Tag Archives: dessert

June 14, 2013 · 9:25 pm

Croquembouche for a Sweet Sixteen

The end of the school year and all of the activities that come with it have left me behind in writing about some of the treats we have been enjoying here. So today I am going back a few weeks to the Sweet Sixteen celebration we had for our Middle K. She didn’t want a party, but was excited to come home with a driver’s learning permit. Three drivers under the age of 21: don’t even ask about our insurance rates!

Instead of a traditional birthday cake, Middle K wanted a Croquembouche: a cream puff tower drizzled with burnt-sugar caramel that sticks the cream puffs together. We filled them with a simple butterscotch mousse made from packaged butterscotch pudding whipped with half milk/half cream.

Many croquembouche are very tall (2-3 feet tall) and are served as wedding cakes. We were not quite as ambitious with ours, but it certainly made for a fun birthday cake.

Just-Baked Unfilled Cream Puffs

RECIPES:

Croquembouche

Servings: 12
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Cream Puffs
½ cup butter
1 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Filling: Pudding, whipped cream, custard or mousse

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, water and salt. Bring to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate. Remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition until smooth.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, 3 inches apart, onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack. Fill with desired filling (SEE ASSEMBLY TIP BELOW).

Burnt Caramel
2 cups sugar
½ cup water

Place sugar and water in a saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until sugar turns light brown, about 15–20 minutes. Remove from heat. (If caramel begins to harden in the pan before you are done, place pan over low heat until re-melted)

To Assemble Croquembouche:

Prepare cream puffs and desired filling (whipped cream, pudding, custard, mousse). Place filling in a pastry bag with a long filling tip. Pierce the cream puffs (do not cut cream puffs in half) with the pastry tip until tip is about 1 cm into the cream puff. Squeeze pastry bag to fill cream puff.

Place one layer of cream puffs in a circle on a serving plate. Drizzle the tops of the cream puffs with a small amount of the burnt caramel. Immediately place a smaller circle of cream puffs on top of the hot caramel (work quickly before the caramel hardens). Repeat with increasingly smaller layers of cream puffs topped with caramel. Once your tower is assembled, use a spoon or fork to drizzle hot caramel in strands around the outside of the tower. Serve same day as assembling.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Cream Puffs

Servings: 12
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½ cup butter
1 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Filling: Pudding, whipped cream, custard, or mousse
Optional glaze: melted chocolate to drizzle over top

Preheat oven to 400°F. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, 3 inches apart, onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Cut cream puffs in half. Scoop out and discard any soft dough inside. Spoon in desired filling and replace top. Optional: drizzle tops of cream puffs with melted chocolate. Serve immediately after filling.

To make Eclairs: Prepare batter as above. Spoon into a pastry tube fitted with a Number 10 or larger tip. Slowly pipe strips of batter onto a greased baking sheet, making each strip about 4” long. Bake as above. Fill and frost with chocolate glaze.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as birthday cake, burnt caramel, cream puffs, croquembouche, dessert, food, recipe, tower

June 3, 2013 · 3:45 pm

Butterfly Cupcakes with Raspberry Swiss Meringue Icing

For bookgroup this month, we read Proof of Heaven, by Eben Alexander. It is an autobiographical account of neurosurgeon Dr. Alexander’s experience while he was in a coma. It is an interesting glimpse into his vision of the afterlife and how the experience changes him when he returns. We were meeting at my house this month and I wanted to tie our dessert into the book. So I decided to recreate the butterfly on the book cover which plays a roll in Dr. Alexander’s experience.

______

I ran out of steam (and time) after making 11 butterflies, so the rest I just topped with a fresh raspberry. I love these cupcake liners that look like a field of grass.

The cupcakes are made from a simple doctored white cake mix and are filled with a raspberry filling in the center. The icing is a Swiss Meringue Buttercream into which I beat some of the raspberry filling. No food coloring, just thickened raspberry puree.

Here is a picture of similar white cupcakes with raspberry filling (before I replaced their little cake caps that I cut out to make holes):

I first made these chocolate butterflies on cupcakes for Little J’s 6th birthday three years ago. Here is a link to a tutorial on making the butterflies:

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE BUTTERFLIES

RECIPES:

White Cupcakes

Servings: 36
Print

White Cupcakes
(from Our Best Bites)

1 box white cake mix (Duncan Hines)
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
¾ tsp salt
4 egg whites (or 3 whole eggs if you don’t need it perfectly white)
1 1/3 cups water
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you want a pure white cake)
1 tsp almond extract

Mix all dry ingredients with a whisk, then add wet ingredients. Beat with a mixer for two minutes until fluffy.

To make a round layer cake: Pour into greased, floured pans (fills two 8 or 9″ rounds) and bake according to cake package directions.

Tip: When cakes come out, cool for 5 minutes on wire rack, then wrap securely with two sheets of plastic wrap (in a “+” sign). Allow to cool all wrapped up (keeps the moisture from evaporating out) then pop in freezer on a cutting board to keep them flat. Once they are frozen, they are super easy to frost and defrost in about half an hour.

To make cupcakes: fill paper liners ¾ full and bake according to box directions. Makes 36 regular sized cupcakes.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Raspberry Filling

Servings: Makes about 1 ¾ cups filling (without seeds)
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Raspberry Filling

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

In a heavy saucepan, combine raspberries, ½ cup water, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, crushing berries slightly with the back of a spoon. For a seedless sauce: strain the berries through a fine sieve, pushing the pulp through the sieve with the back of a spoon. Return seedless puree to the saucepan (rinse saucepan first if there are seeds clinging to the sides). Mix the cornstarch and 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. Chill before using.

Yield: about 1 ¾ cups filling (without seeds)

NoEmptyChairs.me

Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing

Servings: Frosting for 24 cupcakes or one 2-layer round cake
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1 cup egg whites (about 8 large egg whites, or use “Just Whites” carton of egg whites)
1 ½ cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks), at room temperature**
2 tsp vanilla extract (or use small amounts of other flavored extracts)
about 1 cup Raspberry filling (see recipe above)

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 raspberry filling and beat until frosting is a uniform color (start with about ¾ 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.

Storage: Store frosted cake at room temperature (frosted cake will be fine at room temp for several days). This is a great icing that does not get “crusty” like a regular buttercream. To store leftover icing: store in a covered container in the refrigerator. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and beat until light and fluffy.

Yield: frosting for a two-layer round cake or about 24 cupcakes

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as cake decorating, cakes, chocolate butterflies, cupcakes, dessert, raspberries, raspberry filling, recipe, swiss meringue buttercream, white cake

January 28, 2013 · 10:13 am

Homemade Fortune Cookies and thoughts on Japanese Gaman

As we approach Chinese New Year which begins on February 10, I want to share a recipe for homemade fortune cookies and also my favorite fortune (from a cookie) ever.

A few years ago I was serving in a responsibility at church that most of the time filled me with love and gratitude, but also involved a heavy time commitment and occasionally left me feeling heart-sick about things that I could not fix.

After one such day, Brian and I went to dinner with some good friends. After the meal, the traditional fortune cookies were served. I received the most timely fortune. It is the only one that I have actually held onto and occasionally reread.

I know this doesn’t sound like an especially cheery sentiment, but it described exactly how I was feeling at the time. It was also a wonderful nostalgic reminder of the time we spent living in Japan. My Japanese is extremely limited, but one of the concepts that fascinated me there was the concept of uncomplaining endurance or perseverance, regardless of circumstance. From a religious perspective, we might call this “enduring to the end.” The Japanese have not just one word for this, but a vocabulary that covers an entire spectrum of levels of endurance and different situations which might require endurance.

The word “ganbatte”, on the low end of the spectrum might be called out to someone who has just one lap to go in a race or is about to take a hard test. It implies both an encouragement to keep going or work hard and also an admonition to do your best. It implies as well an unspoken wish of good luck in your endeavor.

At the other end of the spectrum you have “gaman”, which implies a self-sacrificing patience, endurance, and perseverance through extremely difficult and often prolonged circumstances. It is a charge to endure with grace and dignity. “Work on in despair” is not meant to be a negative concept, but a positive character trait to develop that will bless both you and society at large.

So, as you make these cookies and the edges burn OR you wait too long to fold them and they harden, OR you make 600 of them for a Chinese New Year party and while you are changing your kids break open every single one to read the funny fortunes, all I can say is:

GANBATTE!

Making Fortune Cookies:

Fortune cookies are made from a thin egg white based batter. You will need to line your baking sheets with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Spread batter in 3-4” circles on your baking sheets. I can get 6 on my baking sheet. The cookies will harden quickly after removing them from the oven. Start with just a couple of cookies on your baking sheet until you get the hang of folding them quickly.

The cookies are done when the dough is dry, but not brown. Don’t be discouraged if you ruin a cookie or two trying to get the exact time right (no two ovens are exactly the same).

To fold: While the cookies are still hot from the oven, flip a cookie over and place a fortune in the center of the cookie. Gently fold cookie in half (do not flatten center crease; just make the edges meet). Using a mug or drinking glass, fold the cookie in half again over the edge of the mug. Transfer to a muffin tin to keep cookie from unfolding while it completely cools.

Cookies should be eaten the same day, or stored in an airtight container. They will quickly become soft in a humid climate. Making them in the winter here in dry western PA, they will keep for several days without becoming soft.

You can write your own fortunes, or here are some links for pre-written fortunes:

Traditional Fortunes:
FortuneCookieMessage.com
Fortunecookies.co.nz
KCFortuneCookieFactory.com
BreakTheCookie.com
ChineseFortuneCookie.com

Funny Fortunes:
YourDictionary.com
MentalFloss.com
SayingsPlus.com

For Kids:
DAPatchy.com/Kidscook
Fortunecookies.co.nz

RECIPE:

Homemade Fortune Cookies

Servings: 36-40
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1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp salt
4 egg whites
1/3 cup oil
2 Tbs water
1 ½ tsp orange or almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
Fortunes cut into strips about 3 ½” long by ½” wide

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.

Use a whisk to mix flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, use the whisk to lightly beat the egg whites, oil, water, vanilla, and orange or almond extract until frothy.

Stir the flour into the egg white mixture and mix until you have a smooth batter. The batter will be thin, with the consistency of a sticky pancake batter and not stiff like a normal cookie dough.

Place one tablespoon of batter onto the cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, spread batter in a circular motion to make a circle about 3-4 inches in diameter. Place 4-6 cookies on a baking sheet (start with fewer cookies until you get the hang of folding quickly). The batter should be very thin on the baking sheet. If it’s too thick the cookies won’t fold without breaking.

Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until the outer edge of each cookie barely begins to brown.

TO FOLD: Immediately after removing baking sheet from the oven, working very quickly, remove a cookie with a thin metal spatula and flip it over onto a clean plate or mat. Place a fortune in the middle of the cookie (let one end slightly extend beyond edge of cookie, if desired). Fold the cookie in half, but do not flatten center crease; just make the edges meet gently. Fold cookie in half again by gently pulling the edges downward over the rim of a mug or glass. Place the finished cookie in the cup of a muffin tin so that it keeps its shape while it cools. Continue with the rest of the cookies.

Let cookies sit, uncovered, for 1-2 hours (so that they harden completely). Cookies are best eaten the same day, especially if weather is humid. In drier climates, cookies will keep well for several days.

Yield: 36-40 cookies

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as Chinese New Year, Cookies, dessert, food, fortune cookies, gaman, homemade, Japan, recipe

January 17, 2013 · 8:24 am

Baked Raspberry Custard Cups (Sugar Free)

These innocent little dessert cups created a fair amount of contention in our home recently.

I have two of these Crème Brulee Ramekin Sets:

While this is definitely not a necessary kitchen item (it was a gift), I do enjoy using it. I like that the rack keeps the bottom of the ramekins from touching the bottom of the pan when using a water bath. And it is really easy to remove the ramekins from the water bath with the rack. However. With 8 little cups and 6 people in our house right now, this creates conflict regarding the two “extras”.

Brian eats very little sugar, so every now and again I try to make a dessert that he will eat. Custards are an easy dessert to substitute out sugar without compromising the texture of the dessert. I make these using a combination of stevia and Splenda, but you could certainly make them with sugar as well.

So when I made these sugar-free custards, Brian assumed that I had made them for him and promptly ate a second one later that night and a third for breakfast the next morning. From the sad, droopy faces I got when kids came home from school asking about the “extras”, you would think that summer vacation had been cancelled.

Luckily, these are super easy to make, so I threw another batch in the oven before dinner. I wish I could say that everyone was happy that they got a second dessert, but unfortunately, it just created the same conflict two days in a row with who was going to get the “extras”.

Next time I’ll just hide the two extras, announce that there are only six, and eat the extras myself while everyone is at school. No more conflict.

RECIPE:

Baked Raspberry Custard Cups

Servings: 8
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3 cups half-and-half ( or 1 ½ cups milk + 1 ½ cups cream)
3 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
½ cup sugar (or 1/3 cup Splenda + 10 drops vanilla stevia)
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
Pinch of salt
Raspberries (about 2 cups), fresh or frozen (do not thaw)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a pan for a water bath: place eight 6-oz ramekins in a larger baking pan. Heat enough water to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Heat half-and-half in a saucepan over medium heat until very hot, but not quite boiling.

In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until well combined.

While whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot milk in a steady stream into the mixing bowl with the eggs and sugar. Do this very, very slowly at first, or you will curdle the eggs. (I transfer the hot milk from the saucepan to a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup so that it is easy to pour)

If necessary, strain custard through a mesh sieve to remove lumps. If you have no lumps, then just skim the foam from the top of the bowl using a mesh skimmer.

Place 5-6 raspberries (if using frozen raspberries, do not thaw first) in the bottom of each ramekin. Pour custard over raspberries. Fill bottom of larger pan with enough hot, almost boiling, water to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until set completely at the edges, and only slightly jiggly in the center. NOTE: If you are using frozen raspberries, bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes in waterbath. Remove ramekins from waterbath and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

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Tagged as baked custard, dessert, flan, food, gluten free, low carb, pudding, recipe, sugar free

December 9, 2012 · 2:30 pm

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

DAY 9: Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

Buttermilk gives these cookies a soft and chewy texture, with a brownie consistency on the inside and crispy cookie edges on the outside. Peanut butter chips make for a great flavor combo, but you could always swap those out for chocolate chips if you want an extra fudgy cookie.

RECIPE:

Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

Servings: Makes 4 dozen cookies
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2 cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups peanut butter chips and/or chocolate chips (about 1 ½ cups PB and ½ cup CC)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with silicon mats or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Melt the butter in a small, microwave safe bowl. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter (still warm) with cocoa powder and whisk until very smooth. Whisk in sugar until well mixed. Mix in egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the peanut butter chips and/or chocolate chips.

Drop dough in 1-inch balls into prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches between cookies to allow for spread. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set around the edges. Cool for 2-3 minutes on a baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack with a spatula to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

(Recipe adapted from Baking Bites)

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Tagged as baking, buttermilk, chocolate, Cookies, dessert, food, peanut butter, recipe

December 8, 2012 · 9:16 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Hot Cocoa Cookies

DAY 8: Hot Cocoa Cookies

Fun cookies made with hot cocoa mix and freeze-dried mini marshmallows. The cocoa mix makes for a light-chocolately flavored cookie. A good quality dark chocolate mix will give more flavor than a milk chocolate variety.

These little marshmallow bits are great for sprinkling into cocoa or over ice cream. And they are perfect for cookies. Don’t add real marshmallows to cookie dough: they will melt in your oven and all over your cookie sheets. Burnt melted marshmallow goo is not fun to clean.

These are also available in chocolate and peppermint flavors. Peppermint marshmallow bits and mint flavored chocolate chips make for great Mint Hot Cocoa Cookies!

RECIPE:

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Servings: Makes 3-4 dozen cookies
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1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
4 pkg (about 1 ¼ oz or ¼ c each) Hot Cocoa Mix
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 ½ cups dried Marshmallow Bits (not soft marshmallows!)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Use a mixer to cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, hot cocoa mix, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallow bits.

Drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for five minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

For Mint Hot Cocoa Cookies: use mint chocolate chips and peppermint flavored marshmallow bits.

(Recipe adapted from Love From the Oven)

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Tagged as baking, chocolate, Cookies, dessert, dried marshmallows, easy, food, hot cocoa mix, mallow bits