Jessica's Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients in bowl. Make well in center. Add oil, eggs, & pumpkin. Beat well. Pour in well greased bread pans. Bake 50-60 min for standard loaf pans or 45 minutes for small pans.

Corn Chowder

Now for the soup on the right. My roommate made this delicious summer corn chowder, but I wanted to find a way to make it allergy-free.

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice (1 c.)

2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2 inch dice (3/4 c.)

8 sprigs thyme (FYI 1 sprig is not a leaf but an entire stem)

Salt and Pepper

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups frozen corn 

5 small fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/2 in. thick slices

1/2 poblano chile, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 can coconut milk

Directions: 

• Add oil, onions, celery, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste to stockpot. Cook over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes.
• Add corn, potatoes, and chile; cook until potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard thyme. Add coconut milk and simmer until soup is hot.

The recipe calls for crumbled bacon as a garnish, but I left it out because the soup was already so hearty.

Hydrangea Cupcakes

I found the idea for these cupcakes here. However, I found that her recipe was too soft and the frosting couldn't hold it's shape. Next time around I'll try this with standard butter cream frosting. 

Easy Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter

16oz powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

blend it all together and walla!

Fruit Tart

Recipe found here 

Before I put the filling on the crust, I used a pastry brush and brushed melted semi-sweet chocolate chips on the crust so it wouldn't get soggy.

Cakes

It's been quite some time since I posted anything, but that doesn't mean I haven't been baking. Here's what I've been up to: 

I got the idea for a chocolate ombre cake here

Polar bear cupcakes (I think the little ones could pass for puppies though). I got the recipe here, be warned, this is not a work/nap friendly site - they play video ads, very loudly, automatically.

Coconut Milk - Milk Chocolate Pudding

As you can tell by my posts of late, I have been obsessed with making a pudding that doesn't make me miss the sugar or the dairy. I think this recipe is the winner. It's really easy and it tastes like milk chocolate pudding. I can't wait to go home for a visit and make it for my sister!

(adapted from Couldn't Be Parve)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 cup water
2 cups Thai coconut milk
2 ounces* good quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the cornstarch and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the water, continuing to whisk until smooth. Set aside. Place the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes back to a simmer and thickens. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted and remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.

Strain pudding through a fine-mesh strainer into a serving bowl or into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into individual serving dishes. Cover pudding with plastic wrap. If you do not want pudding skin make sure the plastic is completely touching the surface of the pudding. To make pudding skin, simply pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. (I skipped this entire paragraph and ate the pudding warm - it was delicious!)

*If you want dark chocolate pudding, use 4 oz of chocolate

Makes 7, 1/2 cup portions

Chocolate Pudding (Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Soy Free)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups rice milk (reserve 1/4 cup rice milk for later)

1/2 cup unsweetened baking chocolate chips (I think it's about 3 oz unsweetened chocolate)

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries, optional

Directions:

1. Combine 2 1/2 cups rice milk, chocolate, agave and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk well, heating until the chocolate chips are completely melted and combined with the rice milk. Keep just below a boil, to "scald" rice milk. Remove from heat.

2. In a bowl, combine cornstarch and salt. Whisk well.

3. Add remaining 1/4 cup rice milk to cornstarch mixture, stirring until smooth.

4. Add to rice milk/chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk. Continue whisking until pudding thickens to the consistency that it coats the back of a metal spoon.

5. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.

6. Divide evenly among 4 ramekins or custard cups. Chill. Serve as is or topped with fresh raspberries.

Serves 4 - generously.

Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe

I made yellow cupcakes from scratch yesterday using the Smitten Kitchen recipe. They tasted like yellow cake, but had the consistency of cornbread, so I wasn't the biggest fan. However, the frosting I made to go with it turned out great!

Ingredients:

2 cubes unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)

3 and a half cups powdered sugar (16 oz)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp almond milk

Beat butter in mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Heat chocolate in microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between, until fully melted. Add chocolate to frosting and blend until smooth.

I use this recipe without the chocolate as my standard butter-cream frosting recipe.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Pie

Crust:

choose your favorite gluten free crust. I used the following, but it didn't turn out that great:

1 1/2 cups hazelnut meal*

3 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar

Filling:

3 ripe avocados

12 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup coconut palm sugar

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup almond milk*

Crust:

Mix hazelnut meal with oil and press into pie plate. Bake at 375 for 8 min.

Filling:

Blend avocados, lemon juice, vanilla, and milk in food processor or powerful blender. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or on very low heat and slowly stir coconut sugar into chocolate. Add agave to chocolate and stir. Once everything is incorporated, put chocolate in food processor/blender and blend until smooth. Place mixture in pie plate and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

This is a very rich dessert, so I would recommend serving it with fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Serves 8-12

*Easily substitutable with similar ingredients

Notes:

I plan on tweaking this to try and make it more like milk chocolate, because I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate.

I never was able to get the coconut sugar to dissolve, my chocolate ended up being a lump of chocolate in the double boiler, but when I blended it with the avocado, everything became smooth.

This was super thick, so near the end of mixing, I ended up taking everything out of the blender and mixing it by hand.

Chocolate Cinnamon Meringue Pie

I started with this recipe and added my own little flair to it:

Crust:

One 9-inch pie crust, store-bought or homemade, unbaked (fitted in a pie plate)

Filling:

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated whole milk

3 eggs yolks

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Meringue

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3 egg whites

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pie crust in plate on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until crust is golden, about 20 minutes (or follow directions on store-bought package). Cool completely; set aside.

Put a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together 2/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Gradually whisk in evaporated milk. Whisk in egg yolks.

Place pan over medium heat; whisking constantly, cook until the first large bubble forms, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low; whisking constantly, cook 1 minute.

Immediately pour mixture through prepared sieve into bowl. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour warm filling into baked crust; cover surface directly with plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue on top of filling, right up to edge of crust; bake until meringue is lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.

If you are preparing for the next day, let the pie cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

Serves 8

Apple Pie (with crumb top)

Ingredients:

1 frozen pie crust

Filling:

3 Granny Smith apples

2 Gala Apples

2 Tbsp Flour

3/4 c Sugar

1/4 c Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon

pinch of Salt

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup Unbleached Flour

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)

Filling: Peel and core the apples and cut them into somewhat thin slices. Then pour the lemon juice over them. In a bowl mix flour, sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Then pour over apples and mix with hands until all apples are thoroughly coated. Pour the apple filling into the pie crust.

Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork or stand mixer just until the topping is crumbly. Place topping on filling, cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil (shiny side out) and bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

Plum Jam (cooked)

Ingredients:
5 cups of plums, chopped and pitted
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 packet powdered fruit pectin
1 cup honey (depends on the sweetness of the plums. Increase/decrease as per taste. I used honey instead of sugar to try something new, but you can use sugar)
1/2 cup water


Mix the plums, pectin and lemon juice in a large pot and cook on medium heat. The plums will start liquefying slowly. While slightly mushy, add 1/2 cup water, stir well and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove the foam that forms on the top (mine didn't actually have very much foam, so I just let it be). Add the honey or sugar, mix and cook for another 10-15 minutes until it all starts coming together as one thick syrup consistency.

The Canning Process (if you've never canned before, this is a great place for a tutorial):

Alternatively with soapy water, clean the jam can well, along with the lid. Lightly dry it and then drop them in a big pot of water. Bring them to a boil. Make sure your jars are submerged well.

Lift them carefully and lightly dry them with paper towels. They should be hot so that the bottle does not break when you pour the boiled jam inside. Slowly pour the jam into the jar and leave a 1/2-1/8 inch space between the jam and the top of the jar.

Close the lid tightly and invert the bottle to help the Jam set for about 5 minutes.

Now slowly place the jars, straightup, inside the hot boiling water and leave it for another 5-8 minutes. This is necessary to kill the bacteria in the jam. If you live in higher altitudes, then leave the jars in for about 10min. Keep in mind, too much boiling can make the jam runny.

Remove and refrigerate the jars once completely cooled.

Serve on toast or with toasted Trader Joe's ciabatta bread and Brie cheese. Yum!

Butter-Cream Cheese Frosting

For the 4th of July I made some amazing cupcakes with some delicious frosting. This is the recipe I used:

Cupcakes:

1 box Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

Add dry pudding mix to dry cake mix. Prepare cake mix as instructed on the box.

Frosting:

1 stick of butter

8 oz cream cheese

16 oz powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blend butter, cream cheese, and vanilla on medium speed in Bosch or Kitchenaid mixer for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and add remaining powdered sugar, beat for 2 minutes. The frosting was not as stiff as I usually like, but I didn't want to open up a new box of powdered sugar - and everyone loved the frosting, so I posted as I made it :)

Pretzel Caramel Kisses

Ingredients:

1 bag pretzels snaps or tiny pretzels

1 pkg. M&Ms

1 pkg. Hershey Caramel Kisses** (unwrapped)

Directions:

Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. Place pretzels on sheet. Place a Kiss on each pretzel and bake at 170 degrees for about 5 minutes (Kisses will look shiny, but won't lose their shape). Remove from oven and promptly place an M&M on each pretzel, pressing into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool before serving. At room temperature, this takes SEVERAL hours. I would recommend making these the day before you plan on eating/delivering. Or you can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.

**you can use regular Kisses or Hugs. For Hug or Kisses preheat oven to 200 degrees and cook for 8 minutes.

Note: If you cook the caramel kisses at a higher temperature, they tend to crack and the caramel will end up everywhere.

Ashley's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups of flower

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

cream together sugars, eggs, vanilla, and butter then add flower, salt baking soda mixture mix together well and add chips. i like to use 3 different kind of chips and i usually add a little more milk chocolate just cause i'm selfish and they're my favorite. bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes and enjoy

Kristin's Cake Mix Cookies

1 cake mix

2/3 cup shortening

2 eggs

Mix together. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes

Heather's Cake Box Cookies

1 pkg cake mix

1 4oz pkg jello pudding (vanilla or chocolate depending on the cake mix)

2 eggs

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/4 c water

optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips with a chocolate cake mix

Mix together in bowl. Place dough on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 11 min.

Coconut Fruit Dip

**update** they now sell the cream of coconut in a squeeze bottle, so I use about 1/2 a bottle for the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 can cream of coconut (you find this in the drink mix isle, usually next to the margarita mix)

1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding (use it dry)

1 8 oz pkg cool whip (small size)

Using beaters, mix the cream of coconut and the pudding together. Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30 min. Then add the cool whip. It can be a little grainy for a while, so it's best to make this the day before you plan to use it. I have made it up to 48 hours in advance and it's fantastic.

Amy's Apple Pie

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of salt

8 cups sliced tart apples

3 Tbsp butter

Topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place apples in a large bowl. In medium bowl combine all other ingredients. Coat apples with mixture. Place in 9 inch pie crust. Combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl. Use pastry cutter to blend butter into the mixture. Crumble the topping over the apples. Bake at 425 for 40 to 50 minute. You may want to place tin foil around the edges of the crust to keep them from burning.

Yield 1 - 9 inch pie