Category Archives: baking

Fabulous Fudge Cake and Chocolate-Cream Frosting

Insert a super long story about how this Fabulous Fudge Cake recipe was handed down by generations of women. It wasn’t. It came in a 3 pronged folder with a bunch of other cut out recipes that I got at the Salvation Army (back when they still had the as-is store (shakes fist at Covid-19)

Fabulous Fudge Cake

Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes. Makes one 9" triple layer cake
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: after church coffee hour, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, chocolate cake

Equipment

  • Set of 3 nine-inch cake pans

Ingredients

  • 3 squares unsweetened chocolate
  • cups sifted cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter or margarine
  • cups firmly packed brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup boiling water

Instructions

  • Grease bottoms of 3 nine inch layer-cake pans; line pans with Waxed paper; grease paper.
  • Melt chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat; save for Step 5.
  • Sift cake flour, baking soda, and salt onto waxed paper.
  • Cream butter or margarine in a large bowl with a spoon or electric mixer at medium speed; gradually add sugar; beat until mixture is fluffy.
  • Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat until thick stir in vanilla and chocolate with spoon or mixer at low speed.
  • Add sifted dry ingredients, a third at a time alternately with buttermilk, stirring by hand or with mixer at low speed until just blended; stir in boiling water. Pour into pans.
  • Bake in moderate oven (375°) 25-30 minutes, or until centers spring back when lightly pressed with fingertip.
  • Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes; loosen around edges with knife; turn out onto racks; remove wax paper; cool completely. Put layers together and frost.

CHOCOLATE-CREAM FROSTING

Makes enough to fill and frost 1 9″triple-layer cake
Course: after church coffee hour, cake
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, chocolate, frosting

Equipment

  • double boiler

Ingredients

  • 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1 cup 10X confectioners’ powdered sugar sifted
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup cream for whipping
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Melt chocolate and butter or margarine on top of a large double boiler over hot, not boiling, water; beat in sugar, salt, and egg until smooth
  • Place the top of the double boiler over ice in a large bowl; start beating with an electric mixer or rotary beater, gradually adding cream; continue beating 3 to 4 minutes, or until fluffy-thick; stir in vanilla.
  • Keep frosting over ice as you work, Chill cake until serving time

Cream Cheese Cookies

CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

Course after church coffee hour, Cookie, Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cookie, cookies
Prep Time 12 hours
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • cup butter
  • 9 oz cream cheese
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions

  • Thoroughly blend butter, cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
  • Gradually work in sifted dry ingredients.
  • Form into a roll and wrap in parchment paper or foil and chill overnight or until firm.
  • Slice thin and place on greased baking sheets.
  • Bake in a 425° oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Cool on racks, then store in a tight container.

Apple Puddeny recipe- an Irish classic perfect for anytime

APPLE PUDDENY

Course: after church coffee hour, Dessert
Keyword: apple, church foods, dessert

Ingredients

  • 4 medium cooking apples
  • ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup sugar
  • cup water
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats

Instructions

  • Pare and core apples.
  • Cut into eighths and place in a greased baking dish about 10"x6".
  • Sprinkle with combined spices, sugar, and a little salt.
  • Mix water, lemon juice, and grated rind and pour over apples.
  • Add baking soda and remaining salt to oats; work the butter into this mixture over apples and bake in preheated moderate oven (375° F.) for 40 minutes

Christmas Cream Wafers (Kenmore Presbyterian Cookies via Lisa Zdyb)

The roots of Kenmore Presbyterian Church run deep in the City of Buffalo, the Village of Kenmore, and the Town of Tonawanda. On April 6, 1877, Miss Ada Chalmers began a Sunday School with six in attendance. This Sunday School met in an old log house on Amherst Street near Delaware Avenue. Then, it moved to an unoccupied house on Amherst Street and became a mission of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Next, it met in a P.S. 21 on Hertel Avenue where it remained until Christmas 1887 when it moved into a former tavern on the corner of Hertel and Delaware Avenue.

The Superintendent of the Sunday School, Henry S. Larned expressed hope that the Sunday School would evolve into a chapel. This hope saw its fulfillment in 1890 when Kenmore developer, Louis P.A. Eberhardt donated a site on the northeast corner of Delaware and East Hazeltine Avenues to establish the Kenmore chapel. Westminster Presbyterian Church accepted the offer and the Kenmore Chapel was dedicated in 1891. It served as a mission church until November 22, 1894 when 34 persons requested the Presbytery establish Kenmore Presbyterian Church. The presbytery installed the Reverend George Marsh as the church’s first pastor and the congregation elected three elders.

The church worshipped in the original wood frame church until February 1926 when the current church building was dedicated. In 1948, the church added a second building to provide more educational space, two pastor’s studies, additional offices, and a dining room and kitchen. Also, at this time, the church purchased a new pipe organ by the Schlicker Organ Company.  In 1963, the church expanded again, tearing down the gym to erect an educational building. During this time, the sanctuary underwent a major renovation.

https://www.kenpres.org/history

I’ve already gone ahead and posted this recipe on reddit and there was a concern raised about raw eggs. It looks like the eggs can be optional, so you can decide your own acceptable risk of using raw eggs and it won’t super affect the final product.

I’ve already posted this on reddit- one concern someone raised is that the recipe requires a raw egg yolk in the cream. I have found other versions on the web and it looks like the yolks are optional (in case you are concerned about the minor risk of salmonella)

Christmas Cream Wafers (Kenmore Presbyterian Cookies)

Course: after church coffee hour, Cookie, Dessert
Keyword: christmas, cookie, cookies, potluck, scout fundraisers
Author: Lisa Zdyb

Ingredients

Cookie

  • 1 cup butter
  • cup whipping cream (Heavy Cream- 35%)
  • 2 cups flour
  • granulated sugar

Butter filling

  • ¼ cup soft butter
  • cup 10x powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Cookie

  • Mix butter, cream and flour thouroughly.
  • Chill 1 hour
  • Heat oven to 375°
  • Roll dough to ⅛" thick on lightly floured board.
  • Cut into rounds.
  • Transfer to wax paper that was heavily coated with sugar, turning to coat both sides.
  • Place on ungreased baking sheet.
  • Prick with fork.
  • Bake 7-9 minutes or until slightly puffy.
  • Put two together with filling in the middle.

Butter filling

  • Blend the soft butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk & vanilla.
  • Tint with food coloring if desired.

Banana Peanut Butter Top Hats (or how to kill George)

Banana Peanut Butter Top Hats

Course: Cookie, Dessert
Keyword: christmas, cookie, cookies, cooky
Servings: 3 dozen

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup chunky peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup uncooked quick cooking rolled oats
  • 2 bananas peeled and sliced

Instructions

  • Cream butter and peanut butter; add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy.
  • Beat in eggs and vanilla.
  • Add flour, baking powder and soda, mixing until well blended.
  • Stir in rolled oats.
  • Set aside 1 cup of dough.
  • Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets.
  • Lightly press banana slice on top of each cookie; then cover with a small amount of reserved dough.
  • Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 10 minutes.