Sep 28, 2020 | Desserts, No Bake Desserts, Recipes
I have some friends who declare that they “don’t bake”. And I get that, not everyone enjoys baking but that doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy homemade treats, specially not these days when ingredients that are normally baked can be bought inexpensively at most grocery stores.
You can buy things like pie and tart shells, puff pastry and bread dough inexpensively and they sure cut your baking time almost in half. At times it’s more cost effective to buy these things frozen than it is to make them from scratch. Not only that they actually taste good! And of course you don’t have to tell anyone that the pie crust was frozen; let them think you made it from scratch!
So for those of you who love desserts but don’t like to bake here’s a super easy Strawberry Cream Pie! You can actually use any fruit, yes even canned pie filling, for this pie, but I love strawberries and these days you can pretty much get fresh strawberries year round.
Strawberry Cream Pie
Ingredients:
1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1 Pkg. Whipped Cream Cheese
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Pkg. Cool Whip
1 Basket Fresh Strawberries cleaned and hulled
For Glaze:
3/4 Cup Juice any type
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tbs. Cornstarch
2 Tbs. Corn Syrup
Directions:
Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth.
Add vanilla and powdered sugar.
Fold in Cool Whip.
Pour into pie crust and smooth top.
Chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
Meanwhile dissolve corn starch into 1/4 cup of juice.
In small saucepan whisk together remaining juice and sugar.
Cook over low heat to boiling.
Stir in dissolved corn starch and cook until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup.
Set aside to cool.
Once pie filling is set and chilled arrange strawberries on top.
Gently pour thickened glaze over strawberries.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sep 25, 2020 | Desserts
If you’ve never had good old fashioned Banana Pudding then you are seriously missing out! This creamy dessert is so popular that there’s even a 2 day festival in hour of it. I kid you not; there’s a National Banana Pudding Festival the first week of October in Centerville, Tennessee!
It’s generally associated with the Southern part of the United States but it’s popular in all parts of the country. It’s not really known exactly how the dessert became a Southern Icon but it’s been a Southern specialty since the 1940’s if not longer.
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding is pretty similar to the English Trifle in that it’s layers of creamy custard, fruit, and a soft spongy cookie which can be topped if desired with a dollop of whipped cream, or in some homes meringue.
This iconic dessert was further popularized by the Nabisco company when it published the recipe on the box of every Nabisco brand Nilla Wafers, which of course is featured as Wone of the key ingredients.
So back to the beginning, if you’ve never had good Old Fashioned Banana Pudding you’re missing out. So to rectify that here’s a recipe for this yummy dessert. And no instant Banana Pudding from a box doesn’t count!
Old Fashioned Banana Pudding
Ingredients:
1 Tbs. Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Tsp. Salt
4 Cups Whole Milk
4 Egg Yolks
1 Tsp. Vanilla
4-5 Ripe Bananas
1 Box Vanilla Wafers (the Nabisco brand are called Nilla Wafers)
Directions:
Whisk flour, sugar, salt, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla in a saucepan.
Cook on medium heat about 15 – 20 minutes or until thick. Keep stirring mixture as it cooks so it won’t scorch and stick to the pan.
Remove from heat.
Layer vanilla wafers in the bottom of a dish or bowl.
Add a layer of banana slices, one on each wager works well.
Pour 1/2 of pudding over the layers.
Repeat a layer of wafers and bananas on top of the pudding layer.
Pour the other half of the pudding over that new layer.
Top with crushed wafers if desired.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
The Best Banana Pudding Recipe
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The Best Banana Pudding Recipe
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Sep 22, 2020 | Cookies, Cakes & Pies, Corner, Desserts, No Bake Desserts, Recipes
Delicious, sweet and fruity pud, great served with cream or ice cream – make the case with bought pastry
ready in 1½ -1¾ hours, plus chilling time
MORE EFFORT
SERVES 8
Ingredients
500g pack shortcrust pastry at room temperature, thawed if frozen
8 ripe figs, stalks trimmed
finely grated zest and juice of one large juicy orange
1 tbsp clear honey
200g softened butter
200g golden caster sugar
200g packet ground almonds
2 medium egg yolks
Method
1. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a shallow loose-bottomed 25cm flan tin. Make sure the pastry comes above the rim – it may shrink in baking and the filling could spill. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut the figs in half lengthways and sit them cut side up on a roasting tray. Mix the orange juice and honey in a bowl, pour over the figs and roast for 10-12 minutes until just soft. Drain off any juice into a saucepan and reserve.
3. Prick the base of the chilled pastry case all over with a fork, then line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to fan 130C/conventional 150C/ gas 2. Leave the pastry case to cool slightly before filling.
4. Cream butter and sugar in a food processor or with an electric beater until smooth and pale. Tip in the ground almonds and zest and whizz briefly to combine. Add egg yolks and 1 tbsp of the reserved fig juice and whizz again until smooth. Spread evenly over the pastry case.
5. Gently press the figs cut side up into the almond mixture. Bake for 11⁄4 hours or until it’s golden all over (don’t worry if the centre still seems soft – a little gooeyness is good). Leave in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove sides and transfer on its base to a wire rack to cool.
6. Before serving, take the tart off its base and transfer to a flat platter or board. If you have juice left from roasting the figs, bring it to the boil and simmer for 1-2 minutes until sticky and syrupy. Brush this over the figs and serve as soon as possible, while the syrup is still glossy on the figs (it will start to seep through into the filling if you leave it too long).
Honey roasted fig & almond tart
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Honey roasted fig & almond tart
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Sep 21, 2020 | Corner, Recipes
I recently found myself with several over ripe bananas and leftover Buttermilk. I know over ripe bananas usually mean a batch or two of Banana Bread, but I still had a few loaves in the freezer. Besides I wasn’t in the mood for Banana Bread.
I was however in the mood for cake! So why not bake some banana cupcakes? Then I remember that a local bakery sold this yummy banana cake with Chantilly Icing. I think Chantilly icing must a a local Hawaii favorite because the recipe isn’t too easy to come by.
You might be wondering what Chantilly Icing is. Well it’s sort of hard to describe, it’s sweet, creamy, and buttery; kind of but not quite like the frosting on a German Chocolate cake.
In Hawaii Chantilly icing is used on Chantilly Cake which is very similar to a German Chocolate Cake but with macadamia nuts instead of coconut flakes. It’s also used to top Liliha Bakery’s Coco Puffs, those delectable chocolate cream filled puffs. It’s also used on Banana Cake!
So to make these really yummy Banana Cupcakes with Chantilly Icing I used 2 different recipes. The Banana Cake recipe and a recipe for that delicious Chantilly Frosting. The frosting I made was more than enough to ice the cupcakes. I refrigerated the leftover frosting and used them on a chocolate cake a few days later.
Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Butter, softened to room temperature
2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 Very Ripe Bananas, mashed
2 Tsp. Lemon Juice
3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 325 degrees
Line Cupcake tins with cupcake wrappers
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Beat in vanilla and cinnamon.
Add lemon juice to mashed bananas and stir until smooth.
Add to butter mixture.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.
Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture.
Mix well.
Pour batter into cupcake wraps about 3/4 full.
Smooth tops.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool.
Frost when completely cooled.
Chantilly Icing
Ingredients:
1 2/3 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 Cup Baker’s or Caster Sugar
2 Tsp. Vannilla
2 Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
2 Tbs. Corn Starch
Directions:
Melt Butter in saucepan over medium low heat.
Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Whisk in milk, sugar, and vanilla.
Then whisk in eggs and yolks one at a time.
Cook on medium hear until it comes to s low boil. Whisking is it intermittently.
Once it boils cook for another 2 minutes continuing to whisk intermittently.
Remove from heat then quickly sift in cornstarch while whisking. Whisk cornstarch quickly and hard to prevent it from lumping.
Pour into a shallow bowl and cool to room temp.
Cover and refrigerate about 3 hours or until it’s in a spreadable consistency.
Frost cooled cupcakes.
Banana Cupcakes with Chantilly Icing
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Banana Cupcakes with Chantilly Icing
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