Dobos Torte

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

As my first daring baker's challenge I was very excited to see this months challenge. This was why I joined. I wanted to expand my skills in the kitchen by trying things I never would of before. I would of looked at a dobos torte and really admired it but never would I even have considered making it.

You can't help but look at it and be impressed. But maybe that's just how you feel after spending hours in the kitchen putting this masterpiece together. Yes, it does take hours. But it is worth it. Some things I would just do without. Like the caramel layer. It looks really nice and gives it the artistic flair but just didn't taste very good. Unless that is just something I need to practice a little more. I probably needed to beat the buttercream a little bit longer as it still looked seperated. Tasted great though.

And without further ado, here is the recipe;

Sponge cake layers

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
pinch of salt

Chocolate Buttercream

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Caramel topping

1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

Finishing touches

a 7” cardboard round
12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions for the sponge layers:

The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)

3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.

3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.

4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.

5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:

1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.

3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Angela's note: I recommend cutting, rather than scoring, the cake layer into wedges before covering in caramel (reform them into a round). If you have an 8” silicon round form, then I highly recommend placing the wedges in that for easy removal later and it also ensures that the caramel stays on the cake layer. Once set, use a very sharp knife to separate the wedges.

Assembling the Dobos

1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.

2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.

4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Here's a few things I did differently from the recipe. I obviously used slivered almonds instead of hazlenuts. To bake the cake layers I went to the supermarket and bought a few foil 8" round cake tins. This way I could bake them without having to cut the rounds or to clean the pans between baking. They're very inexpensive and save a lot of time.

I made another with a few other variations. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It definetley didn't look as good as the first one. But I was also in a hurry and rushed through it. Instead of the caramel, I bought some butterscotch topping and brushed it between each of the layers as well as some cushed toffee bar with the buttercream.

Chicken Salbutes

If you're on a diet then this recipe is not for you, step away from the computer, lol. This recipe stems from the Mayans many years ago and is a dish you'll find often in southern Mexico, Belize, or any place with a Mayan background. This is my version of these tasty treats and like so many recipes, everyone has their own way of making them.

You make your own little tortillas using corn flour and water. You press them with a tortilla press and deep fry them until golden brown. The dough puffs up as it fries and browns really nicely. Top that with the chicken, lettuce and tomato and you have one of my favorite dishes, when I'm not dieting...

For those of you that are not familiar with Recado, it's a paste made out of achiote seeds, you should be able to find it in any Mexican import store. It's brick red in colour and is like a thick paste. You dissolve it in hot water before adding to your pot. If you're lucky (like I was) and can get some that was made by one of the Natives you're in for the best stuff!
Chicken Sabutes
1 cooked chicken, de-boned & chopped (I love to use chicken that's leftover from making my own broth or you could use a rotisserie chicken)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1-2 tsp Recado paste, dissolved in a small amount of hot water
salt
pepper

Once you have everything chopped and in a pot, add enough water or soup broth to barely cover the chicken. (If using water you should add about a tbsp of chicken bouillon) Gently boil this until the water has evaporated, but not too dry.

Tortillas:
2 cups flour (Masa Harina)
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Mix this until you have a nice dough, you may need to adjust the water. Shape into about 1 1/2" balls and flatten with a tortilla press, your tortillas should be small, about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. You will want to use sheets of wax paper or plastic in between the press to keep it from sticking. Fry in hot oil, they will puff up. Once brown, flip and brown the other side. Now you top them with the chicken, lettuce and tomato. You could also top them with hot peppers or whatever else you prefer.

Bet you can't just eat one! Lol
Tina

Apple Pie Muffins

This is another recipe from one of my Church cookbooks. I've had this book for years and only recently noticed this recipe and just had to try it. It has quickly become one of my favorite go to recipes, especially since we almost always have two apples laying around that no one wants to eat, lol.

Apple Pie Muffins

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup milk plus 1 tsp vinegar)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chopped apples (I leave the peel on)

In large bowl combine the flour, sugar, soda and salt. Whisk together the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients, sprinkle with the chopped apples. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into large greased cups (or use liners). Sprinkle with topping.

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

3-4 tbsp melted butter

In a bowl stir together the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Drizzle with butter, mix until you have a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this on the muffins and bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until tops are firm. Makes 16 muffins.

Enjoy!

Tina

Peanut Butter Pie

Today was my husband's birthday. Since he loves anything to do with peanut butter, I thought pie. At first I thought of making a peanut butter cake but then I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website and new that my husband would love it. I changed a few things though. I don't have a tart pan so I just used 9" round springform pan. I didn't want to use graham crackers so I used a package of digestive cookies and 1/2 cup of melted butter. I mixed that together and baked it for 10 minutes at 350F.

Peanut Butter Pie (adapted from Martha Stewart)

FOR THE CRUST
Ten 4 3/4-by-2 1/2-inch graham crackers, broken into pieces

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING
3 ounces best-quality milk chocolate, plus more for curls
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup cream cheese (4 ounces)
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Place graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until fine crumbs are formed. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add butter. Stir with a fork until thoroughly combined. Place crumbs in a 13 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. Press crumbs up the sides of the pan to form the edge of the tart and then evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place in the refrigerator while making the filling.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Finely chop chocolate, and place in a medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Pour over chopped chocolate, and set aside for 5 minutes to yield chocolate ganache. Whisk to combine. Set in ice bath until ganache is cool, whisking constantly. Once cool, remove from ice bath, and whisk until ganache is just thick enough to hold its shape; do not overbeat. Spread in the bottom of the prepared crust, and return to the refrigerator until set.

Combine peanut butter, cream cheese, and sweetened condensed milk in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Whip 3/4 cup heavy cream to soft peaks. Add whipped cream to peanut butter mixture; whisk to combine.

Spoon mixture into prepared crust; return to the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Remove tart from refrigerator, and transfer to a serving platter 10 minutes before serving. Whip remaining 1/2 cup cream. Top tart with dollops of whipped cream. Use a vegetable peeler to make chocolate curls for garnish.

Enjoy,

Erna

Danish Puff

I love danish puffs! They taste so good and are really easy to make. There are a just few steps to it but once you've done it, you won't regret it. They are a great addition to that good old go-to recipe. Great to serve to guests.


Danish Puff (adapted from Betty Crocker)

Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons water

Topping
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs


Vanilla Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons warm water or milk
Chopped almonds

Heat oven to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.

Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12x3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.

Bake about 1 hour or until topping is crisp and brown; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely.

In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients except nuts until smooth and spreadable. Spread over top of pastry; sprinkle with nuts

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Once you've made your own hamburger buns you will never want to go back to the mushy bought ones. I rarely make hamburgers now if I don't have these one hand. This recipe actually called them torta buns (some of you will know what tortas are) but I figured they would probably be just as good for hamburgers, and I was right.

Hamburger Buns

2 tbsp traditional yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil (I use canola)

1/2 cup sugar

7 cups flour

Corn Flour for the tops

Let yeast rise in the warm for a few minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and knead in the flour. Let rise for 3/4 hour, punch down and let rise for another 45 minutes. Shape them into buns and flatten with the palm of your hand. Brush the tops with a beaten egg and sprinkle the corn flour on top. I then spread the flour with my hand so that there is even coverage on the bun, you only want a thin layer of the corn flour. Let rise for 1 hour and bake at 350 F until golden.

Recipe makes about 2 dozen hamburger buns but this will vary of course to your size preference. If I remember correctly each bun has about 150 calories each.

Tina

Pasta Sausage Bake

This recipe was so easy to make. (Do you sense a trend with things that I make, everything is really easy). Anyway, Supper hour was nearing again and I'm terrible at meal planning. So I was paging through one of my new cookbooks and came across this one. I had all the ingredients, again this is very important and a huge acheivement for me. Well I didn't have Italian sausage, I just used some farmer's sausage that I had in my freezer. Would like to try it again with some Italian (sausage that is).

Pasta Sausage Bake

1 package (16 ounces) uncooked pasta
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a large skillet, saute green pepper and onion in oil for 6-7 minutes. Add sausage; cook and stir until sausage is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and pasta. Transfer to a 3-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheeses. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. I divided mine in half and froze the other batch. Don't know if that worked or not.

Brownie Hearts

My husband wanted me to make more chocolate cupcakes because I had some leftover frosting sitting in the fridge. But I was out of sugar and live in a town that the stores are all closed on Sunday's. I had box of brownie mix sitting in my cupboard collecting dust so I thought just this once ( since I had it anyway). I make better brownies from scratch but when you have no sugar what do you do?



The brownies were baked according to box directions and then I let them cool and cut out heart shapes. Fill it with anything that you like ( I had lefovers from here )and dust with some icing sugar. Easy peasy!


Erna

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I found this spaghetti recipe years ago when our church affiliation came out with a cookbook. It's been a super hit in our household. I get great reviews everytime I make it. We even used this recipe once for a fundraiser and people loved it!



Italian Spaghetti and Meat Sauce


1 green pepper, chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 lg. jar spaghetti sauce
1 can italian tomato sauce
2 cans tomato soup
1/2 cup grated cheese (I use mozzerella)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp sweet basil
2 lbs ground beef, cooked


Simmer all of the above ingredients except meat for 1 1/2 hours. Add hamburger meat and summer for another 30 minutes. Serve over spaghetti. (I use whole wheat pasta) Serve with garlic toast and parmesan cheese.

Tina

English Muffins

What better way to start the day then with homemade english muffins and jam. Or making your own bacon n egger instead of the greasy fast food versions. Delicious! I got this recipe from All Recipes and making english muffins is a lot easier then you think, really. This was my first tiime making these and they turned out really well, but like a lot of people I won't be happy until I've tested a few recipes just to make sure that this is the right one. I only made half the recipe but I'll give you the full version, I did find that I didn't need as much flour as the recipe states so you'll have to adjust yours too probably.
English Muffins
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dry active yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup melted shortening
6 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water, let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of the flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Punch down and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter, or whatever you have on hand, you'll want about a 3-4 inch circle. Sprinkle wax paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise for 1/2 hour.

Heat griddle to 300F. Cook muffins on the griddle for about 10 minutes on each side. To use split and toast.

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Whipped Frosting

I was watching Martha Stewart the other day and she had a guest on who owned a cupcake shop that used parchment paper as cupcake liners. Ever since then I've wanted to try it. Today was the day. I was out of cupcake liners so out came the parchment. On the show she used brown parchment but around here you can only get the white. I cut them into sqaures and used a cup to form them into the cupcake pan, then filled with batter. I think they turned out very cute. Will definetly do it again. And they're a breeze to take off.

The chocolate cupcake recipe is very simple. It's a one bowl recipe that is easy and quick. I've been meaning to search for the ultimate chocolate cake recipe that is moist and delicious. I've used this one a few times but I always looked at it as to simple to be the one. Especially after doing a search on the web. But everytime I make it, it turns out great. There are still a few that I want to try to see if there is a better one, but until then I'm quite happy with this one. Especially because I usually have all the ingredients in the house.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed just until combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and beat 2 minutes more.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. (The time suggested here is for a 8" or 9" pan. The cupcakes I had were in for about 20 minutes.)

This makes 12 large cupcakes.
Now for the frosting. You can find this recipe all over the web under different names. Mock whipped cream, mock twinkie filling, flour frosting and many more. There are slight variations to all of them but I really liked this one.

Whipped Frosting

1 cup sugar
4 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3 tbsp heavy cream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla

Some confectioners sugar added to taste at the end. I did about 1/2 a cup. It's not necessary though.

In a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and heavy cream and cook over medium heat whisking occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Strain after to take out any lumps.

Cool mixture in the fridge.

Beat the butter till light and fluffy. Add the milk mixture and vanilla andbeat some more until it looks like whipped cream. Taste and see if you need to add icing sugar. If you want it to be thicker than add more icing sugar as well.

I put it in a ziploc bag and cut a whole at the end to pipe on the cupcakes. This makes more icing than you need for 12 cupcakes.

Erna

Low-cal Banana Cupcakes

I had a couple of rotten bananas sitting on the counter so I decided to make some cupcakes with them. These are pretty low in calories and still taste really good. The recipe needs no milk, the dough is actually quite thick but they turned out really tasty. The original recipe (from dlife.com) stated that it made 12 cupcakes at 198 calories each. But I like to make my cupcakes in the medium liners, thus making 20 at only 120 calories each! Of course the frosting adds extra.

Banana Cupcakes

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups white flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup mashed banana (the riper they are the better they will taste, I let them get really black)

In a large mixing bowl cream the margarine and sugar, add eggs and vanilla.

In a seperate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients and bananas to the creamed egg mixture. Mix well.

Place medium sized paper cupcake liners in muffin tin. Fill cups 2/3 full of batter.

Bake at 350 F until golden brown and place on rack to cool.

Butter icing:

2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup margarine

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Beat together until smooth.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tina

Baked BBQ Chicken

My parents came out for the weekend and my dad doesn't eat a lot of beef or high fat foods. So I knew I would make chicken for him. I decided to doubled the recipe because my sister was over with her family and before you know it you have to make food for 10 people. I paired it with basmatti rice which is one of my favorite rices. I love the scent and fluffiness and it pairs well with a lot of different foods. Have it all with a green salad on the side and you have a delicious and easy meal for a larger crowd.

Chicken Pieces, about 3-4 lbs.

1 pkg. onion soup mix

1/3 cup margarine

2 tsp. prepared mustard

1 1/2 cup water

1/3 cup vinegar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

salt and pepper

Mix sauce together and simmer for 15 minutes. Place chicken in a roasting pan and pour sauce over chicken and bake for 2-3 hours @ 350F.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

I found this recipe a year ago on All Recipes but have since then changed it enough that I wouldn't even call it the same recipe, lol. It's not a crispy cookie so if you don't like cake-like cookies then this is not the recipe for you. One of the things I added to this recipe is the Kashi cereal, I love this cereal and figured this would help make it a healthy cookie. This is a big recipe but I find it's great to freeze and take them out as needed.

Oatmeal Cookies with Kashi

1 stick Margarine
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup milk, add 1 tsp vinegar and let it sit for a minute
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup kashi cereal (I use puffed kashi cereal)

Beat together the margarine, applesauce, eggs and sugar. Stir in milk and vanilla. In a seperate bowl combine the flour, bkg soda, bkg powder, salt & cinnamon. Stir this into the creamed mixture. Finally stir in the oats, chocolate & kashi cereal.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
This makes about 6 1/2 dozen cookies that are only 67 calories each! You could add more chocolate chips to the cookies but of course your calorie count would be a little higher. I like to add just enough to give you a taste of chocolate.

ETA: If you want to ruin plain oatmeal cookies forever for your tastebuds, try dipping your oatmeal cookies in whipped nutriwhip or whipping cream! Mmmmmmm, oatmeal cookies have never tasted better!

Thanks for stopping by.
Tina

Applesauce Nut Bread

I love to look at other blogs and see all the yummy things I want to create. I found this recipe on Baking Bites. It lookes so scrumptious I knew I had to try it. I actually had all the ingredients on hand, which is a rare commodity. Well almost all the ingredients, I was short 1/2 cup of applesauce and I didn't have freshly ground cumin. I made do with what I had and it still tasted good. I could of probably baked it a little less then the hour that I had it in for. Next time.

Applesauce Nut Bread

6 tbsp butter, room temperature ( I used margarine)

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts

coarse sugar, for topping

No need to preheat the oven, just lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the applesauce.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

By hand, or with a mixer on low speed, beat flour mixture into applesauce mixture.

Stir in toasted nuts and pour into prepared pan.

Top with coarse sugar, if desired.

Place pan in a cold oven and turn oven on to 350F.

Bake for 80-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top of the loaf is browned.

Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf.

Enjoy,

Erna

Non Traditional Somma Borscht

I love having a good soup during the week for lunch. You get a low calorie but good meal to hold you over until dinner. I try to make soup at least once a weak that me and the kids eat for 2-3 days for lunch, it sure beats trying to come up with a meal everyday.

Most mennonites I know make somma borscht, but most mennonites make it completely different from one person to the next, lol. Some would say that my recipe isn't even a Somma Borscht but either way, I like it. My recipe is simple, very fast, and not the traditional kind, we really like the taste. This recipe asks for Mennonite sausage but if you can't find it in the stores you could use farmer sausage or amish sausage. Any traditonal pork sausage would do. You could also use a ham hock and simmer this for a few hours to get your stock. I prefer the sausage because of time.


Somma Borscht
12" link Mennonite sausage cut into bite size pieces
7-8 cups water
Boil this together for 15-20 minutes

Add:
8 medium potatoes ( I use russet)
1 medium onion
1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 tbsp dried dill
2 tsp salt

Gently boil this until the potatoes are tender. I prefer to slightly over cook my potatoes so that the soup becomes a little thick. To finish the soup add about 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup milk. Enjoy!

I used to use only cream but I try to save on calories where possible so this is something you could adjust to taste. This soup can be adjusted in many ways according to how you prefer your soup. Add more potatoes, or less, add more parsely and dill, or less... you get the picture.

Tina