Swedish Tosca Cake

I have mentioned before that my grandmother {or Farmor, as I know her, which means father's mother in Swedish} is from Sweden. However, I don't think I've mentioned that my Farmor loves to cook. The joke in the family is that she reads cookbooks for entertainment. And maybe it's not so much of a joke because she actually does. :) Anyway, she is good cook and I love trying the things she makes for us. She especially loves to make authentic Swedish foods for us and this is one of her favorite things to make.

This cake is delicious. It is the perfect combination of flavors between the glaze and the cake. The cake is dense and moist and the almond flavor is so subtle and perfect. The glaze is sugary and buttery and very sweet, making it the perfect addition to this wonderful cake. 

I don't think you can go wrong with this cake. It is wonderful for a party or a potluck. It is so perfect warm right out of the oven. But it is also yummy if it's been sitting for a couple of days. However, my favorite way to eat it if it has been sitting is to warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds to get the glaze nice and melty and the cake nice and warm. Mmm, mmm. I think I better go make this again. I may or may not eat the whole thing by myself. :D

Ooh, doesn't this just have you drooling?

Swedish Tosca Cake

Recipe from Helga Hardy

Cake:

5 eggs

1-1/2 cup sugar

½ cup butter, melted

2/3 cup milk

1-2/3 cup flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. almond extract

Cream eggs and sugar for 5 minutes at medium speed in a mixer or with a handheld mixer. In a separate bowl, mix the flour wiht the baking powder. Add butter, milk, and flour mixture to egg mixture. I found that when adding these ingredients, it is best to add each one individually and just quickly mix them together. If you mix the melted butter and the milk right at the same time, it will make your butter harden. So add the butter, stir it into the eggs and then add the milk and flour mixture. One all added, blend for 2 minutes. Put into 9x9 or 11x7 greased and floured pan {Because the only sized pan I had was an 8x8 that is what I used. I think it made the cake particularly thick and I do think it would be better with the right size pan. However, if you are like me and only have the smaller pan, it does work to use it.}. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes. 

This photo may not be very good but it is a pretty good shot of the delicious glaze on the top oozing down the cake. This is what happens when you eat it warm. Delicious!

 Glaze:

½ cup butter

1-1/2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 Tbsp. flour

2-1/2 oz chopped almonds

½ tsp. almond extract

Melt butter in saucepan; add milk, sugar, flour and almonds. Boil for 2 minutes - begin timing about as soon as you see bubbles. Since I have a gas burner mine will start a rolling boil pretty quickly once it starts to bubble. If you let it boil too long, it may make it stiff and could burn. I would just start timing it when it begins boiling; don't wait for a rolling boil. Spread over cake; put under the broiler in the oven until is has a light brown color.

Bon appetit!

Doritos Casserole

Need an easy, inexpensive weeknight meal? Don't really feel like cooking but you want something yummy that your family will eat? Want something your kids will eat? Then this is the recipe for you. My sister learned this recipe from somebody, I don't remember who, but she used to convince my mom to let us have it all the time growing up. And my hubby and I ate it a lot when we were college students. Hello cheap casserole! We would cut the recipe in half and bake it in an 8x8 pan and still always get at least two meals out of it, maybe more if we were sure to eat other stuff along with it. Now, it's more of a comfort food - kind of like macaroni and cheese - and is definitely the meal I turn to when I don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Doritos Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Cooler Ranch Doritos chips

2 cans chili

2 can cream of mushroom soup

Shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Crush Doritos chips into bottom on 13x9-inch baking dish. Mix chili and cream of mushroom soup together; pour over Doritos. Cover with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and inside is warm, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Note: The leftovers of this casserole really aren't that great because the chips get soggy if they sit for very long. If you want to make this up but plan to have leftovers, combine the chili and mushroom soup and put into a casserole dish. Cover with cheese and bake until warm and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Then put a single serving of crushed Doritos chips on a plate and cover with the chili mixture. This way you can add fresh Doritos chips to every serving and don't have to worry about  soggy chips.

Delicious & Easy Bow-Ties

I really love pasta.It's a serious weakness. Pasta and breads. I could eat a whole meal of fresh made bread. It doesn't matter what kind. I love it. Pasta is pretty much the same way. I never get tired of pasta. Now, if you combine pasta, tomatoes and bacon, you can just about guarantee I'll eat it. And eat it I did! Mmm ... just the thought of this is making my mouth water!

Delicious and Easy Bow Ties

Recipe from Western Family

Ingredients:

1 lb. bow tie pasta, cooked an drained

1 lb. bacon, cooked until crisp; drain and crumble {use the real stuff ... don't substitute turkey bacon here ... ask me why I know}

2 cans (14.5 oz) Italian Stewed Tomatoes, drained

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 cups fresh spinach leaves {I think if you slice these up, it tastes better and leftovers work better}

1 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced, OR 2 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a deep skillet heat tomatoes and garlic over medium heat.

Add bacon, spinach, onions and basil to skillet and simmer until spinach is slightly wilted.

Add bow tie pasta and toss.

Add cheese and serve immediately.

DK Wraps

My brother-in-law came up with this recipe while he was on his mission in the South. He needed recipes that were easy and relatively inexpensive. These fit the bill pretty well. He and my sister made them for us when we were down visiting for Christmas. For being so simple, they are deceptively delicious. Actually, I'm kind of craving one right now. 

I also love the versatility. There are so many different ways you could cook them up, they could pretty much fit any taste.

DK Wraps

Recipe from Dakotah Gordon

Ingredients:

Flour or whole wheat tortilla wraps

Ground beef, cooked

Creole Seasoning

Bacon, cooked and chopped

Cheese, shredded

Directions:

Spread ground beef onto bottom half of tortilla wrap. Sprinkle desired amount of Creole seasoning onto meat - the more seasoning you use, the spicier it will be. Add some bacon and shredded cheese to the top. Fold the tortilla so that there are no open ends; grill on a George Foreman, in a saucepan, or on a barbecue grill. Serve it up! Mmm!

Variations:

Cooked, shredded chicken

Cajun or Italian seasonings

Add some BBQ sauce or ranch dressing

Use grilled fish, chopped shrimp or crab for the meat

Swiss cheese instead of cheddar

Karen's Sloppy Joes

I tend to think that if you are going to make something, homemade is generally better. A few months ago my younger siblings came to visit us and they had lunch. They volunteered to bring sloppy joe mix, but I told them not to worry about it because I had something better than those store bought mixes. When I made up lunch and my sibs finally got to try this recipe, they all agreed that these were the best sloppy joes. It is perhaps the best sloppy joe recipe I've ever had. I have three different recipes for sloppy joes, but this one is probably my favorite. It's also really easy. Ah, you can't beat delicious and easy!

Karen's Sloppy Joes

Recipe from Sister's Cafe

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey or lean ground beef (still tastes great with turkey)

1 onion

3/4 c. ketchup

2 T. brown sugar

1.5 T. mustard

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Chop onion and assemble ingredients. Brown ground turkey/beef in a large frying pan. Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix well. Serve on hamburger bun or whatever you would like. Voila!

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

First of all, I have to say that I just can't seem to type wrapped {that word, it took a lot of concentration to accomplish}. I always end up spelling warped . . . yes, even the second "p" conspicuously ends up missing. At least I am catching it so far. That sounds like a really yummy, recipe, huh? Bacon Warped Sausages. Yum. Just makes you giddy inside for the thought of eating it, right? Or not. :P

Anyway, these are super yummy. Just not super good for you. But that doesn't matter. Because they are that good. I ate at least four at our Christmas Eve party. Maybe more. I might have lost track of how many I ate . . . this helps considerably when you are trying not to feel guilty about eating all the unhealthy stuff.

Everyone else kept raving about them, too. My husband's family is pretty good about eating healthy. Hubby and I try, also. It's just that important to us. But I've been wanting to try these for a long time so I finally relented and made these. I'm glad I did. Every. single. one. of my brothers-in-law loved them. Now, they can't stop talking about them. Next month we are all going to get together and have a "President's Favorite Foods" potluck party to celebrate President's Day. One of my brother-in-laws has slyly suggested that there is a president whose favorite food was bacon wrapped sausages.

This recipe is from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Our Best Bites. If you've never seen their blog, you should really check it out. Any time I've made something of theirs, I've felt like a cooking goddess because it just always turns out fantastic. This is no exception.

Bacon Wrapped Sausages

Recipe from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

1 14-oz. package Lit'l Smokies

1 12-oz. package lean bacon

3/4 c. brown sugar {I actually used less than this - probably about 1/2 cup - but I do think they would have tasted better with more so don't make this same mistake!}

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Using a pair of kitchen shears, cut the slab of bacon into thirds.

Wrap 1/3 of each slice of bacon around each sausage and secure with a toothpick and place on the baking sheet.

Repeat with remaining sausages and bacon. When I was making these, the stars somehow aligned and this package of Lit'l Smokies and Hormel Black Label bacon matched up completely--no leftover bacon, no leftover sausage. Sprinkle brown sugar over sausages and bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until bacon has cooked and is starting to brown. Yum!!

Pecan Tartlets - Variation

It may seem silly to do a completely different post on a variation of a recipe that was posted yesterday. There are just so many photos that I wanted to do this differently. I'm not going to be including ingredients in this post so if you want to know how to make this tartlet variation, check the Pecan Tartlets post first.

I made 3 dozen pecan tartlets and decided that I didn't want to make any more. However, I had enough dough and filling to make at least six more tartlets so I had to come up with something to use up what was left. My dear hubby helped me. This variation is what we came up with. We can't think of any good names for it though. Suggestions?

I actually really enjoyed this little variation. It tasted so yummy and had a less sweet flavor than the tartlets themselves. It also looked so pretty!

Directions:

Roll out pastry dough in a circle to be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Place on a greased cookie sheet and roll the edges up to create a barrier. Be sure your barrier is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch high and that it is rolled tightly so it won't come undone.

Sprinkle chopped pecans on the crust. I also used up a few walnuts I had leftover from making Lemon Tea Cakes.

Pour some corn syrup mixture over the nuts.

This is why that barrier is so important. You don't want your syrup leaking out and making a mess all over your pan. Actually, forget the mess you'd get on your pan. Let's talk about how sad it would be to end up with a pastry with nuts and no syrup! That would be a sad day indeed. You really want it to stay on top of the pastry. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve cut into triangles.

Yummy!

Pecan Tartlets

You know me, I love pecan pie. It is my all-time favorite pie. You've heard that already. But because it's my favorite, when I saw the recipe for these Pecan Tartlets, I just knew I had to make them. And I'm so glad I did! They are so yummy and you pretty much can't go wrong with them! I will say that they are a bit time consuming, cutting out all the little circles of dough and forming all the tartlets. I don't think it would have taken me as long if I had more mini muffin tins, but since I only have one it took me a while.  However, they are so yummy and very worth it. I'm so glad I made them {and glad I gave most of them away or else I would have eaten them all!}.
Also, check back tomorrow for a little something different I did with my leftover tartlet makings.

Pecan Tartlets

Recipe from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Makes: 3 1/2 dozen tartlets

You will need a mini muffin tin

For the pastry:

6 oz. cream cheese {I used 1/3 fat cream cheese and it worked really well}

1 c. butter

2 c. flour

1/8 t. salt

Place cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl and beat until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add flour and salt and beat until dough comes together and forms a ball.

For the pecan filling:

2 eggs

2/3 c. corn syrup

2/3 c. sugar

2 t. flour

2 T. butter, melted

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients, except pecans, and beat or whisk until combined. Reserve pecans for assembling the tartlets.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out dough about an 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. I prefer my dough to be a little thinner but if you like a thicker crust, a 1/4 inch would be perfect, too. If your dough is excessively sticky or too soft, refrigerate for 15-20 minutes before rolling out. This helps give it a firmness.
Another trickI have is to handle the pastry dough as little as possible. Mix it up, roll it out, cut the circles. Gently combine the scraps from that batch then roll it out again. In other words, you don't have to get it perfectly in a ball the second time before you roll it out again. The less you handle your pastry, the more flaky and soft it will be when it's baked. However, don't let my "handle with care" tip scare you away from making these yourself. This is probably the easiest pastry dough I've ever made in my life.
{Because I only have one mini muffin pan, my pastry dough was sitting on the counter between batches. If you find that it begins to get too warm in your kitchen, the dough will soften and get stickier, thereby making it more difficult to handle. This is when the fridge trick will be especially helpful. Put your dough in the fridge while one batch is baking. When that batch is finished baking, you can take them out of the oven, put the tartlets on cooling racks then pull out the dough from the fridge and make more circles. This also helps give your pan time to cool down so you can make more tartlets without having to use a hot pan.}

Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter or glass, cut out circles. Press into mini muffin tins, going all the way up the sides of the cups. I used my knuckle to press the dough into the baking cups {I have long nails so using my fingers didn't work for me}. I also found that a bottle cap from my baby's bottles worked really well.

Using my knuckle to press the pastry into the baking cup.

Your pastry should look like this.

Sprinkle a generous teaspoon full of pecan pieces into the bottom of each tartlet. 

You can use a teaspoon to spoon the pecans into the pastry...

. . . or do like me and just dump some pecans in there until you have the amount you want.

Spoon about 1 1/2 t. of the syrup on top of the pecans, covering the pecans and filling at least 3/4 of each tartlet.

I found that a teaspoon was about enough.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown and filling is set. Note that the filling won't appear to be very set right when you pull it out. You can jiggle the pan a little to see if the filling moves a lot. It is seems like it mostly there, they are probably done. Your best judge at this point will be the pastry dough. It should be lightly golden.

Note: these are super sticky.

Delicious!

Variation: The pastry dough can also be filled with your favorite jam before baking. Bake as directed above and sprinkle with powdered sugar after the tartlets have cooled.

Oatmeal Wafers

These oatmeal wafers are super yummy! They are a different kind of cookie. my Farmor {she's Swedish - I think I've mentioned her before} says these are authentic Swedish oatmeal cookies. They are crunchy with the perfect amount of spice. They are also easy to make. So if you want to try a different kind of cookie that's crunchy and uber yummy, these are for you. :D

Oatmeal Wafers

Known in Swedish as Havreflarn

Recipe from Grace Lindquist via my Farmor

Ingredients:

½ cup butter or margarine

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup oatmeal

2 Tbsp. sifted flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

Directions:

Melt butter; remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Mix until blended. Butter cookie sheet generously and dust with flour. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet, 3 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 1 minutes before removing quickly with sharp knife. Cool. For more decorative effect place cookie immediately on handle of wooden spoon. Make one pan at a time.

Baklava

This is a traditional dessert found in the Mediterranean. Actually, it is kind of an interesting thing, if you look it up. All over the Middle East, countries will claim it as their own, asserting that other countries stole the recipe or that their country improved it. You can click HERE to see a history of this fantastic, crunchy, sweet dessert. There are also apparently many different recipes. This particular recipe is Greek. Which seems appropriate since phyllo dough (the most important ingredient!) is also Greek. Or at least the word "phyllo" is Greek. 

Anyway, I saw some Baklava in a food catalog and decided it looked really good. I didn't really want to pay the price to try it through the company, so I looked up a recipe and made my own. I'm glad I did. I thought this stuff was wonderful! I took it to a family Thanksgiving party and everyone who tried it liked it. It's a little more labor intensive but that doesn't mean it's hard to make. It's actually super easy, it just takes time. However, I think it's well worth the time!

Baklava

Recipe from allrecipes
18 servings or 3 dozen squares

Ingredients:

Filling and dough:

1 (16 oz) package phyllo dough {this dough can be found in the frozen section of your grocery store - look near pie dough}

1 pound chopped nuts {I used walnuts though I think pecans would be even yummier!}

1 cup butter, melted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Sauce:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 pan.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut off about two or three inches from one end so it will fit into your pan. 

I know this is probably the worst picture ever known to man. Or at least it's pretty close. {I have no idea why it turned like that. Sorry.} And the blue tint makes it even worse. I know. But I wanted to demonstrate just how thin phyllo dough really is. "Phyllo" is "named after the Greek word for leaf', being 'thin as a leaf'" {see above link}. Really, I would go with paper. This dough is paper thin.

Cover phyllo with dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan; using a pastry brush, butter throroughly. Butter the dough sheets carefully. Since they are so thin it can be easy to tear them if you aren't careful. Repeat until you have 8 sheets of layered dough.

You can see that my phyllo dough is climbin up the sides of my pan a little. I didn't experience any problems with this and actually liked the little extra dough it provided. You can, however, trim the dough to fit your pan exactly if that's what you want.

Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top of phyllo dough layers.

Top with two sheets of dough, butter those sheets, then add more nuts. Continue layering in this manner until you feel the pan is full enough or you run out of nuts {which is what happened to me}. Just be careful not to use all your dough. You need 6-8 sheets for the top and final layer. Also, buttering the dough sheets after you start layering in the nuts can be a challenge. I found it easiest to get my pastry brush really buttery and then pat the butter onto the sheets. This kept the dough from tearing but enabled me to butter it thoroughly.

Cover the last layer of nuts with two sheets of phyllo dough and butter them. Then add two more sheets and layer as in the beginning until it is 6-8 sheets deep. On the final set of two sheets, be sure to butter well. That will help make that top layer nice and crispy!

Using a sharp knife that has been well buttered, cut into square or diamond shapes {I found squares easiest and they go further}. Be sure to cut all the way to the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until Baklava is golden and crisp. My Baklava was definitely done after 40 minutes so be sure to check it at the lowest baking time.

Make the sauce while the baklava is baking.

Boil sugar and water until sugar is dissolved and incorporated. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. The Baklava will be completely drenched in this honey liquid. Don't be alarmed. You did, in fact, do everything you were supposed to! The honey sauce will thicken as the Baklava and sauce cool and the nuts and dough will soak it up.
Let cool.

For a pretty touch, serve the sqaures in cupcake baking cups.

Leave it uncovered or it will get soggy.

Baklava freezes well. Just put individual pieces in a good freezer container and pop into the fridge. Pull it out a couple hours before serving and allow to thaw on the counter top.
Enjoy the crispy, honey goodness!