Mennonite Girls Can Cook (34 page)

......................................... Yields 20 squares

• 2 cups / 500 ml flour
  
• 3½ teaspoons / 17 ml baking powder
  
• 4 tablespoons / 60 ml sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml butter
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml whipping cream
  
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
  
• 4 cups / 900 ml rhubarb, washed and cut up, or cherries, blueberries, apricots, peaches, or apples
  

1. Mix together dry ingredients. Mix in butter with a pastry blender.
   
2. Add cream and slightly beaten egg; stir with a fork until it comes together in a ball.
   
3. With wet hands, pat out dough onto a greased 10 × 15-inch / 25 × 38-cm pan. The dough may be a little sticky.
   
4. Cover dough with a layer of rhubarb or any of your favorite seasonal fruit.
   
5. Top with crumbles.
   

• 1½ cup / 375 ml sugar
  
• 1½ cup / 375 ml flour
  
• ½ cup / 125 ml very soft butter
  

1. Mix sugar and flour; cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly.
   
2. Sprinkle this mixture over fruit.
   
3. Bake at 375° F / 190° C for 30 minutes.
   
4. Cool 10 minutes and drizzle icing over the top. Or skip the icing and serve warm with ice cream.
   

—
Betty

Betty says

............... Yields 24 good-sized servings or 48 small servings

• 1 cup / 250 ml milk
  
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml butter
  
• 5 eggs
  
• 1½ cup / 375 ml sugar
  
• 1 teaspoons / 5 ml vanilla
  
• 2¼ cups / 560 ml flour
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml baking powder
  
• ¼ teaspoon / 1 ml salt
  

1. Grease 2 9-inch / 22-cm spring-form pans or 2 9-inch / 22-cm square pans or 1 large 11 × 17-inch / 28 × 43-cm cookie sheet. Line with wax paper and grease again.
   
2. Scald milk, stir in the butter and set aside.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, gradually adding the sugar. Continue beating until mixture is thick and light in color. Add vanilla.
   
4. Stir in combined dry ingredients.
   
5. Slowly add hot liquids, folding in until just mixed; batter should be light.
   
6. Pour into prepared pan(s).
   
7. Bake at 350° F / 175° C for 20 minutes, until golden. Spread immediately with topping (recipe follows).
   

• 4 tablespoons / 60 ml butter
  
• cup / 155 ml brown sugar
  
• 6 tablespoons / 90 ml whipping cream
  
• 1½ cup / 375 ml long shred coconut
  
• 1½ cup / 375 ml almonds, sliced
  

1. Melt butter; add remaining ingredients.
   
2. Spread topping evenly over the cake(s), using a fork and going right to the edges.
   
3. Return cake(s) to oven. Broil the topping for about 2 minutes, or until golden. Watch the process to make sure the topping bubbles and broils evenly, turning the pans if necessary.
   
4. Cool completely to let topping harden. For easier slicing, freeze slightly before filling.
   

• 2 cups / 500 ml whipping cream
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml instant vanilla pudding powder
  

1. Beat all ingredients together until stiff.
   

If the cake is baked in spring form pans, simply remove rims or lift cakes out onto a flat surface.

1. With a serrated knife, slice horizontally through each cake.
   
2. Lift top and spread bottom layer with filling.
   
3. Return cakes to pans or serving plate and add top layer. It will slice into serving pieces easier once it is slightly frozen.
   

If the cake is baked on one large sheet, it can be more tricky, but the same procedure can be followed or use this method:

1. Spread a clean tea towel over the top. Holding the towel in place, flip the pan upside down onto a flat surface.
   
2. Remove wax paper and slice horizontally through the upside-down cake. Cover cake with pan and flip back, holding towel in place. Slide hands under top layer, lift carefully, and place on flat surface.
   
3. Cover with filling and carefully replace the top.
   

Tip:
This cake freezes very well and slices easily once partially thawed.

—
Anneliese

.......................................................

• 1
  cup / 400 ml flour
  
• ¾ teaspoon / 4 ml salt
  
• cup / 150 ml lard
  
• 4 tablespoons / 60 ml cold water
  

1. Combine flour, salt, and lard in a medium bowl. With a pastry blender, cut lard into flour until the size of large peas.
   
2. Sprinkle the mixture with water. Stir with fork, in circular motion, until there are no more loose crumbs. It may seem too dry at first, but just keep stirring.
   
3. Shape dough into a ball with your hands. Divide in half.
   
4. Turn out onto a floured surface. Pat and shape with hands into a circular shape, then roll out a little larger than the pie plate, adding a small amount of flour if it sticks.
   
5. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and then carefully unroll into pie plate. The bottom crust should be higher than edge of pie plate.
   

1. Brush unbaked bottom crust with slightly beaten egg white to keep it from getting soggy.
   
2. Fill with 5-6 cups / 1.25-1.5 L fresh or frozen fruit.
   
3. Mix sugar and flour well; sprinkle over fruit. The amounts will vary depending on tartness of fruit and taste preference (see suggestions for ratios below). Shake or tap the pan so sugar disperses a bit, or, if preferred, mix all filling ingredients before placing in the shell.
   
4. Cover with second crust. Fold top crust over side of bottom crust. Pinch the two layers together as you flute them.
   
5. Brush top crust with beaten egg white and cut small slits into the crust.
   
6. Bake at 400° F / 205° C for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F / 175° C and bake for another 60 minutes or until juice bubbles through slits.
   

Anneliese says

....Yields 4 double crusts for foil plate pies

• 1 pound / 500 g lard (can substitute half with butter), room temperature
  
• 5½ cups / 1375 ml flour
  
• 2½ teaspoons / 12 ml salt
  
• ¾ cup / 175 ml water plus 1 tablespoon / 15 ml vinegar
  
• Fruit filling
  
• Egg white
  

1. Mix and shape the dough into a ball. Cut into quarters to make 4 balls. Divide each ball in half again. Roll balls to make 8 crusts.
   
2. Brush the bottom crusts with an egg wash, made by beating an egg white and spreading it evenly over the dough.
   
3. Cover the bottom crust with fruit filling. If using foil pie plates, use slightly less fruit and sugar mixture than listed in the ratios because foil plates are smaller than glass ones. Cover fruit with top crust, brushing with egg wash.
   
4. Freeze unbaked egg washed pies and then store in plastic bags.
   
5. To bake, place frozen, unbaked pie in preheated 400° F / 205° C oven. Bake 15 minutes, then turn oven to 350° F / 175° C and bake until juices bubble out, about 60 additional minutes.
   

—
Anneliese