Dessert

Apricot Delight

by

Fredia
This makes large amount. Holiday Crowd size.

Base:
1 large box apricot (or peach) Jello
2 cups hot water
2 cups cold water
2 pounds can crushed pineapple, drained and the juice saved
2 large bananas, thinly sliced
1 cup miniature marshmallows

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 package of dream whip
Walnut halves or cherries

For the base:
Dissolve the Jello in 2 cups of hot water. Add 1 cup cold water. Pour into 9 x 13 glass baking pan. Chill until thick, then stir in the crushed pineapple, bananas, and marshmallows. Let Jello harden for 2 hours.

For the topping:
Cook the sugar, flour, pineapple juice, and butter over low heat until thick. Cool to room temperature, then beat in the cream cheese. Fold in the dream whip. Spread over the base. Cut into squares.
Add walnut half or cherry to the top of each square.

This dessert may be made a day ahead of serving.

Lemon Custard Cake

by

Directions from https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/lemon-custard-cake/

1 10 inch angel food cake
1 3.4 ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
1 1/2 c cold milk
1 cup sour cream
1 21 ounce can cherry or other pie filling

Tear angel food cake into bite-sized pieces. Place in a 13-in. x 9-in. pan. In a bowl, combine the pudding mix, milk and sour cream. Beat until thickened, about 2 minutes. Spread over cake. Spoon pie filling on top. Chill until serving time.

Custard For Two

by

1 egg
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350°.

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl and pour the mixture evenly into 2 ramekins or other oven safe bowls.

Place the ramekins in a tall-sided baking pan in the oven and pour hot water into the pan around the ramekins, to about halfway up.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until the center is just set. Allow to cool before serving.

For more on hot water baths for custards: https://food52.com/blog/12677-how-to-use-a-water-bath-without-landing-in-hot-water

Shoo Fly Pie

by

Lou

1 unbaked pie shell

Filling:
1 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

Topping:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine molasses, baking soda, and cinnamon. Pour boiling water over molasses mixture until melted. Pour into bottom of the pie crust.

Mix together the flour, shortening, sugar, and cinnamon until they resemble coarse crumbs and sprinkle over the top of the pie.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Melissa’s Note: I actually have made this one. It was surprisingly tasty, but apparently I couldn’t take a clear picture of it to save my life. Maybe next time.

Banana Split Cake

by 
Bottom:
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling:
2 (pasteurized*) eggs
1 cup margarine, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
3-5 sliced bananas
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained

Topping:
1 large container whipped topping
1/2 cup chopped cherries
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Make the bottom crust by combining the melted margarine and graham cracker crumbs and pressing them into the bottom of a 9×13 baking pan.
Beat the eggs, softened margarine, and powdered sugar together for no less than 15 minutes.
Spread over the crust. Cover with a layer of sliced bananas and crushed pineapple. Add a layer of whipped topping. Sprinkle on the cherries and nuts.
Refrigerate overnight.

Serves 15-16

*You can also get pasteurized liquid egg. I don’t (and am not going to) put a lot of food safety updates on these recipes, but salmonella is no fun. The disclaimer still stands. 🙂

Miracle Fruit Cake (4 1/2 lb)

by

1 cup dried dates, sliced
1 cup seedless raisins
2/3 cup butter or oleo
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup hot water
2 eggs
1 pound (2 cups) fruit and peels *
1 cup chopped nuts
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

*It looks like you can buy it this way?

Combine dates, raisins, 2/3 cup butter/oleo, brown sugar, molasses, and water. Boil gently for 3 minutes. Cool in a large mixing bowl, then beat in eggs. Add the fruit and peels and chopped nuts.

Sift the dry ingredients together, then add them gradually to the fruit mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour into a 9 inch tube pan lined with greased parchment paper.

Bake at 275° for 2 1/2 hours or until tester comes out clean. Remove the cake from the pan and cool thoroughly. Wrap securely in foil and store in a clean air-tight container in a cool place. Age 3 to 4 weeks to improve flavor. Will store well for 6 weeks.

Melissa’s Comment: I was worried about the “Age for 3 to 4 weeks” and “will store well for 6 weeks” since there is no alcohol in this fruitcake recipe, but here is an article from King Arthur Flour: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2016/11/03/fruitcake-timeline that implies this is ok. Maybe I will attempt this recipe this year! Carry on!

Lemon Pie (Filling)

by

From what I can tell from Grandma’s recipe box, she LOVED lemon desserts. You are going to see a LOT of lemon recipes. 🙂

3 heaping tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup cold water*
2 1/2 boiling water*
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon of butter**
juice of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1/2 lemon

Moisten the corn starch in the cold water, then add the sugar and eggs. Slowly pour the mixture into the boiling water, stirring constantly. Add the lemon juice and grated lemon rind. Turn the heat down and allow to thicken, continuing to stir.

*The water amount is a guess based on other lemon pie recipes I found. Good luck.
**As best as I can find, a lump is anywhere from one to four tablespoons. A tablespoon seems to be standard for lemon pie filling recipes.

Melissa’s Comment: I rearranged the directions here. I am pretty sure a lump of cornstarch and sweet, wet scrambled eggs would have been the result of the originally written method. Not that, you know, it’s happened to me or anything.

Thank you to Samantha, Michael, and Patch for recipe corrections.

Syrup For Popcorn Balls

by

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cook the sugar, syrup, butter, and vinegar until it forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water (soft ball stage on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Add food coloring if desired.

Melissa’s Comments: I think we can guess what color food coloring Grandma liked to use! *grin*
Now I want popcorn balls.

Banana Nut Bread

by

Agnes

1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup nuts
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 well ripened bananas

Mix together and pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.

A friend had some better instructions, so I am moving them up from Comments.  Eventually, I will re-write the recipe here, but until then…
Patch
August 25, 2019 at 3:05 pm | Edit | Reply
I think Grandma was leaving out all the instructions she knew to do, like I did when I was copying down 23 different banana bread recipes or whatever it ended up being. 😀
(And when I was developing a new muffin recipe, or an applesauce bread recipe, etc, I just wrote down ingredients and skipped all the instructions. My grandchildren will despair! Hahahah.)
Read the ingredients by rows instead of columns, and then it’s more clear: butter and sugar go together, because they’re creamed together. Then you add the vanilla and the eggs. It works best to combine the dry ingredients (the next 4 things) in a separate bowl so that they’re well distributed when the dry and the wet come together. Not sure why the water and bananas are last, I normally add bananas after eggs. Not sure if it will change texture or consistency, or not.

I may retake this photo at some point.