Category Archives: Desserts
Cheesecake!
Yum! Mrs J turned this out yesterday, it has a brownie crust on the bottom, chocolate and caramel drizzles on the top, and a no holds barred cheesecake in between.
The brownie crust was a generic box mix, she used a long bread knife to plane the top flat. The drizzled garnish of chocolate and caramel came out of jars.
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Mmm… Cream Horns
Making these was a fun way to spend a sweltering late August day.
Cut a flat of puff pastry into strips like so. These are roughly 3/4″ wide – each one will become one horn when wound around the specialty pastry molds. We had 6 so we had to run relays, I ordered more.
Mrs J brushed them all with an egg wash and sprinkled on some sugar. They will bake for about 12 minutes at 350, check them every 5 minutes, turning them once.
When they’ve cooled use a pastry bag to fill with cream. We tried this recipe:
MARSHMALLOW FLUFF ICING
1 stick butter (no substitutes)
7 oz jar of marshmallow creme
4 oz confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp. vanillaBeat butter until creamy. Add marshmallow fluff and incorporate into butter. Slowly add sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until light and fluffy.
Alas, we didn’t read the method closely enough and dumped everything into a bowl and set at it with a hand mixer, I think the cream we ended with was a bit heavier and not quite as stiff as it could have been. Delicious, though!
Here’s a cream recipe we didn’t go with:
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
1 c. Crisco
1 t vanilla
Dash of salt
1/4 c. boiling water
Whip this all together and it will last about a month
And another one that we did try:
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
This last one was Mrs J’s favorite, and seemed to work a tad better:
Plum Crumble
What to do with all those plums? We’ve been eating as many as possible and I’m thinking of freezing some more. If frozen, this recipe is the perfect way to use them.
Plum Crumble
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 stick butter
- 4 oz chopped pecans or almonds
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 cups plums, pitted, peeled and sliced
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp flour
- ¼ tsp ginger
8×8 baking dish, greased
bowl
In bowl, cut together ½ cup sugar, brown sugar, 1 cup flour, oatmeal, cinnamon & butter until crumbly. In greased baking dish, spread crushed nuts on the bottom and drizzle with melted butter. Mix together orange juice, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp flour and ginger. Toss gently with fruit and spread over nuts. Top with crumbled mixture and bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. Top should be golden and filling bubbly. Let cool 10 minutes before serving to let fruit set.
Dutch Chocolate Gelato
Pictured above is Hazelnut Gelato – recipe here.
There will be a photo in the recipe exchange tonight of the chocolate gelato and I’ll copy it here…
It’s ice cream time and gelato is so easy in my ice cream maker. The first batch in the new house.
Dutch Chocolate Gelato
Begin with the Gelato base (below)
After you beat the eggs and sugar, sift in 2/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa. Combine well and then continue recipe as directed below.
Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolk
- 2/3 cup sugar (for the Hazelnut Gelato, reduce to 1/2 cup)
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.
Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.
*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.
Recipe makes 1 to 1-1/2 quarts
Apple-Raisin-Walnut Crisp
I love fruit crisps. They are quick and easy to make and with all the good ingredients I feel less guilty about the sweet treat. This one kicks up traditional apple crisp a notch.
Apple-Raisin-Walnut Crisp
- 3 Granny Smith apples, cored & sliced (peeling opt)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
- 1 cup flour
8×8 glass baking dish, lightly greased, small mixing bowl
Place apples, cinnamon, raisins, nuts and ¼ cup sugar in baking dish, mix well.
In mixing bowl, cream butter and remaining sugar, add flour and oats, mix until crumbly. Crumble over the apple mixture.
Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes until top is golden brown. Let cool.
Alternately you can use this cast iron skillet method for making the crisp.
Friday Recipe Exchange: Sweet Tart
Since lemons were on sale, I was planning on this recipe last week, but I never found time. This week I made time because I really wanted some lemony-blueberry goodness. It was very, very simple. Though I did manage to unnecessarily dirty quite a few dishes in the process.
The basis for the custard pie is my Key Lime Pie recipe, found here.
Key Lime Coconut Bars and Key Lime Gelato recipes are here and here. I LOVE Key Lime.
JeffreyW made Cabbage Rolls this week, pictured above – recipe, instructions and more photos are here
That’s it for this week. I’ve been busy with many new clients and switching everything over to a new computer. I’m really looking forward to a relaxing weekend. What’s on your plate this weekend. What’s cookin’ in your kitchen?
Tonight’s featured recipe, pictured at top, satisfied a craving for a sweet-tart dessert. Starting with my standard custard pie recipe and adding blueberry filling turned out to be just what I wanted.
Blueberry Lemon Pie
Blueberry filling:
- 1 1/2 cups wild blueberries (I use frozen, thawed)
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1/4 cup sugar
saucepan
Add ingredients to the saucepan. Bring to a low boil and immediately reduce heat to low and let simmer until thickened. Stirring occasionally. Let cool completely.
Lemon pie:
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 6 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 9 inch graham cracker pie crust
Preheat oven to 250°
Combine milk & yolks with mixer until well blended. Add lemon juice and zest, mix well. Add enough blueberry filling to thinly coat the bottom of the pie shell. Pour the lemon mixture into pie shell – try to pour it in evenly, because you don’t want to spread it with a spatula and disturb the blueberries. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely and top with remaining blueberries. Refrigerate before serving, and any leftovers.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend – TaMara
Future Desserts
I just bought a set of four of these to make individual cookie desserts for a dinner party. If they turn out, of course there will be photos and a recipe. I’m sure I will find may other uses for them. Stay tuned….
The Art of Granita
Relaxing after a long, busy day, watching Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. I’m a sucker for anything Whedon, well, except Dollhouse, which I bailed on after the first few months. The locusts are competing for my attention, singing their late summer song. They always bring back childhood memories of sitting on the porch swing, reading a book in the evening, trying to stay cool.
Went out to dinner with friends earlier and told them I made Watermelon Granita and their response was similar to mine, watermelon is perfect on its own, why mess with it? Why indeed? Partly because it is so pretty, partly because it is nice to have something cold, not too sweet and easy to make during the heat of summer. Granitas can be made with many flavors, I just happened to have a large seedless watermelon on hand this week.
Strawberries, lemons, oranges, a mix of berries, even coffee can be made into granita. Just substitute for the watermelon in the recipe below. Perfect, light and a burst of sophisticated flavor to top off any meal.
Watermelon Granita
- 4 cups seedless watermelon, cut into large chunks
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
- fresh limejuice from 1 large lime or 2 small limes
- dash of lime zest
- mint leaves for garnish
blender, shallow dish
Blend together the ingredients (except mint) until smooth. Start with 1/4 cup sugar and add more as desired. 1/2 cup is the standard recipe, but I preferred less to let the watermelon shine through.
Pour into a shallow dish and place in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove and with a fork, scrape the mixture into small ice crystals. Place back into the freezer for another hour and repeat scraping. Freeze for additional hour, scrape again and serve with mint garnish. You can also top with fresh blueberries for a very pretty dessert.
