FLORENTINES
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts and almonds mixed)
1/2 cup mixed raisins, candied cherries, candied fruit
2 T. cream
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, plus 1 T. butter, 1 t. honey
Melt butter, add sugar, boil together for 1 minute, add
nuts, fruit, then cream. Drop in small, well-spaced heaps
on greased and floured baking sheets. Bake at 375 until
golden brown (8-10 minutes). Remove from oven, pull
back into shape (they spread), cool on wire rack, spread
with melted chocolate and butter mixture. Chill until set.
MULTIPHASIC
MOUSSE
6 squares dark chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coffee
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
6 eggs, separated
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of ginger
1/2 cup whipping cream
Melt chocolate
and butter with coffee and spices. Beat
egg yolks, Grand Marnier, and sugar together until thick,
preferably in a food processor. Add hot chocolate mixture.
Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into cooled chocolate.
Place 1/2 of this in a buttered souffle pan. Bake 20
minutes in a 350 oven. Cool. Whip 1/2 cup of cream and
add to rest of mousse, then pour over the top of the baked ingredients. Chill
until set.
GUAVA CREAM
A good end to an Oriental meal:
1/2 cup guava jelly
1/2 cup water
1 pk. gelatin
1 cup cream, whipped
Soak gelatin in water, melt jelly and dissolve gelatin in
it. Beat cream until stiff, fold in cooled jelly mixture. Chill
until set in parfait glasses. Serve topped with a dab of jelly.
Fresh fruit may be added, either in the cream itself or
served on top.
GINGER CREAM
Substitute ginger preserves for the jelly in the above
recipe. In fact, any exotically flavored jelly may be
substituted with good results.
MINT JULEP MOUSSE
Use 1/2 cup of mint jelly and 1 T. bourbon in the
previous recipe. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh
mint leaves.
BENNE SEED WAFERS
Benne seeds are wild sesame seeds
2/3 cup melted butter
2/3 cup flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup benne or sesame seeds
Mix and drop by scant teaspoons 6 to a cookie
sheet--they spread with enthusiasm. Bake about 6 minutes
in a 375 oven or until brown. Let cool a minute and
remove from pan while still warm. If they cool too
quickly, run them back into the oven to soften. Cool on
wire racks.
They are worth the trouble.
OLD TIME SPONGE
CAKE
8 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 t. vinegar
1 t. vanilla
Separate eggs and beat in separate bowls adding one
cup of sugar to each. Combine, along with the flour,
vanilla, and flavorings. Bake in an angel food cake pan in
250 oven for 30 minutes, raise to 350 and bake 30 minutes
longer.
Sponge cake is good split and served with ice cream or
whipped cream with berries or fruit, with hot spiced fruit,
or with a dessert sauce. Fingers of stale cake are good
dipped in melted chocolate bars, then rolled in toasted
coconut.
FRENCH
CHOCOLATE CAKE
4 squares chocolate: 2 semi-sweet, 2 dark
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
5 eggs
2 T. Grand Marnier
1 t. grated orange peel
1 cup nut meal
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
Cream together butter and sugar, beat in liqueur, add
eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Add
melted chocolate, orange peel, nut meal and bread crumbs.
Bake in a spring form pan about 25 minutes at 350. Do not
over bake. Top with:
CHOCOLATE
GLAZE
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
1 T. honey
3 T. butter
Melt chocolate and gradually incorporate honey and
room temperature butter. Pour over cake and refrigerate
until hard. Take out of refrigerator about an hour before
serving. This cake better the second day.
CALIFORNIA SPICE
CAKE
Very satisfying and not too sweet:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 t. soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
1/4 t. cloves
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mixed dried fruit (raisins, dates, etc.)
and nuts
Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine
quickly. Bake in greased pan (loaf pan, pie tin, etc.) at 350
until done--about 45 minutes for a loaf pan.
Good topped with yogurt and fruit.
Plain yogurt may be substituted for the buttermilk, but
use slightly less than a full cup. May be frosted with
softened cream cheese thinned with honey.
ICE CREAM ALMONDINE
This dessert, one of the simplest I know, is also one of
the most satisfying. Because of the color pattern, it was
originally called Pink Cosmic Dream, but when it was
rumored that the kitchen was on drugs, I had to start
calling it something else.
French vanilla ice cream
1 oz. almond liqueur (creme de noyeaux)
Whipped cream
Toasted almonds Top ice cream with the liqueur, then whipped cream
and finally with toasted almonds. Coffee liqueur is a good
substitute, or Amaretto.
COLD BLOODED RUM
Another quick ice cream dessert:
2 scoops butter pecan ice cream
2 oz. dark rum
Blend until smooth. Serve with another scoop of butter
pecan ice cream.
GINGER ICE CREAM
PIE
Laughably easy:
Mix 1 cup of ginger preserves with 2 quarts vanilla ice
cream, fill baked pie shell, drizzle more ginger preserves on
top. Return to freezer until ready to serve.
LEMON BRANDY MOUSSE
TARTS
6 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brandy
Zest of one lemon
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup water
2 T. gelatin
8 tart shells
Beat together,
preferably in a food processor, egg
yolks, sugar, honey, brandy, and lemon peel. Melt butter,
add gelatin soaked in water to dissolve gelatin. Add to
whirring yolk mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff, fold in
yolk mixture, spoon into tart shells, individual parfait
glasses, or a single souffle dish. Chill. Garnish with
whipped cream and a little grated lemon peel.
BANANA CREPES
Crepes:
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
2 T. oil
1 T. sugar, 1/2 t. salt
1 T. brandy
1 cup milk
Mix eggs, flour, oil, sugar, brandy, and salt together
until smooth. Whisk in the milk and let the mixture chill
for about 2 hours or overnight if possible. Using a crepe
pan, or small omelette pan, make thin pancakes, turning
once. Brown Sugar Glaze:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup boiling water
3 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. each: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger
2 T. butter
2 T. Galliano liqueur, if available
Mix sugar, cornstarch and spices in saucepan, stir in
boiling water and cook over medium flame until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in butter and liqueur.
Open crepe flat on dessert plate, place a wide stripe of
brown sugar glaze down the center, cover with sliced
bananas, then whipped cream. Fold both ends of crepe
towards the center over the filling. Top with brown sugar
glaze and a single slice of banana so that it looks like a little packet sealed
with wax
SESAME APPLE CUPS
6 tart apples
Juice and zest one lemon
1/2 cup brown sugar
l t. French baking spices **
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Peel and slice apples, sprinkle with lemon juice.
Combine crumbs, sugar, spices, seeds, and peel. Layer
apples slices and sugar mixture in individual baking cups,
dot with butter, and top with more sesame seeds. Can also
be made in one large dish. VARIATION: Increase sugar to 3/4 cup and add 1 cup
cranberries to apple mix.
** French baking
spices: mix equal parts of cinnamon,
nutmeg, and ginger with 1/2 part ground cloves. I usually
keep a covered jar of these spices handy and put from 1/2
t. to 1 T. into baked goods, fruit sauces, coffee, yogurt,
milkshakes, etc.
Traditional Southern Christmas treat. Very rich.
PECAN TASSIES
Dough: 3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flourFilling: 1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 t. molasses
1 T. butter
2/3 cup pecans, chopped Soften cheese and butter, beat together, and add sifted
flour. Chill. Divide into 24 small balls, place in small
muffin cups, press to spread on bottom and sides of cups
to form shells.
For filling, beat together egg, sugar, molasses, melted
butter, then add nuts. Fill cups. Bake at 325 degrees for 25
minutes. Cool before removing from pans.
Other nuts may be substituted for pecans.
LEMON SQUARES
Bottom layer: 1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioners sugarTop layer: 3 T. lemon juice
2 t. lemon rind
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
Mix together butter, flour, and confectioners sugar,
place into a lightly buttered 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350
degrees for 20 minutes. Combine all other ingredients and
pour over bottom layer. Bake (still at 350) for another 25
minutes. While still warm, sprinkle with confectioners
sugar.
If you don't have a lemon zester, by all means get one.
A little lemon peel puts sparkle into almost all baked
goods.
PEACH COMPOTE
8 fresh peaches, sliced
1 cup red table wine
2 T. sugar
1 t. lemon peel
1/2 t. cinnamon
Sprinkle sugar on peaches. Boil together wine, lemon
peel and cinnamon for five minutes. Strain. Pour over
peaches and let stand for several hours.
MARMALADE BARS
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 t. almond extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking spices
1 cup thick lemon or orange marmalade
Sliced almonds
Cream shortening,
sugar, and extract, beat in the egg.
Mix dry ingredients together, add to first mixture and
blend well. Spread half in a jelly roll pan, cover with
marmalade, top with rest of dough (it can be rolled or
patted out on waxed paper first), top with sliced almonds.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until brown.
Cool, cut into bars.
LINZER TORTE
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/4 cup flour
1 egg yolk
1 t. lemon zest
1 and 1/2 cups (or more) cups raspberry jam or
spreadable fruit.
Cream together
butter, sugar, and peel. Work in yolk,
then add flour and ground almonds. If too soft to handle,
refrigerate for an hour or so. Roll out and line pie pan or
flan ring. Fill to the top with raspberry jam, cover with
lattice of dough. Trim edges and crimp to fasten torte
together. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.
Almonds may be ground in food processor if almond
meal is not available. Process them with a light hand for
they can get too dense and oily if whirred too long. Sliced
almonds may be finely chopped and used.
In the restaurant where I worked, Chef Jules once ran
out of almond meal and substituted wheat germ instead.
"People can't tell the difference," he sniffed, "especially
late at night." No one, in fact, complained.
COOKIES FOR 1,000
(OR LESS)
When I prepared the food for the horse sales, I'd make
up several batches of cookie dough in an afternoon, each
with a different flavor, then refrigerate the dough. Close
to the time of the event, I'd bake and bake and bake and
bake, cool the cookies on wire racks, then seal them in
large airtight containers. The most important thing is to
have enough cookie sheets (every home should have at
least four) and wire racks. 1-2-3-BASIC COOKIE DOUGH
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. baking powder
Flavoring (see below)
Cream sugar and
butter, beat in eggs, add dry
ingredients, then flavoring. Shape into a roll, refrigerate,
cut into 1/4 inch slices, bake 2 inches apart on greased
sheet at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown. The
cooking time gets less as the pans are reused. Cool on wire
racks. Can be sprinkled with sugar before baking.
FLAVORINGS:
1. 1 t. vanilla extract
2. 1 T. cocoa
3. pinwheel: roll out vanilla dough on waxed paper,
cover with rolled out chocolate dough, roll up together.
4. 1 T. molasses, 1 T. baking spices
5. 1 T. nutmeg, 1 cup chopped walnuts
6. Use brown sugar instead of white.
7. 1 T. molasses, 1/2 cup sesame seeds
8. 1 t. ground cardamon seeds
9. 1 T. baking spices, brown sugar
10. 1 t. lemon peel, 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts
11. 1 T. orange peel, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
12. 1 cup chopped almonds, 1 t. almond extract
13. 1 cup currants, 1 t. vanilla
14. 1 cup raisins, 1 t. lemon peel
15. 1 t. almond extract, 1 cup chopped dried apricots
16. 1 cup chopped candied dried papaya, 1 t. lemon
peel
17. 1 cup dried dates, 1 t. vanilla
18. 1 T. cinnamon, 1 t. vanilla
19. 3/4 t. ground cloves, 1/2 cup sesame seeds.
20. I'm sure you get the idea. PEARS WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE
Cook cored and halved pears in microwave or bake in
a light white wine flavored with cinnamon and cloves until
done. Cool. Fill core with chopped nuts and raisins,
moistened with ginger preserves, cover with chocolate
sauce.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
4 oz. dark chocolate
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
2. T. butter
Boil together water and sugar for about five minutes.
Stir in chocolate and butter to melt, add vanilla and
cinnamon. Or substitute about 1/4 cup cream for the
butter.
For a super quick chocolate sauce, melt small package
of semi-sweet chocolate chips, add 1 T. corn syrup or
honey, and either a pat of butter of a dash of cream.
Reheat all chocolate sauce over hot water. Not that
there is usually any left.