Upside-Down Blueberry Cake

This is a handed down recipe. Jason's Mom came up with this idea (so I am told) but at their house it is called "Slop". At their house it is made with blackberries, at ours, blueberries.

We use a combination of fully ripened berries and some that are just barely red. When we pick berries we pick everything that doesn't have any white on it. The blueberries in our cake are a little tart. You may want to adjust your sugar according to the sweetness of your berries.

Ingredients:
4 Cups Blueberries
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Cups Sugar - divided
1 Stick of Butter
2 Cups Flour
2tsp baking powder
1 Cup Milk
1Tbs Cornstarch
1 Cup Water to boil

Make:
1. Use stick of butter to butter a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 375. Pour berries into pan & sprinkle with cinnamon (or, if you are brave, just dust the top of the berries)
2. Mix together: 1 cup sugar, flour, melted remains of the stick of butter, baking powder, and milk together. Spread over berries evenly.
3. Mix together remaining 1 Cup sugar (or 3/4 if your berries are super sweet) and cornstarch and spread over batter.
4. Heat water to boiling (on stove or in microwave) and pour over all the ingredients.
5. Bake for 1 hr or until top is brown and hard, and the blueberries are boiling.
6. Cool for 10-15mins and serve making sure to flip it over so the berries are on the top. Or, eat cold for a fantastic breakfast!

Barbie

Our brother recently started dating. Last week he asked us to make a cake for the six year old daughter of his girlfriend. He dropped off two boxes of cake mix and two things of frosting. He told Little Sister that the six year old liked Barbie and to do what ever she wanted to the cake.

I have been wanting to make a Barbie dress cake for a long time. I do not have any daughters of my own so I thought: "Hey, let's go crazy." We went to Wal-mart to pick up extra batter, frosting, frosting in a tube (all my cake decorating stuff is MIA), and most importantly the perfect Barbie.

I thought we were being clever by putting two cake batters in one baking type dish to make a nice deep dress. Not such a good idea after all. The dress to almost two hours to bake and was super dense. However, it did look amazing.

I was told we made the Mom and the little girl almost cry. Apparently the Mom had received a Barbie cake like this for her sixth birthday. I was also told that the little girl was so excited that as soon as the candles were out she was trying to get the Barbie out of the cake! 

I am so happy that we were able to make a little girl very happy.

Happy Sixth Birthday!

Cool Treat

Best treat on a summer night: ice cream and a batch of edible cookie dough.

Trail Mix Cookies

Cookies are a big thing around here, mostly because once a batch is made, it's gone in a matter of hours. The other day my Dad came home with store bought cookies and said to me (the baker of the cookies) "These cookies are great, can you make cookies like this?" To which I replied, "You don't like my cookies?" He said, "I like your cookies, but these ones are soft and chewy, can you make yours like this?" And so the quest began to find the perfect oatmeal cookie for Dad.

Mom kept telling me, "I have an oatmeal cookie recipe that I think will work." But, being stubborn I sought out one of my own, and failed. Twice. Today I actually listened and had success!

I made them big like the men like (I like to eat lots of cookies not just one giant cookie) and filled them with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, cranberries, raisins, and finely chopped almonds. They are soft, sweet, and perfect.

Trail Mix Cookies (bake at 350deg)

3 Cup Brown Sugar (not packed)
1 Cup Shortening (Butter will make them flatter)
1.5 tsp Cinnamon
3 Eggs
1.5 tsp baking powder
6 Tbs hot water
1.5tsp baking soda
2 Cup white flour
2 Cup whole wheat flour
3 Cup Oatmeal
2 Cup Trail Mix

1.Cream shortening & sugar
2. Add eggs, then cinnamon and baking powder
3. Dissolve soda in water and add
4.Mix flours, oatmeal, and trail mix together in a separate bowl
5. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture (dough will be thick)
6. Form into balls (about the size of a large meatball) and then squish flat (I could fit about 6 on a cookie sheet).
7. Bake for 13-15 minute or until top is slightly browned and edges are brown. It should be slightly firm to the touch

Harvest Crisp

We felt the desire to have a bit of something sweet on Saturday. We looked into the fridge and found some strawberries and rhubarb. Then we recalled that there was a gallon of pears prepared to make a crisp in the freezer. We pulled it out, thawed it, and added half of them to the crisp. You could substitute any fruit, but I'd try and keep the rhubarb to retain some tartness.

Harvest Crisp

Fruit:

1 pint strawberries - sliced

4 stalks of rhubarg - sliced thin

3-5 pears (3 cups) peeled, cored, and sliced

1/4 Cup white sugar

1 Tbs cornstarch

1 Tbs flour

1. Combine all ingredients and spread out in an 8x8 dish. Allow to sit for 20-30 mins

Topping:

1 Cup quick oats

1/4 Cup white flour

1/4 Cup wheat flour

1/2 Cup brown sugar - not packed

1/2 Cup butter - slightly melted

1 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1. Mix until crumbly.

2. Using hands spread topping over fruit.

3. Bake at 350 for 40-45mins or until fruit is bubbly and topping is slightly browned.