BIZZY BAKES

It is good to be back.  Having been away from blogging since January, I came back with a different point of view as to what I expect from blogging and what I want to give to blogging.  This has changed greatly.  I am not sure why but I do know that before I had to take a break, I was thinking about how to change the blog and evaluating the time I put into it.  These changes may be a continuation of that or perhaps, having such a big change in my life caused me to re-prioritize. This time, I will not allow myself to feel pressured to get a recipe on the blog.  I had made up mandatory obligations for myself and if I ask why, I don't have a sensible answer.  I do have to meet my commitment to the groups I am in and that is my pleasure to do.  On the other hand, if for some reason, I can't accomplish this, I am not going to beat myself up.  Of course, this does not include any group where we cook from another blog.  That is not negotiab...

The latest bake for THB, the Home Bakers is Cranberry-Oatmeal-Walnut Cake , selected by Kit from I-Lost In Austen.  The recipe is on her blog.  She made these huge muffins.  What a treat! I made mine gluten-free so I never know how to compare it to those are baking with "real" flour.  This cake called for a full one and a half cups of oats.  All in all, it was not sweet enough for my taste.  Some of the bakers used dried cranberries which are sweeter and had a better cake.  The fresh cranberries are quite tart and even hubby commented on it. Hop on over here . to see what the other bakers have made.

We adore apples in anything, apple crumble, crisp, pie, pancakes, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, etc.  Apples have a nice sweetness and a crisp crunch.  It is a gift of the Fall.   When I was choosing recipes, for the SRC, I had come down to two, I wanted to make which I did.  I posted the soup as my choice for the SRC but I also made the German Apple Cake which hubby could not stop raving about. German Apple Cake adapted from Jenny's Cookbook Makes 16 slices Gluten-free Ingredients: 2 large eggs ½ cup canola oil ½ cup Tofutti sour cream 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups gluten-free flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 4 medium apples, peeled, cored and diced   Method: Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour a bundt pan (or a 9x13 square). Beat the eggs, oil and sour cream on medium speed with mixer until creamy. Beat in sugars and vanilla until well combined. Combine...

For the holidays, I get my baking in and when in a hurry and baking, Taste of Home is a good place to turn to.  I always find something easy to make and successful at the end.  This is no exception. I made two smaller cakes and cut one into two layers and filled it with a ready-made caramel.  That was delicious. Rich Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake ( adapted from Taste of Home) Ingredients: 1 cup margarine, softened 1 package (8 ounces)Tofutti cream cheese, softened 1-1/2 cups sugar, divided 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups gluten-free flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup Rice milk 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup ground walnuts 1 teaspoon cinnamon Method:   In a large bowl, cream the margarine, cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to creamed mixture alternately with the Rice m...

Peach-Cashew Coffee Cake  The scheduled recipe for the Home Bakers is a Peach-Cashew Coffee Cake and I am happy to say that I made this choice.  I love peaches and hubby loves nuts so we have a cake akin to a marriage made in heaven. When, I chose the cake, I did not know it was to be scheduled at this time but once I got the date, I thought, I would be able to pull it off and I guess I have.  I feel badly that I didn't get better photos but it has been an incredibly busy month with school and the Jewish holy days, which I am sure I have repeated over and over again.  I had no time to make this a second time although, I am thinking, it would be a wonderful cake for the upcoming Succot holidays.  If I do make it, I plan to update the photos, if they are better. I am sharing the recipe as it is written in the book.  I made mine gluten-free to accommodate my husband.  I ended up using frozen peaches to save the time of preparing fresh pea...

I hate to admit it but last week, I completely forgot about my Donna Hay commitment and didn't remember until days after.  Usually, I am looking forward to making our designated dish but I guess, I was so busy prepping for school that it fell off the radar.  My apologies to my Donna Hay cooking mates. I am back, this week, with the cutest little Honey Cakes.  I subbed oil for the butter and cut back on the amount by a tablespoon.  I used gluten-free flour instead of  what was called "normal" flour.  I also must have left them in a minute or two too long determined by the color around the edges. I thought the honey taste was too strong.  We were supposed to top these with double cream (what is that?) and more honey.  I could not imagine adding more honey or even confectioner's sugar so I served them plain.  Hubby was pleased and did not complain about the sweetness.  Do you think he has been hiding his sweet tooth from me, all thes...

It is rare to run out of gluten-free treats in our house.  I know, hubby takes something to work, daily so I keep something around, at almost all times.  There is always a first for everything and this was one of only a few firsts for running out.  Oh really, there can only be one first??????  Nah, we make our own rules. Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake   (adapted) 2 cups gluten-free flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup oil 3/4 cup Rice Dream 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 2 cups fresh blueberries Method: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 9-inch round pan or 9-inch square pan. Mix flour, sugar, oil, Rice Dream, baking powder, salt and egg in large bowl. Beat 30 seconds with spoon. Carefully stir in berries. Spread batter in 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle with Glaze and serve warm. 8 servings. Crumb Topping 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/3 c...

THB: 21 - Plum-Polka Dot Caramel Cake  (click above to get the recipe for this winning cake) Joyce of Kitchen Flavours started  this group and Emily of Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray selected this cake from the book, we are baking from,Coffee Cakes, simple, sweet and savory by Lou Seibert Pappas.  As far as I am concerned, we have made a lot of successful coffee cakes, since we started sharing together.  Please contact Joyce if you would like participate too .  Joyce l eads a number of groups which you might want to check out.  Have fun. I made mine with peaches which Pappas said to slice but I just divided them into two pieces each.  I was a little concerned because the peach had to be pushed down a bit further and I was afraid that it was going to push its way up.  Hurrah.  It was just fine.  I could not locate my two piece tart pan so I made this in a pie plate.  I had no problem getting it out, I am happy to say....

                                                                                                                                       I am working on catching up with the group, The Home Bakers.  I have fallen behind because of all good reasons, school, making a wedding, Passover and LIFE.  Taking a deep breath, I...

  There is this small cookbook called The Complete Yom Tov Cookbook which has a number of good recipes.  Yom means Day and Tov means Good.  Good day and for the Jewish people Yom Tov refers to a holiday.  The recipes, in this book are meant to be used in three of our major holidays. I was looking through it, since I hadn't used it, in a while.  Hubby wanted a cake, easy to cut and neat to eat.  The cinnamon cake sounded right to me.  I have mentioned before, hubby likes plain cakes, especially with nuts.  They are not necessarily exciting to make but they are usually easy to put together.  I lose some of the creativity while I do save time. C innamon Cake Ingredients: 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 cup oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup orange juice 2 1/2 cups flour 3 teaspoons baking power 1/4 teaspoon salt   Crumb Topping 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 tablespoon margarine 2 teaspoons flour 1/3 cup waln...

I absolutely ruin cakes because no one will eat them frosted in our home.  This would have to be a company cake and then I could frost it but the week, it was to be baked, there was no company.  So you get this great cake in all its nudity. Club Baked made this in November so, you can see, I am slightly late.  Did I really say slightly?  If you would like to see these cakes, in all their beauty, stop by Club Baked and there is a list of participating blogs and their links.   See the cakes, as they should look. I halved the cake and made it in a round pan and just sprinkled a little confectioner's sugar on top. The sugar was for the photo and not for taste. Hubby loves plain. This was not at all plain, though. The cake had enough flavor to hold its own. In truth, I am not sure it needed anything else. Of course, if you want a beautiful, special cake, as shown in the book, you need that yummy frosting and filling. I hope you have the book so you ca...

I am running late.  I had a last minute meeting, at school which threw my schedule off and this posting, in particular.  Fortunately, dinner is going to be late, tonight so I happily sat down, at my computer, put on folk music from decades ago, got a cup of coffee and started thinking about Bake with Bizzy. I love Bizzy.  Bizzy is more of a character than I am.  Bizzy is busier than I am and I am one busy lady.  I know how to spell "busy" and Bizzy does not.  Bizzy tends to get into mischief. I try to act my age or at least the age, I feel.  I figure, I am 30 years older than Bizzy is but I feel like she does, which makes me quite youthful. We have always believed that, if one is not limited by handicaps that slow one down, a person is as young as s/he feels.  I feel about 25 at least today.  It was a good day. I will feel even better when I share  a wonderful cake, I made for my husband.  It is a Vanilla Pound Cake from The...

We are listening to the thunder and the rain which comes down in torrents, when it does come down.  So far, so good and we are optimistic. To prove to you I am cool, I have just baked two cakes, on a cream cheese coffee cake and the other a Mango Nut Yogurt Cake.  Made them both gluten-free for hubby but I will be sharing this.  They are still baking and if possible, I will get a photo up, tonight. In the meanwhile, here is the recipe for the Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.  I plan to put the Mango cake on My Sweet and Savory .   Cream Cheese Coffee Cake   Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free brown rice blend) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup sour cream FILLING: 2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice CINNAMON-NUT TOPPING: 1/4 cup finely cho...

With vacation comes an opportunity to bake, especially for my hubby, who enjoys baked goods.  Today, I decided to bake something from Marcy Goldman.  I am not sure this is going to work but my plans for the summer are to bake from King Arthur's Flour, Flour by Chang and Passion for Baking by Goldman and of course Dorie. That was a hard decision to make. I am blessed with a number of baking books and I want to take each one and bake through it.  Not being practical, I knew I had to hold back and start reasonably.  I always rave about King Arthur's Flour recipes but I have never taken the book and really sat with it.  It is filled with explanations and how to's.  It is a serious baking book.  The recipes are workable and I usually have the ingredients.  Those are big pluses. Flour (the bakery) is a brand new book and I only read a few pages and checked out a few recipes.  I love the author's gentle style of sharing and the recipes look wond...

I rarely bake for myself and I rarely bake anything that is not gluten-free.  Years ago, a cake similar to this, was my favorite.  I decided, for the holiday, I deserved my own favorite and I made it.  I goofed in one important way.  I forgot, I was working with AP flour and used my gluten-free calculation for the size of the pan.  It rose and rose and rose way above the pan and eventually sunk in the middle.  It was fine to eat, just not the prettiest cake. Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake ( adapted from All Recipes ) Ingredients 1 cup canola oil minus one tablespoon 1 (8 ounce) package Tofutti cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup Rice milk 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Method:  In a mixing bowl, cream the oil, cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups of sug...