Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cooled brewed coffee (or water)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons vinegar

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk in coffee, oil, vanilla and vinegar. Pour into 2 - 9 inch round cake pans (lined with baking paper) - bake for 25 to 30 minutes; or 3 x 9 inch cake pan (lined with baking paper) - bake for 30-35 minutes; or 24 lined muffin cups - bake for 18 - 20 minutes.

Cool in refrigerator for about an hour, then apply frosting/icing.

Shiny Chocolate Icing

3/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup hot water

Mix sugar, cocoa and cornstarch in saucepan. Add hot water and bring to a boil on medium heat.  Remove from heat and add margarine and vanilla.  Cool completely before frosting.  (Double this recipe for a two layer cake).

Buttery Chocolate Icing

A nice creamy chocolate icing...

1 cup soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
4 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cooled yet still liquid)

Beat butter until fluffy and light, beat in icing sugar then the cream and vanilla, then chocolate.

Cranberry-Orange Pork Tenderloin

Cranberry-Orange Pork Tenderloin

2 (1 lb) pork tenderloins

1 teaspoon garlic salt

3/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

1/3 cup orange marmalade

4 teaspoons vinegar

1 large green onion – thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat Oven to 400 F

Roast

Sprinkle garlic and thyme over tenderloins, place in shallow pan and roast for 35 minutes to 1 hour (depending on size of tenderloin) until thermometer reads 160 F.  Brush on a small amount of the sauce 10 minutes before it is done. Wrap in aluminum foil and let stand for 5 minutes.

Sauce

In a saucepan sauté the green onions in a very small amount of olive oil or margarine for a minute or so. Add cranberry sauce, marmalade, salt, vinegar and orange peel, heat until warm. Serve with the roast.

Cranberry Chocolate/Cinnamon Nut Bars

Mix up the taste by changing the type of chips you use (dark chocolate, semi sweet chocolate or cinnamon baking chips). 

Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup softened butter or margarine

Combine all ingredients until crumbly. Press in greased 13” x 9” pan. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Topping

4 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

1 cup chocolate chips or cinnamon baking chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chipped pecans or walnuts

Beat eggs, sugar, corn syrup and butter (margarine). Stir in chips, cranberries and nuts.  Pour over crust and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes until set. Cool and cut into bars.

Whiskey Sours

Whiskey Sour

Ok, maybe more of a favorite of mine than Gramma's. Although I'll see if I can persuade her to try one...

Scale accordingly to how much you feel like imbibing.

1 part whiskey - I tried a few different types - Jameson Irish Whiskey is my favorite so far. You can also experiment with the amount of whiskey - again depending on taste. I've seen recipes up to 2 parts whiskey per 1 part of the other ingredients.
1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 part simple syrup (or slightly less if you prefer it more sour/less sweet) - see below for preparation

You can shake this over ice and serve or just stir and pour over ice if you prefer it "on the rocks". Garnish with a Maraschino cherry and/or a lemon slice.

Simple Syrup
Add 1 part white sugar to 1 part water in a pot, bring to a boil stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool before use.  Store covered in refrigerator.

Fruit Oatmeal Crisp

Blueberry and strawberry oatmeal crisp

An oatmeal crisp recipe that works well with a variety of fruit. 

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted margarine or butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/3-1/2 cup white sugar
3 cups of fruit of your choice including: apples, blueberries, strawberries etc. 

(if fruit is frozen, drain juice, add a small amount of cornstarch and/or flour to thicken)

Combine brown sugar, oats, flour and melted margarine or butter into a crumble. Place half of crumble mixture into a buttered pan. Spread the fruit evenly over crumb mixture.  In a separate bowl mix the cinnamon and white sugar. Sprinkle with most of the white sugar/cinnamon mixture and then top with the remaining crumb mixture. Sprinkle the remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture on the top. 

Bake at 350 F for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.