Rhubarb-Vanilla Compote

Rhubarb-Vanilla Compote (from Eating Well, Servings: 4, Total Time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         4 cups diced rhubarb

·         ½ cup sugar

·         ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.       Combine rhubarb, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until the rhubarb begins to break down, about 5 minutes.

2.       Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

We received some rhubarb In a recent Community-Supported Agriculture delivery, so I found a quick and easy recipe to use it.  I found this and thought it would be tasty on some homemade bread.  I served it when my mom and stepdad came to visit.  He didn’t have any, but my mom liked it.  That was good, because neither my husband nor I did.  It definitely was not sweet enough – more sugar, vanilla, and/or cinnamon would all help it out.  I do not plan to make this again.

French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole (from AllRecipes, Servings: 3, Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 ½ cups bread cubes

·         2 eggs

·         ¾ cups milk

·         1/8 cup white sugar, divided

·         1/8 tsp. salt

·         ½ tsp. vanilla extract

·         ½ Tbsp. margarine, softened

·         ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1.)    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.)    Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.

3.)    Line bottom of pan with bread cubes.

4.)    In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 1 Tbsp. sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.

5.)    Combine remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.

6.)    Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

I made this for my husband for his birthday breakfast.  It came out soft and fluffy – very good looking – and made the whole house smell like cinnamon.  He loved it!  He topped it with some maple syrup and had at it!

Cinfully Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes

Cinfully Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes  (from AllRecipes, Servings: 18, Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes)

Cake Ingredients

·         1 (13.25 oz.) package chocolate cake mix

·         ¾ cup milk

·         2 eggs

·         ¼ cup butter, melted

·         ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

·         ½ tsp. vanilla extract

·         ½ tsp. cinnamon sugar, or as needed

Frosting Ingredients

·         ¾ cup butter

·         1 pinch sea salt

·         ½ tsp. vanilla extract

·         ½ Tbsp. ground cinnamon

·         ½ Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

·         1/8 – ¼ cup milk

·         1 cup confectioners' sugar, or more as needed

Directions

1.      Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

2.      Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

3.      Beat together all cake ingredients, except cinnamon sugar, in a bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until moist. Beat for 2 more minutes on medium speed.

4.      Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full of batter.

5.      Sprinkle the cupcakes with cinnamon sugar.

6.      Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

7.      Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

8.      While cupcakes are cooling, in a large bowl, cream together butter sea salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar.

9.      Stir in milk.

10.  Mix in additional confectioners' sugar or as needed until desired consistency is achieved.

11.  Spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes.

A delicacy I made for my husband’s birthday.  Since I don’t really like a lot of cinnamon, I didn’t taste the cupcakes, but I did taste the frosting for consistency – very light and pretty delicious (in spite of the cinnamon!).  My husband really enjoyed the cupcakes and that were gobbled up pretty quickly at his birthday celebration!