Swedish-ish Berry Tart

I only learned 2 words when we were in Sweden this summer: smor and hallonpaj.  That means butter and raspberry pie.  The pastries in Europe are to die for, and as soon as we got back I knew I needed to recreate this in my kitchen.  Finding a recipe was not easy but I found it and of course made a few adjustments to make it even more awesome! (Like doubling the amount of fruit)

Original recipe from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/raspberry_walnut_tart/

Crust:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tbsp) - cut into tbsp's

Mix crust ingredients with a food processor to a crumb texture.

Filling:
2 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
20 oz raspberries and other berries (half fresh, half frozen, or a mixture)

Line a 9-10 in. in diameter tart pan with foil.  Press crust crumbs into the bottom and up the edges a little.  Bake at 350 for 25 min.  Mix the filling ingredients except for the raspberries.  Take out of oven and spread the raspberries out evenly on the crust.   Pour the filling mixture evenly throughout.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until set in the middle.

Enjoy! Let me know if you like this recipe as much as I do.

Carrot Cup/Cake

Apart from the frosting, what you really need to nail in Carrot Cake is the moisture level.  The worst thing you could get is a dry piece of cake.  Luckily, I have a recipe that will knock your socks off on both of those levels!  References upon request.

Carrot Cake: (shown here in "cup" form)

- 2 cups flour

- 2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 3 eggs

- 2 cups sugar

- 3/4 cup veggie oil

- 3/4 cup buttermilk

- splash vanilla

- 2 cups grated carrots

- 8 oz canned crushed pineapple, drained

- 3 1/2 oz flaked coconut

- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 9 inch cake pans - I always add in a bottom of parchment paper for this recipe. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a medium size bowl beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Whisk in flour mixture into egg mixture.  Fold in grated carrot, pineapple, and coconut.  Be sure to squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the canned pineapple.  Also, I usually don't put in the pecans - it feels more like fruit cake to me.   Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

- 1 package cream cheese, room temperature

- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

- about 1/2 cup powdered sugar - but really to taste

- vanilla

- 2 cups heavy cream

Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla.  Taste test for sugar.  I don't like super sweet frosting, so I usually put in less than a recipe calls for.

In a separate bowl beat heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Carefully fold in whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.  Tada!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Lava cake is one of our favorite desserts ever.  It's relatively simple to make and turns out great every time.  You can really vary the level of sugar and chocolate based on your preferences.  We like it not ridiculously sweet so I always lowball the sugar and chocolate chips in this recipe.

Don't leave the kitchen for the 14 minutes these are baking!  Ovens differ and yours could be done in 12 and at 14 could be a fully cooked cake - which is no fun when there is no lava!

From: Paula Deen/Food Network

Makes about 6-8 servings

6oz bittersweet chocolate
6oz semisweet chocolate
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
vanilla

Melt chocolate with butter in the microwave until completely melted and smooth.
Add flour and sugar.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.

Bake at 425 for 14 min (or less depending on your oven).

Cupcakes! Cupcakes! with Whipped Cream Frosting

I've been baking up a storm this week for a YW activitiy.  Of course I ended up making way too many cupcakes than I probably needed but it was fun and I found some great recipes I will be using from now on.

I used the "Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes" recipe from glorioustreats.com.  

http://www.glorioustreats.com/2010/04/recipe-perfectly-chocolate-cupcakes.html

The batter was very thin but that made the cupcakes so light and fluffy!  Loved it.  I frosted them with a whipped cream frosting mixed with some strawberry purree.  I bought a pastry bag and tips and this was my first go at it! It turned out pretty well.

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 package cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

vanilla

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Once combined well add cream as mixer is still beating.  Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks.

My other flavor was "Orange Creamsicle".  I waned something fruity and not so sweet.  These turned out delicious.  They were quite heavier than the chocolate and I'm thinking this would make a great regular sized cake.  I used the recipe from cookingclassy.com:  http://www.cookingclassy.com/2012/12/orange-creamsicle-cupcakes/

I used the same frosting but added some food coloring to make them a nice peachy color, with some orange zest and pieces of orange.

Overall great flavor combinations and I highly recommend!

Soft Cinnamon Rolls

I can't think about the holiday season without automatically thinking about cinnamon rolls!
This recipe is my favorite for these rolls.  When they come out of the oven they are so soft - almost the consistency of a fresh hot donut!  Absolutely delicious.  The trick is to be patient while the dough is rising.  It takes about 1.5-2 hours for it to double at first but it's worth it!

Cinnamon Rolls:

3/4 cup milk, warm
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
3 eggs at room temp.
4 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp. (cut into 12 pieces)
Filling:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

Whisk milk, yeast and add eggs.  In a large bowl mix together flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt.  Add flour mixture to milk mixture and stir.  Use your hand once the dough starts to come together.  Add to a mixer with a dough hook attachment.  Add butter, one tbsp at a time until all incorporated.  Kneed for another 5 minutes.  Cover and set aside for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.  Roll out into a long rectangle.  Mix filling ingredients and spread in the rectangle.  Roll up the bottom of the dough until you have a long roll.  Cut into individual pieces about 1 inch long and place in a greased baking pan or sheet.  Let double in size again.  Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 min or until golden brown.

I frosted mine with a mixture of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a little bit of hot water.  You can also make a cream cheese frosting for these.

Russian Honey Layer Cake

Friends, this was literally the most delicious and delicate cake I have ever had.  The secret ingredient - Graham Crackers!  I've made this cake before with actual cake batter but cutting them into layers was a pain.  This took me a total of 1 hour to make and it can serve about 25 people.

http://letthebakingbeginblog.com/2013/10/no-bake-honey-cake/

Pumpkin Pie from Fresh Pumpkins

Pumpkin Pie around this time of year is a tradition for many.  I am no exception!  The best, of course, is when you make it from a real pumpkin instead of using the canned version. Trust me, it doesn't take long and is definitely worth it!

For the pumpkin...

Cut a pie pumpkin in half, scooping out the insides and bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes or until it is soft (test with a fork).  Cool, scrape from the skin and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Pumpkin Pie

- 1 homemade pie crust (recipe here - makes two crusts) (it's the best... hands down)

- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- dash of salt
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- cinnamon (to taste)
- nutmeg (to taste)
- ginger (to taste)

Combine pumpkin, eggs, and salt.  I usually add about 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and ginger but it is really up to you and what spices you like.  Add in 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk and whisk together.  Taste test for sweetness.  This is usually enough for us but you can add more to your taste.

Bake at 375 for 20 min or until the center is spongy and bounces back.

Serve with fresh made whipped cream!

Chocolate-Cinnamon Pear Loaf Cake

Holy delicousness Batman!  Seriously... I didn't have a rectangular cake pan so I used a round one and it didn't turn out quite as pretty but BOY was it delicious.  This is probably my favorite chocolate cake recipe in general now.

Next time I am going to slice the pears into quarters and spread them evenly throughout the cake first.  I frosted mine with some cream cheese frosting - it was the perfect addition, don't do the white chocolate.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chocolate-cinnamon-pear-loaf-cake/

Seriously, people, try this!

Banana Crunch Bread

I finally found this recipe that I had in an old Family Circle cookbook that I don't have anymore.  I love this one because the actual bread uses what I call the "shortbread method" or adding a stick of cold butter into the flour mixture to make crumbs.  In the end you get a "crumbly" type of bread which is delicious!  I toasted some almonds at 350 for about 10 min as I did not have any walnuts and they added a nice crunch!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (I usually under fill the 1 cup)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut in pieces
1 cup mashed ripe banana or a little more
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla

CRUNCH TOPPING
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. (I used a bundt cake today)
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in bananas, walnuts, ginger, eggs and vanilla until mixture is just moistened. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan.
Prepare Crunch Topping: Combine flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees oven for 70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Remove bread and cool on wire rack completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.


Recipe adopted from www.food.com.

German Chocolate Cake

...from scratch, of course.

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/06/14/german-chocolate-cake-recipe/

German chocolate cake is my husband's favorite and I had to make it for his birthday this past week.

The cake turned out pretty awesome!  Instead of the rum sauce, I substituted some pineapple orange juice I had in the fridge.  I remember that my grandma in Russia always poured a little bit of a dilluted jam mixture on the cakes before stacking them and that kept them very moist even after being in the fridge.  It's a great trick.  The only thing we were not super happy with is the chocolate frosting.  It turned out exactly as it should, but it was just VERY chocolate-y.  Too much for our taste.  Next time I think I will lighten it up with maybe a chocolate cream cheese frosting.  We'll see how that works out.

Good luck!

"Better than the Box" Brownies

So I came home last night and while my husband decided to go for a quick run, I decided to make a batch of brownies.  The last time I made some from a random recipe off google search, they were absolutely terrible and more like dry chocolate cake than brownies.  And then! I found my saved recipe that got wonderful reviews.  As expected, they turned out perfect!  Simple and so delicious! ... and now my dessert at work!

4 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used leftover Ghirardelli)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave until fully melted.  Let cool for a minute. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Mix.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Fold in flour and cocoa powder.  Bake at 350 for about 20 min, checking to make sure the center is baked through with a toothpick.

Done!

Recipe from: http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2007/04/brownies-simple-sublime.html

Russian Napoleon Cake

This butter cream frosting recipe can and should be used for every cake from this point forward.
Note: not for those on a diet.

My grandma used to make napoleon cake when I was little.  It consists of several very thin layers of a flaky dough in between which are layers of frosting.   It takes quite a while to make the layers, so I cheated and used premade puff pastry.  It's worth it.

Russian Butter-cream Frosting

1 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together and set aside.

1 cup milk

Heat milk on the stove in a medium size pot until milk is steaming hot and almost boiling.  Turn off.  With a whisk, slowly VERY SLOWLY, add the sugar mixture into the milk, whisking all the way so the egg doesn't cook in one place.   Set aside to cool.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

Beat butter until light and fluffy.  When the milk mixture is room temperature (not hot), slowly beat it into the butter batch by batch.  I usually don't end up using all of the milk mixture because it would be too sweet.  Add just enough for your sweetness level. Beat in 1 tsp of vanilla.  All done!  Put in fridge for a few minutes while getting ready to frost. Do not leave in fridge for long as the frosting becomes hard when cold and difficult to spread.

For this dessert, I cut up the puff pastry sheet into three pieces, based on the fold lines.  Baked at 400 for approximately 15 min and then let cool to room temperature.  Once cool, layer the puff pastry with the frosting.  For best results, I let the cake sit in the fridge over night, so the frosting can soak through the layers.

Cherry Cranberry Pie

Over the last month I have made about 4 pumpkin pies.  So yesterday, I really wasn't feeling another pumpkin for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Cherry it is!!  Well, cherry-cranberry to be more precise.  This recipe is very simple but I will warn you, frozen pie cherries are pretty expensive.

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Dash of ground cloves

4 1/2 cups frozen cherries

1 cup fresh cranberries

Premade pie crusts - I use the Pillsbury brand pie crusts that you just unroll onto the pan.

PAM for spraying the pan.

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, cloves, frozen cherries and cranberries.  If the cherries are really frozen, leave the mixture out for about 45 min so a syrup starts to form.  Mix once in a while so the sugar and cornstarch dissolves in the juices.  Spray the pie pan with a little bit of Pam and unroll the pie crust.  Pour the mixture into the crust.  I used the other crust in the package to make a lattice design on top.  It looks pretty this way.  Place foil around the edges of the crust and bake for 50 min.  Take off the foil (if edges are not brown), otherwise bake with foil, for another 20-30 min or until there are bubbles close to the edge.  Cool completely and serve.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cherry-Cranberry Pie recipe.

Praline Cheesecake with Walnuts and Caramel

It has become a tradition to make this cheesecake every year on or around Thanksgiving.  It has become a favorite for many and surprisingly it is not that hard to put together.  But the presentation... the presentation is wonderful.  It looks like I spent a lot more time on it than I did.  The vanilla praline cookies make the best crust! A word of advice - never use the Low Fat kind.  I tried it one year and the cookies fell apart in the oven.

Nilla Praline Cheesecake

66      wafer cookies, divided

1 ¼    cups sugar, divided

¼       cup unsalted butter, melted

3        pkg.  (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, at room temperature

½       cup Sour Cream

1        tsp. vanilla

3        eggs

½       container caramel (the kind found by the apples for dipping)

½       cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 325°F.

Crust 50 wafers finely; mix with 1/4 cup sugar and unsalted butter. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Stand remaining wafers around edge, pressing gently into crust to secure.

Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run small knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim.  After removing rim, place a piece of parchment paper on a plate big enough for the cake.  Flip the cake on the parchment paper and remove the bottom pan.  Flip back on a serving platter.  Microwave caramel, stirring occasionally for about 20 seconds.  Spread over cheesecake and top with nuts.  Refrigerate 4 hours…if you can wait that long.

Adapted from Kraft’s Praline Cheesecake recipe.