It’s cookies and cakes
The children are in bed for the night and Farley Rowe is in her kitchen. “That’s when I get to do my baking. It’s my way of relaxing.”
As a wife, mother and an occupational therapist with a home health agency, this Gloucester native has a full daily schedule but is never too busy to help others. Farley not only bakes for her family, friends and co-workers, but also bakes for the homeless. “A lot of my baking is done for the homeless. I bake and freeze trying to keep enough in my freezer so I have some on hand when needed. You know, just in case.”
Farley says her mother taught her everything she knows about cooking and adds, “I love to cook, but baking is my way of unwinding. My husband, Jason, is a good cook but does no baking. He doesn’t particularly like sweets. But my three-year-old, Garrett, loves sweets. We’ll see what Elliott (who is just 10 months old) decides he likes best.”
Her love for baking brought out another one of Farley’s talents—decorating both cakes and cookies. At one point she even sold what she baked, but no longer. Her family, friends and the homeless individuals reap the culinary pleasure of her cookies, cakes, pies and breads.
“I make more cookies than anything else but I keep that recipe a secret. And many of my recipes I either get from the Gazette-Journal or from my patients,” Farley said. Perhaps when the freezer is full, Farley takes one or two baked goods to her office or gives some for her father to take to his coworkers. “I always have a pound cake in the freezer, just in case. I love sweets but I can only eat so much. By the way, just so I could bake more, a new freezer was my Christmas gift from my husband.”
Altering recipes comes easily for Farley. “If a recipe calls for almond extract I may choose to use lemon extract. I learned when one of my pound cakes fell that I should use just large eggs not extra large. I always use butter not margarine. To freeze my cakes, and this keeps them much more moist, right out of the oven, I wrap them in foil with the shiny side out. Let them cool completely then they’re put in the freezer. To thaw, just remove from freezer and let them thaw on the counter still wrapped. My cookies are frozen and decorated after they are thawed.”
When holidays and family gatherings come around that’s the time Farley’s homemade breads and pies are more popular, although the sweet baked goods are always there no matter what the occasion.
MILLION DOLLAR POUND CAKE
4 sticks butter (softened)
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon or almond extract
Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease tube pan or bundt pan with Baker’s Joy spray. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat. Add flour to butter mixture alternating with milk. Stir in extracts. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
COCONUT CUSTARD PIE
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 c. milk
1 c. coconut
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon extract
5 pats of butter on top
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place pie dough in glass pie plate. Whisk all ingredients together. Pour in pie shell. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until done.
POTATO REFRIGERATOR ROLLS
1½ c. lukewarm water
1 pkg. dry yeast
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. shortening
1½ tsp. salt
1 c. warm instant mashed potatoes (soupy…not dry)
2 eggs
7½ c. sifted all-purpose flour
Dissolve yeast in water, stir in sugar, shortening, salt, potatoes, and eggs. Then add flour. (I use a KitchenAid stand mixer with dough attachment.) Put dough in greased bowl and refrigerate, or make into rolls immediately. Let rise for several hours. Butter tops during cooking process. Cook at 350°F. until golden brown.
LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD
3 c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. salt
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ Tbs. poppy seeds
2½ c. sugar
1 1/8 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1½ c. milk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
1½ tsp. lemon extract
Glaze
¼ c. orange juice
¾ c. sugar
½ tsp. lemon extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Stir together flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, and sugar. Add the eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, and lemon extract. Mix until smooth. Pour batter evenly into the loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool loaves in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Mix orange juice, sugar, and lemon extract. Pour mixture over warm loaves. Allow to cool completely before serving.
SWEET POTATO POUND CAKE
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened)
1 stick butter (softened)
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2½ c. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon or nutmeg (I use cinnamon)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese and butter with mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add sweet potatoes, and beat well. Stir together flour, powder, soda, salt, and desired spice in separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon into greased tube pan. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes.
CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE
Hummingbird Cake
1 c. Guinness extra stout
10 Tbs. butter
¾ c. unsweetened natural cocoa
1½ c. sugar
½ c. dark brown sugar
¾ c. sour cream
2 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
2½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 8 or 9-inch springform pan with Baker’s Joy spray. In a large saucepan, place the stout and butter. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter has melted. Add the cocoa powder and sugars and whisk together. Take off heat and allow to come to room temperature. In another bowl, beat together sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until very well combined. Add to the butter-stout mixture and whisk together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the stout-butter mixture and whisk together until it just comes together. Pour into the prepared pan and give the pan a few short drops onto the countertop to shake the air pockets in the batter to the surface and out of the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack. You can frost with buttercream icing or cream cheese frosting of your choice.