Foodie Friday -- Three Layer Cheesecake

I don't know about y'all, but I'm pretty darn excited to have this blog written and ready the DAY BEFORE it's scheduled to go up!

Yay, ME!

So I finally revised and rewrote this recipe that I've been promising you since before Thanksgiving--late November, for those of you who aren't American. I've made it twice, and both times it turned out awesome! And when you cut into it, it's very pretty with three distinct layers.

So without further ado . . .

Three-layer Cheesecake

Crust:

1 pkg (9 oz.) chocolate wafer cookies

¼ cup sugar
½ cup butter, melted

Layer One:

1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sugar
1 egg
¼ tsp. vanilla
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted
1/3 cup sour cream

Layer Two:

1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 Tbls. flour
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup chopped pecans

Layer Three:

1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup sour cream
¼ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. almond extract

Glaze:

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

2 Tbls. butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbls. water
½ tsp. vanilla

Chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place and ungreased 9-in springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18-in square). Wrap foil around pan.

Crust:

Place cookies in food processer, process until fine crumbs. Add sugar and melted butter, process until combined. Press onto the bottom and 2-in. up the sides of prepared pan. Set aside.

Layer One:

In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blend well. Stir in chocolate and sour cream. Spoon over crust.

Layer Two:

In same bowl (wiped out), beat cream cheese, brown sugar and flour until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blend well. Stir in pecans. Spoon carefully over chocolate layer.

Layer Three:

In same bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir in sour cream and almond extract. Spoon carefully over pecan layer.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake inside for 30 minutes. Crack open oven door and leave cheesecake inside for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Glaze:

Melt chocolate and butter. Stir in the powdered sugar, water and vanilla until smooth. Remove cheesecake from pan and spread warm glaze over top.

Garnish with pecans, if desired.

Tips & Tricks:

·         I set this recipe up differently than the original one because the original one clumped all the ingredients into one list. I found it confusing to have to keep referring back and forth between the instructions and the list.

·         I also totally changed layer three from the original version. I made this recipe twice with the changes and it works quite well.

·         For some reason, it’s difficult to find chocolate wafer cookies in your basic Target or Walmart. I had to go to a local fancy-schmancy grocery store to find them. I was almost to the point of taking Oreos, eating the insides and weighing the cookie parts until I got 9 oz. …come to think of it, it might have been cheaper than buying the wafers at the richy-rich store.

·         When I press the cookie crust into the pan, I use a tall glass to evenly pack and smooth it. It helps that I have straight-sided glassware.

·         The double layer of foil takes the place of the traditional water bath. This helps prevent the cheesecake from overcooking around the edges while the middle remains uncooked.

·         I hate having to wash numerous bowls. The first time I made this recipe, I did use three separate bowls according to the original recipe—what a complete waste of time and utensils! And that doesn’t even count the time spent WASHING three bowls. Use the same darn bowl! Just use a rubber scraper to clean it out before going to the next layer. It’s not like you’re sitting around for hours in-between making the layers.

·         When placing each layer of the cheesecake in the pan, I dolloped small amounts of batter over the surface before I spread them together and leveled it out. Be careful around the crust edge since it is crumbly.

·         Do follow the cooling instructions. It will keep your cheesecake from cracking. But if it does crack, don’t worry about it since you have a nice chocolate ganache to cover it up!

·         I pulled the cheesecake out of the refrigerator when we started serving dinner. This allowed it to warm up for about an hour. If it is too ‘sticky’ on your knife, warm the knife under hot water before cutting . . . er, wipe off the water first, right?

Foodie Friday -- Cranberry-Orange Tart

For Thanksgiving 2014, I made four desserts that I never made before. I posted the pics on FB and here are the tweaked recipes, as I tend to not follow the original exactly. This tart was the favorite by most of the crowd. It does have a lot of sugar in it, but the tart cranberries keep it from being overly sweet.

 

Cranberry-Orange Tart

 

Crust and Crumb topping:

2 cups crushed cinnamon graham crackers (about 14 whole crackers), divided

½ cup sugar, divided

6 Tbls. butter, melted

¼ cup flour

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

¼ cup cold butter, cubed

 Filling:

 1 large naval orange

1 cup sugar

3 Tbls. quick-cooking tapioca

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. allspice

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed

2 Tbls. Grand Marnier 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Crust: In small bowl, mix 1 ¾ cups crushed graham crackers and ¼ cup sugar; stir in melted butter. Press onto bottom and up sides of an ungreased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Turn oven temperature up to 400 degrees.

Topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, remaining ¼ cup crushed graham crackers and ¼ cup sugar. Cut cold butter into the mixture until crumbly. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

Filling: In large saucepan, mix sugar, tapioca, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice. Add rinsed cranberries and toss. Zest and juice orange, add to cranberry mixture along with Grand Marnier. Cook on medium-high until mixture boils and cranberries pop, stir constantly to help dissolve sugar, about 3-5 minutes.

Pour filling into cooled crust. Sprinkle with topping. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

 Tips & Tricks:

 

·        Fold a piece of aluminum foil in half and place under tart pan. Press the edges to the sides of the pan, but don’t fold over the top edge. This helps in two ways, 1) it keeps you from popping the tart crust out of the pan while taking it in and out of the oven, 2) it catches the excess butter that will inevitably leak through the tart pan’s rim, preventing grease from burning in the bottom of the oven. . . don’t even ask me how I know this . . .

·         Even if you have some excess crust mixture, restrain your urge to add it to the topping. See note on above tip. Don’t ask questions and I won’t have to explain my stupid mistakes . . .

·         If you don’t have Grand Marnier, you can use brandy, cranberry juice, or any other orange flavored liquor.

·         The original recipe called for the oven to be turned up to 425 degrees, but that was when I managed to set the smoke alarms off, okay, not really, but I did smoke out the kitchen and had a grease mess to clean up in the oven. Try the lower temperature, since you aren’t ‘cooking’ the tart as much as browning the topping.

 

Enjoy!

Foodie Friday -- Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

Yes, I already have a bread pudding under my Foodie Friday tab, but I was telling my swim mom buddy, Margaret, about this recipe and promised to send it to her . . . three days ago.

Yikes! I hate making promises and then taking so long to make them happen, which is why I tend to drop all other work to judge contest entries. . . maybe I have things a little skewed in my head.

It's been known to happen.

Okay, this recipe is the one I made for this last Thanksgiving--it's a big pan, so I tripled the recipe! It's the dessert in the pretty blue pan. Sauce is not shown in this picture. The reason I like this recipe is due to the fact it's made from raisin bread--I don't like raisins, but I do like raisin bread!

 

 

Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups day-old cinnamon raisin bread with crusts, cut into 1/2-inch squares

1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

 

Butter 8-inch square baking Whisk, first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Place bread and pecans in prepared dish. Pour milk mixture over and let stand 5 minutes. Push down bread into custard. Refrigerate 2 hours, pushing bread into custard occasionally.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bread putting in large metal baking pan. Add enough boiling water to baking pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the dish with the bread pudding. Bake until pudding is puffed and golden brown on top, about 50 minutes. Remove dish with bread pudding from water and cool slightly.

 

Cut into squares. Serve bread pudding warm with sauce.

 

Bourbon Sauce

 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbls. whipping cream

2 Tbls. bourbon

Pinch of salt

 

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

 

Tips & Tricks:

• make sure you have two pans, one that fits inside the other one before you start making this pudding. Yes, it has to have the 'steam' factor so it doesn't over cook on the sides and bottom
• I bought fresh raisin bread, but cut it up and let it dry in the baking dish for a few hours before making this. I would toss it occasionally to get all the pieces dry.
• you can refrigerate the unbaked pudding in the refrigerator overnight, instead of only two hours, and bake it in the morning
• place the pudding pan into the empty steaming pan and place on oven rack before you pour boiling water into the steaming pan. This way you don't take the chance of sloshing the water into your pudding or on yourself while getting it into the oven.
• Bourbon sauce is GOOD! *nom, nom, nom, slurp*
• Use a high quality of whiskey and the flavor will be outstanding. I used Devil's Cut Whiskey. Actually, I use this whiskey to make caramel and my chocolate truffle filling. It has the best flavor!

Enjoy, Peeps!

• 

Foodie Friday -- Cappuccino Torte

Many, many years ago, I made this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. It turned out beautifully. I used chocolate covered coffee beans to decorate, but then ate the rest of the chocolate covered coffee beans and wasn't able to drink coffee for over six months. Yep, it burned my stomach up.

 The next time it was made was the year my daughter was born--2000. I managed to finish the nut crust and the fudge layer, but my daughter decided to make an early appearance. My wonderful sis-in-laws tried to finish the torte, but this is one of those recipes that it is important to have a standing mixer (due to the amount of time it must  beat) . . . my SIL only had a hand held one. It wasn't beaten long enough and the cappuccino buttercream went *flop*. It was still wonderfully tasty, but it didn't hold up.


This year I made this dessert. I thought, "Why not? I have all the ingredients. Let's give it a shot." I, too, had some issues with this recipe. My fudge layer wouldn't set. Six hours in the fridge and it still didn't set. It wasn't until I was making the cappuccino buttercream did I figure out what went wrong.

--I had forgotten to add the stick of butter to the fudge. Ack!

So what do you think I did?

I poured the fudge out of the pan, and scraped the crust free of fudge as much as possible. Microwaved the fudge just enough to warm it, AND THEN I beat the missing butter into the mixture. I could tell it would work this time, because it was starting to thicken as I was beating.

Now, I was fighting the clock on this one since I was in the process of making the cappuccino layer. So I put the fudge in the freezer to firm up. The buttercream went into the refrigerator until the fudge was firm enough to hold the weight. I whipped it one last time before spreading it on the fudge layer.

The key item to remember is -- who cares if you mess it up? It still tastes good and no one will know unless you post it on Facebook. ;-0.

Cappuccino Torte

Crust:

4 whole graham crackers

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (2 ounces)

1/2 cup slivered almonds (2 ounces)

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

5 Tbls. butter, melted and cooled

 

Fudge Layer:

2 cups whipping cream

1 pound semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 Tbls. light corn syrup

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces, room temperature

 

Cappuccino Buttercream Layer:

2 1/2 cups golden brown sugar, firmly packed (about 1 1/4 pounds)

1/2 cup water

6 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 Tbls. instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tsp. hot water

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (Bakers), chopped, melted, cooled

 

Coffee Whipped Cream:

1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream

2 tsp. instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbls. powdered sugar

 

Optional:

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated

chocolate shavings

chocolate coffee bean candies

 

For crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 10-inch-springform pan with 2 3/4-inch high sides. Grind graham crackers to crumbs in processor. Add nuts, sugar and salt and chop coarsely using on/off turns. Add butter and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumbs into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Cool.

 

For fudge layer: Bring cream to boil in heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Mix in corn syrup. add butter 1 piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

 

Pour fudge into cooled crust. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

 

For cappuccino buttercream layer: Cook sugar and water in heavy medium saucepan over very low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and boil 2 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, beat yolks in heavy-duty mixer at high speed until thick and pale. With mixer running, gradually pour boiling syrup into yolks (do not scrape saucepan). Continue to beat until yolk mixture is cool, about 15 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium. Mix in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Add espresso mixture, then melted chocolate.

 

Spread buttercream over chilled fudge layer. Cover pan loosely with waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.

 

For coffee whipped cream: Combine 1 Tbls of whipping cream, espresso powder and vanilla in small bowl; stir until powder dissolves. Beat remaining cream in large bowl until beginning to thicken. Mix in coffee mixture and powdered sugar. Beat whipping cream mixture to firm peaks.

 

Run small sharp knife around sides of springform pan to loosen torte. Carefully release pan sides. Spread most of Coffee Whipped Cream neatly over tops and sides of torte. Press grated chocolate around sides. Transfer torte to serving platter. Transfer remaining cram to pastry pag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe cream in rosettes around top edge of torte. Garnish with chocolate shavings and coffee bean candies, if desired. Can prepare 6-8 hours ahead; refrigerate). Let stand 1 hour at room temperature and serve.

 

Tips &Tricks:

• Though this recipe says it serves 12-14 people. This is a very rich, very dense torte. Each piece will be pretty small, so plan on serving a crowd.
• If your nuts for the crust seem overly oily, use less butter. BUT if you happen to have a rimmed cheesecake pan all the better to catch the excess oils exuded from the baking process. If you don't have a rimmed pan, then place a piece of foil under the pan when you bake the crust.
• Watch the cream when you make the fudge layer. If you put it on the stove and walk away, it will boil over.
• I don't finely chop my chocolate, but the larger chunks take longer to completely melt, which equals more stirring.
• When you add the soft butter to the fudge layer, it will start to thicken up. . . your clue that you DID remember to add the butter . . . Yeah, even the best cooks get sidetracked!
• Use a standing mixer . . . unless you want to build up your arms by holding a hand mixer for over 25 minutes total while the cappuccino buttercream is beaten.
• Start mixing the egg yolks when you heat the sugar. By the time the sugar is ready the egg yolks have thickened and turned a lighter yellow.  
• Many times recipes will tell you NOT to scrap the sides of the pan while boiling sugar. BUT if you constantly scrape the sides, the sugar is immediately dissolves into solution, which decreases the chance for sugar grains to reform when the solution cools.
• I DO NOT scrap the pan when I'm adding the sugar solution to the egg yolks simply because it's too awkward with my mixer.  
• DO let the cappuccino buttercream mix for 15 minutes to cool prior to adding the softened butter.
• The cappuccino buttercream layer will become the texture of icing when it is close to being finished.
• I walked away from the whipping cream (oops!), and it had whipped just a couple of seconds too long, going from stiff peaks to chunks, BUT it seemed to spread quite nicely AND hold its shape. So it isn't the end of the world
• Do not whip cream for too much longer than this or you will make a coffee butter. Just saying.
• When you cut into this dessert--it has a knockout impact. But you can really make it a feast for the eyes when you decorate it. If you do use grated chocolate on the sides, make sure your hands are ice cold, or you use pastry gloves, or the chocolate will melt all over them and make a mess.  
• Chocolate covered coffee beans are usually found in candy stores. These are very addictive (caffeine AND chocolate), so only buy as many as you think you'll need.

That's it for now! Enjoy!

If you plan to make this, or any other of my recipes, and I haven't covered your question in my tips or tricks, then feel free to ask your question in the comments section or email me at: Margaret (dot) golla @ gmail.com {remove spaces and make (dot) a .}

Later, Peeps!





Foodie Friday -- Key Lime Pie

I'm late again with this post, but I wanted to sample my offerings prior to posting the recipe.

And let me just say that this recipe is AWESOME!

It all started when I had a bag of limes from Sam's Club--I forgot why I bought such a huge bag, but I did--and they were starting to get old. Hubs suggested that I make Key Lime Pie. Normally, we eat at Red Rock Canyon Grill and share their Key Lime Pie, but I decided to try my hand at making a similar version. I found two online recipes, merged them into my interpretation, and added a twist in the crust that Red Rock does.

Voila! Here's the recipe. And for the record, making Key Lime Pie is very, very easy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's a mess to make, but easy. Just saying.

NOTE: Though it’s called Key Lime Pie, no key limes were hurt during this process . . . regular large limes were. Do you realize key limes are about the size of a quarter/marble? Do you know how many you would have to cut and squeeze to get enough juice for 1 cup? I’ve used them before in other recipes, and they are not worth the work. Sorry, not happening.

 Key Lime Pie

Crust:
1 ½ cups graham crackers (@ 9-10 rectangles)
2 Tbls. sugar
4 Tbls. butter, melted
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted

Filling:
2 (14-oz) cans sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 cup fresh lime juice (@ 5 regular large limes)
Zest from one lime
2 large eggs

Chantilly Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
1-2 tsp. vanilla
2-3 Tbls powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For Crust:
Place pecans in oven until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
In food processor, grind graham crackers into crumbs, pour into bowl and measure 1 ½ cups back into food processor. Add sugar, melted butter and pecans. Mix well. Pecans should be chopped small, but still visible. Press mixture into 10-inch round tart pan with 1-inch sides, place on baking sheet and bake until brown, about 12-15 minutes.

For Filling:
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Zest one lime into large bowl, mix in eggs and sweetened condensed milk, and then whisk lime juice into mixture. Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool about 30 minutes on wire rack and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Make Chantilly cream when ready to serve.

For Chantilly Cream:
Beat whipping cream until thickened, add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix well, taste for flavor. Keep beating until stiff peaks form.

Hints & Suggestions:

·       Toasting pecans brings out another level of flavor. Keep an eye on them while toasting. DO NOT BURN.

·       I always overestimate graham crackers when I grind them, which is why I have this extra step to measure the ground crumbs and return them to the processor.

·       The crust mixture is crumbly. If you want it to stick together a little better, add 1-2 Tbls extra melted butter. Don’t overdo the butter, since the filling holds the crust together when it bakes. Trust me on this.

·       Press the crumbs along the tart edges first to get a nice layer. If it’s too thick in a spot, just lightly rub the crumbs away until desired thickness. Use a flat glass bottom to press bottom crust into pan.

·       I put the tart pan on a cookie sheet because I’ve been known to push the removable bottom out of the tart pan when I take the crust out of the oven. I didn’t want to redo the crust.

·       Filling will come to the very top of the crust. It will look like it will overflow. It doesn’t. *whew*

·       The center of filling should not jiggle when you take it out of the oven.  

·       Stiff peaks are formed are when you pull the beaters out of the cream and they leave little points on the beaters. Overbeating will result in a butter mixture. Not a bad thing, mind you, but not what you want here.

And that's it for today, Peeps!

Tomorrow, I'll post the pot roast I made. It was wonderful, too!

Today the family and I are walking in For The Cure JDRF. It's late notice, but if you want to donate to the Commandos for the Cure at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Foodie Friday -- Honey Cakes

When my daughter started school this year, we knew the sixth graders would be working on a pumpkin project. We had experience with this particular project because she had to do one in the fifth grade at her last school . . . we learned from our mistakes.

This year the teacher chose the topic of children’s books and they could have partners. My kidlet and her friend OJ got their heads together and chose a book called Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson and illustrator Jane Chapman.

Bear's head

The girls decided to make the pumpkin into Bear’s head (cute, isn't it?), and they will be working on a background poster with the narrative and illustrations today (so no pic yet, sorry). So when they were over at our house to do Bear’s head, they were talking about his little friends and how Bear wanted some Honey Cakes.

 

Of course, having too much time on my hands, I decided to find a recipe for honey cookies . . . er cakes and make them. I found two recipes that I liked and sort of merged them.

I will tell you that this recipe makes a gooey dough and the cookies bake into a cakey cookie. The thing to remember is that this recipe isn’t very flavorful, other than the honey and a touch of ginger, because Bear likes them this way!

 

Honey Cakes

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter
1 cup honey (Orange Blossom honey, of course!)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
4 cups flour

Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt together sugar, butter and honey over medium heat. Let mixture cool. Sift baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger and flour into large bowl. Beat eggs and add vanilla in small container, add some of honey mixture if still hot to temper the eggs. When eggs are tempered, add to honey mixture, mix well. Add honey mixture into flour mixture. Stir until flour is mixed in.

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop cookies 2-inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle Turbinado sugar on top of each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. These cookies are 3-inches in diameter.

 

Hints and suggestions:

·         I put the honey sugar mixture in the refrigerator to chill

·         Since my liquid measuring cup was already dirty from the honey, I used it to lightly beat the eggs

·         I use a large mesh strainer to sift the flour mixture

·         Tempering the eggs--Adding the eggs to a large quantity of hot tends to cook the eggs. We don’t want that. We want to bring the eggs up to the temperature of the hot liquids gradually by placing a little bit of the hot liquid into the eggs and quickly incorporating it (beating it). Do this process a few times and then add the add mixture into the hot liquid mixture.

·         Though I use Silpat sheets, I still like to use parchment paper to bake cookies. The bottoms don’t overcook that way.

·         Normally, with this cookie scoop I can make 8 cookies per cookie sheet, but I only made 6 cookies per sheet with this recipe since I didn’t want them running into each other. 

·         In this picture, I hadn’t tried the Turbinado sugar yet. The large sugar granules give the cookie a little bit of texture and crunch without adding too many other elements.

 

Enjoy, Peeps!

Foodie Friday -- Lemon Curd Cake--Redo

Today is my hubster's birthday!

EDIT note: I took pictures, but obviously the light wasn't nearly bright enough! Hopefully, I'll get better!
Happy Birthday, Sweetie!! I LOVE you! You are my sooooouuuul-mate. *snork* *inside joke*

In honor of his birthday, he requested Fleming's Chipolte Mac n' Cheese for dinner . . . and nothing else, except Lemon Curd Cake . . . which I am currently making.

So for today's Foodie Friday we are playing REDO Day. Here are those recipe links:

Fleming's Chipolte Mac n' Cheese

Lemon Curd Cake

Enjoy, Peeps!

FOODIE FRIDAY -- Coconut Pound Cake

I worked in a hospital lab on night shift for about eleven years, and this recipe came from my old boss, Richard. I’m not a coconut fan, but I LOVE this recipe.

Coconut Pound Cake

1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)

1 stick butter, room temperature
2 ½ cups sugar
6 eggs, separated
½ tsp. almond extract
½ tsp. coconut extract
3 cups flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup whole milk
1 ½ cups coconut (Bakers)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour Bundt pan.

Beat sugar, shortening and butter until creamy. Add egg yolks and cream until light. Add extracts. Sift flour, salt and baking powder, add alternately with milk. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in batter with coconut. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool. Turn out onto serving plate.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY -- Bacardi Rum Cake

This recipe has been passed around many times. I’ve seen some rendition of it in newspapers, magazines and on blogs like this one. Bundt cakes are cakes that are formed in a ring, as if for tea-time. The pans used to make Bundt cakes can be simple to very decorative.

Okay, I had some issues embedding the pics--Sorry!

rose



simple

cathedral

  

Bacardi Rum Cake

Cake:

1 cup chopped pecans
1 18½  oz. pkg. yellow cake mix
1 3¾ oz. pkg vanilla instant pudding
4 eggs
½ cup cold water
½ cup oil
½ cup dark rum (80 Proof)

Glaze:

¼ lb. butter
¼ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark rum (80 Proof)

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool. Invert onto rimmed serving platter.  Prick top.

Glaze:

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum. Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides of cake. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY-- Cranberry-Apple Pie

All-righty then! This recipe is originally from Bon Appetit magazine. I believe we made this recipe for Thanksgiving in 2010, AND again this year, because it is a nice autumn fruit pie/tart. During Thanksgiving, I didn’t even touch this recipe as my sis-in-law and nephew did all the work, BUT I made this for my hubby’s holiday work party last Tuesday. The only thing I did different from the recipe was to use a 2-inch deep tart pan (9-inches) instead of a pie pan. I liked heaping up the apple-cranberry filling and didn’t have to worry about overfilling and causing a mess if the juices went over the sides (they couldn’t--tart pan’s tall sides).

**I cut the apples a smaller than this-- ½ inch chunks**

Cranberry-Apple Pie

CRUST:

1 ¼ cups flour
1 Tbls sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tbls (or more) ice water

FILLING:

1 ½ pounds Granny Smith or other tart green apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks**
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbls flour
3 Tbls butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 large egg

White chocolate (< 1 oz., melted for drizzling), optional

Crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add shortening and butter, process using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 Tbls water. Process until moist clumps form. If dough is too dry, add more water by teaspoonfuls. Gather dough into ball, flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill for 1 hour. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to deep dish tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust and fold over making sides 1-inch high. Freeze 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until pale golden, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325° F.

Filling: Mix the first five ingredients in large bowl. Spoon filling into pie crust. Bake 30 minutes.

Whisk next four ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, egg) in small bowl to blend. Pour mixture over filling. Bake until apples are tender and filling begins to brown, about 1 hour. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Tent pie with foil and store at room temperature.)

Drizzle with white chocolate in decorative pattern, if desired.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Crustless Apple Pie

To go along with the theme of my inability to make crust (very sad, but true because my mother was a premier pie crust maker), I will post my mom’s recipe of Crustless Apple Pie. I will confess that this is one of my fall back recipes if I happen to have some apples that are getting a little old and grainy. Feel free to add more apples, but remember to adjust the cinnamon and sugar to your taste.

Crustless Apple Pie

3 apples

¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup water

Streusel:
3 Tbsp. shortening
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Peel and core apples, cut in quarters and cook about ten minutes with cinnamon, sugar and water. Place in greased casserole. Sift dry ingredients and add shortening and brown sugar. Mix with hands and sprinkle over apples. Cook about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Enjoy!

 

FOODIE FRIDAY--Nutcracker Tart (dessert)

Okay, true confessions here. If I can get out of making a pie crust, I will—just ask my sis-in-law Margie. We’ve been cooking Thanksgiving appetizers and desserts for YEARS, and I twist her arm to make the crust every single time.  Since I hate making pie crust, I usually will lean toward tarts. Many tarts have a crumbly crust that is pressed into the pan, not rolled out.
--Okay, I lied. I must have had Margie make the crust on this one!
   I believe we made this recipe for the first time in 2010, but it could have been 2009. Age, yanno, the years run together sometimes. My wonderful niece Liz did all the hard work on the oranges.
--uhm, if I’m wrong about this, my family, then let me know . . . NOT.
And yes, this is a Bon Appetit recipe.

Nutcracker Tart

CRUST:

1 ¼ cups flour
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, diced
¼ cup (1/2 stick) chilled butter, diced
3 Tbls. (about) ice water
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

FILLING:
1 ½ cups whipping cream

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. grated orange peel
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup pecan halves
2/3 cup roasted unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sliced almonds

Whipping cream
Orange-Cranberry Compote (optional; see recipe)

FOR CRUST: Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add shortening and butter. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer flour mixture to a large bowl. Combine 3 tablespoons ice water and vinegar in small bowl; pour over flour mixture. Stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls as needed. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap disk in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes and up to 3 days.

Roll out dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch-diameter round. Transfer to 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into tart pan. Trim dough overhang and reserve (reserve for what, I don’t remember. I think we baked it and ate it!). Freeze crust 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Bake crust until golden, about 17 minutes; if crust bubbles, press with back of fork. Cool on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

MEANWHILE, PREPARE FILLING: Mix 1 ½ cups cream, both sugars and honey in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture bubbles thicken and darkens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in grated orange peel. Let stand 20 minutes. Stir in walnuts, pecans, cashews and almonds. Spoon filling into crust, distributing nuts evenly.

Bake tart until filling is bubbling thickly and is deep amber in color, about 22 minutes. Cool completely on rack. Serve with whipped cream and Orange-Cranberry Compote, if desired.

ORANGE-CRANBERRY COMPOTE

                                                                                     MAKES ABOUT 1 ¼ CUPS

6 oranges
1 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbls. Amaretto or almond syrup

Cut peel and white pith from oranges. Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release orange segments. Add cranberries and Amaretto to bowl. Toss to combine. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

Okay, snap to it and practice this recipe!  Okay, you can make it in the fall when it's not so hot!
Later, Peeps