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Archive for the ‘Holiday Recipes’ 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

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Banana Cheesecake

Posted in Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , on May 6, 2011| 3 Comments »


My most wonderful mother-in-law will be arriving later today for the weekend. We are pretty excited about her coming for Mother’s Day!

I wanted to make something extra special for her so I contacted my sister-in-law to find out her favorite desserts. One of them just happens to be The Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cheesecake.

After a little bit of searching online I found the recipe and dived right in to create this treat for her.

I will warn you that it takes a bit of patience to make, but the result is most definitely worth it!

Ingredients for Banana Cheesecake.

Smash cookies until finely crushed (or pulse in food processor). At least this way, I could put Captain Cavedweller to work!

Press obliterated cookies into the bottom of a springform pan.

Mash up enough bananas to make 1 cup. I used three, and then made Captain Cavedweller mash them for me.

Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy.

Add your eggs one at a time.

Pour batter into crust.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes then reduce temp to 200 for 75-90 minutes. Mine was closer to 90 when I took it out of the oven and could probably have gone another 5-10 minutes to be done the way I would have really liked. I recommend not deciding to make this at say 7 p.m. at night because you'll be standing in your PJs staring at the stove waiting for this to be done!

You can garnish the cheesecake with slices of fresh banana, a dollop of whipped cream, whatever floats your boat. My boat was floating on caramel sauce, Heath bits and chocolate swirlies.

Enjoy!

Banana Cheesecake

1 package vanilla sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

24 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

3 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. banana flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookies in a resealable bag and smash the dickens out of them with a cast iron skillet or a meat tenderizer. If you have a food processor, just pulse until they are finely crushed. Mine were finely crushed by Captain Cavedweller.  Crushed by the fine Captain Cavedweller. Finally crushed finely. Oh, you know what I mean.

Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 10″ springform pan and refrigerate.

Beat cream cheese on medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, cream and vanilla and banana flavoring. If you don’t have banana flavoring, just add another spoon of vanilla. Place springform pan on cookie sheet. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking 75-90 minutes until center is just set. Loosen edge of springform pan but do not remove. Let cool completely then take off pan rim. Refrigerate cheesecake for at least six hours before serving.

Happy Entertaining and Happy Mother’s Day!

She Who Can’t Wait for my MIL to Arrive!

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Christmas Breakfast ideas

Posted in Breakfast, Christmas, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , on December 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Christmas morning the last thing you want to do is be tied down to the kitchen making breakfast. Plan ahead now and you can have a fabulous breakfast on the table with a minimal amount of effort!

So here are a few ideas…

Quick Breads

You can purchase these pre-made at stores like Costco (their apple or pumpkin bread is sooooo good), you can buy packaged mixes that are easy to whip together or make them from scratch. If you are planning to make them either from a mix of scratch, make these now so you don’t have to mess with them in the morning. If you want to be Betty Baker and go from scratch, here is a recipe for yummy banana bread.

Sweet Rolls

You can purchase pre-made sweet rolls or cinnamon rolls or whip together a batch. Just pop in the oven for a few minutes to warm and you’ve got a breakfast that everyone will enjoy. Here is a recipe for super easy cinnamon rolls that make my mouth water just thinking about them.

Casseroles

A breakfast casserole you can assemble the night before then pop in the oven to bake the next morning is ideal. They are warm and filling and will hopefully carry your starving crew through gift opening and morning festivities. Serve with a fresh fruit and it is a wonderful meal.

My favorite breakfast casserole involves ham and hashbrowns. It is so easy to make and so tasty good. Assemble the night before, set out for about 30 minutes and then bake.

Here is another recipe that is quite filling. You can use any type of meat you like, just make sure it is pre-cooked.

Ingredients

Beat eggs, then add milk and combine.

Dice up some ham (or crumble cooked bacon or sausage).

Add ham, breadcrumbs and salt to mixture.

Blend in some cheese.

Pour into greased pan, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake the next morning!

and enjoy!

Breakfast Bake

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced cooked ham (or bacon or crumbled cooked sausage)

1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

3 cups croutons

Beat eggs and milk, add in remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge and let set for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until eggs are set.

Enjoy!

Happy Holiday Entertaining and Merry Christmas!

Shanna

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Gingerbread Bars

Posted in Christmas, Desserts, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , on December 22, 2010| 5 Comments »

 

gingerbread barsYears ago, I tasted gingerbread cookies and fell in love! The spices, the molasses, the soft chewiness.

Absolutely delightful.

I embarked on an adventure of finding a recipe to make my own. What I ended up with was a recipe for cut-out gingerbread cookies that was delicious but very involved and not a lot of fun to make.

Then, a few weeks ago, I attended a cookie exchange party and my tastebuds did a happy dance over some amazing gingerbread bars. I quickly abandoned plans to make my cut out gingerbread cookies and instead made the bars.

Even Hubby, who generally turns up his nose at most sweets, was impressed. Yeah, they were that good.

Ingredients

Mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices together and set aside.

Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Whip out your parchment paper (you can get it at kitchen supply stores and some grocery stores).

Line the pan with parchment then spray it with non-stick cooking spray.

Cream together sugars and the butter until pale and fluffy.

Add vanilla and molasses.

Gradually add in flour mixture.

Spread in the pan and bake for 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Bars hot out of the oven. Leave in the pan until completely cool.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cut into bars.

Top with pecans.

Yum!

Gingerbread Bars

2 3/4 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

2 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsulfured molasses

Cream Cheese Frosting

Glazed Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 17 x 12 inch rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Line bottom with a piece of parchment, cut to fit. Coat parchment with spray.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Soften butter and then beat on medium-high speed with sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour mixture then beat just until comvined.

Spread batter into prepared pan. It seems like you won’t have enough batter to fill the pan, but you will, keep spreading. Bake until edges are set and golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan.

Remove from pan, frost with cream cheese frosting and cut into 2-inch squares. Top each square with a glazed pecan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 box powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Enjoy!

Happy Holiday Entertaining!

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