Cherry Coconut Pudding

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Annie and I were having Shepherd's Pie for dinner and were going to watch the new Upstairs Downstairs while eating it, and it seemed to me that a British sort of dessert would be nice to go with it. To me the quintessential British dessert is pudding. This is not from a cookbook or anything, but I don't think British women need official recipes for their puddings.


2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
3 Tbs melted butter
1/2 cup coconut (I used Baker's, not desiccated)
1/3 tsp vanilla
handful of dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Generously butter an 7 inch souffle dish, or something of that nature.
Start putting the ingredients (except for the cherries) into a mixing bowl, stirring with a fork with each addition.
Pour into the buttered dish, and then gently drop the cherries one at a time over the top.
Bake for about 50 minutes.
Eat while still warm, as it's really tasty then. But it's very good later also.

Shredded Brussel Sprouts

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Have you ever felt like you were the last person in the world to discover something. Well that's what it feels like with shredded Brussel sprouts. In early December I was visiting with friends in Seattle, and Lynn told me about sauteing shredded Brussel sprouts. I listen, but not so well as to memorize the recipe. Then for Christmas dinner I bought a bunch of Brussel sprouts, thinking I'll try to remember what Lynn said. What I did turned out to be a really big hit. This is among absolute die-hard Brussel spout haters! I've since discovered that you can add all kinds of things with shredded Brussel sprouts.

Brussel sprouts

butter or olive oil, or a combination of the two.

pancetta or ham or bacon, diced up

some minced onion

salt and pepper

a bit of sugar (optional)

maybe some balsamic vinegar, or maybe some other kind (optional)

nuts of your choice (optional)

You can shred the Brussel sprouts in the food processor, or do it by hand. I prefer the hand method. Saute the onions, then add the meat and saute to cook. Then add the Brussel sprouts. They don't take long to cook. Stir them a bunch. Add the seasons you like and cook just a bit and taste to see what you think. Actually, everything but the Brussel sprouts is optional. Well you need butter or oil too.

Chocolate Armagnac Pecan Pie

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Pie Crust:
1 cup unbleached flour
1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 tsp salt
3/4 stick butter, cold and cut into small chunks

1 Tbl shortening (this helps keep the crust consistent)
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
chopped up

3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Armagnac
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Crust: combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and shortening and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle on the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Use your hand to press the whole thing together when done. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flatten to a disc, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Cover the disc of dough with flour and roll out on a piece of waxed paper into a circle. It will be a little bigger that the waxed paper. Using the waxed paper, flip the dough over and into a 9-inch pie plate. Carefully press the dough into the plate so it fits tightly and tuck under the excess dough and crimp the edges.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling: melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, remove from heat and let cool. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy and then blend in the sugar. Stir in the corn syrup, vanilla, bourbon, salt, and the melted butter mixture until well blended.

Arrange the pecans on the pie crust and carefully pour the egg mixture over them.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until the filling is set and rather puffy.

Cool the pie completely.

Serve with whipped cream:

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

a splash of vanilla

Combine and whip with an electric mixer until firm, but not butter.

Rum Raisin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup golden raisins

2 Tbls rum

1 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup organic raw sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbls wheat germ (or a little more if you like)

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup chocolate chips (more if you like)

Put the raisins to soak in the rum.

Preheat oven to 370 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar

Mix in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour and salt and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture.

Add the raisins and the rum, then the chips and nuts, and finally the oatmeal.

Mix well.

Bake for about 8 minutes. Your oven will influence the baking time.

They want to be lightly golden brown.

Cool and a baking rack, and store.

Moist and yummy chocolate cake

This is really a yummy moist cake, and it's great for when you need a cake but don't want to spend too much time making it because you have other things to do. It stays moist for days if covered. And it can be eaten by just holding a piece in your hand.

2 cups flour (9 ounces)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa (preferably Drost or Hershey's Special Dark)
1 tsp baking soda
1/s tsp salt

1/3 cup cooking oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cups cold water
1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease and flour a bundt pan, not too big will do, but bigger is okay.
Combine the dry ingredients in a big bowl.
Add the wet ingredients and stir well, but don't stir to death or the baking soda will be spent.
Pour into the prepared pan. It should not fill more than 3/4 of the pan. If it does you will have cake overflowing its pan.
Bake until the cake springs back to the touch and a pick comes out clean.

This cake is very moist so you must make sure it is done enough.
I'd start the timer at about 50 minutes. This is probably not long enough, but you need to sneak up on it. Let cool for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate.

German Chocolate Cake

My youngest daughter has asked for a German chocolate cake for her birthday - she'll be thirty. I am quite excited for the opportunity to make one, as I've never made one before. So here's a recipe I've found, and I'm going for it.

Prepare three 9" cake tins lined with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 350.

4 oz German's Sweet Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water

8 oz butter
15 oz of superfine sugar

4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

10 oz cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Melt the chocolate gently in boiling water.
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg yolks, vanilla, and chocolate.
Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, then fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour into the three 9" pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Frost only the tops of the layers with the traditional German chocolate cake coconut pecan frosting, leaving the sides unfrosted.

coconut pecan filling and frosting:

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecan nuts

Combine all ingredients except coconut and pecans in a saucepan.
Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 12 minutes. When the mixture thickens, remove from heat.
Stir in the coconut and pecans.
Cool until the mixture is spreadable.

Or should I use this classic old recipe from the inside of the chocolate package.

GERMAN Sweet Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER'S GERMAN'S Sweet Chocolate
1/3 cup boiling water
2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1-1/3 cups Sugar
3 Eggs, separated
3/4 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 cup Buttermilk

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

4 Egg yolks
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1-1/2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
1 pkg. (7 oz.) BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut (about 2-2/3 cups)
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

BEAT egg yolks, milk and vanilla in large saucepan with wire whisk until well blended. Add sugar and butter; cook on medium heat 12 min. or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
ADD coconut and pecans; mix well. Cool to room temperature and of desired spreading consistency.
USE to frost your favorite cake or cupcake recipe.

Creamy Fetta Vinaigrette

1/4 olive oil

1/4 rice wine vinegar

1/4 water

juice of 1/2 lime

heaping Tbl sugar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

pinch salt

dash pepper

some Sunny Paris (Penzeys) , if you have some, or some herbe de Provence

1 clove garlic

a little piece of red onion or a piece of green onion

about an inch square hunk of fetta

Put it all in the blender and process on liquify until liquified.

Sunny Paris: shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf

Tyler Florence's Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Cointreau Carrots

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This is not exactly Tyler's recipe. I like the cake, but his cream cheese frosting was more cream cheese than I can handle. The only reason I make carrot cakes is because my mother really likes them. And I actually don't like cream cheese frosting. But for those who would like to know what Tyler's cake is like, here's the link. I'm making this for my mother's 90th birthday cake.

1 1/2 cups finely minced carrots (7 ounces)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (3 ounces)
2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, (12 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
A pinch of kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup molasses
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a jelly roll pan and line with parchment. Set aside.
Take the carrots and chop into large pieces, then mince in a food processor until you have a fine texture. Drain pineapple and finely chop walnuts. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices together. In a separate bowl mix buttermilk, molasses, eggs, vegetable oil and dark brown sugar together.
Now combine wet and dry ingredients together to make a batter then fold in the carrots, pineapple and walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cake is set and springs back when gently pressed in the middle. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool on a rack while you prepare the frosting and cointreau carrots (recipes below). Once the cake has cooled, cut into three rectangles by cutting the cake lengthwise twice. Stack the cake up into three tiers with cream cheese frosting in between each layer. Frost the outside of the entire finished cake - smoothing off the edges and corners (an offset spatula works well). Top with Cointreau carrot rounds and drizzle a little of the syrup on top as well.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Using a kitchen mixer, combine cream cheese and butter until blended and you have a smooth, light texture. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and powdered sugar and beat until combined. Continue to beat until smooth and glossy - about 7 minutes.

Cointreau Carrots:

1 medium carrot
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup Cointreau
pinch of salt

Slice carrot up into rounds. Add carrot, butter, sugar, cointreau and salt to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce until syrupy - about 5 minutes.

Now when it came time to make the cake for the birthday I found I needed more than expected, and so I decided to go with making three bundt cakes. So this batter went very nicely into a large bundt pan, and I made the cream cheese icing, and this is what I got.

Note to self: Don't grease a bundt pan with olive oil, use shortening!

Molly's Egg Cream

For years I have wondered what an egg cream was. I first heard about egg creams on Sesame Street. It was made at Mr Hooper's Store. But for the longest time the recipe had eluded me. Then just the other day daughter #2 was reading a Jewish Deli cookbook and low and behold there was the recipe. Well it turns out that I have been making "egg creams" for years. The thing is, I called it my Italian soda.

a nice big glass, half-filled with crushed ice

1 - 2 tablespoon chocolate syrup, like Monin or Torani or Da Vinci (or any flavor you like, I like chocolate!)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup Pellegrino or Perrier or soda water

Put the ice into the glass. Add the chocolate syrup (or any flavor of syrup you like, there's a whole passel of them). Then add the milk and give it a good stir. Finally add the soda water and give it a gentle stir. Add a straw and you're good to go.

Chantilly Chocolate Tart

This is a really yummy tart, and when I make it everyone eats it right up and I hardly get any. I think I should also make a little one and hide it, just for myself.

crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbls butter
1 1/2 Tbls shortening
2 Tbls iced water

In a sturdy mixing bowl or in a food processor combine the flour and salt.
Cut in the butter and shortening until it looks like coarse cornmeal,
Blend in the ice water thuroughly but not to the point of looking doughy. It should still look like flour.
If using the food processor, dump the mixture into a bowl.
Smush the dough to for a solid mass.
Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, flatten to a disc, and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out the dough and place in a 8 or 9 inch tart dish.
Tuck in the extra bits, leaving a bit sticking up above the dish, and crimp.
The reason for leaving the dough a bit above the dish is because when you blind bake the shell it will shrink a bit.
Bake for about 13-15 minutes, till gently browned.
Let cool.

Filling:
50 grams of bittersweet chocolate (this is not an exact science, a little more or a little less is okay)
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornflour
pinch of salt
1 2/3 cups milk, any kind you like (rich milk is nice)
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan (copper is great) combine the sugar, cornflour, and salt and give it a good stir to combine.
Chop up the chocolate and add to pan.
Stir in the milk and cook on medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring all the while, as you don't want the milk to be stuck on the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and use a bit of the mixture to temper the egg yolks.
Return to heat and quickly stir in the yolks and bring back to a boil. This should take no time at all.
Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla and pour into the prebaked tart shell.

Instead of vanilla one could stir in a bit of brandy or cointreau or ......
Let cool down a bit, and then chill in fridge. You can cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper if you like.

To serve:

Whip up 1 cup whipping cream and 1 Tbls sugar until a lovely stiffness, but not butter.
Stir in a little vanilla, and then spread cream over the cooled tart.

Lemon Lime Tart

I came up with this one for Riley's birthday, and it has been a really big hit. It is so so easy to make.




1 disc of pastry, about 6 ounces
7 inch (18 cm) tart pan, or whatever you have that will work, as this is not a large tart. I have these wonderful British fluted loose bottomed metal tart pans that I think are made by a company called Master Class.

2 eggs
2/3 sugar
pinch of salt
3 Tbl cream
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 lime, zested and juiced

1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out the pastry thinly on waxed paper, and place carefully into the tart pan.
Combine eggs, sugar, cream, juices, and zests, mixing well, and pour into the shell.
Bake for about 22 minutes.
Cool.

Mix the cream and sugar and whip with electric mixer until stiff. Add the vanilla.
Put the whipped cream onto the cooled lemon tart.
The whipped cream is optional. Instead you could leave plain or dust with icing sugar.

I made two for Easter dinner, and when dinner was over I was able to perfectly combine the left-overs. The one with whipped cream was the most popular.

Shrimp Dip

Riley LOVES shrimp dip. Today I made him some for the Super Bowl Party we had at Heidi's house with Christian. It really turned out pretty darn good, so I making note of it.

8 ounces cream cheese, sort of room temperature
6 ounces of baby shrimp, fresh not canned
2 Tbls milk
1 tsp Sunny Paris (a herb mix from Penzeys consisting of shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf), if you can't get this, improvise.
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Tabasco green pepper sauce, or more if you like
juice of 1/2 lemon

Put the cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl, and whip with electric mixer until well mixed.
Add the milk and beat it in.
Add the shrimp and beat until smooth. At first you think they won't break down, but they do.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Serve with anything you like to dip into it.