Sweet Potato Spice Cake and the First Day of Fall!

Happy Fall!!!

"It's the  m o s t  wonderful  t i m e  of the  y e a r ..."

While at the store this morning, I found my favorite magazine of the year sitting on the shelf.

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!

I had to make a spice cake to kick off the season right : )

This is a moist sweet potato spice cake with an orange juice, orange zest, and an orange liqueur glaze.

Ahh... Fall, you have at last arrived.

Sweet Potato Spice Cake - Emeril Legasse

Ingredients-

•1 teaspoon unsalted butter at room temperature, plus 1/2 pound (2 sticks)
•1 cup packed light brown sugar
•1 cup granulated sugar
•2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds raw sweet potatoes)
•4 large eggs
•3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•1 teaspoon ground ginger
•1/2 teaspoon allspice
•1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
•1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
•2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, or slightly more as needed

•1 teaspoon grated orange zest

( I added orange liqueur to the glaze )

Directions-

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 12-cup bundt pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter and set aside.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add the sweet potatoes and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat after each addition.
Into a bowl, sift together the flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. Add to the sweet potato mixture a third at a time. Fold in the nuts and vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
While the cake is resting in the pan, in a bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Stir well to combine and make a tight glaze, adding more orange juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time to achieve a pourable consistency.
Turn out onto a wire rack. While the cake is still warm, drizzle the orange-sugar glaze to evenly coat. Cool completely before cutting.

Ode to the English Muffin.

These English Muffins in particular.

They are gigantic!

And they came from this fabulous restaurant.

It can be overwhelming at times in a city of roughly three and a half million people.

It's restaurants like this one that help you forget you're surrounded by thousands of people doing thousands of things.

You can go to this cozy restaurant, in it's cozy neighborhood, and truly chill.

While we were waiting for a table at the wine bar next door, we walked into La Grande. They were pulling out batch after batch of these gynormous English Muffins from the ovens.

I didn't pause, I just reached for my wallet.

I ate them with lemon curd, raspberry jam, and butter...

I ate them with ham, tomato, pepper jack, and guacamole...

And when I ran out of crepes, I ate them with warm cream cheese, peaches, almonds, basil, and sweet whipped cream.

And I didn't miss the crepes one bit...

fabulous!

Thank goodness for favorite cafes and restaurants!

'Til next week : )

Smothered Banana Bread and a Farewell to Summer.

The charade is up! I tried, but this just can't be breakfast : )

A decadent dessert? Yes!

It is grilled chocolate chip banana bread, topped with carmelized bananas and brandy, whipped cream, pecans, and a brown sugar and butter caramel sauce.

Whoa.

To start, I tried a bread recipe from Emeril Legasse that I found on Food Network's website.

The recipe called for cake flour instead of all purpose, giving it a very fine, cake-like texture.

I added chocolate chips for good measure : ) It was delicious, but for this dish I think I would have preferred a denser banana bread.

I got the bananas ready...

And then browned them in butterrrrrr...mmmmmm...

lastly I swirled a little brandy in the pan.

I also put the banana bread on the skillet.

Meanwhile...

The kids were working with dad on their new projects that he bought for them... super cute.

Now it's time to assemble... warm banana bread fresh off the skillet... check.

Carmelized bananas... check...

Sweet gooey vanilla caramel sauce... check.

Whipped cream and pecans... check.

Whewf!

Now it's time to dig in!

Well, look what the tide brought in  : )

A family trip to Myrtle Beach...

And days on the lake.

But I'm sorry to say, summer won't be too missed.

Most days we are forced to get creative as we are held captive in the house by scorching temperatures of 110 degrees or more.

We call him, "Chief Squishy Squishy"... and he rules with a rubber basting brush.

Just one more, I can't resist!

Ahh life.

There are crazy moments and peaceful moments and I'm thankful for them all.

I hope you had a wonderful summer!

Banana Bread- Emeril Lagasse (from the Food Network website)

10 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
(I also added chocolate chips to taste.)

Directions-
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
-Lightly grease a 9 1/4 by 5 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
-Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor.
-Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the remaining 10 tablespoons butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Fold in the nuts.
-Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
-Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.


Caramel Sauce-
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 T. water
1 tsp. vanilla

Slowly bring to a boil and reduce to desired thickness. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Candy Bar Cupcakes!

It's a sea of cupcakes!

I used mini cupcakes and "fun size" candy bars.

So fun.

Before baking I partially filled each cup, and put half of the candy bar inside. Topped 'em off with some more batter and stuck them in the oven.

Slice them open and you have a sweet surprise!

Choose your favorite candy bars...

And voila!

Perfect for sharing with friends : )

French Toast Brulee!

Mmmmmmmm.

 I was experimenting a little with our french toast and now I have a favorite way to make it!

I start with a loaf of artisan bread which I dip in an egg, whole milk, cinnamon and sugar mixture. I then brown it on the skillet, as usual.

Next, I coat each piece in cinnamon and sugar again, and put them back on the skillet.

It makes a wonderful cinnamony, sugary crust on the french toast.

I like to keep it warming in the oven until we're ready to eat.

Lastly, I top it with fresh cinnamon whipped cream.

Looks more like whipped cream with a side of french toast. ; )

The best part is there are no special ingredients, so you can make it on a whim.

Enjoy!

Fresh Bread and Some Arizona.

Oh Bread!

Some say, "Man can't live on bread alone"... but this wo-man can! 

Warm bread, fresh out of the oven... I could eat it all day long...

And with butter... even better!

We stumbled upon this bakery on our way to pick up my husband's new bike...

he got a motorcycle, and I got two loaves of bread. Everybody was pretty happy in the end.

Safety first! 

Since our errand sent us to the boonies we decided to hang out there for a little while. It was a stormy day at the lake, my favorite.

As we pulled up my family just happened to be finishing up a day of skiing! It was meant to be. So we all had lunch at the little marina restaurant.

It turned out to be a great day.

'Til next week.  : )

Luscious Lemon Cake!

This fabulous cake is a family favorite that my mom has been making for years. It just melts in your mouth.

It's easy too! The cake is made with yellow cake mix and a packet of lemon jello. After baking it is soaked with a mixture of powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and rum.

So simple and so delicious.

So long for now!

Lemon Cake- Source unknown.

1 pkg. Yellow Cake Mix

4 eggs

1 pkg. (small) lemon jello

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

(1 T. lemon extract) optional

Mix all. Beat about 2-3 minutes. Put in a buttered bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. (40 for me.)

Glaze-

juice of 2 or 3 lemons

1 cup powdered sugar

rind of lemons

1/4 cup rum (orange rum works very well)

Drizzle while cake is still warm, first before inverted, then when taken out of the pan on top so that it soaks in well.