Flopped cake equals creativity and YUM!

Sometimes my flops are better than they would have been if they would have worked out! So this morning, I decided to bake a cake for our church's picnic to make sure that we would not run out of food.  So I whipped up a cake mix (which I rarely do), threw in about 2 cups of butterscotch chips and put it in a well-greased bundt cake pan. Well, the cake looked great when I pulled it out and since I usually have BAD LUCK with Bundt cakes I decided to wait until it was completely cooled before I attempted to invert it.  So feeling pretty proud of myself for actually following cooling instructions, I inverted the cake. And then it happened...the top was not on the cake... but on the bottom of the pan, of course it was well greased and came out great, just not on the top of the cake...


So my bad luck continues... :)  BUT I had a plan! (This of course was about 20 minutes before we had to walk out the door, so there was no time to redo the cake).  I scooped out the cake and yummy butterscotch chips and added some flour to make crumbs. 

Then I mixed up some powdered sugar, cocoa and milk to make a glaze. I poured this over top of the cake and attempted to put the crumbs on top.  But not all the crumbs cooperated and stayed on top. So I made some more  glaze and poured over the cake again and put more of the crumbs on top.  When I cut the cake, there was  a nice little pool of glaze and crumbs hanging out in the middle as well as everywhere else on the cake plate. 


I tried it and it was delicious and I got some compliments. Not sure if I can duplicate it again!  :)

  The pictures don't do it justice!  Darn...leftovers!

 

Homemade Goodness!!

I have always been one of those cooks that likes to use what I have before I buy something new.  I guess I can say that about a lot of things!

Ever have milk that is past it's due date and you don't want to throw it out? Make it into buttermilk by simply adding 1 Tablespoon of vinegar/lemon juice to it. I have a jug in the refrigerator that I just keep adding to and then I use it in a recipe. Right now, the jug is almost full and I am trying to find recipes that use more than 1/4 c of buttermilk. This recipe is one that uses 1 Cup.

Dan and I love pancakes. It is an easy supper that the leftovers can be eaten for breakfast the next day, what's not to love?  I threw several recipes together to create this one. It is a winner.

Buttermilk Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 egg                                         1 C. Whole Wheat Flour

1 C. Buttermilk                           1 T. Brown Sugar

2 T. melted butter or veg oil        1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder               1/2 tsp. salt

Basically, I just dump everything together. I do whisk the eggs before adding them to the whole mix. Whisk all the ingredients together until lumps are gone. Cook on griddle or pan or sidewalk... until done.  I find that oil works the best and the edges are nice and crispy. We usually double or triple the recipe for leftovers, because personally, why go to all that work just for one meal!

I have added blueberries, cinnamon, and I usually add flax seed in addition to the flour.

Maple Syrup

My Mom used to make syrup when we ran out of the bought stuff. Dan and I are trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup and if you have ever looked at a ingredient label on pancake syrup you will know that the first ingredient is usually corn syrup/high fructose...  Anyhoo, I made this the other day and while it tastes like maple syrup and looks a lot like it, it is not. (my disclaimer for my Vermont relatives). However, it tastes pretty darn good and it is what we will be using from now on, or at least until we get the good Vermont stuff. 

I cannot take the credit for making this recipe, it comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: More with Less pg.77

Combine in a saucepan.

      1 3/4 C. White Sugar

      1/4 C. Brown Sugar

      1 C. Water

(I stirred it some)Bring to a boil , cover and cook 1 minute. Cook slightly ( I took it off heat and let it cool for 2 minutes).

Add:

      1/2 tsp. Vanilla

      1/2 tsp. Maple flavoring

Cover saucepan for a few minutes as syrup cooks to melt down crystals; helps prevent syrup from crystallizing later in storage. I turned the burner on low for 2-3 minutes.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It made about 2 cups of syrup.

     

Of course, the whipped cream has... high fructose corn syrup in it.. but at any rate, it was yummy!