Pumpkin Squares

Pumpkin Squares

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 pound can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

Beat first four ingredients until light and fluffy. Mix together dry ingredients and add.
Bake 350 degrees in an ungreased jelly roll pan. 20-30 minutes

Cream cheese icing

Beat together:
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups confectioners sugar

Spread on cooled pumpkin squares.

Best Peanut-Butter Eggs

These are the ones Mom-Mom made -- that would be Ruth March -- and the best I have ever tasted. I have the original recipe, a yellowed newspaper clip from The Mercury.
I guess that makes this recipe a legacy.

Peanut Butter Eggs

1 pound peanut butter (Reese's works best)
2 pounds confectioners sugar
1/2 pound butter
Heavy cream

Mix first three ingredients in electric mixer until combined. Add enough cream to reach desired consistency -- until firm enough to roll as eggs. I have found it takes anywhere from a few drops to a full cup of cream, depending on peanut butter. Using Reese's instead of Skippy takes less cream and makes smoother eggs.

Roll into eggs and place on trays lined with wax paper. Refrigerate.

Melt one box (8 oz.) of semi-sweet chocolate and one box (8 oz.) of unsweetened chocolate in top of double boiler. Add a few shavings of paraffin wax for easier coating.

Roll chilled eggs in chocolate to coat. I use toothpicks to roll through chocolate and return to the wax paper on trays. Coat one tray at a time and then return to refrigerate.

Store in freezer. Keep some hidden from others. :)

Best Peanut-Butter

Time to make the doughnuts

These are what my mother called "Drop Cruellers," or "Sweet Milk Doughnut Holes". We make them on Donut Day/Fat Tuesday/Fasnacht Day and eat them warm. They're delicious no matter what you call them.

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
5 teaspoons butter, melted
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
7-8 cups oil
confectioners sugar

Pour the oil (seven to eight cups) in deep fryer and preheat to 370.
Beat the eggs with paddle beater in large mixing bowl of electric mixer. Add sugar, beating slowly. Add milk and melted butter. Add in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.
Roll dough into small balls, coating hands with flour as you work. Drop with spoon into oil. Fry for about 5 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon onto paper towels, roll immediately in bowl of confectioners sugar to coat.
Makes about three dozen small doughnut holes.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This is from the former Joe's Restaurant in Reading, the first place I ever tasted white chocolate mousse. Restaurant was famous for use of wild mushrooms, but we just went there for outstanding filet and marvelous desserts. We call this Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. The recipe for the glaze makes a lot and becomes quite messy. You can make less glaze and still have plenty.

For the cake:
1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate bits (two 12-oz bags)
1 1/2 tablespoons water
9 ounces butter (two sticks plus one ounce)
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 eggs, separated

For the glaze:
3 ounces chopped unsweetened chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Line 9-inch springform pan with wax paper.

Combine and melt chocolate, water and butter in double boiler or in large bowl in microwave. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Combine flour and sugar and add to chocolate. Slightly whisk yolks and add to chocolate, combining well until no yolk is visible in the mixture. Cool mixture to room temperature.

Beat egg whites until peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture combining until no whites are visible in the mixture. Pour into springform pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Center of the cake should still be soft and wobbly.

Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for one hour. Remove sides of pan, then bottom, turning cake onto large flat plate. Make sure plate is larger than the cake to catch the glaze.

To prepare glaze, cook first four ingredients over medium heat in heavy saucepan, cooking about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Beat egg slightly and add to glaze with vanilla.

Ice cake with slightly warm glaze. Cake should be kept refrigerated, but served at room temperature. Best served with whipped cream.