Peanut Butter Frosting - Broiled

It was Ryu's birthday Monday and I overheard him talking with Jun about what they both liked. He loves peanuts and said he also liked peanut butter. I had no idea! So, as we were going out for dinner to a Christmas party, I decided to make up the brownie mix I had in the cupboard and find a new frosting to celebrate at snack time. This is in Betty Crocker's Cookbook from 1978. Can that really be 32 years AGO? Anyway, another great NO POWDERED SUGAR recipe!

Broiled Peanut Butter Frosting

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter - softened
1/4 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy is fine)
3 Tbsp. milk
1 cup finely chopped peanuts

Mix brown sugar, butter, peanut butter and milk. stir in peanuts. Spread frosting over warm 13 X 9 inch cake. Set oven control to broil and/or 550F. Broil cake about 5 inches from heat until frosting bubbles and browns slightly, about 3 minutes. (Watch carefully - frosting burns easily.)

I kept the oven door open to keep an eye on things and set the timer. This frosting on brownies (with a few handfuls of chocolate chips thrown into a box mix) was too perfect. The saltiness and the crunchiness of the peanuts was a good contrast to the moist sweetness of the brownie. Mmmmm!

I'm going to make this for my Mom's birthday today!

Easy Chocolate Cake

After failing to make "Never Fail Chocolate Cake" in Jr. High, making cake from "scratch" was never appealing. So, while living in Japan, I only made "that kind" of cake when I had shelled out $5 for a cake mix or brought one home from the US. Even then, I got out my kitchen scale (oh how I wish I had brought THAT with me here!) and halved the cake mix so I could make two desserts with it. Sometimes a single layer cake and sometimes a batch of cookies. YUM.

Well, a year or so ago, some readers and I discussed the "perfect" cookie. In the midst of that discussion, I got some good cookie advice from a new friend AND a question about a recipe for a GOOD "from scratch" cake recipe. I ran from THAT question as fast as I could.

Then, a friend here let me taste her scratch cake recipe. She used it while she was a missionary in Mongolia! It was good. I wrote it down. I lost it. I looked for something kind of like it in an old "potluck" cookbook that my Grandma Esther gave me in 1992. And I found something that I had the ingredients for. Of course, I took SOME liberty and changed a few things, but...it was BETTER than the cake mixes I can now buy for under $1 each! Lots better! AND, I know what's in it! AND, it doesn't take 3 eggs like most cake mixes seem to these days. It actually doesn't take ANY eggs. So, here it is!

Easy Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup sifted flour (no, I don't have a sifter and didn't sift it!)
3 Tbsp. cocoa - I put in a 1/4 cup.

Mix all this up. The recipe says to do this in a square baking pan. But, I like to MIX, so did it in a bowl. Add:

6 Tbsp. oil - I just put in 1/3 cup
1 Tbsp. vinegar - scared Ryu to death
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup cold water

Add and mix it all up.

I added 1/2 cup or more of chocolate chips.

I suggest greasing and flouring your 9X9 or deep round cake pan. I didn't and...things stuck to the bottom. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Mine took about 27 minutes.

This recipe was found in "Potluck Potpourri sponsored by Coos County Extension Homemakers Council 1991-1992, and was contributed by Mary Lundy.

Cake Mix Cookies

I clicked on this blog by accident today. Took it as a sign I should...you know...WRITE something on it! And, I have been planning a post, so...here goes!

Cake mixes are around 500-600 yen each in Japan. $USD? $5-6. So, when I bought one, I always got out my kitchen scale, divided it in half and made at least two desserts out of it. The fact that we have only 3 people in our family, owned only one round cake pan, and had an oven the size of a microwave perhaps also contributed to my thriftiness. Oh, and the fact that I'm not a big cake eater and the fact you maybe should put frosting on it - and powdered sugar is sold by the Tablespoon in Japan, may have been factors as well.

Anyway, when we got to the US and went into our first supermarket, other than being totally overwhelmed, we saw a display for cake mixes. 69 cents each if you bought 4 or more! So, we bought 5. And, though many of the other reasons were solved, we are still a family of 3. And I still don't really eat much cake.

Then I remembered the recipe for Cake Mix Cookies I made a few times in Japan, that a friend taught me in grad school. However, she used a marble cake mix and actually came up with cookies that were marbled! TMW (My new acronym for Too Much Work!)!

So, I started with a lemon cake mix. Purchased at the suggestion of my husband. The first lemon cake mix I have ever bought in my entire life. And I don't think my Mother has ever bought one either. But we needed a treat after hard labor working on this rental, so I whipped up these cookies. They are listed on about 1,000 sites on the Internet, so I will just put it here again!

My father thought I was a genius. My husband kept waiting for the next batch. We ran out of cake mixes. I went to the store in our town. Cake mixes? $2.50! I passed out in the aisle. Finally found a cheaper brand that were 4/$5 and got two! Guess 69 cents WAS a good buy!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 Cake mix - any flavor
1 egg - any color
1/4 cup water - any temperature
1/4 cup oil - any type (that is relatively flavorless, I expect!)
1 cup - any yummy thing in your cupboard (choco chips, nuts, coconut, raisins, quick oatmeal, etc.)

Mix it all well. I let it set a bit. I think the cake mixey taste goes away with a bit of a wait - 10 min. or so.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 min.

NOTE: Yep, guess I divided an egg in half in Japan. Half an egg is about 2 Tbsp!

Cleaned the Freezer - Ended Up With a Cake!

I am, as I assume most people are, pretty good at cleaning out the fridge for a few last meals before going shopping again. After our trip to the US, I fed the family out of an empty fridge for nearly a week!

But yesterday, I cleaned the freezer! And ended up with a cake! I usually at least start with a recipe when I bake. However, yesterday, it was all bits and pieces of leftovers, a quick defrost, a quick stir, and a quick bake! Mmmm.

I started with a cup or so of chocolate chip cookie dough I froze before going home to the US. Just couldn't find it in my heart to heat up the kitchen for the few cookies it would make, so there it sat in the freezer. Then I ran across a 1/2 cup or so of pureed pumpkin I cooked and blenderized when pumpkin was on sale...a while back. There were two halves of bananas - left over from Jun's lunches. Peeled and wrapped in wrap and frozen for a baking day.

As I was mixing this combination up, I noticed that the chocolate chips had mostly melted in the defrosting process, so I now had chocolate cake. Hmmmm. Maybe more chocolate chips? Nope, as I was reaching for the chocolate chips, my hand touched the cinnamon chips! Well, as chocolate goes great with pumpkin and bananas, so does cinnamon go with chocolate, pumpkin and bananas! So, I added a handful of cinnamon chips. Then, as the pumpkin was not sweetened and I had some ginger sugar also taking up space in the freezer, I dumped a bit of that in too.

Turned the oven on to 170, oiled the round cake pan and threw it all in. 25 minutes or so later, we were gifted with the moistest yummy cake!!!

It was so fun to try something crazy for a dessert when I usually only do it for "meal" food!

Brownie Pudding

I realized I have enjoyed "experimental" or strange recipes for quite some time. This is one of those I found as a kid still at home. You make a nice brownie-like batter, spread it out in a cake pan, and then pour hot water all over it! Pretty wierd and fun, huh? I hate to tell you the end of the story, if you love to make NEW things, so, stop reading here if you don't WANT to know how it turns out. It ends up with a brownie on the top and chocolate pudding on the bottom!!! YUMMY!



Here is the link to the recipe. Try it, especially if you have some vanilla ice-cream handy!



BROWNIE PUDDING

Pour On Chocolate Frosting

My Mom used to use this recipe for frosting every time she made a chocolate sheet cake. She always took it to church potluck dinners and everyone always asked her for her recipe. "It's an old secret family recipe," she lied - AT CHURCH!

Yep! This recipe is from that old "fall apart cookbook" that I have written about a couple of times! (Favorite Recipes of the Great Northwest copyright 1964. It was submitted by Mrs. Barbara Clark, Pres. Oakridge-Westfir Jaycee-Ettes from Oakridge, OR.)

So, the secret started with my Mom! Today is my Mom's birthday, so I made a chocolate sheet cake and this wonderful frosting. Jun sang "Frosty the Snowman" when she heard the word "frosting!"

Mom said I could share this wonderful "secret" yet PUBLISHED recipe with you all. It is easy and yummy!

Pour On Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. cocoa (powder)
dash of salt
1 cup hot water
3 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients. Add water. Stir until well blended. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Pour over a warm cake. (Like 15 minutes out of the oven.) Spread it with a spoon. Shiny and YUMMY!

But, remember, this is a SECRET recipe!!!

Cranberry Pudding

I have found that most of my favorite recipes were ones my Mom made when I was a kid. Maybe those food theories are right? This one is perfect for the fall holidays.

It is called a pudding though it is really more like a cake with sauce. In other cookbooks, I have found similar recipes that call for the cake to be steamed. Probably if I actually did it some day, I would find it is not as impossible as it sounds. But, so far I have avoided that method of cooking cake. This is a regular bake-in-the-oven cake.

The recipe is from a cookbook my family tenderly and fondly calls the "Fall Apart Cookbook." Favorite Recipes of The Great Northwest published by Favorite Recipes Press, Inc in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1965. Yes, I was born and a big sister by then.

And, no, the eggs weren't forgotten. This recipe doesn't call for eggs.

Cranberry Pudding

1 cup sugar
2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. margarine, melted
2 1/2 cup whole cranberries uncooked (fresh/frozen) - I never have this many cranberries, living in Japan, so I divide the cranberries I have in two and make two batches.

Sift together first three ingredients. Add milk, margarine and cranberries. Pour into greased 8x10 inch pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 F. Pour warm sauce over pudding.

Kim's note: I don't have an 8x10 inch pan, so make it in a deep single layer round cake pan. 350F is around 170 C. Watch the top so it doesn't get too brown.

The sauce is a MUST! - though you can adjust the sugar for taste.

Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup evaporated milk - not available here - I use cheap or fake cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Heat sugar, margarine, and milk together just until blended. Add vanilla. Yield 12-16 servings.

Kim's note: While the cake is hot, I leave it in the pan, poke it all over and around the sides between the cake and the pan, with a nice chopstick. Then I pour the sauce slowly all over the cake, letting it seep in nicely. You could also pour the sauce over slices of the cake, I'm sure. The TARTNESS of the cranberries is set off nicely with the sauce. My Japanese friends love this cake too. It is a nice cake! HAHAHA!

FYI - Foreign Buyer's Club sells frozen cranberries in their Deli section on the Net.

This recipe was contributed by Carol Carson from Mill City, OR.

Yogurt Marmalade Cake sans Marmalade

We had a potluck at church last Sunday, and I decided to make a cake. A fall-like cake. I had some sweet potatoes I was planning to use in the Sweet Potato Fries, and a bag of apples from the yaoya (veggie/fruit shop) [NOTE: Jun gets ready to go. I ask where she is going. She is ALWAYS going to the yaoya. Hmmm.] I also had some new raisins (is this an oxymoron?) from Nagano, and some old walnuts in the fridge that I wanted to use up.

I wanted a moist cake and remembered reading about this Yogurt Marmalade Cake on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. And I had yogurt! So, I just made the pound cake part of the recipe. Added 3/4 cup of diced steamed sweet potatoes - skin on, 1/2 apple peeled and chopped rather finely, 3/4 cup of broken walnut pieces, and a generous handful of those new raisins. I also reduced the sugar to an unpacked 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, per Abagail's suggestion. I baked it in a deep round single layer cake pan. For 45 minutes at 170C. It came out perfect and OH SO YUMMY! Next time I will add a shredded carrot for color and to get a few more vitamins in Jun. The ladies at church want the recipe. They would probably really love it if I had been able to make the marmalade topping. Check it out!