Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Cookbook

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a large (10-cup) tube pan, preferably with a removable bottom. Dust pan with flour. In a small bowl, combine nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon for topping and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. In a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until blended, and stir in vanilla. Alternately add sour cream and dry ingredients, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

3. Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the topping over the batter. Spoon remaining batter into pan. Sprinkle with remaining topping.

4. Bake 1 hour 5 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a knife around the edges to loosen from pan. Remove pan sides. Run a knife under cake to loosen from pan bottom. Carefully lift cake out of pan. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

TIP

You can substitute plain yogurt or low-fat sour cream for the sour cream.

Corn Muffins with Raspberries

T hese are best eaten the day they are baked; the juicy berries will make the muffins soggy if left too long.

Makes 12

1

/

cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

/

cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plus

2 tablespoons buttermilk

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons molasses

1 large egg plus

1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten 1 cup fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a standard muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a wooden spoon, fold in buttermilk, melted butter, molasses and beaten eggs until blended. Let mixture stand 10 minutes to absorb liquid. Gently fold in raspberries.

3. Drop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 15 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife around muffin edges to release from pan. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

TIP

Not in the mood for muffins? You can easily make this recipe into cornbread. Just pour the batter into a greased heavy 9-inch skillet and bake for about 25 minutes.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

A lthough there are a lot of steps to this recipe, the joy of creating homemade cinnamon rolls make it worth the effort.

Makes 12

½ cup whole milk

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 package (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

3¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

FILLING

/

cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Milk for brushing

ICING

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a glass measuring cup, microwave milk and butter until butter melts.

2. In a large bowl with electric mixer on low speed, combine yeast and warm water; let sit for 5 minutes. Beat in ½ cup granulated sugar and eggs at low speed until blended. Beat in salt, warm milk mixture and 2 cups of flour until blended, about 1 minute. Switch to dough hook attachment. Add 1 ¼ cups flour, and knead at medium-low speed, adding up to ½ cup additional flour if dough is sticky. Mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, about 10 minutes.