Cakes and Pies

‘Chanukah Gelt Double Fudge Chocolate Layer Cake None Better!’ is a recipe from the excellent book “A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking” by Marcy Goldman – her recipes never disappoint. This cake is perfect to entertain a crowd.

Chocolate Layer Cake is not difficult to put together even if you are not an experienced baker – read the instructions ahead of time and gather the ingredients. Note: you need a cardboard circle to decorate the prepared cake – once it has been iced and decorated, you will have to transfer it onto a cake plate – it will be MUCH easier to do this if you move it on the cardboard to your plate.

Ingredients for Chocolate Layer Cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups warm, flat cola soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 9-inch layer pans and line them with parchment paper circles.

In a large mixing bowl, blend the sugar and oil (using an electric mixer or by hand). Add the eggs and vanilla and combine until the mixture is well blended. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Fold them into the wet, and mix, drizzling in the cola as the mixture blends. If using an electric mixer, use the slow speed and mix for about 3 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom once to incorporate all the ingredients. This is a thin batter.

Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cakes spring back when lightly touched. (allow cake to cool completely before you begin to decorate it with icing)

Ingredients for Chocolate Icing:

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• 2 tbsp. vegetable shortening (shortening enhances the texture of the icing – if you prefer to replace it with butter or margarine, it will still come out fantastic)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter or unsalted margarine
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup water, cola, or half and half

Toppings:

• colored or chocolate sprinkles
• 20-30 gold-colored chocolate coins (of course, silver are OK too)
• miniature decorative plastic dreidels

In a bowl, cream together the melted chocolate, shortening, butter, and vanilla with the cocoa and 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and whip on high speed, adding a bit of water, cola or half and half to get a light, fluffy consistency. if you’re not frosting the cake right away, rewhip before using, adding additional warm water, a tablespoon at a time, to achieve the right consistency.

Decorate the cake: Place one layer on a cardboard circle. Ice the cake layer with about 1/2 inch of frosting. Cover with the seond layer and ice the sides first, then the top. Coat the sides with colored sprinkles (take a bunch in your hand and gently tap them all over the sides of the frosted cake). Garnish the bottom edge with gold-covered coins. Garnish the top with gold-colored coins, making any arrangement you want – placing the coins either flat on top of the cake or standing up, sticking them in the icing to hold. (You may cut some of the large coins in half to garnish around the border of the top layer of cake, where the icing meets the sprinkles – standing up straight or on an angle). Place a couple of miniature dreidels in the centre if you wish, or Chanukah candles. (They can be lit when the menorah is lit.) 

If desired, you could also garnish the border of the top layer with little decorative dreidels stuck into the icing and use the coins in the centre. It’s up to you. 

Enjoy – the cake stays moist for days, if it lasts that long. 

Orange Almond Cake is a recipe from the article ‘Three cakes that are easy as pie’ by Erica Marcus (McClatchy-Tribune) published in the Montreal Gazette on March 2, 2011. 

Read over entire recipe before you begin. The ingredients are prepared one at a time and blended together only at the end of the process.

Ingredients for Orange Almond Cake:

• 1 navel orange
• 8 oz. (225 g) slivered or sliced almonds
• 1 cup (250 ml) sugar, divided
• ½ cup (125 ml) flour
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) baking powder
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) baking soda
• ¼ tsp. (1 ml) salt
• 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick or 90 ml) unsalted butter, plus 1 tbsp. for greasing the pan, room temperature
• 5 eggs

Place orange (do not peel the orange) in a small saucepan and cover with water. Place lid on the orange or use a heatproof glass plate to keep the orange submerged. Place at medium heat and bring to boil – turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove orange and cool – to speed this up, immerse orange in cold water. Cut the orange (retain peel and pith) into half, cut each half into 4-6 wedges and then cut wedges into chunks. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C). Generously butter either a 9” Bundt pan, 8” tube pan or 9 x 5” loaf pan. (note: if you use a Bundt pan, be sure to grease all creases – personally, I feel that you can give a little shot of cooking spray over the butter if you are worried about unmolding cake).

Place almonds in food processor with 2 tbsp. (30 ml) of sugar and process until nuts are finely ground. Remove from processor bowl. Pour a handful of ground almonds into greased cake pan and then shake pan to evenly distribute almonds. Bang out any excess nuts and return them to the rest of the almonds.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small bowl.

On a separate plate, cut butter into pieces.

Place orange chunks (including peel, pith and all) into the bowl of a food processor with the remaining sugar. Process until orange is pureed. Add the ground almonds and the butter and process until well mixed. Add eggs and process until they are integrated. Add dry ingredients and process until just combined.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until cake is nicely browned and starting to come away from the edges of the pan, about an hour. A wood skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Remove from oven and once cool enough to handle, invert cake onto plate. If you are worried about unmolding cake, use a grapefruit knife or other thin, narrow knife to loosen edges of cake. Cool cake completely.

Orange Almond Cake serves: 8-12

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Nut Streusal is a wonderful dessert for any meal, especially when you have friends and family over for brunch. The streusal topping for this cake is really mouth-watering.

Ingredients for Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 6 tbsp. butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream and extract and mix until well blended. Add dry ingredients a cup at a time – stir until incorporated. Set batter aside while you prepare the topping.

Ingredients for Streusal Topping:

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts – (use walnuts, pecans, pistachios – your choice)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 3 tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 cup fresh blueberries or raspberries (plus extra berries for garnish over top of baked cake, if desired)

Place nuts, coconut, brown sugar, flour and melted butter in a bowl and stir until blended. Set aside.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with the berries and then, sprinkle the streusal all over the top.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
If desired, garnish centre of baked cake with more berries.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Nut Streusal serves: 8
Recipe adapted from “Favorite Recipes The Costco Way”.


Red Velvet Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting are popular with most people – what’s not to like? You can opt to make pareve cupcakes (as indicated below) with your favorite pareve icing recipe.

Cupcake Recipe:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (for pareve cupcakes, see note below)*
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. red food coloring
• 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• *for pareve cupcake, replace buttermilk as follows: in a cup, add 1.5 tsp. white vinegar and continue to add pareve soymilk until you reach ½ cup – stir lightly)

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, egg, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. While mixing at medium speed, gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture until just combined. Fill cupcake liners.

 Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in centre of cupcake comes out clean.

Buttercream Icing: (note: for pareve icing, replace butter with pareve margarine and use pareve soymilk instead of regular milk)

• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• Dash of almond extract

Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, milk, vanilla, and almond extract and beat until you reach a smooth consistency. Add additional sugar if needed.

Makes: One dozen cupcakes
Source: http://mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com/

Butter Pound Cake is perfect for entertaining family and friends on special occasions and holidays. The cake bakes up tall in the pan (take out your favorite decorative bundt pan) and can be served plain, garnished with fresh fruit and coulis or whipped cream, if desired.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more to butter the cake pan)
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (for a softer, fluffier cake)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup milk, room temperature (use whole or 2%)
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; cake will bake on middle rack of oven.

Grease your favorite 12 cup (large) Bundt pan with butter and a dusting of flour.  Make sure to properly grease and flour all indentations. Cooking spray is not recommended for this recipe – personally, I’ve accented the greasing process with a few sprays of cooking oil spray for insurance – the cake came out completely risen and unblemished.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a standing mixer with paddle attachment or using large bowl and hand mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, for about two minutes.

Reduce speed to low and beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Scrape bowl and at medium low speed, add whole eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape bowl again.

While mixer runs at low speed, add half of the flour, mixing only until combined. Add milk followed by remaining flour, mixing only until combined. Scrape bowl again.
At low speed, add vanilla and then at medium speed, mix batter for 20-30 seconds until batter is smooth and fluffy.

Transfer batter to prepared cake pan. To remove air bubbles, you may run a knife through batter and/or tap pan against the counter.

Bake until golden brown (45-55 minutes) – toothpick inserted in centre should come out clean, with a few moist crumbs.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes and then invert onto wire rack to cool completely.

Store cake at room temperature for three days.
Butter Pound Cake serves: 12-16

Source of recipe (with a few personal comments): Fine Cooking – Sweet Cakes – Holiday Baking Issue 2009 – go to www.finecooking.com

Hersheys Chocolate Cake is easy to make as a pareve or dairy cake and can be baked in a variety of cakepans. Prepare the cake with frosting as a layer cake, cupcakes, in a bundt/tube pan or in a rectangular pan*, with or without frosting. The recipe for Chocolate Frosting is further down below plus baking times for various types of cakepans. If you do not frost the cake, dust the top with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (use pareve milk substitute for pareve cake – if you cannot find pareve milk substitute, use water or cola)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• Chocolate Frosting Recipe: see below

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. You may also use a 9 x 13″ rectangular pan, bundt, tube or muffin tins for cupcakes – line or grease and flour the pan that you choose.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk (or pareve milk substitute), oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with chocolate frosting recipe below.
Hersheys Chocolate Cake serves: 10-12

*Variations: ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Chocolate Frosting Recipe for Hersheys Chocolate Cake:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or pareve margarine
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk (for pareve frosting, use water)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter or margarine. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk (or water) beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk or water, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Source: www.hersheys.com (excellent recipe source)

My family loves this light chiffon-like Marble Cake recipe at holidays and all year round. It is easy to make if you assemble all of the ingredients at the outset. The marble cake rises nice and high making an attractive dessert centrepiece – it looks even more appetizing when served with a few strawberry slices on the side. This is a large cake that serves at least a dozen people. Please read all instructions before making this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs, separated
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup oil
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup cold water or milk
• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (use squares or equivalent chocolate chips)
• 3 tbsp. butter or pareve margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use an ungreased 10″ tube pan – line bottom with parchment paper.*

Beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla at medium to high until light and smooth. Beat in oil. Sift dry ingredients together. Add them, alternating with water, to the batter and mix only until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gently fold them into batter.

Melt chocolate together with butter – use the microwave for this.

Remove half of the batter to a separate bowl. Add melted chocolate to one of the bowls of batter and mix until blended.

Pour white and chocolate batters into tube pan. Use a knife to cut through batters and swirl them around.
Bake for 50 minutes on middle rack of oven – it may take anywhere from 45-55 minutes depending on how “hot” your oven is. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick in center of cake – when it comes out clean, cake is ready.

Due to the fact that the pan is not greased, the marble cake should rise quite high. You should not remove it from pan right away. Invert cake (turn it upside down) and let it cool completely before removing it from pan. To avoid top of cake being crushed, you may turn pan upside down over a narrow glass or bottle placed under middle tube.

My experience has been to simply allow cake to cool without inverting it. Once cake has cooled, the sides will pull away from pan – you will be able to cut around sides to dislodge cake from pan – parchment at bottom will make the removal of cake from pan much easier.

*To line bottom of pan, place paper underneath tube pan and trace circle on paper. Cut it out – place paper over bottom of pan and trace interior circle made by tube and cut it out. Fit paper inside pan. From time to time, I have lightly greased the parchment as well as the interior tube to ease removal – no problem.

I made Moist Apple Cake yesterday – it was delicious then and tastes even better today. This apple cake recipe is adapted from the cookbook Little Pie Company Of The Big Apple – Pies and Other Dessert Favorites. This simple cake is quite easy to prepare and is ‘nice’ enough to serve guests. If desired, you can sprinkle crumble topping over the batter before baking. For a pareve cake, use kosher pareve margarine.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup (8 tbsp. or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, or pareve margarine (or a combination)
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (you may also add 1/2 tsp. ground mace, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 cups apples, peeled and diced (I used Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and a few McIntosh)(I like a lot of apples – I use closer to 5 cups)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired
• Optional: Add 1/2 cup blueberries, raspberries, raisins or cranberries to the apple mixture
• Optional: Crumb Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 inch cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream the sugars with the butter or margarine until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, beating until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and if desired, mace and cloves. Using a spatula, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, mixing until combined. The batter will be quite thick and stiff. Stir the apples (plus walnuts and any other fruit) into the batter.

Spread batter into the prepared baking dish. You may sprinkle Crumb Topping over batter – this step is optional.

Bake for 35 minutes until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Let the cake cool. Cover completely – Moist Apple Cake becomes even more moist and flavorful the next day.

Source: Little Pie Company of the Big Apple – Pies and Other Dessert Favorites (1993) by Arnold Wilkerson, Patricia Henly and Michael Deraney

Apple Dessert is one of my mother Esther’s signature pareve dessert recipes. She has prepared it using apples alone or combined with jam, berries, raisins and nuts. It is simple, extremely flavorful and seems to taste better with each passing day. It can be adapted to fit any size pan and gives a “heimishe” aroma to your home. The recipe below has enough batter for a 9″ square baking pan – double the recipe (for batter) to fit a 9 x 13″ rectangular baking dish and use about 10 medium/large apples.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 apples, peeled and sliced (Granny Smith, Royal Gala, Delicious)
• 1-2 tsp. lemon or orange juice
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a square baking dish.

Place sliced and peeled apples in a mixing bowl. Add lemon or orange juice, brown sugar and cinnamon to the apples and toss until coated.

In a separate bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix lightly to form a rather stiff batter.

Place apples in lightly greased 9″ baking dish. If apples are very watery, sprinkle bottom of baking dish with a tsp. or two of flour and shake it all around – it will absorb excess water.

Pour or spoon batter over the apples.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until apple dessert is golden brown and firm in the centre.

Note: You can double or triple the batter for a larger baking dish. Of course, use more apples.
You may add blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, raisins, jam or preserves to the apple mixture for interesting flavor.

Rose’s Easy Coffee Cake is a quick and easy cake recipe that makes a light dessert or snack. Feel free to add a handful of chocolate chips, nuts or berries to the batter for added flavor. Rose loves to make this cake for her grandchildren – they gobble it up before it has a chance to cool off.

Coffee Cake recipe:

• ¾ cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a square cake pan.

Beat butter or margarine together with sugar and eggs until smooth and creamy. Add dry ingredients alternating with the milk and vanilla until a smooth batter is formed. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared dish.

Topping Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter or margarine, cut into chunks
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¾ tsp. cinnamon

In a small bowl, blend ingredients to form a crumb topping. Sprinkle generously over top of cake – it will ‘shrink’ once baked.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
Pretty easy – great results!

Flourless Marble Cake is a moist and flavorful Passover cake recipe that delivers rich fudgy flavor on any occasion. The recipe for Flourless Marble Cake is adapted from the magazine Fine Cooking Sweet Cakes (2009 Holiday Baking Issue). Prepare the vanilla and chocolate batters separately, as indicated below.

Vanilla Batter:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Batter:

• 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 5 oz. (10 tbsp.) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. dark rum or espresso (I used strong brewed regular coffee)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Cocoa powder for dusting

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease a 9″ x 2″ round cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

To begin the vanilla batter, beat the cream cheese in a medium sized bowl until smooth. Add the sugar and continue beating until well blended. Add the egg, vanilla and beat until incorporated. Set aside.

For the chocolate batter, melt the chocolate and butter in a large metal bowl that sits on top of a pan or pot of simmering water. You may also use the microwave. Whisk melted chocolate mixture until smooth and allow it to cool off while you continue. Using a stand mixer with the whip attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the eggs, sugar, rum or espresso, vanilla and salt at medium high until the mixture thickens. This will take 3-4 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low speed and slowly add the cooled off chocolate mixture, continuing to beat until blended.

Spread half of the chocolate batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Add large spoonfuls (or scoops) of remaining vanilla batter, alternately with remaining chocolate batter. Using a knife or spatula, gently swirl the two batters together. Do not overdo it – each batter should appear distinct but a beautiful design should appear. Before you place the pan in the oven, gently lift it a few inches and let it drop on your work surface to settle the batter and burst any air bubbles. Do this a couple of times.

Bake Flourless Marble Cake for about 40-42 minutes and check for doneness. Place a long toothpick about 2″ from the edge (not the centre) and if it comes out a bit gooey the cake is ready. Note: the tested area will be tender and moist, not liquidy. The sides will be more “done” than the centre of the cake. Do not overbake because the cake will continue to cook and settle once it comes out of the oven. Cool on a rack until just warm (about 90 minutes).

Loosen from pan as follows: hold pan on an angle almost perpendicular to your countertop. Tap the pan on the counter as you rotate it clockwise. Invert onto a large place. Remove cake from pan and peel off parchment. You may dust bottom of cake that is facing you with cocoa powder to ease removal of cake slices. Invert cake again onto serving plate. Cool completely. Cover cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. You may cover and freeze Flourless Marble Cake.

Apple Crumble is an easy dessert recipe that will surely please your guests. Feel free to accent the apple mixture with blueberries, raspberries, raisins, sliced peaches, plums or pears, whatever you have on hand. Adjust the quantities in the recipe to the baking dish that you want to use. Precise measurements are not required – it will come out delicious no matter what!

Ingredients for Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant) or plain granola cereal
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 5-6 tablespoons butter or pareve margarine, cut into small pieces
• Optional: Pinch of ground mace, ground ginger, powdered cloves or nutmeg

Place all topping ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixture becomes crumbly. You can also make topping in a small bowl using your fingers, a fork or two knives. Set aside.

Ingredients for Apple Mixture: (for an 9″ square pan or individual ramekins)

• 5-6 cups apples (firm, tart-tasting apples are best)
• 1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon, lime or orange juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour or spray a baking dish or ramekins.

Prepare filling by peeling and coring apples, chopping them into 3/4′-1″ chunks. In a large bowl, combine chopped fruit with lemon, sugar and cinnamon plus any additional fruit that you are using.

Place apple mixture in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit mixture.

Bake for 40 minutes (25 minutes for ramekins) until apples are bubbling and topping is lightly browned.
Cool the Apple Crumble for 30-40 minutes and serve as is or topped with whipped cream, ice cream, or fresh fruit. Cover and refrigerate leftovers, if there are any.

Honey Cake is a traditional Jewish cake recipe served at the holidays and on special occasions. This particular recipe makes a very moist cake that rises high in the pan with a lighter texture than many other honey cakes. It is made with brewed tea and somehow, the combination of the tea and cinnamon makes for a refreshing alternative to many honey cakes made with coffee. The cake remains moist for days and is a great snack anytime.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup honey
1 cup strong brewed tea, cooled (you can replace tea with orange juice or brewed coffee)
2 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts or raisins
Optional: add a dash of powdered nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger or grated rind of an orange, if desired


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large tube pan or 10″ bundt pan.

Prepare tea, let it brew until strong and then cool down. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Beat in oil and then honey at high speed until light and fluffy.

Sift dry ingredients together. Add them together with cooled tea to egg mixture. Beat only until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Do not over mix. Stir in nuts or raisins (or both).

Pour batter into prepared tube pan.

Bake for 60-70 minutes using middle rack of oven. Check for doneness after one hour by inserting a toothpick in center – if it comes out clean, cake is ready.

Cool cake for 20-30 minutes. To remove it from pan, run a sharp knife around edges to loosen it up. Invert over plate and remove from tube pan. Allow cake to cool to room temperature.

Adapted from the recipe in ‘A Treasure for my Daughter’ (Ein Chapter of Hadassah, Montreal)

Chocolate Pound Cake makes a dense, rich batter that bakes beautifully in fancy cake pans, the ones that leave the cake with a beautiful geometric or floral pattern once unmolded. This chocolate cake recipe came with the Nordic Ware bundt cake pan that I purchased a number of years ago. A very reliable cake for entertaining.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups milk or half&half
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, mix sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, milk and vanilla, mixing well after each addition. Add remaining ingredients blending well.

Spoon batter into prepared pan.

Bake for one hour and fifteen minutes to one and a half hours. Cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake for 15 minutes before removing cake from pan.

Cool cake completely. You may dust top of cake with powdered sugar.

Makes 16 servings.

Plum Cake is an easy coffeecake recipe that can be prepared in less than an hour. The finished cake can be dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or pareve margarine, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1-1/2 cups diced fresh plums (peaches, pitted cherries or berries may be substituted)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9″ round baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar in mixing bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla – beat until well-blended.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and beat on low speed until smooth.

Fold in half of the plums. Spoon batter into prepared baking pan. Top the batter with the remaining half of the plums. Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned and centre of cake springs back to the touch.

Cool and serve.

Toffee Pecan Pie is a mouth-watering dessert that you can prepare from scratch and bake in less than an hour. The pie is a delicious praline-ish treat that you can serve on its own or topped with whipped cream or ice cream. Great for the occasional indulgence, not for low-calorie diets.

Ingredients for Toffee Pecan Pie:

• 3 Heath Toffee or Skor chocolate bars, broken up into small pieces
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cover bottom of pie shell with broken Heath or Skor bars. In a bowl, lightly beat or whisk together eggs, syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla until blended and stir in pecans. Pour mixture over chocolate bars in pie shell.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, until centre of pie is set – check for doneness with toothpick inserted in centre of pie. Serve warm or cold, great both ways.

Adapted from: www.ncpecans.org

Easy Carrot Cake is definitely worth the effort. The combination of carrots, cinnamon, pineapple, nuts and raisins makes a fragrant, moist cake that you can eat as a dessert or snack.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup crushed, drained pineapple
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut, optional
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a tube pan or two small loaf pans.

Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add oil and vanilla and beat until well mixed.
Stir in rest of ingredients ending with the flour. Pour batter into prepared tube or loaf pans.
Bake for 60-70 minutes until centre of cake is firm and a toothpick comes out clean. If using smaller loaf pans, check for doneness after 45-50 minutes.

You may frost the carrot cake with cream cheese icing but frankly, it is not necessary – the cake is moist and delicious on its own.

Cottage Cheese Cake is very simple and light. It is a lower fat alternative to cakes made with cream cheese. This cake recipe can be eaten as dessert or as a delicious lunch or snack. It can be prepared without too much fuss and you can decorate it with your favorite fruits.

Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Cake:

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3-4 tbsp. butter
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 lb. old fashioned cottage cheese
• 1 tbsp.lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 10″ springform pan. Mix graham cracker crumbs and softened butter to form crust and pat into pie plate. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside. Clean beaters.

Beat egg yolks with sugar until light and creamy. Add cottage cheese and mix until blended. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla. Fold in egg whites and blend only until ingredients are incorporated.

Pour mixture into prepared springform pan. Bake for 50 minutes. Let the pie cool while you prepare the topping.

Topping:

• 1 small container sour cream or plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the topping ingredients together in a bowl. Spread over top of the cheese pie and return to oven to bake at 250 degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Once the pie has cooled completely, garnish with whole or sliced strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, raspberries or other fruits.

Rose’s Pineapple Cheesecake is a winner with all cheesecake lovers. This cheesecake recipe makes a cake that is large enough to serve a crowd when you entertain. It is luscious and delectable – irresistible!

Preheat oven to 300°. Lightly grease a 9” spring form pan.

Ingredients for Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx. 18 graham crackers/wafers)
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tbsp. sugar

Combine the ingredients, mixing to form a crust. Pat on the bottom of the greased spring form pan.

Ingredients for cake:

• 1 lb. Cream cheese
• 1 lb. Cottage cheese
• 6 eggs
• 1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1 small tin can evaporated milk (6 oz)
• 1 ½ tsp. lemon juice
• 2 heaping tbsp. flour
• ¼ tsp. salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat cheeses together at medium speed. Gradually add eggs, sugar, milk, lemon juice, flour and salt – cream these ingredients in the order given for best results. Do not overbeat the mixture.

Pour the cheese mixture into the crust in the springform pan.

Bake at 300 degrees F. for about 2 hours, or until top of cake is firm and golden brown. Turn off heat. Allow cake to cool down in oven, with the oven door open.

Once the cake has cooled down, refrigerate it.

Ingredients for Pineapple Topping:

• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3 tbsp. icing sugar
• 1 can crushed pineapple, reserve juice for topping

In a saucepan, add 1 cup reserved pineapple juice to cornstarch and icing sugar, mixing until incorporated. Simmer on low-medium heat unti sauce thickens. Add drained, crushed pineapple to the syrupy liquid and stir. Remove from heat and cool.

Remove cake from springform pan. Spread pineapple topping over top of cold, refrigerated cheesecake.
This Pineapple Cheesecake will be the star of the dessert table.