Live Everyday like a Holiday!: dessert recipes

Showing posts with label dessert recipes. Show all posts

My favorite Dark Chocolate Mint Cupcake Recipe

Several years ago, I hosted a Chocolate Mint Party in honor of National Chocolate Mint Day, and this is the recipe that I used. I wanted to share it with you because it's my favorite recipe to use when I'm using fresh chopped mint from my garden.

National Chocolate Mint Day is celebrated annually on February 19th, but chocolate mint desserts are enjoyed all throughout the year! What better way to enjoy the flavor of mint than by baking up some sweet chocolate mint cupcakes.

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Dark Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

2 cups walnuts, toasted, cooled
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

White Chocolate Mint Frosting

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

8 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon green crème de menthe

Preparation

For cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter two 12-cup mini-muffin pans. Using on/off turns, blend first 4 ingredients in processor until walnuts are finely chopped. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl until very thick, about 4 minutes. Gradually beat in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in walnut mixture. Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons batter into each prepared muffin cup.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut around cupcakes to loosen; turn out onto work surface. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.)

White Chocolate Mint Frosting:

Bring cream and butter to simmer in heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; stir until melted. Mix in crème de menthe. Transfer frosting to bowl; let frosting cool at room temperature until firm enough to pipe, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Spoon frosting into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe frosting decoratively atop cupcakes.

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My Closing Thoughts~

I make these cupcakes in Spring Summer and Fall, when my mint is growing so perfuse all over the place.
I also like to make these cupcakes at Halloween. The colors just go great on a Halloween decorated table. Once I created a Frankenstein table where all the food and drinks were either black or green. This cupcake was a hit on the table that night.
I also made this cupcake for a small garden party I went to. All the guests brought something that was made with something from their herb garden.
Happy Chocolate Mint Day. ~ "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from wikipedia /article chocolatemint©/and other related pages. Photo:flickr.com/26396724@N05/ / gone-ta-pott / epicurious.com

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Lemon Charlotte Cake Recipe

Pictured is a Lemon charlotte cake with glass of wine and a bowl of strawberry set on a table overlooking the garden. This particular cake is a cold cake and sometimes called a Charlotte Russe.

This beautiful cake would be great for tea parties, outdoor garden parties and fantastic for International Cake Day which is celebrated on July 20th / National Cake Day celebrated on November 26.

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What is a charlotte?

• A charlotte is a type of dessert that can be served hot or cold. It can also be known as an "ice-box cake". Bread, sponge cake or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. It can also be made using layers of breadcrumbs.

• Classically, stale bread dipped in butter was used as the lining, but sponge cake or ladyfingers may be used today. The filling may be covered with a thin layer of similarly flavored gelatin.

• Due to the simple preparation of charlottes, many different varieties have developed. Most charlottes are served cool, so they are more common in warmer seasons. For more, research Charlotte (dessert)

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Lemon Charlotte Russe Recipe

1/2 c. sugar
1 (1/4 oz.) env. unflavored gelatin
2 c. milk
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
4 egg whites
3 lemon slices, cut in half
8 ladyfingers, split

Mix sugar and gelatin in small saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil. Stir some of milk mixture into egg yolks; stir yolk mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats a metal spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in lemon extract and rind; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until mixture mounds slightly, about 30 minutes.

Beat egg whites in large bowl until stiff but not dry peaks form. Stir 1/4 of the whites into milk mixture; fold milk mixture into egg whites. Line bottom of greased 1 quart Charlotte mold or souffle dish with waxed paper. Arrange lemon slices in bottom of mold. Line side of mold with ladyfingers put edges facing in. Spoon filling into mold. Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. Carefully loosen ladyfingers with knife; unmold on serving plate. Remove wax paper from top. Refrigerate.

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Easy Charlotte Russe recipe

1 1/4 c. milk
2 egg yolks
Gelatin
3 tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt

Cream
1 tsp. lemon
1 tsp. vanilla
Shredded coconut
Cherries

Make a soft custard of these 4 ingredients (1 1/4 cups milk, 2 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar and pinch of salt). Soak 1 package of gelatin in 1/4 cup of water for 5 minutes and add to above custard. Then add the stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs and set to cool. When cool, add jar of cream beaten until stiff with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Line a deep dish with sponge cake (or lady fingers). Pour in mixture. Cover with shredded coconut and cherries. Set in refrigerator to cool.

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Refrigerated Lemon Charlotte Russe

1 env. unflavored gelatin
1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 eggs, separated
1 c. sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
16-20 lady fingers, split
1 c. heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. Sprinkle gelatin over lemon juice in small bowl. Soften for 5 minutes without stirring.

2. Beat together with electric mixer yolks, 1/2 cup of the sugar in top of double boiler. Gradually beat in gelatin mixture. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until mixture starts to thicken and gelatin is dissolved, 6 minutes. Don't let bottom of double boiler top touch water.

3. Pour into large bowl. Add lemon rind. Chill until mixture begins to mound, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Meanwhile, line bottom and sides of 8"x13" springform pan with lady fingers, curved side out.

5. Beat egg whites with mixer in large bowl until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites and whipped cream into lemon gelatin mixture. Spoon onto lady finger lined pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill 4 hours or overnight. Carefully remove from sides of pan.

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article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from wikipedia/article © / and other related pages. / gone-ta-pott / Top photo credit: © Pr2is | Dreamstime.com

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Follow the Season Pumpkin Cookies with a changeable ingredient

Today I'm sharing a basic pumpkin cookie recipe with a tip on a changeable ingredient. Let's follow the season!

I enjoy pumpkin cookies all throughout the year but like most people I make them the most when pumpkins are in season. But today I wanted to talk about a changeable ingredient in a simple pumpkin recipe. No need to have a thousand pumpkin recipes laying around. All you need is one recipe! Then you can pick your extra flavor according to what's fresh in season. Don't wait until Fall to make pumpkin cookies. Use pumpkin puree in a can if you have to and use... say.... fresh blueberries when they are in season. They taste great! Or fresh grated carrots from the garden when it's carrot season. Yes!!! They taste fantastic with pumpkin!

You can make many varieties of pumpkin cookies ~

There are many varieties of pumpkin cookies but today I'm sharing one simple recipe that you can change one ingredient to make a different variety of pumpkin cookie ever time. Those specific ingredients can be blueberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, dates, nuts, lemon, orange, almonds, raisins, pecans, coconut or carrots, baked into the cookie." All you need is one recipe!

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Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

1/2 cup Shortening
1 1/4 c Brown sugar
1 cup Pumpkin puree
2 Eggs
2 c All-purpose flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ginger
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 cup of..... you choose the ingredient here ~
1/2 cup Chopped nuts

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a second bowl, cream the shortening and work in the brown sugar and eggs. Mix well. Stir in the pureed pumpkin. Add the nuts and the 1 cup of your ingredient choice. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, mixing well. Drop spoonful's of the batter on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375F for 10 to 15 minutes.

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Hey do you want to try Icing on top?

Brown Butter Icing

1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
About 3 or 4 tablespoons milk / half and half / to thin it out

In small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until

nut brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from

heat, and add the sugar, vanilla, salt and milk/whatever.

It'll be a little runny, but should thicken as it cools. Wait for

it to cool off about 10 minutes or so, and then frost or drizzle the cookies.

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My Closing thoughts ~

Friends, I hope you found this post made you want to try something new when it comes to pumpkin cookies. I will continue to try and help you guys enjoy each season in a new way so I hope you pass on the cookie fun.
Just so you know / This would be a good cookie to bag up when you celebrate National Cookie Exchange Day / when December 22 rolls around.
Oh and, just so you know... my favorite ingredient in pumpkin is coconut. Yep it truly is. Pumpkin & coconut cookies or pumpkin & coconut bread pudding.
Do you want to know one of my favorite all time cookies? It's "Potato Chip Cookies" I make them with thick potato chips. It's amazing! I've shared the recipe with you guys before but it was a long long time ago. I bet it was 10 years ago! ha ha! Check it out if you forgot or if your new to my blog. I did a chocolate version way back too. Here's the old link from youtube if you want to watch it.
Feel free to drop any ingredient idea in the comments.

Thank you for visiting... "Live everyday like a Holiday." Pam

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► 🛒 ❤ Pumpkin Puree / https://amzn.to/39Vlqwd

► 🛒 ❤ Pumpkin Cookies / https://amzn.to/3A22wP0

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resource / gone-ta-pott / wikipedia / Greatest Moments in Cooking.ch /

Let's talk about National Pecan Pie Day

Friends first I'm going to explain what a pecan pie is for those viewers not from the United States then I will talk about the National Pecan Pie Day itself. (July 12)

Pecan pie is a sweet custard pie made primarily of corn syrup and pecan nuts. It is popularly served at holiday meals and is also considered a specialty of Southern U.S. cuisine. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Other ingredients such as chocolate and bourbon whiskey are popular additions to the recipe. Some recipes even use an amount of maple syrup instead of corn syrup for flavoring. Pecan pie is often served with whipped cream too. Friends at the end of the post 🠟 I will list a common pecan pie recipe for you if you need one. For fun I'm also going to list a "Pecan Tassie" recipe for you too. Those are small pecan pie bites that you see at parties a lot.

What are Pecans? Nuts!

The name "pecan" is a Native American word of Algonquin origin that was used to describe "all nuts requiring a stone to crack.” wikipedia definition

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When is National Pecan Pie Day?

July 12 every year is always National Pecan Pie Day. We also have a National Pecan Month but that is celebrated every April. Our calendar also says we have a Pecan Day celebrated every March 25th and a National Pecan Day celebrated every April 14th. Our calendar also tells us that we celebrate National Pie Day on January 23rd.

How is this Holiday Celebrated?

This holiday is for enjoying a delicious sweet and nutty slice of "pecan Pie." It doesn't matter if you like to bake it with dark corn syrup or light, just know that today is the day to remember that traditional taste of the holidays and eat that pecan pie! Try a new recipe if you like. You can find many different varieties that include chocolate cream cheese or even other types of nuts. Have fun with this holiday and share a slice with all your friends. Many friends get together on this day for coffee and pecan pie. Many pie baking groups get together on this day and bake up several different pecan pies and enjoy a taste off. And remember, don't wait until Christmas or Thanksgiving to enjoy this pie. It has its own day so celebrate it. Don't forget, I'm going to list a common pecan pie recipe at the bottom 🠟 of the post if you need it so keep reading. Wink ~

Origin of this Holiday?

My research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day.

This holiday is referred to as a "National" day. However, I did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though I didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate, and I found blog posts going way back talking about pecan pie parties in honor of National Pecan Pie Day. So have fun with it and celebrate it!

Interesting information about New Orleans Pecan Pie

Tradition holds that the French created pecan pie soon after settling in New Orleans, after being introduced to the nut by Native Americans. It is sometimes referred to as "New Orleans pecan pie," adding an aura of French cuisine to a home-cooked comfort food. Attempts to trace the origin have, however, not found any recipes earlier than 1925, and well-known cookbooks such as Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking did not include it before 1940.

The process for refining corn sugar was not developed until the 1880s. Thus, the corn syrup which is considered an essential part of the modern recipe was not available to the settlers of New Orleans.

There is no doubt that the makers of Karo syrup popularized the dish, and many recipes—even one ascribed to a well-known New Orleans restaurant—specify Karo syrup by name as an ingredient. This suggests a prosaic 20th-century origin in Karo promotion, and in fact the maker's website currently credits the dish as a 1930s "discovery" of a "new use for corn syrup" by a corporate sales executive's wife. The company asserts that "Down South, today, that same recipe continues to be called Karo Pie" but in fact this name for the dish seems to be rare.

Although the standard recipes call for corn syrup, cookbook author Mark Bittman comments "There are two kinds of pecan pie, one of which contains not only sugar but corn syrup. I don't like this version—not only is it too sweet, if you taste corn syrup by itself, you'll never cook with it again." The version he favors uses white and brown sugar, no corn syrup, and "thickens the sugar with eggs—in other words, it's a custard pie, loaded with pecans."

Jim Turner of Glencoe, Alabama developed a recipe for making pecan pies with sorghum syrup.

Pecan tassies, another Southern specialty, are similar to pecan pie, but are miniature portions. In addition, many recipes for pecan tassies differ in the inclusion of cream cheese in the crust and omission of corn syrup from the filling.

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Pecan Tassies

Small pecan pies...very flaky. Made in small muffin tins...like a cookie."

Melt in your mouth good!

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans

24 pecan halves

1. To Make Crust: Blend softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and flour. Chill 1 hour.

2. Shape into 24 balls. Press balls into cavity of mini muffin tins, making small cups.

3. To Make Filling: Beat together egg, brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Add vanilla and salt and beat till smooth. In each little crust bottom, sprinkle chopped pecans, add egg mixture to right before top and top with a whole pecan.

4. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes or till filling is set. Cool before removing from tins.

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Pecan Pie Recipe

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp molasses

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1 9-inch pie shell, chilled for an hour if freshly made, defrosted for 10 minutes if frozen. (See pie crust recipes.)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

2 Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

3 Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serves 8.

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Friends did you enjoy the post? "Live everyday like a holiday." Pam

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► 🛒 ❤ Pecan Pie / https://amzn.to/3nhV3Uk

► 🛒 ❤ Pecans / https://amzn.to/3HYxfhY

► 🛒 ❤ Pie Pans / https://amzn.to/3Olembc

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resources: wikipedia / gone-ta-pott / encyclopedia

Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

Did you know that Strawberry Shortcake is the #1 dessert that is traditionally served on July 4th Holiday! Yes, indeed it is. In the U.S. just about every 4th of July cookout will have this cool and refreshing dessert on the table. Many times, blueberries are added to the red strawberries to make the dish "red, white & blue" symbolic for the holiday colors.

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

1 1/2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup well chilled heavy cream
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 cream biscuits, recipe follows

In a large bowl combine 1 pint of the strawberries and the granulated sugar and with a potato masher mash the berries gently until they release their juices, being careful not to crush them to a pulp. Add the remaining 1/2 pint of berries. Let the mixture stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

In a bowl beat the heavy cream with the sour cream and the confectioners' sugar until it holds a soft shape and beat in the vanilla. Split the biscuits horizontally with a fork, arrange the bottom halves on 4 plates, and spoon the strawberry mixture over them. Top the strawberry mixture with some of the whipped cream and arrange the biscuit tops on the cream. Serve the remaining cream separately.

Cream Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar, if desired
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Milk, for brushing tops of biscuits

Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, add the cream, and stir the mixture until it just forms a dough. Gather the dough into a ball, knead it gently 6 times on a lightly floured surface, and roll or pat it out 1/2-inch thick. Cut out as many rounds as possible with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter dipped in flour and transfer them to an ungreased baking sheet. Gather the scraps, reroll the dough, and cut out more rounds in the same manner until they are 10 in all. Brush the tops of the rounds with the milk and bake the biscuits in a preheated 425-degree oven for 15 minutes, or until they are pale golden. Transfer the biscuits to a rack and let them cool for 5 minutes.

Yield: 10 biscuits

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In honor of National Food Holidays, this page is dedicated to the July 4th celebration and National Strawberry Shortcake Day which is celebrated every June 14th! Make all your celebrations a delicious experience; by learning about Strawberry Shortcake & the holiday named in its honor!

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from wikipedia

Matcha White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownie Recipe

I searched the Internet for recipes for matcha brownies...

and I found a few recipes to play with. I picked out 3 recipes and baked all 3 to see which one I liked the most and to be honest.... they all tasted the same even though the recipes were different. The only difference was the texture. One recipe called for butter the other did not. One was gooey one was not, and one was to dry. So.... I took the middle road and leveled up the amounts to match my taste buds for the day and baked a 4th batch of matcha brownies that fit my likings. lol

It's a good thing I had a party I was supplying brownies for, or I would of ate all of these. Especially since they had white chocolate and macadamia nuts in them. I have a weakness for white chocolate and macadamia nuts in anything when baked together.

Now I know someone is going to ask me what matcha is ~

Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves. That's why the powder is green, and you can find it in all the grocery stores. 🛒 ❤ ► Matcha Powder / https://amzn.to/3yhqcgN

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Recipe: Matcha White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownies