Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Easy Pumpkin Spice Pie

A perfect addition to any Thanksgiving celebration.




Ingredients:


1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)


1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk


2 large eggs


1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon


3/4 tsp. ground ginger


1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg


1/2 tsp. ground allspice


1/2 tsp. salt


1 recipe pie crust




Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Pour into prepared crust. Bake 15 minutes.


2. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Let cool. Once completely cooled, slice and serve with freshly whipped cream.


31 Days of Cookie Madness

Stay tuned!

To celebrate and spread our love for the holidays, we are sharing our favorite cookie recipies with you. Starting tomorrow through December 31st, our everyday posts will include photos, recipies and cookie tips. These yummy treats are great to share with company during the holidays and are also great to give away as holiday gifts, wrapped in celophane and garnished with a festive bow.

Please continue to check-in everyday to see our latest cookie creations. Print the recipes, share your treats and bake for someone you love.


"Candy" Cake

The perfect cake for a 7 year olds birthday party, covered entirely by their favorite colorful candy and wrapped in chocolate-filled vanilla wafers. This is a chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting and M&M's, made with love for Lukas Tate. Happy Birthday Lukas!

Champagne Sabayon

A superbly light dessert, made with lots of delicious champagne!





Ingredients:

8 Egg yolks
1/2C sugar
1C Champagne
1 1/2C whipped cream (medium peaks)
1 packet gelatin
1/4C white wine

In a small saucepan put the wine and the packet gelatin, heat over small flame till the gelatin has dissolved. Keep it warm, not too hot, and not cold, or it will stiffen up and form lumps.
In a large stainless steel bowl put in the yolks and sugar. Whisk with a hand held mixer till light in color, and place the bowl over a pot containing hot simmering water. Continue mixing, add the champagne, all the while mixing, do not stop.
Continue until the mixture has trippled in volume, and until you can form stiff peaks. Take off the heat, pour in the warm gelatin mixture, keep mixing, continue mixing until it has cooled a little, so that when you add the whipped cream, that it doesn't melt it. Fold in the cream in 3 parts, then divide into serving bowls. Cover with plastic wrap for at least 2 hours, or overnight, serve.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Black Pepper Spice Cake

A simple bundt cake, yet it has a very interesting flavor. It contains toasted walnuts, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper. A really nice cake to have with a hot drink this holiday season.






Ingredients:

1 1/2C buttermilk
3 large eggs
1t vanilla extract
4oz almond oil (or any other flavorless oil)
4oz soft butter
2C all purpose flour
1C ground toasted walnuts
1t baking powder
1C sugar
1t baking soda
1/2t salt
2t ground cinnamon
1t ground cardamom
1/2t ground cloves
1t ground black pepper


Put the oil, soft butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl, and cream, slowly adding the eggs one at a time, then the buttermilk. Scale out the dry ingredients in one bowl, and add them to the mixing bowl, till just combined.
Pour into a greased bundt pan ( the one above is a Christmas wreath, which was colored with food coloring after a glaze was added).
Bake for about 1 hour at 350F. Cool and glaze with 1C confectioner's sugar and 2T lemon juice.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Savory Scones

Not everyone likes sweet things all the time, and it's nice to switch things up. These scones have grated cheddar cheese in them, scallions and sour cream. Cumin was also added for extra flavor. Really tasty served warm with some butter.


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Zimtsterne

These are traditional German Christmas cookies, meaning cinnamon stars, made with only 4 ingredients. They have great flavor, they are crunchy yet soft and are very easy to eat.

First make a meringue with:
3 egg whites and 250g sifted powdered sugar
Start whipping the whites with a mixer, slowly add the sifted sugar as you go, then whip to medium stiff peaks.
Put 1 cup of the meringue aside, it will be used to put on top of the cookie before baking.

In a bowl put 300g almond meal and 3T ground cinnamon, fold in the meringue. This must be a firm ball, soft enough to absorb everything, but firm enough to roll, and not sticky. If it is overly sticky, then add more almond meal to make it firmer.

Sift a thick layer of powdered sugar on a clean surface, and roll out half of the ball to about a 1/4 inch, dust with powdered sugar to avoid any sticking. With a star shape cookie cutter make imprints on the dough, and place the stars on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. They will spread a little. With an offset spatula put a thin layer of meringue on top of the stars. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Bake at 250F for about 20 minutes. They should dry out, but still be soft in the middle.




Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving! Here is a delicious pumpkin pie, made from fresh pumpkin, brandy was added, and ground pecans were put on top of the flakey pie crust. Delicious.







Crust:
1C whole wheat flour
1 1/2C all purpose flour
2 sticks butter (cold)
2 eggs
1/4t salt
1/4C sugar
2T whole milk
3C ground pecans

Put flours, salt, sugar in a large bowl, add the butter in small cut up pieces and with your hands rub it all together until there are crumbs with butter chunks. Add the eggs, mix until combined, if it is too dry add some milk. It should stay together, but mix so that there are still butter chunks, this will keep it flakier when baked. Divide into 2 discs, chill. Roll it out to 1/8" (thin crusts are nice), with dustings of flour to keep it from sticking. Place into a greased pie dish, trim edges, with a fork, make marks on the bottom of the dough.
Now put 1 1/2C ground pecans on top of the dough.

In a blender put:
3C fresh pumpkin (baked and cooled prior)
1C dark brown sugar
2C heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1C brandy
1t cinnamon
1t pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1T vanilla extract
1/2t salt

Pulse till combined, this will fill 2 pie dishes nicely, pour over the pecans. Place in a 325F oven, for about 45 mins.  Cool and chill, this will produce the prettiest slice.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

More Cranberry Spice Cake

This cake is popular and very simple. It has fresh cranberries, sparkling apple cider folded in before going in the oven, which makes it so deliciously moist and flavorful. Topped with an apple cider-lemon glaze.






1/3C sugar
2/3C dark brown sugar
1/2C almond oil (or any flavorless oil)
2 eggs
1 1/2C whole wheat flour
3/4t cinnamon
3/4t salt
1/2t cardamom
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
2C fresh roughly chopped cranberries
1T orange zest
2t lemon zest
1t vanilla extract
1/2C sparkling apple cider (fold in at the end)

Cream sugars with oil, add eggs. Add dry, fold in apple cider at the end. Pour into a 9x9" square greased dish. bake at 350F. Cool. Glaze.

Glaze:
1C powdered sugar
2t lemon zest
3T apple cider
1T lemon juice
1/8t salt

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Brandy Cherry soaked Streusel Cake

2 cans of tart cherries were drained, and soaked in a brandy syrup which was made the day before. Involving simple syrup, cloves, a cinnamon stick, and vanilla bean, the syrup was heated briefly, then a cup of brandy was added at the end. The cherries were put into the syrup, covered and soaked overnight.
The cake was made with cocoa, buttermilk, cinnamon, butter and ground graham crackers, but this combination becomes very fluffy when baked. The drained soaked cherries were put on top, and folded over a bit, then a cinnamon streusel was put on top, then it was baked. The top is nice and crunchy, then you have the soft brandy cherries in the middle, and the fluffy cake at the bottom. Very tasty. After the cake was cooled the sides were covered with grated chocolate and melted chocolate was poured in a decorative way on top.

Syrup

In a saucepan put:
1c sugar
1c water
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1/2 vanilla bean cut in half
Heat till it simmers, add 1c brandy, and 2 cans of drained red cherries. Pour into a large bowl. Cover and leave out overnight.

Next day. Drain cherries loosely (it's ok to have some moisture from the syrup run into the cake when baking).

Cake

In a mixing bowl add:
140g sugar
1 stick butter (113g)
mix till fluffy, then add 4 egg yolks one at a time (save the egg whites, and put them in a separate mixing bowl)
Zest of 1 lemon
add 1/4t ground cinnamon
1T dark cocoa
50g ground almonds
1/4T baking powder
1/4t salt
112g (1/2c) buttermilk

at the end add
100g all purpose flour
125g ground graham crackers (bought)
mix lightly, then mix the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the batter at the end. put into a 9" greased cake pan.
Put the cherries on top, fold under a little
Spread the streusel on top

Streusel

In a mixing bowl put:
50g cold cubed butter
20g sugar
50g ground graham crackers
20g all purpose flour
1/2t ground cinnamon

Mix with hands till they are lots of small crumbs, and sprinkle on top of the cake.

Put in the 350F oven. Will take about 45-60 minutes when ready.

Decorate with semi sweet chocolate as desired.







Thursday, November 17, 2011

Lustful Lemon Bars

The combination of flavors sweet and tart on top of a buttery crust just couldn't be a better match. This lemony custard is made of only 4 ingredients; eggs, sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest on top of a buttery shortbread crust. It's twice baked, once to brown the crust to golden perfection, and the second is to set the custard. Cool to room temp and dust with confectioners sugar. Enjoy.





Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Pistachio Lemon Tea Cake

Made with ground pistachios, ground hazelnuts, lemon zest, and eggs that have been separated, where you add the stiff egg whites at the end which makes this cake very moist and light. It is glazed with a whisky lemon icing.





Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

A simple moist cake, very light, and a perfect addition to a coffee or tea. Made with golden delicious apple cubes and a brown sugar streusel.