Dessert | Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Category: Dessert
- Tiramisu
  
  Posted at 9:43 am by StephMo
  
  Feb 6th
  I have been promising to make my son Tiramisu for quite some time. With the best of intensions I have purchased marscarpone cheese and lady fingers a number of times, only to then have them expire and go to waste. I have never been a big fan of Tiramisu, and this may have contributed to my avoidance in some way. However, I tried the Tiramisu at Eataly, a restaurant in Boston, and it was one of the best desserts that I have ever had. One of those desserts that you don’t want to end. It was that good.
  
  So once again I purchased the marscarpone and lady fingers determined to not allow these ingredients to go to waste yet again. As I was looking for recipes, I decided to see if Eataly happened to publish their recipe. Well, they do! So that is what I made, and it tasted just like theirs. Delicious!
  
  Did you know that raw eggs were part of the ingredients? I did not, and must admit I am a little funny about that. I am one of those moms that never let my children eat raw cookie dough because they could get sick. However, this dessert is so good that it was worth throwing caution to the wind. The next time I make this dessert I will see if I can find pasteurized eggs.
  
  I made a half recipe as I realized the container of marscarpone I purchased was only one cup, and this recipe calls for two. Use a larger dish than I did when you go to make this, or make a half recipe if you only need a small amount.
  
  On a side note, there is also folding involved in this recipe. If you are a Schitt’s Creek fan then you will appreciate why I was laughing while I was folding. “You just, here’s what you do, you just fold it in”. If you haven’t watched the show I suggest that you do, it’s hilarious.
  
  Ingredients for the full recipe:
  
  2 cups marscarpone cheese
  
  5 eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
  
  5 tbsp. sugar
  
  2 cups heavy cream
  
  4 espresso shots ( I used about a cup of coffee)
  
  1 (8.8 ounce) package of lady fingers
  
  Cocoa powder
  
  Instructions:
  
  Divide the egg whites and yolks into separate mixing bowls.
  
  Combine the yolks with the sugar and mix well. Add the marscarpone to this yolk/sugar mixture and combine well. Set aside.
  
  Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside. There is a lot of whipping into stiff peaks in this recipe.
  
  Beat the heavy cream with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  
  Fold the egg whites into the marscarpone mixture.
  
  Fold in the whipped cream.
  
  Pour your espresso or coffee into a shallow bowl. Dip half of the lady fingers quickly into the coffee and line the bottom of the dish. Remember, I halved the recipe so you will need a larger dish than I have used.
  
  Top the lady fingers with half of the marscarpone mixture. Repeat with the rest of the lady fingers and marscarpone mixture.
  
  Sift cocoa powder over the top. As you can see I do nothing neatly when I bake.
  
  Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
  
  Enjoy!
  Tiramisu
  
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  Ingredients
  
  1 cup marscarpone cheese
  5 large eggs
  5 tbsp sugar
  2 cups heavy cream
  4 shots of espresso (or 1 cup coffee)
  1 8.8 ounce package of lady fingers
  cocoa powder
  
  Instructions
  
  Divide the egg whites and yolks into separate bowls. Add sugar to egg yolks and combine well. Add marscarpone in with yolk/sugar mixture and combine well. Set aside.
  With electric mixer on high beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  With electric mixer on high beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
  Fold egg whites into yolk/sugar/marscarpone mixture.
  Fold whipped cream into mixture.
  Pour coffee into a wide bowl. Quickly dunk half of the lady fingers into the coffee and arrange on the bottom of a square dish.
  Spread half of the marscarpone mixture over the cookies. Repeat with the rest of the cookies and marscarpone mixture.
  Sift cocoa powder over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.
  Posted in Dessert, Tiramisu | Tagged food blog, food blogger, Recipes, stephanie's slice of life, tiramisu, tiramisu recipe
- Peaches Flambe
  
  Posted at 9:20 pm by StephMo
  
  Nov 28th
  Nothing screams vintage cookbook like flambe right? In keeping with my “Steph and Betty” goal of trying as many recipes as I can from my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, I decided to light some peaches on fire today. It took a few tries as Betty didn’t really explain how to get the brandy to actually light. But that is what I am here for!
  
  I’ll be honest, the idea of sticking a flame into a pan with the goal of starting a fire, scared me. A lot. But, I went ahead and did it anyway.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/4 cup apricot jam
  
  3 tbsp sugar
  
  1/2 cup water
  
  4 large peaches, peeled and sliced, or 1 large 29 oz. can of sliced peaches, drained
  
  1 tsp lemon juice
  
  1/4 cup brandy
  
  Combine the jam, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Simmer over low heat about 5 minutes or until syrupy. I couldn’t find jam so had to settle on preserves which I think may have been the reason it did not get very syrupy.
  
  Add the peaches to the pan and heat for about 3 minutes for fresh peaches until almost tender, and less for canned peaches. Add lemon juice and stir.
  
  In order for the brandy to light it needs to be hot. The original recipe just said to heat the brandy but did not explain that the brandy needs to heat until it starts to bubble. It will not light if not hot enough.
  
  Once this happens turn off the heat under the peaches, make sure to do this.
  
  Pour the hot brandy over the peaches and light.
  
  Once it burns out, stir and serve over vanilla ice cream. It was actually quite yummy!
  Peaches Flambé
  
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  Ingredients
  
  1/2 cup apricot jam
  3 tbsp sugar
  1/2 cup water
  4 peaches, or 2 – 15 oz. cans
  1 tsp lemon juice
  1/4 cup brandy
  
  Instructions
  
  Combine jam, sugar, and water in a saucepan for about 5 minutes until syrupy. Add peaches and cook 3 minutes for fresh peaches, or less for canned peaches until heated. Stir in lemon juice.
  Heat brandy in small saucepan until it starts to bubble.
  Remove both from heat. Pour hot brandy over peaches and light.
  Stir, serve over vanilla ice cream.
  Posted in Dessert | Tagged flambe, food blog, food blogger, peaches flambe, peaches recipe, Recipes, stephanie's slice of life, vintage recipes
- Indian Pudding
  
  Posted at 8:41 am by StephMo
  
  Nov 22nd
  
  I had never heard of Indian Pudding until I flipped through the pages of my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook. I was in the pudding section as I was making Rice Pudding, and happened upon this. It was intriguing and even as it was in the oven, for 3 hours I must add, I still had no idea what to expect. Cornmeal and molasses, hmmm. Come to find out it tasted like brown bread, which was interesting.
  
  I’m not entirely sure this recipe actually worked, but since I am determined to make as many recipes as I can from my mom’s old cookbook I decided to write the blog anyway. Steph and Betty!
  
  As I mentioned the recipe called for a 3 hour baking time. However, it did not mention how to know if the pudding was done. After the 3 hours I thought how could it not be done, right? Well, I’m not really sure it actually was done as it was not set in the center even after sitting for an hour. If I ever am to make this again I would let it cook longer until the pudding seemed set. It did set in the refrigerator and was much better the next day. The only I picture I took was the night of, however, and you can see how loose it was.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  4 cups of milk
  
  2/3 cup molasses
  
  2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  1 tsp salt
  
  3/4 tsp cinnamon
  
  3/4 tsp nutmeg
  
  1/4 cup butter
  
  Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
  
  In a saucepan combine 3 cups of the milk and molasses and heat over low/medium heat.
  
  In a small mixing bowl combine cornmeal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  
  Gradually stir into hot milk mixture. Add butter.
  
  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until thickened.
  
  It didn’t seem like it was going to thicken, but it did.
  
  Pour into the casserole.
  
  Pour the remaining 1 cup of milk on top of pudding; do not stir. Bake for 3 hours or until set.
  
  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
  
  Posted in Dessert, Indian Pudding | Tagged betty crocker recipes, food blog, food blogger, indian pudding, indian pudding recipe, pudding recipe, Recipes, stephanie's slice of life
- Betty Crocker Rice Pudding
  
  Posted at 8:12 am by StephMo
  
  Nov 10th
  Rice pudding brings back so many childhood memories for me. My mother used Betty Crocker’s recipe and years ago when I was searching on-line for that recipe I thought I had found it, but I was wrong. When my mom passed away and I got her Betty Crocker cookbook I realized it was not the same.
  
  I decided to try the recipe in my mom’s cookbook and see which I preferred. While they are both delicious, they are actually quite different. This recipe creates a thick custard on top of the pudding and since I happen to love custard, I think I might prefer this version. This recipe is from the book my mother received as a wedding gift in 1969.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/2 cup rice
  
  1 cup water (or less if using instant rice)
  
  3 eggs, slightly beaten
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  2 1/2 cups scalded milk (see below)
  
  1/2 cup raisins
  
  Cinnamon
  
  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  
  Cook rice as instructed. The original recipe calls for instant rice, but I cooked regular rice.
  
  Slightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt.
  
  Gradually add scalded milk to egg mixture.
  
  ** How to scald milk – heat milk in a pan until it reaches 170 degrees. You do not want the milk to boil, it should just get to the point where a film forms on the top. Remove milk from heat and let it cool to 110 degrees before continuing recipe.
  
  Stir in rice and raisins.
  
  Pour into an ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole, sprinkle with cinnamon.
  
  Place the casserole in a pan and pour in very hot water until about 1 1/4 inches deep.
  
  Bake about 70 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Remove the casserole from the pan of water.
  
  Serve either warm or cool, personally I prefer it cool. Keep refrigerated.
  
  Look at that yummy custard and creamy pudding. So good!
  Betty Crocker Rice Pudding
  
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  Ingredients
  
  1/2 cup rice
  1 cup water
  3 eggs
  1/2 cup sugar
  2 tsp vanilla
  1/4 tsp salt
  2 1/2 cups milk, scalded
  1/2 cup raisins
  cinnamon
  
  Instructions
  
  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  Cook rice as instructed. The original recipe calls for instant rice, but I cooked regular rice.
  Slightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add scalded milk to egg mixture.
  Stir in rice and raisins.
  Pour into an ungreased casserole and sprinkle with cinnamon.
  Place the casserole in a pan and pour in very hot water until about 1 1/4 inches deep.
  Bake for 70 minutes or until knife inserted half way between the center and the edge comes out clean. Remove casserole from pan of water.
  Serve warm or cooled. Keep refrigerated.
  Posted in Betty Crocker Rice Pudding, Dessert | Tagged betty crocker rice pudding, food blog, food blogger, pudding, rice pudding, rice pudding recipe, stephanie's slice of life
- Candied Fruit (Tanghulu)
  
  Posted at 4:05 pm by StephMo
  
  Jan 28th
  
  When you candy fruit with this method you are creating a hard crunchy candy shell on the outside of the fruit. You can do this with many different types of fruit, but I chose to candy strawberries. This kind of candied fruit is typically served on wooden skewers, but I wanted to jazz up my cheesecake a little and thought they would be a fun change. The candying really does make the fruit look beautiful and shiny, while adding a sweet crunch!
  
  One thing to keep in mind is the fruit will not stay crunchy for long so these should be made right before you are planning on serving them.
  
  To candy fruit you will need:
  
  2 cups sugar
  
  1 cup water
  
  Strawberries or other fruit
  
  Ice water
  
  Clean and fully dry the fruit. If using strawberries you can keep the stems on if you choose, but I sliced off the tops of the strawberries as I was using them on a dessert as I mentioned earlier.
  
  Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. The mixture needs to be at 300 degrees which takes about 5-10 minutes. Once it hits this temperature you can test to see if it is ready by dipping a spoon into the sugar and then immediately into a glass of ice water. It should form a hard candy crust on the spoon.
  
  One thing I learned the hard way is not to allow the sugar to go above 300 degrees because it will start to burn. It got very dark brown and tasted horrible and then became what I believe might be molasses. It was quite a mess lol.
  
  When your sugar is ready dip the fruit into the hot sugar with a wooden skewer and coat evenly, then dip into the ice water immediately and the fruit should have a hard coating. Place them on parchment paper until you are ready to serve them.
  
  These do not stay crunchy very long so do not make these ahead of time as they are best served right away.
  
  Don’t they look pretty?
  
  Posted in Candied Fruit (Tanghulu) | Tagged candied fruit, candied strawberries, dessert fruit, dessert fruit ideas, dessert fruit recipe, food blog, food blogger, Recipes, stephanie's slice of life, tanghulu
- Baked Rice Pudding
  
  Posted at 1:02 pm by StephMo
  
  Jul 1st
  
  Rice pudding is a dessert I have loved since I was a child and I always got so excited every time my mother would get ready to make it and take out her Betty Crocker cookbook. This is one of those childhood desserts that regardless of whether another recipe make look or taste better, I am sticking to this recipe because I want my rice pudding just the way it was. It may not look as creamy or appetizing as some others I have seen, but it is delicious and to me there is no better. My mother and I loved rice pudding, and now my daughter and I are the pudding fans in my family. My husband and son do not like it which just means more for us girls!
  
  I needed a little pick me up with this gloomy weather and rice pudding was just the thing to do it!
  
  There have been a number of different variations of this recipe over the years, but this is the Betty Crocker recipe my mother made when I was a child.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2/3 cup uncooked white rice
  
  1 1/3 cup water
  
  2 eggs
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  2 cups milk
  
  1/2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1/2 cup raisins
  
  Cinnamon (or Nutmeg)
  
  Combine the rice and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered until all the water is absorbed. Around 20 minutes.
  
  While the rice is cooking start preparing the rest of the pudding.
  
  Whisk two eggs in an ungreased small casserole.
  
  Add the sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla and whisk together until combined.
  
  Add the rice and the raisins and stir well. Sadly I can never put in the full 1/2 cup raisins because I am the only one in my family that likes them.
  
  Sprinkle the top with cinnamon (the original recipe calls for Nutmeg, but I like Cinnamon better).
  
  Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour, stirring occasionally until a knife comes out clean.
  
  I prefer the pudding cold so I chill before eating. I also prefer it with whipped cream on top. Yum!
  
  I hope my childhood memories bring back some of yours as well 😊
  
  Posted in Baked Rice Pudding, Dessert | Tagged baked rice pudding, betty crocker rice pudding, food blog, food blogger, old fashioned rice pudding, Recipes, rice pudding, rice pudding recipe, stephanies slice of life
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