Lavon and Miss NiNi talk more about apples.

APPLE DUMPLINGS

(Recipe compliments of Anita VanGundy (grandma) and Leeah Hartman (granddaughter, age 6)—First-Place Winners in Miss NiNi’s Create A Family Baking Legacy Contest—2015 Iowa State Fair)

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• ½ t. salt
• ½ t. granulated sugar
• ½ t. vinegar
• ½ c. ice water
• ½ c. shortening (I used Crisco Butter-Flavored Shortening)

Apples:

• 2 Jonagold apples, peeled and cored
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• ½ t. ground cinnamon
• 2 t. butter

Syrup:

• ¼ c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. water
• 2 T. butter
• ½ t. ground cinnamon
• Cinnamon-Sugar for Sprinkling on top:
• ¼ c. granulated sugar
• 1/8 t. ground cinnamon

Method:

For dough: mix flour, salt, and sugar. Mix water and vinegar together. Cut in shortening until shortening is the size of peas. Add enough water-vinegar mixture to make dough come together. Add 1 T. at a time. (May not need to use all of the liquid to make the dough come together.) Make two disks and roll out each into a 10-inch square (If apples are small, a smaller square of dough would be required.)

Mix ¼ c. sugar and cinnamon. Place apple in center of square. Fill cored apple with cinnamon sugar–a little over half full. Put 1 t. butter on top of each apple. Bring corners of dough together and pinch edges to seal. Make pastry cutout and place on top of apple dumpling, if desired. Place in 9-inch baking dish.

To make syrup, place all ingredients in a glass measuring cup and heat in microwave oven until hot, about 2-3 minutes. Pour syrup over dumplings. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Yields: 2 large apple dumplings

Miss NiNi

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about what to do with a wealth of fall apples.

• 4 lbs. (about 12 cups) cooking apples, peeled & sliced
• 2 cups sugar (less if apples are sweet or you like less sweet)
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (more if you wish)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about making monkey bread.

APPLE PIE PULL-APART LOAF—Better Homes and Gardens Fall Baking

Ingredients:

• ¾ c. milk
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ¼ c. butter, melted
• 2 T. granulated sugar
• ½ t. salt
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• ¼ c. butter, melted
• 1-1/2 c. finely chopped, peeled apples (I used Jonagold)
• ¾ c. brown sugar
• 2 t. apple pie spice

Icing:

• ½ c. powdered sugar
• ½ t. vanilla extract
• 1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:

In a small saucepan, heat milk just until warm (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit). In a large bowl combine milk and yeast; stir until yeast is dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes. Add egg, ¼ c. melted butter, granulated sugar, and salt to yeast mixture. Beat with mixer on medium until combined. Add half of flour; beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl as needed. Beat 3 minutes on medium. Stir in remaining flour. Shape dough into a ball (dough will not be smooth). Place dough in greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (45-60 minutes). Grease a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover dough with bowl and let rest 10 minutes to help relax dough. Roll dough into a 20 x 12-inch rectangle. Brush with ¼ c. melted butter. Sprinkle with apples, brown sugar, and apple pie spice. Cut rectangle in half lengthwise to make two 20 x 6-inch pieces; cut each piece crosswise into five 6 x 4-inch strips. Carefully make two stacks of five strips each. Cut each stack into 4 x 2-inch pieces. Stagger pieces in pan, cut side up. Cover; let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (40-45 minutes). Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake about 45 minutes or until golden brown and an instant-read-thermometer registers 200 degrees Fahrenheit. (May need to cover top with foil toward the end of baking to prevent overbrowning.) Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan to serving plate. Cool 20 minutes more. Drizzle with icing. Icing: In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together icing ingredients. Drizzle over loaf.

Miss NiNi

NOTE FROM MISS NINI: The method can be simplified by using frozen bread dough or rolls in place of making the dough from scratch.

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about making various foods in a muffin tin.

HANDy Eggs

Muffin shape egg omelet to pick up with a napkin to carry in your hand.

¾ cup your choice combination of
chopped fully cooked meat and chopped vegetables
such as peppers, onions, zucchini, broccoli
1/3 cup shredded Colby Jack or cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin.
Divide mixture of meat, veggies and cheese among cups.
Whisk together eggs, milk salt and pepper.
Pour equal amount into each cup.
Bake 20 minutes or until set in the center.
Cool 5 minutes. Pick up and go.
Place leftovers in a covered container to refrigerate up to 3 days.

Note: Double all ingredients to make 12.

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about Tomatoes.

• 6 large fresh tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil or 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
• Other herbs or spices you wish

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about making Zebra snack cakes.

ZEBRA CAKE—kingarthurflour.com

Ingredients:

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 c. whole milk
• 1 c. corn oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• ¼ t. salt
• 1-1/2 t. almond extract
• 3 T. dark cocoa
• ½ t. espresso powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray a 9” x 2” round baking pan with cooking spray with flour. Line bottom of pan with a circle of parchment, and spritz again. Set the pan aside. In bowl of mixer, blend sugar and eggs until lightened, about 2 minutes. On low speed, blend in oil, milk, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to remove any lumps. With mixer on low, add dry mixture to wet ingredients, a little at a time. Turn mixer to medium speed and beat for 1-2 minutes or until batter is smooth and lump free. Be sure to scrape down the bowl halfway through mixing. Remove 2 c. batter and place it in 2-cup glass measuring cup. Gently stir in almond extract. Whisk together cocoa and espresso powder in a small bowl. Add to remaining batter that is in mixing bowl. On low, mix until incorporated. Pour chocolate batter into another 2-cup glass mixing cup. To form the stripes in the pan: pour a small amount of vanilla batter into the center of the cake pan. Then, pour a small amount of chocolate batter into the center of the cake pan. This causes the vanilla batter to spread out. Keep pouring batters alternately in a bulls-eye fashion into the center of the cake pan until glass measuring cups are empty. The number of layers and thickness of layers will vary each time the cake is made. Bake the cake in center of a preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. (Be sure cake is right side up on rack while cooling.) May be sprinkled with powdered sugar or frosted as desired.

Yield: 1, 9-inch cake

Miss NiNi

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Lavon and Miss NiNi talk about the Iowa State Fair.

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Lavon and Miss NiNi discuss ice cream and share an ice cream in a bag recipe.

ICE CREAM IN A PLASTIC BAG

Yes,  there us the potential for messes, but the key to success is to follow our instructions. This recipe is enough for one person, so each one can make their own.

1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups crushed ice
4 tablespoons salt
2 quart size freezer bags
1 gallon size freezer bag
Hand towel or gloves to keep fingers from freezing!

Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in one of the quart size bags. Seal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Too much air left inside may force the bag open during shaking. Place this bag inside the other quart size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. By double-bagging, the risk of salt and ice leaking into the ice cream is minimized. Put the two bags inside the gallon size bag and fill the bag with ice, then sprinkle salt on top. Again let all the air escape and seal the bag. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake and massage the bag, making sure the ice surrounds the cream mixture. Five to eight minutes is adequate time for the mixture to freeze into ice cream.

Tips
Freezer bags work best because they are thicker and less likely to develop small holes, allowing the bags to leak.

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PIZZA ZUCCHINI BOATS

• 4 zucchini or yellow squash
• 3/4 pound sausage or ground beef
• 1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained or pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

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Lavon and Miss NiNi share a baking recipe for Choco-Flan Cake.

MAGIC CHOCOLATE FLAN CAKE–America’s Test Kitchen

Ingredients:

CAKE:

• ½ c. caramel sauce or topping
• ½ c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa
• ½ t. baking soda
• 1/8 t. salt
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 6 T. butter
• ½ c. buttermilk (may substitute ½ T. white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to make ½ c. sour milk. After combining, let mixture coagulate.)
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract

FLAN:

• 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
• 2-1/2 c. whole milk
• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 6 large eggs plus 4 large yolks
• 1 t. vanilla extract

Method:

For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray all inside edges of 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. Microwave caramel until easily pourable. Pour into pan to coat bottom. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in bowl; set aside. Combine chocolate and butter in large bowl and microwave at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2-4 minutes. Whisk buttermilk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into chocolate mixture until incorporated. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter over caramel in prepared pan.

For the Flan: Process all ingredients in blender about 1 minute. (If a blender is not available, use stand mixer. Beat cream cheese until smooth and add remaining flan ingredients. Beat until mixture is smooth.) Gently pour flan over cake batter in Bundt pan.

Prepare a water bath by placing Bundt pan in roasting pan. Place roasting pan on oven rack and pour warm water into roasting pan until it reaches halfway up side of Bundt pan. Bake until toothpick or cake tester inserted into cake comes out clean and flan registers 180 degrees, about 75-90 minutes. (In the baking process, the cake will rise to the top of the pan while the flan sinks to the bottom. That’s the magical part of this recipe!) Transfer Bundt pan to wire rack. Let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, then refrigerate until set, at least 8 hours. (Safely remove roasting pan from oven once water has cooled.) Remove Bundt pan from refrigerator. Place bottom third of Bundt pan in bowl of hot tap water for 1 minute. Invert completely flat cake platter over top of Bundt pan, and gently turn platter and pan upside down. Slowly remove pan, allowing caramel to drizzle over top of cake. Keep refrigerated.

IF USING A CAKE MIX INSTEAD OF MAKING CAKE FROM SCRATCH (bettycrocker.com)

Ingredients:

CAKE:

• 1 jar (12.25 oz.) caramel topping
• 1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist triple chocolate fudge cake mix
• 1 c. water
• ½ c. vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

Method:

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan with butter. Pour ¼ c. of caramel topping in bottom of pan. Refrigerate remaining caramel topping for serving. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, and eggs with stand mixer on medium speed, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over caramel topping in pan.

FLAN: Use recipe as given above. Follow all remaining steps as given above.

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