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Posts Tagged ‘Baking’

Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap.  You’ll find me posting over at Bake Sew Write about my honey baked ham recipe made with family-produced honey, and I’m excited to welcome Laura from Food Snob St. Louis to Picture Perfect Cooking:

Hi Picture Perfect Cooking readers!

I’m Laura, and I blog over at Food Snob St. Louis. I’m really excited to be guest posting today and sharing a fun recipe with you that I recently made for a local blogger bake sale.

Figuring out what to make for a bake sale can be daunting. Your item needs to be #1 tasty, #2 look delicious and #3 packaged well. Not only do I feel the pressure of my baked goods tasting really good, but I also want people to see them and want to buy them – let’s just say that pretty food presentation isn’t my strongest skill.

Lucky for you and me, these cookies are very simple to make and look delicious with very little effort!

Cinnamon Roll Cookies (slightly adapted from Heat Oven to 350)

*These cookies need to be refrigerated and frozen. Be sure to allow yourself at least a day or overnight to make them.

For Cookies:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg white

1 tbs. water

For Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 – 2 tbs. milk

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, cream 1/2 cup of the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Stir in the flour until a ball of dough is formed. Wrap this dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator and plastic wrap. Roll it out on a piece of parchment paper into a rectangle (mine was about 9’x13′). In a small bowl whisk together the egg white and water. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg white mixture on top of the dough.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the dough.

4. Starting at one of the longer ends, tightly roll up the dough into a log. Wrap this tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

5. When the dough is ready to cook, heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from freezer and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/2 inch discs and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden along the edges.

6. When cookies are done, transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely, then make the glaze by stirring together the powdered sugar and milk (you can adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding or using less milk). Drizzle the glaze over the cookies.

I found these cute little confectionery boxes at World Market. I lined them with parchment paper and also put a layer of parchment paper in-between each layer of cookies.

I also made a loaf of my Boozy Banana Bread to take to the bake sale. You can find that recipe over at my website here. Both sold fast! If you like what you saw here, I also encourage you to come check out all of my recipes or my ramblings about being a new mom!

Visit Life Your Way to see all of the Ultimate Blog Swap participants!

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I am not usually a cookie baker, especially sugar cookies.  Not that I don’t like cookies, I DO, but I usually have better luck with other baked goods.  When I found this recipe from Annie’s Eats on Pinterest, I really wanted to try my hand at sugar cookies one more time.  These turned out really well and were a great addition to my Christmas cookie/candy tray, hence the red and green frosting!

For the cookies:
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1½ cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

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In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt, and whisk together to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients mixing just until incorporated and evenly mixed.  Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour.

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After the chill time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cookie sheets.  Scoop a scant 1/4 cup of cookie dough and roll it into a ball.  Place the ball on the cookie sheet and press it out gently to form the cookie.  Leave about 2 or 3 inches in between each cookie.  Bake for 10-12 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

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For the frosting, place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.  Add the melted butter, vanilla, and milk to the bowl and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency.  Tint with food coloring if desired.  Use an offset spatula or spoon to frost the cooled cookies.

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And, yes, I have had this recipe to post since Christmas, but others seemed to take a front seat.  Oh, well, at least you will have this for NEXT Christmas.

 

Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Last Christmas, I was looking for a few new sweets to try and I kept seeing this recipe again and again.  It looked so good and pretty simple, too, so I decided to add it to my holiday cookie/candy tray.  You can’t go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate and this little cookie is no exception.  I really liked it and will definitely be making it again!

40 HERSHEY’S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

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Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

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Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Unwrap the chocolate Kisses while the cookies are baking.  Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. I had to play around with my camera while I was waiting for the cookies to bake.

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Please join me and other wonderful cooks over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Yet again, I found this recipe on Pinterest, but the original poster was a blog called The Novice Chef.  This link will take you to her version of this cake.  I don’t make a lot of layer cakes apart from my Italian Cream cake, and after I tasted this one, I think I know why.  This was good, especially the frosting, but the cake seemed a little dry to me.  I think sheet cakes and Bundt cakes stay more moist, but it may be that I was too spoiled after eating that Coca-Cola cake a couple of weeks ago.  Oh, man, was that cake good!

I got good reviews from my family and friends for this, but I don’t think I will be making it again. It was ingredient heavy and time consuming, so the results just weren’t worth the time spent for me. Win some, lose some.

For the cake:
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

For the frosting:
4 oz. egg whites (3-4 large egg whites or about 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 sleeve Oreos, run through the food processor until finely chopped

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For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare two 9” cake pans with Baker’s Joy and wax paper.  Sift the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. I like to do this onto a paper plate so it is easier to handle. In a cup with a pour spout, mix the milk with the vanilla.

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In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter at medium speed until light and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy, 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl. Beat in the dry ingredients in 3 batches, alternating with the milk mixture and scraping down the bowl.

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Mix 2 cups of the batter with the melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate. Scrape the remaining batter into the pans. Dollop the chocolate batter over the batter in the pans and swirl with a knife.

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Bake in the lower third of the oven for about 35 minutes, until springy. Let cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a rack. Peel off the paper, turn the cakes upright and cool completely.

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For the icing:
Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water in a double boiler until egg-white mixture is hot to touch or a candy thermometer reads 140°F (60°C).

Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip at medium high, with a wire whip, until double in volume and stiff peeks have formed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl. Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.)

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On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer’s speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a medium high speed.

Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to LOW. Add vanilla and Oreo crumbs, continue to beat on LOW speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on MEDIUM-HIGH speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds.

Place one layer on the cake plate and cover with the buttercream. Place the 2nd layer on top and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream.

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Do you wish that your kitchen could have that perfect cinnamon fragrance floating in the air?  You do?  Then make this cake right now!  I found this on Pinterest and this link to the blog Giving Up On Perfect will take you to the original recipe.  This writer may be giving up on perfect, but this cake is close to perfection to me.  The only teeny tiny thing I changed was that I made it as a sheet cake in two pans so I could take it to two different dinners.  Other than that, I left well enough alone because this cake doesn’t need any tweaking at all!

1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup milk + 3 tbsp. milk, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted + 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup applesauce
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon + 1 tsp. cinnamon
4 oz. cream cheese
3 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

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Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two 8” square baking pans. Mix the cake mix, 1 cup milk, melted 1/4 cup butter, applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together and pour into the pans. Bake for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean). Let cool.

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After the cake is cool, beat the cream cheese with 1/2 cup room temperature butter until smooth.  Add the milk, powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Beat until smooth again.  Pour the frosting on the cake and spread to cover.  Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour to let the frosting set. 

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Please join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage where I linked up this recipe for Full Plate Thursday.

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Today I am joining up with other food bloggers to participate in the International Food Blogger Cookie Exchange hosted by Lori over Fake Food Free who happens to be a fellow Kentucky food blogger.  Everyone that is taking part had to email a favorite holiday cookie or candy recipe to another blogger.  Then that blogger has to make the treat and post about it on their site.  I received a recipe from Joanne at Eats Well With Others and this is the link for the original recipe.

Now, I am going to be totally honest with all of you…I am not a big pumpkin fan so when I received this recipe, I was a little hesitant.  I had no reason to be though.  These little cookies don’t scream “pumpkin” when you take a bite; they are just soft sweet little cookie pillows.  The texture was amazing and the brown sugar glaze finished them off perfectly.  Delicious!!!

Note: The only change that I made from the original was the kind of nuts I used.  Joanne used hazelnuts, but I didn’t have any so I used toasted pecans instead.  Other than that, I followed her original recipe.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp. milk

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, cream butter and combine with sugar on high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add egg, pumpkins, and vanilla.  Beat well.

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Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Combine flour mixture with the butter/sugar/pumpkin mixture until just combined.  Stir in nuts. 

Drop batter in heaping tbsps. onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (I used a small cookie scoop.) Bake for 10-15 minutes (mine took about 14) or until just starting to get a bit brown around the edges.

Before:

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After:

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Cool on a wire rack.  While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting.  In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, milk, and butter over low heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the brown sugar is dissolved.

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Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and confectioner’s sugar, whisking until no lumps are present.  Ice the cookies with the frosting.

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Coca Cola Cake

Way back in July, my in-laws treated me to dinner at Cracker Barrel for my birthday.  The food was so yummy and the highlight was dessert-Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake.  Oh-my-goodness!  It was just a rich and decadent as it sounds.  One day at work, I was talking about this cake and one of my co-workers said that she had made it before.  Silly me had not thought about searching for a copy recipe but I did and found one on MayFlaum.com. This is so good and so decadent and so rich!  I could go on and on, but I won’t.  I will just show you the recipe so you can go quickly and make one for yourself and your family.

Here are two little notes before that though: 1. I left out the pecans and powdered sugar in the ingredients photo.  I didn’t read far enough into the recipe before I took the picture.  Oops!  2. I made this in two 8” baking pans instead of one 9×13” pan because I was sharing with C’s parents.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 sticks unsalted butter, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided

1 1/2 cup Coca-cola, divided

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13×9” baking dish.  Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 sticks of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup Coca-cola and 1/2 cup buttermilk.  Cook until it boils.

Add the boiled mixture to the flour mixture and combine.  Then add eggs and vanilla extract.  Pour the batter into the baking pan and cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

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During the last 10 minutes of baking, prepare the glaze.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 1 stick of butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Coca-cola.  Let this come to a boil and then remove from heat.  Beat in the 4 cups of powdered sugar and stir in the chopped pecans.  Pour the warm glaze over the hot cake.  Let the cake cool for a little while and then DIG IN!!!

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Join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday!

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Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

A little while ago, I paid a visit to Jackson’s Orchard and purchased a peck of Jonathan apples so I had to find new apple recipes to try.  This recipe was published in Southern Living a few months ago and I knew it would be a perfect test for fresh apples.  This cake turned out great!  The apples and cream cheese swirl kept the cake moist for days and the caramel topping was so good.

In fact, this is one of those cakes that is better a day or two after it is baked.  It just gets moister and more flavorful.  Do you have a fall potluck or party to go to?  Take this and everyone will be in apple heaven!

Note: I am not including quite as many photos as usual since this recipe is quite long already.  All of the methods used are pretty basic.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Apple Cake Batter:

1 cup finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples (The original recipe called for Galas, but I used Jonathans.)

For the Praline Frosting:

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar

Prepare the Filling:

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth.  Add the egg, flour and vanilla.  Beat just until blended.

Prepare the Batter:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with non-stick spray and cover with flour. (Or do like I do and use Baker’s Joy.)  Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and allspice.  Then add the eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla; stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Stir in the apples and pecans.

Spoon 2/3 of the apple batter into the prepared pan.  Spoon the cream cheese filling over the batter, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the pan.  Swirl the filling through the apple batter using a knife.  Spoon the remaining batter over the filling.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center come out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out on a cooling rack and let the cake cool down completely.

Prepare the Frosting:

Bring the brown sugar, butter, and milk to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Boil for 1 minute while still whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently for 3-5 minutes or until the frosting begins to cool and thickens slightly.  Pour immediately over the cooled cake.

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Join me over at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday to see some yummy treats!

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Ina Garten’s Corn Muffins

When my co-worker, A, had a baby a little while ago, I took her family food one night.  Before she went on maternity leave, I asked her what she would like and she said some kind of soup or stew.  Hamburger stew it was!  That was easy enough. 

The night I made the stew, I decided that it needed something to go with it so I went searching for a corn muffin recipe and found this one on Foodnetwork.com.  These are really good and last for a couple of days without becoming stale, but here is a little word to the wise…the recipe says it makes 12 muffins.  It really makes 22 BIG muffins!  Next time, I will cut the recipe in half.  I should have realized that there was too many ingredients for just 12 muffins.

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups milk

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine the milk, butter, and eggs.  With the mixer on the lowest speed, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until they are just blended.

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Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one about 3/4 full.  Bake for 30 minutes until the tops are crisp and a toothpick comes out clean.

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday for this and other blogger’s delicious recipes!

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This recipe was a tease for a few weeks on the Menu Plan Monday posts because I just couldn’t seem to get it made. Well, I finally did and it was very good!  The cake part is just a plain yellow cake made from a mix which is good, but the boiled icing made it great!  The cooked frosting sets up until it is almost fudge like in consistency, so work fast after you take it off the heat.

The story behind this recipe in the Southern Plate cookbook is so cute.  I won’t pass it on here since it is not my family story to share, but go get this book and read it!  It is really sweet!

1 box yellow cake mix

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

7 Tbsp. milk

2 Tbsp. shortening

2 Tbsp. butter

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

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Prepare the cake mix according to package directions, baking it in a 9×13” baking dish. (Note: I used 2 square 8” dishes because I was taking this to 2 different places.)

While the cake is cooling, combine the sugar, milk, shortening, butter, and salt in a medium heavy saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Once it reaches a rolling boil, stop stirring and let boil for 1-2 minutes, or until it reaches the soft-ball stage.

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Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the vanilla and peanut butter.  Beat until smooth and quickly spread over the cake.

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