Recipes I Love: Blueberry Crumble

Here's another quick and easy throw it together dessert for summer.  I guess you could use canned fruit just as easily if blueberries aren't readily available in your neck of the woods.  If it comes to that, you could use your favorite fruit, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, cherries.  It's all good.  

This is the kind of easy and rustic, yet tasty recipe Mischa Blake would have found to serve to Donovan Holloway in my Keeping House book, soon available from Breathless Press.  

Blueberry Crumble

Filling

6 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of flour

topping

1 cup flour

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 stick cold butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

sprinkle of cinnamon

Spread blueberries in the bottom of casserole dish

sprinkle top with 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup sugar

mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon in blender until crumbs form

sprinkle top of berries with crumb mixture

bake at 350 45 minutes or until bubbly

serve with ice cream

Cardamom Pound Cake with Ginger Pear Sauce

After all the homey, nostalgic recipes I've been making of late, I got a request from a vip for something a bit more... and this is what we came up with as a result.  

Cardamom Pound Cake With Ginger Pear Sauce and Vanilla

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream

2 1/2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Equipment: a 12-cup bundt pan; a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter and granulated sugar in mixer at medium speed, scraping side of bowl occasionally, until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a paring knife into butter mixture, reserving pods for another use, and beat until combined well, about 1 minute. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in lemon juice until combined well. At low speed, add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top. Gently rap pan on counter to eliminate air bubbles.

Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pan 1 hour, then invert onto a rack and cool completely, about 1 hour more.

Ginger Pear Sauce:

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Peel and slice (or chop) 3 pears, (We used I Asian pear, 1 Bosc and 1 D’Anjou)

In a large skillet, dissolve sugar in water.  Stir in ginger.  Add a bit of cornstarch if you prefer a thicker sauce.  Add pear slices. Cover and cook over medium heat for 25-30 minutes or until tender. 

Spoon warm sauce over sliced cake.

Beat the cream with confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract using whisk attachment of mixer until it just holds stiff peaks.

Spoon whipped cream over pear sauce. 

Apple Spice Dump Cake

Apple Spice Dump Cake

Okay, this one of those throw it together quick recipes that makes a nice homey dessert.  I make my own pie filling, but you can use canned as the recipe says. Not sure if this is from Allrecipes.com or Taste of Home magazine, originally, so I’ll give both of them a nod here.   It smells awesome baking and reminds me of my Memere, whose kitchen was always scented with cinnamon and vanilla and other things to make a kids mouth water.  

           

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix (or white, or yellow)

2 (21 ounce) cans apple pie filling (5 cups of pie filling about what you’d use to make a 9 inch pie)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon white sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Pour the cans of apple pie filling into a 9 x 13 inch rectangular pan.

3. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and sugar. Sprinkle mixture over pie filling.

4. Pour the dry box of cake mix over apples. Dot with butter and scatter nuts on top.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour, until cake is brown on top and bubbling on the sides. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.

Mandarin Orange Delight

Mandarin Orange Delight

(A no-bake cheesecake-like dessert for spring)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup ground pecans

1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. butter

1 8-oz.pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice (more if you like tart J we do… )

1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges, undrained

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:

Combine graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans and melted butter or margarine; stirring until blended. Press the mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9 inch pie plate.

Combine cream cheese, lemon juice and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Pour filling into prepared pan.  Chill. 

Topping: (Also very good on vanilla ice cream, pound cakes, and yeah. pretty much anything.)

Drain mandarin oranges, reserving 1/2 cup liquid. Combine the reserved 1/2 cup orange liquid, orange juice and cornstarch in a saucepan; stir well. ( We added a dash of triple sec) Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly; cool slightly.

 Arrange orange sections in center and around outer edge of dessert. Spoon glaze over top; chill.

Triple Chocolate Cake

By Request:  Triple Chocolate Cake... Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

1 cup  Sour Cream

1 pkg. (4 serving size) Chocolate Instant Pudding

4 eggs

 1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

3 cups thawed Whipped Topping, divided

1 (8 ounce) package Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1 1/2 cups raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan. Beat all ingredients except whipped topping, chocolate and raspberries in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed just until moistened. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into prepared pan.

2. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen cake from side of pan with knife or metal spatula and gently remove cake. Cool cake completely on wire rack. Place on serving plate.

3. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of the whipped topping. Microwave remaining whipped topping and chocolate in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after each min. Drizzle over cake. Immediately drop reserved whipped topping, by scant teaspoonfuls, around top of cake; create star shape by drawing wooden toothpick through middle several times. Spoon raspberries into center of cake. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

This recipe, like many of my favorites, can be found at http://allrecipes.com/

White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Ingredients

• 3 (2 ounce) bars NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Baking Chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled

Directions

1. MICROWAVE baking bars in medium, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
2. COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl.
3. COMBINE sugar, eggs, water in large bowl. Add melted baking bars and butter; stir until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture. Pour into greased 9 x 9-inch baking pan.
4. BAKE in preheated 350 degrees F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Topping-   Best applied when brownies have cooled slightly...
                melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in double boiler
               stir in 1/2 teaspoon of shortening
               stir in a few drops of peppermint extract
               pour chocolate in a drizzle over top of brownies
               crush 2 candy canes and sprinkle over top of brownies