Hometown Get-Togethers - Candace Floyd [61]
Pecan Pie Bars
Shirley Lockwood, Constantine, Michigan
Makes 3 dozen bars
“These bars are much easier to make than pecan pie. They serve more people, and you can serve smaller portions—they are very rich.”
BARS
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) butter (no substitutes)
FILLING
4 eggs 1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1½ cups light or dark corn syrup
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups chopped pecans
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13 × 9-inch baking pan.
2. To prepare the bars, combine the flour, granulated sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse two or three times until the mixture is crumbly. Press on the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the edges of the crust begin to brown. Cool completely.
3. To prepare the filling, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until well blended with a mixer at low speed. Stir in the pecans and pour over the cooled crust. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the center is almost set. Cool and cut into bars.
Apple Cake
Debra Paszko, Effort, Pennsylvania
Serves 12 to 16
“This recipe is a favorite at company picnics. My fellow employees really enjoy it, and many of the ladies ask me to bake this for them to take to their family functions.”
2½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
½ cup orange juice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 or 7 apples, such as Gala, peeled and chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour a 13 × 9-inch metal cake pan.
2. Combine ½ cup of the sugar, the cinnamon, and walnuts in a small bowl; mix well.
3. For the batter, mix the flour, remaining 2 cups sugar, the eggs, orange juice, oil, baking powder, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon.
4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Place half of the apples on top of the batter and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon mixture. Repeat with the remaining batter, apples, and cinnamon mixture.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 40 minutes longer, or until the cake is golden brown and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Blackberry Cake
Elsie Cumpton, Worthington, Kentucky
Serves 12
“This is a good, moist cake to send to people in the armed services. I sent this Blackberry Cake to my husband, who was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army in the 1950s.”
1 cup vegetable shortening
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
2. Cream the shortening, eggs, and sugar with a mixer at medium speed. Stir in the blackberries.
3. Mix the buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl. Combine the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl; mix well.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately to the creamed blackberry mixture; beat well. Pour into the prepared cake pans.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Do not overbake. Cool on a wire rack.
Grandma’s Buttermilk Brownie Cake
Connie Mrachek, Charles City, Iowa
Serves 36
“This recipe has been a family favorite for five generations. My grandmother, Ruthie Rice, has passed away, but her brownie cake is still a family favorite at all of our gatherings.”
CAKE
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
½ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon