Amy's Recipe of the Day

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Location: Texas, United States

Monday, January 21, 2013

Blonde Texas Sheet Cake


The cake is from Taste of Home and the frosting is from food.com.  I wasn't happy with he frosting that goes with the cake (it was just a buttercream), and the cake that went with frosting recipe was a white cake mix. I prefer this combination.

This cake keeps at least a week if well covered and refrigerated.

Sheet cake:
1 c butter
1 c water
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda 
1/2 t salt
2 c sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c sour cream
1 t almond extract

To make cake: Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 15-by-10-by-1-inch jelly-roll pan. Set
aside.

Combine butter and water in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter melts,
remove from heat and let cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, In a bowl, whisk together the
flour, salt and baking soda.

When the butter and water have cooled, add sugar, eggs, sour cream and almond extract.
Using a large whisk or an electric mixer on low speed to thoroughly mix the ingredients. Add
the flour mixture and continue whisking or beating until the batter is fairly smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake in the center of the oven about
20 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out
clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack while making frosting.

Makes 24 servings

Caramel Pecan Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract



4
Place chopped pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan. Bake at 350°F for 6 minutes or until lightly toasted.
5
Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil in a 3 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat and slowly whisk in buttermilk.
6
Return mixture to heat, and bring to a boil. Pour into bowl of a heavy duty electric stand mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and almond extracts,beating at medium-high speed until smooth(about 1 minute). Stir in pecans. Use immediately.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/Blonde-Texas-Sheet-Cake-238914?oc=linkback

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Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns


This is from Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman.  Tara from Smells Like Home adapted it.  I went back to Deb's dill (Tara used thyme) but I did warm the milk as Tara did, but Deb did not.
I think we killed the yeast, because these didn't rise, but that didn't matter one bit.  Heavenly rolls, good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Ingredients:For the roll dough:
  • 3 cups (13 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • A few grinds of black pepper
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp (1 packet) instant yeast
  • 1 cup of milk, slightly warmed
  • 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm plus 1 tbsp extra for brushing the rolls
For the filling:
  • 1/2 medium onion, grated (about 1/2 cup)
  • 6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 tbsp fresh dill, minced, or 1 tsp dried dill weed
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • A few grinds of black pepper
Instructions:
  1. To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, and sugar; stir together on low speed with the paddle attachment.  In a 1 cup liquid measuring cup, whisk the yeast into the warmed milk until it dissolves then pour the milk mixture and the melted butter over the dry ingredients.  Mix everything together on low speed until they form a shaggy mass of dough.
  2. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough for 6 minutes on low speed, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky.  Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand for about 8 minutes.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise in a warm spot (like a barely warm oven) until it doubles, about 2 hours.  While the dough rises, make the filling; chill it until you’re ready to use it.
  3. To form the buns:  Transfer the dough from the bowl to a well-floured counter top or work surface, sprinkle the dough with a little more flour, and pat it down into a rough rectangular shape.  With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 12×16-inch rectangle.  Spread the filling out evenly over the dough to within 1/2″ of the edges of the dough.  Starting at the short end (or the long end if it’s 6 am and you’re still half asleep like I was), roll the dough tightly up into a log.  With a serrated knife, cut the dough into twelve 1-inch rolls (or 1 1/2-inch rolls if you rolled it from the long end).
  4. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans or a 13×9-inch baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper with baking spray.  Arrange 6 buns evenly spaced apart in each pan or all 12 in the large dish.  Melt the additional tablespoon of butter and brush the tops of the buns with it.  Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let the buns rise in a warm place until the buns just about double in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  When the buns have almost doubled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes (remove the plastic wrap first) until the buns are golden brown and the cheese is bubbling up.  Serve immediately.  The buns will keep, covered, at room temperature for 2-3 days.  Reheat any leftovers (ha!) in a 250 degree F wrapped in foil until they are just warmed through.

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