Good Eats: Dutch Babies

Do you love it when you find a meal that your whole family will eat?  I do.  It happens so rarely in my house.  You see, I have a child who is a super picky eater and has been from birth.  So, when I find something that he will eat right along with the rest of us, I use it...a lot!

It makes me feel all June Cleaver when I can sit down at my table with my 3 angelic children, hungry after a day of play, and my husband who has worked so hard all day.  With my table perfectly set, my kitchen nice and tidy and a fire, cheerfully cracking in the fireplace...and then I snap back to reality.  I am no June Cleaver and my kids are no Beaver and Wally.  No, my kitchen has cracked eggs on the counter and dirty dishes in the sink.  My children have been fighting and whining all day.  My husband HAS worked hard all day...if you can call drawing "hard" work (wink, wink). And if I lit a fire in my fireplace, it would fill my home with smoke faster that you can say, "Mom, what's for dinner?"

But this recipe, the reason for this post, is a tried and true family favorite.  Mr. Smarty Pants loves it so much that when he was three and at the doctor's office for a well-child check, the doctor asked him what he does when he is hungry, and he answered "Eat Dutch Babies."  I had to quickly explain that Dutch Babies were actually eggs and flour and milk, and not some poor child from the Netherlands.

Anyhoo, here is the recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 450.  In a 9x13 baking dish, put 4 TBSP of butter in the bottom and put into pre-heating oven.

4 Eggs, beaten until foamy

1 cup milk
1 cup flour

Add to eggs and beat the heck out of em.

Pull pan with melted butter out of the over.  Pour egg mixture over butter, but do not mix them together.  Pop the whole thing back into the oven and bake for 16-minutes.  (I don't even wait for the oven to finish pre-heating before I put the Dutch Babies in to bake).

It will puff up in the oven and turn a nice golden color.  Serve as soon as they come out of the oven.  I top mine with cinnamon, powdered sugar, and syrup.  Or, if I'm feeling crazy, I caramelize some green apples and put them on top with syrup.  We always pair our Dutch Babies with some sort of fruit and either bacon or sausage.  Yum!

***Rule of Thumb: sometimes I make this for the boys for lunch and I don't need to make a whole batch.  So, if you want to make smaller batches, or perhaps a larger batch (because one 9x13 pan doesn't quite feed our whole family!), then here is the rule: for every ONE egg, use 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup milk.  Easy-Breezy.

Lemon Blossoms

I have this thing with cake.  I love it.  Not all cakes however, just certain cakes.  I also have this thing with lemons.  I L-O-V-E lemon!  I could eat lemon-y food all the time.  So, when I came across this recipe a few years ago, I thought I had finally made it to paradise.  It is lemony perfection at its best.  Thank you Paula Dean for this fabulous recipe.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you "Lemon Blossoms"


***Disclaimer: You cannot eat just one teeny little cupcake.  Oh no!  Take caution.  If you eat one, then you will inevitably eat another...and another...and another...and another.  Consider yourself warned!


Lemon Blossoms


Ingredients

• 18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
• 3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon  pudding mix
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray . Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter , filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Chocolate Chip Cake, or "I Think I've Died And Gone To Heaven" Cake

There are times when we sit down to eat and Todd takes one bite and asks me if that particular recipe is written down and where he can find it.  I always joke that he is just asking so that one day when I'm long gone, he can give it to his new wife to make.  (He doesn't deny it!)  Well, THIS is one of THOSE recipes.  This cake is TO-DIE-FOR!!!  I'm not even joking.  Try it.  Right now.  Seriously...start pre-heating your oven so it will be ready for you when you're done reading this post.

Pre-heat your oven to 325.

Chocolate Chip Cake

1 bar (4 oz) German chocolate
1 pkg plain yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla pudding (I use cook and serve, but instant works great too)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Pre-heat oven to 325.  Lightly grease and flour a bundt pan.  Set aside.

2. Break the German chocolate into 4 pieces.  Grate bar until it is finely grated.  Set aside.

3. Place cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Blend on low for 1-minute.  Stop machine and fold in grated chocolate.  Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2-minutes more, scraping sides down again if needed.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  The batter should look well blended and the chocolate chips should be evenly distributed.  Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing it out with the spatula.  Place in oven.

4. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 58-60 minutes.  I like to keep my cake with the side exposed to the oven up...it gets a little bit crispy and you know how I like me some crunch!