AMISH CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE

I don't want you to think this is your usual chocolate sheet cake (a.k.a. Texas Sheet Cake), because it isn't. The chocolate sheet cake is from the Amish. (Amish Cooking) I didn't even marked it when I went through the cookbook and marking the ones I wanted to try. I have made a bunch of recipes from this cookbook and am so glad I found it at an estate sale. I like to make a dessert in a 9 x 13 - inch pan that I take to the thrift shop where I volunteer and this cake is even bigger being made in a 10 x 15 x 1 - inch pan.

I started volunteering in Feb 2012 at the thrift shop, originally called Hillcrest for the Hillcrest Transitional Housing program, but now even though people still call it Hillcrest, it is HPC Thrift Shop. (HPC stands for Hillcrest Platte County because the money made for the program stays in Platte County only.) 

When I started doing this (treating the volunteers to a "sweet"), we were in our old building and I volunteered only downstairs. In that building there were two floors. Upstairs all of the clothes except sporting goods were sold along with linens, a General Store (room), shoes, and some really nice furniture. There was also a kitchen up there that the volunteers used. Downstairs, we sold the sporting goods, most of the furniture, electronics, lawn and garden, vintage, medical, office, seasonal items and Christmas, books, etc. There was a large room down there called the Community Room that was used for large meetings with the volunteers and even some community meetings. It was also used for sorting for the seasonal and Christmas department. Anyway, when I would bring in a dessert, except for one or two "upstair" volunteers who would come down to the community room to eat lunch, only the volunteers from downstairs knew I would be bringing something. 

In our new facilities, everything is on one floor and we have one Community Room. That means there are more people coming in and seeing my dessert. Before I would bring something I had made in a 9 x 13 - inch pan and cut it into 12 servings. Now I cut it into 24 pieces.

Monday, I thought I would just flip through the cookbook again and see if I had missed anything. That's when I saw the Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe again. For some reason, this time it captured my interest. So I made it and took it in yesterday.

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

AMISH CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE

1-1/4     cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter, divided
1           cup water
1/2        cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
2           cups flour
1-1/2     cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1           teaspoon baking soda
1           teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2        teaspoon salt
1           (14 - ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, divided
2           eggs
1           teaspoon vanilla extract
1           cup powdered sugar
1           cup coarsely chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 10 x 15 x 1 - inch jelly-roll pan. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter;

stir in water and 1/4 cup cocoa.

Bring to a boil; remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Add cocoa mixture;

beat well.

Stir in 1/3 cup of the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool on wire rack.

In another saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 1/4 (1/2 stick) cup butter;

add the remaining 1/4 cup cocoa and remaining sweetened condensed milk.

Stir in powdered sugar and nuts.

Spread over warm cake.

Cut in squares to serve with or without ice cream.

AMISH BANANA (COCONUT) NUT BREAD

Usually when I have extra bananas in the house that are ripening faster than we can eat them, I start looking for recipes to use them up. This time, my husband Wayne told me I needed to make some banana bread or something because I accidentally bought a bunch a few days after I had bought a bunch. So I really had an overabundance of bananas. 

It didn't take me long to find a recipe in Beverly Lewis' Amish Heritage Cookbook for Banana Nut Bread. Bev added a note under the recipe that said, "The light texture will convince banana bread connoisseurs on the very first bite!" It looked easy enough so Sunday afternoon I found myself in my kitchen mashing bananas. 

Since I was making this for us, I decided to substitute 1/2 cup of my sugar/stevia baking blend for the cup of sugar. As I was putting the first ingredients in the mixing bowl as directed by the recipe, I had this urge for coconut. So without a second thought, I added a half a cup of unsweetened coconut flakes. 

This is Volunteer Appreciation Week at the thrift shop so each day the staff is doing something special for the volunteers. This is also the week I have the quilting group, Blankets of Hope, at church on Tuesday morning so I usually sign up for Monday morning first shift the second week. Monday the staff planned to serve us breakfast and I figured there would be plenty to eat and my "treat" wouldn't be missed, but at the last moment as I walked out of the house, I picked up the loaf of banana bread. When I got to the thrift shop I made the decision to leave it in the car and I could come get it if I needed to. 

Well, there was so much food for breakfast and four different kinds of muffins so I didn't say anything. Later, Volunteers Terry and John came up to me at the register and asked me if I had brought anything for them. I told them about my banana bread in the car but that there were so many muffins, my banana bread wasn't needed. Then they told me the muffins had been bagged up and weren't in the community room and I needed to go get my bread. I was surprised at what they were telling me, but I left my register (it was a little slow right then) and got the bread out of my car. 

They were waiting for me in the community room when I brought it in and told me I could just bring it over to the table they were sitting at. I got a knife to slice it and then noticed the muffins were still on the counter. I fussed at them for "lying to me" and they said nothing brought in compared to what I made.  😏

I brought home a few pieces left at the end of my shift so Wayne could eat it and he really liked it. I told him I was going to make it again later in the week since I still had bananas. When I got ready to make it on Wednesday, I asked him if he wanted me to make it with or without the coconut. He said he liked coconut and wanted me to add it. I also like it with the coconut, but then I like coconut. The original Amish recipe does not include the coconut though.

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

BANANA (COCONUT) NUT BREAD

1/2     cup shortening
1        cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar/stevia baking blend)
2        eggs, beaten
1        cup mashed bananas
1        cup chopped walnuts
1/2     cup unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
2        cups flour
1/2     teaspoon baking soda
2        teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 x 4-1/2 - inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Cream together with electric mixer the shortening, sugar, eggs, mashed bananas, walnuts, and coconut if using. 

Combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a small bowl with a whisk.

Add to wet mixture and

mix well.

Spread in prepared loaf pan and

bake for 1 hour.

Cool about 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; run a knife around the edges and remove bread to finish cooling on rack. Wrap in foil.

AMISH CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE

It was my turn again to host the Quilters' Canasta group last week. Since there are only six of us playing, it means I can make a recipe in a smaller than 9 x 13 - inch pan. I could but then that would leave a lot for us to eat later. So when I saw this recipe for Chocolate Fudge Pie in my Amish Cooking cookbook, I didn't look any further. 

I sent Wayne, my husband, to the grocery store to buy a 4 - oz bar of sweet baking chocolate. I didn't realize he was going to have so much trouble. Seems our closest grocery store doesn't sell it anymore. Friend Dorothy told me when everyone gathered that afternoon that she was going to make a German Chocolate Cake for a relative because it is his favorite and she couldn't find the bar either. I still can't believe they aren't selling it anymore. I ended up just telling Wayne to get a semisweet baking bar. I will buy several of the sweet bars the next time I see them so I will have one when I need it and I am sure I will need one.The pie turned out really delicious but I can't wait to make it again using the sweet bar. 

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PIE

1       unbaked single crust pie crust (9 - inch)
1/4    cup shortening
1       bar (4 - ounces) sweet baking chocolate
1       can (14 - ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2    cup flour
2       eggs, beaten
1       teaspoon vanilla
1/4    teaspoon salt
1       cup flake coconut (I used unsweetened flake coconut)
1       cup chopped pecans
Unsweetened whipped topping or ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the shortening and chocolate in heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat.

Stir in sweetened condensed milk,

flour, eggs, vanilla, and salt;

mix well.

Stir in coconut and nuts.

Pour into unbaked pie crust.

Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Serve with unsweetened whipped topping or ice cream, if desired. Refrigerate leftover pie.

KATHY'S CINNAMON BREAKFAST CAKE

Last Monday was a super busy day for me. The temperature was finally going to be in the 50s so I decided it would be a good day to put the water treatment wood finish on the floor of the enclosed room we had made when we redid our deck back in November and December. We call it the back porch and also the conservatory. We originally were planning to screen it in but when the starting date was delayed a month or so, it gave us time to think about it and decided to enclose it with windows. (So glad we did, too.) 

Anyway I started the morning machine quilting a Blanket of Hope. That took about an hour but I wanted to get it done before starting anything else. Then I decided to get everything together to start applying the preservative on the deck flooring of the back porch. I didn't expect it to take almost two hours but it was the first coat and soaked up more of the product than it did the second time. I had to wait 1 to 2 hours before doing the second coat and besides it was time to eat lunch. I had worked up quite an appetite by this time.

After lunch I only had an hour before I needed to be at the church for SAM (Senior Adult Ministry) Singers' choir practice, but I needed a couple of grocery items from Aldi for the casserole I was planning for dinner, so I decided I would try to do that before choir practice. My husband Wayne was going to listen for me and be prepared to come out to the car and get the few groceries I had so I could run on to practice, but as it turned out I had plenty of time and was able to bring them in and put them away. 

After I got back from the church, I tackled the second coat of preservative on the floor. It only took about an hour for it.(*See picture at the end of the post). I was making a new recipe (Amish Potato Sausage Casserole) for dinner and while it was cooking, I was resting and going through Anne Byrn's The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! cookbook for an easy cake to take to share with the volunteers at HPC Thrift Shop. I had planned to make a German chocolate cake but by this time of the day I was feeling the pain of my labors of the day and wasn't in the mood to tackle it. Anne Byrn is my "go-to" lady when I am wanting something really fast and easy and I am never disappointed.

The volunteers at the thrift shop were not disappointed either. It is not just the prettiest cake around, it was also really delicious! The print in the cookbook for the measurements is really small. When I was typing up the recipe for this post, I typed 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar. I'm not sure why I did it, but something told me to take a closer look at the recipe in the cookbook. When I did, I saw that it said 1/3 cup. I honestly am not sure which I used. I think I might have used a 1/2 cup because I had quite a bit in the bowl when I was estimating about half of the mixture. I liked the way the cake turned out so I decided to share the recipe with you and say 1/2 cup. If you are reading this and not just looking at the recipe, you can decide if you want less sugar or not. I used a sugar-free package instant vanilla pudding. I could have also used a sugar-free yellow cake mix, but didn't have one.

I had to take two extra strength acetaminophen before I went to bed that night and didn't do much the next afternoon after I got home from my three-hour shift volunteering at the register at the thrift shop. It was a busier morning than it usually is, too. I hope you are still with me and will give this recipe a try. It is definitely worth it!

Click here for a printable version of just the recipe.

KATHY'S CINNAMON BREAKFAST CAKE

1/2     cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2     cup packed light brown sugar
2        teaspoons ground cinnamon
1        package plain yellow, vanilla cake mix, or plain butter recipe golden cake mix (no pudding included)
1        package (4 serving size) vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2     cup oil
1        cup water
4        large eggs
1        teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1        cup powdered sugar, sifted
2        tablespoons milk
1/2     teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray, then dust with flour. Shake off excess.

Sprinkle chopped nuts in the bottom of the pan and set aside.

Place the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.

Place the cake mix and pudding mix in mixing bowl. Stir together. Add oil, water, eggs, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Stir on low speed to mix the ingredients, scrape the sides of the bowl and then increase speed speed to medium and beat for another minute and a half. Scrape the sides of the bowl again.

Batter should be smooth and thick. 

Pour one third of the batter (1-1/3 cups) over the nuts in the tube pan.

Scatter half of the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture evenly over the batter.

Spoon another third (1-1/3 cups) of the batter carefully over the mixture. Scatter the rest of the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the cake batter and

then top with the last third (1-1/3 cups) of the cake batter.

Bake cake until lightly golden brown and cake brings back when lightly pressed in the center, about 55 to 60 minutes. Cool cake on wire rack for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Run knife around the edges of the cake and

invert the cake onto another wire rack. Allow the cake cool completely, 25 to 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile make the glaze with the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl.

Stir til smooth.

Carefully move the cake to serving platter and

spoon the glaze over the top of the cake.

Slice to serve.  











One more view of the top of the cake. It's so beautiful!

Here is a picture of the floor after the second coat.