TWD... uh... Wednesday: Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ok, so, um... I really only remembered that I had to post these today as I was brushing my teeth yesterday night, so I just woke up and I'm doing it now. :D

This week's recipe was chosen by Erin of Prudence Pennywise. She chose Sweet Potato Biscuits. They were quick and easy to make, but they didn't rise very much. I've always imagined biscuits as being huge, like the pillsbury ones. But maybe they're supposed to be like this? Or maybe I did something wrong.... Even though they didn't look great, they are delicious. We couldn't stop eating them! We ate them the next day with vegetable soup, too, and for breakfast... but they are definitely best the first day, when they are nice and flaky. I might make these again sometime, but I am excited to try out the other biscuit recipes in the book. 

As always, if you want the recipe, you can buy the book or find it here. Yum! 

And don't forget to check out the other TWD bakers! 

Two TWD Rewinds: Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream

Yesterday we had some friends come over for dinner who have tasted lots of my baking, so I wanted to make something really delicious. That combined with the fact that we have tons of apples to use up, I decided on Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie Cake. When my mom mentioned that we should buy some ice cream, I immediately took the opportunity to make another TWD rewind. Vanilla Ice Cream!

This was probably one of the most annoying things to make in the book. I was making the 9x13, as in the recipe, but I was also making an 8 1/2x3 1/2 loaf pan, so I had to scale up the recipe by one fourth. So many apples to peel and slice! And the dough was extremely hard to roll out, and it kept cracking when I put it into the pan. But when it was baked you couldn't tell. It was delicious! The crust really was more like a sugar cookie than a pie, but that was great. However, I didn't see how it was like a cake at all. Sorry Dorrie!

This is pretty easy to make, however, I think I over-heated the custard, because it the eggs started to cook at the bottom. But after I strained it, it was fine. This ice cream was what everybody was talking about. It was creamy, sweet, and delicious. My dad even said it was Haagen-Das quality! We will be making this one again!

If you want the recipe for the apple pie cake (I recommend it!) you can buy the book or find it here. If you want the recipe for the vanilla ice cream, you can also buy the book or find it here. Enjoy!

Apple Upside Down Cake

We went apple picking over Columbus Day Weekend, so now we have a half-bushel to use up. We are planning on making applesauce, but we want to wait until the apples are mushy and un-usable in other things, but still fine to make applesauce with. I was searching for recipes for baked goods on the internet to help us use them up, and I came across this recipe on About. I had everything I needed to make it, so I decided to go for it. I had never made an upside down cake, so I wasn't sure how they were made. I spread the butter, sugar, and cream mixture on the bottom of the pan, arranged the apples on it (no peeling! yes!), poured the batter over it and stuck it in the oven. Thirty-five minutes later, it smelled wonderful and the caramel was bubbling around the sides of the cake. Yum!

I waited for a bit because the caramel seemed to be liquid, and after the cake cooled off almost totally (we couldn't wait until it was totally cool, it smelled so good!), the caramel had hardened a bit but was still quite soft. I flipped the cake and found that some of the caramel was still liquid and some of the apples had gotten moved around. But, other than that, it looked great. We tasted it and were amazed. Trust me, it tastes much better than it looks. It was rated A++! 

If you, like me, have apples to use up, go make this cake. You won't regret it! Enjoy!

Oh, and if you're wondering what the next thing I'm posting is, I'll just tell you its a TWD rewind. Or two. And some ice cream. Yum! Stay tuned! 

Apple Upside Down Cake (About.com)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons evaporated milk or cream

2 cups sliced apples (I used two medium)

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Mix together butter, brown sugar, and evaporated milk or cream; spread in the bottom of a greased 8-inch square baking pan. 

Arrange apple slices on the mixture.

Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. 

Cream shortening with sugar.

Beat in egg.

Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until cake tests as done.

Pour batter over apples.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

Quick post today, because I have a headache and I just want to go to sleep. I made these with hopes that they would turn out to look like Dorie's. Hers look like miniature crumb cakes. Although mine didn't turn out that way, they certainly were delicious, and quick and easy. Thank you to Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table for selecting a great recipe. As always, if you want the recipe you can buy the book or you can find it here. Enjoy!

The. BEST. Brownies. Ever.

This is one of those recipes that you come across one day that you have all the ingredients for, and you decide to try it. You put together the batter - super easy, no mixer needed, and scrape it all into a pan and stick it in the oven. 30 minutes later, you take it out, let it cool, and take a bit. "Oh my god", you think. And you find yourself making it over and over again over the years.
That's exactly what happened to me when I first saw this recipe in a little kid's cookbook when I was - I don't know - nine? I have, of course, tried other brownie recipes, but none have ever been this good. Today I was making brownies, and I was going to make the Tribute to Katherine Hepburn brownies from TWD (because I'll have to make them sometime), but I decided that everybody needed this recipe. And trust me. You do.
While everybody that I have ever met that has tasted these loved them, don't say I didn't warn you by saying that these are not for people who want a light chocolate taste. These are fudgy and extremely chocolatey, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
If I haven't said enough already, go into the kitchen and make these. RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! ;D
Bon appetite!

Best Brownies (slightly adapted from The Everything Kids' Cookbook)

1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter or margarine
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch square pan.
Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, brown sugar, and salt. Add melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until done. Cool before cutting.

Sorry...

Sorry... no TWD here this week. I kept putting it off purely because I had no interest in making it, and... well, I ended up not having time to make it. But, stay tuned because I'll be doing some baking later this week. Anyways, if you want to check out everybody else's double-layer puddings, you can find the blogroll here. Enjoy

TWD Rewind: Perfection Pound Cake

Sorry about not posting much this week - I've been sick and not feeling up to baking. But, today I had some spare time and decided to make the banana bundt cake. I had just softened the butter when I realized that I didn't have enough bananas, so I frantically searched for another recipe using two sticks of butter and other basic ingredients we had. This was the one that looked the best that had also been made by TWD in the past, so I decided to make it. I don't regret it.

The only thing that is the slightest bit annoying about this recipe is that the butter has to be creamed with the sugar for 5 minutes, which is tiring if you are using a hand mixer like I was (I was too lazy to take out the stand mixer :D  ). 

This cake was rated an A. It is so good! You can really taste the butter and sugar, but not in an overpowering way. This would probably be good with lemon in it and a glaze, as well. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who wants an easy, delicious cake. As always, if you want the recipe, you can buy the book or you can find it here. Enjoy!