Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee

This weekend I made dark chocolate creme brulee, because I was trying to be healthy by using dark chocolate, duh.  And after making creme brulee three separate times, I think I've finally realized Ben's favorite part - the torch.  Do you know any guys who don't love fire?  Oh, you do?  Well that's unfortunate, because the torch is pretty fun.

Ingredients
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups half and half
8 egg yolks
10 oz dark chocolate morsels
1/3 cup sugar, plus extra for the torch

Preheat oven to 300.  Pour whipping cream and half and half into a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl.  Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture.  Divide mixture among 10-12 ramekins.  Place in a baking pan (you will need at least two) and add enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the cups.  Bake until the custard is set, about 50 minutes.  Chill for 2 hours (or more).  Right before serving sprinkle sugar on top of each ramekin and using a creme brulee torch, lightly brown the sugar.

Here's a YouTube video that shows how to use the torch if you've never done it before!

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, Ben and I made a chocolate bourbon pecan pie this weekend.  Yummy!  AND I found out that this pie tastes even better after it has been refrigerated overnight.  As overwhelming as pecan pies may seem to be, this recipe breaks it down nicely, plus if you use store bought pie crust (shhh don't tell) it means prep time only takes about 15 minutes!

Ingredients
1 9" premade pie crust
3/4 cup chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup bourbon (or water)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Place pre-made pie crust in a glass pie dish.  Sprinkle chocolate morsels and chopped pecans in the bottom of the crust (see picture below).  In a saucepan, mix corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and bourbon or water and boil for 3 minutes - stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, butter, cornmeal, vanilla, and salt.  Gradually mix 1/4 of the hot mixture in the egg mixture, whisking constantly.  Continue until all of the hot mixture is incorporated into the egg mixture.  Pour over the crust (see second picture below).  Bake for 55 minutes.  

The recipe I was using didn't call for extra pecans on top, but it makes it look so much better, so 35 minutes into the baking I took the pie out and arranged some pecans on top, then continued baking for 20 more minutes.  If you think the pecans are burning you can place some foil over the pie.

*You'll noticed that I cut back on some of the ingredients compared to Southern Living's recipe, because the pie crust could not hold everything.  But if you got a 10" crust you could probably use the same measurements as the recipe.

This recipe is adapted from Southern Living.

Baklava!

Well the big surprise dessert I made over the weekend was baklava!  I have been wanting to make it for a while, but just never found the time, so this weekend I was determined to set aside enough time to try it.  Below is the step by step process.  Leave a comment or email me if you have questions about it!

Ingredients
1 16oz. package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts)
1 1/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or more)
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 honey (or more)

Thaw phyllo dough as directed on package. Preheat oven to 350.  Butter the bottoms and side of a 9x13 glass dish using a pastry brush.  Chop nuts and combine in a bowl with cinnamon.  Gently unroll the phyllo dough and place the first sheet in the bottom of the dish.  Have a damp towel on hand to cover the unused phyllo as you work so it doesn't dry out.

Place 7 layers of phyllo on the bottom, brushing butter between each one.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut/cinnamon mixture over the layers.  Pour a little butter over it.

Place 2 layers of phyllo dough with butter.  Repeat 2 more times with the remaining mixture, except layer 7 phyllo sheets on the very top.

Cut vertically into 5 sections.

Cut horizontally into 3 sections.

Cut each square in half diagonally.  Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, boil water and sugar.  Add honey and vanilla.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from the oven and pour honey mixture evenly over the pieces.  Let cool before removing from the dish. 

 Place in cupcake liners to serve.

I still can't believe I made baklava.  I always imagined it to be near impossible, but after making it this weekend I'm already wanting to make my next batch!

*It is very important to put enough butter between each layer and on top of the nuts before adding another sheet of phyllo dough.  This video was really helpful, too.

Lemon Squares

This past week I made lemon squares for the first time.  I think these are a great dessert this time of year, especially for bridal showers, baby showers, and brunches!

I've always been intimidated by lemon squares.  I see them as these dainty desserts that are served at fancy occasions (translation: they must be difficult to make, otherwise you would see them around more often, right?)  This is partly right.  Lemon squares not the most difficult thing to make (heck, I made them!), but they do take patience and time.  Lots of time.  Especially cooling time.  And we all know the hardest part about baking is the cooling process, because you're so excited that you made a new dessert that you want to cut into it immediately.  DO NOT DO THIS. 

This recipe was featured in the March issue of Southern Living, and can also be found their website.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest (or more if you like)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with heavy-duty foil or parchment paper (I used parchment paper). Allow 2-3 inches to extend over the sides.  Lightly grease the foil/parchment paper.  Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Add butter pieces. Put into a food processor and pulse 5-7 times (be sure not to over mix).  Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned (see picture below).  Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl until smooth; whisk in granulated sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Stir together baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour.  Whisk this into the egg mixture.  Pour over hot baked crust.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until filling is set.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Lift from pan, using foil sides, and let cool for another 30 minutes (see picture below).  Remove foil/parchment paper, cut into bars, and sprinkle powdered sugar.

This is the crust after it was baked.  Excuse the poor photo quality, these were taken with my phone.

This is the filling after it baked and cooled for 1 hour (longest hour of my life).  Again, poor photo quality.

Tip: if you are not planning on serving these immediately, wait to sprinkle the powdered sugar, otherwise it will soak into the lemon square and you will have to add more (which could be a good or bad thing).  Also, I think lemon squares taste better slightly chilled, so keep them in the refrigerator until you serve them (and before powder-sugaring).

Chocolate Creme Brulee

I may have out done myself this time.  This chocolate creme brulee was to die for.  It was not as rich as some I have had before, but still rich enough to where you have a hard time finishing it on your own.  However, this was not a problem for everyone - cough cough Ben cough cough.

The above picture is of the brulees before they were baked.  They resemble chocolate pudding to me.  After they were done baking, I thought about just using the broiler to caramelize the sugar, but after finding this torch at Williams Sonoma, I couldn't resist!

As you can see, Ben was the first to try out the torch (of course, since boys love fire so much!).  But, I will have to admit, it was a lot of fun.

Yum yum yum! Caramelized sugar!

One recipe makes 6 creme brulees.  The perfect amount for a family dinner plus some for breakfast the next day!
 

To top off the chocolate creme brulee, we made homemade whipped cream.  And for those of you who know and love me, yes, I really said "H-wipped cream.  Emphasis on the non-existent H at the beginning of whipped.

Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Well we have another snow day in the good ol' state of Arkansas! I could definitely get used to this! These cookie ice cream sandwiches were our Super Bowl desserts last night and I could really go for one right about now.

I had been wanting to make these for a while and finally found an excuse to do it.  I used Southern Living's All-Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (it's their all-time favorite for a reason).  As I was getting all of the ingredients out to make the dough, I noticed that I didn't have enough chocolate morsels (and this would not do!).  So I practically tore apart the pantry looking for something else I could use.  Luckily I found a bag of regular M&M's.  Adding these to the cookies might have been the best idea I have had in a long time.  Not only do they add some color to the cookies, but they also add that delicious chocolate flavor!  And if you didn't catch that, I added both the chocolate morsels AND the M&M's, a little over a cup of each.

After the cookies cooled, I used a large soup spoon to scoop out the ice cream and place it on the bottom cookie.  I thought using a spoon would work better than an actual ice cream scoop because it would scoop the ice cream out flatter, rather than in a ball like the scoop would (make sense? probably not).

I carefully placed the top cookie on and flattened out the ice cream so it covered the whole cookie.  These are not meant to be made in advance and are best served immediately!

Not Your Grandma's Baked Apples

You've had baked apples before, right?  You know, the soggy texture?  Well I guarantee that these are unlike anything you've had before!  After they are baked, the apples have a nice, crisp texture when you bite into them, but it's not like you're eating a regular apple.

As I have mentioned on previous occasions, Ben likes to make up his own recipes, and I'm fine with that because he is a great cook that can throw anything together and make it taste good (something I cannot do).  These baked apples were made sans recipe. (that's "without" for all of you non-Frenchies!) 

Ingredients
4 Honey Crisp apples
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup craisins
1/3 cup walnuts
1 tablespoon cinnamon 
4 small pads of butter
maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Core the apples (see below picture).  Score the apples around the middle.  Mix brown sugar, craisins, walnuts, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop into apples.  Make sure to pack the mixture down in the apple so you can get as much in there as possible.  Pour a little maple syrup on each apple and add a small pad of butter to the top of each. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on how soft you want the apples.  The apples will lose a little color when they are baked, so don't be alarmed!

You can serve these whole in a bowl and even add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you like!  They taste just like an apple pie!