Pastry Cream

½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
hefty pinch of salt
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the salt and whisk again.  To the milk, add the egg yolks and whisk until smooth (no need to temper the eggs). While whisking, pour the milk-egg mixture into the pan. Add the butter.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly.  The butter will melt and the mixture will begin to thicken.  Make sure it comes to a boil to activate the cornstarch. Boil for 1 minute.  Off the heat, whisk in the vanilla. Optional: Strain through a fine mesh sieve.  Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap, making sure to touch the entire surface of the cream to avoid developing a skin.  You can make pastry cream 2 days ahead.

For a video demonstration, go here.

Cream Puffs

For the pâte à choux pastry:
1 cup water
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 to 4 eggs

To make the cream puffs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture.

Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, and working 1 egg at a time, add 3 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining egg and mix until incorporated.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the dough onto the baking sheet, in 2-inch diameter rounds or balls. Dip your finger in water and smooth out the peaks. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until puffed up, and light golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Do not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet.

For the filling:
2 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

To fill* the cream puffs, place a pastry tip on your finger and poke a whole in the bottom of each puff. Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until stiff. Pipe whipped cream into each cream puff and chill until ready to serve, no more than 4 hours.

*You can fill them with anything, sweet or savory.

Slight variation of this recipe by Gale Gand.

Lemon Cream Pie

1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup crushed graham crackers
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

 Combine the butter and crumbs well. Press firmly into pie pan. Refrigerate while making the filling. 

In a KitchenAid mixer, using the paddle attachment and beating on low-medium speed, beat the mascarpone for 1 minute. Slowly add sweetened condensed milk until smooth and completely incorporated, then the cream until fully incorporated, then, slowly, the lemon juice until the mixture starts to thicken and get creamy.  Pour into prepared pie pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight (preferred).

Tamra's Creamy Chocolate Poke Cake

Bake a devil foods box cake as per directions.

 While warm out of the oven, poke holes with the handle of a wooden spoon about every 2". You want those holes big, not a skewer.

 Microwave a can of sweetened condensed milk and a can of dulce de leche in a bowl for 30 seconds and stir. Pour slowly over hot cake. Spoon around to hit the holes which will suck it up fast. Let cool. 

Frost with a tub of cool whip (or homemade sweetened whipped cream - 1 cup cream, 2-3 T sugar) and smash 2-3 Heath or Skor candy bars and sprinkle on top.

Ris à l'amande

2 cups rice
1 pint whipping cream
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar

1 whole almond
cherry pie filling, warmed

Cook rice.  Add milk while rice is hot.  Add sugar and almond flavoring.  Let cool.

Whip cream and fold into cooled rice mixture, hiding the whole almond inside.  Chill.  Serve topped with pie filling.

Graveyard Pudding Cups

Milano cookies
chocolate chips
pudding cups
Oreo cookies
candy pumpkins

Melt chocolate chips (about a 1/4 cup) in microwave--30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, stir. Pour into the corner of a zip-lock baggie. Cut the tiniest hole you can in the corner of the baggie and pipe the "RIP" and "Boo". You can make a nice ghost by piping two round eyes and an oval mouth. 

Pulverize the Oreo cookies in the food processor.  Sprinkle over pudding cups and apply the decorated Milano cookies and candy pumpkins.

Pink Party Sherbet

Pineapple Sherbet* 
Frozen Raspberries in syrup* 
2 Bananas, small dice 

Let the Sherbet soften just enough to mix in raspberries and bananas. Freeze. 

*Available at Harmons.

Rice Pudding

1 cup boiling water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup rice (pearl rice if possible)

Combine and cook 7 minutes.

2 cups milk

2 cups Half and Half

4 Tablespoons butter

Add to rice mixture and stir.  Simmer on low 1 hour, stirring frequently.

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar

Slowly stir into simmering mixture.

(Might want to temper those eggs first.)

Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes longer.  

Remove from heat, cool for two minutes.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 raisins

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (or grated orange rind)

Slowly stir in vanilla, raisins, and nutmeg.

Rice Pudding is a Heritage Recipe from Grandma Carlene (Palmer).

Lime 'n Chili Chocolate Covered Nut Clusters

1 cup Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

1 can Blue Diamond Bold Lime 'n Chili Almonds

In a microwaveable bowl, melt chocolate chips for 1 minute.  Stir with fork.  Continue to microwave fifteen seconds at a time and stirring until chocolate is smooth.  Pour in almonds.  Stir until well coated.  On wax paper, mound nuts (three to four nuts each).  Let cool and set.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

2 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup chocolate chips (other options: walnuts, raisins)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

¼ cup milk

¾ cup chocolate chips (other options: walnuts, raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, baking soda, cloves and chocolate chips*; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat together brown sugar and butter till well combined; beat in eggs. Add pumpkin and milk; mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar-pumpkin mixture, mixing until combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. For best flavor, wrap and store overnight before slicing.

*Many recipes mix these in after the batter is complete, but I heard somewhere that if the chips are coated in flour, they are less likely to sink to the bottom while cooking.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz cream cheese (original Philly Brand please)

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla till light and fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar.  With the mixer on low, mix til combined, then increase the speed until light and fluffy again.

A must for Carrot Cake.  Completely covers two-layer round cake.  Half the recipe if only frosting the tops and not the sides.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups finely grated carrot

1 cup extra light olive oil

5 eggs

Cream Cheese Frosting

Grease and flour two round cake pans.  To guarantee a clean removal of cake from the pans, also line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a mixing bowl combine the first 6 ingredients, stir well.  Add the next 3 ingredients, beat on low until combined.  Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Pour batter into pans.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  The cake is done if a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack, removing layers from pans after 10 minutes.  Peel parchment paper off the cakes and allow to cool completely.  Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

For a 13x9x2 cake, bake for 50-60 minutes.

Hollilyn's Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 large box Chocolate pudding (cook and serve)
3 cups milk (whole milk of possible)

Chocolate Chips (about 1 cup)

Prepare pudding as directed on the box (Only Cook and Serve works). Mix pudding with cake mix until well blended. Put in a greased 9x13 pan. Top with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. The top will be shiny, but as long as the toothpick comes out clean, it is done.

Thanks Hollilyn!

Josi S. Kilpack's Lemon Tart Recipe Review

You can get all of Ms. Kilpack's Lemon Tart recipes here, and if you want a really fun read, you can buy her book at Amazon or Deseret Book.  My revised recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Okay, so I started with the crust.  But after adding all the ingredients and pulsing, my dough never formed in clumps (could simply be the incredibly dry winter air?), so I went searching for solutions.   After checking out this one, I decided to add 1 egg yolk.  Still no clumps, so I added 1 Tablespoon ice water.  Uh, maybe the beginning of clumps, so I added 1 more Tablespoon of ice water.  That brought the dough all together--maybe adding one teaspoon at a time would have been better.  But not knowing what too much water will do to a crust, I'll never know unless I try it again.  I then wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill for 1/2 an hour.

Rather than pressing the dough into the pan (10 inch), I rolled it out (from past experience, I know that the more I touch the dough, the tougher it is, so I thought me + pressing = tough).  Be careful to only roll it out in a circle big enough to fit the pan or the pastry will be too thin.  It took me two times to do this (can you say, "No matter what I do I end up working the dough too much?"), and when done right, it is a beautiful thing.  To get a perfect edge, just roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan and remove any excess pastry.  I covered the crust with plastic wrap and put in the the freezer for fifteen minutes (on the baking sheet because with a removable bottom, a tart pan is a tricky thing to move), but pricked the crust with a fork after taking it out of the freezer.  Since I added the egg, before putting it in the oven, I covered the crust with a piece of parchment paper and filled it with dry beans to keep the crust from puffing up.

And now, doubting the recipe already and having cooked things in my oven at what seemed to me high temperatures and pretty much always regretting it, I reduced my oven to 350 degrees and cooked the crust for 25 minutes.  When the crust was done, I removed the parchment and beans.  Since I had a leftover egg white, I lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brushed it onto the bottom and sides of the crust.  Then let it cool on a wire rack.  (Okay, I'll be honest.  I threw away the first egg white, but the suggestion from the second recipe sounded so good, I cracked another egg and used that white.  But now I've got an extra egg yolk--so I saved it to throw into the filling!  Hah!)

For the filling, I followed the recipe except for the extra egg yolk and a pinch of salt.  And it's much easier if you remember to zest the lemon before you juice them.  Oh, and it took about 4 lemons for me to get 3/4 cup of juice (although I strain my juice so there is no pulp or itty-bitty seeds in there).  If you have any leftover lemon filling

I baked the tart for about 22 minutes.  It looks beautiful!  There was a small hole on one side of the crust that I was worried about--the filling leaking through and all that.  But it appears that it was not a problem.  As the tart cooled, the edges pulled away a little bit, so instead of putting whipped cream in the center (like the picture on the cover of the book), I piped the whipped cream along the edge to cover the crack.

Oh, I also rolled out the leftover dough and just baked that on some parchment paper with the crust.  There was some leftover lemon filling and I poured that into a little oven proof bowl and baked that with the tart.  That meant Dad and little girlies could have a little bit of a taste.  That's always nice when your big, beautiful dessert is going somewhere else!

MY REVISED RECIPE

Crust

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) of very cold, unsalted butter--cut into small pieces

1 egg yolk

2 Tablespoons ice water

1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a food processor or mixer, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and ice water and pulse together until a dough comes together. Roll into a circle, on a lightly floured surface, to fit a 9 1/2 inch tart pan. Lay into tart pan and press into the edges. Roll the rolling pin over the to to make a nice edge. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Cover the shell with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans. Brush egg white mixture onto the bottom and sides of the tart shell; set aside to cool.

Filling

5 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2-4 lemons—DO NOT use concentrated lemon juice)

2 large eggs

Zest from one lemon (get zest from lemon before juicing)

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese with electric beaters until smooth. Add sugar. Mix

until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Stop and scrape bowl halfway through. Add the lemon juice, zest and salt and mix until smooth. Pour filling into tart crust and bake on cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes (mine cooked in 22 minutes) or until filling is set. Let tart cool

on wire cooling rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Use whipped cream as an optional topping. It can be piped on in stars or served on top with each piece. For

extra flavor in the whipped cream, add a teaspoon of lemon zest. As my tart cooled, it pulled away from the crust a little bit leaving gaps. That's why I did a whipped cream border of stars around the edge--to cover the gaps.

Lemon Pound Cake

Anna Lou Hutchings' recipe

Cake
1 pkg yellow cake
1 3-oz pkg lemon jello
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 cup water

Glaze
3 cups powdered sugar
9 Tablespoons lemon juice (always fresh)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9x13 pan with Pam.*  Combine all cake ingredients and mix well.  Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Mix glaze ingredients until smooth.  Prick cake with fork and pour half of glaze on cake.**  To serve, pour a puddle of glaze on plate, then place cake slice on puddle.

*This is Pam.  Lovely, isn't she.  I butter and flour the pan.  Alone.  :)

**I let the cake cool completely before pouring on the glaze.

Trifle with Lemon Curd and French Vanilla Cake

In a clear glass or bowl (to see the beauty of it all), layer the following:

Cake torn or cut into bite-size pieces

Lemon Curd

Berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries - anything you like)

Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Repeat.

Indulge.

Die happy. :)

Lemon Curd

This recipe is only slightly adapted from Michael Chiarello's Lemon Curd over Biscotti Crumbs with Fresh Berries.  Really, I only left out the rosemary.  So we will follow his fabulous directions (I tried a different and confusing recipe that ended up edible, but not like this incredible stuff), and I will add my comments.

Ingredients

1/3 cup sugar
9 large egg yolks, room temperature
2/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons rosemary leaves (*See Cook's Note) (I left this out.)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, in small pieces and at room temperature

Directions

Cook's Note about rosemary: time of year matters. If you use rosemary in the winter, use half as much because it's stronger - it grows slower and the taste is concentrated.

In the top of a double boiler, whisk the sugar and the egg yolks until sugar has dissolved and mixture is pale yellow, then whisk in lemon juice and zest. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk constantly until mixture reaches 145 degrees F; it will visibly thicken but don't let it get too hot or the eggs will curdle. (This can happen kind of quickly.  I used a candy thermometer to measure the temp as it warms.)  Remove the bowl from the heat and add the rosemary (or not) and butter a little at a time, whisking until each addition is incorporated and the curd becomes thick. Transfer to a bowl, cool and then refrigerate until well chilled.  (Serves 6.)

This is heaven!  But what do you do with it?  You can make tarts, spread it on toast or English muffins (with an additional smear of raspberry jam is insanely wonderful), use it between the layers of a cake, anything you want!  We used it to make a trifle--okay, a layered dessert, because it's technically not a real English trifle (see what I have to put up with having a husband who's lived for a while in England?)!  It's sooooooooooooooooo good!

You can see from the picture I made some lime curd as well.  It was fine.  But it doesn't, as they say, make my skirt fly up like the lemon curd does. :)

Mixed Berry Fruit Compote

16 oz bag of frozen berries (I used raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt (I like kosher salt)
juice of half a lemon
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Pour berries, sugar, salt and lemon juice into a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes. This will release lots of juices. Take a few tablespoons of that juice and put it in a small bowl. Mix in the cornstarch until it is completely dissolved. Pour mixture back into the pan and cook a few more minutes, until it has thickened slightly.

Believe it or not, after googling lots of fruit compote recipes, I just made this recipe up myself. (sob) I'm so proud! :)

Pecan Pie

9-inch pie crust - unbaked

3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter - melted
1 t vanilla
1 c pecan halves

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl with wire whisk, beat eggs well. Beat in corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla until well blended. Place pecan halves in single layer in bottom of crust. Pour egg mixture over pecans carefully. Bake 1 hour or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes clean.

I'm pretty sure I got this recipe here. I loved looking at this cookbook, but you'll have to buy it or go to Grandma's if you want to check it out. :)

Cheesecake

from Kraft Foods

prep time: 15 min
total time: 5 hr 25 min (This does not include complete cooling before the 4 hours of refrigeration. Add several more hours for complete cooling.)
makes: 16 servings, one slice each


What You Need:
1-3/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 cup Margarine or butter, melted
1-1/4 cups Sugar, divided
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (ONLY Philly Cream Cheese--if you're going to make a cheesecake, use the good stuff.)
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream (I don't know about those sour creams, they aren't available at my store. They would be fine if there is only one ingredient: Grade A Cultured Cream. No other additives. I use Daisy Sour Cream. It's heaven.)
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Make It:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F if using a silver 8- or 9-inch springform pan (I used a 9-inch) (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 8- or 9-inch springform pan). Mix graham cracker crumbs, margarine and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Press firmly onto bottom and 2-1/2 inches up side of pan; set aside.

BEAT cream cheese and the remaining 1 cup sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour into crust.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Turn oven off. Open oven door slightly. Let cheesecake set in oven 1 hour. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Loosen cheesecake from rim of pan; remove rim. Top cheesecake with pie filling just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.


Kraft Kitchens Tips

Substitute
Prepare as directed, using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese. (I don't think so.)

How to Easily Cut Creamy Desserts
When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring nice clean cuts that leave the filling intact. (This is a good idea.)

MM Specs