White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles

AKA what happens when I have a three day weekends.

These were AMAZING. I'm going to try a dark chocolate version for next week's Pumpkin Party at work, but the white chocolate was pretty stellar on its own.

Adapted from Erin's Food Files.

Ingredients

--Filling--
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed GF shortbread cookies (save a few tablespoons for topping)
1/4 cup pumpkin
1/4 tsp cinnamon sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

--Coating--
2 cups white chocolate chips
2 tbsp milk


Instructions

1. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave for 2 min in 30 sec increments. Crush shortbread cookies with a pestle until finely ground.

2. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate for an hour.

3. Melt additional chocolate with splash of milk, pour over spoonfuls of pumpkin mixture, covering completely. Tuck under bottom side to get full coverage.

4. Dust with remaining crumbs, let sit for an hour to set. I stuck mine in the fridge, and they came together really well.

- Jezebel

Wildly Addictive Cheddar Biscuits

New source! A few adjustments, but based off this recipe. Mine came out more biscuit than cupcake, so I'm going to serve them like that from now on.

If you have trouble turning down Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuits, then you might have a problem with these. ...I know I did.

Ingredients

--Biscuit--
2 cups all-purpose GF flour
1 Tbsp rosemary
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter (cold)
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

--Topping--
1 container goat cheese (the little tubes they have-- perfect size)
2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan. Mix flour, rosemary, and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in butter, then stir in cheddar cheese. Add milk and egg at once, stir with a fork or your hands. Scoop into liners (or just bake on a cookie tray).

 

2. Bake for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are golden brown.

 

3. Mix goat cheese and milk until smooth. Spread over the top and enjoy!


- Jezebel

Peaches and Cream Pie

Side note, in later weeks, this pie nearly burned down my apartment.

Adapted from Martha.

Ingredients

--Pate Sucre--

1 1/4 cups all-purpose GF flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup cold (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water

 

--Struesel--

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

 

--Filling--

1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered
5 tablespoons whipped cream

Instructions

1. Crust first! Pulse flour and sugar in your mixing bowl with the paddle attachment to combine. Add butter in tablespoon sized pieces until your mixture looks like coarse meal. Add egg yolk.

With the mixer running on medium, add the ice water in a steady stream until everything holds together.

Press into pie dish and refrigerate at least an hour.

2. Now for struesel! In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, and baking powder. Cut in butter until it looks like crumbs. Set aside.

3. Preheat to 400 degrees. Stab pie crust with a fork all over. Bake for 10 minutes, stab again if necessary, then bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Turn the oven down to 375.

4. Now for the filling! Chop and pit peaches.

Put them in a bowl.

5. Spread 2 tablespoons of whipped cream across the bottom of the crust, sprinkle with 1/3 of the streusel. 

 

 

Arrange peaches on top. Top with remaining 3 tablespoons of whipped cream and sprinkle with remaining streusel.

6. Bake pie until creme fraiche is bubbling and streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Mine bubbled over, so you might want to put a tray underneath. It'll taste better than it looks.

 Enjoy!


- Jezebel

Baked Apples with Mexican Chocolate

These were so good and wicked simple! Nice harvest treat.

Thanks, as usual, to Martha for the inspiration.

Ingredients

1 apple, cut in half and cored

2 squares chili chocolate

1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Fill cored apple with chocolate, top with butter. Space evenly on cookie tray with water.

3. Bake 20 minutes to get this look (but they taste better after another 10).

4. Set oven to broil, leave until golden brown. Drizzle with juices and serve.

Omnomnom.


- Jezebel

Plum and Raspberry Tart

This was really frickin' good. Note: it makes enough for 1.5 tarts, so I made one in a pie dish and one in an oversized ramekin.

Ingredients

1.5 cups GF yellow cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), chilled, cut into small pieces
3 medium-size, ripe but firm plums
1 half-pint raspberries
1 large egg lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup white sugar and brown sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment until combined. Add butter and mix on low speed until crumbs start to stick together. Press 3 cups into bottom of pan, set the rest aside.

Bake until set, about 20 minutes.

2. Slice and dice plumbs. Scatter raspberries and plums on cooled crust, set aside.

3. Using set-aside crust, whisk in egg and milk. Pour custard over fruit.

4. Transfer tart to oven, bake until custard has set and is lightly golden-- about 2 hours. Let cool about half an hour, then slice like a pizza and enjoy!

- Jezebel

The Best Cheesecake in the Whole World

I am so not kidding. I wish I had taken better notes (you'll see later why that happened), but it's adapted from this recipe and remembered as best I could.

Ingredients

1 cup crushed GF chocolate wafers
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
15 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature

6 ounces strawberry preserves

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir crushed chocolate wafers and melted butter in a bowl, then press into the bottom of a 9" pan in an even layer.

Bake about 10 minutes, then let cool.

2. Use electric mixer with paddle attachment to mix cream cheese on medium speed until creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add sugar gradually. Mix, scrape, add egg. Mix, scrape, add vanilla and mascarpone. Mix until very creamy.

3. Stir in the strawberry preserves, pour on top of crust and then bake entire cheesecake for 45 minutes or until set. Refrigerate, then serve.

Now, Martha calls for real strawberries baked for an hour with corn syrup instead of the preserves. If you choose to go this route, be sure to let them cool COMPLETELY before mixing in with the cheesecake mixture. Otherwise, your nice glass mixing bowl will explode in your hands and potentially scar you for life.

(it's just as good with the preserves, I promise)

- Jezebel

Strawberry Tarts with Cream

Been going a little hogwild with the fruit, because it's the end of summer and why the hell not.

Thanks to Martha for the recipe.

Ingredients

 

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 cups GF all-purpose flour
3 pints (6 cups) strawberries, hulled
3 cups strawberry preserves (two 12-ounce jars)

Instructions

1. Cream butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add yolks and flour, beat until fully mixed.

2.  Press dough into tart pan, stab bottom with a fork, refrigerate for an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 20 minutes, pressing down the crust if it starts to bubble. Let cool.

4. Trim strawberries to a consistent height.

5. Heat preserves in a small saucepan over medium heat until loose. Strain and keep the solids-- you should have about 1 cup.

Spread half of it over the bottom of the tart crust. Arrange strawberries on top with the cut sides down.

6. Drizzle liquid glaze from strained preserves over the top until it's shiny. Don't overdo it or it'll drip all over. Not that I know or anything.



- Jezebel

No Bake Chocolate Crust Cheesecake

This was fun, but not my favorite. Another adjusted Martha recipe.


Ingredients

--Crust--

7 ounces GF chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 

--Filling-- 

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 packet cream cheese (8-ounces)

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

--Raspberry Sauce--
1 quart fresh raspberries

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Crush cookies until finely ground. Mix with butter until it holds together, then line pan to make crust. Let chill in freezer while making filling.

 

 

2. Beat cream into soft peaks in standing mixer. 

 

Fold in cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. 

 

 

3. Remove crust from freezer, fill with cheesecake. 

4. Return to freezer for half an hour, then keep in refrigerator to firm. This'll take about half an hour, but you can leave it in for up to 24.

5. For sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepan on low heat until it starts to come together. Strain, refrigerate, and serve.

- Jezebel

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I made these to celebrate a trip to the Boston office for work! Many steps, but very tasty.

A bit jerry-rigged from Martha's pretty, grown-up version.

Ingredients

--Cupcakes--
1.5 cups GF all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 tsp guar gum
1/2 cup skim milk
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

--Cream Filling--

2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp guar gum
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

--Chocolate Glaze--
2/3 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1.  Preheat to 350 and line muffin tins. Whisk flour, baking powder, and guar gum in a bowl, then set aside.

2. Warm milk and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.

3. In your mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high until thick and pale.

Add dry ingredients.

4. Bring milk and butter to a boil.

With the mixer set to low, add milk and beat until smooth. Add vanilla.

5. Fill muffin tins half-way and bake until golden (15 minutes). Let cool.



6. Time for the cream! Mix sugar and guar gum in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then pour cream in slowly. Stir until mixture begins to bubble and thicken-- about 5 minutes.

7. Add yolks, whisk until smooth. Cook mixture another 2 to 4 minutes until thick, stirring often. Add vanilla.

8. Pass cream through a sieve into a bowl, helping along with a spoon. Refrigerate until cold for at least an hour, with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface.

9. When cream is cold, you can either cut the cupcakes in half and tablespoon cream into the middle like a sandwich or you can inject it with a piping gun like I did. Make sure you get a lot in.

10. Melt chocolate and cream in microwaved bowl and stir to mix. Pour 1 tablespoon over each cupcake. Tadaa!

Refrigerate, and serve.


- Jezebel

Lemon Bars

Om nom nom. Thank you Martha.

Ingredients

--Crust--

3/4 cup or 1.5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for pan)
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1.5 cups GF flour 

 

--Filling--

4 large egg yolks
2 tbsp lemon cured

1/2 cup milk

Juice from 2 lemons

1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

 Instructions

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Butter a cookie tray.

2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

 

Add flour until combined.

 

3. Cover cookie sheet with dough, pressing into all the corners.

Stab it all over with a fork.

 

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.

4.  Whisk together all ingredients for filling and pour over hot crust in pan.

5. Return to oven and bake until set-- about 25 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for several hours (at least 3), cut into squares and enjoy!


- Jezebel