Best Pineapple Upside Cake recipe you'll ever need

This is like eating a slice of fresh pineapple. I bake mine in a 9x13 pan because I have a Tupperware container that fits it perfectly. You will love it, trust me.

My Mother's Table Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Glaze
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 - 20 oz cans of crushed pineapple (drained, reserve liquid)
12 maraschino cherries

Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup reserved pineapple juice
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 large eggs, slightly beaten, room temperature

Heat oven to 350 degrees. It doesn't hurt to spray the baking pan, even though there is butter in the recipe. Every little bit helps.

To make the glaze
Place butter in 9x13 pan and place in oven just until butter is melted. Remove from oven, tip pan so butter covers pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter, then spread pineapple. Add cherries (they should be pressed down in order to touch bottom of pan so they show when you turn out the cake.) Set aside while you make the cake.

Making the cake
Mix together sugar, flour and baking soda until combined. In a small sauce pan, bring butter and reserved pineapple juice to a boil. Cool 5 minutes. Add slowly to the flour mixture. Mix well. With mixture running on slow, add buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. Mix just until combined. Pour over pineapple in cake pan. Drop pan on on counter once or twice to remove bubbles. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until top feels firm (depending on your oven, I'd check the cake after 30 minutes just to be sure. You can always bake longer but you can't take it back if you over bake.) When done, remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then flip cake on a serving dish.

This cake serves 12 people, but it's very rich yet refreshing. So in my home, we get at least 18 servings. If you take it to a pot luck, it will go very fast!

Funeral Potatoes?

How did I not know the name of this recipe was Funeral Potatoes! From the time I can remember we called the dish Hashbrown Casserole. They are amazing! Uh, unlike funerals.

Hashbrown Casserole

2 lb package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed (I use diced but shredded is good)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp dried minced onion
topping optional (and for some, here is where it gets authentic)*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease casserole dish (I use a nice 7x11)

In a large mixing bowl, combine soup, sour cream, cooled butter, milk, cheese and onion until creamy. Add thawed potatoes, mix gently until potatoes are coated. Pour into greased dish, bake until bubbly (about 45 minutes.)

*The topping is optional, and very controversial evidently. I usually top mine with just cheap old bread crumbs that I've sauteed lightly in butter. I put mine on the potatoes after they've baked for 45 minutes, then I return to the oven for 15 minutes. You can also use Ritz crackers, but they aren't always around. Authentically? You use crushed corn flakes. I've done it, but I tossed them with a little melted butter because they browned better.

These are the best potatoes in the world, I don't care what anyone says. If you take them to a pot luck, take the recipe. Everyone will want it.

Mamaw Ashby's Apple Cake

I grew up with this cake, we had it all year around. It was good during the spring and summer, because my grandmother always loved fruit during the warmer seasons. But there was something great about apples in the fall and winter, I think the cinnamon and nutmeg just scream holiday. But in the end, there wasn't one single pot-luck event that didn't have this wonderful cake. Enjoy!

Mamaw's Apple Cake

1 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
1-teaspoon vanilla
3 cups chopped apples (I peel mine, my grandmother did not)
1-cup nuts
½ cup raisins
1-teaspoon cinnamon
1-teaspoon nutmeg

Combine oil, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Add flour and beat well. Add remaining ingredients and blend well with spoon or spatula. Turn batter into a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. Great the next day with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Don't forget the trick of tossing the raisins and nuts with a tiny bit of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of your cake! And my grandmother tossed the apples with the spices before she added them to the batter, rather than adding the plain apples then the spices.

Chocolate Bourbon Pie

This is a staple in almost every Derby party or menu. It's so easy to make, you'll be a hit at any gathering. Plus it won't cost you $10! Some chocolate chip pie recipes call for the thick light or dark corn syrup - not mine. You can go right to your pantry and make this dessert!

Mrs. Borden's Famous Chocolate Bourbon Pie

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted/cooled (important to be cooled)
1 cup chocolate chips*
1 cup chopped walnuts* (optional)
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional, can use bourbon extract if available)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1- 9 inch pie crust (Deep dish is best)

Beat eggs til foamy. Add flour, sugars, and mix well. Add butter. Stir in chips, nuts, bourbon and extract. Pour into 9 inch unbaked pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees one hour, checking 30 minutes into baking and every 10 minutes after. Should be a golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream.

This pie isn't exclusive to Derby in Kentucky, we fix it all year. Great for a pot luck and can be made the day before.

* Toss the chocolate chips and walnuts in a tiny bit of the flour before you add them to the mixture. It keeps them evenly distributed so they won't sink to the bottom.

If you find yourself with 2 smaller ready made pie crust and they are 8 inch, you probably will be able to split this pie mixture into 2 pies. I however, like a deep dish pie crust.

Butter Cake with Homemade Frosting - recipe from the early 50's!

This is a recipe that is at least from the early 50's - but if I had to guess, was part of all the recipes my grandmother used in her lifetime (I'm only 49, but my grandmother was born in 1899 - I'm proud of that.) In 1937, Louisville KY suffered a terrible flood; my grandmother was asked to cook for the Kentucky National Guard. My mother often talked about how, as a child of only 12, many troops were gathered at her home eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on a constant 24 hour loop. They slept when they could. I can't imagine that would happen in this day and age, but this was 1937 - and they let my grandmother keep whatever wasn't used at the end of the mission.

Mt grandmother was a wonderful cook and nothing - I mean nothing - went to waste. Leftover grits served for breakfast? Refrigerated, sliced and fried later (in bacon grease no less!) in crispy/creamy discs usually served with braised pork chops. Egg shells and vegetable peels were used as mulch on her garden. And cakes were made from scratch. Now there's nothing wrong with a boxed cake mix, but the homemade cakes have a different texture - there's nothing like it. And you really must use real butter in this recipe. If you are going to take the time to make it homemade, use the best ingredients. Every now and then, you must remind yourself why you work, why you sacrifice. Believe me, it's worth it. As far as the name? On the recipe card, it wasn't named. So to me, she was "Mamaw." But to everyone else, they referred to her affectionately as "Mrs. Ashby." So in her honor, I hope this will bring some great memories to your family as it has mine.

Mrs. Ashby's Butter Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 white cups sugar (I use Domino's Sugar)
1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened
1 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla (I used Penzeys)

Preheat oven to 350*. Thoroughly and grease a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Combine all cake ingredients, beat at low speed just until moistened, then beat on high until mixed, be careful not to over mix. Your mixture probably won't look like a cake mix batter - that's okay. It's part of making a homemade cake. Pour batter into your 9 x 13 pan and bake about 30 - 40 minutes. Like most baked goods, a toothpick will come out clean when it's done. Cool while you make your frosting.

Frosting


6 tablespoons butter
3 cups powdered sugar (just about 1/2 cup shy of a box)
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons milk (at the most, sometimes I use only 1 tablespoon)

Now here is what makes this frosting different; brown the 6 tablespoons of butter. Watch it closely and it may get foamy but when it turns a beautiful brown remove it from the heat. In my estimation, it takes about 5 minutes. You must cool completely before you proceed (can you tell I've missed this step before and wasted my ingredients?)

Mix the cooled browned butter with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add just enough milk so your frosting will be a thick, gorgeous spreading consistency. Frost the cooled cake.

Try not to eat all of it. (Can you tell I've missed this step too?)

Enjoy!

My Mom's Fluffy Frosting

I've never had anything like this frosting, but I believe it's a standard frosting originally used for a Red Velvet Cake. It's not easy to make, and I've discovered using my Kitchen Aid really makes a big difference. My mother never had a KA, she used a hand mixer and it still turned out perfect - it's just a lot of work.

It makes lots of frosting, easily frosts a 2 layer cake. During the holidays, I've been known to put some orange zest in a standard white cake to make something different. And once when I couldn't find my Bundt pan, I ended up making cup cakes with my pound cake batter and I frosted it with this frosting. My teenagers still talk about them. But more importantly, it's one of those things you make, and with every taste, I can close your eyes and for just a brief second and I'm 6 years old again standing in the kitchen with my mom. Those moments are important to me. I can't reach out and touch her, but it's nice knowing those memories are as close as my kitchen.

Martha's Fluffy Frosting

1 cup whole or 2% milk
5 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2 sticks of butter or good quality margarine
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth and no lumps remain. Over medium heat, cook mixture until it coats the back of your spoon, stirring constantly. When it gets to the correct consistency (thick and creamy) remove from heat and pour contents into a clean bowl to stop the cooking process. Let cool completely to room temperature. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat together cold butter, sugar and vanilla until combined and fluffy, somewhat pale yellow in color. By tablespoons, add (while mixing) the cooled milk/flour mixture. At this point, your frosting will be yellow, rather gritty and might not look like a fluffy frosting at all - this is temporary. On medium-high speed, beat constantly until frosting gets very thick and turns a pale white. It can take up to 10 minutes for this step - but it's completely worth it. You can frost a 2 layer cake easily with the amount of frosting it makes - don't be afraid to use a generous amount in the middle of your layers. And I'll say it again, you can't just throw this together, but it's so worth the effort. I like it better than a traditional butter cream frosting.

Enjoy!

The Best Chocolate Chip recipe ever

This recipe dates back to my childhood - my grandmother always mixed butter with shortening for all her cookies. I don't know if that's the secret, but I do know these are a hit whether I am serving them at home, or giving a box of them to friends.

My Mom's Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened (I use Kroger brand margarine "Better for Baking" 80% vegetable oil)
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar (I use Domino's)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 - 12 oz package mini chocolate chips (I use Nestle)

Cream butter and shortening, gradually adding sugars, and beating well at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well. Sift flour, soda, and salt, then and add to creamed mixture, mixing well but not over mixing. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by 1/4 cup onto greased cookie sheet. Lightly press down. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 17 minutes until light brown. I sometimes sprinkle mine with vanilla sugar - I love the crunch on top!

Of course, if you want smaller cookies, just use a rounded tablespoon - they are just as good.