Posts from the ‘Fruit Desserts’ Category

Aug 29

A Lattice Aprium Tart For Fiesta Friday #31

Aprium tart

What is an aprium, I asked myself that when I saw them at the market. Well, an aprium is a hybrid fruit that is a cross between an apricot and a plum, hence the name apri (apricot) um (plum). They are quite delicious, the skin is a little fuzzy like an apricot and the flesh is juicy and sweet like a plum. I read that the taste and texture can vary, they can be more apricot than plum and vice versa. The apriums I bought were more plum than apricot I think, but were really quite delicious. I bought a lot of them and ate what I could raw or au naturale and decided to use the rest to make a tart. I missed last weeks party for Fiesta Friday, i was sick and completely lost my sense of taste so I didn’t cook. My offering for this weeks party is an aprium tart.

Fiesta Friday is hosted by Angie@The Novice Gardener who like me has been sick, feel better Angie your Crostini/bruschetta are gorgeous. Thanks for hosting, you rock!!

Julia Childs Pie Dough Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

6 oz cold butter cut into cubes

4 oz shortening or leaf lard

1/2 cup ice water

Whisk salt and flour together, add the butter and shortening or lard, using your hands or pastry cutter work into the flour until it resembles crumbs with pieces of the butter the size of peas.Alternately you could use your food processor pulsing it. Add the water and mix with a fork until combined. Don’t over work. Gather it with your hands, divide into two discs and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate overnight or for at least an hour.

The fruit:

2 1/2 cups sliced apriums skin on

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything together and set aside.

Unbaked lattice top

I used a rectangular tart pan, pressed the dough into the pan rather than rolling it. You can do either. After the dough is in the tart pan place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. While the dough is in the freezer preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. Roll the remaining dough into a thin round or rectangle and cut strips approximately 1/2 inch wide. Spoon fruit into cold tart shell and start making the lattice, lay strips about 2-3 inches apart diagonally snipping the ends that over hang, Lay more strips going the opposite way so they cross each other, brush each strip with egg wash and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

tart

I like to serve warm with some heavy cream, creme fraiche, whipped cream or ice cream. I guess you can tell I like a little cream with my pie/tart. Enjoy!!

ready to serve

Fiesta Friday

Aug 15

142 Comments

Peach Hand pies With Buttermilk Molasses Glaze For Fiesta Friday #29

Little peach pies

This week for the party I decided to bring dessert, you can never have too much pie IMHO. I got some O’Henry Peaches from Food52 via Frog Hollow Farm, they were expensive but I was intrigued having never heard of O’Henry Peaches and wondered how they taste in comparison to the peaches I get at the green market. Well, let me tell you they are pretty amazing, luscious, tart sweet, juicy, I could go on and on. I don’t think I have had a peach that good since I had some Georgia peaches years ago. So enough about the O’Henry’s, these little pies are pretty special not just because of the peaches. The pie crust is Julia Childs master recipe that never fails me, it’s buttery and flaky and delicious. I thought it would be nice to add a glaze or drizzle to the pies, I found this wonderful full fat farm fresh buttermilk and wondered how that would be as part of the glaze with some molasses. The glaze is wonderful, simply mixed buttermilk, molasses and powdered sugar and drizzled on top of the still warm pies. The glaze is a little tangy, has some depth from the molasses and is great with the peach pie.

As always the main event is hosted by Angie@The Novice Gardener and this weeks co-hostesses are Selma@Selma’s Table love selma and her great blog and Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook (she is really very creative). Hope you all enjoy!!

Julia Childs Pie Dough Recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

6 oz cold butter cut into cubes

4 tbs cold vegetable shortening or leaf lard

1/2 cup ice water

Hand pie

Peaches

2 cups sliced peeled peaches

pinch of cinnamon

3-4 tbs flour (depends on how juicy the peaches are)

1/4-1/2 cup organic brown sugar (I went light on the sugar using only 1/4 cup)

Combine everything in bowl and set aside.

Assembling:

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough quite thin, it should be thick enough that it doesn’t break but try to roll as thin as you can. Cut into rounds and lay on parchment lined baking sheet. Make an egg wash with beaten egg and milk or water. Brush some of the egg wash on the edges of one of the rounds, put a heaping tbs in the middle and place another round on top. Gently press edges together and crimp with a fork that you dip in some flour. Repeat. Cut vent in the top of each pie, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking then bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for about 10 or 15 minutes on a rack then drizzle some of the glaze on top. I like to serve warm.

Buttermilk molasses glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp molasses

3-4 tbs cultured full fat buttermilk (if you can find) If not regular low fat works just as well

In small mixing bowl add the powdered sugar, mix the molasses and buttermilk add by the tbs until the glaze is thick and a drizzling consistency.

Flaky pastry tart sweet peaches

Fiesta Friday

Aug 1

170 Comments

Champagne Grape Galette With Whipped Goat Cheese For Fiesta Friday #27

Just out of the oven

I love champagne or corinth grapes and look forward to their appearance every year, these are not the grapes used to make champagne and I am not sure why they are called that, but I do know that I really like them. They are so tiny, sweet/tart and bursting with flavor. I eat them au naturale most of the time but also try to come up with recipes using them. One year I made a syrup with the grapes and mosto cotto syrup for a buttermilk panna cotta. This year I decided to try them in a tart or galette. I love the way it turned out, the grapes retain their shape and texture after being baked. I used very little sugar only 1/4 cup of organic brown sugar and some lemon both the zest and juice . The combination is wonderful. I serve with a chai honey goat cheese/whipped cream combo.

I made this galette for Fiesta Friday, I hope everyone likes it. Angie @ the novice gardener really knows how to throw a party and always has amazing co hosts and this week is no different we love our dynamic Aussie duo Saucy @Saucy Gander and Margot@Gather and Graze. Thank you both for hosting this shindig. Did someone mention Dame Edna, now this will be fun!!

Ready to roll

GaletteDough

Recipe from Baking with Julia

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup ice water

3 tbs sour cream

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

In mixing bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and using your hands or a pastry cutter work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles crumbs. Whisk the sour cream into the ice water and add to the flour and butter mixture, mix with a fork to combine. Press into a cohesive dough, it will be a bit sticky, thats alright it’s supposed to be. Divide into two equal pieces, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Folding

The grapes and assembly

2 cups champagne grapes removed from stems

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

2 1/2 tbs flour

zest and juice from 1/2 lemon

pinch of sea salt

1 egg beaten with cream for egg wash

course sugar for sprinkling on dough

butter to dot on fruit before baking

Optional but recommended is to add a little lemon zest on top of the grapes before baking.

Roll out one disc of dough on surface dusted generously with flour, you want it thin but not so thin that it is hard to work with. Roll into a rough circle. Mix fruit with flour, salt, sugar, lemon zest and juice, stir gently to combine. Place the dough round on a parchment lined sheet pan, spoon the fruit in the middle of the dough, dot with butter and gently fold the dough around the fruit. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. While in the freezer heat your oven to 400 degrees. Take straight from the freezer to the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until nicely browned and fruit is bubbly.

Ready for the freezer

Whipped goat cheese and cream

2 oz goat cheese softened at room temperature

1/2 cup very cold heavy cream

1 tbs honey (I used chai honey from Calmer Sutra) If you don’t have then use regular honey

1 tbs brown or white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the goat cheese until smooth, add the heavy cream, honey, brown sugar and vanilla and beat until thick and creamy. Note: Add more or less sugar to suite your taste.

Whipped goat cheese and cream

Seriously Good

Fiesta Friday

Jul 19

80 Comments

Gluten Free Cherry Crisp

cup of crisp

Crisps or Cobblers or buckles or whatever you want to make are a really simple and delicious way to enjoy summer fruit or berries. I have been wanting to try working with some different flours other than wheat and bought some barley flour. This crisp is so simple and quick to make and I must say the crumble or crisp part is wonderful, I used oats, barley flour, almond flour, butter and organic brown sugar. I bought already pitted and preserved sour cherries, I don’t have a cherry pitter. It took almost no time at all to put this together and I had it for breakfast this morning, don’t judge, think about it, grains, fruit, why not? It would also make a smashing dessert!! I’m also very excited that this is my 300th post!!

Crisp or Crumble

1 stick salted butter softened

1 cup oats (I used Bobs Red Mill, certified GF)

1/2 cup barley flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

Mix until it’s all incorporated and set aside.

The cherries and make the crisp:

1 quart cherries (I used sour)

Scant 1/2 cup brown sugar (If using sweet cherries only use 1/4 cup)

2 tbs tapioca starch

pinch of sea salt

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cherries, tapioca, sugar and salt together and pour into baking dish. I used a rectangular approximately 8×11. Distribute the crumble topping on the cherries, sprinkle with a little course brown sugar (like demerara or Hains organic brown. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until crumble topping is browned and the fruit is bubbly.

I like to serve with a little heavy cream poured on while it’s hot.

Jul 11

117 Comments

Black Forest Cake In A Jar For Fiesta Friday #24

Black Forest Cake

It has been years since I’ve had Black Forest Cake, it’s so wonderful I really don’t know why I haven’t made one in such a long time. Honestly, you don’t hear them mentioned very much anymore. A Black Forest Cake is chocolate cake, cherries and whipped cream, pretty simple really, decorate with chocolate shavings and you have a wonderfully delicious cake. In the US and some other parts of the world the cake does not contain alcohol but in Germany they use Kirschenwasser or Kirsch a fruit (sour cherry) liquor, I happened to have some on hand so I macerated the cherries in some Kirsch and sugar. I thought it would be fun to make individual cakes in jars for the party, they are portable and neat. The cake is a chocolate sponge cake, the cake will hold up well with the moist cherries and whipped cream. I didn’t have sour cherries but did have some beautiful Rainier cherries so I used those and whipped cream of course. Very simple and very delicious.

Fiesta Friday #24 is hosted by Angie@The Novice Gardener and just a little shout out you have to see what she brought, AMAZING and so creative. This week is pretty special because we have three wonderful co hosts Indu @Indu’s International Kitchen, Selma @Selma’s Table, and HHilda @Along The Grapevine. I really love FF not only is there an amazing array of delicious food but the company is stellar, I don’t know about you but I love getting to know my fellow bloggers and what is happening in their kitchens and lives, its great to see what they are up to and get idea’s for my next meal. A really big thank you to Angie for making all this possible.

Cherries,cake and whipped cream in every bite

Black Forest Cake In A Jar

Makes about a dozen (depending on the size of your jar)

Cherries:

2 cups pitted cherries sliced in half

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup kirsch

Combine the cherries, sugar and kirsch, give them a little bit of a mash to help them along, gently. Refrigerate covered for about 2 hours.

The Cake:

1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Note: I find the amount of batter varies every time I make this, I never like to fill the pan to the rim, it’s better to leave a small space so the cake can rise. If you have leftover batter make a few cupcakes.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Place milk and butter in glass measuring cup and microwave for 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Using stand mixer with wire whisk or electric mixer whip the eggs and sugar on med/high for approximately 8 minutes or until the mixture is pale yellow, tripled in volume and thick, with the machine running slowly add the heated milk and buter. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Fold into the egg mixture, there should be no lumps. Fold in the vanilla. Grease a 1/2 sheet pan, lay parchment sheet and grease the parchment, and sprinkle with sugar. Pour batter into the pan, spread so that it is evenly distributed and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan run a knife around the edges to loosen then invert onto wire rack, remove parchment and let cool completely.

Assembling:

This makes about a dozen small jars, I used a weck small tulip jar you can use whatever you have, mix and match.

Make your whipped cream. You will need approximately 1 pint of very cold heavy cream. Pour into cold bowl and whip with hand held or stand mixer until it thickens, add some sugar (to taste) and instead of vanilla I used some of the syrup from the cherries, about 2 tsp. If you use vanilla add 2 tsp. Whip until thick and billowy.

Break off small pieces of the cake and place in the bottom of each jar, spoon some of the cherries and the juice on the cake, add a dollop of whipped cream and repeat. End with whipped cream on top, add some chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

mmmmm…

Fiesta Friday

Jun 28

67 Comments

Yogurt And Fruit Popsicles With A Hint Of Elderflower And A Supermarket Find

Popsicles

A few years ago I went to a friends house for brunch, she served the most delicious fruit salad, it was on my mind the other day, the salad was comprised of primarily dark fruits, blackberries, red grapes and blueberries, the fruit macerated in brown sugar and when the sugar is dissolved and the fruit has given off some of its juices you add creme fraiche or sour cream. This is a delicious fruit salad and has always been one of my favorites. I thought it would be wonderful frozen. No real recipe is needed for this, you can make according to taste adding the amount of sugar and optional elderflower you like.

Belvoir beverages

I went to the supermarket the other day to pick up a few items and I’m always on the lookout for something that catches my eye, might be a tad bit unusual and has to potential to be delicious. I was immediately drawn to these little bottles, the flavors are unusual and I of course had to buy each flavor available. I used the elderflower water in the popsicles and will soon try the others. I am particularly intrigued by the elderflower rose, I love that these are really pushing the limits of the average tastebuds and catering to people who might like something different. The good people at Belvoir have no idea I am blogging about their product and I am simply passing on what I think is a great product worth trying if you happen to see it.

The Popsicle

1 cup blackberries

1 cup blueberries

1 cup red seedless grapes

1 blood plum peeled and diced

2 tbs organic sugar

2 tbs demerara or brown sugar

3 tbs elderflower water ( I found this in the store but you can make your own) OPTIONAL

1 cup yogurt (I used vanilla full fat yogurt, gently sweetened.

Mix fruit and sugars in a bowl and allow to macerate in the refrigerator for 2 hours, spoon fruit in popsicle mold, mix yogurt with fruit juices and pour over fruit into mold. Freeze overnight.

May 9

102 Comments

Cherry Ginger Hand Pies

Cherry Ginger Handpie

I am so excited, this is my first submission for Fiesta Fridays, the very fun and creative brain child of Angie from The Novice Gardener. I thought it would be fun to bring dessert to the party/fiesta, who doesn’t love dessert and cherry pie is one of my favorites. I had some preserved sour cherries that I got last summer and since this is a fiesta I decided to give them a little kick by adding some spicy ginger. It’s a delicious combination. Imagine flaky buttery pie crust with tart/sweet cherries with a kick. Serve warm with some ice cream.

I used my go to pie crust recipe from Julia Child, it never fails me, I love making hand pie’s not only are they cute but there is built in portion control, So dust off your tiara and feather boa and join the party!

Julia Childs Pastry Dough

Makes enough dough for a double crust 9 inch pie

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour

1 tsp salt

6 oz cold unsalted butter cut into tbs size pieces

4 tbs shortening or leaf lard cold

1/2 cup ice cold water

You can make this either by hand or in the food processor. To make by hand, put flours, salt, butter, lard or shortening into mixing bowl, use pastry cutter to combine until it resembles pea size crumbs. Add water mix with fork, gather with your hands, divide dough into a 2 discs and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

In Food Processor, add the flours, salt, butter and shortening or lard into the bowl of the processor. Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles pea size crumbs. Add the water and pulse a few times until it becomes a cohesive dough. Divide dough into two discs and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cherry Pie Filling

1 quart cherries (I used sour cherries)

1 – 1 1/2 cup sugar (according to taste, you determine how sweet you like it)

1 – 1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (depends on how assertive you want your ginger to be, add 1 tsp then taste)

1/4 cup water or juice

Place everything in sauce pan, bring to boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. If your cherries don’t thicken enough make a slurry with a tsp or two of corn or tapioca starch and a splash of water and add to the cherries while cooking.

Making the pies

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment.

Roll your pie dough into a thin sheet and using a biscuit cutter or glass cut out rounds, you can make them whatever shape you like of course, square, rectangular or even a triangle. Place some of the cooled filling in the middle, brush the edge of the round with egg wash and place another round on top, crimp, brush top with egg wash or cream, sprinkle with sugar and cut a vent in the middle, continue until all the dough is used and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack, serve warm with ice cream or heavy cream.

Apr 7

104 Comments

Coconut Pineapple Layer Cake

Coconut on the cake

I guess you could call this a pina colada cake or a pineapple coconut layer cake, yellow cake, pineapple filling and a coconut whipped cream frosting generously covered in flaked coconut. I use my Tender Yellow Cake recipe, adapted James McNair’s whipped cream frosting and made a simple pineapple filling using crushed pineapple. I have been making this cake for years and it’s requested all the time.

The Yellow cake is a very old recipe penned by my Mom after years of research and IMHO it’s the best yellow cake ever. Tender, fine crumb and very moist. It contains vegetable oil, not butter and the egg whites are separated and whipped making this cake light and it has a great rise. Click here for the recipe, I have published it several times.

Unflrosted

Pineapple filling

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, unsweetened in it’s own juice (or use fresh pineapple if you prefer)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1 tsp lemon zest

pinch of salt

1 tbs butter

Place contents of the can of pineapple in a medium saucepan, add the sugar, cornstarch,lemon zest and salt and whisk or mix to combine making sure there are no lumps.

Turn heat to medium high and cook stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, add the butter and stir until it’s melted. Spoon into heat proof bowl, cover with plastic wrap that sits directly on the mixture. Let come to room temperature and then refrigerate until completely cooled or over night.

Coconut Whipped Cream Frosting

adapted from James McNair’s whipped cream frosting

1/2 cup full fat coconut milk

3 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup + 1 tbs powdered sugar

1 1/2 cup heavy cream very cold

1 tsp vanilla

Place coconut milk, cornstarch and powdered sugar in small saucepan, whisk to remove any lumps. Turn heat to medium high and cook until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and spoon into a bowl, let come to room temperature stirring frequently to keep skin from forming or cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the mixture and let sit until cool.

Coconut milk stabiizer

Chill the whisk attachment or beaters of your mixer along with the bowl. Add the heavy cream, beat until it begins to hold shape, now add the coconut milk mixture and vanilla extract and continue beating until it becomes thick and is a spreading consistency. Use immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.

Just whipped

To assemble:

Frost the cake with the whipped cream frosting, I start from the center and work the frosting down the sides of the cake doing a crumb layer first then finishing if off nice and smooth.

Frosting in the center

I like to mix sweetened regular flaked coconut with unsweetened large flakes, it looks nice but it also is a bit less sweet. using all one kind is either too sweet or not sweet enough and a mix I find to be perfect.

Mixed flakes of coconut

Mar 12

55 Comments

Genoise With Strawberries And Whipped Cream Frosting

The cake

The Genoise I made the other day was for a special event, it was made for a very special girl who turned 9 years old today. She wanted colored icing and strawberries. I wanted to try and make the frosting pink without the use of food color. I thought the genoise lent itself to a whipped cream frosting rather than a buttercream because of the addition of fresh strawberries. I have posted here on the blog the recipe I use for a stable whipped cream frosting, it’s a recipe by James McNair from his book Cakes.

It’s an excellent recipe, and makes a very stable frosting that will not turn watery or dissolve. Here is the basic recipe:

Whipped Cream Frosting:

From James Mcnair’s Cakes

1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups Heavy whipping cream Divided
1 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract

Place metal bowl and wire whisk beater or beaters in freezer to chill.
In a small saucepan combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch whisk until mixed. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup heavy cream whisk until smooth. Place on medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching at the bottom stir constantly until mixture thickens and almost comes to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and set aside stirring occasionally until it reaches room temperature.
In the chilled bowl combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and the vanilla beat with the chilled whisk of your stand mixer or your hand held mixer until the cream begins to hold shape. While still beating add the powdered sugar mixture a little at a time. Beat just until the mixture forms stiff peaks when the beater is raised and is spreadable, be careful not to over beat. Use immediately.

I took the basic recipe ad changed it a bit since I wanted my frosting to be pink. First I made a strawberry syrup by simply boiling strawberries with a little sugar, strain, smash and bottle. Super easy. I did this the day before and refrigerated the syrup. It’s a beautiful red.

strawberry syrup

Here is the recipe for the pink whipped cream frosting using James McNair’s whipped cream frosting as a base:

1/2 cup strawberry syrup

2 1/2 tsp corn starch

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

In small saucepan add the strawberry syrup, cornstarch and confectioners sugar. Cook on medium heat until it thickens, immediately remove from the burner and spoon into a bowl . Let come to room temperature stirring occasionally.

To chilled mixing bowl add the heavy cream and vanilla, with a chilled beater or whisk attachment start whipping the cream, when it begins to hold it’s shape add the cooled strawberry pudding, whip until it becomes a spreading consistency. Spread on your cake and refrigerate. This was enough to generously frost a 3 layer 8 inch cake.

Oct 11

89 Comments

“Divine” Chocolate Gingerbread, Roasted Pears And Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Gingerbread and chocolate caramel sauce…Divine!

I love Divine Chocolate, it’s fantastic, the quality, the flavor and the company itself. Divine is Fair Trade Chocolate, the farmers are the owners, it’s a cooperative that is a huge success, with happy workers that all share the company profits. Whats not to love, honestly, a great product produced by a company that is a model for fair and ethical work standards.

I partnered with Divine to create some baked goods for “No Kid Hungry” bake sale and fell in love with their chocolate. The good people from Divine have asked me to partner with them again to create a recipe using their incredible chocolate, how can I say no!! There were several themes suggested and I got to choose which I wanted to represent and my choice was local produce, supporting local farmers and farmers market. It should also to represent the season “Autumn” and what better fruit than the lovely and delicious pear (ok except for maybe apples).

The gingerbread is a recipe from a friend from Food52, Antonia James, I adapted the recipe slightly adding a little more chocolate than she called for, it’s moist and delicious and warm, the spicing makes me think of Autumn, my farmers market find that I incorporate with this are pears, oven roasted, gently spiced, sweet and buttery and when paired with the gingerbread it’s heavenly. Served warm and topped with some vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate caramel sauce, this dessert is rich and totally delicious. The gingerbread itself is not very sweet, Antoniajames tops with a hard sauce, I chose a chocolate caramel sauce, this makes for the perfect amount of sweetness.

Spiced Roasted Pears

2 pears (I used bosc) peeled cored and cut in half

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbs butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Optional splash of Poire William

Heat oven to 350 degree’s place pear halves cut side down in baking dish, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the pears, dot with the butter. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until pears are just tender. Cover baking dish and set aside I also added a splash of Poire William to the pears thats purely optional.

Chocolate Gingerbread

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, or four ounces)
2 ounces Divine Bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup regular molasses (not light, not blackstrap)
½ cup dark brown sugar NOTE: recipe didn’t say packed, I did pack the sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 ½ – 2 teaspoons ground ginger, to taste
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cloves
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional . . . I don’t use it)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre heat oven to 350 degree’s and generously butter an 8×8 baking dish. Melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat (or do what I do, which is to put them in a Pyrex one-cup measure and microwave at about 40% for 2 -3 minutes).
Put the melted chocolate and butter into a medium bowl with the molasses and brown sugar. Stir well to combine.
Combine the dry ingredients.
Gently beat the eggs and stir into the wet ingredients, with the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Do not overbeat.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. NOTE: I omitted the cloves and included the cinnamon.

Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Caramel Sauce:

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tbs salted butter (yes salted) cut into tbs size pieces

2 oz Divine bittersweet chocolate chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 45 seconds, add chocolate and microwave another 30 seconds Stir until its smooth, set aside so that it will cool before adding to the caramel.

In large saucepan add the sugar, turn heat to med/high and let sit until it starts to liquify. Start stirring with a heat proof spatula, the sugar will crystalize but thats alright keep stirring until its all liquid. Stop stirring and let it cook until it turns amber in color, now add the butter, stir to combine. Remove from heat and add the chocolate cream. Stir until its incorporated in the caramel. Store in container at room temperature until ready to use. Note: If you make this ahead of time, simply place the bottle or jar in hot water to warm the caramel so it’s pourable.

Disclosure: The very nice people from Divine Chocolate provided all the chocolate used in this recipe

good food with simple ingredients

Posts from the ‘Fruit Desserts’ Category

A Lattice Aprium Tart For Fiesta Friday #31

Peach Hand pies With Buttermilk Molasses Glaze For Fiesta Friday #29

Champagne Grape Galette With Whipped Goat Cheese For Fiesta Friday #27

Gluten Free Cherry Crisp

Black Forest Cake In A Jar For Fiesta Friday #24

Yogurt And Fruit Popsicles With A Hint Of Elderflower And A Supermarket Find

Cherry Ginger Hand Pies

Coconut Pineapple Layer Cake

Genoise With Strawberries And Whipped Cream Frosting

“Divine” Chocolate Gingerbread, Roasted Pears And Chocolate Caramel Sauce

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