Dirt Cake

I found this unfinished post from nearly a year ago that I apparently started and never finished. Oops! Oh, well, it doesn't lessen the awesomeness of this dessert, one of my all time favorites!

Dirt Cake

I'm in the middle of my summer vacation here at my mom's house in Maine and having a fabulous time.  I love it here.  The weather has been (mostly) beautiful and we've had an enjoyable time relaxing by the pool and just enjoying what Maine has to offer (which is lots, by the way.)

But, being away from my own home isn't going to keep me out of the kitchen!  But turning on the oven on a hot day? No, thank you.  So, when we had a beautiful day earlier this week and had company in the form of one of my favorite people in the world, I wanted a cool and easy dessert.  Dirt cake totally fit the bill.  Normal dirt cake is made with classic Oreos and vanilla pudding, but I like to shake things up a bit. Sometimes, I use lemon cookies and pudding and call it sand cake!

Ingredients:

1 lb Orea cookies (I'm cheap and used generic Oreos, chocolate ones and yellow ones)

8 oz cream cheese (I prefer the lower fat neufchâtel)

1/2 cup softened margarine

1 cup powdered sugar

12 oz Cool Whip

2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding

3 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, mix the sugar, margarine and cream cheese until well blended and smooth (make sure there are no lumps!) Fold in the Cool Whip.

Either in a food processor or in a large ziploc bag with a rolling, crush the cookies (but not too fine, a little bit chunky is okay). 

For one large dessert, layer half the cookies at the bottom on a 13x9 pan, spread all of the filling on top and then top with the remaining cookies. Chill for at least a few hours.

For individual desserts, layer in small bowls. Clear dessert bowls work best :) Enjoy!

White Chocolate Berry Trifle

Occasionally, I get so inspired, I come up with my own creations. I am particularly proud of this one that I created as a no bake, portable, Independence Day dessert.

It's light and easy and goes together quickly (took me about 30 minutes).

Ingredients:
8 oz marscapone cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups Cool Whip (divided)
48 ladyfingers
1 lb strawberries
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 cups blueberries
1 cup white chocolate morsels


To make the filing, in a medium sized bowl, beat the cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups of Cool Whip and beat until well blended. Set aside.

For the white chocolate ganache, in a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate and remaining 1/2 cup Cool Whip. Microwave for 40-60 seconds, stopping in 20 second intervals to stir.

To prepare the strawberries, wash and hull them, then cut into bite sized pieces. Add 2 Tbsp powdered sugar and mix until dissolved. This process is called macerating and brings out the juices in the berries. Those juices will soak into the ladyfingers.

Meanwhile, prepare a springform pan by lining the sided with plastic wrap and then snapping the bottom into place. Arrange ladyfingers around the sides and bottom, reserving enough for one more layer. Spread half of the prepared strawberries on the bottom, followed by half of the filling and the remaining ladyfingers. On top of the ladyfingers, spread the remaining strawberries and then drizzle the ganache over the berries. Spread the rest of the filling over the strawberries and then spread the cleaned and dried blueberries over the top in a single layer. For the final touch, drizzle more ganache over the blueberries. Chill for at least 3 hours to allow the filling to set and the juice from the berries to soak into the ladyfingers.




To serve, open the spring for pan and remove the plastic wrap. The ladyfingers become very moist and cake-like with the juices from the berries. And I think it looks pretty impressive with the ladyfingers all around it! Enjoy!









This post is linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday

Ukrainian Pirog with Cheese Filling

So, I've mentioned that I used to live in Ukraine. Well, when I lived there, one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to eat is what they call pie (pirog/пирог). It's so good. And we had a little pirogovaya right around the corner. Very dangerous when you don't feel like cooking!

Since being back in the States, the Ukrainian pie is one thing I have missed SO much. I've wanted to attempt making one, but the dough is very specific and I couldn't find the right recipe. Well, for New Year's Eve, which we always celebrate with a Ukrainian flair, I decided that come Hell or high water, I was going to make one!

So I set to googling. And googling. And then I googled some more. And just when I thought I'd never find what I was looking for, there it was. It had a horrid looking filling in it, but I'd worry about that later. I'd FOUND the dough!

The dough in question is yeast based, light and flaky, and slightly sweet. But not too sweet, because sometimes it has savory fillings. I decided to make mine with a  traditional cheese filling.

I started with the dough, the recipe for which I found, here:

Dough:
2 tsp yeast
3 Tbsp cold water
pinch of sugar
3 3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
scant 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cold milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice

Dissolve the pinch of sugar in 3 tbsp water in a small glass bowl Add the yeast and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand until foamy, about 10-15 minutes.

While the yeast gets foamy, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment on low, mix in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (of course, you can always use a regular mixer for this, but a stand mixer frees up your hands).

Whisk together the cold milk, eggs, sour cream, and lemon juice. Then whisk in the yeast. Add this mixture slowly and continuously to the flour-butter mixture with the mixer on low. Mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Put a dough hook attachment on the mixer and knead the dough for 5 minutes (or you can knead by hand). Turn the dough onto a lightly floured working surface and fold it over several times to form a soft dough. Cover the dough with plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

After the dough has been refrigerated, now comes the fun part! Forming it and making the filling!

For my pirog, I chose a round one with a lattice top. There are so many variations, though! You can do round, oval, square, rectangle. And for the top, you can do the lattice, or a braided look. Or you could cover the whole thing with a sheet of dough and do some decorative shaped either in dough on top, or cut out of it. I divided the dough in half and rolled on half into a circle the size of my stoneware pan (about 12 inches) with the edges overlapping a bit.

 Here's me working on the lattice, after I've put in the filling:

For my filling in this one, I chose what is called tvorog/творог. If you have a Russian grocery near you, you can find it there. Alternately, you could use farmer's cheese. Or even cream cheese. I added just a little sugar to my tvorog (It comes in a small container, about the size of half of a standard brick, and that is the perfect amount for the filling here) and then some raisins. I mixed it well and spread it in an even layer on the dough circle, leaving room around the sides to fold the dough up.

Once the filling is in, roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips (I use a pizza wheel for this) and then weave a lattice on the top. I like the lattice because it bakes up nice and golden and lets you see the filling.

Now for the egg wash. Whisk together 1 egg and 1 tsp water and spread it over the top of the pie. This will help it bake golden and flaky:

Once you've done the egg wash, place the pie in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When it is done, the dough should be golden and flaky looking:

These pies are best served warm, but they can easily be reheated. I don't have any pictures of a slice of the pie because it was gone too fast! 

Now that I have the dough recipe, I look forward to trying other fillings. I'd like to do one of my favorites from Ukraine, a spinach filling. I just have to remember what else was in it. Other favorite filling of mine are: lemon curd, apple, pomegranate, cranberry. I'm a sucker for the sweet fillings. Savory favorites include: spinach, egg, potato (mashed), and my husband loves ground meat.

Please let me know if you try making one and what kind of fillings you try!

Summertime Dessert Series: Triple Berry Clafouti

Aren't these just gorgeous?  They are perfect and slightly tart.  My mouth is watering just writing this

My little munchkin and I spent an hour in the blazing California sun, in order to gather what amounted to about six pounds of beautiful, tart blackberries.  These berries are destined for all sorts of delectable treats.  Since we also had some beautiful raspberries to use up and I picked up another big tub of blueberries at Costco, I decided to try a dessert I have wanted to make for awhile, but hadn't gotten a chance to do: a clafouti.

Fresh from the oven!

According to Wikipedia, a clafouti is "a baked French dessert of black cherries arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter. The clafoutis is dusted with powdered sugar and served lukewarm."  This is obviously a deviation from that, but the idea is still the same.  This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and calls for a mixture of 3 cups of berries.  I did a cup each of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Triple Berry Clafouti
2/3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup soured milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup each blackberries, blueberries and raspberries


Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with cooking or baking spray.

Mix berries together in the pie plate.  Combine all ingredients except the berries in a medium mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.  Add in a dash of salt.  The batter will be very thin.  Pour the batter over the berries in the pie plate.

Bake for 50-55 minutes (I baked mine for 50 minutes and it was perfect) or until the top is puffy and lightly browned.

Serve warm with either a light dusting of powdered sugar or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This is nice for a summer dessert or brunch.  It tastes best when it is fresh from the oven!

This post is linked to:

Sweets for a Saturday

This Chick Cooks

Summertime Dessert Series: Lemon-Lime Sponge Cake with Lime Seven Minute Frosting

Ah, summer.  I just love summertime desserts.  They are cool and refreshing and a great way to forget about the heat.  At least for a little while.  And here in the California Bay Area, have we ever got some summer heat!  After a cold and rainy Spring, Summer has come on and brought us temperatures in the 90s and 100s. Perfect weather for a nice, cool dessert.  I'm going to try to post a cool summertime dessert every week and this week I'm starting with this Lemon-Lime Sponge cake with cool lime Seven Minute Frosting.

I started with a recipe for a daffodil cake from the now out of print Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. It's a hand me down from my mom, and one of my favorites.  There is a color picture index with a picture for EVERY recipe.  Some of the recipes are a little outdated (Eggs En Gelee or Fish Mousse, anyone?)  But there are some great classic recipes and it's one of the first places I usually look.

So, the Daffodil cake recipe is an orange lemon flavored cake, topped with an orange lemon icing.  I decided to go a different way with the cake and made a lemon lime sponge cake and topped it with seven minute frosting, one of my favorites, a fluffy cooked frosting.

Lemon-Lime Sponge Cake

1 1/4 cup egg whites

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract (instead of extract here, I scraped one vanilla bean)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup cake flour

4 egg yolks

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp lime zest

If you look REALLY closely here, you can see the vanilla bean flecks

Preheat oven to 375F.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and salt on high speed until soft peaks form.   Sprinkle in sugar, two tablespoons at a time, while continuing to beat at high speed, until sugar dissolves and stiff glossy peaks form.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add flour gradually, beating until just blended.  

In a separate bowl, beat yolks at high speed until thick and lemon colored.  Fold in half of the egg white mixture, along with the lemon and lime zest.  Drop alternating spoonfuls into a 10 inch tube pan.  Bake 35-40 minutes.

After removing fro the oven, invert cake and cool in pan for 1 hour. Placing it upside down on a wine or beer bottle works well for this.  While the cake cools, it's time to move on to the frosting.

I've seen several recipes for seven minute frosting, but this is the one that I used for this cake.  It is from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, another of my favorite cookbooks.  "Seven Minute" is a misnomer, though, as it takes a bit longer to make.

Lime Seven Minute Frosting

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

pinch of salt

2 egg whites

1/4 cup cold water

2 tsp vanilla extract

zest and juice of 1 small lime

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in either a large, heat resistant mixing bowl, or the top of a large double boiler.  Set over simmering, but not boiling, water on low heat, making sure that  the bowl does not touch the water.

Beat with an electric beater until the frosting stands in peaks. This should take 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat and continue to beat for a few more minutes, until frosting stiffens and stands in smooth, fluffy peaks.  Beat in vanilla, along with lime juice.  After frosting cake, sprinkle zest on top of cake.

I took this to a dinner at a friend's house and it got great reviews.  The hint of lemon and lime was perfect.


This post is linked at Sweets for a Saturday

My Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This was probably my favorite pie when I was younger.  As a matter of fact, it's still my favorite.  I love strawberries and I love how the rhubarb works with them.  It's just SO. GOOD.  I have memories of my wonderful Grandma Hazel making this pie, and this is her recipe.

Seriously, it's so yummy.

Even though making pie crust is my nemesis, I refuse to use a pre-made crust.  So despite my difficulties with crust, I just keep trying to find one that works for me.  I got this one from Salad in a Jar and it worked okay for me, although the top crust didn't come together quite as well as I would have liked.  Still, it worked well enough.  I might give it another try.

Simple Pie Crust

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup shortening

6-9 Tbsp ice water

pinch of salt

Use a pastry cutter or a food processor to cut the flour and the shortening (two butter knives will work if you don't have either of those)  I used my food processor and pulsed it a few times until the shortening was reduced to the size of peas.

Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and begin to press in to a ball.  Only use as much water as necessary to avoid ending up with a too moist ball of dough.  Once you have a nice ball of dough, it's time to roll it out. I tried this method because it was one I hadn't used before.  Take a plain tea towel and sprinkle with flour.  Dump the dough ball on to the floured surface and using the towel, press it into a tighter ball.  Use your floured rolling pin to roll the ball dough outward from the center. When the dough is large enough and thin enough, place the pie plate over the dough, slide your hand under the tea towel and flip the whole thing upside down.  Then it is ready to fill!

Ideally, this would be a whole lot smoother looking, but as I said, I am pie crust challenged

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling

2 cups cut up strawberries

2 cups cut up rhubarb

2 eggs, beaten well

1 1/2 cups sugar (I used 3/4 Splenda baking blend)

3 1/2 tsp flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Beat the eggs.  Add sugar, nutmeg and flour together and beat into eggs.  Pour over cut up fruit and mix well.  

Freshly grated nutmeg-SO much better than the pre-grated stuff!

Pour entire fruit mixture into prepared pie crust

Cover with top crust.  Now, here's where mine goes a little awry, since my crust came out less than perfect. I ended up taking large sections on pie dough and just placing them over the filling, while forming the edge.  It actually ended up looking quite nice.  But, ideally, you'd place an entire second crust on top and then crimp the two together at the edges.

Not perfect, but workable

Place pie into a oven preheated to 400F and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350F and bake an additional 35-40 minuted, until crust is browned.

Like I said, I love this pie.  It is sweet and just a little bit tart.  And this crust turned out to be nice and flaky.  And now I'm craving this pie again, so I might have to make it again soon!

Chocolate-Cherry Lattice Squares

Sometimes, I need a dessert.  Quick.  So I look in my pantry and see what I have and what I can come up with.

I needed something the other night and I had this recipe for these peanut butter squares, made with peanut butter chips.  My husband informed me that he doesn't do peanut butter in desserts (who knew?) so I modified the recipe somewhat and this is what I came up with.  I can't give credit for the original recipe where I got my inspiration, though.  It was written in my beloved recipe book, so maybe it was my grandmother's?

Chocolate-Cherry Squares, with whipped cream and with rocky road ice cream
Served in my pretty new (to me) 1930s Depression glass dessert bowls

Chocolate-Cherry Lattice Squares
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 can cherry pie filling (I had this in the pantry, I have no idea WHY)

Heat oven to 375.  Microwave chocolate chips 1 minute, stir and heat an additional 30 seconds at a time until melted and smooth. It took only a minute and a half for these to melt.

Yum, a bowl full of chocolate!

Beat butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy.  Add in eggs and vanilla.   Blend in melted chocolate.  Add dry ingredients.
Divide the dough in half.  Place half in refrigerator.  In a 9x13" pan, press the other half of the dough into the bottom of the pan.  This part is tricky, because the dough is a little sticky and it tries to pull up as you are pressing it down.  Once it is as smooth as you can get it, bake for 10 minutes.

Press the dough into the bottom of the pan.  Don't bake the spatula.

Once cooled, pour the pie filling over the baked layer.  Roll chilled dough between two pieces of waxed paper.  Cut into strips and place over pie filling in a lattice fashion.  Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

Just out of the oven, the cherry is all bubbly

We had company over and these got great reviews.  I believe the quote was "We get the greatest treats whenever we come over here!"  And then tonight, after having them again for dessert, my husband told me they were fabulous, just like me.  He's a keeper.

I would make these again, but I think I'd try doing a half batch and using a 9x9" pan.  This made a lot.  I'd also like to try making them with a homemade filling.  I like to do homemade whenever possible, but I was in a time crunch the other night and I had the pie filling available.  

A Birthday Cake of Epic Proportions

My little boy just turned four years old and we had his birthday party over the weekend.  I gave him his choice of party themes and, surprise, he chose Buzz Lightyear.  So, I love to make a decorate his birthday cake every year and I wanted this year's to just be amazing.  I searched online for inspiration and, not finding what I was looking for, ended up just kind of winging it.

What I didn't wing, was the cake recipe itself. Like many other things that I cook and/or bake, I have go-to cake recipes.  I am a self professed chocolate fiend.  My son (weirdo) prefers yellow cake.  So this one had a little of both.  My go-to chocolate cake is actually part of another recipe .  I have been making it for years.  It is the BEST chocolate cake and whenever I make it, I always get requests for the recipe.  The birthday party was no exception.

Rich Cocoa Squares
2/3 plus 1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups cold water

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Pour into a 9"x13" pan.  On top of raw batter, sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate bits and 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Bake 30 minutes at 350.

So, that's the whole recipe.  But I use the basic cake recipe whenever I want to make chocolate cake for anything else.  I use it for cupcakes and two layer cakes.  It is moist and chocolatey and like I said, it always gets compliments.  It's also a "dump all the ingredients in the bowl and mix" cake.  For this cake, I used a 9 inch contoured Wilton pan because I wanted the top rounded and I didn't want to have to carve a two layer cake down.

Then I made a topper for the cake and a dozen cupcakes with a yellow cake recipe.  I'm not a huge fan of yellow cake, but this is the one I use when I have a cake to make.  And my son loves yellow cake and requested it.  It is moist and has a nice vanilla flavor to it.

Basic Yellow Cake from Better Homes and Gardens ( I love this cookbook!)
3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease and flour pans.  Allow butter and eggs to come to room temperature.  In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Beat butter with an electric mixer on high for 30 seconds.  Gradually add sugar, beating until well combined, then beat two minutes more.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beating on low speed until just combined.  Spread batter into prepared pans.

For two 9 inch pans, bake 20-25 minutes.  I baked 12 cupcakes and put about 1/2 of the batter in my small Pampered Chef glass mixing bowl.  The cupcakes baked for about 18 minutes.  The bowl cake took much longer, over 30 minutes.  I used a melon baller to make some craters in the bowl cake, since it would become a moon later on.

So, then it was on to the icing.  I always use the basic buttercream icing recipe from Wilton.  

Wilton Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract (use clear if you will need white icing)

4 cups confectioner's sugar (ideally, it should be sifted, but I hardly ever do it)

2 Tbsp milk

Thick icing

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often.  Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. 

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 Tbsp water or milk; for medium, add 1 Tbsp.  Thick icing is used for decorations like leaves, thin is used for icing the cake.  I use medium for everything else.  I used 1 recipe for this entire cake and had a little left over.

First I iced the chocolate cake blue and the yellow cake gray, to look like the moon:

Then I added green, purple and orange to the borders:

Buzz hanging out on top

Next, I did the yellow cupcakes.  I blended the different colors with white and added blue sprinkles.  And on top of each one I put a yellow chocolate star that I made with yellow chocolate melts and a star shaped mold:

And finally, the finished cake (minus Buzz, because he kept falling off):

It was a great hit and everyone loved it, most of all my son, whose opinion is the only one that really mattered, anyway.

The Search for the Perfect Lemon Squares-Take 1

I still have an overabundance of lemons, which I love, and I'm on the search for the perfect lemon squares. I made a batch the other night, and although they were tasty, they weren't exactly what I was looking for.
Still, I'l share them and my ideas for improvement on the recipe.  I did a search for a unique recipe and found one that called for white chocolate chips here.

I followed the recipe just as she posted, but was not satisfied with the results.  The recipe follows, along with my notes for improvements.

White Chocolate Lemon Bars 

1 1/4 cups flour -divided
1 cup sugar-divided
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white chips
2 eggs slightly beaten
The zest and juice from one lemon
Powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Stir together 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture onto the bottom of 9-inch baking pan.   (I think this crust was way too crumbly and think.  I think a little less flour would have made it work better)                        3. Bake 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle with chips.                               4. Stir together eggs, lemon juice, lemon peel, remaining 1/4 cup flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in medium bowl; carefully pour over chips and crust.     (This is a 9 inch pan, but the amount of lemon mixture barely covered the crust and the white chocolate chips.  Had I know, I would have used a smaller, 8 inch square pan in order to get a thicker bar.)

                                                                                

5. Bake 10 minutes or until set. Cool in pan on wire rack; sift with powdered sugar when completely cool. (These needed much more than 10 minutes to bake.  I think I left them in for closer to 20.) 

Even though I felt the lemon was too thin and the crust was too thick, they came out pretty tasty.  My husband, who just returned home from several weeks away ate about half of them, but they still weren't what I was looking for.  So I'll keep looking and hopefully find a keeper!