Crock Pot Cake

Here's how to get a nice and very moist cake out of a box cake mix and you don't have to tie up your oven if you've got a couple of casseroles going in there. It takes a little longer, but the cake I made in our crockpot came out really well. You just have to be patient because you can only cook the layers one at a time and they take one to two hours for each layer.  Makes a nice sturdy little cake and you don't have to worry so much about burning it. This is a very forgiving way to bake a cake.

Ingredients:

• Cake mix or your own homemade cake batter
• Crock pot
• Spatula
• Spray oil or butter
• Frosting

Directions:

1. Plug in your crock pot and turn it on high.
2. Spray the inside with PAM or spray on margarine or rub the inside and bottom with butter or oil
3. Make up your cake batter just like you normally do.
4. Pour half of the cake batter into the crock pot. Cover and save the rest.
5. Cover and cook until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean
6. Gently run around the edges of the cake with a spatula or narrow pancake flipper till the cake releases from the bottom
7. Turn the cake out onto a cake plate. Flip it back over and allow to cool.
8. Meanwhile, respray the inside of the crock  and scoop the rest of the batter into it.
9. Cover and cook again for one or two hours until a knife in the center comes out clean.
10. Again, gently loosen the edges of the cake from the pot and turn out on a plate.
11. Allow to cool, the frost the first layer, place the second layer on top of the first and frost that. The layers may be very moist and so you have to handle them gently so they don't break. They are studier once they've cooled.
12. Cover and take to potluck with you. Makes nice tall delicious looking pieces. This is the one I made for my chocolate loving sweetie. She was much impressed.

Notes:
 

If you're cooking for a potluck, Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holiday, this method gives you more baking space. It doesn't have to be watched as closely as it doesn't burn as easily as batter in a thin cake pan does.  Just plug in the old crok and get her cooking. I'm going to try a fruitcake in the crock pot this year. I like the look of the bundt pan fruitcakes, but I'm curious to see how my grandmother's fruitcake turns out in the crock pot. I will keep one and all informed. Be sure and follow this blog for updates and new recipes.  If you have some recipes you want to contribute, I'll try them out and post them here giving you full credit, of course.

Happy potlucking!

© 2016 by Tom King

Crock Pot Cornbread

Thanksgiving is coming up and the oven is going to be a crowded place. Here's a trick to free up some space in the oven and get your cornbread done for stuffing. Not only that, but it makes great cornbread and minimizes the potential for burning it.  It also makes a nice compact and attractive cornbread for potluck. The process is simple.

Ingredients:

• Cornbread mix (Martha White is the best - no lard)
• Eggs and milk as called for by the mix 
• Optional: 1/4 cup grated Velveeta or cheddar cheese
• Alternate:  Cornbread batter from scratch
• Butter or Margarine
• Crock pot

Directions:

1. Turn the crock pot on high
2. Melt butter or margarine in the bottom of the crock pot and brush it around on the sides and evenly over the bottom of the pot so the cornbread won't stick
3. Mix up the batter while the butter is melting.
4. Optional: Grate the quarter cup cheese and blend in with the batter
5. Pour the batter into the crock pot and cover with the lid.
6. Bake for one to two hours depending on how hot the crock pot runs
7. Bake till a knife inserted into the cornbread comes out clean.
8. Turn off pot. If the crock is removable, lift it out and use a spatula to loosen the sides and bottom.  Turn out onto a plate and voila!  Cornbread!

Note:
Adding a little honey to the mix makes a nice sweeter cornbread if you like that sort of thing. To make Mexican cornbread add cheese and jalapeno or diced poblano peppers and onions. This is the easiest way I've found to make cornbread. Because it cooks slow, it's forgiving to cooks that don't multi-task well - giving you a 20 minute or so window to take it off the heat. The crock pot gives you that nice even heat like an iron skillet and makes a crisp crust with the melted butter on the bottom. And it gives you a nice cute cornbread to take to potluck. You could make two or three on Friday while you are working on your Friday housekeeping. And it'll only cost you three 50 cent boxes of cornbread mix a little milk and a few eggs. Three cornbreads this size will give you plenty to go around at the potluck and people will be amazed at how good it is warmed in the microwave just before serving.

© 2016 by Tom King

Mammaw's Tea Cakes

It's funny how words get misheard and preserved, especially among close-knit cultural groups. I was looking for this recipe in the box of recipes my wife inherited from her Mammaw Jenny. This recipe for old-fashioned Tea Cakes (the kind you have at tea time if you're British, was in an old newspaper clipping along with a recipe for cornmeal pie. It was listed as a recipe for old-fashioned "T" cakes. Not sure what the local newspaper thought the "T" stood for. There was another recipe by someone named Miranda for a "Sheith" cake - or a sheet cake as it is known throughout the rest of the world.  So T-cakes or Tea Cakes, whatever you want to call them, these are a great party cookie that's not very sweet, but just right for a little snack or a light dessert after a big old potluck.

Mammaw's Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs beaten
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients well
3. Roll dough thin
4. Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter 
5. Place cookies evenly on an ungreased cookie sheet
6. Bake until cookies are a light golden brown. Do not overcook.

Note:

You can also spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet. The original recipe also suggests using an insulated cookie sheet. I like to bake them till they crisp and turn darker around the edges.  These are very simple and come out like a cross between a cake and a cookie. Very civilized for a simple something to go with a warm drink or iced drinks. You can even substitute Truvia for sugar and lower the calories even further.

© 2016 by Tom King