Tag: Dessert
Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Bread
- 1¼ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup extra light olive oil
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- ½ cup toasted walnuts
- ½ cup chopped dark chocolate
Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add one egg at a time mixing in between. Add 1 cup pumpkin puree and mix for about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and chocolate and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely before serving.
Pear and Ginger Crumble
Topping
- ¾ cup white whole-wheat flour
- 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch squares
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an ovenproof dish that is approximately 13 X 9. Mix the seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter and rub in with fingers until moist clumps form. Keep aside.
- 2 pounds ripe yet firm pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin
- Juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Toss the pears with the lemon juice, sugar and flour. Transfer the filling to the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle topping over. Bake the crumble until pears are tender and the topping is golden brown- about 40 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.
Apple Galette
I baked this delicious dessert using the Food and Wine recipe by Jacques Pepin. It’s an incredible recipe and everyone loved it. I did tweak it a bit- I added the heavy cream and turbinado sugar. I also used an amazing apple pie spice from raw spice bar. This apple pie spice mix is delicious, it included green cardamom, grains of paradise and rosemary. The flavor was incredible- I would highly recommend this spice store online.
Pastry
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/3 cup ice water
In a food processor, combine the flour with the sugar, salt and butter and process for 5 seconds. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and process until pastry just begins to come together and forms a ball- about 15 to 20 seconds. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, form into a disk and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
- 3 large golden delicious apples
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoons apple pie spices
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Peel, halve and core the apples and slice them crosswise ¼ inch thick. Set aside the larger center slices and coarsely chop the end slices and any broken ones- about half of the slices should be chopped. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and apple pie spices.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a lightly floured work surface roll out the pastry to a 12-inch round circle and transfer to a large lined rimmed baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Drizzle the honey over the chopped apples. Decoratively arrange the apples slices on top in concentric circles or in slightly overlapping rows. Sprinkle the spiced sugar evenly over the apples and dot with pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples to create a 1-inch border. Spread the heavy cream over the folded pastry with a pastry brush evenly. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the cream.
Bake the galette for about 50 minutes or till the pastry is nice browned and crisp and the apples are tender. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the galette cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whip the mascarpone cheese, whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract till stiff peaks are formed. Refrigerate till serving with the galette.
Mango Fool
1 large ripe mango, peeled and pitted and cut into pieces
1 small lime
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup fresh mango, chopped
Transfer the mango, 2 tablespoons honey and juice of a lime to a blender. Blend till a puree is formed. Keep aside.
In the meantime, whip the heavy cream with 1 tablespoon honey and vanilla extract till peaks form.
Take ½ of the cream out and fold in the mango puree into the remaining cream. Fold well and transfer into 4 glasses. Top with whipped cream and garnish with fresh mango.
Pumpkin Duffins with Cream Cheese
Here is another version of our favorite healthy dessert- duffins. I wanted to make something for Halloween and the first thing I think of – is pumpkin. When I think of pumpkin, cream cheese frosting comes to mind- it really is a match made in heaven.
So, in order to make duffins, I decided to invert the two and use the cream cheese as a filling in the middle.
The result was delicious- well, eventually. I made one batch and had a few friends taste test for me and give me some critical analysis. My daughter is the most honest taste tester I have- she has no qualms about telling me when things are not right. She told me the duffins didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor and the filling tasted too much like cream cheese and not like a frosting. She was right- I had forgotten to add vanilla extract in the cream cheese mixture.
The second batch included more spiced including cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also included the missing vanilla extract. The result was delicious.
Make these for halloween…
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup extra light olive oil
- ¾ cup 1% milk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Filling
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Keep aside.
Topping
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- ½ cup fine raw sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Add a quarter cup batter in each cup. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese on top. Top each cup with the rest of the batter to cover the filling.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into another small bowl.
Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.
Cherry Almond Duffins
Dessert number 3! Use fresh or frozen cherries for this one… yummy!
- ¾ cup raw sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup extra light olive oil
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 cup pitted fresh or frozen cherries, chopped
Topping
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- ½ cup fine raw sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well. Fold the cherries into the batter and mix to incorporate.
Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling about ½ full.
Bake for 15 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While duffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into a medium bowl.
Once the duffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.
Spiced Chocolate Banana Bread
I thought I would do a week of different desserts….
- 1¼ cups unbleached white whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon clove powder
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup milk or dark chocolate, chips or grated
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and nutmeg into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled), and remove the bowl from the mixer.
With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate pieces and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely before serving.