Living 2 Eat |

From the hometown of US President Jimmy Carter… Plains, Georgia… Mrs. Martha Holcombe Wise shares the special recipe from the kitchen of Alice Holcombe.   This recipe uses a staple in every Georgians diet… pecans!  

Alice Holcombe’s Applesauce Cake

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups applesauce
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins
2 cups chopped Georgia pecans
4 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add applesauce and beat until blended.

Sift dry ingredients.  Dust the raisins and pecans with a small amount of the flour mixture. Add dry ingredients gradually alternately with hot water; beat until well blended. Add raisins and pecans; blend well. Pour into greased and floured tube pan.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

This incredible recipe is one of Georgia’s finest.  It comes from Mrs. Lauren McMann of Blairsville, Georgia.  No doubt, it will become a favorite of yours after the first bite!

Strawberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sliced strawberries
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add strawberry and vanilla extract; mix well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, mixing until well blended. Fold in sliced strawberries.

Spoon batter into a greased and floured tube pan; bake for 1 ½ hours or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

You can use this same recipe to make Strawberry Bread by omitting pineapple and bananas and using the same amount of crushed strawberries.

Mrs. Emma Spinks
Rockmart, Georgia

Banana Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped Georgia pecans
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients, stir in nuts and set aside. Combine wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans.

Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before turning out of pans.

Strawberry Yum-Yum

2 cups of flour
2 sticks of margarine
1 cup of chopped nuts
8 ounces of cream cheese
2 1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, sifted
8 ounces whipped topping
1 quart fresh strawberries, wash and remove stems
1 package strawberry glaze

Layer 1
In a bowl, mix flour, margarine and nuts. Spread in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool.

Layer 2
Cream together cream cheese, sugar and whipped topping. Spread on cooled first layer.

Layer 3
Mix strawberries with the glaze that has been prepared according to package directions. Spread over the second layer.

Fresh Blueberry Pudding

2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
Dash salt
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
3/4 cup of boiling water

Line the bottom of a greased 8 x 8-inch baking dish with blueberries. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Cream three quarter cup sugar with butter and milk. Add flour and spread over blueberries. Mix three quarter cup sugar, cornstarch and salt together and sprinkle over batter.

Pour boiling water over the top and do not stir!  

Bake at 375 degrees for one hour.

Butter Pecan Tarts

1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick salted butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Spoon into greased mini-muffin tins or paper lined mini-muffin tins. Fill each cup two thirds full. Garnish each muffin with a pecan half, if desired.

Bake 12-14 minutes.

Yield: 2 1/2 to 3 dozen

Dirt Cake

1 large package chocolate sandwich cookies
1 eight-ounce package cream cheese
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 package vanilla instant pudding
1 package chocolate instant pudding
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large carton frozen whipped topping
1 package gummy worms

Crush cookies.

Place cream cheese and powdered sugar in bowl and mix together.

In separate bowl, mix pudding, milk and vanilla together.

Fold in whipped topping. Combine mixtures.

Using a plastic flowerpot, layer cookies, pudding mixture and gummy worms until all ingredients are gone.

Chill or freeze.

Hint: If you don’t have a flowerpot you can make this in a 9 x 13-inch pan.

Special thanks to www.justjennrecipes.com for the photo.  Recipe comes from the South Carolina Farm Bureau.

This is an ideal crust with a dark chocolate cream pie, Key lime, and coconut cream. It’s too sweet for fruit pies such as cherry cream cheese or a sweet lemon meringue, in my opinion.  It doesn’t work with baked pies like pumpkin, either.

Although this takes an hour, it is perfect for those on gluten free or diabetic diets.

Jan Norris

www.jannorris.com

Meringue Pie Crust

2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar

In a large and very clean and dry bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form.

Add vanilla, and slowly beat in sugar until very stiff and glossy.

Spread mixture into a 9 inch pie plate to form a shell. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 50 minutes.

Turn oven off, and leave meringue in oven for 1 hour. Cool.

This is a pastry pie crust and it has NO sugar.   Pie crusts should NOT have sugar.

Jan Norris

www.jannorris.com

The Best Pie Crust

3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. Crisco (cold)

1 egg
1 T. vinegar
1/4 c. cold water

Mix flour and salt.

Cut in shortening until crumbly, and pieces of shortening are no larger than a pea.

Beat egg and mix with vinegar and water.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until all the flour is absorbed.

Roll out thinly on a floured pastry board.

This will make two 2-crust or 4 single crust pies.

Jan says…

You want to know about that vinegar, I’ll bet. 

When flour is mixed with water, gluten is formed–protein strands that make bread so good. For quick breads, the mixture is only mixed until blended so it doesn’t have time to form much gluten. The vinegar is used in a pie crust recipe because the acid, together with the fat, keeps the gluten strands from getting too long. This makes for a really tender, flaky crust.

Incredible, fabulous and unbelievable are adjectives to describe this melt in your mouth dessert if you enjoy yams and cinnamon. The Praline Sauce is so delicious you’ll want to eat it by itself with a spoon.

Donna E. Godfrey

Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce

1 (16 oz.) loaf French Bread, cut into squares
1 (15 oz.) can sweet potatoes, drained and mashed or 1 cup fresh sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla extract
Praline Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place French bread squares into a 2-quart oblong casserole dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, milk, egg, egg whites, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.

Pour evenly over bread and press with hands to submerge bread in liquid mixture.

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until pudding is set. Makes 10 to 12 servings

Praline Sauce

2 cups sugar
3 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk

In a very large pot (mixture foams up while cooking), cook sugar, margarine, baking soda, and buttermilk on medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar
is dissolved.

Mixture will foam, stir to beat down foaming. The color will begin to caramelize. Cook until a slight brown color, approximately 20 to 30 minutes.