Desserts

Dessert Recipes

Peach Puzzle

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My sister Sarah is visiting us for a few days in Amarillo.  She got me this cookbook, America’s Best Lost Recipes, for my birthday.  One of the recipes that caught her eye when she looked through it was this peach puzzle.  We had no choice but to try it out when she was here.

It’s basically like an upside down peach cobbler, but with a few twists.  The peaches are left whole…pits and all.  The crust ends up on the bottom instead of the top.  And a sweet brown sugar sauce is cooked with the dessert in the oven.  The twisted part about the sauce is that its cooked upside down and is sucked into the upside down ramekin during cooling.  Don’t ask me exactly how that works…it’s a mystery…or a puzzle.

While the sauce did magically end up in the ramekin, we had some trouble with the crust sticking too much to the sides.  So, grease the sides of the pie plate.  I also recommend making this when you are fairly confident it will be consumed in one sitting…but not by yourself!  Sarah and I each had a helping, then we put the left overs in the fridge.  It wasn’t nearly as good on day two.  The crust got pretty soggy from the peach juice, and wasn’t quite as tasty.

This is a yummy dessert.  The peaches end up perfectly soft.  The crust is not too sweet, and is nice and buttery.  If you’re looking for something a bit out of the ordinary, this is a perfect dessert to use up some of those juicy summer peaches.

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Daring Bakers: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Bombe

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So many components to this dessert!  Two ice creams, hot fudge sauce, chocolate cake, whipped cream…and then there’s the assembly process.  Whew!  When I told Ben all the things I had to do, he said “Can you imagine having to do this when you were still teaching?”  Yes, I can imagine that.  I would have freaked out.  Probably like this scene from Julie & Julia.

Thankfully I saved myself, and Ben, from this potential freak out by spreading everything out over 5 days and having this thing ready to enjoy 3 days before the Daring Bakers reveal.  Having a lot of free time is such a luxury.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

I must confess right now that I cannot attest to how good this ice cream treat is at present.  I haven’t yet cut into this impressive dessert and tasted it.  It is sitting in my freezer just waiting for me…calling to me, really.  I’m saving it for our 4th anniversary this Thursday.  I’ll make sure to amend this post once I get to try a slice as we celebrate 4 years of marital bliss!

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Blueberry Cream Cheese Pastries

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These sweet little pastry packages are lovely.  Pre-made puff pastry makes this a dessert that requires very little hard labor in the kitchen.  Assembling these pastries is not exactly a breeze, but they are worth it.

I found this recipe hidden in Fine Cooking from August of 2010.  It is the “Letter from the Editor” section that I wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t seen the recipe in the index.  The other fruit pies in this edition are so beautiful, but more time consuming since you make your own dough.

For me, this was a perfect dessert for our Sunday night dinner guests.  I made them earlier in the day and stored them in the fridge until time to bake.  I stuck them in the oven when we sat down to dinner, and they were done at the perfect time to enjoy them.

The recipe below is changed slightly from the original.  The original recipe calls for creme de cassis, which I do not have on hand these days, and so I substituted almond extract with good results.  I used low fat cream cheese, and cut smaller circles to make smaller pies.  Unintentionally, I did not cut vents in my pastries.  This probably caused more of the gooey insides to leak out, but they were still delicious.  I served these with vanilla ice cream.  The crunchy sugary tops are wonderful, and the combination of blueberry and cream cheese in the center reminds me of a grown up Toaster Strudel.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pastries

Ingredients

  • 2 17.3 ounce packages frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 4 ounces cream cheese (low-fat is fine) softened
  • 7 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs yolks
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 2 teaspoons cornstartch
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, 4 tablespoons sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 egg yolk and mix until well combined.
  3. Combine the blueberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, almond extract and salt and mix gently.
  4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out individual puff pastry sheets into a 10 by 10 inch square.
  5. Using a round cutter (3 1/2 inches to 4 inches) cut out 4-6 rounds from the pastry depending on the size of your cutter.  Arrange the circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. (You will need 2 or 3 sheets)
  6. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water.  Brush the outer edges of each dough round with egg wash.
  7. Dollop about 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese mixture in the center of the round, then top with about 1 tablespoon of blueberries.
  8. Fold in half to form a half moon and pinch edges to seal.  You may use  the tines of a fork to seal as well.
  9. Lightly brush each pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Cut a small steam vent in the top of each pastry.
  10. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
  11. Cool slightly, then remove from the baking sheet.
  12. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
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Summer Cobblers and Worldwide Fame

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When my mom and I set out to make American dessert for a group of young adults (ranging from 19-30) from Ireland, Scotland, Korea, and the UK I had no intention of blogging about these recipes.  This will explain why the only pictures of the night I have are these of the practically devoured leftover portions.  And yes, I know the picture quality is less than stellar.

Why the blog post, you ask?  I must make you wait in suspense, because I rarely get to share such an exciting story and I want to milk this one.  It is good.

We made a peach cobbler, and a berry crisp.  I enjoyed them both, and they were especially delicious when combined in the same bowl with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla.  When serving this to our guests, I made a great point of telling them that nowhere else in the country would they have better ice cream than this night.  I think they found my love for this creamy taste of heaven to be pretty amusing.

I cannot remember where my mom found the recipe for the peach cobbler, but I must find out because I would make it again.  The topping is so delicious, sweet and crunchy.  The berry crisp recipe I found on epicurious.com.  Here is the link.  The recipe can be found at the bottom of the post as well.  I made absolutely no changes, and wouldn’t make any in the future.  This is an incredibly easy and homey dessert.

NOW for my incredible story.  The group that had dessert in Round Rock was driving cross country in a 15 passenger van.  My cousin Peter is working for a company that takes these groups around the country, stopping at various sites and camping out mostly at state and national parks.  Their tour of Texas on their way to Louisiana includes Austin, so Peter made plans to come see us and bring his group.  They were glad to get some home cooked food and to spend an evening in an air conditioned home.

After dessert, one of the girls, Sinead (forgive me if I misspell it!) complimented the dessert and my mom tells her that I helped and that I had a food blog.  The girl…who, just to remind you, is from IRELAND…asks the name of the blog and upon being told it was Hottie Biscotti says, “I’ve read that blog!”.  Can you even believe this?  I know.  Crazy.  I ended up talking to her a bit about food blogs and then about her family and how she is going back to school to get an English Literature degree and how she wants to be a writer.

Anyway, I now claim worldwide fame as a food blogger.  It may not be much, but its something.

Summer Berry Crisp

Ingredients

  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 2 cups blackberries
  • 2 cups raspberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Crisp topping:

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate.
  2. Gently combine the berries with the sugar, flour and cinnamon; place in the prepared pie plate.
  3. Prepare the topping: Combine the oats, flour, both sugars and salt in a bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to work in the butter until topping resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle evenly over the berries.
  4. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Remove the crisp to a rack to cool slightly. Serve in dessert bowls with whipped cream or ice cream.
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Daring Bakers: Chocolate Pavlovas with White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberries

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The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

Originally, this recipe didn’t sound summery enough to me.  Chocolate upon chocolate just seemed a bit heavy and rich to serve in June.  However, the chocolate pavlovas are wonderful and light.  I made white chocolate mousse and served it with sliced strawberries.  I was very pleased with the results and found this to be a lovely dessert.

Take the time to make the mascarpone cream.  It tastes divine drizzled on the desserts, and it also delicious eaten like soup…soup that tastes like melted ice cream.  Yum.

This could be done in a day, but I opted for the  two day option just to make like a little less hectic.

Day 1: Make pavlovas and creme anglaise.  Store the pavlovas in an airtight container and let the creme cool in the fridge.

Day 2: Make the chocolate mousse, and use your reserved creme anglaise to make the mascarpone cream.  Then assemble your desserts.

Once assembled and ready to serve, this is quite an impressive dessert.  It has a few components, but they are all worth the time and effort.  I brought this to a friends for a little dinner party, and so I had to have everything prepped and ready about 3 hours before we actually ate the desserts.  I was a little worried about how the mousse and cream would hold up in the fridge.  Thankfully, everything was perfect and the mousse was easier to scoop after being chilled.

The combination of the crunchy pavlovas, creamy and rich white chocolate mousse, sweet, fresh strawberries and indescribable mascarpone cream makes for quite a dessert.

Make the Pavlova Batter

Pipe and Bake the Pavlovas

Make the Creme Anglaise (photo courtesy of Daring Bakers)

Make the White Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

Make the Mascarpone Cream (photo courtesy of Daring Bakers)

Assemble and Enjoy

Here are the recipes.

Chocolate Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

Ingredients

  • 3 large egg whites
  • ½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
  • 1/3 cup (30 grams) Dutch processed cocoa powder

Directions

  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees.  Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.
  2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)
  3. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)
  4. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon.
  5. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
White Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
  • grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
  • 9 ounces (255 grams) white chocolate, chopped
  • 1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (optional)
Directions
  1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
  2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)
  3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.
Creme Angliase
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
  • 1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar
Directions
  1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
  2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.
  3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
  4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.
Mascarpone Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe crème anglaise
  • ½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
  • 2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
  • ½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions

  1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed.
  2. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture until smooth.

Assembly

  1. Pipe or scoop the mousse onto the pavlovas.
  2. Top with fruit is desired.
  3. Drizzle the mascarpone cream over the top.
  4. Dust with confectioner’s sugar if desired.
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Creamy Blueberry Crumble Pie

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Blueberries were on sale at my grocery store for $0.99 a pint!  I bought 4 pints.  While I am more than happy to eat them plain as a snack or as a garnish for my yogurt, I wanted to do something a little more exciting with these sweet little berries.  I chose this luscious blueberry pie.  I think it’s a perfect summer dessert.

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.

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Mexican Wedding Cookies

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Aren’t these yummy looking?  It doesn’t hurt that I put them on my cute new summery tray!

These shortbread-like cookies are rich, buttery, full of pecans and covered in a lovely layer of sweet powdered sugar.  They are a bit crumbly and I found them to be a bit dry as well.  But the flavor of these cookies is great and they are a fun little treat.

A few things I would do differently next time.

1) Make them smaller.  I used a large cookie scoop and rolled them into large balls…a bit bigger than the size of a golf ball.  I would go smaller and reduce the baking time.

2) Toss them in sugar twice.  I only tossed them once and only after a very slight cool from the oven.  I would toss them once warm, and then again after they had cooled completely.  The sugar got kinda sticky because of the heat from the warm cookie.

3) Add more cinnamon.  The recipe didn’t call for any, but I added 1/2 teaspoon.  I would double…or maybe even triple…that amount.

One good trick is tossing the cookies in a ziploc bag filled half way full with powdered sugar.  This keeps things from getting too messy in your kitchen.

This recipe came from a good friend, and it was given to her by a great aunt.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks of butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy.
  2. Add the vanilla and beat.
  3. Add the flour, cinnamon and pecans and mix well.
  4. Pat the dough into a round, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour or until firm.
  5. Remove from the fridge and form the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.
  6. Bake at 325 F for 15-20 minutes.  Do not let them get too brown or they will be dry.
  7. Roll the hot cookies in powdered sugar and let cool completely.
  8. Roll them once more in powdered sugar before serving.
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Triple Peanut Oatmeal Cookies

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An undeniable craving for oatmeal cookies struck me last week.  I rummaged through the baking cabinet…yes, I have a cabinet filled almost exclusively with baking goods and gadgets…and found a bag of peanut butter chips.  Mmm.  Then I went to the pantry and was drawn toward the jar of creamy peanut butter and the container of roasted peanuts.  Peanut butter oatmeal cookies were calling to me.  I toyed with the idea of adding some dark chocolate chips, or maybe some crushed pretzels, but in the end all peanut was the way to go.

I looked at a few regular oatmeal cookie recipes for some basic ratios and then changed and added as I thought necessary.  My final recipe is below.  There are a few things I might tinker with in the future, but these cookies were very good.  They have a nice full peanut flavor, a good contrast of salty and sweet, they are crunchy yet chewy, and delicious.

Triple Peanut Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups oats
  • 1 cup peanut butter chips
  • 1 cup chopped peanuts

Directions

  1. Beat together butter, shortening and peanut butter until smooth.
  2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until smooth.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, powder and salt.
  5. Mix in flour mixture  until just combined.
  6. Add in oats, peanut butter chips and peanuts and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
  7. Spoon dough onto baking sheets using a large scoop (2-3 tablespoons) about 1 inch apart.
  8. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
  9. Let cool on pan for a minute or two, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
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Peanut Butter Cheesecake Toffee Brownies

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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.

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Daring Bakers: Steamed Caramel Apple Pudding

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The moment I saw this challenge I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  Steamed pudding.  As in British steamed pudding.  Really?  And get this.  I was supposed to use SUET!  Where would I find suet?  A better question is, what exactly is suet?

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Esther explained on the Daring Bakers site that suet “is the hard but flaky fat found on the inside of a cow or sheep around the kidneys and that area of the body. Suet in its raw form crumbles easily into small chunks so much so that my butcher says it covers his floor in bits if he doesn’t have it taken out as soon as possible. In fact unless he knows he has a customer for it he has the abattoir take it out and throw it away and when I want some he gives it to me for free! It also melts at quite a low temperature, which has an effect on how it works in cooking. In some places such as the UK it is sold processed which basically means it is grated and combined with flour to keep the individual pieces from clumping together, and it becomes a sort of dried out short strands, almost granular in texture.”

I’m pretty sure that I didn’t follow all the rules of this challenge.  I didn’t use suet.  I used butter.  My pudding did not have a crust with filling.  It was more like a cake with fruit topping.  I did not use a traditional pudding mold.  I just used a bowl.  I did, however, steam my pudding just as instructed.  So, if I failed in all other categories, at least I did one thing right.

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