Apple Crumb Cake – Willis’ Aunt Ruth
3 cups flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 sticks margarine or butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 pounds sliced apples that have been tossed with a mixture of sugar
and cinnamon. Can also use fresh berries or peaches coated with a flour
and sugar mixture.
Carefully melt margarine or butter in microwave. Combine dry ingredients. Add melted butter to dry mixture and crumble into pea sized crumbs. Divide mixture in half. Press half into 9x9 Pyrex pan – be sure the crust is of uniform thickness. Spread the apple slices evenly over the bottom crust. Distribute the remaining crumbs evenly over the sliced apples. Sprinkle more of the sugar and cinnamon mixture over the top crumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour. Rotate the pan half way through the baking time. The bottom should be light brown and the apples will bubble. Best when served warm or at room temperature. It is even better served with coffee or chocolate ice cream.
PS – My aunt gave me this recipe before I went off to college. During our junior and senior years I made one of these cakes every week for Birk and his apartment-mates.
Devils Food Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
1 ¾ cups unsifted cake flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa
½ cup shortening
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour cake pans. Stir together in bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Add sugar and 2/3 cup of milk. Beat 2 minutes then add remaining milk, eggs and vanilla. Beat 2 more minutes more, scraping bowl often. Pour into pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes for 9 inch pans.
Black Forest Cherry Cake – Time Life Cookbook
Chocolate Curls
8 ounces semisweet bar chocolate
To make chocolate curls to garnish the cake, the bar or chunks of chocolate should be at room temperature hut not soft. Hold the chocolate over wax paper or foil and shave the bat or square into thin curls with a sharp narrow bladed vegetable peeler. Draw the peeler along the wide surface of the chocolate for large curls and along the narrow side for small ones. Handle the chocolate as little as possible. Refrigerate or freeze the curls until you are ready to use them.
Cake
1 tablespoon butter, softened
6 tablespoons flour
10 tablespoons sweet butter
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
½ cup sifted flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a pastry brush or paper towel, lightly coat the bottoms and sides of the three 7-inch round cake pans with soft butter using about 1 tablespoon of butter in all. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour into each pan, tip them from side to side to spread the flour evenly, then invert the pans and rap them sharply on a table to remove any excess flour. Set the pans aside.
Clarify 10 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan by melting it slowly over low heat without letting it brown. Let it rest for a minute off the heat, then skim off the foam. Spoon the clear butter into a bowl and set aside. Discard the milky solids at the bottom of the pan. In an electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla and 1 cup of sugar together at high speed for at least 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and fluffy.
Combine the ½ cup of sifted flour and the unsweetened cocoa in a sifter. A little at a time sift the mixture over the eggs, folding it in gently with a rubber spatula. Finally, add the clarified butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Do not overmix. Gently pour the batter into the prepared cake pans dividing it evenly among the three of them.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake and turn them out on racks to cool completely.
Syrup for Black Forest Cherry Cake
1 cup cold water
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup kirsch
Meanwhile, prepare the kirsch syrup in the following fashion: Combine 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of cold water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Boil briskly, uncovered, for 5 minutes, and then remove the pan from the heat and when the syrup has cooled to lukewarm stir in the kirsch. Transfer the cakes to a long strip of wax paper and prick each layer lightly in several places with the tines of a long fork. Sprinkle the layers evenly with the syrup and let them rest for at least 5 minutes.
Filling and Topping
3 cups chilled heavy cream
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup kirsch
1 cup poached pitted fresh red with stems, drained and rinsed cherries or 1 cup drained and rinsed canned sour red cherriesFresh sweet red cherries with stems, or substitute maraschino cherries
If you are using fresh cherries for the filling, poach them in the following fashion: Remove their stems and pits, and then combine them with 2 cups of water and ¾ cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5 minutes, or until the cherries are tender. Drain them in a colander, discarding the syrup, and pat the cherries completely dry with paper towels. Canned cherries need only be rinsed in cold water and patted completely dry with paper towels.
In a large chilled bowl, beat the cream with a whisk or a rotary or electric beater until it thickens lightly. Then sift ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar over the cream and continue betting until the cream forms firm peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl. Pour in the ¼ cup kirsch in a thin stream, and beat only until the kirsch is absorbed.
To assemble the cake, place one of the three layers in the center of a serving plate. With a spatula, spread the top with a 2-inch-thick layer of whipped cream and strew the cup of fresh or canned cherries over it leaving about ½ inch of cream free of cherries around the perimeter. Gently set a second layer on top of the cherries and spread it with 12 inch of whipped cream. Then set the third layer in place. Spread the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream.
With your fingers, gently press chocolate curls into the cream on the sides of the cake and arrange a few chocolate curls and fresh or maraschino cherries attractively on top.
Cheesecake – Time Life Cookbook
To make one 9-inch cheesecake
1 six-ounce box Graham crackers, finely crumbled (3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons soft butter
In a mixing bowl, with a large spoon combine the finely crumbled Graham crackers, the sugar and cinnamon. Stir the melted butter into the cracker crumbs until they are well saturated. With pastry brush, heavily butter a 9-inch, 3-inch-deep springform pan with the 2 tablespoons of soft butter. With your fingers, pat an even layer of the cracker crumb mixture on the bottom and sides of the pan to form a shell. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
Filling:
3 eight ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 ¼ cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 pint sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the softened cheese by beating it with a spoon in a mixing bowl until it is smooth. Then gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, and continue to beat until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the sour cream, flour, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon rind.
With a large whisk or rotary heater, beat the egg whites, preferably in an unlined copper bowl, until they are stiff enough to form unwavering peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl. With a rubber spatula fold the egg whites gently but thoroughly into the cream cheese mixture until no streaks of white show, but be careful not to overfold
Pour the filling into the pan, spreading it out evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 ¼ hours. Then turn off the oven, and with the oven door open, let the cake rest on the oven shelf for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Before serving remove the sides of the pan and sprinkle the cake with confectioners’ sugar.
California Fruit Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
¾ cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups dates
1 ½ cups dried apricots
3 cups walnuts
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift together into a bowl all dry ingredients except brown sugar; stir in brown sugar. Add fruit and nuts and stir to coat with flour. Beat eggs until foamy then add vanilla. Mix eggs into flour-fruit mixture until well blended. Grease a loaf pan or 9x9 inch pan and line with wax paper. Pour in the cake batter and bake at 300 degrees for 1 ½ hours.
Chocolate Chip Fruitcake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped walnuts
½ pound candied cherries
3 eggs
6 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
Grease pan and line with wax paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Stir in nuts, fruit, and chocolate. Beat eggs; add sugar until smooth and fluffy. Stir into four mixture until blended. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hours.
Tropical Fruitcake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
3 cups Brazil nuts
15 ounces dates
1 cup red and green Maraschino cherries
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Grease loaf pan or 9x9 inch pan and line with wax paper. Dump nuts and fruit into large bowl; sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt over fruit-nut mixture and mix thoroughly. Beat eggs in separate bowl until frothy, then add vanilla. Pour over fruit-nut and mix thoroughly. Transfer to lined pan and bake at 300 degrees for 1 ¾ hours.
Fancy Apple Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
8 cups apples peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup raisins
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into large bowl. Cut butter until mixture resembles course crumbs then stir in milk, 1 egg and 1 yolk (reserve the egg white. Shape into ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Toss apples with lemon peel, lemon juice, raisins and ¾ cup sugar mixed with cinnamon. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On well floured cloth covered board, roll half of dough into a rectangle 1 inch larger than a 12x8 baking pan; fit dough into pan with an extra inch on all sides. Cover dough with apple filling (discard any juice in the bowl). Roll out the rest of the dough into a rectangle large enough to cover the filling. Brush with egg white and bake for 55 minutes or until golden.
Surprise Cupcakes – Detroit friend, Patty Morse
One package chocolate cake mix
Prepare batter according to directions less ¼ cup water. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full and add one spoonful of filling to each muffin cup. Bake according to directions on cake mix.
Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup sugar
Dash salt
1 egg
6 ounces tiny chocolate chips
Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a food processor until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
Honey Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
2/3 cup honey
½ cup strong black coffee
1 tablespoons brandy
2 eggs separated
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons oil
1 ¾ cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon each cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg
Optional additions:
¼ cup walnuts chopped
2 tablespoons each white and brown raisins
2 tablespoons dates chopped
Grease and line with wax paper two loaf pans and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat egg whites. Combine yolks, oil, honey, sugar and coffee. Coat optional additions with flour. Add dry ingredients slowly to yolk mixture, and then add fruit. Fold whites into batter.
Sponge Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
6 eggs separated
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon or orange rind
1 tablespoon lemon or orange juice
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sifted flour
Beat egg whites until they hold a peak. In a large bowl beat yolks and gradually add sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add juice and rind. Sift flour and salt together then mix with yolk mixture. Fold whites into yolk-flour mixture. Pour batter into tube pan and bake for 50 to 50 minutes at 325 degrees.
Passover Sponge Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
9 eggs separated
1 cup less 2 tablespoons cake meal
2 tablespoons potato starch
1 ¾ cups sugarJuice and grated peel of one lemon or one orange
Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add ¾ cup of sugar to the egg whites. Cream the sugar with the egg yolks until thick; add the cake meal, potato starch, juice and grated peel. Mix well. Fold yolk mixture into the egg whites and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into tube pan that has been rinsed in cold water and not dried. Do not grease pan. Bat in 325 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn upside down immediately and cool completely before removing from pan.
Nut Cake – Willis’ mom, Goldie
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
2 teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
Beat egg whites with ¼ cup sugar until stiff. Beat yolks and ¾ cup sugar until light and frothy, add vanilla and almond extracts.
Mix chopped nuts; cracker crumbs and baking powder together, stir half of nut mixture into yolks, and then fold in half of egg whites. Repeat with remaining nut mixture and egg whites. Pour into two 9 inch cake pans (greased and dusted with flour) and bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees.
Spread apricot jam between layers and dust top with confectioner’s sugar.