Bourbon-Soaked Dark Chocolate Cake

I have four words for you.

Bourbon. Chocolate. Coffee. Butter.

All in one cake!

“I am so making this,” said she.

A recipe featuring those ingredients appeared when I searched “bourbon chocolate cake.”  The New York Times posted it in December 2008 and recipes touted by the NY Times are usually incredible.  This cake – considering its alluring ingredients – clearly would not be an exception….if made right. 

Hold that thought. 

It was my turn to bring dessert last Wednesday, so guess what I made?

Before I share the recipe, allow me to share a baking-blunder and what I learned from it.

I checked to make sure I had all the required ingredients. 

Emphasis on ALL.

I had to buy more butter, eggs and vanilla.  Don’t ask me why but I did not check my granulated sugar capacity….maybe because sugar is a pantry staple and we take its availability for granted?  I don’t know why I didn’t check, I just didn’t.  And….I did not have two cups of granulated sugar.  

That was mistake #1.

I could have deployed the popular “can I borrow a cup of sugar” neighbor protocol, but again, I did not. 

That was mistake #2.

I did have raw sugar and I supplemented with it.

That, my friends, was mistake #3.

I knew I had a bit of a baking debacle on my hands when the sugar just would not dissolve and become fluffy when creamed with the butter like it has a gazillion other times. Shit Shoot, thought she, this substitution might not work.  My suspicions were correct.  So, I consulted The Sugar Association and their handbook, “Sugar’s Functional Roles in Cooking and Food Preparation” explains why.

I really do perform some basic research when I write these posts. 

 

Flour, sugar, butter/shortening, eggs, liquids and leavening agents (baking soda or powder, yeast, beer, buttermilk) are the basic ingredients in baked goods and "work together to form the final structure and sensory characteristics of the baked product."  When mixing, sugar absorbs water and acts as a tendering agent, incorporating air into the shortening or butter during the creaming process, promoting lightness.  During baking, those air cells expand when filled with carbon dioxide and other gases from the leavening agents and other ingredients, promoting the confection to rise.  Because raw sugar crystals are not fine enough, they could not interact with the butter properly during the initial creaming process, encouraging the initial airiness.

At least, this is how I understand it, but I was a lowly business major, not a chemistry major.  It is much more complicated (and scientific) than the simplified summary offered here and if you’d like to read more, visit The Sugar Association here.

I invite commentary from my science-type friends.

The sugar infraction did not seem to affect the taste, only the appearance in that the cake did not rise as much as I expected.  I will make this delicious cake again, using granulated sugar, as instructed.
 

Bourbon-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

Adapted from the New York Times Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for greasing pan

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup wheat flour
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger Fine Artisan Dark)
1/4 cup instant espresso powder or instant coffee
2 tablespoons spicy cocoa powder (the original recipe called for regular cocoa powder)
1 cup bourbon, rye or whiskey (I used American Honey Bourbon by Wild Turkey)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups granulated sugar (see the above dissertation)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish (optional).

1. Grease and flour a 10-cup-capacity Bundt pan (or two 8- or 9-inch loaf pans). I used my Pampered Chef springform pan with the bundt insert.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In microwave oven or double boiler over simmering water, melt chocolate. Let cool.

2. Put espresso and cocoa powders in a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to come up to the 1 cup measuring line. Mix until powders dissolve. Add whiskey and salt; let cool.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter until fluffy. Add granulated sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda and melted chocolate, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

4. On low speed, beat in a third of the whiskey mixture. When liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup flour. Repeat additions, ending with whiskey mixture. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes for Bundt pan (loaf pans will take less time, start checking them after 55 minutes).

5. Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 15 minutes and sprinkle warm cake with more whiskey. Let cool before serving, garnished with confectioners’ sugar if you like. 

 

This makes a lot of batter and I made a second mini-loaf that I served during an impromptu snow storm covered dish affair.  We put a dent in a rather nice bottle of bourbon that night.

Latte Brownies

I love coffee…it’s one of my vices, the others are wine, nice clothing and saying naughty words – a habit inherited from my feisty father that I'm trying to break.  Coffee and wine will remain on the list…a girl needs some indulgences. 

And I need to be properly attired, right?

 

I tell you this because it was my turn to make dessert for our little rendezvous last week and as I was trying to decide on a tasty treat, I see a recipe from kraftrecipes.com for these little morsels: 

Latte brownies.....perfect! It doesn’t get much better than chocolate, coffee, butter and almonds.

I'm delighted that my photo (above left) looks just as inviting as the Kraft photo.  I gussied mine up with coffee beans.  Their version looks a little cakier than mine though...I'll investigare why.

Seattle Latte Brownies

From:  kraftrecipes.com

Ingredients

6 squares  BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
¾ cup  (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
¼ cup water
1 Tbsp. instant coffee
1cup granulated sugar
1cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/4 cups flour
½ cup finely chopped PLANTERS Slivered Almonds
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp.  salt
1Tbsp. powdered sugar

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Line 9-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil; set aside. Note:  I didn't do this...I just sprayed the pan with PAM.

MICROWAVE chocolate, butter, water and coffee granules in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Beat in granulated and brown sugars with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat 2 min. Add flour, almonds, cinnamon and salt; beat until well blended. Spread into prepared pan.

BAKE 35 to 40 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Lift brownies from pan onto cutting board, using foil handles. Again, I just cut the brownies right in the pan.  Cut into 20 brownies to serve.

Warning Will Robinson:  These brownies are amazing…so rich and moist with a hint of coffee in each bite.  I served each with scoop of mocha gelato….not that we needed more calories.  I like Kraft recipes because they include the nutrition content with each and they report that a 1x2” latte brownie is about 240 calories with 13g of fat.  But, no worries, dark chocolate and almonds are both good fats!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is younger daughter...guest posting.

I was hankering for some dessert on Sunday and all mom had in the house was six-month old Oreos, and McVities Digestive Wheat Biscuits.  As usual. 

Ew.

So I decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from scratch.

I found the recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal can or box or whatever it’s called.  Mom took photos for me.

Making oatmeal cookies is a great way to use the half can/box of oatmeal in your cupboard that you can’t bear to throw away.  Plus, oatmeal reduces cholesterol…or so the can says.

Use a small ice cream scooper to gather up the perfect amount of dough to plop it on the cookie sheet right where it belongs.

Vanishing Oatmeal (Chocolate Chip) Cookies

(makes 4 dozen cookies)

½ cup plus 6 tablespoons of butter, softened
¾ cup of firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups of quick oats
1 cup of chocolate chips or raisins

Heat oven to 350°. 

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed using a mixer, until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

Add oats and mix in by hand.

Add chocolate chips or raisins.

Drop dough on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet then remove to wire rack. 

 Some of these cookies got a little bit too friendly while in the oven!

Strawberry Shortcakes

Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest sources.  

Like when I’m on the plane coming back from Hawaii (because it’s not like I had anything else to do for 10 hours) and while browsing through the complimentary in-flight USAirways Magazine (see, some things are still free) I see this recipe for individual strawberry shortcakes.

So, I ripped the page out and decided to make them the next time my assignment was dessert…which was last week but I’m posting the recipe this week because I forgot to take photos of the dinner I made this week.   Spaghetti and meatballs but you can read about that here in a previous post.

I had to (once again) borrow sugar from my neighbor who also shared her simple but sensible secret for sweetening homemade whipped cream…or as youngest daughter used to call it “whooped cream.” She also used to say that we lived in “Baltimorrow” and we used to go out to eat in “Resternauts.” Anyway, back to the point, my neighbor uses confectioners sugar to sweeten homemade whipped cream…it dissolves more evenly and nicely.

I am writing sugar on my grocery list now.

Individual Strawberry Shortcakes

For the strawberries

2 pints of strawberries
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

For the Biscuits

(I used the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box)
1 cup of Bisquick
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup of fat-free milk
Few drops of vanilla extract (my addition)

For the Whipped Cream

1 cup of heavy cream
1 Tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar

Heat the oven to 425°.

Slice the tops off and quarter the strawberries.  Place berries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice.  Stir gently and let stand until a light syrup forms, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir Bisquick, sugar, milk and vanilla until soft dough forms.  Drop 4 spoonfuls on to an cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

While the biscuits are baking, add the confectioner’s sugar to the cream and whip into soft peaks.

When the biscuits are done, let them cool a bit and assemble the shortcakes by slicing the biscuits in half, add some strawberries, place the lid back on, top with whipped cream and more strawberries and syrup and serve!

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting

I had a business dinner to attend Wednesday evening so I knew I would miss the first half of our weekly dinner gathering. Not being in possession of the salad bowl and knowing better than to interfere with the wine-drinking ritual, I asked if I could bring dessert.

Dessert it was.


I decided to make Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting. I had never made these before but got the idea to blend non-traditional ingredients from watching Cupcake Wars. I started with an organic chocolate cake mix and doctored it up. It called for 1 1/3 cup if milk and I infused the milk with strongly brewed Yogi Aztec Sweet Chili tea..... I love Yogi teas because they are good and each tea bag extends an inspirational message…the message from the tea bag I used “Together we can do what we can never do alone.” See, pure inspiration! I also added just a pinch of red pepper powder. I filled my pretty red and white Martha Stewart cupcake holders using my trusty ice cream scoop (best kitchen hint ever shared) and baked as directed.

While the cupcakes were baking, I made the frosting. I trolled the intranet (actually my intern trolled for me) for a coffee frosting recipe and decided to use a simple one from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons strong brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Beat together confectioners' sugar, butter or margarine, coffee, and vanilla until smooth. Add more liquid or confectioners' sugar as needed.

I used strongly brewed instant espresso instead of regular coffee. I sprinkled each cupcake with a little Equal Exchange Spicy Chili Cinnamon Cocoa mix.

These cupcakes were both pretty and delicious....not too sweet with a subtle spiciness.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

If I didn’t live so close to and love Philadelphia, I would want to live in Boston. I am struck by the charm and history of the city and the delightful accent is as clearly recognizable as that of Philly or New York.

One of my favorite classes in college was Sociolinguistics…it’s the study of the relationship between language and society. Regional accents developed in the United States partly as a result of the country from where settlers immigrated. For instance, the East coast dialect was highly influenced by Puritan English, Italian, Irish and other Eastern European immigrants, the Midwest by German and Scandinavian immigrants, parts of the South by those from Scotland, Ireland, and Western England (Shakespeare’s English). The western part of the United States is a somewhat neutral, blended mix of rest of the country. I took this class as a senior in college, and I would have changed my major if I’d taken it sooner! Fascinating stuff.

Anyway….

In the mid 1800’s, Boston’s then Parker House Hotel is credited with serving the first Boston Cream Pie, a creation of their French chef, M. Sanzian. As you all know, this pie is really a yummy combination of yellow cake, custard and chocolate glaze. So, this past weekend while thinking about a dessert to serve to mother, sister and older daughter who came for dinner.....

....I opened my cupboards and discovered a bottle of chocolate glaze and a yellow cake mix. You know, thought she, if I got some instant pudding cups, I could make quick and easy Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes, and that’s exactly what I did.


First, I baked the cupcakes and with a wooden spoon handle, poked a hole in each one. I could have used my apple corer but I couldn’t find it and was too lazy to look any harder than opening the drawer and moving a few things around.


Then, I filled a sandwich bag with the contents of two pudding cup containers and snipped the corner and I piped pudding into each cupcake.


Next, I frosted. Sister suggested I fill a shallow dish with the chocolate glaze and dip each cupcakes to frost…that worked very well.


Then, we ate them. Easy, smeasy (and a little fancy) Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes!

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

Daughter and I had a quick bite at Iron Hill Brewery the other night. We shared their Goat Cheese and Tomato pizza….so incredibly good. One of the main reasons daughters and I like to go to Iron Hill, is to experience the total deliciousness of their Warm Oatmeal Cake. However, Mark the Server threw us a curve ball and said….”we have a peach and blueberry cobbler.” Do you know the sound that screeching tires make as a vehicle comes to a complete and sudden stop…well that’s the sound that went off in our collective heads. We looked at each other with widened eyes and we both said…

YUM.

So, the cobbler arrives all delectable looking.

We didn’t like it at all.

I used this peachy experience as inspiration to search for a healthier version of this treat and I found one on the Mayo Clinic site. This version uses both fresh and frozen fruits and whole wheat flour.

Grains that haven't been refined are called whole grains and are better sources of important nutrients like potassium and magnesium. They haven't had their bran and germ removed, so they are also excellent sources of fiber. Whole grains make you feel full longer and give you more stamina because our bodies absorb them more slowly, keeping blood sugar and energy levels stable. Whole-wheat flour also adds a nuttiness and satisfying consistency that white flour just can’t imitate. This recipe uses both.

The Mayo Clinic recipe I found on line called for apples…I substituted peaches.

Peach Blueberry Whole Wheat Cobbler
Filling
2 large peaches, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used frozen slices)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 ounces frozen blueberries

Topping
3/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour (I like Daisy Organic)
3/4 cup whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold trans-free margarine, cut into pieces (I like Brummel & Brown yogurt spread)
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the peach slices. Sprinkle with lemon juice. In small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Add the mixture to the peaches and toss gently to mix. Stir in the blueberries.

Spread the peach-blueberry mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish. Set aside.

In another large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a fork, cut the cold margarine into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and vanilla. Stir just until a moist dough forms.

Turn the dough onto a generously floured work surface and, with floured hands, knead gently 6 to 8 times until the dough is smooth and manageable.

Blop dough pieces over the peach-blueberry mixture until the top is almost completely covered. Flatten them a bit so they bake evenly. I like to leave some little spots through which the fruit juices can escape!

Bake until the peaches are tender and the topping is golden, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Twisted Black Cow

The Black Cow – Root Beer and Vanilla Ice Cream – reminds me of the kitschy car-hop/drive-up restaurants popular in the 50’s and 60’s. As a kid, I LOVED going to WEBER’S Famous Root Beer on Route 38 in Pennsauken, New Jersey. We would anticipate opening day just as eagerly as we anticipated the last day of school or the start of the Phillies season (they weren’t a winning team back then). Going to WEBER’S was a total treat….we would arrive in my father’s fancy 67 starlight blue Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a black vinyl top and despite the “don’t spill anything” admonitions, for the time it took to drink the creamiest root beer ever, we were in carbonated heaven.

Until one of the kids knocked the tray off the window and my dad would start cursing. He did not have many vices…that was one of them.

So this past Sunday, sister, older daughter and I planned an outing to WEBER’S to have lunch, drink a Black Cow and take photos…for this post. The Cutlass is long gone (too bad, it was nice car), but my sister’s Chevy Something served as an eager substitute. We did see a vintage T-Bird while we were there…gorgeous and in mint condition!

I asked sister and older daughter if people thought I was a famous reporter as I was snapping photos…they said they probably thought I was a tourist. I should have brought my notebook and interviewed the waitress…that would have added credibility.

Anyway, the Black Cow is a classic drink that is hard to improve upon, but I decided to give it a little twist…

Twisted Black Cow

2 scoops of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
2 teaspoons of chocolate syrup
1 heavy splash of cherry syrup, such as Torani (the TWIST)
1 can/bottle of Root Beer – I like Stewarts, Weber’s or A&W

Fill a mug with the ice cream or frozen yogurt, add the chocolate syrup and the cherry syrup, fill the glass with root beer.

And there you have it, a Twisted (cherry) Black (root beer) Cow (ice cream) . YUM. When it blends together…totally delicious.

Black Cow is also the name of a Steely Dan song….pretty sure that the Black Cow they sing about sported more than ice cream and root beer. Listen to it here.

Candy Mortarboards

Remember “The Cook in the Kitchen with a Bag of Peanut Butter Cups” post? Well, here is what I made with those seemingly disparate ingredients. How adorable are these? I saw the original inspiration in the May/June edition of “Semi-Homemade” and I improvised a bit. The button M&M’s and the shoestring licorice were my idea, but I cannot take credit for the peanut butter cups and chocolate squares.

Very easy to assemble...place a small peanut butter cup, wide side down, on a prepared cupcake, put a dab of icing in the center, and place the chocolate square on top. Add a dab of icing in the center of the chocolate square and add two pieces of 2" cut licorice for the tassle. Top with a button M&M - and there you have it...an edible graduation cap! These were a big hit at the graduation party I hosted this weekend…especially with the kids! I did not make the lovely cake but it was absolutely delicious!

The traditional graduation cap is called a mortarboard because it looks like the hawk tool used by bricklayers to hold the mortar while they're laying bricks. I don't exactly get the connection, but was curious about the name of this strange little hat.

Congratulations to all graduates...what an accomplishment!

Mortar hawk image from Google images.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

No Tuesday night dinners for the next two weeks so I used the time to make an amazing cookie recipe I found on the Betty Crocker website. I could not find crème de menthe baking chips (anyone?) so I doubled the semisweet chocolate chips and added a 1/4 teaspoon more mint extract.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
8 drops green food color
1 egg
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. I used my trusty, well-seasoned pizza stone. I like using stoneware because it bakes more evenly producing a more consistent result.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

These are amazing and so pretty! The house smelled heavenly while they were baking. I’ll include this on my More-or-Less Homemade page since they’re not totally made from scratch.

Irish Potatoes

A few Saturdays ago, older daughter and I joined my sister at her LAOH (Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians) Irish Potato rolling extravaganza. I felt special because I thought this was some sort of secret society and admission was granted only to the most exclusive of lassies. I didn't even need a password...or a fancy hat.

Every year in late February, the ladies of the Order get together and roll, and roll, and roll. They sell their Irish Potatoes by the pound for $5 and all the proceeds benefit local charities. We collectively rolled about 2500 lbs of Irish Potatoes! Shoot!

This particular LAOH hall rivals a Catholic Church with the number of statues that dutifully supervised our activity and we sat by one of the BVM. Herself (as was every inch of the place!) was shrouded in plastic to protect each effigy from becoming saturated with cinnamon and sugar dust! I made sure I didn’t say any bad words, but damn darn, it was a challenge especially when a runaway potato went meandering across the floor!

We threw those away.

The recipe is a “secret” so no recipe swapping occurred. However, I found a basic recipe and added some of my own ingredients.

Irish Potatoes
1/2 stick butter room temperature.
4 oz of cream cheese room temperature
1 pound confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Irish whiskey (Paddy, Old Bushmill)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups shredded coconut (shred finer in a blender or food processor)
Cinnamon and some confectioners sugar.

Beat butter and cream cheese. Gradually incorporate one pound confectioners sugar. Add cream, whiskey, vanilla and beat until incorporated. Fold coconut in by hand. Refrigerate for several hours then shape into 1” balls (the confectioners sugar will make this step less sticky) and roll in the cinnamon…and there you have them, Irish Potatoes. These are good, but those made by the lovely ladies of the LAOH are better!

At Easter, you can omit the whisky (or not), add a wee bit more vanilla and dip in chocolate for home-made Easter eggs!

Thank you for a great day...we had a blast!

Lemon-Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

When I first saw this recipe I was tentative that olive oil would be tasty in a cake, but then considered that the smooth and buttery flavors of the oil Homer called "liquid gold" would blend nicely with the earthiness of the rosemary and the freshness of the lemon. I do not post step-by-step photos because, despite several ingredients, this cake is a mere two-step process...very, very easy.

Lemon-Rosemary Olive Oil Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I only used 1 cup)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
3 large eggs
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 10" tube pan (I used a 10" round stone pan). Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Place granulated sugar and next 7 ingredients (through eggs) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Add to flour mixture; beat until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack, and remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. The recipe calls for a lemon glaze but I opted to sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.

Very tasty. Older daughter and I had a slice with a spot of tea when we returned from seeing "The King's Speech." I felt very British indeed!


Recipe form Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2009

Dessert in a Paper Cup

A short post.

I hosted a swim team pasta dinner at my house last night..basically a carb fest before a meet, which is tonight. Anyway, I made all the girls a little dessert cup that included a brownie and a cookie. I bought the red paper cups with heart-shaped cutouts at Joann's...how adorable are they?!

The baking cups come in all shapes, sizes, prints and colors and, they are not just decorative, you can bake in them! The design I used is made by Wilton.

Wilton Specialty Baking Cups.

I’m Dreaming of a White Boxing Day and Tiramisu

Well the chaos is over and now we can relax, knit, and enjoy a perfectly lovely snowy day… until you have to shovel the crap or drive in it.

During the holidays, I like orchestrating get-togethers….every year, I hostess a party called the “Ornament Exchange” played like a yankee swap but with ornaments. The sillier (and maybe even naughty) the ornament the better. This year, there was a merman soldier (complete with chest hair and tattoos - photo coming!), a gun toting hunter alligator, and a weight lifting gorilla….it was a lot of fun and, as usual, very competitive (to ensure walking away with a coveted prize!). I make most of the food every year and the Cauliflower Au Gratin was a big hit…the recipe is posted on the Recipe page.

Elegant doesn't need to be complicated (good thing, because if elegant were complicated, I’d have a predicament). I made a quick and easy Tiramisu for Christmas dessert to demonstrate this point and, I have to stay, it was better than some I’ve had in fancy restaurants (like I go to fancy restaurants all the time). I got this recipe on the Kraft.com website (yes, Kraft.com) and I substituted some of the specific products they required requested I use.

Quick and Easy Tiramisu

Ingredients
2 packages (3 oz each) ladyfingers, divided (these are found in the frozen food section
2 Tbsp. of instant coffee (I was instructed to use Maxwell House but I used instant espresso)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup of boiling water
2 packages (8 oz each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened (I used 1/3 fat)
2 Tbsp of Brandy (optional....for some)
½ cup sugar
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Lite Whipped Topping
Grated dark chocolate (again, I was instructed to use cocoa powder but I thought the grated chocolate would not only add more flavor, but would present nicely)


Arrange 1 package of ladyfingers on the bottom of a baking dish.

Combine coffee granules and 1 Tbsp. sugar and dissolve in boiling water. Brush ½ cup onto the ladyfinger in dish.

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add ½ cup of sugar and brandy and mix well. Whisk in Cool Whip.

Spread half the cream cheese mixture over ladyfingers in dish, top with remaining ladyfingers and brush with remaining coffee mixture. Cover with remaining cream cheese mixture

Grate dark chocolate on top. Refrigerate for four hours.

This is the BEST Tiramisu I have ever had…seriously.