Category: Desserts

Fresh Whipped Cream

1 Comment

Fresh, home-made whipped cream is just delicious and super easy. You can make it ahead of time and just keep it covered in the fridge. I normally just wing it, but it’s nice to have a reference when I do make it. It really makes a trifle sing!

Ingredients

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2-3 Tbsp powdered sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
1 tsp Vanilla extract (or could use Rum)

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until it’s getting slightly thickened, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form when you lift the whisk or mixer attachment out of the bowl.

You can cover and refrigerate it for several hours without it breaking down. Don’t know if it would keep longer! Our never keeps – someone keeps eating it all.

Easy Rhubarb Crisp

Leave a comment


My friend Dot made this amazing rhubarb crisp for dinner a few nights ago and I was gobsmacked. How have I never had a Rhubarb Crisp before? It’s sweet, tangy and a perfect summer dessert.

Dot was kind enough to share the recipe with me, which was from Nora at Savorynothings.com and I used her recipe exactly, just adding a little vanilla. A few nights ago we were having friends over to play cards and I loved being able to pop out in the garden and gather fresh rhubarb for dessert!

At some point, I might try swapping out the cinnamon for a little fresh & candied ginger, since we love Rhubarb Ginger Jam, but this is honestly just about perfect as is.

Rhubarb Filling
2 lbs. fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2″ slices
¼ cup cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Crumble Topping
1 cup oats
½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 stick cold butter, in ½” cubes or grated (8 Tbsp)

Gently but thoroughly combine all rhubarb filling ingredients in a large bowl. Spread evenly in a 10 x 13″ baking dish.

Then thoroughly combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in the same bowl. You can cut in the cubed butter (that’s what Nora does) but I find it easier to just coarsely grate the stick of cold butter directly over the flour and oats mix, and then gently blend so there are no clumps of butter left. Scatter the crumb topping evenly over the rhubarb filling. Don’t worry about overflow, this dish doesn’t rise, so it fits fine.

Bake at 400°F for around 35 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. Let cool 10 minutes before serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sweet, tart and crunchy. So good.

*Nora mentions that if you use frozen rhubarb, to thaw it completely and let it drain without squeezing it. Freezing makes rhubarb a little more watery so you may need to add another Tbsp of cornstarch.

Yogurt, Raspberries and Granola

Leave a comment

This is the simplest breakfast, dessert or snack imaginable, but it’s really good, and it looks so pretty!

The tartness of the raspberries is perfect with the yogurt and the jam and granola give them just the right amount of sweetness. I honestly would rather have this than ice cream for dessert.

For 1 serving:

2/3 cup 2% Fage Plain Yogurt (5.3 oz )
couple small spoons Raspberry jam
6-7 fresh raspberries
couple spoons of Cinnamon Granola

Place yogurt into a pretty serving dish, pour jam over (may need to add a drop or two of water to thin.) Sprinkle fresh raspberries over and then granola. Yum!

Apple Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Leave a comment

I made Thanksgiving punch with apple cider, ginger ale and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice mix, served with a glass with sliced apples, sliced oranges and frozen cranberries, tossed with a little lemon juice. It was pretty good and several people enjoyed it, but of course I cut enough fruit for 30 extra glasses!


So I found this amazing recipe by Rachel Ballard on FeastandFarm.com, to use up the apples and cranberries. Rachel uses 12 full ounces of cranberries, but I just used about a 1/2 cup since that was all I had. It is fast, super easy and so delicious!

Ingredients
1/2 cup frozen cranberries
4 cups Fuji apples, cored and thinly sliced but not peeled
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp freshly grated orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice from the orange you zested
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 stick butter melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream or heavy whipping cream (I only had whipping cream)
1 cup all purpose flour
Good pinch Kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch pie plate.

In a medium bowl, mix the cranberries, apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, orange juice and zest. Put in the bottom of the pie pan.

In the same bowl, beat the eggs until lighter and fluffier–about 2 minutes. Add the white sugar, butter, vanilla, salt and sour cream (or whipping cream) and mix well.

Gently mix in the flour just until no pockets of flour remain.

Spread the batter over the fruit as evenly as possible. It will be thick.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or so, until the cake is lightly browned. Check it with a toothpick–if it comes out clean it’s done.

Let cool for 10 minutes or so, and then gently loosen the edges with a butter knife and hold serving plate over it and flip. Serve warm or at room temperature. So good!

Yogurt with Berries and Granola

Leave a comment


When you want a really light, delicious breakfast, snack or dessert, nothing beats good yogurt, berries and granola. This is a dish that I make all the time, but never think of writing down.

We usually buy the best whole milk plain yogurt we can find (Brown Cow makes amazing yogurt!) and then add a little honey or jam. My favorite jam to add is Spicy Peach, paired with Cinnamon Granola. But you can really use almost any jam or fruit, even a frozen berry mix if you want to, and any granola you have on hand.

Ingredients

1 cup any berries – blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are good
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp Spicy Peach Jam
handful of Cinnamon Granola

In a wide, flat bowl start with yogurt, and drop jam over in little plops. (Technical term.) Toss berries and then granola over. Stir gently and devour.

Pie Crust Recipes: Traditional Pastry and Graham Cracker Crust

Leave a comment

I don’t often make pie crusts from scratch, but when I do, I have the best luck with this recipe.

Traditional Pie Crust:

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3-4 Tbsp cold water

With a fork, stir together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in vegetable oil and mix gently until the mix is quite crumbly.

Dribble in 3 Tbsp of cold water and gently start mixing it in. The dough will start to stick together and start to form large lumps. If it isn’t, add the rest of the water.

Lay out a section of waxed paper that is twice as wide as it is tall and fold it in half. Unfold it and dump the pie dough onto the bottom layer. Form a flattish 6″ circle. You don’t want to beat it up – just pull all the loosish bits together. Fold the top over and begin to roll it out in a rough circle.

Keep your pie pan handy, and keep rolling until your circle is roughly 1/2″ – 1″ bigger than the pie pan. Remove the top layer of wax paper and “roll” the crust around the rolling pin. Unroll the crust over the pie pan, gently tugging and pushing down so the crust is well-seated in the pan.

Fold the edges up and under themselves, cutting off any extra-long bits and adding them anywhere your crust isn’t quite long enough. Then you can either use a fork to create a ridged edge, or you can crimp the edge with your hand. It’s easier to see than read – here is a video showing how to  crimp a pie crust.

Prick with a fork all over the bottom and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes.  No chilling – and no baking beans or whatever.  Just pop it in the oven and bake it. You want the edges of the crust to just begin to darken. You’ll also smell a cooked flour aroma.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Add filling.  (If you’re using the crust for a filling that needs to bake, just fill it first and follow the baking times for baking a filled pie.)

Graham Cracker (or other cookie) Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers or BelVita Honey and Nuts cookies (3 packs of 2 cookies each)
1/3 cup melted butter
3Tbsp of sugar (1 1/2 Tbsp if you are using Belvita Cookies.)

Mix in a bowl, then dump into a pie pan, gently spreading the crumbs with the back of a spoon, going up the sides of the pan as well.  (Doesn’t have to be perfect – partway up is fine.)   Bake for 10 minutes at 350, remove and let cool before filling.

Fresh Cranberry Butter Cake

Leave a comment
Fresh, luscious Cranberries by Rasa Kasparaviciene on Unsplash.

Fresh Cranberry Cake, from Barefeet in the Kitchen, is easy and so delicious! The most important thing is to thoroughly beat the eggs and sugar until they are super light and fluffy. It forms a nice crust on top by itself and keeps very nicely for a few days. Had a piece with my dear friend Louisa yesterday and it’s perfect with afternoon tea!

Ingredients

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries (about 2 1/2 cups)
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and light in color, about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should almost double in size. The eggs work as your leavening agent in this recipe, so do not skip this step. This mixture should form a ribbon when you lift the beaters out of the bowl.

Add the butter, vanilla and orange zest; mix two more minutes. Gently stir in the flour until just combined. Add the cranberries and stir to mix throughout, and spread in a buttered 9×13 pan. The dough is quite thick, so you’ll need ot smooth it with a spatula.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool completely before cutting, and dust with powdered sugar.

Amazing!

Atlantic Beach Pie from Bill Smith

Leave a comment

I found Bill’s recipe for this lemony-limey cream pie with a crunchy cracker crust in Southern Living Magazine and decided to try it for our 4th of July supper.

What a wonderful pie! The crust is crunchy and slightly sweet and the perfect complement to a creamy filling and whipped cream topping.

I did make one change: Bill uses 4 egg yolks instead of the 2 eggs, but I have good luck using whole eggs, and hate having a million leftover egg whites, so I just added 2 whole eggs to the leftover egg yolk.

The lemon and lime zests look really pretty on the pie and add another little pop of flavor.

Ingredients

Crust:
1 ½ cups finely crushed saltine crackers (from 1 sleeve, about 37 crackers)
6 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Filling:
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk (Or 4 egg yolks per the original recipe)
¼ cup fresh lime juice (from 2 large limes)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)

Topping:
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
Zest of lemon and lime, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together crushed crackers, melted butter, sugar, and egg white in a medium bowl until combined. Transfer mixture to a 9-inch glass pie plate; firmly press on bottom and sides. Freeze 10 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven until crust is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together condensed milk, eggs and egg yolk until smooth. Whisk in lime juice and lemon juice until combined. Pour lime mixture into warm crust.

Bake at 350°F until center is just set, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Beat cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Spread whipped cream topping over chilled pie, and garnish with lemon and lime zests.

Maya’s Lemon Tiramisu

4 Comments

Maya made this for Christmas Lunch and it was one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever eaten. Light, lemony and not too sweet, and so pretty. I asked Maya for her recipe and here it is:

Ingredients

For lemon curd:

¾ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs
½ cup unsalted butter, cubed

For filling:

6 egg yolks
¾ cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 ounce mascarpone (at room temperature)
1 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

For Ladyfinger “Dip”

1 Tablespoon of Grand Marnier Liquor
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup water
Ladyfingers (2 packages)

Step 1: Take Mascarpone Cheese out of fridge (it should be room temperature by the time you mix it in)

Step 2: Make Lemon Curd. Add lemon curd ingredients to a sauce pan and bring just to a simmer on medium-low heat, whisking often until mixture thickens, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. (Maya put some in a ziploc bag and piped it on the top.)

Step 3: Make Tiramisu Filling

In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until well blended. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil gently for 1 minute, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Once cooled (about 10 minutes) add 1 package of room temperature mascarpone cheese (4 ounces). Mix this until totally combined.

Next, whip up your whipping cream until soft peaks form, then add vanilla extract and salt. Gently fold this whipped cream with the mascarpone mixture; the consistency in the end should be kind of a light pudding.

Step 4: Make the ladyfinger dip. Combine Grand Marnier, lemon juice, and water in a shallow bowl that you can use to dip the ladyfingers in. Feel free to play with the ratios if you want your tiramisu more lemon-y. (If you can’t get ladyfingers, you can substitute sponge cake or pound cake cut into strips and baked for 10 minutes or so until they’re a little firmer.)

Step 5: Assembly

In a medium serving dish, you’ll start the layering. Dip some of your ladyfingers in the lemon dip, (they should be wet, but not soaked) and line the serving dish. Layer some of the mascarpone/whipped cream pudding on top of the ladyfingers (assuming three layers, use about a third of the mixture). Dot on some lemon curd, about 2 tablespoons. Repeat the dipping, placing, and layering until you’ve used up most of your ladyfingers and the mascarpone/whipped cream pudding; then drizzle with lemon curd. You probably will have lemon curd left over, if you make a whole batch of curd.

That’s it! Beautiful and lemon-ny, this adjusted tiramisu is a lot of work, but totally worth it!!

Baked Apple Oatmeal

Leave a comment
  • Baked Apple Oatmeal
  • Bueberry Oatmeal – ready for the oven.

Another MelsKitchenCafe recipe – and I like this because you can prep it ahead of time and it isn’t overly sweet. It makes a great breakfast on a cold morning, but you could even use this as a treat with afternoon tea. Or as a weeknight dessert, served with a dollop of sweetened, whipped cream.

Update: I recently made this with blueberries, mixing 2 cups fresh big berries with a cup of smaller frozen berries. It was absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned regular style oats
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground Nutmeg
1/4 – 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 T butter, melted, (omit for a vegan version)
2 large apples, cored and chopped (no need to peel) (I used Gala, but really you can mix it up.) or use 3 cups of blueberries.

Mix oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. If you like things a bit sweeter, use the larger amount of brown sugar.

Mix the milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter, and pour into the oats. Stir gently to combine

Place chopped apples or blueberries in the bottom of a 9×9 cake pan, (or a 9×12 pan as shown) and top with the oatmeal mixture. You can cover and hold this overnight, or you can bake it straight away at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Delish!