7/12/12

Last Christmas (I gave you my heart…) my mother in law brought the most delicious dessert-an Apple Cream Cheese Tart.  It bursts with the classic cream cheese and apple combination with a hint of cinnamon. She had gotten the recipe from Rainbow Orchards in Apple Hill and if  you happen to ever visit them, they have the BEST Apple Cider Donuts.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Apple Cream Cheese Tart (Serves 18, half the recipe fits in a 9″x9″ pan)

Crust:

• 1-1/2 c. softened butter (do not use margarine)
• 1  c. sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 c. flour
• Mix all together and press into a 9″x 13″ pan

Filling

• 24 oz. cream cheese
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• Cream together and pour over the crust.

Topping

• 8 c. cored, peeled and sliced apples (I like Granny Smith)
• 1-1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. sliced almonds (optional)
• Mix the apples, sugar and cinnamon together and arrange over the filling. Sprinkle the almonds on top.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce to 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until set (doesn’t jiggle too much).

5/30/12

Photo Courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

Not just one but TWO favorite recipes! Check it out here!!!

5/24/12

I love caramel syrup! Check out my new recipe post here!

2/8/12

Jello Marshmallows. Not Jello and marshmallows. JELLO MARSHMALLOWS! If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been a little obsessed with homemade marshmallows. The little puffs are heavenly and, surprisingly, not too sweet! Made with basically sugar and gelatin, they’re also fairly simple. One day I thought “why not use Jello?!?!?” and of course ran to my friend, Google. I found a recipe for a recipe for Jello flavored Marshmallows from Joy of Jello. Um, this could be something horrid or something amazing. Turns out, it’s pretty amazing.

I decided to use Raspberry Jello since that’s what was in my pantry. Simple enough.

First step: Sprinkle the Jello and gelatin over the cold water in your stand mixer bowl. Slap on the whisk attachment. Yes, you should use a stand mixer. Or have really strong arms and a hand mixer that is strong like bull.

Then in a medium sauce pan, cook the sugar, corn syrup and water until the thermometer reaches 240-250 degrees. The original recipe says a minute or something, but trust me, use a thermometer. Please remember cooked sugar is hot as ish and will leave some nasty burns, so no little ones around and wear long sleeves. Or don’t be a klutz.

Cooking a little more

After it’s done, turn the stove off, turn the mixer on low and SLOWLY pour the sugar into the Jello. the stream should never be larger than the width of a regular pen.

Once it’s all in there, turn the mixer on high and let it go crazy for about 10 minutes.

It’ll get lighter and bigger.

In the meantime, get a metal 9″ x 13″ pan. Spray it with some cooking spray and sprinkle evenly with some powdered sugar. I forgot to take a picture of that step. Sorry. it was 12 am…

After the marshmallows have been whipped for about8- 10 minutes, the volume should have triple in size and the bowl should be lukewarm. Throw in a teaspoon of vanilla at this point and mix for a minute or so. It’ll make a weird noise. It’s ok.

Take a greased spatula and pour the mix into the prepared pan. It’s really, really sticky so work fast. If the spatula and the marshmallow mix are showing a  strong affinity for each other, dip the spatula in some water and keep on moving.  Remember, you will never get all the marshmallow goo out of the pan. Just accept it.

Spread it out evenly and let it sit overnight. The recipe says to sprinkle a powdered sugar/cornstarch mix on the top. I didn’t because the wet spatula left little pools of water on it, and I didn’t want it to get crusty. So I waited an hour or so.

After it sets, carefully peel it out of the pan and slap it on a surface covered with a cornstarch/powdered sugar mix.  Use a knife, pizza cutter, cookie cutter, scissor, machete  or whatever to cut up the marshmallows. Just make sure it’s greased or wet. I use a knife dusted with powdered sugar. Don’t forget to toss the cut up marshmallows in a powdered sugar/ cornstarch mix as well.

And…..

Voila! Yummy marshmallows!

The original recipe is here if you want to try it out! I can’t wait to try it with other flavors!!!!!

-Pam

12/11/11

A few years ago, one of my best friends gave me ” I like You: Hospitality Under the Influence” by Amy Sedaris. It’s basically the real person’s guide to entertaining By “real person” I mean us folks who want to be June Cleaver or Martha Stewart, but have full time jobs, a messy house, and a sense of humor. In it, I discovered a bunch of laughs, but more importantly, my favorite Vanilla Cupcake recipe. It works really well for me and requires little effort. You could make it as is, as lazily as you can possibly think of, or add a little pizzazz and it’s still great. So here you go, and make sure to have a martini while you bake because it’s the Amy Sedaris way.

Amy Sedaris Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

Beat well then add:

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla (I like vanilla bean paste)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)

Beat well, fill cups and bake 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24. I get 18 because I’m doing something wrong

So there you have it! My favorite Vanilla Cupcake recipe

-Pam