White Cake Mix to Pumpkin Cake

 Like Mother Like Daughter

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, or milk, or sour cream
• 4 large eggs
• 15 oz  pumpkin pie filling
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ginger
• 2 t allspice
• 1 t nutmeg
• 
  

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix together the cake mix, sugar, oil, water, eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon.
• Stir for 2 minutes until the batter is super smooth.
• Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
• For cupcakes 15-18min, a 9x13 pan, bake for 25-30 minutes, or10inch bundt cake, bake for 30-40 minutes
• Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes then remove from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Top with powdered sugar, vanilla icing, or cream cheese frosting.

Ivars Clam chowder

 2 (6.5oz) minced clam cans
1 bag (16oz) of frozen Newport Steamer clams in the shell (not necessary, but I happen to have them)
1 c finely chopped onion
1 c finely diced celery
2 c finely diced potatoes
4 garlic cloves
3/4c butter
3/4c flour
4c half/half
1 t salt
1 dash pepper
1/2t sugar

In medium saucepan, drain the juice. Set the clams aside. Combine clam juice with the onions, potatoes, celery and potatoes. Add enough water in barely cover and simmer, covered over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 20 min.

In large saucepan, melt butter. Saute garlic for 3-4 min, add flour and stir. Slowly whish in the warm half and half. Cook and whisk till smooth and thick, about 5 min.

If you want a thinner chowder, add 1/2-3/4c water or clam broth. Add the veggies with the cooking liquid, clams, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir well and adjust seasonings if necessary

Dayna said, "Ive tried the bacon type of clam chowder, it ends up tasting like loaded baked potato soup. The Ivars recipe is a washington state tradition and most everyone up there in the pacific northwest is accustomed to the clam chowder, so other soups that include bacon taste like good soup but not clam chowder. Once you add bacon to anything, it all becomes bacon. This recipe sticks to the clam base (sauteing the veggies in clam juice)."

10/26/22 RIDICULOUSLY amazing! Definitely a must do soup again.

I added the steamer clams to the recipe (it wasn't from the original recipe), I followed the directions on the package, put the whole bag in boiling water and wait for 4 min to have the clams pop open. Then take them off the stove and open the bag and pull out the  clams in the shell and put the clams in the big soup pot and stir.

Pumpkin gingersnap Cake

 Cake by Courtney

10/2021   I was so surprised what a delicious cake this was. I think i've forgotten with the easyness of boxed cake, what a difference in taste homemade cake is.

 34 cupcakes

THE CAKE

• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup  (165 g) light brown sugar packed
• 5 large eggs room temperature
• 1 cup (218 g) vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (6.3 g) vanilla
• 2 cups (450 g) pumpkin purée 
• 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (21 g) baking powder
• 1T ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (3.9 g) ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon (2.64 g) nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon (5.6 g)salt

FOR THE CRUMBLE

• 1/2 cup (45 g) quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped gingersnap cookies about 2 cookies
• 1/2 cup finely ground gingersnap cookies about 8 cookies


• 3 tablespoons (65.6 g) molasses
• 1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar packed
• 3 tablespoons (42.3 g) unsalted butter melted
• 1/2 teaspoon (1.32 g) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.4 g) salt

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

• 7 cups (875 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
• 6 ounces cream cheese room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup 3 sticks (339 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
• 2 teaspoons (8.4 g) pure vanilla extract
• *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping, you’ll want to make an extra 1/2 batch.

FOR THE GANACHE

• 1 cup (150 g) cinnamon chips
• 1/3 cup (77 g) heavy cream

US CUSTOMARY-METRIC

Instructions

FOR THE CAKE

1. Preheat 350 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Spray again and set aside. 

2. 9/15/21 I made 34 cupcakes and cooked for a surprisingly small amount of time 15 minutes

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the oil and vanilla and beat on medium until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the pumpkin filling and mix until combined, about another 30 seconds. 
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and salt, and with the mixer on the lowest speed, gradually add to the pumpkin/egg mixture.
5. Evenly distribute batter into the prepared pans, smooth with a small offset palette knife and place in the center of the middle rack of the oven, about 2 inches apart. Bake until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. (Mine took 23).
6. Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes, and then invert cakes onto rack and cool them completely.
7. 
   

FOR THE CRUMBLE

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture resembles clumps of sand. 

3. Pour the mixture over the parchment paper and spread it out evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring the mixture about halfway through.

4. Let it cool completely and then crumble the mixture into smaller pieces. The mixture will still be soft when you take it out of the oven. It will harden as it cools.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

1. In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually add in the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat until very fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the vanilla and beat for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a wooden spoon and mix by hand to stir out the air bubbles.

FOR THE GANACHE

1. Place the cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Alternately, you can heat the cream over the stove.
2. Pour the warm cream over the cinnamon chips and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and silky. Allow to cool, but not set, before using on your cake.

ASSEMBLY

1. After leveling each cake layer, place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board. Apply 1/2 cup of the frosting over the cake layer, followed by 1/4 of the crumble and a drizzle of the cinnamon chip drip.
2. Repeat these steps for the next two cake layers. Finish by placing the final cake layer, top side down, on top of the last layer of filling. 
3. Before frosting the entire cake, you will want to apply a thin coat of frosting around the cake and on top of the cake. This layer of frosting doesn't need to look pretty, it's simply functional. We want to lock in any crumbs. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes.
4. After the crumb coat is set, apply the rest of the frosting and drip.