baking BATTLE scars

I have been working in my kitchen all week. I baked most of the day Monday for some lovely people. Yesterday I baked for a friend who is having an event in her home. Then next week I have all kinds a goodies up my sleeve, plus I will be psyching myself up to bake 50 or more assorted pies as a fundraiser, the week of Thanksgiving. Phew! I think I will forget any notion I had about my kitchen being clean and well organized.

I baked some of these thingys this week.....Pumpkin Scones with cinnamon chips and crystallized ginger. Big D went Wacko for them! They were pretty good. I might have share my version of the recipe with you. In the mean time you can just go here. If you start obsessing over them and have to have them, before I give you my version, then I completely understand.

Scone sans maple cinnamon glaze.

This is my wound. Which will be a scar....a battle scar. I battle with my oven often. I'm clumsy. I believe I read somewhere once that if your hands and arms are not blistered and scarred from kitchen wounds then you are really not passionate about cooking or baking or anything in the kitchen for that matter. Those words were words of encouragement to me. I always just thought it was my scatterbrainyness, but NO it's because of my passion! I think Anthony Bourdain wrote those encouraging words but don't quote me on that.

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

Here are two of the Armies I battled yesterday. Over two hundred of these morsels marched through my kitchen. They left a path of destruction. In the aftermath of the battle...I thought egg rolls sounded like a good way to rally my troupes. It worked! It boosted their moral and they helped me clean up my plundered and pillaged kitchen. Egg rolls truly do solve a myriad of injustices.

Strawberry Cake Mini Cupcakes

You should have seen these guys after they donned their armour of frosting....it was scarewee.

What kind of battles have you had in your kitchen lately...did you win? Do you have scars? Was it worth it?

Do tell.....

Apple Spice Cake with.... CARAMEL frosting

I am here to say, "I do not have a fear of fruitcake". I have been called a fruitcake on more than one occasion, but I take it as a complement. My mom used to make honest to goodness fruitcakes at Christmastime to give as gifts. I don't actually remember eating her fruitcake, but I do remember tying ribbons around them. They were like bricks made out of fruit made pretty with a red bow. "Merry Christmas, by the way be careful not to drop it on your toe......"

Amazing Raisin Cake is my mom's recipe(or Apple Spice Cake). It reminds me of a fruitcake, in that is is actually better the next day or even three days later. The batter is heavy and sticky, extremely annoying as you spoon it into your pans. This cake is full of apples and raisins. You could also add nuts, but I put them in the frosting so I don't add them in the cake. I guess you could pick your poison, nuts in the cake or the frosting or neither, or both! I think you need to know that this batter does well in muffin and sheet cake form. If I am taking it to a casual coffee I will make muffins or a sheet cake, but if I want to step it up I usually will make a layer cake.

This Apple Spice Cake smells, well...amazing and when you enter a room with it I promise heads will turn. Even the heads of fruitcake opposers will take notice and want to give it a try.

This cake is really very simple. Made with common ingredients that I am sure you have on hand. There is one ingredient that might be a little surprising. It surprised my son when he saw me dumping it in the batter...now he can't wipe the tragedy of seeing mayonnaise added to cake batter out of his head. And because I have apparently scarred him for life, he won't try it.....his loss is my gain, literally right around my jellified middle.

Amazing Raisin Cake

printable recipe

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground clove

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup Hellmans mayonnaise

1/3 cup milk

3 cups apples peeled and chopped small

1 cup raisins (I use golden and regular raisins or a combo of both)

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Caramel Maple Frosting (or No Fail Caramel frosting)

printable recipe

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup chopped nuts (I'm partial to pecans)

So a couple years ago my mom brought with her from Florida, where she lives, all of the "family recipes" the ones that were written down anyway. My sister and I went through them and copied the ones we love. This being one of them for me. One thing I realized about my family is they were not much into directions. For example the apples were left out of this recipe. I had to call my mom the first time I made this cake.

"Mom?, I thought there were apples in the Amazing Raisin Cake".

"There are."

"The recipe you gave me doesn't have apples written down in the ingredient list."

"Oh, well yeh, they're in there, 3 cups."

"OOOOKaaayE."

Here for your reading pleasure are the word for word directions to this recipe as written by someone in my gene pool.

Grease and flour 2 9" round pans. Beat first 10 ingredients for two minutes on low speed. Stir in apples and raisins. Spoon batter into pans. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Frost with No Fail Caramel frosting.

And, well.....ya know what, it really is just that easy. But I feel like I need to give you a bit more guidance. I hope you don't mind. Here goes....

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large measuring cup. Flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.


In your mixer beat the eggs with the sugar for 2 minutes. Add mayonnaise and mix until incorporated, but no need to go crazy.

Now alternate your dry ingredients and the 1/3 cup of milk. The batter will be sticky, like fruitcake batter, annoyingly tacky and ooey gooey. Do this until dry and wet are completely incorporated.

If you haven't done it already, peel and chop your apples. I happen to find peeling apples therapudic. When I was a kid and my mom was making pies, apple butter, and any number of things from apples in the Fall, we would make it a challenge to see how many apples we could peel without breaking the peel. One continuous strip of peel. Then I would try to put the peel back into apple form. Those were the good ol' days. Bushes of apples to peel, and the smell of apples sauce cooking. Singing..........

"I love you a bushel and peck , a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck, a barrel and heap and ...." and how about this one.... "Mares eat oats and doe's-eat oats...and little lambs eat ivy a kiddle-eat-ivy-too wouldn't you?"

Come on 1-2-3 sing along with me now......


Sorry, I digressed on the apple peeling and song singing. Peel and chop your apples, add them along with the raisins to the batter.

At this point I get out my sturdiest spatula and fold the apples and raisins in to the batter. I have lost a spatula head in that stickiness before......just a precautionary note.

Like I said you can do muffins, layer(2 9") or 9x13 sheet cake with this recipe. What ever floats your apples.

Grease and flour your pans if you are doing a layer cake. Like I said this batter has some texture. Divvy up the batter and help it into the corners with your spatula. If I am making muffins I use cup cake papers.

It will only fill the pan half way no worries it will rise. Remember this is a dense cake, however, it will not raise up past top of pan.


Place in oven for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Your house is going to smell heavenly. Beware if you are up wind of the neighbors you may find them at your door with their coffee cup. My friend Dee actually sniffed her way over to my house while I was baking this, she couldn't keep her paws out of the frosting, it was her birthday I let it slide.

Let the cakes rest for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and remove from pans to continue cooling.


While cakes are cooling you can start to make your "no fail caramel frosting" that's the original name. I'm just going to call it Caramel Maple Frosting.

Can I hear an Amen for brown sugar and butter! And another....Amen! Someday when I am old and nuttier, I'm going to take a bath in this stuff. But for now I'll just melt the brown sugar, butter and salt over medium heat in a saucepan.

Whisk to blend and create a creamy caramel. Writing about brown sugar made me think of Mick Jagar....ever see him in concert? He's a freak of nature. I saw his Steel Wheels Tour at the Pontiac Silverdome, in Detroit....yes, that was a long time ago...and oh I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to loose your appetite by bringing up Mick Jagar. Moving right along.........

This is liquid gold. It is extremely valuable and never to be wasted. Pure Maple Syrup. I buy my syrup from a maple farm just 10 miles south of me. I would share the info, but it is so "mom and pop" that I just have their personal home phone number that was given to me by a friend. This stuff is the insiders secret maple syrup. The moonshine of syrup.

Not to be wasted, every last drop. Whisk in at the end of cooking time. Let bubble for a minute more and remove pan from heat.

Add the vanilla and milk. Whisk. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Then add 1 cup of powdered sugar.


You could get out your hand mixer at this point, or you could whip the dickens out of the frosting with your whisk and give your wrist muscles a good work out.

You want the frosting to be loose, not stiff. Gradually add the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and beat with whisk until smooth. Add chopped nuts if you like. I always use pecans, but I believe my mom used walnuts....didn't you?

It takes every ounce of will power for me to actually frost a cake with this frosting. I really just want to sit down with the pan and a spoon and watch Sponge Bob and get a brown sugar buzz.

Set the first layer top down or bottoms up (however you see it) on a cake plate, pour approximately 1/3 of the frosting over the cake, spread to help frosting fall over the sides.

Like so.

Place the next layer on, bottom side down. Bottoms together.

Pour the rest of the frosting over the top of the cake. Being careful to leave yourself a few licks in the pan.

If you are a lover of caramel, this frosting is going to push you over the top. Salty, maple, buttery....finger licken' good!

Prepare to be comforted by this Fall treat.

I also made muffins from the batter. For the muffins I cut the frosting recipe in half and left out the nuts, spooning it over the hot muffins right out of the oven.

The three on the edge I tried a crumble topping on. That worked well too. Crumb topping =1/2 cup of flour, brown sugar and butter in food processor until crumbly.

If I haven't said it already...I'll say it again. Fall is my favorite time of year for food. Summer is good, but Fall is the BEST! So many comforting foods. This cake recipe is definetly one of my comfort foods. I hope you find it comforting too.

I Luv You....a bushel and a peck......

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Right now I am some where over Minnesota flying to San Francisco. I planned on finishing up my post for my mom's Amazing Apple Spice Cake, but like the numb skull that I am, I forgot to load all the pictures, of the cake, from my home computer into the post. Just posting it with out all the pictures wouldn't do this cake the justice that it deserves. Since I have rotting bananas on my counter at home that I should have made muffins out of before I left. Which I am having mom guilt over not making them, because my son asked me to make muffins and I didn't have time to, or should I say I chose to go to bed instead up staying up and baking....now I am wishing I would have stayed up, because I didn't get that much sleep anyway...serves me right...denying my kid muffins and all. So I'll share my Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin recipe with you sans pictures. Maybe you can make your kiddos some muffins and that will help my guilty conscience.

These muffins are very similar to my Banana Cake recipe, except I use mascarpone cheese in them. Did I hear a Hoop and a Hollar for the mascarpone? I like saying it, "mascarpone, mascarpone, mascarpone". I have amore' for mascarpone'....sorry..it's the altitude.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

printable recipe

1 stick butter softened

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup mashed banana (approx. 2 bananas)

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Blend, butter, mascarpone cheese, and sugar together, scraping down sides of bowl.

2. Add eggs and blend well, scrape down sides of bowl, add vanilla and mix again.

3. Measure out flour add, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to flour. Mix dry ingredients with the butter/cheese mixture.

4. Add milk and banana's mix well, again remember to scrape down sides of mixing bowl

NOTE: Yes I am a freak about taking the time to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl during the mixing process of baking. It is necessary. It is important. Your baking and your reputation depend on it! So refrain from getting irritated with me always reminding you, in my instructions, to scrape, scrape, scrape down the sides of your bowl. I love you and I care about the outcome of your muffins.

5. Now you can fold in your mini chocolate chips with a spatula, you can use regular chips, but I prefer the way the mini chips add chocolate throughout, with out taking away from the texture of the muffin. Go ahead add more if you like.

6. Prepare your muffins tins with either muffin cups or you can spray them with non stick cooking spray. Fill tins 2/3 full with batter bake 18-20 minutes. Makes 12-14 muffins.

These muffins are addicting you may just want to make a double batch. They freeze well too. My kiddos like them so much that after they have cooled completely, I pop them in Ziploc sandwich bags and put them in the freezer, for their lunches.

Well, my travels have been smooth so far...no bumps or major snafu's. Now I'm going to research some good places to chow down when I arrive, I am starving! I did eat the 3 pretzels and 11 peanuts, that I was so graciously given, and washed it down with a few Motrin and a cup of water. Motrin because my glut's are killing me to the maximus after doing that freeeeeaking Cardio Yoga yesterday morning.

Oh I wish I had a muffin...I hope you make them. Please eat 5 for me. Thanks.

I luvYa!

Pumpkin Spice Donut Muffins

If you have been hanging around here this week you know I have been trying to keep things real. Letting you know a little about myself. Here is something you should know. I love pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins, whipped pumpkin hair mousse, pumpkin flan....just call me Bubba.

There's a farm not too far from my home that makes a mean pumpkin spice donut that just makes me want to do run. I absolutely despise running, but by golly if I had to, I think, I would run all the way to Post Family Farms to get me one of their donuts. Unless, Big D felt sorry for me, in that case I would just stay home and let her bring me a box of them.

If you missed the story about how Big D thought we were going to have to put our dog Jack to sleep and brought me pumpkin spice donuts then just take a minute and go back to that day.

The picture above is my own creation, inspired by the Pumpkin Spice Donuts at Post Family Farm and The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs. I used Ree's puff recipe as a home base and came up with these marvelous morsels.

Take a look at that. Now if that isn't something that makes you salivate...well then you need to go see your doctor, because your saliva glands must be malfunctioning.

I told you I was still trying to keep it real with you. The day I made these muffins I also made cinnamon rolls (4 dozen) and banana chocolate chip muffins. So this is what my kitchen island was looking like right about an hour into all that.

The recipe makes 18 muffins. Here's what you will need:

Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Muffins

printable recipe

preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup sugar

2/3 cups Crisco shortening

2 large eggs

1/2 cup +1 tablespoon buttermilk see note

1 cup canned pumpkin (no sugar or spices added)

coating

2 sticks of butter melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. blend sugar, shortening, and eggs until creamy.

2 add pumpkin to the above, mix until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl often.

3. mix dry ingredients together in a large measuring cup or bowl. Measure out your buttermilk.

Still keepin it real...

4. Alternate adding the buttermilk, and dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.

Scraping down sides of bowl until everything is fully incorporated.

5. grease muffin tins, I use non-stick cooking spray, fill muffin tins 2/3 full.

6. bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes, remove from oven and dump out onto a cookie sheet


7. After letting muffins cool just long enough so you can handle them(30 seconds), set up this scenario for the coating. Melted butter in one dish, and mix the cinnamon sugar in another and set a cookie sheet close by.

Take muffin and dunk it in to the butter, make sure it takes a dip in the butter, you want it completely covered so the sugar will stick.

Take out of butter and dredge immediately in to the cinnamon sugar. Make sure the muffin is completely coated with sugar, no bare spots.

I have to say I am really, really sorry, because after you make these muffins, your family may find you in a corner somewhere totally bonked out on these things. Covered in crumbs, eyes glazed over, mumbling...pppuumkinnn..puuuummmkin..spICE, mama, dada.


Hey, I told you I was tryin' to keep it real around Strawberry Land. Well, just in case you wondered if I had some sort of special light box or something to take pictures in, not that my pictures are professional or anything. I don't! There is nothing professional or photo shootish about my food photography. I just have friends that stop in because of the mind controlling muffins. They stop by to make sure I am holding it all together....and well maybe to get a fix for themselves. This would be Dee. See that glazed over look in her eyes? That's the look. The muffin mind controll look.

Hi Dee! Thanks so much for stopping by and helping out. Dee is crazy busy these days check out what she's been up to. I really do think the mind controlling powers of the muffins drew her in. She was hollering from the garage, "WHAT are you baking?", before she even came in the house.

One last picture to see if your saliva glands are functioning. If this doesn't do it you need professional help.

In the words of my father "scrump-dilly-icious!"