Marguerites Cookbook

A cooking blog all about making vintage recipes from a cookbook we inherited from our grandmother

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February 18, 2017 by: Shannon and Aaron

Cream Cheese Brownies

cream cheese brownies header

I’m not sure if I’ve made it clear enough (although I think I have), but I love desserts. Chocolate desserts might be my favorite, and brownies are near the top of the list. Since its been a few weeks since our last dessert, the Southern Lane Cake, I think it’s time to do another. These cream cheese brownies were a great treat.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Here’s what Marguerite’s friend Susie Matha had to say:

cream cheese brownies recipe

Susie also gave us the Coffee Cake recipe, which is one of my favorite recipes I think we’ve done on Marguerite’s Cookbook. So when it came time to make these brownies, I was hopeful they would be as much of a success as the coffee cake. To be honest, these brownies didn’t quite live up to the coffee cake, but they were still tasty. It was fun to make brownies completely from scratch, and we enjoyed working on making each of the layers for this interesting brownie recipe.

Brownies Cream Cheese

The cream cheese brownies turned out really nice. They were soft and moist and had great flavor. Both the chocolate layers and cream cheese layers were delicious, and the two mixed together well to make a wonderful brownie. We both enjoyed these brownies, and they disappeared pretty fast. I’m sure we’ll be making these again!

Marble Brownies

Cream Cheese Brownies
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Cream Cheese Brownies
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
Ingredients
Chocolate Layer
  • 4 oz Baker's German Sweet Chocolate
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
Cheese Layer
  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt chocolate and 3 tablespoons of butter over very low heat. Stir frequently. Cool.
  3. To make cheese layer, cream 3 ounces of cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of butter. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, creaming until fluffy. Blend in 1 egg, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside.
  4. To make chocolate layer, beat 2 eggs until lightly colored. Slowly add 3/4 cups sugar; beat until thickened. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup flour.
  5. Blend in chocolate mixture, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
  6. Spread half the chocolate batter in a greased 8 or 9 inch square pan. Top with cheese mixture. Spoon remaining chocolate patter over top. Zigzag knife through batter to marble. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
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February 11, 2017 by: Shannon and Aaron

Fruit Bread

Fruit Bread header

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it definitely makes me feel better to bake. And eat the thing I’ve baked, but that’s besides the point. However, I really enjoyed making this “Fruit Bread” while we are in the depths of winter here in Chicago. It was also a great way to use up any extra candied cherries you might have leftover from making a delicious batch of Christmas cake cookies.

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

Fruit Bread Recipe

I was really looking forward to making this bread, since our other bread recipes here at Marguerite’s Cookbook have been very successful. I was happy with how the bread turned out, but it sure was a process to get there! First of all, it took quite a while to chop up the candied cherries and they were extremely sticky of course. Then, as you may imagine, four cups of flour and a bunch of nuts and fruits make for a very thick batter. I was exhausted by the time the bread was all mixed together.

Fruit Bread

I did have a little trouble baking this bread. It seemed that when the time was up, the insides where just barely done but the bottom crust got burned a little bit. I suppose I may have put the bread too close to the bottom of the oven. That little issue aside, the fruit bread turned out to be quite tasty. The combination of candied fruit, nuts (we used walnuts), and orange juice added vibrant flavors to an already sweet tasting bread.

Fruit Bread

We both really enjoyed this bread. I’ll probably have some with my morning coffee, but its so sweet this may be more of a dessert bread. This might not be my favorite bread so far, but it is definitely close. I’m looking forward to sharing this with my coworkers, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to see some more delicious food coming into work with me.

Fruit Bread

Fruit Bread
Print Recipe
  • CourseAppetizers and Sides
Servings Prep Time
2 loaves 40 minutes
Cook Time
45-50 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 loaves 40 minutes
Cook Time
45-50 minutes
Fruit Bread
Print Recipe
  • CourseAppetizers and Sides
Servings Prep Time
2 loaves 40 minutes
Cook Time
45-50 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 loaves 40 minutes
Cook Time
45-50 minutes
Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup corn oil
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup chopped nuts
  • 2 cups chopped candied fruit
Servings: loaves
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Beat together eggs and sugar.
  3. Sift together dry ingredients and add to eggs and sugar.
  4. Add the oil and orange juice.
  5. Chop the candied fruit and nuts (if not already done).
  6. Fold into batter.
  7. Grease and flour two loaf pans and fill with batter. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
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January 14, 2017 by: Shannon and Aaron

Southern Lane Cake

Southern Lane Cake Header

I hope everyone out there is having a good start to their new year. Some of you may be working on a resolution to eat healthier. While we are also attempting that goal, there is an important milestone that requires this week’s recipe to be a cake. It’s Marguerite’s Cookbook’s birthday! That’s right, we launched Marguerite’s Cookbook a whole year ago, and knew that we wanted to do one of Marguerite’s many cake recipes as a birthday treat to ourselves. This Southern Lane Cake turned out to be an excellent choice that was fun to make and delicious to eat.

Southern Lane Cake

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

Southern Lane Cake Recipe

As usual, the planning for this recipe required a little more work than just reading Marguerite’s notes. I had to research how long to bake the layers for, what a cooked white frosting was (more on that later), and a little more about just what a Southern Lane Cake was. That’s where I discovered that some fillings or icings included things like nuts, which is why I decided to put some almonds on top of the cake.

Southern Lane Cake up close

As you may or may not be able to tell, there are only three layers in the final product here. I’d like to say that is on purpose, but of course I made a little mistake and was forced into the decision. We have a tiny oven in our current kitchen, and it was a struggle fitting two 8″ and two 9″ pans into it. On top of that, the two sets of pans are not the same ages and not the same shade of aluminum. In the end, one of the four layers burned while the others turned out great, so the height of our cake was decided for me. I do think a three layer cake looks great though!

Southern Lane Cake with piece

I also had some trouble in attempting to make a homemade icing, so instead I just used some plain store bought white icing. That is why there is no accompanying icing recipe to go along with the cake. As great as it can be to make something by hand, Marguerite knew the value of making it easier when she needed to, too! In my opinion, the lack of homemade icing did not take away from this cake at all!

Southern Lane Cake piece

This “blogiversary” cake was delicious. I used to not like cakes with fillings, or filling that wasn’t more icing. Now that I am older and wiser I have seen the error of my ways and am less narrow-minded towards filled cakes. The actual cake parts cooked great, and were light and moist. The combination of the cake, cherry pie filling, and icing worked very well together to make this a very enjoyable dessert. Shannon agreed that this cake was tasty, but was happy to see it go to work with me so we didn’t eat it all.

Southern Lane Cake

My favorite part of this Southern Lane Cake was putting it together and decorating it with Shannon. She took a Wilton cake decorating class before so she is the resident cake expert. Making icing walls to hold the cherry pie filling and stacking the layers on top of each other together was a lot of fun. I also love spreading icing, so I got to do that over the whole cake, too. Here’s to the first year of Marguerite’s Cookbook. Thanks for spending some time with us and with Marguerite. We had a great first year, and hope to have many more to come!

Southern Lane Cake

Southern Lane Cake
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 25 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20-25 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 25 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20-25 minutes 1 hour
Southern Lane Cake
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 25 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20-25 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 25 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20-25 minutes 1 hour
Ingredients
  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 3 1/2 tsps baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup milk
  • 8 egg whites
  • 1 can cherry pie filling
Servings: cake
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 4 nine inch round layer pans.
  2. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla.
  3. Combine dry ingredients (flour, powder, salt). Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to creamed butter and sugar.
  4. Fold in egg whites.
  5. Bake 20-25 minutes.
  6. Let layers cool before constructing cake using cherry pie filling and icing. Add nuts like almonds to the top if desired.
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December 17, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Frank Tidbits

frank tidbit header

This week on Marguerite’s Cookbook we have another appetizer perfect for any parties this upcoming holiday season. If you remember, a few weeks ago we showed you a very simple cheese log recipe as a starter appetizer. Now we’ll show you a frank tidbits recipe that is a nice twist between mini corn dogs and pigs in a blanket.

Frank Tidbits

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

Frank Tidbits Recipe

Marguerite had a deep fryer that she would make recipes in, and this is one of them. However, we don’t have a deep fryer, so we had to do it a different way. This was a very simple recipe, even though we hadn’t fried anything in oil before. We we’re both super nervous about having an open pan of oil on our stove and had a lid ready to smother any fire. Aaron didn’t realize what temperature the oil had to be at in order to brown the frank tidbits, and the first one blackened immediately. Once he turned the temperature down and the oil cooled a bit, it was smooth sailing from there. And no fires occurred!

Frank Tidbits Appetizer

The mustard was also very simple to mix together and heat, making the entirety of this appetizer quick and easy. These frank tidbits were tasty! The mixture of corn muffin mix and chili powder made for a great flavor combo. Aaron accidentally read “margarine” as “mayonnaise.” So our mustard was a little different. Honestly, you couldn’t taste the accidental mayo and the mustard was still delicious. It reminded Aaron a bit like the homemade sauce his mom makes with her cocktail meatballs. The mustard also was a fantastic color!

Frank Hot Dog Tidbits

This frank tidbit recipe was fun and different and we enjoyed making it. These appetizers are definitely best served hot and right away, so if you want to give them a try this holiday season, plan on putting them out not long after you’ve made them. We made way too many to eat in one sitting and they were a little soggy when we reheated them.

Hotdog Frank Tidbits

Frank Tidbits
Print Recipe
  • CourseAppetizers and Sides
Servings Prep Time
48 pieces 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
48 pieces 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Frank Tidbits
Print Recipe
  • CourseAppetizers and Sides
Servings Prep Time
48 pieces 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
48 pieces 15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
Franks
  • 1 lb hot dogs
  • 1 8.5 oz package corn muffin mix
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
Mustard
  • 1 can tomato soup
  • 2 eggs slightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup prepared mustard
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp margarine
Servings: pieces
Instructions
Franks
  1. Cut hot dogs in six pieces.
  2. Combine corn muffin mix, chili powder, and milk. Mix well.
  3. Add hot dogs, stirring to coat well.
  4. Drop one at a time from tablespoon into hot vegetable oil.
  5. Cook till lightly browned.
Mustard
  1. Stir all ingredients together. Heat until hot and bubbly.
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November 15, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie

peanutbuttermeringuepie

We are very excited to bring you another unique pie as we continue pie month! Aaron and I were looking forward to this peanut butter meringue pie until we looked at the length of both the ingredient list and directions. This is probably the most difficult and most involved recipe we have attempted in our first year of Marguerite’s Cookbook. However difficult, this pie cannot be considered anything less than a delicious success!

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

peanutbutterpierecipe

When reading over the recipe, Aaron realized we had to ask a more experienced baker quite a few questions to even be able to attempt this pie. So we called Mercedes and got some direction on everything from scalded milk to meringue. Recently, Aaron has been doing most of the cooking while I observe due to our tiny kitchen, but not this time. It took both of us, most of our mixing bowls and saucepans, and a long time to put this peanut butter meringue pie together.

peanut butter meringue pie

This definitely wasn’t the most stress-free recipe, and it didn’t turn out perfectly, but we’ll consider it a success. The custard was difficult and important, since it was the majority of the pie. The meringue was also very challenging. On top of all that, it is not the most attractive pie. But you know what they say, “don’t judge a peanut butter meringue pie by its cover.”

peanut butter pie

I was expecting this pie to basically look like a pumpkin pie, but like with just peanut butter. Well, I was surprised. The flavor was to die for though. Aaron really liked this pie, and not just because he would live on peanut butter if I let him. He made sure to try every bit of the pie individually, so he could really decipher the flavors that made up our peanut butter meringue pie. The custard and meringue taste as they should, and can be considered successful first attempts at both of those components. Of course the peanut butter/powdered sugar component was the highlight of the pie, and made it incredibly sweet. Overall, another success!

Peanut Butter Meringue Pie
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 45 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 45 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Peanut Butter Meringue Pie
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 45 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 45 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups scalded milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 1 pre-baked pie crust
Servings: pie
Instructions
  1. Combine the powdered sugar and peanut butter together.
  2. Sprinkle 3/4 of this mixture on the bottom of a baked pie crust. Keep the other 1/4 for topping.
  3. Scald 2 cups of whole milk and set aside to cool.
  4. Combine the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together. Add the slightly cooled milk and mix well.
  5. Beat egg yolks well, add a small amount of the milk mixture over yolks and mix well.
  6. Add eggs to rest of milk mixture. Cook in double boiler until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.
  7. Add the butter and vanilla.
  8. Pour into shell.
  9. Beat the 3 egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt until stiff and dry. Slowly add the sugar. Continue beating until stiff. Spread over pie and seal edges.
  10. Place in 325 degree oven on second rack and bake 15-20 minutes (until meringue is browned.)
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November 12, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie Header

What pie would be better to make as we approach Thanksgiving, than a classic homemade pumpkin pie?! Nothing quite beats a well executed pumpkin pie, and we were able to do just that. Of course, we used Marguerite’s perfect pie crust to go with this timeless pie.

Here’s what Marguerite had to say:

mother's pumpkin pie recipe

As you can see, this recipe is titled Mother’s pumpkin pie. That would be Marguerite’s mother, or Aaron’s great grandmother,  Allen. One of the best stories from Aaron’s mom regarding this pumpkin pie recipe is that she remembers Marguerite pouring the milk for this recipe straight out of a glass bottle (that was delivered by an honest to goodness Milkman!) As usual, Marguerite didn’t give us too much direction.

Pie Recipe

For as short as the ingredient list is, we should have had an easier time. The pie you see in these pictures may or may not be the third one we made (don’t ask.) But in our first failed attempts, we learned things to improve our process. On our first try, we just added all the ingredients together without any real order, rhyme, or reason. The successful change we made was to mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin thoroughly first.  Then we beat the eggs well and add them, followed by the milk. The baking step was also a bit tricky for us, but in the end the pie came out of the oven looking just fine.

Pumpkin Recipe

Now, on to taste. Mercedes gave us the insight that those who tried Marguerite’s pumpkin pie liked it for its more mild pumpkin flavor, which Aaron also noted. Marguerite attributed this milder flavor to the higher concentration of eggs and milk versus pumpkin. Aaron liked this pumpkin pie well enough, although pumpkin is a little farther down his list of favorite pie flavors than others. I care not for pumpkin, and the small bite I sampled was not appealing to me. The crust, I could eat all day though.

Pumpkin Pie Piece

So where could we take this pumpkin pie to find willing taste testers? That’s right, Aaron’s co-workers. They all enjoyed it, and Aaron’s pretty sure they weren’t just being polite! One of them, who claimed to like pumpkin pie even more than any cake, ate a quarter of it in one sitting! We hope if you try Marguerite’s pumpkin pie this fall that you like it as much as Aaron’s work pals.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60-70 minutes 30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60-70 minutes 30 minutes
Pumpkin Pie
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60-70 minutes 30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 pie 30 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60-70 minutes 30 minutes
Ingredients
Filling
  • 3 eggs well beaten
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 pint whole milk
Crust
  • 1/2 stick Crisco OR
  • 1/2 cup Crisco
  • 1 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6-7 tbsp water
Servings: pie
Instructions
Crust
  1. Blend flour and salt in large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture using pasty blender or fork. Stir in just enough water with fork until dough holds together.
  2. TIP Test dough for proper moistness by squeezing a marble-sized ball of dough in your hand. If it holds together firmly, do not any additional water. If the dough crumbles, add more water by the tablespoonful, until dough is moist enough to form a smooth ball when pressed together.
  3. Shape dough into a ball. Flatten ball into a 1/2 inch round disk.
  4. Chill for 30 minutes or up to two days.
  5. Roll dough from center outward into a circle 2 inches wider than pie plate on lightly floured surface. Transfer dough to pie plate.
Filling
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Mix pumpkin, salt, nutmeg, and sugar well.
  3. Beat eggs well, and add to pumpkin. Mix together well.
  4. Slowly add milk, mixing ingredients together well.
  5. Pour into shell.
  6. Cook in oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and cook until a knife inserted in the pumpkin comes out dry, around 40-50 minutes.
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September 24, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Coffee Cake

coffee cake header

Coffee cake is one of those desserts that can be made in so many different ways and with many different flavors. This is just a basic coffee cake recipe given to Marguerite by another of her teaching colleagues, Susie Matha. Sometimes, plain and simple recipes are the way to go.

 

Here is what Susie had to say:

sour-cream-coffee-cake-recipe

First things first, Aaron was confused that this recipe was called sour cream coffee cake and he was confused that the recipe did, in fact, contain sour cream. He did not realize that sour cream can be a common ingredient in baked goods. He also didn’t realize how much work could go in to preparing a baked good to be made. We both felt that it took a bit too long of a time to put together, between the combining of ingredients, the grinding of nuts, and the layering of batter and filling in the pan. But it was sooooooo delicious.

sour cream coffee cake

It was soft and spongy like a well made cake should be, plus the cinnamon, sugar, and nuts (we used almonds), made a delicious filling. We made sure to grease and flour the pan before pouring the batter, which was great help in removing the pieces of cake after baking.

 

The aroma of this cake filled our apartment for like two hours. By the time we cut into it, we we’re impatient and hungry. Cutting the coffee cake a little too soon caused it to be too soft and to crumble as we tried to take it out. Once cooled the cake was easy to cut and plate to eat. Was it ever delicious! I wasn’t crazy about how brown the sides and bottom got, and that may be due to over baking it, or even due to the type of tube pan we used. But I did enjoy the insides of the coffee cake. Aaron enjoyed it greatly as well. He, of course, enjoyed several pieces along with coffee.

coffee cake

Thankfully for both of us, Aaron took the extra to share with his coworkers. They also really enjoyed it and upon cleaning out the container it was in, told Aaron he could “take it home and fill it with more coffee cake!” I think we would consider that a great success.

Coffee Cake
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 40 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 40 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Coffee Cake
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 40 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 cake 40 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Ingredients
Batter
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
Filling
  • 1 1/2 cups ground nuts
  • 2/3 cups brown sugar
  • 8 tsp white sugar
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 Tbsp butter softened
Servings: cake
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together very well.
  3. Add one egg at a time, beating after each one.
  4. Add sour cream, then vanilla.
  5. Mix well.
  6. Sift together dry ingredients, then slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well again.
  7. Combine filling ingredients.
  8. Grease and flour tube pan. Put one third of batter into pan, then one third of filling. Then second third of batter and second third of filling. Pour on remaining batter and cut through as for marble cake. Top with remaining filling and bake one and a half hours at 350.
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April 23, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Cheesecake Recipe

Cheesecakeheader

I love cheesecake. Aaron’s mom makes great cheesecake, so I lucked out marrying into a family of great cheesecake. That being said, I was really excited to try out Marguerite’s cheesecake recipe!

Cheesecake Recipe

Here is what Marguerite’s cheesecake recipe looks like:

Cheesecake Recipe

Preparing the ingredients for the crust was a very time consuming process! It took us a full thirty minutes to crush up regular whole graham crackers into crumbs small enough for the crust. We did want to try to make it exactly as Marguerite would, so we went through all that trouble. What we did find out, as you can see, is that 20 graham crackers made a very thick crust.

Cheesecake Recipe Piece

Even though the crust was thick, it was delicious! The addition of walnuts and cinnamon in the crust made for a delicious extra boost of flavor that really complemented the plain flavor of the cheesecake.

Cheesecake Recipe

My other favorite thing about cheesecake is having strawberries with it. So we made some sugared strawberries to go on top of our cheesecake. At that point I was itching to have some of this cheesecake. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed! It was simply delicious. Aaron really enjoyed it too (is there anything he doesn’t enjoy though?)

Cheesecake Recipe

Our first attempt at cheesecake did not come without some difficulties. The cheesecake cracked across the top, and parts of the sides browned a little more than other parts. We consulted with our cheesecake expert, Aaron’s mom, and she let us know what she thought happened. First of all, even though Marguerite’s instructions said so, Aaron’s mom thought it was a little too high of a temperature in the oven.  She would suggest a lower temperature for a longer length of time. She also thought we could have over beaten our batter, could have had some difficulties due to it being the inaugural run of our spring form pan, or it could have been due to using an electric oven instead of gas. Regardless, this cheesecake was delicious and we will be making it again, probably halving the crust so it’s not as thick. Hope you enjoy it too!

Cheesecake Recipe

Cheesecake Recipe
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 Cheesecake 45 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
35 minutes 5 hours
Servings Prep Time
1 Cheesecake 45 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
35 minutes 5 hours
Cheesecake Recipe
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 Cheesecake 45 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
35 minutes 5 hours
Servings Prep Time
1 Cheesecake 45 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
35 minutes 5 hours
Ingredients
Crust
  • 20 graham crackers crumbs
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter melted
Filling
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups sour cream
Servings: Cheesecake
Instructions
Crust
  1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnut and cinnamon. Add melted butter.
  2. Press into spring form pan.
Filling
  1. Combine all the filling ingredients except the sour cream. Mix until smooth.
  2. Add sour cream.
  3. Pour into crust.
Baking Instructions
  1. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.
  2. Let cool in the oven with the door open for one hour.
  3. Chill for at least four to five hours.
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March 26, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Peanut Butter Fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge

Aaron only has two weaknesses in the world: peanut butter and back scratches. While this blog can’t guarantee the latter, Marguerite’s Cookbook can come through when it comes to peanut butter. This light and airy peanut butter fudge recipe is a great change up from the typical fudge recipe, but more on that later.

Peanut Butter Fudge

This recipe is another guest post from one of Marguerite’s oldest friends. Florence Zieger was a fellow teacher, neighbor, and friend to Marguerite for years. They were the same age, and she lived to 97! Flo was another healthy and interesting woman, who drove, wore high heels regularly, and owned a business well into her nineties.  Here is what Flo had to say:

Peanut Butter Fudge

As with most of the recipes in Marguerite’s cookbook, there are very few empirical directions in the cooking and baking portion of the recipes. We gathered from the internet that around 2 & 1/2 minutes is the proper time to boil the sugar and milk. The only other change we made to the recipe was that we lined the pan with parchment paper instead of buttering the pan.

Peanut Butter Fudge

After making this recipe, Aaron wasn’t the only one loving peanut butter. I thought this peanut butter fudge was delicious!  It was light and airy, not heavy like most fudge recipes turn out. I found myself not being able to eat too much of it because it was so sweet. It was a huge hit with Aaron of course, and to keep him from eating it all, he took most of it into work. The fudge got rave reviews there as well. Looks like we will be making this one again soon!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 9 x 13 pan 20 minutes
Passive Time
2 hours
Servings Prep Time
1 9 x 13 pan 20 minutes
Passive Time
2 hours
Peanut Butter Fudge
Print Recipe
  • CourseDesserts
Servings Prep Time
1 9 x 13 pan 20 minutes
Passive Time
2 hours
Servings Prep Time
1 9 x 13 pan 20 minutes
Passive Time
2 hours
Ingredients
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 7 oz marshmallow cream OR 1 container
Servings: 9 x 13 pan
Instructions
  1. Combine sugar and milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for two and a half minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
  2. Add vanilla, peanut butter, and marshmallow cream.
  3. Beat until creamy.
  4. Pour into pan.
  5. Refrigerate. Cut when cool.
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March 19, 2016 by: Shannon and Aaron

Stuffed French Toast

Stuffed French Toast

 

I am not a fan of breakfast food. Ron Swanson, if he were a real person and not a character, would not like me. I generally find breakfast food to be way too heavy to consume that early in the morning and it makes me feel all kinds of sluggish. However, this stuffed french toast might inspire me to make an exception to my dislike of breakfast food.

Stuffed French Toast

Here is what Marguerite had to say:

Stuffed French Toast

It is very convenient that Marguerite wrote the dipping mixture in simple amounts so they can be multiplied for each serving you’re making.  While crushing the corn flakes was a little tedious, this whole recipe was simple to make.  Putting the layers of bread, cream cheese, jam, and corn flakes together took almost no time at all and then it was time for a delicious breakfast!

Stuffed French Toast

And a delicious breakfast it was!  Delicious and sweet, although sweet does not even begin to describe this stuffed french toast recipe. Seriously, it was like eating cake for breakfast.  I really enjoyed that the flavors of the french toast, the sweetness of the cream cheese and the jam, and the crunch of the corn flakes mixed together so well.

Stuffed French Toast

Aaron also really liked the stuffed french toast.  While he also thought they were sweet and were a nice combination of flavors, he enjoys sweet things more than I do.  He gobbled them up with his coffee and was very content afterwards.  If you would prefer a more simple french toast, you could just go for the plain dipped kind, it’s good on its own too!  Happy Breakfast-ing!

Stuffed French Toast

Stuffed French Toast
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 (2 slices of bread per serving) 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 (2 slices of bread per serving) 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Stuffed French Toast
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 (2 slices of bread per serving) 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 (2 slices of bread per serving) 10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Ingredients
  • 2 slices bread Texas Toast for thicker French Toast
  • 1 egg
  • 1/6 cup cream
  • 1/8 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp sugar heaping tsp
  • Philadelphia Cream Cheese soft
  • Jam any flavor you'd like
  • cornflakes crushed
Servings: (2 slices of bread per serving)
Instructions
  1. Whisk egg, cream, vanilla, and sugar together to make dip mixture.
  2. Spread cream cheese on one slice of bread. Add Jam. Close Sandwich.
  3. Dip in mixture.
  4. Cover with crushed cornflakes.
  5. Put 1 Tbsp of butter on griddle. Put Sandwich on low heat. Brown and turn.
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We're Aaron and Shannon, the cooks behind Marguerite’s Cookbook. We are a husband and wife cooking/blogging team who love food, fun, and family.

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