Kikukat Mom: Mahogany Chiffon Cake

I have known my mom for close to a half century, and this is, hands down, her favorite cake.

Mahogany Chiffon Cake

     3/4 c boiling water
     1/2 c cocoa (I use natural, not Dutched)
     1 3/4 c cake flour
     1 1/2 tsp baking soda
     1 tsp salt
     1 3/4 c sugar, divided
     1/2 c vegetable oil
     7 eggs, separated
     2 tsp vanilla
     1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine boiling water and cocoa.  Let cool.  Sift cake flour, 1 1/4 c sugar, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl.  Make a well and add oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and cooled cocoa mixture.  Mix until smooth.  In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until almost stiff.  Gradually add 1/2 c sugar, and beat till stiff.  Pour chocolate mixture in a thin stream over entire surface of egg whites, gently cutting and folding in with a spatula until well blended.  Pour into an ungreased 10" tube pan.  Bake 55 minutes.  Increase heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.  Invert and cool completely.

Peach Butter Frosting and Cake

I remember seeing this cake a lot when I was growing up.  I don't remember eating it much because, believe it or not, I didn't like cake all that much when I was younger.

Peach Butter Cake

     1 yellow cake, baked and cooled in a 9 x 13" pan

     1 block butter, softened

     3/4 c sugar

     1 egg

     1 can (15.25 oz) sliced peaches

Pour peach slices into a mesh colander and drain 20 minutes.  Using a spoon, mash peach slices against surface of colander until slices are broken up and smashed.  Drain for 45 minutes, stirring and pressing peaches against colander periodically.  Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add in egg and beat until thoroughly incorporated.  Stir in drained, mashed peaches.  Frost top surface of prepared yellow cake.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.

NMMR*: Cream Cheese Fruitcake

Happy Birthday D1!  I am eagerly anticipating your homecoming.  It's been months since I've seen you, and while some might think separation gets easier as time passes, I don't think that's really true.  Not a day goes by without me thinking about you. . .what you are doing, how your classes are going, how much $ you are spending, etc.

Same with my mom.  Not a day goes by when I don't think about her and how much I miss her.  Sure, the rest of us are plodding along; I would even go as far as to say we've actually got some routine going.  But it isn't much easier now.  The pain has not gone away.  A co-worker told me it won't ever go away, but it just becomes more bearable as time passes.  We'll see.

One thing that my mom during the holidays every year, as far back as I can remember, is bake fruitcake.  Her fruitcake was called "light" or "white" fruitcake; it is not the kind of fruitcake which comes in the metal can.  That type is laden with fruits and is more fruit than cake.  My mom's fruitcake was definitely more cake than fruit.  The cake was dense, similar (but not identical) to a poundcake in texture.  It was more dense, actually.

And I never liked it (sorry, Mom).

My mom's fruitcake was too intense for me.  Her siblings in town actually loved her fruitcake.  In fact, I would always hear UJohn ask her when she was going to make it.  I much preferred it when, on rare occasion, she strayed and made a more poundcake-like version.  In hindsight, I think she made it so she could say how much she preferred her version.

There will be none of my mom's fruitcake this year.  At least no rendition of it will come from my kitchen.  Instead, I will be making the fruitcake I like.  My fruitcake is like the "other" version which my mom would make, the one with the poundcake texture and flavor, studded here and there with bits of candied fruit (I fondly recall Pennant brand in the tubs) and pecans (Mom used walnuts).  There will also be no raisins.  One thing I remember was my mom adding whiskey to the batter.  My recipe has no whiskey, but I highly recommend generously brushing the finished loaves with rum.  The rum will add a nice flavor and help keep the cake moist.  My friend Sid's mom would actually soak cheesecloth in whiskey or rum and wrap each loaf in the alcohol-soaked cheesecake prior to wrapping in plastic.

Oh, I'm certain my mom's family will ask if I plan to carry the fruitcake-making torch.  I will politely shake my head.  No point in leading them on only to end up with unfulfilled expectations.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cream Cheese Fruitcake

     1 c butter
     8 oz cream cheese
     1 1/2 c sugar
     1 tbsp vanilla extract
     1 tsp almond extract
     4 eggs
     2 1/4 c flour, divided
     1 1/2 tsp baking powder
     2 c assorted dried/candied fruit
     1/2 c chopped nuts
     1/4 c rum

Grease and flour 5 mini loaf pans (cut parchment to fit bottom) or 1 tube pan.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Beat butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add 2 c flour and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, toss 1/4 c flour, fruit, and nuts until all coated.  Fold into batter.  Pour batter into prepared pan(s).  If using mini loaf pans, a little more than 3 #10 dishers will go into each pan.  Bake for 45 minutes (mini loaves) or 1 hour and 20 minutes (tube pan).  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and set on wire rack.  Brush top and sides of cake with rum.  Cool completely then wrap with plastic wrap.

*NMMR=Not My Mother's Recipe

Almost Barefoot Contessa: Orange Pound Cake

Last weekend was my birthday.  Another year closer to being really over the hill.  I can't believe how old I FEEL.

I spent my birthday on the west side.  The Help drove me and TheRents out for a Costco run.  We had lunch at The Blue Room.  I even made it in time to go to my favorite yarn store.  All in all, it was a great day.  But there was one thing missing:  birthday cake.


OllieMama keeps raving about the carrot cake at Costco, but I did not see any when I was there.  I saw some large red velvet cupcakes, but no carrot cake.  It didn't matter because I didn't feel like having carrot cake anyway. 

I came home from Kona, exhausted, but decided to make my own birthday cake.  I felt like something citrus-y so  I made orange pound cake.  I made a half recipe of the mini loaf pan version. . .only because I figured I'd be expected to share some.

This cake has been adapted from the Barefoot Contessa's recipe.  I leave out the orange zest, and I use large eggs, instead of extra-large eggs.  Because I usually use local navel oranges, the zest is not the perfect orange color found on supermarket oranges; it is a green-gold color, which, in spite of the added flavor, does NOT look appetizing in a cake.  I guess my inability to bring myself to pay the premium for extra-large eggs is why I just use large eggs. . .it's what I buy. The icing is also thicker with my recipe than with the original recipe.  I like the icing to slowly ooze down the sides, not run down in a thin shell.

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Almost Barefoot Contessa:  Orange Pound Cake

     2 c butter, softened
     5 c sugar, divided per recipe instructions
     8 large eggs
     6 c flour
     1 tsp baking powder
     1 tsp baking soda
     2 tsp salt
     2 c orange juice, divided per recipe instructions
     1 1/2 c buttermilk
     2 tsp vanilla
     4 1/4 c powdered sugar
    
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 8 mini loaf pans or 4 4 x 8" loaf pans (or 4 mini loaf pans and 2 4 x 8" loaf pans).  Cut parchment paper to fit bottoms of pans.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine 1 c sugar and 1 c orange juice.  Set aside.  In a medium measuring cup, combine buttermilk, 1/2 c orange juice, and vanilla.  Set aside.  Cream butter and 4 cups sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Divide mixture among pans.  If using mini loaf pans, use 4 level #10 dishers per pan.  Bake 42 minutes for mini loaf pans or 55 minutes for 4 x 8" loaf pans.  While cakes are baking, heat orange juice & sugar mixture until sugar dissolves.  Set aside.  Let cakes cool 10 minutes in pan.  Remove loaves to wire rack set over a shallow pan.  Pour warm syrup evenly over each loaf.  When completely cool, make icing by combining powdered sugar and 6 tbsp orange juice.  Pour over cakes and allow icing to dry and harden before wrapping or serving.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I am eagerly awaiting the holiday this coming weekend.  I know we just had a holiday here (Admissions Day), but I need another break.  I've been busting my ass!

I spent mid-week worried about KikukatMom.  She had her gallbladder removed on Wednesday in what was supposed to be a simple, out-patient procedure.  It turned into an overnight stay because her heart beat became irregular during the procedure.  Her gallbladder was also infected, which means it's a good thing the surgery wasn't put off any longer.  She was given the "all clear" the next day, and by morning the day after, she was out and about.  It blew ABetty's mind when she showed up at her doorstep in Mt. View after going to Target and Safeway.  ABetty had offered her services to stay with the Rents during the recovery period and was surprised when KikukatDad declined.  ABetty didn't realize KikukatMom would be up and about so soon.

I spent the weekend doing work, work-related work.  I made a flowchart, worked on my professional development goal, and tried to process how my lapse in judgement at the moment resulted in being the advisor for 2 HUGE senior class activities.  I purchased a video class on pastry via Craftsy, but I never got around to watching it.  I was too tired.

In spite of my lethargy, I have been able to bake.  Yeah, go figure.  Baking is not so much a problem as cooking.  I think it's because it's a lot easier for me to get excited over sweets.  I know I have a major sweet tooth, and my biggest weakness is cake.

This weekend, I baked pound cake.  I like the tight crumb of pound cake, and the buttery flavor is to-die-for.  The cream cheese adds just a hint of tang.  The best part about this recipe is that it makes two at a time.  We are almost done with one of the cakes, and the other one is nestled in the freezer. . .perhaps I will need to eat it during the recovery period after Jimena, since it appears Ignacio will bypass us!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

     1 1/2 c butter, softened
     8 oz cream cheese
     3 c sugar
     6 eggs
     1 tsp vanilla extract
     1/2 tsp almond extract
     3 c flour
     2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2 8 x 4-inch loaf pans, being sure to grease all the way to the top of pans.  Cream butter and cream cheese.  Add sugar and beat 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla and almond extracts with last egg.  Stir in flour and salt just until combined.  Divide batter evenly between pans.  Bake for 55 minutes.  Tent pans with foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before removing cakes from pans.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Wrap in plastic wrap.  Similar recipes suggest baking in a tube or bundt pan for a total of 80 minutes.

This freezes well too.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Marble Cake

Another busy week/weekend under my belt.  It would've been nice to see LAMN, but I think we both knew that would be near impossible.  I expected her to be busy, but it turns out that I was busy too. I hope to see her when she comes back again. . .should be in a few weeks.

For the latter half of the work week, I pored over the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) report which was prepared by the state after visiting our school. OMG!!!  As a language arts instructor, I am appalled at the way the report was written.  Not only was it fraught with inaccuracies, but the grammar was deplorable.  Is it unrealistic for me to expect better from the state?  And where is the responsible behavior portion?  We always teach the students to research issues properly. . .use factual information. . .be specific when giving feedback. . .cite sources properly.  The state report broke dozens of writing rules.  And don't even get me started on how the bullets were used!

As if the CNA report wasn't enough to keep me busy, I got home late from work on Friday because I had a late afternoon meeting.  My favorite colleague was AWOL for the meeting; no harm, no foul.  The important people showed up and we were productive in taking care of business.  By the time I got home I was too tired to cook so we ended up at Hilo Rice Noodle.  I made the mistake of ordering the beef broccoli chow fun.  Fail.  Don't order that.  The other dishes, salt & pepper squid and Peking ribs, were delicious.

The better part of the weekend was spent grading papers.  Mid-quarter entries will be due soon.  Because I teach primarily seniors, it's imperative that I keep on top of their grades and let the counselor know if they are in jeopardy of not earning credit.  The 1-credit course I teach is a graduation requirement.  While it's not uncommon for seniors to slack off during the last term, they still need to be sure they earn a passing grade for the year.  I have a few students who will be dangerously close to not passing, so its important to notify them early and keep on their tails.

I also managed to sneak in a quick trip to Costco with D1.  We had a nice drive over, and I even let D1 drive part of the way.  I will definitely miss her when she goes off to college, but I need to make it through this learning-to-drive phase first.  I know she will improve with time and practice, but it's still spooky.  Kudos to The Help who took her out for her first official (legal) driving session.  He said he wanted D1 to have a healthy respect for the road, but he didn't intend to go into heart attack alert himself along the way.  I wonder if I was the same way when I practiced my driving.

D1 stayed home this weekend (instead of traveling to Honolulu with Mr. Dependable & Co) to attend the crosstown rival high school's Junior Ball (yes, she had a date. . .didn't go stag. . . finally).  A nice boy invited her.   Bless his heart. . .he really is a nice boy (nice parents too) so I hope she was nice to him.  Before they drove off, the nice boy said, "she is always nice, aunty".  Bullshit!  She was probably twisting his arm when he said that.  Both Ds inherited the mouth and attitude of Mr. Dependable's mom so I'm always worried about what will come out.

D2 went to Honolulu with Mr. Dependable this weekend.  They celebrated a birthday with dinner at Tsukiji Fish Market (I saw pics of them grinding out) and adventure at Podium Raceway.  There was also some kind of duck gathering in Honolulu so they met up with their favorite duck, who was part of the entourage.  What an honor for him. . .being invited to travel home and speak to prospective students.  Seems he is doing very well in Eugene.  I'm sure it wasn't too difficult for D2 to convince her dad to take her to Legend for another plate of beef broccoli cake noodle.  I know the Legend dish is better than what I had on Friday.

I figured I needed some nourishment while doing my grades and prepping for a presentation at UH-Hilo so as soon as I got home from dinner on Friday night, I popped one of these babies into the oven.  I have never tried this recipe using a cake mix other than Duncan Hines; the other cake mixes sold here have pudding in the mix.  From my baking experience, I do notice a difference in the final product when I use Supermoist (Betty Crocker).  For mini cupcakes, it doesn't matter, but for cakes baked in a large pan, I prefer Duncan Hines.  D2 was happy to come home and find this waiting for her.  Like me, she has a major sweet tooth.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Chocolate Cream Cheese Marble Cake

     8 oz cream cheese, softened
     1/2 c sugar
     1/2 c chocolate chips
     1 box (about 18 oz.) Duncan Hines devils food cake mix*
     1 box chocolate instant pudding
     1 c hot water
     3/4 c vegetable oil
     1 tsp vanilla
     5 eggs, divided

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Set aside.  In a medium glass measuring cup, combine hot water, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding.  Crack 4 eggs into bowl with cake mix and pudding.  Gradually add liquid while beating slowly.  When all liquid is added, beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan.  Using a spoon, plop cream cheese mixture over chocolate batter, spacing evenly.  Swirl cream cheese mixture and chocolate batter with the blunt end of a toothpick or the narrow end of a chopstick.  Bake for 55 minutes.  Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
*If you are using a new cake mix with less than 18 oz (about 15 oz.), add 6 tbsp flour to cake mix before proceeding with recipe.

Dear Uncle Al,
     Thank you for all that you've done for me over the years. . .

     -never taking me to Moloka`i (I would've died on the plane ride)
     -catching a`ama crab for me (yum)
     -subbing for me in my early years at HHS (the kids said you were more
          strict than me)
     -imparting your wisdom upon me in the most entertaining and humorous
          way (you gave me "names" to look out for)

     Like me, you were not a Viking by diploma, but it is where you left your
     mark.  I will never forget all the fun times hanging out with you in F-bldg.

     R.I.P. Uncle Al. . .you will be missed.
                                                                         Kikukat

Mini Cream Cheese Cherry Fruitcake

I'm finally on vacation.

It seemed like vacation would never get here!

Just a few more days until Christmas.

I hope I didn't forget any gifts.

I THINK I'm done with my Christmas shopping.

I try to bake at least 1 batch of humbug holiday cookies with the Ds, but it looks like time isn't on our side this year.  We normally have at least half a week before Christmas to bake cut-out cookies, but vacation began too late.  Maybe we'll be able to bake something for Valentine's Day.

Instead of cookies with the Ds, I had to settle for some by-myself baking.  I chose to make mini cream cheese cherry fruitcake because I knew neither of the Ds would be too disappointed about missing out on this.

Fruitcake isn't something many people are often enthused about, but everyone (adults) enjoys the local version of fruitcake.  The fruitcake we know and like is actually a pound cake with a spattering of candied fruits.  It is not the type you find at Trader Joe's. . . mostly fruit bound together with tiny bits of cake.

There are a handful of people around here who make a more traditional kind of fruitcake.  Last Christmas, one of The Helps clients gave him a fruitcake which was a deep, dark brown.  It tasted very much like prune mui, and it had a tar-like texture.  She told him it was her specialty.  My friend A's mom makes a steamed fruitcake, which is dark, although not as dark the one I previously mentioned.  Kikukat Mom makes something called "light fruitcake".  While not steamed, it has a tan color which is different from the pictures you see here.  And I'm sorry mom, but I don't like the fruitcake you make.  Like the two aforementioned varieties, it is dense and unappealing (to me!).  The cream cheese variety is much more to my liking.

And I just remembered. . .I haven't bought anything for The Rents.  I guess I'm NOT done with my Christmas shopping.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Mini Cream Cheese Cherry Fruitcake

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     1 c butter, softened

     1 1/2 c sugar

     4 eggs

     1 1/2 tsp vanilla

     2 1/4 c flour, divided

     1 1/2 tsp baking powder

     3/4 c candied cherries, cut in half

     1/2 c pecans, coarsely chopped

Grease and flour 5 mini loaf pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  In a separate bowl, stir together 2 c flour and baking powder.  Gradually add to cream cheese mixture.  Toss remaining flour (1/4 c) with cherries and nuts.  Fold into batter.  Divide batter evenly among prepared pans.  Bake 45-50 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.  Cool completely.

The best fruitcake in the world is made in Hanapepe, Kauai, by Mrs. Nozaki, a retired hairdresser.  Her fruitcake is outstanding!  I have been fortunate enough to receive quantities of it over the years from her son.  Unlike this recipe, which contains nuts, Mrs. Nozaki's cake only has cherries in it, and the cake's flavor is enhanced by the whiskey-soaked cheesecloth enveloping the loaf.  I haven't received Mrs. Nozaki's cake this year yet, but I'm hoping her son bought out Safeway's supply of candied cherries so he can bake several batches.

Congratulations to D2 who received an award at her school!  I'm disappointed I wasn't able to make it to the presentation (I had a Charles Dickens function in my classroom.), and I am grateful The Help represented me.  D2 tries so hard, and it was nice that she was recognized for her effort.

Congratulations are also due to the HHS varsity boys basketball team.  The took first place in the St. Joseph School's Cardinal Classic.  They won a 67-64 nailbiter against crosstown rival Waiakea.  With hardly any time remaining in overtime, and the score tied 64-64, star guard Jalen Carvalho (nephew of my good buddy SF) hit a 3-pointer to win the game for the Viks.  It was awesome.  Jalen is beast, but the whole team worked hard for the victory.  Best wishes to them as they hit the skies this week to participate in a pre-season tourney in San Diego.

And for my weekly rant. . .where the fuck do they find the refs in this town?  Be it football or basketball, they are all horrible.  What a bunch of blind idiots in stripes!  One of the refs at the basketball game spent more time talking stories with a coach than watching the players.  Auwe!!!

While I began my vacation this weekend, The Help got busy.  Of course, I went along as "assistant". . .underpaid and overworked (me, not The Help).  The Help did a session for Maria at Short N Sweet, a local bakery.  Maria is the designer of D1's birthday cake.  The bakery was hired to do an afternoon tea for a local beauty business.  While Short N Sweet has been doing afternoon tea for a while, Maria had no pictures of past events so she asked The Help to help her capture the event (food-wise).  I think she will be happy with the images.  She was kind enough to give us some goodies. . .gougeres and a flaky mushroom turnover.  OMG!  The Empress Hotel has nothing on Short N Sweet when it comes to tea!

And for the first time in nearly a decade, I got to eat fried kole (yes, we really do eat this fish. . .much to my horror, the top hits for "kole tang" were aquaria websites, not delicacy websites).  3M texted me on Saturday morning and reminded me about the RBI concession.  Mmmmmmmmm.  The fried kole was so yummy that I sent The Help back down to the Boys & Girls Club of Hilo baseball field for another plate!  I hope they will put me on their speed dial whenever they have fried kole at their concession.

deep-fried kole

Thanksgiving Memories: Cranberry Sour Cream Bundt Cake

I hastily posted a slideshow on Thursday with pics from the Thanksgiving luncheon at Aunty Janice's house in Paradise Park.  I posted a pic of a cake, for which I neglected to include the recipe.  It is one of the easiest and tastiest cakes out there, and I've been making it since 1990 (made it for an ex-boyfriend's family first. . .guinea pigs!).  Ex-boyfriend and his family are long-gone (good riddance), but the cake has stood the test of time.  Click for printable recipe.

Now comes the part where I sigh. . .the 2012 elections are finally over, but there are still signs (both winners and losers) all over town.  This year, one particular lot on the main highway never ceased to amuse me with signs, most notably about the mayoral and prosecuting attorney races.

The prosecuting attorney race was a really tight race between Lincoln Ashida and Mitch Roth.  Both have numerous years in the prosecutors office, but the owner of this piece of property had a clear favorite.  I was initially amused by the sight of the used (this is an assumption) toilet bowl beneath the large "Lincoln 4 Lincoln" sign, but only after I uploaded the pics onto my computer did I see the "me" "me" "me" all over the sign!

There was another sign saying "Lincoln walk on people", but I didn't get a pic of it.  The "artist" seemed to enjoy using "walk" in the signs, as another sign spoke of Roth "walk da walk".

I waited until the elections were over before posting this because I didn't want to be accused by either camp of spreading propaganda.  Hilo is a small town, and people who are close to me know/like both Lincoln Ashida and Mitch Roth.

Every Sunday, on my way to the rubbish dump, I would check if any new signs had been posted.

Sometime after the Lincoln/Roth signs were posted, pro-Harry Kim (former mayor) signs appeared, along with a "Dump Billy" (Billy Kenoi, current mayor) sign.  I don't know of anyone in Hilo who could not have noticed those signs!

The signs were just hilarious.  In addition to the use of creative spelling, the media of the signs ran the gamut from wood to ceramics to metal (plywood, toilet, and lampshade, to name a few things).  I think my sculpture professor, Charles Smith, would have been proud of the artist.

On November 6, Mitch Roth prevailed over Lincoln Ashida by a very narrow margin, and Billy Kenoi won re-election after a close victory over Harry Kim.  In general, Hilo politicians do not advertise on television, and there was very little mud-slinging, if any, from them.  This was a good thing, because my television time was spent being entertained by the Mazie Hirono, Linda Lingle, Ben Cayetano, and Kirk Caldwell mud-slinging ads.  Too funny!

Anyway, with elections and Thanksgiving behind me, I'm looking forward to the next holiday.  15 more work days until Winter Break!!!  I know Uncle will be gone for at least 2 out of those 15 days, so I'm going to decide if I'll need to pull the sick leave card to make the time go by even faster.

Make your own recipe card

Feels Like Fall: Fresh Apple Cake

Feels like its back to school time.  This time of the year used to be called summer.  But by the time this post is published, I will have been back at work for at least 4 hours to begin "SY 12-13".  Ughhhh.  Some people have no idea that summer vacation is for BOTH students and teachers. 

Sadly, teachers where I work ARE back at school.  Kids don't return until July 31 so the time between today and July 31 is to bring the teachers up to speed so that the kids can do as well on the state test as the kids who live less than 10 miles away. 

I guess its fair to say I am upset at having to return to work when my counterparts (who work at the school 10 miles away) are still enjoying their vacation.  The state has only enough money to fund this extended learning time for one school year, so a year from now, I will still be on vacation.  Oh well, maybe I can take a nice vacation with all the extra $ I will earn this year.  I hear Hawaiian will be offering a new route to the land down under soon.  Brisbane, here I come. . .g'day mate!

09/13:  I am adding this in due to the high volume of traffic this post has been recently experiencing.  This post was originally a lot longer, describing in detail the indignities educators in one particular district face at the hands of parents and the educational bureaucracy.  I removed much of it, as time has passed and I thought most visitors to this post are primarily interested in the recipe for this delicious treat.  

Recently, I received a comment from a nasty reader which had absolutely no validity, as it was a personal attack on teachers and any other non-healthcare worker.  Please, please, please...enjoy my recipes, but if you have nothing nice to say, please refrain from leaving an anonymous comment. 

Thank you, 
Kikukat


September 22, 2014
If you enjoyed this apple recipe, you might want to check out another apple recipe I just posted here.

November 19, 2015
Comments attacking other commenters are forbidden.  Remember, this is basically a recipe blog.  If you would like to change society and/or rid society of nasty people, please run for public office.  

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Fresh Apple Cake

     1 c vegetable oil

     2 c sugar

     3 eggs

     3 c flour

     1 tsp baking soda

     2 tsp vanilla extract

     1 c chopped pecans

     3 c peeled and chopped apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13" pan.  Combine oil, sugar, and eggs.  Stir in flour and baking soda.  Add vanilla, pecans, and apples.  Spread in prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.  Cool for 2 hours.  Then prepare frosting.

Frosting

     1/2 c butter

     1 c brown sugar, packed

     1/4 c evaporated milk

     1/2 tsp vanilla

Boil all ingredients in a small saucepan for 2 minutes.  Set pan in bowl filled with ice water.  Beat icing until of spreading consistency.  Spread over top of cake.

I managed to sneak in an end-of summer lunch with Brucie.  We ended up at our usual haunt because he refused to have anything to do with Chinese food and lazy Susans.  He managed to get back from China in one piece, and he brought back a bunch of goodies for me and the Ds.

chops for the Ds

I am going to be very busy in the next week.  I am taking an online course. . .my first course in over 15 years!  I also got volunteered to alter 9 cheerleader skirts.  While the sewing part isn't difficult, not having 8 of the girls handy to try on as I fix is somewhat of a downer.  I'm hoping that by this time next week, the skirts will just be a memory!

Christmas Food: Mini Fruit Cakes

There's some perennial joke about fruit cake. . .that there is really only one and people keep re-gifting it to each other.  In a way, I kinda believe it.  I remember seeing the red tin at Christmas, no doubt sent by some friend or relative on the mainland.  I remember how the only one who would touch it was AE.  I thought it was disgusting to see all the fruits stuck together with the dark brown cake.  I much preferred the "local" version of fruit cake, which was less fruit and more cake, good cake.

Mom made fruit cake every year.  While her fruit cake was better than the fruit cake that came in the tin, I preferred some other people's fruit cake, where the cake part was more like pound cake.  Mom also used walnuts.  I h8 walnuts!  I love pecans.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Mini Fruit Cakes

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     1 c butter, softened

     1 1/2 c sugar

     4 eggs

     1 1/2 tbsp vanilla

     2 1/4 c cake flour

     1 1/2 t baking powder

     1 c glace fruit cake mix

     1/2 c chopped nuts

     1/4 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 regular muffin cups with paper liners.  Remove 1 tbsp flour and toss with fruit cake mix, nuts, and cranberries.  Set aside.  Stir together remaining flour and baking powder.  Set aside.  Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Add vanilla and mix well.  Add flour mixture.  Add fruit/nut mixture.  Using a #20 disher, divide batter evenly among prepared cups (about 2/3 full).  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Thanksgiving Memories: Pumpkin Crunch Cake

I didn't do much this past Thanksgiving, but I had a great day.  The Help picked up a ready-to-heat turkey meal from Foodland, which was unbelievably delicious.  Now I'm thinking that given the sheer ease of throwing a meal like that together, its just unbelievably time-consuming (and not exponentially better tasting) to make your own food.  One thing we both enjoyed was the absence of the mound of oily dishes from roasting the bird and cooking all the trimmings.

The dessert which came with the meal was a small pumpkin pie.  While I'm not against pumpkin, I am definitely not a fan of pumpkin (and custard) pie.  I like the taste of the filling, but to me, pumpkin pie is so boring.  In the past, I've made a few kick-ass pumpkin desserts (fresh pumpkin cake, pumpkin roll, pumpkin and cream cheese layered dessert), but I just didn't feel excited about eating any of those things this year.  The Help told me he saw a dessert at Moonstruck Patisserie called "Pumpkin Crunch", but when asked to describe what it was, The Help was at a loss for words.  But he insisted it sounded good.

In search of the perfect Pumpkin Crunch recipe, no easy task for someone who never tasted it, I looked through about a dozen cookbooks before I found one.  In fact, the identical recipe appeared in several cookbooks.  The universal appeal is that it uses whole-package amounts of purchased ingredients (8 oz. Cool Whip, 8 oz. cream cheese, etc.).  A few recipes called for odd amounts of these ingredients.  I mean, really, what would I do with an 8 oz. container of Cool Whip after a cup of it has been removed?

To make a long story short, Pumpkin Crunch Cake (not really a cake in my book, and, I'm sure Melissa would agree. . .I KNOW cake), was a huge hit, in spite of it being unknown in my home before November.  Then my friend Harvey told me its one of his favorite desserts.  A few days later, I tried to get cousin Kent to take some home (when he came for a consultation to look at D1's bruised black big toe), but he politely declined and said he and his wife had been eating it for over five days past Thanksgiving.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Pumpkin Crunch Cake

     1 can (29 oz) pumpkin

     1 can (13 oz) evaporated milk

     1 c sugar

     3 eggs

     1 tsp cinnamon

     1 box (abut 18 oz) Duncan Hines yellow cake mix*

     1 c pecans, chopped

     1 c butter, melted

     8 oz cream cheese, softened

     8 oz Cool Whip

     1 c sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13" pan, and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper.  Grease paper.  In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon.  Pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture.  Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix.  Carefully pour melted butter over nuts and cake mix.  Bake for 1 hour.  When completely cool, invert pan over serving tray.  Peel off paper.  Combine cream cheese, Cool Whip and powdered sugar.  Beat with mixer until well combined.  Frost top (pumpkin layer) of cake.  Store in refrigerator.

*If you are using a new cake mix with less than 18 oz (about 15 oz.), add 6 tbsp flour to cake mix before proceeding with recipe.

Lemon Cake (adapted from Barefoot Contessa Lemon Cake)

The first half of this week passed by in a blur.  After going to the doctor on Monday and being told to stay out of work for the next two weeks, I decided I really need to take it easy.  I missed out on a workshop on Tuesday and will be missing out on a parent meeting tomorrow. My home is no cleaner, but I'm grateful for the resting time.  I'm also grateful for getting out of another workshop, although if it wasn't for a workshop, I would never have encountered this heavenly cake. . .

This is a cake that has been taken everywhere . . . workshops, meetings, family parties, picnics, office snack table.  Its always well-received, and its one of those dishes where someone will always ask for the recipe.  In fact, that's how I got the recipe myself nearly a decade ago.

I attended a workshop in Honolulu and someone brought it as a contribution to the snack table.  Everyone requested the recipe.  We were told it came from the Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook, but it could also be found on the Food Network website here.

After making the cake (original recipe) several times, I decided there were some things I wanted to "fix".  First of all, I normally buy large eggs.  My Williams-Sonoma Food Companion said for 4 eggs, it really didn't matter if it was large or extra-large, so I tried making the recipe with large eggs.  If the quality suffered, I certainly couldn't tell the difference.  The other thing that always gave me problems was the icing.  Using the original recipe made the icing too runny for my taste.  It wouldn't just sit atop the cake and ooze slowly.  It would run off and be too thin.  The taste was fine, but in terms of aesthetics, the thicker icing made for a nicer picture.  Oddly enough, the picture of the cake in the book had a thicker icing than what you'd get by following the original recipe.

Several dozen cakes later. . .

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Lemon Cake

(adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook)

     1 c butter, softened

     2 1/2 c sugar, divided

     4 eggs

     1/3 c lemon zest (optional)

     3 c flour

     1/2 tsp baking powder

     1/2 tsp baking soda

     1 tsp salt

     1 c lemon juice, divided

     3/4 c buttermilk

     1 tsp vanilla

     2 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2 8 1/2 x 4 1/2" pans or 5 mini loaf pans.  Line bottoms only with parchment paper.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.   Combine 1/4 c lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Set aside.  Cream butter and 2 c sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add lemon zest.  Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to batter, beginning and ending with flour.  Divide batter evenly between pans, smoothing tops.  If using mini loaf pans, 3 #10 dishers goes into each pan.  Bake for 50-55 minutes (40 minutes if making mini loaves) or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in pan.  While cooling, make syrup by cooking 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c lemon juice over low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove cakes from pans and place on a wire rack.  Spoon syrup over cakes.  Allow to cool completely.  Combine powdered sugar and 3 tbsp lemon juice in a small bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth.  Pour over cakes and allow icing to drip down the sides.

Easy Black Forest Cake

Except for my freshman year of college, I lived in a private apartment which was six blocks away from the edge of campus.  Along the route was a German bakery, Woerner's Pastry and Coffee Shop.  I passed it almost every day for three years but fear of mustard kept me away from the restaurant portion.  I would occasionally stop in to buy  a napoleon from the pastry case.  The napoleons sat amidst other pastries, cakes, and tortes.  The bakery seemed to have an endless supply of sachertorte and black forest cake.  I was immediately turned off by all the little seeds in the sachertorte filling, but the black forest cake was intriguing.  Unfortunately, I left Seattle before trying Woerner's black forest cake.

Being a perennial favorite of sweet tooth people like myself, some versions of black forest cake are very complicated to make.  Some boast over 3 layers of chocolate cake with a fancy creamy filling between each layer (Woerner's version was like this).  In local cookbooks, a shortcut version of black forest cake, sometimes called chocolate cherry cake, can be found in many volumes.  I've tested several versions and have tweaked the best one to make it my own.  The greatest variance between recipes came in the amount of eggs.  Some recipes call for as little as two eggs, while other specify "4 large eggs".  The cake seems to be the highest with four eggs.  One recipe said to "jigger in some rum".  My touch was to add a bit of amaretto di saronno, since cherries and almonds go well together.

And yes, Melissa, you are right. . .I do like a cold cake, so you can probably guess where I would suggest storing the cake.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Easy Black Forest Cake

     1 box (about 18 oz) Devil's food cake mix*

     4 eggs

     1 c vegetable oil

     1 tbsp amaretto di saronno

     1 can cherry pie filling

     1 c sugar

     6 tbsp butter

     1/3 c milk

     1 c chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate will work)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and amaretto.  Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add cherry pie filling.  mix until gel is incorporated into batter.  Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13" pan.  Bake 55 minutes.  Cool cake in pan on a rack for 25 minutes before starting on frosting.  Cook sugar, butter and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips.  Continue stirring until chocolate chips are melted.  Pour over cake.  

*If you are using a new cake mix with less than 18 oz (about 15 oz.), add 6 tbsp flour to cake mix before proceeding with recipe.