Tag Archives: Loretta

Loretta’s German Honey Cake

A dense, yummy dessert that will fill your kitchen with old-world fragrance.

Ingredients for Loretta’s German Honey Cake

  • 1-1/2 cups honey
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 T butter, softened
  • 2 t lemon juice
  • 1 T kirsch or rum (optional)
  • 4-1/2 cups flour
  • 2 cups ground almonds
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t cloves
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • 4 T chopped candied lemon peel
  • 4 T chopped candied orange peel
  • (or 1/2 cups chopped mixed candied fruit in place of above)

For Icing:

  • 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
  • 2 T kirsch , rum, or lemon juice

Preparing Loretta’s German Honey Cake

Warm honey and sugar. Mix with eggs, butter, lemon juice and kirsch. Combine dry ingredients. Add to honey mixture with candied fruit. Press into a large, buttered and floured cookie sheet, or roll out and cut as desired. Bake at 350F until firm and browned.

Icing: Mix sugar with kirsch, rum, or lemon juice. Pour onto cake while still hot from oven so it will soak in.

Loretta’s Carrot Cake

With cream cheese icing

  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 1-1/2 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 1-1/2 t baking soda
  • 1-1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t nutmeg
  • 3 eggs
  • 1-1/4 cups oil
  • 3/4 cups nuts, chopped
  • 2-1/2 cups grated carrots

Sift together the flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, baking soda and spices. Add eggs and oil, nuts, and grated carrots. Stir well.

Pour into 9″ cake pan and bake at 350F for about 40 minutes. Cool and top with Cream Cheese Icing (see below)

FOR THE ICING

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 t vanilla
  • 1 lb. icing sugar

Cream Cheese Icing:  Beat cream cheese and butter together. Add vanilla and icing sugar.

Loretta’s Chocolate Cake

Who doesn’t like chocolate cake? Loretta’s rich, dark, moist version has always been very much in demand in our family.

Ingredients for Loretta’s Chocolate Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 4 squares shaved chocolate, unsweetened
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2 beaten eggs

Preparing Loretta’s Chocolate Cake

For cake: Combine flour and sugar. Boil together the butter, shaved chocolate, and water. Pour over flour. Mix buttermilk, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, and eggs. Add to flour mixture and combine well. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

For icing:

  • 3 squares chocolate, unsweetened
  • 3-6 T milk
  • 1 stick margarine
  • 1 box powdered sugar
  • 1 t vanilla

Boil together the chocolate, milk, margarine, and icing sugar. Spread over cooled cake.


 

Chicken Spaghetti

This is Loretta’s Chicken Spaghetti recipe. I’d neither heard of nor eaten Chicken Spaghetti before knowing Loretta.  She brought it into the family and it stayed. Chicken Spaghetti also brought Velveeta processed cheese into focus, as it seems Chicken Spaghetti is nigh on impossible to make without it.

I no longer eat chicken or cheese or any dairy products, much less “processed cheese.” By extension, Chicken Spaghetti no longer forms part of my diet. However, the recipe does remain!

Chicken Spaghetti Ingredients

  • 1 4-lb. chicken
  • 2 boxes spaghetti
  • 1 can chicken broth plus water
  • 1/2 lb. butter
  • 1 chopped green pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt, pepper, paprika,
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 large can tomatoes
  • 1 can mushroom soup
  • 6 sliced pitted black olives
  • 1 lb. process cheese
  • 1/4 cup split almonds
  • 3 T Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth

Cook chicken. Skim fat, bone and chop the meat. Cook spaghetti in broth with extra water. Set aside. Saute green pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika and onion in butter. Add to spaghetti. Add tomatoes, mushroom soup and Worcestershire. Add chicken and simmer for a few minutes.

Remove from fire and chill overnight. Place in a baking dish, layered with process cheese and olives. Top with almonds and Parmesan. Pour on extra broth and bake until hot and crusty on top

Loretta’s Hoska

Hoska is a delicious Czech Christmas sweet bread made by Grandma, and then Mom, and then Loretta, and now Anna.

A couple of kids

Recipe submitted, after extensive taste testing, by Nancy & Anna.
Makes 2 loaves. Bake 1 hour at 325-350F.

#1.

  • 1/2 C sultana raisins
  • 1/2 c sliced almonds plus a few whole peeled almonds

Soak #1 in 1/2 c rum or Grand Marnier overnight.

#2.

  • 1/2 c lukewarm milk
  • 2 T dry yeast
  • pinch sugar

Let #2 rise 5 minutes or until puffy.

#3.

  • 1 c soft butter
  • 1 c sugar

Cream together #3

Mix together #s 2 and 3 and add:

#4.

  • Zest of 1 lemon (not lime)
  • 1-1/2 c warm milk (room temperature)
  • 4 eggs (1 at a time)
  • 1 t Mexican vanilla
  • 1-1/2 t salt
  • 6 – 8 c flour (as needed)

Mix to form a dough and knead 15-20 minutes.

Add #1 minus whole almonds.

Place in a large buttered bowl and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (1-1/2 to 2 hours).

Shape into 2 double braids (see below).

Place soaked whole almonds decoratively along double braids. Cover and let rise again to double–about 30 to 45 minutes. Mix 1 egg with a bit of milk and brush tops of braids. Bake 1 hour or so at 325 F until golden, brushing on more of the milk/egg wash about 1/2 way through.

If necessary, use foil to cover if Hoska appears to be browning too fast.

bread-dough-raisins

To form double braids:

  • Divide dough in half – then separate each half into 6 balls (3 larger, 3 smaller)
  • Roll balls into about 30 cm long ropes, using hands. There should be 3 thicker and 3 thinner ropes.
  • Braid larger ropes and place on baking sheet tucking in ends of braids.
  • Braid smaller ropes and place them on top of the larger braid.

Hungarian Sauerkraut Soup

Loretta’s recipe.

  • 1 Ib. sauerkraut, washed
  • 1 Ib. ham hock or knackwurst
  • 1/2 tsp. peppercorns
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 4 T mushrooms, dried
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 T flour
  • 1 t paprika
  • 1/2 t caraway
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 lb. chorizo or kielbasa
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • salt and vinegar to taste

Simmer sauerkraut, ham hock, peppercorns, bay leaf and mushrooms in water, covered, for 1 hour. Fry onion, stir in flour and cook 2 minutes without letting brown.

Take off heat. Add paprika, caraway. Return to heat. Mix with a little broth and then add to soup, Add chorizo and cook 15 minutes. Skim fat off. Add sour cream, salt and vinegar to taste.

Radishes by M. Angel Guerrero Garro
Radishes by M. Angel Guerrero Garro

 

Loretta’s Hazelnut Torte

A rich torte of hazelnuts (filberts) combined with chocolate that uses almost no flour.  A Loretta specialty.

  • 1 cups hazelnuts
  • 1/3 cups dry crumbs
  • 1 T flour
  • 1 square shaved chocolate, unsweetened
  • 6 egg white
  • pinch cream of tartar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Toast and grind the hazelnuts. Add crumbs, flour,  and shaved chocolate. Beat egg whites stiff with cream of tartar. Add 1/2 cups sugar slowly. Beat yolks and whole egg with the other 1/2 cup sugar. Add to nut mixture. Fold carefully into whites.

Turn into a greased torte pan and bake at 300 F until firm.

hazelnuts filberts

Loretta’s Homemade Tomato Ketchup

  • 8 pints ripe tomatoes
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup pickling spices
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 pint vinegar
  • arrowroot

Wash tomatoes. Chop and cook with onions until soft. Strain and put through sieve or food processor. Add the pickling spice, tied in a cheesecloth bag, the sugar and the vinegar. Simmer for about 1/2 hour and remove spice bag, unless you want a spicier ketchup. Cook for an additional 2 hours. Thicken with arrowroot as desired.