Confections and crafts: Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

It's good to have good friends - especially the kind of friends that you can be creative with and try new things that you would likely be too lazy to accomplish on your own time.

My dear friend Cathy came over this AM and we worked on a craft and I got fancy and served her some coffee cake.  It is one of those things that's ingrained in me from childhood reading books like "Little House on the Prairie" and "Anne of Green Gables."  When you have company over, you put your best foot forward and assure them through food and beverage that they are welcomed and loved.

This coffee cake comes from Taste of Home and has enough pain in the ass factor that it's the kind of cake you wouldn't make for yourself, but would save to impress someone.  Because it is tasty - but the bottom cake layer that you have to press into a pan?  Sticky and messy.  (Hint:  Get your hands damp first - it helps a little bit.)  And at 25 grams of fat per slice, it isn't something you'd should be clamoring for on a daily basis.  (Clamoring is one thing - indulging is the other ...)

As for the craft?  I've dabbled a little bit in Pinterest, but I'm still relying on other bloggers to tell me the groovy things that they are finding on other folks' boards. 

This craft came from Katy at Non-Consumer Advocate and takes Mason jars and re-purposes them into soap containers.  Confession:  I have more Mason jars than I know what to do with and have a special place in my heart for the vintage blue jars that we inherited when my husband's grandma moved out of her home. So it was nice to find an EASY craft that used up some of the materials I had on hand.  And luckily for me, Cathy came to the party with lids her husband Timm had already drilled for us.  So with a little bit of glue work, we made these:

Easy, lovely and re-used items that Cathy and I had laying around the house.

Needless to say, it was a wonderful Saturday morning.

Light Lemon Cheesecake Cups

Today I turn 33 years old and I have a weekend full of wonderful memories to mark the occasion.  I am blessed beyond belief when it comes to the amazing people that I have in my life!

And I'm blessed to have found this recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes.  She has a whole website full of Weight Watchers friendly recipes and one of the things I appreciate most is that she relies on the food itself to really stand out and doesn't clog her recipes with a bunch of artificial ingredients.  This recipe uses a minimal amount of REAL sugar and a tiny amount of flour.  And it's just perfect for summer.  You can find Gina's recipe here - I did not alter a thing.

East Berry Trifle

I'm all about impressing people with my culinary prowess.  I like to bake.  I like trying new recipes.  I can spend hours watching Food Network and obsessing, in detail, over the most minute detail regarding Guy Fieri's hair.  (Confession:  He used to annoy the hell out of me, but I'm kind of falling for his California-foodie/surfer dude schtick.  And his hair doesn't annoy me as much any more.)

But then there are times where it's about, oh, 100 degrees in the shade and I would cheerfully give up beer if it meant that I didn't have to turn on my oven.

And that's where something like this comes in ... it looks kind of elegant, tastes amazing, utilizes convenience ingredients and allows me to keep my beer and a comfortable temperature in my home.  (And if you're looking for something patriotic on the Fourth ... well, strawberries, blueberries AND Cool Whip?  Oh yeah ... symbolic home run all in one.)

 
All ingredients/quantities are approximate.

1 Sara Lee Pound cake, cut into cubes
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
2 c. blueberries
2 T. instant vanilla pudding
1 16 oz container Cool Whip
zest of one lime (this part is totally optional - I was just getting in touch with my inner Giada and wanted to zest something.)

In a large bowl, mix together the Cool Whip, instant pudding and lime zest.  Take a clear glass bowl if you have one, because this is all about showing off the layers ... Put a layer of the cubed pound cake, a layer of berries and a layer of the Cool Whip mixture.  Repeat.  You can garnish this dish with berries, but I'm lazy when it comes to garnish.  Store in fridge until it's time to serve.

And speaking of Cool Whip ...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza

I recently got the best email ever from the folks at Pillsbury.  The subject of said email:  "Peanut Butter, Beer & Bacon!"  If you ask me, that's like a trifecta of perfection.  And this sinful confection of chocolate, peanut butter and deliciousness was the prominent recipe in this particular email.

This pic is straight off the Blackberry.  This recipe was too good to stage for better pictures.

A couple notes about this recipe - A) it's infinitely easy.  It's all the good things that can happen when you utilize convenience ingredients and it's one of those recipes that will make people think that you're a rock star.  Or that you must love them very, very much.  (And since I made this for my Urban Family, yes - I love you.  And I love the fact that you eat my cooking so I do not have to truck leftovers home and succumb to temptation.)  B)  The recipe says that it makes 12 servings.  Um, yeah.  If you're looking to be in a carb coma, cut this dish into 12 pieces.  More likely, this can be cut into 24 wedges or stretch it even further by cutting it into squares.

Alterations I made:  The original dish called for using chocolate chip cookie dough. I substituted peanut butter cookie dough (I'm a freak for that). Also, I omitted the additonal fudge topping on the top of the dish (I subscribe to the belief that there is such thing as too much chocolate) and forewent putting peanuts on this dish and used chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter cups instead.  Because there may be such thing as too much chocolate, but there's no such thing as too much peanut butter combined with chocolate.

Chocolate Wonderfuls

There is only one thing that is wrong with this recipe ... it is as wonderful as the title proclaims it to be.  And while my friend Paul has willpower, I do not, but I'm OK with that as long as people keep writing and sharing recipes that have wonderful stories such as this one that I found at my friend Lan's blog.

 

The recipe can be found here.  I substituted walnuts for the pecans, because it is what I had in the house. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

This recipe made me fall in love with the concept of a gingerbread crust ...

OK ... this isn't the sexiest picture I've ever taken, but this a last ditch attempt to snap a picture of this decadence before it was decimated by my husband and I.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
original recipe by Rachael Ray

    * Cooking spray
    * 25 gingersnap cookies
    * 1-3/4 cups sugar
    * 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    * Three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
    * 5 large eggs, at room temperature
    * One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
    * 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    * 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * Boiling water

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325°. Lightly coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Using a food processor, grind the cookies with 1/4 cup sugar. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake until firm, 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and remaining 1-1/2 cups sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs until blended. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin-pie spice and salt and beat until combined, 2 minutes.

Set the springform pan with the cooled crust on a double layer of heavy-duty foil and wrap the foil tightly around the bottom and sides; set in a roasting pan. Pour the cheesecake filling into the crust. Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and fill with enough boiling water to reach about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake until the center is slightly wobbly but the edges are firm to the touch, about 1-1/4 hours.

Transfer the roasting pan with the cheesecake to a rack and let cool for 45 minutes. Remove the springform pan, discard the foil and let the cheesecake cool on the rack for 3 hours. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 4 hours. Run a knife under the bottom of the cake to release it, then slide onto a serving platter.




** A note ... the original recipe was "pumpkin swirl" cheesecake.  I couldn't get this damn thing to swirl for love nor money, so I've modified this to take out the "swirl" part of it.

** Another note ... Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season.

... Also known as those "f*!@ing" apple pie bars

I'll let you in on a little secret ... there are times when not all goes well in ShelleyBakes land.  Usually, the "not so good" things are when I try out a new recipe and it isn't what I expect it to be.  And yes, there are occasions where I burn things.  Or drop things.  Or the pictures don't turn out.

And then there are those times when things just simply do not want to work out.  And this, my friends, was one of those times.  Here's a bit of back story on this particular recipe ... this dessert is hands down one of the best things that my mom made during my childhood - apple pie in flaky pastry bar form with powdered sugar frosting drizzled on top.  This recipe is my BIRTHRIGHT, shouldn't be a problem to recreate it in my kitchen, should it?


One word for that misconception: Whatever.  After struggling for 45 minutes to get the bottom crust of the bars to roll out properly, I sent a profane text to my mom.  I believe it said: "I HATE these f*cking apple pie bars!!!!"  And then my mom called me.  Laughing.

"Oh honey, I forgot to tell you what a pain in the ass those are."

Sigh.

Regardless of my failure to properly execute this dish (the bottom crust - laughable, then I forgot the layer of crushed cornflakes and then I couldn't get the top crust to roll out at ALL, so I got pissed off and started flinging bits of pastry on top of the bars), I have to admit ... it still tasted really good.  Good enough that they were inhaled within a half hour of my bringing them into work.

If you are brave and noble with a rolling pin, try these if you dare.  I will begrudgingly admit that they are worth it and that I will make these annually until I master these bastards.

This is one section that actually got a covering of dough! 

Danish Pastry Apple Pie Bars

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening (**note from my mama ... use lard.  Don't be afraid of it, do not substitute Crisco.  Otherwise, these will not reach the flaky consistency that will forever adhere to your thighs.)
1 egg yolk (note: Save the white!)
milk
1 c. crushed cornflakes (**note from me ... if you forget, it's OK.  The bottom crust will just get a little soggy from the apple-y goodness that's to come)
8-10 Macintosh apples (pared and thinly sliced)
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Here's the shortcut that I took with the crust ... I blitzed it together using my food processor.  Those ingredients are the flour, salt and shortening.  After that was put together, I kept my processor running and I added this mixture:  one egg yolk and enough milk to make 2/3 of a cup of liquid. 

On a (heavily) floured surface, take half of the dough (**) and roll to 17 x 12 inches and put into and up the sides of a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch baking pan.  Sprinkle with cornflakes.

In another bowl, slice up the apples and then coat with the sugar/cinnamon mixture until well incorporated.  Put into prepared pan and roll out the remainder of the dough to place on the top.  Beat the egg white a little and brush over the top.  Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  The drizzle with some powdered sugar frosting.  (I don't really have a recipe for this - I just take powdered sugar, enough milk to make it runny and some vanilla for flavoring ...)

And on the left hand side, you can see where I got pissed off and just started flinging dough to cover the fracking pan.

** Something that you will figure out during the course of the epic struggle known as rolling out this fracking pastry dough is this:  The dough that's produced is really, really sticky.  At first I thought that I had done something wrong (not enough flour?) and then I was worried that my dough wouldn't be crumbly and pliable because it took an epic amount of flour to get it from sticking to my counter and rolling pin.  But during my therapy session with my mama, she told me that it does take an inordinate amount of flour to get the dough to roll out.

#GreatHallowTweet: Eye (Cake) Balls

Look deep into my eyes, my pretty ... these sweet things are my #GreatHallowTweet take on cake balls.

Red velvet cake balls, to be exact.

Here's the method to the madness ...


Take and bake a boxed cake mix to the specifications on the back of the box.  (And yeah - if you're a super star, you can make your own homemade cake, but I've been traveling around the Midwest for the past couple of days - boxed cake was as good as I was going to get for this ...).  Let the cake cool completely and then crumble it into a large bowl, using a fork to make sure the cake is good and crumbled.

Then take a container of frosting - for the red velvet cake, I used cream cheese frosting, because it just felt right - and mix about 3/4 of the frosting into the crumbled cake, stirring to incorporate.

Now here's the messy part ... take the cake and form it into one-inch balls.  Place them on a cookie sheet and set in the freezer to chill and solidify (about one hour). 

After your eye, erm ... cake balls, have frozen dip them in some melted white almond bark.  Tap the excess off and place on sheets of waxed paper to harden the candy shell.  To paint the eyeballs, I used food grade color gels (thanks to Coco Cooks and her marzipan eyeballs for the hint).

Peanut Bars

My brother- and sister-in-law (along with my nephew-pup Toby) recently moved cross country to Virginia.  And while my sister-in-law took only a few kitchen necessities with her (they arrived ahead of the rest of their worldly goods), she was still able to whip this dish together, which she says is reminiscent of eating a Payday Bar.

You'll have to excuse me, I'm currently drooling ... 

Peanut Bars

1. Bottom Layer:
Butter a 9x13 pan.  Pour in 1/2 of a 16 oz. jar of dry roasted peanuts (Note from my SIL: On a subsequent try you may be tempted to add more peanuts. I only recommend adding to the bottom. More on top do not stick as well :))

2. Middle Layer:
Melt 2-1/2 T butter with 10-12 oz peanut butter chips.  Remove from heat.  Add 1 can sweetened condensed milk and 3 cups mini marshmallows.  Stir to mix, pour into nut lined pan.

3. Top Layer: Add remaining nuts and press into mix.

Summer Berry Cobbler

I admit that I'm kind of late to the Tyler Florence bandwagon.  Yes, the man is handsome.  Yes, the man can cook, but he's no Ina Garten.  And for some odd reason, other than the occasional foray into "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" territory or a chance tryst with Alton Brown's "Good Eats," I like my food show hosts to be female.

I really don't know what that says about me.

Anyhoo ... I had some wonderful friends over for dinner a few weekends ago and although I did not intend to make dessert, I was celebrating the foods of the season - a tomato and cucumber salad with vegetables fresh from the farmer's market!  Wine! (That never is out of season.) Grilled meats!  Although ice cream would have done the trick, it really wasn't the finale that my meal was calling for ... so I went to FoodNetwork.com and typed in "cobbler."  And this was the nummiest dish that they spat out at me.

Hello, lovah ...

Summer Berry Cobbler
Adapted from Tyler Florence

    * 1 pint blueberries
    * 1 pint raspberries (**I used some frozen ones that I had in my freezer.  Didn't give 'em time to thaw, just chucked them in there.)
    * 1 pint blackberries
    * 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more, for dusting
    * Pinch cinnamon
    * 2 tablespoons cornstarch (**Can't find my fracking cornstarch - used a scant tablespoon of flour.  Which didn't necessarily hurt the recipe, but didn't really help it either.)
    * 1/2 lemon, juiced
    * 1 recipe scone dough, recipe follows
    * Melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine berries with sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir gently to combine. Spread berry mixture out on a 10-inch tart or gratin dish. Dollop spoonfuls of scone dough evenly over the top of the fruit; leave a border around the edge of the dish for spreading. Drizzle the surface with melted butter and dust with sugar. Set on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit juices bubbling.

Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with heavy cream, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

These are next day's leftovers.  Can't tell if my husband actually likes the cobbler or if he's using it as a vehicle for ice cream ...

Scone Dough Recipe:

    * 2 cups all purpose flour
    * 1 tablespoon baking powder
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1/3 cup sugar
    * 1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
    * 3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
    * 1 egg

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.

Indoor Smores

I should preface this recipe by telling all of you that I think campfire s'mores suck.  I do not like burned marshmallows, I think that my chocolate bars should be consumed in a polite fashion and I love graham crackers.  Why mess with individual perfection?

On the other hand, if you present one of these treats to me I will embarrass myself trying to snarf down these little bars 'o heaven.  My love affair with indoor s'mores goes back to college when the Caf would take the stale Golden Grahams cereal from the bins in the breakfast area and make industrial sheet pans of these bad boys.  But when I think of indoor s'mores, I think of my friend Rhonda that I met in Manitowoc.  She is one of those people who make cooking look effortless and she would make these bars for my friends and I.  Only when I was making these myself, did I realize what a pain in the ass these bars truly are.  So thank you Rhonda for making these whenever we requested them - you are the bomb.

Indoor S'mores

Ingredients

    * 4 cups honey graham cereal
    * 3 tablespoons butter
    * 6 cups miniature marshmallows
    * 1/4 cup light corn syrup
    * 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

   1. Coat a 9x13 inch dish with cooking spray. Place cereal into a large bowl; set aside.
   2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt margarine. Add marshmallows and corn syrup and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Remove from heat and pour over waiting cereal; stir well to coat. Press into prepared pan. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

#GreatHallowTweet: Strawberry Ghosts

Here is another opportunity for me to express to you, world, that I absolutely suck at decorating.

Let me tell you a little bit about my Strawberry Ghosts - the one in front is Drooly, the other two right behind are former members of KISS and the last one was made using an entirely DIFFERENT chocolate that was more forgiving than melted chocolate chips.

Or as my husband said - the one in the front looks like he's bleeding.  "He looks horrific."

Thanks honey.  ;-p

Strawberry Ghosts

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients
    * 30 fresh strawberries
    * 8 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
    * 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
    * 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
   

Directions
    * Wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate at 50% power; stir until smooth. Stir in extract.
    * Dip strawberries in chocolate mixture; place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, allowing excess chocolate to form the ghosts' tails. Immediately press chocolate chips into coating for eyes. Freeze for 5 minutes.
    * In a microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and draw a mouth on each face. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

P.S. - Pain in the ass quotient?  HUGE!

Classic Apple Crisp

I haven't made my love for Betty Crocker a secret. Some people were raised by the "Joy of Cooking" while my mom had a big ol' orange copy of Betty Crocker cookbook. So when I was having a wicked craving for apple crisp, I was tempted by several different recipes and options, but when it came down to it - all I needed were apples, oatmeal, real butter, flour and brown sugar.

Sometimes you can't mess with simplicity.

Apple Crisp
from Betty Crocker

4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups - I used Honeycrisp ... excellent)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (**I actually used fresh grated nutmeg - my life has been drastically altered by spice)
Cream or Ice cream, if desired

1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan.
2. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream or ice cream - or eat it straight out of the pan like me. For dessert and for next day's lunch.

Strawberry Tart

I find myself wondering from time to time what I did before I had Twitter in my life. For anyone who has been living under a rock for the past year or so, Twitter is an online social networking forum where you give updates of your day, make random shout-outs, etc., in 140 characters or less. I remember when I first heard about it - I signed up and wasn't too impressed by it. But then I started noticing that a lot of my fellow food bloggers used Twitter to advertise their posts, started following them and now I'm a Twitter addict.

One of my favorite things about Twitter, beyond having totally random conversations with people that I don't even know, is that I get a lot of awesome recipe ideas from my Tweeps (that's Twitter speak for peeps. Sad, I know ...).

This one was no exception. This is from Esi at Dishing Up Delights who found this gem at Kevin's spot Closet Cooking. This tart is simple, stunning and will impress any dinner guest with its flavor (unless of course they hate strawberries.)

Strawberry Tart
adapted from Dishing Up Delights and Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 tablespoon water
1 cup strawberries (cleaned, trimmed and sliced)
1 dash ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
1 handful pistachios (chopped) (**I omitted)

Directions:
1. Roll the puff pastry out into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
2. Score a line around the puff pastry 1/2 inch from the edge.
3. Mix the egg and water and brush over the outside of the score.
4. Mix the strawberries, cinnamon and jam in a large bowl.
5. Place the strawberries on the pastry on the inside of the score.
6. Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 15-25 minutes. (I used a cookie sheet that I lined with foil, sprayed with some cooking spray. See footnote about the huge mess I made.)
7. Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.

Just a warning - my tart leaked just a little bit and now I have burnt strawberry jam at the bottom of my oven (which is in desparate need of a cleaning anyway). So maybe place another pan under your cookie sheet to catch said mess.

An East Coast dinner

Today's guest post is from my friend Lindsey, a native Midwestern girl who is currently living in New York with her husband and gorgeous children. Lindsey has been good at helping me out with recipes for this blog from time to time.

These particular recipes come from Lindsey's Easter feast and she got all of them from Wegmans, a regional supermarket chain on the East Coast. "If you lived on the East Coast, you would LIVE for Wegmans," Lindsey writes.

So here is Lindsey's Easter dinner - in places where they've used Wegmans-specific brands, I've tried to find comprable substitutes.

Grilled Butterflied Half Leg of Lamb

SERVES 4
1 pkg (about 1 1/2 lbs) boneless butterflied leg of lamb
3 T. Wegmans Basting Oil (according to the website, this contains grapeseed oil, garlic oil extract, thyme, and parsley.)
Salt and pepper
8 oz Wegmans Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, warmed (**find alternate here)

Add lamb, basting oil, salt, and pepper in zipper-closure type plastic bag; toss. Marinate overnight.

Day you're serving lamb: Preheat grill on HIGH 10 min. Clean grill with wire brush. Using soft cloth, coat grill grate lightly with vegetable oil.

Sear lamb on grill until color changes one-quarter of way up from bottom, 3-4 min. Turn over and sear other side, 2-3 min longer. Reduce heat to MEDIUM; close lid.

Cook 5-10 min, until lamb reaches internal temp that is 5 degrees below final desired internal temp (refer to meat cooking guide for final internal temp). Check by inserting thermometer halfway into thickest part of lamb. Pool sauce on serving platter. Transfer lamb to work surface; let stand 5-10 min. Slice and arrange on serving platter with sauce.

Roasted Asparagus & Artichokes with Lemon Butter Sauce

SERVES 8
2 bunches (2 lbs) asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Wegmans Basting Oil
2 bags (12 oz each) frozen artichoke hearts, halves & quarters, thawed and drained
2 cups (16 oz) Wegmans Lemon Butter Sauce, warmed (**find alternate here)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange asparagus in single layer on baking sheet. Season to taste with salt and pepper; drizzle with basting oil. Roast 6 min. Add artichokes; toss. Roast 4-6 min until softened and caramelized.

Toss with lemon butter sauce; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Butternut Squash with Baby Spinach

SERVES 8

1 whole butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 in. cubes
2 large red onions, peeled, chopped (about 4 cups)
3 T Wegmans Basting Oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 pkg (6 oz) fresh baby spinach
3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine squash and onions in large shallow pan; drizzle with basting oil. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper; toss lightly.

Roast 55 min, until tender and brown. Add spinach and dried cranberries; toss.

Caramelized Pineapple with Cinnamon

SERVES 12

1 whole pineapple, cut into rings and halved.
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to BROIL with rack 6" from heat source.
1. Arrange pineapple on baking sheet; sprinkle both sides with cinnamon.
2. Broil 7-10 min, watching carefully, until fruit is caramelized and lightly brown.

Supernatural Brownies

This past weekend, my family decided to get together to celebrate the upcoming wedding and the Easter holiday. Well, no holiday is complete without a ton of food and since everyone else was bringing something savory, I volunteered to make some desserts.

Here was one of them. I'm not a huge brownie fan, but I figured that my nephews would appreciate them. Maybe even my dad. And every food blogger who has written about these brownies absolutely raves about them, so I decided to try my hand at them.

Supernatural Brownies
2 sticks unsalted butter, each cut into thirds
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used 4 ounces of each), broken into pieces
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
One 13x9x2-inch pan, buttered

Set the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Combine the butter and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and microwave in intervals of 30 seconds or so, until melted (stir in between heatings). Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in the salt, sugars, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the flour. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 45 minutes, until top has formed a shiny crust. Cool in pan, or enjoy hot from the oven.

Supernatural Brownies comes from Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers by Nick Malgieri.

Apple Turnovers

In the beginning there was really annoying puff pastry to be rolled.

Let me preface this post by saying: This dessert is a pain in the arse. But man ... as much as I griped at the time I was making this, I was stunned when these babies came out of the oven.

I found this recipe on a blog and that particular domestic goddess adapted this recipe from the mother of domestic goddesses: Ina Garten a.k.a. The Barefoot Contessa. Ms. Garten is not my favorite Food Network celebrity, but if I ever had the chance to meet her, I'm sure I'd make an embarrassment of myself because she is that awesome.

One of the particular things that I like about Garten's approach to cooking is that she's not afraid to use a shortcut. In this case, her shortcut is using puff pastry for the turnover. Another disclaimer: Puff pastry is kind of spendy, in my humble opinion. The stuff I got at the market was $4.50 for two sheets which translated into 8 turnovers. And while I was taken aback at first, I can say now that I'm probably going to use puff pastry in the future, even if it won't become a staple in my pantry.

Apple Turnovers
From Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa” (Food Network)

• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)
• 3 tablespoons dried cherries (I made do with Craisins)
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan. Make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes: I've been reading a lot of The Pioneer Woman lately and she's been using a lot of whiskey in her cooking lately ... the orange juice and the zest really add to this, but I'm curious what it would taste like if I used whiskey instead of OJ. Hmm ... Another thought - what about walnuts or pecans in this dish? I think that would also be delightful.