Tag: sugar

Apple Crumb Cake

apple crumb cake

We are on the brink of my favorite time of the year. With a few cooler days, I am already itching for sweater weather! My first pot of chili has already been made. Now I’m all about pumpkins and my favorite fall fruit, apples!

I love a good apple, and cooking with them takes the flavor to a whole nother level! From apple pies and cakes, applesauce and apple butter,  to this wonderful apple crumb cake. They are simply perfect!   

Choosing an apple to cook with can be a bit baffling. There seems to be a new variety every season. Granny Smith, Fuju, Golden Delicious, and Jonathan are always perfect for baking, but I tend to use Honeycrisp if I have made a trip to the apple house for Mutzu.  With over 2500 types available in the US alone, many will work well for cooking and baking.

apple crumb cake
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Apple Crumb Cake

Course Breakfast
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • Streusel:
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
  • Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
  • 3/4 cup full fat sour cream
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 2 cups peeled and diced apple

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350℉. Prepare baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or paper liners in muffin tin sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
  • To make the Streusel: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the flour with brown sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture resembled coarse meal; continue mixing the streusel until very small clumps form. Transfer the streusel to a large plate and refrigerate until it is well chilled, about 10 minutes.
  • To make the cake: In the mixer bowl, combine the flour with granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and beat at low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and beaten egg and beat until the batter is smooth. Add the diced apples and beat just until incorporated.
  • Pour into baking pan or scoop in muffin tins. Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle on top. Bake in pan for about 45 minutes and muffins for about 30 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly before serving.

Amaretto Pound Cake

Pound cakes are my jam! I absolutely love to have one at the house. I think it’s just homey to have a pound cake in a beautiful cake plate on the kitchen counter. Aside from that and more importantly, they are fantastic for breakfast, snacks, or dessert. Greg even loves them toasted with butter.

There is one little secret you should know about me, though. Do not ever believe me if I ever tell you that a particular pound cake recipe is my favorite because they are like best friends. I can not have just one favorite! So, with that said, here is another FAVORITE pound cake!

This Amaretto Pound Cake recipe is terrific! It is from my VeryVera Cookbook. I lived in Augusta for five years, and I know that Vera knows pound cakes. If you follow Vera’s directions, your cake will be delicious! This cake is tender and moist, and it’s delicious for days…if it lasts that long!

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Amaretto Pound Cake

Course Dessert
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1/3 cup amaretto liqueur
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 large eggs room temperature
  • Floured baking spray
  • GLAZE
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons water

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325℉.
  • Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 20 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  • While the butter and sugar are creaming, measure out the remaining ingredients for the cake.
  • In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the cream, almond extract, and amaretto.
  • In another bowl, whisk together the cake flour and salt.
  • Once the butter and sugar have finished creaming, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • With the mixer on low-speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  • Let the mixture beat on low speed for 5 minutes.
  • With the mixer still on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the cream mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until well blended.
  • Scrape the bowl and incorporate any unmixed batter if necessary.
  • Prepare a large 12-cup Bundt pan with floured baking spray.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan until it is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the top. Tap the pan on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles. (If there is remaining batter, us it to make muffins.
  • Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer into the cake, and if there is no cake on the skewer, it's done.
  • While the cake is in the oven, prepare the glaze.
  • Remove the cake from the oven. Allow the cake to cool in the pan, on a wire rack, for 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle with pot holders. Place the wire rack on top of the cake pan and flip the pan over. Gently lift the pan, being careful not to remove any of the outside crust.
  • Using a pastry brush, generously douse the curved top of the cake with glaze. The cake should appear shiny with the glaze but not saturated.
  • Glaze Instructions:
  • Melt the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the water and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and not grainy.
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the amaretto until well blended.

Peaches and Coconut Cream Popsicles

 

peaches-and-coconut-cream-popsicles

Oh, the memories that popsicles bring to mind. I can remember hot summer days when Mama would let us run through the oscillating sprinkler. We just had the one so we would line up and run through one at a time, jumping the ice-cold well water and laughing the whole time. When she would finally make us stop before we ran the well dry, we would bask in the warm sun with our bright green, red, orange, or purple popsicles to dry off before we would start again.

All these years later, I still keep those same popsicles in my freezer for those hot days when I’m working in the yard. But I have also taken it a step further by making homemade popsicles. Popsicles are perfect for the whole family and make an excellent summertime dessert. You can find a wide variety of molds and even the quick-setting popsicle makers that I like for convenience.

Peaches are in season, so pick some up for these incredible Peaches and Coconut Cream Popsicles. They are amazing and quite addicting. I usually make a double batch because they do not last long!

Peaches and Coconut Cream Popsicles
 
Author:
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Ingredients
  • 1 can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
  • ½ c. granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 c. fresh peach puree
  • 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp. orange juice
Instructions
  1. Pour the coconut milk into a medium saucepan. Add sugar and heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Puree the peeled and sliced peaches with 2 tbsp. sugar and orange juice in a food processor until smooth (a few small chunks will be okay).
  3. Combine the coconut milk and peach mixtures. Pour into a large jar and refrigerate until cool.
  4. When cool, pour into popsicle molds. Freeze until firm. Remove from molds and serve.

 

Lemon Oreo Cheesecake aka The Best Cheesecake EVER!!

 

Hey, y’all! I would like to thank my guest, Loretta, for writing about this scrumptious cheesecake. Loretta and I have been friends for years and have seen each other though the good and the bad. I’m thankful to have friends like this, and I hope you enjoy her post! Thanks again, Loretta!

TIME – I used to think I never had enough of it. Now, I have more than I ever thought I would. With the Coronavirus keeping us home and the fact that I just got laid off from my job, TIME is precisely what I’ve got. If you’re like me, we all have lofty goals of EVERYTHING we have ever dreamed of doing if only we had more TIME. Well, I’m happy to say that cooking and baking just made my list!

Hi, my name is Loretta. Amye and I have been friends since middle school, and with a little extra time on my hands, she asked me to be a guest on NJSD.

On a recent visit to her house, I tasted one of the best cheesecakes! It was light and fluffy and delicious, and Amye gave me the recipe. Typically, I would have thought baking a homemade cheesecake to be a lot of work. I would have added the recipe to my collection, and I would have never taken the TIME to make it – but guess what – I now have the TIME, so I did! It turned out fantastic!

I added some whipped cream around the outside of the crust and sprinkled a little bit of lemon zest over the top. You could also use any leftover cookies and crumble on top as well.

So, if you’re looking for something to do, I say, go through that box of recipes you’ve collected (I know you have them), dust off those cookbooks that are sitting on your shelf, or pick any of these fabulous recipes that Amye shares on NJSD. You might be surprised, like me, to discover that cooking and baking can be fun! Make TIME for it.

My new motto – “Cheesecake for breakfast” – you bet!

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Lemon Oreo Cheesecake aka The Best Cheesecake EVER!!

Course Dessert
Author Amye Melton

Equipment

  • springform pan

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups crushed lemon Oreos (about 25)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons salted butter melted
  • 5 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese softened
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
  • 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • Lemon Curd

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350℉.
  • Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a double layer of foil. Have a roaster ready for water.
  • Stir together crushed cookies and melted butter. Press into bottom and 2-inches up sides of springform pan. Bake 7-8 minutes. Cool on wire rack until ready to use. Reduce oven temperature to 325℉.
  • Beat cream cheese on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Gradually add sugar and flour, beating until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add yolks, one at a time. Stir in zest, juice, and heavy cream.
  • Pour into crust and place pan in the roaster. Gently pour water in roaster until water reaches halfway up springform pan.
  • Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until center is almost set but still slightly wobbly.
  • Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven with the door partially open for one hour.
  • Remove from oven to a wire rack if it is still warm.
  • When completely cooled, remove foil from around the bottow and sides of the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Notes

F

Caramel Pecan Pie

 

Life is rolling on, and we are safe at the Melton house. I pray that this finds each of you healthy at home. Isn’t it strange how a small virus can cause such a profound change in the world? Things that were important three weeks ago do not seem quite as relevant today. Today I think more about God, family, friends, and making do with what I already have. I have not found the need to run out to buy something just because I want it. I’m saving gas, time, and money!

I have my mother with me during this. My goal is to help keep her safe and protected. I have one child in Atlanta who has not left her apartment in three weeks. I have another who will not be going back to his job for a while and a daughter-in-law finishing her last semester of college online. She has worked hard for a diploma and will not be able to walk with honor.

I plan to try to keep Easter as normal as possible around here. Most likely, my children will not be able to be here, which makes me sad. I will still get up to see the sunrise. I will rejoice that the resurrection has given me hope! I will be thankful for another day!

 

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Caramel Pecan Pie

Course Dessert
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 28 Kraft caramels unwrapped
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 cup pecan pieces plus whole halves for top
  • 1 (9-inch) pie shell unbaked

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350℉.
  • Heat caramels, water, and butter over low heat, stirring occassionally, until melted and smooth.
  • Combine sugar, salt, vanilla, and beaten eggs.
  • Add caramel sauce to egg mixture; mix well.
  • Stir in pecan pieces.
  • Top with whole pecans.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool before serving.