IceBox Strawberry Pie

America's Test Kitchen does it again! I've tried 2 of their recipes so far and been really impressed. This latest recipe was in a sample issue I received of Cook's Country. Imagine a pie that tastes somewhere in between a strawberry smoothie and jam and because it's chilled it's great for warmer weather. It uses 3 lbs of strawberries...

Serves 8

Filling:
2 lbs frozen strawberries (I froze my own)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp unflavored gelatin
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
1 (9") pie shell (I used deep dish) baked and cooled

1. Cook frozen berries in large saucepan over med-low heat till they start to release juice. Increase to med-high and cook till thick and jam-like (about 25 min). Mixture should measure EXACTLY 2 cups. Any more and your filling may be too loose.

2. Combine lemon juice, water and gelatin in a small bowl. Let stand until gelatin has softened and thickened (5 min). Stir this mixture into the cooked berry mix along with the sugar and salt. Return to simmer for 2 min. Transfer to bowl and cool to room temp (about 30 min)

3. Fold fresh berries into the filling. Spread evenly in your already baked pie shell and refrigerate till set (about 4 hours).

Basic Crepes

Today is Mardis Gras! Back in first grade French class this meant making crepes. We all received a photocopied handout with instructions in both English and French with crude drawings of eggs being beaten and batter being poured into a frying pan. Too bad I lost it, or I'd post it here. In my college years, my Swiss roommate brought her crepe pan with her and it became a staple food in our dorm room. That's when I started filling them with whatever was on hand, (pesto-cheese crepes being my favorite). Another version I grew up with has ham, mushrooms and cheese inside, with a bechamel poured over the crepes, which are then baked. And of course, don't forget Nutella!

Recipe from Quick and Delicious, Reader's Digest (Makes 12)
1 1/2 cups milk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/8 tsp salt

1. Whisk ingredients together
2. Heat skillet, pour and swirl/spread the batter to get a nice thin layer
3. Cook till underside is golden brown.
You can treat it like a pancake and cook both sides, but I've also been told you do NOT flip it.

Note: If you are stuffing the pancake, add the ingredients after the top looks almost cooked, fold the sides over the filling and continue cooking till the inside has time to heat up

Frozen Chocolate Banana Pops

I miss ice cream and I've gotten a little tired of coconut and soy based ice creams and sorbets, so I'm trying to be creative and find other ways to satisfy my cold sweet tooth, that don't involve dairy.

I don't think these need much explanation, but here's the basic recipe:

Bananas
Chocolate
Peanuts
Lollipop sticks

-Cut up your bananas into desired size, insert lollipop stick and freeze.
-Melt chocolate and dip/spread over banana. It's best to use a thin coating, otherwise the chocolate will just break off in chunks when you bite it. The chocolate will harden almost immediately, which is good because you won't need to find a way to prop it up while it sets, but you'll also have to work quickly.
-Sprinkle with peanuts.

Green Tea Mochi Cake with Red Beans

Matcha is a powerful and tasty finely-milled green tea used in tea ceremonies in Japan.
It boosts energy and metabolism, is an anti-oxidant, and is found in many ice creams, shakes, pastries, also mixed with salt to flavor tempura! (and of course Pocky)

Matcha is what I put into my cake used to celebrate a friend's birthday in New York.

Next time you're at your local Japanese grocery, pick up some Mochiko (gluten-free rice flour), Matcha, (usually in a small can), and some red (azuki) beans. (if you're lazy you can buy a can of sweetened paste, but I'm cheap and I already had some dry ones sitting in the cabinet.

So here we go:

• 16 oz Mochiko rice flour (or can substitute for any brand of glutinous rice flour)
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder

1. Cream the butter with sugar. It helps to melt the butter a little first.

2. Mix in the evaporated milk to the butter/sugar mixture.

3. Mix eggs into the mixture.

4. Mix in the rice flour, baking powder and vanilla.

5. Mix in the matcha green tea powder.

6. Mix in the red beans.

7. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan.


7. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees.

8. Let cake completely cool, allowing the mochi to set, before cutting and serving.

I decided to make my own red bean paste, so soak overnight, leave some beans whole for mixing into batter, reserve some for the paste, (just add sugar to taste)


I chose to put a layer of paste in the middle (after baking)



NEXT: FROSTING!!!!!
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 4 teaspoons matcha powder
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional, mix in some red beans, I did.

I smothered it with the frosting after cutting and brought half cut skewers for easy access in a dark drunken environment..

I wish it looked prettier, but it had to be portable. No time for nice presentation, but I'm sure you can make some serious art with this recipe!

Cranberry Apple Raisin Crisp

It's holiday season! This dessert looked so festive I had to snap a picture of it before I added the crumb topping. This is intensely tangy, so there's no fear of falling asleep after dinner.

Recipe from Food and Wine Herbs and Spices Cookbook: (serves 4)

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
5 1/2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 12oz pkg cranberries (about 3 cups)
2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp ground clove (I reduced this to a pinch)

1. Heat oven to 375. Combine oats, 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar. Add butter and rub into flour till small crumbs form.
2. In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Transfer to 8" square baking dish. Top with crumb mixture. Bake 45 min. Let cool at least 15 min before serving

Strawberry Meringue Stars

I've never made meringues before, so I'm pretty excited about these results. They're probably the prettiest looking edible items I've ever made. They definitely should be thought of more as candy than cookie, because they are blindingly sweet and are closer to marshmallow in consistency.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine:

3 egg whites
1 tsp white vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 of a 3oz package (3 Tbsp) strawberry flavor gelatin
6 oz bittersweet chocolate and/or white chocolate melted

1. Place egg whites in bowl, let stand for 30 min till room temperature. Line cookie sheet with parchment or foil, set aside
2. Preheat oven to 300. Add vinegar and salt to egg whites. Beat with electric mixer on high till soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar and dry gelatin, beating till stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Spoon mixture into pastry bag, fitted with large star tip. Pipe about 1 inch wide and tall onto cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
This is where I will add my 2 cents: Do ONE TRAY AT A TIME if possible. I burned my second tray which was below my first. Watch them closely, because you don't want them to brown! Turn off oven and let dry inside for another 15 minutes. I didn't listen to this part and some of them started collapsing, so keep them warm while they set.
4.Dip in melted chocolate, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*These get tough and chewy really quick, so eat within a day or two, and don't refrigerate!

Raspberry Bars

Here's another really easy dessert that doesn't use a lot of ingredients and is extremely quick to make:

(taken from Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes)

2 and 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
10 oz (3/4 cup) raspberry preserves (feel free to use any other flavor)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything except for the preserves in a bowl. Mix till well combined. Reserve 1 and 1/2 cups of the mixture and set it aside. Press the remaining mixture into a greased 8" square baking pan. Spread jam over pressed mixture, but stay away from the edges, or it tends to burn. Crumble the rest of the mixture over the preserves (this part takes the longest because the dough itself isn't very crumbly, so you'll have to pull it off into little pieces). Bake for 40-50 min until lightly browned. Cool and cut into bars.

Upside Down Pear Cake

There's nothing more "organic" than the gnarled, dimpled and slightly grotesque looking pears my parents brought back from their garden in VT. I pointed and laughed at them the first time I saw them. But they're sugar sweet and make great Upside-Down cake.

The pears were so unique looking my mom decided to paint them as well. Visit her website!

Lemon-Cream Sandwich Cookies

Yesterday was my friend's baby shower so I made these cookies to celebrate! Both the filling and cookie are lemon flavored:

Recipe from Bon Appetit magazine (Jan 2009)

Cookie:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt ( I used 1/4)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks

Filling:
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest
dash salt
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar

Cookies:
Boil lemon juice and zest in saucepan till reduced to 2 Tbsp. Let cool. Beat butter till fluffly, add sugar and mix well. Beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Add lemon juice. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Then add the dry to the wet mixture and blend. Cover and chill dough till firm, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1/3 dough to 3/8 thickness. Using 2 inch round cutter, cut out cookies. Bake 10-12 min. (I used a 1 inch round and made them thinner and ended up with almost 100, so you may need to adjust depending how many you want, and the size of your cutter). Repeat with remaining dough.

Filling:
Mash zest and salt into a paste. Add butter. Beat with electric mixer till fluffly. Add sugar in 4 batches, beating after each till blended.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temp before using).

Blueberry Pie

Instead of a traditional lattice, I decided to have some fun with my tiny cookie cutters. The pie shell and top layer were 2 different pre-made doughs, so unfortunately I over-baked the shell a bit.

I also had a bizarre incident when making the filling, which I've made plenty of times in the past. Some recipes tell you to use a "non-reactive" bowl or pan. I must have used a "reactive" pan because when cooking the sugar and blueberries, the sugar started to crystalize into these really hard white chunks and they wouldn't dissolve. I ended up sieving them out and losing a few blueberries in the process.

This filling recipe is from my pastry course packet, by Nick Malgieri. What's great about this particular method is that you end up with 2 different textures in the fruit: A super soft, well-cooked portion, which is used to develop the syrup and a firmer batch, which is added right before baking.

Filling:
2 pints blueberries (measure out 1 cup for cooking)
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I prefer 1/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg beaten (for the wash on top)

Preheat oven to 375

Combine 1 cup of blueberries with the sugar in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stir till sugar is melted and the mixture is very liquid (5 min). In a separate bowl, mix the water and cornstarch and whisk into blueberry/sugar mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly till it boils, thickens and "becomes clear" (loses the murkiness). Pour into a large bowl and stir in the seasonings and lastly the blueberries.

Pour into pie shell. Cover with lattice or top crust, brush with egg wash. Optional: Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 40 min.

Coconut Macaroons

Sometimes the best recipes are found on the back of the ingredients:

1 pkg (7oz) sweetened coconut flakes
3 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the egg whites and almond extract until well blended. Drop by the tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

Melt 4 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate and dip cookies halfway. Let stand at room temperature or refrigerate on wax paper-lined tray for 30 min.

Blackberry Ice Cream

I think the next time I make this, I'll alter the recipe slightly. I would try cutting the sugar down by half, because it's a little too sweet and overpowers the taste of the fruit. You might also want to double this recipe if you intend to feed more than 2-3 people (the recipe says it feeds 8, but unless everyone's getting a tiny single scoop I don't see how that's possible).

Strawberry Tart

The Institute of Culinary Education offers some great courses, like the 3 session class on pastry which I took a few years back. We learned the basics of flaky pastry dough, sweet dough and pastry cream and used them to make everything from open faced tarts, eclairs, cream puffs, to covered pies. The following recipe is taken from my course packet (written by Nick Malgieri):

Sweet Dough
1 cup flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) of cold unsalted butter
1 large egg

Combine dry ingredients. Cut butter into 1 Tbsp pieces and add to dry ingredients. Using your hands, rub the butter into the flour mix until it resembles a course ground meal and no large pieces of butter are visible. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and pour over flour/butter mixture. Stir until the dough begins to hold together, but appears dry. Scatter flour on to a work surface and scrape dough on it. Knead 3-4 times till smooth. Press into disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough and press into tart pan. Bake at 350 for 20 min.

Pastry Cream (Creme Patissierre)
1 cup whole milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
6 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
2 yolks
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the milk. Combine remaining milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat.
Beat the whole eggs into the cornstarch mixture. Then beat in the yolks. Pour 1/3 of the boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
Return the remaining milk to a boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly.
Continue whisking till cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in butter and vanilla.
Pour into a stainless steel bowl or pan and press plastic wrap directly on the surface (so a skin doesn't form). Chill immediately.

When the pastry cream is chilled, spread it evenly inside the cooled pastry shell. Top with whatever fruit you want. I added a glaze of raspberry jam mixed with a bit of water, which I heated briefly and brushed on top. Chill till ready to serve.

Blueberry Buckle (coffee cake)

(Recipe from Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes, an awesome book with simple recipes which I picked up at a book fair for $7)

Cake:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I reduced it from 1/2)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375.
For the cake, combine all ingredients except blueberries untill well mixed. Fold blueberries into the batter. Spread into greased and floured 9" sq baking pan. (It will barely look like enough to cover the bottom).
For the topping, mix all the dry ingredients. Cut in butter till crumbly, sprinkle over batter.
Bake for 30-35 min.

Killer Brown Sugar Cookies

Anyone who adds the words "killer" in front of their recipe better live up to those expectations. This one definitely did. I was baking them to bring into work, but I think I ate almost a 1/4 of them before forcing myself to pack them away. It just might be my new favorite cookie.

Note on the recipe: I couldn't find rum extract, so I just used good ol' rum instead.

Pineapple Orange Sorbet

Since the weather's finally getting warmer, I sort of skipped spring and went straight for a summer dessert. I was going to try making an orange cake, but never got around to it. I still had all this fruit lying around, so I scoured the internet for what looked like the best sorbet recipe and stumbled across this one, on allrecipes.com. I LOVE freshly squeezed orange juice, so it was really difficult not to drink the 2 cups worth the recipe asks for. The final product was a little bit sweeter than I'd like it, but since it's hard to judge the tartness of your fruit, I'd recommend sticking with the recipe.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is mostly based on the oatmeal raisin cookie, from the book The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread. Instead of raisins, I added chunks of caramel and dried apples. The original recipe by this name came from Cooking Light magazine. Unfortunately, it was a "healthy" cookie, and the dough was way too crumbly because it lacked enough butter to hold it together. So here's the full delicious fatty version:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup chopped dried apples

1/2 cup chopped soft caramel (roughly 16 candies)

1 cup butter (room temp)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

Chop up the caramel. If you’re able to find caramel bits in your supermarket, lucky you, otherwise, I recommend a knife you don’t mind ruining and start chopping! Chop up your apples when you’re done.

Preheat oven to 350. Line your cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment paper, otherwise the caramel is going to make it extremely difficult to remove.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon in one bowl

Beat the egg and vanilla in another bowl

Mix the oatmeal, apples and caramel in yet another bowl

Cream the butter and sugars. Add egg mixture, then the flour mixture in stages. And lastly the oat mixture.

Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes

Pineapple Tarts

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year! While I know there will be plenty of food at the dinner my parents have planned, I decided to make pineapple tarts, a traditional Singaporean cookie. Their appearance varies, but I've always found the prettiest ones are the ones with a lattice on top and crimped edges. I had hoped to do that with mine, but the dough was too crumbly.

Here's the recipe. You'll notice she makes the other variety, which is completely enclosed in the crust. The recipe says it yields 25 cookies, but I managed to get 70 out of it, using the same quantities. My only variations were using crushed canned pineapple (versus rings, which need to be put through a food processor or blender). And I didn't add cornstarch to the pineapple.

Tips:
This recipe take a while, so make sure you have time to kill!

Use a heavy bottom pan to cook the pineapple, or it will start to burn. You will need to cook it for at least 20 minutes to get it to a nice golden color and have the sugar start to caramelize.

The dough is similar to a pate brisee or flaky pastry dough (you can actually substitute if with those recipes if you prefer), which mean you shouldn't over mix it or over-handle it, or you'll lose the flaky quality. Form a ball to roll when it's just barely mixed and still crumbly.

One item I always use when baking on cookie sheets is Silpat. It's a non-stick surface, but the mesh inside also helps keep heat evenly distritubed. It's a little pricey, but worth it.

KIWI sorbet

This recipe requires no ice-cream maker!, just a blender;)

OK so you're gonna need
1 cup sugar
10 kiwis
2 lemons
optional: corn syrup

Dissolve sugar in cup of water in saucepan

Zest lemon, (about 1 tsp worth), then roll lemon and squeeze that juice in there (the blender)... add your roughly chopped kiwi (or any other fruit for that matter) to the blender. pour your syrup guy in the blender and whirl!!!!

OK then put in freezer (in a metal bowl or something) for an hour. It's gonna turn rock hard, so you you gotta put it back into the blender (to get more air in there) and let chill again for another 2 hours b4 serving.

secret: adding a small amount of fine vodka will keep it scoopable for months, some people add corn syrup to prevent rock hard frozen sorbet, but hey, good vodka doesnt freeze and you wont get drunk, heh it's just a good anti-freezing agent. Probably healthier than corn syrup, no?

Super Fast Apple Cake/Cobbler

I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe from, but I've had it typed out on a crumpled piece of paper since college. It's really easy to make, especially if you need a last-minute dessert . It's closer to a cobbler, than cake, because the batter mostly stays on top, forming a biscuit-like crust. This isn't an overly sweet dessert, so add vanilla ice cream if you need the extra sugar rush. It ain't pretty looking, but your stomach won't care.

Recipe:
3 apples, peeled/cored and thickly sliced, sprinkled with lemon juice (I used 4 today, but if you prefer an even ratio of fruit and batter, use 3)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
8 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten














Preheat oven to350. Arrange apples in 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Melt butter and mix with flour, sugar (except 2 Tbsp) and egg. Spread over apples. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes.