Every 30 minutes...

"Every 30 minutes, a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease by age 10." 
For information on symptoms and how mitochondrial diseases affect both adults and children, visit www.umdf.org

The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
8085 Saltsburg Road, Suite 201 | Pittsburgh, PA  15239
Toll-Free: 888-317-8633 | F: 412-793-6477 | info@umdf.org

UMDF MISSION
To promote research and education for the diagnosis, treatment and cure of mitochondrial disorders 
and to provide support to affected individuals and families.

Banana Cake

2 1/2 c. flour

1 2/3 c. sugar

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Sift above ingredients together and put in bowl.

2/3 c. shortening

1/3 c. buttermilk (If you do not have buttermilk handy, put 1 tbsp. lemon or white vinegar into a one cup container followed by whole milk to reach one cup. stir and let stand for 5 min.)

3 bananas (I assume these should be overly ripened and mashed.)

Now, the recipe indicates that the above three ingredients be added together, which I did. But then the 1/3 c. buttermilk ingredient is rewritten. I believe this is in error and when I made the banana cake I only added buttermilk once.

Add 2 eggs to the wet banana mixture and beat well. Add 2/3 c. nuts. (I assume this is optional and that you may use almost any type of nut you wish. My walnut supply was rancid so I ended up using sunflower seeds, which gave the banana cake a hearty flavor but perhaps with too much saltiness for some. 

Once again, the recipe does not tell us what size pan to use. Very problematic! I guessed an 8x8 pan because there didn't seem to be enough batter for a 9x13. This seemed to work; however, my oven is so old and unreliable when it comes to temperature control and accuracy that the middle of the cake did not cook properly. The recipe states 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees, but I would suggest playing with the time and temp and pan size to see what works best. If I made this again, I would either try the same time with a lower temp., a larger pan (9x13), or two loaf pans which would likely reduce overall baking time.  Have fun!

Mitochondrial Disease Defined

What is mitochondrial disease?   As a reminder, my plan is to complete "Baking Gracefully" and publish it to raise money for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.  My sister has a mitochondrial disease and few people know what this means.  Click on the link provided in this post to learn more.

Some of you may recognize the term "mitochondria" from science class.  At Cardinal Mooney High School, Mr. Tierney taught us that the "mighty mitochondria" perform cellular respiration thereby giving the cell/organism energy.  Practically every cell in your body contains mitochondria with hundreds in the muscle cells where more energy is required.  One could imagine that if there is dysfunction in this cell structure some serious problems would result.  Mitochondria have their own DNA - handy for housing their own special set of genetic defects to be passed silently from generation to generation, eh?

Still a burgeoning area of research as the UMDF was founded only in 1998.

Yellow Sunshine Cake

If you are looking to make a very traditional layer cake with homemade buttercream frosting, this is the recipe for you!  The cake is interesting because it requires no "oleo".  The fluffy batter made from whipped egg yolks and egg whites yields a very light, drier cake that, when drenched in buttercream, has a wedding cake flavor and consistency.  The recipe indicates a bake time of 1 hour at 325 degrees, but the size and type of pan is not listed.  I split the batter into three 8-9" rounds only to find that the bake time was reduced to about 20-30 min.  I am being intentionally vague because my oven is possessed.  If it is set at 350 the temp goes up to 400. If it is set at 325 it goes down to 300.  So I watched the cakes like a hawk and they still ended up a bit overdone but still delicious.  What I am saying is that you may wish to experiment with the actual baking pan(s), temp, and time.  Good luck!

6 egg yolks beaten for 15 minutes (save egg whites)

1/2 c. cold water - add to beaten egg yolks and beat 10 more min.

Add 1 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I beat the mixture for just a few seconds more)

Fold in 1 1/2 c. cake flour (and 1/4 tsp. salt - recipe doesn't say)

Beat egg whites stiff and add 3/4 tsp. cream of tartar - fold in

For the buttercream frosting I followed the directions on the bag of confectionary sugar.  I will say it involved 2 c. of butter and 7 c. of confectionary sugar, some vanilla and milk.  Enjoy!

What is "Oleo"?

The recipe in my last post refers to the ingredient "oleo".  Grams used this term frequently.  I came to learn that she meant margarine as opposed to butter, but it made me giggle even then as no one else I knew used it.  I decided to use the trusty Internet to learn more about this baking terminology.  Here is what I found:

• From Wikipedia - Oleo is a term used for oils. It is commonly used to refer a variety of things including: margarine...
• From The Free Dictionary by Farlex -  a spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter; margarine

Pecan Tassies

Another holiday baking favorite from my family - Pecan Tassies.  My Mom made these every year (along with about 10 other kinds of cookies!) and I did not realize that the recipe originated with Gram.  (I should add a disclaimer here that just because these recipes are handwritten in no way guarantees they are original ideas.)  The recipe does not yield a large number of cookies so you may choose to double the recipe.  I would suggest only doubling the dough because there should be plenty of filling for 2x the number of cups (don't ask me why that's just how it works out).

Recipe:
1 stick oleo (margarine) or butter
3 oz. package cream cheese
1 c. flour
Cream ingredients together and make it 24 balls. Press into tassie cups (mini-muffin tin). Cut one pecan into the dough of the bottom of each cup.
For the filling:
2 eggs unbeaten
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Whisk it all together until well mixed. Fill each cup of dough wit the mixture and place a pecan on top. Bake for 25-30 min. at 350.

Note: My Mom used to use chopped pecans. She whisked them right into the mixture and eliminated the need to add the pecans to the bottom of the cups or the top of the cups. This also seems to allow for more of the mixture to fit into the cups.  Enjoy!

Baking with Grace: Old Photos

OK, so these aren't literally old photos of my grandmother, Grace Dry, baking, but they are old photos of "Grams" so you can see what she looked like.

There's my sister, Amy, enjoying cake with Grandma looking on.  Check out the sweet 70's scene - the fruity wallpaper and dark paneling that offset my Mom's round oak table and chairs - painted red!   (In later years, my Mom had that table refinished and brought back to its original wood grain color.  We used it as a dining room and kitchen table until I was well into college and beyond.)  By the way, the cabinets in my Mom's kitchen were red, too!  Also notice the coffee mugs.  I had forgotten about those until now.  They have the alphabet written on them in some old style font.  I'll have to Google those bad boys to see if they still exist.

Here's Grandma again - this time, opening a Christmas gift (obviously) while my first cousin, Judd, and I look on.  Amy and I are wearing matching long, red dresses.  I am curious about the apparent obsession of mothers to dress their daughters alike even when they are not twins.  I suppose it makes for easier shopping, but what about asserting our individuality.  Clearly we had no say in what we wore particularly when it came to special events.  What about boys - do mothers dress them alike? Hmmm.  In any case, observe the floral couch, TV tray, burning cigarette and standard holiday tray of mixed nuts.  So cool.