The recipe can be found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/873677/lemon-pudding-cakes
The recipe is simple and delicious. I even messed up and added all of the sugar to the yolks instead of reserving 1/4 c to whip with the egg whites, so I just whipped the egg whites on their own, folded them in and hoped for the best. They turned out perfect. The lemon sauce that forms at the bottom is heavenly. And they aren't even that bad for you. I made a batch and ate one the first night and kept them in my fridge and have eaten one per day all week long. Go buy some lemons.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Banana Cream Heaven
My mom's favorite pie is banana cream, and I hated it for the majority of my life. As an adult I realized that if I just lightened the pastry cream with whipped cream, and did layers of cream with the bananas (even better yet with coconut cream) it became a pie that I loved.
Last week Chelsea and Jordan had us over for dessert and they changed my idea forever about banana cream pie with this recipe: http://curtisstone.com/Recipes/Desserts/Banoffee-Pie.aspx
At a whopping 600+ calories per slice it is quite the indulgence. And worth every single calorie.
Last week Chelsea and Jordan had us over for dessert and they changed my idea forever about banana cream pie with this recipe: http://curtisstone.com/Recipes/Desserts/Banoffee-Pie.aspx
At a whopping 600+ calories per slice it is quite the indulgence. And worth every single calorie.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Chocolate Cardamom Creme Caramel
I adore cardamom. Adore. We had this for dessert tonight and it was truly delicious. I cut the recipe in half and used 3.5 oz ramekins (and baked them for half the time) and quickly fell in love. Find the recipe here:
http://www.sevenspoons.net/blog/2012/2/6/a-fine-introduction.html
http://www.sevenspoons.net/blog/2012/2/6/a-fine-introduction.html
Honeyed Goat Cheese and Poached Pears
I love Pinterest, and know that I could easily get carried away with pinning every delightful (or delicious) idea that passes my way, but I try really hard to only pin those things I have every intention of doing, buying, or as in this case, eating. I've wanted to make this recipe (found here) for a week or so and finally decided to forgo the crust and use the filling in poached pears instead. And it was amazing.
You have to be a lover of goat cheese to like this. Which I am. Both of my kids are also infatuated with this soft white cheese so it was a huge hit at breakfast. I cut the recipe in fourths and used 0% fat greek yogurt instead of 2% because that was what I had in my fridge. I peeled and poached the pears in apple juice (again, because that was what was in my fridge) with 2 crushed pods of cardamom. I used a lemon instead of a lime, and next time want to try it with an orange to play off of the orange blossom honey that I used.
Filling for Four Poached Pears
2.75 oz soft goat cheese
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 1/2 t lemon (or lime or orange) juice
1/2 t lemon (or lime or orange) zest
2 T powdered sugar
Honey to drizzle
Beat the goat cheese, yogurt, juice and zest until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spoon into the centers of poached pears (we did 1 pear per person, split lengthwise and cored) and then drizzle with honey. Prepare to lick your plate clean.
You have to be a lover of goat cheese to like this. Which I am. Both of my kids are also infatuated with this soft white cheese so it was a huge hit at breakfast. I cut the recipe in fourths and used 0% fat greek yogurt instead of 2% because that was what I had in my fridge. I peeled and poached the pears in apple juice (again, because that was what was in my fridge) with 2 crushed pods of cardamom. I used a lemon instead of a lime, and next time want to try it with an orange to play off of the orange blossom honey that I used.
Filling for Four Poached Pears
2.75 oz soft goat cheese
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 1/2 t lemon (or lime or orange) juice
1/2 t lemon (or lime or orange) zest
2 T powdered sugar
Honey to drizzle
Beat the goat cheese, yogurt, juice and zest until combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spoon into the centers of poached pears (we did 1 pear per person, split lengthwise and cored) and then drizzle with honey. Prepare to lick your plate clean.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
PS
Butter is better than beans. Not necessarily better for your health, but better tasting and therefore better for your soul. A friend told me about a flourless chocolate cake made with garbanzo beans instead of butter and so I made it tonight. And it was fine, but not amazing. And the bean cupcakes I wrote about earlier tasted so much better the day they were made, and not that great the next day. I think I'll just stick to unhealthy dessert recipes in the future because I'd rather eat less of something truly amazing instead of more of something that is simply okay.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Cupcakes with beans. Beans!
I randomly picked up a copy of the Martha Stewart Food magazine and decided I had to try the recipe for cupcakes with beans. It seemed crazy. And they turned out to be crazy good. I changed the recipe just a bit, and baked them about 5 minutes longer.
Vanilla Cupcakes (with cannellini beans)
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 can (15.5 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in middle and lower thirds. Line 24 standard muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a food processor, combine beans, butter and granulated sugar; process until smooth. With machine running, add eggs and egg whites and process until incorporated. Stir into flour mixture until well combined. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until puffed and set, about 17 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks and let cool completely.
Filling:
1 pkg frozen raspberries
freshly squeezed orange juice (use some for the frosting, the rest for the filling)
Defrost raspberries a bit and mix with orange juice. Yep. That's it.
Frosting:
2 oz neufchatel cheese
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
some freshly squeezed orange juice
Cream cheese and zest and a bit of juice. Add sugar and blend until smooth. Add vanilla and enough orange juice to reach desired consistency. (I didn't know how this would turn out so I just made a small batch. You will need to double or triple this to frost all cupcakes.)
I recommend slicing your cupcake into thirds. Spoon some of the raspberry mixture over the bottom and middle layers and then spread the top layer with some frosting.
Vanilla Cupcakes (with cannellini beans)
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 can (15.5 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in middle and lower thirds. Line 24 standard muffin cups with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a food processor, combine beans, butter and granulated sugar; process until smooth. With machine running, add eggs and egg whites and process until incorporated. Stir into flour mixture until well combined. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.
2. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until puffed and set, about 17 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks and let cool completely.
Filling:
1 pkg frozen raspberries
freshly squeezed orange juice (use some for the frosting, the rest for the filling)
Defrost raspberries a bit and mix with orange juice. Yep. That's it.
Frosting:
2 oz neufchatel cheese
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
some freshly squeezed orange juice
Cream cheese and zest and a bit of juice. Add sugar and blend until smooth. Add vanilla and enough orange juice to reach desired consistency. (I didn't know how this would turn out so I just made a small batch. You will need to double or triple this to frost all cupcakes.)
I recommend slicing your cupcake into thirds. Spoon some of the raspberry mixture over the bottom and middle layers and then spread the top layer with some frosting.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Tomato Soup with Canned Tomatoes
I grew up thinking I hated tomato soup, when what I really hated was Campbell's tomato soup. I have a hard time justifying making tomato soup when tomatoes are in season because they are so lovely I can't bring myself to do much more than slice them and sprinkle salt and pepper over the slices. Deborah Madison has a recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup in her cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I made it today for lunch and tweaked it just a bit. It is delicious.
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 small onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 1/2 t dried basil
pinch of ground cloves (I added more because I loved the flavor)
2 T flour
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes in puree (only had tomatoes in juice so I added about 1/2 T of tomato paste to compensate)
pinch of baking soda
2 1/2 c vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
1 to 1 1/2 c milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine olive oil and butter in soup pot over medium heat. When butter has melted add onion, celery, basil and cloves and cook until onion is limp, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and add tomatoes, tomato paste, baking soda and stock. Bring to a boil, then partially cover and lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (She recommends pureeing it at this point but I left it as is) add milk and season with salt and pepper.
I cut up some leftover bread into cubes and toasted it in the oven at 350 degrees until crisp and topped my bowl of soup with some of the croutons. A lovely lunch for winter.
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 small onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 1/2 t dried basil
pinch of ground cloves (I added more because I loved the flavor)
2 T flour
2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes in puree (only had tomatoes in juice so I added about 1/2 T of tomato paste to compensate)
pinch of baking soda
2 1/2 c vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
1 to 1 1/2 c milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine olive oil and butter in soup pot over medium heat. When butter has melted add onion, celery, basil and cloves and cook until onion is limp, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and add tomatoes, tomato paste, baking soda and stock. Bring to a boil, then partially cover and lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (She recommends pureeing it at this point but I left it as is) add milk and season with salt and pepper.
I cut up some leftover bread into cubes and toasted it in the oven at 350 degrees until crisp and topped my bowl of soup with some of the croutons. A lovely lunch for winter.
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