Tres Leches Cake Shooters

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Lorinda

Though Cinco de Mayo isn’t something I get very excited about, and I really don’t like tequila at all, I do appreciate any excuse to run with a theme, especially when it involves baking. So I’m adding my ~~two bits~~ dos pesos to the festivities with these Tres Leches Cake Shooters.

No, you can’t actually tip up the little paper holder and dump the cake in your mouth, but each one packs a small hit of tequila. I don’t recommend going with the expensive stuff, either; even though it’s smooth and less painful to barf back up the next morning, it doesn’t have that knock-you-upside-the-head cheap tequila flavor needed to make these babies scream “Cinco de Mayo!”

I used 1.25 ounce paper Jello shooter cups. These are great to have around for so many things: spice portion cups, condiments, dips, nut or mint cups, medicine cups, and for craft items like beads. They’re also known as souffle cups, but as small as these are, that would be a very small portion…especially since souffles are mostly air.

Two little shooters, in their cups.

I think the little shooters are easiest eaten with a spoon, but they willingly come out of the cups and can be eaten like a normal mini-cupcake if you can tear the cup off. The cups I bought are surprisingly strong, with a hard to tear rim, so you might want to use a small pair of scissors and just give each cup a tiny snip on both sides before you add the topping. Or you can watch people struggle with it…which could actually be pretty entertaining.

Tres Leches Cake Shooters

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Makes approximately 48 mini-cupcakes.

Ingredients

6 eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 small can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons tequila (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
.................
TOPPING:
1 pint heavy cream
⅓ cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons tequila
thin strips of lime peel for garnish

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 F.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue beating, and add sugar a tablespoon at a time. When all the sugar has been added, beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat the egg yolks until thick, about 4-5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir to combine.
Add the egg whites to the yolk mixture and fold in carefully.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the egg mixture and fold in gently.
Set 1½ ounce paper souffle cups on baking sheets, leaving an inch between each cup to allow heat to circulate. For best results, spray with a flour/oil spray like Baker's Choice.
Fill each cup no more than ½ full and bake for 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Combine the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream, tequila, and vanilla in a small bowl.
Poke holes in cooled cupcakes with a fork, just to break the surface and allow the milk mixture to be absorbed, and pour a scant tablespoon of the milk mixture slowly over each cake.
When all of the cakes are done, cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let them chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
To make the topping, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Add the tequila slowly, whipping continuously. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe topping onto each cake. Garnish with thin slices of lime peel if desired.

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Bake the little cups directly on a baking sheet.

Poke holes with a fork.

If you are careful and tidy, you can soak them like this.

If you are impatient like I am, you’d better soak them over a bowl!

Honestly? I didn’t think I’d like these very much. My enthusiasm usually grows proportionally with the amount of chocolate in a dessert, and these had none. But I was very pleasantly surprised, and “tested” them more than I should have. The Man seems to be appreciative too, so I don’t think the chickens are going to get any of this experiment!

Speaking of experiments, Mother’s Day is coming soon and I believe that for the sake of nostalgia I will make something I’ve never ever EVER made before. My mom’s green jello salad with pears and walnuts and cheddar cheese. Sure hope the chickens like pears…

Lorinda

Deviled Cakes!

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Lorinda

For a fun spin on traditional Easter food, make these sweet little cakes that look like deviled eggs! The cake is tender and white, and is covered with a light coating of white chocolate, then decorated with yellow whipped buttercream icing. A dash of red sprinkles gives the appearance of paprika. At first glance, they will really fool you!

You can’t fool everyone…

We may have an eensy-weensy problem here, though. The pan I used (Wilton’s Petite Egg Pan) is no longer available. If you are lucky enough to have one, or there is someone you can ~~steal~~ borrow one from, you’re set. OR if you are wealthy and money is no object, there is a similar pan on the market that runs around $100. Such a deal! Worst case scenario, Wilton has a small egg pan that has designs on it. Since you really only see the top of the egg anyhow, I think it would work just fine. Hopefully you’ll figure something out, because these are just so much fun to make!

I’d love to say I thought up this idea, but The Man was the one who came up with it. I guess now he’s the idea man, and I’m the lowly person who does the grunt work. Meh…that’s okay. He deserves his moment in the limelight for this.

I tried to make the whitest cake possible, so used coconut oil instead of butter (it adds a lovely coconut flavor, but you can use shortening if you’d like) and didn’t use vanilla. If you have clear vanilla, go ahead and put a teaspoon in when you cream the oil and sugar together. Also, because I used whipping cream in the frosting to make it look fluffier, these really should be refrigerated.

Oh, I love these!

Deviled Cakes!

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Makes a LOT. At least 7 dozen, maybe more. You could also make 2 dozen and bake the rest of the batter in a 9" cake pan for another use.

Ingredients

½ cup room temperature coconut oil (or you may substitute shortening)
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon clear vanilla (optional)
2¼ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cup buttermilk
5 egg whites
1 pound white candy melts (get the whitest ones possible. I used Wilton's "Bright White"
½ cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Yellow and orange food coloring

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 F.
Prepare pan by greasing and flouring, or by spraying with a flour/oil combination spray like Baker's Joy.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
In a large bowl, cream the oil (or shortening), sugar, and clear vanilla. I used less oil than normal, so it won't get fluffy. Just mix it together really well.
Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning with the flour and ending with the buttermilk, about a third of each at a time.
Beat for one minute on medium-high speed.
Fold in the egg whites.
Fill each egg cavity almost to the top.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and turn out onto racks to cool.
Slice the domed tops off of each egg.
Melt the white chocolate melts in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring each time until completely melted.
With a table knife, spread a layer of white chocolate on the flat side (top) of each egg.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar. Mix well.
Add the whipping cream a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency for piping, adding a little more cream or powdered sugar if necessary.
Add a little yellow coloring and a TINY bit of orange or red. Whip the frosting to combine. Adjust the color to resemble deviled egg filling. Continue to beat the frosting until it is light and fluffy.
With a star tip, pipe the "yolk filling" on each egg. Dust with red sugar sprinkles.

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Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold the egg whites into the batter.

Fill the eggs ALMOST full (I overdid it just a little in this photo)

Bake about 9 minutes.

Level the tops (eat the scraps) and “frost” with white candy melts.

Pipe the frosting and add sprinkles. TA DA!

Mint Bombe

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Lorinda

Do you remember my Brownie Bombe from last December? I thought I’d try a mint version for St. Patrick’s Day, and it turned out yuuuuuuuuumy!

An ice cream bombe is always an impressive dessert, and yet it’s really very simple to make. The trick is to start early – at least a day before you plan to serve it. The bombe must be frozen between layers, then frozen overnight for best results. To make it even simpler you could use boxed brownie mix, jarred hot fudge sauce, and a large tub of non-dairy topping, but making these things from scratch is really easy, I promise.

This mint bombe was made with two ice creams: Mint Brownie and Vanilla. I only used two ice creams this time because I added a core of mint fudge. Feel free to use any ice cream flavor you like; you can’t go wrong with this dessert!

Mint Bombe

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Serves: 12

A core of mint fudge sauce, surrounded by ice cream, surrounded by brownies, surrounded by whipping cream. Mmmm.

Ingredients

One batch of brownies (recipe below)
Two cartons (1.5 quarts each) ice cream
Mint Fudge Sauce (recipe below)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons creme de menthe (or 2 drops of green food coloring)

Instructions

Prepare a 2-quart bowl by lining with foil. Lightly oil the foil.
Press pieces of brownie against the foil, making a thin brownie shell. Make sure all of the foil is covered, but leave approximately ½ –inch of foil showing at the top of the bowl. Reserve the remaining brownies; these will be used at the end.
Remove your first flavor of ice cream from the freezer to let it soften for 10-15 minutes. Put the brownie-lined bowl in the freezer while the ice cream is softening.
With a spoon or rubber spatula, press a layer of ice cream over the brownie layer. You will use the entire carton of ice cream. Bring it all the way to the top of the brownie, keeping the layer as uniformly thick as possible.
Return to the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until firm.
Remove the second container of ice cream from the freezer and let it soften for 10-15 minutes.
Fill the center with softened ice cream, almost to the top. With a wooden spoon handle, make a hole in the center for the fudge sauce. This should make the layers of ice cream the same height. If not, add a little more of the second flavor to make the top even.
Fill the hole with mint fudge sauce.
Return to the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until firm.
Remove from freezer and crumble the remaining brownies over the top, pressing firmly.
Cover the bombe with foil or plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
Lift the bombe out of the bowl using the foil. Turn flat side down on serving platter and remove the foil.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Add in the crème de menthe or food coloring if you are using it, and “frost” the bombe.
Decorate with sprinkles or candy shamrocks. For best results, freeze again until the whipping cream is firm (but it can be cut right away if you’re ready to serve.)

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Brownies:
1 cup powdered cocoa
3 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease and flour a 10×10” (or 8×12 or 9×12) pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cocoa, sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder.
4. In a small bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Add the melted butter, oil, and vanilla.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
6. Spoon into prepared pan and level with a spatula.
7. Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Don’t overbake.

Mint Fudge Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup mint chocolate chips (or use semi-sweet chocolate and add a few drops of peppermint extract)
1/2 cup cream

Combine all ingredients in a small pan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently until chips are melted and the sauce is completely smooth. Pour into a small bowl to cool and thicken.

Press brownies into the foil-lined bowl.

Add a layer of mint ice cream. Freeze until firm.

Add vanilla ice cream, make a hole, and pour in mint fudge sauce!

Add a brownie top (which will actually be the bottom…)

“Frost” it with whipped cream.

Freeze, slice, and serve!

St. Patrick’s Day is Monday, so start one of these this weekend! Seriously, if the bombe in-progress sits in the freezer for 4 or 5 hours between steps, that’s perfectly fine. Work it around your schedule! Even if you don’t serve it for a few days, as long as it’s covered up in the freezer, it will come out perfect.

A sweet little Irish wish for you:

Sláinte chuig na fir, agus go mairfidh na mná go deo!
(Health to the men and may the women live forever)

Okay, maybe a little nicer:
May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Lorinda

For the month of February, nine bloggers got together for a group post called “Love and Food”. That pretty much says it all! I guess it’s true that I tend to show my love by nurturing – especially through cooking and baking.

My husband loves cherry pie. I don’t! (I picked cherries one summer long, long ago and have never felt the same about them since) At least, I didn’t like cherry pie.

But I found that an unbaked cherry pie is pretty darn good, especially when the cherries are enrobed in chocolate! The cherry filling sits in a rich chocolate pie crust and is covered with a layer of chocolate cream, then is topped with cherry liqueur-spiked whipping cream. Now that, I love! And I really love it frozen, too. I guess you can say I’m a convert.

The chocolate crust isn’t sweet like a cookie crumb crust. It’s basically a regular crust with a deep cocoa flavor. The cherry filling is canned. Yes, you heard me! I didn’t grow, pick, pit, and can these cherries, I went to the grocery store and bought two cans of cherry pie filling. Surprised you, didn’t I? You’ll need a deep-dish pie pan to hold all of this goodness. If you don’t have one, just use one can of pie filling, otherwise there won’t be enough room for the chocolate, and we can’t have that!

The chocolate topping is one-half of my filling recipe for Sumptuous Chocolate Cream Pie.

I bought a bottle of “Cherry Pie” liqueur this year and feel honor-bound to use up as much of it as possible (it’s been showing up in lots of recipes), so I flavored the whipping cream with some. It’s slightly tart, so it adds a wonderful touch to the cream. You can use a little cherry flavoring and food coloring or some maraschino cherry juice if you’d prefer.

I wanted the whipping cream to last for a day or two (there are only two of us eating this) so I stabilized it. If you’re serving this to a group of diners, you won’t need to bother; it’ll get demolished right away.

If you’re thinking this recipe looks hideously long, that’s because it really should be separated into three recipes…one for the crust, one for the chocolate layer, and one for the whipping cream. But the recipe widget will only let me create one recipe per post, and I want you to be able to print it out easily. It’s really not as complicated as it looks!

Here’s how the whole thing gets created:

Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie

Author: The Rowdy Baker

A cherry pie, enrobed with chocolate! Chocolate crust, a chocolate cream top layer, and flavored whipping cream.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup shortening, chilled
⅓ cup buttermilk
2 cans (21 oz each) cherry pie filling
¾ cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups bilk
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped coarsely
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon unflavored gelatin (if you are stabilizing your whipped cream)
2 teaspoons water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup cherry liqueur (or substitution...see below**)

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 F.
You will need a deep-dish pie pan. If using a regular pie pan, reduce the cherry filling to one can.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, and sugar. Work shortening into dry mixture with pastry blender or two knives, until the size of small peas.
Add the buttermilk slowly, stirring lightly with a fork. If the dough isn't coming together into a rough ball shape, add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time. You just want it to stick together and not be crumbly.
Roll out approximately ⅔ of the dough between sheets of lightly floured parchment paper. This should be a little thicker than a normal pie crust.
Remove the top layer of parchment and cut a circle larger than your pie pan, with an extra 1" all the way around.
Slide a flat baking pan under parchment beneath the circle of dough. Place your pan upside down on the dough, centering it, and flip the pan, dough, and baking sheet over. Remove the baking sheet and carefully peel off the parchment.
Ease the dough into the pan and fold the excess dough under. Flute the edge and poke a fork evenly all over the pie crust. To help keep the dough from collapsing, place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Carefully line the crust with foil and fill at least one third full with beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, carefully take out the foil and beans, and return to the oven to bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Allow the crust to cool completely.
Fill the baked shell with 2 cans of cherry pie filling. (One can for a standard pan.)
Place the pie in the refrigerator while you make the chocolate layer:
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly.
In a medium pot combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk, and unsweetened chocolate. Turn burner to medium-high and stir until it reaches a low boil. Turn the temperature down to medium and continue to cook and stir with a whisk for 2 minutes.
Pour about ¼ cup of the hot mixture into the eggs, stirring well, and then add the egg mixture to the pan, whisking well. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, whisking continuously.
Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and butter.
Allow it to cool slightly, then pour over the cherry mixture in the pie.
Chill the pie until you are ready to add the whipping cream. For best results, let the pie chill for 5 or 6 hours.
To make stabilized whipping cream, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over water in a small dish. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. (If you aren't using stabilized cream, just skip the gelatin and water step.)
In a medium bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Slowly whip in the powdered sugar. Place the dish of softened gelatin in the microwave for 5-7 seconds, just until it starts to foam. While whipping, slowly drizzle the melted gelatin over the whipped cream. Whip until firm peaks form, and then add the liqueur.
**If you don't wish to use liqueur, maraschino cherry juice will work well. Or you can add 1 teaspoon of cherry flavoring and a drop of red or pink food coloring, if desired.
Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the pie and serve!

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And, because I know that many of you have limited free time, I like to give you shortcuts. You could:

Use a pre-made chocolate cookie crust.
Use instant chocolate pudding for the chocolate layer
Spray on your whipping cream from a can.

The idea will be the same, though you will sacrifice a little of the flavor and texture.

making the pie crust

Cut at least 1 inch larger all the way around pan.

Flute edges, poke holes evenly around crust.

Add foil and beans (or pie weights) and bake.

Add cherry pie filling.

Adding butter and vanilla, then ready to spread on cherries.

spread hot chocolate mixture on cherries.

You’ve got to try a slice of this!

To see what the other passion-inspired bloggers have made, just click on the following links. Please show them some love back, and leave a comment. We all just live for comments.Well…nice ones.

Limoncello Cream Dream Cake by Crumbs in my Mustachio

Nutella Frangelico Love Cheesecake by Tampa Cake Girl

Cherry Blossom Chocolates by Hun, What’s for Dinner?

Cookie Cutter Chocolate Bark by Lemony Thyme

Chocolate Pound Cake with a Chocolate Glaze by Moore or Less Cooking Blog

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Fudge by Baking in a Tornado

Sex and Candy Cake by Cooking from a SAHM

Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Lorinda

It’s February, and every breathing moment (including those times in the middle of the night when I have a stroke of genius that I can never remember the next day) is spent thinking about Valentine’s Day goodies. I spend a lot of time mentally creating and baking…thinking up new twists and embellishments. My grandfather was a professor of engineering and a woodworking genius who was a huge believer in the “measure twice, cut once” practice. I’ve learned that actually imagining myself making a new creation, step by step, helps me avoid a lot of mistakes. Not all…but a lot.

One of these ideas has actually come to fruition! And boy, do I have an easy dessert for you!

Seriously easy, not just easy compared to my usual fussing and experimenting and generally doing everything the hardest way possible. This is a “dump cake”, but it’s actually more like a pie, with a layer of cream cheese, a layer of strawberry, and a crunchy-buttery topping. I will give you the recipe for the topping, but if you want to use a boxed white cake mix, go for it. Personally, I like avoiding the preservatives, and it’s so easy to make the mix that I don’t mess with boxed mixes at all.

Eat this warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sheer bliss!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Author: The Rowdy Baker

This is a "dump cake", but it's really more like a pie with 3 layers: Cream cheese, strawberry, and crunchy topping. Serves 9.

Ingredients

8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour
1 can (21 oz.) strawberry pie filling
1 white cake mix (or see easy instructions below the recipe)
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 F.
Prepare a 9-inch pan or casserole dish. (or a 10-inch heart-shaped pan) by greasing and flouring it or using an oil/flour spray like Baker's Joy.
In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg, vanilla, and flour and mix at medium speed until well combined and creamy. Spread into prepared pan.
Spread the strawberry pie filling over the cream cheese mixture. It's easiest if you evenly distribute dollops of pie filling and then spread with a rubber spatula.
Cover the strawberry layer with all of the dry cake mix.
Drizzle melted butter over the cake mix and sprinkle with walnuts.
Bake for approximately 50 minutes. The top should be golden brown. It will continue to darken a little while it is cooling.
Cool on a rack and serve warm with a little vanilla ice cream.

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To make the cake topping instead of using a boxed cake mix, simply sift together the following ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/4 cup powdered milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Spread the cream cheese mixture

Add the strawberry pie filling.

Cover with cake mix and drizzle with butter.

Cover with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter. Add walnuts.

Don’t let the photo deceive you; by the time you drizzle on all the butter, it will resemble a lake of butter with a few tiny white islands poking through. Don’t worry…the butter will soak in and turn that cake mix into a delectable, crunchy topping.

Right out of the oven

It will darken and sink in a bit…that’s OK!

Have a bite…or two!

This recipe is very similar to one I posted this fall, which became one of my most viewed posts. It’s funny – I’ll spend days working on what I consider a great recipe, and yet a simple dessert gets all the action on Pinterest! If you like this recipe, you’ll want to check out my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dessert too.

Now…chocolate! I need chocolate! Let’s see what I can dream up this time.

Chocolate Peppermint Soufflés

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Lorinda

There is no culinary experience as sensual – as sinfully decadent – as dipping a spoon into a warm chocolate souffle and raising it to your lips. I’ll admit my body betrayed me, and I went back for more.

For a spectacular and satisfying finish to your holiday meal, make a warm Chocolate Peppermint Soufflé for each guest. The top is encrusted with sugar and crushed candy cane, and the inside is a heavenly blend of dark chocolate, espresso, and peppermint.

Be prepared to bring the soufflé straight from the oven to the table, because even though this version has a little more density than most, it’s still the nature of the soufflé to deflate quickly. Enjoy them while they are warm and fluffy!

Oh, and you can make them ahead and keep them in the fridge. Just remember to bring them to room temperature before baking.

Chocolate Peppermint Soufflés

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Ingredients

3 candy canes (1/2 oz. each)
⅔ cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon butter
3 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (good quality, no chips!)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
½ teaspoon cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
¾ cup half & half
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
2 egg yolks, room temperature!
4 egg whites, room temperature!
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of salt

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 F. Place the rack in the lowest position.
Finely crush the candy canes and move to a small bowl. If necessary, sift the crushed candy through a strainer. Larger pieces may be re-crushed or saved for decorating the soufflés.
Add ⅓ cup sugar to the bowl and combine well.
Prepare the ramekins by buttering generously and then adding sugar and candy cane mixture, tipping the ramekin to entirely cover the butter. Pour excess back into the small bowl. Set aside.
Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
In a small pan, whisk the flour, remaining ⅓ cup sugar, espresso powder, cornstarch, and salt together until well blended.
Turn the burner to medium heat and slowly add the half & half, whisking continuously. Continue to cook until it begins to thicken. It can just start to bubble, but don’t allow it to boil.
Pour over the chocolate and let it sit for one minute. Gently stir until it is combined. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the vanilla, peppermint extract, and egg yolks. Stir well.
In a medium bowl, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
Divide between the 4 ramekins. Ideally, the ramekin should be ¾ filled. A little more or less is just fine.
Sprinkle generously with some of the remaining sugar and peppermint mixture. Add a few larger pieces of candy cane if you’d like for more color. Not too many, or it won’t rise properly.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and put into the oven. Close the oven door and turn the heat down to 375 F.
Bake for about 16-18 minutes. Serve immediately!

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Folding egg whites into chocolate mixture

Spoon batter into ramekins

Sprinkle generously with sugar/candy cane

Dig in!

Brownie Bombe

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Lorinda

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Printable recipe at the bottom of the post!

A Brownie Bombe with a chocolate brownie shell, three kinds of ice cream, layers of dark chocolate ganache, and a whipped cream icing.

Hey. Sometimes I just crave ice cream!

When Amy from Crumbs in My Mustachio came up with the brilliant idea to post a Christmas cake each day made by twelve different bloggers, I jumped right in. I may have even muscled other people aside in my enthusiasm. What a blast! I dithered over this to a ridiculous degree, considering and discarding all different kinds of recipes. And even though my final choice wasn’t technically a cake, it’s a refreshing and crowd-pleasing dessert for any time of the year! I used pistachio-almond, vanilla, and peppermint ice cream for a traditional Christmas color scheme. You may use any flavor or color that appeals to you, of course.

I also put ganache between the ice cream layers because…well…because I love ganache! This is optional. It’s one more step, but I love the way it delineates the colors.

It isn’t a hard dessert to make, but you do have to give yourself a lot of time. Like at least a day ahead of the occasion, because it gets popped in and out of the freezer countless times. This was made in a 4 quart mixing bowl, so it’s huge. I’m guessing it will serve 16-18 people. Scale it down if you’d like. You’ll need:

3 half-gallons of ice cream. (I know…they aren’t half gallons any more. Do they really think we haven’t noticed this???)
2 batches of brownies. Guard them with your life; you will need ALL of the brownies. Trust me on this – I had to make a third batch because I let the guys “test” them.
10 ounces of dark chocolate. Good dark chocolate, not chips!
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
A large tub of non-dairy topping. I usually avoid this stuff like the plague, but it holds up so much better than whipping cream that I caved it this time.

Begin by baking the brownies. Chewy or cake brownies? Doesn’t really matter. Cool them thoroughly. Line a bowl with foil, smoothing it out as much as possible. Don’t lose any sleep over this; the weight of the brownies and ice cream will flatten out most of the little ridges.

Line bowl with foil.

Firmly press large brownies all over the bowl, covering the foil completely, and bringing all the way to the top of the bowl. Save enough to cover the top when you’re done!

Press brownies along sides and bottom of bowl.

Stick the bowl in the freezer for an hour. This is the perfect time to make your ganache if you’re using it.

Chop 10 ounces of dark chocolate and put it in a medium bowl.
Heat 1 1/4 cups heavy cream until it’s beginning to bubble but not boil.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then stir gently until it is blended. Cover and set aside to cool. Give it a stir occasionally.

When the hour is almost up, bring out your first carton of ice cream and allow it to soften. I can tell you through experience that you don’t want to try to flatten lumps of frozen ice cream. Let it soften, and maybe stir it around in a bowl first. It will make the next step a LOT easier! Press the ice cream (yes, the whole carton) over the brownie layer, bringing it almost to the top. Leave a generous 1/2″ at the top, because there will be a brownie “cover” added at the end. Smooth the ice cream as much as possible with a spoon, rubber spatula, or (brrr) your fingers. Return the bowl to the freezer.

Add ice cream flavor #1.

When the ice cream layer is firm, pour enough ganache into the bowl to coat the ice cream. Tip and rotate the bowl to spread the ganache, or use a pastry brush. Work quickly so the ice cream doesn’t melt! Return to the freezer.

Add ganache.

Soften the second tub of ice cream. Spread over the hardened ganache in the bowl and (you guessed it) return it to the freezer. When firm, repeat the ganache layer and freeze again. Fill with the remaining ice cream. (You’ll have a little left over. Grab a spoon; you know what to do with it, right?) Return the bowl to the freezer. Cover the ice cream with the remaining brownies, pressing firmly. Cover the bowl with foil, and freeze until solid. (Overnight is best.) When you’re ready to serve, remove the foil from the top, cover the top of the bowl with your platter, and flip it over. Peel the foil off of the bombe and frost it with whipped topping.

Frost it with whipped topping.

Sprinkle with sparkly edible glitter, add chocolate shapes, cookies…whatever is appropriate for your theme, or just leave it a beautiful fluffy white. Slice and serve! Use a knife that’s been dipped in warm water if your bombe is hard to cut. If you have any left over, put it in the freezer until the whipped topping is firm, and then cover well with heavy foil.

Brownie Bombe

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Ingredients

3 half-gallons of ice cream
2 batches of brownies, baked and cooled
10 ounces of dark chocolate (the good stuff, not chips!)
1¼ cups heavy whipping cream
Large tub of non-dairy topping (16 ounces) softened

Instructions

Line a large mixing bowl (mine was about 4 quarts) with foil.
Firmly press brownies over the inside surface of the bowl, reserving enough to cover the top at the end of the process.
Put the bowl in the freezer for an hour. While it's freezing, make your ganache.
Ganache:
Chop 10 ounces of dark chocolate and put it in a medium bowl.
Heat 1¼ cups heavy cream until it's beginning to bubble but not boil.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute or two, then stir gently until it is completely blended. Cover lightly and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
When the hour is almost up, put your first tub of ice cream on the counter to soften. You may want to stir it in a bowl so it is evenly thawed. You're looking for soft, not runny!
Remove bowl from freezer and press the entire carton of ice cream over the brownie layer, bringing it almost to the top. Leave at least ½ of brownie showing around the top of the bowl. Working quickly, smooth the ice cream as much as possible.
Return the bowl to the freezer.
When the ice cream layer is firm, remove from freezer and pour enough ganache into the bowl to coat the ice cream. Tip and rotate the bowl to spread the ganache, or use a pastry brush. Return to freezer for at least ½ hour.
Bring the second tub of ice cream out to soften. Spread over hardened ganache. (You may have a little ice cream left this time.) Return to the freezer.
When firm, repeat the ganache layer and return to the freezer.
Soften the third tub of ice cream.
When the ganache is firm, fill the rest of the space with ice cream and return to the freezer.
When the ice cream is firm, cover with the reserved brownies, pressing firmly. Make sure all of the ice cream is covered.
Cover the bowl with foil and freeze until solid (overnight is best)
Remove the foil from the top and turn the bombe over onto a serving platter. Peel off the foil and frost with whipped topping.
Cut with a knife dipped in warm water.
To freeze remaining bombe, put it uncovered in the freezer until the whipped topping is firm, and then cover with heavy foil.

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Here are the links to the first five cakes. I’ll add a link for each new cake, so make sure you come back and visit each day!

December 1st: Lemony Thyme’s Chocolate Truffle Pirouette Cake December 2nd: Cooking From a SAHM’s Strawberry ‘n Cream Cake December 3rd: Moore or Less Cooking Blog’s Coconut Tres Leches Cake December 4th: 365 Days of Baking’s S’mores Cake
December 5th: it’s yummi’s Pomegranate Lime Bundt Cake
December 6th: My Brownie Bombe.
December 7th: Hun What’s for Dinner’s Chocolate Roll with candy cane whipped cream.
December 8th: Chocolate, Chocolate and More’s Eggnog Pound Cake.
December 9th: Manila Spoon’s No-Bake White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake.
December 10th: Baking in a Tornado’s White Chocolate Peppermint Cake.
December 11th: Crumbs in My Mustachio’s Hot Cocoalicious Cake.
December 12th: Tampa Cake Girl’s Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our twelve cakes as much as we enjoyed presenting them!

Triple Trouble Caramel Corn!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Lorinda

I try to stay away from Google when I’m creating a recipe, because I don’t want to be influenced by other bakers’ methods or ingredients. When I’m happy with my recipe I take a peek, and am usually surprised (and yes, maybe a little discouraged) to find out how many other people have already made my “original” idea.

And RATS…it happened again. I thought this was going to be at least a fairly new idea. My son, my husband and I were sitting around brainstorming ideas for caramel corn. (I love my caramel corn recipe, but it’s pretty basic, and I wanted something unusual.) I knew we were on a roll when the discussion turned to bacon. What goes with bacon? Maple, of course! And if you’re have maple, you must have pecans, right?

Caramel Corn with Maple, Bacon, and Pecans. Yeah, baby…come to Mama!

After we’d sampled it over and over and over, I checked the search engine, and pfffft – it’s been done. Sigh. I guess most things have already been done in one form or another – so I’ll just give you MY take on this tasty treat.

Triple Trouble Caramel Corn!

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Ingredients

6 quarts popped popcorn
8 oz bacon (or more) chopped and cooked
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups dark brown sugar (golden brown is fine, too!)
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon maple flavoring (Watkins is good, but I prefer Mapleine)
½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Heat oven to 250 F.
Prepare two large, shallow pans by coating with cooking spray. (I used coconut oil instead, and it worked pretty well.)
In a very large bowl or roasting pan, combine popcorn, cooked bacon, and pecans. Set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add the brown sugar, honey, and salt. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil.
Without stirring, allow the mixture to continue cooking at a low boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Stir in the maple flavoring and baking soda. (It will foam up a little.)
Pour over the popcorn and stir to combine. Divide between the two pans, spreading the popcorn mixture as evenly as possible.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The mixture will seem soft when you're stirring it, but don't worry - it will crisp up nicely when it cools.
Remove from oven and cool completely in the pans. Break apart.
Store in airtight container.

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Boil the sugar mixture for 5 minutes.

Stir it into the popcorn, nuts and bacon. (If you’re making the bacon/maple/pecan version, this will look darker.)

Spread onto two greased baking pans.

Once you start eating it, you won’t stop!

I implore you to cook up the popcorn in a big pan or an air popper. The stuff in the microwave bags is SO bad for you. I know, I know, butter and sugar aren’t exactly health foods, but at least they are real. The microwave bags have a coating inside that is really gross. It’s honestly not hard to make popcorn “from scratch”!

If you want the plain Jane version (just like Cracker Jack), substitute unsalted or lightly salted peanuts for the pecans, and skip the bacon. Use 1 teaspoon vanilla instead of the 1 tablespoon maple flavoring. Or…gussy it up with a variety of nuts. Almonds, cashews, walnuts…all are yummy.

I wish you could see my kitchen right now. I made a peanut batch first. Then I tried the maple/bacon/pecan batch, but wasn’t happy with it (maple syrup in the sugar solution didn’t work out well, and I chopped the bacon and pecans too small) so I tried again. Each of these batches makes about 5 quarts, so just picture 13 quarts (hey, we had to try some of it!) of caramel corn. Yikes! I’m going to have to find someone to give some of this to or else dig out my “fat pants.”

Think crisp cellophane bags with pretty ribbons and a little silk poinsettia. What a welcome hostess gift this would make!

ABUNDANCE

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Lorinda

School is in session, the weather changes, kids don costumes and it’s dark before dinner; all signs that holiday time is right around the corner. Before we know it plans are made, preparations have begun, and Thanksgiving is just weeks away.

Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion for ushering in the holiday season; it’s a time for stories, projects, cooking and sharing. That’s exactly what this post is about. I’ve linked up with 5 other bloggers, each sharing a piece of what the season has to offer. We have humor, thought, family projects and food.

I hope you’ll click on all the links below to see what we’ve all put together for you:
Home on Deranged has a family post about the first and last Thanksgiving spent with mom.
Kiss My List is sharing a simple but meaningful family craft project that does double duty as Thanksgiving decor.
Writer B is Me will share a humorous story about what happens when someone is asked to make the mashed potatoes one too many times.
Pink When shares a project you can display for Thanksgiving dinner and guests.
And Baking in a Tornado (the genius behind this group post) will share a recipe for that leftover turkey.

And I, of course, bring you dessert!

It’s so hard to leave room for dessert when your table is groaning with rich Thanksgiving food! My family always had a fairly late dinner, so we’d manage to tuck in a tiny slice of pumpkin pie after the meal, but serious damage to the pies had to wait for breakfast the next day. And oh, it tasted good the next morning.

As much as I love pumpkin pie, sometimes it’s nice to change things up a bit. Here is the dessert I’ll be serving this year instead of pie – Pumpkin Cake Roll with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Filling.

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Filling

Most people don’t frost cake rolls, but I wanted a whipped cream icing to lighten it up a bit. The leaves were made with white chocolate and a little food coloring. The Pumpkin Roll can be made ahead and frozen…just let it thaw for an hour and smother it with whipped cream before serving. If you don’t think it will be all be eaten right away, I would recommend that you use a non-dairy whipped topping or (my choice) stabilized whipped cream.

I believe this was the first cake I made from scratch. Had it not been foolproof, I probably would be using Duncan Hines mixes to this day – but it was so simple to make, I never looked back. My recipe is really old, and probably adapted from the original Libby Pumpkin Roll recipe. It calls for a 10-inch by 15-inch jelly roll pan. I don’t happen to have one, so I use a larger pan and spread mine a little thinner…and it works just fine!

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
⅔ cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
......................
BUTTERSCOTCH CREAM CHEESE ICING
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered instant butterscotch pudding mix
8 ounces softened cream cheese
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup (or more) chopped, toasted pecans

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 F.
Prepare a 15"x10" jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with sides) by lining the bottom with waxed paper or parchment. Grease and flour the paper, or spray with an oil/flour spray like Baker's Joy.
Beat eggs on high for 5 minutes.
Beating continually, gradually add sugar.
Add the pumpkin and lemon juice and mix until well combined.
Sift together the dry ingredients and fold into pumpkin mixture.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan, and bake 12-15 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched.
Coat a cotton dish towel generously with powdered sugar and turn the cake out onto the dish towel. Peel off the waxed paper or parchment.
Starting from the short end, slowly roll cake and towel together. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely, approximately one hour.
While the cake is cooling, make the butterscotch filling:
In a medium bowl, combine the cream and pudding mix. Add the cream cheese and butter and mix together at medium-high speed. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Refrigerate until needed.
Unroll the chilled cake carefully. Spread with filling and roll it back up (without the towel this time, of course.) Refrigerate at least one hour.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or ice with sweetened whipped cream and serve.

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Folding together.

Spreading the batter.

Roll up cake AND towel!

Add filling and pecans.

To make the white chocolate leaves, melt white baking chocolate (if you have candy melts, they’d probably be a lot easier to work with) in three bowls, with just a little bit of chocolate in two of them. Add green and orange Wilton candy coloring to the two small bowls. Note: chocolate does NOT like water, so regular coloring can make it seize up. Use powdered or oil based food coloring! Melt a small amount of dark chocolate in another small bowl if you wish. Put the melted white chocolate on a waxed paper covered baking sheet, drizzle it with the colored and dark chocolate, and spread it out thinly with a spatula, with as few strokes as possible.

Let it harden at room temperature and then cut leaf shapes with cookie cutters. Cut more leaves than you think you’ll need – a lot of them may break! Move the entire sheet to the refrigerator and let it harden completely. Separate each leaf carefully with a small spatula. If you want to shape the leaves, put each one on a square of waxed paper, melt in the microwave for 2-3 second intervals until the leaf is flexible, and shape by draping over scrunched up foil or a spoon handle, or by setting it in a small custard bowl. Chill again and place on cake.

Ready to melt

Mixture of white chocolate colors.

Cutting out chocolate leaves

Too much trouble for you? One word: SPRINKLES. Everyone loves sprinkles.

From my kitchen to yours, have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Walnut Meringues

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Lorinda

There are times when I really want to eat that huge piece of cake, or a big slab of pie, or a quart of ice cream. But sometimes (especially after a huge turkey dinner) I just want a taste of something sweet, to tell my mouth that I’m finished eating for a while.

Something light, crisp, and airy. Sweet, chewy, and satisfying. Throw in gluten-free and almost fat-free, and you have Chocolate Walnut Meringues.

If you’ve never had a meringue, you’re in for a treat. This recipe produces little delicacies that look like cookies, but dissolve in your mouth, except for the perfect chewy part in the center. They can be a light ending to a heavy meal, or a sweet pick-me-up with an afternoon cup of tea.

Crispy and a little crumbly, with a slightly chewy center.

Meringues cook at a low heat and then are left to dry out in the oven overnight, so you’ll want to plan accordingly. If you store them in an airtight container, they’ll stay crispy for days. They can be piped into any shape you want, which can be a lot of fun. (I had limited success piping the meringue around foil cones to make cornucopias. If you have cream horn molds it might be worth a try!)

I used walnuts in this batch, but pecans are lovely too. You can grate a little dark chocolate in the batter if you wish. I felt the cocoa powder gave it just the right level of chocolate goodness; you can be the judge of that. If you are baking gluten-free, here’s a great list of gluten-free chocolates. I was glad to see that Dove chocolate made the grade.

As always when making any kind of meringue, separate the egg whites and let them stand until they’re room temperature for best results. Use squeaky clean beaters and bowls, and you’ll get perfect results.

Chocolate Walnut Meringues

Recipe type: Makes approximately 36

Author: The Rowdy Baker

Dainty little treats with a lot of flavor. Gluten-free.

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (or substitute pecans)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 egg whites (room temperature)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
chopped walnuts or grated gluten-free chocolate for decoration

Instructions

Heat oven to 250 F.
Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Chop walnuts (or pecans) finely. Set aside.
Combine the sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until they hold a soft peak.
Continue mixing as you add the sugar mixture ¼ cup at a time, mixing well between additions.
Beat until the mixture holds a stiff peak.
Gently fold in the chopped nuts.
With a small cookie scoop (or you may pipe shapes if you wish) scoop onto the parchment. They will barely spread, so you can put them fairly close together.
Sprinkle with topping of your choice. Nuts or grated chocolate look great. Use your imagination!
Bake for 35 minutes. Do NOT open the oven door. Just turn off the oven and leave them in there at least one hour. Overnight is even better.

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Finely chopped nuts.

This is what you want…stiff peaks.

Carefully folding the nuts into the egg mixture.

Sprinkle with grated chocolate or nuts. Or sprinkles!

I love, love, LOVE these little sweeties. They’re simple to make and impressive to serve. Offer a bowl of them next to the pumpkin pie and you might be surprised about which gets eaten first!

The Rowdy Baker

Irreverent offerings from a compulsive baker.

Category Archives: Desserts

Tres Leches Cake Shooters

Deviled Cakes!

Mint Bombe

Chocolate Covered Cherry Pie

Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Chocolate Peppermint Soufflés

Brownie Bombe

Triple Trouble Caramel Corn!

ABUNDANCE

Chocolate Walnut Meringues