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Delicious Icing That Outlines and Fills

I have followed Sally of Sally's Baking Addiction for years. She has built an empire. This icing recipe originated from Sally, and I have attached the link to her instructions at the end of this blog. While preparing my article for the spring 2022 issue of Saskatoon Home Magazine, I tried several icing recipes. This one tastes great on my Vintage Gingerbread Cookie Cut-Outs, and I will use it again. Visit Saskatoon HOME magazine, Spring 2022 (page 39) for the cookie recipe.   

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of Rogers Golden Syrup

4 to 5 tablespoons of room temperature water

Pinch of salt

Method:

Using a fork, stir ingredients together with 4 tablespoons of water.

It will be very thick. Switch to a whisk and add another half tablespoon of water.

Test: If you lift the whisk and a ribbon of icing drizzled back into the bowl will hold its shape for a few seconds before melting back into the mixture, then the icing is the right consistency. You might need to add a tiny bit of water to reach this state.   

Once you are content with the consistency, divide the icing into small bowls and add food colouring as desired. Remember icing darkens as it sets. 

Spoon into icing bags or squeeze containers. Outline cookies and then fill. The icing dries in 24 hours, and then you can layer the cookies to freeze them. 

Find the icing recipes I usually pair with my shape cookies by visiting the spring 2022 issue of Saskatoon HOME magazine.  

Sally's Baking Addiction is a fun, informative, inspiring site. Pour a cup of tea and browse there while you sip. 

Fantastic Microwave Oven Toffee

I have followed food blogger Jaclyn of Cooking Classy for many years. Visit her site and click Microwave Caramels for her mother-in-law’s recipe. I have adapted the recipe to suit my needs. I incorporate this toffee into Butterscotchies and Crater Cookies. The story of my inspiration for developing the recipe for my Crater Cookies is featured in the 2022 spring issue of Prairies North Magazine. I hope Jaclyn discovers this post so she knows how much I love this toffee and how often I incorporate it into other recipes. 

My old family recipe for making toffee is similar to this microwaved version. It contains 2 cups brown sugar, ½ pound butter, ¾ cup golden syrup, and 1 tin of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk. It suggests boiling this mixture for about 20 minutes or until the toffee forms threads when dropped into cold water. Pour the resulting toffee onto a buttered baking sheet. Once cool, break the toffee into shards. Although this old recipe is simple enough, I now prefer making Microwave Oven Toffee.  

Microwave Oven Toffee

If you have a candy thermometer, use it for this recipe.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

½ cup Rogers Golden Syrup

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup sweetened condensed milk 

A pinch of salt

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract 

Sea salt

Method:

Butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish. I use my silicone folding pan. Set aside.

Place the ½ cup of butter into an 8-cup microwave-safe batter-bowl and heat until melted. 

Add Rogers Golden Syrup, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and a pinch of salt to the melted butter and whisk until well-mixed. 

Microwave mixture on HIGH power for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, remove from microwave and test the temperature with a candy thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a small amount of toffee into ice water and remove it. It should still be pliable, not too soft, or too hard. The thermometer should read between 238°F and 242°F. 

Add cooking time in 20-second intervals, if required. The wattage of your microwave makes a difference but so does altitude. I usually find 6 minutes is perfect. 

Once you feel the toffee is cooked, add vanilla extract, and mix well using a whisk.   

Pour the toffee into the buttered pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Place in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes or until set. 

Cut toffee into rows of under ½ an inch in width and then cut the rows into 2 or 3 pieces. Wrap the thin rectangles in wax paper and twist the ends. 

I prepare one cup of toffee chips to use in my Crater Cookies, and I set aside 130 grams of toffee to make gluten-free Butterscotchies for my grandson.

I am allergic to soy, and this toffee recipe is soy-free and has paved the way for me to enjoy several new treats. I plan to make Gluten-Free Applescotch Muffins next. Stay tuned for that recipe. 

I store the toffee in the refrigerator. Five minutes on the counter makes it ready for serving. It remains soft and chewy, and my husband enjoys it often. I have now made this recipe over a dozen times.

I hope you try it and that you check out Jaclyn’s Cooking Classy site for other great recipes.  

Maureen's Crater Cookies

Preheat oven to 350° F

The complete story of my inspiration for developing these cookies was featured in my "Eats and Treats" column in the Spring 2022 issue of Prairies North Magazine.

Dry Ingredients:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk the dry ingredients together

Prepare:

1 cup of toffee chips (Chop home-made toffee or use your favourite brand. Harder toffee may need to be crushed with a mallet.) 

8-ounces, about 2 cups, pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (see note below for toasting)

Moist Ingredients:

½ cup butter 

¼ cup shortening (I use Compliments vegetable shortening)

1¼ cups packed dark brown sugar

Beat butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed until very light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add:

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Beat in eggs until incorporated with the butter-sugar mixture. Beat in vanilla.

Then, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, folding in until combined. 

Mix in nuts and toffee, just until blended. Refrigerate for approximately 10 minutes. 

To Bake:

Place scoops of dough 3 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets using a 2-inch scoop. Dampen hands and gently press cookies to flatten. Chilling the dough reduces spreading a little. Some spreading is required to create toffee craters. 

Bake cookies for about 12 to 14 minutes. Serve warm or store up to three days in a cookie tin at room temperature. The cookies become softer with storage, and I like that. Freeze after three days. 

NOTE: To toast pecans, preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread them on an aluminum cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, stirring at 2 or 3-minute intervals. Keep a close eye on the pecans because they burn quickly.  

A Modern Take on Vintage Butterscotchies

Awe, the ever-popular cornflake - Kellogg’s is a name synonymous with pressed, toasted corn, but there are other brands, including some that are gluten-free.  

Butterscotchies are a delicious treat made by coating cornflakes in a toffee mixture. They are easy to make. I am allergic to soy lecithin, an ingredient in most purchased toffee. I found a soy-free recipe for Fantastic Microwave Oven Toffee so that I can partake in this treat too. 

My vintage recipe for Butterscotchies originally called for 2 boxes of Mackintosh Toffee. Over the years, packaging sizes changed. Some years ago, I determined a weight measure for the toffee required in this recipe. 

Recipe Ingredients:

130 grams of the toffee of your choice. I make microwave oven toffee and love the results. 

1 tablespoon of butter or margarine

1 tablespoon milk or milk alternative

2 cups Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or corn flakes of your choice

Melt the toffee, milk, and butter in a double boiler. No cooking is required. 

If you don’t have a double boiler, try to buy or borrow one, but as an alternative, you can melt ingredients in a heat-proof bowl over a pot containing boiling water. You could also melt the ingredients on medium-low in your microwave oven. A Staybowlizer makes one vessel fit another perfectly.

When the toffee mixture has melted, add the cornflakes to the pot.

Stir gently until the cornflakes are entirely coated, then drop small mounds of the mixture by teaspoon onto waxed paper and place in the fridge to harden. One can use a mini-muffin pan to make portions even. If you are using home-made toffee and gluten-free corn flakes, adding the mixture to mini-muffin cups helps hold these treats together. 

These melt-in-your-mouth treats are easy to make and delicious to eat. I often double this recipe. Put them in a tin and hide them because they disappear faster than you can make them. 

A Celebration Trifle for Any Season

Despite having many trifle recipes, I often return to this easy, child-friendly version after a holiday season. A trifle is a desirable reinvention of leftover baking. If you made my Cherry Bundt Cake, as featured in the winter 2021 issue of Saskatoon HOME, and are lucky enough to have some left, try this recipe. 

It's fun to serve this trifle in long-stemmed glasses with small spoons or in antique teacups. The great news is that you can freeze the remainder of this trifle in small containers to serve at a later date. It is the texture of fine ice cream when it's frozen. We love it! 

A Berry Cherry Celebration Trifle

Adapted from an Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 ½ cups cold water

1 package (4 servings) instant lemon pudding mix 

2 cups whipping cream, whipped

300 grams of frozen Bundt cake, thawed and cubed 

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries or berries of choice 

½ cup strawberry jam

Berries to garnish

In a large bowl, combine Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk and water. Add the instant pudding powder, beat well, and place the mixture in the refrigerator to set. 

Beat the whipping cream until peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the milk and pudding mixture. Refrigerate.

Assembly:

Spoon 2 cups of pudding mixture into a 4-quart glass bowl. 

Add a cake layer using half the cubes.

Then add half of the fruit.

Dot with half the jam.

Add half of the remaining pudding mixture.

Then repeat layers of cake, fruit, and jam.

Top with the remainder of the pudding mixture, and chill for at least four hours before serving.  

This trifle serves 10 to 12 people.  

Make it Your Own: 

~Use the cake you like best. I always use the last of my Cherry Bundt Cake, but you could choose white, chocolate, or mocha.   

~Use the flavour of pudding that would best complement your cake choice.

~Choose a complementary jam as well. I can imagine cherry jam with chocolate cake. 

~Buy the fresh or frozen fruit of your choice. Mixed berries are also delightful.

~This trifle should be refrigerated for three to four hours before serving to allow the flavours to develop. 

Famous 1950s Cherry Winks

Recipes for Cherry Wink cookies can be found in many old cookbooks, but Ruth Derousseau is credited with creating the recipe and winning the Junior Pillsbury Bake-off contest in 1950. I have several alternative versions. One recipe is nut-free and another one calls for less flour. Perhaps your old, family cookbooks contain a recipe for Cherry Winks that someone remembers making or at least eating. These cookies can be frozen for at least a month, and they add a festive touch to your dessert table.

Cherry Winks should be savoured with a cup of tea while reading a good book. Chewing every bite slowly allows me to enjoy the crisp cornflake coating, the cake-like texture, the crunch of nuts, and the sweetness of the dates and cherries. 

Famous 1950s Cherry Winks

Preheat oven to 375°F

Prepare fruit and nuts, then set aside:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped dates

½ cup chopped maraschino cherries

Crush 2 ½ cups of cornflakes and place in a shallow dish.

Sift together the dry ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Combine wet ingredients:

Cream:

½ butter

¼ cup shortening 

1 cup granulated sugar

Add:

2 eggs to creamed mixture and beat lightly.

Add:

2 tablespoons milk

Add:

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. 

Fold the fruit and nuts into the dough. 

Create:

Use a one-tablespoon cookie scoop to measure dough. Roll dough into a ball. Roll each ball of dough into the cornflake crumbs.

Place cookies onto greased or parchment lined cookie sheets. Top each ball with ¼ or ½ of a maraschino cherry. Place in a preheated 375° F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, then cool completely on a rack before storing. 

Serve or store these delicious bites.

Fresh Pineapple Marinated in Rum

This straightforward, mind-blowingly delicious recipe is for adults only! 

Ingredients:

1 pineapple, cut into cubes

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons rum, preferably dark

Cut the top and bottom from a pineapple. Cut down the sides to remove peel and eyes. Cut the pineapple into quarters. Remove the core. Cut the quarters into cubes. 

Or:

Use a handy pineapple slicer like the one I borrowed from my daughter. This tool cores and slices the pineapple all at once, and I will buy one the minute I find one. Remove the stack of sliced pineapple from the device and cut it into cubes. 

Method:

Place the pineapple cubes in a medium-sized bowl. Mix the rum and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour rum mixture over the pineapple and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or a few hours. 

Serve the pineapple in chilled stemware and garnish with berries. 

This simple fruit preparation is delicious on a warm day or after a robust meal. I have also served it over a slice of Chameleon Cake with a dollop of whipped cream. Yummy. 

This recipe was adapted from Anne Lindsay’s The Lighthearted Cookbook. Healthy never tasted or smelled so good!!

Pineapple Pecan Loaf

I have a better relationship with food when I don’t repeat the same food items each day. I stock my big basement freezer with containers of pancakes, loaves, and scones. I use recipes that call for a variety of protein, fruit, and grain. I fill my stackable Freezer Mates Plus storage containers with a variety of breakfast options. This stacking container separates spicy pumpkin pancakes from apple raisin scones and slices of Pineapple Pecan Bread. I never mix a variety of flavoured baking in one container because the tastes transfer and ruin the eating experience. 

One stack of Freezer Mates holds a week’s worth of breakfasts and takes up very little room in my narrow kitchen freezer. At the end of the week, I replenish my kitchen stash from the containers in my basement deep freeze.

One of the breakfast foods I enjoy is Pineapple Pecan Bread, which is delicious when eaten frozen, warmed slightly, or enjoyed at room temperature. I eat it plain, but it is tasty with butter or cheese. The flavour of pineapple and the crunch of pecans enhance this breakfast experience. Yummy! 

Pineapple Pecan Bread

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a loaf pan

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour or flour of your choice

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup chopped pecans

Moist Ingredients: 

⅓ cup shortening

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir in nuts. Set aside.  

Cream shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in sour cream and pineapple. 

Fold dry ingredients into moist ingredients just until blended. 

Turn into a buttered 8” by 4” loaf pan and let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350°F and bake for 60 to 65 minutes. Cool loaf in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Turn loaf out of the pan and leave until fully cooled. Wrap in plastic. This loaf improves over the next few days; slice and freeze. 

NOTE:

I used my heavy red enamel loaf pan and placed the oven rack in the center of the oven. This loaf was ready in 60 minutes.

Golden Angel Food Cake

After making the recipe for Vintage Angel Food Cake featured in Saskatoon HOME Magazine's spring issue, you will have 10 or 12 egg yolks remaining. If baking one cake a day is enough for you, you will be glad to learn that egg yolks will keep for about 24 hours covered and refrigerated. 

The next day, take the yolks from the fridge about an hour before you want to make this Golden Angel Food Cake. If you hope to make a truly golden cake, choose eggs with bright yellow yolks. This recipe produces a not-quite angel food cake because it contains egg yolks rather than egg whites. It is like angel food because it is free of shortening, rises well, and is best baked in an ungreased angel food pan with a removable bottom.

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Ingredients:

10 to 12 egg yolks

1 2/3 cups sifted cake flour (sift flour before measuring)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup hot water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Method:

Add baking powder and salt to the sifted, measured flour and sift again.

Beat yolks until slightly thickened, then add hot water gradually, and beat until fluffy. Add flavouring to the yolks, then add sugar gradually while continuing to beat until thickened and smooth.  

Fold flour into the egg mixture ¼ at a time until blended. 

Spoon batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes until the top bounces back when touched. Invert pan to cool. 

Sometimes, I fill my 7 ½ inch angel food cake pan to the 2/3 line and bake the rest of the batter as cupcakes (6 to 8). My husband likes this cake served with maple syrup. He also enjoys it topped with Maureen’s Butter Tart Sauce. I prefer it topped with fruit and whipped cream.

Other recipes that include egg yolks are:

The Boy's Favourite Butterscotch Pudding

Raspberry Bundt Cake

This cake is a staple at my house. I have made it often and in several different pans. It is delicious at a brunch buffet, served with coffee for a quiet breakfast, or dressed up for a special occasion. Several years ago, I gave my mother-in-law a take-home Raspberry Bundt Cake and a new coffee pot on her birthday. She was hosting her bridge club the next day, and I knew she would enjoy serving the cake and pouring coffee from her shiny new pot. 

This cake stays fresh for a few days on the counter, and the remaining cake can be frozen. Decorate it to suit any season. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Ingredients for Raspberry Bundt Cake: 

To make this cake, you will need a full cup of raspberry yogurt. The rest of the ingredients are pantry basics and include butter, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, flour, soda, baking powder, and salt. Have fun choosing your Bundt pan. 

Cream the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl:

½ cup softened butter 

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer.  Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla and mix. 

Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl:

1 teaspoon soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour 

Mixing Method: 

Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture alternating with 

1 cup raspberry yogurt 

Once this thick batter is well mixed, spoon it evenly into a well-greased and floured 9-inch tube pan (8-9 cup) or Bundt pan, and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes. Cool and sprinkle with icing sugar or drizzle with glaze. This cake can successfully be made a day ahead of serving. Enjoy!

NOTE: My mother-in-law was 89 in the introductory photo. She lived past her 98^th birthday. 

My Favourite Vanilla Glaze

Melt ¼ cup of butter. Blend in 2 cups of sifted icing sugar. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Gradually add 2 to 4 tablespoons of hot water, one spoonful at a time, whisking until the glaze is the desired consistency.