Thursday, July 29, 2010

caramel crunch ice cream dessert

2 Sticks butter
2 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts (optional)


Preparation

Mix together and spread on a cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and crumble. Put half of crumbs on bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Put half jar of chocolate or caramel ice cream topping over crumbs. Top with 1/2 gallon of soft ice cream. Top with crumbs and topping remaining. Freeze. Let sit out for 10 minutes, then serve.

Summer Blackberry Cobbler with Coconut-Pecan Topping




  • Toss Together:
  • 8 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen (thawed slightly if frozen)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup instant tapioca
  • juice of ½ a lime
  • pinch of salt
  • Combine; knead in:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon table salt
  • ½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed (1 stick)
  • Blend in:
  • 1 egg
  • VANILLA-RUM CREME ANGLAISE
  • Warm:
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped; pod chopped into 1" pieces
  • Whisk together;temper milk into and cook:
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons light or dark rum
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Blend and strain;add:
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Preheat oven to 400°
  • Toss berries with sugar, tapioca, lime juice, and salt in a bowl. Spoon into a 2 quart baking dish.
  • Combine flour, coconut, sugar, pecans, baking powder, and salt in a second bowl. Using your fingertips pinch the butter and mix with the dry ingredients. Don’t over blend so the butter turns greasy. Mixture should look like course sand when you’re done.
  • Mix in the egg with your fingers; topping will be sticky. Arrange topping over the berries in clumps, covering them evenly. Bake the cobbler for 45-50 minutes, or until topping is golden and crisp, and filling is thick and bubbly.
  • Cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before serving. Juice will thicken as it cools.
  • Vanilla-Rum Crème Anglaise
  • Warm half and half, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and vanilla bean seeds and pod in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes.
  • Whisk yolks, 2 Tablespoons sugar, rum, and salt together in a bowl. When milk mixture is steaming, temper it into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the custard back into the pan and return to the burner. Cook over medium-low heat. stirring constantly, until custard coats the back of a spoon, 5-8 minutes.
  • Blend custard and vanilla bean pod in a blender for 1 minutes. Strain into a bowl, add the extract, cover, and chill.
  • You can serve with ice cream or whipping cream and it's just as good.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

4 ½ cups flour

½ tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

2 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp nutmeg

Cream sugar and butter; add eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in everything else except flour and sour cream. Alternate flour then sour cream, flour then sour cream. Refrigerate overnite or put in the freezer for an hour. Roll out on a floured surface…thicker than you usually do (about ¼ to ½ inch) Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 10-12 minutes (depending on your cookie sheet…dark or shiny) Do not overbake…the edges should not get brown. Cool and Frost with Butter Cream Frosting.


Butter Cream Frosting


1 cube butter

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

3-4 TBSP Milk or cream

2 tsp. Vanilla

Beat until fluffy! (Several minutes)