Christmas Pudding Ice Cream Bombe

This is so good and so easy! I got the recipe from a friend's son, who got it from Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking. It's a bit like mincemeat, but I thought of spumoni when I tasted it. Go to the link to read more about how Gemma describes it.

1. Mix the mincemeat and let steep in fridge overnight. Stir together these ingredients, except for the liquor.

1 cup raisins
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pistachios or pecans, toasted and chopped
Grated zest of one lemon
Grated zest of one orange
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or brandy (optional)

2. Grease and line a 2 litre pudding basin with clingfilm, using enough so that it hangs well over the sides. (Translation for Americans: Use a steep-sided bowl or jello mold that will hold a little over 2 quarts, grease, and line with Saran Wrap).

3. Prepare the ice cream base:

Beat 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Turn down the speed a bit and add a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk, then turn up the speed and continue to whip until stiff peaks have formed again.

4. Put it all together and freeze:

Stir the mincemeat mixture into the ice cream base. Add the (optional) liquor now. Pour into the lined bowl. Tap on counter to release any bubbles. Cover and freeze 5-6 hours or preferably overnight.

5. Unmold and serve:

Remove pudding from the freezer, let sit for 15 minutes, invert onto a plate and leave for a further 15 minutes. Remove the bowl and clingfilm. Decorate with faux holly and sugared cranberries. Slice or spoon to serve.

Store in freezer for up to six weeks.

Pasteis de Nata - Portuguese Custard

Plum Galette

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces of cold butter cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup plain whole-fat yogurt

Optional:

• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash 
• 1 teaspoon cream 
• Sugar

Filling:

• 6-8 tart plums pitted and sliced 
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1 tablespoon of flour 

Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Rub in butter with fingers, until the mixture resembles a fine meal. Stir in the yogurt, mix until dough holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour. 

Mix plums and the rest of the filling ingredients. 

Let dough stand at room temperature for five minutes. Roll out pastry to about a 13 inch circle. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. 

Arrange plums on the dough, leaving a couple of inches around the edge free of plums. Fold that edge inward, leaving a large center circle of the plum mixture exposed. 

Mix beaten egg and cream together for an egg wash, brush onto dough, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375F for 49 to 50 minutes. 

Let galette cool a bit, slide it onto a serving plate, and serve plain, with whipped cream, or with vanilla ice cream.

It's Cold! No, It's Hot!

A new flavor combination

My husband, Beez, adores chile. Red chile, green chile, chiles in salsa, on eggs, and in any kind of main dish. I suppose I wasn't really surprised when he found a way to have chile for dessert.

It started with a trip to Ristramnn Chile in Mesilla, just south of Las Cruces. Yes, that's the right spelling. I have the sense that it might once have been Ristra Man, and they just compressed it to "Ristramnn" for reasons of their own.

We were exploring all the back rooms at the store, looking for some big packages of red chile powder that I knew they carried, when the owner introduced us to green chile powder. He gave us a little sample, and we were sold. The pure stuff was blazing, but he said to sprinkle it over the top of food for a delicious addition to almost anything.

On the way home, we stopped at Caliche's for some of their wonderful frozen custard, and that's where I saw the look of inspiration come over Beez's happy face. Long story short, we bought a quart of frozen custard, brought it home, and Beez spooned some into a bowl and sprinkled a bit of green chile powder over the top.

Sounds odd, doesn't it? But it is the perfect combination of hot and cold, creamy and fiery. Once you try it, you'll never be the same.

It turns out that there are some other variations on this hot/cold theme. Stay tuned ...

Basic Cheesecake

This recipe was in an old wooden recipe box on a card in my mother's handwriting. She got the recipe "from the kitchen of" Maxine Partridge, a name I remember vaguely from my childhood. Thank you, Maxine!

Crust:

16 graham crackers, rolled and finely crushed

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix, press into a pie pan, and bake at 350〫for 10 minutes. Cool.

Fill cooled crust with:

9 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese

1/2 pint sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and beat until smooth. Pour into cooled crust and bake at 325〫for 20 minutes. Cool on rack for 5 minutes.

Top with:

1/2 pint sour cream

3 tbl. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together, beat until smooth, spread on top of cheesecake. Bake at 350〫for 5 minutes. Cool, then chill before serving.

Cherry Cottage Pudding

Here is another favorite recipe from the Pickity Place cookbook.

1 No. 2 can pitted red cherries

1/4 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 - 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup sour milk

Drain the cherries, saving the juice for the sauce (below).

Cream shortening and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and flavoring and beat well.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and soda together.

Add alternately with milk in small amounts, mixing well after each addition.

Add cherries.

Pour into a buttered 9" square cake pan. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Cut into squares and serve with hot Cherry Sauce.*

*Cherry Sauce

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbl. flour

1 cup heated red cherry juice (drained from can of cherries, above)

1/4 cup butter

2 tbl. lemon juice

2 drops almond extract

Combine the sugar and flour. Stir in the cherry juice gradually. Heat to a boil and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add the butter, lemon juice, and extract.

Serve hot over the Cherry Cottage Pudding.

Rhamkuchen (Cheese Cake)

Ben is a great fan of cheesecake, so I am always on the lookout for recipes for making this dessert from scratch. This one is from my old 1951 cookbook, A World of Good Eating; a collection of old and new recipes from many lands; tested in the kitchen of a New England housewife.

1 - 1/2 cups rolled Zwieback crumbs

3 tbl. butter

2 tbl. sugar

1 lb. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Rind of 1 lemon

1 tbl. lemon juice

2 eggs, separated

1 cup thick sour cream

1 tbl. sugar

Vanilla

Blend the rolled crumbs with melted butter and 2 tbl. sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9" spring-form pan. Place in warm oven (350°) for 5 minutes to set crust. Cool.

Warm the cream cheese to room temperature and break up with a fork. Blend in the sugar and lemon juice, rind and vanilla. Drop in the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well after each one. Beat the egg whites stiff and fold into the mixture with a spatula.

Pour over the crumb base and bake for 45 minutes at 300°.

Mix 1 tbl. sugar and the vanilla into the sour cream. Spread lightly over the top of the cake and return it to the oven to bake 10 minutes more.

Let the cake cool and remove the rim of the spring-form pan to serve.

Blueberry Pudding Cake

This is one of those pudding recipes where the cake batter starts on the bottom and the baked cake ends up on the top of the filling. From Tastes of Our Town, a cookbook compiled in 1994 by the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Candia (NH) Volunteer Fire Department.

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 - 1/2 tbl. lemon juice

1 - 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 tbl. butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tbl. cornstarch

1 cup boiling water

Place the blueberries in an 8" square pan and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Sift together 3/4 cup of the sugar with the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix with the butter and milk. Pour over the berries.

Mix the remaining 3/4 cup sugar with the cornstarch. Sprinkle over the flour mixture. Pour the boiling water over the top.

Bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes.

Good served with vanilla ice cream. Makes 9 servings.

Citrus Cheesecake with Marmalade Glaze

Here's a nice cheesecake recipe for Ben, as he has been asking for one. I'm afraid the ones he remembers from his childhood came straight out of the Jello No-Bake Cheesecake Mix box.

This version comes from the Bon Appetit Magazine Millennium Special, Sept. 1999.

Crust

• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling

• 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup orange marmalade
• Orange slices
• Fresh mint sprigs
• 
  

For crust: Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2-inch-high sides. Whisk egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Blend flour and sugar in processor. Add butter and process until coarse crumbs form. With machine running, add yolk mixture and blend until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Freeze crust 10 minutes.

Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush crust lightly with some egg white. Bake until crust is pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on rack while preparing filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

For filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat until well blended. Beat in 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, all citrus peel and vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Beat in sour cream. Pour filling into crust. Bake cake until puffed and cracked around edges and center moves only slightly when pan is gently shaken, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven. Run small knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cool cake in pan on rack. Refrigerate cake overnight.

Boil marmalade and 2 teaspoons lemon juice in saucepan until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Spread warm glaze atop cake. Chill cake 10 minutes. Remove pan sides. Transfer cake to platter. Garnish with orange and mint.

Date, Fig, or Prune Bars

This recipe is from The Tassajara Bread Book, by Edward Espe Brown.

...there are no mistakes. You might do it

differently next time, but that's because

you did it this way this time.

Perfect, even if you say

too much this too little that.

~Edward Espe Brown, written when he was a young Zen student.

3 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped dates, figs, or prunes

1/2 cup broken nut meats

Beat the eggs until light, then gradually blend in brown sugar. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well blended. Add the fruit and nut meats.

Pour into a greased and floured 9" x 13" pan and bake about 25 minutes at 325°.

Date Squares

This recipe, from SouthernCooking.com, is just like my mom's (previously mentioned here).

Filling:

16 oz. chopped dates

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Oat mixture:

1 - 1/2 cups flour

1 - 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pinch of salt

Combine the filling ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until thick. Remove from fire and cool.

Mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, butter, baking soda, and salt. Press about half of this mixture in a well-buttered 9" x 13" pan. Spread with the cooled filling and cover with the remaining oats mixture. Press down lightly with hands.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

New England Rice Pudding

This recipe comes from Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Cook Book.

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups of milk, scalded

3/4 cup of rice, cooked

Cinnamon

Mix the first four ingredients until well blended, then add the milk. Pour into a buttered casserole, then add the rice and stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Set the casserole in a large pan and pour about an inch of hot water around it (in the large pan, not in the casserole). Bake at 350° about 30 minutes until the pudding is set and beginning to brown on top.

Serve warm or cold. It's nice with a little whipped cream on top.

Lemon Bread Pudding

I have to say that we kids really disliked my mother's bread pudding--and you didn't often find us protesting any dessert. It was heavy and it just sat there, and it wasn't at all fun to eat.

Here is a flavorful and much lighter alternative.

2 cups French bread cubes (cut off crusts)

3/4 cup sugar

The juice and zest of one lemon

1/2 cup melted butter

4 eggs, separated

2/3 cup milk

Combine bread cubes, sugar, lemon juice, and zest; stir well. Add butter and stir to blend.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add the milk. Pour over the bread mixture.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the bread mixture. Pour all into a buttered 1 - 1/2 quart casserole. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Serve warm with Lemon Sauce (below).

Lemon Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup hot water

1 tbl. cornstarch

2 tsp. butter

1 - 1/2 tbl. lemon juice

dash of nutmeg

pinch of salt

Mix and cook in double boiler (or in microwave) until smooth and thick. Cool slightly before serving.

Haitian Sweet Potato "Bread"

This is an old recipe from Auntie Bucksnort's recipe box. I thought that I'd copied it down incorrectly because, as you will see, there is no flour in it. I researched the recipe a bit online and found that it is usually called "bread" with quotes around the word and with a note that the original is called "pain patate."

I used this online recipe to help fill in the blanks, as Auntie's recipe card left rather a lot to the imagination!

2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked, mashed, and cooled

1 banana, peeled and mashed

4 tbl. soft butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup raisins

Mash the sweet potatoes and banana together. Add the soft butter, the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and spices and beat well. Stir in the milks and blend, then add the raisins and vanilla and stir well.

Pour the batter into a well-greased 2 quart loaf pan and bake at 350˚ for 55 minutes, until the center is firm and the top is golden.

Let the "bread" cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate. Slice and serve plain, or with whipped cream or a little rum poured over the top.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Mom says that she was never satisfied with any of the rice pudding recipes that she made when I was growing up. I remember her complaining that this particular recipe never turned out right, but I just figured that was because we treated it as a convenient "round 2" for left-over rice, tossed it in a dish and zapped it in the microwave. But I certainly don't remember her using brandy... Whether she liked it or not, I still enjoyed her rice pudding. This recipe comes from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, by Jeff Smith, but it supposedly originates from Thomas Jefferson.

--1 1/2 cups Milk
--Pinch of Salt
--5 tbsp Sugar
--1 tbsp Butter, melted
--1 tsp Vanilla
--5 Eggs, beaten
--1/4 cup Brandy
--2 cups Cooked Long-Grain Rice
--1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
--Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix milk, salt, sugar, vanilla, butter, eggs, and brandy. Add the rice and lemon juice, mix and pour into a greased 8x10 baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 50 minutes, or until lightly brown and the custard has set. Test with a table knife, sticking it in the center of the dish. If the knife comes out clean, the dish is baked. Top with a little milk or maple syrup.
--

Oma's Fruit Salad

1 8 oz. pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese

2 tbl. mayonnaise

2 cups miniature marshallows, cut in half

1 small jar of Maraschino cherries, cut up

1 15 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 pt. whipping cream, whipped

Cream the cream cheese and mayonnaise together. Stir in marshmallows, cherries, and pineapple. Fold in whipped cream. 

Refrigerate overnight before serving. 

Fresh Strawberry Tart

It's strawberry time. I remember making a version of this tart many years ago (long before Ben was born) out of my copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was beautiful, and it made me, a beginning cook at the time, feel very accomplished. 

Fresh Strawberry Tart (Tarte aux Fraises)
1 fully baked 9-inch (24-cm) tart shell made from Sweet Tart Dough (below)
Pastry cream (below)
3 to 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
Just before serving, spread the chilled pastry cream in the fully-baked tart shell. Top with halved or sliced strawberries. You may glaze this with a strawberry glaze if you wish, but it is lovely without. 

***

Sweet Tart Dough

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Mix flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse oatmeal. Add the lightly stirred egg yolk and mix with a fork until the dough holds together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead slightly with a light hand. 
Press into a buttered tart pan. Freeze the pan for 30 minutes before baking. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until slightly browned. 

Pastry Cream (from Smitten Kitchen)

1 1/4 cups (300 grams) whole milk
1/2 moist, plump vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
3 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Bring the milk and vanilla bean (pulp and pod) to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside for 10 minutes. Or, if you are using vanilla extract, just bring the milk to a boil and proceed with the recipe, adding the extract before you add the butter to the hot pastry cream.
2. Working in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until thick and pale. Whisking all the while, very slowly drizzle a quarter of the hot milk onto the yolks. Then, still whisking, pour the rest of the liquid in a steady stream over the tempered yolks. Remove and discard the vanilla pod.
3. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously and without stop, bring the mixture to the boil. Keep the mixture at the boil, whisking energetically, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and scrape the pastry cream into a clean bowl. Allow the pastry cream to cool on the counter for about 3 minutes.
4. Cut the butter into chunks and stir the chunks into the hot pastry cream, continuing to stir until the butter is melted and incorporated. At this point, the cream needs to be thoroughly chilled. You can either set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and, to ensure even cooling, stir the cream from time to time, or refrigerate the cream, in which case you should press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal.

Boston Cream Pie

As any New Englander knows, Boston Cream Pie is actually a delicious cake. Here is how I make mine. Parts of this recipe come from About.com: Boston.

Bake a Hot Milk Sponge Cake in a 9-inch round pan. Remove from pan and cool. 

Split horizontally into two layers. 

Place the bottom layer on a serving plate. Spread with custard (below) or with vanilla pudding. Place the top layer over the filling. You may need to use some toothpicks to keep the top layer from sliding around. 

Glaze the top of the cake with chocolate glaze, below. Let a little drip down the sides. Chill before slicing. 

Custard:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine the cornstarch, sugar, milk, eggs, cream, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk until smooth.

Bring the custard to a boil over moderate heat, whisking constantly. Continuing to whisk, let the custard boil for two minutes.

Remove from heat, and whisk in the butter. Set custard aside to cool, continuing to whisk occasionally.

Glaze:

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate, water, butter, corn syrup, and salt, stirring until smooth. Remove top of double boiler from heat.

Baked Custard

3 slightly beaten eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar (you may use white, if you wish)

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine eggs, sugar, and salt. Stir in milk and vanilla. 

Set six custard cups in a shallow baking pan. Pour the egg mixture into them. Pour hot water around them in the baking pan, to a depth of about 1 inch. 

Place the baking pan in a preheated 325 oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted in the custard comes out clean.  Remove cups from pan to cool.

For one large custard, bake in a one-quart casserole for about 60 minutes or until done.

Easy Fruit Cobbler

Here is another recipe from Sandra, dessert cook extraordinaire.

2 cups flour

1 - 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 - 1/2 cups milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

16 oz. can of pie filling, your choice

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar, optional

Sift the dry ingredients. Mix well with the milk, beaten egg, and vanilla. Spread in an oblong pyrex baking dish that has been well buttered. Mix the pie filling, water, and sugar together and spread evenly over the top of the batter. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.