Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tuesday with Dorie : La Palette’s Strawberry Tart


This weeks recipe was chosen by Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage. She went seasonal with La Palette’s Strawberry Tart. This was a very easy recipe. I took some the extra dough that I had in the freezer to make 2 small tartlets. I used some of the jam I made last night for the base and just some strawberries. No sugar needed.
For more Tarty fun check out other Tuesday with Dorie members, some even used other kinds of fruit and tart shells.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Meme

I do not do these often so do not expect much.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was in Community Collage in Spokane WA. I was in the Respiratory Therapist program, this was right before I figured out that I like working with the equipment more than the patients. The equipment does not tend to spit at you are need to be aspirated. Sometimes but not often. i worked at Boston Market at night and weekends.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

Get allergy shot, I misted last weeks do to the wisdom teeth removal
go to the gym
fix up crock pot for tomorrow
make dinner list for the next week
make grocery list, today is food add day

5 Snacks I enjoy:
Any fresh fruit
pop corn
cucumbers
tomatoes
chocolate

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel first class
visit family more often
not worry about bills as much
buy more books

Places I have lived:
San Deigo, CA
Seattle, WA
Bothell, WA
Atsugi Base Japan
Spokane, WA
Colorado Springs, CO

Jobs I have had:

Mini Mart Cashier/Stocker on base
Concession stand worker at an Arena, it was fun the hear the concerts for free and know how the hockey team was doing. Calling home for a ride and waiting smelling the Hostess factory, it was really good if they had just made Ding Dongs, is one of the memories that I have.
Food Service worker at Crater Lake OR.
Preschool Teacher
Biomedical Equipment Tech



And I just do not feel like taging anyone, it has been a long day. I am on call this week.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie : French Chocolate Brownies




This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is French Chocolate Brownies chosen by Di at Di's Kitchen Notebook.



These at first taste were not something that I would make again but after a while the taste grows on you. I do not think that this will be my brownie recipe of choice. Even though I used a scant 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon you can taste it. Instead of rum raisins I put in some blueberries. I am not a fan of raisins and do not have any rum in the house although at the rate things are going I might need to get some. I did like how the blueberries tasted in the brownies. The brownies where quick to go together but they took over a hour to cook.






French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.



Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.



Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.



Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.



Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.



Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.




Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.



Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!



Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Plums


I have plums growing!! Yaa!!! My mother got me a 2 year old plum tree last year. It bloomed last month and now I have some teeny tiny plums growing. I am quite excited. I love that if I can keep the birds away I will be able to pick some plums right in my front yard in a few months.

Monday's Bookmarked Recipe: Chocolate Agave Layer Cake



This Bookmarked Recipe is from Baking Bites. I alternated the chocolate agave cake with a yellow cake recipe I had. The chocolate cake was very good, moist with a nice chocolate flavor. It was better than the yellow cake. I used a buttercream frosting instead of the cream cheese. It was still very good a few days later. I had needed a cake for a class and did not get to eat any of it until 3 days had passed.

quick and easy pumpken bread


This is a quick and easy pumpkin bread recipe. Well not really a recipe but a way of making pumpkin bread. Basically you take one can of pumpkin and one box of spice cake mix and use the instructions on the spice mix except replacing the oil and most of the water for pumpkin, add enough water to make up the difference.



The pumpkin bread comes out very soft and light. I also spray Pam instead of greasing the pan and sprinkle a cinnamon and sugar mixture instead of flour. It gives the bread an extra touch. Right before putting them into the oven I added a strudel topping to it.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Non dairy tapioca pudding


Well with the eating very soft foods I made a non dairy tapioca pudding. To even make it better I made it with chocolate soy milk. I used Kraft minute tapioca and fallowed the recipe on the box except that I substituted the milk with Silk chocolate soymilk. Next time I make this I will be adding dried strawberries.


Tapioca Pudding

Prep Time:
10 min
Total Time:
35 min
Makes:
6 servings
2-3/4 cups 2% reduced fat milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. MINUTE Tapioca
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

MIX milk, sugar, tapioca and egg in medium saucepan. Let stand 5 min.

COOK on medium heat until mixture comes to full boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool 20 min.; stir. Serve warm or chilled. (Pudding thickens as it cools. For creamier pudding, place plastic wrap on surface of pudding while cooling. Stir before serving.) Store leftovers in refrigerator.

raspberries


My brother and I dug a three foot deep, four foot wide and 15 feet long to plant some raspberries. We dug that deep so the trench could be lined. It that is not done the raspberries will escape. In some places they are considered an invasive species and can not be planted at all. They only look like sticks right now, I should start to get raspberries next year. I miss going out to the back yard in the summer and just picking a eating them out of hand. I had to wait until I bought a house to do this. Next year these should look a lot better.

I also have some rhubarb growing in their second year. I should be able to harvest some this fall. This is there second year. I had to movie them last year, to much afternoon sun and not enough water. Now they get some morning sun and I set up some drip irrigation for them this year.

Wisdom Teeth

Well mine are gone now. I had all three wisdom teeth taken out today. Now that the Novocaine has worn off OUCH! I did not take the pain med soon enough. Normally I take it right when the Novocaine starts to fade. I am planing on soft soups and puddings to a while.

Daring Bakers - May -Opera Cake


This month's recipe was defiantly daring. This month's challenge is an Opera Cake, brought to us by none other than the Daring Bakers founders, Ivonne, of Cream Puffs in Venice, and Lis, of La Mia Cucina. And since the group is so large now, there are two more helpers - Fran of Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea at Whiskful. To make it even a little more Daring no dark colors was allowed. This is a cake of many parts, joconde (cake), soaking syrup, buttercream, ganache, mousse, and glaze.

Everything but the glaze worked for me this time. I went with Strawberry and lime as the flavors; Strawberry syrup, lime buttercream, strawberry mousse and strawberry glaze. This was a 2 day processes. Finding a strawberry mousse recipe that did not use gelatin took a while. I went with strawberry's because they where on sale. They also helped make it not to sweet, without them it would have been just a little bit to much.

To see even more versions of this cake just visit the Daring Bakers'. There are some very cool cakes out there.




Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tuesday With Dorie: Sticky Buns


Wow this was a really good recipe. I am glad that Madam Chow chose it. It was not to sweet and so good warm. I used slivered almonds instead of pecans, that is what I had. Just a note, this takes forever to rise. It did have some oven spring. The butter made it hard to roll out and patch holes. I think that I will try this with my normal dough but use Dorie's filling and glaze. I did cheat a little I used my bread machine to make the dough.




Before going into the oven to rise









After coming out of the oven
For more Sticky Bun goodness go to Tuesday With Dorie.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Bookmarked reicpe : Strawberry Rhubarb Pie


As a way to make me cook some more and cook some of the recipes that I have been saving forever I am try to do the bookmarked recipe group.


To start easy I did a pie. This was one of those hey I have everything and I want to get rid of the pie crusts sort of recipe. A year from oak cottage writes some really good reicpes. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie just sounds good and this is the kind with a custard mixing with the fruit. This one is going in my keeper file. I did end up adding in some apples, I was a short on strawberries and had an apple in the fridge. I did end up with just a little to much of the egg part, that is what ran over the sides of the pie. It was great with Ice Cream.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Tuesday with Dorie



This week Tara of Smells Like Home has chosen Traditional Madeleines. To see the madeleines visit Tuesdays With Dorie. Well I do not have a pan and I do not think that I would use it enough to buy one. So I went back and made one of the recipes that I had not done. I chose the Orange Berry Muffins. I needed snacks for the week and had a lot of egg yolks to use up. It was good I think that is was missing a little something though. This was a very easy quick recipe. They freeze well and if you put the frozen one in you lunch box they are defrosted by snack time.
Orange Berry Muffins
.
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries–fresh preferably, or frozen (not thawed)
.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds of a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
.
Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange is strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough–the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be.Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully bakes, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Bookmarked recipe Chocotofu Pudding


Other People's Food had a recipe that I have wanted to try for a while, Chocotofu Pudding. This is a recipe that I have been wanting to try for a while. It took less than 5 minutes to make, most of the time was melting the chocolate. With the cleaning up it took longer to make and clean than to eat. While the chocolate was melting in the microwave I used my new food processer to mix up the tofu.

Chocolate Soy Surprise Pudding
from the July issue of Taste For Life, a magazine supplement of Healthy Foods & Healthy Ways natural foods store.
c/o http://cooknkate.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/mmmmmpudding/#more-895

1 container silken firm tofu
1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 T. natural vanilla

Melt chocolate over low heat, a double boiler or in the microwave.

In food processor, blend tofu smooth, scraping sides as needed. Add in syrup and vanilla, blend to mix well. Add melted chocolate all at once, and blend to mix well, scraping if needed. Pour into a bowl and chill. Serve with fruit, angel food cake or by itself.

The chilled texture of this is similar to fine truffles. It is thick, dense and firm. Soften in the microwave before eating if you prefer.

235 cal/ serving; 6 g. protein; 37 g. carbohydrates; 2 g. fiber; 11 g. total fat(5 sat, 5 mono, 1 poly) 9 mg. sodium

Florida Pie


This is a recipe that made me relies that I do not like lime pie. I loved the Coconut meringue and the coconut base but I did not care the lime layer at all. I put some coconut on top before I broiled it and I like the look. The coconut base took at least 20 minutes to cook. I am not sure that it was done to the right thickness.

Florida Pie Recipe

1 9-inch graham cracker crust (page 235), fully baked and cooled, or a store-bought crust
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment of a silicone mat.

Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the reaming juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.

Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.

To Finish the Pie with Meringue:

Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.

Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tuesday with Dorie - Peanut Butter Torte


This week on Tuesdays with Dorie Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food has chosen Peanut Butter Torte. This was a very sweet peanut buttery treat. I used Peanut Butter Oreos for the crust and That cam out very good, it gave just a little peanut butter flavor to the crust. I did have one problem though you Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside. at the start of the reicpe and They are not mentioned again. I put them in when I did the cream cheese. A little peice goes a long way and I am told that goes well with coffee.

Peanut Butter Torte
1 ¼ c. finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch and topping)
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ c. mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semi sweet chocolate)
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbed or ground in a food processor or blender
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2 ½ c. heavy cream
1 ¼ c confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ c salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural; I use Skippy)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
-
Getting ready: center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch Springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
-
Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chops together in a small bowl. Set aside.
-
Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the spring form pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.
-
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Crape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
-
Wipe out (do not wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.
-
Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream.
Scrape the mouse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.
-
To Finish The Torte: put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and , working with a a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
-
Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.
-
When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the Springform pan; it’s easiest to warm the pan with a hairdryer, and then remove the sides, but you can also wrap a kitchen towel damped with hot water around the pan and leave it there for 10 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tuesday with Dorie, Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake


This week on Tuesdays with Dorie Elizabeth from Engineer Baker chose Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake which is something that I would not have picked on my own. Finding figs for this was kind of funny, I ended up at the Natural food store, for some reason the other supermarkets that I went to no longer sell figs. I could not find Kadota figs so I went with Mission. I halved the recipe which was a little interesting, 3/4 cup halved is 6 tablespoons. I did end up cooking it for 15 minutes longer.

Taste: Very sweet, cornmeal taste but not the crumbliness of cornmeal, nice fig taste with the crunches from the seeds. I had one piece and then kept sneaking little slivers.

This will most likely be the only time that I will make this. I just do not use ricotta. I got the smallest size and still have allot left over. The cake that I making latter this week, I think that I will use the ricotta instead of the butter. I think that I may try this again with sour cream and see what happens.

I cut up what was left and froze it for snacks later this week.

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed
1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal
½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. tepid water
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.

Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.

Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the Pan, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Daring Bakers April


This month on Daring Bakers Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding My Enthusiasms chose Cheesecake Pops. This is a really good cheesecake recipe. I love it, I used the lemon extract instead of vanilla. It did take longer to cook, like 30 minutes longer. I do think that making it into a pop was not easy, it did not want to mold. The chocolate was something that some people liked and some people did not like. I did have to cut up the pops to eat. They were bigger than a mouthful.

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie, Bill's Big Carrot Cake


This week on Tuesday with Dorie Amanda from of slow like honey chose Bill's Big Carrot Cake. This is a very good carrot cake recipe. It is now my to go for carrot cake recipe. The funny thing is as I was putting the cake together I noticed that there was no butter. The last few recipes all have had lots of butter. I substituted some of the oil with carrot juice, it worked well. For the filling I used Nuttela, which was really good. I need to practice cake decorating. It did not look good so that is where the coconut came in handy. Finding 3 pans was a little funny, I used a large deep dish pie pan I have as the third pan. It work OK, not great. The next time I make this I think that I will just make what is left over into cupcakes.

Bill's Big Carrot Cake

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Yields 10 servings

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon salt

3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 large eggs

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

½ cup shredded coconut (optional)

Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.

If you'd like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:

Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft.

Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:

This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it's good plain, it's even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

Storing:

The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. It can also be frozen. Freeze it uncovered, then when it's firm, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Weather in Colorado


Weather in Colorado is fun. Last week we had a 70 degree day followed by snow.