Tag Archive for: recipe

Alice Boffin Toft’s Bakery

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This is Alice Boffin Toft’s Bakery.  I am not sure where or when we got this, but as a child, this was a favorite.  It was my sister’s, and while she allowed me to play with it, I was extremely jealous, so for a birthday, I got a vegetable cart which you will see in other pictures.  Obviously, not nearly as cool, but when combined, the two were better than any mini grocery store.  If you look closely, in the front is a big yellow cake with a yellow rose.  I thought that was the most beautiful cake in the world and dreamed one day of being able to get a cake like that.  I actually hadn’t thought about that cake for some time, but my wonderful, awesome, beautiful nieces- Phoebe  age almost 6 and Anna age 2 1/2- came for a visit last week, and my mother brought out the Alice Boffin Toft bakery and the vegetable stand.  They loved it!  I will readily admit to taking the box and playing with the bakery while Anna was taking a nap and Phoebe and Walker were off doing something else.  Well, of couse Anna woke up from her nap and busted me in the living room playing with the bakery (you can see the vegetable cart in this picture).  Then Walker and Phoebe found us, and then my play time was over.  I am so glad that this little bakery and all its wonderful treats is still something that little girls and even little boys when dragged along by their sweet cousins want to play with.  In keeping with loving things from the past, here is my great grandmother’s chocolate cake recipe which is super delicious.  However, one day, I hope to be a baker fine enough to make a beautiful yellow cake with a beautiful yellow rose, but until then, I can always pull out Alice Boffin for fun!

Sarah Walker’s Chocolate Cake:

Cream:

1 ¼ sticks butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Then add, one at a time

2 large eggs

Mix:

1 ½ cups unbleached flour

1 tsp. salt

Mix:

1 tsp. baking soda in ½ c. boiling water

1/3 cup buttermilk

Melt:

2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chocolate in small pan to melt in oven or in microwave.  Beat butter and sugar, add eggs.  Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with buttermilk and soda mixture.  Bake in 2  8” pans at 350 for 30 minutes.

 

Last Minute Real Southern Cobbler, Spoon Licking Good

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I found this authentic and easy cobbler recipe on the Rick-Rack and Gingham blog – a blog by a southern grandma who loves to bake and travel around in her RV with her husband of 34 years. Thanks Cindy!

…What all Good Southern Women keep up their sleeves for those emergency..ooops.. someone is coming over… recipes. Actually my daughter started it..I finished it..baby was calling her mama!

COBBLER OF COURSE!!

We went with the Blackberry/Dewberry cobbler version..it works great with peach and even apricot.

Now I know..this is too easy..we didn’t roll out the dough..we never said we were ancient Southern women!! This recipe has been around for-ever..it can be whipped up for the last minute company..Church social on Sun evening..because your husband is whining for a dessert…and because you have a new baby in the house..lol

I would rate it “Easy Peasy” and “Stick to your ribs Yummy”..we have been known to eat it for breakfast..Hey..there are no real rules for breakfast foods…

For the complete post and the cobbler recipe we all want to try, click here. For more of Cindy’s authentic recipes check out her blog.

Mountain Molasses Stack Cake! Yes!

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I am completely in love with the idea of having a celebration where each guest brings a single layer for a cake. The collection of layers would then be assembled into a magnificent cake for all to share. It seems that this folktale-like custom is something that actually exists in the South, where a deep sense of community and family combined with an enormous appreciation for food is the norm.

…I am also in love with the recipe you’ll find below for Mountain Molasses Stack Cake from a new cookbook “Cider Beans, Wild Greens and Dandelion Jelly” – a collection of southern Appalachian recipes:

Mountain Molasses Stack Cake

This is a cake that is easy to make with an apple filling.

— This dense, rich cake from Joan Aller’s forthcoming cookbook, “Cider Beans, Wild Greens and Dandelion Jelly” (a collection of recipes from southern Appalachia due out in June), is remarkably easy to make, but incredibly flavorful.

She says it is based on cakes assembled at family reunions and other celebrations in the region. She says each family would bring a single layer. The collection of layers then would be assembled into a single cake at the event.

For most of us, the two layers in this recipe probably will be plenty.

Mountain Molasses Stack Cake…

For the recipe and complete article please click here.

Durham NC’s Watts Grocery Bakes

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Pecan-Cornmeal Butter Cakes

The New York Times April 20 Dining section has a great story about the flowering of restaurants in Durham, North Carolina (Durham, a Tobacco Town, Turns to Local Food).  When I lived there in the 1970s, the food was great, but the range of cookery was nowhere as bountiful as it is today.

Watts Grocery represents the best that Durham has to offer these days, and that’s alot –  Frommer’s gives it 5 stars:

“…this down-home eatery run by Durham native Amy Tornquist serves the best farm-fresh fare in the area. The chef-owner believes in serving the best of Piedmont produce, and every rib-sticking dish is homemade. You can get fried chicken gizzards here just like grandma used to make when she wasn’t baking those red velvet cupcakes. Sandwiches, burgers, and salads dominate the luncheon menu, featuring a fried green tomato BLT, even (our favorite) hand-cut buttermilk onion rings with a chipotle-blue cheese dipping sauce. At night it gets fancier with entrees ranging from braised rabbit in red wine to yellowtail snapper filets stuffed with crabmeat. Buttermilk pancakes and shrimp and grits highlight the breakfast menu.”

Amy gave us her recipe for Pecan-Cornmeal Butter Cakes that ran in the NY Times, and now that I have baked up a batch, I can affirm that this is a wonderful and unusual dessert that perfectly represents the new style in Southern cooking.  Enjoy making and eating them.  If you’re like me, you’re already thinking about your next trip to North Carolina to visit this restaurant!

Time: One hour, plus at least 3 hours’ cooling

9 ounces unsalted butter, plus extra for pans

1 cup pecans, toasted and cooled

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for berries (optional)

3/8 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

7/8 cup white cornmeal, plus extra for pans

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

8 egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Berries, for serving

Ice cream or whipped cream, for serving.

1. In a small pan, simmer butter over low heat until light brown and toasty, 8 to 10 minutes. Strain and set aside.

2. In a food processor, rapidly pulse pecans, confectioners’ sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until finely ground.

3. Sift flour and baking powder together. Mix in cornmeal and salt. Mix in pecan-sugar mixture.

4. Whisk egg whites and vanilla together just to combine and whisk into dry ingredients. Whisk in melted butter. Refrigerate batter at least three hours or overnight.

5. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Thickly butter 10 four-inch tartlet pans or a muffin-top tin. Dust well with cornmeal. Fill each a little more than halfway. If you have extra batter, make a second batch.

6. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes in pans, then immediately turn out on a rack. Serve warm, topped with berries (if you like, stir with a little sugar and set aside for a few minutes), ice cream or whipped cream.

Yield: 8 to 12 small cakes.

Thank you Amy Tornquist and the Watts Grocery, located at 1116 Broad St, Durham, NC – call 919/416-5040 for reservations.

Strawberry Shortcake Done Proper

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And old pal from childhood, Chris Ellinger, agreed to offer up his secret recipe for strawberry shortcake. According to Chris: “There’s a hundred versions of strawberry shortcake. Some use those store bought sponge cakes, some use lady fingers, some just use regular cake. These are all WRONG! You are cheating yourself if you don’t make it proper! You can use a regular biscuit recipe with a little extra sugar added, but if you want an extra rich real south Georgia shortcake, the secret is hard boiled egg yolks!”

So, listen close to some real strawberry shortcake expertise –

Preheat your oven to 425

 and sugar up your strawberries! Make sure to save some big’uns for the top!

Dry ingredients:
3 cups low-protein or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
Wet ingredients:
1/3 cup COLD butter
4 egg yolks, hard boiled
1 1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions

Cut your butter and yolks into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender (NOT a mixer!). Don’t mash it up too much, just a coarse blend.

Add in the whipping cream and mix with a fork until all the dry is wet.

Knead and fold it out on the counter – not too much! The more folds you have the more layers you’ll get!

 You can either do individuals with a biscuit cutter or you can put it in a greased cake pan. I like to brush the top with a little whipping cream or buttermilk before baking.

Keep in oven until they are just turning gold on the edges – usually about 15 minutes.

Let cool on wire rack. If you made the cake pan size, remove from pan right away!

Whip up your cream with some sugar and a squirt of vanilla!

 Split your cake or biscuits in half and slop on some sugared berries. Whip cream and whole berries on top – Bingo.

(Thanks Chris!)