Spanish Bar cake in the Round

This is the weekly Monday treat for work for this week.  As a kid I grew up in NY and one of my fondest memories is the taste of this cake.  My mom used to buy it at the Local A&P in Smithtown.  It was my favorite.  A while back my daughter made this "down east Maine pumpkin bread"  that tasted very close to this cake.  For months I've thought about this cake but never knew the name of it.  One day while searching on Pinterest, wala there it was.  There are many versions of this out there but after reading reviews and the recipe I chose this one.  The one thing I changed was the oil.  It had called for 1/4 of melted butter which I sub melted coconut oil for.  I felt there was more than enough butter in the icing.  Oh yes I also cut back 1/2 stick on the butter.  
This cake is normally made in a long rectangle but today I jumped outside the box and went with the round.  I also found a good trick to make your cake for further.   Will share that in my next post.
I adapted this recipe from here  

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoons ginger
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup applesauce
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups raisins, soaked in warm water until plump and drained

Preheat oven to 350°F.Prepare a 8  in. round (this recipe was originally made in a 9x13 pan) baking pan with cooking spray and flour.  Plump the raisins in warm water.
In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Add oil, applesauce, sour cream, and eggs. Mix well. Add in raisins and walnuts and stir to combine.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cake cool completely before frosting.
*can make with or without nutmeg*

Icing:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1% with stellar results)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into 20 pieces and softened at room temperature

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.
2. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature – this is extremely important! If it is even slightly warm, the frosting won’t beat up properly. I refrigerated my initial mixture overnight. If you do this, make sure to pull it out in time to let it warm back up to room temperature. If you try to proceed with the rest of the recipe and the mixture is too cold, the butter won’t absorb into the frosting like it should.
3. Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temperature (it should have no hint of warmth at all!), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined, about 30 seconds (a stand mixer will work best for this). Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work it’s magic. Beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour. I suspect if you chill it for an hour or so, it would be stiff enough to actually pipe with instead of frosting with a rubber spatula.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week and Always Remember to Find the Time to Do ALL the things YOU L♥ve.
D♥onna

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I was on a baking frenzy when I made this.  It was one of those days when you just wanted to make things.  I find that since I  have retired I just love to try and make new things.  This bread was not new to me but one of the things I did make that day.
I have been craving cinnamon raisin bread so I pulled out my recipe that I found on All recipes and did some changes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk 1 cup warm water (110 Degrees F/45 degrees C) 2 (.25 ounce) packages Active dry yeast 3 eggs 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup margarine, softened

1 cup raisins 8 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons milk 3/4 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons ground Cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter, Melted

Directions:

	Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm.
	Dissolve yeast in warm water, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
	Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
	Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons milk. Mix together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of  moistened dough.  Roll up tightly, starting at longest end.  Cut into thirds and be sure to tuck under the ends.  Put loaves into well greased pans 9 x 5 pans, lightly grease the tops or brush with just a little butter.  Let rise again for about an hour.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.  Place on cooling rack on their sides for about 5 or so minutes.  Then remove from pan and brush tops with some butter.  Slice when cooled. (if you can wait.)        This also makes wonderful french toast. Have a wonderful day, and Remember to Find the time to DO all the Things YOU love.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

This is one of my all time favorite cookies.  They are soft and chewy and stay that way (unless you mess with the dough too much when making the shape of the cookie.  Also if you roll them in sugar they will tend to be a little harder)  So guess the option would be up to you if you want a soft cookie or a hard one.  They store well and the dough could be froze for up to about 3 months.  You can also add raisins (what is an oatmeal cookie without raisins I ask?)  and some chopped nuts of your choice.
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 - 1 cup raisins *Optional* 1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped nuts *optional*

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:

	In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
	Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar. or roll in sugar and then flatten with fork (gives a harder cookie)
	Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Have a wonderful day, and Remember to Find the Time to Do All the Things you LOVE. Donna