Those Were the Days

I had a cake mix with no expiration date on it.  That's how old it is.  Ah, the good old days.  Welp, it can only mean one thing; it's still good. 

Chocolate Chip Cake with Strawberries

Chocolate chip cake mix
Buttercream frosting (see below)
9-12 large strawberries, washed, hulled and dried

Prepare cake according to directions.  If you can't find a chocolate chip cake mix add some mini chips to a yellow cake mix batter.  I would say about one cup.  When cake is completely cool, frost.  Top with strawberries right before serving.  

Buttercream Frosting from Wilton
Makes about 3 cups of icing.

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

Stiff Consistency: In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using.
For Thin (Spreading) Consistency Icing: Add 3-4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

99 Cent Expired Sugar Cookies Amoung Other Things

Why is the cent key gone on today's keyboards?  I either have to spell it out or type $.99  It used to have it's own key.  Not even a shifted key.  Or I can just type [Option] + [4].  Poor ¢.

Apple Streusel Cookie Tart
From Pillsbury
Serves 8

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies 
4 large baking apples, peeled, cored and very thinly sliced 
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice 
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces 
1/3 cup slivered almonds, if desired
Sweetened whipped cream, if desired

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 9-inch round springform pan with cooking spray. Press cookie dough in bottom and 2 inches up side of pan.  

 In large bowl, mix apples, granulated sugar, apple pie spice and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Toss to coat. Arrange mixture in crust. 

In small bowl, mix oats, brown sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons flour. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Top with almonds.  

Serve with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream or a dollop of cinnamon-spiced whipped cream for extra fall flavor.
Cover leftovers with plastic wrap, and use within 3 days.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool 20 minutes; remove side of pan. Cool 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream.  



Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Serving 
Calories 490
Calories from Fat 150
Total Fat 16g 
Saturated Fat 7g
Trans Fat 3g 
Cholesterol 20mg
Sodium 250mg
Total Carbohydrate 82g 
Dietary Fiber 2g 
Sugars 37g 
Protein3g

Old Lemon Juice and Clearance Cookies

I bought some expiring sugar cookie dough and searched around for a recipe to use it besides the obvious.  I found this recipe which was perfect.  I used up a few drops of lemon juice that tasted old.  And by old I mean bad. 

Lemon Tarts
From Pillsbury
These dainty little tarts are perfect for a bridal shower or wedding reception. Candy violets or small candy flowers can be used as a garnish. They can be purchased at specialty housewares stores, craft stores, bakeries or from cake decorating mail order catalogs. 
Serves 24 

3 inches Pillsbury™ refrigerated sugar cookies 
1 medium lemon 
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine 
2 eggs, beaten 

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 24 small tart pans or mini muffin cups. In each tart pan, place 1 rounded teaspoon dough; gently press in bottom and up side. (Wrap and refrigerate remaining dough for another use.) Place tart pans on cookie sheet.

Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; carefully remove tart shells from pans to cooling racks.

Grate peel from lemon (about 4 to 5 teaspoons); set aside. Squeeze juice from lemon, adding water if necessary to equal 1/4 cup; place in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in sugar and butter. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat; stir in beaten eggs. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Stir in lemon peel. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes. (Lemon filling can be refrigerated at this point until ready to serve).

To serve, spoon about 1 tablespoon lemon filling into each tart shell. Garnish as desired.  I topped with whipped cream.

Any remaining lemon filling can be stored in the refrigerator up to 1 week and used as a spread on muffins or English muffins.

My tips:  I cooked my filling too long and it got too thick.  Before I spooned it into cups, I warmed it a bit in the microwave (it had been refrigerated) and added water.  This worked fine.  I had trouble getting the cups out and found they must be cooked until light golden brown (like the directions) but I found it took longer than 9 minutes.  They need to be crisp throughout.  Since I used bottled lemon juice I didn't include lemon peel. 

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Tart 
Calories 90
Calories from Fat 35 
Total Fat 4g Saturated
Fat 2g 
Cholesterol 25mg
Sodium 50mg
Total Carbohydrate 12g 
Dietary Fiber 0g 
Sugars 10g 
Protein 1g 
Daily Value Vitamin A2% Vitamin C0% Calcium0% Iron 0%




 

Canned Apple Pie

Never use flour to can apple pie.

Uh, what if I used flour to can apple pie in 1993.

20 years ago?

Well, the apples were technically from 1992.

I don't think you should use them.

What if I top the whole pie with icing?

They should be ok then.  

Apple Slices

My husband grew up enjoying what they called apple slices.  I see lots of recipes for it now called apple slab.  Basically what it is is a thin apple pie topped with glaze.  I think the point is to get the least amount of fruit and most amount of pastry and icing.  If you have a favorite apple pie, use that recipe only instead of a pie plate bake it in a 9x13 pan.  While it is still warm top with a powdered sugar glaze.  For a 10x15 inch pan keep the filling the same but 1 1/2 times the pie crust and icing recipe.  For a large 12x17 inch pan, double the pie filling recipe, the crust recipe and the icing recipe.  For the larger pan sizes the baking time is the same as the smaller pans. (update: I think I would use more filling, crust and icing for each pan size.).For a 21x15 it is 4 times filling and crust.  Even more than 4 times for icing plus I like it thicker and use less water.  

 

Here is the recipe using Mrs. Field's apple pie recipe.  
 
Yield: 12 bars 

Preheat oven to 400°F.
 
Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp grated lemon zest (1 medium lemon)
1 cup salted butter, chilled
6-8 Tbs ice water, more if needed

I add 1 t. salt and leave out the lemon zest. I don't know if the salt would be needed if you added the zest. 

Update: Here is the crust I now use: https://www.food.com/recipe/my-no-roll-pie-crust-51537

1 1/2 flour

1 t. salt

2 t. sugar

2 T. milk

1/2 c. oil 

• Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a pie pan.
• Make a well in the center and add the oil and milk.
• Mix with a fork til it makes a ball.
• Flatten and press into the pan in pie crust shape and flute the edge.
• Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden.
• One crust pie, excellent for cream pies and crumb topped baked pies.
•  
• To make a two crust pie, I make the bottom then for the top crust just put it between wax or parchment paper and roll top crust out, pick up bottom of paper and flip on top of pie. Don't prebake the bottom for a 2 crust.  
  

 

Filling:
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced (about 4 cups) I like to use Golden Delicious
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup salted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces 

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar 
4 T. hot water
1 t. vanilla extract
 
To prepare crust:
Mix flour and lemon zest together with wire whisk in a medium bowl. With pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in butter with flour until dough resembles coarse meal.
Add ice water and blend until dough can be gathered into a ball. Divide dough in half, flatten into disks, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

To prepare filling:
Combine sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch with a wire whisk in a large bowl. Add apples to sugar mixture and toss with a wooden spoon until dry ingredients coat the apples completely.

On a floured surface use a floured rolling pin to roll out dough.  Place dough into a 9x13 inch pan.  Leave only a small edge up the sides.  It doesn't matter if you have to place the dough in the pan in pieces.  No one will see it.  Spoon in apple filling evenly over the dough.  It should be a single layer.  Sprinkle butter pieces on top.

To prepare top crust:
Roll out second piece of dough.  Place the dough on top of the filling.  Again,  the dough can be placed on top in pieces.  It will be covered with icing.   

Place pie on center rack of oven. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 350°F. Bake an additional 30 minutes, or until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling through the cracks. 

Meanwhile make the icing by combining all ingredients in order.
 
Remove from apple slices from oven and while it is still warm spread the icing over the entire top.  Serve warm or room temperature. 

Thanksgiving Bark or Old Dried Fruit

You know that dried fruit you bought because you were going to snack more healthy.  Yeah, that never happened.  Now you will eat it.

French Chocolate Bark
From Ina Garten
Made by my daughter, T
18-20 pieces
In France, the raisins and nuts are embedded on the top not mixed in as done in the U.S.  For the holidays, this makes very elegant s'mores around the fire.

 

6-7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (T used 10 oz of semi-sweet chips)

6-7 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (T used 4 oz of Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers)

1/4 cup dried crystallized ginger, 1/2-inch diced
1 cup whole roasted, salted cashews

1/2 cup dried apricots, 1/2-inch diced
1/2 cup dried cherries (could substitute dried cranberries)

1/4 cup golden raisins 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

 

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9 by 10-inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper facedown on the baking sheet.

Spread the cashews in one layer on another sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes.  Set aside to cool. 

Melt the 2 chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Or alternatively: Place the semisweet chocolate and half the bittersweet in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 20-30 seconds.  Stir with a rubber spatula.  Continue to hear and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted.  Immediately add the remaining bittersweet chocolate and all it to sit room  temperature, stirring ofter, until it's completely smooth.  Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier. 

Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread lightly to form a rectangle, using the outline. Sprinkle the cashews, apricots, cherries and raisins evenly over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 1 by 3-inch pieces (about18-20 pieces) and serve at room temperature.

TMZ

Too much zucchini.  I used up the last of the summer zukes.  Even the short stubby ones. 

Zucchini Dessert Squares
From Taste of Home
16-20 servings

4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 cups cold butter


FILLING: 8 to 10 cups cubed seeded peeled zucchini (4 to 5 pounds) 2/3 cup lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly; reserve 3 cups. Pat remaining crumb mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes.
 
Meanwhile, for filling, place zucchini and lemon juice in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; cover and simmer for 5 minutes (mixture will be thin).
 
Spoon over crust; sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Yield: 16-20 servings. 

1 serving (1 each) equals 337 calories, 14 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 37 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 51 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. 

 

Lovin' Lites Cake Mix

Never heard of it?  That's because it was made in the early 90's.   My box even says new.  That puts it around 1991.  Reduced fat is so 20 years ago. 

Rhubarb Cream Cake
Serves 12

1-18.5 oz yellow cake mix box (can use white), do not use mix with pudding in it
3-4 cups sliced rhubarb (can use frozen, don't thaw)
1 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a 9x13 inch pan.  Prepare cake batter as directed on box.  Pour into greased pan.  Arrange rhubarb on top of cake batter.  Sprinkle with sugar.   Evenly pour cream on top.  Bake for 45 min.  A custard will form on top.  Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.  Store in refrigerator.  

Can be served as a coffee cake.  

Calories per serving: 390

Update:  I made this using red velvet cake mix and it was good.

Easy Fruit Tart

Easy Fruit Tart
From Joy of Baking
Serves 6-8

Shortbread Crust
1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour (for light French flour use 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 cake flour)
1/3 cup (35 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cream Filling
1/2 cup (120 ml) mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
1/2 cup (120 ml) cold heavy whipping cream (35-40% butterfat content)
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping
3 cups (720 ml) fruit (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, kiwifruit, bananas, plums, pineapple, melon, etc.) I used blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries only

Shortbread Crust: Butter or lightly spray with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray, an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom.

In your food processor, place the flour, sugar, and salt and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.) Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.) Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

Place the tart pan on a larger baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Can be covered and stored for a few days.

Cream Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer or wire whisk) beat the mascarpone cheese, heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract just until soft peaks form. If too thick to spread, beat in a little more heavy cream.

To Assemble Tart: Evenly spread the cream onto the baked and cooled tart shell. Scatter the berries on top of the cream. If not serving immediately, refrigerate. Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before serving to give the fruit and cream a chance to warm to room temperature.

Here is the crust recipe I use.

No Roll Pie Crust Dough

From Bon Appetit

Makes one 10 inch pie crust

3/4 c. unsalted butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 T powered sugar

2 c. flour

Melt butter. Add sugars and stir. Add flour and stir. Spray pie plate with Pam. Press dough into plate. Refrigerate at least 30 min.

Swedish Sweets

Windfall Tomatoes

 A strong wind knocked off some green tomatoes.  And you know me.  I couldn't let them go to waste. 

Green Tomato Pie

From Taste of Home 

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes (about 4 to 5 medium)
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
• 1 tablespoon butter

• In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add tomatoes and vinegar; toss to coat. 
• Line a pie plate with bottom crust. Add filling; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry; make a lattice crust. Or top with a regular crust, brush with egg, sprinkle with sugar and make slits.  Trim, seal and flute edges. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until tomatoes are tender. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 6-8 servings.
•  1 serving (1 piece) equals 433 calories

Christmas Cookie Crust

I pulled out old Christmas cookies from the refrigerator to make a graham cracker crust.  I need to tweak the recipe a little.  But don't worry, there are lots more left over Christmas cookies.  Oh, and I used up some old yogurt as well. 

Strawberry-Yogurt Pie

Serves 6-8

• 1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled 
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 envelope (1/4 oz.) unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel 
• 1 graham cracker pie crust (9 in.)
• 1/2 cup miniature or regular chocolate chips

1. 1. Coarsely chop about half the strawberries, to equal 11/2 cups chopped berries (reserve remaining ones for garnish). In a 2- to 3-quart pan over medium heat, stir chopped strawberries, sugar, and gelatin until gelatin and sugar are dissolved and mixture is boiling. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt, vanilla, and orange peel until well blended (chunks of strawberries will be visible). Pour into pie crust.
2. 2. Chill until set, at least 6 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and chill up to 1 day. Just before serving, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top of pie. Slice remaining strawberries. Cut pie into wedges; serve with sliced berries.

Andee Zetterbaum, Stockton, California, Sunset
JUNE 2003

Calories per serving: 258 

I can't find my trifle bowl!

But I did find an angel food cake mix box with at 50 cent price sticker on it.  I wonder how long that's been around.

Peaches and Cream Trifle

8-10 servings

From Paula Deen

4 large peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

1 1/4 cup sugar, divided

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 T vanilla paste or 1 T vanilla extract)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 (16 oz) angel food cake, cut into 1-inch pieces

In a medium bowl, stir together peaches, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice.  Cover and chill for 4-6 hours.

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a large bowl.  Add cream and beat at medium-low speed with a mixer until foamy.  Increase speed to high and slowly add remaining 1 cup sugar.  Beat fro about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Place one-third of cake pieces in bottom of a small trifle dish.  Top with one-third of peach mixture.  Spread one-third of whipped cream over peaches.  Repeat layers twice, ending with whipped cream.

I topped with raspberries.  

Variation:  I used 2 quarts of peaches that I froze with a sugar syrup, thawing them first.  They each had 1/2 cup of sugar totaling 1 cup.  Therefore, I reduced the sugar added to the whipped cream to 1/4 cup. 

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars 

From Nestle

Serves 36

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BEAT butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 1 3/4 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread over hot crust.

STIR nuts into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Calories per serving 170

Rock Hard Ciabatta Rolls

Well, those are inedible.

Bet me.

Cinnamon French Toast with Caramelized Peaches

From Curtis Stone  

Serves 4

For the Caramelized Peaches: 1/2 cup sugar 3 tablespoons butter 2 peaches, pitted, each cut into 8 wedges For the French Toast: 6 large eggs Four 1/2-inch-thick slices brioche bread 2 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/3 cup crème fraîche

To prepare the caramelized peaches:

1. Place a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the pan and cook without stirring for about 5 minutes or until the sugar melts and slowly begins to caramelize.
2. Add the peaches and butter and sauté for 2 to 5 minutes depending on the ripeness of the peaches or until the caramel melts and the peaches are just heated through and tender.

To prepare the French toast:

1. Using a fork, beat the eggs in a 13x9-inch/33x23-cm baking dish to blend. Place the slices of brioche in the eggs. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the eggs are absorbed, turning the brioche slices once.
2. Melt the butter on a heavy large griddle pan over medium heat. Add the brioche slices to the hot pan and cook for about 2 minutes per side or until golden brown on the outside and heated through.
3. Meanwhile, stir the sugar and cinnamon on a large plate or pie dish. Transfer the French toast to a cutting board and cut the French toast diagonally in half. Immediately place the hot French toast in the cinnamon-sugar and turn to coat completely.
4. Divide the French toast among 4 serving plates. Spoon the peaches over the French toast, and drizzle the caramel sauce from the pan over the peaches and around the French toast. Spoon a dollop of crème fraîche atop each and serve immediately.

Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

This is a perfect frosting for angel food cake and for a little girl turning 1.  Happy Birthday, Catherine.

Angel Food Cake
From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 10-12 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Separate eggs; discard yolks or cover and refrigerate for another use. Measure egg whites, adding or removing whites as needed to equal 1-1/2 cups. Place in a mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sift confectioners' sugar and flour together three times; set aside. Add cream of tartar, extracts and salt to egg whites; beat on high speed. Gradually add sugar, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely before removing cake from pan.  Frost with strawberry frosting.  Refrigerate.

Footnotes

Nutritional Analysis: One slice equals 101 calories, trace fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 59 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 0 fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

This is an adaptation of Wilton's buttercream frosting

1 carton frozen strawberries with or without sugar, thawed 
4 c powered sugar
1/2 c butter at room temperature
1/2 Spectrum organic butter flavored shortening OR  1/2 butter at room temperature
1 t. vanilla


In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add 1/2 cup of strawberries, using only the berries and draining the liquid.   Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.  Adjust sugar/strawberry amount to desired consistency.




 

Really Mushy Pears

 The chocolate is perfect for hiding brown pears.

Chocolate-Pear Bread Pudding

Makes one 9x5 inch loaf

From gilttaste.com

8 ounces challah, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 Warren pears, peeled, cored, and sliced ¼-inch thick (or whatever you have)
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon juice or juice syrup (my substitution for brandy,  also can use 1 3/4 t. brandy extract plus 5 1/4 t. water)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups half-and-half
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped crème fraiche or creme, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the challah on a large baking sheet and toast until golden, about 10 minutes. 
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter with 3 tablespoons sugar. Add the pears and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the pears are almost tender (but not mushy) and the liquid has reduced to a thick, syrupy glaze, 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle the pears with 1 teaspoon brandy. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup sugar, cocoa, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a simmer. Whisk in the cocoa mixture until smooth. Pour the hot liquid over the chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate melts completely. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and yolks. Slowly beat in the hot chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons brandy and vanilla. 
4. Line a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment, allowing enough paper to hang over the edges of the pan. Spray with baking spray or coat lightly with butter. Layer half the pears into the bottom of the pan, top with half the bread. Repeat. Pour the chocolate custard over the mixture. Press down lightly with the back of a spoon so that the bread absorbs the custard. Let stand for 1 hour, pressing the bread down occasionally to soak up more of the liquid. 
5. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the loaf pan inside a large, deep roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake until pudding is firm to the touch and the bread is golden, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Chill pudding for at least 4 hours, until very firm. Grasp the parchment by the overhanging edges and lift out the pudding. Slice and serve, topped with whipped crème fraiche or creme.