My Lime Green Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category

These could be my favorite cookies my mom has ever made but I probably say that about all cookies.

Ingredients:

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 egg whites
2c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
About 1 c.  finely chopped nuts
Jelly, jam or candied cherries, cut in half

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar.  Add 2 beaten egg yolks.

Mix the flour and salt.  Add to the creamed mixture.  Add vanilla.  Mix well.  Chill for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Roll into small balls.  Roll in egg white (do not beat egg whites).  Roll in chopped nuts.

Place on baking sheet.

Bake for 5 minutes.  Using a thimble, press a hole in the center.

Continue baking for 10 -15 minutes.  Press hole in center again.

Cool completely.  Fill hole with jam or jelly.

If you do not want to use jam, press half of a maraschino cherry in the center before baking and bake 15-20 minutes.

For the cake portion, you can use any brioche type recipe. The “cake” is more like a slightly sweet bread.

Ingredients:

1 envelope Active Dry Yeast
2 T. warm water
1 tsp. salt
4 T. granulated sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cardamom (If you don’t have cardamon, use 1 tsp. cinnamon. Cardomom is a bit less common for most of us and seems a bit “mystical” but cinnamon will certainly work too.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 – 1/4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces.

Dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand til frothy.

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the milk. When dissolved combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture.

Mix the cardamom with the flour.

Add the eggs to the yeast/milk mixture. Gradually add the flour. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add a little more flour if needed but leave the dough slightly on the sticky side. Just as the dough is almost ready, add the chopped butter and knead only until the butter is incorporated into the dough.

Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour in a warm spot.

When the dough has doubled in bulk punch it down, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough out to a 8 x 20 inch rectangle. Spread the almond filling(recipe below) out in the middle of the rectangle along the whole length, leaving about 1 inch on each side. Fold the length of the dough over the filling and roll up tightly, leaving the seam side down. Turn the roll into a circle, seam side down and put one end inside of the other to hide the seam, and seal the circle. Place the cake on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown (seems to only take about 20 minutes for me).

When the cake cools, spread on some of the glaze (recipe below). Decorate with the colored sugars and drizzle some of the thicker glaze onto the cake.

For the Almond filling:

1 can almond paste
1/2 stick butter
2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. almond extract

This gets real thick and it is better to use as stand mixer.

Mix the almond paste and butter. When totally mixed, add the bread crumbs, sugar and almond extract.

Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. melted butter
Half & Half to make the glaze the consistency desired
1/2 tsp. almond extract

NOTE: Because I love lots of icing/glaze, I double this recipe.

My great grandma was Grandma Stroud . . not Grandma Himel.  She always had tea cakes.  I have tried every tea cake recipe I find hoping to duplicate my great grandma’s tea cakes.  I probably don’t even remember at this point what they tasted like but I have this thought in my head about them.  My lovely friend from south Louisiana, Nita, shared a recipe from one of her neighbors from their Grandma Himel.  I immediately made them and they’re very, very close to my great grandma’s . . as close as I’ve come.

When I made them, I halved the recipe.  For three eggs, use either 1 very large or 2 very small eggs and it works.  The recipe calls for vanilla butternut extract.  I’d never heard of that and used clear vanilla.   Nita said she ordered the vanilla butternut extract from Amazon.

Ingredients:

6 cups flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter or margarine
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1 oz. vanilla butternut extract

Directions:

Melt butter.  Add extract, eggs, sugar, and milk. Mix well.  Stir in flour and baking powder.  Roll out, cut with cookie cutter.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350° for 13 – 15 minutes.  They will not be brown but a light yellow.

This is one of my favorite cookies.  There are several variations for making these and from what I’ve read, the recipe requiring baker’s ammonia is one of the best, most authentic recipes.  I rarely have baker’s ammonia and we’re perfectly happy with this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 lb. powdered sugar
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 – 4 drops anise oil

Directions:

Beat eggs til thick and lemon colored.  Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour, one cup at a time, along with baking powder.  Beat well after each cup of flour.  Add anise oil.  If your family isn’t a huge fan of anise, stick with 2 drops.  A little goes a long way!   We love anise and I usually add more than 4 drops.

If the dough seems a little too sticky, add another 1/4 – 1/2 cup flour.

To roll dough, sprinkle surface with flour and flour the top of your dough.  Roll to 1/2″ thick with a regular rolling pin.  Using a springerle pin, roll and cut the cookies.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to sit out overnight, uncovered, in a dry place.

Bake at 300 for 20 minutes.  Do not allow to brown.  It is recommended that you put these in an airtight container and store for one week before serving.  That never happens at our house.

Easy . . no crust!  And, good . . real good!

Ingredients:

24 Ritz crackers
3 egg whites, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Crush the Ritz crackers.  I put the crackers in a zipper bag and crush them.

Combine cracker crumbs and egg whites.  Add sugar.

Stir in baking powder, vanilla and pecans.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.  Chill.  If serving the whole pie at once, top with sweetened whipped cream.  If serving individual pieces (like a piece today and a piece tomorrow), top individual slices with sweetened whipped cream before serving.

These are good!  I like things you can serve from the same pan they’re baked in.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 – 18 oz. yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg

Filling:

1 – 30 oz. can pumpkin pie filling
1 – 5 0z. can evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and egg until crumbly.  Set aside 2/3 cup for topping.  Press the remaining crumb mix into a greased  13 x 9″ baking dish.

For filling, combine pumpkin pie filling, milk and eggs.  Pour over crust.

For topping, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and reserved crumb mixture.

Sprinkle over pumpkin layer.

Bake at 350° for 40 – 50 minutes or until top is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

This recipe is pretty easy to make, makes a beautiful pie and is way less expensive if you make it when strawberries are in season.

Ingredients:

4 squares Almond Bark, chocolate flavored, divided
1 T. oil
1 tsp. oil
1 pie shell, baked
2 – 3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
4 T. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups strawberries, hulled

Directions:

In a saucepan or in the microwave, melt 3 squares of the chocolate bark, along with the 1 Tablespoon of oil.  Do not allow to scorch!  A double boiler can be used or it can be melted over a very low heat, or in the microwave.  Working quickly, spread melted chocolate over the bottom and up the sides of the pie crust.  Use the back side of an oiled spoon to spread the chocolate.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Pour over chocolate layer.  Chill at least 2 hours.

Place strawberries, pointed end up, on top of the filling.

Melt the remaining square of bark with the tsp. oil.  Drizzle over the strawberries.

Keep in the fridge til ready to serve.

Adapted from Taste of Home Contest Winning Recipes, 2006.

This is beyond delicious!  The recipe may seem difficult but it is so easy and if you’re having guests during the holidays . . trust me . . they will be so impressed with your culinary skills if you serve this for dessert!  When we sat down to eat it, Vince said “It tastes like pumpkin pie!”  Chad doesn’t like pumpkin pie but I think it tastes more like pumpkin creme brulee so I quickly mentioned that.  Chad loved it!!  I’m going to go out on a limb and say even the non-pumpkin eaters should love this!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin or fresh cooked pumpkin
1 – 5 oz. can evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°.

Put a kettle of water on to boil.

Caramelize sugar:  Melt the 1-1/3 cups sugar in a heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly.  When the sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low.  Be very careful so it doesn’t scorch. Be very careful also to cook just til the sugar melts and turns a bit brown.  Overcooking will result in a hard layer of candy in the bottom of your dish.

Continue stirring frequently til sugar is golden brown.

This stuff is HOT!  Be very careful with it.

Arrange 8 ungreased custard cups into 2 baking dishes. Pour hot water around the cups.  This heats the cups up a bit before spooning the hot melted sugar into the cups.

Quickly spoon the caramelized sugar into the 8 custard dishes.

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk, the 1/2 cup sugar, spices, orange peel and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour over the caramelized sugar in the cups.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of a cup comes out clean.  Remove the cups from the water.  Cool slightly on a wire rack.

Cut squares of plastic wrap and press gently against the top of the custard.  This will keep moisture from forming on the plastic wrap and making the top of your custard sticky and runny.

Chill at least 6 hours.

To serve, loosen edges with a knife.  Place a dessert plate over each custard, turn upside down and the custard should slip right out.  Serve with whipped cream if desired.  It really doesn’t need whipped cream . . it’s so good!

If you halfway like yogurt,  you’ll love homemade yogurt! And, you’ll really love the price!

Yogurt

1/2 gallon whole milk
1 c. plain yogurt (Buy it the first time but save some of your own yogurt for the next time!)

That’s it . . 2 ingredients!  You will need a food thermometer also.  I use a 2-1/2 quart slow cooker and I’ve heard that those who use a larger slow cooker (as in 5 quart or larger) have had some problems with the yogurt cooking too quickly.  There are several ways to make the yogurt . . one is by heating the milk for 2 – 3 hours, then letting it cool for 2 – 3 hours.  If you use a thermometer, I don’t think it should matter what size pot you use.

Pour the milk into the slow cooker.  Place the lid on the slow cooker and turn to high.  Heat til the milk reaches 180 to 190 degrees.  Turn off and unplug the slow cooker and let it sit (unattended . . don’t bother it!) til the yogurt temp drops to 115 degrees.  Remove about 1 cup of the warm milk and stir into the 1 cup of yogurt to temper the yogurt.  Add it all back into the warm milk, stir.  I used a whisk to get it all blended together really nicely.

Replace the lid on the slow cooker and wrap the whole thing in a couple of thick towels.  Let sit 10 – 12 hours and you will have a slow cooker of yummy homemade yogurt!  Dish into containers and store in the fridge at least 8 hours before serving.

See that jar of caramel apple jam sitting there?  That’s what I’m going to add to some of my yogurt.  Add anything you want if you want to use add-ins.  We’ve added blackberry pie filling that I’d canned, peach pie filling that I’d canned, storebought sweetened frozen fruit, etc.  Canned fruit can be added when the yogurt is put into containers or it can be added when you’re ready to serve the yogurt.  At serving time, other things like nuts, granola, chocolate chips, etc. can be added to the yogurt.

6 ounces of plain yogurt was saved for another recipe, 2 larger cups were filled with plain yogurt.  Some of that will be used for my starter for the next batch, some will be used in place of sour cream on baked potatoes.  The rest of the batch went into 7 cups of Caramel Apple Yogurt.

Labeled and ready to go into the fridge for at least 8 hours before serving.

Buttermilk Pie

1-3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. butter, melted
3 eggs
2 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 – 9″ pie shell, unbaked

Combine all ingredients in the order given. Mix well and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until brown. Filling is set when a light crust forms on top.