Baked Alaska

                      
                                        Baked Alaska
                                                  (from Better Homes Cookbook)



2 pints or 1 quart brick-style ice cream

1-inch thick piece sponge cake or layer cake

5 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2/3 cup sugar


Lay ice cream bricks side by side; measure length and width.

Trim cake one inch larger on all sides than ice cream measurements. Place cake on a piece of foil covered cardboard. Center ice cream on cake. Cover; freeze until firm. 

At serving time, beat together egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar until it forms soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating to stiff peaks.

 Transfer cake with ice cream to a baking sheet. Spread with egg white mixture, sealing to edges of cake and baking sheet all around.

 Swirl to make peaks. Place oven rack in lowest position. Bake in 500 degree oven for 2-3 minutes, or until meringue is golden. 

Slice and serve immediately. Serves 8-10.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

                                           

                                              Pineapple Upside Down Cake
                                              (from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2002)


Ingredients:

9 pineapple slices

1/3 cup fat-free caramel topping

9 maraschino cherries, drained

5 Tbsp. butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Press 9 pineapple slices between paper towels until slightly moist.Set aside.

3. Coat a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray; drizzle caramel topping over bottom of pan. Arrange prepared pineapple slices in a single layer over caramel; place one cherry in center of each slice.

4. Place butter in saucepan and melt on low heat. Add sugar, stirring with a whisk.Add eggs, and stir well. 

5. Stir in low-fat buttermilk and next four ingredients.

6. Lightly spoon 1 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add flour to mixture, stirring just until blended(do not over stir . Pour batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for one minute, then place a plate upside down on top of cake, and invert cake onto plate. Cool completely. Cut cake into squares. Serves 9.

Lemon Pudding Cake

                                                   Lemon Pudding Cake
                                           (from The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook)


1 1/2 cups milk

4 Tbsp. butter

3 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (5 Tbsp.) fresh lemon juice

Grated zest of one lemon

1/8 tsp. salt


 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Get out a slightly larger pan, at least 2 inches deep, which will hold the cake pan comfortably.

 Put the milk and butter into a small saucepan, and heat until hot and the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Put the egg yolks into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended.

Add the sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and the hot milk mixture. Stir until thoroughly blended.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but still moist, then fold them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the baking dish. Set the dish in the larger pan, and pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool. Don't refrigerate. 
Serve with softly whipped cream. Serves 6-8.

Dessert Mania One Year Anniversary!

                         Dessert Mania One Year Anniversary!

     One year ago today I created this dessert blog, and here we are, ninety some recipes later. It has been enjoyable for me to try new recipes, and post the pics and recipes on this blog for viewers/followers. There are more recipes that I want to try my hand at, one of which is Baked Alaska. So, stay tuned for that and more in the coming months!

     The recipe that has gotten the most pageviews is Meyer Lemon Tart Chez Panisse with 100, followed by Bolzano Apple Cake with 47, and Banana Turnovers with 30. I have enjoyed following the stats for this blog, and have been interested in the countries from which people have looked at this dessert blog. 

     I know more than ever that baking is indeed therapeutic, and is a stress reliever. For me, the joy of baking is in the process, much as the joy of reading and writing are in the process of doing these endeavors. Of course, seeing and tasting the finished product is rewarding, but in a different way from the actual process. Following a recipe step-by-step, and taking pictures along the way, really places you in the midst of an experiment...the outcome of which is never fully known until the end. This is similar to reading, in which the outcome isn't known until the end of the book(unless you read that first!). Writing is a forward and backward-looking process throughout, so it differs from the process of reading, but both are transformational in their own unique ways.

    I plan to continue to explore and bake new recipes...and challenge myself with new and different baking techniques in the coming months. I hope that you will join me on this journey of discovery!

~Kathy~
      

Pinwheel cookies

Pinwheel Cookies 

                                                  (from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book)


Ingredients:

1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate

8 Tbsp. (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder


Melt the chocolate in a small cup or bowl set in a pan of simmering water, then set aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. 

Stir and toss together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add them to the butter mixture, beating until thoroughly blended.

Remove half (about 3/4 cup) of the dough to a mixing bowl, and beat in the melted chocolate.

Shape each piece of dough into a rectangle, about 5 X 3 inches, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least an hour.

Place one of the doughs on a 17-inch-long sheet of waxed paper, and cover with another piece of paper about the same length. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough between the waxed paper to a rectangle about 12 X 7 inches. Once or twice during rolling, lift off the top sheet of waxed paper and cut off the uneven edges of dough and place them where needed.... usually the corners need to be squared off.

Roll the dough as evenly as possible, and keep the top smooth so there are no high or low points. With the waxed paper still intact, slide the dough onto a cookie sheet or plate and refrigerate. Roll out the other piece of dough the same way, between sheets of waxed paper, then refrigerate-both doughs should chill for about 30 minutes.

Remove the top sheet of waxed paper from each dough. Place the white dough in front of you on the work surface, Place the chocolate dough on top of the white dough. Line up the edges evenly, then press firmly all around so the doughs stick together. Chill for about 15 minutes.

Remove the top sheet of waxed paper, then, using the bottom piece of paper to help you, roll the doughs up like a carpet, beginning from one of the long edges. Wrap the roll in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease some cookie sheets. With a thin, sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.Place the slices about an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

 Bake for 8-10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool. Makes 20-30 cookies.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

                       Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce
                                                     
                                                       (from Bay Wolf Restaurant Cookbook)



  Crust:

 3 cups ground gingersnap cookie crumbs

1/2 cup sweet, unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese (at room temp)

4 oz. mascarpone cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground mace

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree


Caramel Sauce:

1/4 cup water

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups heavy whipping cream




Crust:

Mix together gingersnap crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of 10-inch springform pan and set aside.

                              (for finer texture, use food processor)


Filling:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese, add mascarpone and mix well. Add sugar and egg and mix well. Add spices, lemon juice and vanilla. Scrape bottom of mixing bowl.

Beat in pumpkin and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until knife is clean when removed from middle of cake.

Let cool in pan, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.


Sauce:

Combine water and sugar in heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes, or until sugar darkens to the color of dark tea. (caramelization of sugar occurs at temperatures from 310 degrees F to 350 degrees F, and is evidenced by a change in color and aroma. As the temp. increases, white sugar transforms to various shades of gold to brown, and the aroma from buttery to nutty.) Source: ChezPanisse Cooking

Remove from heat and mix in the cream, a little at a time. Set aside. Slice cheesecake and top with caramel sauce. Serves 8-10.

*( I had a difficult time making this sauce, as the water absorbed into the sugar before the sugar caramelized. I repeated the whole process again a second time with no better results...so I opted to use Smuckers Caramel ice cream topping)

Soda Cracker Pie

                 
                                                                   Soda Cracker Pie

* This pie is most likely from the second half of the 19th Century,as that is when the use of baking soda and baking powder for leavening began. The new crackers made with baking soda were called soda crackers.* (Source: Journal of a Fur Trading Expedition on the Upper Missouri: 1812-1813).


Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking powder

14-18 soda crackers; crumbled

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

1 1/2 cups whipped cream, with a tsp. sugar

1 15 oz. can crushed pineapple, or 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced


Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff. Add vanilla.

Fold in baking powder, soda crackers and walnuts or pecans.

Pour into well-buttered 9-inch pie pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool completely, then top with whipped cream into which you have folded the pineapple or strawberries, or other fruit of your choice.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. The meringue-like crust becomes chewy over time. Serves 8. Delicious!