This bread pudding is so easy and delicious, you will surely add it to your arsenal of favorite dessert recipes. It makes quite a bit so it is a great dessert to serve at a large dinner party. Make sure the bread is a few days stale and thoroughly soaked before baking. If the bread is too fresh, it will be more like mush instead of cake-like. Pour the rum sauce on top while it is still hot so it can soak into the bread pudding and be even more decadent! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Bread Pudding:
4 c scalded milk
8 thick slices of stale French bread, diced into cubes
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Rum Sauce:
2 egg yolks
1/2 stick of butter
1/3 c dark rum
1 c powdered sugar

Directions

1. Soak bread in scalded milk for several minutes. Reserve milk in separate bowl and transfer bread to a greased pan.

2. Add the butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla to the reserved hot milk and mix until well combined.

3. Slowly pour mixture over bread and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

For the rum sauce:

1. In a saucepan, add butter, powdered sugar and rum.

2. Stir until melted and slowly add egg yolks.

3. Cook until thick and pour over cooked bread pudding.

This old fashioned buttermilk pie has lemon zest added to give it a brighter taste than its counterparts. Lemon is the perfect combination to the creamy buttermilk creating a rich, surprising flavor unlike tradition buttermilk pies that call for vanilla and are much sweeter. Serve this old fashioned treat at your next dinner party or family get together and wow your guests at the simplicity and richness of such a subdued ingredient. Pair a slice with some vanilla bean ice cream or fresh whipped cream and enjoy!

Ingredients
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Combine lemon zest, sugar and flour in large bowl.

2. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.

3. Stir in the melted butter and buttermilk. Mix well.

4. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until set in the center.

5. Cool and serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

Makes 1 (9-inch) bundt cake.

Cake Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 scant teaspoon grated fresh ginger
4 large eggs
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
11/2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 (15-ounce) can
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 cup cocoa nibs
1 cup pecans, broken into small pieces

Glaze ingredients
8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon light corn
syrup
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a standard Bundt cake pan with oil or butter, then dust flour on the greased inside of the pan. Fluted Bundt pans, especially, need a lot of grease for the cake to release.

To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs and brown sugar with a whisk until light and fluffy. Add the vegetable oil and pumpkin puree and stir until smooth. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until it is absorbed. Then add the rest of the flour mixture followed by the vanilla, rum, cocoa nibs, and pecans. Switch to a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until smooth. Use the rubber spatula to scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs, not batter. Allow the cake to cool in the pan to room temperature before inverting in onto a wire rack.

To make the glaze, combine the chocolate, butter, milk, corn syrup, and salt in a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water over medium heat and stir as the ingredients melt together. Pour the glaze over the cake after the cake has cooled to room temperature. You’ll have extra glaze left over, which you can pour into the center of the cake or save to serve with plated slices.

Enjoy!

About: This recipe is courtesy of Susie Norris who just launched her new gift/recipe book Chocolate Bliss: Sensuous Recipes, Spa Treatments, and Other Divine Indulgences in bookstores nationwide.

“This recipe has been passed down through our family, generation after generation, and it is absolutely delicious. The cake melts in your mouth and the fudge frosting…gives me chills thinking about it! Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have this dessert. It wouldn’t be the same without it! From what I
understand, this is very Southern and a recipe that is becoming harder and harder to find. A staple for decades at Thanksgiving gatherings, it is becoming a distant memory and I would like to put a stop to that! :)

Enjoy my Great-Grandmother’s recipe for 7-Layer Fudge Cake.”

photo courtesy of Chef Angela McKeller

Cake Layers:
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. Baking soda
¼ c. apple sauce
2 c. self-rising flour
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
1 c. buttermilk

Directions:
Combine flour and baking soda.
Add eggs, apple sauce, sugar, vanilla and buttermilk.
Mix until well blended, but do not over mix.
Pour ¾ c. batter into 6 or 7, 9” round cake pans (depending on how much batter you have and how well you scrape the bowl) and use anodized aluminum, so as not to burn the edges.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool on wire racks while making fudge frosting.

Fudge Frosting:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
½ c. margarine
7 oz. Evaporated milk

Directions:
Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat without boiling.
Add sugar, cocoa, vanilla and evaporated milk.
Stir well and bring to a boil.
As soon as it comes to a boil, time for five minutes (ONLY five minutes) and then immediately remove from heat.

Ice your cake layers immediately or the frosting will harden into fudge, rendering it impossible to spread. Serve warm, if possible, and you have the most decadent, Southern tradition that will melt in your mouth and be remembered for generations to come!

About Angela McKeller: Chef, Kookbook Author, Couture Aprons and Host of “Kick Back and Kook!”, Angela McKeller appeared in many tv shows and her recipes have been featured on numerous websites. Check out her radio show and website for more delicious recipes!

Peach Upside Down Cake. photo and recipe courtesy of Del Monte “Stretch Your Dollar” Campaign

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Servings: 10+

Ingredients

· 2 cans (15-1/4 oz. each) DEL MONTE® Sliced Peaches
· 1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
· 1/2 cup brown sugar
· 1/4 cup evaporated milk
· 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
· 1 cup chopped pecans
· 1 pkg. yellow cake mix

Directions

1. Drain peaches reserving syrup for sauce.

2. Combine 4 oz. unsalted butter, brown sugar, reserved syrup from peaches, and
evaporated milk; cook over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes; set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Use remaining 2 Tbsp. butter to grease 13x9x2 inch baking
pan. Pour caramel sauce in pan, and arrange peaches over bottom; sprinkle with cinnamon and chopped pecans.

5. Prepare cake mix according to package directions; pour over fruit. Bake 30 minutes.

6. Cool completely before serving.