Fallen Souffle

As most of you know, Evan and I gave up chocolate for Lent so I have had to find creative alternatives to feed my ever aching sweet tooth. I have made lemon bars, ginger cookies and biscotti all without my favorite flavoring. One thing I had a huge hankering for last night was cheesecake. Though seeing as it was 8pm and I had to get up at dawn to go into work, a traditional New York Style or creamy Italian Ricotta cheesecake would not work. The required chill time would mean my cake would be ready by breakfast and I needed to feed my craving that night!

So I remembered a Cream Cheese Tart that I had seen Paula Deen make which I made for an office party. What I forgot about was how easy these little treats were to throw together. As luck would have it,I had all of the ingrediants in the house…I love when that happens! These mini cakes (Evan was shocked at how small they were- portion control my love!) can be made during a commercial break and will be totally baked and cooled by the end of American Idol. They are perfect for a pot luck or dinner party because you can double and triple the recipe easily. I halved the original recipe since I would be the only one eating these gems. But they are perfect for any last minute creamy craving.

Mini Cream Cheese Tarts
adapted from Paula Deen
makes 6 tarts

1 block of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of extract (Paula uses vanilla but I put almond in)
6 vanilla wafers
topping of choice*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with liners and drop one wafer, flat side down, into the liner.

2. Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and extract and mix until smooth. Spoon into muffin tin.

3. Bake about 20 minutes until center of each tart is set. Add topping of choice and allow to cool completely in the fridge.

*Paula used cherry pie filling to top her tarts but I used cherry preserves, though you could use an jam, preserve, pie filling or just eat plain!

PS- Evan posted his account of our London trip as well as our pictures here. Also surf around his site for information on making the perfect meatball (he makes the best meatballs- one of the reasons I married him!) as well as other little known news facts. Happy 100th post baby!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

It’s 9am. A blurry eyed man wakes from his long slumber. Shuffling his feet and attempting to not trip over 2 anxious dogs, he makes his way to the kitchen to let them out. While looking around he spots what looks to be a mirage. Could it be! Did my loving wife leave me the largest grilled cheese ever!? She is such a dear, she took one small square and left the rest for me to enjoy. What a wonderful way to start my day!

As he cuts himself a slice and opens wide in anticipation of this cheesy goodness he is somewhat surprised at what he has just put in his mouth. It’s quite tangy…a bit tart…this is not cheese! As he puckers his lips he realizes he has not just tastes a delectable cheese sandwich but in fact a citrus bar…lemon to be exact.

This is a reenactment of what Evan told me he encountered this morning. I had a craving for lemon bars last night and whipped up a batch but I had to chill them before cutting into them. Unfortunately I fell asleep too early to enjoy them so I tried one for breakfast and left the rest on the counter until I got home. Somehow the remaining uncut bars resembled a grilled cheese sandwich, in Evan’s head atleast. I can only imagine his face when he bit into them. I think they are quite nice but I think he was too shocked to appreciate them.

I revamped a recipe for lemon bars which made a whole 9×13 pan. Since my cravings are often short lived I wanted to make a smaller batch, and I was told by some of my fellow bakery workers that an addition of orange helps to balance the flavors. They were right, just a nice bit of zing! I made these in an 8×8 pan but I think the crust was a bit thick so I think a 9×9 pan would work better, plus you get bigger bars!

Try this out on a nice summer day (as it felt like in NC with 80 degree weather!) or when you are craving something a little tart.

Citrus Bars
Crust:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup lemon juice (or do a combination of lemon and fresh orange juice)
pinch of salt
zest from one lemon or orange

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 inch pan (not as necessary as the crust has a ton of butter in it. Mine just popped out without greasing)

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup flour and confectioners’ sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder, salt and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice and zest. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.

4. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Top with more confectioners sugar if desired.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I have recently come to the point where I am no longer excited to eat out. I don’t know if I feel guilty about spending the money on something I know I could prepare, or if I am just bored with the restaurants around here. Nonetheless, for our Valentine’s dinner this year it was my turn to be creative. Evan and I take turns coming up with plans for Valentine’s Day. We are not much into gift giving for V-Day, so we usually have a nice dinner and go see a movie or something. Last year we saw an IMAX movie about African lions (I know- not so romantic- but very “us”) and he took me to a great Italian restaurant downtown.

Evan is not a fussy person when it comes to food, he is quite content with a nice steak and baked potato so that’s exactly what I made. I went all out and got the best steaks, fresh crusty bread and some of his favorite beer. The one caveat was that he had to grill the steaks, I have never grilled a steak because Evan does them so well each time and I was not about to experiment on such a pricey cut of meat. I sauteed some fresh spinach for myself and poured a nice glass of red wine and we were set. A quite, romantic dinner for two.

To top off the night I made my first creme brulees. I received a small kitchen torch for Christmas and bought cute dishes at Target so I had to try it out. I could not find a recipe for white chocolate creme brulees so I kinda made it up. I also only wanted to make two of them so I also had to scale down the recipe. They were really delicious and so easy to make! I defiantly want to experiment more with this creamy, dreamy desserts.

Jen’s White Chocolate Creme Brulee for Two
1 cup whipping or heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
extra sugar for dusting tops
hot water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a medium size glass bowl, whisk egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of sugar together. In a small saucepan, heat cream over medium high heat until small bubbles form around edges. Add chocolate and stir until melted.

3. Slowly add hot cream mixture to eggs mixture, stirring constantly until well blended. Fill two ramekins with the mixture and set ramekins in a baking dish. Fill baking dish with hot water until water comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

4. Bake 30-40 minutes until the edges are set but the centers are still wiggly. Remove ramekins form the water and allow to cool in the fridge for about 2 hours.

5. After chilling, remove from fridge and apply a thin and even layer of sugar to the top of the dishes. Heat with a torch or under the broiler until golden brown.

6. Serve immediately!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Chocolate = Love, in our house. The more chocolate the better. Neither my husband or I will ever turn away from chocolate. So when I was to come up with a seductive dessert for Sugar High Friday #16 I knew it had to include this amazing, decadent ingredient.

I was planning on making an elaborate chocolate torte with a silky ganache coating, but alas the bakery has taken my energy this week so I decided on something a bit less labor intensive. In fact this dessert took less time to make then clean up! It can be made in a matter of minutes. No, I’m not kidding. And the ingredients are probably already in your pantry or fridge, so your special someone can feel extra special at any time of the week.

I would describe this dessert as a stiffer mousse, it is silky and creamy but takes a minute to completely melt in your mouth. You must try it, I promise it will make you melt!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Decadent Chocolate Cups
from Rachael Ray

2/3 cup whole milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur or dark rum

whipped cream cream

1. Heat milk in a small pan over moderate heat until it comes to a boil.

2. In blender or food processor combine egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, semisweet chips, and liqueur. Run processor or turn on blender to low setting. Pour in boiling milk in a slow stream. The hot milk will cook egg and melt chocolate. Process or blend 1 minute, until smooth.

3. Spoon chocolate into 4 demitasse cups and chill. Top the chocolate cups with a dollop of cream and garnish each cup with mint sprigs or strawberries.

4. Place cups on saucers and serve with demitasse spoons. If you use teacups, this recipe will yield 2 cups, rather than 4. (make 4 cups from this recipe, it is so rich!)

Tagged with SHF #16

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I know what you are thinking…Jen, you posted a picture of an empty plate. Yes, I know but this is the sign of a truly great dessert

I stumbled upon this recipe over the summer and it originally called for lemon yogurt but it could not be found in the grocery store when I had my intense craving so I went for the next best thing…key lime. We are trying to not eat as much crap since we did a lot of eating last week, but I can’t give up my desserts so this recipe is perfect. It has the creamy consistency of regular cheesecake and the lime adds a wonderful crispness. This can be whipped up in no time with a store bought crust (which is what I did) but you could certainly make your own. Something I discovered, I baked mine for about 55 minutes then turned off the oven and let it sit there with the oven door cracked for another hour or so, which allowed it to firm up nicely. Then I refridgerated it overnight.

This is a great base recipe for other flavorings, basically the only limit is the number of yogurt flavors. I think next time I will try black cherry yogurt…oh yum!

Low-Fat Key Lime Cheesecake

1 (9 inch) reduced fat graham cracker pie crust
2 (8 ounce) packages reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 (8 ounce) container nonfat lime yogurt (or any flavor of your choice)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in flour. Beat in lemon juice and egg substitute. Stir in yogurt. Pour into crust.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Allow to cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I have been quite uninspired to cook the last few days as Evan has been out of town since Friday. This is the longest we have been apart in a long time and I miss him Nonetheless I have to eat but no one says I have to eat healthy! I had a hankering for these sandwiches after seeing the new Food Network show “Ham on the Street.” I really like this show! He made a chocolate breakfast sandwich so I decided to put a spin on mine and make them with Nutella (the hubby’s favorite) and cherry preserves. I love chocolate and cherries together (but not those gross chocolate covered cherries- yuck!) so this was a great combo.

There isn’t really a recipe, just pretend you are making grilled cheese except slather on a good amount of Nutella and your favorite preserves. Make sure to use a good crusty bread. I actually had to go out and buy a baguette since we don’t make them at the bakery…first time in months I have bought a loaf of bread!

I don’t know if I could eat this for breakfast- I am not a fan of sweets in the morning, but this makes an awesome snack and even better dessert!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I have been cooking up this recipe in my head for about a week now. We were experimenting with apple pies at the bakery, adding different things to the filling and making different toppings. We finally decided on one but I thought it could be better. So I finally had a day off to try it. It’s a simple apple pie but with whole cranberries added to the filling and a brown sugar streusel topping. We tried dried cranberries at the bakery but they were too gummy. Our final product had walnuts in the topping but no one in my family is too crazy about nuts so I added rolled oats instead.

I tried to make the crust from scratch, I don’t know why but I get so nervous about pie crusts. I don’t know if it’s the recipes I am using or I just don’t know the technique but they never turn out. The one today seemed too crumbly. I am afraid to roll it out, I know it will just fall apart. So I resorted to the refridgerated ones that you just roll out into your pan, they seem ok to me, but I really want to perfect a home made crust. Pass along any tips or recipes for a fail proof pie crust!

Anywho, this pie turned out great regardless of my crappy crust attempts. The topping hardened just right, almost like having a double crust. The tartness of the granny smith apples and the fresh cranberries was just right. And this is a perfectly festive pie for the holidays, now I just have to decide whether to make it for the in-laws house or the parent’s house!

Jen’s Holiday Apple Cranberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 small, peeled and wedged granny smith apples
6 ounces (half a bag) of fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
1- 9 inch pie crust unbaked

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In large bowl combine dry ingredients, then add apples and cranberries, tossing to coat. Pour into the prepared pie crust and top with streusel (see recipe below).

2. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake for 50-55 minutes until the filling begins to bubble and the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes to allow juices to thicken before slicing.

Brown Sugar Streusel
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashion rolled oats
5 tablespoons of chilled butter cut into cubes

Combine all ingredients with a pastry blender or with your fingers until a coarse consistency is obtained.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

How could I forget the desserts! The best part about Thanksgiving, the reason you wake up from that long turkey induced nap…desserts!

I brought cookies, Coconut Cookies and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies. I was informed today that the Cranberry Oatmeal cookies are long gone…I think those were the winner this year. Mom had already finished her desserts by the time we got to VA on Wednesday. She had made our family famous Five Flavor Pound cake the previous weekend and she had just pulled the Pumpkin Cheesecake out of the oven when we arrived. We have made pumpkin cheesecake in the past…but this year Mom lightened it up. It is so good, you don’t even miss all of the bad stuff and I don’t feel guilty about eating a huge hunk of it! Mom said to make sure everything is all room temperature and use a hand or stand mixture to ensure an even and smooth consistency.

Guiltless Pumpkin Cheesecake
Crust:
1-1/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tbs. melted butter

Filling:
2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 (8 oz.) packages light cream cheese, softened
1-3/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups nonfat evaporated milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Make crust: combine graham cracker crumbs, pecans and butter in a bowl and mix well. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Place crust in freezer while preparing filling.

3. To make filling: In a medium bowl, beat yogurt and cream cheese until creamy. In a separate bowl, combine remaining filling ingredients and beat until creamy. Stir into cream cheese mixture and beat until well mixed and creamy.

4. Pour filling into crust and bake for 2 hours or until middle slightly jiggles when tapped. Cool in refrigerator at least 4 hours (overnight is better) before serving. Garnish with whipped topping or cinnamon if desired. Makes 16 servings

Per serving: 192 calories, 8 gm. fat, 1 gram fiber (4 points) ENJOY!

From December 2005 Issue of Healthy Cooking:

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yesterday was a Brownie Sundae day…you know when you are just in that mood and all you want it a nice fudgy brownie supporting some yummy, creamy ice cream and fluffy whipped cream. Who knows why I was in such a mood, just having one of those days where my hormones were out of wack. But this dessert helped my disposition a bit. It’s easy to throw together, requires only one bowl and it’s cheap to make. Taken from one of my new favorite Food TV stars, Dave Leiberman.

Easy Chocolate Brownies
12 tablespoons of melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons of water
1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
(I threw in half a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips just for good measure, could also chop up some candy bars to fold in)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease a 9×13 inch cake pan. Beat butter and sugar together until just blended. Add eggs one at a time, stir in vanilla and water. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients until just blended. Fold in any chocolate additions.

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes until the center is set and the edges look crusty. Cool a bit before you dig in

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

So I actually made all of this on Thursday morning. I don’t know what got into me, I started at about 9am and ended around 11:30am, I then realized that I was still in my PJ’s and Evan was going to be home for lunch at noon, so I ran to take a shower so I didn’t look like a total bum.

I made hot pepper jelly for gift giving, a totally southern thing. I was nervous about canning myself because I usually can with Mom, and it is alot easier with an extra pair of hands. I also didn’t have all of the equipment, so I had to improvise. But is all worked out, all of the jars sealed and it even gelled really well! I was super nervous because when it cooled it was still very syrupy, but the next day it thickened just fine. I used 3 green peppers, 2 red peppers and 7 jalepenos. I took the seeds out and chopped them in the food processor. I followed the recipe on the SureGel box which also included a cup of apple cider vinegar, 5 cups of sugar and 4 cups of the chopped peppers. If you want to make this recipe I would totally recommend using SureGel and following their method.

I also made biscotti, I sent this to my Blogging by Mail partner. This recipe is so easy to make and super versatile. This would make a great gift with a small packet of coffee. I used the zest and juice of one orange and half a package of dried cranberries in this batch. But mini chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon almond extract or anise extract would be great too.

Holiday Biscotti
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
flavoring of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium, beat together oil, eggs, sugar, and liquid flavorings until well blended. Combine the flour and baking powder, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. If you are adding nuts, dried fruit or chopped chocolate - fold them in now. Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as the cookie sheet. Flatten the roll to about 1/2 inch thickness.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cook slightly. Once cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2 slices, diagonal slices are always pretty. Place the cut side up on the baking sheet and bake for 6-10 minutes on each side. Slices will be lighly toasted.

4. After cooling, you may dip or drizzle with melted chocolate.

I would get so much done if I was this motivated everyday!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!