Fruit cobblers are a perfect dessert this time of year and a pretty one might not taste better, but they sure are fun to make! Well, at least for a dough-loving baker like me!
Category: dessert
Time for Strawberries!
This is a favorite season of mine – Strawberry Season! I love Strawberries so much and I love to eat them plain, but I also love adding them to savory dishes as well as baked goods. I thought I’d do a round-up of some of my favorite strawberry recipes to give you some ideas as to how to use your freshly picked berries!
Strawberries IN foods… Continue reading “Time for Strawberries!”
A Few Ina Garten Favorite Recipes
I love the blessing of cooking food for other people. When I recently made a meal for a family whom we love, I knew that they were fans (especially one of their daughters) of Ina Garten’s recipes. So I made up a menu of mostly all her recipes and set to work. I made one BIG blunder..,read on to see what I did!
Here’s what I made:
Lemon Pound Cake With Cherry Compote
When I had a group of church friends over recently, I wanted to make a cake that would be a little lighter since the meal was pretty heavy. I came across a Lemon Pound Cake recipe in my Cooking Light Cookbook. It had high reviews and sounded so delicious that it didn’t take me long to say yes!
I love pound cake – the crispy exterior and the light, smooth batter inside just makes it so good. Add lemon to it, and it’s perfect!!
This turned out absolutely scrumptious and the cherry compote was super easy to whip up. You might ask, What is a compote? It’s fruit cooked in a syrup. One of my guests kiddingly called it a “compost.” Yeah, there’s a huge difference! You won’t be throwing this in the trash! It makes a pretty presentation, but you won’t be looking at it for long!!
Lemon Pound Cake with Cherry Compote
Cake:
- Cooking spray
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 13 2/3 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh lemon rind
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Compote: – This would also be great spooned over ice cream or pancakes!
- 4 cups pitted sweet cherries (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°.
Step 2
To prepare the cake, coat a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray; dust with 2 tablespoons flour.
Step 3
Lightly spoon remaining 3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 2 cups granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating at low speed, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add rind, juice, and mint; beat just until blended.
Step 4
Spoon batter into prepared pan; sharply tap the pan once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake. Cut cake into 16 slices.
Step 5
To prepare compote, combine cherries, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in extract. Cool. Serve with cake.
This kind of cake freezes nicely, too. Slice it up and put it into individual servings for guests that might drop in – or for cup of coffee that begs for something sweet to accompany it! It’s lightened up so you won’t feel quite so bad about indulging!!
With love from my country kitchen,
Brownie Meets Peppermint Cheesecake
Holiday desserts are delicious, but also often high in calories and fat, which presents a real issue when we are surrounded by them for weeks at parties and events as we celebrate Christmas. For that reason, and also because the recipes are so good, I turn to Cooking Light. They have great recipes that are reduced in fat, yet full in delicious-ness!
Last week I made dinner for company and wanted dessert, but didn’t want it to be really fattening. I found a recipe with my favorite flavor combination – chocolate and peppermint! They whipped together very quickly and I had them in the oven, then I checked the reviews on-line. I groaned – they weren’t so favorable and I had guests coming soon! You can’t imagine my delight at how perfectly these turned out. I followed the recipe exactly. The cheesecake part was creamy – like cheesecake is supposed to be and the brownie was fudgy and delicious! I served it with a little scoop of peppermint ice cream just because, and oh my, it was so good!!
If you’re looking for a lower in calorie and fat dessert, and you love chocolate and mint, you need to try these brownies! I love the swirly top, too! These are great for any Christmas get-together!!
Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients
- Cheesecake batter:
- 1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract The only change I made was here. I had Peppermint OIL and it flavored the cheesecake perfectly
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Brownie batter:
- 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 large egg
- Cooking spray
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°.
Step 2
To prepare cheesecake batter, place cheese in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add granulated sugar and peppermint extract; beat well. Add 1 egg and 1 egg white; beat well. Add 1 tablespoon flour; beat mixture just until blended.
Step 3
To prepare brownie batter, weigh or lightly spoon 5 ounces (about 1 cup) flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 5 ounces flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, 2 egg whites, and 1 egg in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour mixture to brown sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until blended.
Step 4
Reserve 1/2 cup of brownie batter. Pour remaining batter into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Carefully pour cheesecake batter over top; spread evenly to edges. Dot cheesecake batter with reserved brownie batter. Swirl top two layers of batters together using the tip of a knife. Bake at 350° for 26 minutes or until top is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Chef’s Notes
You can tint the cheesecake batter with two or three drops of red food coloring to give it a pink tinge, if you like. When swirling the cheesecake and brownie batters in step 4, don’t disturb the bottom brownie layer. Cool these bars completely before serving.
I love mint and chocolate! What is your favorite flavor combination?
With love from my country kitchen,
RefreshHer 