Cranberry Pie (Nantucket style)

I fell in love with this several years ago, when my cousin first made it for me. Now that she has moved across the country and I can't bribe her to do the baking for me, I got her to share the recipe and got permission to share it here. Give it a shot, it's delightful!

Bake 325 50-60 mins 

Spray or butter pie plate 

Add 2 cups cranberries, 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans are quite nice) and 1/2 cup sugar to the bottom of a pie pan 

Mix: 

1 cup sugar 

2 eggs 

3/4 cup salted butter 

2 tsp almond extract 

1 cup flour 

(Batter will be thick) 

Spread batter over the top of the cranberries and bake. 

Serve with ice cream or cool whip.

Courtesy of the incomparable Seleta Talbot!

Sipping Chocolate

For my sister's baby shower this week I did a hot chocolate bar with some amazing hot chocolate, and all kinds of lovely junk to stir in and add flavor (like the marshmallows!)

I started out with sipping chocolate recipe collected from the same Chef who taught me about the stuffing. Serves 4 - small sizes.

Luscious Sipping Chocolate
2 ¼ cups whole milk
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar (or less if your chocolate isn’t bittersweet)

Bring to rolling boil in a medium saucepan. Add the following:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Add to liquid. Whisk in. Return to rolling boil. Reduce heat to very low. Blend one minute in a blender or 5 minutes with immersion blender until thick and foamy.

(Hint - a rolling boil is hard to manage with whole milk, and it boils over in the blink of an eye.)

After making a batch though, I knew I couldn't use something so rich for a cocoa bar. One mug and I was BUZZED! (Not even joking - a mug was way too much, I was wired and driving across town to be social at 9pm on a work night.) There would be no non-lethal way to stir in anything else… So I played around a bit with lightening things up, and ended up using the same process with the following amounts:

16 C whole milk
1 1/4 C sugar
3 C  water
20 oz semisweet chocolate 
1 1/4 C cocoa

This ended up still being plenty rich, with a nice chocolate flavor, but without the risk of a diabetic coma. I actually made two of these batches, each batch easily made enough for 16 people (I had lots left over). For a more manageable batch, serving four (larger sizes) try with the following amounts:

4 C Whole milk
5 Tbs C Sugar

3/4 C Water

5 oz Semisweet chocolate
5 Tbs Cocoa

Prepare it following the process in the original recipe, and make sure you whip it really well just before serving - it adds a great finishing touch!

Stir in options include: crushed candy canes, chopped andes, homemade marshmallows, toffee bits, caramel sauce, butterscotch chips, cinnamon chips, gingersnaps, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple sugar candies, pirouettes, candy canes, oreo crumbles… and just about anything else that tickles your fancy.

Homemade Marshmallows

I’ve been prepping for my sister’s baby shower this next weekend, and part of that has been making homemade marshmallows. I was surprised with how easy they have been, and how much better they are than what you get at the store - I just finished my fifth batch and have had so much fun I thought I would share.

Homemade Marshmallows

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4+ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon other extract as desired

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Before you start, line your dish with foil or wax paper, spray with your preferred non-stick spray (or use butter) and then generously dust with confectioners sugar. You will want this done in advance, because doing it last minute will lead to sticky messes. Delicious messes, but your end product will not be as nice.

The size of your pan will determine the thickness of your marshmallows - my first batch I did on a cookie sheet, making them about 1/2 an inch thick. Second batch was in a 9x13 and they ended up about 3/4 of an inch. My third batch I used a 9x9, they were about 1 1/2 inches thick. 

Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (I actually use the paddle - easier to clean fluff out of when I finish beating) and allow to sit while you make the syrup.

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and boil until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Increase the speed of the mixer till you have it on high, and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 10-15 minutes depending on your mixer. Slow or stop your mixer to add the vanilla (to avoid splashing) and mix thoroughly for another minute or two. If you are wanting to add other flavorings or colorings this is the time to do it. I’ve tried 1/2 Tbs almond extract and coconut flavoring (not at the same time, though that might be good too.) Both were amazing, but the coconut was my favorite. 

I have not been beating the mix as long as is called for, and it means my fluff is a little thinner and easier to manipulate, it also makes the mallows more dense, but I have been liking it that way (I am planning to try the full time on my next batch to see what happens.)

Pour the marshmallow mixture into your pan, smooth the top, and dust with more confectioners' sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out. The thicker you make your mallows, the longer you want them to set. I put them in the oven to keep anything (like cat hair) from getting into it.

The next day turn the marshmallows out onto a dusted board or parchment paper and cut them in squares using a pizza wheel or kitchen scissors. Dust them with more confectioners’ sugar so the edges don’t stick to everything.

Store in an airtight container - word is they should last about two weeks in the refrigerator. I am doubting they will last that long.

As an added bonus, just because I find it very helpful to see exactly what I am doing and what I am looking for at each stage, here is a video showing the process (it’s 20 min, but it does the job)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I have a roommate right now who makes some pretty awesome food on occasion (hello RM) - and some of these recipes need to be shared because they are just too yummy to keep to myself :)


For instance this Flourless Chocolate Cake. Think of brownies on steroids and you will be pretty close to the mark. And so easy too - she told me it was, but dang! She wasn't kidding!


So here it is - reblogged from her food blog,  the recipe is from a 1997 issue of Gourmet.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

4 oz good bittersweet chocolate (I used a 72% dark chocolate bar, and it was pretty decadent. You could easily go lighter...)

1/2 c real butter

3/4 c sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t vanilla (the original recipe does not call for this, but comments on Epicurious recommend it)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of wax paper; butter paper. In a double-boiler-type setup, melt chocolate with butter, stirring till smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, whisk well. Sift in cocoa and whisk till just combined. Pour batter in pan and bake in the middle of the oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate. 

Then fancy it up as your whims dictate - a chocolate ganache, berries, powdered sugar, whipped cream... so many yummy possibilities.

Ridiculously Easy Apple Cranberry Pie

So, the fact that I am posting this will only serve to emphasize what a lazy cheater I am - and I don't think this even counts as an actual recipe.

However it is really quite delicious, so very simple (but it looks so fancy!) and it makes a great fall back when all of a sudden you find that you have to take a dessert and you don't have the time to do more than throw things together.

• 1 box of Stouffer's Holiday Edition Glazed Apple with Cranberries
• 1 package of refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)

Yup. That is all it takes. Defrost the Apple Cranberry mix. Line a pie dish with the first crust, pour filling into crust and lay second crust over the top. Pinch edges together to form a tight seal, cut holes into top of pie crust to vent, and bake according to directions on crust box. You can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top of the crust, or fancy it up any other way you see fit - or just leave it be! You really can't mess this one up!

Snowflakes

This is not so much a recipe, as an idea to try. We put a large decorating tip (star shaped) in a decorating bag, and filled it with our favorite yogurt. Then squeezed (not much squeezing needed) drops of yogurt on a cookie sheet, and place it in the freezer. In about 3-4 hours, you can just use a spatula to pop them right off the cookie sheet. Put the "snowflakes" in a tupperware in your freezer, and proceed to serve 2-3 of those as "dessert". Our resident 4-year old named these, and proudly served them to our dinner guests.

Also, you can use a zip-lock bag and just cut a hole in a bottom corner. Less snowflake-like, but with the savings in clean up time, I'm sure you can devise other names.

Hot Fudge Sauce

For many long years this has been considered a Top Secret family recipe passed down from my Grandmother. But since my Mum started sharing the secret several years back - I feel absolutely no guilt in posting it to a public forum now. Besides, an Ice Cream Roll wouldn't be complete without it!

In large sauce pan mix together:

4 Tbs. Cocoa

4 Tbs. Flour

2 cups Sugar

Add:

12 oz can evaporated milk 

1 cube Butter/Margarine

1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix well and bring to a boil. Boil 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. If sauce becomes too thick, add a bit more milk. The sauce stores well in the fridge for long periods of time, but odds are that it won't last that long.

Ice Cream Rolls

Ice Cream Rolls have been a long standing tradition in my family - and have made appearances at weddings, family reunions, caroling parties and birthdays starting long before I was born. And because they are delicious in addition to sentimental, I thought I would share - 'tis the season!

3 Eggs - room temperature, beat on high 4-8 minutes until very thick
3/4 cups Sugar - beat into eggs
1/3 cup Water - blend in on low speed
1 tsp. Vanilla - blend in

(Pre-mixed & well sifted)
1 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 cup Cocoa
Add slowly and gently to egg and sugar mix.

Spread batter gently into a foil lined and greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes and drop out onto dish towel coated with powdered sugar - roll up with the towel and allow to cool.
Unroll.
Using a knife, cut 1/2 inch slices of ice cream (pick your flavor) and cover the roll - this should take about 1/2 a carton of ice cream.
Re-roll, cover with foil, and freeze.
Slice roll, and serve with Hot Fudge Sauce and whipped cream.

Serves 12-15

4-Star Pumpkin Bread

I made this yesterday and it was....delicious. I highly recommend.

3-1/2 C flour
2 t baking soda
2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger
3 C sugar
1 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
15 oz pumpkin
2/3 C water
1-1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and grease 2 loaf pans.

Sift together the dry ingredients (flour through ginger) in a medium bowl. In a large bowl or standing mixer, combine the sugar and oil. Add the eggs to the sugar/oil mixture, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add the bumpkin and stir until smooth. Add to the sugars mixture approximately 1/3 of the flour mixture and a little of the water, stirring until smooth. Keep adding the flour and water, stirring after the additions, until all ingredients have been added.

Pour into loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hr 15 min, or until the top is nicely cracked and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Watermelon Granita

So, we need more fruit in our lives. And by "we", I mean a certain 3-year old. One by one, foods she used to love have been dropped from her list of approved foods. One has "dirt" in it (pepper), another has the cheese and meat mixed (how dare it), that one looks funny (even though we devoured it just last week). Basically, bread and cheese are okay. And anything else is highly suspect. I know, I know. We should not be surprised. But we can still try a few things, you know?

And so we tried Watermelon Granita. And we all fell for it. It was super easy, so we might try another fruit soon.

Ingredients
1/2 whole seedless watermelon, cut into chunks (about 8 cups)
4 TBSP lemon or lime juice (originally calls for fresh lime, but we aren't that coordinated and subbed lemon juice)
1/3 cup sugar (to taste)

Process
Put half the watermelon, half the juice, and half the sugar in a blender. Unless you have a super sized blender. Process until smooth, and pour into a pan or large flat tupperware.

Repeat with the other half of the ingredients. The pan/tupperware should only be half full (use a second if needed).

Freeze for a couple of hours, and lightly scrape the top/edges with a fork or spoon. Return to freezer, and continue scraping in another couple of hours. Repeat until the entire mixture is shaved. Cover the containers with lids or plastic wrap.

Tell 3-year old it is red "ice cream" or "slushy" and enjoy.

Next Best Thing To...

This is not a fancy dessert, but it's sooo good. I hadn't eaten it in years, and when I ate it this summer, I remembered how awesome it is. Try it.

1 C flour
1/2 C butter
1 C chopped pecans or walnuts
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 C powdered sugar
8 oz Cool Whip, divided
1 large pkg (6-serving size) instant vanilla
pudding mix
1 large pkg (6-serving size) instant chocolate
pudding mix
3 C cold milk
grated chocolate

Mix together flour, butter, and pecans until crumb-like. Press into bottom of 9" x 13" pan and bake at 350°F until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and half the Cool Whip. Spread over the cooled crust. Then mix the pudding mixes with the milk and mix until smooth and thickened. Spread over the cream cheese layer. Spread the remaining Cool Whip on the top and garnish with grated chocolate. Keep refrigerated.

Anyday Sundae

Food processing frozen bananas results in a surprisingly ice cream like texture. This is tasty!

1/2 C skim milk
2 C frozen banana slices (~2 medium bananas)**
4 t chocolate syrup
2 t chopped nuts

Pour skim milk into blender. Blend on high for about 15 seconds. Add frozen banana slices and blend on high for about 4 or 5 seconds. Stop and stir with spoon as needed.

*Freezing overripe bananas works best. Cut them into slices before freezing.

Sweet Potato Souffle

I'll take this over pumpkin pie any day.

3 C fresh mashed sweet potato
1 C sugar
1/2 t salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 stick butter
1/2 C milk
1 t vanilla

Mix all ingredients, pour into a greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Cover with following topping:

1 C brown sugar
1/3 C flour
1 C chopped pecans
1/3 stick butter

Bake 35 minutes at 350°F.

Alison's Bundt Cake

Super easy, very tasty. If you wanted to make Auburn's day, you could add dried cherries and use super dark chocolate chips. Just don't overbake it.

Mix together:

1 devil’s food cake mix
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C oil
3/4 C water
8 oz sour cream
1 bag chocolate chips
4 eggs, each beaten in separately

Pour into a greased bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°F.

Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting

I love this cream cheese frosting because it's not too sweet. You can taste the tanginess of the cream cheese.

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool
3 T butter softened, but still cool
1 T sour cream
1 t vanilla
1 C powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in the stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Then add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Mascarpone Brownies

I cannot recommend these highly enough. Unlike most brownies, though, they're better cold or room temperature.

Brownies
1 C unsalted butter (plus more for preparing pan)
3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 C granulated sugar
1/2 C cocoa powder
1/2 C mascarpone cheese, softened
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 C flour
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9" square glass baking pan and set aside. Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30-second intervals, stirring between each heating. Continue until both are completely melted. Sift sugar and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/chocolate mixture. Beat in (by hand) the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack.

Ganache Frosting

6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 T heavy cream
3 T unsalted butter

Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.

Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly. Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies.

Nanaimo Bars

Super yummy...right up there with Becca's Oatmeal Caramel Delights.

1/2 C butter
1/4 C white sugar
5 T cocoa
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
2 C crushed graham crackers
1 C shredded coconut
1/2 C chopped walnut
1/4 C butter
2 C powdered sugar
2 T vanilla pudding powder
3 T milk
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1 T butter

Mix 1/2 C butter, sugar, cocoa, egg, vanilla in a heavy sauce pan or double boiler. Stir over low heat until mix is of custard-like consistency. Combine graham crackers, coconut, walnuts and add to the melted mix. Mix well and pack into buttered 9" square pan. Beat 1/4 C butter, powdered sugar, vanilla custard powder, and milk until creamy and spread over melted base. Refrigerate until hardened. Melt chocolate with 1 T butter and drizzle over custard icing. Refrigerate.

Chewy Caramel Popcorn

1 C Sugar 
1 cube butter 
1/2 C corn syrup 
Dash of salt 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp vanilla 
2 bags popped microwave popcorn 
  
Bring sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt to a low boil for approximately 1 minute. Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla. Mix well. Pour over popcorn quickly and stir to coat evenly. 

This chewy goodness is brought to you by my Aunt Jill :)

Divinity

Combine:

2 C sugar

½ C dark corn syrup

½ C water

Boil until syrup spins an 8 inch thread (242 degrees)

Beat:

2 egg whites till very stiff

Pour syrup in very thin stream over whites

Add 1 tsp vanilla and beat until stiff, will stand in peaks. Fold in chopped nuts (optional). 

Drop from teaspoon onto wax covered cookie sheet. Let set till dry.

No-Bake Cookies

Bring to a boil (1min) onthe stove:

2 C Sugar

1/2 C milk

1/2 C butter

1/3 C cocoa

Remove from heat and add (mixing well):

3 C oatmeal (quick cooking works best)

1/2 C peanut butter

1/2 C coconut (optional)

Mix well and drop spoonfuls onto non-stick surface. Let cool.