Arts, Crafts, Classes and Repairs

Category Archives: Desserts

Pumpkin Custard

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

This recipe can easily halved. Left over pumpkin can be added to curry, and condensed milk can be used to sweeten coffee or desserts.

Ingredients

1 can 15 oz. Libby’s pumpkin

¾ of a can of condensed milk (cow or coconut)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs

5-6 oven-safe ceramic cups or bowls

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients except eggs in a large bowl and adjust the amount of condensed milk to suit your taste.
  2. Add eggs and stir until completely combined
  3. Pour mixture into five or six small bowls or cups, leaving at least ½” from the top of the cup.
  4. Cook one or two custards at a time in the microwave, cooking for 90 seconds and letting them rest for a minute or two, then alternate cooking for 30 seconds and resting for a minute.
  5. The custards are done with they pull away from the sides of the cup and the center of the custard becomes slightly firm.

Recipe Modification

  • Custards are traditionally cooked in the oven on a baking sheet that is filled with water. Fill the cups with the custard mixture, place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 350F, then add the cups and then add the water to the pan. Custards will need about 40 minutes to cook. Let the oven cool before removing the water filled pan. 
  • Most surprisingly, custards can be cooked in the steamer tray of a rice cooker. Place 2” of water in the rice cooker, pour custard into aluminum cupcake holders and steam for 10-15 minutes or until custards are set. 
  • Yams can be used instead of pumpkin, however you will need to reduce the amount of condensed milk since these are much sweeter than pumpkin. Steam yams in a large lidded bowl with an inch of water in the microwave or in a lidded pot on the stove until they are tender, and use a blender to mix ingredients to ensure the custards are smooth. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

Yield: 3 servings  Time: 15 minutes

Chocolate won’t cling to moisture. Invite friends over for a chocolate fondue party! Melt a whole package of chocolate chips and have lots of strawberries, banana slices and biscotti cookies to dip in the chocolate. Be sure to dry strawberries after washing them.

Ingredients

1 pint strawberries, washed, carefully dried, stems intact

2 cups of chocolate chips

Tools

Double boiler; clean dishcloth; wood skewers (optional); parchment paper

Directions

  1. Fill the bottom part of the double boiler half full with water and place on medium heat.
  2. Place most of chocolate chips in the top of the double boiler, set it on the bottom part and turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
  3. Stir chocolate chips with a spoon to help them melt. Scrape and mix melted chocolate from bottom of the pan and mix with the unmelted chips. Be patient; melting chocolate is a slow, gradual process. Stir in the remainder chocolate chips to cool the mixture- don’t let it burn!
  4. Once the chocolate has melted, hold each strawberry by the stem or a wood skewer and dip them in the chocolate.
  5. Let the strawberries cool on parchment paper or eat immediately.

Fruit Crisp

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

This is my lazy solution to making pie when summer fruit is in season. It’s always a hit with my Teen Cooking Summer Camp because it involves chopping several pounds of fruit (kids love to chop) and everyone get to take home their own dessert-filled aluminum tin.

Yield: This recipe will fill a large 12” wide casserole dish.

Taste and examine the fruit before putting it in the crisp. You may want to increase or reduce the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness.  If the fruit is very juicy, add 1-2 apples, which are high in pectin and will make the filling firmer. You can also mix 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch to chopped fruit thicken the juice. Low-acid, bland fruit like white peaches or blueberries benefit from a tablespoon or two of lemon juice for contrast.

Ingredients

Filling
2 quarts of pitted and chopped stone fruit, apples or berries
2/3 cup of honey or sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Topping
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup rice flour
½ cup of butter
½ cup of brown sugar
½ teaspoon of salt

Tools
Cutting board, chefs knife, 2 large bowls, measuring cup, measuring spoons, large mixing spoon, small bowl or pan, 12″ casserole pan or baking dish, baking pan

Directions

  1. Set oven at 350 F.
  2. Place chopped fruit with sweetener and cinnamon in a bowl and toss with your hands until mixed.
  3. Melt butter in a small pan on the stove or in a cup in the microwave for 1 minute or until liquid.
  4. In the second bowl, place oats, flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt and mix with a big spoon.
  5. Scoop all of the fruit filling into a baking dish, pressing it down to create a somewhat flat surface. Sprinkle topping evenly onto the fruit, mounding it over any sparse areas. This recipe makes a generous amount of topping, which prevents the fruit from drying out.
  6. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the dish on top to catch any juice that may bubble over.
  7. Let the crisp bake for at least an hour and 20 minutes. Check to see if there is any bubbling juice around the edges of the container. This is a sign that  the fruit has cooked down and become a juicy, soft filling and is ready to eat.
  8. Let the crisp cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Molten filling very hot when it first comes out of the oven.

Fruit Salad

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

AUTUMN FRUIT SALAD, 2015, 12″x16″

Fruit salad is best if you use whatever fruit is ripest and in season. For example, add strawberries and oranges in the spring, melon, peaches and plums in summer, and pomegranates and persimmons in winter.

Salad Ingredients1 apple, cored
2 bananas
1 basket of blueberries, washed1 small Hawaiian, or ½ a large Mexican papaya
1 bunch of fresh mint

Dressing Ingredients

Juice of 2 limes

1 tablespoon of honey

Tools

Chefs knife, cutting board, large spoon, large bowl, measuring spoon, small bowl or a small jar with a lid.

Directions

  1. Cut apple into quarters, and remove the core. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise again and chop each slice into 1” pieces. Place in the large bowl.

  2. Peel bananas and cut the bananas into bite-sized coins. Add to the bowl.

  3. Discard any shriveled or ugly berries the basket, and remove any stems. Add to the bowl.

  4. Cut papaya in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Lay the papaya cut side down and carefully cut off the skin with a knife. Discard seeds and skin, and cut the papaya into 1” cubes. Add to the bowl.

  5. Pick the mint leaves off the stem until you have a large handful or about ¼ cup of leaves. Add to the bowl.

  6. Place lime juice in the small bowl or jar, and then add honey. Stir honey and juice mixture until honey has dissolved. If you have a jar, place the lid on the jar, and shake the jar vigorously until the honey has dissolved. Scrape any honey off of the sides of the jar or bowl and stir to get it to dissolve completely.

  7. Pour the honey lime mixture on the fruit salad and mix thoroughly. Enjoy immediately.

Tip: Leftover fruit salad will become soggy and less appealing after about 24 hours. Give the salad a new life by turning it into a smoothie, adjusting the temperature or flavor with ice and other ingredients as needed.

Options: Add ¼ cup of toasted nuts or seeds.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

Yield: 32 cookies Prep time: 60 minutes

This is a sophisticated chocolate cookie for those who love dark chocolate. The texture of these cookies is firm and the flavor is seriously chocolaty. I recommend making the whole batch at once, since leftover dough tends to get very hard in the refrigerator. These cookies are cut into rustic squares, but you can also cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

Dry Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of rice flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients

6 tablespoons of salted butter (2 tablespoons less than a full stick)

1 cup of sugar

½ cup of tahini

2 eggs

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

Final ingredients

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Tools

Two medium sized bowls; measuring cup; measuring spoons; fork; small bowl; sifter or large wire mesh strainer, silicone spatula, baking sheet, 15” long sheet of parchment paper; rolling pin, metal spatula

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt and mix thoroughly. Pour cocoa powder into the bowl through a wire mesh strainer or a sifter to break up clumps. Mix the dry ingredients together with a silicone spatula.
  3. Soften the butter by warming it in a small bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds.
  4. Place the butter and sugar in another medium sized bowl and cream them together by mixing them with a fork.
  5. Add tahini, eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed sugar and butter and mix them thoroughly with the spatula.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, scraping any remaining liquid from the sides of the bowl with the spatula. Use the spatula to mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
  7. Use your clean hands to combine any stray remaining dry and wet ingredients together. The finished the dough should be thick and moldable, like clay.
  8. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and place half of the dough into a large ball and place it on the parchment paper.
  9. Roll the dough into a large 1/4” sheet with a rolling pin. I like to do this on the baking sheet so I don’t have to move the cookies when I am done.  Cut the edges and patch them to the corners to make a large square about 10” on each side.
  10. Cut the dough in half vertically, and horizontally with a sharp knife. Then cut each section in halves again until you have 16 cookies, each about 2- 2 ½” in size.
  11. Use a metal spatula to carefully move the cookies towards the edge of the baking sheet, allowing a ½” of space between each cookie.
  12.  Sprinkle 5-10 chocolate chips in the center of each cookie and press them into the dough with a flat hand.
  13. Bake the cookies for 18 minutes, or until the center of a cookie is slightly firm when touched and the chocolate chips are melted. Be careful not to overcook; these cookies burn easily due to their high cocoa content.
  14. Start the second batch of cookies with a cool baking sheet when the first batch is done.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on by Posted in Desserts

Yield: 2 dozen large cookies
Time Required: 45 minutes

This is my answer to the need to bake homemade chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t contain any complicated ingredients; just rice flour, nut butter and everything you would expect to find in a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 2-dozen large cookies Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) of softened salted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup of almond butter, peanut butter or tahini

3 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

¼ cup of water

Dry Ingredients

2 ½ cups gluten-free quick oats

1 cup of rice flour

½ teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1½ cups of chocolate chips

Tools

Small ceramic plate; two medium sized bowls; measuring cup; measuring spoons; a fork; a silicone spatula; baking sheet, parchment paper; metal spatula

Directions

  1. Place the butter on a small plate and leave it on the counter for at least one hour or until it is soft. If you are in a hurry, warm the butter in a microwave for 15 seconds.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder and salt and mix thoroughly with a silicone spatula.
  4. Place the softened butter and sugar in a medium bowl and cream together by mashing them with a fork until they are completely mixed together.
  5. Add nut butter, eggs, water and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly with a food processor or a silicone spatula.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with the spatula and hands, if needed.
  7. Add chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Use clean hands to combine ingredients if they are very thick.
  8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  9. Scoop 6 golf ball sized clumps of dough with a spoon arrange them on the baking sheet into two rows of three. Press each cookie flat so they measure about 2½” in diameter.
  10. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.

Variations

  • Substitute half of the chocolate chips for chopped walnuts
  • Scoop smaller 1” cookies and fit as many as twelve on the baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until their edges are slightly brown.
  • Form any leftover cookie dough in a log and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for later. Let the dough soften at room temperature until you can easily mold the dough with your hands. The cookies will need a longer baking time if the dough is still cold.