Dessert

Gelato Affogato (“Drowned” Ice Cream)

An affogato (“drowned”) is a coffee-based beverage or dessert. It usually takes the form of a scoop of vanilla gelato or ice cream topped with hot espresso coffee. This recipe will use coffee flavored ice cream and rum as well. If you don’t like coffee ice cream you can use vanilla or chocolate or any other flavor you like. If you are watching calories you can even use low-fat ice cream. Either way this is a unique Italian dessert. Coffee and dessert all in one! Saves time! If you want you can even add whipped cream to top it off! So much for low cal! This version of the recipe also has dark rum for an extra special treat.

INGREDIENTS:

About 2 pints coffee (or other flavor) premium ice cream

1 cup hot espresso

3 tablespoons dark rum

DIRECTIONS:

1. Scoop the ice cream into six small coffee cups or goblets.

2. Stir together the hot coffee and rum. Slowly pour the coffee over the ice cream.

Serve immediately

Serves 6

Pignoli Cookies (Biscotti di Pinoli)

Of all the Italian cookies this is by far one of my favorites. It is my Dad’s favorite too. Anybody who’s bought these at the Italian bakery knows how expensive they can be!  But the best thing is that you can make them yourself for a fraction of the cost and it’s easy! The most expensive ingredient is of course, pignoli nuts. But keep an eye open when you’re in the grocery store, Walmart, warehouse club of choice, even the dollar stores! You can usually find a package of pignoli nuts for a reasonable price. I always buy as much as I can when I find them on sale too, because you can store them in the freezer or refrigerator to keep them fresh. Plus they’re always good in salads or with other dishes as well! These cookies are so moist and yummy you can’t eat just one!

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup sugar

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1/8 cup teaspoon salt

1 8-ounce can/tube almond paste

2 egg whites, slightly beaten

2 cups pignoli nuts (Pine nuts)

Confectioners’ sugar


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF. Lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets. Sift sugars with flour and salt, set aside.

2. In medium bowl, break up almond paste with wooden spoon. Add egg whites and beat until well-blended and fairly smooth. Stir in flour mixture until well blended.

3. Take a spoonful of the dough and dip it into a bowl of pine nuts. Slide the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

4. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies to rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Makes about 30 tasty and delicious cookies. Can be stored in an airtight container or in the freezer up to a month. (Like there would be any left over!!)

Rose’s Molten Lava Cookies

I got this recipe from my bff Rose. I actually have not made them yet but I do plan on it! She had many requests for them and if you love or even like chocolate they will be amazing. I have known Rose since 1981 when we were both at SUNY Oneonta. She rocks! So try these cookies out and remember they come from an amazing person! If you ever go to Pindar out east on the north fork of Long Island stop in and say hi! Buy some wine! Anyway…Bake some cookies!

Rose's Molten Lava Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

¾ cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup dark or semisweet chocolate (at least 60% cocoa), roughly chopped

Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla; mix until combined.

3. Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture.

4. Shape dough into 1″ balls. Using your thumb, press a thumbprint into the center; fill with a piece of chocolate and fold dough over to cover chocolate.

5. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are firm and tops are soft. Remove cookies to a cooling rack; dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

6. Serve warm, if possible. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

7. To reheat cookies, place cookie on microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 5 seconds, or until cookie is slightly warm.

**Tips From Rose: She used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chips. At first she used 2 chips but suggested adding 3-4 if you really love chocolate!

Another tip is to roll the cookies in powdered sugar before baking; this creates a crust of sugar!

Cheryl’s Cheesecake

From the first time I tried this recipe I was in love. This is such a delicious New York style version. My friend Cheryl is like another sister or cousin and I am so happy she shared this recipe with me so many years ago! (At my first bridal shower I believe!) It is a simple plain, cheesy, creamy cake. I love to top it with my favorite fruit such as fresh strawberries! It is not a low-calorie dessert so if you were looking for one stop reading now! You will also need a good spring-form pan for this, a must for anyone making a cheesecake.

INGREDIENTS:

4- 8 ounce tubs of whipped cream cheese

¼ pound of unsalted butter

16 ounces sour cream (1 pint)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1½ cups sugar

5 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Allow cream cheese, sour cream and butter to come to room temperature. In a large bowl, blend together all ingredients except sugar.

2. Beat eggs into mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

3. Pour mixture into a greased 10″ spring-form pan. Place spring-form pan into a large roasting pan that has been half filled with hot water.

4. Bake in a 375ºF oven for one hour. Cool in oven for 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and continue to cool.

5. When cool remove from spring-form pan carefully. Serve plain or top with your favorite fruit topping!

Tube Pound Cake

I had previously posted my first baking recipe for Girl Scouts, this is my sister Michele’s first recipe. For Girl Scouts as well. (Sorry Billy, it’s for Girl Scouts!) It’s another pound cake but made in a tube pan. It’s also a really easy recipe and is delicious. This cake is extremely moist and buttery, and it is better if allowed to stand for at least 4 hours before being served.


INGREDIENTS:

2 cups self-rising cake flour

4 eggs

1½ cups sugar

1 cup butter (½ pound)

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Tube Pound Cake

DIRECTIONS:

1. DO NOT PRE-HEAT OVEN!!!!

2. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 20 minutes.

3. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

4. Place pan into cold oven and turn heat to 350ºF.  Bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done.

5. Cool on cake rack for 10 minutes then turn out of pan carefully and place topside down on rack until completely cooled. (At least an hour) Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar if desired.

**Coming Next Thursday: Cheryl’s Famous Cheesecake!

(Amish) Friendship Bread

As promised here is the recipe for the actual Friendship Bread or Amish Friendship Bread as it’s called sometimes. Amish Friendship Bread has been around a long time, and some people claim that the recipe did indeed come from the Amish. However, there is no real connection to the Amish people. No matter where the original recipe came from, the fun is in the sharing. You create a bread mixture and after it is ready to bake you share some of the dough with your friends or family. You give your friends parts of the dough, and you keep some of it so that you can continue to make it. You can keep the chain going on your own, and your friends can start chains of it as well. No matter what, the Amish Friendship Bread is something that you can all share.

If you get a starter from a friend, you can easily follow the instructions that come with it. There are also so many things you can do with the mixture once you are ready to bake it! I will give some examples of what you can add to your bread at the end. It’s up to you, be creative! Have fun!!

Friendship Bread

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup starter mix

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts


DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl combine starter, oil, eggs and vanilla. Stir well.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

3. Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

4. Spoon mixture into 2 well greased loaf pans and bake in a 350º oven for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

VARIATIONS:

– use chopped pecans & dried apricots in place of the walnuts and chocolate chips

– substitute 1 teaspoon rum extract for the vanilla and add 1 cup of flaked coconut and 1 cup well-drained crushed pineapple

– substitute raisins for the chips

– omit the chips and add 1 cup applesauce and 1 cup raisins

– omit the chips and nuts, substitute 1 teaspoon nutmeg for the cinnamon and add 2 cups fresh blueberries

Friendship Bread Starter

Some of you may remember doing a “Friendship Bread” years ago. I know I did it and passed it on and it was fun even though the idea of this stuff sitting on my counter bubbling away was strange to say the least. It is a nice throwback to days when we spent the time to bake and share with our friends, before we were all so busy with work, kids, school, life… If you’ve never tried this before give it a shot. It does take commitment so make sure you have the time to put into it. It takes 10 days for the ‘starter’ to be ready.

Friendship Bread – which is often called Amish Friendship Bread, is something that you can do with your friends or family members. In fact, it is a way to continue doing something for others, even if baking bread is something that not a lot of people do today. Giving bread and other gifts to your friends can show them what they mean to you, and Amish Friendship Bread is a great place to start. It melts in your mouth, and is something you’ll crave as you run out of it!

INGREDIENTS TO START:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

1 cup granulated sugar

INGREDIENTS TO FEED:

2 cups flour, divided

2 cups milk, divided

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

Friendship Bread Starter

DAY 1

Place 1 cup each of the flour, milk and sugar into a large glass or plastic bowl/container with a lid and stir with a wooden spoon. You can use a ceramic crock also. If you use a bowl just cover with plastic wrap. (I used to use those 2 lb deli containers but any container that is glass, ceramic or plastic is fine. And yes for some reason you have to use a wooden spoon.)No metallic bowls or utensils!

DAY 2, 3, 4

Stir mixture with wooden spoon.

DAY 5

Stir mixture with wooden spoon and add 1 cup each of the flour, milk and sugar. Stir well.

DAY 6,7,8,9

Stir mixture with wooden spoon.

DAY 10

Stir mixture with wooden spoon and add remaining 1 cup each of the flour, milk and sugar. Stir well. Remove 3 cups of the ‘starter’ and place each cup in a separate non-metal container. Give to three friends! There will be 2 cups of ‘starter’ left. One is to bake and the other is to keep and start again if you like! (You can bake both if you don’t want to start again!)

**Friendship Bread Recipe Coming Next Thursday!!**



Crustless No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Pie

This recipe is one of John’s favorites. He likes to make it himself. We don’t use a crust with it because as anyone who knows John, carbs are a no-no for him. But feel free to use a prepared graham cracker crust if you like! When you don’t use the crust it’s also harder to have the cheesecake slices actually look like slices. So just be imaginative and pretend they are slices. They will actually be more like a creamy pudding like dessert. Either way it still tastes awesome and refreshing! We also use a sugar-substitute in this, sucralose (Splenda). You don’t have to. If you want to use real sugar the amounts are exactly the same. We also use light cream cheese, light sour cream and light or no sugar added whipped topping, but feel free to use the regular kind!

DIRECTIONS:

8 oz. light cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar-substitute (we use sucralose)

1 cup light sour cream

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 oz. prepared light whipped topping (Cool Whip, etc.)

1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise


DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth with an electric mixer.  Gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until just combined. Fold in the whipped topping. Scrape mixture into a round pie dish. Chill for at least 4 hours in refrigerator.

2. Once chilled arrange strawberry slices as you wish around the pie. You can fill the entire pie if you have enough strawberries. Serve!

Serves 8

** If you use all the fully loaded ingredients and a pie crust each slice would be about 450 calories and 26 grams of fat!! Our version still tastes great and with a lot fewer calories and fat!

Grandmother’s Pound Cake

As I’ve said before I don’t usually bake. But this recipe was my very first baking attempt way back when I was a Girl Scout! Every year they had a baking contest and this was my recipe. I can’t remember where I found the recipe originally but the book was very old. This was probably in the late 60’s or early 70’s! And one of the funniest things I remember about this recipe and that time period was when my brother Billy asked if he could have some of the finished product. We told him he couldn’t because it was for Girl Scouts! And anytime we baked from then on we kept telling him he couldn’t have any because “It’s for Girl Scouts!” I think I actually won 3rd prize for the recipe also. Hard to remember that far back. It’s just a basic pound cake recipe but was very good! It’s a very dense cake too. Enjoy it with ice cream, fruit, whipped cream or any topping you want. And no, it’s not a low-calorie recipe so beware!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

5 eggs

2 cups flour

1 2/3 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs one at a time into mixture.

2. When creamy, fold in the flour.

3. Spread mix into a buttered and floured loaf pan.

4. Bake at 300º for 1 ½ hours.

Yields 1 pound cake

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcake/Muffins

If you want a quick and easy muffin recipe than this is the one for you. Once again since I am not the best baker I came up with this easy muffin recipe. There is very little measuring involved, anyone can do it!! This recipe also calls for walnuts so if anyone is allergic, just omit them. Also feel free to substitute the walnuts for another nut if you wish. This is one of the few things I’ve baked that my husband said I could make again! It’s got lots of fiber also which is a plus for us all! I have been using canned pumpkin in recipes for awhile now and it’s so versatile you can use it in so many things! Not just pumpkin pie! This past holiday season there was a huge shortage of the canned pumpkin. The crops were hit hard and it made the pumpkin supply in strong demand. I stocked up. And if you try and find it now you may be lucky, look for Libby’s. I think they are the only ones who carry it. I haven’t seen any other brand.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box (any brand) of Spice Cake Mix

1 15oz can of pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filler)

1 cup water

1/2+ cup chopped walnuts (adjust to your liking)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl mix all ingredients together.

2. Line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

3. Pour batter evenly into cupcake liners.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for length of time on box. Check for doneness with toothpick. Let cool.

Yield: 24 medium cupcakes

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