Category: Desserts

Cookies · Desserts

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

A sweet friend of mine, Susie, sent me this cake recipe the other day and I just made it today. I have to say that it is the best and most moist pumpkin cake I have had. I added Brown Sugar Frosting to it and served it to friends who came over tonight for dessert. Scrumptious!!!! So easy and best pumpkin spice cake ever!!!!

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix

1  cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1/2 cup oil

2 teas cinnamon

3 eggs, room temp

1 small package vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan for about 45 min or until cake tests done.

Let stand for about 15 minutes and then invert onto serving platter.

Frosting:

1 cup light brown sugar

5 tables butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 teas vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter with brown sugar and cream, stirring constantly. When mixture begins to boil, pour over powdered sugar and mix until no lumps remain. Add vanilla and if needed, 1 tables at a time, thin with whipping cream until mixture is right for pouring over the cake. Frosting will harden quickly so pour quickly over the cake.

Desserts

Cranberry Cheesecake With Cranberry Orange Sauce

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

What a great time of year, when there is nothing better than sitting inside, watching the cold fronts come in all the while, looking through magazines to find new recipes that just seem like you have to jump up and make them right then. This cheesecake will be sitting on our dessert buffet table this season.

Crust:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teas salt

1/4 teas baking powder

10 tables cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

Pam Vegetable Spray

Filling:

1 lb fresh cranberries

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

2 tables cornstarch

3 table orange liqueur (or orange juice concentrate)

2 1/2 table coarsely chopped lemon zest

1/4 teas kosher salt

Cheesecake:

3 ( 8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened to room temp

2 (8 oz) containers mascarpone cheese or sour cream

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 teas kosher salt

5 large eggs

2 tables vanilla extract

Parchment paper

Sauce:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 teas lemon juice

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse first 4 ingredients in a food processor until blended. Gradually add cold butter and pulse after each addition to combine. With processor running, add egg yolk through food chute and process until combined. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 9″ spring form pan. Chill 10 minutes. Bake 10-12 min or until golden brown; cool In pan on a wire rack 30 min.

Prepare filling:

Bring cranberries and next 7 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring often 2 min or until cranberry skins begin to split and mixture thickens. Let mixture stand 30 min. Reserve 1/2 cup cranberry mixture for sauce. Spread remaining mixture on to prepared crust. Set aside.

Reduce oven temp to 325. Beat cream cheese and next 3 ingredients at medium-low speed with mixer in a large bowl, just until well blended. Do not over mix. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating at low speed just until yolk disappears after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour cream cheese mixture over cranberry mixture in crust. Smooth top of batter to level. Place cheesecake on a parchment -paper lined baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for 1 hr and 10 min or until center of cheesecake jiggles. Turn oven off. Do not open oven door. Let cheesecake sit in closed oven for 30 min.

While sitting in oven for the 30 min, prepare sauce:

Process 1/4 granulated sugar and next 2 ingredients, reserved 1/2 cup cranberry mixture and 1/4 cup water in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard solids. Cover sauce and chill until ready to use (up to 1 week).

Remove cheesecake from oven and gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. Do not remove side of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack about 2 hours. Cover and chill 8 to 12 hours before serving. Serve with chilled sauce over each piece.

Taken from November 2014 Southern Living magazine.

Desserts · Holiday Fare

Whipped Cream Pecan Pie

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

2014-10-27 16.20.38

This is the first pecan pie recipe that has whipping cream in it. And trust me, it is outstanding. Made it for dinner tonight. My sister-in-law and brother -in-law came over and we all agreed that it was fantastic. A little fluffier than the normal pecan pie, not quite as sweet and simply great.

3 eggs

2 tables melted butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas salt

3/4 cup white karo syrup

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup pecans

Unbaked pie shell

Beat the eggs. Add remaining ingredients except pecans. Place pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake at 450 for 15 min. Lower oven temp to 250 and finish baking, about 45 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate · Desserts

German Chocolate Fudge Pie

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

We are having some friends over tonight for dinner. When I was thinking about what we would have for dessert, this recipe popped in my mind from many years ago. My sister-in-law at that time, had developed a recipe that we had hoped would be exactly like the fudge pie we always ordered at a restaurant there in Corpus. After many attempts, this is the recipe that she finally thought would give us that same flavor. We top it with whipped cream and just used a chocolate crumb pie shell to make it even easier. It is a one bowl fudgy flavored great recipe…easy and yummy….get the whipped cream ready.

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tables flour

2 tables cornstarch

3 teas unsweetened cocoa

2 tables water

1 1/2 tables melted butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teas vanilla

1 unbaked pie shell (I use the Keebler Chocolate Crumb shell)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and cocoa. Add water, melted butter and whisk until mixed well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, vanilla, coconut and nuts. Mix until combined. Pour into pastry shell and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch.  Cool completely and top with whipped cream.

Desserts

Caramelized Banana Pudding

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment
NYMother's Banana Pudding
NYMother’s Banana Pudding

Taken From Southern Living Comfort Food Recipes.

Am making this for dinner tomorrow night for dinner. Love the combination of bananas and caramel.

1/2 cup firmly light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 teas ground cinnamon

4 large ripe bananas, sliced

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/3 cup four

2 large eggs

2 cups milk

4 large eggs, separated

2 teas vanilla

48 vanilla wafers (I am using a package of Keebler Shortbread cookies, crushed)

Cook first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly for 2-3 min or until bubbly. Add bananas; cook 2-3 min or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside.

whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar and next 3 ingredients and 4 egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly 8-10 min or until a pudding-like thickness. Mixture will just begin to bubble and will hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Divide half of banana mixture, pudding and wafers among 8 (1 cup) ramekins or ovenproof glass dishes. Layer with remaining banana mixture, pudding and wafers (or crushed cookies)

If topping with meringue, beat the 4 egg whites at high speed with mixer until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tables at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved (2-4 min). Spread meringue over ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for 15-20 min or until meringue is golden. Let cool on a wire rack 30 min before serving.

*I will use whipped cream instead of the meringue….we need all the fat content and calories we can get. We haven’t had our quota of cholesterol yet this week, as we substituted sliced tomatoes tonight for our normal fat-laden dressing soaked salad.

Breakfast · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Pumpkin Poppers

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

I know I posted these last Fall, but I wanted to remind you how good these are. Am taking a platter of them in the morning to a group of ladies who are getting together to cut out blue jeans to make shoes for an organization called Sole Hope. The shoes are used to keep children from getting infections in their feet in countries that struggle with disease from children and adults who have no shoes. The poppers will be the perfect snack to “pop” in our mouths as we cut, talk and fellowship together.

Just use any pumpkin bread mix and follow directions on box for baking. Use a miniature muffin pan to make them. When they come out of the oven, while still hot, roll them in a sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Because I have a little left over cream cheese frosting, I am going to drizzle some of the frosting over the poppers.  Whistle (and eat) while you work….my motto! Happy Fall Yall

appetizers · Chocolate · Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Apple Nachos

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

For all you gluten free friends here is a great snack that is easy and delicious. Just in time for Fall

36 caramels

1 tables water

30 large marshmallows

1/3 cup butter, cubed

4 medium tart apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 ” slices

1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

3 tables Halloween sprinkles

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt caramels with water; stir until smooth

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt marshmallows and butter. Arrange apple slices on a large platter. Drizzle with the caramel; top with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Serve immediately.

Chocolate · Cookies · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

German Chocolate Thumbprints

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

At church today our teacher in our Sunday School class was talking about how spoiled his kids were and  told us that “IF” (and believe me he doesn’t) but “IF” he believed in reincarnation, he would want to come back as one of his children. I started to think about that and realized that it would be great to come back as one of our grandchildren. We had lunch today with our 10 yr old grandson and I got him in trouble by handing him a giant Hershey bar as soon as we sat down. Of course he immediately unwrapped it and began to chomp away on it before his dad saw it and fussed at him for eating it before having something “healthy”. I don’t think you can qualify Mexican food as “healthy” but since all Sevy had had all day was donuts and now candy, I guess the Mexican food was a little better than what he had eaten all day. All this to say that when you think about how we Baby Boomers totally spoil our grandkids, it would be great to come back as one of them.  But since we won’t be coming back as anyone or anything, I think I will just go ahead and eat all the chocolate I can now.

Hence the recipe…

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 table shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tables strong coffee (brewed)

1 teas vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tables baking cocoa

1 teas baking powder

1/4 teas salt

Filling:

3/4 cup flaked coconut

3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 teas vanilla

4 to 6 tables sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)

Drizzle:

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tables shortening

Preheat oven to 350.

In a microwave, melt chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, coffee, vanilla and melted chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Roll into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Using a Thumbie (which you can by on Etsy for $5.00 in the chocolatecastles store), make an indention in the center of each ball. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a small bowl, combine the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Stir in enough of the sweetened milk to form a stiff mixture. Fill cooled cookies with filling (about a teas each). Melt chocolate chips and the shortening for the drizzle and then drizzle over the cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: about 4 dozen

Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

The pumpkins are out and am excited to find new delish ways to make use of them. I do remember the first year that Peter Pumpkin and I were married, I ask him to take me to the pumpkin patch down at Farmer’s market to pick out the perfect pumpkin that would adorn our porch. When we found it, I was so excited. There in the car seat beside us would be the first pumpkin that we had picked out and bought together. When “she” became (yes, it became a she as I named her Penny pumpkin), should we say a little decayed, ok, rotten, I ask him to bury her in our yard so we would always have  her with us. I do seem to get attached to things. He knew that if he buried her in our yard,  we would have a yard full of pumpkin ivy the next year, so he had just thrown her over the fence, and came in and told me he had taken care of her.  I didn’t bake any pumpkin dishes for a few days, just out of memory of Penny.  He didn’t tell me that until years later when we were in the heat of an argument how he had really “taken care of Penny” when he blurted out the words, “oh, and remember the year you told me to go bury Penny in our yard, well, I didn’t, I just threw her over the fence!” How cruel can a husband be??? So from that point on, I knew that this was not a man I could trust….I don’t let him pack away all my snowmen at Christmas now either, I just can’t take the chance. So, in honor of Penny,  here is a recipe that I found in a 2010 Taste of Home that I am making this weekend.

2 cups finely crushed pecan shortbread cookies (I will use Lorna Dune)

1 tables flour

3 tables butter, melted (as if the cookies don’t have enough in them already)

Filling:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 oz) solid-packed pumpkin

3 tables flour

1 tables milk

1 teas ground cinnamon

1/4 teas each: ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves

3 eggs, lightly beaten

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, flour and 3 tables melted butter; press into an ungreased 9″ deep-dish pie pan. Bake at 350 for 9-11 min or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, flour, milk and spices. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.

Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 40-50 min or until center is almost set. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 min to prevent overbrowning if necessary* (see below).  Refrigerate for at last 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream

*an easy way to cover edges is to place the pie plate on a piece of foil that is large enough to lap over the edges when it is brought up around them. I go ahead and do this at the beginning of the baking as it is so much easier to do this before dish is hot, then just remove the foil from the edges, leaving it under the pie, to finish baking about 25-30 min before pie is done.

 

Chocolate · Cookies · Desserts

S’More Cookies*

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

2014-09-08 15.43.20

Mr. Smarty Pants made his point that he was tired of running back and forth to get baking items for me when he brought this home this weekend. I put it beside the 25 lb sack of sugar that he made me buy and told him that I had had enough of his smart alec suggestions, that unless I got the desire to make 100 dz hot tamales, he can just march right back to the store and buy my butter flavored Crisco, which I’m sure is much more healthy than the bucket of lard.  So while I wait for him to get back with my Crisco to make these cookies, I don’t want him to know that I am actually using the lard to make pie crusts. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.  It truly makes great pie crusts but when people comment and tell you that that is the best pie crusts EVER, I just never quite have the nerve to tell them why. When people hear the word “lard” they think immediate heart attack. So it will be my little secret. I just tell them it is an old family recipe.

These cookies are so munchable (is that a word)?

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup Crisco

1 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temp

1 tables vanilla

\2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups firmly packed graham-cracker crumbs

3/4 teas baking powder

3/4 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 ( 11.5 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chunks

1 1/4 cups marshmallow bits *Jet-puffed Mallow Bits)

1 sleeve (about 9) crackers, broken into small pieces

preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, graham-cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well combined. Beat in chocolate chunks and marshmallow bits. Beat in graham crackers, beating just until combined.

Drop cookies by rounded tablespoon , 2″ apart onto prepared baking pan. Garnish tops of cookies with additional marshmallow bits, if desired.

Bake for 10 min or until lightly browned. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 min before removing to wire racks to completely cool.

Makes about 4 dozen

*taken from Southern Lady, Oct 2013

Dr

t w