Thanksgiving Aftermath

I hope everyone had a great day full of wonderful food!

Amish Friendship Bread

Okay first off Dollies, I need to thank my new boss at the bakery for giving me the starter, without which I would not have been able to make this WONDERFUL bread for Thanksgiving.

Here are the directions and ingredients as given to me:

DO NOT use any type of metal bowl or spoon for mixing


DO NOT refrigerate bag

Days 1-5 Mash the bag

Day 6 (TODAY) Add to the bag 1 cup Flour, 1 cup Sugar, and 1 Cup Milk... and mash the bag

Days 7-9 Mash the bag

Day 10:

Pour contents of bag into a non metal bowl. Add 1 1/2 cup Flour, 1 1/2 cup Sugar, and 1 1/2 cup Milk.

Write this day's date on 4 separate gallon bags and measure out 1 cup into each bag.

Keep one for yourself if you wish (you will be making bread every 10 days). Give the other three away with a copy of these instructions (only the Amish know how to make this starter from scratch).

To Bake:

Preheat oven to 325F.

Mix your leftover batter (from above, it won't be much) with 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, vanilla, and baking soda. Finally add 1 large box of vanilla instant pudding. (optional: 1 cup raisins and/or nuts)

Grease 2 regular bread pans OR 3 Disposable foil pans. Mix 3 Tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Dust the pans with half of the mixture. Pour batter evenly into pans, Sprinkle remainder of cinnamon mixture on loaves. Bake 1 hour and let cool before enjoying!

Cranberry Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake

Hello Dollies! Still in the Thanksgiving spirit I hope! Tonight I am making Cranberry Walnut Sour Cream pound cake (and some mini cakes as well). I will be posting pictures later tonight but here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Butter (softened to room temp)
3 Eggs (Leave at room temp for 30 min)
2/3 Cup dry cranberries
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
Finely shredded zest of 1 Lemon
1 1/2 Teaspoons vanilla
8 oz Dairy Sour Cream
3/4 Cup chopped Walnuts
Powdered Sugar (optional)

Grease and lightly flour a 9x5x3inch loaf pan; set aside. Pre-heat oven to 325F.  In a small bowl, pour boiling water over Cranberries; let stand for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Combine Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, and Baking Powder in another bowl.

In a medium bowl beat butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar 3 tablespoons at a time, beating on medium speed for 6 minutes; mixture will be grainy but very light and fluffy. Add lemon peel and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on medium. Scrape sides often. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream, mixing just until combined. Stir in cranberries and walnuts*. Pour batter into loaf pan.

Bake for 70min or until a toothpick comes out clean. (The cake will be high in the pan) Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and then remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. If desired, lightly sift powdered sugar over cake before serving.

Thanksgiving Pies

Hello Dollies!

I hope you are all gearing up for a wonderful Thanksgiving next week. While it is typically a time spent giving thanks with family members, let's be honest: Thanksgiving is mainly a food holiday! You know me Dollies, I like to make desserts a little different, so instead of a normal Pecan pie I made a Maple Butter Pecan Pie (above picture, before baked). But of course, I had to go the traditional route and make a Pumpkin pie as well (Below, cooling on a rack).

I am also going to be making a Sour Cream Cranberry Walnut Pound Cake, and some Amish Friendship bread, so stay tuned Dollies!

Harry Potter Cupcakes

Here is a picture of some cupcakes made to look like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. I did not make these, but a nice girl from "Chucktown Cupcakes" here in Mount Pleasant, SC was kind enough to let us sell these at the candy store I work at since we are located next to a movie theater.

Carrot Cake #2

Early on in October my mother-in-law wanted me to make her a carrot cake for her birthday but she had one simple request- She wanted the cream cheese icing to taste like cream cheese, not powered sugar and cream cheese. I searched every baking book I had and all over the Internet and everything I could find called for 8oz of cream cheese and 6 cups of powdered sugar! Then, just as I was getting frustrated beyond belief I found this gem:

1/2 Cup Butter (Softened)
16oz Cream Cheese (Softened)
2 cups sifted Confectioner's Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Basically all I did was cream the cheese and butter together then slowly add the powdered sugar and vanilla.

So simple and so tasty! After it thickened it tasted like cheesecake on a carrot cake. I am so proud of this cake and apparently word has gotten around because I have 2 more orders for this cake!

Long Time No Post

Good morning Dollies! With my new bakery job (and the graveyard shift) I haven't had a whole lot of time to do too much baking. I have been doing a little bit here and there and later I will be posting some recipes for the things I've been working on. I haven't taken too many pictures as my camera is acting a little funny, but I will have a  few handy.