Someone asked recently, what's the most requested recipe that I've still not done on the blog? That's an easy one...cinnamon rolls or buns!
I'm not exactly sure why these sweet, sticky treats haven't made an appearance yet, and I'm sure they will eventually, in one form or another, but in the meantime I'd like to present this very sexy version from my friends at Allrecipes.
When I looked at some other tarte tatin recipes on YouTube, I noticed that very few showed the “flip on to the plate” step. They would just skip from the out of the oven shot to the final beauty shot. The reason of course, is that very few tarte tatins come out of the hot pan perfectly, and if they showed that, then you may not think they are as awesome as their profile says they are.
So, it’s with much pride that I show you the whole ugly scene that is the tarte tatin dismount. The good news is, it’s very simple to slap everything back on the crust before it cools, and none will be the wiser. This is even easier if you’re doing a version with very soft and tender apples and lots of caramel, which is my preference, as you’ll see.
If you do a Google image search for a classic, old recipe like this, you usually see a lot of photos that look alike, but that’s not necessarily so with tarte tatin. You’ll see an amazingly diverse array, which is fascinating since they were all made with the same few basic ingredients. Most of this is a result of cooking time in the pan before baking.
Some feature firm, barely cooked apples, while others cook the fruit all the way down to a buttery, caramelized jam. The beauty of a recipe that uses just pastry dough, butter, apples and sugar to make the magic, is that no matter how yours comes out you’ll enjoy it. Of course, you’ll want to hedge your bets with some vanilla bean ice cream to be safe. I hope you give this classic French treat a try soon. Enjoy!
It may be blasphemy to say that hot fudge isn’t the ultimate warm ice cream topping, but after tasting this amazing salted caramel sauce, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.
Hot fudge has a lot going for it – namely it’s hot and it’s fudge – but the way this complex, salty, slightly bittersweet caramel marries with the vanilla ice cream is a wonder to behold. Actually, I just had a thought…next time let’s use both!
The procedure couldn’t be easier, but you really should be sure to use a heavy-bottomed pot, and one that’s plenty big enough. As you’ll see, the sugar can really bubble up and over, and will make a sticky mess of biblical proportions.
Also, be extremely careful not to drip, spill, or splash any of the caramelized sugar on your skin. We’re talking instant 3rd degree burns. In fact, if you’re kind of clumsy, maybe it’s best not to take a chance, and just have the kids make it for you.
I know some of you will want an exact temperature for knowing when to turn off the heat and add the butter and cream, but I don’t have one. I’ve always gone by look and feel, and I’m not changing at this late age. Having said that, I'm sure there are a thousand links where you can get that kind of information.
Anyway, I really hope you put this on your culinary bucket list. Homemade salted caramel sauce is one of those things we all need to experience before heading to that big ice cream parlor in the sky. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 1 1/4 cup Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup white sugar
5 tbsp butter, cut in slices
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream (*Sorry, don’t ask me about substitutions. This needs cream!)
You know you have mad opera skills when they name not one, but two recipes after you. This spectacularly colored Peach Melba was created for Victorian era opera star Nellie Melba, by the greatest chef of the time, Auguste Escoffier, who also named some thin, crispy toasts in her honor years later.
This was kind of a big deal, as Escoffier was known at the time as "the king of chefs, and chef of kings." He was arguably the world’s first celebrity chef. His masterwork, Le Guide Culinaire, has over 5,000 recipes in it, and is a fascinating browse the next time you’re in a real bookstore (do we still have those?).
Anyway, Peach Melba is a delicious and simple, summer fruit dessert, which is kind of ironic, since Auguste Escoffier was famous for his elaborate culinary creations. In fairness, his original plating did feature the ice cream and peaches being carried in on swans carved from ice, so things have been streamlined a bit over the years.
Here we have creamy vanilla ice cream, a perfectly poached peach, topped off with fresh raspberry sauce and toasted almonds. This tastes like I’m sure Nellie Melba’s voice sounded. I do hope you give this historic dish a try soon. Enjoy!
I’ve gotten a lot of shortbread requests, but haven’t done a video for it yet, since I’m not a huge fan of that particular cookie in its classic form. However, I love those little bars you see in the pastry case at the coffee shop, which feature a slightly moister shortbread base, topped with some kind of seasonal fruit.
I always wondered how they were made, and then I saw this peach shortbread post on Smitten Kitchen, which looked just like the aforementioned bars. So, I adapted that recipe, losing the egg white and switching out peaches for the very user-friendly blueberries. Besides, by adding fruit and calling them “bars,” we have something that sounds so much healthier than “cookies.”
There are no special skills required here, but you really want to get your hands on a wire pastry cutter, literally. Sure, you can dirty your food processor, but a pastry cutter will do the job quickly and easily, and you can really feel and see what’s happening in the bowl. Of course, if you’re not doing the dishes, go ahead and use the machine.
As I say in the video, any summer fruit will work, as long as you don’t use too much, and it’s not too wet. You need to have room for the crumbs on top to nestle down around the fruit to hold everything together. Also, if you roll with a particularly large entourage, you can easily double this recipe for a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 12 bars:
6 1/2 ounces (by weight) AP flour (about 1 1/2 cups of sifted flour, aka not packed)
1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Chinese 5-spice (or a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg)
Calling a brownie made with pistachios a “greenie” seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do, until I realized that was also the name of a popular brand of pet treats, as well as the street name for amphetamines.
Most chefs, not wanting their recipe associated with such unsavoriness would have changed the name, but not me. I’m hoping that these become so popular that eventually the pet people and druggies will be forced to change their names instead. We shall see.
Anyway, as I exclaimed in the video, these were great, but some dark chocolate chips really would have put this over the top. I’m adding a half-cup of mini chips to the recipe ingredients below, and I highly recommend you do as I say, not as I did.
I’m generally pretty mellow (unless I’m on greenies) about substituting ingredients in my recipes, but I can’t think of another nut that would work here instead of the pistachio. There's something about the relationship between orange and pistachio that’s just so much more intimate than other nut/citrus combinations.
The good news is, thanks to mass-marketing and large grocery stores, shelled pistachios are now widely available at a very decent price. Buy a few extra, since snacking on them while you make these is virtually impossible not to do. They’re really addictive…like greenies, and greenies. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 9 Orange Pistachio Greenies:
Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tbsp grated orange zest
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
2 cups shelled, dry-roasted pistachios (*note: mine were lightly salted, so if yours are not salted or heavily salted, please adjust the added salt in the recipe)
1/2 to 1 tsp salt to taste
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (add when you combine dry into wet ingredients)
*Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes For the glaze: 1 or 2 tbsp orange juice 2 tsp orange zest enough powdered sugar to thicken
Michele and I are still in steamy Chicago, where the temperature is about 95, but the humidity makes it feel more like the sun. Man, could I go for an iced coffee right about now. I’ve been interested in trying this cold-brewed coffee technique for a while, but it was this lovely post on An Edible Mosaic that moved me into action.
Of course, the glamor shot (formally referred to as the “money shot”) is of an Affogato – the ultra-simple, Italian coffee dessert – but the real star here is the amazingly easy iced coffee concentrate recipe.
Apparently, since the flavors are extracted without heat, the results are a smoother, less acidic, less bitter product, which supposedly offers a purer coffee experience. All I know is that it made the best tasting iced coffee I’ve ever had. This would’ve been a complete success just for that fact alone, but that it also made possible this incredibly refreshing affogato, puts it way over the top.
You can use the coffee concentrate straight on ice cream or gelato, or dilute it with an equal part water for iced coffee. Of course, the purists will tell you that affogato is made with hot espresso, but the cold coffee works really well. The ice cream melted more slowly, and seemed to be even creamier than the standard technique.
Anyway, this only takes about five minutes to make, there are no special tools or equipment needed, and one taste is all you’ll need to become a believer like me. I hope you give this a try soon…while it’s still hot. Enjoy!
Cold-Brewed Coffee Concentrate (makes about 2 3/4 cups)
3 cups cold water
2/3 cup very freshly ground coffee (I used the medium grind on my espresso machine)
*Mix water and coffee in a large glass container. Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours. Strain though coffee filter or paper towel, and serve!
For the Affogato:
1 or 2 scoops vanilla ice cream or gelato
as much coffee concentrate as you like (I like equal parts)
Because I grew up listening to baseball on the radio, whenever I heard the word “rhubarb,” I wouldn’t think of something edible and delicious like this amazing Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, I’d think of fights.
Back in the early days of radio, when they wanted to get the sound effect of an angry mob, they’d tell the performers to repeat the word “rhubarb,” over and over. It sounds heated and contentious, yet the listener doesn’t hear any specific words.
Baseball announcers of the same era began to call baseball fights “rhubarbs,” since they sounded so much like those radio effects. I didn’t learn about this until recently, and it made me think of all the games I’d listened to during all those summers, and how never once when I heard “rhubarb,” did I think of pie.
That was until I got this wonderful recipe from my mother Pauline, who I believe got it from my Aunt Angela. As you longtime readers know, both are fantastic bakers and while I love all their pies, this might be my favorite.
So, when Matt Cain drills Matt Kemp in the back this summer, and he charges the mound prompting an ugly benches-clearing brawl, and the play-by-play guy says, “we’ve got ourselves a real rhubarb now,” I will think of this pie. This delicious, rough and tumble pie. Enjoy!
3 cups sliced rhubarb
1 cup quartered strawberries
3 large eggs
pinch of fresh nutmeg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
*I didn’t mention, but I added a very tiny pinch of salt 1 tbsp butter for "dotting" pie dough for one 9-inch crust For the glaze: 2 tbsp jam with 1/4 tsp water, warmed in microwave
I did it. I made macarons. Finally, I can apply for my food blogger merit badge! Hold on, I’m being told I still need to make mini-cupcakes and a quinoa salad to qualify. Oh well, I’ve waited this long.
Anyway, this was my first attempt at macarons, and for not having any clue what I was doing, I was quite happy with the results. They looked fine, and the texture was almost identical to the ones sold at Chantal Guillon, a famous macaron bar here in San Francisco.
So, was it beginners luck? Yes. You would think since I waited three years to make these, I would have done more research, but I did almost none. In fact, I literally used the first chocolate macaron recipe I found, which happened to be from David Lebovitz. He’s an American, but he lives in Paris, so I figured I was okay.
I watched a few videos, read a few articles, had a couple drinks, looked at a few step-by-steps, and off I went. One thing I did notice was every single resource used a different recipe, as well as different times, temperatures, and techniques. So, I figured I would just use my instincts and try the most straightforward method possible.
I didn’t do any high-heat/low-heat tricks; no waiting for the tops to dry; no sugar syrups, etc. I just made the batter, piped it out, baked them off, and as you can see, they were not bad at all. One thing I did figure out all by myself was to use the ugly ones as the bottoms. By the way, there’s a very inappropriate metaphor there, if you’re looking.
So, here’s the deal; if you’ve never made these before, I hope this inspires you to give them a go. Believe me, if I can do these anyone can. However, if you’re an experienced macaron maker, we’d love to have you chime in. I can’t wait for this comment section to fill up with invaluable tips and tricks for what I should have done, and how I should have done it.
I know I piped them wrong. You’re not supposed to make a swirl, but keep the tip pressed in the center as you squeeze. I also heard that I should have cooked one pan at a time, because the bottom pan is more likely to crack. What else? Don’t worry about my feelings…after four years of posting videos on YouTube, I don’t have any left…so let me have it. And, as always, enjoy!
*Weighing the ingredients is critical. Do not make these unless you have a digital kitchen scale!
100 gram powdered sugar
50 grams almond meal aka almond flour (the finer the better)
25 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large room temperature egg whites
65 grams granulated sugar
For chocolate ganache:
1/3 cup hot heavy cream
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
pinch of salt
*pour hot cream over chocolate, and stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before filling cooled cookies.
Bonus Coverage: For more chocolate macaron information, my friend Denise from ChezUs makes some amazing ones, and knows WAY more about these than I do, so you can bug her with your questions too! ;-)
This crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, baked meringue is named after Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova, who must have done one mean "fouetté en tournant." Some people think they can dance; some people know they can dance; and some people get desserts named after them in New Zealand.
Why she inspired what is basically a large, crispy marshmallow isn’t completely understood. By the way, Australia also claims to have invented the Pavlova, and this controversy is the main reason people from New Zealand and Australia hate each other. Update: I've been informed that New Zealand and Australia do NOT hateeach other, but enjoy more of a proud rivalry.
This is an odd dessert, but one that’s a lot fun to make and eat. It's also fat-free…that is, until you pile on the whipped cream, but at least it starts off fat-free. Fresh fruit, especially berries and kiwi are standard fare, and it’s the tartness of the acidic fruit that balances the sweet, gooey crunch.
As you’ll see in the clip, I indulged in a little bit of culinary exhibitionism, and tried a new presentation based on the old, “if you can’t beat’em, join’em,” school of thought. Instead of worrying about a few cracks around the edge, I decided to go full-shatter, and the results are here for all to see.
I kind of liked it, but I’ll let you be the judge. Is it visually arresting? Cool? Annoying? Or, like my friend Tamar from Starving Off the Land implied, does it cause you to think about how badly your driveway needs repair?
Looks aside, strawberries are piled sweet and high at the markets right about now, and this would make a lovely dessert for the holiday. Anyway, I hope you give this a spin…or as I should say in honor of Ms. Pavlova…a fouette! Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4-6 Portions:
3 large egg whites, room temp is best (I think I said 4 in the video, but 3 is what I actually used!) *Note: do not get ANY egg yolk in the whites, or this will not work.
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsps cornstarch
3/4 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla whipped cream and fresh berries as needed
I’m not a big fan of rice pudding, but curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to find out how much better/different a version would be that used Arborio rice, and the same basic technique as a savory risotto.
In addition to trying out a new cooking method, I also wanted to sneak in some coconut milk for a little tropical twist, and I’m happy to report great success on both fronts. The Arborio produced a wonderfully creamy texture, and unlike tradition long-grain rice pudding, the grains of rice maintained a certain textural integrity, instead of just disappearing into one big, starchy mass.
The coconut milk gave the pudding another layer of subtle sweetness, and also inspired the fresh mango garnish, which really elevated these bowls of comforting goodness. Of course the mango is optional, and you’re welcome to take your chances with raisins, preferably golden ones. If desired, those can be added at the same time as the sugar and salt.
Speaking of bowls, I generally don’t make dessert for three (except this one time, at band camp…), but I had some new porcelain ones I wanted to use, and didn’t bother to check the volume before ladling in the sweet porridge.
Despite my “odd” yield, you should get four nicely sized portions from the amounts below. And yes, if you can’t find coconut milk (which you can), simply use all milk. I hope you give this coconut milk rice pudding a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup Arborio rice (Note: I haven’t tested this recipe using regular rice, so no idea if that will work here. My instincts tell me, not nearly as well)
I would have gotten more search engine juice had I named this, “Hot Fudge Sauce,” but it wouldn’t have been technically correct, and you know what a stickler I am for using precise terminology (if you’re new to the blog, that was an attempt at self-effacing humor).
So, while it’s true I generally play fast and loose with recipe titles, when they really do mean different things, I try to come correct.
What makes this a chocolate sauce, and not hot fudge, is the fact that it doesn’t firm up when it hits the ice cream. True hot fudge sauce is actually melted, liquefied fudge, and by the time it finishes its slow slalom down the side of your sundae, it will resemble its namesake.
Hot fudge requires the sauce to be cooked to a specific temperature, for a certain time, and is generally a trickier operation than the simple sauce you see here. Like I said in the video, I’m sure we will eventually do a hot fudge video, but in the meantime, this ultra easy chocolate sauce should work fine.
Unlike hot fudge, chocolate sauce (aka chocolate syrup) will stay in liquid form even after it hits the cold, creamy stuff. Of course it gets a bit thicker as it cools, but it will not harden into actual fudge. If you are looking for comparisons, this may remind you of a thicker version of a certain canned chocolate syrup from Pennsylvania.
Anyway, if you are a regular buyer of store-bought chocolate sauce, and didn’t realize how easy it is to make your own at home, then I hope you give this recipe a try. Enjoy!
I’m not a huge dessert fan, so it was a little ironic that the first few things I ever cooked at culinary school were sweet, not savory. It was too long ago to remember why, but I think we divided the class into different groups for our lab times, and I just happened to be in the one that started with basic baking.
I distinctly remember sticky buns being the first recipe we did, but the second one was a pineapple upside-down cake. It’s such a cool recipe for a new culinary student, since it just looks like a simple, rustic fruit cobbler when it comes out of the oven, all browned and bubbling, but a few minutes later, when it’s turned over and that gloriously caramelized surface is revealed, it becomes so much more.
As I basked in the shiny glow of this iconic American dessert, not only did I feel like maybe I knew what I was doing, but I had edible proof sitting right there on the table. Of course, what I’m not telling you is that most of my pineapple slices stuck to the pan, and I had to piece it all back together before the chef came over to see my work, but all’s well that ends well.
I was actually kind of hoping that would happen here, so I could demonstrate how easy it is to simply put all your “puzzle pieces” back in place. So relax. Once the cake cools, no one will be able to tell the difference. As long as the syrup is warm, your reconstruction will be fine.
I may be in the minority, but I don’t like to top this with anything. Of course vanilla or coconut ice cream would be fine, or maybe a dollop of whipped cream, but for my tastes, “as is” works best. Anyway, I hope you give this classic pineapple upside-down cake a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for a 9-inch skillet:
For the pineapple base:
4 tbsp butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp pineapple juice
1 tbsp dark rum
1/2 small pineapple, trimmed, sliced (see video below)
For the batter:
1/2 cup melted brown butter (works same w/ regular melted butter)
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1⁄2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1⁄2 cup milk
How to Prep a Pineapple
As Promised, here's a video on how to peel and slice a pineapple from my friends at Allrecipes. Enjoy!
Most foodies know that Tiramisu is a decadent dessert featuring coffee soaked ladyfingers layered with a zabaione and mascarpone, but what many people don’t know is that the recipe’s name is one of the best culinary double entendres ever.
“Tiramisu” translates to "pick me up." Considering that this popular Italian dessert is spiked with proven mood-elevators such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, and alcohol, the name seems to fit perfectly. But wait, there’s more.
As legend has it, tiramisu was a popular snack with the “working girls” of northern Italy, where the dessert originated. So, not only does "pick me up" refer metaphorically to the obvious restorative effects of the dessert, but also more literally to the solicitation of another customer.
Which brings us to this upcoming Valentine’s Day. Not only would this make for a very happy ending for your V-Day meal, but think about the stimulating conversation that could follow when you recount this racy tale.
Anyway, even if you don’t end up talking about Italian prostitutes over dessert, if you’re a fan of chocolate mousse, and you enjoy a good "pick me up," you can’t go wrong with this deliciously decadent, yet still fairly light dessert. Enjoy!
Banana bread is one of those things people rarely make on purpose. Even though you know you’re not going to eat seven bananas in a week, you buy the big bunch anyway, because, “it’s kind of green.” Now, those last three bananas are almost black and you’re feeling like a bad person.
Then you remember banana bread, and long story short, you realize you’re not a bad person…in fact, you kind of rock. While that’s the most common scenario, this scrumptious banana walnut loaf, spiked with dark chocolate chips, is so good you’ll want to make it well before the bananas get to that condition. Yes, it does come out better with extra ripe bananas, but if you can’t wait (like I couldn’t), you’re still in for a treat.
The chocolate chips are sparse here, but make a big difference in the overall flavor. This is a case where more wouldn’t necessarily make it better. This should be more of a snack, not a super-sweet dessert. When Michele makes this, she actually grates unsweetened baking chocolate instead, and it’s amazingly like that also. And, don’t even get me started on how good this is toasted.
Unlike some families, we don’t have a set-in-stone Christmas dinner menu. It really varies year to year. We’ve tried just about every holiday roast imaginable, and I don’t think we’ve even had the exact same side dishes twice, but when it comes to dessert, that’s a whole other story.
The meal must end with this gingerbread cake and it’s glistening lemon glaze. My wife Michele makes this every year, and uses a recipe she adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook, which despite being very simple, always gets rave reviews.
Of course, she adds a few secret, extra-exotic ingredients (I can’t confirm or deny that one is cardamom), which I didn’t use here, but I’ve always believed married couples should have there own unique gingerbread cake recipes, and mine features a little dash of Chinese five-spice instead.
Was it as good as Michele’s annual Christmas offering? Of course not (see why I’ve stayed happily married for 22 holidays?), but it was very delicious, and I’m sure you’d thoroughly enjoy it. So, if you’re looking for a new addition to your holiday dessert table, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!
Gingerbread ingredients for one 8 or 9-in square cake:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (8-oz by weight)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 rounded teaspoons ground ginger (3 if you like it spicier)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water
*Bake at 350ºF or about 35 minutes. For the glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 tbsp lemon zest
I loved everything about these brownies, except the flavor. I love mint, I love chocolate, and I love chocolate mints, but for whatever reason, I don’t like chocolate mint brownies. It’s quite a personal mystery.
My wife Michele’s theory is that since we love the pure chocolately goodness of classic plain brownies, the addition of that extra layer of flavor, especially one as distinctive as mint, just throws everything off. That could be.
Also, I don’t like the combination of nuts and mint, and so these didn’t contain walnuts or pecans like they usually would. Maybe it’s nut denial that has me in this anti-mint mood. Anyway, enough about my problems, if you like chocolate mint brownies, which based upon all the requests I got, many of you do; you’ll probably love these.
I’ve used a very stripped-down method here that requires almost zero technique, and uses only cocoa powder to achieve a dense, chewy, very chocolatey brownie. I hope you give these a try, and if you don’t enjoy mint either, just leave them un-iced, or add another flavoring like vanilla, orange, or rum extract. Enjoy!
I want to thank a Twitter follower of mine, RookieKoo, for giving me the idea for today’s Michael Buffer-inspired post title. Of course, if you’re not familiar with the iconic boxing ring announcer’s catchphrase, then none of this will make any sense, and you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you it was an amusing reference.
There are hundreds of ways to make rum balls, but this one’s my favorite method. It’s very easy, especially if you have stale brownies lying around. I know, that never happens, which is why I’m linking to an all-purpose brownie recipe below the post. This will also work nicely with store-bought brownies, but stay away from anything that’s frosted. We don’t want to add any additional fat into the recipe, since that will hinder the absorption of the rum.
The amount of rum you add depends on how cakey and/or dry your brownies are, but for a half-pound, you’ll probably need between 1/4 and 1/3 of a cup to soak the crumbs sufficiently. A proper rum ball should be a fire hazard. By the way, I’m not responding to any comments asking about how to make these without using rum. In my humble opinion, you can’t.
The other issue I'm not going to be a big help with is altering the type of chocolate. I used a quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa), which worked beautifully for this, and hope you do the same. I don't have a lot of experience working with chocolate, so I'm not sure what will happen if you want to use white, milk, or other kinds of chocolate for the coating.
I realize these are more of a candy, than a cookie, but after about a half-dozen rum balls, culinary semantics will be the furthest thing from your mind. I hope you give them a try on your holiday dessert table. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 20 small rum balls:
8 ounces stale chocolate brownies, crumbled
1/4 to 1/3 cup dark rum, or as needed
4 oz dark chocolate (I used Lindt Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa)
NOTE: For a quick and easy brownie that will work well for these rum balls, check out this recipe from Allrecipes.com. I recommend checking out the comments on that recipe page before starting.
Despite the colloquial idiom, pies are not that easy, and in my opinion, it’s not the dough that separates the good from the great, it’s the fillings. With fresh fruit pies, you have to worry about too much or too little liquid. Custard-based fillings are texturally tricky; and don’t even get me started on lemon meringue.
However, there’s one category of pie whose fillings are so easy, they’re nearly impossible to mess up. That would be the seasonally appropriate nut pie. If you can work a whisk, and set a timer, you have what it takes to excel in this genre.
We added a handful of chocolate chips, but the recipe is based on this one from Allrecipes.com, which I came across looking for corn syrup free versions. By the way, it’s not that I think corn syrup is a “bad” ingredient, I just know that most people don’t have it on hand, and I’d hate for them to buy a whole bottle when a perfectly wonderful pie can be made without it.
In fact, the filling is so deliciously decadent the crust is almost an afterthought. If you ever want to rationalize buying a frozen pie shell, this is your chance. Of course, if you want real “homemade,” you can check out this video recipe for making pie dough, but the point is, either way your chocolate pecan pie is going to rock. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 9-inch pie shell
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I didn't add in this recipe, but suggest you do. Add with the sugars.)
