Category Archives: Dessert

Five Ingredient Dessert (never let em see you sweat)

25 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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Ha, lame title I know. Truth is this dessert is so easy, sweating will have to be reserved for post dessert exercise. This is a Kraft recipe, probably so well known I am just burning my wordpress memory to post it, but hey, it’s that good. The recipe is taken directly from the Kraft site. If you go to the link, you can also watch a video on how to prepare the cake.

Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

  • 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
  • 1 tub  (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
  • 1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding
  • 8  Oreo Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup) see note below
  • 12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Directions:

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies. 

Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the Cool Whip mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining Cool Whip. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet. I didn’t do that, it didn’t really work. So I just placed it in the freezer uncovered and covered the remaining cake after dessert.

Freeze at least 4 hours.

Note: I didn’t want to buy a whole package of Oreo’s (as no one here needs them!). So I purchased one snack pack of Mini Oreo’s. It was the perfect amount.

 

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

27 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by in Dessert, Recipes

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Yes, you read that correctly, peanut butter, bananas and pudding. I had already planned to make banana pudding for dinner and just happened to come across this recipe and decided to “tweak” tonight’s dessert.

This was a very simple recipe and turned out to be a quite delicious combination. If you like peanut butter and banana’s, I highly recommend trying this recipe. My kids, had seconds and would have gone for thirds if I let them.

To check out the original recipe, head over to Peanut Butter Boy.com.

Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz sour cream*
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (Jif)
  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 8 oz whipped topping, thawed for 30 minutes
  • 2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
  • 3 bananas, in 1/4″ thick slices
  • 1/2 box (16oz) Nilla Wafers

Instructions:

In a large bowl whisk together the sour cream and peanut butter. Then whisk in the whipped topping and milk until no clumps remain. Stir in the instant pudding until well incorporated and mixture begins to thicken.

In a large glass serving dish or trifle bowl, form a layer of Nilla Wafers, flat side facing up. Cover with a thin layer of pudding, followed by a layer of banana slices. Add another thin layer of pudding and repeat, wafers, pudding, bananas… Garnish with extra wafers on the side if desired.  Top with a few vanilla wafers and any other garnish. Peanut Butter Boy suggested chocolate shavings and/or fresh berries. I used some honey roasted peanuts.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

*The original recipe calls for non fat greek yogurt (or sour cream) but I had to toss my greek yogurt as it was slightly past its expiration date, and I didn’t want to chance making anyone sick!

Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling

25 Monday Jan 2010

Posted by in Baking, Cakes & Pies, Dessert, Recipes

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Preface: Before you look at the list of ingredients in this cake stop. The cake is really, really easy to prepare. Use whatever frosting you’d like, but try the cake…

After a weekend of being shut in with sick kids, the stir crazy feeling was overwhelming, so why not bake? I have been actively searching for coconut cake recipes to prepare for a friends upcoming birthday, and I am not brave enough to prepare a “first time” cake to be served publicly… score family.

 We don’t do coconut very often, yet no one, even the kids, will turn it down. The cake recipe is from one source, and the frosting from another with a little tweeking. Note, the cake batter uses powdered sugar. I have never seen this in a cake before, and was leery about it, but it was fantastic.

 Speaking of frosting. I had a very hard time deciding the best type of frosting. Supposedly the “classic southern” coconut cake uses a whipped/meringue type frosting, verses a buttercream, but I grew up southern and buttercream was on every cake I’ve ever eaten. Anyway, this recipe intrigued me and settled my frosting dilemma.

Final thoughts? The cake is a keeper. Big time! The frosting was interesting. The original recipe was good, but not very “sweet” so I added some powdered sugar. I think it helped also to thicken the frosting slightly. I will definitely put the cake in my top favorites list, but will probably do a buttercream frosting next time. I just really want to find the “perfect” combination.

Has anyone tried the 7 minute frosting method? What did you think? Was it meringue like?

  

 Coconut Cake with Raspberry Filling

 Cake Ingredients:
  •  3 cups (297g) sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)
  •  2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 pound (450g) powdered sugar
  • 4 egg yolks, well beaten *Beat until well combined, about 1 minute
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract (or coconut)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 4 egg whites, well beaten

Cake Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 – 9″ round cake pans with baking spray.

Combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Sift these ingredients 3 times. In a mixing bowl, cream butter thoroughly; add sugar gradually. Continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition. Stir in coconut and vanilla. Fold in egg whites gently until well combined.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Makes two 9-inch layers, or three 8-inch layers. (The original recipe link states to make it in 8″ pans, I used 9″ pans and sliced the layers in half.)

Frosting Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Milk
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp coconut extract
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • Raspberry Preserves (at least 1 cup) *choose a good quality
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut

Frosting Directions:

In a saucepan, use a whisk to blend 1 cup milk into 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat, and cook and stir two minutes more. Remove from heat. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature without stirring.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and extracts until light and fluffy. Add cooled milk mixture to butter mixture a quarter cup at a time, beating on low-speed after each addition until smooth. **Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well afterward. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar if necessary to desired thickness.
Final Preparation:
Slice each layer in half. Spread a thin layer of preserves between the sliced layers*. Alternate preserves and frosting between the layers then frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle coconut on top and sides of the frosted cake. Slice and serve!
*Note, on the layers that I placed the preserves, I also added a thin layer of coconut.

Caramel Pecan Logs

25 Friday Dec 2009

Posted by in Cakes & Pies, Candy, Dessert, Recipes

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 Two things brought on this recipe. One was the fact a friend gave me 4 quart size bags of fresh picked Georgia pecans. The second, being that I had to find something to do with 4 quart size bags of fresh picked Georgia pecans! So, amongst the millions of choices, I went with two holiday favorites. Pecan pie and one of my brother’s favorites, pecan logs.

I have never made a homemade pecan pie before, I have only cheated and bought a prepared Cracker Barrel pie (which is quite good, by the way). I searched several million sites for a recipe and narrowed it down. My final decision was based on the syrup used in the recipe. I bought some Lyle’s Golden Syrup from World Market and had yet to use it. So this recipe was perfect. Check out the link for the entire recipe and a great blog… **post with pics to follow**

The other recipe I chose, the pecan logs, was a first too. Like I said, my brother really likes these rolls. Anytime we eat out at Cracker Barrel, I am pretty sure he buys one. I found this Taste of Home Recipe while just browsing a cookbook and went with it. It IS a winner! It really was not difficult and just slightly time consuming. Oh, and I burnt my fingers a couple of times on the candy and the caramel, so be careful. By the way, this candy is VERY sweet, so you don’t need much to satisfy!

Enjoy the pictures and if you choose to prepare either recipe, enjoy. Merry Christmas!

Holiday Pecan Logs (A Taste of Home Recipe)

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup butter, softened, divided
  • 3-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 package (14 ounces) caramels
  • 1 tablespoon milk or half-and-half cream
  • 2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

Butter an 8-in. square pan with 2 teaspoons butter; set aside. Combine confectioners sugar and milk powder; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, sugar and corn syrup; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil. Stir in confectioners’ sugar mixture, about a third at a time, until blended.

Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Continue stirring until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Spread into prepared pan. Cool. *Let it cool enough to handle, but not completely, or you will have to re-heat it.

Cut candy into four strips; cut each strip in half. Shape each into a log; wrap in waxed paper and twist ends. Freeze or refrigerate until firm.

Meanwhile, in a microwave, melt caramels with milk, stirring often. *Heat for 3 minutes, stirring every minute. You will have to reheat it a few times too.  logs in caramel mixture, then in pecans. Wrap in waxed paper. Store at room temperature in airtight containers. Cut into slices with a serrated knife. Yield: about 3-1/4 pounds.

*Suggestions:

  1. Make sure you roll the candy while it is still warm. I waited until the candy was completely cool before rolling and it was hard as a rock. I heated it in the microwave for just about 30 seconds and it was then easy to roll.
  2. Use a medium to large sized bowl to heat the caramels. Cover the roll with caramel but leave the ends open. Once you have covered the sides with pecans, dip the ends in the caramel then dip in the pecans. Otherwise you have nothing to hold on to and your precious fingers will burn!