Category Archives: Desserts

Toasted Coconut Key Lime Pie Fudge

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Toasted Coconut Key Lime Pie Fudge

Toasted Coconut Key Lime Pie Fudge


Last post I made was an ode to Autumn because our weather had been so unseasonably cool and wet. Now however August is back with a vengeance. It’s hot as Hades out there and extremely humid. So my mind is back to thinking of Summery foods. And what is more Summery than key lime pie? Why, key lime pie made into fudge with some tropical coconut flavors thrown in there for good measure, of course.

On another note, today is my birthday! I am 49 years old today. Damn… I’m old. Lol. The only 49 year old I know of with a 4 year old son. So what were my birthday meals like? Totally not exciting, that’s what they were like hehe. I made smoked sausage, rice a roni and carrots. Woohoo?? And my birthday cake is from Wal mart. I have got to learn that it’s ok to make myself a nice birthday dinner the same as I do for the rest of the family. Why do we women do that anyway?  But all in all, it’s been a nice birthday. I have my kids, I have the worlds best husband who is still happy to make cups of tea because he loves me. I have books to read, food to eat and lifes little luxuries. I’m good. 🙂

This fudge is quite yummy. Even the non sweets loving hubby loved it. I was originally going to make just key lime pie fudge but do you have any idea how many of those there are online?! At least 99,999,999,999,999 (please don’t ask me to say out loud what number that is). I could NOT bring myself to just repeat the version someone else made. Nope, not me. So I made this MY way. How, you ask? You did ask, I hope? T’was easy. I topped this with swirls of a homemade lime curd, added some coconut flavor to the fudge itself and topped it all off with some toasted coconut. Oh… my…gosh… this is good! I will definitely be making this again and I am pretty sure it will make into my Christmas treats too. Smooth, creamy, very rich, but saved from overwhelming sweetness by the lime curd and the toasted coconut. The lime curd is just the same recipe I use for lemon curd, with lime juice and zest subbed in there. It makes a pint of curd and you only need half a cup or so for the recipe, but I totally promise you, you won’t mind having extra. This stuff is amazingly good. I keep sneaking spoonsful of it on a spoon. You can do that, spread it on a muffin or scone, top ice cream with it…

You know the drill. Git to cookin’!

Toasted Coconut Key Lime Pie Fudge

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 lb GOOD white chocolate, chopped (please don’t use, say, “Acme Brand White Baking Chips”. Use the real thing here. It will make a difference.
  • 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • zest of one small lime
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice (this will take about 2 small limes t get)
  • 1/2 cup Lime Curd (Use this recipe for lemon curd, just substituting limes where it calls for lemons)
  • 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sweetened coconut, toasted
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil Butter the foil, then set the pan aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Stir well. Dump mixture into the prepared pan and press down into the bottom of the pan to form a crust.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Take out and set aside to cool.
  4. In a medium non stick saucepot, combine your white chocolate, a tablespoon butter and sweetened condensed milk.
  5. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and all the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and add in the lime zest, lime juice and extracts.
  6. Quickly pour into the prepared pan. Spoon dollops of the lime curd over the top of the fudge then using a butter knife (or your fingers. I won’t tell), swirl it into the fudge. Top that with the toasted coconut, pressing down lightly to make sure the coconut sticks.
  7. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
  8. Using a knife you heat under hot water and wipe dry is the easiest way to cut this (or any) fudge. You’ll get much cleaner cuts.
  9. Leftovers can be stored tightly wrapped or even better, wrap each piece individually and freeze them. When you need a sweets fix, there you have it… portion controlled fudge 🙂

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Decadent Extra Creamy Pumpkin Pie in a Cornmeal Crust

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Decadent Extra Creamy Pumpkin Pie In A Cornmeal Crust

Decadent Extra Creamy Pumpkin Pie In A Cornmeal Crust

When I started this blog, I had a hard time making certain things to post on the blog. Why? Because I am a rabid traditionalist and it tends to make me a bit rigid in my thinking at times. As much as I go against the seasonal cooking idea in some things I make (Pumpkin Cranberry Bread in June, Chili or beef stew in the middle of Summer, grilling out when my back porch is covered in snow and I can’t feel my toes) there are other things that I make ONLY on the holidays. My world famous sausage stuffing is only for Thanksgiving. Honest… world famous…. it’s been eaten and enjoyed by major celebrities, heads of state of at least 32 countries, 4 popes and Queen Elizabeth. We just call her Liz here cause we’re BFF’S like that. My Pecan Pie? Only Christmas and Thanksgiving. My Turtle Cookies? Christmas. The pumpkin pie I have been making since my oldest son, now 27, was about 4? Only at Thanksgiving and since the older kids have grown and moved out, sometimes at Christmas if they didn’t make it home for Thanksgiving.

But the other day I realized something. By doing that, I was going against the whole reason I started this blog. For years, I heard what a good cook I was, how I needed to write a cookbook of country/homey classics, etc etc etc. So I started blogging. And when I started, one of the things I wanted to do was share our families favorite dishes. But by being so darn rigid, I wasn’t able to do so. Because if I only make this pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, how can I share it with YOU in time for you to make it for YOUR Thanksgiving? I couldn’t share it after the fact because then it was too late. So I just didn’t share at all. That stops now. This year my family and I will enjoy our holiday favorites a time or two before the holidays so that I can share them with you.

On that note, this is truly the best pumpkin pie ever. I got the original recipe from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book (best baking book ever… you have got to hunt it down on Amazon) and over time, have adapted to more to our tastes; i.e., a bit more spice, using cream and so on. But basically, it’s the same recipe from the book. This crust is wonderful. It’s not like cornbread so don’t worry about that. It just has a bit more texture and a touch of crunch from the cornmeal and the rustic flavor of it goes so well with a pie like pumpkin. But feel free to sub your favorite pie crust recipe or even a store bought one. Since this pie uses dark brown sugar and extra spices, it IS darker when cooked than the typical color. So don’t think you overcooked it when it comes out a dark orangeish brown instead of the “normal” light orange color. It’s still fine. 🙂

Decadent Extra Creamy Pumpkin Pie With A Cornmeal Crust

  • Crust- (Can sub your favorite crust)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (NOT cornmeal mix)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup solid shortening, chilled
  • 3 to 6 tablespoons water (I usually make this in late Autumn and use about 3 tablespoons, but it being Summer, I used closer to the 6 this time)
  • Pumpkin Filling-
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pre-made pie filling)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk (adds extra richness but is optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg (do freshly grated if you can. It’s so much better.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (be careful with the cloves and don’t go overboard- they can be very strong and bitter if you use too much)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Crust-
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  3. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender,  cut the cold shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the water, about 2 tablespoons at a time. Mix thoroughly. When enough water has been added, you should have a cohesive mixture that you can form into a ball, which, when pressed, doesn’t crumble at all. it will however, be a soft dough.
  4. On a lightly floured board or counter, roll the dough out to be 2 inches wider than the pie pan you are using is when inverted. This dough tears easily but it also patches easily. the easiest way to get it into the pan is the old method of easing it off of the counter with a spatula, then wrapping it around the rolling pin and laying it in the pie pan.
  5. After laying the dough in the pan, gently press it into the sides of the pan. Don’t stretch or pull at the dough because that can cause it to shrink up as it bakes. Crimp your top edges and prick the crust all over with a fork.
  6. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until it is just beginning to brown. Set aside.
  7. For the filling-
  8. In a large bowl, beat the pumpkin puree, eggs and the egg yolk.
  9. Add the cream and sugar, then beat in the spices and vanilla. Taste a bit on your finger to make sure it has enough spice for you. If not, add a bit more.
  10. Beat until the mixture is smooth with no pumpkin or sugar lumps.
  11. Pour into the prepared pie crust.
  12. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 300. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the filling is almost set. A sharp knife inserted off center should come out almost clean, with just a few moist crumbs on it and the center of the pie should still be slightly jiggly. It will set up as it cools.
  13. Chill to finish setting. It can then be served either at room temp or chilled. Serve with whipped cream, creme fraiche or ice cream. Enjoy! We’ve always loved this pie. I hope you do too. 🙂

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Browned Butter German Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Browned Butter German Chocolate Chip Cookies

Browned Butter German Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a major personality flaw. Well, I have more than one but we won’t get into the others today. The one I’m talking about right now is my inability to let things alone. I am that person who when being sarcastic, always has to say that one last sentence that gets people wanting to look for cement shoes for me. I’m that person that when a joke goes flat, will be standing there saying “no, no, let me explain it to you! It’s funny! Really, it is!”. I’m also that person who, once I’ve made a recipe, then has to make it about 463 times more in different variations just because I love to play around with recipes and put my own stamp on it. I guess that’s one reason I’m a food blogger, huh?. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it’s a case of I should have left well enough alone.

Today it was a definite case of “it works”. Oh…my…gosh…did it work. Now, contrary to what one would think, I’m not a huge cookie person. I prefer my sweets to be floating in a puddle of cream and maybe even have fruit in them. I know, I know, I just shocked a bunch of you. I LOVE sweets, don’t get me wrong but creaminess (aka fat lol) and fruit put together tend to do it for me more than cookies. But there are times I like something a little homey, a little old fashioned, a little…well…cookieish.  So yesterday, on my Facebook Page, I mentioned that I was making These cookies. Well, I never got to them yesterday and this is a good thing because overnight, I got the inspiration to try to make them a bit different. My husband, who is my favorite person ever, was my inspiration. He LOVES German Chocolate Cake and I make it (or buy it) for him every year on his birthday. So I decided to make these Browned Butter cookies in a way that mimics the flavors in his favorite cake. And since I love the chocolate/coconut flavor combo myself, I am kind of in love with these cookies myself. The dough alone was fantastic lol. I kept snagging bits of it from the bowl. The nutty taste of the browned butter, the chocolate, the crispy toasted coconut, the caramel… oh my *drools*

You know the drill…

Browned Butter German Chocolate Chip Cookies

    • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned to a golden brown color & cooled
    • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 2 tablespoons cream
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
    • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 12 ounce bag semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I actually used more like 3 cups because I had a partial bag opened that I wanted to use up so extra wouldn’t go amiss 🙂 )
    • 1 1/4 cup sweetened coconut, toasted, 1/4 cup set aside
    • 25 Kraft Caramels,
    • 1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half
  1. To brown the butter, in a medium saucepan, over medium heat melt the butter. Let cook,stirring frequently, until it turns a golden brown color. This can take anywhere from five to ten minutes. It will sputter and spit a lot at first then that will stop. Do NOT walk away from this as it can go from yellowish butter to burnt garbage very quickly.
  2. Pour the browned butter into a large bowl and let cool.
  3. When cool, pour both kinds of sugar into the bowl with the butter. Beat until well mixed.
  4. Add in the egg and egg yolk, then pour in the vanilla, coconut flavoring and the cream. Beat on low speed until well mixed.
  5. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
  6. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and at slow speed (unless you want to be covered in flying flour), mix until you have a cohesive cookie dough.
  7. Fold in the chocolate chips and one cup of the toasted coconut.
  8. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.. Spray the cookie sheet with baking spray before lining it if using the parchment paper.
  9. Scoop the cookies up and place about 2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheet.
  10. Bake at 350 until golden brown on the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes.
  11. Let cool for a minute on the sheet then transfer over to a wire rack to finish cooling.
  12. When the cookies are cool, make the caramel drizzle.  Unwrap your caramels and put them into a bowl. A cereal sized bowl is sufficient. Pour the cream over the top. Then microwave at 70% power for 30 second intervals until the caramel is melted and bubbly. Stir well to mix. Be careful… there is nothing as fun as scraping out a bowl of hardened burnt caramel because you didn’t watch carefully. Please don’t ask how I know this.
  13. Drizzle each cookie with some of the caramel and while it’s still gooey, sprinkle some of the reserved toasted coconut over each one.

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Fresh Fruit Salad With Honey/Lime Syrup & A Creamy Mascarpone Topping

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Fresh Fruit Salad With Honey/lime Syrup & A Creamy Mascarpone Topping

Fresh Fruit Salad With Honey/lime Syrup & A Creamy Mascarpone Topping



It’s funny the things that you associate with certain words. Forevermore, the words fruit salad will make me think of a toy guitar my four year old had when he was a toddler. He could press certain buttons on it and it would play snippets of songs, one of them being “Fruit Salad” by The Wiggles (I STILL have no darn idea who The Wiggles are!) Warning… watch this at your own risk. Brain cells WILL melt and leak out of your ears.

 

That guitar disappeared one day (my theory is that I was sleep walking one night and gleefully broke it into a bazillion pieces and hid the body… I mean, pieces. and I thank God quite often for that unsolved kidnapping, murder, run away… whatever.

But fruit salad like this will only disappear one place… into mah bellah. It is yummy to the max and if you don’t use the mascarpone cream (though why you wouldn’t is beyond me 😛 ) it’s even more or less good for you. I mean… it’s fruit… and limes (which are also a fruit 😛 ) and nice natural honey. Ok, ok, so there’s sugar in there too! Sue me! But seriously, this is a great alternative to a fattening dessert. And it can be made fairly quickly so it’s great for an impromptu bring to work or a bbq dish. If you make it ahead of time, the fruits pick up a lot of flavor from the syrup, but the oranges will also take on a purplish tinge from the berries so if you don’t want that, add the oranges about 30 minutes or so before serving.

You know the drill…

            Fresh Fruit Salad With Honey/Lime Syrup & A Creamy Mascarpone Topping

  • 6 cups fresh mixed berries
  • 1 cup seedless green grapes (obviously, you can use another color but you’ll already have dark berries, thus why I did green grapes for contrast)
  • 2 oranges, sectioned, white pith removed
  • 2/3 cup lime juice
  • zest from 2 limes
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese, room temp
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. In a medium pot, combine the lime juice, lime zest, honey, 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then lower heat and simmer for one minute. Cool completely.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all the fruits. When syrup is cool, pour over the fruits and toss GENTLY. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to one day.
  3. For mascarpone cream, combine the mascarpone, sour cream, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Keep stored in fridge until ready to use. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the fruit into a serving bowl. Discard (or drink lol) the remaining syrup.
  4. Top each serving with a dollop of the mascarpone cream.

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Raspberry Coconut Sweet Rolls With Orange Cream Cheese Icing

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Raspberry Coconut Sweet Rolls With Orange Cream Cheese Icing

Raspberry Coconut Sweet Rolls With Orange Cream Cheese Icing


What kind of idiot bakes in 90 degree weather, while living in a house with a central air unit that hates to go below 80 degrees inside when it’s hot outside!!? What kind of idiot I ask you!!??

Erhmmmm *looks sheepish*, that would be me.

I can’t help it! It’s a sickness. Many many food bloggers have it. We tell you and ourselves that it is all because we love you and want to create yummy things for you to drool over but in reality we’d bake anyway. Like I said, it’s an illness.

And ill is what I’m going to be if I keep shoving these sweet rolls into my chubby mouth. But oh my gosh, I’m rather proud of myself here. These are delicious! You get a tender sweet roll with a touch of coconut flavor in it, then the raspberry/coconut filling with it’s tang and mild crunch, then the rich creamy orange cream cheese icing. When this idea first came to me (lying in bed, trying to get to sleep. Many ideas come to me then. I’m strange.), I wasn’t sure how it would work. I was afraid that all of the flavors would clash with each other but they don’t do that at all. As a matter of fact, this will be going down as one of my favorite ways to make a sweet roll.

You know the drill. Git to cookin’.

Raspberry Coconut Sweet Rolls With Orange Cream Cheese Icing

  • Sweet Roll Dough-
  • 2 packages dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
  • 1 cup milk, warmed (about 110 to 115 degrees)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons coconut extract
  • 2/3 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 3 eggs
  • 5 1/4 cups to 5/12 cups flour (you can use bread flour or all purpose- I use bread flour when making almost any yeast dough)
  • Filling-
  • 12 ounces raspberry preserves
  • 12 ounces fresh raspberries, rinsed, drained and gently blotted dry
  • 1 7 ounce bag sweetened grated coconut, toasted at 350 degrees until light brown
  • Icing-
  • 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temp
  • zest of one large orange (about 3 tablespoons zest)
  • 4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
  • 2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 150 then immediately turn it off. The purpose is to have a nice warm oven to proof the dough in but not to have it too hot. Butter 2 9 inch round cake pans (or one 13×9 inch baking pan) and set aside.
  2.  In a small bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. let sit for about 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle hook (can all be done by hand but it makes it a bit more work and work scares me 😛 ), combine the milk, extracts, sugar, salt and butter. On low speed, mix just until combined.
  4. Pour in the yeast mixture and again, mix just until combined. Change over to the dough hook, then add 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat on low speed until it is a shaggy mass. Add another 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes. Feel the dough and if it it is still very sticky or tacky, add about another 1/4 cup of  flour. You want the dough to be just a tiny bit sticky, not enough that it sticks to your hands or fingers. By the same token, you don’t want dry dough because that equals dry finished product. Either way, beat on low speed until the dough is smooth, silky and has come away from the bowl in a solid mass, about 5 minutes.
  5. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead for just a minute (that is the reason you did all this in a stand mixer, so you didn’t have to knead by hand) then put into a greased bowl, turning it so that all sides are greased.
  6. Cover with a damp cloth and put into the previously preheated, now nicely warm oven. Let rise until it has doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
  7. Punch dough down and then turn out onto a lightly floured board or counter. Roll it into a rectangle that is roughly 28 by 12 inches.
  8. Spread the dough with the raspberry preserves. Then sprinkle all but 2/3 of a cup of the toasted coconut on top of the preserves. Then place the fresh raspberries on top of that.
  9. Starting at one of the long ends, carefully roll up the dough into a tight log. Don’t squeeze too hard though or you’ll squeeze out the preserves.
  10. Cut the log into 16 large rolls. Place them in the prepared pan(s) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Again allow the dough to rise in a warm place (NOT the oven) until doubled in bulk, about 30 to 45 minutes.
  11. Meanwhile, make the icing- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, orange zest and orange juice. Beat at medium speed until smooth.
  12. Add in the 2 cups powdered sugar and at LOW speed (unless you like being covered in sugar), beat until smooth and creamy. Add  in another half a cup sugar if the icing is too thin to spread. Cover and set aside.
  13. Bake the rolls at 350 degrees until they are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
  14. When cool, frost with the cream cheese icing (if you haven’t already eaten most of it straight from the bowl 😀 ) then sprinkle with the reserved toasted coconut.

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Peaches And Cream Jello Salad

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Peaches And Cream Jello Salad

Peaches And Cream Jello Salad



I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m old! Yep, compared to many bloggers, I’m old. I have six kids, three grown and married and have 7 grandchildren. The bulk of food bloggers are working on their first child, if that.

Why do I mention my old fart status? Jello. That’s why. Back in the stone age, when I was a kid who played with T-Rex bones for fun and dodged falling pterodactyl poop, jello was the dessert of choice. That and canned fruit, though that may have just been my mother who bought that…every…single…payday. Lots of canned fruit. LOTS. I still don’t care for canned fruit. Jello however, I still like. Though I have this bad habit of stockpiling it like there’s going to be a run on jello and then I end up with, no lie, about 50 boxes of jello. And we won’t mention how many boxes of pudding mix that I buy thinking it would be a quick dessert and then never make. And brownie mixes. And…and…never mind. Just suffice it to say that I hope you aren’t wanting to buy gummy candies anywhere anytime soon.

This started out as a creamsicle salad, which, while yummy, isn’t what I wanted. I hate being a conformist. EVERYONE makes it with orange jello. I’m a rebel.

Or something.

I made it with peach jello. And cheesecake flavored pudding mix.

It’s yummy. You need this. This is creamy and peachy and jello-ey (yes, that is now a word) and very refreshing after you’ve spent an hour or so watching your body shrink as you drip sweat over a red hot grill. It’s also so easy that anyone can do it, even my husband.  Ok, maybe I’m stretching the truth there.

Peaches And Cream Jello Salad

  • 2 3 ounce packages cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix (you can sub vanilla or maybe white chocolate if you want to)
  • 1 3 ounce package peach jello
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups chopped fresh peaches
  • 16 ounces cool whip
  1. In a large bowl, combine the pudding mix and jello. Pour the boiling water over it and stir until smooth and well blended.
  2. Stir in the heavy cream and stir until combined.
  3. Fold in the peaches.
  4. Fold in the cool whip.
  5. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.
  6. Serve. Eat. Burp. Ok, you don’t have to burp if you don’t want to.

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New York Cheesecake With Triple Berry Sauce

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New York Cheesecake With Triple Berry Sauce

New York Cheesecake With Triple Berry Sauce


I’ve always gotten a kick out of the regional competition between different parts of the country when it comes to food. Being born and raised in Chicago, I saw a lot of it there. Chicagoans will tell you that you can’t get sausage as good anywhere but there… and they would be correct. They will also tell you that the way they make hot dogs is the best… and they would, again, be correct. Then there’s pizza. While Chicago is known for deep dish, believe it or not, a native Chicagoan will tell you that Chicago is more known for thin crust pizza. And yes, it’s better there. I didn’t have deep dish pizza until well into adulthood. Go figure.

Other parts of the country will arguments over other foods, such as where in the south you can get the best fried chicken or the best shrimp and grits (both foods dear to my heart…and stomach), where the best bagels are available (from all accounts that would be New York but never having been there, I can’t say) down to even where you can get the best coffee (Seattle ostensibly but again, I couldn’t say)

One thing most people won’t argue about though is where one can get the best cheesecake. New York wins that. While, like I said, I’ve never been there (*sobs* I’m so travel deprived) I’ve tried enough cheesecake to be pretty certain which is the best. And a thick, dense, creamy New York style cheesecake is hard to beat. Though *she says with a sheepish grin* I DO have a liking for those creamy French style Sara Lee cheesecakes. Don’t judge!

You need to give this one a try next time you get a hankering (yes, I just said hankering…what of it? 😛 ) for cheesecake. It is, as I mentioned above, thick (boy, is it thick), dense and creamy. Plus, with the quick berry sauce on top, it goes from wonderful to “omg, back away from this cheesecake cause it’s all mine!”.

This is fairly quickly put together. It takes a while to cook and then to chill but it’s worth the wait. Mine took longer than the recipe said it would by about 50% time wise but that could be my oven, who knows. This originally comes from Cooks Illustrated and I really didn’t chance much other than I added 2 tablespoons of flour (I have bad luck at times with cheesecakes that don’t contain a touch of flour so I just put a bit) and I added the lemon and orange zests. The berry sauce is also mine but there’s nothing fancy about it though it looks it. All it is is berries and some softened up jam. I prefer uncooked berry sauces over cooked because 1) they’re easier and 2) you don’t lose the fresh flavor of the berries by cooking them. I also opened the door for a minute at the stage of turning the oven down to 200 because when researching this recipe, I read a LOT of reviews saying that theirs burned but those who said they propped the door open for a minute didn’t have that issue. I love the mild citrus flavor they added but feel free to omit them if you’re more a cheesecake purist.

You know the drill… git to cookin’.

New York Cheesecake With Triple Berry Sauce

  • Crust-
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 ounces graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (I used about 2 cause I like graham cracker crusts a bit sweet)
  • Cheesecake-
  • 5 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • zest from one lemon
  • zest from one orange
  • 1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Triple Berry Sauce-
  • 4 cups fresh mixed berries
  • 1/2 cup good quality berry jam (I used Smuckers Triple Berry Preserves)
  1. Spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. To make the crust, combine the crumbs and the sugar. Stir to combine. Then pour over the melted butter and stir well until it’s evenly moistened. Pour the crumbs into the prepared pan and using the bottom of a glass, press them onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for about 12 minutes or so, until they are lightly browned. After you take it out, turn the heat up to 500 degrees (yes, you read that right)
  3. For the cheesecake- in a large bowl,  using a hand mixer (I have tried a stand mixer with this recipe and it simply doesn’t get the bottom of the bowl well enough and you end up with lumps of unmixed cream cheese), beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy with no lumps. Scrape the bowl once or twice during the mixing.
  4. Add in the sugar and flour and beat until combined, about one minute. Scrape the bowl again, then add the lemon juice,  zests, sour cream and vanilla. Beat at low speed until combined. Add the egg yolks, then beat until combined. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, and beat each time until well combined.
  5. Spray the cheesecake crust with cooking spray (yes, the crust… ), set the crust on a baking sheet (in case of drips) then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 500. Then turn the heat down to 200 degrees. Prop or hold the door open for about 45 seconds or so so heat goes down a bit quicker then close it back.
  6. bake at 200 degrees for about an hour and a half (like I said up there, mine actually took closer to 2 hours but that may be my oven so check yours at the 90 minute mark.
  7. You want this to come to 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer. It should be set except in the center 2 inches or so of the cheesecake. It’s ok if it is VERY slightly jiggly there. It will firm up during the cooling process.
  8. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until barely warm, about 3 hours. Using a butter knife, run it along the edge of the pan between the crust and the pan. This will help loosen it up. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.
  9. About an hour before serving, pour your berries in a medium bowl. Gently fold in the softened jam or preserves (you can soften it simply by giving it a good stir before using it). When ready to serve, either spoon the berries on top of the cheesecake or serve in a bowl alongside it.

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Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls

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Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls-001

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You may have heard me say more than once that I lov(ed) Twinkies and Ho Ho’s and the like. basically, if it was Hostess, I was there, preservatives or not. I like to delude myself by saying that with all the Hostess cakes I’ve eaten in my life, I should have enough preservatives in me to live to be 400. So when Hostess went bankrupt, I was devastated. I held candlelight vigils every night for a month and still wear the “hair” shirt I made out of old ho ho wrappers.

So when I heard Hostess was coming back in July (bought by some company or another) I stopped the candle light vigils, bought a helicopter and had it flying a “Twinkies are coming back!” banner behind it and knitted a throw rug with a Ding Dong design in the middle.

One of the things I sheepishly admit to liking from them was their packs of cinnamon rolls. That slick icing you could pull off in one horrifyingly large piece, the somewhat dry rolls (especially once you pulled off and ate the vaguely plastic icing)… it was all high on my list of “I have no idea why I like this, but I do” foods, along with gummi candies, combos, liverwurst and lemonheads.

But even I’m not totally delusional. I know that homemade cinnamon rolls are better. And YOU all know ME.  I can’t leave well enough alone and just make something the normal way. I’m genetically mutated and must screw around with a recipe. So I made Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls. I had seen the recipe originally in a cookbook and it intrigued me. Well, intrigued was all it could do. The recipe totally sucked.  The dough was soupy and even after adding a couple extra cups of bread flour, was far too sticky to work with and I knew if I kept going, i’d 1) waste more ingredients and 2) even if I got decent textured dough, it would end up overworked. So I tossed it and started over with my tried and true recipe for sweet roll dough from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, just updated a bit for a stand mixer. Then I made the same type of topping I put on a upside down cake, just different ratios and Bobs your uncle… Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls. These are a wonderfully flavored tender yeast roll with a delicious cinnamony/ buttery filing then topped with a buttery/sugary/pineappley (lots of y’s here) topping. Basically, you get two desserts in one for the calories of one dessert PLUS you can feel all self righteous if you have this for breakfast. This is a longer recipe but it comes together fairly quickly and it’s definitely worth the time

You know the drill…

Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls

  • Cinnamon Rolls-
  • 2 packages dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 cup milk, warmed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
  • 3 eggs, warmed up in a bowl of warm water
  • 51/4 to 51/2 cups flour
  • Filling-
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • Topping-
  • 2 20 ounce cans pineapple chunks in juice, well drained
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
  • 1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained (optional)
  1. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl. Stir and let sit for a few minutes so yeast can dissolve.
  2. Combine the milk, sugar, salt and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat will. Stir in the dissolved yeast. Put on the dough hook- add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and beat until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. Add another 2 1/2 cups flour and on low speed, mix until the dough is smooth and firm.
  3. Feel it with your fingers and if it is tacky (unless your house is very humid, 5 cups should be fine. The original ingredients were for a hand mixer. A stand mixes better and you can usually use a touch less flour to get a good dough.) add about another 1/4 cup flour. Mix at low speed for about 5 minutes. Turn the dough out into a greased bowl; turn the dough to make sure all sides get greased, then cover with plastic and set aside. Let rise until doubled in bulk.
  4. Meanwhile, make your topping and filling. For the filling, in a small bowl, combine the one cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon. Set aside.
  5. For the topping, combine the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to mix the sugar. Add the drained pineapple, stir and simmer over medium heat for five minutes. Mixture will seem thin but it will thicken and caramelize as it cooks in the oven.
  6. Grease a 13×9 inch baking pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the topping in and make sure to spread the pineapple out to cover the bottom of the pan. If using cherries, randomly top the pineapple mixture with some cherries.
  7. When dough has risen to double it’s original bulk, punch down. Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly for a minute or so. Roll out into a rectangle of approximately 28 by 12 inches. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
  8. Spread the top of the dough with the very soft butter, Then sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Starting from one of the long sides, roll up tightly like a long jelly roll. Cut the dough into 15 pieces and lay each piece into the prepared pan. You should have the five rows of 3 rolls. Cover lightly with plastic or a damp towel and set aside to rise again. Let rise for about another half hour or until almost doubled in bulk.
  9. Bake at 350 degrees until the rolls are puffy and golden.
  10. Let sit for five minutes then invert pan over either some sheets of foil or a larger pan if you have one. Let excess topping drip down for a minute.
  11. Serve warm… cold…room temp… in a cave… on a horse…eat them any way, Sam I am.

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Salted Caramel & Dark Chocolate S’mores

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Sea Salt Caramel & Dark Chocolate S'mores

Sea Salt Caramel & Dark Chocolate S’mores

I don’t like s’mores much. There. I said it. I have no problem with the marshmallows and the chocolate. I mean c’mon, this is me.  I love those parts. But I really don’t care for graham crackers. We were fairly poor growing up and as graham crackers were cheap, they were one of those things that my mom bought a lot as a treat. I ate them then… I was a kid… give me a shoe sole with sugar and I’d have eaten it. but even then they weren’t a favorite. Still aren’t. but you know what? When I made this S’more, the first thing I tried was the cracker that was all coated with caramel, chocolate and sea salt. And know what? It was amazing! I now have a way I will eat graham crackers lol. Of course, it takes a somewhat benign food and makes it a heart attack on a plate, but I’m cool with that 😀

If you like s’mores the old fashioned way, you’ll like these even better. If you like salted caramel and fancy schmancy chocolate this will be heaven on a plate for you. A layer of graham cracker covered in a square of good quality chocolate ( I used Lindt Caramel Sea Salt bar just to layer that sea salt caramel flavor , covered in a toasted marshmallow and sea salt caramel sauce, then coated with more chocolate, another graham cracker THEN slathered in more caramel, good chocolate sauce and more sea salt. Yep… Heaven. On. A. Plate.

Salted Caramel And Dark Chocolate S’mores

  •  1 3.5 ounce bar Lindt Caramel Sea Salt Bar (or any flavor you prefer… but use GOOD chocolate)
  • 5 graham crackers, broken in half
  • 5 large marshmallows. (I used the extra large ones from Campfire brand)
  • A half batch of my homemade caramel sauce (you’ll end up with some left over but I promise that you won’t mind. It has many uses 😀
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup good quality chocolate sauce
  1. After you make the caramel, stir the teaspoon of sea salt into. If you want to hold on to some of the sauce plain, just use what you want and cut the salt accordingly. Set aside.
  2. Set the graham cracker halves on plates (one cracker to each of five plates) and put a square of chocolate on each piece.
  3. Toast your marshmallow by whatever method you prefer. I just used the stove but go for it and be authentic and use a campfire, a grill, whatever… use a Bic lighter if it makes you happy 😛
  4. Put the marshmallow on a graham cracker half, cover with some of the caramel sauce, then put the other cracker half on top.
  5.  Drizzle with chocolate sauce, more caramel sauce then sprinkle with some sea salt.
  6. Inhale. Thank me later.

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Butterscotch, Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Scones With A Maple Glaze

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Butterscotch Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Scones With A Maple Glaze

Butterscotch Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Scones With A Maple Glaze


I remember the first time I read about scones. it was when I was in my early 20’s, way back before the days of the internet and 900,000 recipes about ANYTHING.  I was reading a cheap romance set in Scotland. The heroine (whom I remember as being a total spoiled pain in the arse) was whining about being hungry and the maid of the hero (whom I remember as being a total sexist pain in the arse) gave her an oat scone. Since I’ve been fascinated with food culture for most of my life, I was intrigued at the idea of a scone. So when I finally found a recipe, years later, I just had t make them.

They sucked.

The first ones I ever made were made with an oat flour (ground up oatmeal), raisins (they called for currents but those weren’t easily found here in the states back in the day), butter and other assorted ingredients I can’t recall. They were dry as dust, tough and crumbly all at the same time with a taste that was like…well… ground up oatmeal with some raisins in it.

Being me though, I didn’t give up. Just like with bread pudding, which I hated when I first tried it, I had to keep trying. Now, I absolutely love scones. You can find quite a few of them here on the blog.

These are quite yummy. They are reminiscent of the packs of instant brown sugar and maple oatmeal that we all ate as kids (and that I personally still love). But no dry as dust texture. They are soft and flaky (I slightly overcooked mine by accident and they are still good) and the cinnamon brown sugar flavor accented by the maple glaze is outstanding (am I the only one who every single time I use the word outstanding I think of the old saw {that made no sense} about “yeah, he was outstanding… outstanding in the field”. WTH does that even mean???). The butterscotch and cinnamon chips in them just gives them that “I can eat these for breakfast OR dessert” feel. All in all, a very good scone.

You know the drill…..

Butterscotch, Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Scones With A Maple Glaze

  • 3/4 cup chopped toasted and cooled pecans
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces,cold
  • 1 tablespoon solid shortening, chopped into small pieces, cold
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/2 cup cinnamon chips
  • sanding sugar for sprinkling on top of scones (optional- I like the touch of sweetness and mild crunch)
  • Glaze-
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
  • 3 to 6 tablespoons heavy cream (may need more or less to get to drizzling consistency)
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly grease a large baking sheet.
  2. In a small bowel, mix together the pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside
  3. Mix together your buttermilk, cream and vanilla extract and set aside.
  4. Mix together your flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter and shortening into the flour until it is fully combined and in tiny pieces. Stir in the pecan/brown sugar mixture.
  5. Make a small well in the center. Pour in the buttermilk mixture all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir together to make a moist cohesive dough. Make sure all the flour is combined in and you don’t have dry streaks. Gently fold in the butterscotch and cinnamon.
  6. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured board.  Pat into a rectangle of about 1/2 inch thick.
  7. Using a sharp knife dipped in flour or a pizza cutter (they work great for cutting doughs) cut the dough into either 8 large scones or 12 smaller ones. Your choice there. If you look and think that 12 is too small, remember that these will spread as they bake.
  8. Lay the scones, close together but not touching, on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sanding sugar if desired.
  9. Bake at 400 for about 14 to 18 minutes for large scones or until browned and firm on top. For small ones, bake for about 10 to 13 minutes or until browned and firm on top.
  10. Let cool on a wire rack until completely cool.
  11. For glaze, in a small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients and using a whisk, whisk well until mixture is smooth and creamy. Drizzle over cooled scones.

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