Starbucks Lemon Loaf

Note:  Have you ever eaten Starbucks Lemon Loaf?   It is delicious.  Like lemonade goodness in a cake.   I was so excited when someone shared this recipe with me.   Now I can make their cake for less than what it cost to get a slice at Starbucks.   Yes!

STARBUCKS LEMON LOAF

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup(s) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup(s) sugar
2 TBS butter; Softened.
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
1/3 cup(s) lemon juice
1/2 cup(s) oil

Lemon Icing Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar; Plus 1 Tablespoon.
2 TBS whole milk
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Instructions:
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Use a mixer to blend together the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon juice in a medium bowl.   Pour wet ingredient into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth.  Add oil and mix well.  Pour batter into a well greased 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into center of the cake comes out clean.
Make the lemon icing by combining all the icing ingredients in a small bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.  When the loaf is cool, remove it from pan and frost the top with the icing.  Let the icing set up before slicing.

Butterhorn Rolls

Note:  These are special occasion rolls.   They are not difficult to make as much as they take a long time to rise.   However, don't let that scare you away from giving them a try because they are delicious!

Butterhorn Rolls

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water

2 Tbsp Instant yeast

2 Tbsp sugar

2 cups milk

6 beaten eggs

1 cup sugar

6 Tbsp melted butter

2 tsp salt

8-11 cups flour

Directions

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water and let stand for a few minutes until foamy. Meanwhile, scald milk in the microwave (usually 1 or 2 minutes) and then cool to lukewarm. Add the milk, eggs, sugar, butter and salt to the yeast mixture and stir. Add flour, one cup at a time and mix well until the dough is cleaned from the sides of the bowl, and soft and pliable. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for 5 hours.

After the first rise, divide dough into five pieces. Roll each piece into a large circle, 1/4" thick. Cut circle into 12 or 16 wedges. Roll up from the widest end to the tip, creating a butterhorn shape. Place on greased baking sheets and brush tops generously with melted butter. Let rise for 3 hours. Bake @ 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Brush tops again with melted butter immediately after removing from the oven.

Triple Chocolate Cake

Note:  Too much craziness.   Too much stress.   This calls for chocolate... LOTS of chocolate!

Triple Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1 pkg Devil’s Food cake mix
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
1 cup chocolate chips
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a bundt pan thoroughly.  Combine all ingredients with a mixer.

The batter will be slightly lumpy, but that is OK.  Pour batter into greased bundt pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  Remove from pan immediately and allow to cool on a rack.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days in the refrigerator.

Breakfast Cream Cheese Danish

Note:  One day while shopping at Kroger there was a cream cheese danish on sale.   To my surprise, Little Guy asked if I would buy it for him.   He absolutely loves cream cheese danish apparently. That meant I needed to find a quick and easy recipe so I could make one for him.   This one has worked well.

Breakfast Cheese Danish

Ingredients:
2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 (8-ounce each) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350* degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan. Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes.

Caramel Cake

Note:  There is something so southern about a caramel cake.   Once you have tasted a really good caramel cake you kind of become a caramel cake snob.   I won't tell you my caramel cake is the best you will ever have, but there is rarely any left so I will say it is highly acceptable. 

Caramel Cake

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, softened
3/4 cup heavy cream

Icing
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter three 8-inch cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and flour the pans, tapping out the excess.  In a bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the egg whites and vanilla extract. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of milk. Beat at low speed until blended, then beat at medium speed until smooth, 1 minute. Beat in the egg white mixture in 3 batches.  In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Stir one-third of the whipped cream into the batter, then fold in the rest. Divide the batter between the pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Unmold the cakes and peel off the parchment. Invert the cakes and let cool completely.

In a saucepan, stir 2 1/2 cups of the sugar with the corn syrup and milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Keep warm.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a deep, heavy saucepan. Cook the sugar over moderate heat, swirling occasionally, until an amber caramel forms. Carefully pour the warm milk mixture over the caramel. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until the caramel dissolves. Stop stirring and cook until the caramel registers 235° on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, vanilla and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream. Strain the caramel into the bowl of a standing mixer. Let cool for 15 minutes.  Beat the caramel at medium speed, gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup of cream, until creamy, about 15 minutes. Set 1 cake layer on a plate. Pour enough icing over the layer to cover the top. Top with a second cake layer and cover it with icing. Add the final cake layer and pour the rest of the icing over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides. Working quickly, use an offset spatula to spread the icing gently around the cake. Let the cake stand for 2 hours to set the icing before serving.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Note:   I am working on a batch of these to be breakfast muffins for next week while the floor installers are here.   If I am honest with myself I will go ahead and double the recipe because I know these will be gone before the week even starts!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups oats (old fashioned or quick oats)
2 and 2/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
6 ounces chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, and oil.
Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until moistened. Mix the chocolate chips in.
Fix greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until tops are light golden.
Makes approximately 18 muffins.

French Toast Bake

Note:  With our house in chaos, cooking has been quite the challenge.   Quick and easy one dish meals have been VERY appealing to me.   This is going into the refrigerator for our breakfast in the morning.   We are going to need a big breakfast before we completely empty out the house so our new wood floors can be installed next week. 

FRENCH TOAST BAKE

Ingredients
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1 loaf Texas toast
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions
Melt butter in microwave & add brown sugar....stir till mixed. Pour butter/sugar mix into bottom of 9 x 13 pan....spread around.  Beat eggs, milk, & vanilla.  Lay single layer of Texas Toast in pan. Spoon 1/2 of egg mixture on bread layer.  Add 2nd layer of Texas Toast. Spoon on remaining egg mixture.  Cover & chill in fridge overnight.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (covered for the first 30 minutes).  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serve with warm syrup!