Praline-Pumpkin Cake

Praline-Pumpkin Cake



Cake mix and purchased frosting pair up with some extras to create a scrumptious pumpkin and praline indulgence.

Prep Time: 25 min
Total Time: 2 hours 15 min
Makes: 16 servings

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
1 cup (from 15-oz can) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 container (1 lb) Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy cream cheese frosting
Caramel topping, if desired
Additional coarsely chopped pecans, if desired

1. Heat oven to 325°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, stir together butter, whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 2 (9- or 8-inch) round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup pecans.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture in each pan.

3. Bake 43 to 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. Stir remaining 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice into frosting. To assemble cake, place 1 layer, praline side up, on serving plate. Spread with half of the frosting. Top with second layer, praline side up; spread remaining frosting to edge of layer. Drizzle with caramel topping and additional pecans. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 9-inch pans 43 to 45 minutes, 8-inch pans 48 to 50 minutes.

Make the Most of This Recipe Success:
Cool layer cakes in their pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. This keeps the cake from breaking apart while it's too warm and tender.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 480 (Calories from Fat 230); Total Fat 25g (Saturated Fat 9g, Trans Fat 3g); Cholesterol 70mg; Sodium 340mg; Total Carbohydrate 59g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 46g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 50%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 8%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 3 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 5 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 4
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Thanks Betty Crocker!

Sloppy Buffalo Joes

Sloppy Buffalo Joes


This is such a good meal!! This is the side dish that goes with the turkey joes.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken or turkey breast
1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 to 1/3 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Red Hot)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock
8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
2 large dill pickles, chopped

Directions
Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in carrots, celery, onions and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomato sauce and stock. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more. Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese and chopped pickles.

Totally stolen from Jori. Thanks gal!

The Best Pie Crust!

Quick Puff: The only pie dough you'll ever need

2 pounds of all-purpose flour (approximately 7 1/2 cups)

2 pounds cold unsalted butter (8 sticks) cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups cold water

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and butter. Massage the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are a bit smaller. Add the water and smoosh around, coating the flour/butter with water. Kneading until the whole mess looks like is's holding together just a little. Dump the dough out and form into a loose square. This is what it'll look like. It's not pretty. But just be patient. It gets so much better.

Let this rest for 10 minutes and then roll out gently, sprinkling flour on your work surface and your rolling pin to keep everything from sticking and roll the dough into a rectangle. Make 4 single turns. That means fold the dough over into a "letter" fold. This is a holy mess until you get to the last turn.

Don't worry. Bits are going to plop off willy nilly. Just be patient. Shove the errant dough chunks back into the whole and persevere! This is the start of a letter fold:

Fold one end towards the middle and then fold the second end over the first. The package will look like this after the first complete turn:

And this is what your dough is going to look like after the last and fourth turn:

Roll out your dough as you would for any pie. Personally, I like my pies double crusted or latticed. Which means I blind bake the bottom crust first. I roll it out, dock the dough (prick it all around with a fork), line the top of the dough with parchment and then let it rest in the fridge for 10 minutes and then again rested in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Place pie weights or dry beans on top of the parchment to weigh it down, you don't want the dough to puff up while baking. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes or just until the dough loses it's raw appearance but don't let it brown. Fill with fruity goodness, top with lattice or another round of pie dough and bake until the fruit filling starts to bubble and your top crust is golden brown. Enjoy your Independence Day having found freedom from your endless search for the best pie crust. You just found it.

You're welcome.

Via: Confections of a Master Baker and my sister Paula, who emailed it to me, and who said Sandra Bullock's sister uses this recipe. Works for me! :)