3 Egg Cake - A family tradition

This is another Miller Family favorite.  We all still make this often.
From time to time the icing shifts to something different but we ALWAYS come back to caramel.

This was without a doubt my favorite cake my Mom always made our birthday cakes with.
Still is!
The recipe is old school, moist, heavy and delicious.  SO GOOD!  All of the ingredients are every day type items.

3 Egg Cake

Ingredients:
3/4 c butter
1 1/2 c white sugar
3 well beaten eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 c flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c milk

Cream butter & sugar.
Blend in eggs.
Add vanilla.
Slowly alternate milk with dry ingredients.

Bake at 325 for 35 mins.  If you use muffins, bake for 15 mins.

Carmel Icing

Ingredients:
1 c brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
1/3 c cream

Bring to a light boil.  Set aside and let cool.
Once cool, add icing sugar until the consistency is spreadable.
Top your cake/muffins.

Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour
• 1 c sugar
• ½ c + 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 c + 2 tbsp sour cream
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• *1/2 c. sugar
• *2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

Grease muffin tins with butter.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl and set aside.
Pour the 1 cup sugar into a large bowl.  Add the melted butter.
Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream, and mix well.
Stir in the flour mixture.
Combine the ½ c. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl and place aside.
Place a small amount of batter in tin. Sprinkle with a desired amount of the cinnamon/sugar mixture  (I used 1 tsp).  
Add another small amount of the batter on top. Sprinkle lightly with the cinnamon mixture once again.
Bake at 340° for ~ 12 minutes.  Use the toothpick method to ensure they are done.  Do not overcook.

(This is a version of a recipe I borrowed from simplykierste.com)

Lettuce Wraps

OMGoodness.
So easy.  So delicious!
Without a doubt one of my favorite new recipes in a long time.  
It's a perfect mixture to make double batches and freeze for a quick meal. Or pass to a neighbour in need of a little help.

LETTUCE WRAPS

Filling:
1 lb ground chicken breast or turkey
2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp shredded ginger
2 chopped green onions
3/4 c frozen corn
3/4 c frozen peas
1/4 c chopped red pepper
1/2 c chopped water chestnuts

Sauce:
3 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sriracha sauce (red rooster sauce)

Heat your frying pan with oil on high.
Add garlic & ginger and cook for only a few seconds until fragrant.  
Add chicken/turkey and cook through.   
Add corn, peas, water chestnuts, and red pepper just long enough to heat through (1-2 minutes).
Stir in half the sauce to the sauté mixture and cook for 1 minute.  Keep remaining sauce for drizzling once you've wrapped in your lettuce.

Top your wraps with carrots and cucumbers if you wish.

** I've made this recipe with iceberg lettuce and leaf lettuce and preferred the iceberg variety.  

Source: Annie's Eats (an adapted version)

Pumpkin "Donut" Muffins

Sooooo very yummy!
A perfect recipe to use some of my Halloween pumpkin puree.


Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 3 cups white flour)
1 1/2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup white, 1/2 cup brown sugar)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tsp pumpkin spice (2 tsp cinnamon + 1 tsp nutmeg + 1 tsp all spice)

Sugar Cinnamon coating
1/2 cup of raw sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and spices together.
Whisk together  eggs and pumpkin.  Add oil and vanilla.  Mix until all incorporated.
Slowly add in dry ingredients one cup at a time and mix until there are no lumps.
Scoop batter into a greased muffin pan and fill each 2/3 full.
Bake for  15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the muffins bake, mix sugar and cinnamon together (hello multi tasking!!)
When the muffins are out of the oven and cooled, use a butter knife to loosen them out of the pan.
Toss the muffins one by one in the cinnamon and sugar coating.

ENJOY!!!

(Thank you to BabyBoyBakery for a version of this recipe and the idea.  If you don't already follow this blog I'd recommend it… for many reasons).

#thankfulnovember

In our kitchen...

Homemade!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are by far THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES you will EVER have.
Classic.
Easy.
Fast.
Chewy.
Soft.
No fail.
Seriously beautiful cookies.
Give them a try and call yourself Martha freekin Stewart!
You will never need another recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
* 2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 12 tbsp (one stick) melted, then cooled to warm BUTTER
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
* 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven racks to middle positions.
Preheat to 325 degrees C.
Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients (excluding sugars) in a bowl and set aside.
Mix butter and sugars until combined.  Add egg and extra yolk and vanilla.
Add wet and dry and mix until just combined.  Add chocolate chips.
Roll into balls the size of a golf ball and spread evenly on your cookie sheet.
Place in the oven and rotate the cookie sheet 180 half way through.  I bake mine for 12 mins and rotate at the 6 minute mark.
Bake until slightly brown on the edges and let cool on a wire rack (11-14mins depending on your oven).
Don't overbake these babies! They are meant to be soft and chewy in the middle.

Thanks to Annie's Eats for this recipe.  I did some tweaking but am grateful for so many of her delicious ideas.

BUTTER TARTS!

One of my fondest memories of growing up was baking with my Mom.  Everything was always from "scratch".  I wish I had a dime for every batch of butter tarts or buns she created, and a lot of the time were given to others.
I have to agree with Mom when she told me one of the greatest skills a young lady could learn was how to make home made pastry.  It really isn't a scary task at all and sure comes in handy for bribery.  Now I wish I had a dime (or maybe loonie) for every batch of butter tarts I've made.
My job this year for Easter dinner was you guessed it... butter tarts.
Thought I'd share our family recipe.  It really can't get any easier, honest!
YUM!

BUTTER TART FILLING

(this usually makes enough for 12 tarts, I easily make 4 times this for one "batch" of pastry)

2 well beaten eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp butter (cold)

Blend by hand until butter chunks are broken up.

Wash raisins and add as many or few to the pastry shells as you desire.

Add tart filling until pastry shells are 3/4 full.

Bake at 325-350 for approx 10-15 mins (depending on your oven).  Watch for the filling to be slightly bubbling and pastry to be barely golden brown.

**Take tarts out of baking dish immediately and cool.  If you wait too long, any filling that may have boiled over while baking will stick to the tray, making it difficult to pull your tarts out of the tray.**

ENJOY!