes the recipe really handy - I can make the cake any time, without prior planning.
The recipe, which was found here is certainly a keeper.

Apple Roses for Lunar New Year

I made these apple roses with the thought of the Chinese New Year, and marking it in a special, dessert way. I chose this recipe by accident, mainly because the procedure seemed simple and the results quite different from what I had made.

What you need to make the apple roses

1. To prepare the apple:

• 1 sweet apple,
• 1 TSP honey,
• 2 TSP granulated sugar,
• 3 TSP water,
• a pan.

2. To make the dough:

• 1 cup flour,
• 1/2 stick butter.
• 3 TSP cooked apple water.

3. To brush & sprinkle the apple roses

• some honey and a kitchen brush,
• some powdered sugar
• some cinnamon.

My apple was not red that is why the roses are yellow

While making the roses, I cooked the sliced apple successfully and then decided to taste the cooked water and honey/apple mix. It reminded me the taste of 'kompot' my mum had made. Wonderful taste of home made fruit beverage! And I drank almost all the water before I realized it was needed at the next stage of the recipe. So I added some mineral water to the cooked honey and water mix left in the pot, to have enough to make the dough (step #2). The water mix was still sweet so it all just made the roses lighter, considering the sugar level and calories.
The dough - it was quite easy to make - while rolling it make it rather thinner than thicker, it tastes better when it is baked.
I did not have cupcake molds so I used a greased muffin tin instead. I baked the apple roses at 350F for 18 minutes. Then I tried one - its taste (a bit flat - no honey water :) ) told me I had forgotten to finish them (step #3) so I did that part after baking. The result was still good - the apple roses looked and tasted really lovely - as the lady in the video (below - original recipe) says.

Our fav. Banana Bread

We love it. And there is still some for today's snack.

Banana Nut & Raisin Bran Muffins

Brittle Cookies

What is needed

 I gotowe :)