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Posts Tagged ‘Sweet’

Apricot Tart

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), tagged , , , , on December 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Have you ever had a recipe that feels like family?  I have been making this tart since I was competent enough to follow directions.  There’s a picture on the http://twofacedchef.com/about-the-author/  page of me making this tart during my “Jack White I’m Continuously in Awkward Phases” phase.  I brought it recently to a gathering of Rico’s family and I was warmly welcomed and it disappeared quickly.  Even Rico, who again doesn’t like desserts, found some on his plate.  I’ll turn him yet!

Adapted from The Elegant But Easy Cookbook

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) apricot halves in syrup, drained
  • Cinnamon
  • Confectioners’ sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Lightly grease a 9-inch spring form pan. In large bowl with electric mixer, cream 1 cup sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs. Add flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix until smooth.

Spread into prepared pan.  Cover batter with apricots, skin-side up.

Even tarts have an awkward phase…

Be sure to cover entire surface of dough.  Sprinkle heavily with sugar and lightly with cinnamon.  Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.  Serve warm or cold, but it is best eaten same day as prepared.  Makes about 8 servings.

Food Processor Method: In food processor fitted with steel blade, cream 1 cup sugar and cold butter.  Process in eggs.  Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until smooth.  Proceed as directed above.

I would like to use this moment while you are dazzled by my tart to speak my peace about Tiger Woods.  First of all, I don’t give a crap about Tiger Woods.  Not because I’m not interested in celebrities, not because I don’t care that he was screwing around with some dumb chicks, but because anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who thinks that playing golf as a living is somewhat reputable deserves a lesson on real life.  I get sports.  I love hockey.  I can get into baseball during the end of the season.  However, I don’t give a crap how well ANYONE can play a sport you play by yourself.  Oh and men, take a lesson here.  No matter how much money you have, you can cheat all you want, but if you decide to cheat and your woman finds out, she will chase you with a golf club and pretend she was using it to save you from a car crash.

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), tagged , on May 28, 2009 | 1 Comment »

When I was a little kid, there were three things I would not eat–Burgers, Hot Dogs, and Cupcakes.  I would eat meatloaf, regular cake, cookies and the like, but refused to eat those three. I also refused to eat sweet potatoes (That’s because my dad told my little girly self that they were pink inside and when I discovered otherwise, I was quite perturbed.), but that’s for another day. Finally, after enough prodding, my parents realized why I avoided these three foods.  Too much fluff.  I was born a kid who loved rich food and I hated the buns–or for cupcakes, the cake part, which is much too large in most cake to frosting ratios.  I could not fathom–and yes, at the end of all this I did graduate college, surprise!–that I could eat these items sans bun/cake. I still to this day eat my hot dogs and hamburgers bunless and lick the frosting off the top of cupcakes.

The following recipe, one that my mother adapted and recrafted from an Ina Garten recipe, is the only cupcake of which I will ever eat the cake.  Her genius of doctoring up a cake mix into moist clouds of deliciousness under mounds of peanut butter crack is incredible.  My friend, Joanna, and I one time made “extra frosting by mistake” when we were making these and downed the bowl.  At least the peanut butter has protein, right?

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I once watched one of Rico’s friends take a cupcake down in one bite.  I might have almost vomited.

 

Part 1 (The Cupcake)

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1 chocolate cake mix, super moist variety
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Peanut butter frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven according to directions on box.  Prepare cake mix according to recipe on box and stir in instant coffee and vanilla.  Fill 12 paper-lined muffin cups 2/3rds-full (about 1/3 cup batter) with batter.  You will not use up all of the batter.  Bake according to directions on box (possibly a few minutes longer) until toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes.  Remove to cooling rack to cool completely before icing.  Frost liberally with frosting (recipe below).  Makes 12 cupcakes.

Part 2 (The Frosting)

Frosting Ingredients:

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream

In large bowl with an electric mixer, blend together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt on low speed (otherwise sugar will fly everywhere), scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until mixture is light and smooth.

Store cupcakes at room temperature if to be eaten that day.  Refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 days and allow to return to room temperature, uncovered, for about 1 hour before serving if making ahead.

These cupcakes are magical.  The first time I made them for a party, I stuffed a few in my majorly over-sized purse to bring to my friends at a concert I was going to that night.  I ended up sitting and talking to the tour manager of one of my FAVORITE metal bands because he saw me doling out cupcakes, and he begged for one.  I not only got a free t-shirt, but met the band and flipped out like a little girl at a Jonas Brothers’ Concert.  Sorry Rico, but if any of you ladies met the singer of this band, you’d swoon as well…

P9250006Here’s a picture of my friend, Rita, and me with the singer (Trevor from the Black Dahlia Murder) another time I met him. Commence Swooning…

OK, maybe he’s only attractive if you’re into that whole, I scream into a microphone and only wear black thing.  But hey, we all have our guilty pleasures.

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White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), tagged , , on May 25, 2009 | 5 Comments »

What do I do best?  I bake.  I would not say I am superb at many things in life; however, I am a great baker.  I am KNOWN for my baking.  Yet, somehow, I found a way to date a man who DOES NOT LIKE DESSERT.  Do you hear me?  No dessert.  No candy.  My abilities to impress him and the majority of his family–who also, amazingly, don’t like dessert–significantly decreased immediately.  How am I supposed to convince his family to like me, if I can’t sweeten them up first (ha…ha….)?

Well, I decided to give some chocolate a try for one of his family barbecues and I made some White Chocolate Peppermint Bark, and the unexplainable happened.  Rico LOVED IT.  Below you will find the extremely simple recipe to my love potion, that I plan to make for the arm candy’s family for as long I can until they get sick of the chocolate or sick of me.

 

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Could you get sick of someone who can do this? I know I couldn’t.

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds white chocolate, tempered, or white chocolate melting wafers**
  • 1 cup crushed red peppermint crunch*** or chopped candy canes (To crush the peppermint crunch or candy canes, you can pulse it in the food processor until coarsely chopped or place it in a plastic bag and crush it with a rolling pin.)

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Line 2 large cookie sheets with waxed paper.  Temper chocolate or melt melting wafers in microwave or double boiler.  In medium bowl, mix together white chocolate and crushed peppermint.  Spread mixture onto cookie sheets.  Tap cookie sheets against counter to spread chocolate out into a thin even layer.

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Refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes.  Break candy into irregular-shaped pieces.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.  Makes about 2½ pounds.

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**Chocolate melting wafers, also known as candy melts and confectionery coating, are a very easy to use chocolate substitute. I prefer the Merckens’ brand and it is available in many candy and craft stores.  In fact, the Merckens’ white chocolate melting wafers are so delicious, I suggest using them and not even bothering with tempered white chocolate.

***An excellent source of red peppermint crunch for this recipe is Country Kitchen SweetArt, Inc.  You can order on line at http://www.countrykitchensa.com or call 1-800-497-3927.

This is obscenely simple, especially if you use the candy melts.  Plus, it’s perfect to bring to events because you can make it ahead of time.  It’s so easy, I used to make it all the time with little kids in cooking classes and they all loved it.

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Did I say I was just an awkward kid?  I meant awkward kid, middle schooler, and high schooler.

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Cereal-Crusted French Toast

Posted in Main Dishes (For The Low Cal Left Brain), tagged , on May 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Rico Suave and I were recently watching the Food Network, and by utter failure left the channel on too long and ended up watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fiere.  I’m not really a fan of the show, but when Guy ended up in a diner that covered their french toast in cereal, I gave him a one day pass. The whopping toast looked beyond delicious, so I obviously had to find a way to make a low-cal version.  The result?  Cinnamon sin at 125-150 calories per two slice serving.

 

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Ok, it doesn’t look too pretty.  But that might be because I started pulling off the cereal and thrusting it in my mouth while waiting for my stupid camera to turn on.

Ingredients:

  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 egg white (17 calories)
  • 2 tablespoons fat free half and half (20 calories)
  • 1/4 cup of cereal (for my French toast, I used MultiGrain Cheerios, at 25 calories)
  • Two slices of diet bread (mine is 40 cal a slice, extra fiber)
  • Butter or regular Pam

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Combine the nutmeg, cinnamon, egg white and half and half in a shallow bowl. With fork, beat until well blended.  Spread the cereal out on a plate and put a paper towel over it.  Smash the cereal a little bit with your hands, so it’s slightly broken up.  Heat up a pan and spray with some Pam.  Dip a piece of bread, both sides, into the bowl and shake off the excess egg mixture.  Then press both sides into the cereal.  Throw onto the pan, and repeat with the other slice.  I find they take about 2 minutes a side to cook, depending upon how crispy you like your French toast.  Plate and serve!  These are great with a little low-cal maple syrup or jam!

Now you may ask how these can cost anywhere from 125-150 calories.  Well, if you use my ingredients, and my cereal, and somehow end up using ALL of the egg mixture, the 2 slices will add up to 150.  Yet, I usually find there is leftover batter, so there are less calories.  As a warning, if you ever decide to make this recipe in my parent’s house, choose a cereal that doesn’t have clusteres.  If you leave a cluster-type cereal alone in my parent’s house for more than 5 minutes, all the clusters mysteriously disappear….

….Right Little Mommies???

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Cinnamon Nutmeg Shortbread (The reason I have friends at my office.)

Posted in Desserts (For The High Cal Right Brain), tagged , on May 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

One lonely Sunday I needed a quick injection of cookie.  I realized that I had no chocolate chips, nuts, oatmeal, raisins, or any classic “kitchen sink” cookie ingredient in the house so I had to improvise.  I was also out of cream of tartar, so snickerdoodles were out the question.  That is when the wonders of Google gave me this shortbread recipe, which has become a craze with the other companies on the floor of my office building.  If you are on a diet, DON’T EAT THESE.  You might as well just glue the butter straight to your muffin top to save yourself time.  (However, they are easy, quick, delicious, and quite addictive.)

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Cinnamon Nutmeg Shortbread

(Pillaged from http://www.recipegoldmine.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted, softened butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (Well, mine was freshly ground by McCormick, about 6  months ago.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Butter Pam (or regular)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan with Pam; set aside.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light.  Add the vanilla.  In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Slowly blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well mixed. With hands, evenly press the dough into the pan.  Bake for 17-22 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.  I suggest cutting them however you see fit.  I usually cut them into 2-inch squares, yielding 30 cookies.

 

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**Uncooked.  Pretty brownness?

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**Cooked.  See how its pulling away from the edges and turned a darker brown?  You also know it’s cooked when you shake the pan and the middle doesn’t wiggle anymore :)

Now I have to admit, I do most of my baking in a food processor.  When I was still pretty young, Little Mommies taught me that almost all food prep is much easier in a food processor, and that it’s one of the most valuable tools in the kitchen for baking or making dips. I’d always try to “help” Little Mommies when she was baking, and I can only imagine the heart palpitations I caused her when I got too close to the blades on that machine.

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(Me at age five.  You think I’m cute in that picture?  You should have seen me workin’ the food processor.)

This recipe is 100 times easier in a food processor, if you have one.  The recipe would follow the same course, however make sure the butter is cold and that you pulse in the dry ingredients. DO NOT over mix.  Oh and don’t try to lick the blades like you would the beaters; that never turns out well.

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