Christmas Fruitcake

November is the perfect time to prepare for Christmas.🎄 This week, I've ordered nuts and dark chocolate chips to have on hand to bake cookies. Buying a few items at a time is the way to do it. Planning and making lists equal calm.

The following recipe is a David Parke share. David Parke is a Facebook friend of mine from the United Kingdom, who retired after years of serving on Queen Elizabeth II's staff. I have no idea what position he held and haven't had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but he uploads very tempting recipes. My classmate, a romance author, makes the best fruitcake ever found here, but it requires lots of Kentucky bourbon and weeks of time. My in-person friend has so many requests for her fruitcakes, she began selling them.

If you don't order or make hers, try this one uploaded on Facebook by David Park:

Christmas Fruitcake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruits (raisins, cherries, apricots, and cranberries)

1/2 cup candied orange peel

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup dark rum (or orange juice for a non-alcoholic version)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

Optional Glaze:

1/4 cup apricot or peach jam, warmed

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tsp milk (adjust as needed for consistency)

David's directions as quoted verbatim ...

"Instructions:

1. Prepare the Fruit Mixture --

In a bowl, combine the mixed dried fruits, candied orange peel, and nuts. Pour the rum (or orange juice) over the mixture, cover, and let it soak for at least 2 hours or overnight for the best flavor.

2. Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Pan --

Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease and line a 9-inch loaf pan or round cake pan with parchment paper.

3. Mix the Dry Ingredients --

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in a medium bowl. Set aside.

4. Make the Batter --

• In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Stir until just combined.
• Fold in the soaked fruit and nuts, along with any remaining liquid from soaking.

5. Bake the Cake --

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Optional Glaze:

For a festive glaze, mix the powdered sugar with milk until smooth. Brush the warm jam over the cake, then drizzle with the powdered sugar glaze.

Details:

Prep Time: 20 minutes (plus soaking time)

Bake Time: 60-75 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours (including soaking)

Servings: 8-10 slices

Tips:

a) Storage: Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap, then foil, and store in an airtight container. This cake tastes even better after a few days!

b) Flavor Boost: Brush the cake with additional rum or fruit juice every few days for extra moisture and depth of flavor.

This Christmas Fruitcake Delight will bring a taste of the holiday spirit to your table. Each slice is packed with festive flavors and warm holiday memories—perfect for a cozy winter celebration!"

I aim to make this fruitcake (for Thanksgiving?). It looks sensational! Hmm, I must grab some dried fruit while shopping for my weekly groceries. Nowadays for Christmas, I prefer confections that aren't super sweet yet have other flavors and textures creating a party in your mouth! Like European cakes and pastries, call them adult sophisticated sweets if you will!

Thanks, David Park, for the share!

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Brownies From Scratch For My Friend's Birthday

Brownies are a friend's favorite treat. Since I'm not a brownie fan, I've never made them until I wanted to surprise her with a thoughtful gesture on her birthday. I've always disliked brownies because they're usually too gooey and sweet. However, if I do say so myself, my brownies came out perfect, so, of course, I'm going to share the recipe here with you, my awesome readers, and if I ever make brownies again they'd be as delicious:

Dark Chocolate Brownies From Scratch

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 1/4 cup of regular white sugar

3 eggs (work best at room temperature)

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon of instant coffee

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (or almost any vegetable oil you have)

3/4 cup of cacao powder (or substitute Hersey's dark cocoa powder)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I buy unbleached.)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt [If you use salted butter leave the salt out.]

1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe's brand.)

Directions:

1) With an electric mixer combine the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time mixing them in. With this recipe be careful not to overbeat, just mix enough to combine the ingredients.

2) I added the ingredients in the order listed, so next toss in the vanilla and instant coffee. Instant coffee enhances the chocolate flavor of the brownies.

3) Mix the rest of the ingredients into the batter, except for the chocolate chips. Those fold in with a spatula.

4) I lined a 9" by 9" pan with aluminum foil and sprayed the foil with cooking spray. If you only have an 8" by 8" pan, it works too, but a bigger pan than 9" you'd need to double the recipe and possibly increase the baking time.

5) Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. Tap the pan on a table and use your specula to even out the batter.

6) Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes and then turn off the oven. You don't want to overbake the brownies.

7) While the oven was still hot I put a few squares from a huge Trader Joe's Belgium dark chocolate bar on top of the batch of brownies and let it melt, then spread it evenly over the top.

8) Let cool completely before you cut the brownies into squares. I didn't cut my brownies so I could pick up the aluminum foil and pack it into a box to surprise my friend. When we cut it to eat, the squares cut clean.

The brownies were just the right amount of sweet, reminding me of European confections. A lot of flavor, not overly sweet.

The brownies came out exactly as I had hoped, moist with a nice crumb, yet not gooey and very flavorful. My friend loved them. She used the word gourmet to describe them, and I like them also. Bullseye, a mission accomplished!🎯🤎

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Chocolate Was Once A Beverage For the Rich

Doan's White Chocolate Coconut Cake Is A Favorite of Tom Cruise

All photos courtesy of Spectrum 1 News

Doan's Bakery in Westland Hills, Los Angeles, CA, has been family-operated since 1983. Its White Chocolate Coconut Cake became famous after actor Tom Cruise began sending it to his celebrity friends each year for Christmas. It's a $50 cake that costs $130 to ship overnight via Goldbelly nationwide. Mentions on Jimmy Kimmel's and Jimmy Fellon's late-night shows put the cake and bakery on the map. Bakery co-owner, Karen Doan [who partners with her son, Eric and his wife, Carrie] says the secret to the cake's success is to add more, not less of the finest ingredients. This means more coconut and white chocolate. Below is a copycat recipe with the hands of creator Karen Doan in the images making the original cake:

White Chocolate Coconut Cake

Ingredients for the cake batter

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

½ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon coconut extract

5 ounces white chocolate, melted

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions for the batter:

1) Beat together the butter and sugar.

2) Next mix in the eggs one at a time.

3) Mix in the coconut milk, buttermilk, coconut extract, and melted white chocolate.

4) In a separate mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

5) Fold in the dry ingredients, 1/4 at a time, into the wet ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. 

6) Pour into a large buttered bundt pan [or 2 buttered 9" cake pans if you wish].

7) Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 45 - 55 minutes or until the center of the cake produces a crumb when tested with a toothpick.

8) Cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan(s) while still warm. If you make the bundt cake, you'll flip it over. The bottom becomes the top.

Ingredients for the Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups of powdered sugar, more if needed
1 tablespoon coconut extract

14 ounces of flaked coconut (toasted if you wish to toast it) for the top and sides of the cake.

Directions for the Frosting:

1) Beat the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar together until fluffy. Add the coconut extract and incorporate.

2) Spread it on the cake. Professional bakers put the cake in the refrigerator, then frost it a 2nd time.

3) Finish with the shredded coconut -- padding it on the sides and top of the cake.

Will you make a bundt or 2-layer cake?🎂

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Skinny Bread Pudding For One

Photo: Arabe Datsh - another good recipe for bread pudding.

Remember when 80s model Kate Moss was criticized for saying "Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels?" Well, I happen to agree with her and think it's good to practice the sentiment 90% of the time, then eat whatever we wish 10% of the time ... and I'm not anorexic or bulimic. I eat healthy, balanced meals most of the time. Nobody said anything about starving!

10% of the time perhaps you can enjoy my Creole Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce, but 90% of the time, you might consider a low-fat recipe with a fair amount of nutrition: 

Skinny Bread Pudding For One

Ingredients:

1 piece of whole-grain bread

1 egg

1/2 cup skim milk

A pinch of Stevia or a teaspoon of honey, sugar, or your sweetener of choice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:

1) Cut your bread into cubes.

2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, sweetener,
vanilla extract, and cinnamon.

3) Toss the bread cubes into the egg and milk mixture and let the bread absorb the liquid.

4) I use either a pad of butter to grease a small baking dish or cooking spray before pouring the mixture into it. (Line the baking pan with aluminum foil and you can avoid washing a pan.)

5) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.

6) Wait at least 10 minutes before you eat it. You can also sprinkle the top with a bit more sugar or syrup. A sprinkle of more sugar or a little syrup adds only a trace more calories. 

We develop a liking for whatever food we eat over and over including low-fat desserts. I love skim milk and whole grains. The recipe works especially well with low-fat milk because of the whole-grain bread. Delicious! Moreover, when you eat unprocessed food that is low in fat or sugar soon your palate develops a taste for it. 

We can savor rich, high-calorie treats once in a while and likely enjoy them more if we eat them as treats instead of all the time!

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Canada's Nanaimo Bars

Oh, Canada, why have you been holding out on me?

These classic Canadian cookie bars popped up on my Facebook feed. They are named after Nanaimo, British Columbia, but I've never heard of them. They look so delicious I've decided to make them! After googling the recipe to find that other recipes call for custard powder, another food item I've never heard of and won't find in my supermarket, I decided to go with this 12 Tomatoes recipe adapted from Classic Cooking. I like the white chocolate flavor in the custard layer. Another version of Nanaimo bars suggests making a coffee-flavored custard, also tasty! You choose. I'll go with white chocolate the 1st time.

Nanaimo Bars - 12 Tomatoes version:

Ingredients:

Photo: 12 Tomatoes - FB

Bottom Layer --
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
⅓ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed
8 oz sweetened coconut, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)

Pudding Filling -- 

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup heavy cream 

2 tablespoons white chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups powdered sugar

 

Photo: 12 Tomatoes

Chocolate Topping -- 

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips - See my tweak - step 6.

4 tablespoons salted butter 

Optional: ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions: (From 12 Tomatoes with my tweaks in blue font).

1) Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside. (It works in a buttered 9x9-inch baking pan equally well. I think the crust is better without parchment paper.)

2) Melt 1 stick of cubed butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder, salt, and brown sugar, remove the pan from heat, and whisk until mixture is well-blended.

3) Slowly whisk in the beaten egg and mix constantly until the egg is incorporated. Return the pot to the stovetop over medium heat and cook until the chocolate mixture has thickened, stirring frequently, for up to 2 minutes.

4) Stir in vanilla extract, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, and graham cracker crumbs. Once blended, pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes.

5) Beat 5 tablespoons unsalted butter with heavy cream, and instant pudding powder until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar until a creamy mixture comes together. Spread the cream filling over the top of the chocolate base layer and recover with plastic wrap. Return the pan to the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Photo: BBC

6) Melt chocolate chips with butter in a microwave-safe bowl, cooking in short increments of time and stirring until melted and smooth. Add salt, if using, and stir until blended. (See my tweak below👇). Spread chocolate topping over top of the cream filling. Cover with plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes or until the chocolate has completely set. My chocolate ganache is pure and simple without sacrificing flavor: Melt chocolate chips or broken dark chocolate pieces in a microwave-safe bowl with a tiny amount of any fat milk. Remember you can always add more milk, but can't remove it, so start with less. You don't need the butter or salt to make chocolate ganache. After melting, stir well and pour the ganache over the 2nd layer. Cover and refrigerate.

7) To serve, cut into squares. Store in an airtight container. If stacking your Nanaimo bars, place a layer of parchment paper in between each layer. Don't stack the cut bars as thy're moist because of the middle layer of pudding. It won't end well! 

Makes 16 bars. Refrigerate any leftovers and return the next day to eat the batch up! Let's not lie and pretend otherwise.

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Swedish Cardamon Cake With Caramelized Topping

Photo of carmelized almond topping courtesy of David Lebovitz

A Swedish cardamon cake is a simple coffee cake, which we're going to bump up a notch by making a caramelized topping, one we can do the easy way by carmelizing it inside the same springform pan as the cake, itself, is baking. Did you expect anything other than a shortcut from THE SAVVY SHOPPER, queen of one-pot or pan dishes? I bet you dislike scrubbing a sink load of pots and pans as much as I do! Nonetheless, the results of this simple dessert will be so scrumptious and fancy that you can use it as a birthday or holiday cake, or bring it as a contribution to summer cookouts! So let's get started, shall we?

Cardamon cake

Ingredients:

For the caramelized topping -- Use a 9-inch springform pan, so you can simply remove the sides of the pan, leaving the cake intact. 

1/4 cup butter - Smear a generous amount of butter on the bottom of the springform pan to start. Thick, not thin.

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup sliced almonds (or almonds brokered into pieces)

For the cake batter:

1 stick of unsalted butter

1 cup sugar (Cut the sugar by 1/4 cup to reduce the sweetness if you wish.)

3 large eggs  

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1 - 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (Eyeball the consistency. Start with less and stop if you can easily stir it.)

1 tablespoon of dried cardamom (or you may use cardamon seeds)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice 

Directions for the topping:

1) Generously butter the bottom of a springform pan and distribute the sugar covering the buttered bottom. Next toss in the almonds.  During the baking of the cake, its topping will caramelize. When the cake is baked, you'll flip the bottom over to become the top of the cake.

Directions for the batter:

2) To make the batter, beat the softened stick of butter and sugar together. Next mix in the eggs one at a time.

3) Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Go here for 6 best Swedish bakeries.

4) Pour in the buttermilk, then the cardamon, and lemon juice.

5) Pour over the topping that is already in the springform pan. 

5) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 50 - 60 minutes.

6) Remove from the oven and let cool. Warm is ok for removing the sides. and transferring it to the serving dish. The bottom of the cake becomes the top.

An easy-to-make cake that looks and tastes like a fancy cake! It's how we roll here on THE SAVVY SHOPPER. Smaklig Måltid!🎂🍦

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Easy Homemade Strawberry Cake

Photo: KeyIngredient

I have a craving for a slice of strawberry cake and so decided to make one. A majority of recipes call for a box of strawberry jello, dried flaked strawberries, or 6 eggs, but c'mon ... an overabundance of ingredients to buy ... or just too eggy for my tastes. A homemade cake should be light, moist, and simple. Moreover, starting with a box of white cake mix? Fuhgeddaboudit! IMHO: There are 2 instant foods that make no sense to buy. They are: (1) instant rice and (2) cake mix since in using either one the prep isn't reduced, only the flavor. Hey, I say when you don't feel like making a cake from scratch, buy a cake from a good bakery! But finding a good bakery isn't necessary today, my lovelies, as here's an easy-peasy homemade cake recipe to follow using fresh strawberries, all-purpose flour, and only 2 eggs, items often in your pantry: 

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

16 ounces of strawberries: For 3/4 cup strawberry puree, plus 1/4 cup diced and mashed strawberries. You'll need to prep but can do it ahead of time. (See how-to below.)

3/4 cup sugar 

1 stick of butter softened

2 large (or extra large) eggs 
2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional: use strawberry extract if you have it).

A squirt of lemon juice (optional)
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt 
½ cup buttermilk

Preparation of the strawberries - Makes (a) 3/4 cup of strawberry puree and (b) 1/4 cup of diced, mashed strawberries: Toss about 12 ounces of strawberries into a blender to get 3/4 cup of strawberry puree. If necessary, add a 1/8 cup of water -- but strawberries are usually juicy enough. Next, simmer the mixture in a saucepan to reduce the liquid, and afterward cool the puree completely. Set aside. Dice and mash the remaining 1/4 cup of strawberries, then sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on top, and set aside. This 2nd mixture will give your cake some chunks of strawberries in the texture. If you have extra strawberries, feel free to bump the chunks up to 1/2 cup that folds into the batter in step 5 below.

Directions:

1) Use an electric mixer to combine the sugar, butter, and 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree. Save the rest of the puree to make the frosting.

2) Add the eggs and vanilla, a squirt of lemon, and beat.

3) Mix in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

4) Next add the buttermilk.

5) To the batter, fold in the diced, mashed strawberries with juice.

6) Pour the batter into 2-9 inch buttered and floured cake pans.

7) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 40 - 50 minutes or until done in the center.

Strawberry Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter softened

The remaining strawberry puree

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or if you have it, a sprinkle of strawberry extract)

1 box of confectioner's sugar.

Directions:

1) Mix the butter, strawberry puree, and vanilla together, and add 1 cup of confectioner's sugar at a time to the mixing bowl until you get the right consistency of frosting. Use as much of the box as needed. I simply pour it in and stir. When it thickens into frosting without being too stiff or thin, I stop. I also add drops of milk if necessary.

When I was a young child we had a man who grew and sold strawberries by walking our neighborhood and yelling, "Strawberry, strawberry, straw-ber-ry man." This cake reminds me of him, an industrious, hardworking, city farmer.🍓

On Facebook, I learned our neighborhood once had a Ragman (who rode a wagon pulled by a horse) and a Popcorn Man who came around to sell their goods. I remember having a Fuller Brush Man, a Potato Chip Man, an Egg Man, an Avon Lady, and an ice cream truck. If they came to the house at the right time, they ate lunch or drank coffee with us.🏇

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Plum Crazy Desserts Part 2

Photo: the Spruce

Have you been following? I'm down to 2 1/2 pounds of dried plums and still figuring out ways to eat them. In fact, they are quite moist as is, yet tasteless if popped into your mouth ... lacking the sugar and heat of say, dried ginger. So if you want flavor, you have to turn them into desserts. Following are 2 plum desserts that look especially appealing to me. Eash sweet can be baked in a square baking pan, then cut into squares if you wish.

The 1st dessert is less work than traditional English plum pudding, its cousin across the pond (which surprisingly contains no plums). This one does --

Plum Pudding With Caramelized Sauce

Tweaked from Idaho's Prepared Pantry

Ingredients:

2 cups dried plums, chopped

1/2 cup of boiling hot water

1 stick soft butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Start with 1/2 cup of milk -- up to 1 cup (Step 6 explains.)

Directions:

1) In a separate bowl, let the diced plums soak in boiling hot water for 1 hour. (My dried plums were very moist out of the bag so I didn't have to soak to rehydrate them.)

2) In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugars, and eggs.

3) Sprinkle in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4) Add the flavors, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

5) Toss in the plums with water and walnuts. 

6) Starting with 1/2 cup milk, add to get a not too thick or too thin batter consistency. I used nearly 1 cup of milk. Stop before you arrive at runny.

7) Pour into a well-buttered square baking pan.

8) Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until done in the center. While baking you can make the sauce.

Caramelized Brown Sugar Sauce

Ingredients:

1 stick of softened butter

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon good Kentucky bourbon

Directions:

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan.

2) Stir in the sugar and continue whisking.

3) Dissolve the cornstarch into the milk and add it to the mixture continuing to whisk while the sauce simmers and thickens. 

4) Finish off near the end by flavoring with the bourbon.

After cooling down a bit, pour the Caramelized Brown Sugar Sauce over the Plum Pudding. 

Note: I'll omit the sauce the next time I make this dessert. Everyone agreed the cake is moist and tasty without it. We put sauce on the side, and nobody ate it after a bite. We liked the sauce but it didn't improve the cake or pudding as it is called.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The 2nd dessert is a crumble ... crisp, crumble, cobbler, to know the difference go here.

Plum Berry Crumble

Ingredients:

Filling Ingredients --

💟 2 cups plums, soaked in 1 cup of boiled hot water for 1 hour. 

💟 Then pour the plumped-up plums with the water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into a blender (or food processor) to puree.

💟 1 1/2 cups blueberries (or a mixture of berries) - leave whole

Batter Ingredients --

1 stick softened butter (Eyeball the consistency. It should be crumbly. You can add a 2nd stick of butter if needed. I try to cut back on the fat and sugar when possible without ruining the dessert.)

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cardamon

3 cups Quaker Oats (1 minute, or old fashioned works)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar.

2) Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together.

3) Toss in the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.

4) Divide the batter in half. 

5) Press half of the batter in the bottom of a well-buttered square baking pan.

6) Spread the filling of plum puree and toss some whole blueberries (or other berries) on top of the bottom batter.

7) Spoon the remaining batter on top of the filling.

8) Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Much maligned, who knew dried plums and prunes (which are Italian plums) make such tasty desserts? And, the healthy dried plums have a convenient no-rush self-life! We can always have a bag of dried fruit waiting in the pantry.💜

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