Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

I made these for a get together. My friend serves great food and wine at her house but she is not into dessert. I can understand why- it is not so healthy for you, etc, etc. Intellectually I get it- but having a get together without a dessert is unthinkable for me.

I think that is why she assigned me the dessert. I could have bought something- there are many bakeries and stores with very good and well made treats- but nothing like homemade, right?? Well, that is what I thought too…

So, I started thinking about what to make. My friend had mentioned she would be serving finger foods- so maybe I could bring cookies or something along those lines. I started thinking of different kinds of cookies- oatmeal, chocolate chip- the usual. I wanted to make something different and started looking for Italian ones.

I found a recipe with pecans mixed in with flour, butter and sugar. I decided to use hazelnuts and dried cherries. I substituted the regular flour with white whole wheat flour ; regular sugar with raw sugar  and also added some hazelnut liquor- you can’t go wrong with any of these ingredients. The one thing I wanted to do but couldn’t since I was taking these to someone’s house- was to substitute extra light olive oil for butter… maybe next time- or if you try it with oil, do let me know.

Well, these cookies were delicious. The liquor gives the cookies a subtle yet a great nutty flavor. I know that because I only had one- yes that is right- the key is in moderation and not deprivation. These are perfect for a holiday get together…

• 1 cup soft unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• ½ cup evaporated cane sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups white whole-wheat flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1 cup hazelnuts, chopped fine
• ½ cup hazelnut liquor
• ½ cup confectionery sugar in a small bowl

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy in a mixer. Add the salt, vanilla extract, flour and liquor. Mix well and add the nuts and cherries.
Mix with both hands until well incorporated. Form a ball and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on the cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool and roll in confectionery sugar.

I impress myself sometimes when I come up with a great recipe. This is one of them. Yes, I know what you are thinking- she is not very modest. Well, I am my biggest critic and do know when something tastes really good.

Since I have discovered how to make gelato with corn starch, my imagination had been going crazy with all the different combinations I can do. 

As fall came our way, pumpkins were everywhere and I needed to come up with pumpkin recipes. I made the pumpkin chocolate bread- which is delicious- and I had leftover pumpkin puree to use up. I started thinking of making an ice cream or gelato with it. I thought of all the ingredients that go into a pumpkin pie and decided to mimic the flavors in the frozen dessert.

Well, the results were fabulous. The pumpkin puree enhanced the texture. There isn’t a lot of sugar and yet it has a lot of flavor. Creamy yet very light and delicious.

I served it with the apple crisp and the two flavors went fantastically well- really delicious. So, this is yet another dish for Thanksgiving…
Click here for the recipe… »

I tried this recipe out just in time for the holidays. I used the applesauce I made a while ago and used all the holiday flavors I could think of.

I didn’t want to make some thing very close to the apple cranberry bread I made- I wanted it to be more of a proper cake – something good enough to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

This cake is made out of the usual healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, turbinado sugar and extra light olive oil. I thought of using the applesauce for two reasons- one to add great flavor and the other to add great texture. You can’t go wrong with chocolate- right? So, I added some melted chocolate.

To complete the dessert I thought of icing- the problem is that I don’t like it. The only kind of icing I like is real whipped cream and somehow it didn’t seem the right one for this cake.  After doing some research, I decided to use sugar icing. As I was mixing the sugar with the milk- I thought of cocoa- why not add some cocoa to this? I added cinnamon and cocoa- delicious!

I poured the icing on the cake and served it to a friend and her kids who were over for dinner. It was really delicious. The chocolate flavor and the apple flavor came through loud and clear. The spices were there as well- very subtle yet very flavorful.

Big success- definitely a candidate for the holidays.

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon powdered nutmeg
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• ½ cup extra light olive oil
• 1 cup turbinado sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup homemade or store bought applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9” round pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large bowl of a mixer, add the melted chocolate and the oil. Add sugar and beat until mixture is creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add the applesauce and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients and pour into the round pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tester is clean. Let cool and then top with the spiced icing.

Spiced Icing

• ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
• ¼ unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon powdered nutmeg
• 5 tablespoons milk

In a small mixing blow, combine the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and milk. Whisk well until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Add more milk if needed to reach the desired consistency.

Pour on top of the the cake and spread to the sides evenly.

This dessert is not necessary made with Latin flavors but it has a whole lot of bold flavors to stand up to any of the Latin dishes I made for the Thanksgiving dinner.

I love combining ginger with chocolate. I made a gingerbread cake, filled it with a whipped cream and candies ginger mixture and then topped the cake with a delicious chocolate ganache.

The combination was yummy!!!

This cake is great for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has all the classic holiday flavors. It is relatively healthy as I made the cake with my usual white whole wheat flour. I also used extra light olive oil and evaporated cane juice. I try to use healthy ingredients whenever I can- especially when it is hard to tell while eating the delicious cake. I would highly recommend this dessert for the upcoming holiday…
Click here for the recipe… »

Here it is- yet another recipe for our beloved duffins. My daughter has been asking me to make cider duffins since last year. She started talking about end of the winter once the apple cider was not to be seen any more. I didn’t want to make them with some not so fresh cider so I decided to wait until fall.. well, it is here. As soon as she started seeing the cider bottles in stores, she started to talk about the cider duffins I promised her.

Well, I finally made them- it is the same recipe as the others but this one has a healthy dose of delicious apple cider. I dusted the outside with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Since it is Halloween today- do make them. They are delicious and healthy. It will be nice for everyone to eat something healthy for a change on Halloween..
Click here for the recipe… »