Vanilla Mint Buttercream

Inspired by One Sweet Cupcake, I halved the recipe for Vanilla Buttercream and also made it minty to top off some Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.  (I didn't like her recipes for Peppermint Buttercream OR Grasshopper Buttercream for the purposes of this party)  I colored the frosting pale kelly green for a birthday party, but white or any other color would be just as nice. 

Vanilla Mint Buttercream
Adapted from One Sweet Cupcake
Makes enough to frost more than 48 cupcakes in method shown above.  :-)

1 pound butter, softened
pinch of salt
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/8 cup milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
1/2 tablespoon peppermint extract




In a stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, beat butter and salt until light, completely smooth and fluffy.  Turn the mixer speed to low and add half of the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth. 

Add vanilla and peppermint to milk. 

Alternately, add remaining powdered sugar and milk extract mixture, beating until smooth and creamy.  Add green food coloring (I use Wilton paste colors) and mix until desired shade is reached.

Frost cupcakes as desired.  I garnished each cupcake with

Andes Creme de Menthe Thins and fresh peppermint leaves/sprigs.

**I will elaborate on my technique above if anyone would like me to!

Quick Cherry Cobbler

***Taste & Create is a fabulous monthly blog event 

in which participants are randomly paired off 

to choose and prepare a dish from their partner's blog. 

 If you'd like to join us, please email me at 

cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com for more information!  

We'd love to have you.**

For February's Taste & Create, I was paired with Carol from No Reason Needed.  Carol is a long-time T&C participant, so we've been paired up before.  I always enjoy seeing what's new and perusing her blog until something catches my eye.

This time I chose a recent recipe, her Cherry Cobbler.  It was super easy to put together, but only half of my family liked it.  I use "country style" cherry pie filling, which isn't as sickly sweet as regular cherry pie filling.  I debated leaving out the lemon juice for this reason, but didn't.  I wonder if leaving out the cinnamon would have made the other two like the cobbler more?  I do like that this recipe uses less sugar, and it tasted great to me and my oldest son.  But sadly I can't make it a go-to recipe if my husband and other son don't love it...perhaps I'll try it again with no cinnamon and see what happens...

If you try it, let me know what your family thinks!

 

Cherry Cobbler
via No Reason Needed

batter:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk

filling:
1 can of cherry pie filling (I prefer country style)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Mix together all the filling ingredients, let the cherry mixture sit while you make the batter.

In a separate bowl mix batter ingredients with a fork, and pour into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Carefully spoon the cherry pie filling over the batter evenly. Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees F, then turn heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.  The batter will rise over the top of the filling.

Chocolate Coconut Shell for Ice Cream

This is an incredibly easy and delicious recipe I got from Aunt Becky.  I got the coconut oil from Aunt Gina, who got it at Costco.  

You really won't believe how simple this is.  After it is melted together, you just pack ice cream onto a cone and dip it carefully!  Or you can spoon it over ice cream in a bowl.  Or just eat it with a spoon.  There's no judgement here at all.  You can see I used just the right amount of chocolate, it's pooling at the bottom of my very precariously top-heavy cone.

I made 1 batch, covered 4 ice cream cones with it, ate a couple spoonfuls, and still had almost a whole pint of chocolate leftover!  Don't forget to store this in the refrigerator and reheat as necessary.  

Becky uses a microwave, I used a saucepan, it's all good.  I had some Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips in the cupboard, so that's what I used.  Becky told me she uses fancy chocolate sometimes, but usually semi-sweet or dark chips.  I was dreaming of that 11 pounds of gianduja I had once upon a time...might be time to order that again!  (and follow the link, if only to read my story!  Don't worry, I have an email in to the company, asking how I can get more since it didn't come up on a search)

Chocolate Coconut Shell

1/2 cup coconut oil

1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cup chocolate chips (guess which one I used?) 

Gently melt and stir together in microwave or saucepan.  Cool slightly, then dip solidly formed ice cream cones or spoon over ice cream.

Store in a jar in the refrigerator, if you can make it last that long.

Taste & Create: Profiteroles

***Taste & Create is a fabulous monthly blog event 

in which participants are randomly paired off 

to choose and prepare a dish from their partner's blog. 

 If you'd like to join us, please email me at 

cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com for more information!  

We'd love to have you.**

For the December/January Taste & Create event, I was paired with Hannah of Bright Palate. It didn't take me long to decide on her Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream and Butterscotch Sauce. However, it did take me a long time to make it!!  Sorry, Hannah.

I fell in love with Profiteroles in France, and ate as many of them as my stomach could handle after sumptuous dinners and bottles of wine.  Each time, they were served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

I originally planned to make Hannah's Vanilla Pastry Cream, but the Butterscotch Sauce just didn't appeal to me at all, so I planned to substitute some type of chocolate sauce.  After mixing up the choux pastry for the profiteroles, I sort of lost my ambition for mixing the pastry cream, (and washing all the pans and bowls associated with it!), so I decided to use vanilla ice cream instead.  If you're feeling ambitious, by all means follow the link above or below and make her vanilla bean pastry cream, or you could make Julia's Crème Pâtissière, which likely has the same amount of stirring but perhaps less dishes.  ;-)

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary the other night, and I had made some chocolate-orange liqueur truffles, which we all know is just ganache that's slightly shaped and coated with cocoa.  I decided I'd use some of the ganache I hadn't gotten around to shaping, microwave it gently to soften it and use it as a topping for the profiteroles.  I added a little more cream before microwaving to loosen it up a bit, next time I'll just make it specifically for the profiteroles and a thinner mixture from the start.

My dough scoops were a little bigger than golf balls, so my profiteroles were generously sized.  I accidentally turned the timer off during the baking at 425 degrees, but they turned out just fine.  I ended up baking them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees at the end, and they were perfect, just keep an eye on yours.

Profiteroles

From Bright Palate, who originally adapted it from Ratio 

Choux pastry
Yield: About 20 profiteroles

1 cup water
1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 scant cup flour
4 large eggs

Note: The choux pastry can be baked immediately once it’s cooked on the stovetop, or refrigerated for up to a day before baking.

Preheat oven to 425. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, tin foil, or silicone liners.

 In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a simmer. Turn down the heat to medium, add the flour, and stir rapidly. As you stir, the dough will pull away from the sides of the pot. Continue stirring for another minute or two to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the moisture.

Take the pot off the heat and let it cool slightly, a few minutes - it should still be warm to hot. Stir in the eggs rapidly, one at a time. It will take a few seconds of vigorous stirring for each egg to be incorporated. You can also use a standing mixer or electric mixer: transfer the dough to a bowl and mix in the eggs one at time.

Spoon golf-ball-sized portions of the dough onto the baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 and bake for 10 to 20 minutes longer.

Taste or cut into one to judge its doneness: it should be airy inside and not too moist.

To assemble:
Slice each profiterole in half. Place a dollop of ice cream or pastry cream on the bottom half and sandwich with the top half. Spoon chocolate sauce over the top.

***Visit Taste & Create to see what everyone else has made this month!***

 

Pecan Shortbread

Recently received 20 pounds of unshelled pecans. This was my first use of them after shelling enough only for this recipe. Delicious and easy—if you don't count the effort to shell the pecans!

PECAN  SHORTBREAD

Makes 6 dozen

1 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/3 granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/ 2 teaspoon almond extract, optional

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups finely chopped pecans

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter.

2. Slowly add sugar while mixing at low speed just until combined.

3. Add the salt, vanilla extract, and, if desired, almond extract.

4. Slowly add flour while mixing at low speed.

5. Add pecans and mix until the dough comes together.

6. Shape dough into three logs and wrap in plastic wrap. Or, shape into two flat disks and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

7. If using rolls of dough, unwrap and make ½-inch slices. If using disks, unwrap and roll ½-inch thick. Cut into 2 ½-inch squares using a plain or fluted cutter or cut into any shape you like. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet.

8. Bake in 350°F oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.

9. Cool to room temperature before serving. Store airtight.

NOTE: Can try 1/3 brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar instead of all granulated sugar. Modification of a Barefoot Contessa recipe.

APRICOT CHERRY GALETTE

All of Min's recent activities with canning cherries and apricots reminded me of this recipe which is one of my favorites!

Pie Dough Ingredients*

For a 9-inch crust

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of butter, cold and cubed
• 1/4 cup ice water

Filling Ingredients**

For one 9-inch galette

• 3/4 pound fresh apricots, pitted and chopped
  
• 1/2 pound fresh cherries, pitted
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sugar + more for sprinkling
• Juice of half a lemon

Ingredients for Assembly

• 1 egg, beaten

ASSEMBLY

• Cut butter into small cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. 
• Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. 
• Gradually add ice water and pulse until the dough forms a coarse meal. 
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients. 
• Flatten into a circle; wrap individually in plastic. 
• Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. 
• Remove dough from refrigerator; place on floured work surface. 
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rough 11-inch circle. 
• Trim the edges to a clean circle with a pairing knife. 
• Transfer the circle to a baking sheet or pizza pan lined with parchment paper. 
• Mix 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl and spread on the bottom of the dough. 
• Toss apricots and cherries with the rest of the cornstarch, sugar and lemon juice. 
• Arrange the fruit on the bottom of the dough, leaving 2 inches of dough left outside. 
• Fold up and pleat the dough over the top of the fruit, leaving the center uncovered. 
• Lightly brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle both the dough and the fruit with 1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar. 
• Place the Galette in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 
• Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack immediately. 
• Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

*If you are in a huge hurry, Pillsbury from the dairy case can be substituted.

**1 can Comstock cherries can be substituted.  Just add apricots!

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet

I have a family quilting retreat coming up next week, and my cousin/partner for one of the dinners is making lasagna or manicotti.  I'm making a nice salad, and I want to make some sort of light, refreshing dessert.  I have a couple options to try, or if those don't work I'll make Banana Split Pie.  Which is not quite light, not particularly refreshing, but soooo delicious that none of that matters.

So first up is this fresh strawberry sorbet, which can also be made into a granita if desired.  I'm going for sorbet.  The recipe comes from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh, which is a good cookbook to own.  I'm really just getting started with it, although I've had it on my shelf for a few years.  Incidentally, I noticed that if you follow the link, right now you can get the hard cover cookbook for a "bargain price" of $13.98!  Wow.  I'm tempted to order another one just because that's so cheap!!

I have to say that this sorbet is the winner right out of the gate.  Not only is it quite easy, you can make it 3 days ahead, and it is unbelievably fresh-tasting and delicious, and even fairly healthy!  A new family favorite.  Make some today!!

Picture soon, we ate it much too fast!

Fresh Strawberry Sorbet
 6 servings

2 cups water
1 cup sugar

1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Stir 2 cups water and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves.  Boil 5 minutes, remove from heat.

Working in batches, puree strawberries in processor until smooth.  Add strawberry puree and orange and lemon juices to sugar syrup; stir to blend.  Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

Process strawberry mixture in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

MAKE AHEAD:  Can be made 3 days ahead.  Cover and freeze in airtight container.  If sorbet is frozen solid, place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to soften before serving.

Blonde Butterscotch Brownies

These were a big hit with my co-ed Great Books group. —Wendy D.

BLONDE BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

Serves 8

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

1 ½ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch morsels

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Melt butter; remove from heat.

3. Stir in brown sugar.

4. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until well-blended.

5. Stir in vanilla extract.

6. Add dry ingredients and stir gently until mostly blended.

7. Stir in butterscotch morsels and walnuts until distributed evenly and none of the dry ingredients can be seen.

8. Spread mixture in a buttered 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

9. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake; brownies will become firmer when cool.

10. Cut while warm. Eat when cool.

Spicy Coconut Custard with Candied Coconut

It's so fun entering these contests from Marx Foods! In the most recent Marx Foods recipe contest I entered, I came in third with my Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce!! They were so delicious! And honestly, without Marx Foods providing the dried chile peppers, the inspiration to create those tarts may never have arrived!

So when you enter a Marx Foods contest, you may have an idea of what you're going to get, but it still somehow is a surprise. This particular contest was a complete surprise--RANDOM Recipes! I had no idea what would be in the box, and was pleasantly surprised to find:

Tomato Couscous
Puya Chiles
Chanterelle Mushrooms
De Arbol Chiles
Coconut Sugar

Hurray, and thank you!! Now, I love mushrooms, but the ideas just weren't flowing. So I turned to the Coconut Sugar. It's actually coconut sap sugar; I had no idea they even made that! (Did I ever tell you I love coconut?) Still being in love with the chiles from the last challenge, I chose to use those as well. And by now it's no surprise I made dessert!


The custard is smooth and creamy and cool, with a hint of heat on the back of your tongue. It picks up its yellow hue from both the pureed chiles and the fresh-laid-today chicken eggs! The chiles also provide some nice orangey flecks in the custard.

The candied coconut adds just the right sort of caramely-coconutty crunch, nice texture contrast, and has a unique flavor. The family loved it!



I did some experimenting until I got enough heat in the coconut milk (even throwing some extra Puya seeds out of the package into the pot!) I used the methods my husband and I developed with the tart filling to get all the delicious flavor of those Puyas. If you like more heat, you can use one or two more chiles. The possibilities are endless!

The coconut sugar reminds me of jaggery (an Indian sugar) in the way it behaves when heated...in other words, not normally! So the Candied Coconut is a little tricky, but it's tasty if you stick with it!


Spicy Coconut Custard with Candied Coconut
Serves 4

Custard:
1 can (approx. 14 ounces) coconut milk
2 whole dried Puya chile peppers
3 eggs, beaten gently
1/4 cup sugar

Heat coconut milk and Puya chiles in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently bring to boiling, stirring, then turn off heat. Let milk steep for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I rested my wooden spoon right on top of the chile pepper to keep it submerged during the steeping. After 10 minutes, remove stems from chiles and place them in a small food processor (I used the bowl attachment with my Cuisinart stick blender), along with about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk. Process chiles and milk until chiles are relatively small, then return mixture to remaining coconut milk in the saucepan. Stir, and let entire mixture sit and steep until completely cool.

Place a glass bowl in a pan of ice water.

Add eggs and sugar to coconut milk mixture in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture coats a metal spoon. (much longer than that and your eggs will start to "scramble," take my word for it!) Immediately pour custard into prepared glass bowl, and stir constantly to cool, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour custard into 4 individual custard dishes (or pretty glasses). Cover custard surface with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming), and chill dishes in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Just before serving, remove from refrigerator, remove plastic wrap (of course), sprinkle with candied coconut, and enjoy!



Candied Coconut:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/4 coconut sugar
1 cup raw dried coconut (not sweetened)

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper on the counter.

Melt butter over medium heat and spread around pan; sprinkle coconut sugar on top. Let melt a minute or two before mixing. This will not look like you may expect it to, the sugar won't really melt or dissolve, it'll just look sort of greasy but will start to spread out a bit. Mix it in with the butter using a wooden spoon. When it is mixed together, turn heat to low and sprinkle in the coconut and quickly stir.

To mix the coconut with the sugar mixture, you'll have to sort of "chop" the coconut into the sugar with your wooden spoon to separate it and break up the clumps, otherwise you'll end up with big brown clumps of coconut sugar and the coconut itself won't have much coating. So, mix and "chop" over low until the coconut is turning golden (both from the sugar and from the hot pan), being careful not to burn it.

Turn coconut onto the prepared baking sheet, breaking up any large clumps with the wooden spoon, then let cool before using.

Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

*The polls are open for the Chile Challenge!
Please hurry and vote for The Bad Girl's Kitchen's fabulous chile chocolate tarts. Voting will close at noon PST on 9/16!*

I was thrilled when I received an email from Kate from Marx Foods, asking me if I'd like to join in their Blogger Chile Recipe Challenge! Of course I said yes, we love chiles! And she shipped me some free samples of six different dried chiles! We received Aji Amarillo Chiles, Cascabels, Habaneros, Japones Chiles, Mulato Chiles and Puya Chiles. What a great-smelling package!

My husband and I started thinking about all the things we could make for the challenge, and ultimately decided on a dessert, which may or may not surprise you. To us, there just aren't enough spicy desserts. It took us several days to figure out the components, but the flavor descriptions on the packages, as well as sniffing them each time we walked by, were very helpful in our decision-making.

The Aji Amarillo Chiles' flavor is described as "Fruity, poblano-esque." Obviously this pushed us toward strawberries. We also considered raspberries, but didn't want to overwhelm the flavor of the chiles.

The Mulato Chiles' flavor description is "Chocolate/Licorice," well you can guess where we used those!

After chocolate and strawberries, it didn't take long to come up with the other components of the dessert. In fact, I brainstormed while taking my 8-year-old to school one morning, and made him write down notes for me:

"Straw 8erry chiLe redUction VineGar? Sugartart crUStChocoLate chiLe vaniLLacream DoLLoP"

You can see we changed it up a bit, and modified the recipes to include the chiles and created techniques for maximum chile flavor extraction, to end up with:

Chile-Spiced Chocolate Tarts with Crème Pâtissière and Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

We used a classic French Sugar Tart Crust, intensified a Dark Chocolate Truffle filling, trusted Julia's good old Crème Pâtissière, and spiced up one of Martha's Strawberry Sauces.

We hope you enjoy this fabulous dessert! The strawberry sauce has a hint of je ne sais pas, which you and I know comes from the chiles. The chocolate puts just the right touch of heat on the back of your tongue. These little beauties are a dream! We absolutely love them.


We prepared the chocolate filling and the strawberry sauce first, then the crust. The next day, right before assembly, we prepared the crème pâtissière. To assemble, gently pipe a generous layer of room-temperature chocolate into each tart crust. Top with a lovely dollop of crème pâtissière, and drizzle with strawberry sauce and balance one strawberry sliver on top, just before serving. I decorated the serving plate with a swirl of crème anglaise. Quite honestly, you can make each separate component of this dessert, except the crust, a couple days in advance, and assemble when ready.


Chile-Spiced Dark Chocolate Filling

Adapted from a recipe in Fran Bigelow's Pure Chocolate

1 cup heavy cream
9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 whole dried Mulato Chile

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, heat cream with whole chile until almost boiling. Remove from heat and steep for 7 minutes.

Reheat cream just to boiling, remove from heat, strain and pour all but approximately 1/4 cup cream over the chopped chocolate. Make sure you catch the big chile, you'll need that in the next step.

Remove the chile stem, and place the softened, warm chile in a small food processor or stick blender bowl with processor attachment, along with the 1/4 cup reserved cream. Puree until relatively smooth. Strain the cream and chile mixture into the chocolate and cream, pressing with a spatula to extract all the spicy goodness.

Mix the chocolate, cream and spiced cream mixture with a spatula until smooth and combined. Let sit at room temperature, uncovered, for 4 hours.


Red Wine and Chile-Infused Strawberry Sauce

Adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook


2 pints strawberries, hulled
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1 - 2 dried Aji Amarillo Chiles

If strawberries are small, cut in half; if large, cut in quarters. Combine sugar, red wine, cinnamon stick and chiles in a skillet; cook over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Reheat mixture and add the strawberries, cook until berries soften slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard cinnamon stick and peppers before serving (but if you're storing for a day or two, leave them in until serving!)

Let sit, leaving chile and cinnamon stick in the mixture until ready to serve.


Sugar Tart Crust

From Pure Chocolate, by Fran Bigelow

*Note: I made small tarts with this dough, with a mini muffin pan. I do not have small tart pans with removable bottoms. I do not recommend you attempt this without small tart pans with removable bottoms,perhaps pans like these, or maybe this pan...


3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 cup cake flour
all-purpose flour for dusting

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the egg yolk. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until pale yellow in color and completely smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add the cake flour. Mix on low speed just until blended, being careful not to overmix. Transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap and gently pat into a ball. Wrap well and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Lightly butter twelve 3-inch round tart pans with removable bottoms. (I used a pan with no removable bottoms; not recommended). Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Let the dough warm on the counter for about 20 minutes, until pliable but still cool to the touch.

On a lightly floured board gently knead the dough a few times. Pat into a ball, then with the palms of your hands flatten into a 5-inch round disc. Roll the dough our into a rectangle, about 9 by 12 inches. With a 4-inch round cookie cutter cut out circles. Transfer the circles of dough to the buttered pans, pressing into the bottom and sides, keeping the sides even and thick. Trim excess dough along the edges. Pierce the bottom with the tines of a fork and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 30 minutes or until firm.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chilled tart shell on a baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Dough scraps may be gathered, returned to the refrigerator to chill, and rerolled.

Crème Pâtissière

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 cups boiling milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks with a whisk or electric beater and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon. Beat in the flour. While beating the yolk mixture, very gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets so that the yolks are slowly warmed.

Pour the mixture into a clean, heavy-bottomed enameled or stainless steel saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Stir with wire whip, reaching all over bottom of pan. As sauce comes to the boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it. When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch in bottom of pan.

Remove from heat and beat in the butter, then the vanilla. If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot top of custard with softened butter to prevent as skin from forming over the surface.

SOUR CREAM DUTCH APPLE PIE

I love apples - all apples. There I said it. Who can resist a slice of hot apple pie? Hubby want dutch apple, FIL wanted a turnover and I just wanted apples. So I dug into my files and found 3 recipes from grams, a vintage magazine and an old friend. I had never made any of these. Mainly because alone they weren't all that interesting. They needed some UMPF! so I combined the parts I liked best from all three and came up with my version of Sour Cream Dutch Apple Pie. Together they were awesome.

SOUR CREAM DUTCH APPLE PIE
PIE
3+ cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream (not light)
9 inch pastry shell, pre-baked and cooled
TOPPING
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, sliced extremely thin

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Chop the apples and combine with just enough lemon juice to coat and prevent browning in large bowl.
• In a small bowl sift together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
• Fold in the sour cream, egg, vanilla and maple extract until well blended.
• Fold the sour cream mixture into the apples until well coated.
• Carefully pour into the pie shell, mounding towards the center.
• Toss together the topping ingredients until well blended.
• Sprinkle topping evenly over the apple mound.
• Lay the pieces of butter all over the top.
• Bake 30 minutes or until apples are tender.
• Best served with ice cream or fresh whipped cream. If you want to be really decadent try it with Caramel Sauce.

Microwave Caramel Corn

I've had this recipe forever. My grandma was the first one to make this delicious caramel corn, and I got the recipe from her. (Thanks, Grandma!)

The paper bag mixing method may seem a bit unorthodox, but trust me, it works perfectly! Later in the microwaving/shaking, the bag may get a little hot, so just be careful and use oven mitts if you need to. You really need to use a regular-strength brown grocery bag for this caramel corn, and shake it vigorously, making sure the top is rolled down and held securely. You'll also need to shake it upside down, holding a corner of the bottom of the bag, you know, just mix it up. You'll get the hang of it.

Caramel Corn, surrounded by Funnel Cakes!

You'll love this; our whole family does!

Microwave Caramel Corn
makes a lot!

1 cup unpopped corn
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 + 1/8 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pop corn, place in brown bag. (we use a hot air popper)

Boil brown sugar, corn syrup and butter for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, stirring, careful not to burn. Quickly add soda and vanilla, stir well until the mixture foams. Carefully pour into bag with corn, roll top down and shake well to mix.

Place bag in microwave (top still rolled), microwave 1 1/2 minutes on high, then shake bag hard and thoroughly. Microwave 1 minute on high, shake for 1/2 minute. Microwave 30 seconds on high, shake.

Pour into bowl or on baking sheet to cool. When cool, break into pieces if needed, and enjoy!

Funnel Cakes!

It all started with Julia Child, who else?

What I mean to say is, when it was finally my turn to pick a book for our book club, I picked Julie and Julia. You may remember that I then hosted a Saturday book club brunch, complete with three of Julia's recipes. And that's how it started.

For me at least, I like to tie things together. Sure, I could have just had a few random snacks for the ladies, but to me, it was more meaningful, and more FUN, to have a Julia-would-be-proud brunch. So that's how it started.


However, when it came time to choose my next book for book club, the choice wasn't because of any kind of food-related notion. I chose it because my dad told me Water for Elephants is one of the best books he's ever read. And that was enough for me. Naturally, then, the book club meeting needed (for me) to have a theme.

And the theme for the book club meeting? Well, Water for Elephants is largely about a circus. It is indeed a great book, so engaging and interesting and well-researched, it really makes you feel like you're part of the circus. There you have it.

Circus = cotton candy (no machine)
Circus = caramel corn (check, stay tuned!)
This particular circus = lemonade (check again)
Circus = FUNNEL CAKES!!

I loved this book, and when it occurred to me that I had an excuse to make carnival/circus food, I loved it even more. This is going to be fun!



Also, for this month's Taste & Create, I was paired with Carol of No Reason Needed. Searching for a recipe of hers to make, guess what I found?

That's right, Funnel Cakes! She got her recipe from Moms Who Think, but added the water to get the batter to the right consistency.


I'm taking one small leap: I'm going to make the batter ahead of time, refrigerate it overnight and then transport it an hour to make the cakes at my friend's house so they're nice and fresh and warm. (It works for crepes, why not funnel cakes?) She's letting me use her house to host the book club since we had to reschedule at the last minute because we ran out of propane on an arctic cold Thanksgiving night and the propane guy won't come until next Monday at the earliest. Whew. I mean Brrrrr.

*If you STILL haven't heard of Taste & Create? It's the best monthly food blog event around, in which bloggers are paired up and must create a dish from their partner's blog. It is fun, can expand your cooking horizons, and can be as challenging as you make it. My friend Nicole, of For the Love of Food, created it, and if you haven't yet participated, what are you waiting for??*


So, the funnel cake batter worked fine being made ahead of time! This is great news. The only issue I ran into was that I had chosen a funnel with a hole that was too small--next time I will use a bigger funnel. But the cakes turned out great, and ended up cooking about 2 minutes total. I made a double batch, so I did need to add more oil in the middle of cooking (and then wait for it to heat up), but no big deal.


Jenny helped me, and sprinkled half of the cakes with powdered sugar, half with cinnamon sugar. Lovely! Served with Caramel Corn and Lemonade (if you read the book, you'll know why it HAD to be lemonade!)

Funnel Cakes
Makes 6

1 egg
2/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup water

powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping

1. In a deep skillet, heat about two cups of oil over medium-high heat until hot. Test the temperature by dropping a pinch of flour into the hot oil. If it sizzles right away without smoking, it's perfect.

2. Beat egg and milk. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to the egg mixture, beating until smooth. (I tried to mix this by hand, but ended up pulling out my mixer to get the batter smooth).

3. Using a funnel, drop into hot oil working from center outwards in a web pattern. (You can use a gallon sized freezer bag instead of a funnel by pouring the batter into the bag, snipping off a small corner of it, and squeezing the batter into the oil.)

4. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, turning occasionally, remove from the oil when golden brown and crispy.

5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar and serve.

Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery Maple Bread Pudding

I came home from Rudi's Gluten-Free Gourmet Dinner at Root Down, Denver, with a loaf of Rudi's Gluten-Free Bread and a recipe for the delicious gluten-free bread pudding that had been served for dessert. Root Down made a really good bread pudding, so I was eager to re-create it using my gluten-free loaf of bread.

I cut off most of the crust and cubed one loaf of Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery Bread for this recipe.

I altered the recipe slightly to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand. Here's what I mixed up:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of sea salt

I poured my liquid mixture over the bread cubes and let it sit, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Then, I added 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, mixed it one more time, and poured it into a pyrex baking dish to bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, until it was golden brown and cooked through the center.

I patiently let it cool, then served it with farm-fresh strawberries, some peach, and a drizzle I made with equal parts heavy whipping cream and maple syrup.

This recipe is a winner! It is definitely some of the BEST bread pudding I've had.

Taste & Create: Pizza di Ricotta

For this month's Taste & Create, I was paired with Maria at Mangia, Figlie. I was immediately tempted by her Zeppole di San Giuseppe, but time got away from me. In a pinch, with the T&C deadline fast approaching, I decided to make Maria's Aunt Ann's Pizza di Ricotta, or Ricotta Pie. Of her Aunt Ann, Maria writes, “…she’s the one who cooks furiously and always has something ready to go in the freezer for when 30 people just happen to drop by on a Sunday afternoon."


Does that sound familiar? I may not be able to pull a meal for 30 out of the freezer, but if someone says in the morning "Can you make dinner for all 15 of us tonight?" I can say "yes" and have a pretty good head start with my well-stocked freezer/pantry.

For those of you who don't know, Taste & Create is the brainchild of the lovely Nicole of For the Love of Food. T&C is a monthly food blog event in which participants are paired off to choose and prepare a recipe from their partners' blog, and blog about it. Occasionally, like this month, I get to host this fun time. Head over to the T&C website and check out what deliciousness everyone's been creating!

...So then I got sick, and I am just now getting around to making this! It may be the latest T&C entry I've ever submitted! Thanks for waiting...I'll report back after the pie has been chilled and sampled. It SMELLS delightful. =)


I love that this "pizza" has no crust, it really doesn't need one, and it's so easy to put together. The pie is cool and refreshing, with sort of a custardy texture. Definitely a strong hint of anise (licorice) flavor with just one teaspoon, I would NOT use more than that. I think it would also be delicious if you substituted almond or vanilla for the anise. Delicious with or without coffee!

No-Crust Pizza di Ricotta

1 1/2 pounds ricotta
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons anise extract (I used 1 teaspoon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small glass pie plate or 8-inch baking dish.

Mix all ingredients, pour into dish, and bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool and refrigerate several hours. Serve chilled.

Strawberry Almond Butter Tart

I had planned to make Pine Nut Cookies tonight, as a quick dessert for an impromptu dinner party with old friends. Then I came home and facebook informed me that it was one of said friend's birthday, so plans quickly changed.

Yesterday I bought a case of strawberries because they were on sale (and I had delusions about finding time to make jam during this seriously busy week). I raided the strawberries, and the pantry, and found all the ingredients for this quickly assembled, yet impressive, tart.

The recipe comes from the cookbook Short and Sweet: Sophisticated Desserts in 30 Minutes or Less, which I often turn to for quick and impressive desserts. Although this tart pushes the 30 minute time frame, it is excellent and really doesn't take much longer. Unless, like me, you've broken multiple egg slicers using them on strawberries, and in fact are in between egg slicers and have to slice the strawberries by hand. Then I'd say it takes closer to an hour.


I always slice the strawberries, I think it looks better that way. This time I did wedge three whole strawberries in the middle.


Everyone enjoyed this dessert! Happy Birthday, Stacey!

Strawberry Almond Butter Tart
8 servings

1/2 cup (4 ounces) canned almond paste, broken into 6 pieces (I always use the whole 7-ounce tube, with no other adjustments--works every time)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 15 pieces
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup purchased lemon curd or 1/3 cup lemon or apricot jam or preserves (I've used both lemon curd and apricot preserves, both are delicious)
2 pints strawberries, hulled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9- or 10-inch tart pan (with or without a removable bottom) with nonstick oil spray. In a food processor, blend the almond paste with the sugar and butter until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, about 20 seconds total. (this always takes me longer than 20 seconds)

Add the eggs and process until blended, about 10 seconds. Add the flour and process until blended, about 5 seconds.

Spread the dough in the prepared pan. Bake until the top is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 8 minutes. (The pastry can be stored at room temperature, covered, for 1 day or frozen for up to 1 month).

Spread the top of the pastry with the lemon curd or jam. Leave the berries whole if they are small or slice them if they are large. Cover the top with whole berries, hulled sides down, or overlap the sliced berries to cover the top. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours before serving.

Charlotte Malakoff aux Fraises [Almond Cream with Fresh Strawberries]

I was looking for a quick dessert to serve to the girls in our book club, to round out the menu with Râpée Morvandelle and Salad with Sauce Vinaigrette. This almond cream with fresh strawberries sounds like it will fit the bill beautifully.

I have opted to not use ladyfingers, as Julia said I could. She wrote, "If you cannot buy [ladyfingers], or have not the time to make them, omit the ladyfingers altogether and turn the almond cream into a ring mold [not]...or into a serving dish, or into individual dessert cups." Individual dessert cups I can do. She continues, "Although the dessert cannot then be called a charlotte Malakoff, it will still be delicious, and can be nicely decorated with fresh strawberries."

I wish she had said what it would be called...I have no idea, so I'm still calling it Charlotte Malakoff. I won't go into detail about the molding/unmolding and all the directions for the inclusion of ladyfingers because that's not how I'm making mine. I'll just tell you how I'm serving these, and call it good. And hopefully delicious!

I love this dessert. Everyone loved this dessert. It is so creamy, yet light, and just so good and beautiful.

Charlotte Malakoff aux Fraises
Almond Cream with Fresh Strawberries-a cold dessert
For 8 to 10 people

Preparing strawberries: Hull 1 quart fresh strawberries. Wash them quickly if necessary, and set on cake rack to drain thoroughly. Thinly slice about half the strawberries. (my addition)

The almond cream:

1/2 pound softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (preferably the very finely granulated" instant type)
1/2 cup orange liqueur
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/3 cups pulverized almonds

2 cups chilled whipping cream
a chilled bowl
a chilled beater

Cream butter and sugar together for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in orange liqueur and almond extract. Continue beating for several minutes until sugar is completely dissolved. Beat in the almonds.

Whip the cream until the beater, drawn across the top of the cream, leaves light traces. Fold the cream into the almond and butter mixture.

Divide a third of the almond cream into individual serving dishes. Neatly top each dish of almond cream with a layer of sliced strawberries. Repeat with another layer of almond cream and sliced strawberries, and finish with the almond cream. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Just before serving, top each dish with a couple whole strawberries, husk end down.

**I had planned to top each dish with whole strawberries, but mine were just too big. I sliced all the strawberries and arranged one whole sliced berry on top of each dessert dish.

Pumpkin Flan

I found this recipe in the latest Martha Stewart Living magazine. It's an excerpt from a new cookbook from one of Martha's own, Lucinda Scala Quinn's Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys.

The notes say that "canned pumpkin works perfectly well," but I would lean toward a fresh pumpkin puree, if you can. You can find details of roasting fresh pumpkin in this post.

This flan is amazing! Cath and I LOVED it. Number One said he didn't love it, but who cares! This is going to be a new holiday tradition because I said so. It is delicious, a perfect blend of spices, lighter than pumpkin pie, and the caramelized top was wonderful. Simply delicious.


Pumpkin Flan
Serves 8

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup cooked pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups half-and-half or cream
5 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Put the granulated sugar in a 9-inch cake pan or pie plate, set on the center rack in the oven, and bake until the sugar is caramel colored, 8 to 12 minutes. Swirl to cover the bottom of the pie plate with the caramel.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Stir in pumpkin puree. In a medium bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs and vanilla. Thoroughly blend the egg mixture into the pumpkin puree.

4. Set the pie plate in a large roasting pan, and pour the custard over the caramel. Carefully pour enough hot tap water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the pie plate. Bake until the custard is set, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool and chill in the refrigerator. Run a knife around the outside edge of the flan and invert it onto a rimmed plate. Cut into wedges or scoop and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Chocolate Chile Truffles

We love truffles, and I thought of making our regular chocolate truffles as a dessert selection for our Housewarming Extravaganza, until I remembered this recipe. It was intriguing with its addition of chile powder to the chocolate, and I knew it would be just perfect for our party.

I had checked the book, Mexicocina: The Spirit and Style of the Mexican Kitchen, out from the library when we were working on our house. I discovered the recipes inside as I was on my way to town to return it, and snapped some digital photos of each recipe! Lucky me.

After a fruitless search for the right chile powder, I finally had to order Ground Ancho Chile Pepper from amazon, because I definitely did not want the spice to overpower the chocolate. I ended up actually buying the wrong chocolate for the truffles, unsweetened instead of bittersweet (who knew bittersweet would be so hard to find?), so I dumped in about 1/2 cup of sugar. I could have added more sugar, and next time I will use the right chocolate.

But our guests couldn't even tell the difference! They loved the truffles, and many of them had fun guessing the ingredients. Some initially thought cinnamon, then the cayenne pepper guess came later. The heat accumulates as you eat more of these truffles, and sneaks up on you too. Deliciously fun!

The original recipe microwaves the chocolate and cream right away, but I decided that reheating the cream a bit after adding the chile powder would cut down on the need for microwaving, and I was right. I guess I just have an issue with microwaves.


Chocolate Chile Truffles
Chocolate and chile have been eaten in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. Montezuma was said to have imbibed copious amounts of a bitter spicy beverage each day. This wonderful recipe by Lisa Gahafer combines those two flavors again, this time in chocolate truffles with the unexpected flavor of ancho chile. At first bight the chocolate reigns, but slowly the heat from the chiles begins to open on your palate, and the combination of hot, sweet, and chocolate is divine.

The are best made at least a day ahead to give the flavors time to ripen. You can double or triple the recipe and store the truffles, coated in cocoa, in the freezer for up to one month.

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup unsweetened cocoa

Bring cream and butter to simmer over medium heat. Stir in chile powder. Remove from heat, let steep several minutes.

Place chocolate in microwaveable bowl. Gently reheat cream mixture, pour over chocolate and let sit. Stir chocolate. If needed, microwave at 50% for 2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is all melted. If needed, continue to microwave at 50% for 30 second increments until melted and well-blended. Stir to combine, chill, covered, for 2 hours.