Plum Sponge

I'm down to the last handful of fresh prune plums *sob*. At least the Concord grapes will be along soon to console me (fickle, I am).This is a beautiful dessert, and much easier to make than it appears, and I can't think of a nicer way to use the last of what were the nicest box of plums I've ever purchased.

The components are rather straightforward-spongecake, whipped cream, and poached plums. The recipe can be halved easily if you find it too large (you will have extra cake and plums but that isn't a problem around here). Assemble the cake several hours ahead so the cake can soften.

For the Plums:
2 lbs. fresh prune plums pitted and halved
Juice of a lemon
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Combine all and let macerate for 1 hour. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. reduce to a simmer and cook until plums are softened-about 15 minutes. Remove plums with a slotted spoon, strain liquid and return to pan. Reduce until you have a thickened syrup. Cool. Pour over plums.

For the Sponge:
6 eggs, separated at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup water
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Grease and flour a jelly roll pan or 1 large rimmed baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Beat eggs, sugar, and water together until light and thick. Slowly beat in flour and baking powder. Beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold into flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 8-10 minutes for small sheet, about 15 for large. Remove from oven and carefully loosen sides of cake with a sharp knife. Invert onto a rack and cool. You can also treat it like a jelly roll and invert it onto a towel dusted with icing sugar if you prefer to roll it for presentation (which would also be really impressive).

When cake and filling are cool, cut into two or three layers (or roll as for a jelly roll)and brush each with a bit of the plum syrup and some apricot jam (optional, but why wouldn't you want apricot jam with your plums? The combination is a knock out). Layer on some plums, top with the second layer, and repeat with third if using. Let the cake sit in the fridge for an hour to set. Meanwhile, make a whipped cream sweetened with icing sugar (the cornstarch in the icing sugar helps it to stabilise). Frost the cake, and decorate as desired (I used bits of plum jelly candy). By the second day, the cake will soften into something resembling a trifle, which I would absolutely add custard to because hey, why wouldn't you add custard if you already have a trifle. But no jelly-this isn't a school dinner.

Cherry Fluff Dessert

It was all downhill after I made the rice krispy treats. This is as close as I get to Watergate salad, or a pot-luck in the church basement (shit, now I have to make tater-tot-casserole, don't I?) but at least I knew enough to decorate the top with maraschino cherries.

I used some cheery puree I had frozen from last summer. To make fruit puree, you stick fruit in a large pot, add a few tablespoons of water, then cover and simmer it until soft. Run it through a food mill, and at that point you can use it immediately, or freeze it for next summer when the mercury hits 102 degrees F. and you need a dessert.

This is the same filling for fluffy grape pie, adjusted to a stand alone dessert. Obviously, you can pour the whole thing into a baked pie crust, but I'm not baking at the moment due to heat. The original recipe comes from Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook, 1963.

You Will Need:

1 cup cherry puree (concord grape, plum, etc.)
1/4 cup water
3 oz. package lemon jello (use the regular kind, not the sugar free)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff
Maraschino cherries to garnish (yes, you must use them to properly get in the spirit of 'fluff")

In a saucepan, bring the puree and water to a boil. Stir in the jello, and remove from heat. Whisk in the sugar. Place bowl in an ice water bath, and chill until the mixture mounds on a spoon. Meanwhile, whip the cream.

Beat the jello mixture until fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream. Pour into your best, clear-glass bowl (because this is a "fancy dessert", duh!) and garnish with maraschino cherries. You just made Midwestern America in a bowl.

Strawberry Coconut Key Lime Pie

I made this pie to use up key limes and strawberries, both of which I had in substantial amounts. I wasn't really sure what I'd end up with, but the pie turned out lovely. I made mine on the tart side, though citrus-hating son didn't have any difficulty ploughing through it, and rated it an 8 on a scale of 10 (I had no idea he had been rating my baking, but apparently that's what he's been up to, complete with records).

I could see this as small tarts as well, perhaps for a summer party.

For the crust:

1 1/3 cups sweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons melted butter

Combine and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 325 degrees F. until nicely browned-about 25 minutes. Cool before filling.

For the Strawberry/Key Lime Filling:

1/2 quart strawberries, crushed and forced through a sieve to total 1 1/4 cups juice
1/4 cup Key lime juice
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Bring strawberry and lime juice to a boil. Slowly whisk in the sugar and cornstarch. Whisking constantly, bring to a boil cooking over medium heat. Boil 1 minute longer. Remove to a bowl, cover with wax paper directly on surface to prevent a skin forming. Cool, then chill completely before using to fill cold pie shell.

For the Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

Beat cream until nearly stiff. beat in icing sugar. Beat in extract. Use to top pie.

Cream Puffs

These are so easy to make, I really don't know why I don't bake them more often. The only "trick" to good cream puffs is getting them completely dried out. Leaving them in a turned-off oven with the door ajar seems to do the trick.

The recipe (along with a cute picture of Danny) is HERE.

Extra Cookies? Make A Fridge Cake

Whip some cream.
Sweeten it.
Spread between cookies.
Let chill overnight.

I've made this with gingersnaps as well. Any plain biscuit type cookie will do. Be generous with the whipped cream-it really helps soften the cookies.

This makes a nice project for small children.

Dessert on a 100 Degree F. Evening

We've been in this heat for days now-and it isn't due to break until Saturday. I have a freezer filled with baked bread, and I refuse to light the oven. Tonight, we had salads, bread, and cheese. I've only left the house long enough to let the dog out to the yard. Normally one to dally, even little old poodle dog hurries back to the joy that is our window air conditioner. Yep, that's right-we don't have central air. I haven't actually, since I left home. Haven't had a dishwasher either, but I can't honestly say I miss either. We have two ceiling fans, and they do a pretty good job moving the air around.

I personally have never grown bored with ice cream. Still, the two weirdos I live with seem to need constant variety when it comes to dessert, so I employed the secret weapon that is the parfait glass. Oh, now would you look at that...mama made parfaits. That's something special.

I cut-up two ripe peaches, sugared them, added a bit of dried ginger, and tossed in some lemon juice. For the whipped cream, I used confectioner's sugar with cornstarch to help the whipped cream hold until dessert. I know, the cherry is wholly unnecessary, but what the hell-it is 100 degrees F. outside.

Coconut Cream Trifile "Pie"

I had quite a bit of poundcake leftover from Friday. I froze half, and I put the rest to use in this.

Danny had been reading a story that mentioned coconut cream pie. he asked if we could make one. I absently told him to go look for a recipe, and he immediately turned to the pie section of my 1950 edition of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook.

"OK", I thought, "why not?"

Danny wanted chocolate whipped cream which turned out rather well (I used a few tablespoons of powdered cocoa rather than melting and cooling squares of chocolate). I put everything together earlier in the day and by this evening we had a really delicious dessert. Truthfully, it will be even better tomorrow when the poundcake has really absorbed the custard, but then it won't cut into attractive slices for a photograph on the cooking blog.

I cheated and toasted the coconut in a small frying pan on the stove. You really need to watch it when doing coconut that way, but it did save the hassle of heating the oven-and the house smelled so wonderful.

You Will Need:

Stale poundcake, cut into slices to fit the bottom of a pie plate
Custard (recipe follows)
3/4 cup coconut plus 1/4 cup for toasting as a topping
Whipped cream with optional cocoa and powdered sugar

For the custard:

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. AP flour
3 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup coconut

In a saucepan mix the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and flour. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil over medium heat. When mixture boils, cook one minute longer, then remove from heat. Add about 1 cup of the mixture slowly to the eggs and whisk quickly. Slowly add another 1/2 cup and mix well. Return egg mixture to pot and return to heat. Whisking constantly, return to a boil over medium heat and then cook one minute longer or until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla and fold in coconut. Remove to a clean bowl and cool. When slightly cooled, chill before using.

To Assemble:

Pour cooled custard over slices of poundcake in pie plate. Top generously with whipped cream, flavoured and sweetened to your taste, and then toss top with a scattering of toasted coconut. Chill several hours before serving.

Icebox Cake

These chocolate wafer cookies are so good, they may never make it to the icebox...you may wish to bake a second batch, just in case. The dough is very soft, so I will caution you to chill it very well, and handle it as little as possible. I use a flexible cutting board for rolling them out, and then lift them off with the help of a sharp, thin knife. I am able to roll them without any additional dusting with flour, which really helps keep them from being tough. I have extremely cold, arthritic hands-if you have hands of a normal temperature, you may wish to use a rolling pin cover, flour, and other things designed to help keep dough from getting warmed and overworked. At the very least, try to work fast.

The cookies don't spread, so place them close on baking sheets. You should be able to get them baked in two batches. Cool on racks (where they will continue to crisp) and store in airtight containers (I use an old coffee tin).

I wish I could give credit for this recipe (as it is well-deserved!) but I've long-since lost the source. It is a wonderful recipe, but I can't take the credit for it.

For The Chocolate Wafer Cookies:

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup powdered cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark (not a paid endorsement) but any dark cocoa will do)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup +2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, beat the butter until light, add sugar slowly and then the egg, water and vanilla. Beat until it has turned a lighter colour and texture. Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Shape into a flattened disk, wrap in clingfilm and chill several hours (really, it needs to be quite cold and firm).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silpats (or in a worst-case scenario (gasp) you can butter the pan (that was sarcasm, which i shouldn't need to point out).

Roll that sucker out, handling it as little as possible and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter (or a round cutter, or really, whatever shape you like. I'm not dictatorial that way). You must roll them very thin-1/8 inch thickness. Sometimes it is easier to give them a bit of an extra press after you've cut them. Do as you wish-but make certain they are thin.

Bake the cookies 17-18 minutes. You won't be able to tell if the edges are browning, so you really need to keep an eye on the puffiness of the tops and whether you smell burning. I know, that's helpful.

Remove the cookies to a rack and cool completely before assembling cake.

For the whipped cream:

No really, you don't need a recipe. Beat the ice-cold heavy cream in a cold bowl, when it forms peaks, add the confectioner's/icing sugar and vanilla extract to taste. Difficult, huh?

Grab yourself some cookies and spread whipped cream between the, Place the stack on a plate sideways, and frost the outside with whipped cream. Invert a bowl over the plate and chill in the icebox overnight. Next day, you have cake.

Next day, you have cake...and it is a million times better than store-bought whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookies. Really, it is. Once you master the cookie recipe, you'll find all sorts of uses for the wafers from cheesecake crusts to ice cream sandwiches.

Using Up Extra Whipped Cream

OK, there was only so much straight whipped cream I could eat. Believe me, I wanted to devour that whole bowl by myself, but I couldn't manage more than a couple spoonfuls. Looking around in the fridge, I decided to put half a head of cabbage to use and make coleslaw.

The leftover, sweetened whipped cream worked beautifully in place of mayonnaise-better actually. Mixed with some salt, cider vinegar, and black pepper, it takes on a really nice texture, without the gloppiness of mayo. I'm pleased it was put to good use, and even more pleased that I have found a nice alternative to eggs and oil.

I still would have preferred to eat the whipped cream alone-maybe next year.

Julia Child's Orange Bavarian Torte

Old, referring to me, not the cake. The cake is quite fresh, thank you very much.

It looks difficult, but it really wasn't. I followed the directions (I'm part Austrian-we're good at following directions) and the result was this beautiful torte. It is exactly what I wanted. You should get the cake you want on your birthday, even if you have to bake it yourself.

Leave yourself 2-3 days to do this, and be resigned to the fact that you will have a substantial amount of filling and whipped cream leftover. The filling may be frozen, and as for the whipped cream, I'm sure you can find some use for it such as dipping a spoon into a bowl of it each time you pass the kitchen. Or in coffee. Or dipping a spoon into a bowl of it each time you pass the kitchen. You get the idea. Whipped cream never really gets a chance to be wasted around here.

I used Moro Blood Oranges in mine because it was what I had, and what I wanted. The orange flavour is different-less sweet, more intense, and the colour comes up a somewhat Pepto Bismal pink. Just be warned. It does look lighter once the cake layers are baked, but still-don't expect a lovely orange colour.

The genoise recipe she recommends comes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That is the one I used. The rest of the recipe, and directions are from, Julia Child and More Company, 1979.

The recipe runs several pages, and is given in such detail that I do not feel I could "adapt" it for a cooking blog and therefore encourage you to purchase the books (easily bought used at ABE for a small sum). There are step-by-step photographs as well. You need a basic understanding of how to beat egg whites, make a custard without scrambling the eggs and so forth, but it is by no means out of the skill level of a home cook. It was written for the home cook. I guess what I'm getting at is this-don't be intimidated by the multi-page, multi-step recipe. There's a reason for the meticulous directions, and as you can see, the end result is just perfect.

Tastes Super, Texture Needs Work

I suppose that's the risk you take, creating recipes. Hindsight, being what it is, I'd add gelatin next time. It was far too soft. More cream cheese might have added stability, but I wanted something light. Next time, gelatin.

What you're looking at is the blood orange curd, whipped cream, vanilla sugar, and cream cheese-in a chocolate pastry crust. I spread a think layer of melted, bittersweet chocolate on the top, and stuck in a few pieces of blood orange brittle for "effect," (Yeah, clearly not the "effect," I was going for, but we all know I can't decorate).

It should have worked, and if I'd used my brain I would have chilled the filling before pouring into the shell to see if it firmed up (duh) but I didn't. Sue me. Hey, do you know what I did today? I dusted all of the bookcases, and the tops of the books. People who know us, and know the size of our collection are shaking their heads in amazement that I could do all that in a single day, and make a pie.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my FAIL for the week.

I do think it would take well to freezing, which I might try with a couple slices.

Empress Rice, Gourmet Magazine March 1972

Oh look, mama made a "fancy" dessert.
1972? Wow, that's Nixon era cooking. I wonder if you could mould one of these with ketchup and cottage cheese?Now that's elegant. I know I'd go right ahead and set out a bowl of raspberry sauce on Damask.


I just set mine on a plate on the counter. I mean, you know Mr. Eat The Blog will be standing in front of the fridge piling it into a bowl at 3 AM anyway-so why bother with all that fussiness of getting it centred on the plate? OK, I did a predictably sloppy job getting it on the plate and I'm afraid moving it will destroy the whole damn thing. He's still going to eat it standing at the fridge at 3 AM. You don't spend close to 20 years with someone and not know their eating habits.




Danny picked this recipe. I made it last evening, and unmoulded it this afternoon-it really needs sufficient time to set. I skipped the raspberry sauce, and cut waaay back on the amount of Kirsch the recipe called for. I will post it as written.

Yes, this was a pain in the behind. It has a million steps, and you really need to be comfortable with making custard bases, and so on. The recipe seems to assume people know at what temperature a custard will coat a spoon, and how to soften gelatin, but I'm going to go ahead and include a few notes in the recipe. I don't think Bavarians and such are as common for the home cook to be whipping up as they were in 1973 when this was published.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup glaceed fruit and 1/4 cup Kirsch set in a bowl to macerate for at least an hour.

1/2 cup rice
Water to cover
1 3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 vanilla bean scrapings

1/3 cup apricot jam, heayed and strained
1 tablespoon Kirsch (I omitted this)

4 teaspoons powdered gelatin sprinkled over 1/4 cup water

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk, scalded
A bowl of ice cubes and cold water

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
Oil for greasing mould

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In an oven-proof saucepan, blanch the rice in enough water to cover and boil 5 minutes. Drain rice well. Return rice to saucepan and add 1 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup sugar, butter, and vanilla bean scrapings.Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover tightly and bake for 1 hour. Remove and transfer rice to a shallow dish and cool.

In a saucepan, melt the apricot jam and strain through a fine sieve. Mix with kirsch. Strain this into the rice. Add the soaked glaceed fruit along with the liquid and combine gently.

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let soften. If you have a microwave, 20 seconds will do a good job of liquefying it right before you use it. It will soften in the custard if you don't, but I find this quick step cuts down on the stirring time and ensures it will dissolve completely (don't worry, the strainer will catch any bits that don't melt).

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and they form a ribbon when beaters are lifted. Slowly, in a thin stream, add the scalded milk, beating as you go. Transfer back to a saucepan and over medium heat, cook, stirring constantly until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon (by "coats" it means, if you drag your finger through the film on the spoon, it will leave a line that does not blend immediately back into itself. You don't want to cook the eggs, but rather heat it enough to kill any bacteria and get it to set as a custard base. Again, don't freak out if a few small bits cook-that is why you strain it before pouring into a bowl. If you've ever made ice cream, this is pretty much the same technique.

Transfer the custard to a heatproof bowl (the metal bowl from a stand mixer works great) and set it in a large ice water bath. Stir constantly until it is cool, but not completely cold. Pour the custard into the rice a small amount at a time, mixing gently. Let the mixture cool completely, but do not let it set (in other words, don't put it in the fridge for an hour and forget about it).

Combine the custard and rice with 1 cup of whipped heavy cream and fold carefully combining well.

Grease a large 2 quart mould with a flavourless oil (they suggested sweet almond oil, which I obviously skipped) and pour int the mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least six hours, or overnight. I left mine a full day.

Run a knife around the mould to loosen, and set it quickly in a pan of hot water. Unmould onto a platter and decorate with sweetened whipped cream, fruit sauce and additional glaceed fruit. Serves 8

ChocolatePie/Cheesecake Hybrid

Yeah, now I'm just making names up. The problem is, I've made so many variations of chocolate cream pie that it is becoming difficult to keep them apart in my mind (never mind the archives).

The problem for me, is that they all taste good, but I've yet to make a chocolate pie I thought was fantastic. Truthfully, it is probably me. I get these ideas in my mind about how wonderful chocolate pie should be, without having anything to aim for. It isn't like I'm trying to recreate something cherished from childhood. What if this is just what chocolate pie is supposed to be like? *shudder*.

For part of the chocolate filling (3 ounces anyway) I used a single source Venezuelan chocolate bar with a 91% cacao content. It was just too intense for me to enjoy eating straight (anything over 70% is too strong for my Cadbury conditioned tastebuds to comprehend)but was excellent in pie filling. I have a half dozen of those bars left (of different bean sources) and while I would happily invite local readers over for a wine and chocolate tasting, let's face facts-it won't pair nicely with Mogen David and that's the only wine I routinely have in the house. Besides, there's a pandemic and we're all going to be quarantined indefinitely-I'm going to want baking chocolate.

"...and there in the wood, a piggy-wig stood with a...*" OMG! We're all going to die!!!!!"
(sorry, I lost myself for a moment there...what were we talking about? Oh yeah, stocking up on emergency chocolate. OMG! We're all going to die!!!!!. Crap, I did it again, didn't I?)

Still, a multi-step pie that came together without catastrophe is always worth posting.

*You remember the piggy-wig with the ring at the end of his nose in The Owl and the Pussycat-don't you? Just by way of helpful advice, no matter how badly you need a ring to get married, do NOT under any circumstances pull it from a pig's nose-at least not now. Sure, the pork producers are sayin' it's OK to eat pigs, but no one is going out on a limb reassuring the public it is OK to give your beloved a ring out of a pig's snout. Be safe-and wash your hands.

Oh what, you're first figuring out what a weirdo I am? Sheesh. Fine, here are the recipes:

For The Crust:

For a 9 inch pie with 1 crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cold water

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter until fine crumbed. Add water slowly a tablespoon at a time until dough comes together. You may need more. Let stand a few minutes before rolling out and fitting into dish.

Pierce surface and bake in a 450 degree F oven for about 10 minutes. Cool completely before using.

For The Chocolate Filling:

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and chocolates in a heavy saucepan. Add the milk slowly whisking as you go. Over medium heat, keep whisking contantly. When mixture comes to a boil, cook another minute or until thickened. Remove from heat, beat in butter and transfer to a bowl. Cover with cling wrap, poke a few holes in the surface and chill half an hour. Give it a stir and continue chilling until cold. Pour into prepared crust and chill again. While that sets, make the cream cheese topping.

Cream Cheese Topping:
5 ounces softened full-fat cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whipped cream

Wipe cream and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until light. Add the whipped cream and continue beating until quite smooth. Place in a pastry bag and pipe neatly onto chocolate pie. Chill a couple hours until set. Garnish with additional melted chocolate if desired.

Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake-With Bonus Cute Picture Of Danny

Awwwwww, look at my little engineer.

The new oven arrives Monday morning! Until then, here's another delightful no-bake recipe. Danny was so excited he could hardly wait until evening to dig in...and pretty much announced to anyone that would listen that "Mama made chocolate cheesecake for dessert!" Mr. Eat The Blog had just stepped in the door when Danny dragged him to the fridge to admire it.

So how was the much-hyped cheesecake? Pretty darn good. In fact, I'm really thinking I prefer these to the heavy, New York style baked versions with eggs and a ton of cream cheese and sour cream. This was just enough.

Completely unrelated-we are getting a winter storm tonight. The worst of the snow is supposed to go North, but we're getting high winds so even a few inches of snow will be a mess. Yay, Midwestern Spring!



You Will Need:

Crust:
About 20 chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed and 1 stick unsalted butter, melted. Mix together, press into pie plate and chill.

For The Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whipped cream
2 squares bittersweet chocolate, melted (2 oz)

Whip cream and set aside. In a large bowl, on high speed, beat the cream cheese until light. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until very smooth and light. Beat in the melted chocolate. Beat in the whipped cream until very light. Pour into pie plate and decorate with melted chocolate.

Chill several hours before serving.



For Decoration:
2 squares bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 squares white chocolate, melted

Blackberry No-Bake Cheesecake On Blueberry Zweiback Crust

Still without an oven, so it is another inspired no-bake dessert.

You Will Need:

For the Crust:

1 package Jacobsen's Snack Toast in Blueberry
6-8 tablespoons of butter

Crush the toasts, mix with melted butter and press into pie dish. Chill.

For The Filling:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip the cream and set aside. Beat the cream cheese with the sugar until very light. Beat in juice and extract. Add the whipped cream and continue beating until very smooth. Pour into prepared pie crust.

For The Topping:

4 cups frozen blackberries
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

Bring to a boil and cook over moderate heat until it reaches the gelling point. Remove from heat, chill completely before using to top cheesecake.

Fluffy Strawberry Pie

I know you're wondering how I made a crust without a working oven. After Christmas, Danny talked me into buying him a tin of gingerbread cookies because the container was shaped like a train. It was 70% off so I bought it for him. I removed the sealed bags of cookies and tossed them in the pantry figuring I'd find a use for them.

I crushed 2 cups of gingerbread cookies and mixed them with 4 tablespoons melted butter. I pressed that into the pie plate and chilled it.

You Will Need:

1 pre-made crust of your choice
1 cup pureed strawberries
1/4 cup water
1 3 oz. box of strawberry gelatin (lemon would have been better, but I didn't have it)
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (measured before whipping)whipped
Fresh strawberries to decorate

In a saucepan, combine the strawberry puree and water. Bring just to a boil and stir in the gelatin. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar and whisk until dissolved. Chill until mixture mounds on a spoon.

Beat until fluffy (it really will puff up in volume). Fold in the whipped cream. Pour into pie crust. Decorate as desired and chill several hours or overnight.

Strawberry Trifle

I couldn't bear to throw away the last of the sour cream pound cake from earlier in the week-so I ...um... repurposed it. Come on, I am not throwing away cake.

Last June, when I was freezing and canning strawberries, Mr. Eat The Blog looked at me like it was a colossal waste of time. After all, you can get strawberries year round now. Right-for six dollars a quart and they don't taste like strawberries. The frozen berries that went into this trifle still smelled, and tasted like strawberries and had nary a trace of freezer burn to show for their time in storage.

A proper trifle should have pudding or custard and a good soaking of booze. I skipped both and went for whipped cream sweetened with vanilla sugar and a syrup made from the soaking juices of the strawberries and sugar. Worked just fine. This is the sort of thing that will be even better tomorrow. Rather than a precise recipe, here's the template for what I did-but use your imagination and whatever stale cake you have sitting about.

You Will Need:

Some stale cake-sponge, pound, angel food
Fruit soaked in some sugar until the juices begin to run
Vanilla sugar (if you have it) or granulated
Whipped cream (if you have a packet of stabiliser, use it, if not, no big deal) lightly sweetened
Jam for brushing the cake

Brush the stale cake with a fruit jam. Cut into pieces and arrange a layer in the bottom of a trifle dish or clear bowl. If you're using booze, pour some over the cake at this point. If not, drizzle a bit of the fruit juice over. Add the fruit. Add a layer of whipped cream. Repeat with the cake, etc. You should end with a layer of whipped cream. Cover and let chill at least an hour, but a few is better.

Cream Puffs

It has been a while since I last made cream puffs (recipe and cute old photo of Danny HERE) so I thought it was high time to make some. I served them with the cranberry curd from the last post.

As you can see from the photo, Danny still likes them.

Chocolate Banana Cream pie

This is what you bake when you've been sick. Just when I thought I was better yet another wave of this crap hit me and I ended up at the hospital being treated for what they think was a migraine. By the way, it didn't help and it took two days to abate.

Anyway, I almost always make dessert on Friday and this was simple enough to throw together and I knew Danny would like it. Basically, it is the chocolate pudding recipe I always make thickened with a bit of flour and poured in a short paste crust. I told you it was easy. I was able to make it in stages (because heaven knows, I ain't up to standing on my feet very long) and the filling cooks in about five minutes.

(If you want to see a professional take on banana cream pie by someone that knows what they are doing-go HERE. Isn't that just beautiful? She's so talented it blows my mind).

As I was cutting a piece late in the afternoon to get a photograph, Danny wandered into the kitchen:

Danny: Do you need someone to test your pie?
Me: (Laughing) OK, would you like a small slice?
Danny: You'd better let me try a large slice to test.
Me: Oh, of course. you need to be sure.

I gave him a plate and he ran off to the table to dig in. I returned to photographing my pie when Danny returned bearing an empty plate.

Me: So how, was the pie?
Danny: I think I need to test another piece to make sure it is good.

Five minutes later...

Danny: (almost overwrought) Mama, I can't concentrate on playing unless I have more chocolate.
Me: Well, it's getting close to dinnertime...
Danny: But I can't think! (Waves arms in frustration) I can't think about anything but that pie!


It was a very good pie. It has a short shelf life, but somehow, I doubt you'll have much trouble getting rid of it. I'm expecting Danny to wake up at three AM unable to sleep knowing that pie is just sitting in the ice box all alone!

You Will Need:

A fully-baked pie crust (I used the short paste recipe in Mastering The Art Of French Cooking because I knew it would hold up to a wet, heavy filling)

4 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 squares unsweetened chocolate (3 oz.) chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Whipped Cream (I used about a cup, but you may prefer a thicker layer or just dollops here and there)

Chocolate shavings

Bake crust and slip carefully out of baking dish to cool on a rack completely. This will keep it from getting soggy. When cool, return to dish.

Prepare filling:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, salt, chocolate, cornstarch and flour. Slowly whisk in the milk. Over medium heat, cook whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. Cook one minute longer. Remove from heat. Place eggs in a medium bowl. Add a few ladles of pudding to it and whisk until smooth. Return to large pot and whisk in slowly returning to a boil. Cook one minute longer. Remove from heat. Whisk in the butter and vanilla. Cover with cling wrap, punch a few holes in the film with a knife, and let cool. Five minutes on the counter then in the fridge.

Slice bananas and place in the pie as neatly as possible. Cover with chocolate filling (You'll probably have extra-save it covered). beat whipping cream until stiff and add sugar as desired. Spread generously on top . Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.