Posts from the ‘Desserts’ Category

Sep 8

No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Low Sugar

I am working very hard to change my eating habits and as I’ve mentioned before one thing I have a real problem with is going without dessert. I made that cheesecake with the fruit topping which was delicious but I wanted to try something I didn’t have to bake. This is really a non recipe, only a few simple ingredients but it turned out absolutely delicious. Again it’s all about portion size and I made these in little cupcake papers. They are tiny but just enough to satisfy. What I love about this is that there is no cooking or baking required and it’s ready in a flash.

No Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

Makes 6

8 oz cream cheese

2 tsp organic stevia

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 oz dark chocolate broken into pieces

1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream

Carrs whole meal biscuit

chocolate to drizzle

ground hazelnuts to garnish ((I used King Arthur toasted hazelnut flour)

Heat the half and half or heavy cream in the microwave to scalding approximately 40 seconds. Add the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth, if you need to put it back in the microwave do it for 20 seconds.

Place cream cheese,stevia and vanilla in the food processor and pulse until creamy. Add the chocolate mixture and process for a few seconds until combined and it’s smooth.

Place a whole meal biscuit at the bottom of the cupcake liners and spoon a little of the cheesecake mixture on top. Smooth the top and refrigerate until set. About 4 hours.

I used cupcake cups with straight sides but you can use regular cupcake liners. Removing was fairly simple, I ran a small flexible offset spatula to loosen the edges then tore the cupcake paper to release and using the spatula I lifted the cheesecake onto the plate.

Serve with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a sprinkling of ground hazelnuts.

Sep 2

69 Comments

Mini Lime Cheesecake Mock Soufflé

I think I have mentioned before how much I love dessert, or anything sweet for that matter. Since changing my eating habits staying away from bread, rice and pasta, monitoring portion size, cutting down (almost out) refined sugar etc… dessert has been challenging. I have to have something sweet even if it’s a yogurt and fruit or a bite of chocolate I’ve got to have it. Years ago when I went on the South Beach plan I bought the book and there are some recipes in it for all the different phases. I saw these little cheesecakes and thought I would give it a try. I altered the recipe a bit and noted the changes in the ingredients. These little bites couldn’t be any easier or quicker, no crushing cookies and pressing them into a pan, all you do is put a whole cookie in the bottom of a cupcake or muffin liner. Spoon the filling on top and bake. I am going to try these with chocolate I think. It’s a nice little dessert, good and satisfying. I called them mock souffle’s because they rose like a souffle in the baking cup and they are mock because it’s not the method in which you make a souffle. They are very light, not really cheesecake like at all.) I have not cut fat out but have reduced greatly the amount of sugar I eat, I like what Julia Child said “if you are afraid of butter, use cream” I remember watching her show once and she mentioned that she eats whatever she wants but in small portions and that was how she stayed trim. She was such an amazing woman and has so many great quotes.

I am bringing these little desserts with me to Fiesta Friday #135, the co hosts this week are Me, yep me and Jhuls@The Not So Creative Cook. It’s a holiday weekend, can’t believe it’s Labor Day the summer flew by and now we are coming to Fall which is my FAVORITE season. Crisp weather, apples and pumpkins (pumpkin spice latte) sweaters and jackets and leaves turning gorgeous shades or orange and gold. Yesterday, Sept. 1 at 5:07 AM there was a solar eclipse which occurred simultaneously with the New Moon. Very cool!!

Just out of the oven they deflated so quickly I couldn’t get a photo quick enough

Mini Lime Mock Souffle Cheesecakes

adapted from a recipe in The South Beach Diet

Makes 12

12 Carr’s whole meal biscuits (recipe calls for nila vanilla wafers)

1 8 oz package neufchatel cheese softened to room temperature (or cream cheese)

3/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream (recipe call for 3/4 cup non fat cottage cheese proccessed until smooth)

2 large eggs

2 tbs + 1 tsp organic stevia (recipe calls for 1/4 cup +2 tbs organic cane sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs lime zest

1 tbs lime juice

In food processor add the cream cheese, sour cream or creme fraiche and pulse to combine, add the lime zest and juice, eggs and vanilla and process until creamy and smooth about a minute. In the book they have you process the cottage cheese and then scrape it into a mixing bowl and using a hand held mixer combine everything, I decided to save myself time and dishes and did it all in the processor and it worked great.

Pre heat oven to 350. Place paper liners in muffin tin and add 1 cookie to each liner. Spoon the cheesecake mixture on top about half full. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh fruit. Note: I didn’t use a muffin tin instead I had some sturdy liners and I just place them on a sheet pan. Let cool completely then peel away the liner from the cheesecake. In the book they top it with non fat vanilla yogurt, I served with some fresh fruit, papaya, pineapple, kiwi, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry. On the side is some whipped cream or coconut whipped cream lightly sweetened would be equally delicious.

Percy and I are on Instagram, I think I publish more photo’s of him than what I cook. He recently was invited to be a member of “grumble inc.” bad boy (and glam girl) pugs and other dogs. The grumble is great fun but is also is a notice board for lost and abused pets as well as a group of caring and loving pet parents that help out other pets in need. A voice for the Voiceless. Here is Percy’s photo that was used announcing that he is a Grumble brother, he’s so cute!

#webadbutnotbadbad fa shizzle

Aug 24

82 Comments

Zucchini Pesto Lasagna And A Kale Lentil Salad

Here are a quick couple of recipes that I have made that turned out well and I wanted to share them with you. We had 2 days where the temps were under 90 woo hoo!! We are back up almost at 90 again but I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I harvested my basil from the garden and made a big jar of pesto, also working on harvesting my herbs and drying them so I have for the winter. The lasagna uses some of the pesto and the zucchini I got at the farmers market. It’s so simple to make and really delicious. I haven’t been eating meat lately, I can’t bring myself to eat it right now. The Kale and lentil salad provides protein from the lentils and cheese and pistachio a very nice substitute and delicious. The lighting was weird on the photo of the lasagna, it was daylight but I guess the natural light wasn’t sufficient, the pan is sitting on a white cloth that looks purple or blue.

Zucchini Pesto Lasagna

Serves 2

1 or 2 large zucchini cut into thin strips approxmately 1/4 inch thick

roasted tomato (you don’t need much it’s only for the bottom of the pan)

2-3 tbs pesto

mozzarella

ricotta

grated parmigiana or romano cheese

olive oil

Heat oven to 375, brush the zucchini strips with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and roast until lightly browned, it only took about 20 minutes. If you don’t have roasted tomatoes you can make those at the same time. I used an oval roasting pan and placed some tomato at the bottom, add a layer of zucchini, spread some of the pesto on each zucchini slice, dollop on some ricotta, a little grated or sliced mozzarella and sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat and top with mozzarella and grated cheese. Bake at 375 for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

kale and lentil salad

Lentil and kale salad

Serves 2

1 cup dry lentils washed

1 carrot cut into pieces

1 shallot

3 sprigs of thyme

water to cover the lentils

salt and pepper

In skillet sauté the shallot and carrot, add the lentils and water, salt and pepper and cook until lentils are al denté, add more water if you need to during the cooking. Rinse the lentils and set aside.

Assembling the salad

Kale leaves washed (as much as you want)

some crumbled feta (again as much as you want)

handful roasted pistachio chopped

tomato chopped.

Place the kale in a large salad bowl drizzle with olive oil and massage until softened. Add the lentils, tomato pistachio and feta. To dress just whisk a little honey, thyme leaves and white wine vinegar together and pour on the salad. Keeps beautifully even until the next day.

In closing I made another parfait, I love eating them, they are delicious and for me guilt free. This is just Carr’s whole meal biscuit, greek yogurt, peaches and blackberries. Thats it!!

Aug 21

88 Comments

A Breakfast Skillet And Dessert

First let me say how encouraged and overwhelmed I am by all the support from all of you good people. Thank you, thank you!! Because of the outpouring of support it made me even more resolute. I have to say it really helps baring your soul to your friends, I have always found that a diet and exercise buddy helps me stay on track, I live alone it’s and it’s really easy to fall off the wagon, my best friend Carla lives in Long Island, not exactly close to Brooklyn but we talk on the phone almost every day and encourage each other. I feel now like I have LOTS of diet buddies in all of you and it has helped tremendously. I encourage anyone in the same shoes to do this, we will all cheer you on. Special thanks to Elaine @foodbod who chatted with me by PM on Instagram in the wee hours and Cheryl @cheryl cheffie cooks Wiser, who did a special post for me with fantastic salads, I am so touched. It means the world to me.

So far I am doing fine. This morning I wanted something substantial that would nourish and keep me from getting hungry. There is nothing worse than being hungry and perusing all the food blogs and food photo’s on instagram. I used what I had for this breakfast skillet, eggplant, zucchini (used the pieces left from spiralizer) tomatoes, kale and micro potato. Half roasted in the oven, I wanted the kale crisp like a kale chip, transferred to a 6″ skillet (portion control) added an egg and completed the cooking until the egg was done. At the very end I added a little bit of raclette and put it under the broiler for a minute. A dash of hot sauce and it was a great meal.

Skillet Breakfast

Made 2 #6 inch individual size servings

4 micro potatoes cut in half

approx a half of a medium zucchini cut into bite size pieces

handful cherry tomatoes larger ones cut in half

generous handful of kale leaves

4 asparagus stalks with tough end broken off and cut in half

4 tiny fairy eggplant cut in half or quartered lengthwise

Cheese, just a little, didnt’ measure. I used raclette but any good melty cheese will do

Pre heat oven to 375. Place all of the vegetables on a parchment lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, make sure the vegetables are coated with the oil. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, kale will be crisp and vegetables will have softened. Arrange in skillet, crack an egg on top and bake (again at 375) until the egg is done to your liking it took about 20 minutes for an egg where the white was done but yolk was runny. Add some cheese, I used raclette, and place under the broiler just until the cheese melts.

Dessert

I have to have dessert, something sweet it’s part of the fabric of my being. You have to be a bit creative when trying to lose weight and maybe a little crafty. I came up with this recipe, well it’s not really a recipe, but it is really good. It made 2 small parfait or maybe they are more like an ice box cake or a combination thereof.

Strawberry and peach parfait

makes 2 small parfait

4 Carr’s whole meal biscuits smashed into crumbs

1 7 oz container plain greek yogurt (I used whole milk yogurt)

3 tbs heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

honey to taste ( I used a little more than a tbs for both the fruit and yogurt mixture)

fruit of your choice, I used strawberry and peach.

Cut the fruit into bite size pieces and drizzle with a little honey. Smash the whole meal biscuits into crumbs. Whip the yogurt and cream, sweeten to your liking and add the vanilla. Layer into small containers and refrigerate at least an hour or two before eating. The biscuit absorbs some of the fruit juice. It’s delicious.

I just have to show you the throw pillow I won in a charity auction to help pets with liver shunt disease. I love it!!

pug pillow

Lastly in memoriam for little Caleb a 3-4 month old dog in Atlanta that was brutally abused, if you think of the worst this is 100 times worse than you could possibly imagine. You can sign a petition by going to my facebook page . This has me so upset, to my very core, and it’s all over the news. Hoping they catch the monsters that perpetrated such a heinous and evil crime. Little Caleb is not the first dog to suffer horrific abuse and unfortunately he will not be the last. Raising awareness, supporting rescue organizations and being pro active reporting abuse perceived or otherwise is so important. RIP little Caleb. #justiceforcaleb

Aug 5

54 Comments

Pralines And Cream Ice Cream

It has been so hot in NYC that I have barely turned the stove or oven on. Salads, quick cooking foods are what I am making and because of this my blog has suffered from neglect. Ice cream has become a major food group for me along with cucumbers and tomatoes. A few weeks ago I made mocha almond fudge and now I am going to tackle the other flavor that I love, Pralines and Cream. I am partial to Haagen Daz ice cream and their Pralines and Cream is amazing, but I have not found it in a store around here for years, it must be really unpopular with the general public, it’s not even in the Haagen Daz store near me. The other day I was rummaging through the frozen case in the market looking for a pint of vanilla and almost shrieked, there it was 1 pint of Pralines and Cream, it had probably been there for a while, it was caked with ice but I got it anyway. It was a little worse for wear, probably had partially melted but still the taste of this creamy, dreamy concoction was still there. I was able to commit to memory the taste, fresh in my mind and I set out to make my own. Pralines are not readily available around here, you ask for them and people look at you like you have 2 heads. Searching the internet for recipes for Pralines and Cream Ice Cream I came across one from Emeril Lagasse. There is a vanilla custard base, caramel sauce and pralines, pretty simple really. Taking into account the terrible heat and humidity and not wanting to spend one minute more at my stove than absolutely necessary I decided to use already prepared vanilla ice cream, make some pralines and use dulce de leche I had in the fridge (it’s ridiculously easy to make). Love this because the time at the stove is minimal and the ice cream is really wonderful. The recipe for pralines is from Emeril and makes enough for several quarts of ice cream.

I don’t like the term semi homemade but thats what this is. Using Haagen Daz vanilla with homemade dulce de leche and pralines this was easy to make and was almost instant gratification and really pretty close to my beloved Haagen Daz Pralines and Cream.

This yummy ice cream is coming with me to Fiesta Friday #132, I’ve got the ice chest ready and will try to make it there without it melting. Angie’s co hosts this week are Sandhya @ Indfused and Nancy @ Feasting With Friends.

Pralines

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tbs salted butter

2 tbs water

pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium high heat stirring constantly until it reaches the soft ball stage 238 -240 degree’s, if you don’t have a candy thermometer have a bowl of ice cold water next to the stove and drop a little in, if it forms into a soft ball it’s ready. Add the pecans and place the pan in an ice bath stirring constantly until cooled. Pour onto buttered parchment lined sheet pan and let cool. The consistency will be like fudge. When it’s cool break into pieces and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Making the Ice Cream

To make the ice cream (my shortcut) soften some vanilla ice cream (I chose haagen dazs) put half of it in a freezer container, sprinkle on some chopped praline and drizzle caramel or dulce de leche. Add the other half of the ice cream on top and add the rest of the praline and caramel, swirl with a butter knife and freeze for a few hours.

There was a little dulce de leche left so I added it to a homemade fudge sauce serving it warm over the ice cream. It was really good. To make the fudge sauce is easy, just like ganache, equal parts chocolate and cream. Add the chocolate to scalding hot cream, let it sit, stir and add some dulce de leche if you like and spoon over ice cream. It’s wonderful.

Hot Fudge Sundae

Jul 30

73 Comments

Peach And Blueberry Tart

This was a really busy week, I have neglected the blog, between work, the community work I do and this oppressive heat I haven’t had time or the inclination to use my stove/oven. On Thursday I got to meet one of the bloggers that I have been following for a long time, Shashi whose wonderful blog Runnin Srilankin is always chock full of delicious healthful recipes. We met at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and had pizza at Grimaldi’s. It was great finally meeting her in person.

Last weekend I went to a barbeque, and decided to be daring and try a new recipe. This is a tried and true recipe that is very popular on Food52, it’s by Amanda Hesser and she got it from her Mom. I used frozen peaches which is not the best idea as they produced a lot of juice and some plucots. The party was great but I had to leave before dessert was served and I didn’t get a chance to try it. The feedback though was that it was amazing. The simplicity of this recipe is what drew me, a press in crust that uses oil not butter, fresh fruit and you make a sugar, flour and butter crumble topping and sprinkle it on before baking.

Today I went to the farmers market and got some great produce, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, nectarines and blueberries. Since I didn’t get to taste the tart I decided to make it today using the nectarines. Best laid plans don’t always work, the nectarines were very ripe and I put them at the bottom of my cart without thinking and 3 of them got squished, I will blame it on the heat, for once I only bought enough for the tart, since I had some blueberries I decided to use them as well.

This tart is a winner, and I hope you give it a try. The ease of preparation, use of delicious seasonal fruit and beautiful presentation make this tart one that I will make over and over again. Next time with only peaches or nectarines, it’s not as pretty with the blueberries after it’s baked but still delicious.

This tart is coming with me to Fiesta Friday #130, Angie is away but has left the party in very good hands the co hosts this week are Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Petra @ Food Eat Love

Peach Tart

Made 1 9 inch tart (the recipe said 11 inch but I didn’t have enough fruit)

Pie Dough

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup neutral oil (I used grapeseed)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbs milk (I used half and half)

6-8 peaches, nectarines sliced thickly (I added a pint of blueberries also)

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk or stir with a fork. Add the oil and milk and mix with a fork until cohesive.

Press into tart pan with your fingers pressing on the bottom and up the sides. Make sure there are no cracks in the dough. Trim and set aside. Pre heat the oven to 425 and line a sheet pan with parchment.

Arrange the fruit however you like in the tart pan.

Crumble topping

3/4 cup sugar

2-3 tbs flour

2 tbs cold butter

pinch of salt

Mix with your hands until it resembles fine crumbs. Distribute the crumbs on top of the tart and bake until golden brown and bubbly, approximately 45 minutes. It will seem like a lot of the topping, it’s ok use all of it.

Just out of the oven

Jul 22

93 Comments

Gooseberry and Red Currant Popsicles And More Popsicles

Have I gone gooseberry crazy? It’s all together possible! Wasting food is abhorent to me and I wanted to make sure I used every single gooseberry and currant that I bought. Besides the crumble which is pretty standard fare I wanted to do something a little bit different with them. Since it’s so hot out I decided that popsicles would be the way to go, icy and cold and delicious a great way to beat the heat and use up my berries. In making the popsicles I discovered the real flavor of the gooseberry, there is a lovely floral note and when cooked with some sugar and water, it really brings out the flavor. It reminds me a little of elderflower. The popsicles are a mix of green and purple gooseberries and at the end after straining the pulp I added the red currants distributing into a half frozen popsicle. Don’t throw that pulp away, it’s really delicious with just a couple of tablespoons of the syrup to loosen it up, it makes a delicious preserve or jam on biscuits, scones or toast. FYI, the gooseberries and currants are labor intensive to clean and de stem, kind of like pitting cherries. Each gooseberry needs to be clipped on each and end and the currants are very tiny and each individual currant needs to be picked off of the stems. Labor intensive but worth the effort.

Gooseberry and Red Currant Popsicles

Makes 8 popsicles

1 pint gooseberries (approx)clipped

1-1 1/4 cups sugar (You can add less if using the sweeter gooseberry, I mixed them and they were very sour)

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 (approx) cup red currants

Put the gooseberries, sugar and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and continue cooking until the berries pop open. Strain into heat proof bowl or cup. Immediatly add the currants and let them sit until it cools then refrigerate.

I decided to add some red currents that would be suspended inside the popsicle. The currants float in the liquid so in order to ensure that they are dispersed within the pop I partially froze it. a couple of hours in the freezer without the stick inserted, the mixture is not frozen solid just slushy, you then place some currants in and spread them around with a skewer, insert the sticks and put back in the freezer.

We are smack dab in the middle of a heat wave with temperatures soaring to almost 100 degree’s and thats not the heat index. I so love my popsicle mold I have been making popsicles all the time, they are stockpiled in my freezer. I really love experimenting, in the summer lemonade and iced tea are favorite drinks that I almost always keep in the refrigerator. So I thought I would make both into popsicles. Sweet tea with mint and lemonade with raspberries. Ice cold and portable these popsicles are wonderful. All you need to do is make lemonade and iced tea, no recipe required. When the popsicles were partially frozen after 2 hours in the freezer I added some raspberries to the lemonade and mint leaves to the sweet tea. I ran out of lemonade so made one Arnold Palmer popsicle, half lemonade and half tea.

sweet tea and lemonade raspberry popsicles

All of these frozen treats are coming with me to Angie’s for Fiesta Friday #129. Got my ice chest ready and I will rush over so they don’t melt. This week’s co hosts are Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Colleen @ Faith, Hope, Love & Luck. See you all at the party!

Jul 19

73 Comments

A Non Traditional Panzanella, A Gooseberry Red Currant And Plum Crumble And Salsa

Salad

The first thing that I made with my Farmers Market finds is a salad. There is nothing like a salad made with fresh vegetables. There is no recipe for this, it’s a salad after all and everyone has their own favorite way of making and dressing them, this is sort of a panzanella, sort of because it’s not traditional. A traditional Tuscan panzanella is made with tomatoes and stale bread dressed with olive oil and vinegar. I spread pesto on the bread and put it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown. Saturday’s farmers market find included both cherry and regular size tomatoes, for a salad cherry tomatoes are so easy and I love how crisp and sweet they are.

Panzanella

tomato

cucumber

spring onion

bread

pesto

shaved pecorino romano

salt and pepper

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, slice the onion very thinly, cut the cucumber into small pieces and throw it all in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Spread some pesto on the bread and either broil or grill until lightly browned. Cut into bite size pieces. Dress the salad with vinegar and oil. I don’t measure starting out light and adding more as/if needed. Add the bread and toss it together. Shave pecorino romano cheese on top and enjoy.

crumble

Today I experimented with some of the gooseberries. Having never eaten them or cooked with them I didn’t really know what to expect, For the first attempt I thought a crumble would be nice and only made two individual servings in my tiny cocotte pans. I chose purple gooseberries, red currants and a golden plum. The fruit when baked produced a lot of juice and was very tart, next time I would probably add another 2 tbs of sugar although the tart fruit when eaten with some vanilla ice cream was really nice. For the crumble top I used spelt, oat and AP flour in equal parts added some butter and brown sugar. Before baking I dotted with a little butter and sprinkled with demerara sugar. I thought adding a plum would be nice with the gooseberries and currants, somewhere in my research I saw that the gooseberry is a member of the plum family or vice versa, not sure thats correct but they do go together nicely.

Gooseberry,red currant and plum crumble

serves 2

Crumble

1/4 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup oat flour or oats

1/4 cup AP flour

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (not packed)

4 tbs butter+ more to dot on top before baking

whisk the flour and brown sugar together add the butter and mix with your hands until it resembles pea size crumbs.

Fruit

red currants

purple gooseberries

1 golden plum

1/4-1/2 cup sugar

I didn’t measure the berries if I had to guess how much it was about 1/3 cup of each. Put all the fruit into a bowl and add the sugar, toss to combine. Spoon into baking dishes and top with the crumble topping. Dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degree’s for approximately 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Warm crumble with vanilla ice cream

There are a few more recipes I plan on making with the gooseberries and will post them very soon, it’s fun working with an ingredient you are not familiar with getting your sea legs so to speak. The crumble was delicious the combination of gooseberries, currants and plum created a lot of juice and some of the crumble sank creating what was more akin to a cobbler. It was really good this turned out to be a cobbler/crumble.

Salsa

The green gooseberries are very tart, sour really and using them in a savory dish seemed like it would be delicious. I had a flounder filet earmarked for dinner the other night and thought instead of a heavy tartar sauce (love it) a light fruity salsa would be nice with the fish. I didn’t measure, don’t need to with this type of dish, the beauty of it is that it is tailored to suite the individual’s taste.

Salsa

makes approximate a cup of salsa

Green gooseberries (larger ones cut in half and quartered and small ones cut in half)]

1/2 mango- chopped

1 purple spring onion- chopped

approx a tbs of chopped fresh mint

1 jalapeno chopped and seeds removed

1 small orange bell pepper chopped

approx a tbs of chopped flat leaf parsley

juice of one whole lime

salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients, serve right away.

Jul 8

92 Comments

Black and White Cookies For Fiesta Friday #127

Black and White Cookies are an iconic treat made famous in New York City. There are multitudes of articles and opinions of who makes the best. Russ and Daughters, Zabar’s, Glasers, the opinions are as numerous as the number of black and whites in NYC. In doing some research I saw that one theory of origin is that it was was first made in Utica, NY and called “the half moon” (my hometown) at Hemstroughts Bakery (my families favorite bakery). You can see reference to the black and white on one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes and it is thought to be “the New York snack”. History aside, these are some seriously delicious cookies, or really they are small cakes. The cookie part is like a sponge cake, soft and voluptuous and the glaze is sweet and the perfect topping for this substantial cookie.

I thought I would try my hand at making the “black and white” and studied some recipes and my favorite was one from Epicurious. It seemed very easy to make and the cookies looked wonderful. The recipe makes eight large cookies, now they say to put about 1/4 cup batter 2 inches apart on a large sheet pan, maybe mine was not large enough because some of my cookies ran together. I don’t really care that they are not perfectly round, as long as they taste good. Let me tell you, this is a really good recipe, the cookies are delicious. The cookie came out exactly as it should, flat on the bottom and domed on the top, it has a tender crumb and is very cake like. The glaze is wonderful as well. This recipe is a keeper.

I made these cookies with 2 things in mind, first of all my young cousin who lives in NYC just had surgery and I am going to see her tomorrow, her favorite thing is the black and white so I am bringing some to her. Next I am lucky enough to be co hosting Fiesta Friday #127 this week with the lovely and uber talented Jess @Cooking Is My Sport. You are all invited to the party!!

Black And White Cookies

Recipe on Epicurious

1 1/4 cup AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter softened to room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk so I thinned some creme fraiche, worked great)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degree’s. Whisk together or sift the flour, baking soda and salt. In your stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat to combine well. Mix the vanilla with the buttermilk. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk ending with the flour mixture. The batter is quite thick and I used a heaping 1 1/2 tbs scoop for each cookie. Line your cookie sheet with parchment and spray lightly with cooking spray. (In retrospect I would not bake all 8 cookies at the same time because some of them ran together slightly) place the scoops about 2 inches apart and bake for about 15 minutes (I took them out at 13 minutes). Place cookies on cooling rack and make the glaze.

Vanilla and Chocolate Glaze

1 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbs clear corn syrup

2 tsp lemon juice

1-2 tbs water

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix the sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice and vanilla together. Add water as needed until it’s spreading consistency, it will be thick. The recipe said to divide into two bowls, I didn’t do that. When the coolies were cool I spread the white part with a small offset spatula, when that was done I added to the remaining glaze the chocolate, 1/2 tsp corn syrup and another tbs of water and spread that on the other half of the cookie (it saved me from getting another bowl dirty). Make sure the glaze is set before storing them.

Really good, quality control, cooks perogative taste testing.

Jul 6

78 Comments

Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream And Saveur Blog Awards Nominating A Friend

As far back as I can remember I have loved ice cream in almost any form. Whether on a stick, in a cup or cone, in a milk shake or float it’s all good. When I was 16 years old my first job was a scooper at Baskin Robbins, a dream job for this ice cream lover. My favorite flavor was Jamoca Almond Fudge. I have always loved coffee and chocolate and this combination was so delicious, we were allowed a free cone during our work shift and this was the flavor I always chose. It has been a long time since I’ve been to a Baskin Robbins, I was only going by memory of how this ice cream tastes and it’s really pretty close to how I remember it.

I wanted a good strong coffee flavor so I cold brewed some dark roast coffee in half and half, I decided against making a traditional custard with eggs, instead I heated cream and half and half, milk, sugar and cornstarch making a thickish base, after removing from the heat I added the cream cheese, cold brewed coffee mixture, some vanilla and a tsp of cocoa powder and refrigerated. The fudge component is a ganache, 4 oz chocolate and 4 ounces of cream. Toast some almonds in the oven and chop them and there you have it. Simple and very delicious.

Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream recipe on Food52

Makes approximately 1 quart

Cold Brewed Coffee

1 cup half and half or milk or all three

4 coffee scoops of dark roast coffee

Place in jar, shake and refrigerate at least 24 hours up to 48 hours. When done strain and refrigerate until ready to use.

Ice Cream Base

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk or half and half

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbs corn starch

1-2 tbs softened cream cheese

1 cup cold brewed coffee

1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp instant espresso (medaglia d’oro)

Place heavy cream and milk or half and half, sugar and cornstarch in heavy saucepan. Whisk to combine and cook on medium heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add the cream cheese, whisk to combine and then add the cold brewed coffee, cocoa powder and instant espresso. Stir well and pour into bowl or glass measuring cup lay plastic wrap on top of the custard, cover with another sheet of plastic and refrigerate overnight. NOTE: I don’t add the cold brewed coffee to the pot with the cream and milk and heat because I find that coffee takes on a different flavor when heated directly on the stove or even in the microwave. I wanted the coffee flavor to be pure and not compromised by heat.

Fudge swirl and toasted almonds

4 oz chocolate, dark or dark and milk your choice

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbs light corn syrup (optional)

1/2 cup whole raw almonds

Heat heavy cream in microwave or on stove top until scalding. In microwave approximately 45 seconds. Add chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, if there are pieces put back in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Add the optional corn syrup. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat oven to 350 place almonds on sheet pan and toast until they are fragrant, approximately 10-15 minutes, or toast the almonds in a skillet. Let cool and chop into small pieces.

Making the Ice Cream

Take the fudge out of the refrigerator so that it comes to room temperature, you may need to help it along by putting in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Make the ice cream by following the manufacturers directions, when the ice cream is almost done add the almonds, churn for a minute or so just so that the almonds are mixed in and then put half in your container, add several spoonful of the fudge on top. Repeat adding the rest of the ice cream, fudge. Using a bamboo skewer or butter knife swirl the fudge into the ice cream. Freeze until it is a scoopable consistency, I find it takes at least 4 hours in the coldest part of the freezer but usually I let it sit overnight.

Saveur Magazine is now taking nominations for their 2016 blog awards and I have nominated my friend Aleksandra, her amazing and gorgeous blog deserves the award IMHO. She has done a guest post on this blog and is a good friend from Food52. I nominated her in the photography category, one look at her photo’s and you will see why, visit her blog, Three Little Halves and if you feel so inclined and don’t mind please nominate her for the Saveur Award in the category of photography, it only takes a second. She won a James Beard award for her writing and when a blog is this beautiful it deserves to be noticed. Thank you so much.