Berry Crumble

3 pints? of raspberries (those small plastic containers they come in at the grocery store)
2 of those containers of blueberries
The zest of one orange
2T of orange juice
1T triple sec
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 c sugar

1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c oats
6 T cold butter, diced

Toss berries and next 5 ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until it is crumbly. Spread butter/flour mixture on top of berries.

Bake at 350 for 35 min.

Grown-up S'mores

One day we landed on the Food Network and it was on that show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  I'm not sure which episode it was, but it might have been this one.  They showed these S'mores made my some restaurant, and we were literally drooling.  I've been wanting to reconcoct the recipe as best as I could remember and did this week.  Here's how I did it:

I line ramekins with a graham cracker crust like you would find with a cheesecake.  I actually used the graham cracker crust for this recipe.  I baked them for about 6 minutes right before serving.

Then I scooped a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream in each ramekin.

Then I poured chocoate syrup on top of the ice cream.  I had a gourmet rum and coffee liqueur-flavored syrup.

Finally I topped each one with a homemade marshmallow and toasted it with a culinary torch.

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake

I saw this cake in the December Southern Living and just had to try it. It was well worth the effort, but mine did not look nearly as pretty.  Here's what I learned.  The cheesecake layers are supposed to be frozen when you put the cake together.  I followed that step as directed, but I made the mistake of putting them in my garage freezer which is fickle in the wintertime and they didn't freeze solid.  When I was putting the cake together, it started falling apart almost immediately because the cheesecake layers weren't firm enough.  It still tasted great, but as you can see, mine was a little lopsided.

Lone Star State Cheesecake

I wanted to do a different vanilla cheesecake recipe, and this one was great.  It has a sour cream topping and that is what makes it look so beautiful.  Here's the recipe.

Heather's Rum Cake

This is my dear friend Heather's recipe.  Making this makes me miss her so much.  I made this last night for small group.  I know rum is kind of summery, but this warm cake makes me think of fall.  It's best made right before you're going to serve it so that it is still warm while enjoying it.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1/3 c water
1/3 c rum
1/3 c vegetable oil
4 eggs, added one at a time

Mix all ingredients well.  Pour into a lightly greased bundt pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile make the glaze:

1 stick of butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c rum
Bring to a boil and boil, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Invert pan onto a plate and poke small holes in the top of the cake with a fork or toothpick.  Pour warm glaze over warm cake and serve immediately.

Day 20: Apple pie

Today I made this apple pie for our small group tonight.  Nothing says fall more than apple pie in the oven.

Day 5: Lemon Cheesecake

This recipe is also from Heart & Soul. It is one of my favorite cheesecake recipes. It has never failed me. The nice thing is that it is very gracious since it involves two toppings to hide any cracks in the cake. My recommendation is to pull the eggs, cheese and lemons out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you start the cake. They all to better at room temperature.

2 c cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
(1/2 c finely chopped walnuts)--I don't always use this ingredient
6 T butter, melted
1 c sugar, divided
24 oz cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
2 t lemon zest
1/4 c lemon juice
1 T vanilla
2 c dairy sour cream
Lemon glaze, see below

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, stir together cracker crumbs, walnuts, butter and 2 T of sugar. Press mixture evenly onto bottom and sides of prepared pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool.

In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and 3/4 c of sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in lemon zest, juice and 1 t of vanilla until blended. Pour into cooled crust. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

While the cake is baking, in a small bowl, stir together sour cream, 2 T sugar, and 2 t vanilla. Remove cheesecake from oven and gently spread topping over cheesecake. Bake 12 minutes more. Cool on rack for 30 minutes.

Spread Lemon Glaze on cheesecake. Chill several hours before removing sides of pan.

Serves 12-16.

Lemon Glaze
1/2 c sugar
4 t cornstarch
1/4 t salt
1/4 c water
1 t lemon zest
1/3 c lemon juice
1 slightly beaten egg yolk
1 T butter

In a heavy 1-qt saucepan, combine first three ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the water, juice and egg yolk. Add to sugar mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and zest. Pour over cooled crust.

Ina's flag cake

Every 4th of July I make some dessert with berries. I've often made French tarts. Last year, I made a version of this cake, but instead of making the cake I made a large sugar cookie cake using store-bought dough (a quicker version). This year I opted to make Ina's full-fledged recipe. Without fail, you make something with loads of berries on top, everyone ooh's and ahh's. As much as I love the praise (I mean, really, who doesn't), I really cannot take the credit. I could make the same dessert, without the berries, and yes, it might taste good, but it surely wouldn't solicit the same behavior from my guests. So to give praise where it is due...thank you God for those amazing berries....they sure do make a beautiful and marvelous dessert!

This recipe is from Barefoot Contessa Family Style.

18 T (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 C sugar
6 eggs, room temp
1 C sour cream, room temp
1 1/2 t vanilla
3 C flour
1/3 C cornstarch
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
blueberries & raspberries

For the icing:
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, room temp
1 lb powdered sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour 18x12x1 1/2 inch sheet pan.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs on medium 2 at a time. Add sour cream and vanilla.

Sift together flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. With mixer on low, add to the butter mixture. Pour into pan. Bake 20-30 minutes. Cool.

For the icing, combine ingredients and mix until smooth.

Spread 3/4s of icing on top of cake. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place two rows of rasberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe a row of white icing underneath the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

Wimbledon Strawberries 'n' Cream

I don't know if they're really Wimbledon...I didn't use clotted cream. I did what sounded good to me. I used bourbon in my cream, but you could use your favorite liquor or vanilla for a non-alcholic version.

1 lb strawberries
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 T
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 t whiskey or rum

Wash and hull strawberries. Cut in half or quarters if large. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Whip heavy cream in standing mixer with whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add sugar and whiskey. Serve strawberries with cream in bowls or in stemware such as large wine or martini glasses.

The amazing (somewhat) healthy cookie

A few years ago I was on a quest to make my favorite chocolate chip cookie healthy(er). I think I might have reached perfection today. It's that legendary Neiman's chocolate chip cookie recipe...my way.

1 c butter softened
1 1/4 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
1 egg
2 egg whites
2 1/2 c whole oats
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
1.5 oz extra dark chocolate, grated
12 oz (1 bag) semi-sweet, or bittersweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg and whites. Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in grated chocolate and chocolate chips. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes.

Now, it is still a decadent cookie. I'm going to try again with half applesauce/half butter but I didn't have the applesauce on hand today. It's mostly whole grains...with just a little all-purpose flour to keep it from getting so tough. Egg whites instead of a whole egg to cut back on the cholesterol. And all that dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.

Texas Golden Bars

We moved to University Park in 1982 when I was four years old. Our neighbors the Hogans came by to welcome us to the block and brought us these delicious treats. I remember devouring them and wanting Mom to get the recipe. They're essentially chess bars, but I like the name with my home state in it better.

For the crust:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup melted butter
1 egg

For the topping:
1 8 oz block cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar (plus more for dusting)
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into the greased pan. Cream the cheese and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time until each is incorporated. Pour topping over the crust. Bake 40 minutes. Cool completely. Dust with extra powdered sugar and cut into squares.

Irish Whiskey Cheesecake

I made this recipe from the Junior League of Memphis cookbook Heart and Soul for our church Saint Patrick's Day party. I'm not a big fan of coffee flavored desserts, but apparently those that are really enjoyed this dessert. So I'm sharing the recipe and it's source.

This spirited dessert tastes best 1 or 2 days after preparation, giving the flavors time to blend and mellow. Serve it in fairly small portions--it's wonderfully rich!

1 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar, divided
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted
24 ounces cream cheese
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tbs coffee liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla
5 3/4 tsp instant espresso powder, divided
1/2 cup Irish whiskey
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, divided
2 tbs sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan. For crust, in a small bowl, combine finely crushed wafers, nuts, 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar, and the cinnamon. Stir in butter. Press crumbs onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Bake about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool thoroughly.

2. For filling, in a food processor bowl or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and remaining 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons brown sugar. Process or beat until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of bowl occasionally. Mix in one egg, the coffee liqueur and vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, dissolve 5 teaspoons of the instant espresso powder in the whiskey. Stir into cheese mixture. Whisk in remaining eggs, one at a time. Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake at 325 about 45 minutes or until outer 2 inches of cake are firm and slightly puffed. (Center will appear moist and edges may crack slightly.) Cool to room temperature on rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

4. For topping, dissolve remaining 3/4 teaspoon espresso powder in 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream. In a small bowl, beat the remaining 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and the sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold in espresso-cream mixture.

5. To serve, spoon topping over chilled cheesecake.

Serves 12-16.

Amaretto cheesecake

For a chocolate crust, substitute 2 cups very finely curshed chocolate sandwich cookies with white filling for the vanilla wafers and omit the 1/4 cup sugar in the crust.

1 cup lightly salted butter
2 cups very finely crushed vanilla wafers
1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
3 oz German sweet baking chocolate, melted
4 Tbsp Amaretto, divided
1 Tbsp light rum
Dash salt
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups dairy sour cream

1. For crust, in a 1-qt saucepan, melt butter or margarine. Remove from heat and stir in crushed vanilla wafers and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Press mixture onto the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan; set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350. For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups fo the remaining sugar, melted chocolate, 2 tablespoons of the Amaretto, light rum, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs. Beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate pieces. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan. Bake cheesecake on a shallow baking pan for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, for topping, in a medium bowl stir together sour cream, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the remaining 2 tablespoons amaretto. Carefully spread topping over cheesecake. Return cheesecake to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan and cool for 4 hours. Cover and chill until serving time.

4. Garnish with miniature chocolate chips when serving.

Serves 12-16.

Easy King Cake

For the Super Bowl, I decided we needed good New Orleans food. So I made po'boys and a king cake. I looked for different King Cake recipes and they all involved yeast breads and lots of waiting for bread to rise, etc. I don't like those kind of recipes. So I found this one on the Times-Picayune website...nola.com. Their food section will make your mouth water in seconds. I made two cakes--one for the Colts and one for the Saints.

1 (16-ounce) can refrigerator biscuits (not the layered kind)
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
King cake baby or bean (I used a plastic jewel)
A little canned cream cheese frosting
Yellow, purple and green sprinkles or sugar (I used blue & white for the Colts and yellow and black for the Saints)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil to make cleanup easier. Open the biscuits and lay them flat on the foil. Press them into a large circle (about 12 inches) or giant rectangle.

Paint the dough with butter, then mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle evenly over dough. Lay babies somewhere on the dough.

Roll the dough up into a cylinder and pinch as tightly as possible to seal. Shape the cylinder into a round and join the ends. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool slightly, then spoon icing (if using) over top and let it fall down sides. Decorate top with sprinkles or sugar.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Pots de creme au chocolat

So this is a decadently rich chocolate custard. It's supposed to be served in small ramekins, but I only have 4 of those and had 6 people coming to dinner. So I made extra and put it in larger bowls...no one was complaining about the extra chocolate.

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma: Paris.

1 1/2 c whole milk
1 c heavy cream
1 c sugar
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 T cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 egg plus 6 yolks
1/2 t vanilla
creme chantilly/whipped cream (see below)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a heavy saucepan over medium, combine milk, cream and sugar. Cook, dissolving sugar, until tiny bubbles form around the edge of the pan (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat. Add chocolate, cocoa and salt. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan (3-4 minutes). Crush any lumps of cocoa against the pan with a spoon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and yolks. Ladle in a few spoonfuls of hot chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add another few spoonfuls of the chocolate. Mix well, and then slowly pour in the remaining chocolate mixture, whisking contantly. Add vanilla. Pour through a fine-sieve into a bowl with a spout or a pitcher.

Divide the mixture evenly among 8 1/2-3/4 cup (4-6 oz) ramekins. Place the pots in a large baking dish and pour hot water into the dish to reach halfway up the sides of the pots. Cover with foil.

Bake until edges are firm but centers still tremble slighly when the pots are shaken, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove custards from baking dish. When they are cool, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or for up to 2 days.

Serve cold, garnished with creme chantilly.

Creme chantilly
2 c heavy cream
2 T sugar
2 t rum or vanilla

Whip cream until thickened. Add sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Stir in run or vanilla.

Galette des rois

So really, a New Orleans style King Cake is better, but it requires a bakery or some yeast, so I made a French style Kings cake for Epiphany. It really wasn't much to write about, but it was pretty much the way I remember from France. I got the recipe off the internet. I only had one puff pastry sheet, so I rolled it out, cut it in half and baked it in a small rectangular dish. I only used half the frangipane filling. And we didn't have a toy baby, so the boys helped pick a small trinket to be the toy hidden in the cake.

1 (17 1/3 ounce) package puff pastry sheets, thawed
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup powderd almonds (I just ground them up blanched almonds in my food processor)
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour

Make the "frangipane" or almond paste - Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the almond flour. Add the eggs one at a time, to gradually incorporate them. Fold the flour into the mixture.

Place 1 sheet of pastry into a 9" tart pan.

Spread the frangipane mixture over the top.

Place the remaining pastry on top.

Trim the edges and seal. Make a couple of vents in the top.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden.

Allow to cool.

Les Vacherins

When we lived in Lyon, Michael's and my favorite restaurant was Brasserie l'Est. Paul Bocuse, the famous lyonnais chef, opened four reasonably priced restaurants in Lyon...Le Nord, Le Sud, L'Est and L'Ouest (North, South, East and West for those of you needing translation). Once we came in after church and to be seated quickly, we sat at the counter near the pastry chef. We watched him artistically design beautiful desserts. We then tried the "vacherins." At l'Est it was two long meringues on a bed of raspberry sauce with three types of sorbet line up between them (I think mango, raspberry and pineapple). It was topped with fresh chantilly (pronounced shon tee yee, aka whipped cream) and fresh raspberries. We've always wanted to relive that experience so here's my attempt (with a little help from Barefoot in Paris.

6 egg whites, at room temp
1/4 t cream of tartar
salt
1 1/2 c granulated sugar, divided
1/2 t vanilla
Whipped cream
2 pints of raspberries
raspberry sauce
2 pints of sorbet (flavors can vary)

Preheat the oven to 200. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Draw six 3 1/2 inch circles on each piece of paper and turn the paper face down.

In an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and a large pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of sugar and raise speed to high until forms stiff peaks. Whisk in vanilla. Fold the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Pipe a discs of meringue into circles on the parchment using a pastry bag with a large star tip.

Bake 2 hours, until meringues dry and crisp, but not brown. Turn off heat and let them sit, in the oven, 4 hours or overnight.

To serve, spoon a large spoonful of raspberry sauce on the plate. Place the meringue on top. Scoop two balls of sorbet on top of the meringue. Top with whipped cream and berries.

Serves 12.


Whipped Cream
1 pint heavy cream
2 T sugar
2 t vanilla or rum

Raspberry Sauce
1 pint fresh raspberries
1/2 c sugar
1 c raspberry jam or preserves
1 T framboise liqueur, or use brandy

Place the raspberries, sugar and 1/4 c water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer about 4 minutes. Pour cooked raspberries, jam and liqueur into food processor. Process until smooth and chill.

I had trouble with my sauce being runny, so I threw it back into the saucepan, added 1 T cornstarch and cooked until it thickened. I added a little more framboise and then strained it so it minimized the number of seeds.

Lemon Pound Cake

For dessert, I essentially made this recipe but stuck to Ina Garten's original recipe. I did double it and made it in a bundt pan to serve from a cake platter.

Frozen key lime pie

I have a good key lime pie recipe, but I decided to try this one for our dinner party the other night and it won out in my opinion, but maybe it was just because it was so cold that it made it unusual. But for a hot summer night, this would be great. Surprisingly, this is also from Ina (Family Style).

1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c sugar
6 T unsalted butter, melted

6 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 T grated lime zest
3/4 c freshly squeezed lime juice

1 c heavy cream
1/4 c sugar
1/4 t light rum (or vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine crackers, sugar and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9inch pie pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool.

Beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed in mixer with paddle attachment for 5 minutes. Add milk, zest and juice on medium speed. Pour into baked shell and freeze at least 1 hour.

Beat cream on high speed in mixer with whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add sugar and rum and beat until firm. Spoon or pipe onto pie. Freeze for several hours or overnight.

Ina (sorta) failed me

Yesterday I attempted to bake Ina's Beatty's Chocolate Cake. Now I'm not sure what went wrong. I don't think it was necessarily the altitude. My theory is that I need bigger cake pans...that is, taller ones. This is the second time I've made one of her cake recipes where the batter poured over the sides. Initially, I was concerned because the batter seemed really runny. I called Robin, fellow Ina-adorer, and she couldn't remember if the batter was runny, but she said she had trouble with the baked cake sticking. Which Robin, you'll know you're in good company because mine stuck too...even with parchment paper.

So what did I do to salvage the cake. It still tastes delicious, it is just not cake-able. So I made chocolate pudding parfaits, which are normally made with chocolate graham cracker crumbs. Not quite as exciting as a gorgeous chocolate cake, but oh well.