| Dessert Tips
Perfect cakes.. If your just-baked cake sticks when you're taking it out of the pan, set the pan on a damp towel for a minute. It'll pop right out. For crisper cookies, use
butter for the shortening.
Avoid beating cake batter too long, or your cake will crack in the oven. To color sugar, put a few drops of food coloring in a bag with some sugar and shake. When a cake mix calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead - no white mess on the outside of the cake. Brush beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish. Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it back up. To make your own vanilla extract.. Place one split vanilla bean in a glass jar with 3/4 cup of vodka. Seal, and let sit in a cool, dark place for about six months. When the extract is ready, you can use it straight from the jar or decant into a pretty bottle, add a label and give it as a gift. For vanilla sugar... Place a whole bean or two into a sugar-filled jar with a tightfitting lid. Shake the jar once each day for a week. After a wekk, the sugar will be ready to use - delicious in baked goods or as a beverage sweetner. |
Quick & Easy Homemade Syrup
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup
water
1/4 to 1/2
teaspoon vanilla
Combine and
bring to a boil. Stir and continue until the
sugar is
dissolved. Boil for 1 minutes longer. Cool to room temperature
and pour
into container.
1. for maple
syrup add a couple drops of maple flavoring.
2. Your
favorite jams or preserves can be added for the other
flavors.
Quick,
Easy, 6 Ingredent Best Ever Chocholate Cake
This cake is so moist
it needs no frosting - great for a take-a-long picnic
1 box chocolate
cake (pudding in mix)
1 small
box chocolate pudding
3 eggs
1 12oz pkg.
Nestles semi sweet chip
1 cup water
1 cup mayonnaise
Mix all together
until well blend. Place in a 13x9" prepared
baking pan
(grease & floured). Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or
until toothpick
inserted comes out clean.
Raspberries
& Cream Dessert
1 (14oz) can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/3 cup cold water
1 (4oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 Cups (1 Pint) whipping cream
1 Angel
Food Cake (prefer Nickles custard) but any will work
cut into cubes (about 6 cups) I use kitchen scissors to do this
quickly cutting into about 2" squares.
1 14-16
oz Frozen Raspberries without juice
Open
berries sprinkle with sugar lightly...set aside.
In
large bowl, combine condensed milk & water, Add pudding mix; beat well.
Chill
5 minutes. Fold in Whipping cream that has been whipped stiff.
Spoon
2 cups of pudding mixture into the bottom of a 4
quart serving
bowl; Top with
1/2
each of cake then raspberries. Repeat layering ending with
pudding...Garnish
with
a
few frozen berries set aside.
Chill
throughly...Refrigerate leftovers...Great Crowd Pleaser
and EASY
to make.
Serves
at least 12
** Can also
Use 1 qt Fresh strawberries...blueberries frozen or fresh
just about
any
fruit that will keep or mix and match like I've
been known
to do ..
Brownies
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup cocoa unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1- 8 oz . semi-sweet chocolate (coarsely ground)*
1 cup nuts optional
Heat oven
to 350...butter a 9x13 pan. In med saucepan over low heat,
melt sugar
and butter. Add vanilla and eggs, Blend well. Mix dry ingredients together...slowly
add to above mixing well after each addition.
Add chocolate
mix till just melted. Pour into prepared pan
bake for
30 to 40 min or until set. cool pop out of tray and cut
I place squares
in a ziploc making sure they lie flat...and on flat surface
pound with
a hammer..careful to make sure to keep hammer flat
so it doesn't
puncture bag
Also, its
best to use a throw away pan, chill them in the freezer for a bit ,
pop them
out and cut them.
Chocolate-
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups
unsifted flour
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter softened (not spread)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 375·. In a small bowl, combine flour cocoa,
baking soda & salt ; set aside. In large bowl combine butter,
sugars, and vanilla extract; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs
one at a time. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well after
each addition. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by TBL
spoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 12 minutes.
Makes 4 dozen
Apricot Almond Cream Cheese Cookies
1 1/2 cups
butter
1 1/2 cups
sugar
1- 8 oz.
Cream Cheese
2 eggs
2 Tablespoon
Almond extract
4 1/2 cups
Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon
baking powder
Apricot
Preserves or Filling of your choice
Powder sugar
to coat
Combine butter
, sugar and softened cream cheese,
mixing until
well blended. Blend in Eggs & almond extract.
Add combined
dry ingredients; mix well. Chill until dough
is workable,
Shape level tablespoons of dough into balls.
Place on
ungreased cookie sheet; flatten slightly. Indent
centers;
fill with preserves. Bake at 350 degrees, 15 minutes.
Cool; sprinkle
with powdered sugar.
Makes 7 dozen.
Kiss Cookie
2T Milk
1/4 C Shortening
1/4 C Butter
1/2C Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2C Brown Sugar packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1-package
Hersey Kiss candies (unwrapped)
Cream all of above together.....
Slowly add the following after sifting them all together......
1 3/4 C Flour
1/2 tea Baking Powder
3/4 tea Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Chill dough....Roll
into balls the size of a walnut, Roll into granulated sugar.....
Place on
a Slightly greased cookie sheet....Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes
or until
cookie is
set not hard. Bottoms will be slighty brown.
Remove from
oven and immediately
place
one candy kisses in the center of each cookie depressing until
cookie cracks
slightly.
Allow to cool before eating.
Bake at 375
degrees for 10-12 minutes....
Makes 3
Dozen
Rocky
Road Brownies
1 can (5oz) evaporated milk
1 2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 t. Salt
2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cup (9oz) semi sweet chips
1 C peanuts divided
1 t. vanilla
Coat
8" pan with non stick spray. In large saucepan combine
evaporated
milk , sugar and salt over low heat. Bring to a boil
and allow
to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, Remove from heat
add 2 c marshmellows,chocolate chips & 3/4 c of peanuts and vanilla.
Stir
until melted. Pour into baking dish . Top with remaining
marshmallows
& nuts pushing
gently
into the fudge. Allow to cool until firm, then cut into squares.
Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Russian Teacakes
Mix butter powder sugar & vanilla together.... Mix flour salt
together
add to other mixture slowly ; Mix in Nuts. Refrigerate
until you
can work with the dough (15-30 min)
Roll into 1" Balls Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 10-12 min. Bake
till set
Not brown
While warm roll into powder sugar & then again when cool.
Makes 4 dozen
Blueberry Bars
1 1/4 cup
flour
1/4 cup
sugar
2 eggs
1/4 up butter
at room temperature
1 teaspoon
vanilla
FILLING:
1 lb cream
cheese at room temp.
1/2 cup
sugar
1 Tablespoon
cornstarch
2 eggs
1 teas.
vanilla
1 can blueberry
p
blueberry
pIe Filling (21 oz.)
heat oven
to 350 degrees
Crust..
Mix flour and sugar in medium size bowl. Add
eggs, butter
and vanilla; beat until well combined
Coat 13
x 9x 2 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Press dough
over bottom of prepared pan.
Bake at
350 for 12-15 minutes until crust is firm.
Remove dish
to wire rack and let cool slightly.
Reduce heat
to 300 degrees.
Filling..
Beat cream cheese and sugar in a
bowl until
smooth and creamy. about 2 minutes. Add corn-
starch,
eggs and vanilla; Spread filling evenly over crust.
Bake in
300 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until
set. Remove
from oven and let cool.
Spread
top evenly with blueberry pie filling.
Cut
into 30 Bars ( 5 rolls by 6 rolls)