Individual Cheesecakes in Muffin Cups - Easy and Fun! Perfect for Shavuot!

These individual cheesecakes are just so cute.  My daughter used to make these when she was abut eight years old. They are easy to make and also delicious.  The basic cheesecake recipe is used.  However, instead of a crust, you just pop one Nabisco Nilla Wafer in the bottom of a cupcake liner and bake in a muffin/cupcake pan.  Just before serving top each cheese cake with the fruit of your choice (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, or mandarin orange sections), lemon curd, canned pie filling, etc. 


Guaranteed to disappear!

Ingredients:

Cheesecake batter:

1 cup  sugar

3 pkg.  (8 oz. each)  **Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup  good quality Sour Cream or thick Greek Style Yoghurt

2 tsp.  vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon Almond extract/essence
Juice of one lemon

3 eggs, beaten

Crust:

1 Nabisco Nilla Wafer per cupcake paper

Topping:

Choose one or a few!
Fresh Fruit - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peeled and sliced kiwi etc.
Canned pie filling - cherry, blueberry, strawberry, etc
Lemon Curd

Additional supplies:

Cupcake or Muffin tins
Cupcake/Muffin paper liners

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F/175ºC

Crust:

Place paper cupcake liners into cupcake/muffin tins
Place one Nabisco Nilla Wafer into the bottom of each liner

Filling:

In a mixing bowl or food processor beat SOFTENED cream cheese and remaining sugar until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla or vanilla/almond combination.  Add juice of one lemon. Mix well. Add beaten eggs, and mix until blended.

Using a cup with a spout (for ease) pour filling into each cupcake liner - 2/3 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until almost set.  You may want to check them after 15 minutes - if they seem to be done, remove the muffin tin to a cooling rack.  Cool 5 minutes and then carefully removed each individual cheesecake to a rack to continue cooling.  Once completely cool, cover and refrigerate.

Just before serving, top with your choice of fruit or filling. (Leave the cupcake liners on - easier to eat) 

Enjoy!

K (D)
These mini cheesecakes can also be made Kosher for Pesach if you omit the Nilla Wafer crust.

New York Style Cheesecake - Baked

This is an easy and foolproof recipe for New York style cheesecake as long as you follow the directions.


Do you have a dairy springform pan?  If not, you should get one.  They are indispensable - Dairy tortes and dairy desserts (such as Chocolate Mousse Pie) can be made using the same pan.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups  Graham Cracker Crumbs or other crisp, plain cookie crumbs

1/3 cup  butter, melted

1-1/4 cups  sugar, divided

3 pkg.  (8 oz. each)  **Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup  good quality Sour Cream

2 tsp.  vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon Almond extract/essence
Juice of one lemon

3 eggs, beaten

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F/175ºC

Crust:

Mix together graham or cookie crumbs, butter, and 1/4 cup sugar; press onto bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool completely. 

Filling:

In a mixing bowl or food processor beat SOFTENED cream cheese and remaining sugar until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla or vanilla/almond combination.  Add juice of one lemon. Mix well. Add beaten eggs, and mix until blended.

Pour into cooled crust and then bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. or until centre is almost set.
Turn off the oven but leave cheesecake inside oven with door held open for one hour (use a tea towel to help keep it ajar if necessary) before removing to cool completely on a rack.  If a crack appears in the centre of the cheese cake when cooling do not worry - this happens more often than not.

Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours minimum before serving.

Toppings: 

My daughter loves raspberry sauce on her cheesecake.  I often just melt a good quality seedless raspberry jam in a pan, adding a bit of water, until it is the consistency of a sauce.  Drizzle on plate before serving cheese cake and drizzle a bit of the sauce on the top. 

Lemon curd can also be spread on top of the chilled cheesecake before serving.  If you prefer strawberries, sliced fresh strawberries would be nice or a sauce made from strained and thinned strawberry jam would be lovely. Blueberry is good but will turn the top of the cheesecake a blackish colour - best to serve as a drizzle on the plate and on top on individual servings. 

To serve:  When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, it helps to have a thin sharp knife and to chill it ahead of time.  Carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring nice clean cuts.
 
**I use Neufchatel Cheese - it is a lower fat version of cream cheese but the results will be the same.

Recipe makes 16-20 servings - depending on the appetites of your guests
This cheesecake can be make Kosher for Pesach if the crust is omitted.

K (D)

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet - Simple and Refreshing

Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Fruit Base

1 pint fresh strawberries
1/2 cup orange juice or apple juice

Directions:

First, make the simple syrup. 
Combine water & sugar in a pan, stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil & boil gently for 5 minutes stirring only occasionally.
Cool completely.

Wash berries and remove the caps and any bruised spots.  Wash a few more times to ensure they are free of dirt or insects.

Purée fruit and orange or apple juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth.

In a medium bowl, combine fruit with cooled syrup.

If you have an ice cream freezer, you can put the purée mixture into that & process using the directions with the machine.

If you do not have an ice cream machine, you can pour the mixture into an 8" baking dish and cover with plastic or foil.  Place this on a level surface in the freezer.  Stir the mixture with a sturdy fork every 30 minutes or so.  This way it will be easier to scoop.

Makes 6-8 servings. Absolutely delicious!

We tripled the recipe as we served it for Shabbat and we had extra for the next day.
If you prefer, other berries can be used.  I will try mango next as they are in season.  I would also like to attempt Lemon Sorbet soon.   

Traditional Pumpkin Pie - Especially for Anna - Also can be used to make Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

    3/4 cup granulated sugar
    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
    2 large eggs (or equal amount of egg substitute)
    15 oz (450 ml) canned pumpkin or 2 cups mashed/pureed sweet potato
    1 can (12 oz/375ml) Evaporated Milk (NOT condensed milk) or use a Milk Substitute (Soy, Oat, etc.)
    1 unbaked 9-inch (23cm/4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell **
    Whipped cream or non-dairy whipped topping (optional)

 Method:

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and   sugar-spice mixture.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425° F/ 220° C oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F/ 175° C.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near centre comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.

Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream/Non-Dairy whipped topping before serving.

** I normally pre-bake the crust for about 10 minutes, then cool on a rack, before adding pumpkin mixture.  This ensures that the crust will not be soggy.

K (D) or pareve if milk substitute is used

Strawberry Crepes!

 Easy and delicious, any fruit can be used to make fancy-looking crepes!


Makes about 8 crepes - depending on size of pan used


Ingredients

Batter:
    2 eggs
    1/2 cup milk
    1/2 cup water
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    2 tablespoons butter, melted
    extra butter for pan

Filling:
    1 container fresh strawberries – Sliced and a few mashed up - see below (or alternative fruit)
    1 cup Cream (or just use the whipped cream in the can)
    2 Tbsp sugar
    1 Tsp vanilla
    Powdered sugar, if desired.

Method

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and water. Gradually add in the flour , stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; whisk until smooth.  Batter will be thin.  I personally like to allow the batter to sit for a while at this point but it is not entirely necessary. 

Heat a small non-stick pan with a little butter (or margarine) on medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the centre of the pan, tilt the pan and turn so that the mixture evenly coats the entire bottom of the pan.

Cook until the top loses its gloss, which should only take a minute, then flip. The bottom should be golden.
Cook the other side for about 15 seconds and then slide out onto a plate.  This second side should not have much colour but should appear only slightly glossy. 

Place on a paper-towel lined plate while you cook the remaining crepes.
  
 Assemble crepes on individual plates in this way:
 Spoon one Tbsp mashed strawberries followed by sliced strawberries down centre of crepe.
 Top strawberries with whipped cream (with a bag or spoon)  Do not overfill as the crepe will tear.
 Roll each crepe, burrito-style, as in the photo above. 
 Sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar and a few strawberry pieces on the top as it looks really nice.


This recipe can easily be made non-dairy by substituting non-dairy cream and using margarine.  Sugar can also be omitted or a sugar alternative can be used. 
Other fruit can also be used.  Try apricot jam with sliced peaches and substitute the vanilla extract with almond extract - really nice.
Raspberries, blueberries, passion-fruit, or nearly any fruit you enjoy can be used.

K (d) unless substituting with non-dairy (p) ingredients

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Most chocolate mousse recipes contain raw egg.  This recipe contains no egg at all.  It is easy, fail-proof if you follow the easy directions, and will feed many as it is very rich.  Enjoy!
 

Crust

    21 chocolate cookies such as chocolate graham cracker-type cookies

    1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, (or margarine) cut into pieces, room temperature

Mousse

    12 ounces dark chili chocolate or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract or use half tsp. vanilla extract and half tsp. almond extract

    Pinch of salt

    3 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream – Divided.

    1/4 cup sugar

Garnish

    Chocolate shavings (optional) but really, very pretty!
    Mint leaves, washed and dried
    Assorted berries

Preparation:

For Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with baking paper (parchment paper) and then butter or oil lightly. Finely grind cookies in processor or put them in a plastic bag and beat them to small crumbs with a rolling pin or wine bottle. Add butter and process until mixture is evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of prepared pan to form thin crust. Bake crust 5 minutes. Transfer crust to rack and cool completely.

For Mousse:

Combine chocolate, vanilla/almond extract and salt in processor or blender.

Bring 1 cup cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. With processor running,  gradually pour hot cream through feed tube and process until chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Beat 2 cups cream and sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour mousse into prepared crust. Chill until set, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

Beat remaining 3/4 cup cream in medium bowl to firm peaks. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe rosettes of cream around edge of cake. Garnish with chocolate shavings, mint leaves and optional fruit.

Serving:

Remove pie from refrigerator and using a thin knife, run this around the edges of the spring form pan and crust.  Gently unlock the hinged side and removed the spring form pan.  Using a cake knife, dipped in hot water, cut the chocolate mousse pie and remove using a cake server - decorate plated pieces with remaining whipped cream and optional garnish. (Don't forget you have parchment paper under the bottom crust!)

K (D)

Beverly's Famous Apple Pie - For Zack

Ingredients:

Pastry
2       cups all-purpose flour
1       teaspoon salt
2/3    cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
4       to 6 tablespoons (60-90ml) cold water

Filling

1/4     cup cornstarch or all-purpose flour
1/2     teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2     teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8     teaspoon salt
8        cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (8 medium)  Granny Smith or Jonathan are perfect.
1/3     cup (75ml) honey
1/2     lemon, freshly squeezed
2        tablespoons margarine

Method

For pastry:

In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or two forks) until particles are size of small peas.  Do not overwork these ingredients or your pastry will not be flaky.  Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing gently with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).  Divide in half, wrap in plastic and chill while making filling.

For filling:

In large bowl, 1/4 cup (60ml) cornstarch or flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed.  Drizzle honey over apple/spice mixture and give it a good stir.  Taste an apple slice.     Squeeze half a lemon over the mixture. Taste and if not sweet enough (depending upon the apples chosen) add a bit more honey.  Set filling mixture aside.

Assembly:

Heat oven to 425°F/220°C. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches (5cm) larger than upside-down 9-inch (23cm) glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths - It will look a bit like a triangle; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and up the side.

Pile filling mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter or margarine.  It will look rather full but the apples will cook down.

Roll other round of pastry into 10-inch (25cm) round. Fold into fourths as with the first piece of pastry above. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch (2.5cm) from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired - I pinch it together using my thumb and forefinger.   Cut slashes in top of crust as this will allow steam to escape.  Make this part pretty!

Cut 2- to 3-inch (5-7cm) wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning - you may need this halfway through baking.

Bake @425°F/220°C for 40 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.  Check the pie halfway through and cover edges with foil if it is browning too quickly.

K (P)

Lemon Bundt Cake

Lemon Bundt Cake

Makes 12 slices (the shop I sell to cuts it into 16 and the customers are happy)


Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger (optional but YUM!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting cake


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease a 12-cup bundt pan with butter and dust with flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, lemon zest, ginger, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time; mix in lemon juice.

Set mixer on low and alternatively add flour mixture in 3 parts and sour cream in 2 parts.  Mix just until flour and sour cream are incorporated, making sure not to over mix.

Spoon batter into bundt pan and smooth top with spatula.  Firmly tap pan on counter to level the batter.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.  If cake browns too quickly, cover pan loosely with aluminium foil.
Let cake cool for 30 minutes in bundt pan.  Then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Store for up to 3 days, wrapped tightly in plastic and keep at room temperature.

K (D)

Old Fashioned Homemade Chocolate Pudding

When you absolutely, positive, NEED chocolate NOW!
This is a cornstarch (cornflour) based chocolate pudding.

Serves:  um....4?

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 3/4 cups milk
• 1  tablespoon margarine or butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (sometimes I use half almond extract and half vanilla extract)

Directions

1. In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

 K (D)
Notes -  This is a quick and easy dessert and a favourite of children.  You may use a non-flavoured milk substitute.  Always use the best cocoa you can buy!  Use non-wheaten cornstarch/cornflour  Enjoy!  Can also omit the cocoa and make this plain vanilla - but I have no idea why anyone would want to do that :)

Apple Crisp - Quick, Delicious, Easy!

This is a quick and easy dessert - Sure to become a family favourite.  This recipe can be doubled and baked in a rectangular baking pan (13x9x2")

Dairy if you use butter/Pareve if you use margarine.

Pre-heat oven to 190C or 375F

Apple Mixture:

6-8 medium, tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced
1/4 cup sugar (at most) or honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine above ingredients and place in a large pie pan.

Topping:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened (or slightly melted)

Combine all dry topping ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well with a fork.  Add butter or margarine and stir well to combine. (I usually double this part as I like it best!)

Press well onto apple slices, covering them.

Bake in pre-heated oven 190C or 375F for about 30 minutes or until you see apple juices coming through the topping and the apples seem fairly tender when poked with a sharp knife.

Cool and eat!

Baklawa (or Baklava)

This baklawa can be made either dairy or pareve.  If you do not have a dairy oven, simply substitute good-quality kosher margarine for the butter.  Any suggestions or comments on my posted recipes are genuinely appreciated!

Ingredients:

Pastry layers:
1 pkg (325 gm or about 12 oz) Filo pastry.  You will find this in the freezer or cold section of your kosher market or in many good supermarkets.  (It is pareve)
2 cups ground walnuts or a mixture of 1-1/2 cups walnuts and 1/2 cup pistachios
250 gm (1/2 cup) butter (or margarine) melted in a small pan.  Have a brush handy.
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom.  Many use cinnamon but the Mizrahi recipe my Nana made had cardamom.

Syrup:
1-1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
5 cardamom pods (just break them a bit and toss them in)
1 cinnamon stick if you have one
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I use 1 tsp. lemon essence/extract)

Method:

Thaw out pastry while still in package.  This won't take too long.
Grind whole walnuts/pistachios with sugar and cardamom.  Set aside.
Slowly unroll pasty and place on a slightly damp tea towel and then cover the top with another slightly damp tea towel.  This is important as the pastry is as thin as parchment and will dry out and tear.  If a few sheets tear, don't worry.  Just glue them down with butter/margarine whilst layering.

Melt butter/margarine as directed above.

Pre-heat oven to 180C or 350F degrees.

Lightly grease a rectangular, high sided baking sheet or
use a 13x9x2" (rectangular) baking pan - I use a pyrex pan of this dimension as I like to see that the bottom of the pastry is browning nicely.

Place a layer of pastry in the pan.  Use the butter/margarine to sort of 'glue' it to the sides of the pan. Don't worry if it hangs over the sides a bit - you trim it at the end of this part.
Brush butter on this layer.  It is important to brush the butter/margarine on well, but use a light hand so you don't pack the pastry down.

Take two to three sheets of pastry and lay this on top of the first layer and brush with butter/margarine.  Repeat this process until about half of your pastry is used.  Brush this last layer of pastry with a bit of butter and sprinkle 2/3 of the nut/spice/sugar mixture on top.  Then begin again layering the pastry for a few more layers.  Sprinkle most of the nut/spice/sugar mixture on this layer (keep a tiny bit for sprinkling on top at the end) and then repeat with the pastry remaining pastry layers, buttering every few until you are out of pastry.

Use a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife and cut through on the diagonal ALL THE WAY to the bottom of the pan making triangles (well, I got a B in geometry but mine still look pretty nice!)  Make sure that the pizza cutter gets all the way to the bottom or it is more difficult to divide up neatly when the baklawa is done.

If you have any butter/margarine left, brush it on as the pastry will absorb it quickly.  Sprinkle any remaining nut/spice/sugar mixture on top.

Now, to keep it looking neat, using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut off all pastry that is sticking way above the pan.  Then roll the pastry that is slightly above to make it look pretty.  Use a bit of butter/margarine as 'glue' if necessary.

Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour or if your oven has a force fan, until it looks brown and crispy.  It will appear just a bit puffed up.

Cool completely.  This is where most bakers get rushed and if you put the hot syrup on when the pastry is still hot it WILL get soggy.  If you have ever eaten Baklava from a coffee shop you will know if they have rushed through this point as the Baklava will taste a bit 'raw'

Syrup:

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan combine
1-1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
5 cardamom pods (just break them a bit and toss them in)
1 cinnamon stick if you have one

Save the lemon for last as it will lose its flavour when you boil the syrup.

Bring to a boil and then cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.  Stir from time to time, watching that it does not get too thick. 

Once the pastry is completely cooled, add the lemon juice or lemon essence/extract to the hot syrup, give it a quick stir and pour through a strainer into a glass measuring cup with pouring lip.  This gets the spices out.

Now pour the syrup over the cooled pastry as evenly as you can.

Let this set all day or overnight and the pastry will soak up the syrup.

Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea.

Using a thin spatula, remove a corner piece of the baklawa.  This will give you access to the rest and then you can arrange them nicely on a plate or serving dish.  Eat the piece you took out first with your coffee or tea.  Pat yourself on the back as you have just made something that is especially delicious and not as difficult as it seems to be.

Any leftovers can be frozen - freeze them in separate pieces and then pack in a container or zip-lock bag so you can take out a few pieces as you need them.

K (D) or K (P) if margarine is used.

Handmade Chocolate Truffels

This recipe is from my good friend Rayner Lucas, who lives in the UK.  

OK, this is kind of approximate - you might need to try it out a couple of times to get the texture and quantity right.For the filling:

• 300g Chocolate (good dark chocolate, 70% cocoa or more)
• 300g Thick cream
• Flavouring (optional, try using your favourite liqueurs)
• I add a bit of powdered chili (cayenne) to this mixtre

For the outside:

• Another 150-200g of chocolate! (very dark chocolate is nice and crunchy, but you can experiment with different kinds - white chocolate could work very well)
• Something to dust the outside with (optional, try cocoa powder,grated chocolate, or icing sugar)

Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it over a very gentle heat (you need a double boiler or bain-marie for this, really, but make sure no water gets into the chocolate, because that makes it go all lumpy and useless).

While the chocolate is melting, gently heat the cream up until it just reaches boiling point. Mix the cream into the chocolate a little bit at a time, folding it in gently. If you are adding flavourings, this is a good time to do it.

Leave the mixture somewhere to cool. I am impatient and put it in the fridge.

When the mixture is cool enough, divide it into lumps, and roll the lumps into balls. This will make your hands very sticky - try dusting your hands with cocoa powder to help with this.

Now melt the other lot of chocolate. While it's melting, get a tray and cover it with greaseproof paper.

Dip the balls in the melted chocolate (a couple of teaspoons will help you here). Put them on the tray to solidify. Dust them with cocoa powder or whatever else you would like to use. Wait until they're cool, then eat them! Enjoy!

South Carolina Sock It To Me Cake - Best Tea Cake Ever

You want a winning Tea Cake?  You like coffee cake in the morning?  It is time to throw out all your other recipes as this one is a winner for many generations.

I am continually surprised at the popularity of this cake.  A few coffee houses order this from me and it is one of the best sellers from my home.  Like the Banana Cake, it tastes even better the next day.  Enjoy!


Ingredients:

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix (or other Kosher yellow or vanilla cake mix) or your favourite homemade yellow two-layer size cake recipe - dry ingredients only

Glaze:

1/4 c. butter

1 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla
2 to 3 tsp. hot water

Heat butter until melted. Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and water. Stir all ingredients until smooth.

Streusel:
I usually double this struesel mix as I think it tastes better

2 tbsp cake mix

2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon


Cake:
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Baking Instructions:

Preheat oven: to 175°C/350°F Grease and flour Bundt Cake pan

To prepare streusel filling: Combine 2 tablespoons cake mix, brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.  Set aside.

To prepare cake:  Combine remaining cake mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, water and granulated sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer 4 minutes. Pour two-thirds of batter into pan. Sprinkle with streusel filling. Spoon remaining batter evenly over filling.

Bake: at 175°C/350°F for 45 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely before glazing.

Drizzle prepared glaze over cake.

K (D) see link below
http://www.allinkosher.com/c-503-baking-mixes.aspx

Banana Cake - Alternatively, Two loaves of Banana Bread

This is a moist, buttery banana cake loaded with banana flavour.  It is a snap to mix up.  If I have a banana or two that gets over-ripe, I simply freeze them whole until I get enough to use in this recipe.

I use a non-stick Bundt pan and make Banana Cake out of this one recipe.  The dark colour on the pan is why I keep the temperature a bit low whilst it is in the oven.


Ingredients:

    * 1 cup butter or margarine
    * 2 cups sugar
    * 4 eggs
    * 1/4 teaspoon salt
    *1 tsp white vinegar, lemon juice or orange juice (the acid helps the bi-carb soda to work)
    * 2 teaspoons bi-carbonate (baking) soda
    * 4 cups flour
    * 6 large bananas, very ripe, mashed
    * 1 cup broken or chopped pecans or walnuts

Preparation:
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift dry ingredients together; add to creamed mixture. Stir in bananas and chopped pecans.

Pour banana nut bread batter into a well greased Bundt Pan or  2 well-greased loaf pans
Bake at 165°/ 325° for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. This banana nut cake recipe makes one Bundt Cake or 2 loaves.

K (d) or K (p) if margarine is used