Tag: Desserts

Breads · Chocolate · Desserts

Cherry Almond Biscotti

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

2 c flour

1 teas baking powder

1/4 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1 cup sugar

4 tables unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas almond extract (I actually like to use 1/2 teas vanilla and 3/4 teas almond extract)

1 cup almonds, finely chopped

1/3 cup sugar (sugar crystal course)

1 cup dried cherries, slightly chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Place parchment paper on large baking sheet. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Crack and place eggs in a small bowl. Add vanilla and almond extract. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together with mixer for 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs with extracts one at a time until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrap down sides of bowl as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low (very important0 and slowly mix in flour mixture until just combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in chopped almond and chopped cherries and incorporated any remaining flour on sides of bowl.

Using floured hands, split the dough in half. On the parchment paper lined baking sheets, press each half of dough into two logs 12-13 inches long and about 3 inches wide. Place logs about 3″ apart. Sprinkle with course sugar crystals and lightly press into loaf.

Bake until the loaves are golden brown and just beginning to crack on top (about 30 minutes). Rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking.

Remove loaves from oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Lower oven temp to 325.

Place the loaf on a cutting board and slice each loaf into 3/4″ thick slices using a serrated knife. Lay the slices cut side down about 1/2″ apart on baking sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes and then turn the slices over and bake another 12-14 min until slices are crisp and golden brown. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack to cool completely.

OPTIONAL:

Prepare after biscotti has cooled. In a small saucepan, stir 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips or white chocolate chips with 1 tables shortening until melted.

Dip bottom edge of each cookie into the melted chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over one side of the biscotti. Let stand to set.

Desserts

Falling In Love with Italian Desserts

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Last night we drove into one of Randy’s favorite places…Santa Fe, NM. We were on a mission to get to the shed, 18 which is always the first place we eat upon arriving here. For some reason Randy loves to feel his mouth on fire, hence…the blue corn enchiladas with red chile sauce. I knew in 1995 that if this marriage was going to last that I would need to adopt a love of New Mexico Mexican food, which is totally different fro Tex-Mex. I remember the first time he brought me here to meet his parents. By the time we finished eating lunch that day at the shed, my mouth was numb from the heated enchiladas that I had never experienced before. Besides being nervous to meet them, now I couldn’t talk well for the swollen tongue from the red chile that I was told was “less spicier than the green chile sauce”

But 18 years later I can truly say that I love the food here. It is still spicy to me, but because of the ambiance which surrounds you here, it just seems right. Because we have not been back here in quite some time, even Mr. Spicy Red Chile sauce admitted that it was hotter than he remembered. You think? When the waiter came to ask if we needed anything else, I happened to ask him what the dessert listed on the board was. I had remembered seeing it, but could not for the life of me remember what it was. When he began to explain that it was an Italian dessert that helps take the heat out of your mouth, we immediately ordered one. When it arrived  and was set in front of us, I fell in love. Before me was the prettiest swirl of whipped cream with a hint of color, which I later learned was from the Amaretto  liquor that was added. It was the creamiest of creams that I had eaten.. Before I left the restaurant I googled to get a recipe for this wonderful dessert.

I do not know if it is the exact recipe that we ate last night, but as soon as I can get to a kitchen where I am free to cook, I will be making it.

From Mario Batali

4 egg yolks

4 teas sugar

4 tables marsala wine

Whisk all ingredients over a double boiler until thickened like pudding. Take on and off the heat while cooking so s no to scramble the eggs. When mixture is thickened, allow to cool. *Beat in 1 cup heavy whipped cream that you have beaten until stiff peaks form. *I have added he whipping cream to his recipe because the waiter last night told us that the chef used whipped cream in his recipe and served it cold, as opposed to Mario who says to serve it hot.  Our mouths were already on fire so we needed all the “cold” we could get.                                                                ”

Uncategorized

Pretzel Crust Butterscotch Pie

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I found this on a food blog called Seededatthetable.com and had to make it. I love butterscotch pie and combining it with the pretzel crust and fresh whipped cream is so awesome. Will take a picture when I finish.
 
For the Crust:
  • 3/4 cup pretzel crumbs
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Filling:
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 Tablespoons cold butter, diced
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Topping:
  • 1 cup cold heavy cream
  • 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. In medium bowl, toss together the pretzel crumbs and graham cracker crumbs with the sugar. Stir in the melted butter until evenly moist. Transfer to a 9″ pie pan and press to line the bottom and sides evenly..Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

Filling:

Whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Add the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the milk. Whisk until blended.

In a large saucepan, bring the rest of the 1 1/2 cups milk just to a boil over medium heat. Immediately remove from the heat and pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in  a very thin stream, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the butter and the vanilla, then whisk until the filling is smooth.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust. Using the back of a wooden spoon, smooth the filling out evenly. Place plastic wrap  flush to the surface of the pie filling in order to avoid a film developing on top. Refrigerate for at least 2 -4 hours to ensure it is set and cold.

Whipping topping:*See note below

When ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream topping. Beat the whipping cream in a large bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, then continue to beat until peaks or thickened. Spread over top of pie.

Cut into slices and serve.

*Note

I actually do not add vanilla to whipped cream anymore, I think you taste the filling a little more with just adding the powdered sugar.

Also, if you want to mix up the whipping cream a few hours before serving, beat it well and then cover it with Press N Seal, tightly and it will stay whipped, without watering, for about 4-5 hours. Then spread over pie just before serving.

Thank you Seededatthetable.com for this delicious recipe…

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit

Banana Snack Cake

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I always get a little down the day after Christmas, when we have to change our phone recordings from “Hi, this is Frosty and Noel, I’m baking cookies and Frosty’s at the mall,  when we get through, we’ll give you a calll” to just plan ole, “Hi, you have reached Randy and Trudy, please leave a message). It is just so boring. So to drown our sorrows, we thought a banana cake with cream cheese frosting would do the trick. We will sit and get our creative juices flowing for a new Janurary phone message. Hum…”Be a dear and leave your message, Happy New Year” nope, guess I need another piece of cake…

Taken from new Southern Living

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/3 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 med)

1 teas vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teas baking soda

1 teas cinnamon

1/4 teas ground nutmeg

1/4 teas salt

1 cup chopped toasted chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 15×10″ jelly-roll pan. Beat butter at medium speed 1-2 min until creamy. Gradually add both sugars, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Add mashed bananas and vanilla. Beat at low speed just until blended.

Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Spread batter in the pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. (Test with inserted knife in center)

Cool completely before frosting.

1 stick butter, softened

1 8 oz softened cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teas vanilla

Beat all ingredients together at low speed until well combined and fluffy. Spread over cooled cake.

Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pecan Pie Mini Cupcakes

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Found these on FaceBook the other day and decided they looked so good I had to try them, and try I have….about 10 times. These little gems are like eating a piece of pecan pie. Took them when we had dinner last night with some friends and the ladies have all requested the recipe…I can already see them on the Thanksgiving buffet, sitting beside, ever so quietly beside a bowl of whipped cream. You can pop about 10 per hour…..the recipe made 30 mini muffin cups.

1 cup chopped pecans (finely chopped)

1/2 cup flour

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teas vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 (325 for dark coated pans)

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Spray miniature muffin tin with Pam or lightly grease with butter.

Fill each cup 3/4 full. ( I didn’t use paper liners, but if you do, do not grease)

Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. (Mine took 13 minutes).

How easy is this? Great pecan flavor without the 7000 calories of a piece of pecan pie. This probably only has 3000 calories.

 

Daily Thoughts

Cauliflower VS Chocolate

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

I learned something yesterday. I learned that when I posted the recipe for oven-fried cauliflower, it got the 2nd highest views my blog has ever received. It was shocking to see that a veggie would out shine some fabulous dessert, like pumpkin bread pudding, or chocolate truffle cake, but who knew that on a blog called Chocolate Castles, a vegetable would win. So I am thinking that when I post a dessert such as “Chocolate Upside Down Cake” I think I will title it “Chocomato Upea Dosquash Cakeabean” That should get a lot of hits. With the many health conscience blogs out there just waiting for us to click on their tofu recipes and wheat germ pancakes recipe, it just never occurred to me that I should be posting more veggies. There is a diet dr. (you know who you are) that follows my blog and seems to always “like” some of the most fattening desserts that I post. That makes me wonder, is he a closet junk food junkie or does he just read and dream about eating all the desserts that we know we shouldn’t be eating? Maybe he is just waiting for me to get to 500 lbs then I would be yelling to him for help. This reminds me of the grocery store story that my daughter told me to tell you about. The incident made me feel like I weighed 500 lbs.

I was at Kroger in Dallas and was hurridly getting what I needed to head home and cook. Almost finished, I headed to the frozen food aisle. I opened the door to get frozen rolls, but before I knew it, I dropped the packages of frozen rolls down in the frozen case. Bending over to retrieve them, the door of the frozen food section, closed, hitting me on my rear end. Trying not to fall over, I quickly put my right food over the bottom bar of the grocery cart, trying to regain my balance, when the grocery cart began to roll away from me. The next moment, I found myself with one foot stuck between the two bottom bars of the cart and the other leg, straddling, trying to stand up. I ended up spread eagle on my stomach, with one leg still in the grocery cart and the frozen food laying in front of my face. Knowing I wasn’t hurt, I hurriedly  looked around to see if anyone saw my little acrobatic stunt. Thank goodness, I was the only one on the aisle, but when I was finally able to pick myself up from the floor, my daughter called. I began to tell her my story and she was laughing so hard she started crying. She put her phone on speaker and told me I had to repeat the whole story so my son-in-law could hear. As fast as I could, I checked out, thinking that it was all probably caught on camera and all the Kroger employees would be spending their 15 min breaks watching the blonde trying to shop the frozen food section. To this day,Jodi breaks up laughing when we talk about how all these things always seem to happen to me.

Tonight, I will be in search of a new healthier veggie dish to post tomorrow. It was exciting to see so many visitors that apparently are in love with veggies. Yesterday…cauliflower, tomorrow…something squash. But, if I have to go get any frozen veggies for the recipe, I am going to be sure I’m alone on the frozen food aisle;just in case, history really does repeat itself.

  

I have now added Kroger to my list of “never going back there” stores!

Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Friday ROAD TRIP of Christmas Countdown

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Well this past week has found the Griswalds at Wallyworld, the Storage Unit and now ta da, we get to go to Big Bear, which is up in the mountains a couple of hours from our house for a Chocolate Tour. The tour takes you to 4 decorated houses with different chocolate treats at each place. Frosty and Noel will be in heaven. We have our Tums packed in our back pocket, our cell phones on silent and the GPS loaded with our destination. That just makes us sound so much cooler that “we have the map in the car”. Of course, where we are going, the GPS probably won’t work, so we do have our map tucked between the cooler filled with Energy drinks, Dr Peppers and chocolate covered pretzels, just to get us ready for our chocolate tour.

Will be so excited to return to tell you about the weekend. But have to tell you about our little experience last night. We had been invited to some friends house, (before I tell you this, don’t you really wonder how things like this always happen to us) for dinner. We had absolutely the best baked chicken I think I have ever had. She is giving me the recipe and will post it when she does. We finish dinner and she serves Pumpkin YumYums. Oh my, pumpkin layer over cream cheese layer over a buttery crust with whipped cream. To die for. Will post that when I get back also, but if you just have to make it this weekend, all it was was the 4 layer chocolate pudding dessert that people used to call Chocolate YumYums….but instead of the chocolate layer she mixed a can of pumpkin with 1-2 teas of pumpkin pie spice (depending on how much spice you like) with a small package of instant french vanilla pudding with the 1 1/2 cups cold milk. Beat the pumpkin with the pudding and spread over the cream cheese mixture which you make with 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 cup of Cool Whip. Well, I have gone this far, I might as well give you the whole recipe. Whip up the cream cheese, sugar and Cool Whip and spread over cooled crust. The crust is made up of 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 stick of cold butter and 1 cup chopped pecans. Cut butter into flour and add chopped pecans. Spread over a 9×13 pan and bake until golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Watch it closely. When it is cooled completely, spread CC mixture over crust. Pour pumpkin over CC layer and top with whipped cream. Put in fridge and let it sit for about 4 hours before serving. Now, back to my story.

We finished dinner and went into the den to watch a video. There were about 14 of us there. We were watching so intently (it was part of our Bible Study lesson) but I kept smelling something burning. I tried to get our hostess attention to tell her that I truly smelled something burning, but thought, well, she has the dishwasher on, I bet a plastic bowl is too near the heating element. But the smell kept getting stronger and stronger. All of a sudden one of the other guests turns around and yells, “the table is on fire”..The flames were shooting up about 4 feet into the air and we all ran for water and began to pour water on her table. So now not only does she have a burned dinning room table, but a soaked rug as well. But Frosty, being the Christmas Giver that he is with a most generous heart told her not to worry, he would buy her more candles to replace the ones that caused the fire..He is just the best!

The fire did not even dampen our night at all. We had a most enjoyable evening with precious friends and the most amazing dinner. Frosty was excited that he had got a home cooked meal, and he didn’t even have to buy the groceries. That always makes it taste better. Am headed to finish packing, will talk to you on Monday with new Christmas recipes and maybe a funny story or two. After all, when we drive to the mountains for the weekend, you know some story will come out of it.

Daily Thoughts

Cream Cheese Frosting

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When making cream cheese frosting, try a little something extra. Grind up to a fine powder, 1 cup of walnuts or pecans and add to the frosting before putting on cake. It adds so much flavor