Mennonite Apple Dumplings

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons shortening
1 cup milk
4 or 5 apples pared, cored and cut in half
Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift the dry ingredients, cut in shortening, add milk and mix to a smooth dough. Turn onto a floured board and divide into 8 or 10 portions; roll out each portion large enough to cover 1/2 apple. Place apple on each piece of dough, fill core hollow with sugar and cinnamon. Wet edges of dough and press together over apple. Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F until the apples are tender – about 1/2 hour. Serve with boiled Brown Sugar Sauce or put the dumplings into a baking dish, pour the uncooked ingredients for Brown Sugar Sauce into the pan around them and bake until the dumplings are done and the sauce is thick.

Brown Sugar Sauce
2 cups water
2 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Combine and cook together for 5 minutes; or simply pour uncooked sauce around dumplings and bake.

Mennonite Maple Walnut Cake

Posted by Olga at recipegoldmine.com 8/30/02 4:06:07 pm

No milk in this quick flavorful cake, just yummy maple syrup.

1/3 cup soft butter or regular margarine
2 eggs
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/4 cups all-purpose white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped not too fine

Beat together butter, eggs, and syrup. This will look curdled don’t worry. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir in gradually. Beat with whisk until smooth fold in walnuts.

Pour into a greased square pan and bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Let cool before icing with a maple butter icing.

Maple Butter Icing

Melt 2 tablespoons butter, blend in a cupful of sifted icing sugar and moisten to a spreading consistency with maple syrup.

Canadian Mennonite Plum Custard Kuchen

Posted by Olga at recipegoldmine.com 8/30/02 5:51:13 pm

A tea-biscuit base with neat rows of plums surrounded by custard – this is a delicious dessert.

1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine or shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
Plums, pitted and halved

Topping
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Custard
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1/3 cup sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in margarine. Beat egg and milk and stir into mixture. Pat the dough over the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Arrange nicely in rows enough pitted plums to completely cover the dough. Sprinkle topping over the plums. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile mix custard ingredients. Take the kuchen out of the oven, drizzle the custard mixture over the plums, and return it to the oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

Mennonite Relief Sale Cream Buns

Posted by Olga at recipegoldmine.com 6:11:10pm 2/15/03

Source: Canadian Back Roads and Country Cooking

Some Mennonite bakers fill these light buns with sweetened whipped cream; others use the filling that follows. You can fill them with homemade preserves and a final dusting of icing sugar. Without the cream filling, the buns make great dinner rolls.

Makes 24 buns.

Buns
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water (105 degrees F)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 egg, well beaten
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream Filling
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 egg whites
1/2 cup softened shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry or other fruit preserves
Confectioners’ sugar

Buns: In heavy saucepan, heat milk over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup sugar, the shortening and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved and shortening melted. Pour into large bowl; let cool until lukewarm.

In small bowl, stir together water and remaining sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar; sprinkle yeast over surface. let stand in warm place for 10 minutes, until puffy. Whisk egg and yeast mixture into milk mixture. Beat in flour 1 cup at a time until smooth dough forms.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; knead in remaining flour until soft but not sticky dough forms. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Form dough into ball; place in lightly oiled bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down; let dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 24 even-size pieces; shape into buns. Place on greased or parchment-paper lined baking sheets. Cover with damp towel; let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake buns for 12 to 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown, and buns sound hollow when tapped on bases. Let buns cool on wire racks.

Cream Filling: In large bowl, beat together sugar, milk and egg whites until smooth. Beat in shortening and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Split cooled buns, spread with filling and preserves and sift confectioners’ sugar over tops.

Mennonite Caramel Apples

6 red baking apples
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Wash and pare apples one-third of the way down from stem end. Leave whole. Remove cores and cook in syrup made of sugar and water. When apples are tender, remove to serving dish. Combine cornstarch and milk to make a smooth paste. Bring cornstarch to the boiling point and then add syrup in which apples were cooked. Cook for 10 minutes or until cornstarch is thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and add butter, salt and vanilla extract. Pour over apples and serve.

Mennonite Oatmeal Bread

2 cups rolled oats (preferably coarse)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
2 packets yeast (about 2 tablespoon)
Chopped nuts (optional)
Raisins (optional)
About 6 cups all-purpose flour

Pour boiling water over rolled oats; stir and add molasses, salt, brown sugar and shortening. Let stand until lukewarm, then add yeast dissolved in warm water with sugar. Mix in flour until it requires muscle. Then knead a few minutes on well floured surface. Put dough in bowl; cover. Let rise 1 to 2 hours in warm, draft-free place to double its size (rolls and buns take less time to rise and bake; can make various shapes). It is risen enough if the dent stays when you press your fingers deeply into it. Nuts or raisins may be added with flour or kneaded into individual loaves. Divide into 2 loaves; let rise again until smooth and round over tops of pans, about an hour or more. Bake at 400 degrees F for 35 minutes.

Rye Bread variation
Use half rye and half all-purpose flour and use 1/2 cup molasses as part of the liquid.

Mennonite Caramel Frosting

3 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup top milk or thin cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together in a saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved; cook syrup until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water (238 degrees F). Cool until you can hold your hand on the bottom of the pan. Beat until creamy and spread on cake.