Tammy McKissick's French Madelines

4 eggs
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1 1/2 c clarified butter
1 Tbsp vanilla
confectioners' sugar

Stir eggs and sugar into top of double boiler until creammy and lukewarm. Remove from heat and beat until cool (it takes FOREVER, you may consider using a stand mixer).
Add flour gradually, mixing well.
Fold in butter and vanilla... there is a lot of butter, so it takess a while to fold in, and you may think you are doing it wrong, but it will all mix together.

Use special shell-shaped madeline molds that have been buttered and floured (or small 1 1/2 inch muffin tins). Fill molds 2/3 full. Fill muffin tins less than 1/2 full.
Bake in a 425 defree oven for ten minutes or until lightly browned.
Dust cooled cookies with powdered sugar (or, like I did for the shower, dip in melted semi-sweet chocolate chips).

Yields: 5 dozen

Sandi Huang's Lemon Cake

1 box lemon cake mix
1 small box instant lemon pudding
1/2 c. oil
1 c. sour cream
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. lemon juice

Mix everything together. Pour into a bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 (325 if pan is dark) until toothpick comes out clean. (I use the time on the back of the cake box, but start checking it 10 minutes before so I don't overcook)

Frosting
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cube butter softened
1 cube cream cheese
powdered sugar
fresh lemon juice

Cream together butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Alternate powdered sugar and lemon juice until desired consistency and sweetness is achieved. (I add yellow food coloring to the frosting to make it extra pretty)
Frosting should be slightly runny so it can be heavily drizzled over the top.

Amy Wiederhold's Bundt Cake with Ganache Topping

Yellow cake cooked in a bundt pan

Ganache Topping for Cake
½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup real milk chocolate chips

Heat heavy whipping cream on stove top to a rolling boil.

Remove pot from heat. Add chocolate chips and shake

pot handle to make chips settle evenly. Do not stir. Let sit for 5 minutes. Take a

whisk and gently stir until mixture becomes shiny and is evenly mixed. Pour

topping onto unmolded, cooled cake.

Jenny Heyman's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

1 Box of Spice Cake

1 can of pumpkin

chocolate chips

cream cheese frosting

Mix the spice cake mix with the can of pumpkin. Add chocolate chips and drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet (the batter will be ooey gooey). Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or sometimes I cook them even a bit longer. Once they're cooled off, frost the bottoms of the cookies and make into sandwiches. Whoopie! You're done :) Easy, right?

A couple notes: Don't actually make up the cake mix and add an egg and all that. Just use the mix that comes in the box and stir it in with the pumpkin. Usually the only can of pumpkin I am able to find at the store is the large sized cans of it. So the amount isn't exact, I just add about half the can or a little more sometimes. If you can't find regular canned pumpkin, the pumpkin pie mix works fine too.

Dyan Johnson's Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

These aren’t, as the recipe notes warn, actually “crumb” bars, with the streuselly topping you might see on crumbles or coffee cakes. Instead, they’re more like a raspberry sandwich cookie, yet less sweet than a typical dessert, and more earnest somehow.

I think you could easily swap the raspberries with blackberries.

For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Make the crust and crumb: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. (Note: The book suggests you reserve one cup only. My gut told me that was too little, and I upped it. I wanted to make sure the top of the raspberries were mostly covered, at least for packing purposes, and was glad I had changed it.) Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hans or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Make the raspberry filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars: Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan every 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

Melita Garmon's Grilled Roast Beef Sandwiches

4 Servings

Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, sliced

1 medium green pepper, sliced

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

8 slices sourdough bread

16 slices Colby-Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese, divided

8 slices deli roast beef

1/2 cup butter, softened

Garlic salt, optional

Directions

In a large skillet, saute the onion, green pepper, mushrooms and garlic in oil until tender; sprinkle with salt and pepper. On four slices of bread, layer two slices of cheese, two slices of beef and a fourth of the vegetable mixture. Top with the remaining cheese and bread.

Butter outside of bread; sprinkle with garlic salt if desired. On a hot griddle or large skillet, toast sandwiches for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Yield: 4 servings.

Melita Garmon's Basil Tomato Soup

Total: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 15 cups

Ingredients

2 medium onions, chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

3 (35-oz.) cans Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes with basil

1 (32-oz.) can chicken broth

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

3 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 (16-oz.) package frozen breaded cut okra

Preparation

1. Sauté onions in 2 Tbsp. hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 9 to 10 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes. Process mixture with a handheld blender until smooth.

2. Process basil, next 4 ingredients, 1/4 cup water, and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir basil mixture, sugar, and pepper into soup. Cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

3. Meanwhile, cook okra according to package directions. Serve with soup.

from Southern Living, OCTOBER 2010