Category Archives: desserts

Irish Coffee and Chocolate Chip Gelato

I think every holiday is a great excuse for a little celebration! I love finding reasons for a little decorating and some holiday theme cooking. St Patrick’s Day is no exception. So when I sat down to think of an Irish twist to one of my regular recipes, I came up with this Irish Coffee gelato . It just took some instant expresso and irish whiskey to transform one of my gelato recipes. Once you try this gelato you’ll want every day to be St. Patrick’s Day, as for me, I won’t be waiting for St. Patrick’s Day to make this recipe again! Enjoy!

From By the Bay , wishing found Irish food memories!
Maryann
food irish coffee
Irish Coffee and Chocolate Chip Gelato
Makes 1 quart
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons instant espresso coffee
3/4 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons irish whiskey
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Directions
Place in a saucepan milk and instant espresso coffee. Bring milk to a simmer, whisking to dissolve the coffee powder. In another bowl whisk sugar, egg yolks and salt together and keep to the side. Gradually add a little milk to the egg mixture whisking the mixture to temper the eggs . Continue to slowly add the milk. Make sure to do this step slowly, so not to scramble the eggs. Once you have added the milk to the eggs, return the mixture to the saucepan on medium heat until the mixture thickens into a custard. The custard will coat the back of the spoon, and the temperature will be between 170 to 175 degrees F. This will take about 5 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Add the heavy cream and whiskey and stir. Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours. To make gelato, place chilled custard into an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the mixture starts to thicken, melt chocolate in a bowl with the oil using the microwave, do in 30 seconds intervals stirring in between until melted., this will take 2 to 3 times. Cool slightly and pour chocolate into gelato while churning. The chocolate will become chips as it continues to churn. Once completed place into an air tight plastic container and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.
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Banana Foster Pound Cake

I love Banana Foster! This recipe originated at Brennan’s of New Orleans in 1951. It’s a wonderful flambe dessert using bananas, rum, brown sugar , cinnamon, butter and heavy cream .  When I saw Giada De Laurentis make her peanut butter and caramel pound cake, I immediately tested it and enjoyed it. I’m not the biggest fan of peanut butter, so I decided to make a version of that recipe into some of my favorite flavors inspired by bananas foster. It was a big smash with my guests, so sharing my version of the recipe with you today!
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Banana Foster Pound Cake
Makes one 9″x5″x3″ Loaf
Adapted from Giada De Laurentis – “Peanut Butter Caramel Pound Cake”

Ingredients
20 caramels, such as Kraft soft caramels unwrapped
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 mashed ripe bananas
confectioner’s sugar to dust
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9″x5″x3″ loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Spray again. In a small sauce pan add caramels and heavy cream , cook on low heat until melted and smooth stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add the rum and stir. Place aside to cool slightly. In a bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar, until fluffy about 1 minute. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture and combine. Combine the bananas into the batter. Pour half the batter into the loaf pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce into the batter and swirl with the tip of a knife. Pour the remaining batter on top and add 2 more tablespoons of the caramel sauce. Swirl again with the knife tip. Bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour, until cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for ten minutes then remove and place on a wire rack removing the parchment paper. Cool for at least an hour. Serve as is or with the remaining caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

I love making bite size portions of food, especially dessert. It’s a great way to indulge in dessert without the guilt. Try making these little chocolate cheesecakes, they are rich and moist, drizzled with a little swirl of chocolate and then covered with a dusting of cocoa powder “snow”, they look as delicious as they taste. These are easy to whip up and look like a lot more effort then they take to prepare. Indulge in these tasty little bites today.

From by the bay wishing you sweet mini food memories!
Maryann
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Mini Chocolate  Cheesecakes

Makes 24 pieces


Crust:
9 ounces chocolate wafer cookies
½ cup melted unsalted butter

Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons sour cream

4 tablespoons chocolate syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla

Topping
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate


Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree F.  To make crust use food processor to finely grind the wafers, then add the melted butter and process until moist. Take out and divide between  two 12 cup mini muffin tins. Press the mixture down and push up along the sides using your fingertips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling : Use  the food processor to combine the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the mixture with a spatula from the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue to beat. Next add the sour cream, vanilla and chocolate syrup until all is well blended and smooth.

Pour the cheese mixture into a cup and pour into the cups – filling each almost to the top.  Place the muffin tins onto a baking sheet and place in the oven in the center rack. Bake for 15 minutes until set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least  3 hours. To top, place chocolate into microwave for 30 seconds. Mix and place into microwave another 30 seconds. Remove and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Using a spoon, dip into the chocolate and shake over the cheesecakes , creating thin lines of chocolate, place back into the refrigerator to harden another 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and gently lift each cup out of the tins using a knife or small spatula and serve immediately of place covered back into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Spicy Chocolate Truffles

What would Valentine’s Day be without chocolate? It’s a example of a perfect union. For this Valentine’s Day I wanted to experiment with making my own truffles. There are a lot of truffle recipes around so I wanted to make mine a little unique in taste. I opened my spice rack and experimented with mixing cocoa powder with a variety of different spices and landed on my favorite pairing which I’m sharing with you here today.  


From by the bay wishing you the sweetest Valentine’s Day and food memories!
Maryann
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Spicy Chocolate Truffles
Makes approximately 32 pieces
Ingredients
2/3 cup heavy cream
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
zest of 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon chili powder or chinese five spice or cinnamon – optional
Directions
On medium heat place in a sauce pan the cream, rind, cinnamon, honey and butter. Melt the butter and bring to a simmer. Strain the mixture and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let stand a minute and then whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth, with no air bubbles. Cover with cling wrap directly on top of the chocolate. Let set on the counter for at least 4 hours. Shape using a teaspoon the chocolate into small balls. Place on a baking sheet and put into the freezer for 15 minutes. Sift cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of the spice of your choice onto a plate. Roll the chocolate truffle in the cocoa powder until completely covered. Set on a plate and serve.

Orange Cranberry and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I love to walk into my pantry and come out with an idea for cooking based on the ingredients sitting on my shelves. Some of my favorite ingredients are never out of stock – along with my staples, so it wasn’t too hard to walk into that pantry one afternoon and come out with the ingredients to make this twist on the chocolate chip cookie. I love dark chocolate so grabbed a bar off the shelf to cut up into small shards of richness. The dried cranberries will add a little sweet with a slightly tart flavor. I still have a few oranges left from the holidays and love mixing chocolate with orange rind. These were a big hit – you’ll love them! Try them this weekend.


From  by the bay wishing you the darkest chocolate chip cookies!
Maryann

blog orange cookie
Orange Cranberry and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 2 1/2 Dozen cookies

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour, plus two tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon orange juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat over to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl add the butter, sugars and vanilla. Use an electric mixer and beat ingredients until light and fluffy. Add the egg , orange rind and juice and beat in well. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture slowly and mix at a low speed. Next add the chopped chocolate and dried cranberries and combine. Drop in rounded teaspoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until slightly brown on bottom. Remove and cool on wire racks. Store in air tight containers.

Cranberry Pecan Tassies

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Cranberry Pecan Tassies
makes 24 cups
Crust:
1 3oz. package cream cheese, softened
½ cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Filling:
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon orange zest
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
Directions
Make the crust by blending cream cheese, butter and flour in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. To make filling mix together using a spoon beat together  egg, sugar , vanilla, zest and cinnamon. Add melted butter to the mixture slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in the cranberries and pecans. Preheat oven to 350F. Divide the dough for crust into 24 small balls, approximately the size of an acorn. Place each ball into a small muffin tin and press down to line bottom and side of the tin. Spoon filling into each cup. Make sure that there is cranberries in each cup. Be sure not to over fill the cups. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Carefully, remove tassies from the pan using a knife or small spatula. Will last one week in an air tight container or four weeks in the freezer.

Very Cherry Chocolate Cake

 

When Neil Diamond released his Cherry Cherry Christmas song, I embraced that message with my cooking. I enhanced a recipe I had kept over the years from Bon Appetit Magazine. The recipe is for a dense Chocolate cake topped with a rich chocolate ganache, which I often  included during my holiday entertaining. This cake, though really became special  for that Cherry Cherry Christmas, by amping up the cherry flavors by using dried cherries and kirsch along with a little excessive decorating over the chocolate ganache. I think the desserts served at the end of your Christmas meal , should look spectacular and feel like magic. I have an arsenal of edible decorations I collect during the year to give that magic factor to my desserts. One of my favorites is edible glitter in multi colors. It’s so much fun to sprinkle this on top of your desserts. Why not try this terrific cake and create your own dessert magic this Christmas! 
From by the bay …………..
Just a very merry, cherry cherry Christmas.And if all of those who love you gather near,you’ll have a very merry, cherry cherry, holly holy,rock and rolly Christmas this year
Read more: NEIL DIAMOND – CHERRY CHERRY CHRISTMAS LYRICS http://www.metrolyrics.com/cherry-cherry-christmas-lyrics-neil-diamond.html#ixzz1guZA1SYr
Copied from MetroLyrics.com

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This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Rich Rodgers , originally printed in Bon Appetit  Magazine Dec 2003.   

Very Cherry Chocolate Cake

Serves 8-10

Cake

1 cup dried cherries

1/3 cup Kirsch ( cherry liquor)

1 cup ( sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 ½ cup sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

Glaze

1 cup heavy cream

10 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

¼ cup Kirsch

Decoration

Edible glitter

Edible sugar flowers

Silver dragees

Directions for cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. In a small sauce pan add the dried cherries and kirsch. Bring to a low simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool. Drain the cherries and keep the liquor  and cherries both in bowls separate to be used later. In another sauce pan melt the butter and then remove from heat. Add the chocolate pieces and let sit one minute. Whisk the chocolate until melted and smooth. Whisk in the sugar and then the eggs one at a time. Whisk in the reserved liquor.  Add the flour and salt and whisk again until blended. Stir in the dried cherries and then pour into the spring form pan. Place in the oven onto the center rack and bake for 1 hour. Use tester to make sure the center of the cake is done. Tester should come out moist but with no batter attached. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. ( Can be made one day ahead and kept covered at room temperature.)

Directions for glaze

Place cream in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add Kirsch and whisk again until smooth. Allow glaze to cool and thicken for about two hours in saucepan stirring occasionally. At this point the glaze should be thick yet pourable. While glaze is thickening, turn cake out onto the wire rack and remove the bottom of the spring form pan as well as the parchment paper. Place cake with rack into a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. When glaze is ready, pour half of the glaze onto the cake and use a spatula to smooth over the top and the sides of the cake. Place into the freezer to set for about ten minutes. Remove from freezer and pour the remaining glaze over the cake and smooth evenly again with the spatula. Place again in the freezer for another 15 minutes . Remove from freezer and decorate with edible sugar and sugar flowers. Keep in the refrigerator until 1 hour before serving. Cut into wedges and serve.

 

 

Butter Cookie Recipe

It’s Christmas time and who doesn’t love to have  a platter of cookies at the ready? Whether you are preparing for guests or just trimming the tree alone – it’s nice to have cookies around the house. This is really the only time of year that I would have containers of different types of cookies around the house. It’s one of my favorite excesses at Christmas. A great cookie to try is this french butter cookie. It’s easy to make and I like having a recipe that doesn’t require a lot of work to add to my cookie assortment. This is my version of a cookie I ate in Paris that was topped with a little pillow of chocolate ganache. It was bliss. I also, make some of these topped with jam, since my sister Nancy is not a big chocolate lover. I suggest doing half of the recipe with jam and the other half with the ganache. Even if you don’t consider yourself a baker, this is an easy recipe to try. Enjoy!
From by the bay wishing you the sweetest memories of cookies and Christmas!
Maryann
blog butter cookie
Butter Cookie Recipe
Makes 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 cups all – purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
extra granulated sugar to roll dough
jam to fill cookies
Directions:
In a large bowl add the butter, sugar and vanilla. Use an electric mixer and beat ingredients until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat in well. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture slowly and mix at a low speed. Once blended turn out into a sheet of plastic wrap , flatten and wrap. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Place extra granulated sugar onto a plate. Roll dough into acorn size balls and then roll in the sugar. Place each ball onto an ungreased cookie sheets. Use your finger to flatten each ball. Take your thumb and make a small well in the center of the flatten dough. If you are making jam filled cookies, take a small spoon and fill well with about 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite jam. I like to use apricot, raspberry or red currant jam. If you plan to fill with chocolate ganache ( recipe below) bake as is. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Store in air tight containers.
Chocolate Ganache
Makes 1 cup
Ingredients:
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and place on medium heat, stirring until the chocolate melts and everything is well combined. Pour into a bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator until you can spoon and shape into small pillow of chocolate to place on top of plain french butter cookies and serve. Don’t stack this cookie on your tray.

Spritz Cookies

 

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Definition: Spritz Cookies are make with a cookie press. A cookie press allows the baker to shape dough into uniform shapes quickly. Cookie presses come in a variety of shapes but this is especially wonderful for Christmas entertaining. Cookies can be made into wreaths, trees, stars etc. These butter cookies are really a holiday staple.

 

My fondest Christmas cooking memory is making cookies with my mother. When I was a little girl, our Christmas tradition was making these wonderful little spritz butter cookies and decorating them. We made them only  at Christmas and we would enjoy them through out the holidays. An equally wonderful memory was when my mother handed over to me the official role of baking these cookies for the holidays along with her cookie press. She came over to my house and taught me exactly what to do. I was not so great at making the shapes when we first started so don’t get discouraged when you first attempt these little cookies. If you don’t like how they look just grab up that dough and throw it back into the cookie press and try again. I had to do that a few times before I finally got the hang of it. I was under close supervision by my mother when she taught me how to make these cookies. The way I knew that I had succeeded in my baking was at the end of the afternoon, mom said to me, why don’t I leave the cookie press here with you now.  You’ll love these cookies and will want to make it part of your Christmas traditions!

 

Come back for more Christmas food ideas!

 
From by the bay wishing you the warmest Christmas food memories!

Maryann

 

 

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Spritz Sugar Cookies

5 dozen cookies

1 lb unsalted butter

1 ½ cup fine sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

5 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Optional: sprinkles, colored sugar, candied cherries, chocolate to decorate

Requires : cookie press or spritz

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. In a bowl add dry ingredients, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix and keep to the side. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter until fluffy. Add sugar gradually and beat well. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Add vanilla until blended. Add dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is smooth. Using a spoon put dough into cookie press. Press shaped cookies onto an non stick baking sheet. You can decorate the cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles or candied cherries depending on the shape. Bake in oven for 7 minutes. If using two trays, after 3 minutes rotate baking sheets on oven rack and then bake another 4 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies start to brown. Store cookies in an air tight container.

Holiday decorating

Wreaths: decorate before baking with candied cherry pieces and green sugar.

Trees : with multicolor chocolate sprinkles.

Stars: pressed into a long log and cut into 2 inch pieces. Dip the ends in melted chocolate and then dip into sprinkles

 

Cranberry and Pecan Biscotti


a CHOCO BISCOTTI

 

Cranberry and Pecan Biscotti

24 cookies

½ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon shortening (Crisco)

3 eggs

1 cup fine granulated  sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer , beat together butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and mix. Add vanilla and cinnamon until well blended. Add the flour , baking powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is smooth. Using a spoon, mix in the cranberries and pecans. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into two. Shape each half of the dough  into a log approximately 2 inch high x 12 inches long.  Place the logs on to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a baking rack. Place on a cutting board and using a serrated knife slice each log on the diagonal  into 12 pieces approximately 1 inch thick. Place the pieces back on to the baking sheet and bake 5-8  minutes, turn the slices to the other side and bake another 5-8  minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Store cookies in an air tight container.