Mango Cobbler with Double Pie Crust

I love mangoes. If you don't know that yet, then you do now.  Last year, I made a mango cobbler with a biscuit type topping.  This year, I've wanted to try a pie crust topping.  When a good friend's birthday happened last week, it was the perfect time. 

Do not attempt this with mangoes from the midwest in America.  You will be disappointed. This must only be made with mangoes fresh off the tree that drip liquid gold when you slice into them.  

Mango Cobbler with Double Pie Crust

 

For Crust: 

2 1/2 c. maida

3 T breakfast/castor sugar

1 t. salt

200 g. butter (keep it cold!)

1 egg

1/4 c. cold water

For the Filling: 

4-5 fresh mangoes, cubed

1 c. Mixed Fruit Juice (Tropicana is what I used)

100 g. butter

2 c. breakfast sugar

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1 T. cornstarch

1 T. white sugar

First, make the crust.  Measure the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl.  Cut the butter into small 1/4 inch cubes.  Add them to the flour mixture, and cut them in with a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.  Separately, mix the egg and cold water.  Pour it into the flour mixture, and with a fork, stir until it pulls into a ball.  You will need to chill this, preferably for at least 30 minutes, longer is better. It's super hot here right now, so taking it out to work with it on the counter heats it up fast.  The hotter it is, the more difficult it is to work with. I put it in the freezer to get it colder faster.  Just don't forget it's in there... or you won't be having Mango Cobbler tonight. : ) 

Meanwhile, Cut up your mangoes, and place them in a large sauce pan with the juice, the 100 g. butter (because there's just not enough in the crust), and cook until the butter is melted.  In a bowl, stir together two cups sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch.  Add it to the mango mixture.  Remove it from the heat.  

Now, take your pie crust out of the fridge and divide it into two pieces.  Roll out one piece big enough to cover your pan with some hanging over.  You can either make this in a normal pie dish, or a 9x13 pan.  A 9x13 pan will result in a shallower cobbler, and will use all the filling.  A pie dish will have a thicker cobbler, and will use half the filling (meaning you get to eat this again soon!)  I opted to save half the filling and make a pie. 

Line the bottom of your dish with your crust.  Pour in the filling.  (You can opt to bake the crust for a few minutes if you want.  I've done it both ways, and didn't notice much of a difference). 

If you want to make a pretty lattice top, go right ahead.  Start by googling for YouTube videos on how to do that. Because I have not mastered it yet.  : )  

I have just laid strips down one way across, and then another set of strips going the opposite direction.  Not quite as pretty as a lattice, but super tasty. Either way, crimp the edges to the bottom crust if possible, so the filling does not leak out. 

Sprinkle the 1 T. of sugar of the top crust and bake it for 40-50 minutes. 

Grab a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some warm cobbler, and dig in.  So delicious!

Adapted for South Asia from :  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/old-fashioned-peach-cobbler/

PW's Strawberry Sparkle Cake: SA Style

I love the Pioneer Woman.  I look at her blog weekly. I think almost every week, I'm trying a new recipe from her, and loving every single one.  On the fourth of July, I saw her post of the Strawberry Sparkle Cake... I didn't even read the post, because I saw the strawberry filling and knew there was no way I could pull it off... strawberries have been gone here for months.

But a few days later, on a whim, I went back and read the recipe.  And I had a stroke of genius. Strawberry crush.  Have you ever bought a crush?  I bought a bottle just out of curiosity a few weeks ago, and turns out, the strawberry crush has real whole strawberries and is really sweet and yummy.  It made the perfect filling for this cake!  It turned out great, except for the whipped cream frosting, which I didn't expect to work anyway.  The regular Amul cream is only 25% fat, and to properly whip cream, it needs to have at least 40% fat... anyone had success getting a heavy high fat cream for whipping? What's it called?!?

Head on over to Pioneer Woman for this recipe, grab a bottle of Strawberry crush, and make this yummy cake this week!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Mama Jantz style

These are the only chocolate chip cookies I remember my mom making when I was a kid.  I always thought they were so much better than ones I had elsewhere.  When she gave me the recipe, I realized why.  There is a secret ingredient that makes them extra soft and moist, and they NEVER dry out or get hard, at least, not before they're completely scarfed up by everyone. : )

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
200 g. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. castor sugar
1 package (small) Jello Instant Vanilla pudding
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts, optional

Mix flour with soda in a bowl and set aside.  Combine butter, sugars, jello mix, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Beat in eggs.  Gradually add flour mixture, then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  You want a stiff batter.  Drop by tablespoon fulls onto an ungreased baking sheet, about two inches apart.  Bake at 375/190 for 8-10 minutes.  Makes about 2 1/2-3 dozen.

I'm planning to toy around with making vanilla pudding powder from scratch, so if it's successful in this recipe, I'll post that as well, so you won't have to import anything for these!

Gooey Butter Cake

This is my husbands favorite dessert.  He's not a big fan of chocolate desserts (which are MY favorite!)  and so I like to make this for him.  This is one of the main reasons I was so excited when my import store here started carrying the Britannia cream cheese!  : )

Gooey Butter Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 c. milk powder (I use EveryDay by Nestle)
100 grams butter
2 beaten eggs

Melt the butter and drizzle in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.  Combine the dry ingredients and sprinkle over the butter.  Pour the beaten eggs in the pan and mix together with a fork until it's all moistened.  Mash it into the bottom of the pan as evenly as possible.

1 1/2 boxes of Britannia cream cheese
2 eggs
3 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

Combine and mix with a mixer.  Pour on top of cake mixtures.  Bake at 350F (175C) for 30 minutes. Don't over bake it, even if it doesn't look done!

Frozen Mango Dessert

I can't wait to try this!  It's from a friend living in Eastern Europe.  Her husband grew up in Africa and his mother used to make this for him. She says:


We can't get graham crackers so I just bought some British style butter cookies (they are called Petit Buerre here), crushed them in a food processor, and sauteed them with enough butter to bind into a thin crust that I could press in the bottom of the pan. It turned out pretty good.


Frozen Mango Dessert


2 mangoes (for an 8 inch baking dish) or 3 mangoes (for a 9x13 dish)
3/4 cup sugar (1 cup if you use 3 mangoes)
1 egg white
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup chilled whipping cream

Cut the mangoes up and process them in a blender or a food processor. Add the sugar, egg white and lemon juice, and blend for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. In a chilled bowl, beat cream until stiff: fold mango mixture into cream. Pour into a baking dish. Cover and freeze until firm.

My container of whipping cream had about twice as much as I needed, so I just added a layer of plain whipped cream on top. My kids are crazy about whipped cream. The whole family really liked it.

Enjoy!


Megan's Notes: I made this yesterday, and it is really tasty! I used the pie crust recipe on the cheesecake recipe, only all hobnobs, no gingernut cookies.  One thing to be aware of is that in my freezer at least, it was not frozen after six hours! I made it in the afternoon and had it in the freezer by 2:30.  At 8:30 when we pulled it out to eat it, it was still very jello-ish and not frozen at all.  This morning, it was frozen stiff and was perfect for cutting into.  So plan far enough ahead! : )

Key Lime Pie

From RachelR:

My brother made this for me when we were on STAS.  It was great.  You can get all the ingredients locally, so that is a definite bonus!  And those little lime/lemon things are going to be everywhere soon.

 

This is a Paula Deen recipe.  I’m giving the recipe as is, and then below I’ll tell you a few things I usually do differently.

 

Ingredients:

 

Crust

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1-1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (or Hob Nob crumbs...I don’t recommend Marie Gold b/c they don’t stick together very well)

1/2 cup slivered almonds (or chopped almonds...I usually toast these for a few minutes, but they will also get a little toasted when you bake the crust)

 

Filling

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (this is one 400 g can of Milk Maid sweetened condensed milk)

1/2 cup Key lime juice

2 teaspoons grated lime zest

2 eggs, separated

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (for meringue)

1/4 cup sugar (for meringue)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, combine ingredients and pat down into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the milk, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon zest; blend in the egg yolks. Pour the filling into the crust.
For the meringue, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar and remaining teaspoon zest until the mixture is stiff. Spread the meringue over the filling; spread it to touch the edge of the crust all around. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown.


The key lime pie should be chilled before serving, and it is best after it sits for a day (or overnight).  A great summer dessert!

Chocolate Pudding

Here's a microwave pudding recipe from DebbieM!

Quick Chocolate pudding (for the microwave) (from Allrecipes)

1/2 c. castor sugar/bura

1/3 c. cocoa powder

3 T. cornstarch

2 c. milk

2 t. vanilla extract

1 T. butter

Chopped chocolate bar (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch.  Whisk in milk a little at a time so the mixture does not have any dry lumps.  

Place in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high.  Stir, then cook at 1 minutes intervals (important!), stirring between cooking times for 2-4 minutes, or until shiny and thick.  Stir in vanilla and butter.  If you want a little more richness, add a chopped chocolate bar. 

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming, and chill in the refrigerator.  Or, if you like warm pudding, eat it right away!  4 servings.

Walmart-like Sugar Cookies

Here's a recipe from a new contributor, Julie M!  Welcome, Julie!  I'm excited about this recipe for sure! I just can't resist those soft buttery sugar cookies at Walmart. :) This recipe makes an estimated 5 1/2 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies.  So beware. :)

Cookies:
2 c. butter, softened (or 500 grams)
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. sour cream  (or fresh cream, heavy cream)
1 T. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract
6 c.  flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Preheat oven to 215C. Cream butter and  sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, sour cream, vanilla and almond extract. Beat very well till mixture is light and fluffy. 

Mix all dry ingredients together in separate bowl.  Slowly blend dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. Only mix until blended, do not over blend.  You can either refrigerate overnight and then roll out and cut. Or, you can just drop by cookie scoop onto cookie sheet. 

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes until just barely tan around the edges. 

Julie says, "I rolled out the cookies w/o refrigerating and it worked out fine. If you want a sturdier cookie, then add a bit more flour. The trick is to not over-bake them. In my oven it only took about 4 minutes to bake. :) The second time I made these cookies, I did refrigerate them first for an hour or so before rolling out, and I thought it made the outside of the cookies more like the bakery sugar cookies. :)  Also, I think that the almond extract in both the cookie dough and the frosting is the key to making them taste like the bakery ones.  I also used butter paper  (same as parchment paper) on my cookie trays while baking and I think it helped them bake more evenly. Oh, one more thing, so the bakery sugar cookies are pretty thick, so I rolled them out to about 1/3- 1/2 inch thick."

Frosting: 

about 1/2 c. shortening  (or vanaspati or butter)

500 g icing sugar

about 1/4 cup fresh cream

1 t. vanilla flavoring

1 t. almond flavoring

Cream shortening and 1/2 of sugar together, add in rest of sugar, cream and flavorings. Cream till light and fluffy. Add food coloring if desired.

Chocolate Cobbler

This is a nice dessert...kind of like a lava cake. And so easy to make. No eggs or butter needed, and you can serve to your vegetarian friends. This makes a spongy chocolate cake and forms a chocolate sauce underneath. The only ingredient you can't get here is brown sugar, but since Megan has figured out how to make that, you should be good to go!

Ingredients:
1 c. self-rising flour (or place 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 1 c.)
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. plus 1/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 c. milk
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups hot water
vanilla ice cream, optional (but I'd highly recommend it)

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and 2 Tbsp. cocoa. Stir in milk and oil until smooth. Pour into a greased 8 in. square baking pan. Combine the brown sugar and remaining cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Do not stir this together. Pour hot water over the top. Again, don't stir! Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until top of cake springs back when lightly touched. (I usually cook mine for about 40 min. The cake might seem done before that, but if you take it out too early, the sauce on the bottom will be way too thin. YOu want it to get a little thick, like hot fudge sauce.) Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Bars

A favorite in our house, for a husband who doesn't always love all things chocolate...

Banana Chocolate Chip Bars
3/4 c. butter, softened (150 g.)
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
1 c. mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)
1 t. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 c. chopped walnuts, optional

Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan, or thereabouts. (I have one that came with my oven that's deep enough that fills the oven, like a jelly roll pan that works).In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Beat until combined.  Beat in egg, bananas and vanilla.   Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour.  Stir in the chocolate pieces and, if you want, nuts.

Spread in the prepared baking pan.  Bake in a 170 degree oven about 20 minutes or until golden on top.  Cool on a wire rack, and cut into bars.

These are not really firm bars, more of a cake-like consistency.  Best straight out of the oven. :) 

Cake Decorating Basics

I am by NO means an expert at this, and there are lots of websites and resources out there with all kinds of instructions and tips for making beautiful flawless cakes. But I thought I'd share what I've learned in the last couple of years anyway. :)

I started with a basic kit of supplies:

-Three Wilton piping bags, one extra large

-Two straight line tips in different sizes

-Two star tips in different sizes

-A grass tip

-Some kind of a wide flat attachment to the extra large bag for piping wide flat lines of frosting onto your cake to spread out as the base frosting layer

-Wilton food coloring box of 8 colors

-Frosting spatula

Preparing your cakes:

-When your cakes have cooled, the first thing I do is look at the tops. Usually they're uneven. This is due to my oven being uneven, or my counter top. Who knows. :) I usually take a long bread knife and get at eye level with the top of the cake, and then slowly shave off a little bit at a time until it looks more level with the edges all the way around.

-Then I place one cake on the serving platter, bottom down. Next, I put about two cups of frosting on that cake, and smooth it out with the frosting spatula. If my cake is still a little high in the middle, this means that I'll work hard to distribute the frosting to where it's thicker on the outside and thinner in the middle, in an attempt to level it out again.

-Next, I place the second cake, top down, on top of the frosting. I want the bottom on top so there is a nice smooth edge to the top of the cake. I'm not sure if you're "supposed" to do this, but it always works well for me. I pretty firmly but evenly push on the cake top to mash the frosting out to the edges evenly. If you don't get the frosting to fill in the full gap between the edges of the cake, it will sag and then the middle will be much higher than the edges. Add some frosting and fill it in if you need to.

Once you've got the cake stacked:

Brush the top and sides with your fingers lightly to remove any loose crumbs. You don't want them getting stuck in your frosting.(If they do anyway, you can pry them out with a toothpick). I put about 2 cups again of frosting on top of the cake. With the spatula, I smooth it out to the edges. You want to hold the spatula or knife at an angle and either push or pull the frosting so it's moving evenly and smoothing out. If you end up with too much on top, just push it down the side. Once the top is smooth and even, add some more to the sides if necessary. Take a glob (about 2 T?) and stick it to the side. Then hold the spatula, handle up, at an angle and pull it toward you as you turn the platter or cake base. This takes some practice. If the frosting is getting dry and difficult to smooth, grab a bowl of water and dip your spatula or knife into the water and start again. Keep dipping in water and scraping off the excess frosting on the edge of the bowl.

-If you're doing a design on the cake, I always take a tooth pick and kind of sketch it into the first layer of frosting, then pipe the border, then fill it in.

-Once you're done frosting, for a nice finished look, take a paper towel and fold it into a sharp point, and run it around the platter to pick up any frosting spills, make it clean, and give a nice edge to the bottom of the cake.

Classic Birthday Cake

This week was Kiryn's birthday, and I had such a fun time making this cake for her! Here's a classic white cake recipe that makes one 9x13 or two 9 inch round cakes.

Classic Birthday Cake

2 ¾ c. all-purpose flour

1 T. baking powder

¼ t. salt

12 T. (or 1 1/2 sticks, 150 grams) butter, at room temperature

1 ¾ c. granulated sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 t. vanilla extract

1 ¼ c. buttermilk

Preheat an oven to 350˚. Lightly butter the bottoms of two 9 by 2 inch round cake pans and sprinkle with flour. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended. Set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. (If you forgot to set out your butter like I always do, just pop it in the microwave for a minute or two until it just barely starts to melt). Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until well blended and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour, beating with each addition. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and spread it out evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake pan comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a small knife around the inside of each pan to loosen the cakes. Invert onto the rack and lift off the pans. Let the cake layers cool completely before frosting.

Guava Ice Cream Cups

Being inspired by the Masterchef finale last week, I bought some guavas at the market. They're in season right now and so cheap, about Rs. 25/kg. I've got a few things I want to try, but this was a quick dessert we had tonight...

Guava Ice Cream Cups

1 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

2 t. lemon juice

2 guavas

2 t. cornflour

Red food coloring

Vanilla Ice cream

Boil the water, sugar, and 1 t. of lemon juice. Cut the guavas in half and scoop out the seeds, making a bowl in the center. Place the guavas cut side down into the boiling water. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the guava is tender and easily cut through. Remove the guava halves and chill them in the fridge.

Keep the water on the gas. Remove 1 T. of the water and dissolve the corn flour in it. Add the mixture back to the water, and add remaining lemon juice. Whisk until it forms a clear thick syrup that will coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and add a bit of red food coloring, stirring to combine.

Place ice cream in the bowl of the guava and top with syrup.

Here's my husband feigning pretentiousness due to his sweater vest and eating a dessert like this out of a crystal bowl. :) We all really enjoyed it!

Double Chocolate Chews

This is like food therapy. Cookie love. Chocolate heaven. Just be warned: you'll want to eat the whole batch by yourself. They are not for the fainthearted. This is not an easy cookie recipe...

Double Chocolate Chews

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. sifted powdered sugar

1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa

2 1/4 t. baking powder

1/8 t. salt

1 c. semisweet chocolate pieces, chopped into 1/4 inch squares(like Bournville bars) (or mini chocolate chips)

3 T. vegetable oil

1 c. packed brown sugar

2 1/2 T. light colored corn syrup or golden syrup, or honey

1 T. water

2 1/2 t. vanilla extract

3 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 175C.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

3. Combine 3/4 c. chocolate morsels and oil in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Pour melted chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and cool 5 minutes. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, water, vanilla and egg whites to chocolate mixture; stir well. Stir in flour mixture and 1/4 c. chocolate morsels.

4. Drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 175C for 8 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 minutes or until firm. Remove cooies from pans; cool on wire racks. Yield 4 dozen. (Is it just me, or do cookie recipes never make as much as they say they do??)

The Disappearing Cheesecake

So remember when I said I found the new local cream cheese, and it was so good I'd make a cheesecake with it? I did.

And it was so so delicious. I mean, it was the real deal. 16 slices disappeared in 24 hours. Here is what I did, because it is so easy to reproduce.

Crust:

1 c. crumbed Gingernut cookies

1 c. crumbed HobNob cookies

1/4 c. breakfast or castor sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

Filling:

1 kg cream cheese, room temperature (that's 5 1/2 boxes of the Britannia Cream Cheese)

1 c. breakfast sugar

3 T. flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 c. Amul cream

1 T. lemon zest (this made a fairly strong lemon flavor, use less if you want)

1 t. vanilla extract

Topping:

1 c. sour cream (or 1 T. vinegar mixed with 1 c. Amul cream)

2 T. breakfast sugar

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Place pan on a larger baking sheet to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 177C. with rack in center of oven.

Crust: In a medium sized bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling: In a large bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar and flour. Beat on medium speed (I did this with a hand blender) until smooth (about 2 minutes, DO NOT OVERBEAT!), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 120C and continue to bake about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside of the pan to loosen the cheesecake. This helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools.

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.

Tips: Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks. To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar.

Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake. The cheesecake is done when it is firm, but the middle may still look a little wet. Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools.

Only slightly adapted from www.joyofbaking.com

Caramel Almond Popcorn

Caramel Almond Popcorn

1 cup (2 sticks, 250g) butter, plus more for pans

3/4 cup corn kernels

2 1/2 tablespoons oil

2 cups almonds, lightly toasted

2 cups packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup or Golden Syrup (last year I tried this with liquid glucose and it worked pretty well)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I omit this... do NOT use almond flavor from India. Way too strong!) :)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Butter 2 baking sheets; set aside.

Place corn kernels and oil in large pot, partially covered, over medium heat. Once popping begins, shake pan frequently; when popping slows down, about 3 seconds between pops, remove pan from heat and uncover. Transfer popped corn to a large bowl; add almonds. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup over medium-high heat; stir to dissolve sugar and melt butter. Cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches 255 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove pan from heat; stir in extracts, salt, and baking soda. Working quickly, pour over popcorn and almonds; toss with wooden spoons while rotating the bowl. When completely coated, divide evenly between prepared baking sheets. Bake, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour and 20 minutes; popcorn will crisp when cooled. (I don't usually bake it this long... just watch it and keep tasting it until it tastes crunchy and just right.

Chocolate Bon-Bons/Oreo Truffles

This is a seriously simple recipe for chocolate bon-bons. Also, recently I asked my shop keeper for wax paper. He didn't know what I was talking about of course, but when I described it, he said, "Oh, that's butter paper." I bought a few sheets, and it's not exactly like wax paper, but it functions the same way for baking and candies, etc. So, ask for it next time you're at the shop! :)

Chocolate Bon Bons

1 box of oreo cookies/3 rolls here

8 oz. box cream cheese softened (or 11/2 tubs of Britannia cream cheese)

2 c. chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars, milk, dark, whatever you want

2 T. plus 2 t. shortening/vanaspati

White chocolate for drizzle, optional

In a food processor, combine oreos and cream cheese. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place chocolate and vanaspati in a large bowl that will fit over another bowl. Place warm water in the second bowl, and place the first bowl in the warm water. Stir the chocolate and shortening with a rubber spatula continuously , allowing the water underneath to melt it. If the water cols off, replace it with warm water. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Using a fork, lift each ball, dip it in the chocolate mixture, then place on butter paper to cool. Drizzle with the white melted chocolate if desired.

Peppernuts!

This is a Jantz family tradition. My grandmother, Dorothy, used to make these every year. My mother made them as well, and now that I'm in charge of the Christmas baking, I'm making them too. I've never had them anywhere but at my house! :)

Peppernuts

1/2 c. butter

2 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 t. baking soda (dissolved in 1 1/2 t. hot water)

2 1/2-3 c. flour

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. mace

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. anise extract

1/2 c. finely chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add soda and water. Stir in dry ingredients. Chill dough. (Can be kept up to two weeks) Roll into 3/8” snakes. Flour board as needed. Slice thinly and bake on a cookie sheet at 350˚ for about 8 minutes.

Thanksgiving Preparations, Day 3

Wow! This has been a full day! I couldn't have done all this without the help of my wonderful husband. I've hosted Thanksgiving before, but I've never done everything on my own, and I think I just wanted to see if I could do it. So far so good, but I'm not sure I'll do this again next year! :)

What I did today:

-Pecan Pie (http://www.joyofbaking.com/pecanpie.html)

-Pumpkin Pie(http://www.joyofbaking.com/pumpkinpie.html)

-Dressing

-Iced Tea

-Whipped Cream (by hand for the first time ever! I'm so excited!)

-Au Gratin Potatoes(recipe below)

-Crust for apple tart

-Cream soup base for green bean casserole

So here's one thing I learned today. :) Okay, two. Cream can be whipped by hand and it tastes gooood. :) I added a little sugar and vanilla, and whipped for 20 minutes. I thought my arm was going to die! But I did it, and it's chillin in the fridge right now. So excited...

Second thing. I made the equivalent of seven cans of pumpkin puree today as well. I was getting ready to make the pumpkin pie, and thankfully read on the Joy of Baking website that if you're using fresh pumpkin puree, it's best to strain it through a cheese cloth before using it. Otherwise your crust can get soggy. So, in the cheese cloth it went. I put 3 1/2 cups of my puree in the strainer, and after three hours when it finally stopped dripping, there was just barely two cups left! I couldn't believe how much water came out!!! Anyway, one other little tip I got from that website. To help prevent a soggy crust, they suggested crumbing some gingersnap cookies and pressing them into the crust before pouring the pumpkin filling in. What a great idea! I happened to have some of those McVities Ginger cookies in my pantry, so I crumbed them up and pressed them in the crust. I'll let you know tomorrow how it tasted. It sure does looks beautiful!

Megan's Au Gratin Potatoes

1. 5 kg potatoes, peeled, and thinly sliced

3 T. butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 c. milk

1/4 c. flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

pinch of thyme

pinch of paprika

3/4 c. gouda

1/2 c. cheddar

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the sliced potatoes in and cook for about five minutes. You just want to start them getting soft, but not cook them all the way through. They should still have a bite to them. Strain the water off and set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and saute till browned.

3. Dissolve the flour in the milk. (If you want to substitute 1/4 c. of cream for 1/4 c. of the milk, that'd be fine!) Add this to the saucepan and cook, stirring continuously.

4. Add salt, pepper, and thyme. Continue stirring until the sauce becomes thick and bubbly. Then remove from heat, stir in paprika, and 1/4 c. gouda and 1/4 c. cheddar.

5. Combine the potatoes and the cheese sauce. Place half of the potato mixture in a large casserole dish. Layer 1/4 c. gouda and 1/4 c. cheddar on top of that. Place remaining potatoes on top, and top with remaining gouda cheese, a sprinkle of paprika, and some fresh chopped parsley, if you like.

6. Bake at 180 for 15-20 minutes. Cover if the cheese is starting to brown too much.

Chocolate Cobbler

This is awesome. If you like chocolate, you'll love this. It is like a cake that makes it's own fudge sauce at the bottom of the pan. It is AWESOME with vanilla ice cream. I always have all the ingredients on hand, too, so that makes it even better!

1 cup self rising flour (or 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a measuring cup, then add maida to measure 1 cup)
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. plus 1/4 c. baking cocoa, divided
1/2 c. milk
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. brown sugar
1 3/4 c. hot water
vanilla ice cream, optional

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and 2 Tbsp. cocoa. Stir in milk and oil until smooth. pour into a greased 8-in. square baking pan. Combine the brown sugar and remaining cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Pour hot water over top (do not stir). Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until top of cake springs back when lightly touched. (It's important to let it cook long enough, or else your sauce will be watery!) Serve warm with ice cream if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings.