I received an email from Suzanne Scara of New Jersey letting me know that her “Bubbe’s Apple Cake was one of the top 5 finalists in the Spreading Smucker’s Traditions Recipe and Essay contest.” She wanted me to take a look at her recipe and vote on it. They are picking the grand prize winner on October 1st, 2008. So I thought I would share her recipe here on my Blog and invite you participate in the competition.

Of course I can’t and wouldn’t ask you to vote for Suzanne’s recipe but have a look at the finalists and see if there are any that inspire you. The web site address is: http://www.smuckers.com/promotions/traditions/finalists.asp

Suzanne’s recipe is #5 and called Bubbe’s Apple Cake. I asked Suzanne for a little history on this recipe and how it got its name and here is what she told me,

“Although my sister and I never knew our grandmother, our mother baked this cake from her mother’s recipe, preserving memories and tastes from the past. When possible, she used home-grown apples, from our trees, just as her mother had done.

As we all became busy with school and work, there was less time for baking and tending to apple trees. Consequently, our beloved cake was baked on rare occasions. The recipe was filed away as we made kitchen renovations. And circumstances forced my sister and her family to move out of state (from New Jersey to Pennsylvania). As we got together less, there was a chance we’d be seeing even less of Bubbe’s * special apple cake.

However, the first autumn in her new home, my sister realized she was blessed with a row of apple trees - trees bearing the mellow, golden apples of our childhood (which she happily shares with me). And she and I have become avid home bakers. Now we each have a copy of Bubbe’s apple cake recipe. So, without missing a generation, this homey, old world apple cake continues to nourish and comfort us, on quiet evenings with tea, and at all sorts of family gatherings.”

* Bubbe is the Yiddish term of endearment for Grandmother

Bubbe’s Apple Cake (our grandmother’s version of the traditional European-Jewish Apple Cake)

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 medium apples, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 1/2 cup Smucker’s Red Plum jam
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3 large eggs (brought to room temperature)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla extract and almond extract
• A “shake or two” of cinnamon

How to Make At Home:

1) Begin by preheating oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

2) Combine the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Give dry ingredients a stir and set the bowl aside. In another bowl, combine apple slices, Smucker’s Red Plum jam and lemon juice. Mix up so that apples are coated in jam and lemon juice. Set aside.

3) Beat the eggs well, either with electric beater on medium, or vigorously by hand. Gradually add sugar and beat (about 2 min.), or mix by hand, till mixture is almost fluffy. Add oil and vanilla and almond extracts, and continue to beat and scrape side of bowl till all is combined. Next, mix in the flour mixture (if using electric beater, reduce speed to low). Mix short time more till batter is blended to uniform color and consistency.

4) Take just half of the batter and spread evenly in the baking pan. Next, cover the layer of batter with the apple and jam mixture. Then spread the remaining half of the batter over the apples. Give a light shake or two of cinnamon over the surface of the cake. Bake on the center rack till golden (approximately one hour).

5) After removing from oven, let the cake cool. Cut into squares and serve.

My daughters have been showing more of an interest in cooking the last few weeks. My 10 year old prepared these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, with a little help from mom, that were easy to make and delicious.

A lot of parents write asking about culinary schools for their kids and I usually tell them about a few chain schools I’ve come across but then explain that cooking at home in your own kitchen with your children is the best schooling they can get. It’s a great time to teach them an important life skill and have fun at the same time.

Here’s the recipe, but be sure to read the short interview I did with my daughter after she made them. It’s sort of like my Novice2Pro interviews I do with professional chefs but for kids.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2-cup butter, let it come to room temperature
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-cup peanut butter
• 1/2-teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2-teaspoon salt
• 3/4-cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4-cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

How to Prepare at Home

Remember, you always want to be around with your kids when you are working with a hot oven, sharp tools or kitchen appliances. This is a great time to teach them about being responsible with kitchen equipment while showing them how these tools are used.

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

The term is “cream” the butter and white & brown sugar which just means to beat the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Add the vanilla extract and egg. Mix everything together. Add the peanut butter, baking soda, salt and stir to combine well. Finally add the flour and chocolate chips and mix together.>

Using a greased cookie sheet to bake the cookies, drop small amounts of the cookie dough onto the sheet. Using a fork or spoon, flatten the dough slightly.

Bake the cookies for about 5 minutes until the edges just start to turn brown being careful not to overcook. When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

The trick is not eating them before they are cooled. These cookies are delicious and fun to make with your kids.

Interview with 10 Year Old Home Cook Nell

What made you decide to make cookies? I decided to make the cookies for friends who were coming over. Also we were making pizza for dinner and so I thought cookies would go well with it.

How did you decide on Peanut Butter cookies with Chocolate Chips? I didn’t know what kind of cookies I wanted to make but I didn’t want to make just plain chocolate chip. So I looked it up and I found something that looked pretty easy to make and would be very quick so that I could also entertain my friend.

Did you have any help from anyone and if so what help did you get? When I decided I wanted to make Peanut Butter and Chocolate chip cookies I had help from my Dad to get all the ingredients. When I started making the cookies I also had a little help from my mom.

What was the hardest part of making these cookies? The hardest part of making the cookies was making sure the butter was soft enough. But none of the cookie making was that hard.

If you made them again, would you change anything? I would probably let the butter stay out longer so it was softer and easier to mix.

What did you learn from making these cookies? I learned from making the cookies that you should let them sit 10 or 15 minutes after you make them so they can cool down and kind of harden or else they might fall apart.

How did they turn out? My peanut butter chocolate chip cookies turned out great and a lot of other people loved them to!

Would you make them again? I would make them again, but I would probably make them at a party because a lot of people liked them.

Thanks for this interview,

RG (dad)

I just finish posting an inspiring and educational interview with Ja’Lisa McKeown, a culinary student currently attending classes at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Michigan. She is also the recipient of the first Reluctant Gourmet Culinary Grant in associated with Chef4Students.org. If you are thinking of going to culinary arts school, this is a must read.

In the interview, I asked Ja’Lisa for one of her favorite recipes and she sent me a recipe for Basil Ice Cream. I know it sounds… different, but I’m sure it is delicious.

Basil Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups whipping cream
• {Or 4 cups half n half in place of both dairy}
• 1 lb fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 7 egg yolks
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• Fresh basil for garnish

How to Make Basil Ice Cream at Home

In medium saucepan add milk, cream, scraped vanilla beans and pod, 1/2 cup sugar and bring to boil over medium heat. Turn off heat and add basil, allow to steep 15 minutes (chiffonade for stronger basil flavor).

Make Custard: whisk remaining sugar with yolks and temper with steeped mixture.

Return complete tempered egg and dairy mixture to saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat while stirring to avoiding curdling. When mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon and holds a line you drag across with your finger, it’s done (approximately 10 minutes or less).

Strain through a fine mesh chinois/ strainer and refrigerate until completely cool.

Follow instructions on manufacturer’s ice cream maker. Freeze and Voila, Basil Ice Cream.

Enjoy!