Tag Archive for: dessert

Hot Chocolate Pudding

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Every year when I was little, we would spend either Thanksgiving or Christmas at my grandparent’s house.  It was always a lot of fun being with the whole family, but the best part every year was dessert.  My grandmother used to make the most amazing dessert that I had always known as “Gook” but that is not its actual name- actually it was hot chocolate pudding.  I don’t know why it was called that other than maybe a combination of gooey cake, but either way- it is awesome.  For some reason around when I was ten or twelve, we stopped having this as dessert, and while of course only complimentary things were said of the new dessert- everyone really just wanted the “Gook” back.  I decided to make it for dessert last week mainly because the weather seemed to call for a hot dessert, and I hadn’t had this goodness in about twenty years.  It was everything I remembered and more.  The recipe calls for two squares of unsweetened chocolate.  I got the best unsweetened chocolate I could find at the grocery store as opposed to just the regular Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate.  I think better chocolate equals better dessert.  The squares however were much bigger than the regular squares that you find, so I added extra sugar and milk to the recipe. The other slight adaption that I made was I only had skim milk, and I thought that heavier milk was probably needed.  I also had heavy whipping cream in the fridge, so I used a little more than half heavy cream and the rest skim milk- this worked well but probably whole milk would be best.  Also, the recipe says to grease and flour a double boiler.  I had never heard of this, nor had anyone at the store where I went to buy my double boiler.  The reason behind this is because the bottom and edges of the pudding get cakey- which is the desired effect, so if the double boiler is greased and floured- it is obviously easier to get out.  This might be the most decadent, rich and delicious chocolate dessert I have ever had because basically what you are making is not fully cooked brownies- it’s pretty awesome.  Enjoy!!

Hot Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Beat egg and sugar together.  Melt butter and chocolate.  Add to sugar mixture, beating well.  Add vanilla and milk, then the flour sifted with the baking powder and salt.  Place in greased and floured double boiler for 1 hour.  Serve at once with whipped cream.

 

Loveless Cafe Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

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I know that I have posted a bunch of recipes using pumpkin, but it is such a great fall ingredient and it tastes so good, so here is one more.  I made these this past weekend, and they are amazing.  Thank you to the Loveless Cafe in Nashville for another great recipe.  I will say that I did not have any Loveless Cafe Biscuit Mix which the recipe calls for and had to use Bisquick, so while I loved these little treats- I am assuming that they would probably have been better had I used the Loveless Cafe Biscuit Mix.  I will have to get some of that!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients:

1 package cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

½ cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 cup Loveless Cafe Biscuit Mix (or other biscuit mix)

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, combine flour and Loveless Cafe Biscuit Mix (or other biscuit mix), baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients and place dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, line cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350°. Place spoonful’s of chilled dough on sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cool 2-3 minutes before putting on a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely.

Ingredients for Maple Cream Cheese Icing:

4oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsps maple syrup

3-4 Tbs. milk (depending on desired consistency)

Directions:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla, maple syrup and milk. Drizzle on cooled cookies.

Weekend Reading and Blackberry Farm Pumpkin Pudding

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Most weekends, outside of Walker’s football or other various sporting activities, we try to keep our days pretty free since we are usually so busy during the week.  A lot of this free time, Corby designates to reading time.  He can spend hours and hours reading the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition or various magazines that have come in throughout the week.  Sometimes, when I would like to be doing something outside, I can get very slightly annoyed by all this superfluous reading, but most of the time, and this weekend being a prime example, the reading pays off.  Walker, who was waiting for Corby to take him to the aquarium, was less enthusiastic about waiting, but he is not as into recipe finds as I am.  In the Wall Street Journal Weekend edition this past weekend, they had an interview with Blackberry Farm’s Sam Beall.  What is not good about Blackberry Farm- I mean, this is a place that has gift bags waiting for you when you leave.  Dying to go!  It is a great interview, and if you can find a copy, it is definitely worth reading.  The best part is the recipe for Blackberry Farm’s Steamed Pumpkin Puddings with Tennessee Rum Hard Sauce.  This needs to be shared!  I am so excited to try this!

Steamed Pumpkin Puddings with Tennessee Rum Hard Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tbsps unsalted butter, melted, plus 8 tbsps unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1 cup natural cane sugar

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 cup buttermilk

Roasted pumpkin seeds to garnish

For the hard sauce:

4 tbsps unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

2-3 tsps fine dark rum

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush insides of six 6oz ramekins with melted butter.  Invert ramekins on a baking sheet and refrigerate to set butter (about 5 minutes).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or large bowl with a hand mixer, beat 8 tbsps butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, followed by yolk and vanilla, beating well and scraping down side of bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.  Beat in pumpkin puree and scrape down bowl.

4. Add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk, beating each time only until the batter is smooth.

5. Divide batter among ramekins, keeping rims clean.  Pick up each ramekin and gently tap on counter to remove any air bubbles.

6. Take a lidded baking dish or Dutch oven large enough to hold ramekins with at least 1/2 inch of space between and line it with a folded kitchen towel (to hold ramekins steady).  Arrange ramekins in baking dish.  Pour enough very hot tap water into baking dish to come halfway up the sides of ramekins.  Cover baking dish tightly with lid.

7.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a pudding comes out clean and the top springs back when gently pressed, 30-40 minutes.  Remove lid and let puddings cool in water bath for 20 minutes.

8. Make hard sauce: In a medium bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer set to high speed until fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add confectioners’ sugar.  When sugar is incorporated, increase speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy.  Add nutmeg and rum and beat a few more seconds.

9. Invert each ramekin onto a dessert plate and garnish with pumpkin seeds.  Serve with hard sauce.

 

Lowcountry Local First Field Feast- Food is Good

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We went to the 4th annual Lowcountry Local First Field Feast on Sunday, and it was as expected- AMAZING!! The setting was spectacular out at Rosebank Farm on Wadmalaw Island.  The tent  was set up by the river, we enjoyed cocktails on the lawn with Long Miles played, and then we moseyed down to the dock for a cool breeze and a raw bar.  I had gone over the menu when we arrived, and by the time we sat down, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement for the meal.   Fire charred bread was served with pumpkin seed condiment and a yogurt dip.  We snacked on this yumminess while introductions and thank yous were given, and then we heard from the farmer about the cow named Link that we were about to enjoy.  Okra soup followed, and then we were onto the meat.  Plate after plate of the best meat and sauces and vegetables and beans came out of the side yard where it was all prepared by Chef Mike Lata and his unbelievable staff from FIG (which stands for Food Is Good and they are so right).  I am in awe of this group.  It was a little warm on Sunday, the bugs were out, and the serving staff from FIG had been there all day on their day off no less.  While they passed around the drinks and appetizers, helped cook and serve us all dinner (and there were about 180 of us), dealt with the rain that came pouring down right after the soup course- they all smiled, were cheerful, were the best wait staff I have ever seen.  I could not be more impressed.  Now, I need to make special mention of dessert.  Because I am still dreaming about it.  On the menu, it just said Sea Island Milk Candy.  I was curious.  When dessert was served, it was cream stuffed crepes with a caramel sauce that was just special.  I don’t want to even degrade it by superfluous adjectives.  It was just special. This is by far and away my favorite event in Charleston, and if you are ever able to go, I would jump on the tickets as fast as possible, and if you can’t make it, then you should just eat at FIG because it is the next best thing.

Turtle Candy and Real Turtles

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I have a very weird fear of small animals like mice, fish, lizards, frogs, etc.  I am really only afraid of these things, which lets be honest, can not hurt me really at all, when they are close to me and move unexpectedly.  Then I freak out.  Take fish- I love fishing and catching fish, it is super fun, but when said fish that I caught gets put into a bucket and starts jumping around and trying to get, I run screaming.  I really don’t know why.  Walker had a pet fish for a while, and I dealt with it pretty well until the day I was cleaning the fish bowl, and the fish was in a glass on the counter next to the sink.  And then the fish jumped out of the glass and into the sink, and I started screaming.  Did it even occur to me to pick up Walker’s beloved fish with my hands?  No.  And we were out of paper towels and the fish was getting closer to the drain.  So I grabbed a spoon- not quite sure what I was going to do with that, but anyway- sad story, the fish went down the drain.  Maybe not my best moment and definitely won “Worst Mother of the Year” award for that one.  It turns out that my fear of little animals extends to turtles as well.  We went kayaking last Sunday which was so fun.  Walker and Corby were in a kayak together, and Walker spotted a turtle in the water.  I thought- neat- and kept on paddling.  A few minutes later, Walker and Corby paddled up and Walker thrust his new friend at me.  I screamed and nearly fell out of my kayak.  This was the funniest thing that Walker had seen in a long time.  Before you get the entirely wrong impression of me, I am not completely girly.  Spiders, cock roaches, insects, I have no problem with these things.  I can kill spiders all day long, but rodents and small aquatic and amphibious creatures not so much.  Anyway, as with most things I do, I immediately starting thinking about what fun recipes I could get from this experience.  Turtle soup- no.  But turtle candy- yes!  This is a fun easy recipe from www.allrecipes.com

Pretzel Turtle Candy

Ingredients:

20 small mini pretzels

20 chocolate covered caramels

20 pecan halves

(or however many you want to make- doesn’t have to be 20)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Arrange the pretzels on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel.

Bake for 4 minutes, and while the candy is still warm, press a pecan halve on each candy covered pretzel.  Cool completely before storing.

Tomato for Dessert? Tomato Tart Tatin Might Change Your Mind

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I went to a dinner party a while ago at a good friend’s house.  When she called to invite us, she immediately said, “I know you don’t like tomatoes, but I am making Tomato Tart Tatin for dessert, and you have to try it because I really think you will love it.” I realize that I need to give tomatoes another try since my dislike of them stems from a long ago childhood memory of my aunt’s wedding weekend.  Her soon to be niece was my age (we were 4 or 5 at the time), and we were going to be flower girls together, and so my mother and aunt arranged a pool play date for her soon to be niece and myself.  My co-flower girl was not that strong of a swimmer at the time and apparently I was swinging on a towel bar and kicked her (by accident!!)  into the pool – the shallow end- where she could touch- and she was fine.  But of course my mother, aunt and her mother all jumped into the pool fully clothed to help her out, and I was not the most popular person at the party.  After everything quieted down, they served tomato sandwiches for lunch.  My mother knowing that I was a particularly picky eater gave me the look that saying anything about not liking the sandwiches was not an option.  I think I ate 4 or 5 triangles of tomato sandwich saying they were the best thing ever- hoping that my mother would not be too mad at me on the car ride home.  Anyway- I survived and my aunt’s wedding was spectacular, and I have nothing but amazing memories of it except for swearing off tomatoes from then on.  I love tomato sauce and ketchup and really all variations of tomatoes except for eating them in their original form.  Until my friend’s dinner party.  I don’t remember what she cooked for dinner except that I am sure it was fabulous, but the Tomato Tart Tatin was really divine.  As my friend said, “I often forget my favorite vegetable is a fruit.”  The tart was so sweet and delicious and such an unusual but spectacular choice to finish off a dinner party.  She got the recipe from Bon Appetit at http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/08/tomato_tarte_tatin.  So unique and so wonderful!!

Tomato Tart Tatin

Ingredients:

1 3/4 pounds plum tomatoes (8 large)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed, corners cut off to make very rough 9- to 10-inch round
Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Cut shallow X in bottom of each tomato. Add 4 tomatoes to boiling water. Blanch tomatoes just until skins at X begin to peel back, 15 to 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer blanched tomatoes to bowl of ice water to cool quickly. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. Peel tomatoes. Cut out cores, halve lengthwise, and remove seeds.
Spread butter over bottom of 91/2-inch-diameter, 2- to 3-inch-deep ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron). Sprinkle 3/4 cup sugar over butter. Arrange tomato halves, rounded side down and close together, in concentric circles in skillet to fill completely.
Place skillet over medium heat. Cook until sugar and butter are reduced to thickly bubbling, deep amber syrup (about 1/4 inch deep in bottom of skillet), moving tomatoes occasionally to prevent burning, about 25 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Immediately drizzle vanilla over tomatoes. Top with pastry round. Using knife, tuck in edges of pastry. Cut 2 or 3 small slits in pastry. Place skillet in oven and bake tart until pastry is deep golden brown, about 24 minutes.
Cool tart in skillet 10 minutes. Cut around sides of skillet to loosen pastry. Place large platter over skillet. Using oven mitts as aid, hold skillet and platter firmly together and invert, allowing tart to settle onto platter. Carefully lift off skillet. Rearrange any tomato halves that may have become dislodged.
Serve tart warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.

An Art Show, Cold Springs, and Cold Water Chocolate Cake

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I am continually amazed at how my 9 year old son Walker has no fear.  No fear of jumping off 30 foot cliffs into raging water, no fear of being on a 30 foot cliff above raging water, no fear of cold water.  I am afraid of all of those things.  We have been going on a lot of hikes to different swimming holes this past week up in the mountains, and while I wear my bathing suit to all of them, getting in the water really just doesn’t happen.  Finally, we were at Babel Tower on a group hike where the picture to the left was taken, and Walker was begging me to go in.  There were about 40 people on this hike, most of whom I knew, but I stood on the edge of a 5 foot jump with a line of children behind me waiting to go, and I couldn’t do it.  I am not sure if it was the fear of jumping or the cold water, but I could not throw myself off of that terrifying cliff.  I did spot a ledge just about two feet off the water and climbed down to that one and finally jumped.  The water was freezing and the whole experience was just not that fun, but Walker, of course, made it all worth it by running up to me after I got out of the water, “I am so proud of you Mommy!” And then he went onto this jump. (My brother was with him and there were lots of other braver adults supervising just so you all don’t think I am a completely reckless mother.)  All of this cold mountain water got me thinking about using cold water in a recipe, so I googled “cold water cake” and found this great recipe on www.cooks.com for Cold Water Chocolate Cake.  I can’t think of anything better than chocolate cake after freezing water and a long hike!  The recipe is at the bottom.

I have to talk about the art show that we went to the other night.  Two wonderful family friends set up an art showfor the community at the Pavilion the other night, and I was blown away by their talents.  Bo is an amazing painter who  had pieces of her farm animals on display.  They were so beautiful and such interesting pieces.  Murray is the most talented quilter I have ever seen.  I have one piece of hers that I truly cherish.  Her quilts look like paintings or photographs of fantastic mountain scenes.  Here is an example of a piece she had in the show.  I am utterly in awe of her talent.  You can find more about her at her website  http://www.murrayjohnstonartquilts.com/.

We only have a few days left in the mountains and then back to Charleston where hopefully they have fixed the AC.  I can’t believe it is August already and school starts in two weeks.  Please send in any back to school favorite recipes or traditions- would love to post them!!

Cold Water Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cups cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
3/4 cups oil
2 cups very cold water

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk or fork. Pour into a 9 x 13-inch greased baking pan.  Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes and frost with your favorite fudge frosting.

Pink Lemonade Pie

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We got back from our month in the mountains on Saturday evening.  When we left Twilight on Saturday morning at 6:30 am, it was 56 degrees.  When we arrived in Charleston 14 hours and 40 minutes later at just after 9 pm, it was 86 degrees.  We had only been gone for 30 days, but that heat and humidity hit me something fierce.  I know I should be more used to it, but holy smokes Batman- it is hot down here.  We had such fabulous weather in the Catskills that I am sure the atmosphere will cooperate, and cool fall weather is just around the corner 🙂 Fortunately, one of my best girlfriends has a place very close by with a pool, and she has invited a few of us over tomorrow night for some pool/girl time.  To show my wondrous appreciation for her very nice cold relaxing pool, I thought I should bring something special to eat.  But then I thought about standing in the kitchen with the oven on and cooking and chopping and sweating, and I got so upset at my friend for inviting me to her pool, but then I thought about the pool again and how nice it is, and realized how ridiculous I was being.  So instead of cooking, I found a super awesome, super easy recipe for Pink Lemonade Pie that should be a perfect pairing with a frosty cold beverage, wonderful friends, and a great pool.  By the way, I love my friend, and if she wanted me to slave away in the kitchen, I would, but I think she will be very happy with this instead!

Pink Lemonade Pie

Ingredients:

1  can sweetened condensed milk
1  can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1  container Cool Whip (thawed)
2 prepared graham cracker crusts

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into pie crusts. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

How easy is that!!

 

Please Shoo-Fly Pie

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I went for my last hike up High Peak yesterday.  High Peak is actually the 22nd highest peak in the Catskills but because of its profile or where it sits, it looks like the highest peak- hence the name.  Anyway, the great thing about the hike is that I can actually walk out the door and walk to the trail head, and it is a very tough but not too long great workout.  I was pretty excited to get out into the woods and enjoy the peace and quiet.  It was not quiet though.  You know why?  I will tell you- the flies were so excruciatingly bad it was almost unbearable.  It is deer fly and horse fly season up here, and because of the very mild winter, it is one of the worst fly seasons ever.  I would rather take my chances with the bear who has been coming onto our porch at least once a week than deal with the flies.  I wish the ferocious beast Nemo would scare the flies away as well as he scares the bear away, but he is too busy sleeping.  In my  anger-induced delirium, I started thinking about Shoo-Fly Pie and what a great name it is (and of course, how delicious), and then I started thinking that maybe the flies would leave me alone if I was just a little more polite, so here is a great recipe for “Please Shoo-Fly Pie”.  We will see if it works when we go on our hike today- we are actually climbing the highest peak called Slide Mountain- wish me luck!

Please Shoo Fly Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup boiling water
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, dissolve the soda in the molasses and stir until it foams. Sir in the boiling water and pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter into crumbs.

Pour 1/3 of the molasses mixture into the unbaked crust. Sprinkle 1/3 of the crumbs over the molasses mixture and continue alternating layers, finishing with the crumbs on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crumbs and crust are golden.

Banana Pudding and BBQ

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This question may have been asked a million times, but it hadn’t occurred to me until recently- why is banana pudding always served as dessert at BBQ restaurants?  Not that I am complaining at all- I love banana pudding, it is one of my favorites.  It is such a staple at my favorite BBQ haunts that I have always taken it for granted, but we had a curious experience up in the Catskills pertaining to BBQ that got me interested in this question.  We were down in the small town of Phoenicia, at the bottom of the mountain, and we saw a BBQ stand.  Intrigued and thinking this might be a quick and easy thing to grab for dinner, we went to the stand to buy some BBQ to take home with us.  When Corby asked to buy 3 lbs of BBQ, the proprietor of the stand was incredibly confused and asked, “Do you want a 3 lb sandwich?”  “No, no- we just want to buy 3 lbs of BBQ- you know, in bulk.”  This did not actually help.  “In bulk? I don’t know what you mean,” our friendly salesman said.  When Corby then said, “You know- in bulk- so we can take it home… for dinner… later… We are from South Carolina,”  we just got completely blank stares.  “Well, do you at least have any banana pudding?” I asked- more stares.  Clearly, we were speaking different languages when it came to BBQ.  We laughed about this the whole way home, and I am sure they laughed about the crazies from South Carolina who wanted a 3lb BBQ sandwich for a long time, too.  So, needless to say, we will be waiting until we return south to get some BBQ- especially in bulk.  But I did start wondering why banana pudding is always served at BBQ.  After some googling, I haven’t found an answer.  It seems that bananas were imported (as they are not naturally found in the United States) from Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, etc, so it makes sense that they would be more abundant in the South.  Vanilla Wafers weren’t around until 1901-1902, and while they make banana pudding that much better, that is no explanation.  My explanation would be that some genius was eating BBQ and then had banana pudding for dessert and thought, “Now those are the two best things I have ever eaten and should always be together.”  I applaud that person and agree wholeheartedly.  Here is the original Nilla Wafer Banana Pudding recipe from Nabisco (http://www.nabiscoworld.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipe_id=55431), and if you have any other insights on this issue, please share!!

Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup flour
 dash salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
45 NILLA Wafers, divided
5 bananas, sliced

Directions

MIX 1/2 cup sugar, flour and salt in top of double boiler. Blend in 3 egg yolks and milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water 10 to 12 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
RESERVE 12 wafers for garnish. Spread small amount of custard onto bottom of 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Cover with layers of 1/3 each of the remaining wafers, bananas and remaining custard. Repeat layers 2 times.
BEAT egg whites on high speed of mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread over custard, sealing well to edge of dish.
BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Top with reserved wafers just before serving.