Sweet and Chewy Coconut Chex Mix

I don't know if you've noticed, but the Holidays are upon us. I don't know how 2009 snuck by so quickly, but Thanksgiving is a few short days away, and Christmas comes less than a month later! While we aren't exactly social swingers, we do have quite a few holiday get-togethers to attend this year, and what's the one thing all holiday gatherings have in common? Food. And when you also throw in treats for neighbors, friends, teachers, etc, that's a lots of festive food to tackle. This recipe is the perfect answer to the old "What Should I Make?" moment. It has just a few ingredients (7 to be exact), takes just a few minutes to make, and feeds an army! And it is so delicious! I didn't even make this batch for us. I made it for a friend, yet I have already eaten several handfuls! It is sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy all at the same time. The perfect holiday party food!

Sweet and Chewy Coconut Chex Mix
To give you an idea of just how much this makes, I divided mine between two cookie sheets covered with waxed paper to cool, and I considered using a third because it was piled so high. Seriously, a ton!

1 14-oz box Corn Chex
1 16-oz box Golden Grahams
3 cups natural, unsweetened coconut shreds
2 11.5-oz cans mixed nuts
3 sticks margarine (DO NOT USE BUTTER)
2 cups sugar
1 16-oz bottle Karo Syrup

In a huge bowl sprayed with lots of Pam, combine cereals, coconut, and nuts. Stir to combine. In a medium sauce pan, melt margarine, then add sugar and Karo Syrup. Bring to a boil and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Pour the hot syrup over the cereal mixture, then stir with a long-handled spoon until the cereal mixture is evenly coated. Spread out onto waxed paper to cool.

Cake Slice Bakers, November 2009: Burnt Sugar Cake

This month's Cake Slice Bakers choice from Nancie McDermott's Southern Cakes was the fabulous Burnt Sugar Cake. Nancy explains in the recipe's introduction that unlike a caramel cake, which is just a yellow cake with caramel frosting, a burnt sugar cake has caramel syrup in both the cake and the frosting. The results are delicious. But I actually have another recipe for burnt sugar cake that I like a lot more. And it makes a single layer. And if you've read this blog recently, you know how I feel about layer cakes these days.

Burnt Sugar Cake
from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

Burnt sugar syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water

Heat the sugar in a large, heavy pot with tall sides (so you don't burn yourself with sputtering caramel) over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the sugar is melted. Carefully add the boiling water. Continue cooking and stirring until the sugar and water are combined to make an amber-colored syrup. Set aside to cool.

Burnt Sugar Cake:
3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the vanilla into the milk. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar at high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl with each addition. Pour in 1/2 cup of burnt sugar syrup and beat well. Add your dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the milk, and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. With each addition, beat just enough to combine. Divide batter evenly between pans, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

Burnt Sugar Frosting:
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup burnt sugar syrup
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 3 Tablespoon milk or evaporated milk

In a large bowl, combine everything but the milk, and beat for 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed. Add milk and continue mixing until frosting is a smooth, spreadable consistency.

Place one layer of the cake top-side down onto a platter. Spread just enough frosting over the top to cover it, then place the second cake layer on top with the top of the cake up. Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: The Toffee that Almost Made It

After a few weeks of being busy, then sick, then busy again, I was excited to jump back into Sweet Melissa Sundays with Butter Toffee Crunch. Unfortunately, I scorched my toffee! The one thing you have to be careful of when making candy, and I did it! In my defense, my really nice candy thermometer from King Arthur Flour seemed to be having a problem; the temperature was stuck at 170 degrees, even as it was burning. I didn't have the heart to try again in time to post for this week. :( But I will try it again closer to Christmas. Thanks to Kaitlin of Kait's Plate for choosing this festive recipe; I'll try not to burn it next time! And if you want to see how the other SMS baker's fared with their toffee, check out the Sweet Melissa Sundays blogroll!

Cinnamon Biscuits: For When You Just Can't Wait

A great man once said, "There is a cinnamon roll for every occasion."

Situation #1: It is just after dinner. You decide you want cinnamon rolls for breakfast in the morning, and you have nothing planned for the rest of the evening other than watching Monday's episode of Gossip Girl on Tivo.

Cinnamon Rolls for the Occasion: Cinnamon Buns from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. They take several hours of prep the night before (although those hours include lots of waiting, so you can catch up on Gossip Girl), and a final rise and bake in the morning. If you have the time, these are delicious, and definitely worth it .

Situation #2: It is just after dinner or just before bed or any time in between. You decide you want cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but you'll be danged if you're going to spend all evening prepping them.

Cinnamon Rolls for the Occasion: Easy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. They take about 5 minutes of prep the night before and bake right away in the morning. Finger-lickin' pull-aparts surrounded by a buttery brown sugar and butterscotch filling. The only downside is you have to have raw, frozen dough blobs on hand. But they are really delicious.

Situation #3: It is morning. Cinnamon rolls sound really good. Or sticky buns. Those work too.

Cinnamon Rolls (or Sticky Buns in this case) for the Occasion: Sticky Buns from The Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. Pecans, raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon tucked between layers of buttery puff pastry and drenched in a caramely sticky sauce. So easy and so delicious. But only if you have puff pastry in your freezer.

Situation #4: It is morning. Cinnamon rolls sound really good. But you didn't think about it until just this minute. And you don't have any special ingredients on hand. Just the usual stuff. But you really want a cinnamon roll. Really.

Cinnamon Rolls for the Occasion: Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits. A delicious cross between a flaky, homemade baking powder biscuit and a cinnamon roll. No yeast, no rising, no waiting. Ready in 30 minutes, start to finish. Really.

Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking pan. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir until just blended. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into a 18x8-inch rectangle. Spread butter over the surface of the dough, leaving one of the long edges butter-free. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the butter, leaving the same long edge free of cinnamon and sugar. Starting at the long edge that does have cinnamon and sugar on it and ending at the clean edge, roll up the dough. Pinch the seam shut. Cut the roll into twelve 1 1/2-inch slices. Arrange the slices in the prepared pan, and bake until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. If you want, you can make a thick glaze out of powdered sugar, milk, and cream cheese to drizzle over the warm biscuits.

*If you don't have buttermilk in your fridge, you can make some by combining 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar with 1 cup of milk, and letting it sit for 5 minutes. But this recipe only calls for 3/4 cup buttermilk, so don't use all of it!

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

Most of the time, my husband and I feel like we are two peas in a pod. One of the things that we do not see eye to eye on is pumpkin. My husband has a May birthday. When I ask him what he wants me to make him for dessert on his birthday, he always responds with, "Pumpkin Dump." The name is gross; the fact that he wants a pumpkin dessert in May is even grosser! On Father's Day, he requests pumpkin pie. The truth is, he would eat pumpkin desserts any day of the year and be completely happy. I do not feel that way about the large, orange orb. There are pumpkin desserts that I love: pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting; pumpkin chocolate chip cookies; pumpkin bread. But I really only want to eat them from late September to the end of the year. And there are some pumpkin desserts I can't stomach at all, like pumpkin pie. I know it is an American Classic, but the combination of the strong pumpkin flavor and the squishy, custardy texture is just not appealing to me. I will eat it with lots and lots of whipped cream, but one piece will fill my pumpkin pie quota for the entire year!
Apples, on the other hand, are just divine! I love any and all apple desserts. I don't dream of chomping on an apple all by itself, but I will eat apples sliced and dipped in peanut butter, caramel, vanilla yogurt, chocolate, white chocolate, some delicious dip my aunt makes, or any combination of the above listed dips. I will eat apples baked into pancakes, crepes, muffins, breads, spice cakes, pandowdies, pies, crumbles, or cobblers. I will eat them topped with streusel, powdered sugar, cinnamon, cream cheese frosting, or nothing at all.
So when you take a pumpkin cake and top it with lightly spiced, sauteed apples and a delicious, buttery streusel, it makes something that I crave all year...even in May!


Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake
from Bon Appetit, October 2001

for the apples:
3 Tablespoons butter
4 cups peeled, diced Granny Smith apples
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and cook until just golden, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon and sugar and continue cooking until apples are tender and golden, about 3 more minutes. Set aside to cool.

for the cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt; mix until it resembles coarse meal. Reserve 2/3 cup for the streusel topping. To the rest, add all of the remaining ingredients except the eggs and beat until just smooth. Add the eggs and mix until combined. Pour into the prepared pan, top with cooled apples, then reserved crumb topping. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool before serving. Best served the day it is made. Seriously.

Halloween Stew

Halloween 2005
10 points to whoever can guess who we were for Halloween that year. And FYI, that baby was born 6 days later, so I don't usually look that bad!

One of my favorite dishes of all time is Halloween Stew. I've written a few previous posts about how tradition-loving my mom is. I'm pretty sure she didn't get her love of traditions out of thin air. Every Halloween of her entire childhood, she ate Halloween Stew for dinner, made by Nana. Every Halloween of my entire childhood, I ate Halloween Stew for dinner, made by my mom. And every Halloween so far of my girls' childhoods, I've made Halloween Stew for them to eat. It is delicious, filling, and hearty, and we only make it on Halloween, which makes it all the more wonderful! I don't have any pictures, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't post this recipe in time for others to possibly try it. So if you don't have a traditional Halloween meal, give Halloween Stew a try!

Halloween 2006

Halloween Stew
from my Nana

Halloween 2007

5 Tablespoons pearl barley
heaping 2/3 cup split peas
2/3 cup lentils
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
lots of water
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey
5-6 cups sliced carrots
5-6 cups diced red potatoes
brown gravy mix
salt and pepper

Halloween 2008

Rinse and pick over the split peas and lentils to make sure there aren't any rocks hiding in there. Boil the barley, split peas, lentils, and onion in 6 cups of water until legumes are tender. Meanwhile, brown and drain the ground beef. Sprinkle the ground beef with about 2 teaspoons of brown gravy mix and stir until coated. Add ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and 4 more cups of water to the legumes and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add more gravy mix, salt, and pepper to taste. If it seems too thick, add more water. If it seems too thin, add more gravy mix. Remember, this is a stew, so it should be thicker than a soup without being gelatinous or gloopy!

Halloween 2009

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Devil's Food Cupcakes

I have inherited my mother's love of celebrations. Birthdays were always a huge deal in our family when I was growing up. We started the day with a new outfit and breakfast of our choice (we usually chose Toaster Strudel) and ended it with banners, cake, candles, and presents galore. Holidays both big and small always got the star treatment. St. Patty's Day, for example, meant that we could have Lucky Charms for breakfast, absolutely had to wear green, and ate our traditional Irish Fry. We even, on occasion, got little gift bags full of green and/or Irish-themed goodies (ask me about the notorious Irish Spring incident sometime!). And the really special holidays--Halloween and Christmas, to be exact--even got extra days of fun thrown in.

Every October 1st and December 1st of my entire life has been celebrated with a special party to kick off the holiday month (and we actually weren't allowed to celebrate until this party, which made it all the more exciting). When I was growing up, these shindigs involved eating holiday food, distributing, making, and putting up holiday decorations, and dancing around the holiday pillowcases. What was that last part, you say? You mean you don't dance around the holiday pillowcases in your family? Well then...When I was very young, my mom had someone make Halloween pillowcases and Christmas pillowcases for all of us. Our Christmas pillowcases were actually assigned to us, but the Halloween ones changed owners every year, and my mom decided who got which pillowcase by laying them on the floor, covering them with a tablecloth, and making us dance around them while she sang holiday songs. When she hollered, "Stop!" we threw aside the tablecloth and laughed with childish delight at whichever pillowcase we got. Unless you were unlucky enough to get the candy corn pillowcase. I don't know what that poor pillowcase ever did to us, but we universally hated it. Whoever got it each year was the butt of jokes for the rest of the evening!

Anyway, to make a long story short, this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe was supposed to be Devil's Food Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting, but I'm on vacation, so we'll have to settle for the Devil's Food Cupcakes that I made for our annual October 1st Party this year! This cake recipe actually appears three times in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book--once as Devil's Food Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting, once as Brooklyn Brownout Cake, and once as Chocolate Malted Layer Cake. Since it pops up so many times, you have to assume that it is delicious. And it is! Rich, moist, and chocolatey. And it is pretty easy to put together (i.e. it doesn't call for any whipped egg whites, which is always a good thing if you ask me!). The Brooklyn Brownout Cake version is scaled down a tiny bit, so I used it to make almost exactly 24 cupcakes (just a tiny bit of batter left over). I can't remember how long I had to bake them, but I'm guessing I started at 20 minutes and then checked them every few minutes until they were done. The frosting I made was just a standard vanilla frosting with butter, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. They turned out great, and actually got better on day 2!

Many thanks to Holly of Phe/mom/enon for choosing this delicious recipe; I hope to get around to the peanut butter frosting sometime! You can find the recipe on Holly's blog by clicking here.