Even though I make fun of his palette, it’s right on the money on this dish.  If truth be told, this may be his favorite dessert of all time.  It actually makes him weak in the knees and even brings him to the point of begging.  No lie!  So, I thought it only fair to share this fabulous recipe with you, since Valentine’s Day is coming up, and this recipe is a chocolate one!! 

Dark Chocolate lava cakes

6 squares of 6 oz. of bittersweet chocolate, good quality,    10 tbsp. butter,  1 1/2C powdered sugar plus 1tbsp, divided,    1/2C flour,    3 whole eggs,   3 egg yolks,   fresh raspberries for garnish if desired.

Jezebel sauce – this one’s good on pretty much anything and it’s my all-time fave!!  It’s the perfect combo of sweet and spicy and we eat it on pretty much everything!

1 (12oz.) jar pineapple preserves,   1 (10 oz.) jar of apple jelly,   4 tbsp. dijon mustard,  2 tbsp. prepared horseradish -or more if you like it spicy.   Whisk preserves and jelly together in a small bowl.  Add in mustard and horseradish.  Mix well, cover and keep refrigerated.  Stays good for up to 2 weeks.

Horsy sauce – this one is WAY too easy and good on pretty much any type of beef.  Adjust according to your spice-level.

1C sour cream – 1-2tbsp. horseradish.  Whisk together and keep refrigerated.

Red Wine Vinaigrette – this one is a dressing, not a sauce, but it’s my favorite red wine vinaigrette I’ve found thus far.  Not to mention super easy. 

1/2C olive oil,   1/4C red wine vinegar,   1/4C sugar,   2 garlic cloves, crushed,   1/4tsp. salt,   1/4 tsp. pepper,  1/4 tsp. dry mustard,  1/4 tsp. onion powder. 

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.  Shake to mix.  Chill until serving time.  Keeps in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks!

Ok, so there you have it….3 of my favorite sauces (or dressings) that my family uses like crazy!  All 3 of them we keep in the fridge with the rest of the condiments, ready to have at any time.  Feel free to play with them, change the heat level, or make them your own!  But if you find a super good take on them, you have to let me know!

Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake

Batter:    2 1/4C sugar,  3 sticks butter softened,  3 eggs,  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla,  3C flour,  3/4tsp. baking soda,  1 1/2tsp. baking powder,  1 1/2C sour cream

Filling:  2 1/4tsp. cinnamon,  1/2C brown sugar, packed,   1 1/2C pecans, finely chopped

Caramel topping:  1 stick butter,  6 tbsp. milk,  3/4C brown sugar, packed,  1C pecans finely chopped

For batter:  Cream sugar and butter in large bowl.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Combine flour, powder and soda in separate bowl.  Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to butter mixture.  Beat until fluffy.

For fillling and assembly:  Combine cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans in small bowl.  Grease and flour 9 x 13 pan.  Pour half of batter into pan and spread evenly.  Sprinkle half of filling over batter.  Pour and spread remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining filling. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. 

For topping:  Melt butter in medium saucepan over med. heat.  Add milk, brown sugar and pecans and stir 3-4 minutes until combined. 

When cake is done, remove from oven and pour caramel mixture over top, spreading evenly.  Let cool completely.

Here’s the recipe….and it’s super easy!

3C old fashioned, steel cut oats…not the instant kind,   1C coarsely chopped nuts of your choice (optional),     1/2C shredded coconut (also optional, but when toasted, it doesn’t taste like coconut),     5tbsp. packed brown sugar,    1 1/2tsp. cinnamon,   1/2tsp. ground ginger,    1/4tsp. salt (don’t skimp),   1/2C honey,    3tbsp. vegetable oil,    1C assorted dried fruits of your choice

Preheat oven to 300.  Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment.  Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl.  Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth.  Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss to coat.  Spread on prepared sheet.  Bake until golden, really golden…you want some good color on it.  Stir every 10 minutes and bake for about 40 minutes or until proper color.  Place sheet on cooling rack, stir and cool.  Mix in fruit (do not do before totally cooled or the fruit will be rock-hard).    Store in an airtight container.

Before you mix in the honey, you can also add some other stuff to the mix if you like….I add about 1/3C milled flax seed, just to give it some more goodness and it doesn’t change the flavor or consistency at all, but feel free to experiement!

So there you have it…try it, let me know what you think….you will be a believer, I know it!!

In essence, tiramisu is what we call a “method” recipe.   Once you learn the method, it can be translated into any number of flavor combinations, depending on your imagination.  Sure, the classic tiramisu is the espresso-chocolate version that we all know and love, but why stop there?   So, I am going to give you my recipe for “classic” tiramisu and then I’ll throw in another one that’s totally different.  Seriously, go to any recipe search site that you like and search for tiramisu and you’ll find there are tons of combinations!!

My favorite tiramisu

8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder diluted in 1 1/4 cups hot water, cooled
30-40 lady fingers, crisp
 
Preparation – Finely chop chocolate in processor. Set aside.

Mix sugar and egg yolks in mixer for 30 seconds. Add vanilla and process until pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add cheese in batches and blend until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Beat whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead.)

Pour espresso into large shallow dish. Dip ladyfingers in espresso, turning to coat all sides lightly. Arrange strips on bottom of 10-cup shallow dish, smoothing with fingers to mold together. Sprinkle with half of chocolate. top with chilled cheese mixture. Sprinkle remaining chocolate over. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Is best prepared 1 day ahead of time, to let the flavors mesh together. 

So, there is the classic….now for something fun.

Strawberry-orange tiramisu
1 1/4 cups strawberry preserves
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1/3 cup orange juice
1 pound mascarpone cheese, room temperature – can use cream cheese, too but the flavor will be a little different
1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
52 (about) crisp ladyfingers
1 1/2 pounds strawberries, divided
 
Preparation – Whisk preserves, 1/3 cup Grand Marnier, and orange juice in 2-cup measuring cup. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier in large bowl; fold just to blend. Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons Marnier in another large bowl to soft peaks. Stir 1/4 of whipped cream mixture into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whipped cream.

Hull and slice half of strawberries. Spread 1/2 cup preserve mixture over bottom of 3-quart oblong serving dish or a 13x9x2- inch glass baking dish. Arrange enough ladyfingers over strawberry mixture to cover bottom of dish. Spoon 3/4 cup preserve mixture over ladyfingers, then spread 2 1/2 cups mascarpone mixture over. Arrange 2 cups sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture. Repeat layering with remaining lady fingers, preserve mixture, and mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

Slice remaining strawberries. Arrange over tiramasù and serve.

So there you have it…one method, 2 recipes, and endless possibilities!  Have fun!

We’ve gone over cheesecake basics in a previous post, and the fundamentals remain the same here.  Of course, you don’t have to add the bourbon if you don’t want to…but I won’t lie…it makes a huge difference.   You can also use regular graham cracker crumbs if you can’t find gingersnaps or if you don’t like them. 

Bourbon pumpkin cheesecake with brown sugar sour cream topping-

Crust:  2C gingersnap cookie crumbs,  1 stick melted butter,  1 tbsp. sugar -   melt the butter and mix with graham crumbs and sugar.  Press into 9 or 10 inch springform pan that has been sprayed.  Bake crust at 350 for about 8 minutes or until golden.

Filling:  3 – 8oz packages cream cheese, room temp (very important!),  1C sugar,  1C pumpkin, 3 large eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract,  3/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/8 tspl allspice (cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice are the same spices used in apple pie spice mix…if you want to use that, use 1 1/2 tsp),  2 tbsp. bourbon.

Sour cream topping:  2C sour cream,  4 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tbsp. bourbon

Blend cream cheese and sugar in mixer until smooth.  Add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and spices.  Process until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl.  Add bourbon and mix until incorporated.  Transfer filling to crust.  In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients and whisk until smooth, set aside.

Bake cheesecake in a waterbath* for 50 minutes at 350.  Remove from oven and spread sour cream topping evenly over cheesecake.  Return to the oven for another 10 minutes until set and remove.  Place on cooling rack until COMPLETELY cooled.  Chill uncovered until cold or nasty condensation will appear on the surface of your cheesecake.  After completely chilled, then you can cover it. 

*waterbath – the best and only, in my opinion, way to make a cheesecake.  Wrap the outsides of your springform pan in several layers of foil to ensure that water will not seep through.  In a large pan, place a small amount of hot water (1/4 inch) and then place your foil-wrapped pan inside the larger pan.  The water ensures that the cheesecake cooks evenly and slowly and prevents those nasty cracks from happening on the surface. 

When the cheesecake is done and you unmold it from your pan, it looks beautiful because you have the crust, which is a beautiful dark brown, the pumpkin filling has a nice orange color, and then the sour cream topping a beautiful off white and it looks absolutely stunning.  Feel free to garnish the top with a little fresh grated nutmeg or anything else you may feel like adding!

Have you ever considered using turkey breast instead of a whole turkey?  You could even do several depending on how many people you need to feed.  The reason I’m asking is because the whole turkey breasts provide a much easier alternative to the usual bird.  They are smaller and more manageable, all white meat, and as I will show you, super easy to flavor up beautifully!

Ok, this is my favorite turkey recipe.  There, I said it.  I use turkey breast.  Is that bad?  I dont’ think so.  I do half the work other people do, and get twice the flavor and I have leftovers, which is what its all about!!

Here’s the easy recipe:

1/4C olive oil,  3 tbsp. chopped fresh flatleaf parsley,  1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves,  1/2 tsp. lemon zest,  1/4 tsp. salt,  1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper,  1 – 4 to 5 lb. turkey breast, thawed, 

Preheat oven to 350.    Whisk dressing ingredients together until well blended.   Rinse turkey breast and pat dry with a paper towl.  Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from the breast meat.  Pour about 2 tbsp. dressing evenly over the meat and, using your hands, rub generously over the meat.  Massage it into the meat!!  Stretch the skin back over the meat.  Pin the skin around the sides of the breast using small wooden skewers or toothpicks (previously soaked in water), to prevent it from shrinking.   Rub the rest of the dressing over the skin and the entire breast.    Roast the turkey until the juices run clear, about 1 – 1 1.2 hours or 180 on a meat thermometer.  Let sit 15 minutes before carving and serving.

Now, if you’re like me, you pay no attention to recipes and simply use them as a guideline.  Feel free to add more lemon zest or any of the herbs if you’d like to up the flavor in a certain direction.  But, using the recipe exactly as stated will give you a perfectly seasoned and moist turkey breast!

I hope you enjoy and I hope I’ve taken at least a little of the stress off your holiday!

The bottom half of the pumpkin

Ok, this is the first part of the pumpkin.  All you do is grease and flour a bundt pan and fill it with the cake mix of your choosing.  Bake as instructed and invert to cool.  This is the bottom half of the pumpkin.  Then, you are going to do it again.  Another cake mix, another half of the pumpkin.  

Both halves glued together with frosting!

When you have the second layer cooled, you want to put any kind of icing you want on top of the first layer.  In essence, you are using the frosting kind of like a glue to hold the layers together.  So, be free with the frosting! 

After that’s done, we’re gonna ice the entire thing.  You can do this a couple of ways.  You can make your own frosting using whatever recipe you want, but it needs to be a white frosting.  Or  you can buy a couple tubs of frosting, dump them in a bowl, and color it orange.  Your choice.

The perfect pumpkin

Once you get your icing ready, go about icing the cake any way you want.  You can get super fancy or really basic.  You can even take your toothpick down the sides and make the indentations that pumpkins usually have.  For the stem, take an empty ice cream cone, cover it with chocolate frosting (which is the kind I used in the middle), and set it on top of the cake when you are finished icing it.  Then, you can take some green icing and make leaves if you’d like, or not, either way, it’s one heck of a pumpkin!

My daughter is in preschool and once a month they have their “special day” where they get to bring snacks and show and tell.  Her day was this past week and I made this cake for her snack.  The kids seriously freaked out!  One little girl was even crying that morning and didn’t want to stay for class, but when she saw the pumpkin cake, she decided to stay!  That’s a pretty powerful pumpkin if you ask me! 

So, enjoy the season, enjoy Halloween, and hopefully you will enjoy this super-easy cake, too!

I’m gonna give you 2 recipes.  One savory, one sweet, both delicious!  Keep in mind scones are supposed to be a cross between a biscuit and a shortbread.  Kinda dense, kinda flaky, buttery….you get the idea.

The first recipe is taken from an Ina Garten recipe and of course, I had to tweak it a little.

Cheddar Dill Scones:

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup cold heavy cream 
12 oz. extra-sharp yellow Cheddar, small-diced
1 cup minced fresh dill
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk, for egg wash
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine 4 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Mix the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the Cheddar, dill, and 1 tablespoon of flour and add them to the dough. Mix until they are almost incorporated.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the Cheddar and dill are well distributed. Roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 4-inch squares and then in half diagonally to make triangles. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.

The second is from Bon Appetit Magazine, also tweaked a little.

Blueberry Oat Scones:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (about 5 1/2 ounces) – you can even used dried blueberries
1 3/4 cups chilled half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 teaspoons raw sugar
 
PreparationPosition 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and coarse salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add butter. Using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Add 1 cup oats and blueberries; stir to blend evenly.

Stir half and half and vanilla in small bowl. Gradually add to flour mixture, tossing until dough just comes together (dough will be very moist).

Using 1/2-cup measuring cup for each scone, drop dough in mounds onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Sprinkle tops with remaining 3 tablespoons oats, then raw sugar.

Bake 15 minutes. Reverse sheets and continue baking until scones are golden and tester inserted into center from side comes out clean, about 12 minutes longer. Transfer scones to rack and cool slightly.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

So there you have it…2 recipes, 2 different methods, and 2 super delicious scones.  Have yourself a spot of tea, sit down, read a book and enjoy a scone!

I’m going to use lemon as an example because it tends to be the most universal and easiest to make.  We’ll get into other variations later.

The basic recipe is 13 egg yolks, 1C lemon juice, 2C sugar, zest of 2 lemons.  Combine all ingredients into a medium saucepan and put on medium heat.  Ok, undertstand something….this is a process.  You don’t want a quick result and turning up the heat to make it cook faster will only ruin this.  Keep it on medium, keep stirring and be patient.  It really only takes about 15 minutes max, but it’s hard to give you an exact time because you’re looking for a result, not a timeline.  As it cooks, the mixture will thicken, becoming a thick, creamy yellow.  Don’t let it boil and when you get to the texture of a thick cream sauce or pudding, pull it off the heat.  While still stirring, add 1 stick of butter to mixture and stir until melted.  At this point, transfer the mix to a container to refrigerate.  Cover with plastic wrap and make sure to press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd so a skin doesn’t form.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or until cooled through.  Mix will thicken up in fridge and become the consistency of thick custard.

This recipe can also be interchanged with lime, although I add a few drops of green food coloring at the end so people know it’s lime.  You can also make pineapple, orange, mango and others, but they require a different twist on the recipe.  If you wanna know about others, just ask me.

I typically use this as a quick dessert to take to scrapbook parties or church stuff.  I spoon some into phyllo cups and top with a berry and they look perfect!  Try it out and let me know what you think!