Tag Archives: Dessert

Skillet Cookery…Crazy Cake – Happy Fourth of July!

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  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 Tbls. cocoa
  • 1 tsp. soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 Tbls. vinegar
  • 1 cup water

Add dry ingredients to a #8 iron skillet and mix well. Add oil, vinegar, vanilla and water. Stir well. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350-degrees. Cooks fast, so check often! It has no eggs, so it dries out if you overcook it. Watch carefully. Cool on a grate or on wadded up pieces of foil if you’re camping and don’t have a grill. I oftentimes use ½ cup water with ½ cup coffee instead of the 1 cup water. Yum!

Frost with your favorite chocolate icing. I love to use the Hershey’s Cocoa recipe. I follow it exactly, except I use a pinch of salt.  I use a lot on Crazy Cake!

Comment:  This recipe is so old, it  almost doesn’t exist! My mom, Aunt Dobbie and Aunt Dean all made Crazy Cake. No eggs, no mixer…and it has a bit of vinegar. You won’t believe the texture!

Comment:  If you follow the instructions and don’t let the cake overcook (dry out), you’re going to throw away all your 15-steps to the Perfect Chocolate Cake recipes. This one will beat them all out…I promise!!

Comment:  Crazy Cake is perfect for motorhome/trailer campouts. If you have any left over (rare!), leave it in the skillet and cover well with foil or plastic wrap.  

 

Raw in the skillet. I’m not a chemist, but I think the little bubbles are the vinegar and baking soda interacting.

Just look at that shine! It tastes as good as it looks!

My Aunt Dobbie’s recipe on the back of a bank check; My Aunt Dean’s recipe on the back of an envelope (dated 1954 on the front!). The recipe on the envelope is for the #8 skillet, and the one on the check is for a cake twice the size. Just ignore the “make holes and put…” instructions on the envelope. They don’t matter to the recipe, and it’s a long story as to what they are all about!

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I hope you’ll pick up a copy of my novel, Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT. It’s available at your nearest Barnes & Noble Bookseller (note: ask them to order it from their Master List…they know it’s on there! :D ), on my website, B&N.com and Amazon. For your convenience, it’s also available for Kindle, the Nook and most other eBook readers.

If you like Sassy, Danger and Mystery… you’ll love my novel!

The second book in the series, CANYON OF DOOM, debuts in early 2013. Watch for it!

While you’re here, I’d be pleased as a frog in a jar of flies if you’d have a look around my website. To sign up to receive notices of new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, leave your email address above. I’ll take care of the rest. Y’all come back soon … I miss you already!

 

Two-Crust Blackberry Cobbler (Crowd Size)

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BlackberryFilling:

  •  10-12 cups blackberries (3 quarts)  
  •  3 cups sugar
  •  1 tsp. cinnamon
  •  2 tsp. vanilla
  •  1-cup flour, or use instant tapioca as a thickener.

Mix together and let rest while making pie dough.

Pie Dough, enough for 2 double-crust pies

  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups shortening
  • 1-1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup very cold water
  • Butter for top of berry filling

Mix flour and salt together with a fork. Cut shortening into flour with two knives. Handle lightly and make into pea-sized crumbs. Add water gradually and mix with a fork until dough barely sticks together. Divide the dough into two balls.

Roll out 2/3 of dough on a lightly floured surface. Turn once. Roll thin. Roll onto rolling pin and place it over a 9 x 13-glass pan. Fit the dough into the pan, pressing lightly to fit it into the corners. Be careful not to puncture dough.

Roll out last 1/3 piece of dough and set aside.

Add blackberry filling to pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if desired. Add dollops of butter. Place second piece of rolled-out dough over the berry mixture. Bring sides of bottom crust onto top and cut off excess. Top should be solidly covered with dough. Make slits or designs so cobbler breathes while baking. Sprinkle top with brown or white sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 425-degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350-degrees and bake another 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown and berries bubble up through slits in the top.

Cool thoroughly on a rack.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

 

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Of course, a visit isn’t a visit without a two-way conversation. I really want to hear from you.

I truly hope you’ll pick up a copy of my novel Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves: SUMMER OF THE ANCIENT. It’s available at your nearest Barnes & Noble Bookseller, on my website, B&N.com and Amazon. For your convenience, it’s also available for the Kindle, the Nook and most other eBook readers.

If you love the Southwest and kooky little characters that make you laugh aloud as authentic danger and mystery swirl at every turn, you’ll love this novel! The second book in the series, CANYON OF DOOM, debuts in early 2013.

While you’re here, please have a look around my website. To sign up to receive notices of my new blogs, recipes, appearances and media news, just leave your email address above. I’ll take care of the rest. Y’all come back soon … I miss you already!