Twinkie Cake

Tastes so much better than a Twinkie! 

Twinkie Cake

Yellow Cake

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (unbleached)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs 

1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 375. Grease and lightly flour a 9 x 13 pan. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. 
In a stand mixer or large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well for 1 minute after each. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to beaten mixture, mixing  after each addition. Start and end with flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until tests done. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pan.  Cool. 

Cream Filling

Mix in saucepan-

5 T flour and 1 cup milk

Boil flour and milk until thick; stirring constantly. Set aside to cool a little.

 In a large mixing bowl, place -

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Crisco

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

Beat until fluffy. 

Add warm milk-flour mixture and beat until fluffy.

Using a piece of thread, cut the cake in half, lengthwise. Spread cream filling between two layers like a sandwich. Cut into servings and place in container and store in refrigerator. 

Panzanella

I absolutely love panzanella! All that bread soaking up the delicious vinaigrette along with the juicy vine ripened tomatoes, picked fresh from the garden, all make it the perfect summer salad. I like to mix cherry and regular size tomatoes.

Panzanella


4 cups good hardy bread like sour dough, cubed
2- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste
vine ripened tomatoes, diced
sliced cucumber- peeled-cut out seeds
red, yellow or green bell pepper, thinly sliced
red onion, thinly sliced- to taste
5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
extra whole basil leaves for garnish

Vinaigrette
whisk together~

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
pinch of garlic powder
sugar to taste- about 1 teaspoon or more
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Toast bread cubes in a large skillet with oil. Sprinkle with salt. If too dry, add more oil. Or toast in the oven. I like to do it on the stove when it's hot outside.
Prepare the vegetables in a large bowl. Just before serving add the bread cubes and vinaigrette and toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature. 

Spaghetti Salad

A very simple salad that is great for a picnic or family gathering. I only make it in the summer when we can pick all of the vegetables fresh from the garden. I have been making this since the early 1990's when I first started cooking.

Spaghetti Salad

1 pound spaghetti

3/4 of a 16 oz. bottle of Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing (add more if needed)

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

a few drops of Frank’s hot sauce (optional)

½ of a bottle of McCormick’s Salad Supreme Seasoning (I make my own- recipe below)

chopped vegetables- I like cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, mild onions (green onions or a red onion, sliced very thin)
olives (optional)

Prepare spaghetti to al dente in salted water, drain, then run cold water over and drain again. To a large bowl, add the cold spaghetti, Italian dressing, lemon juice, hot sauce, salad seasoning and chopped veggies. Chill for a few hours or overnight. Stir and add more dressing if needed.

I looked at the ingredients on the bottle of McCormick’s Salad Supreme and I decided to make my own. I have also used freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.


Salad Seasoning

freshly grated romano cheese-1 tablespoon or a little more
sesame seed- 1 teaspoon
poppy seed -1 teaspoon
paprika-1 teaspoon 
celery seed-1/4 teaspoon 
garlic powder-1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Peach Cobbler

From the golden brown buttery crust to the warm peach filling that melts the ice cream, this dessert is comfort food at it's sweetest! 

Peach Cobbler

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Place stick of butter in a 9 x 13 baking dish and place in oven to melt. Take out of oven when melted.

4 cups fresh peeled and sliced peaches (about 7-9 small to medium peaches)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
nutmeg to taste
cinnamon to taste

Place peaches, lemon juice, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in medium sauce pan. Stir and bring to boil. Remove from heat and set aside to prepare batter.

For Batter~

1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
nice pinch of kosher salt
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
cinnamon to taste
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon until well blended.
Pour milk and vanilla into dry ingredients. Whisk together and pour batter over melted butter in hot baking dish. Do not stir.

Pour hot peaches evenly over batter. Do not stir.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm or cold with vanilla ice cream.

Corn and Zucchini Fritters

I love these fritters. I even eat left-overs cold from the refrigerator. Delicious!

Corn and Zucchini Fritters

2 cups zucchini-grated

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

fresh corn cut from two ears of corn

2 tablespoons grated onion

black pepper to taste

1/8 cup flour

¼ cup matzo meal or dry bread crumbs

1/8 cup corn meal

1 finely chopped jalepeno (optional) - remove seeds for less heat

chopped chives, cilantro and sour cream

Shred and drain zucchini, in a mesh colander, over a bowl.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add the salt, corn, onion, black pepper and dry ingredients.

Squeeze zucchini to remove any liquid left in it. Add zucchini and mix.

Heat oil to medium heat at about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep in a skillet. Drop large spoonfuls of mixture in pan. Cook on one side until golden brown then flip to brown other side. It will take two batches to fry all. Don't fry at too high of heat because the corn can pop and the grease splatters. I've learned this from experience. Ouch! Makes about 9-12 fritters depending on how big I make them.

Drain on paper towel. Serve with sour cream, chopped chives and cilantro.