dessert

Lisa’s Fudge

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I’m not even going to pretend that there are any health-related redeeming qualities to this out of this world fudge – and you shouldn’t either. But whereas most fudge simply makes my teeth ache with its overwhelming, cloying sweetness my fudge is rich and decadent with a wonderful pure dark chocolate taste. It took me several years of trial an error to get just the right balance. Unlike plain dark chocolate, which I love, this is undoubtedly fudge, with that special fudge mouth-feel. When my son was younger he didn’t like nuts so I left them out, but my preference is to include them. I leave it to you to decide if you want to include them or not.

Because my fudge is so rich, I either need to think ahead and make it a couple of weeks before I wish to serve it so it will “cure” a bit and harden up which makes cutting it easier OR it will need to be refrigerated. The only problem with the latter is you will lose the sheen of the chocolate. The taste will not be affected. If you can store it in a dark, cool place and manage not to eat it, I definitely recommend that method. I did actually take a “test” piece last night and it was dreamy, but still a bit soft for best serving. Either way, it is a slightly more sophisticated take on fudge.

fudge

Lisa’s Fudge

Yield: It will entirely depend on how you cut your pieces, but it is quite rich, so I would keep them small. I wouldn’t think getting 36 pieces is out of the realm of possibility, but there is no judgment here, so if you only get 12 I promise not to tell.

Ingredients

1.5 cups of granulated white sugar

2 Tablespoons Devonshire cream or Mascarpone

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (about 64% cacao)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

1 jar Marshmallow crème/fluff (about 7 ounces – a little more or less won’t matter)

4 oz. unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons strong coffee

1 cup walnuts, broken into good sized pieces

Directions

  1. Generously grease an 8-inch square pan with either butter or cooking spray
  2. In a heavy-bottomed medium pot, bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally
  3. As soon as it begins to boil, stir constantly and boil for 5 minutes.
  4. After 5 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and stir through the last 4 ingredients. When everything is well combined, pour the mixture into the prepared pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once it has completely cooled, cover the pan and put in a cool dark place. Try to forget about it until you are ready to cut your pieces. Then cut and place your pieces in paper or foil candy cups and store in a tin.

Mine isn’t totally ready to cut yet so my photo is only of the fudge in the pan. When I have it cut, I’ll add a photo later. But I know that some of you might want to have this for the holidays, so I want to get this recipe out there now.

Bourbon Pecan Pie

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 6 Comments

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Let’s face it, Thanksgiving is a time of indulgence. I love to bake and my family loves pie. So for Thanksgiving I always make at least three – a pumkin, pecan and some kind of apple. This is my pecan pie that started with my mother’s recipe and then I tweaked over the years. While I  never was able to come close to my mother’s apple pie, my pecan is actually better. But please don’t tell her – it’s our secret!

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Yield: One 9-inch pie

Ingredients

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust (I use the Crisco recipe)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup dark corn syrup OR 1 cup of Golden Syrup to replace all of the corn syrup

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 slightly round Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1+ Tablespoon good Kentucky Bourbon

1 cup pecans broken up

About 1 cup pecan halves and large pieces

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place dough in a 9-inch fluted tart pan or a 9-inch pie plate
  3. Mix all of the ingredients together except for the pecan halves and large pieces
  4. Carefully pour into the pie shell and arrange the pecan halves and large pieces over the top in an attractive random pattern
  5. Place the pie plate or tart pan on a baking pan to catch any spills and place in the oven. Bake for about 75 minutes. There should still be a slight jiggle when you carefully move the pie/tart plate. Turn off the oven and leave the pie in the oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes.
  6. Cool thouroughly on a cooling rack before cutting. This can be made a day ahead. Serve plain or with some fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Ricotta Rum Pound Cake with Orange and Chocolate Chips

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

ricotta rum pound cake1

When I had knee replacement surgery about five years ago, I had a bad time of it. I was pretty miserable and I wasn’t eating. My husband was always looking for treats to entice me and cheer me up. There is a little food shop with a small counter a couple of blocks from our house that makes breakfast and lunch and they sold a ricotta rum pound cake with chocolate chips. Well, it turned out that I was always happy to eat that! It set me on a quest to find a good recipe for this delicious pound cake that I could make at home. I found a ricotta pound cake that Giada made and used that as my base. It’s fabulous with coffee, tea or a dessert wine, but no one will stop you if you have it with a glass of milk.

ricotta rum pound cake2

Ricotta Rum Pound Cake adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Yield: One 9 x 5 inch loaf

Ingredients

1.5 cups cake flour (I like King Arthur brand)

Grated zest of one navel orange

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons Kosher salt

1.5 sticks (3/4 cups) of unsalted butter at room temperature

1.5 cups whole milk ricotta

1.5 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons Dark Rum

3/4 semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (do not go over 63% cacao)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or PAM a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with waxed paper which is then also greased or sprayed with PAM.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, orange zest, salt and baking powder and stir to distribute the ingredients. Measure your chocolate chips into a small bowl and spoon a couple of Tablespoons of the flour mixture over the chips to coat them. This will prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the batter while baking.
  3. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. You should still see some ricotta lumps. With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time.
  4. Add the vanilla and rum and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients, slowly, mixing just until incorporated. By hand, using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips, dusted with flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
  5. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 75-80 minutes. Let the cake cool in th epan for 10 minutes and then transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.

ricotta rum cake loaf

Wrapped tightly, this cake will last a week.

Pumpkin Pie – and it’s vegan!

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

Vegan Pumpkin PieI am not a vegan, however, I have beloved family members who keep Kosher and one who is deathly allergic to eggs. As you can imagine, this can present quite a challenge when it comes to desserts – especially for the holidays. And I have an aversion to making something with substitutes that isn’t almost as wonderful as the real thing. It’s taken some searching and experimentation, but I think that my vegan pumpkin pie is as good as pumpkin pie with milk and eggs. It has the right taste and mouthfeel. So if I didn’t have to work within these restrictions would I still make the vegan version – probably not, but when I eat this do I feel as if I am “making do?” Definitely not. It’s one darn good pumpkin pie. And my niece, who has eaten both, swears she likes this version better! cut pumpkin pie

Vegan Pumpkin Pie      

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust (I use the Crisco recipe)

12 ounces silken tofu, blended until liquefied

1 recipe non-dairy condensed milk (see attached recipe)

15 ounce can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 rounded teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground clove

2 Tablespoons molasses or buckwheat honey

3-5 cracks of black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a blender until smooth and well-blended
  3. Pour into pie shell and bake on the lowest rack of the oven for 10 minutes Pumpkin Pie ready for oven
  4. Cover the crust with foil or a pie guard and continue baking for about 30 minutes more or until the center just jiggles a little. Turn off the oven, open the door slightly and leave the pie in the oven for 10 more minutes. Don’t worry if it cracks a bit and poofs up. It will settle down as it cools. My baked filling is very dark because of the spices and molasses.
  5. Allow to cool thoroughly. This tastes best when made a day ahead.
  6. Because this is not a real custard, you don’t have to worry about refrigerating it.

I brought this to my niece’s house for Shabbat and it is the favorite dessert of my goddaughter/great niece.

Talia and pumpkin pieTalia digging in

Instant Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk Alternative

Author: Alisa Fleming

Serves: Makes approximately 14 ounces

Ingredients

  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons dairy-free, vanilla milk powder (I used Growing Naturals Organic Vanilla Rice Milk Drink but I’m not sure this is still available, so you might look for either a soy-based version if you have no issues with soy or Better Than Milk brand Rice Beverage Powder Mix – Vanilla. I have not yet tried either of these, so I am going off of reviews on the internet. )
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ cup hot water
  • 2 tablespoons canola, rice bran or grapeseed oil
  • Generous pinch salt

Instructions

  1. Place the rice milk powder and sugar in your blender. Whiz the ingredients for about 30 seconds, or until powdered.
  2. Add the water, oil, and salt to your blender and blend for 2 minutes, or until thick and creamy.
  3. Use as a substitute for sweetened condensed milk in recipes.

Apple Crumble

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

apple crumbleI wanted a nice dessert to go along with my roast stuffed pork and and roasted pumpkin and delicata squash. Since I was going with the whole seasonal autumn thing, and I wanted something fairly quick and easy, I went with an apple crumble. There is always room for an apple, right?

Apple Crumble

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

4 large, flavorful baking apples (I used Golden Delicious and Pink Lady)

1/2 of a lemon

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats (quick-cooking or regular)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 stick of softened butter

1/4 cup apple juice or cider

vanilla ice cream or heavy cream to serve

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Lavishly butter an 8 inch square baking pan
  3. Peel and core the apples, rub them all over with the cut lemon and thinly slice
  4. Place the apples in the buttered dish. Mix all of the other ingredients except for the apple jiuce and ice cream together so that you have clumps of streusel.
  5. Distribute the streusel over the apples and then drizzle the juice over the top.
  6. Bake for 35 minutes or until the apples are tender to a knife and the topping is nicely browned. Serve warm with ice cream or heavy cream.

Apple pie with cheddar cheese crust and hard sauce

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

apple pie with hard sauce

Yesterday I was playing around with my standard apple pie recipe. I made a crust with cheddar cheese in it and I will serve the warm pie with a hard sauce using a good Kentucky Bourbon. This is my fall dessert to go with my short ribs in buckwheat honey and brown ale. I was at the farmers’ market yesterday and shlepped home some wonderful heirloom baking apples and beautiful green and yellow beans. I also picked up fresh arugula – not the pretty but anemic tasting arugula you buy at the grocery store (Yes, even at Whole Foods!) This arugula has that wonderful peppery bite and will be a good foil for the rich meat, which I will serve over a bed of polenta.

But back to the pie. My mother made THE best apple pie – hands down. Part of it was the fact that apples in those days had more flavor, were local and we got a kind in the East, where I grew up, that I can’t get in Chicago. Thankfully now I have access to some pretty good apples so I have high hopes for this pie. The crust is a bit of an experiment.

NOTE: So now we have eaten the pie and I have a few comments. The crust is not as flaky as the classic Crisco crust I make; however, it was VERY easy to work with and was still better than any store bought crust. The cheddar cheese did not come through as much as I would have liked, so assuming I wanted to try it again, I would sprinkle additional cheese on top of the crust, instead of sugar, before baking. The hard sauce was wonderful with the warm pie, but so was vanilla ice cream.

Lisa’s Apple Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust and Hard Sauce

Yields: 8 servings

Ingredients

Dough for deep dish double crust 

2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

4 Tablespoons finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

about 5 cracks of fresh black pepper

1 stick Crisco baking stick from the freezer

8 Tablespoons ice cold water and 2 Tablespoons plain Greek Yogurt or sour cream

For the Filling

6-7 good baking apples (either one kind or a mix), peeled, cored and thinly sliced – about 3+ pounds     apple slices

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon strong cinnamon, like Saigon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

3 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon butter

Zest of one lemon

half of a lemon to keep apples from browning

2 Tablespoons of cream (you can use milk or soy milk or an egg yolk mixed with 1 Tablespoon of water) and sanding sugar (optional)

For the Hard Sauce – by Ree Drummond

1 stick of slightly softened butter

1.5 cups of confectioner’s sugar

2 generous Tablespoons of Kentucky Bourbon or Rum or Brandy

Directions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, cheddar cheese, pepper and salt. Pulse a few times to mix well. Add the frozen Crisco stick (divide the stick into 16 pieces). Pulse until the mixture is the size of frozen peas.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and ice water until well combined. Pour it over the flour mixture and run the machine just until the dough starts to form a ball.  It will seem relatively wet compared to other pastry. Don’t worry! Turn it out onto waxed paper or plastic wrap and divide the dough into two pieces and form two disks. (Make a ball and then flatten it.)  Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for at least one hour or overnight. This can be made a couple of days ahead if you like.
  3. When ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Have a deep dish pie plate ready to use. Remove the dough from the fridge.
  4. On a lightly floured cold surface or on a pastry cloth (please buy one) place one disk of cold dough. Using a rolling pin, covered with a pastry sleeve, roll out the dough by turning the disk in one quarter turns every couple of rolls. Roll from the center outwards. The turning prevents the dough from sticking. If you need to add a few sprinkles of flour periodically, do so, but don’t add too much. Just enough to keep things from sticking. Roll the dough into a circle (more or less) a couple of inches larger than the baking plate.
  5. Placing your rolling pin at one end of the dough, gently flip up the pastry cloth to force the dough over the rolling pin. Gently roll the dough overrolling crust onto rolling pin the rolling pin and lift it into the pie plate. Gently roll back the rolling pin so that the rolling crust into pie platedough falls off into the plate.
  6. You should have an overhang of an inch or two. Try to trim it with a knife so it is relatively even. If you can, place the pie plate and dough in the fridge while you work on the filling.
  7. After you peel the apples, rub them lightly with the lemon juice and place the slices in a bowl with the cinnamon, sugar, salt and flour. Gently toss with a spatula and set aside.
  8. Take your second dough disk out of the fridge and roll that out to be a couple of inches larger than the first disk.
  9. Remove the pie plate from the fridge and fill with the apples, mounding them in the middle. Try to make sure there are very few gaps between apples. Dot the apples with butter.  apple pie ready for top crust
  10. Carefully pick up the rolled out dough onto the rolling pin and place over the top of the pie. Don’t panic if there are a few minor splits. We can fix that. Fold the edges of the top and bottom crust together and under. If there is too much dough, feel free to trim. You want to end up with a one inch edge that is about double the thickness of the rest of the dough. You can either crimp the dough, pinching it between your fingers or you can take a fork and press down on the dough.
  11. Make four slits in the top of the dough (try to be a bit decorative) to allow the steam to escape. If you had any splits in the dough, take a bit of excess dough and roll it out thinly. Either using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut out a leaf or an apple shape. Using your finger, wipe water on one side and “glue” it over the cuts. (You still need the steam holes so don’t cover them!)
  12. Brush with either an egg yolk mixed with one Tablespoon of water or brush with milk or cream and sprinkle on sanding sugar. This last part is optional but it is pretty.    apple pie ready for baking
  13. Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips and bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Then lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. and bake for approximately 45 minutes more until the crust is lovely and golden brown. Don’t worry if there is some liquid oozing out. If the crust edges seem to be browning too quickly, cover them with some foil or a pastry ring. If you plan on making pies, treat yourself to one. They are not expensive and sooooooooooo much easier to use than foil.
  14. While the pie is baking, make the hard sauce. It can be made ahead and will keep in the fridge for at least a week. Be sure to take it out of the fridge a few hours before serving. Of making the same day as the pie, just leave it out, covered.
  15. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Carefully add in the confectioner’s sugar and beat on low until it starts to be incorporated. Then add in the Bourbon and whip until light. Put over into a bowl and serve over warm pie or cake or crumbles.
  16. Remove the pie to a cooling rack. The pie can be cut when slightly warm.

NOTE: If you have any left-over dough, you can roll it out when you are ready and cut out shapes to bake dookies – a name my older sister gave to them when she was a little girl and it stuck (dough cookies). Because this dough has cheddar cheese, I would brush the shapes with a bit of cream and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Otherwise, you can sprinkle the cookies with a bit of sugar or sugar mixed with cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes.

Apple Cake – Take 2

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

apple cake

Frances and I always tell each other what we are making and recipes that we discovered. We send each other photos and our respective husbands drool. So when I heard that Frances was making an apple cake for the holidays, I decided that it sounded like a good idea. Mine is adapted from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. Frances turned me on to her website about a year ago and she is often a fun read for me when work is less than exciting. I have to admit that I prefer reading her blog than making her recipes, but I already knew that Frances had made this cake with great success. Since I am almost incapable of NOT changing a recipe, I made several tweaks – and one BIG mistake, which turned out to be actually quite a good discovery. Here is my version.

Apple Cake – adapted from Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Yield: 12 – 16 servings

Ingredients

6 baking apples like MacIntosh, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes ( I happened to be at the Farmer’s Market, so was able to purchase some heirloom baking variety apple to use)

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 cups plus 5 Tablespoons granulated sugar (See NOTE below. You can use less sugar if you want. I would think that 1.5 cups is perfect plus the 5 Tablespoons)

2.5 cups all purpose unbleached flour

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I like Kretschmer’s)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup Canola oil

1/4 cup orange juice

2.5 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

2 Tablespoons brandy or cognac

Zest of one orange

4 large eggs

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Confectioner’s sugar for sifting over the top

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and generously butter or coat with nonstick spray a 10 inch tube pan with straight sides (think Angel Food cake pan).
  2. Peel, core and chop the apples and toss them with the cinnamon and 5 Tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Add the orange zest.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Then add the wheat germ, which won’t go through the sifter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, orange juice, remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, vanilla bean paste, brandy and eggs.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, scraping down the bowl to make sure that everything is thoroughly combined. Stir in the walnuts.
  5. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread half of the apple chunks over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1.5 hours or until the tester comes out clean. You can learn to smell when baked goods are ready. Set your timer, but try seeing if you can smell when the cake is done. It’s a good skill to learn because every oven is different and timing can be off.
  6. When the cake is finished, transfer it to a rack to cool completely. When it is completely cool you can flip it out of the pan and then over onto a serving platter with the apples facing down. Dust with confectioner’s sugar. This cake will get moister as it ages. It will last for about 3 days if covered.

NOTE: I have a confession to make. I got distracted when I was making the cake and only realized AFTER I had put everything nicely into the pan that I had forgotten to add the 2 cups of sugar to the batter. I didn’t panic and I didn’t want to lose the good ingredients or time I had already put into it. I suppose I could have taken everything out of the pan and mixed the apples through the cake along with the sugar, but I didn’t. I took 1/4 cup of sugar and evenly poured it over the top layer of apples. I then hoped for the best. The result was delicious apple bread. There was extra sweetness from the confectioners sugar on top. Cake would need to be somewhat sweeter in my opinion, but the texture and look was wonderful. My husband had the great idea of using Frances’ baked French toast recipe using the apple cake in place of the challah and adding 1/2 cup of raisins (no blueberries) to the mix. The point is, stuff happens – even with people who cook and bake a LOT. Don’t panic – think it through. Sometimes the experiment is great – sometimes not.

slice of apple cake

Whole Wheat Apple Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

There’s something about adding whole wheat to cakes and cookies that always make them seem “healthier.”  If nothing else, it tends to add a subtle textural difference to the average cake.

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I came across this recipe from the same book that the Siniyeh came from as I wanted to make something with apples for the holidays.  This was before we went apple picking, but we were able to find some beautiful apples at the farmer’s market that I lugged on the subway home, just to make sure this turned out right!

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I wish I could bake cakes and cookies more, but as there are only two of us to consume them, we’ve been trying to pace our sweets.  I’ve always loved cooking and baking with apples, and it’s fun to have an excuse to look for new, inventive ways to use apples in a sweet dish.  I did substitute the EVOO for the canola oil, and it turned out delicious all the same!

This was great because I didn’t need to make a separate crust or peel the apples, and I was able to throw it together in a jiffy.  We drizzled some honey on the slices, and it was perfection.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium Golden Delicious (or any good baking apple) apples
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup EVOO
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
  • Honey, for drizzling (optional)

Directions

  1. Grease a 12 cup Bundt pan or tube pan well.  Coarsley chop the apples into 1/2″ pieces.  (Not necessary to peel the apples).  Preheat the oven for 350 degrees.
  2. Put the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and oil into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light.  Beat in the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg.  Mix in the all-purpose and whole wheat flours and baking soda until just combined.  Batter will be very thick.
  3. Stir in the fruits and nuts by hand.
  4. Turn out the batter into the prepared pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 80-90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Cool on a pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.
  6. Serve with drizzled honey or sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar.

Adapted from The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer Greene

Oven Skillet Peach Crisp

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I happened to come across a big Farmer’s Market the other day, and bought up as many peaches as I could carry home.  Of course, this then brought on the dilemma of what to do with allll the peaches.

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After having this as a dessert, I was surprised to find a recipe for it that was categorized as brunch… but who says that brunch can’t be dessert and vice versa?  I heavily cut down on the sugar for the peach mix, and upon reflection, were I to make this recipe again I would barely sprinkle sugar on the peaches.  After all, if the peaches are good, they’re so naturally sweet that the sugar is sort of unnecessary.

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Suffice to say, this made for a delicious late summer brunch!

Ingredients

Topping

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ⅔ cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Assembly

  • 1½ cups pecans
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2¼ pounds peaches (about 7 medium), cut into ½-inch wedges
  • 1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

  1. Butter a skillet lightly.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cut up the peaches into about 1/2″ wedges.  Toss with the pecans, brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt to combine.  Layer into the skillet.
  3. Assemble the topping by combining the flour, brown sugar, salt and butter in a small bowl.  Rub the butter with the dry ingredients until a “crumble” forms.
  4. Sprinkle the topping in an even layer over the peaches in the skillet.
  5. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top layer is golden and the peach juices are bubbling.
  6. Serve and enjoy!

Serves about 4

Adapted from Bon Appetit “Iron Skillet Peach Crisp”

Chocolate cupcakes – pssssst! they’re vegan!

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Chocolste cupcake

I have two absolutely wonderful godchildren and I love to cook and bake for them. Unfortunately, one of them is deathly allergic to eggs. On top of this, his family keeps Kosher, so I am always challenged to come up with wonderful desserts that are safe for him and taste and look wonderful to everyone else – including adults. After a lot of searching, I was fortunate to come across The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book by Kelly Rudnicki and available at Amazon. I always tweak the recipes because I am incapable of not doing that; however, if you just follow them exactly they will come out fine.

Tonight the children are coming to sleep-over and give their parents some well-deserved alone time. My goddaughter gave me her desired menu and it includes pizza that my husband makes with the children and chocolate cupcakes. In the interest of time – and knowing the attention span of 5 and 6 year-olds – I baked the cupcakes this morning and we will make the frosting and decorate them together when they arrive. This same recipe can be used to make two 8-inch round cakes for layer cake. You will be amazed at how super-moist and chocolaty these are.

Chocolate Cupcakes and Frosting – Adapted from The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book by Kelly Rudnicki

Yields: 18 cupcakes or two 8-inch round cakes for layer cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dairy-free shortening (I like Earth Balance brand . And of course, if you don’t care about being Vegan or keeping Kosher, feel free to use real unsalted butter.)

1.5 cups dairy-free “buttermilk” (I use Vanilla Soy that I have added about 1.5 Tablespoons of distilled vinegar to. You let it sit for at least 5-10 minutes and voila! you have a good buttermilk substitute for any recipe. If you prefer to use rice or almond milk it likely will work – I just never have done it.)

2 Tablespoons strong coffee (Don’t worry about the caffeine — the difference in how great the chocolate tastes is essential. Instant espresso works if you don’t make or have your own brewed coffee on hand.)

1 Teaspoon real vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour (I happen to like King Arthur unbleached cake flour but you can use other brands)

1.5 cups granulated sugar (I always store my sugar in a big glass jar with a couple of vanilla beans tucked inside.)

2/3 cup good-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (I like to use Rodelle which I buy through Amazon)

1.5 Teaspoons baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 cupcake (muffin tins) with paper liners. (If making the cakes, spray two pans with a non-dairy spray like Pam and then line the bottoms with a round of parchment or waxed paper. Spray the bottom again and set aside.)
  2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening, “buttermilk”, coffee and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Unless your shortening is quite soft, it won’t totally mix, but don’t worry – it all will work out.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and with a whisk mix them thoroughly to distribute the ingredients.
  4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture with the machine on low. Once mostly blended, turn the machine to high and beat for 4 minutes, scraping the sides occasionally.
  5. Using a scoop or small measuring cup, fill the paper cupcake liners evenly and bake for 20 – 25 minutes (mine took 23 minutes but all ovens are different) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then carefully place the cupcakes on wire racks to finish cooling. Cool completely before frosting. IMAG0479

Chocolate Frosting – Yields 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup dairy-free shortening (I use Earth Balance “butter” flavored)

1/2 cup good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup of dairy-free “milk” (I use vanilla soy and substitute about 1 Tablespoon with strong coffee to really bring up the chocolate flavor and to cut any cloying sweetness.)

1 Teaspoon real vanilla extract

1/8 Teaspoon salt

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and cocoa powder until smooth. Add the soy milk/coffee, vanilla and salt and mix thoroughly. SLOWLY add in the confectioners’ sugar, mixing on low for 1 minute until all of the confectioners’ sugar has been mixed with the shortening. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 6 minutes until very light and fluffy. This will keep in the fridge overnight, but you will have to let it soften a bit before spreading.

Vanilla Frosting – Yields 2 cups

Make exactly as you would the chocolate frosting but leave out the cocoa powder and coffee. Add the zest of one large lemon. A few drops of vegetable-based food coloring can be added to this frosting to make it any color you would like.

For strawberry frosting, just add a few sliced up strawberries before the final whipping.