Category: Desserts

From www.allrecipies.com.

Simple and delicious. Makes either a 10″ tube or bundt cake or 12-14 mini loaves/bundt pans. My mini loaves and bundt pans each take 3 #16 dishers’ worth.

12 oz butter (1.5 c) butter
1 8 oz package cream cheese
3 c sugar (1 lb 4 oz)
2 tbs vanilla
6 eggs
12 oz (3 c) cake flour

Preheat oven to 325F. Spray pan(s) with Pam with flour.

Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light. Do not underbeat! Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour and the eggs alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan(s).

Bake for 1:15 (large pan) or 35 minutes (small pans) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

From the Cook’s Illustrated bulletin board:

Here is my Mom’s caramel apple recipe:

1 C. sugar
3/4 C. dark corn syrup
1 C. light cream
2 Tbls. Butter
1 tps. Vanilla
5-6 medium size crisp, tart apples. Cleaned, dried, with a stick inserted

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, then cook, without stirring to firm ball stage. (245° F–250° F, sugar concentration: 87%)
Take off heat, stir in vanilla and dip apples.
Cool on a sheet of parchment or buttered foil. (I used that non-stick foil and it released the caramel without a problem.)

5 pounds

1 lb. butter
2 lbs. brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 oz. Light Karo syrup
2 (15-oz.) cans Eagle Brand Sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

Melt butter in a heavy 6-quart pan. Add brown sugar and salt. Stir in corn syrup, mixing well. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Cook over a medium heat until it reaches the firm ball stage (245 degrees). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour into a well buttered 11” x 18” jellyroll pan. Cool, cut, and wrap in wax paper squares.

CHECK YOUR THERMOMETER before you start to make the caramels, by placing it in boiling water for a few minutes. It should register at 212 degrees, if it doesn’t then add or subtract accordingly.

I use a non-stick jelly roll pan and then when the caramel is cool I turn it out on a huge board and cut it. I also get the special wax paper squares from Sweet Celebrations, see page 132 of their catalog Item B. It is a heavy duty, double sided wax paper that is already cut and comes in different colors. See: http://www.sweetc.com/Cat/Set13/pr132lg.htm

1 lb unsalted butter
½ tea. table salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tbsp. water
1 cup slivered almonds (do not use sliced almonds)
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chips are fine)
1½ -2 cups lightly toasted pecans (or walnuts), finely chopped

Melt ¾ of chocolate over hot water or in a microwave oven at half power for 2-3 minutes. When melted, stir in remaining chocolate and set aside. Line a large jelly roll or half-sheet pan with heavy-duty foil and butter the foil.

Melt the butter with the salt in a heavy 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Slowly add the sugar, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add the water about halfway through this process.

After all the sugar is added, begin testing the mixture to see if the sugar is dissolved. Place a drop of mixture on wax paper; allow it to cool and rub it between your fingers to make sure it doesn’t feel grainy. If it does, continue to cook and test again. The mixture will probably be boiling at this point.

When sugar is dissolved, add the almonds, and increase the heat to medium high. Cook to the hard-crack stage, or about 310-320 degrees on a candy thermometer, stirring often to keep the candy from burning on the bottom. When it’s done, it should be a medium-dark amber color and have a caramel aroma. The almonds should have a toasted color but they should not burn. This is the tricky part, as there’s a thin line between perfect and overdone, and to some extent it’s a matter of taste.

Remove from heat and pour into the prepared pan, spreading as evenly as possible with an offset spatula. Be careful, this stuff is hot! Set the pan on a cooling rack. After 2-3 minutes, when toffee is just set, pour reserved chocolate on top and spread evenly. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, and press them in gently with a spatula or bottom of a glass to anchor them in the chocolate.

Allow the toffee to harden at least 6-8 hours—overnight is better. Break into pieces using a sharp pointed knife with a rigid blade, or you can use your hands. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. Makes about 3 pounds.

Pie Crust:
2 cups flour
2 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup very cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 TBS canola oil
5 TBS heavy cream
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Sugar for sprinkling

Filling:

6 cups cooking apples, pared, cored, thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
4 TBS cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
freshly ground nutmeg to taste
1 1/2 TBS butter, cubed

Mix together in a large bowl all dry ingredients for crust. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture is well blended, but still has very small chunks of butter. Mix together in a small bowl, the vinegar, oil, and cream. Slowly add this to the flour mixture and stir together well. Pour this onto counter and further blend together with palms of your hands. Then form dough into two disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Roll out one disk into a 10″ round. Place in a 9″ pie plate.

Mix together in a large bowl the first 5 ingredients for the filling. Place filling in pie plate. Dot with butter. Roll out remaining disk to a 10″ round and cover filling. Trim excess and seal edges of pie. Make slits in top of crust or cut a 1″ round in center for ventilation. Brush some of the egg mixture on top crust and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake on center rack in a 400° preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375° and bake for another 40 minutes or until juices are bubbling inside and pie crust is golden brown. Cover edges with foil if necessary, to prevent burning.

Pie Crust:

1 ½ cups AP flour
½ cup butter flavored Crisco
½ pinch of salt
3 TBS Water
1 TBS Apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Layer:

6 TBS AP flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ pinch of salt
4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup butter, diced
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 snickers bar (super sized) thinly sliced, about ¼ inch thick

Cream cheese layer:

9 oz. Cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 oz. Macadamia nuts (diced finely, toast in oven)

Garnish:

2 oz semisweet chocolate chips
2 TBS heavy whipping cream

Pie Crust:

Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in Crisco with a pastry blender. Mix water and vinegar in a spray bottle, add 3 or 4 ice cubes to keep water mixture cold. Spray flour mixture lightly with water solution mix to combine. Repeat just until piecrust comes together. Put crust in a Ziploc back and bring together into a circle place in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Pull crust out of the refrigerator and roll out to pan size. Poke holes in the bottom as well as the sides of the crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.

Chocolate Carmel Nut Pie, continued

Chocolate layer:

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a double boiler melt semisweet chocolate and ½ cup of butter, stir until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile beat sugar, whole egg, and egg white in a medium bowl until slightly thickened. To this mixture add vanilla and cooled chocolate. Mix until well blended. Stir in dry ingredient mixture and mix until just combined. Pour mixture into crust and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 19 minutes. Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Place candy mixture (sliced snickers bars) on top.

Cream cheese layer:

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until blended. Add vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Spread mixture over candy bars, add your macadamia nuts over cream cheese, and bake for 20 minutes, or until set. Cool on rack.

Garnish:

In a small sauce pan, stir chocolate and whipping cream over low heat until smooth. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Dip pineapple slices in coconut milk. Dip in 1.5c sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon.

Oil grill grate

Grill on high 4-6 minutes per side.

Serve with ice cream

This tart is a perfect choice when you don’t have enough berries for a cobbler (my all-time favorite.)

Tart Pastry (Pâte Sucrée)
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (about 2 3/4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), very cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg plus 1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar , plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Kirsch or framboise, optional
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Wondra flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 half-pint containers fresh blackberries (about 10 ounces total), picked over

1. For the tart pastry: Whisk together yolk, cream, and vanilla in small bowl. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in food processor with four 1-second pulses. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; pulse to cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about twenty 1-second pulses. With machine running, add egg mixture and process until dough comes together, about 12 seconds. Turn dough onto sheet of plastic wrap and press into 6-inch disk; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

2. Remove dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Unwrap and roll out between lightly floured large sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap to 11-inch round. (If dough becomes soft and sticky, slip onto baking sheet and refrigerate until workable.) Transfer dough to tart pan by rolling dough loosely over rolling pin and unrolling over 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Working around circumference of pan, ease dough into pan by gently lifting dough with one hand while pressing dough into corners and sides of pan with other hand. Press dough into fluted sides of pan, patching breaks or cracks if necessary. (If some edges are too thin, reinforce sides by folding excess dough back on itself.) Run rolling pin over top of tart pan to remove excess dough. Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet or large plate and freeze 30 minutes. (Frozen dough-lined tart pan can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen up to 1 month.)

3. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet; lightly spray one side of 18-inch square heavy-duty extra-wide foil with nonstick cooking spray. Press foil greased side down inside frozen tart shell, folding excess foil over edge of pan; fill with metal or ceramic pie weights. Bake until pastry appears dry and pale gold under foil and edges have just begun to color, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Remove from oven and carefully remove foil and weights by gathering edges of foil and pulling up and out. Return baking sheet with tart shell to oven and bake until sides are medium golden brown, about 5 minutes; set on wire rack to cool.

4. For the filling: While tart shell is cooling, heat butter in small saucepan with light-colored interior over medium heat; cook, swirling or stirring occasionally, until butter smells nutty and milk solids at bottom are golden brown, about 7 minutes. Transfer butter to small heatproof bowl to stop cooking; cool butter until just warm to touch. Whisk egg and egg white in medium bowl until combined; add sugar and salt whisk vigorously until light colored, about 1 minute. Whisk in warm browned butter until combined; then whisk in vanilla, framboise, and lemon zest and juice. Whisk in Wondra flour, then whisk in cream until combined.

5. Add berries and bake: Distribute blackberries in single tightly packed layer in bottom of cooled tart shell. Pour filling mixture evenly over blackberries. Place tart on baking sheet in oven. Bake until fragrant and filling is set (does not jiggle when shaken), bubbling lightly around edges, and surface is puffed and deep golden brown, about 30 minutes, rotating sheet pan after about 20 minutes for even browning. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, at least 1 1/2 or up to 6 hours. Remove tart pan ring; slide thin-bladed spatula between tart pan bottom and crust to loosen, then slide tart onto serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve.

My sister’s favorite, which I appreciate since it’s so very easy! I’ve made this with bottled key lime juice, key limes, and Persian limes. The bottled juice is the hands-down loser, and I honestly can’t tell a difference between the fresh limes. Persians win for ease of use–there’s no joy in zesting and juicing a dozen tiny key limes. I know many consider that sacrilege, but so be it. One of these days I’ll orchestrate a blind taste test and when I do I’ll report back.

I prefer to bake this in a tart pan as it fills the pan better.

9″ blind baked graham cracker crust (1 pk crackers, 5 oz butter, pinch salt, tbs sugar)
15 oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
4 tsp lime zest

Preheat oven to 325F

Whisk together filling ingredients until well blended. Pour the filling into the crust, bake until the center looks set but still quivery, like gelatin, when the pan is nudged, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack, then refrigerate until cold. Serve with whipped cream.

From The Wooden Spoon Dessert Book

I did the math tonight and realized I’ve been making lemon meringue pie for 20 years. Since I’m not yet 30, that’s saying something. I’ve used at least a dozen different recipies but have finally settled down with this one. Each time I make it I look aghast at the lack of zest and consider throwing some in, but it really doesn’t need it and it’s nice to have the pudding layer chunk-free.

Every recipe has a different opinion about what needs to cool (crust, filling) and for how long. I’m impatient and throw everything together hot. One of these days I’ll nail down the perfect combo and again, I’ll report back.

1 blind baked 9″ pie crust
4 eggs, separated
1.5 c sugar
60 g cornstarch (6 tbs)
.25 tsp salt
.5 c cold water
.5 c fresh lemon juice
1.5 c boiling water
2 tbs butter
.5 c sugar

Preheat oven to 425F

In a large saucepain (I prefer a saucier) stir together 1.5 c sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually stir in cold water and lemon juice, then egg yolks. Next stir in the boiling water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken and bubble. Continue to cook, stirring briskly, until thick and bubbly, about 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Gently stir in butter until melted.

Pour filling into crust. Whip egg whites to soft peaks then gradually add remaining .5 c sugar while whipping to stiff peaks. Spread meringue over filling, bake for 4 to 6 minutes until nicely colored. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. Best eaten cold.