Berry Upside-down Cake (with zucchini)

Let me just preface this with the fact that I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't put food where it doesn't belong. Pepper shouldn't be in cookies, cinnamon and sweet things don't belong in stew and raisins don't belong anywhere. That being my opinion I don't eat zucchini bread... ever. My mom sent me a recipe to use all my yellow zucchini I have in my garden, a CAKE recipe! Gross! But I tried it. It originally called for yellow squash but I didn't grow any this year. I made it and then I tweaked it and made it a few more times and loved it more each time. The last time I made it I was attempting to find a way to get the jam to stay on the inside of the cake. Then, when I dropped the experiment version of the cake on the open oven door and watched batter and jam run into the bottom of the oven, all over the door and through the hinge onto my kitchen floor I thought, "Screw it, let them conduct their own experiments! I'm done!" I renamed the recipe and updated it with all my tweaks. It is the moistest, tastiest amazing yellow cake I've ever had. I love it! I've eaten 3 of them almost entirely on my own justifying it each time by saying out loud to myself, "It's ok, it has zucchini in it!"

Berry Upside-down Cake

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 C. Pureed Summer Yellow Squash or Yellow Zucchini
1/2 C. Water
2 T. Vegetable Oil
3 Large Eggs
3/4 C. Sour Cream
Boysenberry Spreadable Fruit Jam
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut up squash or zucchini into chunks and puree in a food processor. It can be a little more than a cup. Mine always is. Add the water and puree some more.
3. In a mixer, combine the cake mix, squash puree, oil, eggs, and sour cream. Beat on low till combined. Beat in Medium for 1-2 minutes.
4. Spray 2 round 8 or 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray. Spray it thicker than you normally do. (or one pan and 12 cupcakes. Also 8 inch pans will make a thicker moister cake)
5. Add half the batter to the pan, then drop the jam all over the entire cake in small spoonfuls. The more spread out it is the more consistent looking it will be when you turn it out. I used about 2/3 of a smaller jar of jam.
6. Cover with the rest of the batter and bake at 350. 20-25 minutes for cupcakes and 25-30 for round cake or till it's light brown on top and springs back when you touch it.
7. Let it cool in the pan for about 15-25 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the pan and turn it upside down onto a plate. Don't try to force it out or the jam will stick to the pan. Let it sit there upside-down till it drops out. Keep it covered or it dries out fast and gets really hard.

Almond Cookies

I concocted this recipe on my own. I loved it!!! Hopefully you'll like it, too. I may have just been desperate for cookies that day so anything would have tasted good....

3/4 c butter

2 1/4 c flour

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1/2 t vanilla

3/4 t almond extract

Just under 1/2 t baking soda

A little extra sugar for rolling

Sliced almonds

Softer butter with mixer. Add half of flour, 1 1/2 c sugar, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and baking soda. Beat until combined and then add remaining flour. Cover and chill in freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Shape into balls and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press about 4-8 sliced almond into top of cookie dough. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Skillet Baked Ziti

This is the recipe I made for dinner at the cabin. Even though it calls for a lot, I still prefer to add a little extra garlic... as you can all probably remember. Enjoy!

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt & fresh ground pepper
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
12 ounces ziti pasta(3 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (I like a little more)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaf, minced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 475.

2. Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet and saute over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. (If your skillet is not ovensafe, transfer the pasta mixture into a shallow 2-quart casserole dish before sprinkling with the cheese and baking).

3. Add crushed tomatoes, water, ziti and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

4. Cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as needed to maintain vigorous simmer, until ziti is almost tender, 15-18 minutes.

5. Stir in cream, Parmesan, and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over ziti. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes. Serve.

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies

Okay, I admit I didn't invent this recipe- I got it from the oatmeal canister. I just made a few minor adjustments. It's the cinnamon and chocolate chips together that makes this great!

1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt (optional)
2 1/2 c Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 1/2 c chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and chocolate chips; mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen. Bar Cookies: Bake 30 to 35 minutes in ungreased 13x9-inch metal baking pan.

Magnolia's Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns

I made these this past weekend at the Tingey family reunion- I thought they tasted dang good! Enjoy!

P.S. In case you've been wondering- Magnolia is a small bakery in New York City run by a woman named Allysa Torey. She must be a baking genius as all her recipes are pretty amazing!

Makes 9 buns (I used the smaller muffin tins and each batch will make 14-16 muffins.)

BUN:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (one 8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
Garnish
Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and lightly flour 9 large muffin cups.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Drop 3 small dollops (about a teaspoonful each) of raspberry preserves onto the top of each bun and, using the tip of a sharp knife, swirl the preserves into the batter, forming a decorative pattern. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the bun comes out clean.
Allow the buns to cool for about 30 minutes before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar and serving.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe come from the Amish Cookbook (although I got it from a mission companion). It combines three of my favorite things found in cookies: peanut butter, chocolate, and oatmeal. When I saw the recipe I knew I would love them and have now been loving them for about 4 years!!!

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

1 c sugar
2/3 c brown sugar
1 c margarine, softened
1 c peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 c quick oats
2 tsp soda
½ tsp salt
1 (12 oz) pkg. chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Beat sugars, margarine, peanut butter, vanilla, and eggs until well blended. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chips. Drop by teaspoonful 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet.

Chocolate Cake "A Al Francaise"

Some friends wanted this recipe so I am posting it here. My friend Elodie makes this and it is wonderful~ as is everything she bakes!

8 oz butter
6 eggs, separated
1 Tbls flour
1 c sugar
5 Tbls cocoa "perfect for baking" 100% cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" cake tin with wax paper. Melt the butter over a small flame. Beat the egg yolks and sugar. Fold in the chocolate, butter and flour. Beat the egg whites until frothy. Fold in softly the beaten egg whites.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Gooey Apple Cake

This recipe has become on of my favorites because it's a perfect one when you want a Sunday dessert, but don't really have any ingredients to make something yummy. I've had to improvise on a few things and love it everytime. (ps-- it is also very similar to my mom’s apple cake that I put in the family cookbook, but is a little easier and serves a smaller crowd.)

8 T. butter, divided
1 ½ c. sugar, divided
1 egg
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
2 large apples, cored and chopped (I've always only had one apple in my fridge whenever I want to make this and it's still good)
1 c. walnuts (I don't keep these on hand that often, so they get left out)
2 tsp. cornstarch
¼ c. evaporated milk (I think it tastes great with just plain milk)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-in. square pan with cooking spray. Cream 5 T. of butter and 1 c. sugar. Add egg and beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, apples, and walnuts. Batter will be stiff. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake about 35 minutes.

Combine remaining 3 T. butter, ½ c. sugar, cornstarch, and evaporated milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour over hot cake. Serve warm.

Cheater Chicken and Pesto Rolls

I made these last night and they were really yummy... a definite recipe worthy of posting. I was scrambling for something for dinner and had everything except buttermilk biscuits, so I took the long approach and made some homemade buttermilk biscuits and everything combined was dang good!

2 tubes of buttermilk biscuits (10 count each)
3 Tbs of your favorite pesto (I went heavy on this)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded (I just used a frozen chicken breast and boiled it in a little lemon pepper and lawrys)
3 Tbs roasted red peppers, chopped
2 Tbs Black olives, chopped
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Marinara sauce
Alfredo Sauce

Lay biscuits on floured countertop to form a 9 x 11-in rectangle (4 biscuits down, 5 across.) Using flour as needed, press biscuits together well.

Blend pesto into the cream cheese and spread mixture over entire surface of dough. Distribute chicken evenly over pesto cream. Sprinkle chopped peppers and olives over chicken. Carefully roll up from the long end and gently compact as you go. With seam side down, slice into 12 equal sections (it's easier to do this with a piece of floss rather than a knife). Place slices on their sides into greased 10-inch round pan or cast iron skillet. Drizzle lightly with alfredo sauce and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake 375 deg. For 20-25min. Serve with warm marinara for dipping.

Looking For Recipes!!

I am looking for recipes where one doesn't have to use the oven. With this summer heat and cost of running the AC we need some new ideas. Julie, you might have a few. I will also research some on line and post when found. Thanks!