Poppy seed dessert

So, what I really wanted was to use this poppy seed cake and pie filling and make something sweet. I had cream cheese, and I thought I could use Pillsbury crescents and do something. I also had some raisin bread, so I cut slices of that, put the topping on it and baked. They were all delicious, but if you are going to use the crescent dough, use the entire filling. It might look like it's going to overflow, but it won't trust me. I wish I had more filling in there.

Filling:

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 can Solo poppy seed pie and cake filling
• 8 oz fat free cream cheese
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Mix the sugar and cream cheese till soft, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Top on slices of sweet bread and bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Or you can do this with the Pillsbury crescent dough:

• Roll out the crescent roll dough and pinch all seams shut.
• Spread filling down lengthwise in the middle. Left an inch on each side.
• Cut 1/2 inch thick strips on both sides of the filling.
• Folded the strips over the filling, overlapping them a little.
• Baked at 400 for 12 minutes.

Finish it off before anybody else can get their grubby little hands on any ;-)
 

I love the taste of the poppy seed filling, and I am trying to think of other ways to use. In those pre-made phyllo dessert cups. Inside a cake. With a spoon. The possibilities are endless.

 

Gluten free sweet potato cookies

Adapted from here.

What I had:

• 1/2 cup of almond Butter
• 1/2 cup of pureed sweet potato (I threw it in the microwave for 6 minutes, then peeled it)
• 1/4 cup local wild honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of real salt
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup mixed chopped pecans and macadamia nuts

What I did:

• Turned the oven on at 350 degrees
• Mixed all ingredients till well integrated
• Threw a heaping tablespoon mix each on a silicone baking mat
• Baked for 15 minutes
• Burnt my tongue tasting one
• Let the rest cool

They are pretty good, dense, chewy, crunchy, sweet without any sugar in them.

Toffee squares

What I had:

• Wilton brownie squares silicone pan
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup white chocolate dipping wafers, melted
• 1 cup unblanched whole almonds
• some somewhat finely ground pecans

What I did:

• Placed 3 almonds in each cavity of the brownie pan.
• Put butter, margarine, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
• Brought it to a boil while stirring continuously.
• Continued stirring like a mad woman for 6.5 minutes (or till candy starts to brown a bit and thickens, coming off the sides of the pan). Jeff jumped in for a minute when my arm started to hurt.
• Used a tablespoon scoop to scoop into each cavity over the almonds.
• Let it cool completely before popping them out.
• Taste tested one, shared with Jeff. Taste tested another from the other side just to make sure.
• Melted the wafers in the microwave.
• Dipped one side of the toffee in the chocolate and pressed it into the ground almonds.
• Tasted one more and decided to let the chocolate set.
• Tasted another after the chocolate set just to make sure it was still good.
• Put the rest in an airtight container and in the fridge to avoid more tasting.

Delicious almond toffee dipped in white chocolate and crushed pecans

I'll get consistent next time :-P

Orange liquor pound cake

What I had:

For the cake:

• Duncan Hines orange cake mix
• Vanilla instant pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup Pucker citrus vodka
• 1/4 cup Frangelico liqueur 

For the icing:

• 1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons Pucker citrus vodka
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico liqueur 

What I did:

• Mixed all ingredients for cake and baked in a greased bundt pan at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
• Let it cool, and mixed all ingredients for icing.
• When cake is cool, brushed icing all over the top.
• Cut and enjoyed!

Cheesecake squares

I have been on a cooking hiatus, thanks to my mom being here and cooking all the yummy Indian food! But, I have baked a bit and last night, I was inspired by this recipe to make cheesecake squares. I changed it up a bit, because I had a a little less than a lb of sugar but when I measured it, it was about 2 cups whereas the recipe said 4. I stuck with what I had and trust me, it was sweet enough.

What I had:

• box of lemon cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted in microwave
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 13.5 oz confectioner's sugar
• Optional: white chocolate baking chips and flaked coconut

 What I did:

• Mixed the cake mix, 1 egg and butter together till it formed a dough. Patted it down in a greased 9X13 glass baking pan.
• Sprinkled the coconut and white chocolate chips over the dough.

•  Mixed cream cheese, sugar and remaining eggs with a hand mixer. Poured it over the dough/coconut/chips and spread evenly.

• Baked at 300 degrees for an hour.
• Let it cool for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.

It didn't look pretty when it came out, but it sure was yummy. By this morning, there was only a half of the pan left!

Possibly the best cookies ever

 and easiest ever! Chewy on the inside, burst of ginger and cinnamon flavor!

What I used:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 egg
• A box of Pillsbury pumpkin Quick Bread mix
• 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
• 1/2 cup raisin
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• A mix of sugar and cinnamon to roll cookies in

What I did:

• Mixed the butter and egg well
• Added the bread mix, raisin, cinnamon and ginger, mixed till everything was wet
• Rolled 1 inch balls through the sugar and cinnamon mix
• Baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
• Inhaled 2 within 2 seconds!

I don't even like pumpkin and I swear these were the best cookies ever!

Bite-sized pecan pie

When it comes to pies, I'm not a huge fan of the fruity ones. My husband loves the pecan pie and I love the crisp topping, but not the gooey inside or the crust. So, when Anjuli sent me this recipe, I thought it was perfect.

I made 23 mini muffins and those small little things are 161 calories each, so it takes a lot f self control to stop at one.

Or two.

What I had:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2/3 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs

What I did:

• Heated my oven to 350 and greased a mini muffin pan well
• Mixed the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet ones in a second one.
• Mixed the two together.
• Filled the pan 2/3 full of the batter, like I said before, I managed to fill 23 out of the 24 containers in the pan.
• Baked for 25 minutes.

Oh my goodness these are so good! The inside is soft but not oozingly gooey and the top is crunchy.

The only sauce you'll ever want for your dessert

What I had:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor
• 1/2 cup Kahlua (or any coffee liquor)

What I did:

• In a saucepan, I melted butter on low heat
• Added sugar and egg, whisking to blend well.
• Cooked over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickened. 
• Whisked in Bailey's and Kahlua.
• Removed from heat. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth.
• Right before serving, heated it up and whisked it before pouring onto bread pudding.

The original recipe used a cup of Bourbon but since I was doing a St. Patrick's Day party, I changed that up. For the actual bread pudding, I soaked my raisin in Irish whiskey (of course). I used the recipe linked exactly as it is, but I wasn't ecstatic about the bread pudding. The top was dry and I don't know if using more liquid would help because that would mean more time baking. I guess there's more experimentation to this before I post a successful bread pudding recipe.

But the sauce, oh the sauce! Guests poured it on the pudding, they had it over ice cream, with chocolate cake ... some licked it with their fingers. This is a keeper, it takes any plain old dessert a couple notches up.

Cheesecake stuffed strawberries

What I had:

• Strawberries
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Graham cracker crumbs
• Vegetable peeler
• Piping bag

What I did:

• Used the vegetable peeler to cut the top of the strawberry and hollow it out. For this, you need nice plump strawberries, or a skinnier knife so you don't poke holes through the berries.
• Mixed the cream cheese, sugar and extract till nice and creamy. Put in piping bag. Cut a small hole on the bottom of the bag.
• Piped the cheesecake mix into the strawberries.
• Dip the open end of the strawberries in graham cracker crumbs.
• Ate them.

Note: If you leave out the crumbs, these are gluten free.

Pumpkin Creamcheese Muffins

So, it's a recipe from Pillsbury but it was delicious so I wanted to save it.

What I had:

• For filling:
• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• For muffins:
• 1 (14 oz.) package Pillsbury® Pumpkin Quick Bread & Muffin Mix
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• For topping:
•  3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

What I did:

• HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with no-stick cooking spray.
• For Filling: BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with electric mixer until soft. Add egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon peel. Beat until blended.
• For Muffins: PLACE quick bread mix into large bowl. Remove 3/4 cup dry mix. Place in small bowl for streusel topping. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla to remaining mix in large bowl. Stir 50 strokes or until blended. Divide batter evenly into muffin cups. Divide cream cheese mixture evenly into center of muffins.
• For Streusel Topping: ADD melted butter to reserved dry mix. Stir with fork until crumbly. Add pecans. Crumble a tablespoon of streusel over each muffin. Bake 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove muffins from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee!

Peanut Butter Bars

What I had:

• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Skippy Honey Roasted Extra Chunk)
• 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter

What I did:

• Mix together the butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1/2 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 8X8 glass baking pan.
• Mix the 2 tbsp peanut butter and 3/4 cup chocolate chips in  a microwaveable bowl and melt, using 30 second increments. 
• Spread over the prepared crust. 
• Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares. 

 Why don't I have photos of the finished, cut product? Well, I took them to 2 different houses and they were all gone before I could take a photo.



Personally, I would prefer more peanut butter flavor, so next time, I will lower the graham cracker crumbs to peanut butter ratio, but others seemed to love it the way it was.

Easy mango mousse

What I used:

- 1 cup fresh mango purée
- 1/2 cup condensed milk
- 1 cup heavy cream, whipped till it's the consistency of sweet whipped cream

What I did:

- mix the mango purée and condensed milk
- fold in the whipped cream (do not use store bought whipped cream, it's sweetened and adds unneeded sugar)
- pour into bowls and let it sit in fridge for an hour
- enjoy

Easy lemon bars

I wanted something sweet and I had a lot of cake mixes and cream cheese, so I did a search on All Recipes, and found a bunch of recipes for lemon bars. I ended up looking at a few and mixing them into 1 recipe and they turned out really good, so here it is.

What you need:

• lemon cake mix
• egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• lemon juice
• lemon zest

What you do:

• Mix the cake mix, egg and oil together. It'll be dough like, not cake batter like. I added zest of one lemon and a tablespoon of lemon juice because it didn't smell lemony enough to me. Put aside about a cup of this mix and pat the rest of it into an ungreased 9X13 pan.
• Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Let it cool.
• This is very important, let it cool.
• Beat the cream cheese, sugar and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice till smooth. It should be spreadable.
• Make sure the bottom layer is cool before you try spreading the cream cheese mixture on top.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture on top.
• Take the dough you'd put aside and sprinkle evenly on top of the cream cheese mixture.
• Bake for another 15 minutes.

Cut into squares, diamonds, octagons, however you like them best. They are delicious. If cut into squares, they make 24 servings and each serving is a 3 points plus value, for my Weight Watchers friends.

Salvaging a baking disaster

I wanted to make mini cupcakes for a fundraiser at work. I had a box of orange cranberry muffins, that I decided to go with. But, after they came out of the oven, they were just stuck to the little paper cup thing and I hated that wouldn't come away clean. So, I took them and did this:

Then, I got a container of cream cheese frosting and some Wilton melting chocolate and did this:

 

Then, I got the mini cupcake holders and did this:

They sold out at the fundraiser. So, something yummy and good came out of my baking disaster.

Another step forward in the cake pop making

As you can see, I got my dipping technique down pat. I used lollipop sticks and used baking chocolate bars instead of chips.

Now, my problem is how do I get the chocolate to not pool at the bottom?

This recipe was: carrot cake mixed with walnut coconut frosting covered in white chocolate.

As I love everything in these pops, I thought they tasted delicious!

Second attempt at cake pops

Banana nut cake with cream cheese frosting

covered in peanut butter chocolate

And I am ready to buy a dipper, something like this. Because my microwave melting is not really helping with the dipping. I made some more cake balls/pops (I want to call them balls since I haven't put the lollipop sticks in them) yesterday. This flavors this time were banana nut cake with cream cheese frosting covered in a chocolate and peanut butter mix. They are delicious and I don't even like banana bread. But, the dipping once again sucked. It actually came out looking worse than before. I used chocolate chips this time which was what was used in many recipes I saw online. As you can see in the photo, it's not a smooth covering. (Sorry about the sucky iPhone photo, am at work or I'd use my Nikon for a better photo). I think I'll stick with bark or baking chocolate bars in the future and use a small fondue pot to do the dipping.

I am trying another flavor this weekend: carrot cake with walnut coconut frosting covered in white chocolate. Wish me luck.

Cake Pops

Ingredients

I have been fascinated by cake pops, ever since I had the Tiramisu ones at Starbucks. I saw some simple recipes online and decided to try my hand at it last weekend. I used Butter yellow cake, baked as the box suggested, mixed with a whole box of strawberry frosting.

Rolled into balls and refrigerated for a few hours.

Rolled and cooled

 Then, I microwaved the chocolate bark and rolled the cake balls in it. I need to get better at this, as you can see.

Dipped in melted chocolate

They might not have looked good but they tasted yummy. Pardon the terrible photos!

 I'm already thinking of the next flavor combination: carrot cake mixed with a walnut coconut frosting, covered with white chocolate.

Kheer

What you need:

• Gallon whole milk
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 can condensed milk
• raisins
• blanched almonds
• pressure cooker

What you do:

• Rinse rice really well and place in pressure cooker
• Add about 3/4ths of the milk
• Cover and cook for an hour (or till the pressure cooker starts whistling milk is coming out the top - that's what I wait for)
• Uncover, make sure the rice is cooked. It's probably gotten thicker, so add more milk till the consistency is what you like
• Add the condensed milk, raisins and almonds
• Let it cook on low heat for another 30-45 minutes till the almonds are soft, the raisins are plump and the house smells yummy

If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can use a regular pot, you just have to keep an eye on the rice while it's cooking or you could have a huge mess on your hands. It is important to not use cooked rice and milk. You want the milk to cook the rice so it tastes cohesive and not separate from each other.