Sugar Cookie Murder (29 page)

Add half of the flour to the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Mix in the milk, and then add the rest of the flour.

When the chocolate mixture is cool enough to touch, add it to your bowl. Mix thoroughly. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula and then add the nuts. Give a final mix.

Let the batter rest for several minutes, and then pour it carefully into the prepared Bundt pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F., for 60-70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the ring comes out clean.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 25 minutes. Loosen the cake around the outside and inside edges with a sharp knife and tip it out onto the wire rack.

Let the cake cool completely and then glaze. (Or, if you don’t’ feel like making a glaze, just dust the cool cake with confectioner’s sugar.)

Chocolate Glaze:

1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

¼ cup cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine in a microwave-safe bowl. (I use a 1-quart glass measuring cup.) Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate chips are melted. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more cream. If the glaze is too thin, add a few more chips.

Drizzle the hot glaze over the crest of the cake and let it drip down the sides.

POPPY SEED CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 box yellow cake mix (1 pound, 2.25 ounces)

one package (4.3 ounces) lemon pudding and pie filling (not sugar-free)*

4 tablespoons poppy seeds

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

• You can substitute a 3.4-ounce package of Jell-O Lemon Instant Pudding and Pie Filling if you can’t find the kind of pudding you have to cook.
  

Grease and flour a Bundt pan.

Dump the dry yellow cake mix in a large bow. Mix in the dry lemon pudding and pie filling. Add the poppy seeds, lemon juice, water, and oil. Mix until well-blended.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Beat for two minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer or three minutes by hand.

Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the outside edges and the middle, and tip the cake out of the pan. Let the cake cool completely on the rack.

When the cake is cook, drizzle Vanilla Glaze in ribbons on the top and down the sides. (Or, if you don’t feel like making a glaze, just let the cake cool completely and dust it with confectioner’s sugar.)

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons cream

Measure powdered sugar into a small bowl. Stir in vanilla and cream. Stir until thoroughly mixed. The glaze should be the proper consistency to drizzle over the cake. If it’s too thick, add a bit more cream. If it’s too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle the glaze over the crest of the cake and let it drip down the sides.

Refrigerate until serving.

ROSE’S FAMOUS COCONUT CAKE

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

A note from Hannah: Rose McDermott called to give me this recipe the day before I had to turn everything in to our editor. This has come close to convincing me that the man in the red suit with the sleigh is real. Tracey asked for six things in her letter to Santa, and she got three of them. If she gets that puppy she wants, I’m a believer.

1 ½ cups butter, softened

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream * (you can substitute plain yogurt for a lighter cake)

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon coconut extract (if you can’t find it, you can use vanilla)

1 ¾ cups flour (not sifted)

2 cups coconut, flaked or shredded (pack it down when you measure it — more is better in this case.)

• Generously grease a Bundt pan. Dust it liberally with flour and knock off the excess.
  

Cream softened butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. (You can mix this cake by hand, but it takes some muscles.) Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until they’re nice and fluffy. Then add the sour cream, baking powder and coconut extract.

Put the flour and the coconut in a food processor. Process with the steel blade until the mixture looks like fine cornmeal. (You don’t have to do this if you don’t have a food processor, but most folks like it better.)

Add half of the flour and coconut mixture to the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Add the rest of the flour and coconut combination and mix until the batter is smooth.

Let the batter rest for 5 minutes or so. Then pour it into the Bundt pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake at 325 degrees F. for 60-70 minutes. The cake should be golden brown on top and wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake ring should come out clean.

Cool in the pan on a rack for 25 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edges of the cake to loosen it and don’t forget to loosen it around the funnel in the middle of the pan. Turn the cake out on the rack and let it cool completely.

When the cake is completely cook, glaze it with Coconut Glaze.

Coconut Glaze

1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

¼ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon coconut extract (or ½ teaspoon coconut and ½ teaspoon vanilla extracts)

¼ cup coconut flakes

If the powdered sugar has big lumps, sift it. Otherwise, use it as it is. Put the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add the heavy cream and the coconut extract. Stir until smooth. (If you can’t get it smooth, you may need to heat it for 30 seconds or so in the microwave on HIGH, and then stir again.)

If the glaze is too thick to pour over the cake, thin it with a little more cream. If the glaze is too thin, thicken it with a bit more powdered sugar.

Drizzle the glaze over the crest of the cake and let it drip down the sides. Sprinkle the cake with the coconut before the glaze dries.

Mother’s been after Rose for years to use my Chocolate Glaze on this cake. (You can find it in my Lady Hermoine’s Chocolate Sunshine Cake recipe.) She even took Rose the recipe. Rose liked it a lot, and now she offers two cakes, one with Coconut Glaze and the other with Chocolate Glaze.

COCONUT GREEN PIE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Bridget Murphy makes this green pie every year for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. She says that if green food doesn’t spark your appetite, either cover the top with whipped cream, or shut your eyes when you eat it.

You’ll need a blender to make this pie. It makes its own crust.

In the blender container combine:

1 ½ cups water

one can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

½ cup Bisquick (biscuit baking mix)

3 eggs

¼ cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup coconut flakes

13-4 drops green food coloring

Blend on LOW speed for 3 minutes.

Coat a 10-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the contents of the blender container into the pie plate and let it stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 5 minutes. (The Bisquick settles to the bottom and that’s what makes the crust.

Sprinkle coconut flakes over the top of the pie.

Carefully place the pie in a 350 degree F. oven. (This takes steady hands! — I set my pie plate on a baking sheet before I fill it, just in case it spills on the way to the oven.) Bake pie for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted one inch from the edge comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack.

This pie can be served slightly warm, room temperature, or chilled. Bridget says to remind you that it’s wonderful with strong Irish coffee, and to be sure to refrigerate leftovers.

Don’t tell Bridget I said this, but you can leave out the green food coloring, if you’d rather.

PECAN PIE FOR A HOLIDAY CROWD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

For First Step:

2 cups flour (no need to sift)

1 cup butter, softened

¾ cup loosely packed brown sugar

For Second Step:

5 eggs, beaten

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

½ cup butter, melted

1 ½ cups white corn syrup (I use Karo)

¾ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups roughly chopped pecans

1/8 cup flour

First Step: Combine softened butter with brown sugar and flour. Mix well. Spread 3 cups of this mixture in a greased 9 x 13 inch cake pan and pat it down with your hands. Reserve the rest for a crumb topping. (You can use cold butter if you divide each stick into 8 pieces and zoop everything up with the steel blade of your food processor.)

Bake the crust at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN!

Second Step: Mix eggs with brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir it all up. Then mix in the white corn syrup, salt, and pecan pieces. Now add the flour and mix thoroughly.

Pour this mixture over the crust you just baked. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture from the first step on top. (At this point you can carefully decorate the top with a few half pecans, if you want to make it fancier. I don’t bother. With something this good, you don’t need decoration.)

Bake at 350 degrees F. for another 30-35 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Once the pan is cool to the touch, refrigerate it until ready to serve.

To serve, cut the Pecan Pie into 16 pieces. You can top these with whipped cream if you like, but they don’t really need it.

Bill likes to eat this cold, right out of the refrigerator. Andrea likes it best at room temperature. Carrie loves it when it’s still warm, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Mother also lies it warm, but with chocolate ice cream. I like it any way at all, anytime.

PUMPKING PIE FOR A THANKSGIVING CROWD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 ½ cups flour (no need to sift)

¾ cup butter, chilled (1 ½ sticks)

½ cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (don’t sift unless it’s got big lumps)

4 eggs

1 ½ cups white (granulated) sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)

½ teaspoon cardamom (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, but cardamom’s better)

3 ½ cups plain canned pumpkin no spices added

2 cans (12 ounces each) evaporated milk (or 3 cups light cream)

Cut chilled butter into 12 pieces. Layer them between the flour and the powdered sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture has the consistency of corn meal. (You can also do this by cutting softened butter into the dry ingredients.)

Coat a standard 9 x 13 inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the mixture inside, shake it until it’s evenly distributed on the bottom, and press it down a bit with a metal spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Let it cool while you prepare the pumpkin pie filling, but DON’T SHUT OFF THE OVEN.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl (or use an electric mixer.) Mix in the sugar, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom. Add the pumpkin and mix. Then add the evaporated milk and mix thoroughly.

Pour this over the crust you just baked. Stick it back in the oven and bake it for another 60-70 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Chill overnight, cut into 16 squares, and serve each with a generous dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

CHERRY BOMB COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

This is my Grandma Ingrid’s recipe. She used to make these for special occasions.

3 cups flour (no need to sift)

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

2 jars (16 ounces each) maraschino cherries WITH STEMS (about 65 cherries)

small bowl with powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dipping

Drain the cherries. Leave them in the strainer while you make the cookie dough.

Put flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed. Cut in the softened butter with two forks, continuing to cut until the mixture looks like coarse corn meal. (You can also do this in a food processor with the steel blade, using cold butter cut in ½ inch chunks.)

Beat the eggs in a medium-sized bowl and combine them with the sugar.

Add the egg and sugar mixture to the rest of the ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Extract small bits of dough with your fingers and wrap them around each maraschino cherry, leaving the stem sticking out. Press the bottoms of the dough-wrapped cherries down slightly on a greased baking sheet (4 rows of 4 cookies works nicely.)

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes. (Cookies will be white — if they start to brown, reduce the baking time.) Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet. Then dip them in the powdered sugar so that the entire cookie part is covered, but not the stem.

Yield: 5-6 dozen cookies.

Kids love these, probably because they can pick them up by the stem, pop the whole cookie in their mouths, and pull off the stem.

For Christmas, I make these with one jar of red maraschino cherries and one jar of green. Once they’re arranged on a platter lined with a paper doily, they’re really pretty.

CHRISTMAS SUGAR COOKIES

Do not preheat oven — this dough must chill before baking.

I came up with the cookie recipe, and Lisa did the frosting.

1 ½ cups butter, melted

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon flavor extract (lemon, almond, vanilla, orange, rum, whatever)

5 cups flour (no need to sift)

Mix the melted butter with the sugar. Let cool. Add the beaten eggs, baking powder, salt, and flavoring.