Enter:

3 muffins on a paper plate. Label with Name, Grange and Grange Number.

Check with your Women's Activities Committee to find out when your Grange's judging will be held and enter!

The first place winners from each Subordinate (Community) Grange will bake again to compete for the top prize at Let's Celebrate Day to be held at Cheshire Grange Hall in July. State Judging will be held on Friday, July 23, 2010, at Cheshire Grange Hall. Entries accepted 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.

This contest is now a part of the Bethlehem Fair. For more information, please visit the Bethlehem Fair website at www.bethlehemfair.com.

Cranberry Chutney

1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup peeled, diced apple
1/8 teaspoon each: cinnamon, ginger, allspice
Dash ground cloves
1/2 cup dried cranberries

(Note: only 3/4 cup of the chutney will be used in coffeecake recipe)

Cake

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cranberry chutney (see recipe above)
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds, toasted (separated)

Glaze

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

for the cranberry chutney

Combine vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over me- dium heat. Add apple and return to a boil. Add cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and dried cranberries. Reduce heat to low. Cook for 25 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

for the cake

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, but- termilk, and almond extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the baking powder, baking soda, flour, and salt. Add all at once to the wet ingredients, stirring just to blend.

Grease and flour a 9- or 10-inch tube pan. Spoon the batter into the pan. Spread 3/4 cup of the chutney evenly atop the batter leaving 1⁄2 inch between pan and chutney. Sprinkle half the toasted almonds evenly over the chutney.

Bake the coffeecake for 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove it from the oven. Cool cake 10 minutes and gently run a knife between pan and cake. Remove outer pan and cool cake completely. Remove cake from bottom of pan. Cool cake 20 minutes and gently run knife between pan and cake. Remove cake from pan.

for the Glaze

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by mixing confectioners’ sugar, milk, and almond extract. Drizzle the glaze over cake. Sprinkle remaining toasted almonds over the cake.

Note: Please check www.ctfairs.org for updated recipe information, recipe demonstrations and to keep in touch with other contest bakers.

The following prizes will be awarded at the state contest:

Honorable Mention Ribbons and Consolation Prizes will also be awarded.

For more information please visit the Connecticut Asociation of Fairs website at www.ctfairs.org.

For more information and complete rules please visit the Connecticut Asociation of Fairs website at www.ctfairs.org.

1-1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1-1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon orange-flower water (see note)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon minced orange or lemon zest
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons sugar  

Directions:

Butter and flour 2 (8-by-4–inch) loaf pans. Combine the raisins and rum in a small bowl. Set aside.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, beat in the brown sugar, 1-3/4 cup of the flour and then the butter, eggs, and orange-flower water. When finished beating, mix in the remaining 1-3/4 cup of flour and beat for 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and set it in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, about 1-1/2 hours. The batter should be sticky, with the consistency of a soft, moist dough.

When doubled in size, stir down the batter. Mix into it the spices and salt, followed by the zest, walnuts, and raisins with any remaining rum. Divide the batter between the two pans, smoothing it so that it is mounded on the top. Cover the pans and let the batter rest again in a warm, draft-free spot until risen to the top of the pans, about 1 additional hour. Near the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

To top the cakes:

Pour the melted butter evenly over the dough and sprinkle it thickly with the sugar.

Bake the cakes in the center of the oven. Cook for 50 to 55 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of each comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool for at least 15 additional minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yields 12 servings. Leftovers can be toasted and slathered with sweet butter.

Note:

Our common use of vanilla extract to flavor baked goods is largely a twentieth-century development. Before then, cooks scented their dishes with lemon and perfumy distillations of orange and rose blossoms. Look for fragrant rose water and orange-flower water in large supermarkets and Middle Eastern or Asian markets. In Election Cake, orange-flower water gives a lighter, more flowery complexity than vanilla. If desired or necessary, substitute vanilla extract.

This is not a contest recipe -- this recipe was used during the Connecticut State Grange's participation in the CT Ag Day expo held at the Capitol on March 18, 2010.

From: American Home Cooking: Over 300 Recipes Celebrating Our Rich Tradition of Home Cooking