Granny's Strawberry Cake

Well, took me three tries but u nailed it tonight! My Granny's recipes are officially passed down and in full swing. The Strawberry Cake was a hit at Wednesday night supper at church, not even a crumb left. I have to give my Granny Pauline ALL the credit, I grew up watching her make cakes and cook from scratch. She would even let me bathe in the kitchen sink so she could finish a cake it two and still keep an eye on me, just too funny!

These cakes are made completely from scratch. I only use the best ingredients- fresh butter, pure madagascar vanilla, fresh eggs, etc. NO BOX MIXES! A few of them take a few days to complete so I need ample notice if you want one. I will also make Cupcakes, the same flavors. My kids are L-O-V-I-N-G all this baking! And so are my friends.



Oh yes, I will tell you ahead of time...I can't give the secrets away! I can tell you I LOVE baking and take pride in making these cakes and cupcakes. I hope you enjoy eating them as much as I enjoy baking them! And for now, not running a bake shop here, just cooking for my friends and family to enjoy. I welcome your ideas though!

klm

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I've got a new attitude

That is putting it MILDLY. As most of you know, I was in a near fatal car wreck exactly 1 week ago today. I remember everything about it. I swerved to miss a car that darted out in front of me at the very last second and I ended up rolling my car 3 or 4 times (4 according to the state patrol). NO SEATBELT. I am religous about my seatbelt, but not that day. I ended up laying across the thrid row seats, in the back, my feet hanging out of what used to be the back hatch window. It's a miracle that I am alive for sure, and to boot I have not one broken or cracked bone in my body. Simply God's grace.

Needless to say, I am sore. I won't be able to cut hair much for now, so I have decided to start baking. REAL baking. Cakes and cupcakes to be exact. I've talked my Granny Hicks into passing down her "secret recipes" to me and I am excited! She's been cooking her special cakes for close to 40 years or so and now I am going to keep it going. I'm going to start out pretty simple, just making the basic 10 for now. I may get into specialty cakes later, but for now I'm sticking to the standbys. These are the favorites I will make, either in Cake form ( 2 layer and 3 layer both round) or in Cupcake form (half dozen or dozen,  or a two dozen variety)

-Strawberry

-Coconut

-Chocolate

-Red Velvet

-Italian Cream

-Butterfinger Poundcake

-Fresh Apple

-German Chocolate

-Carrot

-Classic Yellow (Icing flavors vary)

Everything about them is homemade, down to the butter. My Granny still churns her own butter, and so will I. I will be starting out slow, but hope to grow little by little. I will post pictures of them as I make them. Email me if you have any questions or orders. I can take credit cards through Paypal also. Pray for me girls, I'm gonna be up to my knees in kids and Crisco here!


klm

Caramel Apple Mini Tarts with Cream Cheese

Honestly, I went into this one blind. It was day five of being snowed in, literally, with very little left in the house to cook and three kids to feed. I noticed the apples on the kitchen counter and thought "boy, a caramel apple sure would be good right now..." and from there a tart was born. Get it? A TART was born instead of a STAR? . . . Moving on, I had left over dough from my Perfect Pie Crust that I had whipped up to make a fresh Chicken Pot Pie the night before. And I have to brag a little here, my kids ate every bite and even my non-chicken eating man ate a second helping. Maybe he know how hard I worked on it and didn't want to hurt my feelings, but I don't care! It was dang good. Now, what you've been waiting for!

1st rule in cooking: Before you start, make sure that you have all of the ingredients needed and read through the enitire recipe. Sounds simple, but even I've messed this one up.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 apples, sliced thin and NOT peeled

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1/8 cup white sugar
smidge of cinnamon (whatever you prefer)
1/4 block of cream cheese, cut into small cubes (2 each tart)

1 Pie Crust, either frozen kind thawed out as directed,
or make your own Perfect Pie Crust (my favorite one)

1 12 cup muffin tin, sprayed with Pam cooking spray



Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Wash and dry your apples, core them, and slice into thin slices. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet on medium heat (I use 6 on my stove dial). Once all the butter is melted, add your apples and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium low (Dial # 4), and simmer for2-3 minutes. Add in your brown sugar and Karo syrup, stirring to coat. Reduce heat again to low (Dial #2). Let simmer, uncovered, while you prepare you dough.

Depending on which dough you choose to use, follow the directions accordingly and prepare your dough for cutting.

Use a large glass or biscuit cutter like I've used here to make your crusts. It should make between 8 and 12, which is enough to fill a muffin tin.

Place your dough discs down into the coated muffin tins, just so they fit into the cups. You dont have to mash them, just let them rest like a basket. Remove the apples from the heat and add your cinnamon, stirring well. Carefully (because it's hot!) scoop your apples into the cups. Once the cups are full, distribute the caramel sauce over each tart equally.

Sprinkle with a splash of white sugar on top of each tart, this will make them shiny and a little crunchy (so good!)

Bake for 10 minutes and then REDUCE the heat to 325 degrees. Cook for another 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately place 1 or 2 cream cheese squares on top of each tart. Cool for 5 minutes and then with a fork, scoop out each tart. 





So what do you think? Using this scale of toast, what do you give this recipe?
 Toast o' the Town ~ Toast worthy ~ Edible ~ Too Toasty ~ Burnt Toast

Post your vote in my comment section and let me know what you think!