Candy Cane Lollipops

On Thursday, I was going to my friend's holiday cookie exchange, and I really wanted to do something different this year. Twenty or thirty ladies get together for this party, all wonderful cooks and creative women, so these cute little lollipops were the perfect thing to bring.

I didn't know that if you put mini candy canes into a warm oven for a few minutes, they soften enough to mold around lolly sticks. It turns out there is about a ten-second window between "softened enough to mold" and "melted into a flat red-and-white blob".

It took us quite a while to figure out the correct moment to pull them out of the oven. What I can tell you is that candy canes vary in softness so that temperatures and times are just suggestions. Try testing one or two first so that you don't ruin an entire pan (or two) and have to run back to the store for replacement candy canes. Yes, we had to do that the other day.

Don't let this intimidate you, though. These are super easy to make and I got SO many compliments at the cookie party.

Ingredients

32 mini candy canes
16 6-inch lollipop sticks
12 oz almond bark or white chocolate chips
3-4 drops peppermint oil
Christmas-colored candy sprinkles

Directions

Heat the oven to 235 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pairs of candy canes into a heart shape, leaving room underneath each one to insert the stick after they come out of the oven.

Heat the candy canes for 4-7 minutes, until just soft enough to press a stick into each heart. We noticed that our canes developed little candy bubbles along the surface at just the right moment.

Slide the parchment and candy onto a counter and quickly press the lollipop sticks upward into the curved center of the two canes, then pinch the two bottom edges around the stick. If they don't stick securely, don't worry - the chocolate will hold the whole heart together. Let cool for a few minutes.

On the stove over low heat, or in the microwave, heat the almond bark or white chocolate until melted smooth, stirring frequently. If you heat it too long, it will become grainy with sugar crystals; just stir in a bit of coconut oil or shortening and beat it until smooth. Stir in the peppermint oil. Spoon a little chocolate into the center of each heart, then decorate with the candy sprinkles. Let the chocolate harden before serving.

Makes 16 lollipops.

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Triple Berry/Cream Shortcake Bars

Even better than strawberry shortcake!

When we took a cooking course in Tuscany, we learned how to make a traditional apricot tart with the super-fresh and aromatic apricots the villa owners grew on their Agriturismo farm. I still have to write and post that delectable recipe, but I've used the basic shortbread crust for a lot of tarts and dessert bars since then.

The beginning of June is prime strawberry season here in Chicago. When I was growing up in the country, my birthday always had fresh strawberries in it - usually ones I'd picked that morning. The smell of a perfectly ripe strawberry brings me back to those dewy mornings walking barefoot out to the strawberry patch...and my mom brewing fresh jam in the afternoon. Lovely.

Ingredients

For the Crust

1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp lemon zest

For the Bars

12 oz. light cream cheese
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries (or blackberries, or both!)
1 cup raspberries

1/3 cup Triple Sec liqueur

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Stir together the flour and baking powder. Slowly add it to the butter mixture while mixing. 

Grease a 9x11 baking pan and spread the dough on the bottom of the pan. Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes.

Whip the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar together. Spread over the crust, then top with rows of berries. Drizzle the orange liqueur over the berries. Cut into squares and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 15-18 bars.

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Plátanos Maduros (Sweet Fried Plantains)

My first mother-in-law was a Mexican immigrant. After I married her son, we moved into Mama Nona's house to save money to buy our own house.

I was twenty years old, and I’d lived on a farm in Michigan for most of my life. Growing up, the only Latinos I’d ever seen were the migrant workers who whistled at us from the back of a flatbed truck when they rode down our dirt road. When I moved into Mama Nona’s home in Waukegan Illinois, I was totally immersed in Mexican culture.

Mama Nona was born in Mexico in the 1920s. For the last thirty years she had lived in a rotting old house at the edge of a ravine that gangsters called “Death Valley”. Ray was the only one of her twelve children who was born in the United States.

Because Ray was the youngest, I was closest to his high school-age nieces and nephews. Work was strictly regulated between men and women, and Ramona, Maribel, Rosie, and Marijenia  squeezed into Mama Nona's steaming kitchen to cook with their mothers. One of the first recipes I learned was plátanos maduros, Ray's favorite dessert dish or side dish. Even though women were supposed to do all the cooking, Ray and I competed to see who could make the best plate of fried plantains.

At a party last weekend, a friend was reminiscing about the wonderful mofongo he ate in Puerto Rico. Mofongo is a dish made with unripe plaintains and has a consistency and use similar to mashed potatoes. Talking about mofongo led me to a craving for plátanos maduros (which are made throughout the Caribbean and Latin America), so I made them for breakfast one day this week. They were as good as I remembered.

If you don't have cholesterol problems, I would highly recommend using Latino crema instead of sour cream. Crema has the consistency of yogurt and is much less sour and much more creamy. It's amazing stuff but probably not as good for you.

Plátanos Maduros

 Ingredients

 4 large ripe plantains (skins should be mostly black mottled with dark yellow; fruit should be slightly soft)
1/2 cup Canola or Corn oil
1 cup crema or sour cream at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Peel the plantains. I find it easiest to cut a line in the tough skin from top to bottom, and peel from there; plantains don't peel as easily as bananas. Cut the plantains into 1/2" slices.

Heat a frying pan on medium heat and then add oil. When the oil is hot, fry the plantain slices on each side until golden brown and tender, turning as needed. Don't crowd the plantains in the pan; cook in batches if they all don't fit. Drain the slices on paper towels.

Place plantains on a warmed plate and drizzle with crema or sour cream. Sprinkle with sugar (and cinnamon, if desired). Serve immediately. A lot of Latinos like it as a side dish without crema or sugar, just a squirt of lime or a bit of salt. I'm going to try drizzling them with honey next time.

Serves 2-4.

Mama Nona in Mexico, 1940s

You can read more about my experiences living in a Mexican household in Scenes from a Mexican Kitchen and Life and Times of a Little Gringa.

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Country-Style Strawberry Shortcake

A few years ago, my friend Talea had me over for lunch one summer day. This rustic, buttery shortcake was going to be our dessert, so she had to bake it first to be sure it would cool while we ate. When it came out of the oven, though, it was so fragrant and crumbly that we dived into it, and skipped "lunch" altogether. It was so good.

When I was growing up in the country in Southwestern Michigan, my parents grew strawberries and a lot of other produce. Every summer after school was out we'd be picking strawberries for our breakfasts and stirring big pots of jam. When I got older, I worked on other farms picking fruit in the summertime: berries, peaches, cherries. If you've never picked fruit, let me tell you that the people harvesting these lovely berries are probably crouched down or crawling along rows of short strawberry hills with aching backs. It's hard work. Please, treasure the little bites!

June and strawberries are always linked together in my mind - as strawberries and my birthday are. I made this for my birthday dinner last night after a big dinner of steak with brandy peppercorn-cream sauce and sweet potato fries. I'm surprised I had any room left for dessert.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar plus 1 tsp
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c. butter

2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp lemon or orange zest
1 pint of strawberries, sliced
8 oz whipped cream

Directions

Combine all ingredients except egg whites. Form soft dough, then shape into 6 rounds 1/2 inch thick. Brush with egg white and sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until the tops are golden and the shortcake is cooked through. Cool slightly on rack. Cut in half and serve warm or at room temperature topped with berries and whipping cream.

Serves 6.

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Almond-Coconut Macaroons with Dried Cherries

Every spring a group of friends from my church gets together for a Seder meal, to honor our Jewish neighbors' tradition and experience the kind of celebration Jesus would have had every year. After many years of celebrating between ourselves, we're hosting a church-wide Seder ceremony this year.

Joe's braised leg of lamb is always a big hit, but last year he did a beef brisket and I decided to try a new dessert. These coconut-almond-cherry macaroons are light and tasty and perfect!

If you like quick and easy baking, these are just about the easiest cookies you can make. Stir together a couple of ingredients, bake 20 minutes, and that's it! I wish I had made a double batch, because people couldn't get enough. I was blushing from the compliments.

If you want to go over the top with these, press half a maraschino cherry into the top of each cookie, and then dip the bottoms into melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Ingredients

1 8-oz can unsweetened almond paste

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg whites, well beaten

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped

1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Break up almond paste into a mixer or food processor bowl. Add the sugar and egg whites and blend well. Scrape down the sides. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the sheet. Bake at 325 for 18-20 minutes, until a little golden and puffy. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Makes 15 macaroons.

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Grilled Pineapple with Basil-Tarragon Cream

When you grill pineapple slices, their juices sizzle into caramel and they're richer, smokier. Pair it up with this bright and creamy sauce, and you have breakfast, a side dish, dessert, or all three, if you make enough. This also makes a tasty dip for a spread of fresh-cut fruits.

By the way, I think people should use tarragon more often. I'm on a quest to bring it back into common use. It has a slight flowery licorice flavor, but if you don't like licorice, I'll emphasize that it's a slight hint of licorice or anise. Tarragon is popular in traditional French cooking. We used to grow a tarragon bush at our house, but now that we're apartment-dwellers there just isn't room. The dried leaves are fine, though a bit milder and mellower. Try using in in salad dressings or with poultry and fish, too.

Ingredients

1 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 tsp fresh tarragon, snipped
3 tsp fresh basil leaves, snipped
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp honey
1 large pineapple

Directions

About 1 hour before serving, stir together the yogurt, tarragon, basil, lemon zest, and honey. Allow to sit at room temperature until ready to serve.

Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, then cut off all the outside skin. Cut out any of the "eyes" of pith in the fruit. Cut out each section of fruit from top to bottom around the core (think of making a hexagonal stop-sign shape). Cut each section into 1-inch thick slices.

Heat the grill to medium-hot. Lay the slices on the grill, or place them on a grill pan and set it on the grill. Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side, or until the surface is turning golden brown and the fruit is heated through. Serve with a scoop of cream sauce on top.

If you have any leftovers, store the fruit and cream separately, so that the sauce doesn't get runny.

Makes 1 cup of sauce and about 30 slices of pineapple.

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Eunice's Carrot-Banana Bread

I had the most wonderful mother-in-law ever. Eunice was a sweet lady who grew up in the early 1900s and spent most of her life on cattle ranches and in church charity guilds. I see her thoughtful, kind, good-hearted traits in Joe. I just wish I'd met her (and Joe) sooner.

Eunice spent her retirement serving other people and making them happy. In her late eighties, she'd still go to the Senior Center nearly every day to serve those "old" seventy and eighty-year-olds. When she passed away the day after Mother's Day a few years ago, her funeral was swamped with people from all over the U.S. who had loved her. She truly showed a life well lived.

Joe and his mother Eunice at her 90th birthday party

The first time we traveled to Clear Lake, Iowa to meet her, she made a big loaf of this moist and dense banana-carrot bread for me and the girls. I think Joe got some too, but we might have eaten it all without him. She was so happy that I loved it that every time she knew she was going to see me, she would make a couple of extra loaves of bread for me to take home.

When Joe and I were engaged, I gave Eunice a blank cookbook and asked her to write down some of her favorite recipes and maybe some of Joe's long-time favorites. Her banana-carrot bread is the first one in the "breads" section. I love it that I have this recipe written in her handwriting.

I'm a little teary right now.

Last weekend my parents came to visit, to take me out for my birthday and to take the family to a Cubs game as our Christmas present from last year. I made a double batch of the quick bread batter to make a loaf for breakfast and muffins for Jessie and Erich, since they're working through finals week. The bread tasted just as moist and delicious as when Eunice used to make it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg whites)
2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 or 3)

1 cup grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil a 9x5 loaf pan (or a 12-cup muffin pan)

In a mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Stir together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually blend into the creamed mixture alternately with the mashed bananas. Stir in carrots and nuts. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes (for loaf pan) or 25-30 minutes (for muffins), until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Makes 1 loaf or 12 muffins.

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Chocolate Chip Candied Bacon Cookies with Bourbon Cream

We're nearly at the end my friends: one of the last recipes from our Iron Chef Bacon Cook Off. This one is from my friend Talea, Chef Extraordinaire, who has been a runner-up in several national cooking show competitions. These are Tollhouse chocolate chip sandwich cookies taken to the max, and they are amazing.

For our party, Talea also made Goat Cheese Fruit Salad in Parmesan Baskets, which is a dish with a lot of "Wow" factor. It's as luscious as it it beautiful!

Ingredients - Candied Bacon

12 slices bacon, about 1/4-inch thick
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Instructions - Candied Bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with chili powder and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy eating the bacon on its own or crumpled into salads and other appetizers.

Side note: You may use the left over bacon grease to fry almonds or to flavor other dishes as the sugar and spices give it a delicious flavor.

Ingredients - Chocolate chip candied bacon cookies 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions - Chocolate chip candied bacon cookies 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixer bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until well-combined and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly add it to the dough while the mixer is running on medium speed. Chop the candied bacon. Take the beaters out of the dough, and stir in the bacon, chocolate and nuts by hand. 

Drop rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking pans. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then allow them to cool completely on wire racks. 

Makes about 36 cookies.

Ingredients - Bourbon buttercream

2 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp bourbon
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup butter, softened
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Beat together all ingredients until they form a fluffy frosting. When the cookies have completely cooled, place the frosting in a pastry bag with a large tip, or a plastic Ziploc bag with a corner snipped off, and squeeze off a quarter-sized  dollop of cream on the flat side of one cookie. Press it together with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Let cookies chill in the refrigerator for a half hour or so before serving as the cream needs time to set.

Makes about 18 double rich cookies.

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Chocolate-Caramel-Bacon Cheesecake

We're down to the last few recipes from the Iron Chef Bacon Cook Off of 2014, and this, my friends, this is one of the best desserts I've ever eaten. My friend Jo started with a crust of cashews and graham cracker crumbs, loaded up the cheesecake with heavy cream and vanilla, then topped it with caramel and a semi-sweet chocolate ganache studded with bacon bits. Heavenly!

Once again I will apologize for the awful photo. There was the hubbub of cutting and serving desserts just as I drained my third glass of wine, and the results were not pretty. Jo was also disappointed because this cheesecake waited in the car while they were at a baptism, and some of the caramel slid off to one side. This cheesecake is so much tastier than it looks.

Note: you can make this recipe a day ahead, but if you make it the day you're serving it, be sure to make time to chill it before serving.

Ingredients

For the Crust:

2 cups Low-Fat Graham Cracker Crumbs (low-fat cookies will prevent the crust from getting soggy)
2 Tbs. Butter, melted
2 Tbs. vanilla sugar
4 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
1/2 cup ground cashews (my friend used honey sesame-coated cashews from Trader Joe's)

For the Cheesecake:

24 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

For the Bacon Turtle Topping: 

1 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 package of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the crust ingredients and press evenly into bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, and heavy cream on medium speed in a mixer or food processor. Add eggs one by one, fully blending them before adding the next. Add the cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and blend until smooth and creamy.

Pour batter over the crust  and tap the pan to remove air bubbles. Bake 45-55 minutes, until the edges are set but the center is still jiggly. Turn off the oven. Wet a knife and run it between the pan and the cake to release it from the sides and prevent the middle from cracking. Put the cake (still in the pan) back in the oven, close the door, and let the cake set for one hour.

Remove the cake from the oven, and refrigerate four hours or overnight. Remove from the spring form pan before adding the topping.

Next, microwave the chocolate chips in a bowl for 1-minute intervals, stirring between, until the chips are melted. Stir in the bacon pieces, then spread over the top of the cake.

To make the chocolate turtle topping, stir together sugar and one tablespoon water in a small pan over medium-high heat. It will be grainy at first, but then the sugar will begin to melt. Then begin shaking the pan instead of stirring. Bring to a boil and cooked until caramel-colored.

Remove from heat and stir in the butter and cream. Let the mixture thicken for 20 minutes, then drizzle over the chocolate, as well as making a pool in the center.

Serves 8-10.

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Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans

My friend Jena made these chocolatey, gooey, bacon-y brownies for our Iron Chef Bacon Cook Off a few weeks ago. Her inspiration was a recipe from Food & Wine. I'm a lover of the entire genre of brownies; I've never met a brownie I didn't like except the first batch I ever made. Those somehow ended up as flat cookie bars with burnt edges. It was a long time ago, so I no longer remember what I did to make them so horribly wrong.

These, though, are so delicious that you must find some reason to whip up a batch right away. She served them with vanilla ice cream and sprinkled everything with bacon. Oh, my stomach is growling right now. Wonder how many sit-ups I'd have to do to work off a whole pan of these?

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped pecans
2/3 pound sliced bacon
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 stick of butter plus 2 tbsp
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp bourbon
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, giving about 2 inches of extra paper hanging over each side. This will help you lift out the brownies once they have cooled. Spray the paper with oil. 

In a small dry frying pan, toast the pecans lightly over medium heat. Let cool. Cook the bacon until crisp and let it drain on paper towels. Set aside 3 tbsp of the bacon fat.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together. Stir constantly so that it doesn't burn. Pour into a mixer bowl, add the white and brown sugar, bacon fat, and bourbon, and mix well. Beat in the eggs and salt until smooth. While the mixer is running, slowly add the cocoa and flour and scrape down the sides while the mixture blends until completely mixed.

Pour the batter into the pan, then sprinkle with the pecans and all but 1/4 cup of the bacon. Bake 45-50 minutes, until the brownies are firm at the edges but still a bit loose in the middle. Test by sticking a toothpick or cake tester into the center - it should come out with a bit of batter stuck to it.

Let the brownies cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares without cutting through the parchment paper, then lift out to serve. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of the reserved bacon bits.

Makes 9-12 brownies.

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Mango-Tangerine Sorbet

Thanks to Joyosity for this photo, because we ate all our sorbet before I photographed it!

This has to be one of the easiest desserts I've ever made, and when I served it to a party of food epicureans, they just raved over it and wanted the recipe immediately. You know how you're always begging people to take home some leftover dessert so that it won't be around to tempt you for the next week? Didn't even happen this time. I tried to portion out the leftovers equally because they clamored for it.

I know it may seem weird to make a frozen dessert in the wintertime, but I made this for a party where I was teaching friends how to make sushi, and the fruit combo seemed the perfect fit. I'm definitely making it more this summer; it's mostly frozen fruit with mixed with a bit of syrup and coconut milk.

By the way, I'm not taking a stand on the low-fat/original coconut milk health debate, so use what you like. When mangoes are in season in your area, replace the canned mangoes with five fresh peeled and seeded ones, and 1/3 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water.

P.S. I think this would make a delicious smoothie, too.

Ingredients

3 14-oz cans sliced mango in light syrup
4 ripe tangerines, peeled and seeded
1/3 cup lime juice (3-4 limes)
2 tsp lime zest
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 14-oz can coconut milk

Instructions

Grate the peel of the limes until you have enough zest before juicing them.

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend till completely smooth (do this in 2 batches if your appliance is not large enough). Pour into a 9x12 pan and place in the freezer. After 90 minutes, stir the puree well to break up any large ice crystals that may be forming. It is ready to eat as soon as it is completely frozen, about 3-4 hours.

Allow to defrost for at least 15 minutes before serving. Ours had been frozen for more than 24 hours, so it took about 35 minutes before it was soft enough to scoop.

Serves 8-10.

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Kathleen's Light Fruitcake with Grand Marnier Icing

I like to scoop up the moist little crumbles at the bottom of the pan and eat them like a bit of butterscotch brownies.

I've heard all the jokes about fruitcake, but could never really understand them. My mom's fruitcake was always so buttery, crumbly, and nutty, full of all the fruits I loved and none of that bitter fruit rind I've heard some people put into theirs. I looked forward to it every year.

This year, my mom made it especially for me. Yeah, other people got to eat it too, but I'm certain she made it just for me. Try this, and you might become a fruitcake evangelist, too.

Ingredients

4 cups pecan halves
2 cups walnut halves
2 cups candied cherries (we use both green and red)
2 cups candied pineapple
1 cup golden raisins
1 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp Grand Marnier or 2 tsp orange extract and 2 tsp milk
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine, add top 6 ingredients, toss. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs, orange juice, and lemon, mix. Add flour and baking powder in thirds and mix after each third. Add batter to fruit bowl and coat well. Put in well-greased tube pan. Cover top in foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hrs. Uncover top for last 5 minutes.

Place on a rack until nearly cool. Stir together the Grand Marnier and powdered sugar, and drizzle over the cake.

Makes 1 large fruit cake.

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Orange-Cranberry-Rosemary Muffins

Rosemary isn't the first ingredient you'd think of to put in muffins, right? Well, in this recipe, the fresh herb adds a little tang and zest without becoming too pine-y or overwhelming. It's a delicious addition.

I came across this recipe a few years ago when I was writing the herb section of my book
The Complete Guide to Food Preservation. When I started writing my next book, The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants, I put a pot of rosemary on a sunny windowsill. The next winter it was huge and bursting with pale lavender flowers that lasted until May.

Now that rosemary plant is a bush near a sunny window in my kitchen, and I can't use the branches fast enough to keep it decently trimmed. Rosemary is a wonderfully hardy houseplant for a sunny location; it handles neglect and drought well, and smells lovely every time you brush up against it.

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (can substitute dried)
1 cup dried cranberries, lightly chopped
2 tbsp orange zest, divided
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a smaller bowl, mix the egg, orange juice, milk, and melted butter until combined.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, until just combined. Fold in the rosemary, cranberries, and 1 tbsp of orange zest.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups, nearly to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and the last tbsp of orange zest, and use this to frost the tops of the muffins as they cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Fab Four Fall Desserts

There's something special about fall baking; warming up the oven, the luscious scents filling the house, and the satisfaction of a big platter of sweets. These four recipes combine some of our most favorite fall flavors...spices, pumpkin, apple, caramel, and pastry. And chocolate. And nuts. And sugar. Oh my.

Enjoy!

1. Apple Cinnamon Sugar Cookie Bars, from Recipe Chatter

2. Acorn Treats, from The Hungry Housewives

3. Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies, from Recipe Girl

4. Salted Caramel Pear Tarts, from Vikalinka

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Cherry-Almond Clafoutis (Custard Pie)

Have I mentioned that I grew up in the heart of Michigan's fruit-growing region? Michigan is known for fantastic apples, cherries, peaches, and berries. When I was growing up in Southwestern Michigan, we celebrated a Blossomtime Festival at the beginning of summer. The priest would go out to the fields to bless the buds. There was a Glad/Peach Festival that I loved, because I grew prizewinning gladiolas in my mom's garden that beat out adult competitors every year. Bike parades, plenty of fruit stands, and summers picking in the hot sun. It was fun growing up in a small town.

One of the biggest and most famous fruit festivals in Michigan is the Traverse City Cherry Festival. Traverse City is beautiful, with just the right conditions to grow luscious crops of cherries every year. They welcome the world to all sorts of cherry-related fun at the start of the cherry season. This year, the festival starts June 29th.

This recipe celebrates cherries, too. A clafoutis is a light and sweet custard pie, similar to a flan, from the Limousin region of central France (yes, my mind is still on a European vacation!). Clafoutis (clah-foo-tee) is usually baked in a wide shallow gratin pan or skillet and cut into wedges. Since we didn't have that pan, and wanted more than thin wedges,  we cooked it in a 9x12 casserole dish. It was so quick that I whipped it up in minutes and let it cook while I dressed for a dinner party last week.

It was delicate and fabulous under the Super Moon on the longest day of summer. Oh, do I love cherries!

Ingredients

Spray oil
Flour for dusting the pan
1/2 cup raw slivered almonds
1 pound sweet black cherries, pitted (you can use frozen cherries if you thaw them and drain them)
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (we used skim milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (we used dark brown sugar in the photo, because it was all we had, but light brown will give it a lighter golden color and a more delicate taste)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup crème fraîche or plain yogurt at room temperature
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil and flour a 12-inch round baking dish or a 9x12 rectangle casserole dish.

Heat a small dry pan. Toast the almond slivers on medium-high heat until the almonds are golden and fragrant. Allow them to cool, then sprinkle them over the bottom of the cooking dish. Arrange the cherries over the almonds.

In a mixer bowl or food processor, whip together the eggs, milk, and almond extract. Add the sugar and flour and blend until well mixed. Pour over the cherries.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is well browned and the center is set. Cut into squares or wedges and serve at room temperature drizzled with the cream and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Serves 6-8.

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Amaretto Flan with Blood Oranges

This velvety-rich dessert is a delicate end to a sweet Mother's Day meal. Bake this for her, and she'll never forget it.

Ingredients

2/3 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (we use low-fat or fat-free for both milks)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur, divided
1 very ripe blood orange (should squeeze easily but the skin should not be dull and dry)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a glass or metal round 9" pan.

Place the sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat it over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is melted and slightly browned. Pour the syrup into the baking pan and swirl it to coat the sides.

Put the eggs in the mixing bowl and beat at medium speed until frothy. Pour in the milks, salt, vanilla, and 1 tbsp amaretto, and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture into the baking pan and cover it with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes, or until the egg mixture is completely set. Remove the foil and allow it to cool. Place a dish over the pan and invert the baking dish so the flan and syrup is on the plate.

Peel the orange and completely remove all the white pith. Thinly slice the orange, and arrange the slices on top of the flan. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp of amaretto.

Serves 6-8.

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Pear-Almond Tart

When you have a bowl full of tender ripe pears with just a little blush along the sides, the first thing you should do is take a photo of the lovely fruit. The second thing you should do is poach them and then bake them into this tart. This would be wonderful for an Easter dinner dessert, or for breakfast...or lunch...or dinner. With fruit and nuts and a crispy-sweet crust, it's a complete meal. Mmm.

Ingredients

5 ripe Comice or Bartlett pears

1/4 cup Grand Marnier

2 tbsp lemon juice

For the batter

3/4 cup butter 

1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp sliced almonds (for topping)

Directions

Core and cut the pears into 1/2" slices. Place them in a saucepan and cover with the Grand Marnier and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir in the flour and almonds. 

Pour about 2/3 of the batter into a greased pie pan. Arrange the pear slices around the pan in a scalloped pattern. Pour any remaining juice from the pears over the fruit. Pour the rest of the batter over the pears, then sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the crust is golden and crispy, and the center is cooked through.

Serves 8.

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Watermelon-Lychee Granita

Last weekend, my delightfully quirky girlfriends got together for a "Young Frankenstein" party. I'm glad that I even know women who enjoy that movie, and we were excited to initiate a couple of the ladies who had never seen it before. The food theme for the party was German, though the movie is set in Transylvania. I brought watermelon-lychee sorbet.

Yes, I know that granita, or sorbet, is not German; it's also not the first type of dessert you might think of during a Chicago winter. But I had a can of lychee fruit I was wanting to use, a couple of limes that I absolutely had to use (soon!), and a recipe for fruit ice that I'd been eager to try. Plus, I needed a light fruit-based companion for the Reuben dip, Bavarian soft pretzels, hot cheese spread, kielbasa, and German meatballs at the party.

So I took my frozen pan of lovely salmon-colored ice to the party, put it in Jo's refrigerator to defrost, and promptly forgot about it. At eleven that night, as we collected our bowls and stowed our leftovers, I remembered my dessert.

It was perfectly thawed, full of crunchy sweet-sour ice crystals, and I scooped some into goblets and pleaded for everyone to have a taste before they left. "It's really healthy!" I exclaimed. "It's mostly just fruit!" I had another whole pan at home; how would Joe and I ever eat all that watermelon ice? Everyone was tired and they just wanted to go home. They were really only humoring me by having a taste, circled around the kitchen island in their coats.

It was one of those moments you live for as a cook. They spooned up every little bite and asked for seconds. We dreamed about other new fruit combinations - watermelon-mint! Apricot-ginger-prosecco! Our minds fast-forwarded to sultry August, when we would lounge on our flowery decks slipping spoonfuls of this frozen nectar between our lips. They begged me to let them take some home, and I thankfully gave it away. Joe and I would not be compelled to eat dessert every night for the next two weeks!

I love when I make something I love, and other people are delighted by it. I hope you like this as much as my friends did.

P. S. They talked about seeing "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" next. And wearing costumes. Hmmm, who would I be?

Ingredients

1 15-oz. can pitted lychee fruit in syrup (reserve the syrup)

1/4 cup superfine sugar

5 limes, or 1/2 cup lime juice (kitchen hint: freeze the lime peels for the next time you need lime zest)

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

6 cups watermelon fruit, de-seeded and cubed

Directions

Drain the lychees, reserving the syrup in a small saucepan. Add the lime juice and sugar to the syrup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool.

In a food processor or blender, puree the watermelon, lychee, ginger, and syrup. When it is finely pureed, strain the mixture through a fine sieve, and discard the solids.

Pour into a large shallow metal pan and put into the freezer for two hours. Take out the pan and break up the ice crystals with a fork. Repeat again each hour until the ice is frozen solid.

To serve, allow the granita to thaw enough that it can be served with a spoon or ice cream scoop.

Serves 4-8.

P.S. The original recipe comes from the gorgeously-photographed cook book, "Cooking from Above: Asian".

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Apple Butter Lattice Coffee Cake

I think this is the time of the year when cinnamon and apples and pastry fresh out of the oven tastes especially good. We made this lattice coffee cake with apple butter I canned this summer, and it was perfect for Christmas brunch. It's easy enough to make for any breakfast when you've got the time to sit down together and enjoy the morning.

The inspiration for this pastry came from Farm Bell Recipes, which is a fun site full of delicious cooking ideas.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter (4 tbsp)
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups apple butter (we're partial to our Crock Pot Apple Butter recipe)

Powdered Sugar Frosting

1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk

Directions

Stir together dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or fork, cut in cream cheese and butter until crumbly and beginning to stick together. Stir in the milk. With your hands, knead the dough. It will be a little dry, but if it is too dry to stick together, add a little more milk.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, and shape into a 12x8 rectangle. Place in a greased cookie sheet. Spread the apple butter down the middle of the dough, leaving at least 2 inches on the long sides and a 1 inch margin on the short sides.

Make diagonal

Criss-cross cut strips of dough over the top and pinch ends to seal. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes or till nicely browned on top.

Stir together powdered sugar and vanilla, then gradually add milk until the frosting is liquidy enough to drizzle. Using a fork, dribble the frosting back and forth across the warm bread.

Makes 1 loaf.

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Salted Caramel Dreamboats and Turtles

When I worked with my Grandma in her cake and candy-decorating store, every once in a while she'd tell me stories about her childhood and her courtship with my Grandpa Jim. They met during World War II when he was visiting a friend in the hospital in California, and fell in love there. They weren't very demonstrative about their love, but sometimes in the middle of twirling a perfect frosting rose onto a slip of waxed paper, she'd stop her ever-busy hands and look off into space.

"He was a dreamboat," she said. "He looked just like Errol Flynn. And his moustache...!"

Then she'd shake away the thought with a smile, and go on making roses for someone's wedding cake. I remember her hands were always soft from working with frosting and chocolate, and her bakery always smelled like a child's dream of heaven.

Grandma used this candy recipe to make both pretzel dreamboats and chocolate turtles. She gave us extra turtles every year because she knew that they were my Mom's favorite candy. I adore them both.

To make turtles, replace each pretzel with two whole cashews or pecans. Make sure the chocolate drips all the way to the nuts so that the piece holds together. You can skip the sea salt if you wish.

Ingredients

1 pkg milk or dark chocolate chips
30 little pretzel twists or squares (60 whole pecans or cashews)
2/3 pound block caramel, or 30 firm caramel cubes (like Brachs)
1 tbsp coarsely ground sea salt

Directions

Melt the chocolate slowly in a double boiler or microwave until smooth and very runny.

Place the pretzels on a cookie sheet lined with foil.

Using clean kitchen shears or scissors, cut 1" square pieces of caramel and press them into button shapes with your fingers. Press onto the top of the pretzels or nuts.

Swirl 1 tsp of chocolate on top, allowing some to drip down over the caramel and pretzels or nuts. Sprinkle a little sea salt over the chocolate before it hardens.

Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before boxing or wrapping the candies and refrigerating them.

Makes 30 candies.

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