by Kathryn Shay
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups oats*
Boil water and Crisco. Add sugar and cocoa. Bring to boil briefly.
Add peanut butter, vanilla and oats. Heat through. Remove from heat.
Before they harden, drop on parchment paper or waxed paper in a ball.
Let stand until hard. Or can refrigerate.
Store in refrigerator.
*An alternative: substitute 1 cup oats, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup nuts
Chinese Noodle Cookies
Once again this is a recipe from my husband’s side of the family. They’re very, very rich and so good, you’ll never forget them. Plus, they’re easy!
12 oz. chocolate chips
12 oz. butterscotch chips
3 cups Chow Mein noodles, dry
2 cups cashews
Put chips in microwave bowl for 3 minutes or until soft. Stir.
Mix in other ingredients. Stir.
Place on heaping tsp. of batter onto parchment paper or waxed paper.
Place in refrigerator to harden. (These will not harden at room temp.)
Store in refrigerator.
Magic Cookie Bars
350º for 25-30 minutes until golden brown
You’ll never forget this dessert. I volunteered at a domestic violence shelter for 11 years and brought them a treat every week. This was by far their favorite.
½ cup butter
1 ½ cups Graham cracker crumbs
14-oz. can evaporated milk (Eagle)
6 oz. chocolate chips
6 oz. butterscotch chips
3 oz. shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
Melt butter. Sprinkle in Graham cracker crumbs. Press firmly into pan.
Pour ½ milk over the above.
Spread on top coconut, chips and nuts.
Press firmly into pan.
Add remaining milk.
Bake 25-30 minutes at 350º until golden brown.
Chocolate Ice Cream Roll
375º for 10 minutes.
My absolutely favorite dessert! I make it for my family, my guests and often bring one or two to dinner parties.
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup flour
½ cup powdered cocoa
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ gallon softened vanilla ice cream. You can substitute any flavor you want.
Before you start, separate the yolks and whites into different bowls. This is why you can roll the cake.
In one bowl:
4 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Beat yolks until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add in sugar and vanilla extract.
In another bowl:
4 egg whites
½ cup sugar
Beat until soft peaks form in whites. Gradually add sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. (Sometimes they don't get stiff. It's okay.)
Blend together:
¾ cup flour
½ cup powdered cocoa
1½ tsp. baking powder
Fold yolks into whites.
Fold flour mixture into egg mixture.
Spray and flour small cookie or jellyroll pan. Spread mixture in this. (It will be very thin.) Bake at 375º for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle dish towel with powdered sugar. Loosen cake from pan and turn out on towel. Do this carefully with flat spatula. It will come out in one piece! Roll cake and towel. Let cool while roll.
Unroll, dispose of towel (it’s messy), fill cake with ice cream, re-roll, wrap in aluminum foil and freeze for several hours. (I usually make this the day before I serve it.)
Frost just before serving. Use canned frosting (which is great) or make the following:
Peanut Butter Frosting
½ stick butter
½ cup peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Milk (determined by consistency)
Confectioner’s sugar mixed with cocoa (determined by consistency)
Soften the butter, add two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Start with a half cup of milk and a cup of Confectioner’s sugar and cocoa. Mix with electric mixer until blended. Keep adding milk and sugar until you get the desired amount for the number of cookies you made. (You have to eyeball this.) Make sure it’s thick enough.
Apple Cake
350º for 1 hour
This cake has an interesting origin. As an adult, I took ballet lessons. At the end of the class, we had a party and someone brought in this cake. My family embraced the dish. My father loved it best, and because we lived in different cities, I used to bake this in bread pans sometimes, and mail it to my dad. Also, my husband chooses this cake as his birthday cake every year. Of note: it takes forever to peel and cut the apples. Elicit help from spouse or kids.
6 large apples, peeled
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 cups flour
2 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup oil
⅔ cup orange juice
1 TBLS. vanilla extract
4 eggs, slightly beaten
Peel, core and slice apples. Mix with ½ cup sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Combine flour in one bowl, 2 ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
Combine in another bowl oil, orange juice, vanilla extract and eggs.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Beat batter with electric mixer 3-4 minutes. The batter is thick, but if you don’t have exact liquid ingredients the batter will be too thick.
Lightly spray and flour a 9x13 pan. Pour ½ batter into pan. Be careful not to use too much or too little. Spread ½ apples on top. Pour rest of batter in pan. Spread rest of apples on top.
Bake at 350º for 1 hour. Check doneness by testing with a knife inserted in the middle, and if it’s doughy when removed, bake more.
Banana Nut Cake
350º for 35 minutes
This was always a favorite growing up (in Corning, New York). It seems my mother spent hours preparing it, then frosting it. Once again the batter is all from scratch like most Italian desserts. Everybody picked this as their birthday cake. You should follow this recipe exactly as it’s tricky.
1 ⅔ cup shortening
2 ½ cups sifted cake flour. Do not substitute regular flour.
1 ⅔ cups sugar
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ¼ cup mashed bananas. These must be really ripe or the cake will be bitter.
⅔ cup buttermilk (Combine ⅔ cup regular milk with 1 tsp. vinegar to make buttermilk.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
⅔ cup chopped walnuts. This is optional. I prefer the cake without it.
Soften shortening.
Stir in dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add bananas and half of the buttermilk and mix until all flour is dampened.
Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
Add remaining milk and eggs. Beat 2 minutes. Fold in nuts (or not).
Spray two round 9 inch cake pans, pour in batter evenly and bake at 350º for 35 minutes. Cool.
Boiled Frosting
Boiled frosting is a must for this cake. Do not use canned frosting because it’s too sweet. I must confess, my frosting is never as perfect as my mother’s. Must be she just had the touch.
1 cup white sugar
⅓ cup water
1 TBLS. light corn syrup
2 egg whites, no yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar
Combine sugar, water and corn syrup. Boil without stirring until a dollop or snake like line forms when dropped from a spoon into water.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Pour hot syrup over whites while still mixing. Beat until fluffy.
Add vanilla extract and beat unt
il blended.
If mixture is not fluffy, may add 1 TBLS. confectioner’s sugar at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Spread on layered cake.
Chocolate Pudding
I actually did do “pudding painting” with my kids, as described in my books, though I confess, I didn’t make it from scratch for that purpose.
¾ cup sugar
2 TLBS cornstarch
½ tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2-oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 TBLS. butter or shortening
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk and chocolate. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from heat.
Gradually stir 1 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg.
Return the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture in the saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat for 1-2 minutes more. Do not boil.
Remove the saucepan from heat. Add butter and vanilla extract. Stir until the butter is melted.
Pour the pudding into a 1 quart bowl. Cover the surface with clear plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator, without stirring, about 3 hours. To serve, spoon the pudding into individual dishes. Makes 4 servings.
Butterscotch Brownies
350º for 30-40 minutes
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup butter softened
1 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
1 ½ TBLS. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups butterscotch morsels
¾ cup nuts
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until creamy. Mix in eggs.
Gradually combine into flour mixture.
Stir in 1 cup morsels and nuts. Spread into sprayed 13x9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.
Bake at 350º for 30 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.
Tortoni Cups
This is a recipe my sister Patty used for dinner parties. Tortoni is very popular with Italians.
1 qt. vanilla ice cream softened
½ cup sliver almonds, toasted
2 oz. chocolate bar, shaved and grated
2 TBLS. chopped maraschino cherries
2 tsp. brand flavoring
¼ tsp. each grated lemon peel and orange peel
Mix ingredients together. Put muffin cups in muffin pans. Fill with mixture.
Cover and freeze for one week.
Serves 10.
