Fresh Corn Cake

½ cup unsalted butter      ½ cup sugar

¼ cup whole milk      ¼ cup heavy cream

7-8 cups corn kernels (9 ears)      5 large eggs

¾ cup flour      ¾ cup rice flour

1 T. baking powder      1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter round 9” cake pan, line the bottom

with wax paper/parchment paper – spray the paper with Pam.

Put the butter into the mixer bowl with paddle attachment and beat until creamy,

about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Remove the bowl

from the mixer and set aside.

Scald the milk and heavy cream together in a small saucepan. Add the corn kernels,

place the mixture into a blender / food processor, and puree. Set aside and cool.

Separate the egg yolks and whites, reserving the whites. In a bowl, beat the egg

yolks thoroughly with a whisk. Add the corn puree to the butter and sugar mixture,

and then the egg yolks.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, rice flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix

this by hand into the wet ingredients. Transfer the batter to a larger bowl.

Wash and dry the electric mixer bowl thoroughly. Fit the mixer with the wire whisk

attachment and beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Use a rubber spatula

to gently fold them into the batter. Be careful not to break down all the egg whites.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden

brown. The corn cake should be set in the middle, so that a knife inserted into the

center comes out clean. Let cool. To free the corn cake from the pan, run a knife

around the edge and invert it onto a plate held over the top, serving side down. Flip

the corn cake quickly and remove the wax paper. Heat to serve. Refrigerate any

leftovers.

Comment: From Pasqual’s in Santa Fe-- -Eric’s favorite restaurant in the world!

Apple Dumplings

1 (8 oz) tube original-size crescent rolls

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 pieces

1 stick butter, melted

½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup Mountain Dew soda

Ground cinnamon

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-by- 8 inch baking dish with

nonstick spray.

Unroll crescent rolls. Wrap each apple slide with dough and place in the baking

dish; seam side down. Combine butter, sugar and vanilla until just combined (it

doesn’t have to be smooth). Pour over rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour

Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden

brown (you want them to get fairly golden so the bottoms cook through, but don’t let

them burn.) Cool briefly, remove rolls from syrup and then drizzle the syrup on top

when serving to prevent them from getting too soggy.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over

the top.

Comment: Mom and Dad enjoy this quick treat.

Syrian Bread

5 lb. Robin Hood flour       

1 cup sugar

3½  to 4 tsp. salt

1 stick margarine, melted

2 3-strip Rapid Rise yeast (dry, total of 6 envelopes)

4 cups warm water (warm enough for yeast)

Directions:  Add yeast to 2 cups warm water with a ½ tsp. or so of sugar to help activate the yeast.  Stir until mixed.  Put flour, sugar and salt in large mixing bowl.  Add margarine and yeast/water to the dry ingredients.  Mix with your buttered hands.  Add additional water as needed to form dough—sometimes takes more than 4 cups.  Knead until dough still looks shaggy, but slight bounce back to finger touch.  Usually 3-5 minutes.

Place dough in a draft-free place, cover with plastic wrap, wrap bowel in bath towel, and let rise.  Carefully punch down dough and let rise again.  Butter your hands (always want the dough to have some butter on it throughout the process so it does not form a hard shell).  Divide dough into balls that will make one loaf, and place dough balls on wax paper.  Cover with towels and let rest/rise for about 30 minutes. 

Butter Hands. Pick up the dough, turn over on counter and pat out with fingers.  Cover with towel and let rest 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Flatten loaves and butter.  Put bread directly on oven rack.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Flip the loaves.  Bake another 8 minutes.  Bread should be golden brown on both sides.

Comment:  Aunt Mary’s prize.  In sharing the recipe, variations have included as little as ¼ cup sugar or a total of 5 cups warm water or a little more melted margarine.  Aunt Mary frequently doubled the recipe and made 10 lb. batches.  Debate rages on about packets of yeast versus fresh yeast.  Aunt Mary was a big believer in using Robin Hood flour. 

Aunt Mary’s most famous instruction:  “Knead the dough until you are sweating under your boobs.”  However, that must have taken her 3-5 minutes.

And, remember, your bread will never be as good as Aunt Mary’s or Granny’s or Aunt Aigia’s bread.

Baked French Swirl

16 oz. loaf Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread

6 eggs

3 cups half-and- half cream

2 tsp. vanilla

Cinnamon Sugar

Powdered Sugar

Directions: Cut bread into cubes. Place cubes into lightly greased 3 quart shallow

baking dish. Beat eggs, half-and- half cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl with

whisk. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes. Press bread cubes to ensure all are

coated by egg mixture. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

or until knife in center comes out clean.

To serve, sprinkle with sugars and serve with butter and syrup.

Comment:

Beer Bread

3 cups SELF rising flour

1 can beer

3 T. sugar

Directions:  Combine flour and sugar, mix well.  Add beer and mix with hands.  

Batter will be sticky.  Pour into bread pan.  Bake 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  

The top will be crunchy.   Butter can be put on top of the bread.   

Comment:  I have used regular flour, instead of self-rising and it is good too, but 

very dense.  Kory actually prefers the dense bread (made with regular flour) over the 

self-rising flour.