BYU Mint Brownies

Makes one 9 x 13 pan

1 cup butter (or margarine, but you know how I feel about butter, people)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 Tablespoons honey
4 eggs
2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (Meghan doesn't like nuts, so I don't usually put any in)
12 ounces chocolate frosting (use your own fav icing recipe.)

Mint Icing:
5 Tablespoons butter
dash of salt
3 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Melt butter and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool.

Prepare mint icing: Soften butter. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Yellow Cake

This is the cake I made for Kodison's birthday. Yellow cake is his favorite with chocolate frosting. (Hence I made a little chocolate football to appease him) I cut up the cake shape from a 9 x 13 pan and carved the jersey and football from there. The trick to doing cut up cakes is to freeze the unfrosted cake a bit, that way the crumbs adhere to the cake and not the frosting.

Yellow Butter Cake made from scratch

2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred before measuring
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture then half of the milk. Add vanilla. Mix until blended; add remaining flour and milk and beat til smooth. The batter will be thick. Spread batter in 13x9 baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes.

Monday FHE

Last semester when ld had BYU students coming to our house once a month for FHE we discussed the possibility of putting together about 4 ready made home evenings. This is because we had on a couple of occasions been burned by, how shall I put it kindly, some of their unbelievable lack of preparation, as in reading one tiny scripture and then calling it a lesson.

We all sat around staring at each other awkwardly after that. So, being the supportive spouse, I put together a little computer file of ready made, on the spot, what to do in a pinch Home Evenings. As we never wanted that to happen again. Anyhoo, here is a little recipe/activity that I thought might be fun. Granted, we never used it for that group, but I had done it way back in the day when I was a student. I’m sharin’, just in case you need it in a pinch.

Scripture Cake (Spice Cake)

(You might read the scripture references to the fam and let them figure out what the ingredients are)

2 cups 1 Kings 4:22 (flour)
1 ½ cups Jeremiah 6:20 (sugar)
2 teaspoons Amos 4:5 (1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder)
2 Chronicles 9:9 (spices – 1 tsp. cinnamon; ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp nutmeg)
Pinch of Leviticus 2:13 (salt)
1 cup Judges 4:19, last clause (milk)
½ cup Judges 5:25, last clause (butter)
3 large Jeremiah 17:11 (eggs)

Note: may add ½ tsp vanilla, if desired.

Heat oven to 350. Grease sides and bottoms of 13 x 9 pan.
In a bowl combine 1 Kings, Jeremiah 6:20, Amos, 2 Chronicles and Leviticus.
Add Judges 4:19 and 5:25. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat two minutes on high.
Add Jeremiah 17:11 and beat two minutes more.
Pour batter into pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack.