Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cake

Last Christmas I made a gingerbread cake and wanted to make the same one this year for Ryan's family Christmas party. Unfortunately I didn't post the recipe and couldn't remember where I saved it. After some looking around on the internet and in my saved files, I finally decided I made this one posted on allrecipes. After I made it, I flipped through some of the reviews and realized it wasn't exactly the same- I had made some of the modifications they suggested. So for the Christmas Eve party at the Wright house, I searched through my STACKS of recipes and found the printed copy where I made all the changes. (As a side note - we got 7 cookbooks for Christmas at our house this year!- 4 for Adria and 3 for me) Because Adria was doing dairy free I made a couple of other changes this year. So for comparison sake here are the recipes I made:

Original Recipe                                Modified Recipe 

Strong Molasses flavor                    Spicier (more flavorful)

Darker color                                      lighter color

1/2 cup sugar                                   1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter                                  1/2 c butter

1 egg                                                   1 egg

1 cup molasses                               3/4 cup molasses

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour         2  1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda       1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon    2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger           2 teaspoons ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves      1/2 teaspoon cloves (this year I did 1 tsp)

1/2 teaspoon salt                        1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (this year I did 1 tsp)

1 cup hot water                             1/2 teaspoon salt

                                                          1/4 c hot water

                                                           1 c buttermilk (this year I did all water)

                                                         5 to 6 TBSP crystallized ginger (forgot it

                                                         this yr)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan. Cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses. Add the spices and salt. Mix in the flour then stir in the hot water. Pour into the pan. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.  (The modified recipe only cooks for 45 minutes - I think I only cooked the original recipe for 50 minutes.)

The modified recipe cracked more on the top when I made it. Not really sure why. Guess I need to do more studying on the chemistry of cooking! 

I made dairy free caramel for Adria too - it turned out well:

13.5 oz coconut milk 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp pure vanilla 

1/4 tsp sea salt (optional)

Combine coconut milk and brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Let it boil for around 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously, then lower to a simmer. Let it simmer—stirring as needed—until it cooks down to about half its volume and thickens. This usually takes around 50-60 minutes, Turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla and salt, and let it sit for about an hour. Cover and refrigerate overnight – it continues to thicken as it sits.

Dairy Free Peppermint Cupcakes and other desserts

The past few weeks Adria has complained of a stomach ache - more so than usual. We have suspected she is lactose intolerant like Ryan for awhile now, and she had been taking the same pills he takes, but she still complained a fair amount. We finally took her to the doctor and he said she needed to go a dairy free diet for 2 weeks. At the end of 2 weeks we can try her on some hard aged cheese. If she does ok with that, we will know it's a lactose intolerant problem. But if that bothers her stomach than it's a milk protein allergy. So the 2 weeks ends on Christmas day, but in the meantime we have been working on diary free food for her. She isn't very happy about it! We have tried to find substitutes that she can eat: Dairy free (AKA vegan butter), dairy free whipped cream (coconut milk), and dairy free chocolate (Trader Joes). After some internet searches we found Earth Balance buttery sticks are the best for cooking and so far they've been great- I have a gingerbread cake in the oven right now made with it, and I used it for all the other recipes too. 

So for Christmas Adria wanted a panettone. We had bought one before we found out about doing the dairy free diet and it has milk in it. So I made some instead. I tried 2 different recipes. They both turned out great. The hard part was making my own Panettone molds. I did that with some card board, staples and flour glue. I go the idea from this website here. I tried a recipe from Zoe Francois. She has published several cook books and I have watched some Craftsy classes she taught. The second recipe I tried was from King Arthur Flour. They both turned out well. But they both really browned. I think next time I will cover them with foil sooner. I did use a thermometer to make sure they were cooked to 190 degrees. 

We are going to John and Andrea's house for a Christmas Party tonight. Grandma Andrea always buys whatever dessert they have at Costco and they aren't milk free. So I told Adria I would make here whatever dessert she wanted. She wanted cupcakes with frosting. I didn't think she really liked chocolate that much, but I was wrong- that is the one thing she has complained about the most during the last week or two. She's not a dark chocolate fan either but I think she's learning to like it more now that she can't have milk. Last night she said the Trader Joe's chocolate was really good. 

Adria asked for vanilla cupcakes and chocolate frosting. I suggested adding peppermint and she thought would be great - with CANDY CANE Sprinkles! 

Cupcakes

1 and 3/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup oil

1 Tbsp white vinegar

In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the soy milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar and mix briefly to remove any big lumps. Line a 12-cupcake tray with cupcake liners and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Peppermint Frosting 

I used this as a guide, but mostly just added stuff until I had enough frosting that tasted like we wanted -Pretty much how I always make frosting. 

1/4 cup vegan butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

3 to 4 Tbsp soy milk 

Crushed candy canes

Cream the powdered sugar with the butter. Add the cocoa powder and peppermint extract. Mix well. Add milk a little at a time to get the right consistence for frosting. Add more sugar if needed and more cocoa powder if you want a darker chocolate flavor. Put frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes. 

Since I made these on our anniversary, Ryan bought me a cupcake holder for an anniversary gift! I told him that's what I wanted. 

Thanksgiving Desserts - Pecan Pie Bars and Cranberry Apple Cake

We spent Thanksgiving in Spokane WA with Elizabeth and Family. We even got to see Steven and Kellie and family while we were there. We made some yummy desserts for Thanksgiving- I've had them sitting on my desk for nearly a month waiting to post them but it never quite happened- so here they are now!

The pecan pie bars I got from Leslie Hegseth who moved here from CA. We had a welcome to the neighborhood party in August and she brought these. I LOVED them, so of course I had to have the recipe. I got brave and asked her for it and this is what she sent me:

Ingredients:
Crust-
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Topping-
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 pan with foil leaving enough for a 2 inch overhang on all sides. 

First make the crust by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in flour and salt and mix until crumbly. Press the crust into the foil lined pan and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. 

While the crust bakes prepare the filling by combining the butter, brown sugar, honey and heavy cream in a saucepan, stirring it over medium heat. Simmer the mixture for 1 minute, then stir in the chopped nuts. 

Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the pecan filling over the hot crust spreading it to cover the entire surface. 

Return the pan to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes. 

Remove the pan and allow to cool fully in the pan. Use the foil overhang to lift the bars out and transfer to cutting board. Peel off foil and cut. 

Enjoy!
Leslie

Everyone liked them so much- I only got 1 quick picture while they were still in the pan. 

The next recipe is one Libby and I found on the internet. She bought fresh cranberries to make sauce. But NO ONE likes sauce so we decided to do something else with them. We tried a Cranberry Apple Cake recipe from Ina Garten and it was really good. Libby said she likes recipes from Ina Garten and when the cake was done Rob said he really liked it.

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced - we used what ever we had
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges) - We used clementines
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice - clementines again
1 1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour and salt.
Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

We had a great time and didn't even miss the pies! They were still in the freezer and we never ate them. Thanks for the fun Elizabeth and Rob!

Halloween White Chili

This year for Halloween, we didn't do our traditional invite everyone over to our house party. It was different to not have the whole family over here, but with Justin and Ashlee living in a new neighborhood with sidewalks and kids I thought they'd prefer to go there and Olivia and Jessica have been trying to split time between there neighborhoods and ours for a few years. My girls don't want to stick around with cousins anyway- they want to do off with their friends. So Ryan and I hung out at home and handed out candy by ourselves - while working on bagpipes- but that's a different story.

Anyway, every year I make my traditional chili recipe - which isn't a recipe at all. You buy cans of every and any flavor of beans, a couple of cans of beanless chili and a couple of cans of Italian style stewed tomatoes and dump them in the crock-pot and let them cook all day. Every year our neighborhood has a get together on Halloween for soup and bread before the kids go off to trick or treat. We have usually made a quick appearance at the party to say hello before going home to our own family party, but this year we went to their party instead. (It lasts less than an hour- just long enough to eat.) But they asked me to bring a chili type soup. I found this recipe on Just a Pinch and thought maybe I should make that- but since it was new I wasn't sure how it would turn out. And Adria said I should just make the same chili I always make. I ended up making both. It's a good thing too because this new chili was a HIT and the traditional chili didn't turn out as well as usual. I made it in a smaller older crock pot I have had since we got married- I don't think it got hot enough to thicken like it usually does- so I'm blaming the crock pot for that failure.  Everyone liked the white chili! Several neighbors asked for the recipe and Genna had it for breakfast this morning and Pierce took it to lunch- Always a win if the kids will eat it as leftovers at lunch!


If you know me, you know I had to make some changes to the recipe - so here it is:

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion
2 clove garlic
1 tsp chili powder
1 (7 oz) can chopped green chiles
3 (15.5 oz) cans white northern beans
2 (14oz) cans chicken broth
1 tsp salt - I think I added a little extra after I tasted it- but we use low sodium broth
1 tsp pepper - I didn't measure I just added some
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 c whipping cream
1 c sour cream - I didn't measure this either - just spooned some in- probably less than 1 cup.
Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Boil chicken until cooked and shred with a hand mixer. Meanwhile, chop the onion and finely dice the garlic. Saute onion, garlic and green chilies a large pan with the vegetable oil. Add the chili powder and shredded chicken. Mix until combined and then pour into the crock pot. Add the broth, beans (liquid too, although I partially drained 1 can because it seamed like a lot of liquid), cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours (I didn't really time it). During the last 30 to 60 minutes of cooking, stir in the whipping cream and sour cream. Serve hot sprinkled with cheese (and extra sour cream).

The only pics I have of the chili is the bowl Genna ate for breakfast this morning!

Pumpkin Cheese Ball and Halloween Chex Mix

Mom had her traditional Halloween party on Friday night. It was lots of fun. I made a chex snack mix that I have made 3 times already this month. I would have got a picture of it, but we eat it too fast. When I decided to make it for the party I couldn't find the recipe anywhere! I thought I had saved it somewhere or printed it but I couldn't find it anywhere - I even tried a Google search and came up with similar things but not the exact recipe. Luckily I had it still opened on a tab on my phone. So I thought I better post it before I loose it! The original is from Ease and Carrots, but of course I changed it up!

Halloween Chex Mix
6 cups Corn Chex
2 cups mini pretzels
1/2 cup  salted peanuts
3 tbsp butter
5 tsp honey
1/2 cup candy corn
1/3 cup candy pumpkins
1/3 cup Reese's Pieces

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Pour both Chex cereals, pretzels, and peanuts onto a lined baking sheet. Put 3 Tbsp butter into a glass measuring cup. Fill to the 1/2 cup line with honey (5 tpbs). Put in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds until butter melts. Stir together and pour over cereal mixture. Stir to coat evenly. Bake for approximately 45 min to 1 hour or until golden brown, stirring every 15 minutes. Pour mixture onto wax paper to cool or cool on cookie sheet. Mix in candy corn, pumpkins and Reese's Pieces.

Pumpkin Cheese Ball
1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1 (7.5 oz.) tub vegetable cream cheese
2 tbsp. Hidden Valley Ranch mix
3 green onions, diced
1 red pepper, finely diced (save the stem)
2 or more cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Use electric mixer to combine the cream cheeses and ranch mix until smooth. Stir in green onion, red pepper and one cup shredded cheddar cheese. form into a ball in the bowl. Spread out a double layer of plastic wrap. sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese onto the plastic wrap. Place cheese ball onto of shredded cheese. Put remaining shredded cheese over the top and sides of the cheese ball. Then wrap tightly with the plactic wrap. Use 4 large rubber bands to put around the cheese ball to make pumpkin like indents. Then put cheese ball in the fridge to chill. I stuck mine in the freezer for about 20 minutes to get it started because I didn't have a lot of time left. It needs at least 2 hours in the fridge. The original recipe said overnight was best, but I didn't have that long and it turned out fine. When ready to serve, but the rubber bands off and remove plastic wrap. Push the pepper stem into the top of the "pumpkin." Serve with crackers.  It was a big hit at the party and what little I brought home was finished off by Pierce and his friends later that night. 

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Last Sunday I decided to make the second dessert Genna wanted for her birthday and take it to the party Ashlee was having for Addie (and all the October birthday girls!) Ashlee make the MOST delicious Biscoff cake- so we didn't really eat much of my pie. And unfortunately the topping didn't look great. But it tasted good. I planned on getting some better pics, but I forgot until after the pie was gone. We stored it in the freezer- it's great frozen and all week long everyone kept sneaking a piece out for dessert.

21 chocolate filled chocolate sandwich cookies
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips about 2 cups
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Use a food processor to finely crush the cookies. Pour into a pie plate. Melt butter and pour over cookie crumbs. Mix until even and press into the pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 min. Then cool in freezer.

Put chocolate chips and 1 cup in microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 min. May need to microwave an additional 30 seconds so chocolate is completely melted. Whisk until smooth. Add vanilla. Put over a larger bowl filled with ice to cool. Meanwhile beat the 1 and 1/2 cups cream with powdered sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture.

When crust is cool, fill with chocolate mixture and chill or freeze until ready to serve. I used my leftover mirror glaze to top it- but I didn't do a very good job making the filling smooth- so the topping wasn't smooth either.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

Genna turned 14 this week! She wanted a party similar to the one she had last year with pizza and a movie and chocolate cake. We made Monster bark again. Mine never looks quite as nice as hers does, but it tastes good. I use more pretzels and less white chocolate coating - probably why it doesn't look as good, but I like the extra "stuff" in the chocolate.

We made pretzel pizza again. I found a new sauce to use! I was tired of the Campbell's soup - have you noticed all the canned soups taste the same- kind of salty and gross. I tried to decide what else we could use. I didn't really want to make a homemade cheese sauce- that didn't seem quite right either. I thought maybe I could use Velveeta. I have NEVER used Velveeta for anything, but I thought I'd try it. Anyway, when we went to the store to find Velveeta (and I had to ask someone where to find it in the store because I've never bought it) we found a bottle of Kroger cheese sauce next to the Velveeta that seemed like it might work. And it did! I think it turned better than the Campbell's sauce.

Genna wanted a chocolate cake for her birthday. I found several different recipes and showed her the pics and asked which she might like. There was a chocolate mousse pie that she thought looked good, but I wasn't sure if the rest of the party guests would like a mousse pie - and it wasn't really cake. I considered making the Nothing Bundt Cake copycat chocolate cake recipes, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to use a cake mix to make it. After all as Ryan reminded me it always tastes better from scratch! I had pinned a recipe for something called "Brickstreet Chocolate Cake" and after reading through it I realized it was really similar to the Nothing Bundt Cake one. I made a few changes so I could make it into a layer cake and I added a chocolate mousse filling - so Genna could still have the mousse part and added a chocolate mirror glaze- It turned our great!

Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups plus 3 Tbsp flour
5 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix (about 1/2 cup)
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I think next time I will use less or skip them all together.)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray two 8x8 square pans with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla in large bowl. Beat in eggs. Add soda, salt, chocolate pudding, buttermilk corn starch, and flour and mix until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly into the square pans and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Lower temperature to 325° and continue baking for about 15 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Then remove from pans and use cut each cake into 2 even layers when cake is no longer warm.

Chocolate Mousse (Next time I might double or 1 and 1/2 times this recipe)
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Put chocolate chips and 1 cup heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl. Put in microwave for 1 min. Stir and repeat for 30 seconds at a time until chocolate is melted. Add vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour chocolate into a bowl and cool to room temperature stirring occasionally. Meanwhile beat the other 1 cup cream with 2 Tbsp powdered sugar until cream forms stiff peaks and fold into the chocolate mixture when it is cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.  Use mousse to frost between each cake layer and over the top and sides of cake as well. Put cake back in refrigerator for the mousse to set up while making the glaze.

Chocolate Mirror Glaze (this make extra so you'll have leftovers)
1 Tbsp powdered gelatin
3 Tbsp water
½ cup water
1 cup sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cocoa powder

In a small bowl, SLOWLY sprinkle the gelatin over the 3 tablespoons water and let bloom for 5 minutes. (The gelatin should absorb into the water before you sprinkle more on top of it. I stirred it around some too.) In a small saucepan, bring the ½ cup water and the sugar to a boil. Whisk in the cream and cocoa until smooth and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and Add the gelatin, mix thoroughly so there are no lumps and gelatin is completely melted. Then poor the chocolate glaze into a small bowl nested inside a larger bowl filled with ice let cool to about 75 F stir frequently. I don't think I stirred enough and when I was ready to use mine, some of the outside edges of the glaze was a little too thick. The glaze needs to be 75 degrees so it will flow nicely. Use a ladle to pour glaze over top of cake and allow it to drip down the sides. Return to the fridge until ready to serve.

Pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon frosting

Steven came into town for a quick visit and so we threw together a quick birthday party for him. Of course we had to eat the traditional Hawaiian haystacks! Mom made yummy pumpkin cupcakes from a recipe Jessica found on the internet. We all asked Mom for the recipe and so she sent us the link. I am re-posting it here so we can find it again because otherwise we will never know where it came from. Not sure if mom made any changes or if she just made it as is. I know she did mini cupcakes instead of regular size ones and she decorated hers with candy corns too. The kids ate all those so fast there was no way to get a picture!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugars, vegetable oil and eggs.
Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir just until moist.
Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray. Place into oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pumpkin candy or candy corns for garnish

Beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating just until incorporated. Add vanilla and cinnamon until well combined. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, approximately 1-2 minutes.
Use a small offset spatula or a pastry bag fitted with decorative tip to frost the cupcakes. Top with candy corn or pumpkins.

Molten Chocolate Cake

For Pierce's birthday he asked for Chocolate Lava Cake or Molton Chocolate cake. I have made these before but I always struggle trying to find the recipe that I like - so I'm posting what I made this time. I think Pierce liked them. I liked them too- but I don't know if the rest of the family does- they are a little too gooey they thought. But this recipe I  made makes 6 - which is the perfect number for our family and the other recipes only make 4.

1 and 1/2 sticks butter
9 oz semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate. I used a 4 oz Baker's Semi-sweet chocolate bar, a 3.17 oz Ghiradelli dark chocolate bar (either 72 % or 86% cacao - I don't remember which) and then 2 oz of nestle semisweet chocolate chips.
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
3/8 c sugar (6 Tbsp)
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp flour

Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and flour six ramekins and put them on a baking sheet. In a Pyrex bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale. When the chocolate is smooth, quickly mix it and the flour into the egg mixture. Spoon the batter evenly into the ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with raspberries.

Breakfast Pizza

Last week, Pierce turned 17! He planned to have his D and D crew hang out in the evening as they usually do on Friday nights. What we didn't realize is that 3 of them were spending the night. He says he told us about it and even his sister remembered he was doing it- but I guess we missed it somehow! So I had 4 hungry teenage boys to feed in the morning and had to come up with something to make. I remembered I had made this breakfast pizza once before and decided to try it again.

20 oz shredded hash browns
1 onion, chopped fine
1/4 to 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp butter
12 eggs
10-12 slices bacon
4 oz diced ham (half a package)
shredded cheddar cheese - about 2 cups
salt and pepper for seasoning

Spray a 14 inch pizza pan with cooking spray. Melt the butter in a pan and add onion. Cook until soft. Mix cooked onions into shredded hash browns and spread onto a pizza pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 425˚F for 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, scramble the eggs and cook the bacon. When crust is done, remove from oven and sprinkle with scrambled eggs. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle over the pizza. Add ham and red bell pepper and any other toppings you want. (My family won't do mushrooms, but I thought they sounded good here.) Top with shredded cheese. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.

While the crust is baking, fry the bacon and cook the scrambled eggs.

Remove the crust from the oven and sprinkle with the scrambled eggs.
Next, crumble the bacon and sprinkle it over the eggs.
Follow the bacon with the diced ham and any other toppings your family loves such as onions, peppers or mushrooms.
Top it all with shredded cheese.
Return the breakfast pizza to the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

Fig Newtons

I LOVE fig newtons! In a previous post I mentioned that I made some and since I didn't follow a recipe exactly I better try to put it here before I forget. My kids loved them. Even Adria who hates anything new. I thought they were good- but not quite like the cheap fig newton knock offs I remember. - maybe next time I will try leaving the orange out of the dough- but Adria said they were bettter than the ones from the store. I used 2 different recipes as a base - one for a cookbook called Bravetart by Stella Parks and one from Smitten Kitchen who also used the Stella Parks one and made changes herself. Mine is somewhere in between. Smitten Kitchen put 1/2 tsp orange zest in the filling- I don't think I did that- but she said it was a good way to get orange flavor but without putting it in the cookie.

COOKIE
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt - I think I skipped it?
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Combine butter, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, orange zest and honey. Beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add orange juice, then add the egg and yolks, beating between them, and continue beating until smooth. Reduce the speed to low and sprinkle in the flour, mixing until well combined.

Push the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. I hate this part and usually try to skip it. But this dough is so sticky you really can't skip the fridge! Also you will need LOTS for flour for dusting when it comes to rolling them out.

FILLING
12 ounces plump, sticky dried mission figs, stems trimmed - I can only find them at Trader Joe's!
1/3 cup applesauce, any variety
2 tablespoons orange or apple juice

Cut the figs in half and put them in a food processor. Add applesauce and orange juice. Pulse until roughly chopped then continue to process until it makes a thick smooth paste. Scrap the sides occasionally. Put the paste into a freezer bag and cut a 1/2 opening off one of the corners. (Or use a piping bag with a 1/2 tip if you have one - I don't.) It says you can leave them for 24 hours or put them in the fridge for 3 weeks. Who has patience for that?

ASSEMBLE THE COOKIES
This is the tricky part. Check out Smitten Kitchen for some pics if you need help- I did.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pat the dough into an 8 inch square then roll out to a 15 x 15 inch square. REMEMBER TO FLOUR WELL! Using a pizza cutter or bowl scrapper cut the dough into four 3 and 1/4 inch wide strips. (Did you do the math? I did - that doesn't equal 15! Where did the other 2 inches go?? I don't know. I tried cutting it as directed and then I ended up with extra dough- and had to roll stuff again - just cut it into 4 strips - maybe 5)

Holding the bag at a 90-degree angle just above the surface of the dough, pipe a 1 inch stripe down the center of each portion. Holding it this way is supposed to make the filling flatten out. Using a bench scrapper (love those!) fold one side of the dough strip over the filling. Brush off extra flour. Then roll over again with the seam side down. Gently flatten each bar with fingers and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. (YES use parchment not your Silpat mats - you don't want to cut those later!) All 4 should fit on the cookie sheet. I had 5 sections (Remember the measuring problem) and they all fit on 1 sheet, but they did get touch each other during baking.

Bake the bars for 15 to 18 minutes until they are puffed and firm but do not have any significant browning. Immediately cut into 1 inch pieces with the bench scrapper - I did 2 rows at a time. Put the cookies into a paper towel lined airtight container, putting paper towels between each layer and on the top too. This lets the cookies steam so they can get that soft chewy texture - otherwise they are a little dry. They need to steam for at least 6 hours. One recipe said to cool the cookies on the tray and then put them in a container overnight or they were too soft - I wonder if she lived in a more humid climate. We did the 6 hour method and it worked great. I kept them in the same air tight paper towel lined container overnight and they were better the next day. They were gone before I knew it! So sorry there aren't any pictures!

P.S. - There's a bunch of other recipes in the Bravetart cookbook I want to try - I need to get my own copy instead of the library copy- Will anyone buy me a present? :-)

Memorial Day BBQ Grilled Pineapple Slices

I thought I better finish up adding a couple of recipes that are sitting here on my desk. We made these pineapple slices THREE times on memorial weekend- they are delicious!!

1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into rings - Epicurious has a great video on how to do this.
1/4 cup canned coconut milk
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar - I used a ton more than this!

I really don't know why this recipe has measurements - they aren't all that accurate.
To make cinnamon sugar mix 3 parts sugar with 1 part cinnamon.
Dip pineapple rings into coconut milk then dip them into the cinnamon sugar. Immediately put them onto a hot greased grill. (To grease your grill, pour a little oil on a paper towl. Using the grill tongs rub the paper towel over the grill)
Grill the  for 6 minutes per side or until they are nicely grilled. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

May Birthday Desserts: Tres Leches Mango cake, Lime Pistachio Angel Food Cake, Lemon Swirl Cheesecake, and Orange Brownies

I couple of weeks ago we celebrated Jessica's and Ashlee's birthday. I volunteered to bring the cake. As usual I found a BUNCH of recipes I wanted to try and couldn't decide which to make. So I made several. We had their party on a Sunday, but I had recipes I wanted to make before then. I started Friday with a Tres Leches cake with mango cream for Ryan. No, it wasn't his birthday, but he loves mango, and I had found this recipe weeks ago and bought mangoes but never got around to it.  The mangoes were getting a little too ripe, but we used them anyway.

The recipe is from Spicy Perspective. I think I made it pretty much as written but if I make it again I would changes- It made WAY TOO much mango cream and the cake was rather thin- I think I'd make them thicker- there was definitely enough milk to soak more cake- it was oozing out everywhere.
Here's the recipe as originally written:

Tres Leches Cake with Mango Cream
Cake (One and a half times or double this in the future):
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (4 ounces)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Then add the vanilla. Alternate adding the eggs and flour mixture until combined. (I think I did half and half or maybe thirds) Divide the cake batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 20 minutes, until golden on top. Remove the cakes from pans and cool for 20 minutes. Once the cakes are cool, place one on a cake platter and the other on a sheet of foil with the edges turned up to form a shallow bowl. Poke both cakes with a fork thoroughly, to help the milks absorb. Slowly pour half the tres leches mixture over each cake and allow them to sit and soak it all up while you make the Mango Cream.

Tres Leches:
12 ounces can evaporated milk
14 ounces can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
Whisk together and pour over cake.

For the Mango Cream (HALF this!):
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 ripe mangoes
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

For the Mango Cream: Peel both mangoes. slice one into thin strips and set aside as the garnish. Cut the second off the pit and place in the blender with 2/3 cup sugar and a pinch of salt. Puree until smooth. Pour the puree into a small sauce pan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer. Stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes until thick. (Mine took lots longer.) Then place in the fridge to cool.Whip the heavy cream until firm peaks form. Then gently fold in the chilled mango puree.

To assemble: Scoop about half the Mango Cream on the cake that’s on the platter. Spread the Mango Cream evenly, then carefully flip the second cake layer on top and remove the foil. Spread the remaining mango cream on the top and decorate with fresh mango slices.

Everyone really liked it- even when I took the leftover 2 days later on Sunday.

The next thing I made was a Lemon Curd Marble Cheesecake from Epicurious. Most of the comments said that it tasted better the second day- So I made this on Saturday. It has a recipe for the lemon curd, but I had lemon curd I made last year and sealed in bottles and then froze. (I wasn't sure if I bottled it correctly or not - so it had to get frozen too.) If you have your favorite lemon curd recipe- use that, or use some from the store, or use the original recipe on the Epicurious website. Other than the lemon curd, I used their recipe as written. I did have to bake it a little longer though.

Lemon Curd Marble Cheesecake
For crust:
1 1/3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs - about 1 package of crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt - I think I skipped it.
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla - I used extra.

1 pint jar of lemon curd
blueberries for garnish

Make and bake crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of 9 inch springform pan (to make it easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side. (This was a GREAT idea. I never thought of it before- but it makes getting the cake off so much easier!). Break the cracker into pieces and put in the food processor. Process until fine crumbs. Add the sugar and pulse. Then add butter and pulse to mix well. Press crust mixture into bottom and up 1 inch on side of springform pan. Place springform pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in springform pan on a rack.

Make filling and bake cheesecake:
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Beat together cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until combined. Pour two thirds of cream cheese filling into crust, then spoon half of lemon curd over filling and swirl curd into filling with a small knife. (Avoid touching crust with knife to prevent crumbs getting into filling.) Repeat with remaining filling and curd. Bake cheesecake until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center trembles when pan is gently shaken, about 45 minutes. (Center of cake will appear very loose but will continue to set as it cools.) Mine took about 55 minutes I think.Transfer springform pan to a rack and immediately run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen. Cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours, then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. (I chilled mine overnight!) Remove side of springform pan before serving. Garnish with blueberries.

The last cake I planned to make was the Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios. I had to make a run to Harmon's at 9 p.m. to find pistachios. It says to use unsalted ones - but I couldn't find them - So I used salted ones like some other people did. It tasted great. I also used more nuts than they suggested. The only draw back with this cake is that is was a little dry and a little too sweet. (And Ashlee doesn't like pistachios - Sorry Ashlee!) I think next time I will skip the glaze and maybe to a strawberry syrup to go over it instead!

Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios
Cake:
1 cup cake flour - I didn't have any so I used 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in the 1 cup measuring cup and add flour.
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided - Didn't have that either- you can make your own by putting the same amount plus a couple of Tbsp of regular sugar in a food processor. Pulse until it feels like fine sand.
1/4 teaspoon salt - probably skipped it. (Ryan's on a low salt diet - Now we just need to get the low sugar diet going too!)
10 large egg whites, room temperature - I bought a 16 oz container of eggs whites - that equals 10 eggs
2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Lime syrup and lime glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
1/2 cup unsalted raw pistachios (about 2 ounces), finely chopped in processor - I used salted ones and probably more than the 1/2 cup.
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift flour, 1/2 cup superfine sugar, and salt into medium bowl; repeat sifting 3 times (I didn't sift again- too lazy.) Using electric mixer, beat egg whites, lime peel, and vanilla on medium speed in large bowl until frothy (mixture may turn neon green but color will change when remaining ingredients are added). Add cream of tartar; increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. (Don't add too much sugar at once- it makes it so the eggs take FOREVER to get stiff!) Sprinkle 1/3 of flour mixture over whites and gently fold in until incorporated. Fold in remaining flour mixture in 2 more additions just until incorporated. Transfer to ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan with 4-inch-high sides and removable bottom (do not use nonstick pan); smooth top.
Bake cake until pale golden and tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 38 minutes. Immediately invert cake onto work surface if pan has feet, or invert center tube of pan onto neck of bottle or metal funnel and cool cake completely. Using long thin knife, cut around cake sides and center tube to loosen. Lift out center tube with cake still attached; run knife between cake and bottom of pan to loosen. Invert cake onto rack, then turn cake over, rounded side up. (Mine was fairly flat on top- no rounded side ;-( I struggle with meringue recipes!) Set rack with cake atop rimmed baking sheet. (I just put it on the cake stand!)

For lime syrup and lime glaze:
Combine sugar and 3 tablespoons lime juice in small saucepan; stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Brush syrup all over top and sides of cake. Immediately press pistachios onto top and sides of cake, pressing to adhere.Stir powdered sugar with remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice in small bowl until smooth. Drizzle glaze over top of cake. Let stand until glaze sets, about 10 minutes. (Like I said earlier - skip the glaze- some of the comments said the same thing!)

When I got up Sunday morning, I thought about the desserts I made and thought maybe the kids would not be impressed with fancy desserts and might like something more "traditional." I suggested cupcakes or brownies to Adria and she decided to make brownies from a box. Sunday afternoon I made fig newtons - I had seen a recipe awhile about, but it needed dried figs. NO ONE has dried figs except Trader Joe's. Even all the recipes I found said to get Dried Mission Figs at Trader Joe's. Ryan and I had gone over there Saturday morning after dropping Adria off at Olivia's house to help watch her girls while she ran a race. And since she lives close to Trader Joe's and World Market we had to stop at both places. So I made fig cookies and had some leftover orange zest and fresh orange juice from the cookies. I wondered if I could make orange flavored brownies- and YES! you can. They taste just like a chocolate orange that we all get a Christmas time. YUM! They were the first dessert to go! I think we have a new favorite way to do brownies!

Chocolate Orange Brownies
1 fudge brownie mix
oil called for on the mix
eggs called for on the mix
1 orange

Zest the orange and then juice the orange. Mix the brownies as directed on the package with 2 changes- Use the amount of juice instead of water called for on the directions and add all the orange zest. Bake as instructed. They are SO easy and SO yummy!

Creme Brulee Cake

I really like creme brulee - that crunch browned sugar on top of a thick custard. It's yummy. A couple of days ago at work, Jenny brought a creme brulee cake she had made. I asked her for the recipe. It came from the same Chef in Training blog where the lemon cake came from that I made for Adria's birthday last year.  Maybe I should start looking at that blog more often. I googled several other recipes to see how they differed. It looks like it's just a "Texas sheet cake" with a vanilla custard on top. It turned out well, so I'm posting the recipe I made. Once again, I made changes to make is easier and to get rid of the shortening. Yes, I have shortening in the pantry, but I try to avoid using it. It's gross.

VANILLA TEXAS SHEET CAKE
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Spray a 15x10x1 inch sheet pat with cooking spray. Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Then in a sauce pan melt the butter and water and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. (This is to get rid of some of the water.) Pour the butter into the flour and mix well. Stir in buttermilk. Add baking soda and mix (I think next time I will sift this in with the dry ingredients.) Add eggs 1 at a time and mix after each. Stir in the vanilla bean paste. Pour into the greased sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Cool completely - so it only feels slightly warm to the touch before adding the topping. Mix the topping while it cools.

CREME BRULEE TOPPING
1 large box (approx 6 oz) vanilla instant pudding
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
¼ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Combine all the ingredients and mix until smooth and thickened. Place in the fridge while cake cools completely. When cake is cool, spread the topping evenly over the cake and put the cake in the fridge for at least 1 hour to make sure it is chilled all the way through.

SUGAR CRUST
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

Put sugar into a food processor and pulse to make very fine sugar (OR just use 1/2 cup very fine sugar if you can find it at the store - I couldn't) Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the cake and Place under a preheated broiler until sugar bubbles and turns golden brown. Watch closely and rotate pan frequently. The middle of mine was done before the edges, so I had to hold the edges under the broiler. (This is when I REALLY REALLY want a kitchen blowtorch! It's on my birthday wish list!) Chill the cake for at least 2 hours- I chilled mine overnight- Serve cold.

The family liked it. So even though it's noon on a Saturday and I should be doing chores, we all had cake for lunch and I thought I better write it down before I forgot about it.