Make Favorite Coffeecake Special Treat; Make It Into A Heart-Shaped Surprise

Dear Laura: I am looking for a coffeecake recipe my mother used to make. It was one of my favorites. It has a topping mixture of corn flakes, brown sugar or sugar and margarine. I hope you will be able to help me locate it. Thanks for your help. - Karen, Coeur d’Alene

Dear Karen: Perhaps this similar recipe will provide a suitable replacement for the one you remember. Bake it in a heart-shaped pan for a Valentine’s Day sweet.

Linda’s Coffeecake

1-1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Topping:

1/2 cup crushed cereal flakes (crush, then measure)

2 tablespoons brown (or white) sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons chopped nuts, optional

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat 9-inch round or square baking pan with nonstick vegetable spray.

Blend cake ingredients; beat vigorously 1/2 minute. Spread in pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter in pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Yield: 9 to 12 servings.

Dear Laura: Recently a lady asked for a pancake recipe that does not have milk. Please tell her that she can replace the milk with soy milk in all her cooking and baking recipes. The taste will be the same. We even cook our oatmeal with soy milk every morning. Soy milk is available at most supermarkets and all health food stores. We buy cases for additional savings. Unopened cartons keep for a long time.

Can you please print a recipe for haystack cookies? I’d also like directions for making Dijon-style mustard. Sincerely - Heide, Cheney

Dear Heide: Thanks for sharing your soy milk experience. Your recipes follow.

Haystack Cookies

4 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

6 cups shredded coconut

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 cup finely chopped dates

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat cookie sheet with nonstick vegetable spray or a sheet of parchment.

Beat egg whites, gradually adding sugar and salt; beat until very stiff. Gently stir in lemon juice, coconut, nuts and dates.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop level scoops of dough onto a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: About 2-1/2 dozen.

Dijon-Style Mustard

Adapted from Helene Sawyer’s “Gourmet Mustards” (Culinary Arts Ltd.)

2 cups dry white wine

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced

1 cup (4 ounces) dry mustard

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon olive or other vegetable oil

2 teaspoons salt

Combine wine, onion and garlic in a saucepan. Heat to boiling and simmer 5 minutes. Cool, strain and discard solids. Gradually stir prepared liquid into dry mustard to form a smooth sauce. Blend in honey, oil and salt.

Return mixture to saucepan; heat slowly until thickened, stirring constantly (hold face away from steam to prevent tearing). Cool; place in covered jar. Age in cool, dark place 2 to 8 weeks, depending upon pungency desired. After aging, store in the refrigerator.

Note: If desired, mix this basic mustard with other ingredients to create flavor variations. Try equal amounts of mustard and honey for a sweet-hot honey mustard. Add one or more herbs, honey and citrus juice, jalapeno peppers, chopped shallots, apricot jam, beer, cracked peppercorns and/or horseradish to create your own special blends.

Dear Laura: I seem to have misplaced a recipe for Frosted Banana Nut Bars. I believe it was a Dorothy Dean recipe. I’d appreciate it if you could find and print that recipe for me. Thanks! - Aileen, Colville, Wash.

Dear Aileen: This was a prizewinning recipe in Dorothy Dean’s 1972 Recipe Treasure Hunt.

Frosted Banana Nut Bars

1/2 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup mashed ripe banana

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts, divided

Creamy icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease and flour a 10- by 15-inch rimmed cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in banana and vanilla.

Sift or stir together dry ingredients to blend. Add alternately with milk, mixing well after each addition. Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Meanwhile, combine all icing ingredients and blend well.

While warm, frost with icing; sprinkle with remaining 1/2-cup chopped nuts. Cut into bars.

Yield: 4 dozen bars.

, DataTimes MEMO: Have a food question? Looking for a recipe? Laura Carnie, a certified family and consumer scientist and food consultant in Coeur d’Alene, would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. As many letters as possible will be answered in this column; sorry, no individual replies.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Laura Carnie The Spokesman-Review