Old-fashioned Pound Cake

Mom's old recipe!

Lately, I've been going through my mom's old wooden recipe box and finding treasures I had forgotten about.  This Pound Cake recipe is one of those treasures!  I can still remember her baking this and my anticipation as I waited for it to come out of the oven.  

It's so easy, too!  Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and blend until smooth, pour into the loaf pan and you're done...let the oven do the rest.  

This cake is delicious with a cup of tea or coffee, or used as the base for a beautiful fruit dessert!  Slice it lengthwise into three sections and you can fill it with cream, mousse, ice cream.  It's just so versatile and with a little imagination you can make it into a very special dessert.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter                                        

Works great for Strawberry Shortcake!

1 1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp. lemon extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 300'F.  Grease and flour (or spray) a 9x6x3" loaf pan.

Beat all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Pour into prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 300'F. for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Be encouraged!

“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.” - Elisabeth Elliott

Amish Cinnamon Bread Alternative

No "Starter" Necessary!

A number of years ago, I was given a plastic bag with instructions on how to "care and feed" the "starter" mixture inside.  I can recall adding flour and sugar on certain days or just kneading it on others.   Believe me, it was worth the effort because it produced the best cinnamon bread ever.  At the end you would  make two loaves and still have enough of this starter mixture left to put into other plastic bags and give away to friends and neighbors.  We always called it Friendship Bread, and we all loved it.

Well, that was great while it lasted, but there was only one problem with that method.  You always ended up with more to give away than anyone possibly wanted.  I seem to remember neighbors locking their front doors and pulling the shades down when they saw me coming, and friends conveniently "forgetting" who I was...ha, you get the picture. 

Yesterday, on my Facebook page, someone posted this recipe for Amish Cinnamon Bread ALTERNATIVE  from  Redfly Creations!   This caught my eye, big time!  I'm thinking, this can't be as good as the original, but I knew I had to try it. 

Mmmm...glad I did! 

Batter:
1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla (optional)

2 cups buttermilk or 2 cups milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture: Mix in separate bowl.

2/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350'F.   Grease and flour 2 (9X5") loaf pans. 

Cream together butter, 2 cups of sugar, and eggs.  Add milk, flour, and baking soda.  

Put 1/2 of batter (or a little less) into greased loaf pans (1/4 in each pan).  

In separate bowl, mix the 2/3 c sugar and cinnamon.  

Divide 3/4 of cinnamon mixture, and sprinkle onto the top of the batter in each pan.  

Add remaining batter to pans; sprinkle with last of cinnamon topping.  Swirl with a knife to create a marble effect.  If you like and save some cinnamon/sugar mix to sprinkle on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick tester come clean.  

Cool in pan for 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.

Yields: 2 loaves

Be encouraged!
"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns."  -Psalm 139:23

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

A great breakfast or snack!

This sweet & tangy bread has been at every Thanksgiving dinner since I got the recipe from an elderly woman when I was a young bride.   I've never forgotten the advice she gave me while making this recipe.  She said, "Never use anything to mix this, except a wooden spoon!"   Now, I didn't understand at the time, but I took her advice, and to this day, I never use anything but a wooden spoon to mix it.   The funny part is...I still don't know why!  Haha!

This was another one of my mother's favorites, and she looked forward to it every year.  She also loved it when I made a filling with cream cheese, crushed pineapple and turned this and pumpkin bread into little sandwiches.  Oh, yum, I'm getting excited for the holidays again!

This is a bread you can make weeks ahead of time and freeze until the big day.  Pumpkin bread is another one of the "make aheads" on my holiday "to do" list!   Baking these ahead of time cuts down on the stress of the week before the event.


Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup shortening or butter
3/4 cup orange juice
1-2 Tbsp. freshly grated orange rind
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350'F.   Grease a 8 1/2x4 1/2-inch loaf pan.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

Cut in shortening with a fork, until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. 

Combine orange juice and rind with egg.

Pour all into dry ingredients, mix with a "wooden spoon" just to dampen.  Don't over mix.

Carefully fold in chopped cranberries and nuts.

Spoon into a greased loaf pan, spreading corners higher than center.

Bake at 350'F. for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


"If God sends us on stony paths, He provides strong shoes."  -Corrie Ten Boom

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Yummy!

 This recipe just couldn't get any easier, and who knew adding chocolate chips to Banana Bread was going to be so yummy!  Well, I should have known that...adding chocolate to just about anything makes me happy!  

The basic recipe is just a traditional banana bread, but it takes on a new life once the chocolate is added.  I must say, though, I do love banana bread in any shape or form.

 

The key to good banana bread is to not over-mix the batter. Once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry, mix the batter by hand just until the flour is moistened... for no more than about ten seconds. Too much mixing can cause the final product to be dry, tough or misshapen.

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream*

3/4 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk or dark...your choice)

2 medium bananas, mashed

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350, grease 9x5 loaf pan.

 

Mix together melted butter and sugar, then add in eggs and vanilla.

 

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; then add to butter mixture; stir until just blended.

 

Gently stir in sour cream, bananas and chocolate chips, then spread into loaf pan.

 

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until baked through.

 

Cool on wire rack in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling completely before cutting. (I think the waiting is the hardest part of this recipe. LOL!)

 

And that's it!  Easy-peasy!

 

*No sour cream?  No problem!  Pour 1 Tbsp. of vinegar (white) into a measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 cup.  Stir and use as replacement for the sour cream.  That's exactly what I did today, and it made no difference.


A Tip from Grammy:

-Use brown bananas...that's where all the flavor comes from and will mix better with the batter to make a moist and tender bread.

-Don't use a dark loaf pan! This will retain more heat and lead to a burnt bread.

-Don't overmix the batter. Combine the dry ingredients first, then add the wet by hand and stir only until all ingredients are combined.

-Keep an eye out while it's in the oven. If the top looks like it's getting too browned before the bread is fully baked, cover it with a tent made from aluminum foil.

Be encouraged!

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover the prisoner was you.”  -Corrie ten Boom