Tag Archives: heavy cream

Recipes - Desserts

Apple Caramel Pie

More apples! I am so definitely still in an “apple everything” frame of mind! It’s October, y’all, and there are beautiful Granny Smiths, Gala, Braeburn, and Fuji apples everywhere!  I say, and say again, “Bring them ON!”  Today’s  rich  apple pie recipe is from  a “Taste of Home” magazine’s special Fall baking issue, and it is just in time for our cooler October evenings.  You won’t go wrong investing time in preparing this one for your family.

To be honest, there is a good bit of prep work for this dish, but,  take it one step at a time and you’ll be removing this fragrant pie from the oven in no time. Today, I used both Granny Smith and Gala apples today because I had both on hand. I also used lemon juice instead of the lime juice called for in the recipe. Prepare the apples and toss them with the juice, spices, flour and sugar then get your pie crust made. You will need to follow the instructions and amounts given for the 2-crust pie as listed in the recipe; don’t skimp or you won’t have enough dough for both crusts. The butter in the dough makes for a deliciously tender crust for spiced apples piled high, topped with a second crust and drizzled with a rich caramel sauce.

Baker’s Tip:  Use a box grater and grate the butter for the crust; the photo above is one stick of butter grated; you’ll need one more stick.

Make the topping when the pie has finished baking and slowly pour it over the top crust then bake the pie a few minutes longer. I’m sure you’ve already decided to serve this one still warm, with individual scoops of country-style vanilla ice cream, and you are spot-on with that choice. Nothing’s better on a chilly Fall evening! Enjoy!

Apple Caramel Pie

Ingredients

6 cups sliced peeled tart apples
2 T. lemon or lime juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 t. salt
Pastry for a double crust 9” pie (see below)
2 T. butter, chopped

Topping Ingredients

2 T. butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 T. heavy cream
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, toss apples with juice. Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; add to apples and toss lightly. Set aside.

Prepare pie dough and line a 9” pie plate with bottom crust and trim even with edges; fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter. Place top crust over filling. Trim, seal, and flute edges, cut slits in top pastry. Brush the top crust with an egg wash (egg yolk and water, beaten).

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and apples are tender. Prepare topping by melting butter in a small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and cream; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add chopped pecans, and pour mixture over top crust; bake pie for 2-3 minutes longer or until bubbly. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note: Recipe ingredients for a double crust 9” pie: 2-1/2 cups flour, 1/2 t. salt, 1 cup cold butter, grated, and 2/3 cups ice water

Directions Combine flour and salt and stir to sift. Cut in the cold butter with your fingers, working fast. Add ice water and toss with a fork just until the dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. Separate into two discs, wrap each disc in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Chill your rolling pin also.

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Recipes - Desserts

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

This week is the first time I baked this delectable pie; I found the recipe on a cooking blog I enjoy and made a few adjustments to the recipe.  I added the word custard to the name of the dish because this isn’t a traditional lemon meringue pie; the filling is thicker than that recipe and there is no cornstarch or flour in the filling at all.  I also made a traditional meringue for the pie today because I was running low on time and the brown sugar meringue included with the original recipe required boiling brown sugar and water for 20 minutes and I didn’t have time for that.  I will definitely try that meringue next time I bake this, however; a traditional meringue is just fine but since the filling is already different, the brown sugar meringue would be terrific!

You have 3 steps to the finish line: roll out and bake your best pastry shell then make the filling and bake it in the shell.  At this point you can refrigerate the pie overnight then before serving, make the meringue and bake the pie again just until the meringue browns. That’s it and it’s a sweet finish line indeed! The sweet custard is nothing more than eggs, a little sugar, heavy cream and the fresh citrus juices and zest, a terrific combination!

I am including the directions for the brown sugar meringue but if you find yourself in a hurry as I did today, you can also make a quick meringue using egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and sugar. I apologize for not having a pic of the pie cut but things were too busy at the café today at lunch hour to stop for pics; I will do that tomorrow if the pie lasts.

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

Ingredients

1-deep dish 9” pie shell, baked

For the Custard:
5 eggs
10 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Zest from two lemons

For the Meringue:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 eggs)

Directions Bake your pastry shell first and allow it to cool. Turn the oven to 325.

TO MAKE THE CUSTARD: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, lime juice, lemon juice, heavy cream and zest together until well combined. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie shell and set the pie on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. To check the custard, gently jiggle the pie. Once the custard sets, it will shake as a firm unit; if underdone, waves of custard will shiver in the center. If the custard needs more time, continue cooking, checking every 5 minutes, until done. Remove the pie from the oven.

Cool the pie for 15 to 20 minutes before refrigerating. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

TO MAKE THE MERINGUE: Preheat the oven to its highest setting. In a small, heavy-bottomed pan, dissolve the brown sugar in the water. Cook the sugar over medium-high heat until it registers 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer; this will take about 20 minutes. In an electric stand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and carefully add the hot sugar to the egg whites, avoiding the rotating whisk. Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. With a flexible spatula, pile the meringue over the pie. Bake until the meringue turns golden on top, about 3 to 5 minutes. NOTE: Use the ingredients in the text above to make a traditional meringue using white sugar.

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Recipes - Entrees

Shrimp & Grits

This is one of my new favorites!  I tried this dish while on a “teacher trip” this summer; determined to re-create the dish, the first time I prepared it was at the Sharpes’ house in Florida in July.  Folks, if you are a shrimp lover, this dish rocks!

I will admit that this is a bit labor intensive so prepare it when you have plenty of time OR when you have someone to help you do the prep work.  Susie, prep help supreme, cut all the veggies for this and peeled the shrimp (YAY!).  When the prep work finishes, the cooking time is less than 30 minutes.

DO find and use the Andouille sausage when preparing the shrimp mixture as this spicy sausage from Louisiana’s Cajun cooking style provides the perfect punch to the dish. If you cannot find Andouille, use a highly seasoned bratwurst instead. Do also use the red pepper flakes for even more “hot”.  Not to worry, the creamy grits are a just-right complement for the spice of the shrimp and sausage mixture. All you possibly need to complete the meal is a leafy green salad or even a loaf of crusty French bread.

Get your shrimp and grits groove on today! You will not regret one minute of the kitchen time. This recipe easily serves 10-12 people. Four of us enjoyed two servings each in Florida with the bowl pictured above for the next day. Make a new pot of grits if having leftovers!  This is oh, so wonderful!

Shrimp & Grits

For the Grits

4 cups water
* 2 T. butter
* 6 small cloves garlic, minced (added from the shrimp pan)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 t. salt
1 cup uncooked grits (instant is fine)
2 cups Cheddar, shredded from the block

Directions: Keep the water warm on the stove in a pot with a heavy bottom so you can cook the grits quickly when the shrimp finishes cooking. When ready to serve, bring to a boil and add the cream. Stir in grits a little at a time; add the butter and sautéed garlic. Cook, 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the cheese. Turn off the heat and allow to thicken. Add cream if too thick.

For the Shrimp

1 T. Wesson oil
1 cup Andouille sausage, sliced thin
2 #’s medium fresh shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and tails snipped
2 more T. Wesson oil
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup celery, sliced thin
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded (or stewed tomatoes, 1 #10 can)
3 t. Cajun seasoning
1-1/2 cup chicken broth
1 T. butter
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper to taste
Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
Green onion, sliced, for garnish

Directions: Sauté 2 T. butter & 6 garlic cloves. Set aside for grits. Add oil to skillet and sauté sausage. Remove and set aside. Add 1/2 the shrimp and cook until pink. Remove to paper-towels and add the rest of the shrimp and cook til pink. Wipe skillet and add 1 T. oil and 1 T. butter. Stir in the 1 T. flour and cook 3-4 minutes until you have a dark roux. Cook 3-4 minutes on low. Add onion, green pepper, and celery and cook 3 minutes on med-high heat. Add the tomatoes and the Cajun season and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer all in skillet 10 minutes.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Summer Strawberry Shortcake

There’s no reason at all to keep buying the twinky-like prepared round disks of shortcake at the store when there is a recipe this simple which produces everybody at the table a biscuit-like serving of shortcake for that quintessential summer treat: strawberry shortcake with fresh berries and whipped cream. Oh, joy! Oh, summer! These biscuit-like shortcakes are the perfect foil for ripe strawberries and they will stand alone as well the next day with a spot of berry preserves I feel sure. I saw this recipe last week in our Southeast Missourian newspaper, just in time for the beginning of many strawberry treats of the summer. It is a versatile recipe as any berries can substituted for the strawberries here with equally great results.  Blackberry shortcake sounds fine to my ears actually!

The recipe is 2-in-1 really as the filling recipe is also included. I had oranges today so I did include orange zest in the filling but it would be fine without it or substituting lemon zest. Smash the berries a little with a heavy fork after you sugar them and set them on the counter, then the fridge. The berries macerated in the sugar and produced plenty of sweet juices for soaking up the shortcake. The results today were amazing!

The cream in the shortcake dough provides both the fat and the liquid needed so the biscuits have only 4 ingredients. What could be easier? You will have to work with the dough to decide the exact amount of cream to use. I began with 1 cup then mixed and then added a little more liquid until the dough stuck together when squeezed, probably 1-1/4 cups total cream. The dough needs little rolling, just quickly shaped into a rectangle and cut into 6 pieces.

One mistake I made today was not buying enough berries this morning. Do use the at least 2 lbs. of berries. Today, I ate two of these myself and saved one serving for mama tonight. The other three shortcakes went into a zip lock for use tomorrow when I can prepare more berries. I don’t believe the remaining three biscuits will be any the worse for it, and, guaranteed, there will be many summer smiles for those enjoying both nights!

Summer Strawberry Shortcake
Southeast Missourian June 7, 2015

For the shortcakes

2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 to 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Extra cream for brushing tops of biscuits
2 t. sugar

For the filling

1-1/2 lbs. strawberries, hulled and quartered, sliced smaller if large
1/-4 to 1-2 cup sugar
1 t. finely grated orange zest, optional
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Cool Whip, or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Directions Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour in enough cream to just form a dough. The dough will be shaggy and clumpy but moist. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times then use your hands to shape into a 6” x 3/4” rectangle. Cut into six equal servings. Place 2” apart on baking sheet; brush lightly with extra cream and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely then split horizontally and fill with sweetened berries. Close and add whipped cream or ice cream. Add sweetened berry juices over all.

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Recipes - Desserts

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding 4

Sticky Toffee Cake 2

Yay! Don’t you love chancing across a new recipe that you know you are going to use again and again? I can think of no good reason this cake has never crossed my radar before, but am completely happy about meeting this charmer at a recent Christmas dinner party. Away from the table when dessert arrived, I returned to a table grown silent, my dinner companions quietly chewing and making that promising “mmmhmm” sound. You know that sound. Someone spoke at last saying, “Just try it,” and when I did, I began making the “mmmhmm” sound too.

Despite the pudding tag in its title, this is definitely a cake. A dessert tradition from the British Isles, this dish is as hard to describe as it is identifying the ingredients while eating it. It is sweet, but not overly so. The texture is best described as toothsome and chewable in the very best sense. Without a speck of chocolate in it, the flavor eludes it, along with winter and warmth, each essence sourced to the coffee-soaked dates pureed then added to the batter. The dates are responsible for the dense texture and at first bite, gingerbread comes to mind, but this cake isn’t at all spiced so the gingerbread association is all about the texture of this dish.

If this concoction isn’t already the signature dessert of a famous eatery somewhere in the civilized world, it definitely deserves the honor. The recipe below I adapted after reading the history of the cake followed by looking through a dozen recipes for it online. I used hot coffee for soaking the dates, and used light brown sugar though next time I will try dark. Having all but two ingredients in my pantry meant only a quick trip to the market for dates and heavy cream, then preparing and enjoying it with mama at our traditional New Year’s Eve supper. Mama insisted she could only eat a very small piece so I served her a nice medium piece and she ate every bite of it without one word of further protest.

I checked the cake after 30 minutes as I used a different sized baking dish than in the recipe; I wanted something smaller than a 9×13 pan so the cake would be taller, so used an 8×11″ dish. If baked in a 9×13″ dish, the baking time will be much shorter so just watch it and don’t let the edges begin to brown. I took it out of the oven when a toothpick inserted came out streaked but not gooey, about 36 minutes on my timer. The sauce is delightful; serve it sparingly, drizzled over each serving. And do go whip the cream for this and sprinkle it with just a pinch of sea salt before serving as the salt is a great contrast to the whipped cream. You’ve already figured this out surely, but the cake keeps well, covered tightly, sitting on the counter. Hello, added bonus! The bottom photo here is of the cake on Day 2, with lunch, in better light.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Cake Ingredients

2-1/4 cups dried dates, coarsely chopped
2-1/4 cups scalding hot coffee
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T. dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Toffee Sauce Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup plus 2 T. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions Pit and roughly chop dates and place them in a heavy bowl; pour hot coffee over them and stir in the baking soda. Cover the bowl and set it aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350, and butter a 9×13-inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, if desired. I didn’t, and the cake turned out of the pan with no sticking at all.

Blend the date-coffee mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and sugars. Whisk in eggs, then salt. Stir in the flour, fold well, then add the prepared date puree and fold well again. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30. Cool on wire rack. If you used parchment paper, invert the cake onto a serving platter and remove parchment paper from bottom of cake; finish cooling on wire rack.

When your cake is ready for serving, make the sauce: you need a large sauce pot with a heavy bottom, at least 2-1/2 quart size because the mixture increases in volume as it cooks. Melt the butter in the pan, add cream, sugar and vanilla and bring mixture to a good simmer over medium heat. Whisk continually for 10 minutes until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat and allow to begin cooling. To serve, cut cake into squares and drizzle with toffee sauce, top with 2 tablespoons of unsweetened whipped cream with a pinch of sea salt added to the top of the cream. Serve when the cake is still slightly warm.

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