January 13, 2009
Carmel Popcorn
(DO NOT use microwave popcorn. The false butter does something weird to this.)
Ingredients:
5 or so cups of brown sugar
1 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 cube of butter
1 can condensed milk
Bring to boil on medium-low, stirring. When sugar is all blended and dissolved, cook to 250 on candy thermometer. Drizzle the mixture a bit at a time over the popcorn with a large spoon until it's coated.
Makes 24 cups.
Posted by Kelli Little at 06:58 PM
Cinnamon Glass Candy
Ingredients:
100% pure cinnamon oil (You can use the brand NOW or any other brand out there, but make certain you don't use any mix, because the cinnamon comes out odd and weak.)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup water
Red food colouring
Powdered sugar
Directions:
In a medium sauce pan, add sugar, corn syrup, and water. Place over medium heat, stir until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat and cook without stirring to 300 degrees.
Add food coloring and cinnamon oil (about 3/4 tsp). Stir in well. Pour out onto a powdered sugar cookie sheet and cool. Shatter into pieces.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:16 PM
Rum Cake
Ingredients:
1st Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding (or coconot pudding, the cooking kind, not the instant.)
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup pineapple juice (you can substitute water for this)
1/2 cup rum (any rum, spiced or not)
2nd Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup pineapple juice (or water)
1/4 cup rum
Directions:
Mix together the first list of ingredients for 3 minutes and then pour into a prepared bunddt pan. Bake at 325 for 40-60 minutes.
After cake has baked for 30 minutes, in a medium saucepan add the 2nd list of ingredients. Boil until sugar has dissolved.
When the cake is done, poke skewer-size holes in top of cake with skewer, pour hot syrup over cake. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes before removing from pan. Brush in places where not touched. Make it one day in advance and let it sit.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:16 PM
Gramma Little's Deep Dish Apple Pie
Ingredients:
1 recipe for top and bottom crust to 9" pie
4 tbl butter
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 cup flour
Lemon Juice
8-9 cups thinly sliced pared, skinned apples (about 7-8 medium)
Directions:
Stir together both sugars, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt at set aside. In a separate container, sprinkle apple slices with lemon juice and coat evenly but not to strongly. Heat oven to 425 degrees farenheit.
Place bottom part of pastry crust in 9" deep-ish round glass pan. Coat apple slices evenly and place in pan. Slice butter in small chunks and spread throughout top of apple concoction. Place top part of pastry crust on, and 'shell' or 'rivet' the edges all the way around. Cut slits near the center, but unconnecting or make a fork pattern in the top crust. Sprinkle any extra sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg on crust.
Cover pie with tinfoil and bake for approximately 60 minutes. (60 minutes will cook the apples and give them a slight firmness, rather than gooshy, mooshy apples.) Remove the tinfoil cover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, browning the crust. Depending on how full your pie pan is, you may want to put a baker sheet beneath it to catch any drippings. Make certain that you bake the pie until juice begins to bubble through the slits on top of the pie.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:13 PM
Mom's Baklava
Baklava Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of walnutss and almonds, chopped fine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
40 sheets Athens Fillo Dough, thawed
1 cup butter, melted
Warm Syrup (recipe below)
Warm Syrup Ingredients:
1 cups sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
2 cups water
1 cup honey
1 lemon peel or 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Warm Syrup Directions:
Bring all ingredients to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and cool.
Baklava Directions:
Combine walnuts and almonds, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Brush 12" x16" baking pan with butter. Overlap 8 sheets on bottom of pan, buttering each sheet as you place in the the pan, covering the bottom. Sprniklg with 1/3 walnut mixture. Overlap 8 more buttered fillow sheets on top. Spread 1/3 additional walnut mixture over the fillo. Overlap with another 8 buttered fillo sheets and the remaining walnut mixture.
Finish baklava by overlapping the remaining 16 sheets, buttering the sheets as you fut them in the pan. With sharp knife, score fillo into 1 1/2" diamonds or squares. Brush with remaining butter. Bake in preheated 350 degrees farenheight over for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golen brown. Cool slightly and pour warm syrup evenly over baklava. Cool completely, cut and serve.
General Fillo Dough Handling Directions:
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:13 PM
Lemon Bars
Ingredients:
CRUST
1/4 # butter - softened
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
TOPPING
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon pulp
1/4 tsp finely shredded lemon zest
3 tbl lemon juice
2 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Mix together the crust ingredients and bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 22-25 minutes.
Mix together the topping ingredients while the crust is baking. Pour over the hot crust and bake an additional 25-30 minutes. Cool, cut, and cover with powdered sugar.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:07 PM
Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks of salted butter, chilled and finely chopped
5 eggs, separated
Grated rind of two lemons
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups of superfine baker's sugar or caster sugar
Directions:
1. Process flour and 7 tbl of butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add 1 egg yolk and 3-4 tbsp. cold water and pulse until mixture just comes together. Form pastry into 1" balls and place in a mini-tart/mini-muffin pan. (This pan should have 24 spaces in it.) Use a mini-tart shaper and press down in the middle of the ball, forming the tart shells to peek just over the edge of the tart space. Prick the bottom of the shells just barely with the tongs of a fork. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Bake tart shells for 15 minutes or until golden.
4. Whisk lemon rind, 1/3 cup lemon juice, the remaining 4 egg yolks, and 1/3 cup sugar in a large heatproof bowl until well combined, then add the remaining 9 tbl butter. BRing a saucepan of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place bowl on top and stir lemon curd with a wooden spoon for 10-12 minutes or until the curd is thick. Remove the curd from heat, cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to cool.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Place the remaining sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a stainless-steel saucepan, then cook, stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat ot medium and then using a clean, wet pastry brush, brush down the sides of the pan. Cook until the syrup reaches 250 degrees F or the firm balls tage on a sugar thermometer. (To test this stage, drop a spoonful into a glass of ice cold water: it should form a pliable ball that softens as it warms.) Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until firm peaks form. While whisking, slowly pour sugar syrup into whites and whisk until combined and cool.
7. Assembling the pies: spoon lemon curd into the tart crusts until shell is mostly full. Top with the meringue. Bake in the preheated oven at 400 F for 5 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.
Remove and cool. Note that the crust recipe should give you 22 tarts per batch, rather than 24.
Links:
Mini-Tart Shaper
Mini-Muffin or Mini-Tart Pan
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:05 PM
Mini Pecan Delights
Ingredients:
Tart Shells:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
Filling:
2 tbl butter, melted
1and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup pecan halves, finely chopped
Powdered sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. For tart shells, beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until well blended. Add flour, and mix until a soft dough forms.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place within the ungreased cups of a mini muffin pan. (There should be 24 cups for this pan.) Dip a tart shaper into flour, and press into the dough with even pressure until the dough rises slightly above the rim of pan. Don't let the tart shell become too thin, or the filling will seep out and make it impossible to get the tart out of the pan once cooked.
For the filling, place the butter in a bowl and microwave on high for 30 econds or until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Finely chop pecans and add to the batter bowl and mix well.
Using a small spoon, fill each tart shell with a level scoop of filling. Do not overfill. Bake at 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Remove from the pan to the counter or a cooling rack and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
Creates 24 tarts.
(This recipe modified from its original, which was provided by Pampered Chef.)
*** A couple of notes:
1. This recipe isn't as sweet as other desserts, so if you have a crowd of sugar-fiends, go with something else.
2. Make certain you are softening the butter and cheese for the tart shells, or the conglomeration with the flour will turn out far stickier and less manageable than it should be.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:04 PM
Chocolate Orange Fudge
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp pure orange extract
Directions:
Line an 8X8" square pan with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate chips with condensed milk in the top of a double broiler or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth. (If microwaving, microwave for a minute, stir, and stir every 30 seconds afterwards until melted.) Remove from heat if on the burner, and stir in pecans, grated orange peel, and pure orange extract.
Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm, and cut into squares. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Posted by Kelli Little at 05:03 PM
Ginger Spice Cookies (Soft)
Note: This recipe requires crystallized ginger. You can usually buy this at a specialty store or online, but if you'd like to make it, there are recipies online you can follow easily enough. DO NOT replace the crystalized ginger with ground ginger.)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup mild (light) molasses
Sugar
Directions:
Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Mix in crystallized ginger. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, shortening and butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and molasses and beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Spoon sugar in thick layer onto small plate. Using wet hands, form dough into 1 1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat completely. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to touch, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Carefully transfer to racks and cool. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)
Recipe taken from Bon Apetite, March 2000
Posted by Kelli Little at 04:59 PM