Lemon bars are one of my favorite bar cookies.  The zesty lemon, the buttery crust, the gooey center with the crunchy top covered in powdered sugar.  I love them, and I’m wishing right now I hadn’t sent so many of them up to Ben’s office!

I didn’t grease my pan because I figured there is so much butter in there, they won’t stick.  The crust didn’t, but some of the filling clung a bit to the sides of the pan.  You could spray the pan with cooking spray or grease it, but it wasn’t a disaster without doing so.  Do it if you’re worried about them sticking.

Mom’s Lemon Bars

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, slightly softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• zest of 1 lemon
• 5-6 teaspoons lemon juice, from about 1 large lemon

Panna cotta is Italian for cooked cream.  It has always seemed a little daunting to me, but this is truly one of the easiest desserts I have ever made.  The ability to make this days in advance is appealing to me…as someone who tends to stress before having guests.  Make these early and that’s one less thing to worry about the day of your party.

You can probably tell by the ingredient list that this is not a dessert you would enjoy every night of the week.  It is so very rich, so wonderfully creamy and perfectly smooth.  If you don’t have vanilla beans, then you can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract or ,better yet, vanilla bean paste which would give you the nice specks in this otherwise pure white dessert.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries

From Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
• 3 cups whipping cream
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 vanilla beans, split
• pinch of salt
• Assorted fresh berries

Directions

1. Place the milk in a heavy, small saucepan.  Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Stir over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, but milk does not boil, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the cream, honey, sugar, vanilla beans and salt.  Stir over heat until sugar dissolves.  Remove vanilla beans and scrape out seeds into the mixture.  Stir to distribute.
4. Remove from the heat and divide the cream mixture into 6-8 cups (wine glasses are pretty, but dessert cups or ramekins are fine).
5. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.
6. Garnish with berries and a sprig of mint.

The only unexpected thing about this pound cake is the baking process.  The pan goes into a cold, as in DO NOT PREHEAT, oven.  It then cooks for an hour and a half.  I’m not sure if the time the cake is sitting in the heating oven is what creates such a nice crusty exterior, but that crust is lovely.  Encased within the crust is the soft, sweet, buttery cake that just melts in your mouth.

I absolutely love plain pound cake.  It’s for the same reason I would rather have a plain slice of cheesecake than one with caramel, chocolate or fruit sauce.  Simple is just the only way to go sometimes, and with pound cake you can focus on the textures and delicate sweet vanilla flavors instead of whatever extras are interfering.  I know even while I type this that sometime very soon I will probably have to eat my words and fall in love with some fancy pants pound cake.  But, for today at least, I am a plain pound cake lover.

The only complaint I have with this cake is that it gave me some trouble coming out of the pan.  I can grease and flour a pan with the best of them, but it still stuck…not terribly, but it wasn’t exactly picture perfect.  Despite this minor imperfection in appearance, the cake is delicious and definitely worth trying.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

America’s Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup skim milk (or 1%)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 eggs, separated
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 cups sugar

Directions

1. Grease and flour a 12-cup tube pan.
2. Whisk flour and salt in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk milk, vanilla and egg yolks.  In a separate bowl beat egg whites to soft peaks.
3. In a separate bowl beat butter, shortening and sugar on medium high until fluffy.
4. Reduce speed to low and flour mixture and milk mixture alternately, in 4 batches, beating after each addition until just combined.
5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg whites.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and place in a COLD oven.
6. Heat the oven to 300 F and bake for 45 minutes.  Increase the temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
7. Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, run a knife around the edge, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Serve plain or with fresh berries and whipped cream.

This is not, however, just blueberry pie.  The filling is made of sour cream, eggs, sugar, flour and blueberries.  And the fun doesn’t end there.  On top of this pie is a streusel type topping made of butter, sugar and flour.  This pie has no other option than to be delicious.

On allrecipes.com, this pie is called Creamy Blueberry Pie.  Here is the link.  It calls for a 9 inch deep dish pie crust, but I decided to make my own crust.  This is not something I do very often.  I like the convenience of a store bought crust, and they usually taste great.  The Pillsbury kind that you roll out on your own are the best.  I’ve found that the frozen kind already in the pan have a tendency to crack, and the edge of the crust looks like it came out of a machine…because it did.  So, if you do use a store crust, go with the one that at least looks like it’s homemade!

Most pie crust recipes are quite similar.  All use flour, sugar, salt, some kind of fat, and some kind of liquid.  Having your ingredients chilled is considered to be a must in pie crust making.  It is also important not to overwork the dough.  You can mix the dough by hand, or in a food processor.  When you mix the dough, make sure that you can still see bits of the fat in the finished product.  This ensures a tender, flaky crust.

The differences arise when it comes to your choices of fat and liquid.  Fat options include butter, shortening, lard, or a combination.  Liquid options are ice water, vodka, lemon juice, vinegar, and I’m sure others as well that I haven’t seen.

The recipes I have always liked the most have used equal amounts of butter and shortening.  Butter gives a great flavor, and the shortening creates a more stable crust.  Ice cold water has also been my liquid of choice.  It doesn’t alter the flavor, and I always have some in my kitchen!  Here is the recipe I used, Best-Ever Pie Crust from epicurious.com.

Now to the pie.

After putting your pie dough into a deep dish pie pan, in go the lovely blueberries.

On top of the layer of fruit goes the custard mixture.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over all of this and it bakes for about an hour…I baked mine for 55 minutes.

I would have liked a browner crumb topping, but the bottom crust was getting a bit dark.

After taking the pie out of the oven, let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.  You can either serve the pie warm, or chill it in the fridge for another hour or two.  This allows the custard layer to get nice and firm.

When you cut into this pie, you can see the layer of tender, buttery crust on the bottom.  Above the crust is the creamy custard , and the tart blueberries that make this pie so incredibly delicious.  Atop all of this is the sweet, crunchy crumbly topping that balances out everything.

I served the pie with vanilla ice cream, but it would be fine alone.  This is a pie that can definitely be served in the heat of summer and will have a prime spot in my recipe collection as something I will definitely make again.

Creamy Blueberry Crumble Pie

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter

Directions

1. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and salt. Add eggs and sour cream, stirring until blended.
2. Place blueberries in pastry shell, and spoon sour cream mixture over berries.
3. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour. Cut in butter or margarine with pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal. Sprinkle this mixture over sour cream mixture and berries in the pie shell.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes, or until lightly browned.

A few weeks ago I caught the end of Oprah while on the treadmill at the gym.  Her guests were the contestants of the 2010 Pillsbury Bake-Off, and at the end of the show they revealed the winner of the $1,000,000 grand prize.  This was the winning recipe, Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups.

These little treats look delicious!  And I know they must taste good as well.  How could they not?  The ingredients have no option but to create perfect sugary wonder!  Sugar cookie dough made into cups, dipped in chocolate and nuts, a spoonful of fruit jam in the bottom, topped with ice cream and fresh raspberries on top.  My problem with this is that it won $1,000,000 dollars.  They are somewhat creative I guess, but very little of this recipe is homemade or imaginative.

Were there no better recipes than this in the contest?  Seriously?  Who judges this contest?  A 10 year old who just LOVES ice cream sundaes?  Am I being harsh?

I got on the Pillsbury website and decided to go on a mission to look at other recipes that were contenders in the 2010 Bake Off. These brownies were among the finalists, and while they do use a brownie mix, there is more to these brownies than just a dressed up mix topped with ice cream.  On top of the brownie layer is spread a layer of sweet cream cheese and peanut butter goodness.  To finish things off, a layer of melted chocolate  is spread over the brownies and then sprinkled with toffee pieces.

Without having made the cookie cups, I can’t say for sure that these are better or more worthy of the prize, but they are very tasty.  Enjoy in small portions with a glass of milk because they are rich and quite chocolate-y.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Toffee Brownies

Courtesy of Pamela Shank

Ingredients

• 1 box (19.5 oz) Brownie Mix
• ½ cup Vegetable Oil
• ¼ cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ cup Peanut Butter
• 1 bag (8 oz) toffee bits
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 13×9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, water and eggs 50 strokes with spoon until smooth. Spread batter in pan; set aside.

3. In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add milk and peanut butter; beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the toffee bits. Spoon mixture over batter; spread evenly.

4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until cheesecake layer is set and edges are light golden brown. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate 40 minutes.

5. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and cream uncovered on High 40 to 60 seconds or until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Spread over cheesecake layer. Sprinkle with remaining toffee bits. Cool completely, about 1 hour. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

This afternoon I made these lemon squares from Eatingwell.com.  My mom makes the most incredible lemon bars.  I could probably eat an entire pan if no one stopped me and if I wouldn’t go into a sugar and butter coma afterward.  When I came across this recipe I had to see how it compared to my mom’s butter laden bars with tart and luscious filling.

Lemon bars must have a buttery, crunchy base, a smooth, lemony filling and a crunchy, sugary top.  I was hopeful that these bars would measure up.  There is a bit of butter in the crust to provide the richness, and the use of lemon juice and zest in the filling makes these bars incredibly flavorful.  The recipe calls for white whole wheat flour, but since all I had was regular whole wheat I opted for plain old all purpose flour.  I probably could have done half all purpose and half whole wheat, and will probably try that next time.

The verdict:  Yum.  Crunchy, sweet, buttery goodness topped with incredibly tart, sweet gooey lemon and a crunchy topping sprinkled with powdered sugar.  I will definitely be making these again.  Next time I will try to get some white whole wheat flour or use a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat.

Another great thing about these lemon squares is that you don’t dirty too many dishes, and they are a snap to prepare and bake.  Use the same bowl to mix the filling as you did to mix up the crust and you’ve saved yourself some time at the sink.

A quick tip.  After slicing the bars and sprinkling them with sugar, I let them sit in the fridge for about an hour.  This made them much easier to remove from the pan and the chill made the lemon even more refreshing.  Enjoy.

Lemon Squares From Eatingwell.com

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour, or all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Filling

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon white whole-wheat flour, or all-purpose flour
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preparation

1. To prepare crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch-square or 7-by-11-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Stir flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in butter, oil and lemon zest until blended and crumbly. Press the dough in an even layer in the prepared baking pan. Bake the crust until firm to the touch, about 20 minutes.
3. To prepare filling: Whisk sugar, lemon zest and juice, egg, egg yolk and flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour evenly over the hot crust.
4. Bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, at least 2 hours. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving : 126 Calories; 4 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 1 g Mono; 30 mg Cholesterol; 22 g Carbohydrates; 2 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 42 mg Sodium; 23 mg Potassium

The meringues were light and crunchy, the lemon curd and raspberries were perfect partners; tart and sweet, and the pistachios added such a wonderful richness to the whole dessert.  To top it all off, they were beautiful.  This is an impressive looking dessert, and Jackie said that it wasn’t all that complicated or tedious.  She even let the meringues sit in the oven overnight and they were still perfect.

Making individual dessert can sometimes me a pain, but these are incredibly easy to assemble.  I will definitely be putting this recipe away to make another time.  Thanks, Jackie!

Pistachio Pavlovas with Lemon Curd and Raspberries

Ingredients

Meringues:

• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 4 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted pistachios, chopped

Lemon curd:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• Dash of salt
• 2 (6-ounce) packages fresh raspberries
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 250°.
2. To prepare meringues, cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Draw 4 (4-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn paper over; secure with masking tape.
3. Place cream of tartar and 4 egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
4. Divide the egg white mixture evenly among 8 drawn circles on baking sheets. Shape meringues into nests with 1-inch sides using the back of a spoon. Sprinkle evenly with nuts.
5.  Bake at 250° for 1 hour, rotating baking sheets after 30 minutes. Turn oven off, and cool meringue nests in closed oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven, and carefully remove meringue nests from paper.
6.  To prepare lemon curd, combine whole eggs and 1 egg white in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk. Heat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, rind, juice, potato starch, and salt over medium-high heat in a small, heavy saucepan to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge. Gradually add hot juice mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return juice mixture to pan. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Spoon curd into a bowl; cool to room temperature. Cover and chill.
7. Arrange about 1/4 cup raspberries in each meringue nest; top with about 2 tablespoons lemon curd. Sprinkle the nests evenly with powdered sugar, if desired.  Sprinkle with a few chopped pistachios if you have any left over. Serve immediately.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I had not heard of an orange tian before.  I hadn’t heard of any kind of tian before, actually.  My lack of knowledge demanded a Google search.  A search of “tian” will give you some interesting results.  According to wiki, tian (Chinese: 天; literally “Sky or heaven, heavens; god, gods”) is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion.

In the culinary world, however, tian is a French term “describing a type of cooking vessel used in the Alpes-Maritimes area of France. It is traditionally made from red clay and can be either glazed or unglazed. A modern tian can come lidded or not and sometimes has a looped handle on one side.

The vessel is used to cook a traditional braised vegetable stew also called tian. The unglazed vessels, filled with root and winter vegetables along with wine or rinds of cheese, were placed in the hot ashes of a fire and left to stew all day in gentle heat, somewhat like a Dutch oven.”  You can read more here on wiki.

In this case, a tian is a dish composed of layers of ingredients.  Many that I have found in my searches are vegetable tians and can be either hot or cold.

No vegetables or rinds of cheese are found this in this dish.  This tian is a layer of orange segments, whipped cream, and orange maramlade with a base of rich pate sablee.  The layers create not only a lovely presentation, but a great combination of flavors and textures.  It tasted incredible.

This challenge, not unlike other challenges, was not without its share of hiccups.

1. I over baked the pate sablee resulting in a large cookie that cracked upon removal from the baking sheet.
2. I am no pro when it comes to segmenting oranges, so there were a few stray pieces of membrane in there.  Check out this video on you tube for some tips.
3. The whipped cream with the gelatin was super confusing, and I’m not sure if I did it right.  I think it should have set up more?  I just had to kind of go with it.  It turned out OK…I think.
4. I used a sheet pan to form the tian that I was sure would fit in the freezer.  I was wrong.  So, I had to transfer the dessert to another pan by sliding the silpat from the big pan to a smaller one.  Sounds easy, right?  Well, both pans had lips and so in this moving process some of the juices escaped and my cookie got a few more cracks.  At least the cookie would end up at the bottom.

After that, I let the tian set for about an hour.  When I flipped it out onto a platter it was beautiful!  Not perfect, but not falling apart either.  So, while this orange tian was not a complete success, it was not a failure.

Orange Tian

Preparation time:

• Pate Sablee: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake
• Marmalade: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch
• Orange segments: 20 minutes, overnight to sit
• Caramel: 15 minutes, overnight to sit
• Whipped Cream: 15 minutes
• Assembling: 20 minutes
• Freezer to Set: 10 minutes

Equipment required:

• Cookie cutters . Ideally, you should have about 6 cookie cutters to build the desserts in and cut the circles of dough (see photo). The cookie cutters will be the size of your final dessert, so they should be the size of an individually-sized tart mold. If you don’t have round cookie cutters you could use an individually-sized cheesecake mold without its base and create one large dessert.
• A food processor (although the dough could be made by hand too)
• A stand-up or hand mixer
• Parchment paper or a silicone sheet
• A baking sheet
• A rolling pin

For the Pate Sablee:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 2.8 oz; 80 grams
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup + 3 tablespoons Unsalted butter 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
1/3 teaspoon Salt 2 grams
1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour 7 oz; 200 grams
1 teaspoon baking powder 4 grams

Directions:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogeneous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

[See YouTube video in the References section below for additional information on segmenting oranges.]

For the Caramel:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:

Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in half of the orange marmalade.
[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

There’s always a little bit of uncertainty when trying a new recipe and it helps to know that someone else has tried it with good results.  It really helps to know that someone you know and trust has tried it.  I am often skeptical of some online reviews because I don’t know if the people writing the reviews are clueless in the kitchen and totally botched a perfectly good recipe, OR if the person likes anything they eat because they lack good taste and taste buds.  So, send me your iffy recipes and I will try them and give you my honest opinion…if that means anything.

This cake is half chocolate cake and half flan.  Well, more like 60% chocolate cake and 40% flan.  Regardless, chocolate cake + flan = crazy delicious.  A bundt pan is filled with a thin layer of cajeta, topped with a chocolate cake batter and finished off with a flan type mixture that makes it way down to the bottom of the pan during the baking process.  This creates the layer of creamy flan on top of the cake which when inverted is topped with the sweet and decadent cajeta.

I topped the finished cake with toasted pecans.  It could be served with some sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  This cake was a hit at the small group we had at our house last night.  It was such a hit that we had a mere slice left over.

Things you should know:

It took more than the hour baking time for the top to become firm.  I would recommend 1 hour and 15 minutes, then let it sit at room temperature for about an hour.  Un-mold the cake and refrigerate it for at least an hour before serving.  Giving the cake time to set is imperative.  Your patience will be rewarded.  Swear.

Chocoflan

Ingredients

• 12-cup capacity Bundt pan
• Softened butter, to coat pan
• 1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce

For the cake:

• 10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the flan:

• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For garnish:

• 1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat a Bundt pan with a little butter, then coat the bottom with 1/4 cup cajeta and put it in a large roasting pan. (The roasting pan will serve as a water bath during baking.)
3. For the cake: Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa in a medium bowl. Beat 1/3 of the flour mixture, and 1/2 of the buttermilk into the egg mixture. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Blend until well incorporated.
4. For the flan: In a blender or with a whisk, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs and vanilla. Blend on high for 30 seconds.
5. Scoop the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and spreading evenly. Slowly pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. Cover with foil and add about 1-inch of hot water to the roasting pan.
6. Carefully slide the pan into the oven, and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch, or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. When cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.
7. Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over the Bundt pan, grasp tightly together, giggle a little and flip over. Remove the pan and scrape any remaining cajeta from the pan onto the cake, garnish with chopped pecans and serve!
8. Cook’s Notes: The batters may appear to mix when you pour them into the pan, but they completely separate while baking, with the flan ending up on the bottom when it’s inverted. I like eating it warm, but traditionally, it is chilled 24 hours before serving.

I also got to see my nephew, my parents, aunt, uncle, cousin, and many relatives and family friends at my Grandpa’s 90th birthday celebration on Sunday.  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with those people.  I am so blessed to have such incredible family and friends!

Back in Amarillo tonight and remembered that I had some of this cake leftover in the fridge.  The piece I ate today wasn’t as good as it was 5 days ago, but it was still tasty.  It was crazy gooey and delicious freshly made!

In my search for the origin of gooey butter cake, I discovered that the cake’s roots are in St. Louis.  I know next to nothing about St. Louis.  I do know that this is the home of the well known Gateway arch, which is the tallest man-made monument in our country standing at 630 feet at its highest point.  It is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and it located near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  I had no idea there was so much historical significance to the arch!  Maybe I will plan a vacation to see some historical sights in the USA someday.  Someday…

Anyway, back to the cake.  After my experience with Paula’s cake I was intrigued, and a bit bothered, by the fact that almost every recipe involved a cake mix as the base.  Surely, at some point, the cake mix replaced a more homemade base.  I found a recipe for an “original” gooey butter cake on this site.  The base of this cake is made with a sweet yeast dough that rises around the sides of the gooey center.  The filling is similar: cream cheese, butter, sugar, an egg and vanilla.  This filling differs from Paula’s with the addition of corn syrup, flour and some water.

This recipe makes 2 8-inch square cakes, which is nice.  One cake for now, and freeze one for later.  I did not freeze my second cake; I brought it to work.  I think this cake would take well to freezing and thawing later.  I haven’t tried it though, so don’t take my word for it.

I liked that this cake was less sweet than Paula’s.  The dough is more bread-like and creates a nice firm base for the gooey filling.  The Paula cake was harder to serve since the cake mix base was not as firm.  One mistake I made, and will correct on my next batch of cakes is the baking time.  I baked these too long and as a result, the dough was a bit dark and not as tender as I would have liked.  The center however was still gooey and yummy.

In a time crunch the cake mix gooey butter cake is a great choice.  With just a bit of extra time and effort though, you can create a cake that tastes truly homemade with no fake tasting cake mix additives.  Enjoy!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 4 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/2 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Gooey butter topping:

• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• Dash salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. For dough, combine water and yeast in mixing bowl of electric mixer; hand-whisk to mix, then let stand a few minutes. Stir in milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, egg, salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Switch to dough hook and knead on slow speed, sprinkling in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed, until dough is smooth, about 5 to 8 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rise in warm, draft-free place 45 to 60 minutes, or until almost doubled.
2. Meanwhile, prepare gooey butter topping. Combine granulated sugar, butter, salt, egg, corn syrup, flour, water and vanilla in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade; process 20 to 30 seconds, or until mixture is a smooth paste. (Or beat with electric mixer until well mixed.)
3. To assemble: Generously spray two 9-inch square baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Gently punch down dough. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Press one portion into each prepared pan, pressing lightly to fit. Use fingertips to crimp edges about halfway up side of pan to make a border (so gooey butter will not run underneath). Use a fork to prick a few holes in dough to prevent bubbling (do not prick dough all the way through). Divide gooey butter into two equal portions; spread over dough in each pan. Let stand, uncovered, 25 minutes.
5. Place pans on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Topping should be bubbly and golden brown. Do not overbake; topping will not be gooey if cakes are baked too long.
6. Remove pans from oven and transfer to wire racks to cool until the topping settles and cake is just a bit warmer than room temperature. Sprinkle tops with confectioners’ sugar.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.
8. Yield: 2 cakes; 10 to 12 servings each.