Grown Up S’mores The man or woman behind the S’more is nothing short of a genius. Seriously, who would have thought to combine a graham cracker, a Hershey bar and some marshmallows? Whomever they were, they knocked it out of the sweet treat park. As with most things I bake or cook, a little something thrown in with an alcohol content, always rings my bell. So when I came across these grown up S’mores in Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth by Jill O’Connor, I pounced on a great new dessert. Seriously pick this book up for anyone, including yourself, with a love of all things sugary and sweet. This dessert received rave reviews and will be made several times over the course of the impending cook-out season. A few tips and tricks - I would use less than the 3 cups of graham cracker suggested, was just too thick for my taste. You can use any three liquors you choose that you think would meld well. Let the graham cracker and filling set at least for overnight, trust me.
Making homemade cream cheese Making homemade cream cheese came about because this year I decided to cook a dish every week that included one specific ingredient, and for that ingredient I chose cream cheese. (I love cream cheese, I think it can be the salvation of any meal. It has been a salvation of many of my favorite meals.) When I announced my intentions on Twitter, I got a reply back from Michael Ruhlman, who constantly asks us to cook our own food. Why would you make your own cream cheese? A lot of homemade fresh cheeses—that is, cheeses that don’t have to be aged—you can make at home. So my adventure to make homemade cream cheese didn’t take too long. You can use up to 2 gallons of half and half for this recipe, or if you are like me, I am going to use 1 quart, but you this culture will set up to 2 gallons of milk. Yield: 8 – 10 ounces of cream cheese 1 quart light cream or half and half 1 package Mesophilic culture Butter cloth Add your culture to the milk, sprinkling it over the top.
Summer Recipe: No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn See this? This is such an easy dessert. It looks a little fancy, doesn't it? Don't be put off. It only takes a few ingredients, and it doesn't even involve turning on the oven. I am a huge fan of icebox cakes (I even wrote a book about them!). Icebox cakes do usually call for some store-bought ingredients, but I like to tweak classic recipes to avoid boxed puddings and use simpler whipped cream or homemade custard. We recently gave you a basic formula for making a no-bake cake out of graham crackers, whipped cream, and any fruit. → Read More: How To Make a No-Bake Icebox Cake This particular icebox cake is just as simple as it gets, inspired by the buckets of strawberries at the markets in late spring, and by my favorite dessert: strawberry shortcake. The whole cake is drizzled with a quick, simple chocolate ganache, and garnished with whole strawberries. If you like icebox cakes, I'd love to share my book with you. → Buy Faith's Book! Serves 8 to 12 Recipe Notes
Homemade Hot Pockets Homemade hot pockets! There’s nothing they can package up and sell at the grocery store that you can’t make better at home. My kids love store-bought hot pockets, so I came up with my own homemade version that I can feel good about. Printer-FriendlyHow to make Homemade Hot Pockets: Start with the basic one-loaf Grandmother Bread recipe adjusted with add-ins of milk, egg, and oil. 1 1/2 cups warm milk 1 teaspoon yeast 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg 4 cups all-purpose flour In a large bowl, combine warm milk with yeast and sugar. Now it’s time to make hot pockets! Punch down dough and divide in two. Place condiment, meat, and cheese on each part and pull dough around to seal. It looks a little messy. But that’s okay! Bake at 350-degrees for about 25 minutes, or until browned. Try anything! Devoir immediately, store in the fridge for a few days, or place in the freezer to grab whenever you need one. They’re so good. See all my Grandmother Bread recipes.
Guinness Chocolate Pudding or "Chocolate Guinness Goodness" Everywhere I look food bloggers are preparing celebratory dishes for St. Patrick's day in the same way, with Guinness! While I claim to love everything, (it's a growing problem) I have to say that extra dark stout beers are not high on the list. The last dark beer I tried was on the aforementioned (previous post) Scotland trip, and I didn't even drink half of what was given to me. It was good, but so filling! Afterward, I felt like I had eaten a large, yeasty piece of bread. The recipe comes from epicurious.com. The finished dessert mimics a frothy pint of stout. I like the ease and simplicity of this recipe. The cream and stout are cooked together in a sauce pan until slightly bubbly, but not boiling. The chopped dark chocolate is then added to the hot cream and stout mixture. One thing that I altered slightly was the topping (or "froth") that consists of freshly whipped cream and a Guinness reduction. The Guinness reduction is really quite beautiful to look at. Ingredients Directions
Old-Time Burnt Sugar Cake This is not a cake; it’s an adventure. I’m fascinated by old-fashioned recipes, and Burnt Sugar Cake has been on my must-try list for awhile. If you don’t recognize the name of the cake, you would most likely recognize the flavor. It’s a cake you had sometime in your childhood, while visiting older family members or at a church supper somewhere. Burnt Sugar Cake has a unique taste that just spells home and country roads and a day when people spent more time in the kitchen. But let me tell you–it’s worth it. I started out with a recipe from an elderly church lady who has since passed away. Lost, I turned to the internet and studied burnt sugar cake recipes I found online. Not to be deterred, I took what I’d learned from the online recipe and went back to the “authentic” one. Printer-FriendlyHow to make Old-Time Burnt Sugar Cake: Making Burnt Sugar Syrup– 1 1/3 cups sugar 1 1/3 cups water Dump the sugar in a skillet on the stove. You don’t actually “burn” the sugar–you melt it. P.S. P.P.S.
Million $$$ Brownies « ~ Katy ~ Ah, the Million Dollar Brownies. As a kid, I couldn’t get enough sugar, and sugar in chocolate form was (and still usually is) my sugar-high of choice. This reminds me of Mary going to the Dairy Queen with Mom to get Buster Bars for everyone. Once, I made the frosting and was rudely interrupted while attempting to consume it. I haven’t had these in a long time. Million $$$$ Brownies makes a 9′x13″ cake pan In medium saucepan over low heat melt while stirring: 1 Cup Butter 3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder - Dutch Process makes a darker chocolatier brownie Add and mix well 2 Cups Sugar add one at a time whisking vigorously between each addition: 4 Eggs Add and mix well: 1 Cup Flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Vanilla Spray a 9″x13″ pan with cooking spray then pour in batter and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or just until it starts to pull away from the edge of the pan. Let cool only slightly before frosting with: Million $$$ Frosting In small sauce pan over medium heat, melt while whisking: 1/2 Cup Butter 1 egg
How to Build a Cheese Press A cheese press is a must to create hard cheese, and if you’ve already ventured into, or are thinking of venturing into, the making of soft cheeses such as chevre and ricotta, you can bet that visions of homemade hard cheese will be right around the corner. Cheese is so enticing, you know. And addictive. Especially when you discover how easy it is to make! Without a cheese press, it’s almost impossible to make anything other than soft cheese. A cheese press allows the use of weights to press out more whey than draining alone, and it’s that added pressure that creates hard cheese. A cheese press is a very simple device and can be constructed a number of different ways. Printer-FriendlySupplies: Instructions: Using the 2 x 6 x 20 as a base, screw two floor flanges down then screw the two 12-inch pipes into them. The distance between flanges/pipes is determined by the diameter of the weights to be used (at least twice the radius of the biggest weight). Set the small or large mold on top.
Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie I can think of worse ways to die... We’re eating a chilled “pie” made of layers of fudgy coffee brownies, rich airy peanut butter mousse, crumbled Reese’s peanut butter cups and finished with a drizzle of ganache. It’s a well-known fact that sweets are not really my cuppa beer. (I don’t really do “joe” either!) Going into the this dish with the concept in my head, I had no idea how wildly popular it was going to turn out to be! Killer Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie For the Brownies: 4 oz dark chocolate, chopped 1 stick butter, cut in cubes 1 tbsp instant espresso or coffee (optional) 2 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 3 fingered pinch of salt 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup all purpose flour For the Peanut Butter Mousse: 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, (do NOT use natural or crunchy!) For the Ganache: 1/3 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1o mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, roughly chopped Make the Brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
The Making of Farmhouse Cheddar Behold, the cheese! Farmhouse cheddar, set out to air dry on a wood board before being waxed and aged. At last! If you’re interested in making homemade hard cheeses (and how can you not be? If you’re ready to try your hand at hard cheese, check out my homemade cheese press plans. To make cheese, you need a large pot (stainless steel, glass, or unchipped enamel) and either a perforated ladle or large slotted spoon. You also need a dairy thermometer, or any cooking thermometer that registers temperatures in the correct range. I also keep butter muslin (which is a fine cheesecloth, primarily used for soft cheeses) and regular cheesecloth (used with hard cheeses) on hand–which type you use depends on the recipe. Other supplies such as rennet, starters, molds, cheese salt, and so on vary per recipe. Printer-FriendlyHow to make Farmhouse Cheddar: I use direct-set starter and liquid rennet because it makes life so much easier. Let’s get started! Heat the milk to 90 F in a large pot. 1. 2. 3.