Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category

Pumpkin Mousse Trifle

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Holiday Recipes, Puddings and Custards, Recipes, tagged , , , on November 18, 2011| 4 Comments »

Warning: If you are on a diet or trying to avoid sweet, delicious goodness, you may want to skip right past today’s recipe post.

I made this Pumpkin Mousse Trifle for a potluck last week and it was quite tasty. Actually, it was more than quite tasty. It was downright want-to-lick-the-plate good.

And here is the best part – it was super fast and easy.

Anyone looking for a quick and simple no-bake recipe for Thanksgiving, try this. You’ll be glad you did!

Cast of Tasty Characters

You can use any kind of dense cake – pound cake works especially well. You could also use angel food cake or bundt cake. Regular cake tends to get a little crumbly. I ran out of time to bake gingerbread and resorted to a pound cake from the bakery.

Cut the cake into little bite-sized cubes. Try not to snitch too many. At this point I got in a bit of a hurry to get this finished and forgot to snap photos of mixing up the mousse. Mix the pudding mix with milk then add the cream cheese. If you have a 3-ounce package of cream cheese, it will work fine, otherwise cut an 8-ounce package in half. Mix it with the pudding then add pumpkin filling and spices. Blend well then let rest for about 5 minutes.

Whip up some whipped cream. I like to add about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to sweeten it up a bit.

Start layering the trifle by adding in 1/3 of the cake cubes.

Layer in 1/3 of the mousse mixture. Top with a drizzle of the caramel and then whipped cream. Continue making layers of cake, mousse, caramel and whipped cream.

Finish with a layer of toffee sprinkles, if you so desire.  My taste buds greatly desired. You could also do another drizzle of caramel. Or a spinkle of cinnamon. Go wild and crazy if you wish.

Pumpkin Trifle Mousse

1 box of gingerbread mix, baked (or 2 cups of cake cubes)

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 small box instant cheesecake pudding

2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin pie filling

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup caramel sauce

2 cups whipped cream

Toffee bits for topping (optional)

If you are making your own gingerbread, bake and let cool. You need about 2 cups of cake cubes. I planned to use gingerbread, but I ran out of time to make it, so I grabbed a pound cake that looked quite yummy. It was.

Mix pudding with two cups of milk. Add in softened cream cheese and blend. Then mix in pumpkin and spices. Blend well then set aside for about five minutes. Whip up whipped cream, set aside.

Cut cake into cubes and start layer in a trifle bowl, large glass bowl or individual glasses.You are going to do three layers, so use everything in thirds (guesstimates work just fine).

Top cake with mousse then drizzle with caramel sauce. Spoon on a layer of whipped cream then start again with a layer of cake.

Finish with a layer of whipped cream. You can top with toffee bits and cinnamon or another drizzle of caramel and cake crumbs. Whatever strikes your fancy.

Have fun with it and enjoy!

She Who Would Have Licked Her Plate If Witnesses Weren’t Present

Read Full Post »

Spice Bundt Cake with Vanilla Butter Sauce

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Recipes, tagged , , , , on November 4, 2011| 2 Comments »

Spice Bundt Cake with Vanilla Butter Sauce

If you enjoy the flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, you will love this moist cake that is easy to make. Topped with the vanilla butter sauce, it is the perfect end to a fall meal.

Ingredients

Mix wet ingredients with cake and pudding mixes.

I grated nutmeg to go in the cake and boy was that an aromatic decision. The smell was delightfully divine. If your grocery store carries Spice Cake mixes, you could use one of those instead of a vanilla mix and adding spices. But if you do add spices, think about grating your nutmeg. Fabulous!

Add spices to batter.

Spoon batter into bundt pan. It will be really thick. Even it off as best you can then bake in 350 degree oven for about an hour.

The cake is done when it is brown and starts to pull away from teh edges of the pan.

Let cool completely then invert onto a cake plate.

While the cake is cooling, make your butter sauce by mixing butter, sugar and cream in a heavy saucepan.

Bring sauce to a boil, stirring continually, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Pour onto cake.

And restrain yourself from licking off all the drips.

When ready to serve, thick about adding a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream or cinnamon laced whipped cream.

And sprinkling on some toffee bits.

Once the cake was sliced, I added a bit more sauce.

Then add a sprinkling of toffee bits and inhale the heady aroma of the spices. Take a bite and sink into a state of sugar-induced bliss.

Spice Bundt Cake

1 box Golden Vanilla Cake Mix

1 small package instant white chocolate pudding

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

3 eggs

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons nutmeg

Butter Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Note: If you want, you can purchase a spice cake mix and omit the additional spices.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs  water, vanilla, oil and sour cream with cake batter and pudding. Add in spices. Beat on medium speed until combined. The batter will be super thick, so don’t panic.

Scoop it into a greased bundt pan, evening it up as best you can (I tap the pan on the counter to get out air bubbles and even up the batter). Bake for one hour or until it starts to pull away from the edges of the pan.

Let cool completely then invert on a cake plate.

To make the sauce, combine butter, cream and sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring consistently, then reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes or until sauce thickens.  Add vanilla, stirring well. Cool slightly then drizzle over cake.

Serve with dulce de leche ice cream or cinnamon laced whipped cream. Yum!

She Who Liked This Cake Way Too Much

Read Full Post »

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

Posted in Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , , on October 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

The other day I had a craving for pumpkin cheesecake which somehow morphed into the idea of pumpkin cheesecake bars which turned into pumpkin cheesecake bars with crumb topping. Unable to find a recipe I liked, I made up my own.

So there!

It actually turned out pretty good, or at least that is what the taste testers told me. Some asked for seconds, but I only brought a limited few to work. Sorry guys! Next time there is taste testing to be done, I’ll make sure I bring extra samples!

So, without further ado…

Ingredients

Crust Mixture

Crumb mixture in the pan. Press in lightly.

Mix up the pumpkin filling.

Pour filling over cooked crust.

Sprinkle with crumb topping.

Bake for 25 minutes.

When cool, cut into bars. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to two days - if they last that long.

If you want to make these even better, drizzle on a little (or a lot) of caramel sauce.

Then enjoy! Sharing is optional.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Crumb Topping

Crust

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup canned pumpkin pie filling

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and butter. Beat until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture, pressing the remaining mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2- inch baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, pumpkin pie filling, sugar, egg, and cinnamon. Beat until well blended and smooth. Spread filling over hot crust then top with remaining crumb mixture. Return to oven and bake 25 minutes.

Cool and cut into bars. You can make this a couple days ahead of time but keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

If you want to get wild and crazy, drizzle the tops of the bars with caramel or chocolate sauce, or both. Also, try serving bars with Dulce de Leche ice cream. See if that doesn’t make you melt in a puddle.

Note – if you like nuts, you can add 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecan to the crust mixture. You could also put toasted pecan halves on top of each bar before you drizzle with caramel.

She Who Loves Pumpkin Sweets

Read Full Post »

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis

Posted in Desserts, Puddings and Custards, Recipes, tagged , , , , on September 30, 2011| 3 Comments »

Captain Cavedweller and I were invited to an Italian themed potluck last week. Trying to think of a fun dessert to make, I finally decided on Panna Cotta. The custard is so yummy, especially when paired with one of my other favorites – raspberries!

I didn’t have any leftovers, so I guess it was a hit!

The cast of characters

Begin by sprinkling gelatin over 1/4 cup cold milk.

Add sugar to the cream

Add in vanilla, stir well and cook for about four minutes or until sugar is dissolved.

Side Note: This is where I must fess up. I had a brilliant plan to make mini panna cotta molds using a  muffin-tin and cupcake papers. That plan was not so brilliant in reality as it was in my head. Which is why there are no photos between this point and the point of making the coulis. I just couldn’t bring myself to show you the disaster. I ended up taking the panna cotta to the potluck in espresso cups, which actually turned out quite lovely and fun, but I did manage to salvage one of the molds to take the photo you see here today. If I was going to go the mold routine again, I’d opt for silicone cupcake molds. I think that might work quite well. Maybe. Or paper cups – little Dixie cups. Or not…

Okay, on with the recipe…

Set aside a handful of raspberries for garnish. Sprinkle with sugar (I tried Raw Sugar and that was a good choice!) and let set over night along with the panna cotta. Cover with plastic wrap or put in a resealable bowl.

Mix berries, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy pan and cook on medium heat until berries are thick – about 10-15 minutes.

Cook until thick and bubbly and the delicious berry smell makes your knees a bit wobbly.

Run the berries through a strainer to get all the seeds and pulp out. Use the back of a spoon to press the juice through. Or if you are one of those lucky people with nifty kitchen gadgets that I drool over, you can do this whole process in your food processor.

Pour over Vanilla Panna Cotta and enjoy! You can save the coulis, tightly covered in the fridge for about four days. It is also yummy on ice cream, pudding, yogurt, pound cake, a spoon…

Vanilla Panna Cotta

A silky custard, made without egg…

1 3/4oz envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup cold milk, divided

1 ¾ cups heavy cream

¼ cup granulated sugar

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup milk in a small bowl. Stir until moistened. Let stand five minutes (it will be lumpy).

Cook heavy cream, granulated sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for about four minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until completely dissolved. Add in  remaining ¾ cup milk. Stir in then pour mixture into six 4-ounce dessert glasses or wineglasses. Cover with plastic wrap and chill eight hours. If you have some forms that are easy to get treats out of, you can pour panna cotta into them. I would recommend silicone or something that is easy to work with.

Top with Berry Coulis, and  fresh raspberry or two for garnish. If you wanted to go wild, you could also shave some chocolate on top or drizzle a bit of chocolate sauce.

Berry Coulis

2 cups fresh raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Rinse berries then cook with sugar and lemon juice over medium heat in  heavy saucepan until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. This is going to take about 10-15 minutes.

When the berries have cooked down and thickened, run through a strainer to remove the seeds and pulp. Press it through with a spoon. The end result is a magically wonderful sauce that you literally want to eat with a spoon.

Enjoy!

She Who Liked this Way Too Much!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »