This week, I've begun packing up my first apartment with my fiancee. A month ago, our building sold and since then we've been catapulted into the process of purging, packing, and using up all of our food.
In the spirit of using up all of our food, I've decided to try and use up all of my baking ingredients. This is no small feat- believe me when I say I have a lot of crap. That's what inspired my coconut macaroons. It's what inspired these apple muffins I'm sharing with you.
The ability to make up a recipe using what you have left in your house is something that must be developed over time. You have to find the fine line between creating an oyster cream of celery casserole with a cereal crust (see, FRIENDS, season 10, Rachel's going away party) and dishing up a legitimate dish that someone wants to eat.
So as I was saying, I'm trying to use up ingredients so I don't have to move them. I decided to create these apple muffins based merely on the fact that I had apple preserves and apples in the house and every Tuesday night, my fiancee John bowls in a league and I send Sugar Lovin treats along.
Strangely enough, John told me later that they pair well with beer.
P.S. Note the amount of ingredients I incorporate with the goal of exhausting some lingering items, like flaxseed meal.
Cinnamon Apple Whole Wheat Muffins with Apple Streusel Topping
Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
1 cup Whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Flax seed meal
2 tsp Cinnamon, divided
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 cup Butter + 2 Tbsp, divided
3/4 cup Brown sugar + 2 Tbsp, divided
2 Large eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Smuckers (R) Cinnamon Apple preserves or good quality apple butter
1/2 Small apple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup Rolled oats
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 tin muffin pan with cupcake/muffin liners, set aside. In a large bowl, sift flours, meal, 1 tsp cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In bowl of mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla and remaining tsp of cinnamon. Mix well.
3. Add half of flour mixture to butter/sugar mixture and mix well. Add half of milk and half of preserves, mix well and scrape down bowl with spatula. Now add half of the remaining flour mixture and mix well. Add remaining milk and preserves, mix well. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until fully combined.
4. In a small bowl, combine remaining butter & sugar with the apple and rolled oats. Using your fingers, rub the butter into mixture until it is crumbly and moist. Using an ice cream scoop, fill lined muffin tins with 1 level scoop of batter and sprinkle with streusel topping. Place in preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes, or until muffins spring back when touched. Allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 12 muffins.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Coconut macaroons
I have previously made mention of the coconut macaroon method of making cookies. Essentially, it was a reference to making a cookie simply by using the main ingredient, egg and sugar (remember these peanut butter cookies?).
You can certainly do that to make a simple, quick coconut macaroon. Use a 1/2 cup sugar, 3 egg whites and 4 cups of sweetened, flaked coconut, form into balls and bake at 350 degree F for 20 minutes. Those macaroons are gluten-free and awesomely hassle-free.
But when I dream of coconut macaroons (I'm a pastry chef, so yeah, I dream about tarts and cookies a lot), I remember the complex, buttery texture and flavor of an Enrico's coconut macaroon and I yearn for so much more.
A quick history: coconut macaroons are closely related to macarons or almond macaroons, which are made from egg whites and almond paste. This particular cousin of the original macaron was adopted by the Italian Jews because it had no chemical leavening or flour, making it an ideal treat for Passover. From there, it made it's way around Europe, but ultimately, this treat is most popular in the US and UK as they are much easier to make than macarons and far more sturdy. For more information on the history of macaroons, macarons and meringue-style cookies, visit thenibble.com.
But now, on to heavenly buttery, coconut-ty, super-delicious, Sugar Lovin Macaroons. This recipe is incredibly easy and yields a subtly complex flavor that is sure to satisfy any coconut lover.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Salted butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Egg whites
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Coconut extract
1/4 cup Flour
4 cups Flaked, sweetened coconut
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour cookie sheets, set aside. In bowl of mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add in egg whites, beat until pale and well mixed, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
2. Add in extracts, mix well. Add in flour and coconut, mix until well blended and all the coconut is coated with egg and sugar mixture. Using ice cream scoop, scoop out level portions and drop onto cookie sheet.
3. Turn oven down to 300 degrees F and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cookies have turned golden brown. Remove from pans, cool on wire rack.
TIP: Serve with a dollop of Nutella and a whole almond for a take on an Almond Joy candy bar.
You can certainly do that to make a simple, quick coconut macaroon. Use a 1/2 cup sugar, 3 egg whites and 4 cups of sweetened, flaked coconut, form into balls and bake at 350 degree F for 20 minutes. Those macaroons are gluten-free and awesomely hassle-free.
But when I dream of coconut macaroons (I'm a pastry chef, so yeah, I dream about tarts and cookies a lot), I remember the complex, buttery texture and flavor of an Enrico's coconut macaroon and I yearn for so much more.
A quick history: coconut macaroons are closely related to macarons or almond macaroons, which are made from egg whites and almond paste. This particular cousin of the original macaron was adopted by the Italian Jews because it had no chemical leavening or flour, making it an ideal treat for Passover. From there, it made it's way around Europe, but ultimately, this treat is most popular in the US and UK as they are much easier to make than macarons and far more sturdy. For more information on the history of macaroons, macarons and meringue-style cookies, visit thenibble.com.
But now, on to heavenly buttery, coconut-ty, super-delicious, Sugar Lovin Macaroons. This recipe is incredibly easy and yields a subtly complex flavor that is sure to satisfy any coconut lover.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Salted butter, softened
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Egg whites
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Coconut extract
1/4 cup Flour
4 cups Flaked, sweetened coconut
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour cookie sheets, set aside. In bowl of mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy. Add in egg whites, beat until pale and well mixed, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
 |
| Sugar & butter |
 |
| Sugar, butter, egg whites and extracts |
TIP: Serve with a dollop of Nutella and a whole almond for a take on an Almond Joy candy bar.
Rummy chocolate banana bread pudding
Hi, my name is Sarah. I'm a Sugar Lovin pastry chef and I dislike bread pudding. Here's my story.
Until last week, I'd never made bread pudding. The concept of it sounds a little odd to me. Bread, soaked in a sugary milk mixture and then baked? Just weird. I'd had bread pudding-style French toast, but that was...different, in the fact that it was a savory meal, not a sweet treat.
In any case, I decided I'd try it. I was in desperate need a of a good party dessert and I didn't have a lot of time to make something. Why I landed on bread pudding, I'll never know. Maybe I was inspired by an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on bread pudding, or maybe it's been the litany of bread pudding recipes I'd seen lately. Either way, I was one loaf of crusty Italian bread and half-and-half away from having this recipe all but finished.
A few things you should know about bread pudding:
1. It's a very old dessert.
2. It can be made quickly or slowly, depending on what you need
3. It's just as good cold as it is hot
4. The flavor combinations are endless
5. There is no "right" kind of bread, however their are breads that really don't work well
Bread pudding is actually a very, very old sweet treat that evolved from people needing to find a use for their stale bread. Ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Indians all refer to a dish that was, in essence, a bread pudding. A traditional bread pudding today begins with stale bread soaked in an egg custard which is then baked with whatever flavors and fixins you'd like. The bread pudding of ancient Roman times was not soaked with custard, as custard was not invented until the Middle Ages, but it held the same basic theory- milk, stale bread, fat, and a sweetener of some kind. It's remained popular throughout the ages and is often thought of as comfort food. For more on the history of bread pudding, check out this article from ehow.com.
Bread pudding can be made in just an hour or it could take an overnight soak and a water bath to bake. It depends on what you need to do. For an incredibly traditional way to make bread pudding, check out this recipe from Paula Deen. You could even go so far as to soak the bread cubes overnight. This particular recipe includes baking the bread pudding in a bain marie, or water bath. Water baths are a very gentle way to cook something, allowing the entire dish to cook very evenly. However, with other recipes, you might only have to soak the bread cubes for 10 minutes and bake it, sans the bain marie.
Also, bread pudding tastes really good cold; especially with a cup of coffee in the morning. I personally think it tastes better hot, but that's just me.
Bread pudding is likely not going to get "old" either, as long as you keep switching up your flavor combinations. Try coconut cream from Paula Deen; traditional apples, cinnamon and raisin made with a brioche bread; chocolate and coffee with stale pain de mie; pear and walnut with cinnamon swirl bread; you get the idea.
Finally some people swear that only certain breads make a good bread pudding. They'll claim it's brioche or bust. French loaf or it's gross. Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. Any fresh bread that's gone stale will do. An oxymoron, I know, but let me elaborate.
You don't want to use Wonder bread or high preservative sandwich bread. This bread is less likely to go stale quickly, for one, and for two, it's so thin it wouldn't hold up to the custard soak. Any fresh, bakery bread, i.e. the stuff you find in the bakery section of your grocery store or a loaf you would actually buy at a bread bakery will work just fine. This bread is often free of artificial preservatives and will only need a day of sitting out to go stale. I experimented with the types of bread I used mainly for flavor reasons, but they all worked fine in the recipes.
So now, on to the main event, my rummy chocolate banana bread pudding. It's easy, it's quick and it's super delicious.
Ingredients:
15 cups Bread cubes (I used an Italian loaf for this recipe)
20 oz Mini chocolate chips, divided
3 3/4 cups Half-and-half
1/4 cup Good rum
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
6 Large eggs
3 VERY ripe bananas
2/3 cup Heavy cream
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 9x13 baking dish combine bread cubes and 10 oz of chocolate chips. Spread evenly to the edges.
2. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, bring half and half and rum to a boil. Meanwhile, combine sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs and peeled bananas in large bowl. Whisk to combine, mashing the bananas as necessary. SLOWLY, pour the hot half-and-half mixture into the egg mixtures, whisking constantly to ensure the eggs don't curdle.
3. Pour this liquid custard over the bread cubes and chocolate chips. Cover with aluminum foil and set in refrigerator to soak for 20 minutes.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Meanwhile, set remaining 10 oz of chocolate in stainless steel bowl. Bring heavy cream to soft boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
5. Allow bread pudding to cool and serve still warm with chocolate sauce.
That's my journey of bread pudding. Did I mention I'm a total convert now?
Until last week, I'd never made bread pudding. The concept of it sounds a little odd to me. Bread, soaked in a sugary milk mixture and then baked? Just weird. I'd had bread pudding-style French toast, but that was...different, in the fact that it was a savory meal, not a sweet treat.
In any case, I decided I'd try it. I was in desperate need a of a good party dessert and I didn't have a lot of time to make something. Why I landed on bread pudding, I'll never know. Maybe I was inspired by an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on bread pudding, or maybe it's been the litany of bread pudding recipes I'd seen lately. Either way, I was one loaf of crusty Italian bread and half-and-half away from having this recipe all but finished.
A few things you should know about bread pudding:
1. It's a very old dessert.
2. It can be made quickly or slowly, depending on what you need
3. It's just as good cold as it is hot
4. The flavor combinations are endless
5. There is no "right" kind of bread, however their are breads that really don't work well
Bread pudding is actually a very, very old sweet treat that evolved from people needing to find a use for their stale bread. Ancient Romans, Egyptians, and Indians all refer to a dish that was, in essence, a bread pudding. A traditional bread pudding today begins with stale bread soaked in an egg custard which is then baked with whatever flavors and fixins you'd like. The bread pudding of ancient Roman times was not soaked with custard, as custard was not invented until the Middle Ages, but it held the same basic theory- milk, stale bread, fat, and a sweetener of some kind. It's remained popular throughout the ages and is often thought of as comfort food. For more on the history of bread pudding, check out this article from ehow.com.
Bread pudding can be made in just an hour or it could take an overnight soak and a water bath to bake. It depends on what you need to do. For an incredibly traditional way to make bread pudding, check out this recipe from Paula Deen. You could even go so far as to soak the bread cubes overnight. This particular recipe includes baking the bread pudding in a bain marie, or water bath. Water baths are a very gentle way to cook something, allowing the entire dish to cook very evenly. However, with other recipes, you might only have to soak the bread cubes for 10 minutes and bake it, sans the bain marie.
Also, bread pudding tastes really good cold; especially with a cup of coffee in the morning. I personally think it tastes better hot, but that's just me.
Bread pudding is likely not going to get "old" either, as long as you keep switching up your flavor combinations. Try coconut cream from Paula Deen; traditional apples, cinnamon and raisin made with a brioche bread; chocolate and coffee with stale pain de mie; pear and walnut with cinnamon swirl bread; you get the idea.
Finally some people swear that only certain breads make a good bread pudding. They'll claim it's brioche or bust. French loaf or it's gross. Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada. Any fresh bread that's gone stale will do. An oxymoron, I know, but let me elaborate.
You don't want to use Wonder bread or high preservative sandwich bread. This bread is less likely to go stale quickly, for one, and for two, it's so thin it wouldn't hold up to the custard soak. Any fresh, bakery bread, i.e. the stuff you find in the bakery section of your grocery store or a loaf you would actually buy at a bread bakery will work just fine. This bread is often free of artificial preservatives and will only need a day of sitting out to go stale. I experimented with the types of bread I used mainly for flavor reasons, but they all worked fine in the recipes.
So now, on to the main event, my rummy chocolate banana bread pudding. It's easy, it's quick and it's super delicious.
Ingredients:
15 cups Bread cubes (I used an Italian loaf for this recipe)
20 oz Mini chocolate chips, divided
3 3/4 cups Half-and-half
1/4 cup Good rum
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
6 Large eggs
3 VERY ripe bananas
2/3 cup Heavy cream
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 9x13 baking dish combine bread cubes and 10 oz of chocolate chips. Spread evenly to the edges.
2. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, bring half and half and rum to a boil. Meanwhile, combine sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs and peeled bananas in large bowl. Whisk to combine, mashing the bananas as necessary. SLOWLY, pour the hot half-and-half mixture into the egg mixtures, whisking constantly to ensure the eggs don't curdle.
3. Pour this liquid custard over the bread cubes and chocolate chips. Cover with aluminum foil and set in refrigerator to soak for 20 minutes.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Meanwhile, set remaining 10 oz of chocolate in stainless steel bowl. Bring heavy cream to soft boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
5. Allow bread pudding to cool and serve still warm with chocolate sauce.
That's my journey of bread pudding. Did I mention I'm a total convert now?
Monday, October 4, 2010
Death by Sugar Lovin pie
It's probably never a good idea to try and put two sweet things together that you've never made before. But I really, really thought that these might taste good, which they did, they just happened to send the eater into a sugar lovin high. To give you a description of the Death by Sugar Lovin pie: it began with an oat cookie crust that was lined with chocolate ganache, filled with a no bake cheesecake and topped with peanut brittle.
I know. My teeth hurt just thinking about all that sugar in one place. It was highly decadent and it was an experiment that was successful the fact that it taught me a few things and it gave me a couple of new techniques to share.
We'll start with the oat cookie crust:
In Bon Appetit's September Restaurant issue, they revealed the recipes of Christina Tosi, the pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar and the Momofuku restaurant empire (for more on the Momofuku family of restaurants, visit www.momofuku.com or read Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw). Tosi is known for being incredibly inventive and her desserts are known for being very addictive. What caught my eye in all of her desserts was the recipe for Crack Pie. You can find the whole recipe here, but today, I am focusing on the crust.
The oat cookie crust is very unique to me. While it resembles a graham crust or any crushed cookie crust, what's unique about this crust is that rather than starting with already crushed cookies, or buying a package or oreos, you make an oatmeal cookie bar, crumble it and create the crust completely from scratch. The oat cookie crust technique inspired me to start thinking about other types of cookie crusts you could make from scratch and the number of delicious fillings you could pair with them to make a truly unique pie. See your basic recipe here and get ideas on how to make it your own.
But for my first try, I followed Tosi's recipe. The oat cookie crust came out perfectly. The only thing I did differently was blind bake the crust without the filling for 17-18 minutes after pressing into the pie pan because I wanted to fill the crust with a cheesecake and ganache filling that couldn't be baked.
Now for thoughts on a cheesecake & ganache filling. Some key items to remember.
1. You won't need as much ganache as you think.
2. You won't need as much cheesecake filling as you think.
3. When in doubt, let it chill longer.
Ganache is a very basic pastry item that everyone can make. You just need chocolate and heavy cream. See the recipe here. The beautiful thing about ganache is that you can adjust your ratio of cream to chocolate to create a thicker or thinner ganache. The consistency you are looking for here is equal parts cream to chocolate for a thin glaze effect.
This particular cheesecake filling was a no-bake filling, which means there aren't any eggs. The bonus is that it comes together quickly. The downside is that it never reaches a true cheesecake density. It depends what you like in your cheesecake. I decided to go a slightly tangy and sweet route. My filling recipe can be found here, but for quick reference it had cream cheese, greek yogurt, goat cheese, honey, sugar and a touch of heavy cream.
And finally, the topper- peanut brittle.
I had never made candy or brittle before this little experiment. A few things I learned:
1. When in doubt, opt for a bigger pan.
2. Understand that you need to spend the whole time at the stove with the peanut brittle mixture.
3. Corn syrup is kind of flavorless.
My peanut brittle ended up being very thick. It still tastes good, but for brittle of any kind, thinness is key for breaking it up and eating it. When it's too thick, it doesn't break well and it gets stuck in your teeth, giving you the flavor of peanut brittle constantly.
I thought since my candy thermometer was going to gauge the temperature for me, I could watch TV and check on it every once in a while. Nope, nope, and nope. Peanut brittle needs to be stirred, and often. In addition, you have to watch the pan to make sure the brittle mixture doesn't overflow while boiling.
Also, corn syrup has absolutely no depth of flavor. So the original recipe I made tastes like peanut brittle, but in the future, I'll be making it this way, courtesy of Sir Emeril, minus the chili powder.
So when you assemble this Death by Sugar Lovin pie, it goes:
Crust
Ganache
Cheesecake filling
Broken peanut brittle pieces
Then it has to chill overnight. It does taste really good. It's just so decadent that you need to take a very small slice. Or, do this....try making all of these fun pastry items, just not in the same dessert!
I know. My teeth hurt just thinking about all that sugar in one place. It was highly decadent and it was an experiment that was successful the fact that it taught me a few things and it gave me a couple of new techniques to share.
We'll start with the oat cookie crust:
In Bon Appetit's September Restaurant issue, they revealed the recipes of Christina Tosi, the pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar and the Momofuku restaurant empire (for more on the Momofuku family of restaurants, visit www.momofuku.com or read Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw). Tosi is known for being incredibly inventive and her desserts are known for being very addictive. What caught my eye in all of her desserts was the recipe for Crack Pie. You can find the whole recipe here, but today, I am focusing on the crust.
The oat cookie crust is very unique to me. While it resembles a graham crust or any crushed cookie crust, what's unique about this crust is that rather than starting with already crushed cookies, or buying a package or oreos, you make an oatmeal cookie bar, crumble it and create the crust completely from scratch. The oat cookie crust technique inspired me to start thinking about other types of cookie crusts you could make from scratch and the number of delicious fillings you could pair with them to make a truly unique pie. See your basic recipe here and get ideas on how to make it your own.
But for my first try, I followed Tosi's recipe. The oat cookie crust came out perfectly. The only thing I did differently was blind bake the crust without the filling for 17-18 minutes after pressing into the pie pan because I wanted to fill the crust with a cheesecake and ganache filling that couldn't be baked.
Now for thoughts on a cheesecake & ganache filling. Some key items to remember.
1. You won't need as much ganache as you think.
2. You won't need as much cheesecake filling as you think.
3. When in doubt, let it chill longer.
Ganache is a very basic pastry item that everyone can make. You just need chocolate and heavy cream. See the recipe here. The beautiful thing about ganache is that you can adjust your ratio of cream to chocolate to create a thicker or thinner ganache. The consistency you are looking for here is equal parts cream to chocolate for a thin glaze effect.
This particular cheesecake filling was a no-bake filling, which means there aren't any eggs. The bonus is that it comes together quickly. The downside is that it never reaches a true cheesecake density. It depends what you like in your cheesecake. I decided to go a slightly tangy and sweet route. My filling recipe can be found here, but for quick reference it had cream cheese, greek yogurt, goat cheese, honey, sugar and a touch of heavy cream.
And finally, the topper- peanut brittle.
I had never made candy or brittle before this little experiment. A few things I learned:
1. When in doubt, opt for a bigger pan.
2. Understand that you need to spend the whole time at the stove with the peanut brittle mixture.
3. Corn syrup is kind of flavorless.
My peanut brittle ended up being very thick. It still tastes good, but for brittle of any kind, thinness is key for breaking it up and eating it. When it's too thick, it doesn't break well and it gets stuck in your teeth, giving you the flavor of peanut brittle constantly.
I thought since my candy thermometer was going to gauge the temperature for me, I could watch TV and check on it every once in a while. Nope, nope, and nope. Peanut brittle needs to be stirred, and often. In addition, you have to watch the pan to make sure the brittle mixture doesn't overflow while boiling.
Also, corn syrup has absolutely no depth of flavor. So the original recipe I made tastes like peanut brittle, but in the future, I'll be making it this way, courtesy of Sir Emeril, minus the chili powder.
So when you assemble this Death by Sugar Lovin pie, it goes:
Crust
Ganache
Cheesecake filling
Broken peanut brittle pieces
Then it has to chill overnight. It does taste really good. It's just so decadent that you need to take a very small slice. Or, do this....try making all of these fun pastry items, just not in the same dessert!
Cookie-style pie crust: the basics
This new way of thinking about pie crust is inspiring and fun. Let the cookie and pie filling combinations take you all kinds of places.
Cookie pie crust, basic recipe:
Ingredients:
9 Tbsp Unsalted butter, divided
5 1/2 Tbsp Brown sugar, divided
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Large egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Flour
1/8 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Baking soda
1/4 Heaping tsp Salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Line 13/9/2 in pan with parchment paper, coat with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter. In bowl of mixer, combine 6 Tbsp of butter, 4 Tbsp of brown sugar and 2 Tbsp of sugar and beat well until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
2. Add egg, beat until pale and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly to the edges. Bake for 17 to 18 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely.
3. Crumble cookie into large bowl. Add remaining butter and brown sugar and using your hands, mix together until it is moistened and crumbly. Press into a 9-in pie pan.
Now, depending on the filling you choose, you may need to blind bake this crust of about 10-15 minutes. Any filling that does not get baked will need to have the crust blind baked first.
From here, can you imagine the possibilities?
How about a snickerdoodle crust with a pumpkin pie filling? You'll need to add 1 tsp of cinnamon to your cookie batter and then add another 2 tsp to the second stage of crumbling with brown sugar and butter.
Or a chocolate chip cookie crust with a cookie dough ice cream filler?
Or a shortbread cookie crust with a lemon meringue filling? For that, the shortbread cookie recipe will be rather different, but you get the idea.
My Sugar Lovin pie plate runneth over.
Cookie pie crust, basic recipe:
Ingredients:
9 Tbsp Unsalted butter, divided
5 1/2 Tbsp Brown sugar, divided
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Large egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Flour
1/8 tsp Baking powder
1/8 tsp Baking soda
1/4 Heaping tsp Salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Line 13/9/2 in pan with parchment paper, coat with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter. In bowl of mixer, combine 6 Tbsp of butter, 4 Tbsp of brown sugar and 2 Tbsp of sugar and beat well until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
2. Add egg, beat until pale and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended. Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly to the edges. Bake for 17 to 18 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely.
3. Crumble cookie into large bowl. Add remaining butter and brown sugar and using your hands, mix together until it is moistened and crumbly. Press into a 9-in pie pan.
Now, depending on the filling you choose, you may need to blind bake this crust of about 10-15 minutes. Any filling that does not get baked will need to have the crust blind baked first.
From here, can you imagine the possibilities?
How about a snickerdoodle crust with a pumpkin pie filling? You'll need to add 1 tsp of cinnamon to your cookie batter and then add another 2 tsp to the second stage of crumbling with brown sugar and butter.
Or a chocolate chip cookie crust with a cookie dough ice cream filler?
Or a shortbread cookie crust with a lemon meringue filling? For that, the shortbread cookie recipe will be rather different, but you get the idea.
My Sugar Lovin pie plate runneth over.
No-bake cheesecake filling
This tangy cheesecake filling does triple time as a fruit dip and a unique peanut butter cookie sandwich filling.
Ingredients:
6 oz Cream cheese
4 oz Goat cheese
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Greek-style yogurt
2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
Method:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat together until sugar dissolves, or about 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator to chill overnight.
It's unique, it's tangy and it's easy!
Ingredients:
6 oz Cream cheese
4 oz Goat cheese
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Greek-style yogurt
2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
Method:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat together until sugar dissolves, or about 5 minutes. Place in refrigerator to chill overnight.
Basic chocolate ganache recipe and methods
Chocolate ganache, depending on the consistency, can be used as a cake filler, a cake glaze, chocolate syrup to drizzle and more. Here's your basic recipe, which can be used to glaze a cake or drizzle syrup across a yummy dessert.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup Heavy Cream
10 oz Chopped chocolate (any kind will do...though chocolate baking discs are my favorite)
Methods:
There are many ways to make chocolate ganache. Some swear that you can place both items in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring it until it's smooth.
I personally prefer one of the two following methods. I choose the way I do it based on the time in which I need the ganache to be finished.
Quick Ganache:
1. Place chocolate in stainless steel bowl, set aside. Heat cream in small saucepan over high heat until it just boils.
2. Pour hot cream over chocolate, stirring until smooth.
Slow Ganache:
1. Place chocolate and cream in large stainless steel bowl. Set bowl over pot of simmering water and allow to heat slowly, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Either way, when you are done, your ganache should look like this:
Notice the ribbon-like stream of chocolate- that's what you're aiming for.
A few nifty tidbits on chocolate ganache:
1. By adjusting the ratio or chocolate to cream, you can create a thinner or thicker ganache. More chocolate than cream will give you a thicker ganache that could be used to fill a cake. More cream then chocolate gives you a thinner glaze.
2. Chocolate ganache can be reused. If you have leftover ganache, transfer it to a stainless steel bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. To bring it back, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup Heavy Cream
10 oz Chopped chocolate (any kind will do...though chocolate baking discs are my favorite)
There are many ways to make chocolate ganache. Some swear that you can place both items in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring it until it's smooth.
I personally prefer one of the two following methods. I choose the way I do it based on the time in which I need the ganache to be finished.
Quick Ganache:
1. Place chocolate in stainless steel bowl, set aside. Heat cream in small saucepan over high heat until it just boils.
2. Pour hot cream over chocolate, stirring until smooth.
Slow Ganache:
1. Place chocolate and cream in large stainless steel bowl. Set bowl over pot of simmering water and allow to heat slowly, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Either way, when you are done, your ganache should look like this:
Notice the ribbon-like stream of chocolate- that's what you're aiming for.
A few nifty tidbits on chocolate ganache:
1. By adjusting the ratio or chocolate to cream, you can create a thinner or thicker ganache. More chocolate than cream will give you a thicker ganache that could be used to fill a cake. More cream then chocolate gives you a thinner glaze.
2. Chocolate ganache can be reused. If you have leftover ganache, transfer it to a stainless steel bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. To bring it back, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir.
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