Cranberry, Pecan and Honey Torte

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - We've had a busy summer with lots of camping, birthday parties, weddings, etc. I have started a new business of sorts - making cookies and cupcakes for showers, parties, etc. I will try to blog those very soon.

This recipe is another that I made up based on something I got from a grocery store. It is a great appetizer and is super simple.

Enjoy~

Cranberry, Pecan, and Honey Torte

Ingredients:

2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat kind) room temperature

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup sweetened pecans (I find these by the salad dressing and croutons)

1 Tbsp Honey

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, sugar and honey in stand mixer or with hand mixer. Then by hand, stir in 1/3 cup each cranberries and pecans.

Line a bowl or plastic container with wax paper - I used a 4 cup rectangular tupperware container. Mix together remaining cranberries and pecans and spread in bottom of paper lined dish. Add the cream cheese mixture to the top. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Put a plate on the top of the container it's stored in and flip over so the layer of pecans/cranberries is on top. Serve with Wheat Thins or other crackers or breads.

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

I am in love with my ice cream maker. I had been seeing a ton of home made ice cream recipes floating around and decided to keep an eye out for a deal on an ice cream maker. I ended up scoring one for $24 at Bed Bath and Beyond - and I'm soooooooo glad I did. I had never really had home made ice cream before and now will never go back to store bought.

I haven't blogged any of the recipes I've made yet because the ice cream always disappears before I have a chance to take pictures. Hopefully I can post more recipes soon. I am trying to stick to the no-cook, no-egg recipes, which limits me a little. I may branch out, but I have an egg allergy, so I won't be tasting any of the egg/custard recipes. I have made several flavors so far, but this one is one of my favorites. It is based on the vanilla ice cream recipe that came with my ice cream maker, but I made several changes - like adding the cake mix. It really tastes like cake batter - which is perfect for someone like me who can't lick the bowl when I make cake! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Birthday Cake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups 2% milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup boxed cake mix (powder only)

Directions:

Sift together sugar and cake mix. Add in cold milk and whisk until sugar dissolves. Stir in heavy cream, and pour mixture into ice cream maker. Mix according to machine's directions.

Philly Pretzels

My brother-in-law threw down another challenge. He sent me a link to a soft pretzel filled with Philly Cheese Steak and asked if I could make em. Sure - why not!?!

I used my standard Alton Brown soft pretzel recipe and followed it to the point of shaping. I divided the dough into 8 portions and formed each portion into a rectangle - about 4"x8". Next add about 1/3 cup of the filling to the middle of the rectangle. Fold in the sides and then roll pretzel and pinch seams. Boil in water and baking soda for 45 seconds or so then roll over and boil for another 45 seconds. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with salt and bake for 15-20 minutes.

I am told that actual Philly Cheese Steaks have cheese whiz, but I used 2% milk Velveeta for the cheese.

These were really tasty. I'm not sure how authentic they are, but my husband loved them and I got the thumbs up of approval from my brother in law. They re-heated really well the next day too - just pop them in the microwave for 90 seconds.

Philly Pretzels

Ingredients:

Pretzels:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Pretzel salt

Filling:

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced

1lb Velveeta cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, brown the ground beef with the diced onion and salt and pepper to taste. Drain any fat. Cut Velveeta into 1 inch cubes and stir into meat mixture until melted. Allow filling to cool.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside. Place a cooling rack in a rimmed baking sheet.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a rectangle - about 4"x8". Spread about 1/3 cup of the filling on the middle of the rectangle. Fold in the sides and then roll pretzel and pinch seams. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 45 seconds and then roll over and continue boiling for another 45 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Place them on the cooling rack in the baking sheet.

Once cool enough to touch, transfer pretzels to the parchment lined baking sheets and brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 15-20minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Pretzel Rolls

My brother in law was over yesterday and said he had a project for me. He brought out a bag of Trader Joe's pretzel rolls and asked if I could make anything like it.

I do love a challenge. I started searching my favorite blogs first and struck out. So I checked tastespotting and foodgawker. I came across this recipe from foodgawker.

If you've ever made soft pretzels at home, this is really no different. They are just shaped differently. They are soft, chewy and delicious. I had one for lunch today with shaved turkey and provel cheese. A-mazing.

The recipe said to make 18, two ounce balls of dough. I weighed mine and they were all close to two ounces and I only got 16 rolls. I think next time I will make them a little bigger because these were almost slider-size instead of bun-size. The directions were very good, so I've just copied them (almost) exactly from Stresscake.

Enjoy!!!

Pretzel Rolls

From: Stresscake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups warm water (around 110°F)
1 packet active dry yeast

2 tsp sugar
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
pretzel salt - I used coarse Kosher salt

Directions:
Combine the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let rest 5 minutes until foamy. Add the remaining ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, butter) and mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined, the dough comes together and is rather silky – but not sticky – to the touch.

First rise: Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Shaping: Cut the dough into 18 pieces, roughly 2 ounces each. (Or really any size you wish, keeping in mind that you’re going to have to poach them in the baking soda solution so they need to fit into your pan.) To shape, take a piece of dough and start forming a nice round, smooth ball by pulling the sides to the center and pinching to seal. By doing this, you’re creating a smooth skin around the dough ball.

Place, pinched side down, on a counter and lightly cupping your hand around the dough ball, rotate your hand in small circles lightly rolling the ball around the palm of your hand. This takes some practice. Space evenly on the prepared sheet pans, pinched seam side down, leaving at least 1” between each roll.

Second rise: Cover with a tea towel or a light film of plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled.

Preheat oven to 425°F and place oven racks on the lowest and middle positions.

Poaching: In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a low boil. Add the baking soda and lower heat to a simmer. Carefully slip the rolls into the poaching liquid, seam side down. Poach for 30 seconds then carefully turn the roll over in the liquid. Poach other side for 30 seconds then remove with a spider or slotted spoon to the same prepared sheet pans, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining rolls, leaving at least 1” between rolls for baking.

Glaze: With a pastry brush, glaze each roll completely with the lightly beaten egg making sure to coat all sides completely. Top each roll with a sprinkle of pretzel salt. With a sharp straight edged knife, cut a slash or “X” in the top of each roll.

Bake: Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking – top to bottom, front to back – for even browning. Cool completely. Rolls are best eaten on day of baking but they store pretty well in the freezer, tightly wrapped. Reheat in a damp paper towel for 30 seconds in the microwave.

Cheddar Crackers

I saw this recipe on The Cupcake Project - which is a fabulous blog, go check it out. I thought it looked like a fun project and something my kiddo would love. I happened to have a set of little cutters from I have no idea where. They have been in my pantry since our wedding. But they were perfect for these crackers. I had a fish, a moose, a bear, a canoe, and a house. I did not use the house or the canoe.

The dough comes together super easily and rolls out great. The only thing I didn't like was how long it took to cut out the crackers and re-roll the dough. Next time I make these, I will probably just use a pizza cutter and make squares instead of animal shapes. I will also cook them just a little longer to make them more crispy.

The verdict? Kiddo loved them, husband loved them and I liked them a lot. I don't think I cooked them long enough so they were a little soft, but had great flavor overall. I will make them again, but like I said, no tiny cutters next time.

Cheddar Fish Crackers

From: The Cupcake Project

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8 oz cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Pulse the flour, butter, cheese, salt, and pepper together using a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade.

Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out as many crackers as possible and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking pans.

Bake until golden and crisp - 15 to 20 minutes.