My family enjoys a good meal, but we all save room for dessert when these sweets are part of the menu.
Mother’s Pecan Pies
6 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons
all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups white Karo syrup
1 stick margarine
2 cups pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 unbaked deep-dish
pie crusts
Mix all ingredients together and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
Andy’s Note: I usually chop my pecans instead of leaving them in halves. It makes the pies so much easier to slice. These pies freeze so easily and fit perfectly in a half gallon freezer bag.
Henry’s Apple Cake
1 ½ cups Crisco oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups apples,
peeled and chopped
(I always use
Granny Smith apples)
Mix all ingredients together except apples and pecans. This batter will be really stiff. After batter is smooth, add chopped apples and pecans. Spoon into a greased and floured large tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and 10 minutes.
Sauce:
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup milk
1 stick butter
Mix all sauce ingredients together and cook for 3-5 minutes. Pour over hot cake when you remove it from the oven. Let it sit for two hours before removing from the pan.
Andy’s Note: This cake is so much like a fruitcake but much better because of the apples. I cannot begin to tell you how many of these that I have made for my precious uncle Henry McCleskey. It is so sad that he is not here anymore, but I did enjoy baking these so much for him. This cake will always be Henry’s Apple Cake.
Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
1 cup Crisco oil
1 small box strawberry jello
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup mashed
sweetened strawberries
4 eggs
Dissolve jello in the warm water. Add all ingredients in your mixer bowl and beat for about five minutes. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes or until done.
Frosting:
1 box powdered sugar
¼ cup mashed sweetened strawberries
1 stick margarine
Mix powdered sugar, strawberries, and margarine together until real smooth.
Andy’s Note: My bunch has requested this cake for Thanksgiving this year. I will be making it in a 9×13-inch pan. This is another cake that I have a lot of requests to bake. The teachers at Gaston School always like for me to bake this cake for their birthday parties and special events. Camilla Meeks, a friend of mine from Cherokee County, is also baking this cake for her Thanksgiving meal. This cake is truly one of the “Best of the Best.”
German Chocolate Upside Down Cake
1 box German
chocolate cake mix
1 stick margarine
1 (8-ounce) package
cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Combine coconut and pecans and put in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan. Prepare cake mix as directed and pour over the coconut and pecans. Melt cream cheese and butter. Add one box of powdered sugar, cream cheese and butter to the mixer bowl. Pour this mixture over the cake mix in the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Andy’s Note: This cake is so easy and so good.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Andy
“Southern Cooking with Andy Bedwell” can be purchased at The Messenger newspaper located at 1957 Rainbow Drive in Gadsden.