- Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM PIE


Crust:

1½ c. graham wafer crumbs
3 T. sugar
2 T. chopped salted peanuts
¼ c. butter (melted)

Filling:

2 c. chocolate ice cream, softened
4 c. vanilla ice cream
1/3 c. peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a small bowl stir together all crust ingredients. Press into bottom an sides of 9 inch pie plate (I use spring form pan and line the bottom only). Bake for 6-8 minutes until lightly brown. Allow to cool.

Spread softened (only slightly) chocolate ice cream over the cooled crust. Freeze until firm (about 30 mins. - or if you are in a hurry - 5 minutes).

In a large mixing bowl (I use electric mixer) combine vanilla ice cream and peanut butter until well mixed. Freeze until set (30 - 40 mins.)

Notes:

1) I use more vanilla ice cream and more peanut butter (to taste) so that the spring form pan is filled to the top.

- Buttercream Icing

BUTTERCREAM ICING

1 c shortening (I use Crisco)
1 tsp extract (I use clear vanilla extract for pure white icings – see note)
2 T milk or water
4 c icing sugar
1 T meringue powder (see note)
Pinch of salt

Yield: 3 cups

Mix all ingredients together, adding more milk (sometimes it is double what the recipe recommends) or water to get to a spreadable consistency.

Note:

1) I took Wilton cake decorating lessons so I always use their clear vanilla and meringue power. I get them from Michaels craft stores but they are often available at shops that sell cake decorating products.
2) Once you have the recipe at the right consistency, if you are not going to use it in the next couple of days put it in the fridge and then take it out the night before you need it. A quick beat will bring it back to the original consistency.

- White Wedding Cake

WHITE WEDDING CAKE


3 c cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1½ c unsalted butter (at room temperature)
2¼ c white sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c milk
8 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350º.

Spray two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and 2 c of sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.

In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining ¼ c sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in the remaining whites.

Divide the batter between prepared pans and smoothing with offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off parchment. Re-invert cakes and let them fool completely, top sides up.

Notes:

1) This recipe also makes 24 cupcakes.
2) I have two bowls for my KitchenAid and this comes in really handy with any recipe that calls for beaten egg whites. If you don’t have two think about asking for a spare as a gift – you will really appreciate it.
3) I tripled the recipe yesterday for an upcoming wedding and that yielded 2 six inch, 2 eight inch and 2 ten inch cakes. Each took longer to bake than the recipe suggested so use your tester!

- French Onion Soup

FRENCH ONION SOUP
(see note)

Soup

3 T unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds) halved and cut pole to pole into ¼ inch slices
Table salt
2 c water, plus extra for deglazing
½ c dry sherry
4 c chicken broth
2 c beef broth
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine
1 bay leaf
Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons:

1 small baguette, cut on bias into ½ inch slices
8 oz Gruyère cheese, shredded (about 2 ½ c)

Soup:

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 400º. Generously spray inside of heavy-bottomed large (at least 7 qt) Dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray. Place butter in pot and add onions and 1 tsp salt. Cook, covered, 1 hour (onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot. Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours longer, stirring onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.

Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until liquid evaporates and onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing eat to medium if onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until pot bottom is coated with dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions). Stir in ¼ c water, scraping pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Stir in broths, 2 c water, thyme, bay leaf, and ½ tsp salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

Croutons

While soup simmers, arrange baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in 400º oven until bread is dry, crisp and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To Serve:

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 ¾ c soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

1) I thought I had a pretty good recipe for this soup and then I found this recipe that looked so labor intensive that I was put off. Then one day I had a craving and I decided to give it a whirl. Never, and I do mean never, will I ever make any other recipe. This beats all!

- Blueberry Scones

BLUEBERRY SCONES

Makes 8

10 T butter, frozen whole
1½ c fresh blueberries
½ c milk
½ c sour cream
2 c flour, plus additional for work surface
½ c white sugar plus 1 T for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp table salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425º. Grate butter on large holes of box grater until you have 8 T. Place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt remaining 2 T of butter and set aside. Place blueberries in freezer until needed.

Whisk together milk and sour cream in medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, ½ c sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen butter to flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture; fold with spatula until just combined. With rubber spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured work surface. Dust surface of dough with flour; with floured hands, knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Roll dough into approximate 12 inch square. Fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to countertop. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4 inch square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.

Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll into approximate 12 inch square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface. Roll dough, pressing to form tight log. Lay seam side down and press log into 12 x 4 inch rectangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1 T sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden, 18 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

1) Although this sounds complicated it is soooo easy and I can’t believe I never thought of making them this way before finding this recipe.

- Pina Colada Fruit Dip

PINA COLADA FRUIT DIP


500 mL sour cream
85 g package instant vanilla pudding
250 mL Pina Colada (liquid) drink mix

Mix sour cream and Pina Colada mix together until mixture is thick. Add the pudding and mix well. Chill for one hour before serving.

- Fabulous Veggie Dip

FABULOUS VEGGIE DIP

1 c sour cream
1 T dried onion flakes
2 c real mayonnaise
8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 T dried parsley
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp sugar
2 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
Garlic salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together with chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

- Cinnamon-Sugar Dipped Blueberry Muffins

CINNAMON-SUGAR DIPPED BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Muffins:
3 c all-purpose flour
1½ T baking powder
¾ tsp table salt
2 eggs
1½ c white sugar
6 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1¾ c sour cream
2¼ c frozen blueberries

Topping:
¾ c white sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
6 T unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Adjust oven rack to middle position in the oven. Spray standard muffin tin with non-stick vegetable cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; add melted butter in 2 or 3 steps, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream in 2 steps, whisking just to combine.

Add frozen berries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not overmix.

Divide batter into greased (12 muffin) muffin tin. Bake until golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into centre of muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Invert muffins onto wire rack, stand muffins upright and cool 5 minutes.

While muffins are cooling, mix sugar and ground cinnamon in small bowl and melt butter in small saucepan. After baked muffins have cooled for five minutes, working one at a time, dip tops of muffins in melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar. Set muffins upright on wire rack to cool.

- Hummus

HUMMUS

1 (398 mL) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 garlic cloves
¼ c (50 mL) water
½ c (125 mL) tahini (sesame seed paste)
Juice of 2 lemons
2 T (30 mL) olive oil
Salt and pepper

In food processor, pulse chickpeas and garlic. Add water and pulse. Add tahini and lemon juice; puree until smooth. Mix in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 2 c (500 mL).