**WARNING** Gluten-Filled, Sugar-Laden, Fat-Loaded Recipes

Mondays are generally very busy at Little Shouse on the Prairie.  The house has to be put back in order after a weekend of outside work.  The laundry has to be caught up and the pantry needs to be filled with fresh baked goods.  Miss Serenity and I worked from sunup and by noon the shouse was beginning to take shape.  The floors had been swept and vacuumed, the bread was rising and the sunroom had been arranged for summer.  After I washed the dishes, I sliced peppers and onions, cut up chicken and made a marinade for chicken fajitas.  After getting the bread into the oven, I quickly put together a cake for desert. 

This was no ordinary cake.  It was a Cinnamon Swirl tea cake.  It really shouldn’t be indulged in very often – it’s that good.  It is full of everything that is currently on the “Do Not Eat” list (but don’t be bothered – that list will change again as soon as junk science discovers the many health benefits of gluten, sugar and fat).  If you are in the mood to defy current social health dogma, this is the recipe for you!

Cinnamon Swirl Tea Cake

Cake:
3 C flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 C milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C butter, melted

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 C butter, softened
1 C brown sugar
2 T flour
1 T cinnamon

Glaze:
2 C powdered sugar
5 T milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan.

Mix all of the cake ingredients together, except for the butter.  After you have mixed the batter, add the butter and mix well.  Pour into the prepared cake pan.

In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon swirl ingredients.  Drop by the spoonful evenly over the cake batter.  Using a butter knife, swirl the topping into the cake batter.  Bake for 28 – 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze.  After the cake is done (toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean), pour glaze evenly over the top (while the cake is still warm).

As requested, the recipe for the black-bottomed muffins that I made on Saturday…..

Black-Bottomed Muffins

Filling:
6 oz. cream cheese
1/3 C sugar
1 egg
1 C chocolate chips

Muffin:
1 1/2 C flour
1 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C water
1/3 C oil
1 T vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

For the  filling – combine cream cheese, sugar and egg.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix all of the muffin ingredients and stir well.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Fill paper lined muffin cups half full.  Top with 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling.

Bake for 20 – 30 minutes.  Cool.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Happy baking!