Archive for April, 2009

Cake mixes — we should all hate them, right? They’re filled with all sorts of crazy preservatives and radioactive substances that you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.

BUT! But. But when it’s your sister-in-law’s birthday, and you’ve been asked to make the birthday cake, and you get home from church and have less than an hour to throw it all together — while keeping track of a busy toddler and making lunch for your husband — before dashing out the door to the party, which you’re already late to… well, let’s just say that hating cake mixes isn’t all that simple.

If the fates combine against you to necessitate the use of a cake mix, take comfort in the knowledge that the universe will not implode if you deviate from the instructions on the box.  Now, you can’t take the radioactive materials out of the mix. Sorry. What you can do is turn the finished product into a sly counterfeit of a real, homemade cake. I’ll show you.

• First off, I know, the instructions tell you to add water. Want to know a secret? The cake only needs liquid, and the box says water, because it’s a liquid that people generally have easy and cheap access to. Forget water — use milk instead. The fat from the milk will make the cake a little more moist and tender.
• Because cake mixes are never moist enough for me, I like to add 2-4 tablespoons more oil than the box asks for. Or, you could throw in 1/2 cup of yogurt instead. Any flavor will do nicely, although I tend to prefer plain yogurt, because it doesn’t compete with the flavor of the cake (unless you want the cake to feature the flavor of the yogurt, in which case, go to town). Pudding also goes nicely in a cake mix. Give it a whirl.
• I live at a high altitude, so cakes usually need slightly more moisture anyway. I sometimes add one more egg than the instructions call for. However, if I add the oil/yogurt as well as an extra egg, I have to decrease the milk by about 1/4 cup. You really have to experiment to get a feel for how much of each ingredient is the right amount. Now. You wonderful people who don’t live at a high altitude: take this one with a grain of salt. I’ve never baked at sea level.
• For chocolate cakes, throw in a couple tablespoons of cocoa, or a melted square of baking chocolate.
• Don’t forget to jazz things up with some extracts. Try vanilla, almond, lemon, coconut, rum, cherry, or even root beer. But not all together, okay?
• Toss in a handful of berries. Or nuts. Or diced apples. Or grated zucchini. Or dried fruit. Or chocolate chips. The sky is the limit, friends
• Don’t forget — if your add-in is high in moisture, such as apple or zucchini, it will add moisture to the cake (Heh, duh). Adjust accordingly.
• And as always, let a good dose of common baking sense be your guide.

What do you do to schnazz up your cake mixes? I’d love to hear!

My husband is a finisher. You know, a finisher?

Illustration 1:  He opens the fridge. He’s greeted by a half bowl of soup left over from the night before. Whether or not he actually wants the soup, he pulls it out and eats it for lunch.

Illustration 2: He’s helping me tidy up the kitchen at the end of the day. I’m feeling oh-so-proud of myself for attacking that huge pile of dishes, and I figure that the very last dish — a large, intimidating stockpot — can just wait until morning. “It’s not going anywhere, Honey.”  ”Yes, Love, but the dishes aren’t done.” So we finish it. See? Finishing.

Illustration 3: He opens the freezer door (again, food-related), and finds himself face-to-face with a half-bag of frozen raspberries. When did we use the first half? Goodness, I have no idea. And I’m embarrassed to even make a guess. Let’s finish them off, shall we?

And so we were rewarded with a batch of moist and sweet purple-crumbed muffins, bestrewn with zingy raspberries. The crumbly streusel topping only adds to the fun, although if I could reverse time, I’d go back and tell Sugar Duchess Of The Past to not be shy with the streusel. Go to town. It’s like holding hands — there’s no such thing as too much.

This recipe made about 16 standard-sized muffins. That’s a slightly awkward number for a muffin recipe, I know. Sorry. You might try doubling it.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel topping:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons cold butter, in pieces

Directions:

In a small bowl, make the streusel topping by mixing together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add berries and toss gently (if you’re using frozen berries, do not thaw before adding to batter). In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops with the streusel topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

This morning I was singing at the top of my lungs in my kitchen. Luckily no one was around to hear, except my little boy, who thinks I’m just peachy no matter what I sound like.

There’s this girl I went to high school with. We were never close. She was a year younger than me, and I don’t think we ever actually had a conversation. Ever. But we were both involved in our school’s large choral program, so we brushed shoulders a bit.

She was an awesome girl with a big smile, who was well-liked by everyone. But she wasn’t a spectacular singer. I wasn’t exactly a spectacular singer either, but I was geeky and did well in the choral scene. So here’s the kicker: After high school, she pursued singing, and got pretty good at it. I left it and chased after other dreams.

Where is she now? She was in the top ten 2009 American Idol. She’s famous. She’s cutting albums and dressing glamorously, and all that jazz.

Where am I? Happily living a quiet, snug little home life, baking to my heart’s content, playing with the sweetest of all little boys, absolutely and utterly satisfied with my obscure little corner of the world. Oh, and I still get to sing. In my kitchen. And nobody cares if I hit a sour note or two.

We’re both getting what we want out of life. How about that?

Here’s a banana bread which is wonderfully dense and moist, if you like that in a banana bread. And it’s out-of-this-world-flavorful. I know, everybody already has their perfect, go-to banana bread recipe. I think we’re all born with one. Mine, I don’t even know where it originated. I’ve been using it my whole life, literally. It’s old, and it’s filled with love. And I’ve made it all mine.

Banana Almond Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

4 large, very ripe bananas, mashed (I wanna see brown skins)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 - 1 cup chopped almonds or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs. Add the mashed bananas and extracts, and stir until completely blended. Combine the flour and baking soda together in a small mixing bowl, and add to the banana mixture. Stir gently just until flour is incorporated. Stir in nuts if desired.

Pour batter into two prepared loaf pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before releasing loafs from pans. Let loaves cool completely on a wire rack. For a crazy-soft top, wrap the loaves in plastic wrap and let them sit overnight before slicing.