TWD: Perfect Party Cake

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe is The Perfect Party Cake, chosen by Carol of mix, mix… stir, stir. If you would like the recipe for this fabulous cake, go to Carol's blog or turn to pages 250-252 in Baking From My Home to Yours.

I actually made this cake back at the beginning of May. I made it for my birthday. My husband laughed and said "You aren't supposed to bake YOUR OWN birthday cake!" 

Why not?

I didn't want a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, much to the disappointment of my husband and daughter. I wanted the Perfect Party Cake, but with my favorite flavors, lemon and orange. Mmmmmm. So, I had to make it myself, but that's ok, I wanted to!

Instead of the preserves specified, I used sweet orange marmalade and lemon curd, alternating layers. I also didn't use the coconut on the outside of the cake, I chose to smooth out the buttercream frosting and decorate with nonpareils. Wherever the recipe called for lemon juice or zest (I can't remember and am so rushed to post this I can't check back in the book) I substituted with orange juice/zest.

I absolutely loved this cake, however the buttercream is just TOO buttery for me. It was so buttery it was slippery. LOVED the cake as a whole and will definitely make this again! (Happy birthday to me two months later LOL!) 

Oh, and in case you are wondering about the weird circular pattern on the top of the cake... I had spread the top nice and smooth and then accidentally dropped a nonpareil in it. So I carefully tried to remove it, and made a dent. Smoothed that out and DID IT AGAIN! Sheesh! Well I just couldn't fix it, so I made lemonade from lemons and made the top in a circular pattern. LOL

Sorry for the gabillion pictures, but this was a fun recipe to photograph!

Making Pizza on the Grill

It's been so blasted hot here this week that I haven't used my oven at all. I miss baking and really missed my pizza, especially since I wanted to make it for Father's Day. A friend of mine always makes his on the grill, but I had yet to try it out myself. I did some googling and watched some You Tube videos, and found there are several different ways to make pizza on the grill. 

After reading websites and blogs and watching several videos, I'm sharing with you the method that worked for me. They were absolutely fabulous and it's very easy! My husband even preferred them over the oven baked version. Now I don't have to worry about missing out on pizza all summer!

Making Pizza on the Grill

First off you are going to need:

pizza dough

pizza sauce

toppings

foil

tongs

metal spatula

olive oil

pizza stone or cutting board, sprinkled with cornmeal

I make my own sauce (link above) and my own dough (also above) and I also mix up my own pizza sausage. If you use sausage, I suggest browning it first like I do, there isn't enough time for raw sausage to cook with this method. As for the toppings, you want to have everything chopped and the cheese shredded and ready to go before you begin. This is a lot like making stir fry - the cooking part actually goes very quickly so you need to have everything chopped, measured, and sitting at the ready.

For toppings I am pretty simple - I use shredded Mozzarella cheese, chopped onion, bell pepper and mushrooms, pepperoni and browned pizza sausage. Use whatever toppings you like, just remember to cut them up as this cooks quickly. 

Let's Get Started

First off let me say I have a gas grill with four burners. If you have charcoal, you will probably want to google some ideas. But basically, if you are familiar with making your charcoal grill very hot on one side and using indirect heat, then you should be able to follow the instructions below and adjust for your grill. 

First, turn your grill on to high and close the lid. Allow it to heat up and get good and hot, about 15 minutes. 

Next, you will need 4 pieces of aluminum foil (big enough to cover a cookie sheet). Brush each piece of foil (on one side only) with olive oil.

Cut your dough into 3 or 4 pieces. You want to make individual pizzas instead of trying to make one great big one. Use the heel of your hand to press the dough flat and stretch it out, or if you prefer you can roll it, pressing it give it a more rustic look though. :) I made mine about 7-8" in diameter and got 4 pizzas from one dough recipe. Place one dough onto an oiled sheet of foil. Use brush or your fingers to oil the top of the dough. Place next piece of foil, oiled side facing up, on top of that dough. (You are stacking here) Now place the next dough on top of that foil, then oil the dough, repeat until all four pieces of foil have dough on them and they are all oiled. Just FYI - the olive oil keeps the dough from sticking to the grill grates and adds great flavor as well. Oh, and it also keeps the dough from sticking to the foil. The foil works as a handy way to slap the dough onto the grill, I'll cover that in a minute.

Place your stack of dough/foil aside for now. 

Again, be sure all your toppings and your sauce are at the ready, make sure you have your pizza stone or cutting board and tongs and spatula. Ready? 

Grab one piece of foil with dough. Turn all four burners down to medium, open grill and invert the dough onto the grill, peel off the piece of foil. Close the lid and LEAVE IT CLOSED for 2 1/2 minutes. Don't peek, I know you're tempted! Ok, ok, after two minutes you can check and see how the dough is doing, it should be getting puffy and developing grill marks on the bottom. Check this by lifting the corner with your tongs. If you have nice brown grill marks move on to the next step. If not, close the grill and let them cook a little longer, but generally 2-3 minutes does the trick.

Next, open the grill, use the tongs and metal spatula to remove your dough and place it on the stone or cutting board, grill marks up. Close the grill. 

Now, add your sauce and toppings to your dough, again the grill marks should be facing up. 

Turn the two middle burners OFF and turn the outer left and right burners back up to high. This creates a hot environment, but allows you to cook on indirect heat so that the bottom of your crust does not burn.

Open the grill and carefully slide your pizza back onto the grill (the cornmeal acts as ball bearings and lets the dough slide off the stone or cutting board easily) on the center rack, where the burners should be off. Close the lid and let cook for 5-7 minutes, or until cheese is melted and toppings are done. Mine generally took 6 to 6.5 minutes. 

Use spatula and tongs to remove pizza. Enjoy!

To continue making more pizzas, after removing finished pizza(s) turn the middle burner back on to high and close the lid to get hot again. Repeat steps above.

NOTES: I was able to cook two pizzas at a time this way, sliding both pizzas onto the middle burners together. Some of the instructions I found said to brush the grill grates with olive oil, I found putting the oil on the dough was much easier. Besides, I fried my brush bristles painting the hot grill grates! LOL Other instructions left the burners on medium the whole time, I prefer the indirect method, less chance of over charring the dough.

Oh, and if you are anything like me, you'll need one of these to keep you cool while you're cookin'... ;)

Thrifty Thursday: Week #18 Egg White Omelet

I bake a lot. I'm sure you already know that since you are most likely subscribed to this blog. :) When making ice cream and other custard based desserts, often times you will use just the yokes and not the whites of the eggs. You can freeze the extra egg whites for another day, or you can whip up a quick egg white omelet for breakfast! They have plenty of protein but less cholesterol than a regular omelet and they taste wonderful! Whatever you do, don't throw those egg whites away!

Egg White Omelet

2-3 egg whites

handful of shredded soft white cheese, such as pepper jack, havarti or swiss

1 tsp diced bell pepper, any color

1 tsp onion

1 tsp diced mushroom

salt and pepper to taste

The veggies are optional and you can substitute them. I didn't have any on hand the day I made this omelet, but I usually make them with all the veggies above.  

Oil skillet with olive oil or cooking spray and saute the vegetables until tender, a couple minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside. Whip egg whites with a whisk until frothy. Add egg white to hot skillet and tip pan to ensure egg covers the skillet bottom. Allow to cook over medium-high heat until outer edges are cooked, center will still be wet and slightly jiggly. Sprinkle with cooked veggies and shredded cheese. Lift edge with spatula and fold over to other side and allow to cook until center is set, just a minute or so. Slide onto plate and season with salt and pepper.

What did you do that was thrifty this week?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below (NOT TO YOUR HOMEPAGE!) and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)

TWD Rewind: Peanut Butter Torte

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie was actually Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise chosen by Andrea of Andrea In The Kitchen. You can visit her blog to get the recipe. I've unfortunately had to pass this week. From what I read there was a lot of baking time, someone said they spent 5 hours in the kitchen. :-O There's just no way I could have handled that kind of heat in my kitchen right now. It's so hot outside and it gets pretty hot in my upper level where the kitchen is, so I just had to pass :( So be sure and check out the TWD blogs and see how the others did with this fabulous dessert!

However, I have been saving these photos of the Peanut Butter Torte. My daughter turned 15 at the beginning of March. I handed her Dorie's book, Baking From My Home to Yours, and told her to pick whatever she wanted and I would make it. She chose the Peanut Butter Torte.

I personally LOVED it, even though I'm not huge on an overpowering flavor of nutmeg and similar spices. This torte had a fabulously creamy center and a delicious ganache. It also was huge! I ended up having to give half of it to my neighbors as there was just too much for us to finish. I would definitely make this again. 

I felt safe posting this as it was actually chosen through TWD back in May of 2008, 5 months before I joined. To get the recipe, visit that week's host, Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food.

Almond Poppy Seed Bread

I've been meaning to post this for a while now. I made this a couple of months ago and took it to my daughter's soccer banquet. This bread has a lightly sweet flavor and makes a really nice breakfast bread. It's more of a snack bread to go with tea or coffee, I glazed mine with a thin mixture of powdered sugar and milk.

Almond Poppy Seed Bread
Yield 2 loaves

1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110° F)
1 envelope FLEISCHMANN'S Active Dry Yeast
1/2 cup warm whipping cream (100° to 110° F)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

POPPY SEED FILLING:
1 cup milk, divided
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup poppy seed
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon ARGO or KINGSFORD'S Corn Starch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
apricot jam (optional) (I used powdered sugar mixed with some milk to make my glaze)


Place warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add whipping cream, sugar, butter, salt and 2 cups flour; blend well. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs, almond extract and 1 cup flour. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Remove to lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; remove to lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half; roll each half to 14 X 12-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with Poppy Seed Filling (see below). Beginning at long end of each rectangle, roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place seam sides down on greased baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet; cool on wire rack. Glaze with apricot jam, if desired.

For Poppy Seed Filling:
Combine 3/4 cup milk and cream in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Stir in poppy seed, honey and slivered almonds. Add beaten egg to milk mixture while stirring. Cook 3 minutes. Dissolve corn starch in remaining 1/4 cup milk and add to mixture. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract.

Submitted to YeastSpotting - check out the other fabulous yeast recipes!

Recipe source: BreadWorld.com

Amanda's 4 Layer Chocolate Dappled Pumpkin Cake

Usually the recipes I post on this blog are ones that I find on websites, other blogs, in a magazine or in a cookbook. While that's all fun and everything and I love trying new recipes, coming up with my own creation brings me great joy. This particular cake is a combination of techniques I've learned and an adaptation of a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com that received some seriously rave reviews. I'm particularly happy with this recipe because the last fabulous recipe I created I didn't write down and I cannot remember all the tweaks I made :(

Funny thing is, this recipe was born simply because of one can of pumpkin. Yep. I had a can of pumpkin in my pantry and really wanted to use it for something, but I didn't want to make a pie, or more cookies, and even a quick bread or muffins. I wanted cake. So I searched for Pumpkin Cake and I found this recipe. There are 183 reviews of this cake, many repeat comments included:

"best cake we've ever had"

"so incredibly moist"

"I've had so many requests for this recipe"

Etc, etc, etc. So how could I not build off of that? Something that many of the commenters said was that they replaced some of the oil with applesauce, so I did too. Many reviewers recommended topping this with a cream cheese frosting, but I wanted something different... Many months ago I discovered the tasty combination of chocolate and pumpkin when the Tuesdays with Dorie group made Pumpkin Muffins and I added chocolate chips to mine. So I wanted to make my cake considerably different than everyone else's. So I give you the cake that everyone in this house says is one of the best I've ever made! :)

NOTE: There are two types of pumpkin lovers: subtle and spicy. If you are of the subtle variety like me, this recipe is perfect the way it is. If you prefer to really taste the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc) you will probably want to add more.

Amanda's 4 Layer Chocolate Dappled Pumpkin Cake

by Amanda Formaro (how fun is that??)

Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup applesauce*

1 15-oz can pumpkin

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped fine

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped fine

Glaze:

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

5 tbsp powdered sugar

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces (not softened)

Make the Cake:

Center rack in oven and preheat to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. Line the bottoms of each cake pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cocoa.  Set aside.

Fit mixer with paddle attachment. In large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil and applesauce on low speed to combine. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Increase speed to medium and beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture, mix until just combined. Turn off mixer and use a rubber spatula to scape sides and bottom of bowl, combine any dry ingredient traces.

Pour batter into the two prepared pans. I use a large Pyrex measuring cup to see how much batter I have, then I separate according to the measurement to get equal layers. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate evenly over the top of each layer. Use a metal spatula (or your fingers) to gently swirl the chocolate into the batter without sinking it.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until center of cake springs back to a gentle touch. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes. Loosen sides of cake from the pan using a metal icing spatula. Invert cake and remove parchment paper, then cool completely, facing up on wire rack.

Make the Filling:

Fit mixer with paddle attachment. Beat together, on medium-low speed, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla just to combine. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until creamy. Remove 2/3 of the mixture and set aside. Add 3 tablespoons of cocoa to remaining mixture and beat until completely combined and creamy. Set aside. 

Using the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream on medium high until it forms stiff peaks.

Fold 2/3 of the whipped cream into the white cream cheese mixture. Fold the remaining 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate cream cheese mixture. 

Note: If you test the chocolate mixture for taste do not be tempted to add sugar as it may not taste very sweet. Your opinion will change once the cake is assembled! 

Assembling the Cake:

Cut each cake layer in half horizontally, using a gentle sawing motion with a large serrated knife. You may refrigerate the layers before doing this to make it even easier to cut.

Line a cake plate with a piece of parchment paper. Place one of the layers, cut side up, onto the parchment paper. Spread half of the white cream cheese mixture onto the cake layer, spreading it out evenly and to about 1/4" from the edge. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped semisweet chocolate over the cream cheese filling and gently press it down with your fingers. Add second cake layer, cut side up, on top of first layer. Spread the chocolate cream cheese mixture onto that layer and sprinkle with another third of the chopped semisweet chocolate, pressing down gently. Add third cake layer (save a top layer for the top of the cake), cut side up, and spread with the remaining white cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chopped semisweet chocolate and press gently. Position last cake layer on top.

Making the Glaze:

Position a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, bowl should not touch the water. Melt bittersweet chocolate in the bowl, stirring often, cook only until just melted. Remove from heat and add in powdered sugar and butter pieces. Whisk gently until smooth. Pour glaze onto the top of the cake. Using a metal icing spatula to spread the glaze to the sides, allowing it to drip down the sides. Use icing spatula to spread glaze evenly across the top and on the sides of the cake. 

Allow glaze to set. Can be kept at room temperature, but if you will have it longer than a day, should be stored, preferably covered, in the refrigerator. Will last a few days, should be brought to room temperature before serving for best flavor.

* Oh yeah, one more note, I didn't use jar applesauce as I didn't have any. I did have two large yellow delicious apples that were past their prime though. So I peeled, cored, and cut those those into eighths, then added about 1/2" apple juice to a saucepan and threw them in. I brought them to a boil over medium heat and cooked them (covered) until tender, then ran the mixture through the blender. Had plenty leftover to enjoy later. :) By the way, you don't have to add sugar if you use a sweet variety of apples such as Delicious.

I'm excited, as this is the first recipe I've made on my own that I have actually remembered to write down! Special thanks to Dorie Greenspan as her book Baking From My Home to Yours has taught me so much about baking and stepping out of my comfort zone. Thanks Dorie :) You're not only a fabulous baker, you are a marvelous and kind person as well.

Please let me know if you try this, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Recipe credit: Pumpkin Cake from AllRecipes

Thrifty Thursday: Week #17 Frugal Glassware

Did you know that your grocery store gives away free glassware everyday? Well, in a sense they do. You see, every time you buy a glass jar of pickles, olives, or jelly, you get the perfect ice tea or beer glass. :) 

There are many, many uses for glass jars. Whether it be craft projects, using them as mini vases, holding crayons or loose change, glass jars are great for multiple uses. The one that people forget about or pass over the most is using them as a drinking glass! I prefer a cold drink in a glass over a plastic cup any day, so I am an avid jar drinker.

So wash out those jars, store the lids for later, and fill them with ice and refreshing beverages :) Oh yeah, be sure to check out my related post about making a simple syrup for adding some flavored sweetness to your iced tea or lemonade.

What did you do that was thrifty this week?

PLEASE ONLY ADD YOUR LINK IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THRIFTY THURSDAY. To participate, simply add the link to your thrifty post below (NOT TO YOUR HOMEPAGE!) and link back to this Thrifty Thursday post from yours. Leave a comment and visit the other TT links to comment on theirs. That's it! :)

Honey-Plum Ice Cream (fail)

This week Tommi of Brown Interior selected Honey-Peach Ice Cream on page 437 from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours. I am not a big fan of peaches, and usually I prefer to make Dorie's recipes as they are stated in the book, but it was either change the fruit or skip it all together.

Even though it came out beautiful (isn't the color great!?), and the custard cooked up great, etc, etc, my plums apparently weren't as sweet as I needed them to be. The ice cream, by no fault of Dorie's recipe, was bitter. I added a bit of Amaretto and some shaved chocolate... nope. My last ditch attempt was to add some chocolate sauce. Um... no. Yuk. Oh well, guess I should have tried the fruit first. This needed a lot more sweetener, whether in be honey or sugar, to tackle that bitter flavor. (And yes, I did peel the plums :) )

Fortunately, there were several success stories from the other TWD bakers, be sure to visit their sites and take a look!

Homemade Amish White Bread

On Thursday I mentioned that you'd be seeing a few more recipes from my blogging friend Bunny of Bunny's Warm Oven. I've been looking for a good white bread and I think I finally found it! Everyone in the family enjoyed this bread. A great flavor, wonderful toasted and as you can see below, it made fabulous grilled cheese! Everyone was happy with this bread, an absolute keeper. Because it is homemade, you will want to use it for sandwiches the first day, then French toast, grilled cheese and breakfast toast the next, otherwise it begins to fall apart (as sandwich bread). Thanks for another winner Bunny!

Bunny had made some adjustments to this recipe and I followed her suggestions. It was perfect. If you would like to try the original recipe, you can access it on All Recipes.

Homemade Amish White Bread

adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 c. warm water (110 degrees)

1 c. warm milk (110 degrees)

1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. sugar 
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
6 c. bread flour 

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. Stir the 1 c. of warm milk in now. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Using the dough hook on a mixer or with a wooden spoon by hand, mix in flour, one cup at a time. Knead until smooth.

Place dough in well oiled bowl; turn to coat top. Let rise about 1 hour.

Punch dough down, knead a few times. Divide dough in half.

Shape into loaves and place into 2 greased 9x5-inch loaf pans. Allow to rise 30 minutes or until dough has risen about 1" above pans.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Brush the top of the loaves with a little melted butter right after you take them out of the pans so that the crust stays nice and soft.

Mmmmm! Grilled Cheese!

Butter topped :) 

Grasshopper Pie

I recently bought a cookbook called America's Best Lost Recipes. It contains quite a few recipes reminiscent of the old days, and believe me I have several bookmarked to make! One that caught my eye was Grasshopper Pie. I went to a restaurant here in town several years ago and ordered a "Grasshopper", which is a mixed drink that usually consists of heavy cream, Creme de Menthe, and Creme de Cocao. The bartender blended it with vanilla ice cream and I was in love. :) There are quite a few different versions of Grasshopper Pie (plenty without alcohol, but that's not what this post is about) out their in Internetland, some even getting a bad rap because of the strong flavor, but I really wanted to try this recipe as it included the same liqueurs as that drink I love. 

I will state for the record that I though this pie was wonderful. The texture is creamy and melts in your mouth. I saw a post on a message board where a woman had tried this recipe and thought the texture was too gelatin-like. All I can say is I couldn't disagree with her more. In fact, if I had to guess I would never have known there was gelatin in the ingredient list.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe is delicious, but I highly recommend making it a day ahead and letting the pie sit in the fridge overnight. If you try the pie right after you make it, you will most likely experience a medicinal flavor from the strength of the liqueur. Allowing it to sit in the fridge overnight lets the flavors mellow. Plan ahead!

Also, I want to add kudos to this recipe for their time suggestions. Throughout the recipe they give suggested times (i.e. "cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes", etc). I used my microwave timer for each and every suggested time in this recipe and they were right on the mark with each one. :) 

Grasshopper Pie

Crust

16 Mint 'n Creme Oreo cookies, broken into rough pieces (Double Stuff)

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling

3 large egg yolks

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

pinch salt

1/4 cup green creme de menthe

1/4 cup white creme de cocao

shaved bittersweet or semisweet chocolate for garnish (optional)

For the crust

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and the the oven to 350 F. Grind the cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with the melted butter, and toss well. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate (I used a tart pan) and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Bake until set, about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

For the filling

Beat egg yolks in a medium bowl. Combine the gelatin, sugar, 1/2 cup cream, and salt in a medium saucepan and let sit until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Cook over medium heat until gelatin dissolves and mixture is very hot, but not boiling, about 2 minutes. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the gelatin mixture to the egg yolks (see tempering note below), return the mixture to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add creme de menthe and creme de cocao. Pour into a clean bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until wobbly, but not set, about 20 minutes.

Beat the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream with electric mixer (I used the KA) at medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Whisk one cup of the whipped cream into the gelatin mixture until completely incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold the gelatin mixture into the remaining whipped cream until no steaks of white remain. Scrape the mixture into the cooled pie shell, smooth the top, and refrigerate until firm, at least 6 hours or preferably overnight (DO THIS!). 

Serve topped with chocolate curls, if desired.

Tempering - I know that some people have trouble with tempering eggs. The key is to go very slowly. The instructions above say to whisk (the eggs) vigorously and slowly add the gelatin mixture to the yolks. When I do this, I literally dribble the hot mixture in. I have never had trouble tempering eggs and have never ended up with scrambled egg dessert LOL. Just remember to add the hot liquid to the eggs at a dribble or a very slow pour and you should be fine.

Homemade Mocha Frappucinos

This week I have to give some credit to my good blogging friend, Bunny from Bunny's Warm Oven. In fact over the next week or so you'll see her name mentioned a lot as I have been making several recipes that she has posted. Her and I have such similar tastes that I could probably make and enjoy everything from her blog!

At any rate, this week I want to share with you my version of the homemade Frappucino. Frugal? Absolutely! I haven't figured out the unit cost by any means, but at over $4.00 for one Frappucino at Starbucks, I can guarantee mine are only a fraction of that price! Here's a rough guess:

leftover coffee - free!
sugar - pennies
chocolate syrup - $2.00 a bottle?
Instant coffee - $5.00 a jar?
whipping cream - $1.00 8-oz
powdered sugar to sweeten whipping cream - pennies
ice - free!

OK so I guess I need to check the prices next time I hit the grocery store, but it's definitely a bargain. Even if you add up the price of the entire jar of instant coffee, the full bottle of chocolate syrup and the full container of whipping cream, it's still less than 2 venti Frapps. Obviously you don't need the full jar of coffee, the full bottle of chocolate syrup and the full container of whipping cream for one drink, so some math is definitely needed.

I was inspired by the recipe for the Iced Chocolate Latte on Bunny's spring brunch post. We made, and enjoyed them, several times as the recipe directs, and then I adapted it a little, changing some of the measurements, to make the Frappucino's that everyone in this house loves!

If you would like to try Bunny's latte recipe, please click the brunch link above :) I actually plan to make these with some espresso coffee I have here instead of the regular and instant :)

Homemade Mocha Frappucinos
adapted from Bunny's Iced Chocolate Latte

8 ounces of coffee, cooled (I use the leftover coffee from the morning and put it in the fridge in a Pyrex cup)
1 tea spoon (not a measuring spoon, but a real tea spoon) of instant coffee
2 Tbls sugar
A good squirt of chocolate syrup
1/4 - 1/2 cup of whole milk ( as much or as little as you like)
8 oz container heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar
ice

Use a hand mixer (or your Kitchenaid) to whip together the whipping cream and powdered sugar until it forms stiff peaks.

Combine coffee, instant coffee, sugar, chocolate syrup and whole milk in blender capable of crushing ice. Add enough ice so that it pops up above the liquid ingredients. Blend until all ice is crushed completely and ingredients are combined. Pour into a tall glass.

Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

Store extra whipped cream in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

When we buy our beef, we order the cow directly from the local farmer. He has the animal taken in, the packaging house gets it all ready for us and we pick it up. Half a steer lasts us a little about 7 months or so. I still have a few round steaks, a couple rib roasts and half a milk crate of one pound hamburger chubs. I also had a couple of round bone roasts, which is basically an arm roast. Our next steer just went in and we will have a freezer full of meat again in a week or so.

Anyway, I wanted to use up the beef that we currently have, so I decided to make beef enchiladas with the round bone roast. I usually buy the Old El Paso enchilada sauce, but have always wanted to find a recipe that is pretty darn similar. I'm not so sure I saved any money, but we really enjoyed the flavor of this sauce! I found the recipe in an old cookbook I had lying around, thought I did tweak it a little to fit my needs. The recipe below is my adaptation. 

I made a double batch and froze one, the other I tossed in the crockpot with my roast. Cooked it all day, then shredded the beef. 

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

1 4-oz can chopped green chilies (do not drain)

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 clove garlic minced 

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5-7 minutes. 

For the enchiladas: 

Dip each tortilla (both sides) in the enchilada sauce, fill center with beef (can use ground beef or shredded beef as I mention above or even shredded chicken or pork) and roll it up. Place it seam side down in square or rectangular baking pan and top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar and bake for 20 minutes at 350 F. 

Serve with chopped green onions and sour cream.

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe was chosen by Jessica of My Baking Heart. She picked Parisian Apple Tartlet on page 319 of Baking From My Home to Yours.

This is a short post because I have so much work to do I don't know which way to turn. I will say that this was delicious and my favorite part was the gooey chewy crunchy ends of the pastry where the brown sugar and the butter carmelized. mmmmm! I only had sheets of puff pastry, not circles, so I cut mine into 4" squares.



The butter melted all my brown sugar off the apples, so toward the end of the bake time I added some more brown sugar. This is actually a really easy recipe and I can see why the French enjoy them so. It was quite tasty!



If you would like to see how the other TWD bakers did, check out the list of participants on the right side bar of Tuesdays with Dorie.