Caramelized Topping for Breads, Cakes and Ice Cream

Caramelized Topping for Breads, Cakes and Ice Cream

Coffee Cakes and Banana Breads are made all the time in our house and sometimes it is nice to have a little something to change up a recipe, taste and texture to the usual.

SUPER simple and always tasty- 3 ingredients and 3 minutes is all you need.

In a saucepan melt 1/2 c butter.  Add 1 c brown sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon to melted butter.  Constantly stir until a thick caramelized sugar is created.

I have used this to top coffee cake batter and when using it for banana bread, be sure to wait a bit into your baking to add.  I typically bake my banana bread for 70 minutes at 325 degrees, so with about 20 minutes remaining, add the topping.  By waiting, you can be sure that the topping doesn't bake into the bread and it remains the topping you desire.  Also, be sure to cover with foil during the remaining bake time to prevent burning.  

If you find you have a little extra, it is a great ice cream topping as well!

Buttermilk-Raspberry Cake

Buttermilk-Raspberry Cake

I read a recipe recently that sounded super yummy, but I didn't have all the ingredients and since I was baking with my boys, I had to adapt to a minor mishap- in the end, we had a delicious Saturday morning breakfast.

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.  Cream 1/2 c butter with 2 c sugar ... when I bring out my beaters, the boys arrive at my side with their little step stools and the helping begins!

Add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, place 2 c raspberries.  Mix in 1/4 c flour to lightly coat the berries.  By doing this, the berry coloring will not bleed into the cake. 

Mix together 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt and then add to the raspberries.  At this point my little helper turned the beaters on high and we had a beautiful, bright red batter.  No problem, tastes the same.  The number one rule in baking with your kiddos after safety is ADAPT!  

At this point mix in 1/2 c buttermilk to the batter.

Prepare a 8x8 square baking pan and pour the batter in.  

Sprinkle some sugar on top and bake for 45 minutes.  Let it cool for a few moments and then serve!

Coffee Cake in a Pinch

Coffee Cake in a Pinch

It has been quite a while since I have blogged and shared some recipes.  This holiday season was rough to say the least.  Between injuring my foot in the beginning of November to just recently seeing healing finally take place to a loss of a job in our home, things just haven't been the same.

We are praising God that a job has come with growth potential, but in the mean time I am learning to cook and bake on a smaller budget, causing me to use the very last of each and every ingredient before shopping again.  Regardless of family income, I think this is a great frugal way to bake anyway!!  Why waste what is still good and useful??  It may take meal repetition at times, cooking for a few days at a time and LOTS of creativity, but it's a good challenge and I am up for it, are you?  

Well, this morning I looked into our fridge to find myself in the exact situation I just described.  I had just a little bit of some staple items so I went with it- the best thing about this recipe is that it was like it was made for our exact morning's time allowance and ingredients on hand.  Most coffee cakes take a bit of time to prepare and/or bake- this had about 5 minutes prep and 25 minutes to bake and even better ... right out of the oven I could slice it and it didn't crumble so it was perfect for Jeremy's breakfast on the way to work.

ok, enough rambling- here is how you do it-

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Oil a 8 inch square pan and set aside.

In a bowl stir together 1 1/2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.  Add in 3 tbsp melted butter and mix with an electric mixer.  Add 1/3 c sugar with 1 egg and continue to beat together.  Finish by mixing in 2/3 c milk.  Pour batter into your prepared  pan.

For a sugary topping, melt 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan.  Once melted, add 1/2 c brown sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon.  Take off of the stove and scatter on top of the batter evenly.  

Bake 25 minutes and serve.

I love that there wasn't an absurd quantity of any one ingredient, it preps and bakes quickly and all the ingredients are what would be in a typical kitchen!

Maple Bundt Cake with Meringue Topping

 

Maple Bundt Cake with Meringue Topping

We love coffee cake in our house, but I thought I would try something a little different for breakfast today.  Maple has a great breakfast flavor so that was the inspiration.

In a bowl combine 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

In a separate bowl place 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter to begin mixing.  Add 1/2 c packed brown sugar to the blended butter.  One at a time add 2 eggs and then 1/2 c of maple syrup as well as 2 tsp vanilla.  Once all mixed together add the dry ingredients with a cup of sour cream in rotating additions until all is well incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a bundt pan and pour the batter evenly into the pan.  Bake for 35 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan to cool a few more minutes.

To make the meringue use an electric mixer and beat 3 egg whites and 1/4 tsp vanilla on high until soft peeks form.  Add 1/3 c sugar and continue to beat on high until the peeks are stiff.  Use a spatula to scoop the meringue onto the cake.

I placed the cake on a cookie sheet and set my oven to broil.  Place the cake in the oven for only a few minutes- just long enough for the meringue to brown.  I drizzled a little maple syrup on top of the meringue right after as well.

Cool, slice and enjoy!

Dulce De Leche

Dulce De Leche

I came across this idea and I couldn't help but try it to confirm that it ACTUALLY worked and now that I know it does I HAVE to share it with you all!  

Take a can of sweetened condensed milk ...

Peel the wrapper off and wash the outside ...

Fill your crock pot with enough water to completely cover your can ...

and let it sit on low for 8 hours.  Remove the can and let it cool completely in your frig.  Once cool, open the can and you have dulce de leche ... AMAZING!  

We have ours for ice cream toppings, filling for ebelskivers and to dip our marshmallows in- what will you use your's for??!

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

Earlier in the week the boys and I made pancakes for breakfast.  Considering it is Fall, it seemed appropriate to have fun and add a bit of Fall flare to our pancakes- a few cookies cutters, our pancake pen and some pumpkin became spiced pumpkin  pancakes!

We got our ingredients and equipment ready ...

we can't forget my cute helpers in their pjs and bed hair!

To get started, whisk together 1 1/4 c flour, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/3 c milk, 3/4 c pumpkin, 4 eggs, 1/4 c melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking until smooth.

Heat your skillet and oil the insides of your cookie cutters so that the batter doesn't stick to them while cooking.  If you have a pancake pen, fill it with your batter- if not, prepare your batter to fill the cookie cutters.  While the skillet was heating, Braydon's hunger took over and he began to lick the counter- totally gross.

Place your cookie cutters on your heated skillet and pour the batter inside, about half full.

When the batter begins to form bubbles, gently remove the cookie cutters.  Remember that the cookie cutters will be hot too, so I used tongs to remove them so I didn't get burned.

Flip your pancakes, and repeat until all your batter has been used!   Our leaf and pumpkin shaped pancakes put us in the fall mood we were hoping for!

Cheesecake Filled Stawberries

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

I saw this idea and had to try it for myself.  They are super easy, super yummy and I think they look great too- a yummy dessert that doesn't lack in any way.  Thanks to my hubby for being my strawberry model for the pic!

To get started, wash and cut the stems off of your strawberries.  

Next you will need to remove the center of the strawberry- I used a grapefruit spoon but you can use a small knife too.

With the strawberries now cut out, time to make the cheesecake filling.

This part is real easy. Beat 8 ounces of softened cream cheese.  Add 1/2 c of powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth.

If you have a piping bag you can use this to fill your strawberries.  I was trying to finish this while making dinner last night so I just went with easy and convenient- I used the boy's small toddler spoons and scooped it right into the strawberries. 

I then took a package of graham crackers, placed them into a ziploc bag and crushed them.  

 

Once my strawberries were filled, I then dipped the tops into the graham cracker.

I add chocolate to everything.  If you are a fan of chocolate too, go ahead with this step.  I poured about 3/4 c of chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and cooked them at half the power for a minute, stirred and microwaved another 30 seconds, still using half power to melt my chocolate.  If you do not lower the power on your microwave, the chocolate will burn!

Once fully melted, I placed a dollop of chocolate on top of each strawberry.  I covered them and let them chill in the refrigerator until after dinner.  It was a great, light and perfect bite size treat!