Gloria bakes the cake

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“Julia, here is a one cup measure for the flour, you may put two level cups into this bowl and Austin, here’s the sugar, you may dump this in.”

“Mom, may I stir it now?” asks my little baker girl.

“When is my turn to stir?” Austin wants to know.

“You can each have a turn, Austin can stir the dry ingredients then Julia can whisk in the rest,” I instruct.

Next comes 1-year-old Rayni, wanting to be involved with our chocolate cake endeavors. “Maybe I’ll put you in your high chair then you can watch from there,” I tell her as I scoop her up and pull the high chair close enough for her to watch, crowding my small kitchen even more. By the time everything has been measured, dumped, and blended the countertop definitely looks like something major has happened.

Bits of dough, flour, and cocoa are the telltale stories of little sweethearts helping mama in the kitchen. My mind travels back to when I was a young girl and loved helping my mother. In spite of the messes I made I remember my mother patiently allowing me to “help” her.

Even though I don’t get as much time to work in the kitchen as I used to, I do enjoy the little snatches of whipping up our favorites every now and then. Not only to put food on the table, but also for the quality time the children and I share as the food is in the making.

If I suggest to Julia that we bake something and it happens to be over the time of Austin’s nap she always says, “But mom, Austin would like to help too.” As you can hear, I’m blessed with eager little helpers. Our motto is, “If you help bake you’ll also help wash dishes.” Clean up isn’t the funnest part, but what a delight to have a pan of fresh cookie bars, pie, or cinnamon rolls to serve to the family.

People have so richly blessed us with food since the arrival of our foster children three and a half months ago. Besides that we also had that big batch of chili soup we made over the fire last fall which has made many a super duper meal. Not only that, we also butchered a hog a couple weeks ago which has provided us with an ample supply of bacon and sausage.

Our annual tradition is to butcher a pig then mix up a hundred pounds deer sausage, consisting of 50 percent venison and 50 percent pork. The sausage seasonings we put in it gives it a delicious sausage flavor without the expense of using all pork. We then use this burger to be fried for casseroles, gravies, soups, or to simply shape into burgers and fry or grill.

The fresh deer sausage has come in handy in many ways such as last week when I saw a picture in a newspaper of pizza. I just got this pizza craving, but wasn’t sure if I’ll reach around to making some. Then I thought of the thawed burger in the fridge and decided to attempt the project. I used our taco pizza crust recipe which is simpler than the yeast recipe I generally use.

With me not being able to do as much cooking that requires some extra time it really was a special treat. There’s nothing like filling the whole house with that amazing aroma of cooking. I would love to share this taco pizza recipe with you. You may want to precisely follow the instructions or do what I did and just use the crust recipe and layer on top what you generally would for your favorite pizza.

Or if you’re not “pizza people” like we you may want to join Julia, Austin and I in the kitchen making our family favorite chocolate cake. It’s the type of cake that never lasts long at our house and is delicious served with yogurt or milk. I’ve made countless batches of this when I was a girl at home. For quite some time it was our standby baked good. I’ll share both recipes with you.

MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cups flour

2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons soda

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

1 cup hot coffee

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Double mocha frosting:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Cake: Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients. Beat well. Pour into a greased 9 by 13 cake pan. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. When cooled spread frosting on top. Yields 20 pieces.

Frosting: Combine melted butter, cocoa, salt and coffee. Then add milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat well. Now, how about trying that taco pizza?

TACO PIZZA

Dough:

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Meat mixture:

1 1/2 pounds hamburger, fried with onions

1 package taco seasoning

1 pint pizza sauce

Dressing mixture:

1 1/2 cups sour cream or 1 cup milk, scant

1 tablespoon sour cream and onion powder

2/3 cup salad dressing

Put dough into 9 by 13 inch pan. Spoon meat mixture onto dough, next put on dressing mixture. If desired, sprinkle with peppers, onions, tomatoes or whatever you prefer. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Add cheese and taco chips or white soup crackers for the last five minutes.

https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/02/web1_AmishCook365logocol.jpg

Submitted photo Gloria Yoder’s recipe for Double Mocha Chocolate Cake.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/02/web1_AmishCookchocolatecakepiccol.jpgSubmitted photo Gloria Yoder’s recipe for Double Mocha Chocolate Cake.
The Amish Cook

By Gloria Yoder

Readers with culinary or cultural questions or stories can write Gloria directly at Gloria Yoder, 10568 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427-2019. To see more on the Amish go to www.amish365.com.

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