Baking – Page 5 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Fudge

Peanut Butter & Chocolate… One of my favorite combinations, so when I saw a quick and simple recipe for a marble fudge combining the two in a recent issue of Rachael Ray Magazine, I knew I had to try it.

In a large bowl I beat peanut butter along with confectioners’ sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract…

And then dropped the mixture by teaspoonfuls into a foil-lined loaf pan.

In a medium saucepan I melted dark chocolate chips along with heavy cream.

I then poured the melted chocolate mixture over the peanut butter mixture and placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours so it could firm up.

After about fours I removed it from the refrigerator and lifted the fudge out of the pan and sliced it into 18 pieces. Since the peanut butter was still a bit soft I place it in the freezer for about fifteen minutes, enjoyed a piece and then put it back in the refrigerator.

While this fudge didn’t disappoint in the flavor department I was bit upset about how quickly it would soften/melt once out of the refrigerator for a few minutes. That only meant I had to enjoy this sweet treat immediately after taking one out of the refrigerator!

Check out some of my previous blog posts with this delicious flavor combination: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Marbled Cookies, Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream.

Marbled Fudge

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil

2. In a large bowl beat together the peanut butter, sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract until well combined. Drop by teaspoonful into prepared loaf pan.

3. In a medium saucepan melt the chocolate with the heavy cream over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Pour it over the peanut butter mixture and refrigerate for at least four hours.

4. Remove from refrigerator and lift the fudge out of the pan and slice into 18 1-inch squares. If you find the fudge is still soft place in the freezer for a few minutes. Keep refrigerated.

Indian Rice Pudding (Kheer)

There are just some things you can’t resist ordering when you go to certain restaurants; you know you should try something new and exciting but those familiar comforts just always call your name. One of those things for me is a dessert that I always must have when I go to an Indian restaurant: Kheer, i.e. Indian Rice Pudding. It’s more or less like your traditional rice pudding, but, what sets it apart is the addition of cardamom and pistachios. I finally made this delicious treat myself recently when I realized that I had these two key ingredients on hand.

To begin, I combined a cup of cooked basmati rice with whole milk in a medium-sized saucepan and brought it to a boil. Following that I lowered the heat and simmered the rice and milk until the mixture began to thicken. Next I added in heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar and cardamom and cooked it on medium heat until the mixture began to thicken once again. I then removed the pan from the heat and stirred in pistachios.

I then transferred the mixture to a dish and placed a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface. After letting it cool for a few minutes I then placed it in the refrigerator.

Once it was cool I enjoyed a bowl of it and was in heaven. It tasted just like the Kheer I am used to having at my favorite Indian restaurants.

Indian Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/3 cup unsalted pistachios, chopped

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, combined the cooked rice and milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil. Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.

2. Increase the heat to medium, add the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping.

3. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the pistachios. Transfer the mixture to a glass dish and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Fall Equinox = Pumpkin Treats

My favorite season has arrived…Fall! There are many reasons why I love this time of the year. There’s the foliage, the apple picking, the concord grapes, all the different types of squashes available at the supermarket, the great hair days (the crisp cool air of the Fall is perfect for curly hair), the return of scarves (they are my third favorite accessory behind shoes and handbags) and one of my favorite flavors – Pumpkin – becomes available in just about anything and everything! So, I decided to welcome Fall this year with two pumpkin treats – a new recipe, Pumpkin Rice Pudding and an oldie (but goodie) from last year, Pumpkin Doughnuts.

I don’t think I know anyone who likes rice pudding as much as I do, or for that matter I am not sure I know anyone who likes it period. I guess it’s like bread pudding, you either like it or you don’t. I actually did try my hand at a Pumpkin Bread Pudding a few years ago but wasn’t all that thrilled with the minimal pumpkin flavor it had. Maybe I’ll have to revisit that recipe one day soon, but, back to the rice pudding. I came across this recipe while flipping through the circulars of my Sunday newspaper. The recipe was specific for Minute Rice, but, since I didn’t have any and honestly didn’t want to buy any I decided to revamp the recipe using Arborio rice which I already had on hand from make rice pudding not too long ago.

I began by cooking the rice until it was al dente, about 15 minutes.

In another saucepan I combined evaporated milk, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract and brought it to a simmer.

I then added the rice to pumpkin mixture and cooked it over low heat until the mixture started to thicken. I then transferred the rice pudding to a large bowl and cooled it to room temperature before refrigerating it.

Since I had about 2 cups of pumpkin left I decided to whip up a batch of pumpkin doughnuts so it wouldn’t go to waste. Hopefully I won’t suffer from pumpkin over-load too early in the season!

So, what’s the most out-of-the-box pumpkin flavor item you have seen on your store shelves?

Pumpkin Arborio Rice Pudding (Adapted from here and here)

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Arborio rice

1 12oz. can evaporated milk

1 cup pure pumpkin

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Add the rice, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Stir the rice occasionally and cook until the rice has absorbed the water but is still al dente, about 15 minutes.

2. In another saucepan, bring the evaporated milk, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract to a simmer. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat until the rice absorbs most of the milk mixture and it starts to get thick and silky, about 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Makes 12

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil, plus more for the pans

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly oil two 6-compartment doughnut pans (or use 1 pan and bake in batches). Whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).

3. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each compartment of the prepared pans. Bake until the doughnuts are golden brown and spring back lightly when touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Blueberry Compote

I recently signed up for Food & Wine Magazine’s Daily email where I get one sensational (their words not mine) recipe emailed to me every day. I usually glance at the recipe and then delete the email, not because the dish sounds bad, but because I know I will never make it. A week or two ago I got one recipe that I knew I wanted to try… A Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberry Compote. I had panna cotta for dessert at a restaurant a few years ago and instantly loved it; granted that one was a Mango Panna Cotta with a Passion Fruit Sauce. I never attempted to make it myself because I thought that it would be difficult – the one recipe I came across was a bit intimidating but once I saw this one I knew I could handle it.

I began my shucking two ears of corn and then used a corn zipper to remove the kernels and boiled them for about 15 minutes until they were tender.

Following that I rinsed the kernels in cold water and then transferred them into the bowl of my food processor.

Meanwhile I sprinkled 1 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin powder over 1/4 cup of whole milk, which I let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan I combined whole milk, heavy cream, salt, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar and brought it to a simmer over medium heat whisking it to dissolve the sugars.

I then poured the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the gelatin mixture and stirred it until the gelatin dissolved.

I then poured the mixture over the corn in the food processor.

I pureed the corn and milk mixture until it was smooth and then strained it through a sieve pressing on the solids to get all of the liquid out and then discarded the solids.

I strained the mixture once again through the sieve and then placed the bowl in an ice bath until it was cool, stirring it occasionally.

And finally I divided the mixture into four 8-ounce ramekins, covered them and placed them in the refrigerator overnight so they could set. In all honesty, I had my doubts that I made the panna cotta correctly because it was so watery when I poured it into the ramekins. I checked one of them an hour or so after refrigerating it to make sure it was solidifying and I am happy to say I had made them correctly!

While the panna cotta was “baking” in the fridge I made the Blueberry Compote which couldn’t have been simpler. I combined blueberries with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and kosher salt and mixed it until the sugar was dissolved and then let it stand for a bit (at least 30 minutes), stirring it occasionally.

The set panna cotta…

And topped with the Blueberry Compote.

This was absolutely delicious! The panna cotta was the perfect texture, silky and smooth, and the corn flavor was just perfect without being too sweet or having too much of a “vegetable” taste, for those of you who aren’t keen on eating your veggies.

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberry Compote

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta

2 ears of corn, husked

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk

1 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Blueberry Compote

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Make the Panna Cotta: In a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket, steam the corn until tender, 15 minutes. Let cool, then cut the kernels from the cobs (you should have 1 1/2 cups); discard the cobs. Transfer the kernels to a blender.*

2. Meanwhile, in a heatproof medium bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup of the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. In a small skillet, combine the remaining 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of milk with the cream, salt and both sugars and bring to a bare simmer, whisking to dissolve the sugars. Scrape the hot milk into the gelatin and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Pour the mixture into the blender over the corn and puree until smooth.

4. Strain the puree through a sieve into a large bowl, pressing on the solids; discard the solids. Strain again without pressing; discard any solids in the sieve. Set the panna cotta in an ice bath until cool, stirring occasionally. Scrape the panna cotta into four 8-ounce ramekins. Cover and refrigerate overnight until firm.

5. Make the Blueberry Compote: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve the panna cotta in the ramekins with the compote.

*I opted to remove the kernels from the cobs beforehand and boiled the corn for about 15 minutes and then drained it while running them under cold water to cool them. And instead of using a blender, I used a food processor.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

I recently received a Le Creuset Dutch oven as a gift and couldn’t wait to use it. I’ve actually wanted one of these for a while after seeing it used during a cooking demonstration and also because so many recipes I come across call for one. Before using it to cook something though I opted to bake something first, so, I decided on something fairly simple, a Peach Cobbler. Since I didn’t have a recipe on hand I did a quick search on Food Network’s website and found a recipe from Paula Deen that was simple to follow and quick to make.

My lovely Dutch oven and my ingredients: Bisquick, sugar, milk, cinnamon, cinnamon sugar, & butter.

In my prepared Dutch oven -I sprayed it with cooking spray- I added the mixture of 2 cans of peaches, Bisquick, sugar and cinnamon.

In a Ziploc bag I mixed together the following ingredients to make the dough topping: more Bisquick, sugar, butter and milk.

I then dropped pieces of the dough on top of the peach mixture and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar and then popped it into my 350 degrees preheated oven.

After 45 minutes it was done!

Unfortunately while it looked and smelled delicious I wasn’t thrilled with the way it tasted. It was lacking in flavor so I doubt I’ll be making it again.

Below is the recipe I followed. One thing to note, I opted not to use blueberries.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

2 (16-ounce) cans sliced peaches in heavy or light syrup, or in fruit juice, your choice

1 pint fresh blueberries, optional

1/2 cup baking mix (recommended: Bisquick)

1/3 cup sugar

Ground cinnamon

Topping

2 1/4 cups baking mix (recommended: Bisquick)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup milk Cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar combined with 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; store in an empty spice shaker jar; shake well before each use)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a Dutch oven with vegetable oil cooking spray Drain 1 can of the peaches. Combine both cans of peaches, including the juice from the undrained can, the blueberries, if using, the baking mix, sugar, and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Place this mixture into the Dutch oven. To make the topping: Combine the biscuit mix, sugar, butter, and milk in a resealable plastic bag. Drop bits of dough, using your fingers, on top of the peaches. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crusty.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

After buying one too many cans of Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin I decided it was time to try out some different recipes other than the tried and true pumpkin pie – I’m saving that for Thanksgiving. While flipping through the newspaper recently I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding. It’s funny, as a child I couldn’t stand bread pudding but as I got older I acquired a taste for it. It could be because those that I do like aren’t made with traditional white bread but with Panettone, Croissants and so forth.

First things first, I got all of my ingredients together.

I then started cutting the bread into cubes – while the recipe did call for white bread I decided to switch it up a little and use cinnamon bread instead. After cutting up a little more than 4 cups of bread I toasted it in the oven for about 15 minutes. One immediate perk of using cinnamon bread was the aroma it filled my house with while it was toasting.

Following that I placed the cubes into my prepared baking dish.

While the bread was in the oven I whisked together all of my remaining ingredients that would compose the custard for the pudding.

Once all of the ingredients were mixed together well I poured it over the bread cubes.

After letting the mixture sit for ten minutes to allow the pudding to soak into the bread I cut pieces of cold butter and dropped them on top.

After baking for about 45 minutes my bread pudding was ready!

While it did taste good I was hoping for more of a pumpkin taste. Maybe I should have used the entire can of pumpkin instead of the 3/4 cup the recipe called for, then I wouldn’t have the dilemma of now finding a recipe that will only use this 1 cup of pumpkin I have sitting in my fridge.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Courtesy Domino Sugar

4 Cups White Bread, Cut Into Cubes

4 Eggs

3 Egg Yolks

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

3/4 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree

1 Cup Domino Granulated Sugar

1/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Rum or Brandy

1/4 Tsp Nutmeg

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Cloves, ground

2 Tbsp Butter, cold, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Dry bread cubes on cookie sheet in oven 10 to 15 minutes. Place bread cubes in pan. In large mixing bowl, whisk together all pudding ingredients except butter. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Let sit 10 minutes until bread is fully soaked. Dab butter over top. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. (Pudding should set in center, but not dry).

Croissant Bread Pudding

A few months ago I went out to dinner and for dessert I had Croissant Bread Pudding and it was delicious. Since then I have been wanting to try to make it myself. I finally got around to it this past weekend. I normally make Panettone Bread Pudding so I pretty much knew how to make it, but, I made a few tweaks to make the recipe my own.

My ingredients were pretty simple: Croissants, Eggs, Heavy Whipping Cream, Sugar, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract and Rum soaked Golden Raisins.

I started off by slicing nine croissants in half and tearing up the bottom halves and placing them in a greased glass baking dish – I usually just use Baking Cooking Spray. I then placed the top halves right on top.

I started making the custard by whipping together the eggs and sugar until they were combined.

I then added in the heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, vanilla extract and the raisins along with the rum they were soaking in.

Once that was all combined I poured the mixture over the croissants and pressed them down with a spatula to ensure that they would soak up all of the custard. I let this stand for about 15 minutes before placing it in a 350 degrees F preheated oven.

Since I was completely winging this I was a bit unsure of the baking time. I started off by baking it for 30 minutes covered with aluminum foil and then removed the foil and baked it for an additional 15 minutes. When I took it out the oven it didn’t seem like the custard was completely set so I placed it in the oven for an additional 15 minutes and that did the trick.

After it cooled I was eager to see if my “experiment” came out well and I am happy to say it did. My friends (aka taste testers) agreed as well.

I am sure I will be making this again, but, with a few changes. I think that instead of throwing all of the raisins in with the mixture I will layer some of them between the torn pieces of croissants and the top halves. Also, I think I will start off by baking it covered for 45 minutes and then removing the foil for the final 15 minutes.

Colorful Cake Pops

Earlier this year a few friends and I bought vouchers to take a Cake Pop class. After some scheduling mishaps we finally took the class this past weekend. While the place was less than desirable we still had a fun time nonetheless and all learned how to make a new treat. Although, I think I’ll be tweaking the directions the instructor gave us when I attempt them on my own.

I ended up making a total of nine colorful cake pops. I stuck with the simple technique of dipping them in thinned-down dyed frosting and putting sprinkles on them as opposed to some of the fun creations my friends made. I’m sad to say that I actually didn’t try them after my friends tried some of their “casualty” pops – they fell off the stick before or after being dipped into the frosting – and they said that they were really sweet. While I do love my sweets anything overly sweet is just not my cup of tea. And considering the amount of frosting we used to bind the cake together in order to make the balls for the pops and then dipping them in frosting I was sure that they were a super sugar rush.

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