No Empty Chairs

December 2, 2014 · 6:10 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Rocky Road Cookies

DAY 2: Rocky Road Cookies

A soft chocolate cookie, baked and then topped with mini-marshmallows and toasted almonds; all held together by a chocolate ganache glaze. A rockier road never tasted so delicious!

This recipe comes from Glorious Treats, with a few alterations.

RECIPE:

Rocky Road Cookies

Servings: 3-4 dozen
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Cookie Dough
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (about 2 cups chips)
1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
2 cups mini marshmallows (about half of a 10 oz bag)

Glaze
1 1/2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
3 Tbs corn syrup
2 Tbs heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coarsely chop the almonds, then spread onto a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla on low speed until well combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend until just combined. Add the flour mixture slowly and blend until just combined. Refrigerate dough for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat liner. Roll about 2 Tbs of dough in your hands to create balls. Arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheets, then flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake cookies about 10 minutes.

Remove baking sheet from oven and immediately top each cookie with 5-6 mini marshmallows. Return the cookies to the oven and bake another 2 minutes. Cool cookies on pan for 2-3 minutes, then transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Prepare cookie glaze by placing chocolate chips in a small bowl. Heat corn syrup and cream in a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave for 30-40 seconds, until hot. Pour over chocolate chips in bowl and stir until melted.

Place wire cooling rack (with cookies on it) over a sheet of aluminum foil or waxed paper (to catch any excess glaze). Use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of chocolate glaze over the marshmallows, then place a few chopped almonds on top. Then drizzle a second layer of icing over the nuts.

Allow glaze to set before serving. Refrigerate cookies for 15 minutes to set glaze faster.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

(Adapted from Glorious Treats)

NoEmptyChairs.me

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Pinwheel Cookies

DAY 1: Welcome to the 6th Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! First up is a fun Christmas Pinwheel Cookie.

This is a fun way to use a simple sugar cookie dough to make multi-colored swirled cookies. Roll dough rectangles together to form a log and then slice and bake. This dough is great for making ahead and freezing, then baking later.

The recipe comes from Just a Taste, who made them in red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

For more Christmas cookie ideas, visit our past cookie events:
First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Third Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Fourth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies
Fifth Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies

RECIPE:

Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

Servings: 4 dozen
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3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (or use additional vanilla extract)
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
Christmas sprinkles

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs and the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.

Remove the dough and separate it into three equal pieces (use a kitchen scale to weigh dough, if possible). Leave one section white. Beat (or knead with hands) red food coloring into one section and green food coloring into the third section. Wrap each section in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide each color in half (you will be forming 2 dough logs). Place one of the sections of dough on a piece of waxed paper. Pat into a rough rectangle. Place a piece of plastic wrap over dough and use your fingers or a rolling pin to form a rectangle about 9” x 6” and about 1/8” thick. Repeat with remaining dough sections.

Stack the dough into two rectangles (remove plastic wrap and waxed paper): red, then white, then green. Use a rolling pin to lightly press the dough rectangles together. Starting at the longer edge of the rectangle, roll the dough into a tight log. Place the Christmas sprinkles on a large platter or rimmed baking sheet and roll the dough logs in the sprinkles, lightly pressing them into the sides of the dough.

Wrap the 2 dough logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before baking.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Remove dough from refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to slice logs into 1/4” rounds. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

NOTE: Dough logs can also be frozen. Thaw in fridge overnight before cutting and baking.

(Adapted from Just a Taste)

NoEmptyChairs.me

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butterscotch Sauce

This cheesecake starts with an easy-to-make lemon gingersnap crust, followed by layers of pumpkin and vanilla cheesecake. After baking, the entire cheesecake is garnished with pecans and drizzled with a butterscotch topping. This is a great make-ahead dessert perfect for Thanksgiving, or any other holiday.

The Lemon Gingersnap Crust is made from these cookies:

For detailed information about baking a cheesecake in a water bath, see this post: Creamy Citrus Cheesecake

Once the cheesecake has baked and chilled for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, the pecan garnish and butterscotch topping can be added.

Start by spreading a thin layer of butterscotch sauce over the top of the cheesecake, spreading to the edge. Place pecans around the outside edge of the cheesecake.

Using a squeeze bottle or pastry bag with a thin round tip, drizzle butterscotch sauce over the entire top of the cheesecake and pecans, allowing some to drip down the sides. You can do a simple drizzle, or a lattice pattern by drizzling in straight lines along cheesecake, then turning 90 degrees and drizzling again (perpendicular to first layer).

RECIPE:

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butterscotch Sauce

Servings: 12
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Lemon Gingersnap Crust
1 (7 oz) pkg Carr’s Ginger Lemon Cremes
½ cup pecans
2 Tbs butter, melted

Process cookies and pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Add melted butter and mix. Press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 9” springform pan. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes while preparing filling.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Layer
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbs flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
1/8 tsp each ground nutmeg and ground cloves
pinch of salt
2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. (You can also substitute 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for the other spices)

Vanilla Cheesecake Layer
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap springform pan in a double layer of foil. Place springform pan in a larger roasting pan.

Pour pumpkin filling into crust. Slowly pour vanilla filling over top of the pumpkin batter. Fill roasting pan (not springform pan!) with very hot (almost boiling) water to about 1-2 inches deep.

Bake cheesecake in the water bath for about 80 minutes. (Cover top of cheesecake with foil if it begins to brown before it is set.) When it is cooked, the cheesecake will have puffed significantly, and the middle will still be slightly jiggly, but not soupy. Remove pan from water bath and run a sharp knife around the sides, but do not remove ring. Place on a cooling rack and let cheesecake stand at room temperature for one hour. Cover cheesecake pan (do not remove sides) with plastic wrap, taking care not to touch the surface of the cheesecake. Chill for at least four hours or overnight.

Butterscotch Sauce
4 Tbs butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
½ cup heavy cream
2 Tbs corn syrup
½ tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbs vanilla extract
Whole Pecans for Garnish

Combine butter, brown sugar, cream, corn syrup, lemon juice and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir and cook over medium-low heat until mixture boils. Simmer for 5 additional minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir in vanilla and cook for 2 more minutes. Cool before drizzling over cheesecake. Store in refrigerator. (This makes more than you will need for topping the cheesecake)

Remove sides of springform pan from chilled cheesecake. Remove bottom of pan and place cheesecake on a serving platter.

If butterscotch sauce has been refrigerated, you may need to warm it just slightly in the microwave until it can be drizzled (about 30-40 seconds). Spread a thin layer of butterscotch sauce over the top of the cheesecake, spreading to the edge. Place pecan halves around the outside edge of the cheesecake. Using a squeeze bottle or pastry bag with a thin round tip, drizzle butterscotch sauce over the entire top of the cheesecake and pecans, allowing some to drip down the sides. You can do a simple drizzle, or a lattice pattern by drizzling in straight lines along cheesecake, then turning 90 degrees and drizzling again (perpendicular to first layer). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as butterscotch, caramel, cheesecake, layered cheesecake, pecans, pumpkin, Thanksgiving, water bath

October 31, 2014 · 10:55 am

Lime Glazed Raspberry Sweet Rolls

Starting with a traditional cinnamon roll dough, these rolls use raspberry jam as a filling and are iced with a lime glaze.

I used this Homemade Raspberry Jam for the filling.

This recipe makes a lot: 36-40 large rolls. You can scale the recipe back if you don’t want as many OR Rolls can be frozen either after or before cooking.

To freeze before cooking: Prepare dough. Fill and roll dough into log. Slice into rounds and place each round on a foil lined baking sheet, not touching. Freeze until solid and then place in Ziploc bags and return to freezer. Place frozen rolls in prepared pan and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (about 2-3 hours). Bake and frost as directed.

RECIPE:

Lime Glazed Raspberry Sweet Rolls

Servings: 36-40
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2 ½ cups buttermilk*
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
zest from 1 lime
2 tsp salt
9 – 9 ½ cups flour, divided
1 ½ Tbs instant yeast
1 cup raspberry jam

Place buttermilk, butter and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour into a large mixing bowl (stand mixer) and let mixture cool for 15-20 minutes. Mix in eggs, lime zest and salt. Add 4 cups of flour and the yeast and mix until smooth. Add additional 5 cups of flour and knead until smooth. Add additional flour, if necessary, to make a soft dough that barely pulls away from the edge of the bowl. Dough will be slightly sticky. Cover dough with plastic wrap touching the dough and refrigerate for 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter rimmed baking sheets or 9”x13” pans.

Divide dough into two halves. On a lightly buttered surface, pat each dough half into a rectangle about 12”x18”. Spread with raspberry jam. Starting from long edge, form a roll. Pinch edge to seal. Use a knife to lightly score dough into 18-20 sections about 1” apart. Place a strand of dental floss under the dough log and cross over the top of the dough at the scored marking. Pull dental floss to cut through dough. Place in prepared pan. Cover with a thin towel and allow rolls to rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes.

Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes. Spread warm rolls with lime glaze.

Makes 36-40 rolls

*Buttermilk substitute: Scald 2 cups of milk (bring to boiling point) and then stir in ½ cup plain yogurt

Lime Glaze

4 Tbs melted butter
3 Tbs heavy cream
2 Tbs lime juice
2 tsp lime zest (zest from 1 lime)
4 cups (1 lb) powdered sugar

Use a whisk to mix all glaze ingredients.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Asian Chicken Shish-Kabobs

All of those summer projects that I plan in the spring seem to have a way of holding themselves over and turning into fall projects. Including any goals I had of blogging right through summer.

So, with one week of school under our belt and one kid driven 2000 miles away and deposited at college (and another to leave on a mission to Germany in a few weeks), I am finally getting a chance to sit at the computer.

Grilling is one of our favorite ways to cook during warm weather months. I have one child in particular who especially loves it when “soup” on the menu plan get replaced with “grill”. (How anyone can dislike an entire category of food, “soup”, is still beyond my comprehension)

Shish-Kabobs are a little more work than normal grilling, but they can be marinated early in the day, or the day before, and then assembled just before cooking.

You can thread meat and vegetables together on the skewers, or separate them. I like how they look all threaded together, but it is easier to keep your veges from getting overcooked while waiting for your chicken to cook through if you cook meat and vegetables on separate skewers.

RECIPE:

Asian Chicken Shish-Kabobs

Boneless chicken, cut into 1” cubes
Red/green peppers, diced
Zucchini, diced
Yellow squash, diced
Onions, cut into large chunks
Cherry Tomatoes
Whole Mushrooms
Fresh Pineapple chunks, optional
Hot steamed rice (white or brown)

Marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup water
2 Tbs vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
2 Tbs oil
2 Tbs honey (or 10 drops liquid stevia)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp grated fresh gingerroot
¼- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

If using bamboo skewers, soak skewers in water for 30 minutes.

Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken and vegetables (everything except for pineapple) in two separate containers. Pour marinade over chicken and vegetables, using half of marinade for each. Do not marinate pineapple. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes, or refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Just before putting onto skewers, stir pineapple into container with vegetables.

Drain marinade from vegetables (not chicken!) into a Pyrex measuring cup. Set aside. Discard marinade from chicken.

Place chicken, vegetables and pineapple on skewers. Grill or broil until chicken is cooked through.

Microwave reserved marinade from vegetables until it begins to boil. Serve kabobs with hot marinade and rice.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Filed under Main Dishes

Tagged as Asian, chicken, entree, grill, grilled, main dish, marinade, recipe, shish kabob, vegetables

May 30, 2014 · 11:40 am

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

I have made three of these cakes in the last month. One for a Boy Scout fundraising auction and two more for a dinner for a visiting Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) who was here with Elder Hallstrom of the Seventy giving training to local missionaries and ward and stake leaders. Elder Holland was president of BYU when I was there, and is one of my favorite speakers, so it was really nice to meet him.

I dragged four of my kids along to help me serve, and they were really great about it, even Big J, (who returned home from serving a mission just the night before and only complained slightly about having to put his suit back on the day after coming home) and Middle K (who was celebrating her 17th birthday that day and chose to come help serve instead of having her own birthday celebration). They even washed and dried TONS of dishes! I was certainly proud of all of them that day.

We did have cake left over, so we were able to wish Middle K a very happy 17th birthday with leftover cake. She didn’t mind one bit.

This cake is made with 2 layered chocolate cakes, cut in half to make four layers. Two of the layers are drizzled with a very thin layer of chocolate ganache and then it is filled with a Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing. The entire cake is then frosted with the raspberry frosting and the top is drizzled with more ganache. It is finished with stars piped from cooled ganache topped with fresh raspberries. I am not usually a big chocolate cake eater, but chocolate and raspberry are such a great flavor combination that I make an exception in this case!

I first saw this cake on Annie’s Eats, but used my own chocolate cake and frosting recipes to assemble it.

RECIPE:

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake

Servings: 12
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Ingredients (recipes below):
Chocolate Layer Cake
Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Chocolate Ganache
Fresh Raspberries, for garnish

Chocolate Layer Cake
2 cups flour
½ cup regular cocoa powder
½ cup Dutch process cocoa (or Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 9” cake pans; line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Grease paper and then dust entire pan with cocoa powder.

Combine flour, cocoa powders, baking soda and salt. Mix with a whisk. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars for 5 minutes. The mixture should be very pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until smooth.

Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 28-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove parchment paper and cool.

Cooled cake layers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen until you are ready to assemble them. (For this cake, if you are freezing the layers: cut each layer in half before freezing to make 4 layers).

Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing
1 ½ cups egg whites (about 12 large egg whites, or use pasteurized egg whites that come in a carton)
2 ½ cups sugar
pinch of salt
3 cups unsalted butter (6 sticks), at room temperature**
1 Tbs vanilla extract
about 1 ½ cups Raspberry filling (see recipe below) or 1 cup raspberry jam

In the top of a double boiler, stir together egg whites, sugar and salt. Bring water in bottom of double boiler to a low simmer; cook until the temperature of the egg whites reaches 160°F and sugar is completely dissolved (rub mixture between fingertips-it should not feel gritty). Mixture will be foamy and not a uniform consistency.

Transfer the egg white mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip until meringue is completely cooled and glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes. DO NOT ADD BUTTER UNTIL BOTH THE BOWL AND FROSTING ARE COMPLETELY COOL. Switch mixer attachment from the whisk to paddles. Add butter 1-2 Tablespoons at a time until incorporated. Mixture may appear curdled at times. Continue beating until butter is fully incorporated and frosting is fluffy and smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. Add vanilla and beat smooth. Add cooled raspberry filling and beat until frosting is a uniform color (start with about 1 cup filling, beat, and then add more if you want a more pronounced raspberry flavor).

**BUTTER NOTE: butter should be room temperature soft, but not at the point of melting. If the butter is too cold, it will not incorporate well into the meringue, and you will have butter chunks. If the butter is over-soft, it will cause the icing to curdle while beating-this is okay, it isn’t ruined: it will just take longer (more beating) for the frosting to become smooth. If icing still won’t set, place in the fridge for 20 minutes, and then beat again.

Raspberry Filling
12 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen (about 2 ½ cups of not crushed fresh berries)
½ cup sugar
½ Tbs lemon juice
½ cup water
2-3 Tbs cornstarch or ClearJel
¼ cup cold water

In a heavy saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, crushing berries slightly with the back of a spoon. Strain the berries through a fine sieve, pushing the pulp through the sieve with the back of a spoon. Gradually stir ½ cup water into the seeds in the sieve (over the bowl) and press again to remove as much pulp as possible. Return seedless puree to the saucepan (rinse saucepan first if there are seeds clinging to the sides). Mix the cornstarch and ¼ cup water in a small bowl; stir into puree in the saucepan. Return mixture to a boil; lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, or until slightly thickened and no longer cloudy. Cool completely (or chill) before using.

Chocolate ganache:
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about 1 heaping cup)
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup corn syrup

Place the chopped chocolate into a small bowl and set aside. In a Pyrex measuring cup or microwavable bowl, combine the heavy cream and corn syrup. Heat for 1 minute; stir. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for one minutes, then stir until smooth with a whisk.

Cake Assembly:

Completely cool cake layers. Cut each layer in half to make 4 layers. Prepare frosting and ganache.

Place waxed paper strips along edges of serving plate. Place one cake layer, cut side up, on the serving plate. Waxed paper strips should cover the exposed part of the plate, but not be too far under the cake layer. Spread a very thin layer of warm ganache (about 2-3 Tbs) over cake (it will begin to soak into the cake). Spread cake with a layer of raspberry icing. Repeat with remaining 3 cake layers (I only put ganache between the 2 cut layers of cake). Ice entire cake with a thin crumb coat of icing. Refrigerate cake for 2o minutes to set slightly (optional). Create a smooth finish with remaining icing over entire cake (top of cake should be completely flat).

Set aside about ¾ cup of the ganache. Drizzle top of cake with the remaining ganache, letting it drip down the sides. Refrigerate cake.

When ganache on cake has set and the remaining ganache has set to a piping consistency (place in the refrigerator to thicken faster), spoon remaining ganache in a pastry bag fit with a large star tip (I used Wilton 1M). Pipe stars around the edge of cake. Top each star with a fresh raspberry. Serve cake at room temperature.

Storage: Cake can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature. The fresh raspberries will not keep at room temperature very long, but the cake tastes best when served at room temperature (when chilled, the icing will become VERY firm). When I am making this cake ahead of time, I store it in the refrigerator, and remove it to room temperature about 3 hours before serving.

(Inspired by Annie’s Eats)

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as cake, chocolate, dessert, ganache, layered cake, raspberry, recipe, swiss meringue buttercream