dessert

Peach-Rosemary Foccacia

Submitted by Amanda on

Peach Foccacia/Flatbread/pizza


Recipe for Peach-Rosemary Foccacia

  • 1/3 pizza dough recipe (see below)
  • 1-2 peaches, sliced
  • 2 long sprigs rosemary
  • Olive oil for brushing
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided

Add 1 tablespoon sugar to the dough during kneading. Rolled out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick and let it rest about 1 hour. Lay the sliced peaches out on the crust. Drizzle or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle remaining sugar and rosemary leaves over bread. Bake at 500 degrees (or as hot as your oven can get) on the middle rack for about 8 minutes depending on how hot your oven is.

Recipe for Pizza Crust

I apologize, I do not know the original source. This recipe comes via my mother-in-law.

  • 1 1/4 cups water, warm
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon yeast

If using a bread machine, pour in water and oil. Add flour, spreading over entire bowl. In one corner, add yeast. In the opposite, add salt. Set on dough setting, which should complete the first kneading and rising.

Remove dough onto floured surface. Knead to work out the gas the yeast produces. Divide dough into two or three parts. Roll out very thin with a rolling pin. Allow to rise one hour.

Top and bake pizza at 500 degrees or as hot as your oven gets for 8-9 minutes or until the crust is nicely brown and the bottom is baked. Mine actually takes 11 minutes. Guess my oven isn't the strongest.

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Apple Fritters/Pancakes

Submitted by Amanda on

Apple Fritters/Pancakes


Michael Ruhlman's book, Ratio, has been a turning point for me. I've never considered myself a baker. But he sure can make it easy, as was proven by the amazing ciabatta bread recipe.

Apple Fritters on the Griddle

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

  • 4 oz. flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 oz. (1/2 cup) milk
  • 1 egg or 2 oz. egg replacer
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 medium apples

Peel and core apples. Chop well or shred them in a food processor. Set aside.

In blender, combine remaining ingredients to make batter. Blend until dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir apples and cinnamon into batter. Heat griddle to 300 degrees. Pour batter onto griddle to shape 3 inch pancakes. Cook five minutes on each side or until nicely brown.

Top as desired.

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Tropical Fruit Sorbet-Recipe and Cost to Make

Submitted by Amanda on

Tropical Fruit Sorbet


This was better than I imagined. And Nora devoured it. . .and Paul's. I originally made this dish for a dessert for guests. But Nora got a fever, which called off dinner plans. We (Paul's sister and brother-in-law were here.) ate the sorbet, anyway, and got two meals out of it instead of one!

Recipe for Tropical Fruit Sorbet

  • 2 cups Bananas, mashed and frozen
  • 2 cups Pineapple, diced and frozen
  • 1 cup mango, diced and frozen
  • 4 Tablespoons Lime Juice
  • 10 Mint Leaves
  • 4 Tablespoons Water (or more based on your processor)

Note: The pineapple and mango should total about 24 oz.

Minus the water, combine ingredients in food processor and puree. Add water gradually to help "cream" the fruit, but not to make it too runny. Originally, the fruit will just looked chopped. It will eventually smooth out. Pour sorbet into freezer-safe pan, cover and freeze. Let sit out 5-10 minutes before serving.

This recipe can be done in batches in a mini-processor, which is what I have. But a warning, it works the motor hard. My processor is still going, but it certainly got warm and a little smelly by the end of my preparation.

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Yogurtland-Winter Park, Florida

Submitted by Amanda on


After our yummy dinner out, I convinced Paul to take us to Yogurtland in Winter Park for dessert. He'd also had lunch dessert there. He had been there once before when his department was interviewing for a new team member. He very much enjoyed it. And I was quite happy with the tasty menu and restaurant design myself.

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Gelato: Best-ofs

Submitted by Amanda on

Nora Shares with Daddy

Grom-Milan

Italy-2011-4864

Gelato-Nico, Venice, Italy


OK, after breakfast being the most important part of your eating in Italy comes Gelato. Truly, you only need to survive on gelato in Italy. There's nothing like it anywhere else in the world. It's ice cream, only better. There's a variety of flavors that you aren't likely to find even at Baskin Robbins.

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Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze and Jelly Beans

Submitted by Amanda on

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze and Jelly Beans


Recipe for Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

  • 1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix with necessary ingredients to bake
  • 1 cup Kraft Cooking Cream, Original Flavor
  • 2 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring

Bake the cake according to package directions for two 8 or 9 inch round pans. Meanwhile, with mixer on lowest setting, blend together cooking cream and powdered sugar, adding sugar slowly. Add vanilla and mix completely. Keep glaze chilled until ready to assemble cake.

When cake is done and completely cooled, place bottom layer of cake on serving dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of glaze gently over the top as the glue for the second layer of cake. Place the top layer over the glaze. Gently spread glaze over top of layer of cake. Keep cool in fridge until serving. Garnish just before serving.

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Nora's Birthday "Cupcakes"

Submitted by Amanda on

Banana Muffins Before the Chocolate

Banana Muffin with Dark Chocolate Ganache


I'm late getting this posted today, but I think I have a very good reason. These are photos of Nora's birthday "cupcakes" a month ago. We chose to make homemade cupcakes instead of buying such things. Many people have allergies, and store bought ones can be so expensive and have such high sugar.

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Unpublished

Nora's Birthday Cupcakes

Submitted by Amanda on


Two weeks ago, we celebrated our daughter's first birthday. We had a wonderful, rainy weekend and loved spending a little extra time with our friends and family on the special occasion. The party was originally set to be at our favorite park, but it was chilly and rainy. We couldn't reschedule because I had 48 large cupcakes and 24 small cupcakes already made. We relocated the even to our house and still enjoyed a fabulous celebration even in tighter quarters.

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Chocolate Cake with Winter Fruit Topping-No icing!

Submitted by Amanda on

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!


I have written about this fabulous fruit topping recipe before! I love it. This was the first time I actually had the pears to put the recipe together the right way. The only problem was that I failed to tell my mom the cake needed to be large, not in the form of cupcakes. I think it still presented well. It was just a little harder to cut.

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Abbott's Frozen Custard on the Campus of RIT

Submitted by Amanda on

Abbott's Frozen Custard


Paul and I are both Tigers. The Tiger with the brown jersey is from Paul's Rochester Institute of Technology. My Tiger with Purple-and-Gold is from Louisiana State University. Sure wish we still had some of those cute little outfits from my childhood to dress Nora in.

Anyway, there's a nice new-since-Paul shopping plaza on the campus of RIT. And the sweet shop is an Abbott's. We were treated to dessert there by Paul's former classmate, Mimi. We enjoyed the custard, but most of all, we really enjoyed the company.

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Apricot Ice Cream with Caramel Cookies

Submitted by Amanda on

IMG_20100725_133955


Our apricots were perfectly ripe. It was time to experiment as much as I wanted! I mashed just one and served it over a scoop of vanilla ice cream with caramel cookies on the side. So fast. So easy. And healthier than many alternative toppings!

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Apricot Ravioli

Submitted by Amanda on

Apricot Ravioli with Powdered Sugar


Easy and beautiful, this dessert was created out of desperation. I had Egg Roll Wrappers at the end of their life, and I had apricots getting soft. Surely I could do something with them. And just for the record, I couldn't make a shortcake or other sweet cake because I used the last of my sugar on a double batch of sweet potato muffins earlier in the week.

I spent a few minutes searching online and finally gave up, creating my own recipe.

Recipe for Apricot Ravioli

  • 2 Eggroll wrappers, quartered (or 4 wonton wrappers, halved)
  • 1 Apricot, pealed and mashed (with a fork)
  • Half a dash of almond flavoring (optional)
  • Honey and/or powdered sugar for dusting

Add the optional almond flavoring to the apricot and mix well. Divide the mashed apricot into four equal parts. Spoon the apricot into the center of a wrapper square. Brush water around the edges of the wrapper. Lay a second wrapper on top and seal by pressing edges together. Repeat with other wrappers and apricot filling. Boil ravioli in water about 5 minutes or until the ravioli floats. Drain and place on a plate, dusting with powdered sugar or beside a dot of honey.

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Strawberry Banana Sorbet- Recipe and Cost to Make

Submitted by Amanda on

Strawberry Banana Sorbet


Recipe for Strawberry Banana Sorbet

  • 3 quarts whole strawberries, frozen
  • 1-1 1/2 bananas, frozen
  • 3 Tablespoons brown sugar (more or less to taste)
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • Garnish: fresh mint leaves

In food processor, puree ingredients until smooth. (I use a smaller food processor and make the sorbet in batches, adding four strawberries, 3 slices banana, and a dash of sugar at a time. Each batch is slightly different. When it's all blended, I stir all the batches together.) Pour into freezer-safe bowl, cover and freeze. Garnish with fresh mint.

Varieties: Use orange juice instead of water. Blend the mint right into the sorbet. Substitute lemon juice for banana. Take out any frozen bag of mixed fruit and blend away!

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Upgraded Frozen Strawberry Yogurt

Submitted by Amanda on

Strawberry Yogurt Treat

This is one of those times when I feel like my iPhone photo app doesn't do the product justice. Course, it could be that I was just in too big of a hurry to get the pic taken before it melted and I needed to go deal with a child who has an increasingly louder scream when it comes to sudden onset of hunger.

Recipe for Upgraded Frozen Yogurt

  • 1 cup strawberry yogurt, preferably frozen
  • 3-4 Whole flash frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 juice orange, like Tangelo, juiced

Whirl all ingredients until strawberries are chopped. Makes one serving.

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Apple Strawberry Crumble

Submitted by Amanda on

Apple Strawberry Crumble


Recipe for Strawberry Apple Crumble

Filling

  • 1 1/2 pints frest strawberries, quartered
  • 1/2 gallon frozen diced apples (2 fresh)
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cinnamon
  • Juice of one orange (This time of year, we actually have "juice oranges" that are extra juicy)

Topping-Source: AllRecipes.com

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put all filling ingredients into a 9 x 13 Pyrex. Mix and spread evenly. In separate bowl, mix together dry topping ingredients evenly. Pour melted butter over and mix together until clumps form. Pour topping evenly over apple and strawberry mixture. Bake in oven for 35 minutes or until crumble has browned and fruit bubbles. Serve warm, at room temp, or cold with vanilla ice cream.

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Incredible Strawberry Pie

Submitted by Amanda on

Strawberry Pie at the Park


Yesterday, we were invited to our friend Tim's birthday celebration at a park. I volunteered to bring a dessert to the potluck. The park was so beyond beautiful. It was a perfect spring day, which we were so lucky to have since it was the first day of spring! That being said, Paul's photo highlights the sunshine reflecting off of the plastic wrap instead of the beauty of the strawberry peaks.

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Sauteed Asian Pears

Submitted by Amanda on

Sauteed Asian Pears


Possibly my favorite non-chocolate dessert recipes is Sauteed Bananas from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. I highly recommend the recipe. Once when I served it to a guest, he looked at Paul and said "Do you eat like this all the time?" Paul said "Yep, pretty much."

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Pie Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Submitted by Amanda on

Pumpkin Pie


Last Friday, I pulled out one Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheet to defrost for apple turnovers. But, by the time I was done making the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins, I realized I had over a cup of pumpkin puree left. So, I decided to use the sheet for a mini-pie instead. There wasn't enough filling to fill a normal pie, but a 6-7 inch pie was perfect. My only mistake was not greasing the bottom of the pan before cooking because the crust stuck pretty well to the glass. Perhaps had I used a foil pan, it would have gone better, too.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Grease 6-7 inch pie plate. Open puff pastry sheet flat and lay inside plate. Shape crust and cut off corners as you wish. In bowl, mix remainder of ingredients together and pour into the pie plate.

Bake on center rack according to Puff Pastry package directions (400 degrees about 12 minutes) until top of crust is golden brown. You may need to cover the top of the pie once it is cooked with aluminum foil to keep it from burning while the bottom of the crust cooks. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Meal Cost Per Person: 

0.47

Eating Vegetarian: 

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Oatmeal Coconut Crispies-Recipe and Cost

Submitted by Amanda on

Oatmeal Coconut Crispies


I love to take photographing opportunities to highlight special gifts we have received. I found this olive wood tray that Paul's folks brought us from Greece to be a perfect way to display the cookies. . .although as good as the cookies are, the tray would constantly need to be replenished.

OATMEAL COCONUT CRISPIES #1

  • 2 C quick oats
  • ¾ C brown sugar
  • ½ t. salt
  • ¾ C coconut
  • ½ C chocolate chips
  • ½ C chopped nuts (generally almonds)
  • ½ C oil
  • ½ t. vanilla
  • 1 or 2 eggs, beaten

Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the mixture. Stir oil and flavorings together and pour into the well. Add egg whites and mix until dry ingredients are moist. Using two soup spoons, form ball of cookie dough in bowl and place onto oiled cookie sheet and pack tightly to shape cookie. Bake in a 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes. The number of eggs depends upon amount of added ingredients, such as raisins, nuts, chips, etc. I usually make a triple batch as these cookies are habit forming.

OATMEAL COCONUT CRISPIES #2

  • 6 C quick oats
  • 1 ½ C brown sugar
  • 1 ½ t. salt
  • 2 ¼ C coconut
  • 1 ½ C chopped nuts (generally almonds)
  • 1 ½ C chocolate chips (opt)
  • 1 ½ C Smart Balance oil
  • 1 T vanilla
  • 2 t. almond flavor
  • 5 egg whites

Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the mixture. Stir oil and flavorings together and pour into the well. Add egg whites and mix until dry ingredients are moist. Using two soup spoons, form ball of cookie dough in bowl, place onto un-oiled cookie sheet, flatten and pack around edges to shape cookie. Bake in a 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes. Cool cookies in pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack. Push cookies back together if they break apart when taking them from the cookie sheet. They usually set okay. Variations: Try using other foods you might find in granola. Raisins tend to burn. Yield: about 50 medium cookies.

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Portofino Gellato-Miami, Florida

Submitted by Amanda on

Banana Gellato

Miami is a tough place to survive in. You have to pay (often a lot) for parking. And generally in one way or another, you have to pay to use a restroom. Such situations put a pregnant woman in a predicament. For the latter reason, when we came across Portofino Gelato with a sign on the door that facilities were for patrons only, I wasn't sorry that Paul was happy to have a snack of gelato. I took snacked, too, but only after I used the facilities.

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Galler Belgian Chocolate-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Submitted by Amanda on

Gelato at Galler-Ft. Lauderdale


While walking down Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale looking for a reasonable place to partake of lunch, we happened on a flag outside a chocolate shop advertising Gelato. We walked in and reviewed the case of about 20 flavors. The proprietor had an accent and an inviting smile. He was helping someone else when we entered, which gave me time to take a look at the chocolate selection. Even on sale, they were out of my price range, but the packaging was well done and the flavors sounded yummy.

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