Photo: Patrick Dennis/The Advocate newspaper, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
From Denny: This is an easy recipe to throw together when you are pressed for time or too tired to make something more elaborate. The slow cooker crock is to the rescue. Make this easy topping - which only takes a couple of hours to cook on Low on its own - while you prepare dinner and get the kids organized for school the next day or help with homework. Remember strawberry shortcake every summer and how easy it is to put together in a snap? Well, this recipe is just as easy. While the slow cooker does its work just hop on over to the grocery store and pick up those same pre-made individual sponge cakes and your favorite vanilla ice cream. This simple cooked topping involves only two apples, a handful of coconut, a small handful of sliced almonds, butter and brown sugar. Serve on your most decorative dessert plate. Build with a foundation of an individual sponge cake, a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream and then topped with the hot apple-coconut topping. Garnish with more almonds and sprinkle with coconut...
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! Thank you for supporting this cause. You rock!
Photo: Arthur D. Lauck/The Advocate, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
From Denny: Raise your hand if you enjoy coconut macaroons. Yeah, me too! They make some stellar ones on their seasonal menu, dipped in the best dark chocolate, over at the French restaurant bistro chain, La Madeleine. But if you can't get ones as good as theirs locally, and the ones at the grocery store leave you yawning, well, make them yourself! These lovely cookies are easy to make. Yet another easy recipe from my local Louisiana newspaper, The Advocate. They have an award-winning food section as Louisiana people love to cook and share our recipes for publication, especially when it comes to tail-gating season and the holidays...
Christmas poinsettia vintage design updated in soft winter pales with Happy Holidays greeting suitable for the holiday season!
This would make a wonderfully tasty addition to your cookie tray for the holidays or a festive birthday celebration. The almond flavor is delivered courtesy of the almond paste. In case you didn't already know this: almond paste is made from blanched and ground almonds, white sugar and glycerine, or another liquid. Usually, almond paste comes in a tube roll or can be packaged in an oblong box. You can find it in the baking section of the grocery store, ranging from 6 to 8 ounces. The 8-ounce size is used for this recipe. You can quickly mix up this recipe in a mixer or by hand. It's the egg whites that give the finished macaroons their shine. Please note that the coconut in this recipe was the sweetened flaked coconut. If you want to reduce the sugar level a bit just use the unsweetened flaked coconut. The key to making good macaroons is to bake them on bakers' parchment paper or good quality brown paper (think brown paper grocery bag) on a cookie sheet. Since there isn't any oil in this cookie it is dependent what little is in the almond paste and the coconut. The sugar tends to make the cookies stick and it's just easier to get them off the parchment paper than a metal cookie sheet.
Photo: Arthur D. Lauck/The Advocate, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Coconut-Almond Macaroons
From: Corinne Cook, food editor of The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Makes: about 40 macaroons
Ingredients:
1 (8-oz.) can or package almond paste
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (you could use the unsweetened type if you prefer)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper, waxed paper or brown kraft paper.
2. Crumble the almond paste in mixer bowl. Add the sugar and with mixer, on low speed, mix it until partially combined and broken into small pieces.
3. Add the egg whites and on medium-high speed mix until blended. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar and blend until almost smooth.
4. Remove from mixer and stir in coconut.
5. Drop batter by rounded demitasse spoonful onto the parchment paper. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on the top.
6. Remove from oven and carefully slide the paper and cookies from the baking sheet, so the cookies can cool on the counter without the pan underneath. When they have cooled 1 or 2 minutes, move cookies around slightly to prevent them from sticking.
* * * Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! Thank you for supporting this cause. You rock!
The Healing Waters: Summer Slow Cooker: Warm Chicken Pita or Lettuce Wrap: From Denny: The beauty of slow food is you can forget about it for awhile after it gets going on the stove. Then you are free to run a few short errands close to the house, go grocery shopping or clean around the house.
Since I'm no fan of long hours of house cleaning like it's a Saturday marathon I clean in short spurts for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day or week, depending upon how long a project takes.
I've even educated my husband how you can load the dishwasher in the amount of time it takes for commercial TV breaks to scream at you around the corner. Fortunately, this year Congress passed a law forcing the advertisers to turn down the volume.
* * * Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!
From Denny: The holiday season is upon us and I'm on the hunt to find easy convenient recipes for us to enjoy during the holidays. Baking should be fun - and most times fast - so we can get down to the business of savoring that chocolate bite with a cup of steaming hot tea or coffee! Who's with me on this? All together now, everyone raise their virtual hands all at once! :)
Shortbread is often a holiday tradition in Europe and America. This almond fudge topped version is a new and wonderful twist as another way to use chocolate rather than the standard dipping and coating a cookie. The Chocolate Kisses Cookie Torte is a real show-stopper in the eye candy department and perfect for the holidays. While they do require some chilling time they can easily be made a day or two ahead of your big day.
The Really Chocolate Chocolate Cake is an easy basic cake to make with all purpose flour so you don't have to jump through hoops or run to the grocery store to make it since it comes from basic ingredients. We all know who follow this blog that chocolate is one of the major food groups and is always stashed in some form in our pantries. :) All I do with all purpose flour is sift it a few times to fluff it up so the cake is lighter, similar to using cake flour. It isn't exactly the same but is close enough.
Another quick note for beginner bakers: When using eggs in any baking recipe (unless otherwise noted) the standard is to use size large eggs. Use AA grade eggs when you can find them as those are the freshest and will give the best flavor and loft to your cake.
As to vegetable oil, when combining with chocolate I go for a neutral tasting oil like canola (also called rapeseed in Europe, correct me if I'm wrong on that one) so that the chocolate shines through to be the main player in the taste game.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Ghiradelli brand is wonderful too - feel free to use your best quality chocolate available) 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Beat butter, powdered sugar and salt in large bowl until fluffy. Add flour; stir until well blended. With floured hands, press evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Shortly before end of baking time, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted. Remove from heat; stir in almond extract. Spread evenly over baked shortbread. Sprinkle with almonds; press down firmly. Cool.
4. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature. 24 to 36 bars.
1 cup sugar 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 1/2 cup strong coffee 1/3 cup shortening 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 package (11 oz.) pie crust mix 2-1/2 cups cold whipping cream 1-3/4 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S MINI KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates, divided
Directions:
1. Place sugar, cocoa, coffee, shortening and cinnamon in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 minute; stir. Continue microwaving, 30 seconds at a time, until mixture is smooth and creamy when stirred with wire whisk. Remove 3/4 cup of mixture; set aside remaining mixture.
2. Stir together pie crust mix and reserved 3/4 cup cocoa mixture, blending until smooth. Shape into ball; cut into 4 pieces. Shape into patties; wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for 10 minutes or just until firm, but pliable.
3. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with foil; mark two 8-inch diameter circles on each. Place one patty in center of each circle; press with fingers into marked circles. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost set; cool completely on foil.
4. Gently peel foil away from cookies. In bowl with remaining cocoa mixture, pour whipping cream; beat until whipped cream consistency, about 3 minutes. Place 1 cookie on serving plate; place chocolates all around the outside edge of cookie. Place one-fourth of cream mixture in center; gently spread out to chocolates.
5. Repeat layering with remaining 3 cookies, cream mixture and chocolates, ending with cream. Place remaining chocolates all over top of torte. Cover: refrigerate 4 hours until filling has softened cookies. Refrigerate leftover torte. About 10 servings.
2 cups sugar 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup boiling water CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING (recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean and the top springs back when touched gently. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.
CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted 1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa 4 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Place melted butter in large mixer bowl. Add cocoa, stirring until smooth.
2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, beating until smooth. If necessary add additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, beating until spreading consistency. About 3 cups frosting.
*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, and come back often! :) Looks like I'll have to ramp up and start posting more than twice a week on the recipes during holiday season. And chocolate food hound is on the move...
This is a S'Mores version, cool! Image by e.marie via Flickr
From Denny: People are always searching for a recipe of a food they fondly remember from childhood - and Rice Krispie bar cookie recipes are often a favorite! When this was featured in our local newspaper recently (no photo) I just had to include it here. What's perfect about this simple easy recipe is that it's perfect for this holiday weekend of Labor Day. You can make and take it any where easily, enjoy!
From: Susan Filopowicz
Yield: 12 muffin-size or 24 minimuffin-size servings.
1. Melt butter, 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate and marshmallows. Combine and add Rice Krispies and cool.
2. Spray palms of hands with cooking spray and while mixture is still warm press the mixture up to 1/2 full of the minimuffin cups or regular cupcake tins.
3. In a medium glass bowl, stir coconut with 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk. Microwave 1 minute on high. Stir and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to cool slightly. While warm, pour over the crispy mixture to the top.
4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate and 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave for 30 more seconds. Add water and vanilla and drizzle over each crispy cup and top with several slivered almonds.
peanut butter butter (or any favorite nut butter), 1 cup (Warming the peanut butter jar in the microwave makes the 1 cup easier to scoop out.)
vanilla, 1 teaspoon
crisp puffed rice cereal, 3 cups
With oiled hands, press the mixture firmly into the buttered 8″ x 8″ pan.
Directions:
Sprinkle the top with chopped raisins and enough grated or finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate to cover the entire pan, making sure to get the chocolate in the corners, as well as thick enough to form a layer. As I was working with a large block of chocolate and free-form with the raisins, I don’t quite remember the quantities required. A four ounce chocolate bar and 1/2 cup of raisins are a good place to start.
Using a blow torch (or a brief visit to the broiler), melt out the chocolate layer to help adhere the raisins.
This cuts best before the chocolate has completely hardened.
Thanks for visiting this blog and subscribing! Have a great weekend, everyone!
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