Neddy’s Kitchen

Clafouti for Fathers’ Day

Last year during cherry season I discovered the French dessert clafouti (or clafoutis) that contains fresh cherries. Captain Cliff loved it, so I made it this year for a Fathers’ Day celebration.

The Captain and I continue to like it, however none of our family took to it. One said that it tasted like bread pudding. Maybe that’s why we like it. If you want to try it, my recipe follows. Traditionally, “unpitted” black cherries are used, however, here in the U.S. dentistry is so expensive that I opted to be non-traditional. I used an olive pitter to remove all cherrystones before baking. In addition, last year I made it with Ranier cherries. I always have trouble keeping with tradition, as I like to innovate.

Edna’ s Clafouti
Serves 8

• 1 T butter
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 6-7 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup whole milk, half & half, or fresh cream (depending upon how rich you desire the resulting custard)
• 2 T kirsch or rum
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup almond flour (Use 2/3 cup of regular flour if you do not have ground almonds.)
• 3-4 cups fresh black cherries, pitted (unpitted for traditional)
• Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Generously butter a 9″ cast-iron skillet or baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated brown sugar.

Blend vanilla extract, eggs, sugar, milk, kirsch, and salt with an electric mixer or blender. for a few seconds, then add flours and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour batter into buttered skillet, then distribute cherries evenly over top. Bake until a skewer inserted into batter comes out clean and a golden brown crust has formed on top and bottom, about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a rack and then dust with confectioners’ sugar.

This recipe is from the Washington home at Mount Vernon, Virginia where Mrs. Washington’s cake is on display at Christmastime. The original cake recipe below was one of her favorite recipes.

Martha Washington’s Great Cake
(from Mount Vernon)

Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth. Then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream and put the whites of eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work’d. Then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manner then put in the Yolks of eggs and 5 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace and nutmeg half a pint of wine and some fresh brandy.

The curatorial staff at Mount Vernon notes that when they made Mrs. Washington’s cake they followed her recipe “almost” exactly. For the five pounds of fruit, they used two pounds of raisins, one pound of currants, and two pounds of apples. They used cream sherry for the wine. Martha Washington baked her famous cake in one layer, however there is no pan now at Mount Vernon large enough to hold all of the batter, therefore the staff baked the batter in two 14 inch layers and afterwards stacked them. A 350 degree oven was used for 1 1/2 hours. The resulting cake was iced with a very stiff egg-white based frosting flavored with rosewater or orange-flower water.

Martha Washington’s Great Cake was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from

GOLDEN ALMOND COOKIES

6 hard boiled egg yolks, mashed.
3/4 pound softened butter (3 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp almond flavoring
2 1/2 cups flour (sifted)
1/2 cup ground almond meal (if not available increase regular flour to 3 cups)

Cream butter, adding sugar gradually. Add egg yolks and almond flavoring. Add flour and almond meal slowly, mixing well, but DO NOT OVERKNEAD.

Using a cookie shooter, press dough about 2 inches across onto a silicon or parchment-lined baking sheet. Press an almond, small chocolate morsel or 1/2 a maraschino cherry in the center of each one. Bake at 400 degrees until the edges are JUST brown, 10-12 minutes. Any more than that, and they are overbaked. Makes six dozen cookies (inspired by http://neddy.wordpress.com/2005/12/23/christmas-baking/).

Almond Cookies
Originally uploaded by barneykin

• COOKIES
• CAKES
• PIES
• BREADS
• CANDY
• EVERYTHING ELSE

If there was REALLY a “Mrs. Claus”, she would send some of the goodies already prepared along with Mr. Claus when he makes his rounds on Christmas Eve.

Cousin Violet’s Fudge Recipe

Long ago, before collecting recipes from the Internet became de rigueur , we homemakers often traded handwritten recipes. My cousin made the most delicious fudge and I was intrigued and asked for the recipe. I had stopped making fudge because I could only manage success about once in five tries. My usual result was a soupy concoction that could only be eaten with a spoon. Cousin Vi’s recipe changed all of that. It is simple - no boiling, and I make it in the microwave oven, which we didn’t have in those long ago days of yore.

Cousin Vi is now 78 years old and her handwriting is still as beautiful. That is because she has the genes of an artist coursing through her veins, as her father was my Uncle Ben, of whom I have written much.

Cousin Vi’s Very Easy Fudge

INGREDIENTS:

• 18 ounces semisweet baking chocolate (such as 3 bags of chocolate chips)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I toast them in the oven first.)

PREPARATION:
In a heavy saucepan over low heat melt the chips into the milk, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, salt and nuts, and stir until smooth. Spread evenly into a waxed paper lined 8 or 9 inch pan. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm. Turn fudge onto a cutting surface, peel away the waxed paper and cut into even squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

*MICROWAVE METHOD: Heat chips and milk on high for 3 minutes, depending on the wattage of your oven. Stir until smooth, then follow the traditional recipe.

Christmas Tree Fudge: If you would like to made some beautiful edible gifts for Christmas, try this. Follow the recipe above using “white” chocolate and substitute 1/2 cup chopped green candied cherries plus 1/2 cup chopped red candied cherries for the chopped nuts. Oil or butter large Christmas tree cookie cutters, place on waxed paper, and pour the warm fudge into them. Let sit overnight until set. Wrap each tree, including the cookie cutter in a see-through bag and tie with a bright ribbon. VOILA!

The image, My Christmas Fudge, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from

Click here to go the site itself.

I cannot recollect where I learned about this recipe. Long, long ago someone made these delicious spice cookies and told me that the recipe was from the Brer Rabbit molasses bottle. I call them ginger snaps because I doubled the amount of ginger and increased the flour by 1/2 cup to make them crispy instead of chewy.

BRER RABBIT’s MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup Brer Rabbit molasses
2 cups flour for chewy cookies (I use 2 1/2 cups flour for crispy cookies.)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt or bring butter to room temperature. Stir in sugar and molasses, then add egg and beat well. Sift together the dry ingredients and mix with the first mixture. Chill several hours. Roll into 1- inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until bottom is lightly brown.

I created this recipe in an attempt to duplicate the wonderful “French Apple Pie” that I remember from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s when I was growing up in Maryland. My husband remembers it being served often in the dining hall when he was a midshipman at Annapolis. He says it was always accompanied by a slice of American cheese.

The Crust:

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar or Splenda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick chilled unsalted butter (4 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons walnut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 5-7 tablespoons cold milk or ice water

Mix flours, sugar and salt in bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture is consists of pea size lumps. With a fork stir in the oil and liquid. When dough is moist and holds together, form into ball. Place in a kitchen plastic bag and flatten into a disk. Wrap and chill until dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes.

Food Processor Method: Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Cut in the butter using six on/off pulses, or until the mixture consists of pea size lumps. Pour the combined milk (water) and oil into the running food processor, just until moist clumps form, aAdding more cold milk if the dough seems too dry.

Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface making two 12-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold overhang under. Crimp edges decoratively. (If the crust is prepared ahead, cover and refrigerate for up to two days.)

Makes one 9-inch double crust.

The Filling

• 4-5 large fresh apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced. (I usualy leave some peel on the apple as it gives a bit of a crunch to the texture of the filling.)
• 5 tablespoons corn starch (corn flour)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground dry ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 cup raisins soaked in 1/4 cup rum or brandy
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Wash the apples and remove any grocery stickers as peelers often get stuck on them. Core and thinly slice the apples. You may do this with an ordinary paring knife or with the nifty Oxo “Good Grips” apple corer. Remove seeds, stems, and pithy parts near the seeds and brown or soft spots. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, corn starch and spices.

Now begin preheating your oven to 425 degrees F.

Place one of the crusts in a 9 inch pie pan. Sprinkle about five tablespoons of the sugar-spice mixture into the pie crust and place a layer of apple slices, one slice deep, on top. Sprinkle some of the rum raisins on that. Continue layering the sugar-spice mix, apples, and raisins, keeping all snug so the air space is minimized. The apples cook down considerably, therefore they should be piled between 1 - 1.5 inches above the top of the pan. Place the top crust and seal and crimp edges and slice steam holes. Put the pie in the oven and cook at 425 degrees F for ten minutes. Turn the heat down to 375 degrees F and cook for another 45 minutes to one hour.

The Icing

When pie has cooled, beat until smooth 1 egg white with 1 cup of confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon of rum or vanilla. Spread or pour on cooled pie and sprinkle with toasted walnuts.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons mace
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 cup brandy
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 large orange, juiced and rind grated
1 teaspoon baking soda disolved in 2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup raisins tossed in flour (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together the softened butter and brown sugar.
Fold in molasses, warm milk, spices and brandy.
Beat eggs until very light and thick.
Sift the flour with the cream of tartar and add dry misture alternately with the beaten eggs into the batter.
Mix in the juice and the grated rind of the orange.
Dissovle soda in a little warm water, and stir in.
Beat until very light.
Fold in raisins if desired.
Bake in a 9 x 13 pan for about 40-45 minutes (325 degrees for glass pan).

This gingerbread recipe is based upon one served at Kenmore Plantation in Fredericksburg, Virginia and published in “Virginia Hospitality”, 1975.

1/4 cup chopped suet
2 tablespoons pared, chopped apple
2 tablespoons chopped candied orange peel
2 tablespoons candied lemon peel
2/3 cups chopped citron
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup currants
2 cups dry bread crumbs
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup raspberry preserves
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup brandy
1/3 cup dry white wine
Boiling water

• In a large bowl combine suet, fruits, bread crumbs, spices, salt, sugar, and preserves.
• With an egg beater beat eggs until foamy.
• Stir in milk, brandy and wine.
• Fold egg mixture into fruit mixture, combining well.
• Turn batter into a well greased two quart pudding mold with tight fitting cover.
• Place mold on trivet in a large kettle.
• Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the mold.
• Cover kettle and steam pudding four hours (water in kettle should boil gently, add more water if needed).
• Remove pudding to rack and let cool five minutes, invert on serving plate, lift off mold.

This pudding can be made at least one month before Christmas. It comes from Ms. Marple’s website, which is no longer found.