Showing posts with label sugar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sugar. Show all posts

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Apple Dumplings

Folks-

This year when we made our annual pilgrimage to Gizdich Ranch for the apple harvest, we discovered they now have apple dumplings in the pie shop. We got one for Aaron, and after trying a bite, we decided to try making them.

I found a recipe over at Allrecipes, and adapted it for our use.

This recipe requires a pie crust, and I recommend my mom's Fool Proof Pie Crust for it.

Here's my version of Apple Dumplings!

Ingredients:

1 14oz pie crust recipe or store bought, rolled out and cut into 6-8 equal squares

3-4 baking apples, Granny Smith or similar, peeled, cored, and cut in half

8 tablespoons (1/2 cup, or 1 stick) softened butter, divided

3/4 cup brown sugar (any darkness, your choice, or mix together 2/3 cup sugar and 1-2 tablespoons honey or maple sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 

3 cups water (2 cups unfiltered apple juice and 1 cup water tested well)

2 cups white sugar (reduce to 1 to 1 1/4 cup if using apple juice)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees and butter a large baking pan or casserole dish.

Mix together 6 tbsp of the butter, brown sugar, and spices. Divide the mixture into 6-8 equal amounts and stuff it into the apple halves where the core was. Place a stuffed apple half into a square of pie crust core down, dust the apple with cinnamon, gather the corners of the pie crust and stretch over the apple and pinch them together to seal. Place the encrusted apples into the buttered baking dish. 

Combine the water and apple juice (if using), sugar, and last two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and heat while stirring until the mixture begins to boil, then reduce the temperature to low and continue to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

Carefully pour the syrup over the dumplings. Place the baking dish into the oven and bake until the dumplings are golden brown on top, about 45-65 minutes.

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Blueberry Soda

Folks-

Tonight I fixed my new Crab Rolls and served this Blueberry Soda with it. They went well together, but I expect the soda would be just fine by itself.

You first make a blueberry simple syrup, then mix that with club soda, Tonic Water, or similar in a 1:3 ratio. I recommend 1/3 cup syrup and 1 cup soda water. Ice is good in it.

Here's the recipe for the Blueberry Symple Syrup I got from Berly's Kitchen:

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh or frozen blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and mash fruit immediately with a wooden spoon or potato masher. Allow to cool for 10-20 minutes, and strain through a mesh sieve to get the fruit pulp out. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Note: The blueberry pulp you strain out is wonderful on ice cream.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Crunchy Cinnamon Almonds

I took my family to the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace in Daly City for the first time this year, which I heartily recommend. I called it "The Christmas Renaissance Fair", which it resembles in its cosplay aspects. You can get in some shopping, watch fun stage plays, and eat food you don't find just anywhere, such as meat pies, or bangers and mash.
One thing we all enjoyed were freshly roasted Crunchy Cinnamon Almonds, served hot in a paper cone. If course I wanted to find a recipe for it, and I did at "The Chunky Chef".
Altogether now: and then I modified it...
Here's my version:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 egg white
3 Cups raw almonds

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Combine vanilla and egg white, and then whip to a froth using a wire whip or hand mixer. Mix in almonds, thoroughly coating them with the egg mixture, and then add the dry ingredients and stir to coat thoroughly. Turn out the mixture into the cookie sheet and spread out into a single layer. Bake for one hour, stirring them every 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before attempting to eat them. Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

English Toffee

Folks-
This time of year it's a tradition in my family to make my Aunt Carolyn's English Toffee. It's not the simplest candy I make (that would be the truffles) but it tastes SO much better than anything you could buy. If you like Heath Bars or Almond Rocha, you owe it to yourself to try this recipe.

English Toffee

Ingredients:
1 lb butter + extra for coating jelly roll pan
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups sugar
2 cups chopped almonds, toasted if preferred
Melted chocolate for dipping


Coat a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with sides with butter and set aside. Melt 1 lb butter and add sugar and cream of tartar, stir until thermometer reaches 275 degrees. Add chopped almonds and stir to 300 degrees. Spread into the jelly roll pan and immediately score into 1" pieces with a sharp buttered knife. Cool for about 7 minutes and break into pieces. Dip into melted chocolate and roll in chopped nuts. Refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Note: it appears most people don't realize cream of tartar is a powder, not an actual cream. You can find it in the spice section of most supermarkets.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Old Time Fudge


Folks-

The computer was on, so I figured I should power out another Zap 190 recipe. This one I intend to try soon, only I want to try it using whipping cream instead of milk. If I try it, I'll post the results!
-Edly

Old Time Fudge
P. Jones

Ingredients:
2 Cups Sugar
¾ Cup Milk
2 Squares (2 Oz) Unsweetened Chocolate, broken up
1 Teaspoon Light Corn Syrup
2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
½ Cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts (optional)

Line a 9x5x3” loaf pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set pan aside. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the sugar, milk, chocolate, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Avoid splashing the mixture on the sides of the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until a thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft-ball.) The mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add butter and vanilla but do not stir! Cool without stirring to lukewarm (118 degrees.) Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until fudge is just beginning to thicken; add nuts if desired. Continue to beat until the fudge is very thick, and just begins to lose its gloss. Quickly turn the fudge onto the prepared pan. While warm, score it into 1” squares. When the candy is firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan; cut candy into squares. Store tightly covered.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Crumb Cake


Folks-

I wanted to power out another recipe or two while I still have my Zap 190 cookbook out. This one is my mom's crumb cake and crumb cake topping recipes. They are very good together, and I just may fix them tomorrow. We'll just have to see...

-Edly

Updated 1/12/2022:
I decided to make this tonight due to having a whole lot of milk on hand (it takes over a quart!) So, I decided to make some changes to the recipe. I used coconut oil instead of margarine or shortening, and half of the 2 teaspoons of vanilla without changing the flavor of the pudding just by changing the order of adding ingredients. I've updated the recipe below.

Crumb Cake
E. Perl

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Margarine, Shortening or coconut oil
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup to 1-1/2 Cups Milk (approximately)

Mix together flour and sugar and cut in margarine, shortening, or coconut oil (I recommend blending shortening with the coconut oil to keep it from being overwhelming) until crumbly. Save one cup of the crumbs for later. Add the baking powder and salt, then add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until it is the consistency of drop biscuit batter. Spread the batter into a greased cake pan and top with the saved crumbs from earlier. Cook at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until done in the middle.


Crumb Cake Topping
E. Perl
Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar
5 Tablespoons Flour
4 Cups Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix together all ingredients except vanilla extract in a pot. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring vigorously and continuously all the way to the bottom to prevent it from burning (warning! It wants to burn! Like really wants to burn!) until it starts to thicken to the consistency of pudding (at about 200 degrees F.) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, and then serve warm on a slice of the crumb cake.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Melisse's Candied Walnuts


Folks-

I have a few minutes, and the Holidays are coming up, so I wanted to post the recipe for my grandmother's candied walnuts. It's not hard to make them if you have a candy thermometer, and have some candy making experience.

Here it is!

Melisse's Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Sour Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3 Cups Walnut Halves

Combine sugars and sour cream in a saucepan. Cook to soft-ball stage and then add the vanilla. Beat until mixture begins to thicken. Add walnut halves and stir until they are well coated. Turn mixture onto a greased platter and separate. Cool to room temperature.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Fool Proof Pie Crust

Folks-
It's been a while since I've updated the site with a new recipe, and that's because I use the site as my own personal recipe card file. If I haven't needed an old recipe, have been experimenting much in the kitchen, and haven't found a new recipe that I need to add to the old card file, then I don't update.
Well, one of Zhenie's old high-school friends (she went to school in The Philippines, so how did one of her old friends end up living only a mile away?) dropped off a whole bunch of pairs at our house. I was thinking pie, but didn't find my mom's old pie crust recipe online. Time to fix that.
Here's a recipe that my mom got from one of the cooks at the school she retired from:

Fool Proof Pie Crust

Ingredients:
4 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 ¾ Cups or 335g *Shortening
½ Cup Cold Water
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 Large Egg

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender just until mixed in and crumbly. Do not overdo it or the liquids won't mix in! In a separate bowl, mix together the water, vinegar, and egg. Add liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients just until a kneadable dough forms. Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. If making an uncooked pie, be sure to poke the bottom of the pie crust multiple times with a fork before cooking to prevent bubbles.

Notes:
1. Shortening is getting harder to find these days. I intend to experiment with a coconut oil soon as a replacement. If I do, I'll let you know the results. Update: It works, but gives it a strong coconut flavor. This might work for some pies. I recommend sticking with shortening or maybe ghee.
2. It is best to get the liquids ready first then leave them in the refrigerator until ready. In fact, it's best to make this recipe when it's cold, and store it in the fridge until ready to roll out.
3. I made this for hand-pies recently using lard instead of vegetable shortening and it came out stronger than using the regular shortening. It still refused to seal (especially around the blueberry filled ones.) I may try a completely different recipe for hand-pies. (7/5/25)

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Fruit Salads

Folks-
Here's another couple of Zap 190 recipes from my mom (Eleanor Perl.) Both are fruit salads, so it seemed to make sense to put them together. The first is my mom's Waldorf Salad, and the second is her Dodie Salad, named after a co-worker of mine at Pacific Western Bank back in the late '80's.

Waldorf Salad:

Ingredients:
3 Apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 Medium Bananas, sliced
1 Cup Diced Pineapple
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1/4 Cup Small Marshmallows (optional)
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar

Toss fruits, walnuts, and marshmallows together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, milk, and sugar. Use the mayonnaise mixture as a salad dressing over the fruit.

Dodie Salad

Ingredients:
3 Apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 Kiwi Fruit, peeled and sliced
2 Cups Grapes
2-3 Bananas, peeled and sliced
1/2 Cup Diced Pineapple
1 Starfruit, peeled, sliced, and de-seeded (optional)
(Any other fruit you may think of)
1 Pint Non-fat Yogurt
1/4 Teaspoon Coconut Flavoring
1/4 Cup Shredded Coconut
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Toss together all of the fruit excepting the Kiwi or Starfruit slices. In a separate small bowl, mix together the yogurt, coconut, coconut flavoring, and sugar into a dressing. Pour the dressing over the tossed fruit, and use the Kiwi and/or Starfruit slices to decorate the top of the salad.