Polish Fruit Cake

I am not sure whether I have tried that particular recipe before. Polish fruitcake is nothing like the Texas dessert which includes the same "fruitcake" name. It is simply a sort of coffee cake with lots of raisins, nuts, and fruits.

Lemon Bar

Made for the first time.

Banana-and-Pecan Bread

It's been a long time since  I made banana bread from scratch. We got some bananas and here it is.

Ingredients:

8 TBsp butter,
3 bananas - mashed,
some pecans,
two eggs,
1 cup sugar,
1 1/2 cup flour,
1/2 tsp salt,
baking soda.

Fresh from the oven - it was two fresh and crumbled a bit. It was tasty, though!

On the next day, it got firmer and it was easier to cut a piece.

My Version of One, Two, Three, Four Cake

Last week I made that cake, following the Old-Fashioned recipe. 
I decided to give it a try as, frankly speaking, I had no 'cake from a box' to use.
I had not made one from scratch for quite a long time but the recipe worked well. Even though, I followed the instructions rather randomly.

I did not have vanilla, butter and nut flavoring and the vanilla extract either, I used lemon extract instead. I was afraid that the flavor might be a bit flat because of that substitution so I covered the cake with vanilla icing and added some colorful sprinkles to it.

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.

12 Months 12 Cakes: Blueberry Cake

The blueberry cake, which I made in August, was light and tasty. I used canned fruit instead of fresh ones, but the result was still great. Certainly, I will make it again, maybe with some other kind of fruit, though.

The original recipe comes from Alexandra's Kitchen. No, not mine, but Tobo liked it as well, so it will be made in our kitchen now and then.

12 Months 12 Cakes: Coconut Disaster

This year I have been trying to make a new cake every month. With different results.

To be honest, my last try was a disaster. Here is a note on the unsuccessful attempt.

I had wanted to make a coconut cake for some time and finally I found that recipe for coconut pound loaf cake. Everything was OK till the baking time. To my disappointment, the temperature (300 F) given in the recipe was too low. I baked the bread for 1 hour and 15 minutes, according to the instructions. When I checked it, the cake was totally undone. I added 15 minutes more but later, the cake was still not ready.

All in all, the baking time took approximately 2 hours. However, opening the oven again and again totally spoilt the cake. Although it looked good from the outside, the inside was not eatable at all. I had to throw it away. What a waste of all the ingredients!

If the oven temperature had been higher (350F), it might have been a good and tasty coconut bread.

Anyway, I do not think I will use the recipe again.

Quick and Tasty Raspberry Bread

Recently, I have been trying different cake mixes from various stores. This time my choice was Simply Homemade Muffin & Bread Mix found at Dollar Tree.

We found the the bread so tasty that, after baking, when it was warm and fresh, we ate a half of the loaf at once. In our opinion, it makes a wonderful dessert or/and breakfast option. Not to mention that the price of the mix is very good as well. It contains pieces of real fruit that is why the bread had a slightly sour flavor. Well, if you prefer very sweet treats only, probably you would not find the raspberry bread/ muffins good enough. Anyway, we liked it a lot.

What you need to make the raspberry bread (besides the mix of course):

• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt which can be substituted with regular yogurt (I used vanilla Greek yogurt),
• 2 large eggs,
• 1/3 cup oil (my choice was Canola oil),
• 1/4 cup water.

Then, just mix all the ingredients with a spoon, place the batter in a slightly greased loaf tin and bake it at 350F. After 45 minutes in the oven, our bread was ready. We let it cool down for about 10 minutes before the eating time started. The raspberry bread was really yummy! Certainly, I will buy this muffin and bread mix again.

Raspberry Bread

What was left after 'the first sitting'....

12 Months, 12 Cakes: #2 Lemon Cake / Babka Cytrynowa

I made this cake some time ago, but am a bit behind with writing about it.
The original recipe of the lemon bundt cake was found here, among a favorite old fashioned recipes collection. Since we would eat such a big cake for a year maybe, I used a half of each of the ingredient.
However, I added less sugar. I simply thought the cake would be too sweet with the original amount of both powdered and granulated one.  So I only added 1/4 (instead of 1/2) glass of each kind of sugar. The result of it was a light cake version, which could be not sugary enough, according to some people. In our opinion, it was a good, tasty, and light dessert. The double icing layer which I put on the cake made it sweet (the second one was with no lemon juice). The taste of the lemon (light) cake with lots of glaze reminded me the cakes which I used to buy when I lived in Poland. They were round and big (called 'Amerykanki' = 'American ladies).

Read more about my

New Year's Project: 12 Cakes, 12 Months / Projekt 12 Ciast, 12 Miesięcy,

January Cake:  #1 Crescent Cherry Cheesecake

Babkę cytrynową upiekłam jakis czas temu, ale nie za bardzo mialam czas, by o tym pisać. Uzupełniam teraz wpis do mojego projektu '12 ciast, 12 mieisęcy'. Przepis pochodzi z kolekcji tradycyjnej kuchni amerykańskiej, z których to receptur czasem korzystam.
Dawno nie pikłam żadnej babki, a cytrynowej nigdy przedtem więc postanowiłam spróbować. Z ilosci produktów podanych w orginalnym przepisie, wychodzi duża babka (typowa duża forma 'babkowa'). Jedlibysmy to z miesiąc, z tego tez powodu nasze ciasto zrobiłam z połowy tego co podaje ów przepis. Wydawało mi się jednak, że  zalecana ilosć cukru to będzie za dużo dlatego dodałam mniej.

Produkty (po mojej adaptacji):

• 1/2 kostki masła
• 1/4 szklanki cukru granulowanego (kto lubi słodkie może dodać 1/2 szklanki każdego rodzaju cukru zamiast 1/4)
• 1/4 szklanki cukru pudru
• 2 jajka
• 1 i 1/2 szklanki mąki
• 1 łyżeczka proszku do pieczenia
• szczypta soli
• 1/2 szklanki mleka
• 1/2 łyzeczki olejku waniliowego
• 1/2 łyżeczki olejku cytrynowego

Z robieniem tego ciasta miałam trochę 'przebojów'. Początkowo nie doczytałam, że należy oddzielić białka od żółtek i wrzuciłam do miski cale jajka, wymieszałam. Zanim dodałam mleko, zorientowałam się, że popełniłam błąd. Konsystencją ciasto przypominało tzw. kruche ciasto, z którego robi się ciasteczka. Po chwili wahania zawinęłam je w folię aluminiową i włożyłam do lodówki. Następnego dnia upiekłam z tego herbatniki. Smakowały jak biszkopty i całkiem niezłe były - część z nich polukrowałam i posypałam kolorowymi koralikami.

Wracając do babki. Nasza wersja light była smaczna. Dla niektórych może byłaby za mało słodka. Polukrowałam ją dwa razy - za drugim razem przygotowując lukier bezsoku cytrynowego. Ogółem smakiem przypominało to (według mnie) moje ulubione 'Amerykanki' - ciastka, które lubiłam bardzo, gdy mieszkałam w Polsce.

12 Cakes 12 Months: #1 Crescent Cherry Cheesecake

Here is my first entry on my 2016 cake project challenge. The first cake I made a couple of days ago was crescent cherry cheesecake - you can find the recipe here. When my husband tasted it for the first time, he said 'Real treat'. We like all cherry pie filling based cakes and pies so we enjoyed the  cheesecake too. However, the best and the tastiest part of it was the topping made of oatmeal, brown sugar, pecans and milk and powdered sugar glaze. The crescent rolls bottom and the cheese were not that good. Maybe a reason was that I used vanilla extract instead of almond (did not have almond extract). Anyway, next time, if when I make this kind of cherry cheesecake again, I will try to modify it a bit. Maybe I will use the pie crust layer, not the crescent rolls.

If you want to join my 2016 cake project,  join this Facebook group and share your 'cake entries' there. I will link your monthly challenge results below my project post.

Widoczny na zdjęciu sernik z wiśniami to moje pierwsze podejście projektowe z serii 12 Ciast 12 Miesięcy. Przepis znalazłam tutaj. Sernik był bardzo smaczny, szczególnie jego górna warstwa: mieszanina płatków owsianych, brązowego cukru, orzechów pekanowca i polewy na bazie cukru pudru i mleka. Dolna część stanowiła słabszy punkt wypieku. Może przyczyną tego była fakt, że zamiast olejku migdałowego (okazało się, że nie mam - 'wyszedł') użyłam waniliowego, a może spód z cienkiego ciasta (gotowe - do kupienia w tutejszych sklepach) na rogaliki niezbyt się sprawdził.

Następnym razem spróbuję ten sernik trochę zmodyfikować. Może kruche ciasto na spodzie będzie smaczniejsze.

Jak zrobić ciasto:

A potem polukrować.

A jakie ciasto Wy pieczecie w tym miesiącu? Chętnie dodam tu linki do Waszych postów związanych z projektem 12 Ciast 12 Miesięcy'.
Zapraszam do przyłaczenia się do projektowej grupy na FB!

New Year's Project: 12 Cakes, 12 Months / Projekt 12 Ciast, 12 Miesięcy

The new year has just started and I came up with an idea for a year long baking and blogging project.

Every month, I am planning to bake a new cake, which I have never made before. Each of those experiments will be followed by a monthly blog entry.

I like baking and quite often make us some cake. Since recently I tend to repeat making the same cakes - which we like of course - maybe it is time for some kitchen adventure and exploring new recipes.

Besides, it will give me an opportunity to share my tries and results on the blog.

I think it will be fun!

If you find my project interesting enough to enter it and start the year long baking challenge too, you are welcome to accompany me and join the project Facebook group .

Looking forward to sharing recipes with you (and trying yours)!

Nowy rok się niedawno zaczął, pomyślałam więc, że jest to okazja, by rozpocząć nowy projekt cukierniczo-blogowy.
Mam zamiar upiec nowe ciasto (którego wcześniej nigdy nie robiłam) każdego miesiąca, a następnie podzielić się z Wami rezultatami moich eksperymentów w comiesięcznym poście na blogu.
Lubię piec i często mamy ciasto na deser. Ostatnio jednak przeważnie piekę tylko to, co już znamy i wiem, że to lubimy. Może więc przyszła pora, by wypróbować nowe przepisy, a przy okazji trochę poeksperymentować w kuchni. Poza tym będzie o czym pisać na blogu, będzie też niezła uciecha, jeśli wybrany przepis okaże się sukcesem.

Zapraszam do przyłączenia się do projektu i dołączenia do projektowej grupy na FB – jeśli masz ochotę wziąć udział w cukierniczej i blogowej zabawie.
Będzie mi miło podzielić się z Wami przepisami oraz wypróbać Wasze!

Boston Cream Cake Is Easy!

Easy to make. I do not know why it is called Boston cake but it is both simple and tasty.

What you need to prepare the cake:

• yellow cake mix,
• instant vanilla pudding (5.1oz/145g),
• creamy chocolate frosting.

Make the yellow cake - follow the instructions included on the box ( I baked it in two 9'' tins).
Make the pudding - add less milk than it is stated on the pudding package ( 2 glasses instead of 3).

Chill the pudding in the fridge.
After a few hours, when the cake is no longer warm, spread the pudding on the first layer of the cake, put the other one on it and cover it with the frosting (we used chocolate fudge frosting). Refrigerate  the cake (store it in the fridge), it is best when chilled. Enjoy!

About Doing New Things & How I Won With Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Having moved to the US I experienced many 'first times': doing things and going to places, and also having different kinds of food. There was my first taco, my first Tex-Mex food, my first glass of Dr. Pepper, my first mac & cheese, and many more, including my first Banana Split. It is a delicious treat, however, it is so big that I am able to eat only a half of it. But I do like it!

The Banana Split in the picture was not my first one - just another one.

 Among others, I also learned about the Pineapple Upside-Down cake here (had neither heard about it nor tasted it in Europe). And of course I decide to make it. I found a ''from the scratch" recipe and baked it - first time. The cake looked very nice but, according to a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Expert, it did not taste as it was supposed to.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - attempt #1

 A year later, I decided to make the cake again, using a different recipe though. I did not know that I was supposed to flip the tin straight after taking it out of the oven. It looked quite alright and I just put the upside-down cake on a cupboard. The result was obvious to everybody who had made such a treat before (but not me, at least not then). All the juice was at the bottom of the baking dish. I called it 'a day of the swimming cake'. Of course my upside-down cake no.2 was not good enough to eat it.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - attempt #2

 Another year passed, and the time came to bake it again. This time I decided to get a yellow cake mix to make things different. I used the same baking tin as usual. Well, unfortunately, it appeared to be too small and some of the brown sugar, light corn syrup and butter mix dripped from the tin on the bottom of the oven. To make matters worse, the baking time given in the recipe, which I followed, was wrong - much too short, so I started opening the oven and checking the cake too early. The result: the worst cake I had ever made. Anyway, a good side of that experience and all the previous ones was that I finally understood the Nature of the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
I was determined to make it right so I did not wait another year. After a few days I tried again - with a bigger baking dish and knowing all what I had learned. Attempt #4 was very successful, which was confirmed by the Pineapple Upside-Down Expert. I was happy! Now I know how to make it and bake it well. :)

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - successful attempt #4

Getting Ready for Easter

Time to start getting ready for Easter. I am going to be busy with baking and preparing for the holiday. More on the results of mu Easter actions soon....

Happy Easter to you all!

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.

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.

Mardi Gras, Screwdriver Cake & Christmas Cookies

Not long ago we enjoyed ourselves at at Mardi Gras party. Since it is Shrove Tuesday today, it is high time I mentioned the dessert treats which I made during the after Christmas/carnival period.

1. Screwdriver Cake
The last piece of it is still on the plate - will disappear soon! The cake is really great - light, fluffy and not too sweet (which we regard as a plus considering desserts).
What you need to make this cake:

• yellow cake mix;
• instant vanilla pudding;
• 3/4 cup orange juice;
• 1/2 cup vodka - the screwdriver;
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil;
• 3 eggs.

For the icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar;
• 3 TSP orange juice.

You can find the entire recipe here.

Screwdriver cake

 2. Candy Cane Cookies
My first ever - meaning both - made and eaten. I made them with the help of the Candy Cane Cookies mix from Aldi's store. I had been thinking of making this kind of cookies (not necessarily with a mix) for some time but I was not sure what they would be like. I did not know what to expect. Anyway, they came out surprisingly tasty and of a lightly mint flavor. As you can see in the picture below, I decorated each cookie with a few pieces of crushed candy cane only (a bag of candy cane pieces was part of the cookies kit), which made them sweet enough (according to our likes). Next time I will try to make the cookies from a scratch - still quite a lot of candy cane pieces left and ready to be used.

Candy Cane Cookies

3. German Marzipan Cake
Also made with a kit bought at Aldi's. The kit included: cake mix, marzipan filling mix and chocolate glaze mix. I had never made/eaten a marzipan cake before as I am not found of marzipan in general. But the cake was so good and easy to make! I added some raisins to the batter which made the plain marzipan cake a bit more interesting. I will certainly buy this marzipan cake mix at an Aldi store next Christmas too (they have/sell it once a year only - during the holiday season).

However. instead of using the chocolate glaze, I will probably decorate the next Christmas marzipan cake with the icing made of powdered sugar and milk.

Totally Decadent Cake

This delicious and light cake was made with the help of Black Forest Cake kit we had bought around Christmas. The box we got at Aldi's included: chocolate cake mix, cherry filling mix and cream powder mix. The products I had to add were: three eggs, whipping cream, milk and a can of pitted cherries + juice which was in the can. The procedure of making this dessert is quite time consuming even when using the kit: it took me about two hours to create this Schwarzwald Torte. But the result is great - the cake is light and tasty, not too sweet and it looks good too!

Maraschino cherries decorate the cake.

The torte: two layers of cake. I used two round, 9'' tins to bake them (baking time = 20 minutes).
The lower part is covered with the sweet cherry filling + whipped cream put onto it. The upper layer of the cake goes on  the creamy part. Next, the rest of the whipped cream + the flakes of grated dark chocolate go on the top and sides of the Black Forest Cake.
It all makes a really special and enjoyable  treat! Next time I will possibly try to make the cake from the scratch (have found a recipe which looks quite good and useful) unless I wait till the next holiday season, when Aldi stores will have the Black Forest Cake kit again.

A piece of decadent cake: lots of pleasure but low standards meaning a proper diet. :)

Christmas in 31 days...

The cold weather front and all the Christmas goodies which have already been being sold in stores  are making me think about the holiday itself. I am ready for all the cooking and baking, however I am not sure what I will make  - ah, and now they are playing a piece from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky and talking about it on the radio - quite a coinsidence. :)
Perhaps I will try a candy cane cookies recipe a few days before Christmas, soon it will be time to make some ginger bread cookies too. Anyway, it would be nice to know what other guys are planning to bake and cook for Christmas..

Before I start experimenting with candy cane cookies recipes - here is something else to enjoy:  oatmeal peanut butter cookies

Beans, Bread and Traditional Cake

'Casting all your care

upon him; for he careth

for you'

-1 Peter 5:7

Today something traditional from the kitchen. How about some good beans and bread?

Good for a meatless day but not only. Just good :).

Love learning old Southern recipes especially if they are not complicated, and the result is so enjoyable.

Buttermilk bread - recipe

And some cake for dessert:

Carrot cake - recipe

Simple cake - recipe