Its not very often that you run across a cake that is truly a dessert cake. Sticky Toffee Pudding would be one, as would Pineapple Upside Down Cake. (I would also consider Boston Cream Pie to be a totally dessert cake, although it is not served warm.)
So what do I mean by a dessert cake? I mean a cake that is meant to be eaten as dessert, with or without ice cream, or cream, or custard. Sometimes served warm, rich and sticky and totally delicious.
This is in opposition to cakes that are totally meant to be served cold and sliced. Cakes like a Coffee and Walnut Cake or a Victoria Sponge cake.
Those are cakes that are meant to be enjoyed with a hot drink or as a celebration cake. You will often see them at tea parties or in tea rooms, especially in the UK.
This is a cake that I used to bake when I worked at the Manor. The Mr. was very fond of yellow layer cake with a chocolate frosting. In fact every year the Mrs. would bring back yellow cake mixes for me to use to make him the yellow cake for special occasions.
This is more of a familial cake, an every day cake. The kind of cake that the whole family will gather around at the weekend, perhaps serves after the Saturday night bake bean supper. Its a family style of cake, rather than a celebration cake.
It is meant to be served warm, cut into sweet chocolate glazed squares, with more chocolate sauce poured over top. Perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream.
It was a recipe that I had posted over on my now defunct Oak Cottage blog. I can't really remember where it came from. I decided to update it and pop it on here because it certainly is deserving of being here in my English Kitchen.
I strongly suspect that it may have come from one of Mrs. B's many cookbooks, perhaps one of the Foster's Market ones, but I can't say for sure as I don't have any of those.
I only have the recipe printed out onto computer paper, and I have the memories of the Mr. enjoying it and I have to say we enjoyed it at home as well. Its a really great cake. Moist and delicious. (I know people often don't like that word. Who knows why. I have no aversion to it myself.)
One thing that sets this cake apart from other cakes is that it gives you total permission to enjoy it warm, almost right out of the oven.
Another thing which sets it apart is that you dimple the warm cake with a skewer or a fork and pour a delicious chocolate glaze over top, allowing it to soak in. It is then cut into squares and served with more of that chocolate glaze spooned over top.
Totally enjoyable.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SWEET YELLOW CAKE
Simple baking cupboard ingredients. Do use real butter. I don't think it really matters if it is salted or unsalted.
For the cake:
- 6 TBS (86g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (140g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) sour milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the chocolate glaze:
- 6 ounces (70g) good unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
- 1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
- 2 TBS butter
Because I use salted butter, I usually leave the salt out. It tastes pretty good to me this way. Also this time when I made it I didn't have any cooking chocolate and so I used semi sweet chocolate chips.
In this case I left out the sugar from the glaze because I felt that the chocolate chips would be plenty sweet enough. I was right. It was perfect.
HOW TO MAKE SWEET YELLOW CAKE
Nothing could be easier or quicker. The cake gets mixed in one bowl and while it is baking you make the chocolate glazed ready to be poured over top of the still warm skewer or fork dimpled cake
Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease a 9 inch square cake pan. Set aside. (I like to line it with a strip of paper so that I can lift it out easily afterwards.)
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well together. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl and whisk well together. Stir the milk and vanilla together.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in thirds alternating with one third of the milk mixture, mixing until all the ingredients are combined and no flour is visible.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven to bake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until cake tests done and either a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or the top springs back when lightly touched with a fingertip.
Make the glaze while the cake is baking.
Place the chocolate, milk and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat, cooking and stirring until the chocolate has melted and the sauce thickens slightly.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Stir until the butter has completely melted and amalgamated into the sauce. Keep warm until the cake comes out of the oven.
When the cake is done and out of the oven, poke holes all over the top with a skewer or the tines of a fork. While the cake is still hot and in the pan, pour 1/2 cup of the glaze over the top and let it soak into the cake for 5 to 10 minutes.
Cut the cake into squares and serve while still warm, with some more of the chocolate sauce spooned over top. Scrumdiddlyumptious!
Everything about this cake is delicious from the moist yellow cake to that rich chocolate glaze and sauce. It smells to good when it comes out of the oven that you cannot wait to dig right into it.
Normally that would be a problem because you'd have to wait for the cake to cool. Not with this one. You can dig in right away, or as soon as you glaze it anyways!
Quick and easy to make, and even easier to enjoy, this is one very delicious dessert cake!! Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Leftovers can be cut into squares and gently warmed individually in the microwave for a few seconds.
Sweet Yellow Cake
Yield: Makes one 9 inch cake
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 35 Min
Five minutes in the bowl, 30 minutes in the oven and served warm. The warm chocolate glaze that you spoon over top of the cake as soon as you remove it from the oven is its crowning glory. This is one very delicious dessert cake!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 6 TBS (86g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (140g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) sour milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 6 ounces (70g) good unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces
- 1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
- 2 TBS butter
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease a 9 inch square cake pan. Set aside. (I like to line it with a strip of paper so that I can lift it out easily afterwards.)
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well together. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another bowl and whisk well together. Stir the milk and vanilla together.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture in thirds alternating with one third of the milk mixture, mixing until all the ingredients are combined and no flour is visible.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven to bake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until cake tests done and either a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or the top springs back when lightly touched with a fingertip.
- Make the glaze while the cake is baking. Place the chocolate, milk and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat, cooking and stirring until the chocolate has melted and the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Stir until the butter has completely melted and amalgamated into the sauce. Keep warm until the cake comes out of the oven.
- When the cake is done and out of the oven, poke holes all over the top with a skewer or the tines of a fork. While the cake is still hot and in the pan, pour 1/2 cup of the glaze over the top and let it soak into the cake for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Cut the cake into squares and serve while still warm, with some more of the chocolate sauce spooned over top. Delicious!
Today I think we are having one of the most miserable days we have had all winter weather-wise. Yesterday was so mild that we were almost tempted to walk around in our shirt sleeves.
What a difference a day makes. It is sleeting and raining and snowing all together out there as I write this on Friday morning. There is nothing for it but to bake as it is a for sure that we will not be going out!
There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked cookies to chase away the Winter blues! And these cookies do just that perfectly.
Ranger Cookies are a cookie that I have been baking for my family for many, many years. I think I got the original recipe from a church recipe book here in Greenwood about 35 years ago.
I can remember making them once for my middle son's nursery school. Each parent had to take turns bringing in a snack. These were very popular.
And that is no small wonder as they are loaded with lots of delicious things. Coconut, crisp rice cereal, raisins, white chocolate chips.
Of course you could sub dried cranberries for the raisins and semi sweet or milk chocolate chips for the white chocolate chips.
You could also sub large flake oats for the coconut if you wanted to. I like these just as they are however.
The original recipe made a truck load of cookies. With there only being me in my household now and it still being a Pandemic, I small batched the recipe to make only 20 cookies rather than the original 84.
I just can't be dealing with 84 cookies, no matter how tasty they are!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE RANGER COOKIES
There is nothing out of the ordinary here. Just plain, simple, baking cupboard ingredients, as it should be.
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg yolk (freeze the white for another purpose)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (75g) raisins (or dried cranberries)
- 1/4 cup (20g) shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips (can use a mix of milk and semi sweet if preferred)
- 1 cup (42g) crisp rice cereal
- 1/2 cup +2 TBS (85g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
I am sure you know the kind of crisp rice cereal I am talking about. You could also use corn flakes crushed a bit. You just want a crisp cereal not too large in size.
You can also sub butterscotch chips for the white, semi sweet, or milk chocolate chips. They go very well with raisins.
HOW TO MAKE RANGER COOKIES
These go together pretty much like any cookie does with the exception that you do have to chill the scooped out batter on the cookie sheet for an hour prior to baking. Don't skip this step. It really does make a difference!
Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Beat slowly into the butter mixture.
Stir in the coconut, chocolate chips raisins and cereal by hand until thoroughly combined.
Scoop into 1 1/2 inch balls (1 1/2 TBS each) and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/ 180*C/gas mark 4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crispy edged and golden brown on the bottoms. Delicious!
Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
When I was bringing up my five children I prided myself on making sure that there was a freshly baked snack waiting for them each day when they got home from school. I was very blessed to have had the luxury of being able to be home for them when my children were growing up.
I know not everyone had this luxury. So I was very lucky indeed. So were the kids! (At least I like to think that they were!)
These are the perfect cookie to enjoy with a cold glass of milk or a hot drink. They are even lovely served as a dessert with a bowl of vanilla ice cream!
In short, these are delicious. So delicious that I betcha can't eat just one!
Ranger Cookies (small batch)
Yield: Makes about 20
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 12 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 22 M
Crunchy, chewy, sweet moreish cookies. Betcha can't eat just one! Do plan ahead however as they need to chill for one hour prior to baking.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large free range egg yolk (freeze the white for another purpose)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (75g) raisins (or dried cranberries)
- 1/4 cup (20g) shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup (90g) white chocolate chips (can use a mix of milk and semi sweet if preferred)
- 1 cup (42g) crisp rice cereal
- 1/2 cup +2 TBS (85g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat the butter and both sugars together. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Beat slowly into the butter mixture.
- Stir in the coconut, chocolate chips raisins and cereal by hand until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop into 1 1/2 inch balls (1 1/2 TBS each) and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Place in the refrigerator to chill for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/ 180*C/gas mark 4.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crispy edged and golden brown on the bottoms. Delicious!
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Thanks for visiting!
One of my favorite subjects when I was in high school was Home Economics. No surprise there. We started it in grade 8 and it was available for us up to Grade 10.
Each year we had three separate units, Cooking, Sewing and Home Making. I loved all of it. There was nothing about any of it that I didn't like.
In the sewing unit we learned how to sew. We started off with aprons and graduated to dresses. In the Home Making unit we learned everything we needed to know about how to budget and take care of and clean a home, etc.
And then there was the cooking unit. We worked in pairs and each had our own little kitchen which contained all the equipment we would need. Usually the teacher would have things laid out according to the lesson.
We learned to cook everything from simple sauces to more elaborate things. No surprise, cooking was my favorite unit!
But really I loved it all. In retrospect I should have become a home economist or at the very least a home economics teacher. I think I would have really enjoyed that.
I still have all of the recipes that I learned to cook in Home Economics. These Pizza Tuna Burgers were one of the things that we cooked in Grade 10. I fell in love with them then and have made them many times through the years.
My children also loved them. They are like a glorified tuna melt, baked on English Muffin halves incorporating traditional pizza flavors. I have shared these on here before, but I thought it would be fun to update the recipe with newer nicer photographs, etc.
These make a fabulous lunch for the children, served with vegetable sticks on the side, or even salad. They also make a wonderful supper when served along side a bowl of tomato soup.
I think they are pretty wonderful any time! But then again, I adore tuna!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PIZZA TUNA BURGERS
Except for the cheese, everything is pretty much straight forward with these delicious burgers.
- 1 7 oz (200g) tin of albacore tuna in spring water, drained well and flaked
- 2 TBS finely chopped red onion
- 2 TBS finely chopped green pepper
- 2 TBS finely chopped celery
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp oregano flakes
- 1/2 tsp basil flakes
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup (55g) good quality mayonnaise
- 3 TBS tomato puree (tomato paste)
- 6 slices Mozzarella cheese
- green olives, sliced (optional)
- 3 English muffins split in half
I always use Albacore Tuna. Not only is it a nicer color, but I think it tastes better. I don't recommend tuna in oil for these, just the tuna in water.
Do make sure you drain it really well so that you don't have a soggy burger. Flake it really well before you add anything else in.
I mince the vegetables really fine. If you have a good sharp chef's knife, this is really easy to do.
I like Hellman's mayonnaise. You can use low fat if you like, but I always just use the regular full fat one.
You can also use ready made pizza sauce to spread on the muffin halves instead of tomato puree. Its really up to you.
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA TUNA BURGERS
You know that if making these was taught to high school girls, they are really simple to make!
Prepare all of your vegetables before you begin, then preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. You can spray it with some nonstick spray if you like. This just makes clean up easier.
Mix together the tuna, red onion, green pepper, celery, oregano, basil, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl to combine. Stir in the mayonnaise. Mash together really well. You want everything evenly distributed.
Place the split English muffins on the baking tray, you should have 6 halves. Spread each with 1/2 TBS of tomato puree.
Divide the tuna mixture amongst them evenly and spread to cover the tomato puree. Lay a slice of the mozzarella cheese on top of each muffin. Top each with three slices of green olive. (Entirely optional but we like them.)
Pop the baking tray into the preheated oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until heated through, the muffins are toasted on the bottom, the tuna filling is heated through and the cheese is melted on top.
Serve hot with some vegetable sticks, or potato chips, salad, soup, etc. What you serve depends on what meal you are serving these for.
These really are tasty. All the different vegetables give plenty of crunch, but not an obnoxious crunch like bones would be, a tasty crunch like vegetables would give.
I like to use green peppers because I think they belong best on a pizza, but if you want you can use red, orange, yellow, or any combination!
The red onion adds color as well. If you don't like or don't have red onions, you could always use the equivalent in chopped scallions/spring onions.
Those would taste really good and also add some more color into the mix. These are a great way to get additional vegetables into the children.
If you like you can use a mix of cheeses on the top rather than mozzarella slices, but mozzarella slices are more pizza-like.
What I love most about these, aside from the ease of preparation is that they are very adaptable. You can add any pizza toppings you like to them. All will be tasty I promise. Even pepperoni, although I would use those little skinny ones sliced up, not full slices.
As a light lunch or with soup as a hearty supper, I can promise you that these always go down a real treat with tuna lovers. If you don't like tuna? Hmmm . . . well then, these are not for your!
I dare say they would also be nice with salmon, flakes of chicken or flakes of ham. I think they are nice full stop! And fifteen year old me love, Love, LOVED them!
Pizza Tuna Burgers
Yield: 6
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
I learned how to make these delicious tuna burgers in Home Economics when I was in High School, so a very long time ago. I loved them then and I love them now.
Ingredients
- 1 7 ounce (200g) tin of albacore tuna in spring water, well drained and flaked
- 2 TBS finely chopped red onion
- 2 TBS finely chopped green pepper
- 2 TBS finely chopped celery
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp oregano flakes
- 1/2 tsp basil flakes
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup (55g) good quality mayonnaise
- 3 TBS tomato puree (tomato paste)
- 6 slices Mozzarella cheese
- green olives, sliced (optional)
- 3 English muffins split
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
- Mix together the tuna, red onion, green pepper, celery, oregano, basil, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl to combine. Stir in the mayonnaise.
- Place the split English muffins on the baking tray, you should have 6 halves.
- Spread each with 1/2 TBS of tomato puree. Divide the tuna mixture amongst them evenly and spread to cover the tomato puree. Lay a slice of cheese on top of each. Top each with three slices of green olive.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through and golden brown. Serve hot.
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