Pecan spice squares - country living

24 squares

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2¼ cup Unsifted cake flour
¾ cup Granulated sugar
½ cup Ground pecans or pecan meal
1½ teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Ground cloves
¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
½ cup Lightly packed light-brown sugar
3 Large eggs
1 cup Buttermilk
½ cup Dark seedless raisins
Candied Orange Rind (recipe follows; opt.)
Cream-Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
2 Dozen pecan halves

Directions

1. Grease and flour 13-by 9-inch baking pan. In medium-size bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, ground pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and cloves; set aside.

2. Heat oven to 350'F. In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in raisins.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Prepare Candied Orange Rind, if desired, and Cream-Cheese Frosting. Spread frosting over top of cake; refrigerate cake until frosting is firm. Cut cake lengthwise into 4 strips then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces.

Decorate cake squares with pecan halves and candied rind, if desired.

Transfer some of the cake to serving plate. Cover and refrigerate any leftover cake.

Candied Orange Rind: With vegetable peeler, remove orange peel thinly from 1 large navel orange in 2½-by 1-inch pieces. Cut pieces lengthwise into ⅛ inch-wide julienne strips. Boil strips in saucepan of water; drain and repeat. Pour off water; stir in 1 T sugar and heat until bubbly and melted; cool rind to room temperature.

Cream-Cheese Frosting: In small bowl, with electric mixer, beat ½ 8- oz pk cream cheese, softened, and ¼ C (½ stick) butter or marga- rine, softened, until fluffy. Beat in 1 tablespoon orange juice and 1 t orange extract until smooth. Gradually beat in 3 ½-to 4 C sifted confectioners' sugar until frosting is stiff enough to spread.

Country Living/Nov/90 Scanned & fixed by DP & GG

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