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Mother's
Cake (Makes One 9-Inch Cake)
Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Almonds; Skinned
6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate; Chopped
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
6 oz. Sweet Butter (Unsalted)
6 large Eggs; Yolks and Whites Separated
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
Icing Ingredients:
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
2 tsp. Instant Espresso or Coffee Powder
8 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate; Chopped
Toast almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 350-F
degree oven for about 15-minutes or until the almonds are
lightly colored and fragrant. Make sure to shake the pan
occasionally to turn almonds while toasting.
Pre-heat oven to 375-F degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9-inch
spring form pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Dust lightly
with flour or very fine, dry bread crumbs. Shake out any excess
and set prepared pan aside.
Warm chopped chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over
warm water set at moderate heat. Cover until partially melted,
then stir until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Reserve 1/2 cup sugar and place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with
the almonds in a food processor or blender and chop until nuts
are fine and powdery. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until soft. Add 1/4 cup
of sugar and reserve the remaining 1/4 cup sugar for use later.
Beat sugar and butter until thoroughly combined. Add the egg
yolks, one at a time, and continue to beat until smooth. Add the
melted chocolate and blend on low speed until combined. Add
almonds and continue to beat mixture on a low speed setting.
In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with
salt and lemon juice. Start on low speed and gradually increase
until the egg whites hold a soft shape. Reduce speed again and
add remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Then on high speed, beat egg whites
to soft peaks.
Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture about
one-third at a time until blended. Pour the cake batter into the
prepared spring form pan an quickly rotate to level the batter.
Bake for 20-minutes at 375-F degrees, then reduce heat to 350-F
degrees and continue to bake an additional 50-minutes. Remove
cake from pan when cooled, after about 1-hour.
To prepare the icing, scald the heavy cream in a saucepan over
medium heat until a thin skin forms on the top. Add the espresso
or coffee powder and whisk to dissolve. Add the chocolate and
whisk to dissolve, for about a minute or two. Remove from heat
and continue to stir to finish melting the chocolate. Let icing
cool for about 15-minutes, then pour over the top of the cake,
starting at the center. Gently push the icing with a spatula
over the sides to dribble down the cake. Top with shaved
chocolate, or whipped cream just prior to serving. A fresh
strawberry is an optional garnish with each served slice.

Easy Pie
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 stick butter, melted
1 can peaches (or any favorite fruit), drained
In a bowl, combine sugar, flour and milk. Pour mixture over
butter, stir and press into pie pan. Add peaches. Cook in
bottom of oven at 450 degrees until brown.

Mother's Pot Roast
Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 pound shoulder or sirloin tip roast
1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 medium onion, cut into thin strips
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1 Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place meat in
pot with fat side up. Pour tomato sauce over roast. Place onion
rings over all. Toss in bay leaves. Cover and cook 1 hour on
high.
2 After 1 hour reduce heat to low and cook 6 to 8 more hours.
Carefully lift meat out of pot and remove to a warm platter.
3 Pour drippings through strainer into medium sized saucepan and
discard material in strainer. Whisk in flour to liquid. Cook,
stirring constantly over medium heat until thickened. Season to
taste with salt and pepper, serve alongside roast.

Mother's Moon Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup chopped nuts
Directions:
1 Sift together flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and salt. Stir in
condensed milk, vanilla and soft butter. Blend well and fold in
chopped nuts. Chill well.
2 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line cookie
sheets with foil.
3 Roll the dough pencil thin and form in crescent shape. Arrange
cookies on the cookie sheet.
4 Bake on top rack of the oven for 12 minutes until set, do not
brown. Let the cookies cool on pan. While still warm roll the
cookies in leftover powdered sugar.
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