Cinnamon Brunch Cake

20 Sunday Jun 2010

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

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Baked, Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

Cinnamon Brunch cake

This cake originates from a cake mix that is doctored to produce a wonderful breakfast dessert. The recipe comes from Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic Cookbook that a friend loaned me. I prepared the cake this morning because I was bored… actually I woke early and decided to bake. Plus I thought it would be a nice Father’s day treat. The cake is dense, yet moist. I didn’t have almonds so I used recently picked Georgia Pecans.

Incidentally, I am excited to use my new cupcake plate. I actually painted it myself during a recent visit to a local pottery store with my youngest. I love the way it turned out!

Cinnamon Brunch Cake

Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic, page 82

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup fine chopped almonds (pecans)
1 box white cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding (4 serving size)
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil (see note)
3/4 cup water
1 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla)

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 350. Spray a 10 inch Bundt pan with baking spray.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Sprinkle nuts evenly in the bottom of the Bundt pan. Combine the remaining ingredients and beat for two minutes.

Spread half of the batter in the pan and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Pour remaining batter into pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool about 15 minutes and remove from pan.

Glaze cake if desired. To prepare glaze, combine 1 cup of confectioner sugar with 1 – 2 tablespoons of milk. Stir until desired pouring consistency.

Note: To reduce some of the oil, I suggest using 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1/2 cup of water. Or any combination of this reaching 1 1/2 cups of liquid. The applesauce renders a moister crumb.

Brunch Sweets

22 Saturday May 2010

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

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Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

Quite a while back I made a breakfast roll with just a few ingredients. I wanted to post it again since it is such an easy sweet addition to breakfast or brunch, especially for a small group. The first time I made it, the recipe originated from a great food blog ~ My Kitchen Snippets ~ a blog worthy of bookmarking… check it out.

I prepared the roll with apples and cream cheese. I suppose any fruit that goes with cream cheese would be a great substitute. For the original recipe and great illustrations, click here.

Fruit & Cream Cheese Loaf

Ingredients :

6 oz cream cheese
1 egg, separated
3 tbsp of powder sugar
1/2 cup apple pie filling with cinnamon
1 (11 oz) tube of bread stick dough

Glaze:

1/2 cup of powder sugar
2 – 3 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combined soft cream cheese, powder sugar and egg yolk. Mix until well combined.

Unroll and separate the dough into two rectangles. On a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet, place the rectangles horizontally and press the steam together. Spread cream cheese mixture onto the center of the dough then dollop the fruit filling evenly over the cream cheese. Separate the dough perforations up to the cheese mixture (You might need a scissors for this) Slightly pull and stretch the dough strips. Start from one end of the loaf and alternate pulling the dough strips over the filling to form a “braid”. Make sure to tuck and seal both ends of the loaf.

Beat the egg white and brush it all over the loaf, sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, remove and allow to cool.

For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk, adding more for desired consistency. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle all over the cool loaf before serving.

(Original recipe was posted on January 25, 2009)

Monkey Bread

23 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, From a Mix, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

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Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

Monkey Bread

It’s been a while since I posted on Monkey Bread (March of 09 to be exact), but I make it several times a month. With only 5 ingredients, even the simplest of bakers can create it. There are quite a few variations on how to prepare the bread, but I think the end result is almost always the same.

If you are looking for a melt in your mouth/sink to your buns recipe, try this OMG Cinnamon Roll Cake too.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

2 rolls (8 count each) refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of a 12″ fluted or tube pan with cooking spray.

Remove biscuits and separate. Slice each into quarters. Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl or large Ziploc bag. Roll biscuits in cinnamon sugar and arrange in baking pan. (If using a bag, drop several biscuits at a time in the bag and shake to cover.)

Combine melted butter and brown sugar, stir until smooth. Pour evenly over biscuits.

Bake for 28 – 32 minutes, or until the center is no longer doughy. I often lightly cover the pan with foil during the last 10 or 15 minutes to prevent the top from over browning. Another way I check for “doneness” is to tap on the top of the bread with my finger. If it is soft and does not spring back, it needs a few more minutes.

Sock it to Me Honey

21 Sunday Jun 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, From a Mix, Recipes

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Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, From a Mix, Recipes

Sock it to me

The last time I posted (which seems like forever-ago) it was the Honey Bun Cake. In the mean time, I have been very active working at a summer camp. Of the hats I wear there, one is helping in the kitchen. So much of my time has been consumed with feeding 100 plus people three times a day. Back on track though to the Honey Bun Cake. My dad asked me to make something for him to take to church. The class he attends employs what I might consider people of older persuasion (ha ha). So I didn’t want to just give him a 9 x 13 pan to take. Enter the Sock it to Me Cake. Essentially it is the Honey Bun Cake, aka Cinnamon Roll Cake, aka… baked in a Bundt pan. Same cake, more formal look.

I don’t have any internal pictures of the cake, but seeing that I received an empty container, I figured it must have been pretty good. My dad thought sure he’d bring leftovers home… he says most of the time they just “nibble” in his class. I might bake another one, just so I could see what the inside looked like!

I made some very minor alterations on the cake to ensure the moisture in the cake. I don’t know why… it was cleaned out while still warm… but anyway. I shopped around quite a few recipes and thought these changes would be nice. I have underlined my changes.

Sock It to Me Cake

Cake:

1 yellow or butter cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons vanilla (I forgot to add this!)

Filling:

3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons reserved cake mix

Icing:

3 tablespoons butter, very soft
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 – 3 tablespoons milk (more may be needed)

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a Bundt pan with baking spray.

Combine the filling ingredients and set aside. Many recipes call for 1 cup of pecans, but I don’t like nuts…

Combine all of the cake ingredients and stir until smooth, (most of the lumps should be gone). Pour one half of the cake batter into the pan and top with the brown sugar filling. Carefully spread the filling over the batter. I try to leave a little space around the outside of the cake. Top with remaining batter and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes, slightly longer maybe, but mine was perfect at 50. A toothpick should come out clean.

Let stand in cake pan about 10 minutes then transfer to serving dish. While the cake is cooling, prepare icing. Combine all of the ingredients and stir until smooth. More milk and/or sugar may be added to desired consistency. Before icing, poke holes over top of cake with a thin skewer (this is to let the icing pervade the center of the cake, ensuring moisture). Pour icing over the top.

Sock it to me 2

Baked Potato Frittata

24 Sunday May 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Entree', Recipes

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Breakfast, Entree', Recipes

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Saturday morning is our “big breakfast” day. Usually we will have either pancakes, or some type of egg dish. Today I had some baked potatoes (from last night’s dinner) to use up. They were already seasoned and buttered, so I just chopped them and used my hash brown frittata recipe to finish the dish. It’s basic and simple… and it’s gone.

*In addition to using the baked potatoes, I used 7 regular eggs instead of Egg Beaters. Topped it out with sour cream and salsa.

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Scratch & Sniff: Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

09 Saturday May 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Recipes

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Breakfast, Recipes

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I was too tired to go to the grocery store, so we had to settle for whatever the pantry would provide… This is how most of the dinners went this week. Sadly, there were not a lot of choices. On nights like this, I often resort to breakfast for dinner… enter, the pancake. Pancakes are never refused in this house, and I enjoy “mixing up” the flavor just for fun. As a last minute idea, I sauteed some thin sliced apples and placed them on top of the cinnamon pancake batter. The combination of cinnamon, sugar and apples was tremendous. It reminded me of a snickerdoodle. Here’s how I did it:

BTW, if the ease of preparation doesn’t convince you, the aroma of cinnamon sugar and apples will.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:

Pancake batter (your preference)
2 medium apples, thinly sliced
Cinnamon sugar
Syrup
Whipped topping

Directions:

Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over sliced apples. Spray a small fry pan with butter spray and saute the apples until they begin to soften. Meanwhile, prepare your favorite pancake batter. Add cinnamon sugar to taste. On a hot griddle or fry pan, pour equal amounts of pancake batter and top with an apple slice, pressing down just slightly, but not covering the apple. Continue to cook the pancake as normal, flipping only once. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.

Notes:

I have found that it works better to place the apple slices on top of the batter, versus pouring the batter over the slices.
I didn’t measure the cinnamon and sugar. I rarely do. I have trained my nose to measure certain seasonings.

Pull Apart Cinnamon Rolls, AKA Monkey Bread!

22 Sunday Mar 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Recipes

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Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

I went searching for two things this weekend. One, was a breakfast snack to take to church, the second came after I made a baking decision. That is, what does a biscuit (or yeast bread), butter, sugar and cinnamon have to do with monkeys? Well, to be honest I really didn’t search very long for that last answer, but I did make a wonderful cinnamon breakfast bread, curiously known as “Monkey Bread”. You can do it too… even the least skilled baker can make these, here’s how.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

3 rolls Grands Buttermilk Biscuits (or 4 packs of smaller biscuits)
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (maybe more)
1/2 cup butter (that’s 1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of a 12″ fluted or tube pan with cooking spray.

Chop pecans and place on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 5 -7 minutes, or until they become fragrant.

In a sauce pan, melt butter, then add brown sugar. Simmer butter mixture while preparing biscuits…stir regularly. The longer the butter mix stays on the burner, the better the caramel flavor. While the mix simmers, combine the cream cheese and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Open one of the biscuit packages and cut each biscuit in half. Flatten each one slightly and place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese in the middle and wrap the biscuit into a ball, enclosing the cream cheese. Set these aside.

Open the other biscuits and cut into quarters. Roll each biscuit in cinnamon sugar. Place the toasted pecans in the bottom of the pan. Begin placing quartered biscuits in the pan. Once you have a single layer, roll the cream cheese halves in the cinnamon sugar and place around the pan. Finish with remaining quarters. Finally, pour the melted butter/brown sugar evenly over all of the biscuits. **see note

(Does this make sense? Maybe the following will simplify it)

Layer 1: Toasted Pecans
Layer 2: Layer of Biscuit quarters (not the cream cheese filled)
Layer 3: Now, place the filled biscuits around the pan
Layer 4: Finish with the remaining biscuits
Layer 5: Butter, brown sugar mixture

Bake for 35 minutes, then cover with foil (to keep the top biscuits from browning too much). Bake for another 20 minutes… The bread will be “firm” if you shake the pan. Remove from oven and cool pan on wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes. Flip bread onto large plate… then pull apart and enjoy… Milk is suggested too.

Now for me, the cream cheese was an addition. I also only used about 2 1/2 rolls in one pan, the rest I put in a 8″ cake pan for us to have at home. Thus, you may not use all three packages of rolls. You don’t have to add the pecans or the cream cheese, I usually don’t, I just wanted to spiff this one up a bit.

**Regarding the pouring of butter/brown sugar mixture. Don’t put any in the pan before layering the biscuits or the biscuits will stick to the pan. Pouring the mixture over the top keeps this from happening, but trust me, it will coat all of the pieces well.

You can also find this recipe and similar ones at Pillsbury.com:

Hash Brown Frittata (echo, echo…)

28 Saturday Feb 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Recipes

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Breakfast, Recipes

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This recipe was one of my first posts. I have been wanting to update it, and post some decent photographs. The opportunity to recap the recipe came this morning. This is a very simple recipe, and a good healthy option, as it uses egg beaters and incorporates veggies.

Frittata’s are a great way to serve an easy, scrumptious meal with many possible variations. It is also a way to introduce new veggies to your kids, without them really knowing… BTW, the Southwestern Style Egg Beaters has a little zing to it. If you choose to use regular egg beaters, you will want to add some salt and pepper, or other seasonings.

Hash Brown Frittata

Ingredients:

1 Small Onion, diced
4 slices cooked bacon, chopped or broken into small pieces – divided
1 Bag Simply Potatoes Hash browns, with or without onions
1 Carton Egg Beaters Southwestern Style
1 – 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 – 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
Optional Toppings: Salsa, sour cream, grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Set oven to broil.

Spray a 10″ oven proof skillet with cooking spray. Saute onions and 2 slices of bacon pieces until tender, you may have to add some water to keep from burning (or oil). Add hash brown potatoes and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and “mostly” cooked. Spread mixture out evenly in pan and pour in Egg Beaters. Cook for about two minutes – lifting the edges to allow the “runny” part of the egg beaters under the sides (like you do an omelet). Top with shredded cheese and “strategically” place the sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese. I like to make it proportional – so I can cut slices in the frittata without having to cut the tomatoes. Sprinkle remaining bacon pieces the top and place under broiler until the cheese begins to melt and the center is set. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then slice and serve with optional toppings.

Finally – this is a lower calorie food – Using the Egg Beaters, the potatoes, veggies – and I use 2% cheese… Eight servings runs about 200 calories without the extra toppings.

Make Bread, Not War ~ Amish Friendship Bread

20 Friday Feb 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

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Breakfast, Muffins & Quick Breads, Recipes

Sweet Friends!

First off, let me say that many people snub their nose to participating in this “chain recipe”. After making it tonight, I am thinking it is the way to go! Unless you are originating the chain with the starter yourself, it is practically painless to pull of this sweet bread. AND, there are tons of variations to use with this sourdough starter. I am hooked now… bring on the friends!

Well, I have only eaten Amish Friendship Bread once a long time ago. All I remember was that it was really good. That same day I went home with my own starter bag, only to completely forget to do anything else with it. Hence, this is my first time ever actually “following through” with the recipe. To be completely honest, I almost didn’t make this one either. I was already about 36 hours after the 10 day mark; however, some internet research re-assured me that it would be ok to use.

Amish Friendship Bread

The bread was fabulous, not to mention very easy to combine and bake. It baked perfectly in exactly one hour (as the directions stated). Now I have 4 more starters, and 10 days to make tonights two loaves last. I do plan to use one of the starters in the morning to make some Amish cookies. I will certainly post those results tomorrow.

Amish Friendship Bread (a.k.a. Sourdough Starter)

(You either need a friend with a starter, or to make your own. I found several decent looking recipes in my searches)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 – (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup Amish starter
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9 x 5″ loaf pans and dust bottom and sides of pan with cinnamon sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients, make a well in the center of the mix and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients and mix well, pour into well of the flour mixture and stir until batter is well combined, but don’t over-mix. Pour batter evenly into pans and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then remove and serve, or cool completely and store in a airtight container.

*I always store my sweet/quick breads in the refrigerator. I think they taste better that way.

**I read numerous reviews stating you can freeze the starter, defrosting it in the fridge for 3 hours, then continuing with the proper daily sequence.

View from the top!

Sorry Kelloggs, these Pop-Tarts will make you crumble!

15 Sunday Feb 2009

Posted by laurelg1 in Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Recipes

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Breakfast, Cakes & Pies, Recipes

Homemade Pop-Tarts

We are all guilty of consuming the cardboard treasures (Pop-tarts) at some point in our lives. Hey, it is better than no breakfast at all, just not much on the taste side. My favorite would probably be the brown sugar cinnamon, and it has to be toasted. Pop-Tarts are not often consumed at my house, thus, I don’t regularly buy them. We do the frozen toaster strudels sometimes, but just usually when I don’t feel like making breakfast and the kids decide to be independent. These treats however didn’t even last an hour at our house.

I saw this recipe at Peabody’s site a long time ago. Then again at Honey & Jam… and a couple of other places. Since I had a break this morning I whipped some up. Now yes, I did Honey and Jam’s version using a refrigerated pie crust. Now that I know how well they turn out, I will try the pastry recipe next time. I used Strawberry preserves from Harry & David. This is a great, easy recipe – don’t waste your money on the store bought version and bake up some of your own.

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

Pie crust, refrigerated or homemade (see below)
Jam or Preserves
Glaze or Egg Wash
Sparkling Sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (I went by the temp setting on the box, the original recipe calls for 450.)

Unroll one of the pie crusts and square the edges. Cut into rectangles. Place 1 tsp of jam in the center of a rectangle and top with another piece of crust. Crimp all four edges. Repeat until all of the pie crust is used. I also took the rounded edges that I cut off and rolled them together to form more pop-tarts. They weren’t as “pretty” as the others, but I hate to waste food.

Bake the pop-tarts for about 7 – 8 minutes or until slightly brown. Once cool, pour glaze over and decorate with sugar. If you don’t want to add extra sugar with the glaze, you can use an egg wash on the tops with some white sugar.

Take one pie crust rectangle, fill with a tsp of jam. Cover with another piece of pie crust. Crimp all four edges. Repeat until you run out of pie crust. Bake at 450F for abou7-8 minutes or until slightly brown. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, pour glaze on to Pop-tart and decorate with sparkling sugar.

To Make the Glaze:

1 cup powder sugar
milk to thin

Place powdered sugar in bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistency of really thick syrup.

Peabody’s Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Add shortening or butter and blend with fork, pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture is fairly coarse. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing dough after each addition until dough forms a ball. (Dough can also be prepared in food processor. Use the pulse button just until it starts to pull away from the sides. Be very careful not to overwork the dough.) Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle. Cut out long strips about 2 inches wide, and 3 inches long. Repeat till you run out of dough.

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