Magic Chocolate Cake and Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Our family's favorite chocolate cake.  Easy to throw together and always moist and delicious.  It's a great one to take to potlucks and to serve for dessert when you have guests for dinner!

Magic Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 3/4 C All Purpose Flour

2 C sugar

3/4 C cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs 

1 C strong black coffee, cooled

1 c buttermilk ( substitute with 1 cup milk and a Tbls vinegar)

1/2 C vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine flour, sugar cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.
2. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.
3. Beat at medium speed for two minutes.  Batter will be thin.
4. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or two 9 inch cake pans
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans
6. Cool before frosting.

Quick Vanilla Buttercream Frosting 

3 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tbls whipping cream
Directions:    
In a standing mixing bowl, mix together the sugar and butter.  Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.  Sometimes I have to add more sugar or sometimes I don't have to add any cream at all.  Just depends on the spreading consistency that you want.  Enjoy! 

Pecan Pie Bars

It's that time of year!  I love the Fall and also the smell of these Pecan Pie bars cooking in the oven.  Heaven!

Pecan Pie Bars

These pecan pie bars are to die for!! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1 ½ cups light corn syrup
1 ½ cups white sugar
3 Tbls butter, melted
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups chopped pecans ( I leave some of them whole)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, ½ cup sugar, and salt. Cut in the 1 cup of butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the prepared pan, and press in firmly.

3. Bake for 20 min. in a preheated oven.

4. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large bowl mix together the eggs, corn syrup, 1 ½ cups sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans. Spread the filling evenly over the crust as soon as it comes out of the oven.

5. Bake for 25 min. in the preheated oven, or until set. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing into bars.  I also loosen the edges of the whole thing with a knife.  They can be a little sticky trying to get them out of the pan!

Asian Pear Pie!

I had a hard time with trying to figure out what to do with the huge bag of Asian pears my husband brought  home last night (bless his little heart). I can only eat so many of those wonderful crispy strange fruit!  So what do I do with them?  Of course I thought of pie.  What else would I do with fruit??? lol  This is a variation on the classic apple pie. and I just replaced the apples with Asian pears. For those of you who are not familiar with Asian pears,they are the pear/apple looking things in the store that are often carefully wrapped in foam. They are wonderful! They have the consistency of an apple but a floral scent and taste that is unique.  Enjoy a slice of this pie, hot with some vanilla ice cream.

1 double pie crust  (you can refer to my Peach Pie recipe in August 2012)
For the filling:
6 cups – Asian Pears
1/2 cup – packed brown sugar
1/2 cup – sugar
1/4 cup – all-purpose flour
1 tsp. – cinnamon
1/4 tsp. – ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. – kosher salt
1 Tbsp. – lemon juice
1 tsp. – vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. – heavy whipping cream
4 Tbsp. – butter

Instructions
First, make the pie crust.  Chill in the refrigerator while you're make the filling.

To make the filling:  First preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel and slice and core the Asian pears,then add the lemon juice. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl then add the pears. Mix well. Add the vanilla extract and cream. Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet and cook the pear mixture for 6 to 8 minutes or until the pears are appropriately softened.
Roll out 1/2 of the dough and place in a pie dish (being careful not to overwork the dough). Place the filling inside. Roll out the remaining dough and, using a pizza or pastry cutter,cut the dough into strips. Lattice the strips on the top of the pie. Decorate and seal the edges. Lightly brush the top of the pie with some egg wash (beaten egg with a little water) then sprinkle sugar.
Place a baking sheet on a rack below the pie in the oven (fruit pies tend to drip and make a mess) and bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let cool slightly before eating.