Tag: Desserts
Outrageous Nutella Fudge
Before we start this post, I’m just gonna let you know that it’s my birthday. And since it’s my birthday, I’m allowed to post a recipe that is 100% decadent (even though in a little over a year I will theoretically be giving people diet advice for a living). This Nutella fudge gets the moniker “outrageous” because there is nothing about it that is anything but sinful. Nothing you could cut back on to tell yourself it will make it healthier. So, as a prospective nutritionist, I am telling you stay away from this fudge. Your health! Your heart! Your hips! But as the dessert-loving birthday girl, I am telling you this. fudge. is. AWESOME.
Kind of a angel-on-the-shoulder/devil-on-the-shoulder situation. Can you tell which one is winning?
Just like a lot of other sinful things, this fudge is soooo eassssy–probably the easiest fudge I’ve ever made. It whips up in about 15 minutes and sets super fast. It also has no added chocolate–not that I mind chocolate, but not adding any lets the signature hazelnut flavor of the Nutella come through loud and clear. I think my only problem with it is that it used up all my Nutella. Oh, well–on to birthday cake! (If you’re reading this post as my future nutrition client, I am completely kidding. I do not condone sugar! I use this merely as an example of what you should not eat! Don’t click on that link in the Recipe Index that says “Dessert.” …. *nervous laughter* … Who’s up for a kale smoothie?)
Outrageous Nutella Fudge
(Adapted from Not Your Momma’s Cookie)
Ingredients:
1/2 c. salted butter
1/2 c. whole milk or half and half
1 1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. Nutella
2 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
Directions:
- Grease an 8 x 8 pan. Place the confectioner’s sugar in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the milk and brown sugar and bring to a hard, rolling boil (still over medium heat). Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly add vanilla and Nutella. Stir until the Nutella is melted.
- Carefully pour the hot Nutella mixture over the confectioners sugar and mix quickly until completely combined. (You may want to do this with a whisk so clumps of powdered sugar get all the way broken up.) When well mixed, pour into prepared pan, spreading with the back of a spoon. Chill 2 hours and cut into pieces with a chef’s knife.
Salted Honey Pie
It seems the sweet-and-salty dessert trend is here to stay, and I am A-okay with that. I’ve certainly dipped my toe in the sweet and salty waters, having sipped many a Starbucks salted-caramel-apple-cider, crunched many a chocolate-covered pretzel, and baked some incredible extra dark brownies with lime and sea salt at home. But this recipe for salted honey pie may take the cake–er, you know, pie. It was the hit of our Beatles Singalong Party this weekend (soon to be blogged!). The inspiration for making it was of course the Beatles song “Honey Pie.” It was one dessert I didn’t even have to stretch to contrive from Beatles song lyrics (unlike the “Baby You Can Drive My Caramel Brownies” also included on the menu). And wow, am I glad I gave it a try. One guest described it as “if creme brûlée and pie had a baby.” Which can only mean good things.
As I was savoring the combination of the velvety honey custard filling, the sticky caramelized top, and the finish of sea salt crystals, I got to pondering this counter-intuitive food mystery: why should sweet and salty go together in desserts? And why does the combination work better with certain ingredients than others? (I’ve never seen anyone offering up Salted Strawberry Shortcake recipes, for example. And if I ever do, I will report that person to the Food Police.) Also, where did this food trend come from? As far as I recall, it seems to have popped up in the early 2000’s. I decided to do a little research.
It turns out there are two primary reasons salt enhances flavor, especially sweetness. One, salt acts in food to reduce water activity, which allows scent molecules to release into the air more easily. Since aroma is such an integral part of the human taste experience, salt’s enhancement of the sweet aroma allows us to enjoy that sweetness even more than usual. Second, a salty flavor has been shown to decrease bitterness in foods (some people even like to put salt in bad coffee for this reason). Once any bitterness is pushed out of the way, the tongue can perceive sweetness all the better.
As for where the recent sweet-plus-salty desserts trend comes from, this interesting article explores the answer. One interviewee, a San Francisco confectioner, suggests that the rise of artisanal food products in the early 2000s included artisanal salts. Chefs became interested in where and how to use new products like Himalayan red salt, fleur de sel, and Hawaiian pink salt, and ended up trying them in desserts. But really, who knows? I especially like this quote from Will Goldfarb, owner/chef at Room 4 Dessert in New York: “Everyone in the world likes sweet, salty, and fatty. It’s difficult to credit something everyone loves.” That’s a good enough explanation for me. Especially when it comes to Salted Honey Pie.
Salted Honey Pie
(Adapted from the South Brooklyn Post)
Ingredients:
1 pie shell, purchased or homemade
1/2 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp. cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. white vinegar
3 eggs
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. coarse-grained sea salt
Directions:
1. Pre-bake pie shell according to package directions, removing from the oven when barely browned. (It will continue baking with the filling, so don’t overdo it!)
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, and salt to form a thick paste. Add honey, vanilla, and vinegar and stir to combine. Blend in eggs and cream until fully incorporated. Pour entire mixture into pie shell.
4. Cover pie edges with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven 45-60 minutes until filling top is a caramel brown.
5. Once cooled at least one hour, sprinkle the top with sea salt.
Serves 8.
Tropsicles: Creamy Tropical Popsicles
Awhile back I saw somewhere that coconut cream can be used to make an all-natural Cool Whip. Various blogs list different ways to do this, some involving refrigerating the cream beforehand, or turning it upside down to get the really thick, gooey part that settles to the bottom, or, I don’t know, standing on your head, turning counterclockwise five times, and chanting “no preservatives.” So when I happened to notice coconut cream on sale at Sprouts recently, I dutifully picked up a jar, telling myself I would try this better-for-you Cool Whip alternative. (Since Cool Whip, delicious as it may be, is made out of some pretty nasty stuff.) Well……after several weeks, I never got around to actually doing it. The coconut cream jar ended up in the to-donate bag I keep in my kitchen. (Which I also haven’t gotten around to actually donating. Sensing a theme here.)
Then yesterday I had a hankering to make popsicles. Scrounging through my fridge and pantry, I realized we had a shortage of acceptable popsicle-making ingredients. BUT WAIT……
WHAT ABOUT THAT COCONUT CREAM?
The food bank’s loss is our family’s gain. (I’m sorry, Matthew’s Crossing.) These tropical popsicles (“tropsicles”) with their mix of banana, mango, and coconut cream turned out to be a dreamy oasis in the middle of a hot summer Saturday. Thanks to the coconut cream, they have a smoother texture than the icy-crunchy kind of popsicle you get with a thinner liquid base. I’d have to call them my favorite homemade popsicles of the summer.
By the way, if you’re wondering what coconut cream actually is, and how it’s different from coconut milk, coconut cream is made by simmering four parts coconut in one part water, whereas coconut milk is made with one part coconut, one part water. Obviously, that accounts for the cream’s thicker, richer consistency. You could probably try coconut milk in this recipe as well, with less creamy results. If you do use coconut cream, though, this recipe only calls for half of a jar, so maybe you’ll end up trying the Cool Whip alternative. And maybe I will, too….eventually.
Tropsicles: Creamy Tropical Popsicles
A Love Letter to Food Original
1 banana
1/2 14-oz. jar coconut cream (shake before opening and eyeball about 1/2)
1 c. frozen mango
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. Greek yogurt
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Freeze in popsicle molds at least two hours. Run individual molds under warm water for a few seconds to release popsicles. Enjoy!
Makes 2 1/2 c. popsicle mixture. Number of popsicles will vary based on mold size.
Lighter Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
Whoa, did this blog really go through the whole month of June without a dessert post? Unprecedented! Let’s remedy that immediately! With the Fourth of July just a few days away, you may be giving some thought to what to take to whatever gathering you might be attending. Perhaps you’d like to make something crowd-pleasing that contains something red, white, or blue for that barbecue/pool party/Founding Fathers costume party? Allow me to suggest these lightened-up lemon blueberry cheesecake bars. I should really put the “cheesecake” in quotes, since these bars don’t actually contain “cream cheese”….hence the “lighter” part of their name. Or maybe that’s…
Anyway, these bars are a healthier (though I wouldn’t go so far as to say necessarily healthy) version of a usually pretty heavy dessert. Their secret? Cottage cheese instead of cream cheese. While you may not be a fan of cottage cheese as a food on its own–visions of ’80s diet plates, perhaps?–it’s a useful substitute for drastically reducing calorie and fat content in cheesecakey desserts. As a matter of fact, 8 oz. of cottage cheese contains about 220 calories and 10 grams of fat, whereas 8 oz. of cream cheese contains 775 calories and 80 grams of fat. A pretty staggering difference, if you ask me. Almost makes me regret all that real cheesecake I’ve indulged in…..almost.
Amazingly enough, even without cream cheese, these still actually taste great, and not at all like cottage cheese! (I suppose a generous ration of sugar and butter helps in that department.) Creamy and lemony with that cold cheesy texture that feels so refreshing in your mouth, they could be perfect addition to an Independence Day spread.
These could also be re-styled with orange zest and juice instead of lemon and raspberries instead of berries. Citrus plus berries pretty much always yields something delicious.
Lighter Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
(Adapted from a Fry’s Foods coupon mailer)
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/3 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 c. low-fat cottage cheese
2/3 c. white sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
3 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 c. fresh blueberries
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare crust, beat butter, brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl until smooth. (You can do this by hand or use a mixer on medium speed.) Spoon 1 c. flour into a dry measuring cup, level with a knife, and add to the butter mixture. Beat on low or by hand until well blended. Press into the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish. (I always use a small sheet of wax paper to get all the crumbs pressed down neatly.) Bake 20 minutes.
3. To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, 1-2 minutes, scraping sides of the bowl once. Add sugar, flour, lemon rind, lemon juice, egg, and egg white and process until well combined. Pour over the cooled crust and sprinkle blueberries around the top.
4. Bake an additional 25 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for at least two hours before slicing. (The longer you refrigerate, the firmer they get.)
Makes one 8 x 8 inch pan.
Chocolate Almond Thumbprint Cookies
You know those Hershey Kiss peanut butter blossom cookies that are so ubiquitous at Christmastime? Of course you do, right? Because you’re a sentient being who eats cookies, right? If whoever came up with that recipe didn’t get a fat check from the Hershey company, there’s no justice in this world. Those things are everywhere come Christmas.
Do you ever wonder why certain cookies seem to get classified as Christmas cookies? I’m not sure what it is about a peanut butter cookie with a Hershey Kiss stuck in the middle that makes people think of peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. To be honest, I actually don’t even like peanut butter blossoms all that much. I kinda wish the Grinch would have taken peanut butter blossoms, stuffed them in his sack, and NOT brought them back to Whoville. Maybe I’m just a chocolate snob, though. To me, Hershey kisses are for when you reach Stage 4 of Chocolate Desperation. Like when you have no dessert left in the house and you find a Hershey kiss in the bottom of your kid’s Halloween bag from six months ago and you go, okay, this will have to do. This comes just before Stage 5, which is drinking chocolate syrup straight.
Anyway, when I saw this recipe for a more elegant version of the Christmas classic using a chocolate ganache instead of a Kiss (and almond butter instead of peanut), I figured I’d give it a whirl. After all, I had (again) done the thing where I bought almond butter on sale with the best of intentions, only to find it still hanging around forlornly in my fridge a month later. Little did I guess these would turn out so delicious–like a delightful marzipan confection filled with cold, creamy chocolate in the center.
Why wait for Christmas to eat something that good?
In fact, while these would be great any time, they might be an especially nice gesture when baking for someone who’s allergic to peanuts but enjoys peanut butter blossoms. Or for chocolate snobs who turn up their noses at Hershey kisses. Or, really, for any sentient being who eats cookies.
Chocolate Almond Thumbprint Cookies
(Adapted from the Food Network)
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. smooth, unsweetened almond butter
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/3 c. plus 3 Tbsp. white sugar, divided
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. sliced almonds, coarsely chopped (crushed slivered almonds will also work in a pinch)
For the ganache:
5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or chocolate chips)
1/2 c. heavy cream
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter and almond butter on medium speed until well combined. Add brown sugar and white sugar and continue mixing another 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Switch mixing speed to medium-low and beat in the dry ingredient mixture until just incorporated.
4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 Tbsp. white sugar and chopped almonds.
5. Scoop cookie dough by tablespoons, roll into balls, and dredge through the sugar-almond mixture to coat. Space the balls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes until the tops appear dry and slightly cracked.
6. Using a rounded teaspoon, make an indentation in the top of each cookie while still warm. Allow to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, to make the ganache, combine the chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 45 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Let cool.
8. Spoon ganache into a pastry bag, squeeze bottle, or Ziploc with a corner cut off. Fill each cookie indentation with ganache.
Makes 20-30 cookies, depending on size. For best taste and texture, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.