FRESH FRUIT CRISP

This year was another good year for our pear tree. I wanted to plant a peach tree or an apple tree, but my husband wanted a pear tree. A few years ago I made some pear preserves. I also made some pearsauce one year. That's like applesauce except you use pears instead of apples. One year I made a pear cake. This year, I found this recipe for Fresh Fruit Crisp. It states you can use apples, peaches, or pears. You don't find too many recipes that also includes pears. 

Last Friday, my husband went to estate sales with me since Friend Janice couldn't go. I found two recipe booklets for 50 cents each that I decided to buy. This recipe was in the Bake It Better with Quaker Oats booklet. It is a fabulous cookbooklet with over 50 Quaker Oats recipes and tips. I think I will be picking it up often when I want to find something new to make.

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

FRESH FRUIT CRISP

1      cup oats, quick or old fashioned, uncooked (I used old fashioned)
1/2   cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)
1/4   cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4   cup (1/2 stick) margarine or butter, melted
1/4   teaspoon ground cinnamon
6      cups peeled, thinly sliced apples, peaches, or pears (about 6 to 8 medium) I used fresh pears.
1/4   cup water
1/4   cup firmly packed brown sugar
2      tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2   teaspoon ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine oats, nuts, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon,

and butter;

mix well. Set aside. 

In large bowl, combine fruit and water.

Combine remaining brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon,

Mix well.

Toss fruit with half of the mixture to coat and

then add rest.

Spoon into 8 - inch square glass baking dish.

Top with reserved oat mixture.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until fruit is tender.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

(My husband and I just enjoyed it warm with no cream but I did sprinkle some chopped nuts on top.)

CROCK POT FRIED APPLES

One of the nice things about this time of the year is friends sharing apples from their trees. We have a friend Sue who always shares apples with us. When we met at Friend Carol's house last Monday for farkle, she treated us to Fried Apples that she had made in her Crock Pot with apples that Sue had given her. 

They were so tasty! Just right. Soft but not mushy. Carol also served cookies, but I will be sharing that recipe with you in a later post. They were yummy, too.

CROCK POT FRIED APPLES

5 - 6     firm, tart apples (Carol used 9 medium ones) 2-1/2 lbs.
1/2       cup brown sugar blend
1          teaspoon cinnamon
1/4       teaspoon nutmeg
2          tablespoons cornstarch
1/2       cup apple juice
1/4       cup molasses

Core and slice apples. (Can peel or not) medium slices

Place apples, sugar and spice in pot.

Dissolve cornstarch in juice and molasses. Pour over apple slices and stir.

Cover the pot with the lid and cook on low for 3 hours. Then turn Crock Pot to Keep Warm until ready to serve.

RAW APPLE DESSERT

Can't help seeing lots of apple desserts this time of the year. When our canasta group met at Friend Dorothy's house last week, she treated us to her Raw Apple Dessert. "Treated" is the perfect word to describe the action, because it was such a "treat'!

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

RAW APPLE DESSERT

1     cup sugar
1/4  cup butter (1/2 stick)
1     beaten egg
1     cup flour
1     teaspoon cinnamon
1/4  teaspoon nutmeg
1     teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon salt
2     cups diced raw apples
1/2 to 1 cup nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream the sugar and butter til smooth. Add the egg.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture.

Add the apples and nuts.

Spread mixture in 9 inch square pan.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Prepare Caramel Sauce before ready to serve.

CARAMEL SAUCE

1/2     cup brown sugar
1/2     cup white sugar
1/2     cup butter (1 stick)
1        cup cream

In a medium size saucepan, place the sauce ingredients...

heat ingredients constantly and bring to a boil. 

Boil continuing to stir for 5 minutes. (Dorothy's pan wasn't quite big enough.) It makes plenty of caramel sauce.

To serve: Cook cake in squares and

spoon sauce over the cake.

AMISH BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

Last week when I was at the thrift shop (HPC Thrift Shop), Volunteer Vali asked me if I still had her Amish cookbook she had loaned me months ago. I told her I would bring it back this week. I hadn't looked at it in a while (that's what happens because I am always finding new ones to explore) and was surprised when I found a note sheet full of recipes I wanted to try in it. This recipe was one of them. 

The cookbook? Country Cooking by the Amish of Buchanan County, Iowa. Mrs. Melvin Schmucker contributed this recipe for Butterscotch Brownies. 

I omitted the nuts because I made them Sunday afternoon before going up to our younger son, Patrick's home, to hang out with granddaughter Madison while Patrick and grandson Tyler went to his cub scout den meeting. Dil Lori had gone to the Chief's football game. Tyler has a peanut allergy so I left the nuts out because I knew he would want to eat one, too. The brownies did harden as they cooled. I'm sure that's why Mrs. Schmucker said to cut them while hot right out of the oven. So I warmed individual brownies in the microwave for 7 seconds. They softened up nicely and we enjoyed them so much more.

UPDATE: I may have to double the recipe and bake them in a 9 x 13 - inch pan for the Cafe Treats. I'm sure they will be a big hit there.

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

1/4     cup butter
1        cup brown sugar
1        egg
1        cup flour
1        teaspoon vanilla
1/2     teaspoon salt
1        teaspoon baking powder
1/2     cup nuts
sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a small pan with nonstick cooking spray. (I used a 7 - inch square pan.)

Melt butter

(I cut the butter in slices and put it in an oven-safe bowl and melted it in the oven while it was preheating.

When the oven had reached the temperature, I just stirred the butter to finish melting it.) and add brown sugar. 

Add egg and vanilla.

Stir til smooth. 

Then stir in flour, salt, and baking powder.

Stir til completely blended. Batter is thick.







Add nuts, if using. (I omitted them.)

Spread batter in pan.

(I dropped most of the dough in dollops and wet my fingers to spread.

Then I filled in the empty and low places with the rest of the dough.)

Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes til done.

Cut in squares while hot.








Good warmed up in microwave for 7 seconds to soften when cold.

Here are some pictures from our evening...

Madison insisted I take a picture of her half-eaten brownie on the plate with some of the other ones.

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE with WHITE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

When I was flipping through Anne Byrn's The Cake mix Doctor RETURNS cookbook, one of my most recent purchases at an estate sale, I noticed she had several recipes that called for a spice cake mix. Since I didn't have any, I made sure I bought several the last time I went to the grocery store. Then when I needed something to take to the thrift shop (HPC Thrift Shop), I had a hard time trying to decide which cake to make. I finally chose this Pumpkin Spice Cake and thought I would make the White Chocolate Glaze for it. 

I loved the way the cake looked when I took it out of the pan. I have a tube pan that I have had forever that has a slight swirl design and when I am making a "Bundt cake" and want a smoother look, I will use it. 

As I stated in the recipe, I was working on a quilt while I was making the glaze and I had the cookbook opened to the page for the cake recipe instead of the glaze recipe and read to let it cool for 15 minutes before you cut the cake and serve. Needless to say, I stopped reading too soon and didn't read "before you cut the cake and serve". That was a terrible mistake as far as the finished cake looking like it did in the picture in the cookbook. I made it work (I just used a spreader to apply the glaze instead of a spoon as the recipe stated.) and the volunteers at Hillcrest didn't know the difference. I am anxious to try it again but do it right and see how it turns out.

Click here for a printable version of just the cake and glaze.

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE w/WHITE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

1/2     cup finely chopped pecans
1        package plain spice cake mix
1        cup canned pumpkin
2/3     cup milk
1/3     cup oil
4        large eggs
1        teaspoon ground cinnamon
White Chocolate Glaze (below)

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray and then dust it with flour. Shake out the excess flour.

Scatter the pecans in the bottom of the pan. Set the pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cake mix, pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon. Beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on low just to combine.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium and continue to beat another 1-1/2 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl again.

Pour cake batter into pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 45 to 50 minutes.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes.

Run a knife along the edge of the pan and

invert the cake onto another wire rack. Let the cake cool completely 25 to 30 minutes longer. (Isn't it pretty with all those finely chopped pecans?)



Meanwhile make the White Chocolate Glaze.

WHITE CHOCOLATE GLAZE

1/2     cup granulated sugar
1/4     cup milk
4        tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1        cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips

Place the sugar, milk, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and

let come to a boil, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir until the butter melts, 1 minute longer.

(The butter had melted during the first 2 minutes for me, but I continued to stir and cook it one more minute.)

Remove the pan from the heat and

stir in the white chocolate chips until they are melted. Let the glaze cool for 2 to 3 minutes, then spoon it over the cooled cake.

(Personal note: I was multi-tasking and somewhere thought I read to let it cool for 15 minutes, which is what I did. It covered the cake, but not as easily as I think it was supposed to. I definitely couldn't spoon it over the cooled cake. Didn't ruin the taste of it either.

The finished cake just didn't look quite like it did in the cookbook. It wasn't a smooth glaze. 😉)

Ready to take to the thrift shop...