Old fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

Today I am bringing you my familys all-time favorite pie! Yay pie! The other day I was going over our Thanksgiving menu with my husband and he said "yea yea yea but what about the pie"? We all became big fans of this pie when his grandmother (RIP Memaw) would make it for the holidays. She would literally make everyones favorite pie. If that meant there were 9 different kinds of pie then so be it. We loved bringing home the leftovers. Boy but that woman could cook. We always just loved the coconut (we would taste the others just to make sure, it was only right-ha!). You start out with a baked pie shell just like this one here-

Mix your sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan, gradually add your 3 c. milk
Stir constantly...
Keep on going....til it thickens and boils for one minute.
Stir half of hot mixture into 3 slightly beaten egg yolks.


Just like this....

Then put it all back in the saucepan and cook another minute. Add all but 3 tablespoons coconut and vanilla and mix well.

Pour into your baked shell.

Now for the meringue.(Dont be nervous. Sometimes it make me nervous).

Beat egg whites, salt and cream of tarter til soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spread this over your filling making sure your touch all sides. Sprinkle that 3 tablespoons coconut you saved over the top. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Old fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

9 inch baked pie shell

2/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp. corn starch

3 c. milk

3 eggs, seperated

1 cup shredded coconut

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Dash of salt

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Gradually add milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Let boil for 1 min. Remove from heat and stir half of the mixture into 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten. Blend it back in with remaining hot mixture. Cook another minute. Remove from heat. Reserve 3 tablespoons coconut mix in the remaining coconut and 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour into pie shell. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and vanilla while beating. Spoon over filling making sure to reach the edges. Sprinkle with reserved coconut. Bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes or until golden.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Fancy Lemon Pound Cake with Glaze!

I cant tell you guys how much I am enjoying my Debbie Macomber Cedar Cove Cookbook. It has the best recipes in it. And so so easy! I didnt take many pics because I got caught up in baking and before I could catch myself I would be moving on to the next step. I served this cake to a group of my friends and it got rave reviews. Lemon flavor is a funny thing, some like it and some dont, there is usually no middle ground. This has all fresh lemon in it so it has the crisp tartness to it and it turned out beautifully. Here goes:This calls for cake flour which seems to give it a smoother texture. And also, sugar, butter, baking powder, fresh lemons, vanilla and salt. Oh and lemon zest. Missing ingredient: eggs. Like I said, I was moving on.
I did take of pic of the lemon zest because I think its pretty. Undetectible in the cake because it will go through the food processor with the sugar.

Look at this texture. It is great with coffee. The glaze gives it just the right sweetness!

Fancy Lemon Pound Cake with Glaze

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup unsalted butter, melted plus extra for greasing the pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set oven rack to middle position. Light butter your 9x5 loafpan. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. In a food processor pulse granulated sugar and zest until combined. Add lemon juice, eggs and vanilla. Process until combined. With machine running add 1 cup melted butter in a steady stream. Transfer to a larger bowl and fold i flour just until combined. Pour batter into prepared batter and smooth top. Bake 60 to 70 minutes until golden and a pick stuck in the center comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack and cool 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.

Glaze:

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup confectioners sugar

In a small bowl whisk all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet

Good Morning All!! I just have to spread my happiness around today! We are at 65 degrees this morning. Yep. Thats 65 degrees. I cannot express to you what this weather does to me. It motivates me, inspires me, it gives me a feeling of renewal, it makes me want to bake fall things, makes me want to get up and move and get something done! It looks like we may get a little rain too! I have my daughter home with me for a couple days. She is 20 years old but still my baby. She called me day before yesterday and told me she was sick. She has an apt. on the other side of town and it was killing me I wasnt there to take care of her. Yesterday my husband and I went and picked her up and took her to the dr. FLU! YUCK! I brought her home with me and have been taking care of her. ( I secretly love this! Not that shes sick, but that I get to baby her).I have made plenty of soup, chili, and baked potatoes the last couple of days but I also made this yummy, yummy cake. I mean this cake is really good. You really need to try it. It has a very rustic feel. I love anything I can bake right in my cast iron skillet. I absolutely love my cast iron pans and after about 20 years they are seasoned just right. Before I get to the recipe I have to tell you that it came from one of my favorite blogs www.thepioneerwoman.com. Even though my photography isnt what it should be-yet (Coming soon-better pics!) you should go over to Ree's site and see her tutorial. Its awesome. These apples in this first pic represent my favorite color. This apple green is so fresh and clean I realized I had three rooms in my house with this as a dominant color. I need to branch out and try other colors but I gravitate toward this color! On to the recipe:

Start by melting butter and sugar in your skillet.

Peel, core and wedge your apples and lay them curved side down til they are gettting soft. Just a little head up: Your house is going to smell wonderful!

Dice up the remaining apple.

Mix up the batter portion of the recipe and spread over the apples. Bake for just about 20-25 minutes and its perfect.

Look at that beautiful cake. It would be so wrong to not have Blue Bell homemade vanilla with this!

Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet

4-5 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges

1 3/4 stick butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more if your like me!)

1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped finely

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a 9 or 10 inch iron skillet melt your butter over low heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar to the pan and stir around, then place apple slices, wedge side down in the butter. Dont pack them too tightly but dont leave overly large gaps. Allow this to cook over med. low heat while you make the batter. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat 1 stick of butter and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Add sours cream and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture until just combined. Gently stir in the chopped apple. Remove from heat and spread batter over the top very gently until batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is golden brown and bubbly. Allow cake to sit in skillet for 5 minutes. May be inverted to a serving platter. This cake is absolutely delicious!

Coming Next: Another Debbie Macomber Cedar Cove Cookbook Recipe!!

Coca Cola Cake

Back during the holidays I bought the People Country Music Issue. It had a really nice article on the favorite dishes of some of the country stars. Faith Hill had listed this cake as a favorite of her husband Tim McGraw. She is a lover of good southern food being a southerner herself. She seems to really appreciate comfort food which is what this blog is all about (mostly!). All of my family and friends who gravitate towards my kitchen (because they all know there is some kind of baked good usually sitting on the counter) absoutely loved this cake.A boatload of ingredients. But really easy to make.

Start with the cake mix, cocoa powder, melted butter, coke, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl.


Mix it up until it is well blended.


Add marshmallows right into batter and fold them in.


Not your average cake batter.


Spread into a prepared pan.


Bake 40-42 minutes. Mine cracked a little on top but its okay, that will all be filled up with frosting.

After you take your cake out of the oven, make your frosting. Start with a stick of butter (of course!)


Stir in cocoa and more cola, mix well, and add confectioners sugar. Mix until ultra creamy. Fold in pecans if you wish.

Try to keep fingers out of it.

Spread all over the warm cake and try not to hurt yourself eating this.
You wont be able to stop.

Coca Cola Cake

1 pkg. white cake mix
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup coke
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups marshmallows.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 pan with vegetable oil. Mix together cake mix, cocoa powder, melted butter, coke, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with and electric mixer for 1 minute. Scrape sides and beat for 2 more minutes. Batter should be mixed well. Fold in the marshmallows and pour into the prepared pan. Bake cake for 40-42 minutes. Remove pan from oven and begin icing.

Icing

1 stick of butter
4 tablespoons unsweeted cocoa powder
1/3 cup coca cola
4 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Place butter in a medium sized sauce pan over low heat. Melt butter, stir in cocoa powder and coke. Let mixture come to a boil, stir constantly and then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners sugar until smooth. Fold in pecans. Pour over cake, spreading to the sides. Cool about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Crumb Cake

Every now and then I just crave a plain old crumbcake. With cinnamon, of course! Not that I dont like fancy desserts because I really do enjoy making and eating those. I like this dessert as a breakfast bread as well. Its especially good with your morning coffee.

This is what you will need for the cake part. Also, some vanilla, not pictured. sigh.

This is what you will need for the topping. There is no need to toast the coconut. It toasts as it cooks.


Start with your butter and sugar.

Add your eggs, one at a time. Beat after each egg.

Add sour cream and vanilla. Mix well.

Add dry ingredients and then mix in with wet ingredients.

Mix it up.

Spread half of this in a 9x13 pan. The odd thing is it will seem like the pan is too big. It cooks up big though.

Meanwhile, mix your topping ingredients up.

Sprinkle half the topping mix over first half of batter. Then top with remaining batter.

Sprinkle remaining topping mix on top. This will still seem like there is not enough batter in the pan but trust me, it is.

See? It turns out good.

Now would be a good time to have a little of that squirt whipped cream to put on top. Too bad we cant buy it because my kids squirt it in their mouths everytime they open the fridge.

Crumb Cake

Cake:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add sour cream and vanilla, mix well. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to cream mixture and mix well. Spread half of batter in 9x13 pan.

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flaked coconut

1/4 cup nuts

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle half of the mixture on the batter in the pan. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with remaining topping. Gently swirl the topping through the batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy.

The beauty of this cake is everyone usually has all these ingredients on hand. Happy Cooking!

WHITE Texas Sheet Cake!

Hi ya'll. I think everyone I know in this area has had a chocolate sheet. If your southern you have probably seen a chocolate sheet cake at every family potluck or wedding and usually have all the ingredients to whip one up at all times. I know I do. I think every southern blog on here has a post about it. I know I do. In fact, its probably the first thing all of us think about when we see the words chocolate cake. I know I do. Okay, enough of that. I must say when I came across this recipe last week I was intrigued to say the least. It was late. Way too late to mess up the kitchen again. I had on my jammies. I couldn't resist. I went and messed up my kitchen anyway. This cake is really very moist, buttery, and tastes sinful (in a really good way). If your not a huge chocolate fan (what??!) you will enjoy this nice change from the traditional sheet cake. It is definately worth trying and worth all the butter!Here are your ingredients that you will need. Except the water.

Melt the butter in with the water and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and whisk in your dry ingredients...

Then your eggs, sour cream, and vanilla....

until smoothish.



Spread in your greased pan. You can already tell this cake is rich and buttery.

When its done, a pick will come out clean and it will look toasty.

While its cooling, brew some coffee and make frosting.
Peets coffee, Major Dickasons Blend is my new passion.

Melt butter in with milk, bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. See that small brown dot?

Thats the vanilla.

After whipping that into a smoothness we only dream about. Add pecans.
Mix well.

Spread over your cake that has been cooling 20 minutes.

AAAHHH. I had mine with coffee. My daughter had the sparkling grape juice.

Sweetness!



White Texas Sheet Cake

1 c. butter

1 c. water

2 c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

2 c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

1 t. vanilla or almond extract

Frosting

Bring butter and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and whisk in flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla or almond extract until smooth. Pour into a 15 x 10 inch greased baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until a pick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Spread with frosting.

Frosting:

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. milk

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 t. vanilla or almond extract

1 c. chopped nuts

Combine butter and milk in a saucepan, cook over low heat until butter melts. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add nuts.

Hope your enjoy!!