Desserts

Dessert Recipes

Italian Cream Cake & “Happy Birthday Ben!”

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I love my husband.  I love when he has a birthday because I get to shower him with gifts, and a special birthday dinner.  I really love that his favorite cake is Italian cream because that is also MY favorite cake!  What are the chances?  We were meant to be.  So, when November 30th rolls around I have a great reason to make this cake.  It is so perfect.

icc1I have several recipes for this cake.  All 3 are from mothers of my college friends.  They are hand written and marked with water, cake batter, and one is even scorched on the edge.  I love when recipes get like that.  I like to see the differences in recipes and figure out how those differences effect the end product.  With these recipes however, the ingredients and processes are almost identical.  This leaves me to conclude that over time this recipe has been perfected and therefore should not be messed with.

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Grandma June’s Pecan Pie

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Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Ben and I traveled to my sister’s house in Dallas to spend the holiday with my parents, my 3 sisters and their husbands, my nephew, cousins and their husbands,  their kiddos, my aunt and uncle and grandpa.   We had 19 people for lunch on Thursday, and it was so great to have so many people there.  It’s getting harder and harder for all of us to get together now that everyone is moving to all ends of the country and having kids.  So, this was a special Thanksgiving.  The food was incredible and included a cornucopia of turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, green bean and mushroom casserole, balsamic roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed carrots and fennel, and flaky rolls.

Dessert is a favorite part of the meal.  Pies are the traditional Thanksgiving dessert in our family.  This year we had apple streusel, pumpkin, and cinnamon custard pies, a gingerbread pear tart, and a chocolate chip pumpkin bundt cake.  We did not make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving day, but I just couldn’t stand not having a piece this year.  So we made one after Thanksgiving…not that we really needed any more pie, but a little extra pie never really hurt anyone.

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Daring Bakers: I took the Cannoli

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Deep frying food is not something that I do very often, so I was a little weary of this challenge. However, my experiences as a Daring Baker have prepared me for this.  I was ready for cannoli!  Bring it on.

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

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Eggnog Pie

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eggnog3The cookbook that gave me macaroon pie also gave me the base for this pie.  It is a buttermilk pie, but in putting it together I thought to myself, “What flavors could I add to this pie to make it less simple and plain?”  The answer from my creative inner self was…eggnog!  I had nutmeg and for some strange reason I had rum.  I think I’ve had this bottle for a few years and I’m not sure where it came from.  Anyway…  I figured this was a good plan.  After all, the holiday season is approaching and if the grocery store is selling eggnog, I can make an eggnog pie.

I have to admit something.  I don’t like drinking eggnog.  It makes me feel like I’m drinking melted ice cream.  A little too thick for my taste.  However, I do like things that are eggnog flavored.  I like eggnog ice cream.  While visiting my sister in New York one Christmas we went to Jacques Torres shop and I bought a box of holiday truffles.  The white chocolate eggnog truffle was spectacular.  If you’re in NYC this season you should stop by and get one…or more than one.  The gingerbread truffle was also very good.  Oh, and you have to buy the chocolate covered Cherrio’s that they sell!  I’m getting carried away now.

Anyway, I won’t drink a cup of eggnog, but I will eat something that takes like it.  It’s a texture thing I suppose.  I guess I am my mother’s daughter.  I’m not sure if this is acceptable or not, but I felt I should admit this character flaw to you.

I added some rum and nutmeg to the base of this pie.  I contemplated adding cinnamon, but ended up deciding against it.  Maybe I will try it next time.  I used a store bought pie crust to save some time.  I’ve tried my hand at making scratch pie crust before, and I don’t think it’s too terribly hard to make something edible, but achieving a perfect, buttery, flaky crust is no simple task.  It is also a rather time consuming process and makes a mess of your kitchen.  A weeknight dessert should not require a lot of cleaning up.  The refrigerated crusts taste pretty good, so I am OK using them every now and then.

I liked the flavor, and found it pretty similar to eggnog.  The crust had a good crunch, and the filling was smooth and creamy.  I served this with simple sweetened whipped cream (you can use cool whip in a time crunch).  A simple and easy pie.  It may not make you fall over and cry with delight, but it it good.  Try it without the nutmeg and rum for a simple buttermilk pie.

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Eggnog Pie

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1 unbaked pastry shell
  1. Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl.
  2. Mix in eggs, buttermilk, butter, vanilla, rum and nutmeg.
  3. Pour into pie shell.
  4. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
  5. Turn oven temperature down to 350° and bake for 30 minutes more.
  6. Let cool; serve with whipped cream.
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Cardamom Pound Cake

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In Waco, our HEB had a bulk section where I could purchase just enough of a spice I needed for a recipe and pay a measly $0.27 for it.  Here, I have to purchase an entire jar of a spice when I only need 2 teaspoons, and pay $5.99.  A jar of cardamom was such a purchase, so I decided to use some of it instead of neglecting it in the spice cabinet and letting my $5.99 go to waste.

This recipe is from Martha Stewart.  In addition to the cardamom, the use of semolina flour and almond flour drew me to this cake because I had both of those ingredients.  What are the chances?  These were purchased as specialty ingredients in other recipes and I was glad to be able to use them.

The cake is dense and rich, as a pound cake should be.  The texture is more complex than your everyday plain pound cake, which is to be expected due to the use of the coarse almond flour.  The cardamom is definitely noticeable, but not overwhelming.  When a recipe says “room temperature” you should have those ingredients at room temperature.  This is an easy task.  Just leave them out of the fridge for a few hours.  It does make a difference in a pound cake, and most recipes.  The ingredients come together much more easily, and the texture seems better.  I know there is some science behind it, and I have even read an article about it, but I can’t explain all of that to you.  I just know that I’ve done it both ways and having your butter, eggs and other wet ingredients like milk, buttermilk, sour cream, etc, makes for better cakes.

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Cardamom Pound Cake (courtesy of Martha Stewart)

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
  • 3/4 cup almond flour
  • 3/4 cup semolina flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 ¼  teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek
  1. Preheat oven to 325. Butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. Sugar the pans as you would with flour, and tap out excess. Whisk together flours, salt, cardamom, and baking soda.
  2. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Raise speed to high, and beat until smooth and glossy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with yogurt. Divide batter between pans.
  3. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 20 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely. (Cakes can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

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Coconut Macaroon Pie

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I found this cookbook in a box of books I’ve inherited from various people’s discarded books in the last year or so.  I can’t even remember now who I got this cookbook from.  Anyway, it caught my eye this week and I decided to find something in it to make.  I wanted to make something that I’d never seen or tried before, and that I had all the ingredients for already on hand.  I chose this crust-less, coconut macaroon pie.

This budget cookbook has some good tips on freezing cookies and cakes.  There are also some great recipes for meals that use some very budget friendly ingredients.  I cannot wait to try them!

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Here is the recipe from the cookbook.  I omitted the dates and added about 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut to the pie.  I topped the cooled pie with whipped cream, toasted coconut and almonds.

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This is a rich and sweet pie.  I loved the flavor and texture.  The coconut makes the pie more like a macaroon in flavor.  The texture is already very macaroon-like with a crunchy exterior and almost gooey interior.  This a great use for your broken saltine crackers, leftover nuts and egg whites.

Any nut would work.  I think pecans would be great, but would probably use vanilla extract instead of almond.  I saw another recipe similar to this one on allrecipes.com that uses this pie as a crust and then tops the pie with a fruit filling.  Here is the recipe if you are interested.

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Pumpkin Spice Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

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Some ingredients are available all year long, but only truly acceptable at certain times.  Canned pumpkin puree is one of those ingredients.  You can buy it in July, but a pumpkin dessert just doesn’t seem like something I’d bring to a 4th of July picnic.  Since it is now November I am going to take advantage of my freedom to use this glorious non-perishable good and make something delicious.

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The cake recipe is courtesy of Martha, and the brown butter frosting is a variation on a cookie frosting I used on a pumpkin cookie last year.

I love brown butter.  It is nutty, warm, comforting and so much tastier than regular butter frosting.  The little specks of burnt butter in the frosting make me happy.  I said it.  Butter makes me happy.

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Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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There is something very special in store for the trick-or-treaters at BMWB this Friday!  To prepare for this treat, I had to make some chocolate sugar cookies.  These cookies were easy to put together, did not require any chilling, or rolling, and tasted sweet, crunchy and rich.  They will also be the perfect shape and texture for my Halloween treats.

10-25-2009This recipe originally came from  my dear friend, Martha Stewart.  I found it on How to Eat a Cupcake.  I doubled the recipe to make these cookies and ended up with about 45 medium sized cookies.

I only needed 30 for my Halloween goodies, so I had some dough left over.  I thought about freezing it and using it later, but then I found a roll of Rolos hiding in my cabinet leftover from my candy bar blondies.  Maybe, just maybe, I could wrap the dough around a rolo and bake it to create a cookie with a nice caramel surprise inside.  Genius!

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These cookies turned out to be quite delicious.  I think that there are a lot of candies that could be hidden inside this cookie dough.  The dough is sturdy and not too sticky, so would probably be a good dough to experiment with.  I will definitely make these cookies again.  Easy, chewy, delicious and versatile.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies (Courtesy of Martha Stewart and How to Eat a Cupcake)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in melted shortening (or butter). Add egg and vanilla; mix until creamy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
  3. Using a 1 inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are firm, 10-13 minutes.  Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
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Daring Bakers: Macarons

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The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

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One of my best memories is eating a traditional French macaron at Harrods in London 12 years ago.  A delicate, light, crunchy exterior with a sweet luscious filling.  They were about the size of your palm, and I think we went back to Harrods a few times just to buy more.  I haven’t had a real macaron that delicious since.  This challenge made me crave those macarons and want to recreate them.  Was I successful in this endeavor?  No way.  But, it was still a fun challenge.

I made two kinds of macarons.  One plain almond with a white chocolate eggnog ganache filling.  The second was a chocolate macaron with chocolate ganache.

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Sweet Saturday: Candy Bar Blondies Experiment

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Last week I made 3 batches of blondies hoping to create something irresistibly delicious.  I originally planned on making a Candy Bar Blondie with a variety of candy bars chopped into chocolate chip sized pieces.  I used a basic blondie recipe and then just replaced the chips and buts with the candy pieces.

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reeses4Attempt #1 resulted in a yummy treat filled with chopped Snickers, Rolos, Reeses and Twix.  The problem was that the edges rose up on the sides and stayed there after the blondies cooled creating a sunken and sad looking baked good.  A blondie sinkhole.  I used a metal 8×8 inch pan which I’d greased.  The middle of the blondies were incredibly gooey, but the edges were hard and caramelized.  Hmmm.  I decided to try again.

Attempt #2 used the same combination of candy bars, sans the Twix because I ran out.  I tried to bake this one in a glass pan which I greased and floured.  I assumed the problem was my baking pan preparation.  Same basic recipe.  New pan.  Same problem.  Intriguing…and a tad bit frustrating.

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