inspirations – Peach Pear Plum Cafe

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

Posted on October 14, 2017October 14, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

Fall is here and these muffins welcome the season with wonderful pumpkin and pecan flavors! A simple yet flavorful muffin to satisfy your taste buds. I mixed the pumpkin flavors from my pumpkin pie scones recipe with the awesome pecan topping from my sweet potato casserole dish. These are oh so delicious and so satisfying with each bite.

Ingredients

Dry

2 ½ cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin spice

Wet

3 eggs

1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pecan Mixture

1 cup flour

8 tbsp butter melted

3/4 cup pecans chopped

1 cup brown sugar

Directions

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
Prep a regular muffin tin (24 count) with foil cups or butter the muffin tin. Or use 2 mini muffin tins 24 count each (for a total of 48).
Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Use a whisk to make sure it is mixed well.
Whisk together the wet ingredients.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until well blended.
To make the pecan mixture, melt the butter in a small pot on the stove. Sprinkle in flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans. Mix well, until flour is not longer visible.
Carefully fold in 3/4 of the pecan mixture until evenly blended.
Using two regular spoons, scoop and scrape muffin ingredients into the muffin tins evenly.
Sprinkle the rest of the pecan mixture over the tops of each muffin.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes if using regular muffin tin. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes if using mini muffin tins.
When muffins are ready (when the toothpick or knife comes out clean from center of a muffin) remove from oven and let cool.
Plate them and enjoy!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy them!

Katie

Mama’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Posted on September 26, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

There is nothing like moms cooking. This dish is a Thanksgiving family tradition. My mom always brought the sweet potato casserole to our large family gathering among other dishes. This sweet and crunchy recipe pairs well with turkey or ham and of course some cranberry sauce. With the small addition of marshmallows on top, I’d say its perfection.

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Mix

3 to 4 cups of sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

1 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter (room temp)

½ cup evaporated milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

4 tbsp butter melted

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Rinse/wash sweet potatoes before placing in a large pot on the stove. Bring sweet potatoes to a boil and turn to medium/low heat. Leave them to cook for at least an hour (until your fork and easily penetrate the sweet potato. (I use 4 to 5 medium sized sweet potatoes)
Drain the hot water. Using a cutting board, place each sweet potato on it to peel. Use the fork to hold the sweet potato still while you slice and peel each sweet potato. Place sweet potatoes in large mixing bowl.
Add in the butter and sugar. Using a masher, mash the sweet potatoes until ingredients is well blended.
Add in the evaporated milk, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix again.
Spray your baking dish (9x13in) with butter. Add in the sweet potato mix. Smooth it out and place to the side.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the topping, melt butter in a small pot on the stove. Once melted, add in the pecans, brown sugar and flour. Mix well with a small spoon.
Sprinkle the topping onto the sweet potatoes.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
When time is up, take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle marshmallows on top.
Change the oven settings to broil and place casserole back in the oven for 5 minutes (watch carefully so that you don’t burn the marshmallows).
Remove when completed and let cool before serving.

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks mom for sharing your delicious sweet potato casserole dish. It brings back many fun childhood family memories. And tasty ones 🙂

Katie

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What’s your favorite dish that your mom always made?

Chocolate Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

Posted on September 23, 2017September 23, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

With just a few tweaks I made my grandmothers chocolate pound cake with a bit of a Florida twist. Florida oranges with a delicious chocolate cake, so good. You just can’t go wrong with a chocolate cake and orange glaze. It’s sweet yet tangy all in one bite. Another refreshing recipe just for you. I’m so grateful for a grandmother who shares her recipes, and this is one for the books. The recipe book that is.

Ingredients

Pound Cake:

3 sticks of unsalted butter (room temp)

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 cup of gran. sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Orange Glaze:

1 tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 tsp. orange extract

1 – 2 cups of confectioners sugar

Candied Orange Peel

1 Orange

1 cup of water

1 cup whole milk

Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add in eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg.

3. Sift the rest of the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

4. Scoop and dump in sifted dry ingredients (a cup at a time) and pour in milk (1/4 cup at a time) by alternating them. Blend well after each addition.

end result of dry ingredients and milk mixing

5. Add vanilla extract and beat well.

6. Grease tube pan or bundt pan with butter (or shortening) and if you’d like, dust it with cocoa powder (or flour).

buttered pan

butter and cocoa powder on pan

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8. Add in the blended ingredients using a spatula and bake for 70 to 75 minutes.

9. While the cake is baking, peel the skin off of an orange. Slice the peel into thin strips.

10. Heat 1 cup of water in a pot on the stove. Add in sliced orange peel and simmer for about 15 minutes.

11. Add in a little more than 3/4 cup of sugar and stir. Continue to let simmer on medium low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir occasionally so that it stays a simple syrup instead of caramel.

12. Drain the orange peels using a metal strainer and spread the peels out onto parchment paper on a pan.

13. Sprinkle the orange peels with the remainder of the sugar.

14. When the cake is finished baking, let it stand and cool before removing it from the pan.

15. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place orange peels in the oven for one hour. The candied orange slices should be hard and dry when finished baking (set them aside for later).

16. Whip together the orange extract, orange juice and confectioners sugar until you get a nice smooth glaze that is easy to pour but thick enough to not run off the cake.

17. Cut off the end/bottom of the pound cake so that it sits perfectly on the cake stand or large dish and let it finish cooling. Then carefully drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.

18. Sprinkle candied orange peel over the top of the cake.

19. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Hope you enjoy a Florida twist on an Alabama favorite family recipe. What is your all time favorite recipe from grandma?

Katie

Thanks for sharing your delicious chocolate pound cake recipe Bigmama! I love that family recipes can be passed down from generation to generation.

Crafty Jar Holder

Posted on September 20, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

Reuse what you have to increase storage and organization in your home.

There are so many ways you can use this piece and it seriously only cost 5 to 10 dollars to complete.

The below steps are guidelines and are not meant to be exact for viewers. You can use what you have in your home to make it work for you. Make sure you measure and level before doing all the painting.

Steps:

1. Keep jars after you have used them (pickle jars, jam jars, sauce jars, etc) and make sure to soak and scrape off labels

2. Cut the wood

3. Drill holes for jar wire holders

4. Sand the wood

5. Add hangers on the back of the wood

6. Stain the wood

7. Paint the wood (Check your garage for any left over paint or check out the clearance section of Lowes or Homedepot)

8. Add Stencil for name or title

9. Add the wires with jars and make sure they are tight (label them if necessary). The neat things about these wire cords is that they can be loosened and tightened.

10. Hang on the wall

11. Fill them with many different items. Things you just enjoy or things you are trying to organize. We are using our crafty jar holders for our children to put their money earned. A SHARE jar and a SPEND jar. We are hoping to teach them the importance of spending/saving money wisely as well as learn to give to others in need.