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In , on February 19, 2016 with 2 Comments

Old-Fashioned Hot Water Chocolate Cake

This was my Great-Aunt Lib’s chocolate cake recipe, and for every birthday, my mom would make this delicious cake – unless I asked her to make a red velvet. It’s always been a toss-up between these two types recipes for me – I love them both equally. But sometimes you just want good, old-fashioned chocolate flavor, and this recipe fits the bill.

I’ve made this cake so many times over the years that my poor recipe card is stained and extremely faded, so I decided it was time to bring this recipe into the digital age so that I could have a copy that I could actually read 🙂 It’s a good thing I know this recipe by heart, because if I didn’t, there’s no way I could read this well-used recipe card.


I always frost this cake with my grandmother’s butter frosting. Again, I have an old recipe card that has seen better days. Now I’ve got an online copy to refer to whenever I need it, and you can enjoy these favorite family recipes.

 

hot water chocolate cake

 

Aunt Lib’s Hot Water Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup butter (not margarine), softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup boiling water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon good vanilla

 

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until combined. Add in the eggs, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Add the milk. Mix just until the mixture looks curdled.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, blending slowly and thoroughly. Add the boiling water and the vanilla, and mix until smooth; no more.

Pour cake batter into a buttered baking pan (9 x 13-inch square or 2 round cake pans). Run a spatula through the batter to help eliminate any air bubbles.

Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool before frosting.

 




People usually fall into three categories when it comes to frosting: none at all, middle of the road and give me the bowl of frosting and skip the cake. My brother-in-law is the last type – the more frosting you can pile on top of a cake, the better he likes it. Me, I’m a middle of the road person. I like just enough where I can taste it, but I still want to taste the cake.

My grandmother made a butter frosting, and this is the only frosting recipe I like to use on my hot water chocolate cake. They just go together because that’s how my family has always done it. I’ve tried different frosting recipes with this cake, but I always come back to this one. Grandma knew best.

 

Grandma Decker’s Creamy Butter Frosting

1/3 cup butter (not margarine), softened

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg white, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons good vanilla

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the salt. Gradually mix in 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Add the egg white and vanilla, and beat mixture until smooth. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, adding by 1/2 cup at a time, beating until smooth and creamy. If frosting becomes to thick, you can add 1/2 teaspoon water until it becomes creamy.

Chocolate Variation: Using the above frosting recipe, reduce the powdered sugar to 2 cups, and add in 1/2 cup good cocoa powder when you add the sugar to the recipe.

 

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In , on February 6, 2016 with No Comments

Peach Crumb Pie

I’m a fan of easy-peasy recipes, and when you can your own fruits and vegetables during season, it’s a snap when you want to throw together dinner or desserts if you have a pantry full of goodies.

The other day I made a Caramel Apple Crumb Pie with a quart of the caramel apple pie filling I put up this summer. The kids wanted pie again today, so I decided to use a quart of the peach pie filling I made this summer and use the same crumb recipe. Easy peasy.

We have 4 peach trees in the backyard, and they produce the small, golf ball-sized peaches that are super sweet and full of peach flavor, not like the peaches you can find in the grocery store. Making the filling is labor intensive in the fact that you have to peel all these little peaches (as opposed to the nice big Colorado peaches I use to can peaches by themselves). I threaten the boys each summer when I do pie filling, as they’ve been known to just grab a quart of pie filling off the pantry shelves and sit down to eat it – and then I have nothing left for pies or cobblers. True story – they ran me out of apple pie filling one year as they loved it just for a snack. I hid these peach pie filling quarts this year so that I would have a few of the precious jars for when I wanted to use them, not when their stomaches wanted something sweet 🙂 This pie can be a bit messy, so feel free to add 2 tablespoons of instant tapioca to your pie filling if you prefer so the filling doesn’t fall apart when you dish out the slices.

 

peach crumb pie half

 

Peach Crumb Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

1 quart peach pie filling

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour pie filling into unbaked pie shell. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cut in the butter using a pastry knife or fork until you get small crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over top of the peaches.

Bake the pie for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until you see the filling bubbling. Cool before cutting, and serve with either whipped cream or ice cream.

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In , on January 31, 2016 with No Comments

German Chocolate Silk Pie

I’ve been on a pie kick lately. The other night I made a caramel apple crumb pie, but today I was craving chocolate. So, what’s a girl to do but make a chocolate cream pie.

I love French silk chocolate pie, but those recipes usually use a bittersweet or semisweet chocolate in the filling. I had German chocolate on hand, so that’s what I used. It doesn’t matter to me (or my sons) as long as it’s chocolate!

 

german chocolate silk pie slice

 

German Chocolate Silk Pie

1 prebaked 9-inch pie shell

4 ounces German chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon good vanilla

4 eggs, at room temperature

3 cups whipped cream

1 chocolate bar (good quality), roughly chopped or shaved

 

Heat chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second intervals, stirring between, until completely melted. Set aside, and let cool for about 10 minutes until it is room temperature.

 

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cooled melted chocolate to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat the mixture on medium-low speed until completely combined. Add the vanilla, and mix until combined.

 

Switch to the whisk attachment of the mixer. Add one egg, and beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. Repeat with the remaining eggs, beating the mixture for 5 minutes after the addition of each egg. Pour the filling into a baked pie shell, using a spatula to evenly spread out the filling. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until chilled before serving.

 

german chocolate silk pie whole

 

Top with whipped cream, and garnish with chocolate shavings.

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In , on January 30, 2016 with No Comments

Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

My oldest son can talk me into making just about anything sweet. One night after dinner, when I hadn’t made anything for dessert, he gave me those “puppy dog eyes” and begged me to make a pie. He knows I hate making pie crust, even though I love pie, and I just got tired of looking at those eyes. He won, of course, and he had pie in a few short hours.

During the summer and fall, I canned both peach and apple pie filling, as our fruit trees were loaded this year. I hadn’t made an apple pie yet with the filling, so this was the perfect opportunity. I did notice when taking the pie filling out of the canner that the ClearJel didn’t make the filling as thick as I’d hoped, so I made sure I had instant tapioca on hand to add to the filling. I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer (thanks Hy-Vee!), so throwing together a pie was pretty quick. Again, since I hate to make pie crust, I decided to use a crumb topping instead of doing the traditional top crust. All in all, it turned out pretty well, and my son savored his victory.

 

caramel apple pie whole

 

caramel apple pie half

 

Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (homemade or store bought is fine)

1 quart caramel apple pie filling

2 tablespoons instant tapioca

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, combine the apple pie filling and the instant tapioca until thoroughly mixed. Pour the caramel apple pie filling into the unbaked pie crust. Set aside.

 

In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cut in the butter using a pastry knife or fork until you get small crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over top of the apples.

 

Bake the pie for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until you see the filling bubbling. Cool before cutting, and serve with either whipped cream or ice cream.

 

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In , on January 25, 2016 with No Comments

Banana Cream Pie

My family loves pie, and my husband’s favorite one is probably banana cream pie. For all the pies I’ve made over the years, I’d never made one until this past weekend. I’m not a huge banana fan, but I love cream pies, so I decided I’d try to make one.

The concept is really simple. You blind-bake the pie crust, slice up some bananas, and make a custard filling. Nothing hard about it at all. Most of the banana cream pie recipes you find on the Interest and in cookbooks are basically the same and use the same ingredients. For the custard filling, you can use whole milk or 2% milk, but I’d avoid using skim or fat-free milk. You’re making cream pie, for heaven sake! For mine, I used 2 cups of 2% milk and 1 cup of cream.

 

banana cream pie

 

banana cream pie half

Banana Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (either homemade or store bought)

3 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)

1 teaspoon good vanilla

4 to 6 bananas (depending on size), sliced

Whipped cream

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To blind-bake your unbaked pie shell, add a layer of parchment paper to the pie shell, and add dry beans or a pie weight to weigh down the parchment paper. Bake the pie shell for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and remove the parchment paper and beans. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the pie crust is nicely brown. Remove from the oven, and let it cool completely.

In a large skillet over low-to-medium heat, scald the milk. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir mixture into the scaled milk. Over medium heat, cook the milk mixture, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Temper the eggs by adding about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. When combined, add the egg mixture to the pan of the hot milk mixture, and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes more, or until the mixture is thick and custard-like.

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter and the vanilla. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Slice the bananas into the bottom of the baked and cooled pie crust. Top the bananas with the slightly cooled custard, making sure to smooth the filling over all the bananas. Refrigerate for several hours to allow the filling to set.

To serve, slice the pie, and top each slice with whipped cream.

 

banana cream pie slice 2

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In , on December 20, 2015 with No Comments

Bacardi Rum Cake

There are lots of boozy cake recipes on the Internet, and this particular one may be out there too. I got this recipe over 30 years ago from a family friend, and it’s been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. This cake is super easy to make, especially since it starts with a cake mix. Be sure to make the glaze for the cake – it makes all the difference in the world.

rum cake 2

rum cake slice

Bacardi Rum Cake

For the Cake:
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 package yellow cake mix (without pudding)
1 3 3/4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark Bacardi rum

For the Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons dark rum

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Add 1 cup of chopped pecans to the bottom of the Bundt pan, making sure they’re evenly distributed.

Mix all the cake ingredients together. Pour batter into the Bundt pan, covering the nuts. Bake for 1 hour, or until the cake tests done.

After removing the cake from the oven, let it cool in the pan.

While the cake cools, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the water and the sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Stir in the rum.

Invert the cake onto a serving plate. Prick the top of the cake with a toothpick. Liberally spoon the glaze over the top of the cake so that it soaks into the cake.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

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In , on December 8, 2015 with No Comments

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Everyone knows it’s not Thanksgiving dinner without dessert. In my house, my sons and husband love pumpkin pie, but I’m not the biggest fan. Maybe I ate too much of it as a kid. I do, however, love cheesecake, so when I’m asked to make a pumpkin dessert, I generally make pumpkin cheesecake. You still get the pumpkin flavor – but I get the cheesecake part I love.

pumpkin cheesecake 2

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
2 cups crushed graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
3 packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 carton ricotta cheese
1 pint sour cream
1 can pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon good vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl, and mix thoroughly. Press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Cover the bottom and sides of the springform pan with aluminum foil. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with the sugar. Mix on high until well combined and fluffy in appearance. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the ricotta cheese, sour cream, pumpkin puree and the vanilla. Turn the mixer on low speed at first, gradually increasing the speed to high as you incorporate all the ingredients together. Mix until everything is well combined and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. Place the springform pan inside a larger pan (I use a roasting pan). Add hot water to the larger pan until the water level is about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake cheesecake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. After an hour, turn off the heat, but let the cheesecake sit in the oven for an additional hour.

Remove from the oven, and cool before refrigerating. For best results, let the cheesecake cool in the refrigerator at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.

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In , on November 2, 2015 with No Comments

Dark Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

Years ago I sold cheesecakes for holidays and special occasions, and I even catered a couple of weddings where the bride didn’t want a traditional wedding cake. I’ve tried many different cheesecake recipes, and I have lots of favorites. I haven’t made cheesecake for a while, and my sons were complaining about that fact, so for my birthday I decided it was time to try my hand at baking another cheesecake.

I usually opt for a traditional New York-style cheesecake, but I was hungry for chocolate, so I used my basic cheesecake recipe and tweaked it a bit to incorporate both dark chocolate and Kahlua. I used a basic graham cracker crust, but you could make this a decadent chocolate cheesecake by using chocolate cookie wafers in place of the graham crackers. As cheesecake isn’t a low-calorie dessert, and it’s a treat I don’t make all the time anyway, I don’t worry about using low-cal this or that for my ingredients. I use full-fat cream cheese, real butter, good Mexican vanilla and the best chocolate I can find. I used Ghirardelli intense dark chocolate (86% cacao) for this recipe.

The overall texture of this cheesecake is light and fluffy, not heavy as some cheesecakes can be. Neither the chocolate nor the coffee flavors are overpowering but balance nicely with each other. The boys said this recipe was a definite keeper.

chocolate kahlua cheesecake 2

Dark Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

For the Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

For the Filling:
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 ounces good dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup Kahlua liqueur, or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 pint sour cream

Prepare a 9- or 10-inch springform pan by wrapping the bottom and sides of the pan with foil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter. Mix until well combined. Press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared springform pan. Set aside.

cheesecake crust (1)

For the filling, whip the room-temperature cream cheese until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the 1 1/2 cups sugar, and mix until well combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the vanilla, melted 1/2 cup butter, melted chocolate and Kahlua. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, then mix well on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream to the batter, and mix until well combined, about another 2 minutes. The batter should be creamy and fluffy.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the crust in the springform pan. Place the springform pan inside a larger roasting pan or cake pan (I use my large lasagna pan). Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it is halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

cheesecake in water bath (1)

Bake the cheesecake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. After 1 hour, turn off the oven, and leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional hour. This helps keep the top from cracking.

Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the refrigerator before serving (at least 8 hours or overnight). Top with your choice of fruit toppings (raspberry is awesome) or freshly whipped cream if desired.

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In , on October 25, 2015 with No Comments

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

I love to eat just about any kind of pie, but I don’t often make them, mostly because I hate making pie crust. I can do it, but it’s not my speciality. Ask me to make a pie filling (or cake or cheesecake), and I can do that no problem. My husband and our oldest son are whizzes at making pie crusts, so when I can sweet talk them into making the crust, I’ll do the filling.

Today we wanted pie, and I cheated and used store-bought crust. It’s okay – really. It just won’t have the nice flaky outcome like Grandma makes. I won’t even say crust like my mom makes, because she has the same pie crust problem I have (sorry Mom!). She’s a great cook and baker, but pie crust just isn’t her thing either.

One of our favorites is sour cream raisin pie, so I thought I’d share our recipe with you. You can top the pie with meringue if you wish, but I like this raisin pie with fresh whipped cream on top. This makes a 10-inch pie. I have large glass pie pans, and this may be too much filling for a normal-sized 9-inch pan.
raisin cream pie (1)

 

raisin cream pie slice (1)

If you promise not to laugh too hard at this picture, which shows the obvious store-bought pie crust, here’s what it looks like just out of the oven. It’s not the prettiest pie, but boy does it taste good 🙂
sour cream raisin pie

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

Pastry for 1 pie crust, chilled
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups raisins

Place chilled pastry in a 10-inch pie pan. Beat eggs lightly, then stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in vanilla, sour cream and raisins, and mix until well combined.

Pour mixture into the chilled pastry shell. Bake in a 450 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the pie tests clean in the center.

Let cool to room temperature, or chill for a few hours. Serve with whipped cream.

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In , on October 2, 2015 with No Comments

Kirschenmichel – German Cherry Cake

Dessert for our Oktoberfest feast was a traditional German cherry cake. While I remember my maternal grandmother making many different German treats, I don’t recall her making this. I found this recipe for kirschenmichel on Pinterest at My Kitchen in the Rockies blog, and I thought it would be a tasty ending to our German-style meal. I was right – it’s delicious! If you’re looking for a traditional sweet-style cake, this isn’t it, as it more resembles cornbread with just a hint of sweetness from the cherries.

 

 

Kirschenmichel – German Cherry Cake

1 1/2 pounds fresh sweet dark cherries, pitted
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/8 cup cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 10-inch round springform pan; set aside.

Sift the flour, cornmeal and baking powder. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar. Mix on medium speed for 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the vanilla and almond extracts, and mix well.

When the mixer on low speed, slowly alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in the cherries by hand with a spatula.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared springform pan, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the cake tests clean in the center.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

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