Guinness-Ginger Cake

I recently made a cake for Father's Day that was so moist and good.  I got the recipe from noblepig.com but made a few little changes , like using applesauce instead of oil , that I thought I would share.

Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan, line the bottom and sides with parchment and grease the parchment with butter as well.  Or butter and flour a 6-cup Bundt pan.
 
You will need:

1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup molasses
1/2 Tablespoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon firmly packed dark brown sugar (do not substitute light brown)
3/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3 - 4 Tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger (it's up to you)

In a large saucepan over high heat, combine the stout and molasses and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and add the baking soda.  Allow to sit until the foam dissipates; this takes about 10 minutes.




In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and applesauce.




In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom.




Combine the stout mixture with the egg mixture, then whisk this liquid into the flour mixture, half at a time.  Add the fresh ginger and stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the parchment-lined loaf pan and bake for 50 mins to 1 hour in a 350 degree oven, or until the top springs back when gently pressed.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

 

You can sprinkle powdered sugar on top if you like.  I like whipped cream on mine but vanilla ice cream is good too.



Enjoy!

To Keep: Cover cake with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to three days or refrigerate up to a week.  Or wrap well in plastic wrap, place in a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for 2 to 3 months.

Pumpkin Smoothie , NO BLENDER REQUIRED !

Hey all ,
When I really want a low calorie but filling smoothie , this is my go-to .  It is really fast , easy , and no blender is necessary ... which is great because right now I am blender-less .  This is good pretty much year round because it is like pumpkin pie but not as sweet .  There are two ways to make this , and you only need 4 ingredients .



Version 1
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice

Version 2 is not much different but if you don't drink vanilla soy milk (like my family) this is what you do so you don't have to buy a quart of something that you otherwise wouldn't touch .

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups plain soy milk
1 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice

All you have to do is find a whisk and stir it up and you have a delish smoothie that is really healthy for you!  Pumpkin is one of those super foods and canned pumpkin , unlike other canned foods , doesn't lose much nutritional value.  There is a link below that is all about the health benefits of pumpkin if you are interested.  :)

Enjoy !

http://suite101.com/article/health-benefits-of-pumpkin-a153140

Beer Battered Clam Strips

12 ounces of lime beer (any beer is fine though)

1 1/2 cups flour 

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic

2 cups clam strips

oil with a high heat tolerance 

Hey everybody,
Sorry the post is late,  I made the food on time but never got a chance to post it.  Today's recipe is beer battered clams! They are a little time consuming and labor intensive but are worth the effort.  

 Rinse and drain the clam strips in a colander and then soak them in milk in a large bowl for about an hour.  This will remove a lot of the unpleasant fishy odor and will tenderize the clams.  Meanwhile mix all the ingredients in another bowl except for the flour, you want the beer to be flat.  After the hour is up heat about 2 inches of oil in a pan, you will want to have a screen to keep it from spitting or long sleeves (it hurts).  Mix the flour into the seasoned beer and whisk there are no lumps and then mix in the clams.  You could also dip it in the seasoned beer sans flour and then dredge it.  Either way your hands are going to be a big mess.  Fry coated clams until clams are crisp and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste. Return oil to 380°F between batches, removing any bits of fried batter with a fine sieve and coating next batch of clams.  The batches will get progressively darker, but that won't affect the flavor.

Enjoy!