Pear & Chocolate Tart

The photo doesn't do justice to this delicious dessert. As some other blogger wrote recently, "beige" food doesn't photograph well. Beige (pear) ice cream. Beige pears. Beige tart pastry. The only contrast is the chocolate horizontal stripe you can barely see at the bottom. That's not just a shadow, but chocolate. Good chocolate. We were entertaining guests for dinner, and I didn't take the dessert dish over to my good light (see photo below) I've put in the butler's pantry. It's just adjacent to the dining room. I didn't want to disturb our guests sitting but a few feet away. This blogging business is a bit distracting sometimes. Distracting to our guests. Distracting even to me sometimes. So I took a photo with ambient light.

This doesn't look like much, but it's my new Lowel EGO blogging light. It lives in my butler's pantry (for now anyway). It's kind of innocuous looking, although larger than I'd thought. I'd like to hide it, but for now it lives out there in the open. It creates a very bright but diffused light to get better photos of the food. All for you, dear readers. In case you're interested, I learned about it over at Jaden's Steamy Kitchen.

I know the drill! A picture is worth a thousand words, and I know photos make a food blog interesting. Photos make people read on. So, through hectic food prep, making merry, washing dishes and everything else that goes along with producing a dinner party, I gotta have PICTURES! Fortunately, our family & friends who had dinner with us were patient with me. They may be thinking I'm totally NUTS doing what I'm doing - maybe even rude. Hope not, but it's possible! They all know I have a food blog, but it's one thing to talk about it, another to pause and prop pictures in the midst of a party.

So, back to this dessert. Which is delicious, if I didn't mention that before. I know I did - I'm just repeating it for emphasis. It's a subtle dessert - cooked pears aren't exactly bold, and there are just 8 ounces of chocolate in this, so you don't get a huge punch of it. But the combination of the two, with the tender pastry and the cool frosty ice cream on the side, make for one great dessert. This dessert is NOT difficult to make, despite the list of ingredients, and the long list of instructions. It's just that the steps are a bit detailed. You also need to have some Poire William, or pear brandy. Here's a photo of my bottle of Poire William, purchased some years ago. It was dear, that I remember, but you only use a little bit at a time. Do note the pear in the bottom of the bottle. How do they do that, you ask? They place the bottle over the pear when it's teeny tiny, somehow strap it to the tree branch, put an opaque cover over the top (otherwise the pear would burn in the sunshine), then let the pear mature.

This liqueur is not sweet - it's not really for sipping. Although perhaps the French do. I only use it for cooking, and the rare item, to be sure.

So, where'd the recipe come from? Another cooking class. From Kate Hill, an American woman, who moved to France probably 20 years ago. She bought an old barge, the Julia Hoyt, from Holland and sailed it down to Southern France where she parks it on the side of a canal. She bought a small cottage there, and even takes paying guests on the barge now and then. She's written a cookbook, called A Culinary Journey in Gascony, about her experiences, and with lots of peasant style recipes. She taught a cooking class about 5 years or so ago, right after her cookbook was published. This was the dessert she prepared. She has a blog, in case you're interested in reading. She posts recipes occasionally, but mostly the blog is about her life. Her day to day, with her adorable dog Bacon.

Cook's Notes: There are a few things to mention here. First, and most important, be certain your pears are the right stage of ripeness. I seem to have the toughest time with pears. The day they finally ripen, is not the day I'm ready to cook them. One day more and they've become grainy and inedible. So, this particular time I bought the pears 4 days before the event, and they were just the perfect shade of ripe. Thank goodness. Also, don't roll the dough too thin, as it will break when you try to pull up the sides. If you do that, the cream fraiche topping will ooze out all over everywhere. Take it from someone who knows from first hand experience about that! So read the directions carefully.

Pear and Chocolate Tart
Recipe By: Kate Hill, author
Serving Size : 8
PASTRY:
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon ice water
CHOCOLATE:
8 ounces dark chocolate -- Valrhona or Sharffen Berger
PEARS:
4 large fresh pears -- peeled and halved, not Bartlett
2 tablespoons Poire William -- or pear brandy
CREAM LAYER:
1 cup creme fraiche
1 whole egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1. Pastry: mix flour and sugar together and work in the butter in your fingers, until the butter is flaked and broken into the flour. Don't overhandle the dough. If it's a warm day, dip your hands in some icy water periodically, as the heat from your hands can begin to melt the butter.
2. Make a well in the center of the flour, then add egg and water. Mix with fork until most of the flour is absorbed. Knead lightly with your hand to form a smooth ball. This dough should be very "wet" and soft. Don't be tempted to add more flour because it's too sticky. It needs to be just barely manageable. Cover with a cloth and rest while you prepare the filling. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. Pear Filling: Slice the pears into a bowl to which you add the 2 T. of Poire William. Gently roll the pears in the liquid to keep them from discoloring.
4. Chocolate: Melt the chocolate over very low heat, or a double boiler with 3 T. of pear syrup (from the bowl of pears) or water.
5. Roll out the pastry to a rough rectangle. Try to make this fit onto a large baking sheet, approximately 11 x 14 inches, fitted with a Silpat or parchment paper. It is not necessary to have even edges and do not trim the edges. Try not to have any thin spots - if you do, cut from a fuller area and patch. Dough is very soft and will allow you to do this easily.
6. Spread the chocolate mixture onto the pastry, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of pastry all around the edge (this is the edge that gets folded inward). Spread as evenly as possible.
7. In a small bowl stir the creme fraiche, egg, vanilla and Poire William juice that is poured off from the pears. You may need to add another 2-3 tsp. of Poire William to make the mixture thickly pourable.
8. Place the pear slices on top of the chocolate in a decorative manner. Spoon a little bit of the cream mixture around the outer edges of the pears, but not so much that it dribbles out onto the outer dough. Carefully fold the pastry edge up over the chocolate pear mixture. Don't pull the dough - you do not want the dough to break anywhere or the filling will ooze out in the baking. The edges do not meet - in fact you need to leave space because the creamy mixture goes in the center, and on top of the pears.
9. Gently pour or spoon the creme fraiche mixture into the center area - not on the pastry. If necessary, carefully lift up the edges of the pastry a little bit, to spoon into crevices. Try to cover most or all of the chocolate. Sprinkle with (vanilla) sugar and bake in the top half of your oven for 20-25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.
Per Serving: 450 Calories; 30g Fat (57.5% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 111mg Cholesterol; 36mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 6 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
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Triple Chocolate Torte with Raspberries

Kind of like lava. Thick gooey deliciousness. There's nothing in this not to like - chocolate, white chocolate, raspberries, and whipped cream. This would make a perfect ending to a Valentine's Day dinner.

If you happen to want to make something very chocolatety and very rich, this is your ticket to nirvana. I was surprised that it didn't keep me awake the other night with the caffeine, although it's only got 8 ounces of chocolate (dark stuff) in the whole torte, so that must be why.

Credit goes to Phillis Carey, from a cooking class I took. Over the years of taking classes from her, she's made some really wonderful desserts, and some really good chocolate ones at that. So here's another to add to the stable of chocolate yumminess.

Really, this is a fairly simple dessert to make. You do have to prepare the pan (springform) and line it with parchment. And you'll mess up a few bowls getting all the different batters made, but all combine into one in the end, and you pour it into the springform and bake. It's served with the frozen raspberries in syrup (from the grocery store), thawed, of course, and a nice mound of whipped cream.

Knowing when the torte is DONE is a bit tricky here. This one pictured, is probably a tad under-done - the center of it was too lava like. But it worked and tasted just fine. At about the 35 minute mark, you insert a pick into the center, and you do not want all sticky stuff. In fact, when this one was removed, there was just a tiny, tiny bit of goo, and just a few crumbs attached to the pick. And yet, it was still a bit underdone. Keep testing the torte every 3-4 minutes thereafter until it's done to your liking.

Cook's Notes: Phillis told us to buy white chocolate chips from Trader Joe's because they do contain cocoa butter. Most white chocolate does not. Those other brands will work, but the cocoa butter ones are better. She also cautioned us to NOT chunk up a white chocolate bar for this because it will just melt into the batter and you won't SEE the white chocolate at all (you can see the chips in the photo). That's not what you want here. White chocolate chips contain something (is it wax?) to keep them from melting, like regular chocolate chips. And lastly, do not eliminate the whipped cream because this dessert is really, really rich, and you need the cream to cut down that solid richness. Also, Phillis' recipe contained 2 full cups of sugar. I thought it was too, too sweet, so reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup in both instances (you add the sugar to two different batters as it's made). You can use your own judgment.

Triple Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Sauce
Recipe By: Phillis Carey, cookbook author & instructor

Serving Size : 12 [maybe even 16-18]
1 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate -- chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate -- chopped
3/4 cup sugar [reduced from 1 cup]
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar [also reduced from 1 cup]
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips -- Trader Joe's if possible
10 ounces frozen raspberries -- in syrup, thawed
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch or 10-inch (preferred) springform pan and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
2. Combine butter and both chocolates in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar and stir until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Stir in vanilla. Set aside and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and 3/4 cup sugar. Whisk HALF of this egg mixture into the chocolate mixture.
4. Using a mixer, beat remaining egg mixture until pale yellow and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Gently fold chocolate mixture and salt into the egg mixture. Then, gently fold in flour, then the white chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared springform pan.
5. Bake torte until tester inserted in center of cake comes out with just a bit of gooey mixture, but with mostly crumbs, about 40 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool completely on a rack. Will keep at room temperature, covered, for up to 24 hours.
6. Prepare whipped cream: combine heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla and whip until peaks form.
7. To serve, cut into wedges and set on plates. Spoon raspberries and syrup over torte allowing juices to run over the sides. Top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
Per Serving: 646 Calories; 40g Fat (55.1% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 66g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 139mg Cholesterol; 165mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 1/2 Fat; 3 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
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Gourmet Cheesecake

To tell you the truth, cheesecake isn't something I order except on very rare occasions. Nor do I make it very often. Usually it's just too rich for me. Especially if I've eaten a big dinner. My daughter, Sara, makes a really good cheesecake, and I enjoy it every time she makes it. She's quite legendary in her family for her cheesecake. Her husband and his family often request it for family gatherings.

Here's the batter, thick and silky smooth (the cream cheese, sour cream, etc.)

But, THIS cheesecake I'm sharing with you today, is something altogether different. I must say that this has all the trappings of regular cheesecake. So how come it's different? Well, you whip up the six egg whites until stiff and fold them into the cheesecake filling. It lightens up the texture considerably. I like this lighter, almost a souffle-like, style. You slice your fork into a bite and it meets little resistance and melts in your mouth. There's a hint of lemon in it. Maybe next time I ought to add a bit of lemon zest to the filling too. I've never seen another cheesecake recipe that uses whipped egg whites. I've searched on the internet to try to find the origin of this recipe, but have found nothing. Fine print: whatever you do, don't go reading the nutrition content of this recipe, or you'll never make this cheesecake. You'll get depressed even thinking about it.

Springform pans: I own two. An 8 1/2 inch and a 10 inch. This recipe calls for a 9 inch. What to do? This time I used the smaller one and had enough to make another entire small bowl of cheesecake. Next time I guess I should use the 10 inch form. Definitely I'd need to make more crumbs, however. I already do that as it is, using about 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs in the mixture. And more butter. No additional sugar.

This cheesecake is baked for an hour, then left in the oven for an additional hour (heat turned off) to firm up. Then you remove it to cool further. Having made this several times, I will tell you that it's absolutely the best, cut and served when it's still warm. Not hot. Just warm. If you have the time to plan it, serve it that way. You can also make it several hours ahead, then put it back in a low oven for about 15 minutes. You don't want to dry it out, whatever you do.

We invited our Southern California children and the grandchildren to come for dinner last night. To open our gifts and celebrate Christmas with them. I served a ricotta lasagna with marinara sauce, a big green salad with my favorite salad dressing, the VIP dressing, and this cheesecake for dessert.

Folding the egg whites in is a bit of a chore, but lightens up the batter a lot.

It's poured in the graham cracker crumb crust and topped with toasted almonds. I over toasted the almonds (sheepish grin).

Gourmet Cheesecake
Recipe: came from a friend I met in Oklahoma, about 1974.
Serving Size : 12
1/4 cup blanched almonds -- toasted
CRUMB MIXTURE:
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter
FILLING:
6 whole eggs -- separated
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese -- softened
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
8 tablespoons flour -- sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice -- fresh
3/4 cup sugar
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Toast almonds first and set aside.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar together and press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch spring form pan, reserving about 3 T for top of cheesecake. Set aside.
3. Mix egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, cream cheese, flour, sour cream and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
4. Beat egg whites until frothy, then add 3/4 cup sugar gradually and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold into cheese mixture. Pour into reserved graham cracker shell, spread top to flatten and sprinkle with reserved graham cracker mixture and almonds.
5. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven for another hour. Remove to cool. Best when served barely warm from the oven.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 577 Calories; 37g Fat (57.6% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 197mg Cholesterol; 383mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.
To print a PDF recipe, click title at top.

Almond Custard

Nobody seems to make custard anymore. What happened to custard? Is it perceived as too bland? Pale? Wrong color altogether? It's a sad state of affairs. Custard is the ubiquitous dessert. Wonderful for a homey dinner. Nice enough for a company dinner, especially if accompanied by some fruit, or a cookie. I must admit that it's been a long while since I've made any custard. And yet, I like it very much.

So, when I was scouring through some recipes a week or so ago I ran across a custard recipe I haven't made in years and years. Pairing custard with almond may seem unusual. But it's a lovely match, especially since you add the apple juice concentrate as a perk at the end. What's unusual about this recipe is that there is no refined sugar in it. The custard is made with just eggs, flavorings (vanilla and almond) and the two milk types. Once baked and cooled, you put on the thickened apple juice topping, which is naturally sweet, and that provides the only sweet thing in the custard. Then you sprinkle almonds on top.This may not be a WOW kind of recipe, but it looks pretty enough, and represents good old American home cookin'. And note, this is gluten-free also, in case you're searching for those kinds of recipes.

A former employee, Kathleen Heckathorn., brought this to one of our potluck lunches at Ad Masters (the ad agency I've talked about before that I co-owned), and everybody just scooped it right up. I've made it a few times over the years, although not for awhile. I hadn't input it into my recipe program, so that's why I'd lost track of it. But it was in my catch-all alphabetized recipe files - the clippings, photocopies, some of them ancient, that live in a file cabinet. I use more of the apple juice concentrate that Kathleen did - to make sure there is enough sauce to go around, and Kathleen began the thickening with cornstarch, which wasn't part of the original recipe. The concentrate is just a bit too thin, as is out of the can, for a topping, so the cornstarch helps it along well. If you find the custard odd tasting (no sugar) you could add a little bit to it. Just not very much.

After making this, I phoned Kathleen to thank her for this recipe. Hadn't talked to her in years. It was great fun catching up about our families, etc. So, thanks Kathleen for this great recipe.

I have another custard recipe that I'll be sharing with you after the first of the year. It's truly low calorie. But you'd never know it. Absolutely wouldn't ever figure it out. It is a pumpkin custard. Since I haven't had my fill of pumpkin yet this year (I only got to eat two slices of pie over Thanksgiving), it will be something nice to make in the New Year. When DH and I have agreed we're going to work on reducing the calories around here. Blog writing isn't exactly the best thing for the waistline, I'll admit. I keep wanting to share more and more of my old tried and true recipes.

Almond Custard
Recipe looks like it may have come from a Family Circle magazine or something similar.
Servings: 7
4 whole eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups milk
6 ounces apple juice, frozen concentrate -- undiluted
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons toasted almonds
1. Preheat oven to 300. Measure milk and half and half into a saucepan and gently bring up to a simmer. Do not boil.
2. Meanwhile, combine the eggs in a medium bowl, then add extracts. Mix until well combined.
3. Pour scalded milk into the egg mixture and stir to mix up completely. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered ovenproof dish. Shallower is better than higher.
4. Place dish into a larger but flat container and pour hot water in the sides (do not get any in the custard) and place in the center of the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center, comes out clean.
5. Remove to a rack to cool, then refrigerate.
6. When ready to serve, combine the apple juice concentrate and the cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch, then heat until the apple juice mixture has thickened some. Add the 1 tsp. of vanilla and cool briefly.
7. Just before serving pour the juice over the custard and sprinkle the toasted almonds on top.
NOTES : Use a shallow baking dish if possible. There is no sugar in the custard, so the apple concentrate topping is a necessary part of the dish.
Per Serving: 205 Calories; 12g Fat (53.0% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat.

To print a PDF recipe, click title at top.

Chocolate Steamed Pudding

Now then. This is about chocolate. A chocolate dessert suitable for Christmas Dinner. A dessert not too difficult. A do-ahead one, at that. And it's gluten-free, actually, low in sugar (yes, really), and serves a whopping 12 people if you're judicious in slicing it.

To explain the background on this recipe, I should back up and reiterate about how I detest fruitcake. Never have liked it. One Fall, back about 1964 or so, my former father-in-law took a trip to England and brought back a suet fruitcake from Fortnum & Mason (a bastion of fine food, coffees and teas) - a suet pudding I believe it was - and was so proud of bringing it to our house for Christmas. I'm sure I smiled brightly and thought, oh dear, what do I do now? Serve it with a smile and give myself just one bite, smother it in sauce and pretend it's wonderful. I didn't like the suet pudding. It even came with a can of hard sauce too. But, when my teeth hit those bits of tiny fig seeds, I cringed. Even raisins can get those little bits of dry seedy things.

The following year I determined to give myself at least a steamed pudding that I liked. This recipe just popped up, very timely, and I've made it umpteen times since. It came out of Gourmet Magazine, back in the years when they wrote every single recipe in sentence form, so you had to hunt through for the ingredients. They weren't even highlighted in different type. Many a time I missed some items because I skimmed the sentences. This one was in the letters page, because I have the original clipping - a woman from England, Mrs. M.E. Pout, of Worplesdon, submitted it, thanking the magazine for its interesting and inspiring articles. Having never heard of chocolate steamed pudding, I thought I was onto a winner. Way back in the 1960's it was difficult even finding a steamed pudding mold. Where I bought this thing, I don't recall, but I DO remember that it was expensive. But I splurged. It's seen a lot of wear. Because it sits in water once a year, it has developed a kind of mineral dusty exterior because of our hard water, and I see a few signs of rust. But it's served me well, all these 40+ years. Now, if you decide you want to make this, and you don't have a pudding mold, don't despair. Just use a medium-sized ceramic bowl (higher sides preferred) and a lip that you can somehow secure foil to. Cover it with a piece of cloth (a thin towel, or a dishtowel, cut just to cover it and over the edges). What you don't want is for the steam to get INSIDE the bowl (the steam turns into water and drips onto the top of the pudding), so that's why you want to tie the foil down as securely as you can. If the bowl sides are too slanted, you'll never get it to stay, so straighter sides are better.

The ingredients in this pudding are simple: butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate and almonds. That's it. The butter and sugar get whipped up, you add egg yolks and grated chocolate, then the ground almonds. It's a thick batter, as you can see above. Lastly you fold in the whipped egg whites. I happened to have added an additional 3 egg whites to this (because I had some languishing in the refrigerator), to I actually used 7 egg whites. But 4 are sufficient. If you want a lighter pud, add a couple more. Pour it into a mold, cover, simmer it in water and that's it.

Here's the finished pudding, just out of the oven, resting, cooling.

About the chocolate: I'm giving you a picture of the chocolate mound. I was astounded, really, to see how big a mound was created by finely grating 4 ounces! It must be finely grated. In some years past I've chopped it finely, and I suppose that would suffice, but grated is far better. It takes awhile to grate chocolate - this 4 ounces probably took me 10-15 minutes. I tried a coarser microplane, but settled on the thin one, the one I use mostly for grating citrus zest. It made a heavy dust of chocolate. I used Scharffen Berger's unsweetened chocolate that comes in a 9+ ounce bar.

About the almonds: in years past I've always whizzed the almonds up in the food processor. And if you don't have a Trader Joe's in your town, that method will work, although it does leave some little bits of almond, so you actually chew a bit of almonds now and then. It's what I did for years, so am sure it would continue to work. But Trader Joe's carries a package of "Just Almond Meal," which makes it so very easy. It's a finer grind - almost like flour, actually. Maybe you can find almond meal in other stores as well.

Once you finish preparing the batter, you pour it into the mold, cover, and put into a pot large enough to hold the mold, plus some, as you fill the pot about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the mold. I weighted mine with something heavy to keep the mold from floating. It takes 90 minutes to steam the pud, then you carefully remove it, unveil it, let it cool a bit, then remove from the mold. It's best served warm, but I've always made it ahead of time, so just cool, chill, then warm it in the oven (wrapped in foil) for about 15-20 minutes at 200. So, if you're looking for something a bit different this year, this may be your ticket. It makes a nice traditional dessert for Christmas Dinner, but it's not all that traditional in taste.

Steamed Chocolate Pudding (and Gluten-Free)
Recipe: Mrs. M. E. Pout of Worplesdon, England, via Gourmet Magazine, 1960's
Servings: 12
1/2 cup unsalted butter -- at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
4 whole eggs -- separated

[2 additional egg whites, optional, added to the other egg whites]
1 cup ground almonds
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate -- grated
Butter for greasing the mold
1 cup whipping cream -- whipped
1. Beat the egg whites until stiff and able to hold peaks. Don't overbeat.
2. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar until mixture is creamy. Stir in the 4 egg yolks which have been lightly beaten, the ground almonds and the unsweetened chocolate. Combine until it's smooth.
3. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites and stir and fold until there are no major streaks of egg white showing.
4. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered steam mold (or use a heavy ceramic bowl and tie several thicknesses of foil around the top).
5. Stand the mold in a large kettle and add hot water to reach 2/3 of the way up the outside of the mold. Bring the pot to a low simmer and steam the pudding for 90 minutes. Remove from water, dry it off on the outside, then gently remove the steamed pudding from the mold. Cut into thin slices to serve, with a mound of whipped cream on the side.
NOTES : Be sure to grind up the almonds very finely, but not so much that they turn into glue. If possible, buy already ground almond meal/flour.
Serving Ideas : If you prefer, this can be served with a rum or brandy sauce (1/2 cup softened butter, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and about 2 T. of rum or brandy, chill before serving).

Per Serving: 230 Calories; 21g Fat (75.1% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 89mg Cholesterol; 26mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To print a PDF recipe, click title at top.

Anise Pound Cake

What? Pound cake and anise? Well, yes. And you need to know that I don't like licorice. As in licorice candy. Not even one bit. But I like fennel. Which is akin to the anise plant. And I like fennel seed, in moderation, in a few things, like cooked cabbage. And I really like this cake, made with toasted anise seed. Fennel and anise are different plants altogether, although they're related, like first cousins. They both have licorice overtones; I think the anise has more of it than the fennel.

Probably I mentioned in a previous post that in the late 1980's I was quite enamored with the cooking of Mark Miller (Coyote Cafe, Santa Fe, New Mexico). He was the first, or one of the first, to introduce "fine cuisine" to the Southwestern food genre. And he was kind of all-over the foodie scene. When I visited the restaurant (in the 80's) I bought his cookbook, Coyote Cafe. What I found, though, was that most of his dishes are very labor intensive, requiring a sauce for this, a finishing glaze for that, a different marinade, or that most of his dishes needed one or two complicated sides. Everything is made from scratch too, including beans. After making several things, I closed the book and put it on my cookbook shelf, to be opened rarely. But in that interim, I needed a cake for a Southwestern gourmet picnic, and this one fit the bill.

I've made this many, many times. It's a fairly standard pound cake mixture, and the only unusual thing is the toasted anise seed, subsequently ground finely, which is added to the batter. Because it's toasted seed, it's mellows out considerably. There's no harsh licorice flavor, just a little background nuttiness to it. There's a lot of anise seed in it - four tablespoons - but somehow it doesn't seem like anywhere near that much. It peppers the batter, though, so you know it's something different.

A few years ago I altered the recipe - it called for 1 full pound of butter. Somehow that seemed obscene to me to use that much in one cake, even though it served approximately 18 people. The batter is very heavy besides. So, even though I'm not much of an experimenter when it comes to baking (there's too much science attached), I put in much, much less butter, and I separated the eggs to lighten the batter.
Serve this with some fresh summer fruit - either peaches, apricots, or berries. My favorite is strawberries, sliced thinly. And top with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Anise Pound Cake
Recipe: adapted from the Coyote Cafe cookbook (Mark Miller)
Servings: 18
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
14 ounces unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons anise seed -- roasted, ground
5 whole eggs -- separated
2/3 cup sour cream
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Sift together flour and salt, then set aside.
2. Cream the butter with sugar, vanilla and anise seed until light. Whip the egg whites and set aside. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then add dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream. Scrape the bowl well and mix until blended. Then fold in the egg whites until mixed in and there are only a few streaks of white visible. (This is a bit difficult because the batter is thick.)
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch.
4. Serve in small slices with fresh, sliced summer fruit (peaches, strawberries, other berries) and whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.
NOTES : This has been adapted slightly from the original - I use less butter, add some baking powder and separate the eggs.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 365 Calories; 21g Fat (52.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 111mg Cholesterol; 138mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To print a PDF recipe only, click title at top.

Southern Peach Cobbler

Before they're all gone, I wanted to have just a few more peaches. We didn't eat them out of hand in the first couple of days, so I decided to try a new recipe for Peach Cobbler. Now, I like cobbler in nearly every form imaginable. Apple probably is my favorite, but lots of other fruits can stand in and make me happy.

But, it was a week or so ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, and she wrote up a detailed post about marrying a southern gent, and how she's collected cobbler recipes for a long time. She liked some things about one recipe, but other things about another. Finally, she found one with the right texture, worked with it and subsequently came up with her own version combining all of the recipes from a bunch of "southern ladies," she said. With that write-up (kind of like the home kitchen answer to the Cook's Illustrated treatises on recipes), I had to try it. I don't think I had quite enough peaches, but she mentioned that the recipe is forgiving that way. I've simplified the directions just a little bit and hope I haven't changed the recipe significantly.

Her blog has an error about the amount of cinnamon (one teaspoon vs. one tablespoon), so I just had to improvise and use my best judgment. She doesn't have an email address to contact her, and somebody else posted a comment asking about the error, but she hasn't answered or fixed it yet. So, that's why I had to just make a management decision. That meant using 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Which is a lot. Plus, I couldn't find the pecans in my freezer, so used walnuts instead. Pecans would certainly be more southern, but there are very few nuts in this dessert anyway.

Peabody mentioned that before she married her southern gent, what she knew about peach cobbler was just peaches, some kind of topping, then bake. But this has a kind of cake to it, and the peach slices slide down into it somewhat. I really liked the edges of the cake - a little bit crunchy, then with the smooth, moist cobber and peaches in the middle. I'd suggest each serving get a little bit of the edges (less peaches there).

Now, I must interject here, that I do like cinnamon. A lot, actually. But I'm very particular about what I use. No store bought for me. (You can, this is just picky me who thinks she knows a lot more about cinnamon than the average cook. I really may not know more, but I know what I like and don't like, that's all.) I buy my cinnamon from Penzey's. Have for years. Cassia cinnamon is what you usually find in the grocery stores. But I'll tell you, Penzey's cassia is one strong cinnamon. I use their Indonesian Korintje Cassia mostly. A few years ago I bought their Vietnamese cinnamon, which I believe Penzey's says is the highest quality and the "best." I didn't care for it at all. I also have Ceylon cinnamon from Penzey's too, which has citrus overtones, but is less strong tasting than cassia. In this cobbler I used the Indonesian Korintje Cassia because I knew the cinnamon taste would be a welcome highlight. If cinnamon is going to be a minor flavor, I use the Ceylon. Otherwise, it's the Korintje type. And because Penzey's cinnamon is so much stronger tasting than store-bought, I reduced the amount called for in the recipe - by about 1/5 I'd guess. If using regular cinnamon, just use the full tablespoon. Oh, and by the way, Penzey's does have some stores around the country. Mostly they're in the northeast, but there's now a store here in California, in Torrance. Thanks to my friend Cathy for that tidbit. Next time I'm driving that direction I'll definitely stop in there.

My recovering foot was so tired by the time I got this made I didn't take time to whip any heavy cream, so I just drizzled it with the heavy cream instead. It was fine. More than fine. Delicious, in fact. I'd make this again, no question.

Southern Peach Cobbler
Recipe: adapted a little from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (blog)
Servings: 8
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or less, to suit your taste)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups peaches -- peeled, sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar -- packed
1/4 cup chopped nuts -- pecans or walnuts
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place butter in an 8x8 pan and put into the oven until it's completely melted. If it happens to get brown (not burned, mind you) that's fine too. That takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven while you gather the other ingredients.
3. In a medium sized bowl combine the 3 T. of sugar and the cinnamon. Stir until they're thoroughly mixed. Then add: the one cup of sugar, flour, baking powder. Stir until combined, then add the milk. Stir until it's thoroughly mixed with no streaks of flour showing. Spoon the batter on top of the melted better but do NOT stir it in. Just scoop in and make it as even as possible.
4. Place the sliced peaches on top as evenly as possible.
5. Combine the brown sugar and nuts and sprinkle that over the top.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top turns a golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 363 Calories; 15g Fat (35.9% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 56g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 199mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a PDF recipe, click on title at top.

Peach-Raspberry Streusel Cake

We're on the home stretch with peaches these days. Now is the time to make or freeze any of those peach favorites before it's too late. I still have some sliced peaches in the freezer from LAST summer that didn't get made into peach ice cream, as I'd intended, until sometime soon.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Cherrie and I attended a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter. Tarla made mostly tapas, and certainly not traditional ones for sure. But the group always wants a touch of sweet at the end, so Tarla whipped up this very simple dessert. Very homey. Very comfort food. Very peachy. It's more cake than it is fruit, and it doesn't serve out into squares or shapes, so Tarla used a large scoop for it. She had forgotten the vanilla ice cream to serve with it, so we drizzled a bit of half and half on top. I'd recommend the ice cream. You can use any kind of stone fruit for this, but this one was peaches and raspberries. It was still warm, almost hot out of the oven. Delicious.

Peach-Raspberry Streusel Cake
Recipe: Tarla Fallgatter class
Serving Size : 10
STREUSEL:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour -- minus one tablespoon
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter -- cold, cut in small pieces
CAKE:
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter -- softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs
3/4 pound peaches -- ripe, but firm, halved, pitted, cut in 1/4 inch pieces (approx. 2 cups)
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 375. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, or an oval pan of a similar size. (Make sure there is sufficient room in the dish for all the cake and fruit - you don't want it to overflow in the oven.) Butter the pan.
2. STREUSEL: In a food processor combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add cold butter and pulse in until the butter pieces resemble small peas. Set aside.
3. CAKE: Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat butter and sugar in a food processor until creamy. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour and pulse just to combine. Gently fold in HALF of the fruit and HALF the raspberries into the batter and spread batter into the prepared pan. Distribute the remaining fruit evenly on top.
4. Sprinkle streusel over the fruit and bake until the cake springs back in the center when lightly pressed, about 45-50 minutes. Let cake cool in its pan on a rack. Serve warm with ice cream.
NOTES : This can be made with any stone fruit and different berries. Whatever is available in season.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 450 Calories; 24g Fat (46.9% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 55g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 128mg Cholesterol; 230mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 4 1/2 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click title at top.