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Category Archives: Baking

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Pie

Posted on September 20, 2010 by amydeline

You may be starting to suspect that I’ve got a little problem with Chocolate and Peanut Butter. First, the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie, then the Funny Bone Cupcakes, and now this; Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Pie. The first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? So, yeah. Maybe I’ve got a little thing for chocolate and peanut butter. But, cancel the intervention. It’s a lost cause. You’ll never get me to stop combining the two.

For today’s version of this fantastic flavor combination, I’ve made a peanut butter cheesecake, sprinkled with chocolate chips and baked in a chocolate cookie crust. It’s super simple to make and incredibly satisfying.

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 Chocolate Cookie Pie Crust, homemade or store-bought
  • 1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
  • 2 (8-ounce) bars Cream Cheese, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup Peanut Butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 tsp Vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter most of the chocolate chips in the bottom of the pie crust, reserving some for the top. Beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Add the eggs and blend for another minute or two until well combined. Spread the batter over the chocolate chips. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the center appears set. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for about an hour. Then, refrigerate until completely cool.

I should warn you, we took the kids apple picking yesterday. I foresee quite a few apple recipes in the near future.

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Coconut-Macadamia Nut Biscotti

Posted on September 9, 2010 by amydeline

It took me a long time to appreciate the flavor of vanilla. As a child, and most of my adulthood, I equated anything vanilla flavored as being plain flavored. You might have just asked me if I wanted chocolate or plain flavored ice cream. Of course I’d choose chocolate. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would pick plain.

And then there was the scent of vanilla. Vanilla candles, vanilla body washes, vanilla room spray. I just didn’t get it. What was so darn intriguing about the scent of vanilla?? At one point during my early teenage years, I joined my mom at a gathering with her girlfriends. They would meet at one or another’s house each week to watch the show Thirty-Something. They’d ooh and aah over the leading males characters and talk girl-talk. I felt shy. Then, at one point, someone took out a bottle of vanilla extract, unscrewed the top, and passed it around the room for all to smell. I’m pretty sure they told me I wouldn’t understand, when I questioned this odd ritual. I wanted to go home. From then on, vanilla was not only plain to me; it was weird too.

I avoided vanilla for most of my life. Given the choice, I’d always pick the chocolate option. And then my life was changed at the Starbucks inside my local Target. I’d stopped by to pick up a Grande Nonfat Iced Peppermint Mocha for myself, my drink of choice. For the kids, I grabbed a couple biscotti, a considerably less messy option than the giant chocolate chip cookies. I picked up one double chocolate biscotti for my oldest and a vanilla-almond for the younger. I broke off a piece of the vanilla almond for myself, since I knew the baby wouldn’t give me any slack about it.

And that’s when my world was forever changed. It was in that bite of Starbucks Vanilla Almond Biscotti that my perception of vanilla was altered. It was no longer the plain flavor. It was good. It was amazing. I must have eaten 10 of those biscotti in the first week after my earth-shattering discovery. Vanilla tastes good. Only took me 30 or so years to figure it out.

I owe many thanks to my mother-in-law for a multitude of generosity, including traveling out from Ohio yet again to watch our little men while we head down to NYC for our weekend of food and fashion fun, courtesy of Bertolli. I wanted to bake a little something as a welcome and thank you gift. After a bit of brainstorming, I decided this was as good a time as any to try my hand at vanilla biscotti. For good measure, I decided to throw in a few macadamia nuts and a handful of shredded coconut. The result was quite good. Quite cook indeed. Sweet, crunchy, and perfectly dip-worthy.

Coconut Macadamia Nut Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 1/4 cups Flour
  • 1/2 cup Macadamia Nut, slightly chopped
  • 1/2 cup Shredded, Sweetened Coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, baking powder, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, nuts and coconut. Stir to combine. The batter will be soft and sticky. Coat your hands with flour, then gather the dough from the bowl. On a well-floured surface, knead the dough a few times. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a log with a diameter of about 2 inches. Place the logs on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut 1/2 inch slices. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes more.

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Funny Bone Cupcakes

Posted on September 2, 2010 by amydeline

I love the feature on my blog stats page which shows me all of the search terms which have led people to my blog. As you might expect, most of the search terms have something to do with food; marinara using fresh tomatoes, best oatmeal cookie, Nick Tahou’s at the New York State Fair. But I also get a fair share of hits from search terms which leave me puzzled, for example, How to Make a Christmas Money Wreath. What’s a Christmas money wreath? I want one of those.

And then today, I awoke to find that someone had been led to my blog by the search term, Irresistible Hot Moms. HAHA! That’s absolutely awesome. I’m pretty sure it led the searcher to my post on Irresistible Spinach Dip with Wonton Pasta Chips, wherein the recipe included details about getting the cooking oil hot. Just a wild guess, but I suspect the searcher wasn’t looking for a spinach dip recipe. Funny stuff.

Speaking of funny stuff… Does it get any better than Funny Bones? You know, those delicious chocolatey-peanut buttery Drake’s cakes. As a child, I’d easily bypass the racks of Twinkies, Devil Dogs, Yodels, or Ding Dongs in search of my all-time favorite snack cake, Funny Bones! I could’ve eaten a whole box in one sitting and wouldn’t have even regretted the resulting bellyache. For some reason, as I grew up, Funny Bones seemed to be in shorter supply. Perhaps they have a limited distribution area and I was moving to all of the wrong places. But one day I woke up and realized I hadn’t seen a Funny Bone in ages. That realization was not so funny at all.

I don’t eat snack cakes very often these days. The deep-fried twinkie, which I recently devoured at the fair, was probably the first snack cake I’ve eaten all year. But, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, so I’ve decided to build a cupcake inspired by childhood favorite. The only difference is that my cupcake will feature grown-up deep chocolate flavor. Moist, dark chocolate cupcakes, filled with sweet peanut butter filling, and decked with a smooth chocolate ganache. Funny Bones improved.

For the cake, I’m using a recipe I stumbled upon a few months ago while searching for a base for my Baked Alaska endeavor. The recipe for Deep Dark Chocolate Cake, found on the Hershey’s website, is perhaps the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted. I’ll never make another chocolate cake recipe. It’s rich, oh so moist, and a cinch to make. For the filling, I’m simply combining creamy peanut butter with confectioners sugar and a bit of cream for a sweet and creamy texture. My favorite simple chocolate ganache will deck the cupcake tops with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts as a finishing touch.

Tomorrow night, my girls are coming over to help me figure out a hairstyle for the big Bertolli Fashion Week event next week. I’m sure they’ll also be willing to help me take care of a few of these cupcakes!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

(Barely adapted from Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake recipe)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Boiling Water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcakes pans with cupcake liners or grease and lightly flour.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for a couple minutes until well combined. Add the boiling water and stir. The batter will be thinner than you might expect. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans. *Fill each cupcake about 2/3 full, to avoid overflowing. Bake for  25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 1/2 cup Confectioners Sugar
  • 3 Tbsp Heavy Cream

Directions

Warm the peanut butter for a few seconds in the microwave to soften. Add the sugar and stir together until smooth. Add the cream, as necessary, to reach a consistency which is thick, but loose enough to easily squeeze through a pastry tip.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces Semisweet Chocolate
  • 1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Directions

Give the chocolate a coarse chop. Place the chocolate pieces in a bowl. Heat the cream, just to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until smooth.

To compose the cupcakes…

Spoon the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a small/medium round tip. (You can also use a ziploc bag with the corner cut off and a pastry tip inserted.) Insert the pastry tip into the top of each cupcake and squeeze to fill the cakes with a small amount of peanut butter filling. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to set the filling.

Prepare the ganache. One at a time, hold each cupcake by the base and dip the top into the ganache to evenly coat. Return to the cooling rack. Garnish the cupcakes with a few chopped peanuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Children will especially enjoy helping out with the dipping and tasting the results!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Posted on August 13, 2010 by amydeline

Like Batman spotting the bat-signal in the starry night sky or Spiderman sensing the tingle of his spidey-sense, I’ve been beckoned to help a family being torn apart by a culinary crisis. The trouble centers around a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie, a current featured dessert from our local grocery store, Wegmans. According to my sister-in-law, several battles have already ensued over the last piece of this dreamy, creamy pie. Even worse, there will come the day when Wegmans switches over to its seasonal pumpkin pie, leaving this poor family sorrowfully crying over the supermarket dessert case. No, no. This will not do. I must devise a suitable recipe to replicate this family’s beloved treat.

First, I need to know what we’re going after. So, I went down to the grocery store to purchase one of these battle-worthy pies. According to my son, who is a master of imagination, the grocery store is ridden with wolves. Luckily his younger brother was around to save his day and we left unharmed with the pie in hand.

Hmmm… Chocolate wafer crust, smooth moussey peanut butter filling, a layer of chocolate pudding (that was a surprise), fluffy whipped cream, peanut butter drizzle, peanut butter cup, chocolate curls…

Better taste it again, to make sure I’m not missing some important detail.

Is that a bit of vanilla? Let me just check…

Alright, I think I’ve got it. Seriously, I deserve some sort of hazard pay for this stuff.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 2 cups Chocolate Wafer Cookies, crushed*
  • 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted

For the Dark Chocolate Pudding

  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 3 Tbsp Cornstarch
  • 1/8 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
  • 3 oz Semisweet or Bittersweet Baking Chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Peanut Butter Filling

  • 3/4 cup Peanut Butter
  • 1 8 oz. bar Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup Confectioner’s  Sugar, divided
  • 2 1/2 cup Heavy Cream

For the Peanut Butter Drizzle

  • 1/8 cup Peanut Butter
  • 1/4 cup Corn Syrup

For the Garnish

  • Mini Chocolate Chips
  • Mini Peanut Butter Cups

*The easiest way to crush the cookies is to place them in a ziploc bag and roll a rolling pin over them until they are completely crushed.

Directions

For the Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Press the mixture onto the sides and bottom of a deep pie shell. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

For the Pudding:

In a saucepan, mix together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. Whisk in 1 cup of milk, stirring until combined. Whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream. Continue whisking over medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes. Whisking constantly, continue cooking for another minute or two. Be careful to whisk into the corners and along the sides of the pan. Remove from heat. Whisk in the chopped chocolate and vanilla, stirring until fully melted. Allow the pudding to cool at room temperature, stirring frequently to prevent a skin from forming. Meanwhile, prepare the peanut butter filling.

For the Peanut Butter Filling:

In a large bowl over an ice bath, beat 2 1/2 cups of heavy cream with 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar until stiff peaks form. Keep the mixture cool over the ice bath. In a separate bowl, beat together peanut butter, cream cheese, and 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar until evenly combined. Fold in 1/2 cup of the whipped cream to lighten the mixture. Then, gently fold in another 1/2 cup whipped cream, just until combined. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Keep the remaining whipped cream cool over the ice bath or in the fridge.

For the Peanut Butter drizzle:

Combine peanut butter and corn syrup. Mix to combine.

To Assemble the Pie:

Spoon the peanut butter filling into the cooled pie crust. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set the mixture. Pour the cooled pudding over the peanut butter filling. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set the pudding. Spread the remaining whipped cream over the top of the pudding. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. Drizzle with the peanut butter mixture. Garnish with a mini peanut butter cup. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the pie to cool completely.

Now, I have to be honest with you. There’s a reason why there’s not a lovely picture of a perfect slice of peanut butter heaven. When I cut the pie and tried to plate a pretty slice, it became a peanut butter, pudding, and cream mess. The pudding was the real issue. I substituted 2% milk instead of whole and as a result of a minor toddler crisis, I didn’t cook it as long as it should have cooked to properly thicken. If you follow the recipe as written, you shouldn’t have this problem. This is the same pudding recipe I wrote for the Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Squares a month or so ago. Cooked as written, it’s a thick, dark chocolate pudding, firm enough to stand up to slicing. So, do I as say, not as I did, and you should be golden.

Hey sis… You know where to find your pie! Better hurry!

Edited to add: After having that first tricky piece of pie removed and a few more hours of chilling in the fridge, it was much easier to slice and serve. Here is a pic of the chocolate-peanut-buttery treat…


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Sweet Honey Cornbread

Posted on July 28, 2010 by amydeline

Don’t ever buy cornbread mix again. Make this instead. It’s sweet, slightly crumbly, doesn’t contain the preservatives in that boxed mix, and won’t take you more than three minutes longer to prepare. I bet you already have most of the ingredients in your pantry!

I love cornbread, especially when it’s got little kernels of fresh summer corn and a hint (or more than a hint) of honey flavor. You can have fun with this recipe and add bits of jalapeno, scallions, cheddar, or even bacon, if you’d like! Serve it warm with a pat of butter or alongside a bowl of spicy chili, as I’ll be doing tonight!

Sweet Honey Cornbread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Flour
  • 1 cup Corn Meal
  • 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 1/2 stick Melted Butter
  • 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup Sweet Corn Kernels
  • 1/8 cup Honey, for brushing on top (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease a small baking dish or cake pan.

In a bowl, combine flour, corn meal, baking powder, sugar, and salt until well blended.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, honey, melted butter, and beaten eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until they are combined. Do not over mix. Fold in the corn kernels.

Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

If desired, brush the top of the cornbread with a little honey, about 20 minutes into the baking time.

Allow the bread to cool for about 15 minutes before cutting and enjoying!

Check back later today for a spicy chili recipe!

Cornbread with a Drizzle of Honey

Edited to Add: Hi, everyone! I can’t believe I made it to Freshly Pressed! Wow! Hope you enjoy my blog. I really love writing it. If it makes you hungry, click on the right to subscribe. I add several new recipes each week, always with lots of pictures. Thanks for reading! ~Amy

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Peasant Bread and Ale

Posted on July 18, 2010 by amydeline

I have a bad habit of immediately dismissing things that are over-hyped or forced upon me. If you tell me a hundred times that I have to read Twilight, it’s going to end up at the end of my reading cue. Insist that I plan a trip to the South Pole and you’ll find me at the North. Try to convince me to watch your favorite tv show and I already don’t like it. I’m stubborn. I’m sure I miss out on some great stuff due to this personality flaw, but it’s just the way that I am. I don’t like people telling me what I should do.

So, I had mixed feelings when Oprah chose Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth for her book club selection a few years ago. I panicked, worried that people would skip this book due to the hype. (I sometimes forget that not everyone is as willfully stubborn as I am.) You see, by the point that Oprah announced this book as her book club selection, I’d already read it three times. It’s one of the very few books I’ve ever read more than once. That’s how much I love Pillars of the Earth. It is the book I recommend to anybody asking for book recommendations. I lend my copy to friends and buy new copies once the old ones are too worn.

Set in 12th century England, Pillars of the Earth follows its characters and their descendants through conflicts of good versus evil, lust, love, greed and power struggles between family, church, and politics. It’s epic. It’s gripping. It’s the kind of book where as you reach the last hundred pages, you’re torn between reading faster to find out what happens or slowing down so that you can delay the end. It’s the kind of book that leaves you wondering about the characters for weeks afterward, as if they are family members you haven’t heard from in a while.

But, I don’t want to insist you read it, lest you’re like me and rebel against people telling you what you should do.

Oh, never mind. I can’t help it! You just have to read Pillars of the Earth! Trust me. You won’t be disappointed. It’s worth the hype. Do it!

Some of the best advice my dad ever gave me was to always read the book before you see the movie. Once you’ve seen the movie, your image of the book will be colored by the director’s interpretation. I have never been steered wrong by this advice. I’ve always wanted someone to make Pillars into a movie, but worried that it would be impossible to capture the grand nature of the book in just a few hours. Well, that’s exactly why you need to hurry up and read the book. This Friday, Starz is premiering their mini-series of Pillars of the Earth. My sister, who writes for an entertainment website, has previewed the mini-series. She’ll be posting her review later this week, but has been very enthusiastic so far. From a fan of the book, that’s a really good sign! You can read her preview of the series by clicking here and keep your eyes out for her review later this week.

So, now you’re probably wondering what all of this chatter has to do with food. And I promise, this does have to do with food. You see, some of the main characters in the book are exceptionally poor. They travel from village to village seeking work and begging for meals. When they’re lucky, they find charity at the castle or priory. Otherwise they’ll beg food from a passing monk, trade their limited possessions, or even steal. Each time, they are often presented with the same meager meal; a chunk of bread, cup of ale and maybe a piece of dried venison or cold bacon, if they’re lucky. Now maybe I’m crazy, but I can’t help but salivate every time I read about these impoverished people eating their simple meal. I wish someone would give me a chunk of bread and jug of ale. I’ll even skip the dried venison.

So, in honor of the upcoming premiere, today we’re having peasant bread and ale.

Bake the bread. Take a swig from a jug of ale. Then, head out to the bookstore to buy Pillars of the Earth. Start reading now, because it’s long and it’s going to take you awhile. In fact, you may need to call in sick a couple days this week. Then, subscribe to Starz, if you don’t already have it and clear your Friday evenings for the next several weeks!

Trust me. Have I ever led you astray?

Peasant Bread

Ingredients

  • 1 packet Active Dry Yeast
  • 2 cups Warm Water (about 115 degrees)
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Rye Flour
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 3 Tbsp Salted Butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, chopped
  • Olive Oil and Cornmeal, for the baking sheet

Directions

Combine yeast and sugar in a bowl. Pour in the warm water and stir until dissolved. Add the flour and salt. Stir to combine. Cover the bowl with a moist towel and allow it to rise for one hour.

Now would be a good time to run out to the book store to buy Pillars of the Earth.

Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle some corn meal over the oil. Divide the dough in half and form two rounds. Place the dough rounds onto the baking sheet. Allow the dough to rise for one more hour.

Read a bit while you wait. Just wait until you meet William Hamleigh!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the melted butter over the dough rounds and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary. If desired, use a knife to cut a crosshatch in the dough. Bake the bread for about 25-30 minutes.

This would be a good time to call Starz about your subscription.

Once your bread is baked, pour yourself a cold glass of hoppy ale. Break off a piece of that warm bread and keep reading.


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Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Posted on July 17, 2010 by amydeline

What a week this turned out to be! We started the week thinking that our son was almost fully recovered from an allergic reaction to antibiotics. Then, a new symptom suddenly appeared on Wednesday night, which resulted in an all-nighter at the ER. By Thursday, he seemed well again. Then, Friday morning we received a phone call from the ER regarding his blood work, which resulted in more doctor visits and testing. Thankfully, we got positive news today regarding the testing and I think we can rest easy now.

Sweet, sweet relief!

Speaking of sweet relief… I have a real treat for you today. There used to be a really fantastic bar and restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey called Lady Jane’s. I’m told that it closed a few years ago, which is a shame. The place featured a huge, horseshoe-shaped bar in the front with a few tables and several booths along the walls. In the back, there was a small, elegant dining room. Regardless of where you sat, you could order from the same delicious and creative menu.

During one of our visits to Lady Jane’s I had the most luscious dessert and every so often, I get the itch to recreate it. So, in celebration of my sweet baby boy’s health, we’re having Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie tonight. It’s the perfect combination of chocolatey crust and rich ganache, layered with fresh bananas and vanilla custard. A mound of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of chocolate shavings complete the decadent pie.

Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 2 cups Chocolate Wafer Cookies, crushed
  • 1 stick Unsalted Butter, melted

For the Ganache

  • 4 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate (4 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream

For the Filling

  • 3 cups Whole Milk
  • 1/3 cup Cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 Vanilla Bean, split in half lengthwise, seeds scraped
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 2-3 Bananas, sliced

For the Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup Heavy Cream
  • 2 Tbsp Sugar

Directions

For the Filling

Combine the sugar, salt and half of the cornstarch in a sauce pan. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract. Add the vanilla bean and seeds to the mixture. Stir. Cook over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes until the mixture just comes to a boil and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks with the remaining cornstarch. Slowly add about 1/4 cup of the hot milk to the eggs and whisk to combine. Add another 1/4 cup of the hot milk and whisk to combine. (This slow addition of the hot liquid tempers the egg yolks and prevents them from scrambling when added to the hot liquid.) Pour the egg mixture into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove the vanilla bean. Pour the filling into a bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly against the filling. Refrigerate for about an hour to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the crust.

For the Crust

Combine the cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Press the mixture onto the sides and bottom of a pie shell. Refrigerate.

For the Ganache

Place the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream, until it just begins to boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate completely melts. Pour the warm ganache into the pie crust.

Arrange banana slices in the ganache. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Pour about half of the filling on top of the ganache and banana slices. Arrange another even layer of banana slices on top of the filling.

Cover the banana slices with the remaining filling. Refrigerate until thoroughly cooled.

Beat the heavy cream with the sugar until thick.

Top the pie with the whipped cream. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

**Tip** Banana slices which are exposed to air will begin to turn brown. If you want to decorate the pie with banana slices, either wait until the last minute or toss the banana slices in a bit of lemon juice to slow the browning.



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Cheddar and Garlic Biscuits

Posted on July 15, 2010 by amydeline

Even the best laid plans can go wildly awry. The plan for last night was so simple. The kids and I had eaten dinner, my husband’s plate was ready to be reheated, and my running sneaks were awaiting my feet. In a couple hours, I would put the kids to bed, slip on my shoes for a run, then settle in on the couch with a couple glasses of champagne, and listen to an audio book with my hubby. A great, simple plan. And then my baby started favoring his left leg. Favoring became limping, which quickly turned into a complete refusal to bear any weight on his left leg. We ended up leaving our three-year-old at home with my sister and heading to the emergency room at what should have been my baby’s bedtime. Almost 10 hours later, we arrived home, exhausted from the harrowing ER experience. His pain was most likely the result of swollen joints related to the allergic reaction he’s still recovering from. Thankfully, he’s back on his little feet today and everyone is happy, albeit completely exhausted.

Tonight, an easy meal of leftovers is in order. The originally planned Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches will have to wait. I was about to plead exhaustion and forgo posting anything today. But I had a craving and it was nagging at me. The kids were playing outside with my husband, which gave me a little window of time to bring my craving to fruition. Think Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, fresh from your oven. You know the biscuits I’m talking about…the biscuits that are in and of themselves worthy of a trip to Red Lobster. In fact, I may skip the leftovers and just eat biscuits for dinner.

I searched around for an authentic recipe for Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. There are numerous copycat recipes out there, but they almost all call for Bisquick. I was intent on baking from scratch, so I read innumerable biscuit recipes and recipe reviews, put together my own version, and hoped they’d work out. They came out fantastic! If you love Red Lobster’s biscuits as much as I do, these are definitely worth a try!

Cheddar and Garlic Biscuits

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Flour
  • 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 3 Tbsp Salted Butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 3 Tbsp Vegetable Shortening, cold
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded

To brush on the biscuits:

  • 3 Tbsp Salted Butter
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Parsley Flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat baking sheets with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Add the 3 tablespoons of cold butter and 3 tablespoons shortening to the flour mixture. Use a dough cutter or fork to blend the butter and shortening with the flour. Pea-sized bits of flour-coated butter and shortening should be dispersed throughout the mixture.

Stir in the buttermilk and cheese. Do not overmix. Use an ice cream scoop or measuring cup to drop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 3 Tbsp butter in a small pan. Stir in the garlic powder and parsley flakes. Allow the mixture to cook for a minute. Brush over the baked biscuits.

Makes 10-12 Biscuits


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The Best Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on July 9, 2010 by amydeline

One of my best friends in the whole world is getting married this weekend. I am bursting out of my skin with excitement. We met at our college orientation and became instant friends. Many memories later, I am so excited to be celebrating this happy occasion with her! It is certain to be a blast.

Her special day will bring me home to Long Island for the weekend. Bagel sandwiches, here I come! I’ve decided to bring some cookies home with me. Everyone loves to receive cookies, especially my grandparents, and I’m happy to bake them. I’m making one of my favorite cookies recipes. I could easily devour an entire batch of these and wouldn’t even regret the resulting bellyache. To me, they’re the perfect oatmeal cookie; crunchy on the edges, chewy in the center, with just a hint of noticeable saltiness. Throw out the typical raisins in exchange for chocolate chips and dried apricot and you’ve got yourself a fantastic oatmeal cookie. I’ve made these cookies many times and people are always asking for the recipe. So, here you go!

This recipe is basically an adaptation of the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe found on the inside cover of a canister of Quaker Oats. Specifically, I increase the vanilla and cinnamon, omit the raisins, and add chocolate chips and dried apricot. I also eliminate the margarine alternative, because frankly, I don’t really understand what margarine is and it freaks me out a little. But, if you’re a fan of margarine, it is listed as an alternative in the original recipe. So, go ahead and use it. I promise I won’t judge!

Don’t feel too guilty eating all these cookies. Oats are good for you, right?? It says so on the canister.

Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Apricot Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 2 sticks Salted Butter, softened
  • 1 cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup White Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 cups Quaker Oats
  • 1 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1/2 cup Dried Apricots, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the vanilla and eggs to the butter mixture. Blend until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and apricots. Form into small balls, about 1 inch diameter, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for about 14 minutes, until the edges begin to brown and the center appears cooked. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen


Recipe adapted from the Quaker Oats recipe for Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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America’s Birthday Cake

Posted on July 4, 2010 by amydeline

Happy Birthday, America!

Over the past few days, we’ve made patriotic mixed berry mousse with creamy vanilla panna cotta. We’ve shown our pride with festive pretzel sparklers, coated in rich chocolate and rolled in sprinkles of red, white, and blue. But, today is your birthday America! So, we made you a birthday cake, of course. Close your eyes and make a wish!

As if cake batter weren’t irresistible enough to a three year old, try adding a few drops of highly concentrated gel color power. My son’s tongue was like a magnet to the batter and I became a bird of sorts uttering ah, ah, ah until my throat was dry. Somehow, we managed to get the cakes in the oven with only a slight consumption of raw batter and mostly unstained fingers.

This is no ordinary birthday cake. On the outside, it appears plain white and completely unassuming. But, the inside is extraordinary. At least, I hope it will be extraordinary! At this point, I can only imagine what the inside will look like. We’ll be cutting the cake later today, as we celebrate the 4th with friends. For now, here’s a little look at the construction of America’s birthday cake.

Mix up a white cake batter. One box of cake mix will do the job!

Ensure that the cake batter is delicious. Quality control is essential.

Split the cake batter approximately into thirds, with a little extra in one of the bowls. Use gel food coloring to mix up some patriotic colors, making the biggest portion of cake batter red.

Pour the batter into cake pans (1 double-thick blue, 2 thin whites, and 3 thin reds) and bake according to package directions. Check the cakes often, since they are thin and will cook faster than any of the recommended cooking times. The thicker blue cake will take the longest.

Use a long serrated knife to level the cakes.

Frost a red and white layer together. Place the blue layer on top. Using a bowl as a guide, cut a circle through all three layers. Discard (eat) the inside of the blue layer and the outside of the red and white layer.

The pieces will fit together like a puzzle.

Build the base of the cake by spreading a thin layer of frosting between the layers. Place the cake layers cut-side down to spread the frosting more easily.

Place the red, white, and blue layer on the top.

To keep your serving platter clean, tuck wax paper along the edges of the cake while you frost. Spread a thin layer of frosting all around the cake. Think of this coat of frosting as the corset holding all of the layers and crumbs in place. Refrigerate until the frosting is firm.

Spread a second layer of frosting over the cake and decorate as desired. When the frosting is complete, gently pull the wax paper away.

Can you imagine what the inside will look like?

Hmmm…

Maybe just a little taste…

Wow! 234 years old! You wear your age well, America.

Cake idea inspired by 17 and Baking blog.

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