Sweet As Honey

Happy Spring Everyone! Wednesday was my father-in-law's 72nd birthday. Happy birthday Bob! I'm not quite sure why I associate pie and banana pudding with him, but a couple of years ago I made him a banana pudding pie and this year I conjured up a new creation of banana pudding cheesecake-- doesn't that sound amazing? It was a great way to celebrate the first day of Spring. And tomorrow if the weather cooperates, I'm heading out to find a patch of Texas bluebonnets to plop Hayden in the middle of to take his picture. It's what Texans do!

Grandpa Bob, Mr. H and Hayden

I've been baking so much lately, trying to get new pictures and recipes for the cookbook that I've neglected my fellow Cake Slice Bakers. This month's cake got so much praise that I just had to take a break from my regular schedule and make it. I like honey, but don't love it like I do cream cheese or chocolate. I use it in recipes, but it's never a major flavor component in anything I make. This cake was good, really good. There's honey in the cake, then after it's baked it get topped with a honey butter glaze, sliced almonds and even more glaze. After it cools slightly, the topping because somewhat chewy and crunchy, while the cake soaks up that glaze and becomes moist and sticky with a tight, tender crumb. I'm glad I made this cake and I hope you will too! Nothing says Spring like birthdays,  wildflowers on the side of the road and fresh local honey.

Honey Bee Cake adapted from Vintage Cakes

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Cake:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup natural sliced almonds

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 by 2-inch round cake pan or 9 by 3-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with a parchment paper circle and set aside. 

To Make The Cake: In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then whisk the ingredients by hand to ensure they are well mixed.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla on low speed until blended; increase the speed to high and cream until very light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes. As you make the batter, stop the mixer frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Blend in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.

Spread the thick batter evenly into the prepared pan. Tap the pan firmly on the counter to release any air bubbles. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. The cake will turn a deep golden color and be firm on top, and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle will have moist crumbs attached. The cake might crack on the surface as it bakes; don’t worry, this simply provides a way for the cake to soak up more honey glaze.

To Make The Glaze: In a small saucepan combine the honey, sugar, and butter over medium heat, stirring until combined. Bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. Turn off the heat but leave the saucepan on the burner to keep warm.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate, right side up. Be careful, the cake is hot! Poke holes all over the top of the cake with a wooden skewer. Pour half of the glaze over the cake, evenly sprinkle the cake with the almonds, and then pour the rest of the glaze over the almonds. Let cake cool slightly, but serve warm. 

The honey in this cake makes it a good keeper (5 days) when well wrapped and stored at room temperature.

Homemade Granola In Minutes

I have a quickie recipe for you today that would be perfect for Mother's Day or any day of the week. I'm talking about homemade granola. Most granola recipes have you bake the oat mixture in a low oven for about an hour or more, then you have to run to the oven every ten to fifteen minutes to stir it all up. And if you're anything like me you run to the oven when the annoying timer goes off, you open the oven door, pull the rack out being oh so careful to turn the mixture with the spatula only to knock the granola out of the pan and scatter all over your oven. And since it's so dang hot in there, you have to wait til the hour is up before you can clean it and you wind up with burnt little granola crispies on the bottom of your oven. Sounds like fun right? NOT. 

This recipe is easy peasy and made on the stove top in a large skillet in less that 20 minutes. It comes from my bloggy friend Danelle of Let's Dish. I've made several of her recipes and I've never been disappointed in any of them. I've made this recipe three times already and enjoyed it every single time. The first time I made it with dried cranberries, the second time I used dried cherries, blueberries and banana chips for crunch and the third batch I made for my mom. She didn't want coconut so we left that out and added cashews instead of almonds. Basically you can make it any way you want  by switching up the nuts and fruits and have it still turn out delicious. I especially love the unexpected addition of the sesame and sunflower seeds- don't leave those out. 

My favorite way to eat it is standing in the pantry, with the door still open, and scooping out little pinchfuls of the crunchy nuggets and chewy fruit. One nibble, two nibbles, four nibbles later, then I finally dish myself up a proper serving with yogurt and I turn it into a parfait with fresh fruit. The cool and creamy, the crunchy, the chewy, the burst of fresh fruit, the nuttiness. Oh, it's just so good! You can have it as a snack, for breakfast, or dessert anytime of year. One of the best parts is that it makes a healthy amount and stays fresh in the pantry in an airtight container for weeks (if it lasts that long). You can make it now and serve it up this weekend. If you ever have overnight guests it would be a nice addition to a continental breakfast like my friend Heather of Kitchen Concoctions set up. It would also make a thoughtful gift packaged up in a jar with a pretty label and a ribbon. It's certainly not a gift I'd refuse. 

Skillet Granola adapted from Let's Dish

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• 4 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup sunflower kernels
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup dried fruit

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the honey, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extracts.  Add the oats, nuts, coconut, sunflower kernels and sesame seeds to the pan and stir until well coated with the butter/sugar mixture.  

Continue cooking, stirring frequently until granola is a dark golden brown, 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in dried fruit.  Pour onto a cookie sheet and allow to cool completely.

Baby Shower: Oatmeal Cream Pies

I'm having a baby tomorrow! That is something I never thought I'd say or type. It's taken us a long time to get where we are and come tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be heading to the hospital to bring Baby Boy H into this world. Happy September to me! We have a couple names picked out, but nothing definite. We want to wait to see him to make sure that his name fits him. We are beyond thrilled and blessed and can't wait to meet and see the little Mister. I've loved being pregnant, but it has been difficult and exhausting at times. Despite all that, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I will absolutely share my bundle of joy with you all as I know many of you have prayed for this baby as much as I have. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will update as soon as I can, but I can't promise when that will be.

While we are both anxiously awaiting his arrival, I hope you'll enjoy these oatmeal cream pies that I made for Maranda's baby shower last month. Her baby shower was a week after mine and I was asked to bake the sweet treats for everyone. I was honored and happy to do so! I happen to know that Maranda's favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin and she loves strawberries, so I made her these simple and delicious oatmeal cream pies as well as my sister's favorite strawberry birthday cake. Both were well received and devoured. This was a sweet way to welcome Baby N into this world.

I've made these oatmeal cream pies before but it's been awhile. Believe me they were just as good as I remembered. The secret to making cream pies as opposed to cookie sandwiches is that you make them a day ahead of time and refrigerate them to get them nice and soft. This also allows the flavors meld together and the cream filling and the cookie become one. You can certainly adapt this cookie if you want. You can leave out the raisins or add chocolate chips or cinnamon chips, or maybe add dried cranberries or just leave them plain. All versions will be delicious I'm sure. If you try them, I hope you'll come back and let me know how you liked them!

Oatmeal Cream Pies from Quaker and Monica H

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For The Cookies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 cups Quaker Oats, old fashioned, uncooked

For The Filling:

• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3-4 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

For The Cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together butter and sugars til creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add combined flour, soda, cinnamon, salt. Mix til fully incorporated. Stir in oats and raisins.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack.

For The Filling: Combine cheeses in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer til creamy and lump free. Mix in desired amount of honey. Then stir in sugar til sweetened to your liking.

To Assemble The Cream Pies: Place about one tablespoon of filling on one cookie and top with an additional cookie. Gently squeeze together to allow the filling to come to the edges. Don't press too hard or the filling will ooze out.

Refrigerate overnight to allow the cookies to soften and the flavors to meld together.

Makes about 24 cream pies.

Finlandia Review and Free Cheese! (Closed)

A while back I was contacted by the people at Finlandia cheese. They sent me a few good looking recipes for their cheese and said they'd like for me to blog about them, the only problem was I didn't have any of their cheese! So they sent me a couple coupons for Finlandia cheese and they sent a couple for you too! Continue reading the rest of this post to find out how you can win some Finlandia cheese.

Before I tell you about this recipe, I wanted to tell you about Finlandia. They did not ask me to make any specific recipe, nor did they ask me glorify their product. But I do find it necessary to tell you a bit about their product, because I believe it is unique from other cheese makers. Finlandia cheese is the #1 imported cheese in the country. And because they care what goes into the cheese you consume, Finlandia's line of cheeses are also natural, lactose-free and hormone free. Read more here and here. Can you say that about your cheese?

To compliment the Finlandia Gouda cheese, I made a spicy chipotle chicken breast and topped it off with smoky bacon and a slice of Gouda. I got inspiration for the chicken from Maranda of Jolts & Jollies, but I changed things up a bit. It was the tiniest bit sweet, but smoky, spicy and delicious. It paired perfectly with the Gouda, which tasted like a cross between Swiss and Cheddar and the slightest bit sharp. I baked the chicken, but if you'd prefer to grill it or pan fry it or use bone-in chicken, just make the marinade and prepare it the way you wish. To win some Finlandia cheese, scroll down!

 Chipotle BBQ Chicken w/ Bacon and Gouda from Monica H inspired by Jolts & Jollies
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• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 small tomato, cut into quarters
• 1-2 Tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the blender or a food processor, combine the lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, tomato and chipotle peppers and pulse til uniformly blended.

In a bowl or ziploc bag, add chicken and half of the marinade, coating the chicken thoroughly. Allow to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Place marinated chicken in greased Pyrex pan; discarding used marinade.

Bake chicken at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, basting with fresh marinade every 10-15 minutes. Bake til internal temperature reads 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

The last 5 minutes of cooking, add cooked bacon slices and Finlandia Gouda or Cheddar cheese to the top of the chicken breasts. Bake til cheese is melted. Remove from oven.

Allow chicken to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

I have two coupons for free cheese from Finlandia. If you're interested in trying out their natural, lactose and hormone-free cheese, then please visit their website and then leave me a comment on this post telling me what cheese you'd like to try and what you'd make using their cheese!

Open to US residents only. I will pick two winners later in the week so be sure to leave me your contact info or you can't win!

Thanks Finlandia!

Ugly But Delicious

I had a little teaser picture over the weekend for this recipe, and a couple people guessed what it was! This ugly but delicious recipe is Sopaipilla Cheesecake! Ever had a sopaipilla? Even know what a sopaipilla is? Well let me tell you. Here in Texas, we can get sopaipillas at Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants as dessert. It's a deep fried piece of dough that puffs as it cooks, making a pillow of sorts. They're served warm with a side of butter and honey for drizzling in the center or on top of them. See picture here. They're super light and airy, the slightest bit chewy and sweet.

I've had sopaipillas dusted with powdered sugar, plain with honey, drizzled with chocolate sauce and now with cinnamon sugar. The recipe calls it cheesecake, but these are more like cheesecake bars as they consist of a crust on the bottom and the top of the sweetened cheesy filling. This is by no means a low-cal dessert, although you could use neufchatel or reduced fat cream cheese as well as reducing the sugar and using margarine in place of the butter. However, if they taste like dirt, don't be complainin' to me!

This recipe came together in a matter of minutes. I wasn't so sure they would amount to much, flavor wise, because it was rather ugly looking, but sometimes those are the best recipes. Can I get an Amen?! The best part, in my opinion, was the flaky buttery cinnamon sugar on top of the crescent dough. It reminded me very much of cinnamon toast...with a side of cheesecake. Does it get better? I preferred these cold because I don't like warm cream cheese, but slightly warmed with a drizzle of honey would also be delicious. I would definitely make these again, only next time I'd increase the filling. You can never have too much filling!

Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars from Food.com

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• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 2 (8 ounce) tubes refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (Pillsbury brand)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Using a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls. Line the bottom of the pan and flatten, pinching seams together as you go. In a medium bowl, add together the cream cheese, sugar and extract. Mix til well blended. Spread mixture over the crescent rolls.

Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

Pour one stick of melted butter over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, eat at room temperature or serve chilled. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Hope you have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Oroweat OatNut bread (that's some serious lovin' y'all)! So when I saw this recipe a few months ago on Baking Bites I bookmarked it. I kept thinking about it and when Rachel announced that July's theme for Rach's Baking Challenge was nuts, I immediately thought of this bread. I had everything I needed, or I adapted it the way I wanted to, I just lacked the nuts.

I'm not going to link to the original post because there are some mistakes in the recipe that haven't been fixed despite me and someone else asking questions. I had to improvise and hope it turned out well since she never got back to me. Thankfully, it did. But please don't think I'm "bad mouthing" her or her blog because she has some tasty recipes and yummy pictures and I've had success with her recipes in the past, this recipe just seemed to need some editing.

Moving on, the original OatNut bread incorporates hazelnuts, so that's what I used, but you could use pecans or walnuts. My hubby doesn't like hazelnuts (or so he says) so I didn't tell him they were in the bread and guess what? He liked it! He even asked me later on when I was going to use the hazelnuts and I told him they were in the bread and he said, "nu uh!" It's not quite like the store bought variety, but it's equally as good. It's nutty and slightly sweet, soft and hearty, but with a nice crust. And it's good for you, there's no butter, oil or eggs in this bread. Just yeast, flour, oats, nuts, honey and a sprinkling of salt. That's it!

I served this warm out of the oven with a schmear of salted butter and Debby's homemade olallieberry jam She sent me a jar and it is so good! It tastes like a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry, like a boysenberry- it's tart and sweet and bright. Thanks Debby! I only thought it was appropriate to serve this homemade jam with homemade bread. It was so worth it.

OatNut Bread adapted from Baking Bites

• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (100-110F)
• 1 cup bread flour
• 2-3 cups unbleached AP flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats (not instant)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy.

Stir in 1 cup bread flour, the oats and honey, and mix well. Add in salt, hazelnuts and an additional 1 1/2 - 2 cups all-purpose flour. Stir, adding remaining flour gradually, until the dough comes together into a ball and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (this can also be done in an electric mixer with the dough hook attached).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead, adding flour a tablespoon at a time as necessary to prevent sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes. You don't want the dough to be sticky, but it shouldn't be dry or tough either.

Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

After dough has risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface again. Deflate dough, by gently punching down and pressing into a rectangular shape (approx. 10 1/2 x 8 1/2) Roll up the dough into a loose log, starting with the shorter end and place the seam side down into the greased pan.

Cover the bread with a piece of oiled plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes. While the bread is going through its final rise, preheat oven to 375F.

Bake loaf for 35 minutes til golden and a skewer inserted in the center is clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.

NOTE: You can use All-Purpose flour for this recipe and omit the bread flour if you want.

Also, I sprinkled oats on top of the bread before baking and they all fell off when I sliced it, so don't waste your time.

Go check out Rachel's blog to see what she made!

Hot Weather Refresher

A couple weeks ago I was searching through back issues of Everyday Food and I spotted a recipe for watermelon salad with rum and mint. But I didn't bookmark it. I just knew I'd be able to find it again when I decided to make it. Then my mom invited us over for Sunday brunch and designated "a fruit dish" to yours truly.

I thought watermelon and cantaloupe! So I went searching for the recipe and guess what? I couldn't find it! So I went to Martha's site and did a little search and found the recipe. Then I made it and didn't like it. The lime, rum and mint sauce sounded so promising, but it was too salty and the rum was overpowering. I tried adding honey and brown sugar, even more lime and it wasn't helping, so I dumped it and started over. You win some you lose some.

I had all the ingredients spread all over the counter, so I came up with my own sauce. And it was tasty and so refreshing. I didn't pour the sauce over the melon though because I wasn't sure if everyone would like it. And I'm glad because all the men in the family disliked it and called it girl food. But my mom and I loved it!

Watermelon & Cantaloupe with Lime and Mint

• 1/2 a large seedless watermelon, cubed or balled
• 1 cantaloupe, cubed or balled
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• Juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
• Zest of a lime, grated (about 1 tsp.)
• 1-2 tsp. mint leaves, finely sliced

Chop melon into bite size pieces or use a melon baller. Place melon in a large bowl.

Add all over ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over melon and serve immediately.

NOTE: If not serving right away then don't toss the melon in the sauce until ready to serve.

P.S. Thanks for all your votes in the BFF challenge. No matter who wins, I'm just thankful for your support.

Oink! Oink!

This recipe for pork tenderloin should definitely be on my favorite's list. The only reason it's not is because I hadn't blogged about it yet. I would make it #31, but it really deserves a spot in the top 10. It really is that good, granted you don't over cook it.

I used to think that I didn't like pork tenderloin because the only kind I ever had was the pre-marinated, overly salty stuff from the supermarket. And even then, the only time I had it it was dry and tough. My mother in law (bless her heart!) made it this way. Rather than putting the whole loin in the oven or searing it, then roasting it, she'd cut it into medallions and pan saute it with onions and apples. I think her thought was good, but the execution was not. She ruined pork tenderloin for me.

Then one day while strolling through Costco (I love Costco!) I spotted pork tenderloin. There were 2 loins in a pack and they came bundled in 2 packs, so there were a total of 4 loins for around $12-$14. Not a bad price if you ask me. I wasn't sure how I wanted to flavor it, but I read the cooking directions on the package and planned to follow them. I looked in my pantry and in the refrigerator for ideas, I whisked a bunch of stuff in a bowl, poured it over the tenderloins and 45 minutes later, I swooned.

I wrote down the "recipe" from memory and have been making it this way ever since. Make it, you won't be disappointed. And the best part is, you don't have to marinate it, so you can make this when you get home from work or marinate it over night if you wish and pop it in the oven when you get home. Just don't forget to invite me over because I never get tired of this!

My Favorite Pork Tenderloin from Monica H

• 1 pkg. pork tenderloins (2 tenderloins, about 2-2.5 lbs.)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T. country dijon mustard (whole grain mustard)
• 4 T. honey
• 2 T. fresh orange juice
• 1 T. finely chopped fresh rosemary OR herbs de provence
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 3 T. olive oil

Yield: 1 cup of marinade.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Take tenderloins out of package. Rinse and pat dry. Place in a 9x13-inch Pyrex sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Take a paring knife and poke holes in the tenderloins (on the top side only) about an inch deep. Peel garlic cloves and quarter each clove of garlic-lengthwise. If they're really big, cut them a bit smaller- about the size of slivered almonds. Place the garlic slivers in each pocket. Set aside while making marinade.

In a measuring cup or in a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except for the olive oil. Then slowly drizzle the olive oil while still whisking.

Pour the mixture over the tenderloins and put into preheated oven. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, basting once halfway through the baking process.

Once removed from the oven, allow the tenderloins to rest on a cutting board for about 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon the pan sauce over the tenderloin medallions and enjoy!

Stay tuned for a recipe using the pork tenderloin leftovers!