Maple-Apple Crisp

I have recently become mildly obsessed with Ramekins. I saw an idea for Pumpkin Pie Shooters. That is right... tiny individual pumpkin pies served in shooter glasses. How cute is that??? Seriously?? So, I decided to pull out some very nice and never used before ramekins and get to work. Boy, was I thankful I did.

This really must have been one of the best apple crisps I've ever had. I was worried it would be too sweet with the crushed maple cream cookies on top - but it was perfect!!! I served it with whip cream. Only thought - maybe next time a little cinnamon!!

I hope you all try this one. You can get the recipe here.

Enjoy

CC.

OPA!

Classic Greek Baklava

I think I have said it before, pumpkin pie is NOT my favorite. In fact, I don't even like it! So with Thanksgiving upon us, I offered to bring another dessert to sit along side the traditional pumpkin pie. It was a fairly easy decision, as my family considers ourselves at least half Greek.

I do have a failed attempt behind me in making Bougatsa, but have never made Baklava before, so I was pretty excited to give it a whirl!

The filling is a simple mixture of walnuts, cinnamon, sugar and butter. I was too busy concentrating during the layering to stop and take any pictures. It was quite easy though - pastry then filling, pasty then filling. Do not forget to butter between the sheets!!

A great tip on the recipe was to cut the baklava before baking!! I am sure this saved a huge mess in the presentation portion of this dish!!



This was the step where I thought I had lost the dessert. You bubble a simple syrup of water, sugar, honey and vanilla. Then you pour it right over top of that golden, crispy, buttery pastry. The syrup was quite thin and runny and I was quite sure I would end up with soupy baklava.



However, when it cooled for several hours it did turn into a perfectly sticky mess!!! This is not a dessert to be finishing up when your guests are arriving!! Make sure to do it in the morning and allow that syrup to set!

It turned out really well. I was quite pleased with it and hope to perfect it over some time. Perhaps my signature dessert??? The comments from those who where lucky enough to enjoy it were that they would have liked more layers of phyllo between the nut layers and smaller pieces of nuts. They loved how moist the dessert was.

I found it overpoweringly sweet!! Perhaps it should be served with coffee to cut the sweetness. I may cut out the sugar in the filling and a little less honey in the sauce next time?? Just to see if I can bring that down a bit. I will definitely try more phyllo as suggested in between the layers as well.

I hope you all give it a try

You can get the recipe here!

Enjoy



CC.

Banana Bread Pudding with Bourbon Hard Sauce

Here he is..... My husband. This is the second time I have ever seen him in my kitchen cooking! And I am being serious! Anyway, he loves bananas and loves showing off - so here he is, making Banana Bread Pudding.

Doesn't look too hard right?

It was actually quite tasty.

I must say though the Bourbon Hard Sauce was delicious!!!

All in all a successful dessert I didn't have to cook! YAY!!!

You can get the recipe here.

Enjoy

CC.

Please Pass the Pavlova!!

I must say, some mistakes are made for the best - hence the beautiful Pavlova above.

I planned New Year's dinner practically around the dessert. I had watched an episode on the Food Network not to long ago, and wanted to recreate the yummy tarts that were featured. They had a Brazil Nut crust and then were filled with a custard laced with lemon zest and I had some blueberries to top them off with. The recipe started out harmless enough....

....but when they came out of the oven - uh oh!! Thank goodness I made these tart shells on New Year's Eve - I still had 24 hours to figure out another plan. The pastry was easy to make and molded okay to the mini muffin tins - which are not the same as a tartlet pan in case you were wondering (I had to use half a disc of pastry per muffin cup). They baked up nicely - but I couldn't get them out of the pan!!! And YES, I did grease it first. They just crumbled as soon as you touched them. The pastry actually tasted quite good and I decided IF I ever try this again I will probably just bake them in a glass pan and cut into squares - then top with custard and fruit. If any of you are brave enough to try these, please let me know how it goes. Go here for the Recipe and good luck to you!

Okay, so I had a fantastic mealed planned and no dessert. It is 1:00 pm on New Year's Eve and I have to leave my house in 3 hours for a party. I have no plan. I searched the Internet with no inspiration and then I remembered a dessert friends brought to my Mom's house once. It was a large meringue (which my husband loves) topped with fresh fruit. I started surfing the net and found out this large disc is called a Pavlova. It also takes HOURS to bake in the oven and needed a couple of ingredients I didn't have on hand. So, I tossed the idea out the window and made Shortbread cookies from a mix (sad, I know).

Once at the New Year's party I started telling the above mentioned friends about my disappointment in not having time or ingredients to make the Pavlova. They assured me the process was no big deal and my Mom generously lent me the missing ingredients.... So, I went to bed that night (at 11:00 pm - I know, but I have a toddler...) and couldn't stop thinking about squeezing in a 3 hour window to bake a Pavlova. My oven was booked for most of the day as it was....

I am so glad I listened to them!! I had it whipped up shortly after breakfast and in the oven before I knew it. Good thing I have a kitchen aid to do all the hard work!

After being in the oven for approximately 3 hours I pulled out this lovely white meringue. It looked so fantastic I couldn't believe I was about to serve cookies from a mix!

I whipped up some cream (which does not need the added sugar as the Pavlova is sweet enough) and topped it with some fruit I had in the freezer. Traditionally, this is made with fresh fruit - but seasonally, I didn't stand a chance. So frozen it was and it tasted FANTASTIC!!

It is really sweet so there is no need to sweeten the whipping cream or the fruit! It is dry and hard on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. A real crowd pleaser. Thank goodness the tarts didn't turn out!

I hope you all enjoy your own Pavlova. Here is Ina Garten's recipe. Oh, and if you don't like meringue - you still need to make this. Entirely different than on a pie or a cookie from the store!

Enjoy

CC.