Category Archives: Desserts

November 26, 2011 · 7:54 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Blueberry Crumb Bars

DAY 2: Blueberry Crumb Bars

A delicious fruity bar cookie that can be made from fresh or frozen blueberries. Like blueberry pie in a streusel topped cookie bar.

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RECIPE:

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Servings: 36
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4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
½ cup granulated sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
scant ½ cup granulated sugar
scant ½ cup brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
1 egg
¾ cup chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan (or spray with baking Pam, the kind with flour).

In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir together ½ cup granulated sugar and 4 tsp cornstarch; stir into blueberries. Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, combine scant ½ cup each of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Whisk one egg in a small bowl and stir into the flour mixture.

Press about 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the blueberry mixture over the crust. Optional: Stir chopped walnuts into remaining flour mixture. Sprinkle mixture over the blueberries.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is light brown and blueberries are bubbly. Let the bars cool on a rack and then place in the fridge to chill. This will make the bars easier to cut and remove from the pan. Cut into squares.

Makes about 36 squares

Recipe adapted from Cookin’ Canuck

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as bar cookies, blueberries, christmas, Cookies, crumb bars, recipe

November 25, 2011 · 8:30 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Christmas Cherry Cookies

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DAY 1: Welcome to the Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Twelve days of cookies and treats that are perfect for sharing with family and friends.

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The first cookie up this year is an easy-to-make dough full of the colors of Christmas. These cookies were always on Mom’s list of treats to bake for Christmas when I was a kid.

The dough is a shortbread dough that is filled with red and green candied cherries and pecans.

Roll the dough into a log and it can be stored in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake.

Use a sharp knife to slice dough into rounds that are about 3/8” thick.

For Twenty-Four more cookie ideas, click the links below for the two previous Christmas Cookie events:

First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies

Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies

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RECIPE:

Christmas Cherry Cookies

Servings: 4 dozen
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1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup pecan halves
2 cups red and green candied cherries, halved

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Cream butter and sugar; blend in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour; add pecans and cherries. Chill dough for 1-2 hours. Shape into logs with about 2” diameter. Roll in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Chill 3 hours. Cut into slices about 3/8” thick and bake for 13-15 minutes. Do not let cookies brown.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as baking, candied cherries, Christmas cookies, pecans, recipe, Twelve days of Christmas

November 18, 2011 · 1:15 pm

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Another fabulous cake from up-and-coming-baker Big A.

Big A made this cake from the cookbook Chocolate Cakes that she received from a friend for Christmas last year. They did provide a recipe for the chocolate cake, but Big A started with a chocolate fudge cake mix, then made the rest of the cake from scratch. The cake batter has peanut butter cups mixed in (good thing for leftover Halloween candy), and is baked as a one-layer cake.

The top center of the cake is scooped out to create a crater, filled with peanut butter mousse and then the removed cake pieces are replaced over top of the mousse. More peanut butter mousse is then spread over the entire cake. After a quick chill, the entire cake is covered in chocolate ganache and sprinkled with more peanut butter cups.

The peanut butter mousse in this cake is fabulous! Especially if you use a good quality natural peanut butter. It is smooth and creamy and perfect for eating with chocolate cake.

RECIPE:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

Servings: 8-10
Print

1 box chocolate cake mix (plus ingredients for preparing)
8 oz peanut butter cups; coarsely chop half of the chocolates

Peanut Butter Mousse:
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare cake mix batter as directed on box (or use your favorite recipe). Stir the coarsely chopped peanut butter cups into the cake batter (reserve the second half of the peanut butter cups to garnish the top). Pour entire batter into one 10” round cake pan. (This is larger than a standard cake pan. If you want to use a standard sized pan, make 3-4 cupcakes out of the batter then pour the remaining batter into the pan. It will overflow if you use all of the batter in a standard pan). Bake cake for 40-45 minutes, or until center is set. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then invert cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare peanut butter mousse: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.

Invert cake onto a serving platter. Leaving a 1-inch edge around the top of the cake, use a small, sharp knife to cut out the center of the center of the cake to create a cavity about 1-inch deep. (Don’t worry about removing it all in one piece) Use a spatula to spread about 1/3 of the mousse into the hollowed-out center of the cake. Break the removed cake into pieces and return to the center of the cake, on top of the mousse. Mound cake pieces slightly at the center of the cake. Spread the remaining mousse over the top and sides of the entire cake. Refrigerate the cake until the mousse is firm, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare ganache. Allow ganache to cool until thickened but still pourable. Carefully spread the ganache over the top and sides of the cake. Cut remaining peanut butter cups into 1/2” pieces. Scatter over the top of the cake while the ganache is still soft. Refrigerate cake for 1-2 hours before serving.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, heat cream until it comes to a boil. Pour cream over chocolate in mixing bowl and stir until chocolate is melted and glossy. Stir in vanilla.

For a glaze:
Cool ganache slightly (until thick enough that it won’t run off of the cake, but warm enough that it will still drizzle). Pour ganache over cake, starting in the center of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.

For a cake frosting, or for piping:
The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. For piping or for a regular cake frosting, allow the ganache to completely cool and set up at room temperature. Mix with a whisk slightly just before frosting the cake.

For a whipped filling or frosting:
For a thicker, fluffy frosting, or filling for a cake, chill the ganache in the refrigerator until slightly cold, then whip with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Recipe adapted from Chocolate Cakes

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as baking, chocolate cake, ganache, leftover Halloween candy, peanut butter mousse, recipe, Reeses

October 31, 2011 · 12:01 pm

Canning Apple Pie Filling

As part of a church young women’s project this fall, I have been teaching MiddleK how to can. We started with Applesauce, then promptly proceeded to eat almost all of it over that next week, which kind of defeated the “storage” role of canning. But it had been a long time since we’d had homemade applesauce around here, and I was glad to see the kids asking for that for a snack instead of chips or candy. So we bought A LOT more apples, and made LOTS more applesauce. With all of our apples we also made this Apple Pie Filling.

Middle K also wanted to learn to make her own piecrust for her pie filling, and while the family waited for her to finally make a pie, we ate the pie filling stirred into yogurt, as an ice cream topping, or when no one was looking: straight from the jar.

Yesterday, Middle K, under extreme pressure from her siblings, found the time to create this beautiful apple pie. She made the crust all on her own, and she did a fabulous job!

This canned apple pie filling is chock full of apples in a cinnamon brown sugar syrup. When choosing apples for pie, you want to choose a variety that does not get mushy when cooked, and is not overly tart, or you will need to add a lot more sugar to the syrup. We really like eating Granny Smith apples around here, but I don’t usually use them for pies, unless it is in combination with some sweeter varieties. I also like to use a combination of apple varieties, when possible. Then the different textures of the apples makes a nice balance in the pie. For this pie filling we used a combination of Golden Delicious and Fuji apples.

Good Apples for Canning:
Golden Delicious
Fuji
McIntosh
Jonagold
Rome
Jonathon
Cameo
Gala (but only in combination with another variety: they get kind of soft when cooked)

Not-So-Good Apples for Canning:
Red Delicious
Cortland
Gala (on their own)
Granny Smith (too tart on their own; texture is good, but they will require more sugar; good when combined with sweeter varieties)

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When making the apple pie filling, you can thinly slice or dice the apples. I like to dice them because they fit better in the jars and are a nice size for biting in a pie. The chopped apples are mixed with apple cider, sugar and spices, and left to macerate for an hour or more before cooking. This helps release some of the juice from the apples and helps meld the flavors. We kept the spices simple in our batches this year: just cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg. For a more heavily spiced pie filling, you can add cloves, ginger and/or allspice.

The one special ingredient that you need for making canned pie fillings is Clear Jel. Clear Jel is a modified corn starch made specifically for canning. It is a thickener that will not loose it’s texture or become grainy after being cooked more than once (first while preparing the filling and processing the jars and then again when you cook the pie). I buy mine from a company called Walton Feed. I like that I can get sealed cans. Clear Jel is also available in bags from Amazon.

One problem that we did run into on a couple of our jars was “siphoning”. This is when some liquid from inside the jars seeps out while processing, or immediately after being removed from the canner. The filling is still safe to eat as long as the lid seals, but it does make for kind of a sticky mess and an increased likelihood that the jars won’t seal properly. We left 1” headspace on the jars before processing, but next time I will leave 1 ¼”. After doing some reading, another way to reduce siphoning is to leave the jars in the boiling water bath (with the heat turned off and the lid removed) for about 10 minutes after fully processing them. I will try this next time around. Supposedly, the drastic temperature change from the boiling water to the outside air can often cause siphoning. Pie filling is the only thing I have ever had this problem with. Luckily, all of our jars sealed, but I did mark the ones that had the siphoning problem so that we could eat those jars first.

When making a pie from canned filling, you simply prepare your bottom crust, pour in the filling, add a top crust or streusel topping and bake (for about 45 minutes at 400°F). A regular 8”or 9” pie plate will use one quart jar. For deep dish pie plates (which I have), I use one quart jar and one pint jar. So I can both quart and pint sized jars. You could also just use 1 ½ quart jars and use the other half jar as ice cream topping.

RECIPE:

Apple Pie Filling (for canning)

Servings: Makes about 3 ½ quarts
Print

6 lb apples** (about 16-18 apples, or 12 cups sliced/diced apples)
3 cups apple cider
1 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar plus 1 tsp molasses)
½ cup sugar
½ cup lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract (or one vanilla bean, scraped)
½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
scant ½ tsp ground nutmeg
(OPTIONAL: 1/8 tsp each: cloves, ginger & allspice)
1 cup apple cider
1/3 cup Clear Jel

In a very large bowl, mix together 3 cups apple cider, sugars, lemon juice, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and optional spices (if using).

Peel, core and coarsely chop or slice apples. Place apples in cider mixture as you cut them. Allow apples to sit at room temperature for at least 1-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Strain juice from apple slices into a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix additional 1 cup of apple cider with the Clear Jel; stir into the cider mixture simmering in the pot. Return to a boil and cook until the juice has thickened, about 1 – 2 minutes. Stir in apple pieces with any remaining juice in the bowl. Return mixture to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle hot pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1 ¼” headspace. Use a spatula or knife to remove air bubbles. Make sure that your apples are covered by the syrup. Wipe rims with a clean, damp cloth, place lid and ring on the jars, and process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes for quart or pint jars. After processing, turn off heat and remove the lid from the canner, but allow the jars to sit in the water for 10 minutes before removing. This will help reduce siphoning (liquid seeping out of the jars). Remove jars from water and place on a clean, dry towel on the kitchen counter. Let sit for 24 hours. Check seal, remove rings and store.

**For best results use a mix of Golden Delicious, Fuji, McIntosh, Jonagold, Rome, Jonathon, Cameo or Gala.

Yield: about 3 ½ quarts

Recipe adapted from LocalKitchen

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USING YOUR CANNED APPLE PIE FILLING:

Canned pie filling can be used to make apple pies, tarts, or apple crisp. Or spoon it onto ice cream or yogurt.

To make a regular 8-9” pie: use one quart of pie filling

To make a deep dish 9” pie: use one quart + 1 pint of pie filling (I can both quart and pint jars to make this easy. Or just use 1 1/2 quart jars and eat the other half quart as ice cream topping)

BAKING: Bake pies at 400°F for 30 minutes. Check browning on top crust. Add a Pie Crust Shield (you can make your own!) or foil to edges as they begin to brown. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until filling is bubbly and crust is cooked (check often to prevent over-browning of top crust)

I like to use this All Butter Pie Crust.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as apple pie, apple pie filling, canning, preserving

October 14, 2011 · 10:20 am

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake with Lime Glaze

I love the smells of fall baking. That combination of fruits like apples and pears with heavily fragrant cinnamon, cardamom and other spices. This recipe makes a highly adaptable batter that can be made into a bundt cake, quick-bread loaves, or muffins. Or if your bundt pan is on the small side, like mine, a combination of both cake and muffins. Breakfast and dessert all in one shot!

The lime glaze provides a tart, but sweet contrast to the fragrant fall flavors in the pear cake.

I love cinnamon, but I don’t enjoy large amounts of nutmeg. Small amounts are fine, but I find that it can be very overpowering. One of my favorite fall spices to bake with is cardamom, and I will often swap out nutmeg in a recipe and replace it with cardamom. Cardamom is in the same family as ginger, but it is the seeds and pods that are ground and used for cooking, unlike the root with ginger. It is often used in Indian cooking, but is also a great compliment to cinnamon. It is a versatile spice that can be used in both sweet and savory cooking.

The recipe below makes enough batter for a 12-cup bundt pan. My bundt pan only holds 10 cups, so I use the recipe to make 6 muffins (measure these out first) and the smaller bundt cake. Without the glaze, the muffins make a great breakfast, and they bake up light and airy.

The pears in this recipe are very finely chopped, or grated. I use a food processor to chop them finely. Pear skins are very thin, so I leave those on. They are not noticeable at all in the baked goods.

RECIPE:

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake with Lime Glaze

Cake:
3 medium pears
about ½ cup buttermilk, milk or plain yogurt (see recipe for exact amount)
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
1 ½ cups brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Lime Glaze, recipe below (optional)
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour desired pans: one 12-cup bundt pan; one 10-cup bundt pan plus 6 muffin cups; 2 loaf pans; or 24 muffin cups.

Core pears. Finely chop or grate unpeeled pears (I use a food processor) and place in a 2-cup measuring cup. Use a fork to slightly mash the pears (you should have about 1 ½ cups chopped, mashed pears). Add buttermilk to the pears to equal 2 cups. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in pear/buttermilk mixture.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and cardamom. Mix into pear batter just until combined. Fold in nuts. Pour batter into desired pans and bake as directed below.

FOR A 12 CUP BUNDT PAN: Bake for 50-60 minutes.

FOR A 10-CUP BUNDT PAN: First scoop batter into 6 muffin cups. Pour remaining batter into 10-cup bundt pan. Bake bundt for 35-45 minutes and muffins for 18-20 minutes.

FOR TWO LOAF PANS: Bake for 50-60 minutes.

FOR 24-26 MUFFINS: Bake for 18-20 minutes.

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Lime Glaze (optional):
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs heavy cream
1 Tbs lime juice
zest of one lime

Combine all glaze ingredients and mix until smooth. Add additional lime juice or cream until glaze can be drizzled over cake. Cool cake or loaves completely before drizzling with glaze.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Soccer Ball Cookies

We are in the thick of soccer season around here. What could be more fun than soccer ball cookies to celebrate a hard-fought victory!

I used my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe for the cookies and Royal Icing to make the soccer ball faces. Start with thick royal icing in a pastry bag with a writing tip. Pipe a circle of white icing around the edge of the cookie.

Using a thinned royal icing, flood the cookie with white icing. A plastic squeeze bottle is the easiest way to flood the cookie, then use a toothpick to spread the icing to the edges of the cookie. Let the icing dry for several hours, or until dry.

I am very artistically challenged, and had a hard time freehanding a symmetrical pentagon. So I printed one off of the computer, then cut out the pentagon. Using a toothpick, I traced the pentagon in the center of the cookie.

Using thick black royal icing, pipe lines to form the pentagon and then from each corner of the pentagon to the edge of the cookie.

Draw a small triangle at the edge of each line. I am obviously no professional here (notice the lopsided geometric shapes), but nine-year-olds are pretty forgiving when they have a soccer ball cookie in hand!

Use thinned black royal icing to fill in the pentagon and triangles. Let dry completely.

For a more professional look (completely flat, without raised black lines), pipe the black lines on the naked cookie (and fill with black icing), then complete the edge of the circle with stiff white lines and flood each individual section with thinned white icing. I made them all completely white first because I was planning on doing some with baseball/softball lines and was hoping to save some time.

For mouth-dropping professional work-of-art cookies,
visit Bridget at Bake at 350. She is truly an artist!

RECIPE:

Royal Icing

4 Tbs meringue powder
scant ½ cup water
1 lb powdered sugar
½ – 1 tsp light corn syrup
few drops clear extract (optional)
gel paste food colorings

Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)

Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form. (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) Do not overbeat.

To store for later use: cover with plastic wrap touching the icing and refrigerate.

To use immediately: divide icing into bowls for different colors. Tint using gel paste food colorings.

This “stiff” icing is perfect for outlining, building gingerbread houses and monogramming. To fill in your cookies, first tint with food coloring and then add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called “flooding.”

YIELD: This recipe will cover 2-3 dozen 3.5” cookies in 2 colors

Recipe from Bake at 350

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as decorating, frosting, icing, Royal Icing, soccer, soccer ball, sugar cookies