Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013

Can't have Christmas without Grandma Gits' Hot Milk Cake!

Best.Coffee.Cake.Ever.OfAllTime.

Grandma Gits and her friend used to get together once a month in the summer and bake up a storm. My favorites were the cinnamon rolls and Hot Milk Cake. This hot milk cake was our Sunday breakfast staple after we got home from Church.  I've seen it occasionally in older cookbooks, one called it a "Lazy Daisy Cake." Easy to make ahead - all you need to do is finish off the coconut frosting under the broiler. But it's the airy cake that makes it such a great recipe!

Grandma Gits' Hot Milk Cake
Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan (you can double the recipe for a 13x9x2 pan).  Preheat the oven to 350.
For the Cake: 1 cup flour                                     pinch salt
                      2 eggs                                            1 tsp baking powder
                      1 cup sugar                                    1/2 cup milk, heated with 1 round tbl butter (not scalding)
                   
     Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.  Beat eggs to a froth and add sugar gradually.        Beat until well blended. Fold in flour mixture gradually, alternating with hot milk.  Pour batter into greased      and floured pan. Bake 20-25 min. Cake can be frosted warm, or saved and frosted later.

For the Topping:  3/4 cup packed brown sugar      2 Tbl butter
                           1 cup shredded coconut             2 Tbl cream (or 2 part milk:1 part butter)
      Moisten sugar and coconut with melted butter and cream. Spread frosting on COOKED cake. Put               frosted cake under broiler and broil until toasty brown in color, about 3-5 minutes.

In search of the ultimate Pumpkin Martini

     Pumpkin flavored "whatever" is all the rage now that Fall is in full swing. I type this more than a month from the most appropriate holiday for pumpkin-flavored libations (Halloween, of course), but that's because it's hard for me to give up...

     But I think I've found something I can stick with. It also feeds my need for homemade cocktail-related goodies. I was intrigued by the use of pumpkin butter instead of pumpkin liqueur or pumpkin syrup in this recipe.

     I stumbled across this concoction on the third page of a Google search (because as you know, if you can't find it, JFGI). I read the recipe, passed it by, reread it, passed it by again, then had an "aha" moment.  The original drink is called "Pumpkin Divine." The name conjured up unpleasant memories of Pink Flamingos, but I digress.

     I felt the need to modify the recipe, primarily because I'm not a real fan of Grey Goose La Poire, and tonight I was too lazy to go downstairs and dig out my bottle of triple sec, so Cointreau had to suffice.

We'll call this "Pumpkin Awesome"
1 1/2 parts vodka (I used Crater Lake)
1/2 part Cointreau
1/2 part simple syrup (if you don't make your own, Stirrings is a good one)
1/2 part pear shrub (don't be scared - recipe is here)
1 Tbl pumpkin butter
sprinkle of pumpkin pie spices
Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. You can leave out the pumpkin pie spices and shake them over the top of the cocktail if you prefer. Awesome.

     The Cointreau replaces the Triple Sec with a little richer taste. The Pear shrub + vodka replaces the pear flavored vodka, which I think is too sweet anyway.

     Personally, this cocktail made all the effort of making pumpkin butter and pear shrub TOTALLY worth it.
Two thumbs up!