Posts filed under ‘Dessert’
The Message Said – Bring Cookies
(From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Teresa's Oatmeal Cookies
Just before I left for my very brief trip to NJ a couple of weeks ago I got a message from my brother-in-law to bring some “finger food” desserts for a family gathering. I don’t know about you but I would prefer larger desserts as they take less time and effort to make. Biting the bullet I decided on some very good brownies, chocolate macaroon jam tarts, some individual fruit tarts and at the last minute some of these cookies.
They are called Teresa’s Oatmeal Cookies, named for a friend and fellow cook, who gave me the recipe. These are without a doubt the best oatmeal cookies you will ever try. Very easy to make and the best part is they travel well; unlike my individual tarts that arrived in NJ looking more like individual tartlets. Make these, stand back and watch them disappear.
Teresa’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Dad’s in charge???? (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 3 | large | egg |
| 1 | cup | raisins |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 16 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 2.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1 | tsp | salt, table |
| 1 | tsp | cinnamon. ground |
| 2 | tsp | baking soda |
| 2 | cup | oats, old-fashioned rolled |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine beaten eggs, raisins, and vanilla and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for one hour. Cream together room temperature butter and both sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda to sugar mixture and mix well. Blend in egg-raisin mixture and oatmeal. Dough will be stiff. Drop a heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Delicious: Soaking of the raisins is the secret!
More of Teresa’s and my recipes at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Mixed Berry Tart
(From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Mixed Berry Tart
During a quick trip to New Jersey last week I got into a discussion about recipes and how Charlie Trotter, of Chicago fame, once said he never strives to make the same recipe exactly the same each time. The reasons for this is the ingredients might change, or if you cook like me, adverse to measuring, you may add more or less of something. The other topic that came up is “cooking like a French farmer’s wife”, this means using ingredients you have on hand. With this in mind we had a dinner party Sunday night, comfort food really: pot roast, roasted potatoes and carrots. For dessert I had some berries in the frig and decided to make a cake using them. Borrowing the basic recipe for a Cranberry Cake on the site at emealsforyou.com, I made the cake without the cranberries and used the berries. A quick dusting of finishing sugar and we had a spectacular, both visually and taste-wise, finish to a good, cold-weather meal with friends.
Mixed Berry Tart
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1.5 | cups | sugar, granulated |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, chopped, toasted |
| 2 | large | egg, lightly beaten |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 0.75 | cup | butter, salted |
| 1 | cup | mixed berries |
| 4 | Tb | apricot jam |
| 1 | spritz | PAM |
| 1 | Tb | sugar, finishing |
Place nuts in a large bowl and pour 1/3 of the sugar over the top; mix. Mix the slightly beaten eggs, the remaining sugar, the flour and the melted butter together. Pour over the nuts and mix. Spray PAM in a 9-inch springform pan and add the mixture. Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Melt the jam in the microwave, pour over the berries. Arrange the berries on top of cooled cake. Sprinkle the finishing sugar over the top just prior to serving.
More like this at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Microwave Peanut Brittle
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Peanut Brittle
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about Hazelnut Toffee and homemade Holiday gifts. I went a little overboard this year and made about 6 different candies to package in special tins to distribute to our neighbors and friends. I gave you the recipe for the toffee but neglected to provide the easy recipe for this Microwave Peanut Brittle. Weather you make the toffee or the brittle or any one of the other great and easy recipes found on our website, emealsforyou.com, the important thing is to begin a family tradition that harkens back to when homemade treats provided a sense of community.
Think beyond the typical fudge recipes. This recipe takes less than 15 minutes to make and the gift recipients will remember it long after the tin is empty.
Microwave Peanut Brittle
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 0.5 | cup | corn syrup, light |
| 1 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 1 | cup | nuts, roasted and salted |
| 1 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
CAUTION: This recipe is very hot and extreme caution should be used to avoid burns!
Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a 1 ½ quart microwave proof baking dish. Stir until blended. Microwave 4 minutes. Stir in the nuts, Microwave for 4 minutes until light brown. Stir in butter and vanilla. Microwave 2 minutes. Quickly pour onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Allow to cool and break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.
Makes about 1 pound.
Get the gift idea recipes at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Hazelnut Toffee
(From the Misc Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Hazelnut Toffee
With Thanksgiving behind us we turn our attention to Christmas. This year we will make several homemade treats as gift packages for friends and family. We have opted for Spicy Pecans, Cashew Brittle, Cranberry Biscotti and jars of homemade Hot Fudge Sauce. These will be paired with the Hazelnut Toffee to make attractive and very edible gifts.
Be sure to make enough of each as it mystically disappears from the kitchen when no one is looking.
Hazelnut Toffee
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Misc |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 30 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1.5 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 3 | Tb | honey |
| 0.5 | cup | water |
| 1.5 | cup | hazelnuts, toasted |
| 20 | oz | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| 0.5 | cup | hazelnuts, ground |
Toast nuts in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, remove immediately, cool and roll in a towel to remove husk. Place in plastic bag and hit with a flat pan to crush.
Prepping the chocolate- Place chocolate bits in a small food processor and chop into small pieces.
In a medium size, heavy pot place the butter, sugar, water and honey, heat over high heat about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 290-300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Immediately add the crushed nuts, remove from heat, and stir. Pour on a greased cookie sheet (11 X 17), spread out evenly and sprinkle the chocolate on top, when the chocolate melts sprinkle the ground nuts on top. Cool and store in airtight containers.
CAUTION: This is not a project you make with your kids. The sugar reaches 300 degrees and is very dangerous if handled improperly.
Find the easily made and wonderful homemade treats at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Roasted Seckel Pears
From the Appetizer Collection at emealsforyou.com
Roasted Seckel Pears
Our old neighbors from Chicago came for the weekend to catch up on all that has happened in the past couple of years. We were joined by the other Chicago neighbors who live down here in Cincinnati now. As travel timing issues had to be taken into account; we opted for “small plates” for dinner. Pan-seared tuna in a ginger dipping sauce, steelhead trout on cucumber slices with hollandaise sauce, mushroom caps stuffed with blue cheese and a few more were rounded out with the roasted seckel pears.
These pears are smaller than the normal size pears. Usually only available in late October and November, they are the perfect size to add a fruit to our small plate offerings. Sweet pears join with a smooth, tasty goat cheese fondant to give a punch to any dinner. They may be served as an appetizer or even a dessert. Especially good with my goat cheese ice cream.
Roasted Seckel Pears with Goat Cheese
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Appetizer |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 16 | medium | seckel pears |
| 3 | oz | cheese, goat |
| 2 | Tb | honey |
| 0.5 | tsp | pepper, fresh ground |
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut pears in half, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Place cut side down on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Place in oven for 6 -8 minutes, until the pears are tender. Remove to a serving platter, cut side up, spoon a dollop of goat cheese in the center, dust with fresh cracked black pepper and drizzle with honey.
More small plate ideas at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Brownies
From the Cooking for the Kids Collection at emealsforyou.com
Teresa's Brownie
I am not a big fan of brownies. To me they are like a long car ride to see the leaves change; okay once in a while but not on a steady diet. But when that once in a while hits, these brownies, named after my original partner on the website, emealsforyou.com more than hit the spot. As you can see we put them on the Cooking for the Kids recipe collection on the site mainly because brownies are for kids. So why not be a kid for a day and bake some brownies.
Teresa’s Brownies
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Cooking for the Kids |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 4 | oz | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| 0.75 | cup | butter, unsalted |
| 2 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 4 | large | egg |
| 1 | tsp | vanilla |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1 | cup | walnuts, chopped |
| 0.125 | tsp | salt, kosher |
Melt butter and chocolate. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix, add flour and walnuts, stir until blended. Pour into a 13 X 9 greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until done; 30 to 35 minutes.
More great recipes for the kids and beyond at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – The Best Chocolate Cake
From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com
The Best Chocolate Cake
We are off on our quarterly trip to New Jersey with a quick stopover on the Delaware Eastern shore. The menu is set for the usual family meals once we get to NJ. We are planning a mixed group of meals for the family dinners. Starting off with lobster raviolis and ending up with Chicken Piccata; with some slow roasted ribs added in.
The meal ideas are easy when compared to trying to come up with desserts that hit on everyone’s favorites. My mother-in- law is easy as she likes anything chocolate. Hot fudge sundaes, profiteroles with chocolate sauce as long as it has chocolate in it she is happy. As we make a couple of desserts each night there will be plenty of leftovers; so some consideration must be given to how well the leftovers will freeze for her to have when we are back home. The chocolate cake below is probably the best chocolate cake I have had. Moist and extra chocolaty, it fits the bill nicely and due to the size there should be plenty for her to enjoy later with her many luncheon groups.
Mary’s Special Birthday Cake
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | Other (General) |
| 3 | oz | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| 1.5 | cup | coffee, fresh brewed |
| 3 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 2.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1.5 | cup | cocoa powder, unsweetened |
| 0.75 | tsp | baking powder |
| 2 | tsp | baking soda |
| 1.25 | tsp | salt, table |
| 3 | large | egg |
| 0.75 | cup | oil, vegetable |
| 1.5 | cup | buttermilk |
| 0.75 | tsp | vanilla |
| 1 | lb | chocolate, semi-sweet bits |
| 1 | cup | cream, heavy |
| 2 | Tb | sugar, granulated |
| 2 | Tb | corn syrup, light |
| 0.25 | cup | butter, unsalted |
Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease pans (two 10 inch cake pans or three 9 inch cake pans), line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper and grease paper.
Place chocolate in a bowl and combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes ) Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Remove parchment paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature. Ckae may also be frozen at this point.
Make frosting:
In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.
Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency.
Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature to serve.
More really good desserts at emealsforyou.com.
To Foodie or Not to Foodie – A Rant and a Recipe
We are always torn when writing on this blog and more importantly when adding recipes to our website at emealsforyou.com how far down the Foodie Road we go. It has been our intention from the start to provide you with recipes and meal plans that are easy to make, use common ingredients and most important, interesting. With this in mind I sometimes think you might take a look at the title and decide the recipe is not for you.
I enjoy cooking, and thinking about cooking. We do have a rule around here that you can’t talk about the next meal while eating the current meal. Cooking is all about confidence. Confidence is about trying new recipes and having them turn out great; or sometimes making them a few times to get it right. The important thought here is to try. Don’t be put off by something new or a “fancy” name. Our readership is composed of all levels of cooks; from chefs to the newly wed preparing her or his first meal for the in-laws.
So here we go! This sounds crazy but it will take a store-bought carrot cake to a new level of dessert. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
Goat Cheese Ice Cream
Goat Cheese Ice Cream
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 2 | cups | cream, heavy |
| 0.5 | cup | milk, whole |
| 4 | large | egg, yolks |
| 0.25 | cup | sugar, granulated |
| 3 | Tb | corn syrup, light |
| 4 | oz | cheese, goat |
Bring the cream and the milk to a boil. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together and slowly add some of the hot cream into the yolks, stirring constantly. Add the yolk mixture to the cream and cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly. Whisk the corn syrup and the goat cheese together and add to the cream mixture. Remove from heat and whisk until fully blended. Cool in a water bath and then process in an ice cream maker. Freeze until needed.
Note: This is very rich and should be used in conjunction with other desserts.
Shown over carrot cake.
From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Peach Tart
From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com
Peach Tart
You have to love July/August; not for the weather but for the peaches. Early in Mid-June the peaches from Georgia start to show up at the local Farmers’ Markets. We wait patiently for the arrival of July when the peaches from South Carolina make their appearance. By August first we have all kinds of peaches to pick from.
While I am partial to the South Carolina peaches any peach in my mind is a good peach. In our family the best peach is one that has to be eaten outside or if inside over a trashcan; thus preventing the delicious juices from flowing all over our clothes. The only problem with this is that you have to keep from eating the peaches until they reach this marvelous state of ripeness. If by chance you happen to buy some that are not quite to this point and you just have to have them; try this easy tart. Baking them will increase their sweetness and your family will thank you for the treat.
Peach Tart
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | 29 and Holding (Celebration Meal Plans) |
| 2 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | recipe | tart shell |
| 5 | large | peaches, sliced |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 1 | Tb | vanilla |
| 1 | Tb | lemon, juice of |
| 0.5 | tsp | sugar, finishing |
Prepare tart shell according to the recipe. Peal peaches and cut into 8 wedges each. Add butter to a sauté pan and heat until melted. Place peaches in pan and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the brown sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and cook until the peaches are just tender but not mushy. Remove peaches from pan and cook. Return the pan to the heat and cook juices down until thick and caramelly. Place peaches in the baked tart shell; pour reduced juice over the peaches. Sprinkle finishing sugar (course) over top. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
More peachy recipes at emealsforyou.com.
Recipe of the Week – Peach Melba Crisp
From the Dessert Collection at emealsforyou.com
Peach Melba Crisp
I advocate meal planning to save money and save your sanity. Planning your meals makes it easier to feed your family great meals that are cost effective and offer good nutrition. Our website emealsforyou.com provides numerous aids, ideas and hundreds of meal plans and recipes to choose from. Having said all this we also advocate using fresh, local produce whenever possible. This helps support your regional or local Farmers’ Markets and also provides great food.
Our normal Saturday includes stops at the local Farmers’ Market and lo and behold the fresh peaches are starting to show up. Now we are really fond of the peaches from the Carolinas but have to wait a few more weeks, so we settled on the Georgia peaches. We had a dinner party planned that evening with slow cooked ribs and I thought a Peach Crisp would top off the evening. I noticed I had an abundance of raspberry jam in the fridge so I decided to add that to the recipe. Boy what a difference. The jam blended into the nooks and crannies and provided a visual and well as very tasteful addition to what was going to be a good crisp; raising it to a great crisp.
This quick and easy dessert may become your go-to dessert for those backyard bbq’s or to take to a friend’s for a dessert party. We had ours with good vanilla ice cream; why not, when you go this far a few more calories won’t hurt that much. Go to go now and walk my 3 miles; it might be guilt from the dessert.
Peach Melba Crisp
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 8 |
| Category: | Dessert |
| Meal: | other (General) |
| 1 | spritz | PAM |
| 2.5 | cups | flour, all-purpose |
| 2 | cups | sugar, granulated |
| 2 | lb | peaches, fresh |
| 0.5 | cup | sugar, brown |
| 3 | Tb | raspberry jam |
| 1 | cup | fruit juice, any fruit |
| 1 | Tb | cinnamon. ground |
| 4 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 1 | Tb | sugar, finishing |
Spray bottom of 10 X 10 baking pan with PAM; mix 1/2 of the flour and 1/3 of the sugar together. Sprinkle enough in pan to cover bottom about 1/2 “ thick. Peel peaches and cut into slices, mix with brown sugar and arrange evenly around pan. Place dabs of the jam on the peaches. Mix remaining flour and the remaining sugar together, cover top with remaining flour/sugar mixture, add fruit juice. Sprinkle top with cinnamon. Cut butter into small pieces and dot top of crisp. Sprinkle top with the finishing sugar. Bake @ 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crunchy
You may can find the rib recipe as well as many great summer dessert recipes at emealsforyou.com
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