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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Rag Muffins Need Love Too

Happy Holidays I thought I stop in to share with you my latest Rag Muffin with her well loved Dolly. 


She will be listed tomorrow in my Etsy shop.  Now for the next clue WARMTH  Also here is another great recipe I love making this cake

SOCK IT TO ME CAKE


Sock-it-to-me-Cake from scratch
A Sock-it-to-me-Cake is a type of coffee cake that has a pecan, cinnamon and brown sugar filling that is baked in a bundt or ring pan. It is moist and almost always made with a generous amount of sour cream. It is also almost always made with a yellow cake mix, preferably a Duncan Hines brand mix. With the cake mix, the recipe is very easy and fast to put together. As easy as it may be, I still like to have a from-scratch version of the recipe available to me, so I put one together that bakes a very similar Sock-it-to-Me cake without the mix.
Cake mix cakes are designed to be very tender and moist, and this cake is, too. I used cake flour, rather than all purpose, to give it an even lighter and more cake-mix-like texture than it might otherwise have. I also used a combination of butter and vegetable oil in the cake. The vegetable oil, along with a good portion of sour cream, gives it some extra moisture and helps to keep the cake tasting fresh even a few days after baking. The butter helps the tenderness of the cake, but more importantly, it lends a really nice flavor to everything. This cake has a good, light texture and a soft crumb. I baked it in a tube pan because it’s so easy to get a cake out of a pan with removable sides. That said, you could easily bake this in a bundt pan instead.
The filling for this coffee cake is not a streusel, which many coffee cakes have. Instead it is a mixture of cinnamon, toasted pecans and brown sugar. It is a bit dry on its own and may seem to be too strongly cinnamon flavored before you put it into the cake. Don’t worry too much about this because the cake is relatively plain and all of that cinnamon in the filling really balances out well with the rest of the cake when you’re eating it. Speaking of cinnamon, I also added some cinnamon to the glaze on top of this cake, which adds a little extra sugar and spice to each bite.
This cake is great in the morning with coffee and is equally good served with dessert. As coffee cakes go, it is very easy to throw together because you don’t need to fuss with streusel or any special fillings, just a simple and flavorful mix that comes together in a few seconds before going into the cake.
Sock-it-to-me-Cake glaze
Sock-It-To-Me Cake
3 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vegetable oil and the eggs, adding one in at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
Working in two or three alternating additions, stir in the flour mixture and the sour cream, making sure to end with an addition of the flour. Mix only until no streaks of dry ingredients remain visible.
In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon, brown sugar and toasted pecans.
Add half of the cake batter to the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Top evenly with cinnamon mixture, then spread the rest of the cake batter on top.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake completely in the pan, on a wire rack. When cool, drizzle with cinnamon glaze.
Serves 12
Cinnamon Glaze
2 tbsp milk
approx 1 cup confectioner sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick to drizzle easily, add a bit more milk. If glaze is too thin, add an extra tablespoon or two of sugar.

Have a Great Day all
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!

Friday, December 17, 2010

RAG MUFFIN SITS AND WAIT

Happy Holidays Everyone we are getting closer to that date. Between working on holiday decorating and baking I am still doing dolls.  A Face Book friend told me it's never too late to make Christmas dolls and so I took her advice to continue to keep making them.  This doll is waiting for hair and her dolly, I am almost done.  I thought I share her with you without hair.  I somehow like how she looks without the hair with her worn face and body.  Will take pictures of her later with her dolly.



Now for the goodies here is the recipe for Orange Slice Cake it is so Yummy!  Thought I share this with you


FOR THE CAKE:

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (12-ounce) box dried dates, chopped
1 pound orange slice candies, chopped
2 cups pecans, chopped
1/2 cup flour for dredging
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

FOR THE GLAZE:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup orange juice 


Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan.

For the cake: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a separate bowl, dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Add flour to butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. In another bowl, toss dates, nuts and chopped orange slices in 1/2 cup flour until coated. Stir in coconut until well-combined. Add to batter and mix until well combined.

Bake in a prepared pan for about 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the glaze: Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl until smooth. Remove cake from pan and cool cake completely. Drizzle glaze over cake. Or, when cake comes out of the oven, use a toothpick to poke holes and pour glaze on cake. Let cake stand in tube pan overnight before inverting. 


Have Wonderful Day All
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl......Snatch JOY~!
 

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

LOW DOWN DIRTY SHAME LOL

Happy Holidays Everyone I know your thinking what in the world is this post about.  Well it is about the shame of my house at the moment lol.  It is getting better but here are the before pictures






Stuff was everywhere!  and it still is in some parts of the house lol.  What is it about Christmas that we tear our houses upside down decorate and then tear it up all over again to put everything away.  This year I slimmed it down a bit.  After I putting out the decorations I have already I decided this morning that I wasn't going to bother with anymore.  I have a lot of baking to do and want to get started on that tomorrow.  So there is only a wreath on the outside of my house there is no tree in the dinning room this year and a few other places I didn't bother with. So here is what I have managed to finish to so far.


















It is so cold here and I know a lot you are dealing with the cold and snow.  So far no snow in this part of Maryland.  So while I listen to Kenny G's Christmas CD and get further into the Holiday Spirit I pray that all be safe and warm this Holiday Season.  I don't have any clues to give out today and I am probably going to change my giveaway to instead of being my 100 followers it will be for my blogversary which also is in the same week of my Birthday January 15th.

Peace and Blessings
Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Fuu Fuu Primey

Hello Everyone I didn't have much to blog about today I am still working on dolls.  Sometimes I fall into a bit of a slump and it just slows me down.  I do have a Pin Keep to share with you I made from a quilt that I stained and mounted on a old spindle.  It will be listed today in my Etsy Shop for 15.00 dollars plus I am offering free shipping on everything in my shop until my Birthday January 15th.  Unfortunately I am not able to offer free shipping to those outside of the US but will give a 20 Percent discount on any item you purchase. 

Today's clue is Useful have a great day all
Peace and Blessings
Cheryl...Snatch JOY~!