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Lemon honey triple-layer cake

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Instead of presenting a bouquet of flowers to your mother for Mother's Day, consider a flowered lemon honey triple-layer cake. (AP Photo)

Instead of giving your mother a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day, consider a flowered cake.

This beautiful and easy-to-make cake features the flavors of lemon and honey and is swathed with a cloud-like blanket of honey meringue. It then it crowned with masses of sugared edible flowers.

Be sure to buy flowers that are safe to eat, as many flowers are sprayed with pesticides. Most grocers sell edible flowers with the herbs in the produce section.

Lemon honey triple-layer cake

Start to finish: 1 hour 20 minutes (40 minutes active), plus cooling

Servings: 12

For the cake:

2 cups sugar

1 cup honey

6 eggs

Zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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Tags: cake, cream of tartar, honey, lemon, sugar flowers
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Honeydew-blackberry tart

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

This honeydew-blackberry tart offers a nice balance between light and luxurious. (AP Photo)

What with its focus on a hefty ham or robust leg of lamb — not to mention all those chocolate bunnies — Easter dinner can be a heavy affair.

So consider serving a lighter dessert, such as this fresh honeydew-blackberry tart that offers a nice balance between light and luxurious.

As with any good tart, the crust is crispy and rich, but made from healthful ingredients such as white whole-wheat flour, ground almonds and some reduced-fat cream cheese. There’s also just enough butter to add that familiar flavor you’d expect in a crust.

The lime zest-laced custard filling is made with a few egg yolks to give it a wonderful texture, but also cornstarch to help keep the fat to a minimum.

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Tags: blackberry, cream cheese, honeydew, melon, tart
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Cream puffs

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

These dainty lemon and strawberry cream puffs can be filled with whipped cream, pastry cream (or pudding), ice cream or sorbet, or even a savory filling. (AP Photo)

The pastry that cream puffs, profiteroles and eclairs are made from is called pate a choux. It is made by cooking a dough first on the stove, then beating whole eggs into it. This mixture — which lies somewhere between a dough and a batter — then is piped or spooned onto a baking sheet and finished in the oven.

It’s during this final baking stage that the eggs release steam that causes the dough to puff up, producing hollow shells.

And it all sounds more complicated than it really is. These treats come together without too much trouble. Best yet, while these desserts may look substantial, they have just 116 calories (when filled with whipped cream).

You also can fill these pastries with pastry cream (or pudding), ice cream or sorbet, or even a savory filling (if the latter, omit the sugar from the dough). The puffs should be made the day they are served. In a pinch, they can be frozen.

Lemon and strawberry cream puffs

Start to finish: 45 minutes

Servings: 12

For the puffs:

3/4 cup water

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Tags: Cream puffs, lemon, strawberry, zest
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Cocoa-mango upside-down cake

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

This cocoa-mango upside-down cake has a tropical flare with its mango layer and macadamia nut decoration. (AP Photo)

Sometimes on Valentine’s Day the most romantic thing to do is something unexpected. Upside-down cakes are the baking world’s version of this kind of whimsy. Build everything from the bottom up and give it flip before serving.

This cocoa-mango upside-down cake combines the winning flavors of ginger-tinged chocolate with a tropical layer of brightly colored mango. Decorating the edges with some chopped macadamia nuts adds a beautiful and simple garnish.

Cocoa-mango upside-down cake

Start to finish: 1 hour 5 minutes (25 minutes active)

Servings: 8

1 medium mango

1/4 cup light brown sugar

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Tags: buttermilk, cake, cocoa, honey, macadamia, mango, upside-down, Valentine
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Fruitcake

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Contributed Photo Tightly wrapped fruitcakes can last for months, but these tasty morsels, using dried fruit, probably won't make it that long.

Fruitcake. The mere mention of the word brings fear into the hearts of many. Along with images of doorstops, and the endless collection of jokes. Yet, they remain a holiday tradition.

There is a world of difference between store fruitcakes and scratch-made fruitcakes. Fruitcakes that your friends and families will be happy to receive, if you want to share!

The first thing that makes an excellent fruitcake is using real fruit. No candied fruit, no glaceed fruit, and actually no fresh fruit, which just melts away during the cooking process. Dried fruit in large pieces is the only kind to use.

A good source for dried fruit is your local health food store. You can get dates, apricots, mangoes, cherries, blueberries, apples, papaya slices, and the list goes on. The more of these you can find, the more interesting your fruitcake will be.

For those of you who always wondered why good fruitcake is so expensive, you’re about to find out!

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Tags: bourbon, dried fruit, Fruitcake, honey
Posted in Breads, Desserts | No Comments »

Pumpkin bee sting pie

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

It's not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie and this pie with its crunchy topping will be a memorable one. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

Simply put — it isn’t Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t vary from the side-of-the-can recipe. This version is inspired by bee sting cake from Germany (called bienenstich), which has a crunchy honey and almond topping. Pumpkin bee sting pie starts with a honey-sweetened filling. It’s baked until the filling is set, then topped with a honey-almond-coconut mixture, then popped back into the oven and baked until the topping is crispy and golden. The result is a crunchy, creamy, spiced dessert worthy of a second slice.

Pumpkin bee sting pie

Start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes (15 minutes active)

Servings: 8

15-ounce can pumpkin puree

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Tags: cloves, ginger, honey, nutmeg, pie, pumpkin
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Tuxedo pie on a crumb crust

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

AP Photo This tuxedo pie is made with a crumb pie crust and its white and black layering is reminiscent of it's clothing namesake.

Crumb pie crust

Start to finish: 25 minutes (10 minutes active)

Makes one 9-inch crust

1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate cookie crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar (granulated or brown)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup toasted, finely chopped nuts (optional)

In a medium bowl, toss together the cookie crumbs and sugar. Stir in the melted butter until all of the crumbs are moistened. Using the back of a spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup, press the crumb mixture into a pie pan across the bottom and up the sides.

The pie now can be filled and baked as directed, or blind baked.

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Tags: chocolate, ganache, tuxedo pie, white chocolate
Posted in Desserts, holiday | No Comments »

Quick banana coffee cake streusel muffins

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

AP File Photo. To take these quick banana coffee cake streusel muffins even more over the top, you could drizzle them with caramel sauce just before serving and/or add white chocolate chips to the batter before baking.

If I’m going to bother to bake something, it had better be good.

And it needs to be easy and create as little mess as possible. If it also could combine the toasty, warm, cinnamony flavors of my favorite baked goods — banana bread, coffee cake and streusel toppings — the chances of me actually cranking up the oven increase dramatically.

To take these even more over the top, you could drizzle them with caramel sauce just before serving and/or add white chocolate chips to the batter before baking. If for some reason you wanted to make these healthier, you could use white whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose.

Quick banana coffee cake streusel muffins

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

For the streusel topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small pieces and softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the muffins:

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Tags: banana, bread, coffee cake, muffins, sour cream, streusel
Posted in Breads, Breakfast, Desserts | 2 Comments »

Red wine poached pears w/ blue cheese, walnuts

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Red wine poached pears with blue cheese and walnuts are seen in this Aug. 30, 2010 photo. These pears are a seasonal dessert that needs only 5 minutes of prep time and results in a delicious treat with an elegant presentation. (AP Photo/Larry Crowe)

The problem? An abundance of pears and no real desire to eat them raw.

The solution? An easy dessert that took 5 minutes of my time and was both elegant enough to serve to company but child-friendly enough to prompt my 6-year-old to demand seconds. And to ask for it again for breakfast the next day. And lunch.

I worked no real magic. I simply peeled the pears then used a melon baller to scoop out the core (working up from the bottom). I then poached the pears in a bath of red wine (the remnants of several open bottles), some spices and sugar.

That’s it. The pears were beautiful and delicious, and I’d spent all of about 5 minutes making them.

For my son, I simply served them as is. I also could have tipped the pears on their side and placed a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the cavity. For company, I scattered some crumbled blue cheese and toasted walnuts over and around them and added a dollop of creme fraiche.

They also can be prepped ahead, then refrigerated. Either briefly warm them in a 300 degree oven, or serve them chilled.

If you don’t happen to have any bottles of red wine kicking around, opt for something in the $5 to $10 range.

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Tags: blue cheese, cloves, creme fraiche, dessert, pears, red wine
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Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category

Lemon honey triple-layer cake

Honeydew-blackberry tart

Cream puffs

Cocoa-mango upside-down cake

Fruitcake

Pumpkin bee sting pie

Tuxedo pie on a crumb crust

Quick banana coffee cake streusel muffins

Red wine poached pears w/ blue cheese, walnuts