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Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category

Monster S’mores

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , on July 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

Captain Cavedweller is once again my hero.

I came home last night to find he had been to the store and found these.

The monster of all marshmallows.

I kid you not, these things are huge!

So after seeing the size of these babies, my mind immediately jumped to S’mores. They are marvelous with regular size marshmallows. How much better would they be with gigantic puffs of fluffy sweetness?

The answer…

So good I nearly melted in a puddle. Oh. My. Goodness.

S’mores are made by sandwiching a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in between two graham crackers. The name of the treat comes from the two words “some more,” clearly combined because people often wanted to have at least a second serving after having one s’more. The treat was developed by campers in the early part of the 20th century, although the exact date or place is unknown. The first recipe was published in 1927 in the Girl Scout Handbook.

If you’ve never made S’mores, give it a whirl. Especially if you can snag a bag of these over-sized marshmallows! Captain Cavedweller found these at Wal-Mart.

Start with your basic three ingredients for S'mores - marshmallows, a chocolate bar and graham crackers.

Toast your marshmallow until the inside is oozy and the outside is toasty brown. You don't even need a campfire. Captain Cavedweller toasted these on the barbecue.

Line up your chocolate on a graham cracker.

Top with your toasted puff of liquid sweet bliss, aka marshmallow. Place another graham cracker on top.

Enjoy!

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Patriotic Trifle

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Fast Recipes, Recipes, tagged , , , , on June 30, 2011| 3 Comments »


I love making trifles.

They are fast, easy and so good. And people will think you have slaved over these babies for hours.

I’m just going to give you a list of ingredients and you can adjust the portions based on how many you want to make.

The cast of characters.

 

Cut the cake into bite-size pieces and layer in the bottom of your serving dish. I used stemmed goblets because they were pretty, but you can make this in individual bowls or make one great big layered bowl of trifle – use a clear glass bowl for the must stunning presentation.

 

Top the cake with vanilla pudding. I used instant and for this intent and purpose  it works just fine. And it is fast and easy when you are feeling slug-like.

 

Top the pudding with berries. I used raspberries and blueberries because I wanted this to look patriotic and festive, but you could use any combination you like.

 

Layer delicious freshly whipped whip cream on top of the berries. You could use frozen whipped topping, but fresh whipped cream tastes so much better.

 

Repeat layers and finish with a berry on top.

 

Patriotic Trifle

pound cake, cut into bite-sized pieces

instant vanilla pudding, made according to package directions

berries

whipped cream

Layer cake, pudding, berries and whipped cream in a pretty serving bowl or individual serving pieces. Repeat layers and top with whipped cream and a berry. Refrain from snitching too much while you are layering and enjoy the looks of awe and joy as your guests dig into this delicious dessert. You can make ahead of time and refrigerate for an hour or two – but don’t make too far in advance because the cake can get soggy.

Enjoy!

She Who Loves Trifles

 

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Super Easy Patriotic Dessert

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Fast Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , , , on June 29, 2011| 3 Comments »

If you are looking for a dessert that is so simple and effortless it practically makes itself, let me know when you find it.

All kidding aside, this dessert is super fast and easy and delicious so if you aren’t exactly Betty Baker, whip this together then stand back and listen to the ohhs and ahhs as your guests like their plates clean and ask for more!

Start with a pre-made pound cake (I used Sara Lee’s frozen pound cake). Slice into about quarter to half-inch slices – depending on if you want hearty or more delicate slices.

Wash raspberries and stir in a spoon or two of sugar. Set aside and let the sugar work its magic on the raspberries while you rinse the blueberries.

I used freshly whipped cream, but you can also use frozen whipped topping if you aren’t into beating defenseless cream into a frothy pile of deliciousness.

Put the cake in a fun serving bowl or platter. I just picked up this blue beauty (and the little blue bowl) last week at Sur la Table – one of my new favorite stores. I kept wandering around in there so long Captain Cavedweller finally agreed to come back and pick my drooling self up half an hour later. It was a good thing he came when he did or I’m not sure I could have restrained myself from buying approximately 37 more things that I really, really wanted. But I had to have these! Had to!

Use red, white and blue dishes for your berries and whipped cream. It looks fun and festive without being a lot of work!

Enjoy!

She Who Really Likes Finding Favorite New Stores!

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Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pudding

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , , on June 24, 2011| 3 Comments »

It had been half of forever since I  made cream puffs so when the mood struck the other day, I jumped right into preparations.

They aren’t hard to make and are so tasty when stuffed with a delicious, creamy filling and dusted with sugar.

Make a batch this weekend and see if your family doesn’t act a little bit appreciative of your efforts.

Ingredients for Cream Puffs

 

Boil the butter and water

 

Add flour all at once.

 

Stir until it forms a ball then cool for 10 minutes.

 

Add eggs one at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon.

 

Drop onto a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment) about three inches apart.

 

Bake until golden brown and lovely. Set aside and let cool completely.

 

Ingredients for pudding.

 

 

Stir together dry ingredients, mix in milk then cook until thick and bubbly.

 

Add milk mixture, gradually, to beaten eggs. Mix completely.

 

Pour egg mixture back into pudding.

 

 

Cook until bubbly, but not boiling, remove from heat then add butter and vanilla.

 

Pour pudding into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve.

 

Split cream puffs open and remove any soft dough in the middle.

 

Fill with pudding.

 

If you are a chocolate freak like me, drizzle with chocolate before dusting with powdered sugar and devouring.

Cream Puffs

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and water and salt. Bring to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate. Remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition until smooth.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, three inches apart, on a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Split puffs and remove any soft dough from inside . Fill with pudding, dust with sugar, serve and enjoy. You could also fill with whipped cream, ice cream, sherbet or fruit.

Vanilla Pudding

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 cups milk

2 beaten eggs

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and flour. Stir in milk then cook over medium hit until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir constantly.  When it starts to bubble, cook for two minutes more. Remove from heat and gradually stir about one cup of the mixture into the beaten eggs. Return the egg mixture to the pan and cook until nearly bubbly but do not boil. Reduce heat and cook for two additional minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing it down to the surface of the pudding and chill until ready to serve cream puffs.

If you are a chocolate addict like me, you can drizzle chocolate sauce over the top before you dust it with sugar.

Enjoy!

She Who Loves Cream Puffs Entirely Too Much

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