Jam Layer Treat (Heather)

That's right folks, after the (almost) epic fail of the Savoury Supper, I've gone back to desserts. They are almost impossible to mess up, and they are always delicious!

Jam Layer Treat (Heather)

On the menu today is Jam Layer Treat. And a treat it was! Typically, I tend to avoid anything in layers - mainly because it means you have to bake the thing twice. I'm the first to admit I'm an instant gratification kind of gal (this is the exact reason I gave up on knitting and started making cards. Unless your training for the Olympics in their Speed Knitting category like my mom, it's very unlikely you're going to get something done in an hour).

Today's recipe is my Aunt Heather's treat. My Aunt Heather and Uncle George (Uncle George is my grandfather's brother) lived down the street from my grandparents (and us) when I was growing up and they were a big part of our life too. Fortunately, we still see them semi-regularly - generally Remembrance Day and lately, funerals. But they are good people, like my grandparents. Kind, giving, involved in their community - the whole package.

Grandma is the one with the bow on her head
Aunt Heather is the one laughing at her

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pics of my Aunt Heather but I found this one with them at the Legion preparing bows for a "Brown Bag Lunch".

I was excited to try this recipe out and honour my grandmother (who liked it enough to save it) and my great-aunt, who it belonged to!


The Recipe Card:

Jam Layer Treat Recipe - Front

Jam Layer Treat Recipe - Back

Can you tell it was well loved? I'm going to guess that the brown splotches is the topping - someone must have gotten a little wild and crazy with the spoon.


The Process:
I was so pleasantly surprised to see that this 'layer' treat was not baked twice! This is good news for lazy-in-the-kitchen me.

First step, making the bottom - basically a glorified shortbread. yum!

Flour, better, sugar... who needs more than that? Seriously. That's it.

The best part? The recipe included this absolutely amazing little tidbit of technique. It has definitely been stored away in the memory banks for years to come:

"A spoon dipped in hot water will make it easier spreading"

A spoon dipped in hot water will make it easier to spread you say?

Right as rain! It worked like a charm.

Mmmm base layer...

Next up, adding the jam layer. Easy enough! No exact measurements here, go willy-nilly with the Welch's, my friends! 

And then it's time to mix up the topping. If there is someone out there who can explain the need for whipping egg whites into peeks only to add more ingredients that will flatten them down again anyway, I would love to hear from you. 

Especially since I don't have one of these fancy egg beating contraptions that my grandma had:

Photo Source

I digress.... So, I whipped the egg whites as stiff as I could get them without losing my limb in the process, and off we go.

"Mostly" stiff egg whites

Add the remaining ingredients and pour on top of the already delicious looking base layers. 

Pop it in the oven and brace yourself for the longest 35 minutes you've ever experienced. 

The Recipe:

Base:
3/4 cup Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Sugar
1-1/2 cup sifted Flour
Jam

Topping:
1 egg white
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup shredded Coconut

Directions:
Cream butter, add sugar and blend well. Add flour gradually.
When well mixed, spread evenly in cake pan 8" square
(A spoon dipped in hot water will make it easier spreading)
Spread thinly with jam.
Beat egg white until stiff. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Fold in Coconut
Cover with topping and bake 325 for 35 mins

YES!! You see that?! Bake 325 degrees for 35 minutes!! Who knew that someday baking instructions would make me giddy - the things you take for granted...

All done!

My Personal Notes:

• As you can see from the photos, I clearly forgot the very delicate process of creaming the butter and the sugar together and then gradually adding the flour. That goes back to the instant gratification comment above. Or the lazy-in-the-kitchen one. Take your pick!
• I used blueberry jam, and it was delicious. But I suspect some homemade raspberry jam would be divine. Or even Rhubarb, if that's the sort of thing you're into. 
• Definitely let this cool before cutting/serving. It'll make a huge difference.  

In case you're wondering - those are my grandma's dishes. 

These didn't last long in our house :)

Next on the menu is Ham & Broccoli Rollups, so be sure to check back in a few days!

*~Tara-Jane~*

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler

Hi folks!

Coming back to you with recipe #2 - and I chose another baked good. In fact, I let my son choose again. That's it for awhile though, the next one is going to be my own choosing, and I'm going to look at the recipe before I do! haha

On today's menu is Cranberry Fruit Cobbler.

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler

This one started out a bit on the sad side. Let me be frank here, I've never made anything with cranberries other than cranberry sauce. And the only time I've made cranberry sauce has been at Thanksgiving (do people eat cranberry sauce at any other time of the year?).

Me and Hunter went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. I looked around for fresh Ocean Spray Cranberries (very specific!). No luck. I find an associate:

Me: Hi, could you tell me where I can find the fresh cranberries?
Him: Nope...
Me: *bewildered*. 'Nope' you won't tell me or 'nope' there are no fresh cranberries?
Him: No, there are no fresh cranberries. Out of season.
Me: ... I didn't realize cranberries had a season.
Him: Every produce has a season...
Me: Oh.
Him: Ya...

Ok then. I've never really thought about it, but lesson learned.

So no fresh cranberries. Mother Nature has already stood in the way of this being a success, but I press on. This time I'll use frozen cranberries and I'll make it again in the fall, the proper way.

I wonder how many things you can put cranberries in during prep for a thanksgiving meal without it being "too much"? :) Check back in October and I'll let you know! ha.

Want to know more about cranberries? I did - here you go! My favourite part is the "10 Reasons to Love Dried Cranberries" article.

Photo source

Let's get to the goods.


The Recipe Card:
I don't know where this recipe came from. The handwriting isn't that of my grandmother or my grandfather (not that I'd really expect him to be writing out recipes, but you just never know). I searched through the rest of the 'Red Tin Box' to see if there were any more with this writing but came up empty-handed.

It's a busytown mystery, my friends.

Front

Back

***

Edited to add: 

This is my aunts writing, and it came from her high school home ec class! Busytown Mystery solved!!

***

The Process:
Fortunately, this recipe had a tad more direction than the Cookies did, so I was feeling pretty good - Cranberries and walnuts in a pie plate, alright!

Prepping the pie plate

And sprinkle them with sugar. Hunter said it 'snowed in cranberry land'. Who needs Cranberry Fruit Cobbler when they have a kid who is cute enough to eat?!

Snowing in Cranberry Land

Then mix the topping. My favourite part of the recipe is when it says "mix batter and pour over fruit".

Batter to be "poured"

No "pouring" possible. Perhaps "pour" was the wrong word to use in the recipe, but I will admit that it sounds a lot better than what I would have said - "glob". That's basically what I did. I globbed the batter over the fruit.

Disappointment sets in as I try to understand how this is going to turn cobbler-ey. Time to toss it in the oven and hope for the best.

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler ready for the oven!

Miracle of all miracles, the batter starts to melt and sink down into the fruit. Glorious, glorious cobbler. Looks good enough to eat!

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler

The Recipe:

Fruit Layer
1 cup Ocean Spray fresh cranberries
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts

Topping
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 Flour
6 tbsp oil or melted shortening

Directions
Grease 9" pie plate. Put cranberries and nuts in and sprinkle sugar over.
Mix batter and pour over fruit. Pour in middle of fruit but do not smooth over
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.
Cut like pie and serve with generous slab of ice cream.
Hot or cold.


My Personal Notes:

• I really like the part in the recipe where is specifically states to serve with a generous slab of ice cream. Well sure!
• I chose melted veggie shortening over oil. For no other reason than it had 10 less calories per 2 tbsp. Not that it makes much of a difference when you have 3/4 cup of sugar, but I needed something to make me choose one over the other.
• Although the batter wasn't 'pourable', it turned out pretty tasty. I think when I do this again at Thanksgiving, I will make some adjustments to the batter - it turned out a bit crispy. Maybe a larger egg? I used a medium. Maybe try the oil over the veggie shortening? 

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler

It was devoured almost instantly.

Cranberry Fruit Cobbler with a generous slab of ice cream. Hot.

Next up, we're going to have a supper dish - Savoury Supper. I've read through the recipe and it's just as vague as the rest of them. But this time I'm prepared for vague - and it has sausages in it, so how can you go wrong?

See you soon!

*~Tara-Jane~*