Category: DESSERTS

Cowboy Cookies

Don’t forget to visit me at The Bad Girl’s Kitchen for more fabulous recipes!
A couple years ago, I was looking for a good new cookie recipe, when this one appeared in my mailbox in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. As luck would have it, they have coconut in them, and are appropriately-named for serving on a ranch, or anywhere. Delicious!

Cowboy Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen

The origin and original ingredients of this popular cookie may be unclear, but there’s no doubt it’ll spur a stampede. This version relies on oats, coconut, pecans, and chocolate for just the right chewiness and gooeyness.

Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)~I used 1 heaping cup chocolate chips
3 ounces (3/4 cup) pecan halves
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray, line with parchment, and spray parchment. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder into a medium bowl.

2 Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

3. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Beat in oats, chocolate, pecans and coconut until combined. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days).

4. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a small spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.

5. Bake until edges of cookies begin to brown, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks. Let cool. (Cookies can be stored up to 3 days)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake: Lovin’ From the Oven

My sister in law makes a killer coffee cake.  It has a ripple of cinnamon through the center.  The cake is buttery and moist.  It’s really wonderful and my husband adores it.  She has never shared the recipe.  I have asked.
So.  I have had to search high and low for something similar.  This is attempt 2,538 in twenty years.  It’s as close as I have ever come to replicating it.  I am not sure I am done trying, but this is a good fall-back.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake: 
Cake

3 cups flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and eggs.  Alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream. Pour  half of the batter into a greased 9 inch pan.  
Topping:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 stick butter
Combine ingredients in a bowl with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.  Sprinkle half of the topping onto the batter in the pan.  Top with the other half of the batter and then sprinkle on the remaining half of the topping.  Bake 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Tent the cake with foil and bake another 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Flourless Chocolate Cake from King Arthur

For additional Passover Recipes – Sweet and Savory and Comfy Cook….

In the spirit of our ingredient of the month, chocolate and in the spirit of Passover, I want to share a new recipe, I made. This is not the first flourless chocolate cake, I have made, and I am sure, I will try new recipes that come my way. Up until now, I have had only good luck with King Arthur recipes and when I frost this, I hope I will say the same about this one.
I have found flourless recipes to be the best in terms of richness of taste. I guess the lack of flour lends more power to the strength of the chocolate.
Flourless Chocolate Cake from King Arthur’s Flour

oil does not belong in photo

Cake
1 cup (6 ounces) chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoons instant coffee
3 large eggs

1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder

Glaze

1 cup (6 ounces) chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream (non dairy whipped topping, unwhipped)

Topping
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted in a 350°F oven till golden brown, about 10 minutes

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease an 8″ round cake pan; cut a piece of parchment or waxed paper to fit, grease it, and lay it in the bottom of the pan.

To make the cake: Put the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat till the butter is melted and the chips are soft. Stir until the chips melt, reheating briefly if necessary. You can also do this over a burner set at very low heat. Transfer the melted chocolate/butter to a mixing bowl.
Add the sugar, salt, and espresso powder. Espresso enhances chocolate’s flavor much as vanilla does; using 1 teaspoon will simply enhance the flavor, while 2 teaspoons will lend a hint of mocha to the cake.

Add the eggs, beating briefly until smooth. Add the cocoa powder, and mix just to combine.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 25 minutes; the top will have formed a thin crust. Remove it from the oven, and cool it in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges of the pan with a table knife or nylon spreader, and turn it out onto a serving plate. The top will now be on the bottom; that’s fine. Also, the edges will crumble a bit, which is also fine. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing.
To prepare the glaze: Combine the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat till the cream is very hot, but not simmering. Remove from the microwave, and stir till the chocolate melts and the mixture is completely smooth.

Spoon the glaze over the cake, spreading it to drip over the sides a bit. Allow the glaze to set for several hours before serving the cake.

Yield: one 8″ cake, 12 rich servings.

For more flourless recipes and more Passover Recipes, drop by at My Sweet and Savory and Comfy Cook.

RUM RAISIN WALNUT TEACAKE



1 pound (4 sticks) butter
PURE
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup Parrot Bay coconut rum
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • With a mixer, cream butter.
  • Add sugar, a little at a time.
  • Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
  • Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour.
  • Mix in vanilla.
  • Drain any remaining rum from the raisins.
  • Fold in raisins and nuts.
  • Pour into a greased and floured tube pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Even the SIL’s dog liked it. Thank goodness we’d already cut our pieces out!
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ANGEL FOOD CAKE & LEMON CAKE SQUARES with ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM & ROASTED COCONUT

Another wonderful use for my new brownie pan! Individual cakes for the BBQ.




We had a casualty that the dogs loved!

I think grams got this recipe originally from the side of a Swan’s Down cake flour bag.
ANGEL FOOD CAKE
1 1/4 cups sifted Swans Down cake flour
1/2 cup + 1 1/3 cups sugar sifted sugar
1 1/2 cups +/- 12 room temperature egg whites,
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

NOTE:For chocolate angel food, substitute 1/4 cup cocoa for 1/4 cup cake flour and omit for chocolate angel food

  • Sift flour* once, measure and add 1/2 cup sugar and sift together several more times.
  • Combine egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, and flavorings in large mixing bowl. Whisk continuously until the whites form soft peaks that are moist and glossy.
  • Then add the rest of the sugar very gradually over the whites and beating until sugar is blended, about 25 beating strokes per time.
  • Add flour and sugar mixture very gradually, sifting it over the egg whites. Fold in each addition turning bowl gradually. Use 15 complete fold over strokes each time. After last addition. use 10 to 12 additional fold over strokes.
  • Gently pour into a 10″ ungreased tube pan.
  • Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes.
  • Frost and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

*and cocoa when making chocolate angel food

LEMON SPONGE CAKE
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice + rind of 1 lemon
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Beat yolks of eggs until thick and lemon colored.
  • Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  • Gradually beat in the sugar, grated lemon rind, and juice.
  • Fold in half of the stiffly beaten egg whites.
  • Cut in sifted flour and salt, add nuts if desired, and remaining egg whites.
  • Bake in a slow oven for about one hour or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out nearly clean.
  • Frost and sprinkle with toasted coconut.
  • Chill overnight or several hours.

ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water.
  • Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring just enough to dissolve the sugar. Heat to between 223 and 234 degrees F., or until a small amount of syrup dripped from a spoon forms a soft thread. It should take 1 or 2 minutes.
  • When the sugar mixture has reached the thread stage, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool.
  • Whip the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer. When the whites can hold a stiff peak, pour in the sugar syrup in a thin stream while continuing to whip at medium speed. Be careful not to pour too quickly, or it will all just end up at the bottom of the bowl. When the syrup is incorporated, continue to mix for 10 more minutes to allow it to cool. The egg whites will be fluffy and glossy.
  • Add pieces of cold butter one at a time to the egg whites and continue to whip at medium or low speed.

TOASTED COCONUT
1 16 ounce bag coconut
4 tablespoons butter melted

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Toss coconut in melted butter until well coated.
  • Spread evenly on a jelly roll pan.
  • Bake for fifteen minutes and then flip coconut and bake another 15 minutes until golden brown.

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ANGEL FOOD CAKE & LEMON CAKE SQUARES with ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM & ROASTED COCONUT

Another wonderful use for my new brownie pan! Individual cakes for the BBQ.




We had a casualty that the dogs loved!

I think grams got this recipe originally from the side of a Swan’s Down cake flour bag.
ANGEL FOOD CAKE
1 1/4 cups sifted Swans Down cake flour
1/2 cup + 1 1/3 cups sugar sifted sugar
1 1/2 cups +/- 12 room temperature egg whites,
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

NOTE:For chocolate angel food, substitute 1/4 cup cocoa for 1/4 cup cake flour and omit for chocolate angel food

  • Sift flour* once, measure and add 1/2 cup sugar and sift together several more times.
  • Combine egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, and flavorings in large mixing bowl. Whisk continuously until the whites form soft peaks that are moist and glossy.
  • Then add the rest of the sugar very gradually over the whites and beating until sugar is blended, about 25 beating strokes per time.
  • Add flour and sugar mixture very gradually, sifting it over the egg whites. Fold in each addition turning bowl gradually. Use 15 complete fold over strokes each time. After last addition. use 10 to 12 additional fold over strokes.
  • Gently pour into a 10″ ungreased tube pan.
  • Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes.
  • Frost and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

*and cocoa when making chocolate angel food

LEMON SPONGE CAKE
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice + rind of 1 lemon
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Beat yolks of eggs until thick and lemon colored.
  • Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  • Gradually beat in the sugar, grated lemon rind, and juice.
  • Fold in half of the stiffly beaten egg whites.
  • Cut in sifted flour and salt, add nuts if desired, and remaining egg whites.
  • Bake in a slow oven for about one hour or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out nearly clean.
  • Frost and sprinkle with toasted coconut.
  • Chill overnight or several hours.

ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup water
3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water.
  • Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring just enough to dissolve the sugar. Heat to between 223 and 234 degrees F., or until a small amount of syrup dripped from a spoon forms a soft thread. It should take 1 or 2 minutes.
  • When the sugar mixture has reached the thread stage, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool.
  • Whip the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer. When the whites can hold a stiff peak, pour in the sugar syrup in a thin stream while continuing to whip at medium speed. Be careful not to pour too quickly, or it will all just end up at the bottom of the bowl. When the syrup is incorporated, continue to mix for 10 more minutes to allow it to cool. The egg whites will be fluffy and glossy.
  • Add pieces of cold butter one at a time to the egg whites and continue to whip at medium or low speed.

TOASTED COCONUT
1 16 ounce bag coconut
4 tablespoons butter melted

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Toss coconut in melted butter until well coated.
  • Spread evenly on a jelly roll pan.
  • Bake for fifteen minutes and then flip coconut and bake another 15 minutes until golden brown.

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Super Simple Strawberry Shortcake: Lovin’ From the Oven

Min posted a wonderful Strawberry Shortcake recipe just last week, but my schedule this week demanded a quicker version. I saw this idea on someone’s blog earlier this week. I am embarrassed to say that I cannot remember whose. If you recognize this, please let me know in the comments so I can give full credit.
This week, I am hosting a Betty Crocker/Safeway giveaway over at my blog. In conjunction with that giveaway, there is a cake mix sale at Safeway. $.69!!! When is the last time you saw named brand cake mix that cheap? There was also a BOGO sale on strawberries. And I had a $25 gift card. You can see where I am heading with this, right? I haven’t described myself as Frugal and Harried for nothing.
Super Simple Strawberry Shortcake:
1 yellow cake mix (or homemade yellow cake)
1 pint whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 – 2 pounds strawberries, sliced

Make cake as directed in a 9X13 pan. Be sure to greased the pan well. When the cake is cool, remove it from the pan and slice it through the middle so you have two layers. Whip the cream, adding the vanilla and sugar near the end (Note: does anyone else have a fear of turning their whipped cream into butter accidentally?) Put the bottom layer of cake back into the pan. Spread it with half of the now whipped cream and then top that with half of the strawberries. Place the top layer back into the pan and repeat.
Here is the neat part. The mess is now all in the pan and it slices fairly easily. The longer you wait before serving it, the more trifle like it will become as the cream and strawberries soak into the cake.

I am also hosting a yogurt maker giveaway this week, so feel free to visit and enter both giveaways!

Orange zesty ICE CREAM! and you don’t need an ice cream maker



From Adam and Eve to Jesse James (the biker guy who cheated on Sandra Bullock, not the gun slinger), the human race has craved what it can not or should not have.  Me, I am in a tropical paradise.  Rum drinks are pouring every night, and life is pretty darn good…


Except…


I can’t get ice cream.  Surprisingly enough, ice cream is not sold as a dessert here.  Probably just too hot.  It is an effort to get to a store, and even more of an effort to get home from a store.  I do have a couple of those thermal carry bags, but they would not work for ice cream.  Some days it can take an hour or more to get home with my groceries.  It’s just not an option.


The funny thing is that I really am not an ice cream eater.  I may have a dish a couple times a year, but certainly not every day, week or month.


But ever since I got to the island, I have been craving ice cream.  Wouldn’t that be a fine treat for dessert… Cool and sweet… Just a perfect thing after a hot trip to the beach.  But, getting anything but ice cream soup home from a store was nearly impossible.  Getting ice cream while out to dinner was unlikely, and I did not have an ice cream maker.


But I did have an Internet connection and my favorite bloggers… Sure enough, first Mary from One Perfect Bite tweaked my interest, and then the partnership from High/Low Food/Drink posted a Myers Lemon recipe for Lemon ice cream, no maker needed!


You can read their post by clicking HERE.  


So, armed with their recipes, I was off and running.  I prefer Orange, so i adapted their recipe to make an orange ice cream…





And I do miss my zester that I left at home.  Even more after I sliced off a piece of my thumb while zesting my orange.  Feel free to insert your own “blood oranges” joke here.  But, I did eventually get some blood free zest, as well as the juice from two oranges.

I combined the juice of 2 oranges
zest from one orange
2 cups heavy cream (bought on special, less than $3 marked down from $5)
and just a bit of salt


and 1 cup of superfine sugar.


Now, that last bit was going to be a little hard.  I could not find superfine sugar.  So, again, thanks to a fellow blogger, I got the advice to put that cup of “regular” sugar in a mini food processor.  It worked just fine.


OK, here’s what I did…


I used my blender.  I put everything in except the cream and blended away.  I slowly added the cream while the blades were spinning at their lowest speed.  When I got about half the cream in, everything was well blended.  I poured the goop into a Tupperware bowl and added the final bit of cream.


It takes about three hours in the freezer for the cream to set up.  But it really takes over night for it to really firm up.

One last hint… I put a couple of bowls in the freezer at the same time.  We did have our ice cream on our deck, overlooking the ocean.  Everything stayed frozen.  You know how it gets sometimes with homemade ice cream, when it starts to melt too fast… The over night freeze, combined with the frozen bowl made for ice cream and not ice cream soup clear down to the last spoonful!



And my my my, was it just as good as I had hoped!


So, there you have it, my paradise got just a little better this week!


And as always, 

Who knew it was that easy!Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. As always, I was SO surprised to learn that I CAN COOK THAT!!!

Give me a little taste of home, and stop by the comment section. Let me know you won’t forget me while I am gone!

Dulce de Leche Cookies

Better late than never. I’m a day off this week and didn’t realize it was Wednesday already!


Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake chose Dulce de Leche Duos aka Caramel cookies aka yummy delights aka gone around here. They were a big hit and alas I will have to make more. I didn’t think we were going to like them as well as we did – boy was I wrong.
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BOSTON CREAM CAKE

When I was a little girl, Boston Cream Pie was my FAVORITE Sunday dinner dessert and my grandma made it for me regularly until I was about 10 years old and then Sunday dinners as we knew them stopped on a regular basis, for some unknown reason. Since then I have craved Boston Cream Pie and have finally resurrected her recipe.

According to about.com, Boston Cream Pie is “Not a pie, but not your average cake, Boston Cream Pie is one of the city’s signature recipes. A descendant of pudding-cake pie, the Boston cream pie is considered to be the creation of French chef Sanzian of the Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House). In 1996 the Boston Cream Pie was named the official dessert of Massachusetts. Use this recipe to make one yourself, and find out what makes the Boston Cream Pie such an enduring favorite.”


CAKE
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 JUMBO egg
  • 1 1/4 cup cake flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
CUSTARD***
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • scant 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 3 JUMBO egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
GLAZE
  • 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons hot water
CAKE
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9 1/2-inch springform baking pan. I use a square one to make pieces easier to cut.
  2. Combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl. Cream together using an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each one.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt. Combine with the creamed mixture and add the milk.
  4. Pour batter into the prepared pan*. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack.
CUSTARD
  1. Combine the cornstarch, sugar, milk, eggs, cream, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk until smooth.
  2. Bring the custard to a boil over moderate heat, whisking constantly. Continuing to whisk, let the custard boil for two minutes.
  3. Remove from heat, and whisk in the butter. Set custard aside to cool, continuing to whisk occasionally.
GLAZE
  1. In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth. remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir in hot water 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.
BUILDING THE PERFECT PIE
  1. Remove the cake from the pan and cut it in half horizontally with a long serrated knife.
  2. Place one half of the cake on a plate with the cut side facing up. Top with custard.
  3. Place the other half of the cake on top, with the cut side down.
  4. Coat the top of the cake with glaze allowing it to drip down the sides.
*I like to use my square spring form pan for a couple of reasons; it make cutting pieces a lot easier since the slices when it is cut as a pie tend to try and fall over and my serving plate is rectangular in shape.
***The traditional custard substitutes in this recipe for a pineapple custard which is what we like to do.

BLACK & BLUE COBBLER

BLACK & BLUE COBBLER BOWLS
1 cup blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup whole milk
1 cup self-rising flour*
1/2 cup butter + 2 tablespoons, both melted separately
3/4 cup fine sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

  • Mix together the fine sugar and flour.
  • Whisk in the milk.
  • Whisk in 1/2 cup melted butter.
  • Pour into well greased bowls.
  • Distribute berries evenly on top of batter.
  • Mix 2 tablespoons melted butter with brown sugar until crumbly.
  • Sprinkle on tops.
  • Bake 45-60 minutes until golden and toothpick comes out clean.

*If you prefer a heavier crust, use bisquick
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