Committee Cake

Why is this recipe called Committee Cake? I don't know. But the cake is delicious. When I made this cake, Mom tried it and remembered making it but did not remember where she found the recipe. This cake is dense and has a slightly crunchy texture due to the addition of cornmeal.

When I made this cake, it did not rise as much as I expected. And the chopped chocolate seemed to have sunk to the bottom rather than distributed throughout the cake. The recipe calls for chocolate frosting, but does not give the ingredients. So I made a standard chocolate frosting that turned out to nicely complement the cake.

Committee Cake 

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 6 ounces chocolate chips, finely chopped

Chocolate frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cake: Beat the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Mix and sift together the corn meal, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk in two additions and mix well after each addition. Stir in chopped chocolate. Pour into a well greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool before frosting.

Frosting: Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternate adding powdered sugar and milk. Add in vanilla. Mix until spreading consistency. Add additional milk if needed. Spread the frosting on cake. Enjoy!

Swiss Roll

I enjoy eating Swiss rolls, but I had been a bit intimidated to try making one. I saw this recipe in Mom's recipe box and decided to get over my fear. Yes, the process of rolling up the cake is delicate, but doable. I used parchment paper to line the baking pan, and then used a soft cloth to help roll the cake after putting the filling in. There were a few cracks in the cake, but it mostly survived. This version came out fine, and I expect with more experience I could perfect my skill at rolling the cake.

Swiss rolls come with in all flavors of cake and filling. This version is a basic golden cake with raspberry preserves as filling. It was so delicious. Often Swiss rolls include whipped cream or some other cream filling, which would be good, but just the fruit is enough for this recipe.

Swiss Rolls 

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 jar (12 oz.) raspberry preserves

Beat the eggs until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Sift in flour baking powder. Fold into eggs gradually, mix very lightly. Fold in water and vanilla. Spread in 15x10 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes or until delicate brown. Sprinkle remaining 3 tablespoons sugar over cake. Loosen the edges, turn out on waxed paper or a kitchen cloth. Spread cake with preserves. Roll up from wide side while cake is still hot. Wrap in parchment paper. Set aside to cool. Enjoy!

Unstuffed Cabbage

This recipe makes a hearty meal, but is easier to make than stuffed cabbage. Instead of making rolls stuffed with meat, everything cooks together in one pan. Stuffed cabbage is a classic Eastern European recipe that looks much nicer than a pan with everything mixed up, but the taste is the same.

When making stuffed cabbage, the head of cabbage needs to be boiled to soften the leaves. For this recipe, the cabbage is cut and placed in the bottom of the pan to cook with everything else. The rice does not need to be pre-cooked, but is just mixed in with the meat and formed into meatballs.

Unstuffed Cabbage 

• 1 medium head cabbage, cut into wedges
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 cup raw rice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
• 3 cups water

Place cabbage wedges in bottom of a large pan. Combine ground beef, salt, pepper, rice, garlic, onion, butter, and egg. Form into medium-sized meatballs. Place on top of cabbage wedges and cover with tomato sauce and water over all. Cover tightly and simmer for 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Confectioners Sugar Pound Cake

This recipe uses simple ingredients that are pantry staples. Originally, pound cake was made from a pound of each of the four main ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. The proportions have changed over time, but those four ingredients form the basis of this cake. Pound cake is a classic cake that is so easy to make. The only flaw with the recipe is that it bakes in the oven for 90 minutes. This cake is delicious and well worth the wait.

This recipe uses confectioners sugar instead of granulated sugar, which makes a slightly denser cake. Otherwise, the ingredients used are standard for pound cake. When I made this cake, I dusted it with sugar rather than frosting. But I think this cake would be excellent with chocolate frosting.

Confectioners Sugar Pound Cake 

• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 pound confectioners sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 cup flour

Beat the butter until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, beating well after each addition until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually stir in the flour, blending until flour is incorporated (do not over beat). Pour into a greased bundt pan. Bake at 300 for 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Tuna Broccoli Bake

This casserole recipe makes a delicious meal. Instead of using a can of creamed soup, the recipe uses a French white sauce made from scratch as a base. Although making the white sauce uses up another pan, it is easy to make, so give this recipe a try. The fresh sauce serves as a good base for this casserole. The recipe makes a small casserole, but could easily be increased to make a larger casserole to feed more. Also, Mom's recipe indicates that it can be frozen before baking, making it a good make-ahead meal.

One ingredient in the recipe is just listed as savory. My best guess is that it is McCormick savory seasoning, which contains a number of ingredients including basil and paprika. Rather than recreate the seasoning, I used parsley. But you can use any seasoning of your choice.

Tuna Broccoli Bake 

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. savory 
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup shredded Swiss 
• 2 cans tuna, drained
• 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

Cook butter, stirring often. Blend in the flour. Stir in milk, salt, savory, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until mix thickens and boils. Combine sauce with the remaining ingredients. Turn into a casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Sweet and Savory Meatballs

Homemade meatballs are easy to make and allow for customization of flavor and size. These meatballs were a hit. They make a hearty meal or could easily be used as an appetizer. The recipe uses a variety of flavors to make a tasty sauce to accompany the meatballs.

When I made these meatballs, I made them medium sized. A smaller size meatball would be good for an appetizer, and a larger size meatball would be fun for a big meal. The recipe calls for serving the meatballs with rice, which would be delicious. I had some elbow macaroni on hand, so I used that instead. Whether you use pasta or rice, be sure to add it into the pan to let it soak up the sauce. When I made this dish, I also added some spinach to the sauce to add flavor and vegetable to the dish.

Sweet & Savory Meatballs 

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup fine dried bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. butter or oil
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup canned tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• dash pepper
• cooked rice or pasta

Mix beef, crumbs, onion, egg, and garlic; shape into 16 meatballs. In a skillet, brown the meatballs in the butter or oil; pour off fat. Add remaining ingredients except the rice or pasta. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until done. Stir now and then. Serve with rice or pasta. Enjoy!

Pretzels

These soft baked pretzels are so delicious that it can be hard to stop eating them. Pretzels usually have a recognizable brown color that results from dipping the pretzels in boiling baking soda water that gives the pretzel a chewy crust. This recipe does not call for that step. You could certainly dip these pretzels in the boiling baking soda water before putting them in the oven, but the pretzels were delicious even without that step. I especially enjoyed eating the pretzels fresh out of the oven.

The recipe calls for using bread flour, but I did not have any on hand, so I just used all-purpose flour. Bread flour has a higher gluten content and creates a chewier bread. I found these pretzels to be chewy enough, but may try using bread flour next time. As for the size of the pretzels, I made them so that each one was about the size of a hand, but they could easily be made smaller or larger, depending on your preference.

Pretzels 

• 3 quarts bread flour
• 1 quart water
• 1/2 ounce yeast
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cup butter.

Dissolve the yeast in part of the water. Dissolve the other ingredients, except the butter, in a mixer with the balance of the water. Add the yeast solution. When partially mixed, add butter and mix to a smooth firm dough. Allow the dough 15 to 20 minutes to recover. Divide the dough into one ounce units and roll out each into sticks about 14 inches long. Form each dough stick into a pretzel, pinching the ends into place. Place the pretzel on a greased pan, wash with some welted butter, then proof until double in size. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool. Enjoy!