I really enjoy this moist buttermilk cake, especially because it’s another one of my easy, one-bowl recipes. The combination of spices in the cake along with a mild cream cheese frosting really works for me and I always like any frosting I can make without butter, but it’s also good with chocolate frosting. (You can use the frosting from my zucchini chocolate cake.) It may not be a fancy special occasion cake but my favorite cakes are quick and easy so I mostly bake and frost in the same pan. However, it’s easy to transfer this cake onto a plate and frost the sides as well, like in my photo.
I kept the recipe simple using just all purpose flour but it’s hard to tell the difference between the 100% all purpose and the one made with half whole wheat pastry flour. This recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of flour so I use 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour with 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of whole wheat pastry flour. If you like desserts without butter like I do, you should try this easy spice cake. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
If you’ve ever cooked an entire Thanksgiving turkey dinner then you know it’s all about surviving. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who does it all from scratch deserves a one-week cruise in the Bahamas! I do it all from scratch: the turkey & mashed potatoes, the gravy, the stuffing, cranberries, green beans, and pumpkin pie. How do I survive? By doing everything I possibly can… in advance.
That includes the pumpkin pie, the fresh cranberries, the stuffing, and even the gravy. I make my gravy in advance and just stir in some of the turkey drippings before serving. To make the best gravy and stuffing, I need a good stock so here’s how I schedule my prep:
One week ahead: I bake my easy white bread with 1 Tbsp. sugar and dry it to make cubes for the stuffing. The dried cubes keep well for days but they must be completely dry.
Two days ahead: I make turkey stock using two turkey wings. I rub them with oil, salt & pepper, and roast them on a sheet at 375° F for an hour. Then I put the wings and drippings in a soup pot with about 8 cups of water and all the same veggies & spices as my chicken soup. I cook it for 3 hours, strain, cool & refrigerate. Then I skim the fat off the top before using. Oh, I take the meat off the wings for snacking – it’s delicious! I also cook the fresh cranberries.
One day ahead: I bake my pumpkin pie and make my gravy and stuffing.
Obviously, not everyone wants to work this hard so a store bought loaf of white bread is fine and you can use chicken stock (Swanson’s unsalted in the carton is good). Some people like to crisp the stuffing in the oven but I prefer it soft. It feels more like it was cooked inside the bird that way.
Whether you make it ahead or on the day of, stir in a little of your turkey drippings before serving – it makes a big difference. Click herefor the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Sunday morning breakfast becomes Sunday brunch when I make my beloved no knead fruit & nut bread. I used the overnight method because I wanted it ready sooner than later this morning. There were two kinds of raisins in the pantry to so I mixed red and yellow ones and the nuts were toasted walnuts. The oven should be preheated to 450 and then reduced to 400 for baking because the sugar in the dough can cause the bottom to burn. So I tried something new this time and after the 30 minutes when you remove the lid and parchment paper to finish baking, I lifted out the bread and pushed down the parchment paper into the bottom of the pot. Then I placed the loaf back on the pile of parchment and finished the baking process for another 12-13 minutes. This was the best bottom crust I have made yet. And this is truly the best fruit & nut bread I have ever had. And it’s whole wheat! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
If your tortillas are not soft there can be several reasons:
You did not use all purpose flour.
You did not use a cast iron pan.
Your pan was not hot enough.
You did not roll them thin enough.
They are not stored properly.
I store mine in a zip top plastic bag (put them in while they are still warm) and then close it up and remove all the air. Mine are always soft and every time I remove one, I close the bag back up, air removed each time. I keep them refrigerated this way for as long as 10 days. If you want to make your own homemade tortillas, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Even when it’s not cold outside, I still make my potato soup. Russet potatoes are best for this creamy comfort food and it only takes 1/2 hour to make. Cutting the potatoes into small 1/2-inch pieces helps it cook quickly and I always have my homemade chicken stock in the freezer for soups and stews. You don’t need cream to thicken this soup, only a little flour is all it takes.
Another thing I always have on hand is my (low fat) sour cream. Don’t all Polish people have sour cream at home? It seems like we eat everything with sour cream… cabbage rolls, pierogi, borscht, and potato soup. I always stir sour cream into this soup just before eating and if you want the full Polish experience (zupa ziemniaczana ~ but we called it zupa kartoflana) top it with a little freshly chopped dill. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I love seeing all the photos of my recipes so please keep sending them in. Thank you to all my fellow cooks and feel free to include where you are from. Please send your photo to: YourPhotos@JennyCanCook.com
ELS MADE MY NO KNEAD BREAD “Thank you Jenny! I used whole wheat Spelt to make this bread. The taste is fantastic! And after 30 minutes it came out of the oven looking like this ? I gave it another 7 min. Without the lid and paper, to be on the safe side. And after a very long half hour i cut in half… perfect? I love the way you do your video’s! So funny! Glad i found you! All the best, blessings and greetings from Els Bongers The Netherlands.”
MARIJA MADE MY CINNAMON ROLLS
BEEGE MADE MY FASTER NO KNEAD BREAD “Unbelievable and fast, This is so easy I’m telling all my friends.”
ANN MADE MY SIMPLE MEAT SAUCE “Jenny I made your meat sauce the other day and loved it. No more jar sauce for us! Thank you for the great recipes. Hope to see you in another video soon, I love watching them. Thank you, Ann Butler.”
EVA MADE MY ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CAKE “Dear Jenny, I made your chocolate zucchini cake. Wow ! Its safe to say that this is the best chocolate cake i ever ate. What a great idea to include zucchini… It adds a wonderfully moist and fresh taste. I didnt have enough cocoa powder, so i used melted dark chocolate. As chocolate contains fat, i could skip the oil in the dough and the butter in the frosting. I ended up having a lot of frosting, so i decided to cut the cake in half and fill it with the leftover. Delicious ! Everybody who tried it loved it as much as i did . Best regards from Germany, Eva”
EFRAT MADE MY PIZZA “Hi 🙂 This is the first pizza I’ve ever made, and it was so easy and tasty! I didn’t add pepperoni, just mushrooms, onion and olives, but the pizza base is all yours. We loved it, many thanks! Efrat and Eran from Israel”
NIKTA MADE MY EGG BREAD “Egg Bread!”
MIDGE MADE MY BLACK BREAD? “No! I added some of King Arthur’s caramel powder to Jenny’s No Knead Rye Bread. Looked just like Russian black bread! A big hit with the Ukrainian of the house! 🙂 Midge Mudrowsky”
I really enjoy this moist buttermilk cake, especially because it’s another one of my easy, one-bowl recipes. The combination of spices in the cake along with a mild cream cheese frosting really works for me and I always like any frosting I can make without butter, but it’s also good with chocolate frosting. (You can use the frosting from my zucchini chocolate cake.) It may not be a fancy special occasion cake but my favorite cakes are quick and easy so I mostly bake and frost in the same pan. However, it’s easy to transfer this cake onto a plate and frost the sides as well, like in my photo.
