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Friday, November 2, 2012

Holy Turkey Day, Batman! And a Cake. Of Sorts.



3 weeks from yesterday, we'll gather 24 people
at That Old House, to celebrate America's 
favorite family holiday - Thanksgiving.


Is my T.B.D.B.T. List done yet?  Nope.
Have we had other fish to fry,
more important than sewing dining room curtains?  Yup.
Am I panicked?  Not yet.
Plenty of time for that later.
There's always room for Jello, and there's always time for panic.

******************************

We have so much to be thankful for, even while we
weather some recent challenges and trials.

There's a new boy in our life, 3-year old Dylan,
a 13 pound bundle of energy and passionate affection
whom we adopted on the Sunday before Sandy
from Cavalier Rescue.
Dylan's first days at That Old House involved a lot of rain.  Yes, he was damp.
***********************************
And, today, I ordered a really gorgeous looking roasting pan - 
one that can handle any turkey my husband decides to haul home.


I may regret this.
I emailed Howard and told him I'd ordered a great big roasting pan.
He answered: "You have thrown down the gauntlet, my dear."


Howard, 2011, with a bird he considered
woefully inadequate.  In my defense,
 I roasted two of them!

Since my husband has been known to hunt out 32-plus pound
turkeys on the day before Thanksgiving, even though I didn't have
large enough roasting pan to cook that big a bird,
I may, as I said, regret this.

********************************
. . . and now for something completely different.
A Cake.
At least, it's billed as a cake in any recipes I found.

Anne made it, and she says "It was odd, but delicious.  Too sweet."

So here it is, something called a Dump Cake.
Because you take 3 or so ingredients, and dump them,
bake them, and then . . . eat them.

You need:

Yes, boys and girls, we used canned apple pie filling, and discovered
that it is wicked sweet.  So -- in went some big squeezes of lemon, a
pinch of salt . . . and still too sweet.  Like scrunch your face sweet.

Hmmm . . . what to do?
We happened to have a can of tart-sweet whole cranberry sauce in the pantry.


Plop - plop - plop - dump.  Right onto the apples.



 Next step -- the cake part.
You dump the cake mix right over the fruit.
Yup.  That's it.


Dumping layers.  Apples.  Cranberries.  Cake Mix.

Then comes the odd part.  Butter.
Our recipe said two sticks of butter, cut up and distributed over the cake mix layer.
Anne and I thought, "Yikes, two sticks?"  She did a stick and a half.



Into the oven.  350-degrees, preheated.



 For . . . until it's done.  It took awhile.
About an hour.  Maybe a little more, as we wanted the top nice and brown.


The sugary fruity parts got nicely caramelized.
But you can't cut this like a cake.
Well, you could, but it would be a holy mess.
Anne scooped out bits, topped them with whipped cream,
and served her grateful parents.  In bowls.

It was good. More like a cobbler than a cake.
But eventually, it all disappeared.  Like Magic.


Join Michael Lee West at Rattlebridge Farm
for Foodie Friday.  Click here!

And enjoy!  -- Cass 

13 comments:

  1. I have made that dump cake recipe in the past but kind of forgot about it over the years. The kids liked it with cherry pie filling AND vanilla ice cream. It IS very sweet!!! xo Diana

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  2. I have a similar cake but made with peaches -- not peach pie filling. And I had forgotten about it. Dylan looks wet! I bought a similar roasting pans years ago. Jim, like Howard, thinks turkeys should be BIG!!!!

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  3. I will have a serving - please. :) I have had dump cake, but it was not made with apple pie filling. I am thinking cherry pie filling, chopped pecans, and another key ingredient, but can't remember what at the moment. I need to go look that recipe up.
    Have a great weekend.

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  4. Hi Cass

    The cake looks yummy! As for the roasting pan - good luck I bought one and the turkey always hangs over the sides because of the rack and causes major drippage - I went back to my old stand by blue granite ware one that can hold a 27pounder, I use the pan for other things like Italian roast pork.

    Leann

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  5. Looks pretty yummy! I could use a little something sweet about right now. LOL

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  6. I didn't know something could be too sweet! lol! Looks good and I know I loved your brownie cookies from last year. Your roasting pan will be perfect for anything Howard brings home this year. I have an old pan like grandma used to use, speckles and all.

    Dylan looks like he has found his new home to be quite the place! Wait til he sees your Thanksgiving group!

    XO,
    Jane

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  7. You have to try the muffins made with a spice cake mix and can of pumpkin puree. That's all there is to it - add a little allspice,mix it together bake at 350 for 25 minutes or so. They taste amazing and are so moist(You can use chocolate cake mix too - I have done those and they taste like chocolate muffins - no pumpkin flavor)plus, with no eggs or oil, they are lower in fat and calories. My kids LOVE these muffins and they re do easy. Dylan looks to be adjusting well and he is so cute!

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  8. The variety of dump cake I learned here once I moved south of the Mason-Dixon line (our church potluck staple in Massachusetts was baked beans, lol) uses blueberry pie filling and a can of drained crushed pineapple and ONE stick of butter, which is plenty. It's a tremendous potluck hit, every time.

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  9. I love Howard, turkey shirt and all. It is the HUNTING INSTINCT coming out in him, only his hunting takes place in the frozen food aisle of his favorite grocery stores!

    I love dump cake. You are so right - - - it is like a cobbler with a really THICK topping.

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  10. I've heard of dump cake....Lucky Dylan and lucky you! He doesn't know what he's in for...or does he? Hope you all are safe. We're still waiting for power. Oy.

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  11. This will probably make you laugh. Dump Cakes have been around in the Deep South forever and a day -- literally! I have seen them made most often with cherry pie filling, or any other flavor of fruit pie filling, and frequently people will add pecans to the top. Years ago there was a cookbook that made the rounds called "White Trash Cookin'" --- and it was heavy on this type of recipe!

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    Replies
    1. "White Trash Cookin'" -- Haha! I love it and proudly claim that yes, this probably falls into this category.
      It took us a few days to work our way through it, but it didn't go to waste. To waist, maybe . . . .
      Cass

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  12. The name Dylan just so suits the new male in your life. I hope Howard has made it safely home by now. Dylan is so going to love his 3 having all three of his special new humans at home.

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