Pecan Wedges

Pecan Wedges

Crust:
1 C flour
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C pecans, toasted and chopped coarse
1 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
6 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled

Pecan Filling:
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C light corn syrup
4 T unsalted butter, melted
1 T dark rum (optional)
2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1 egg
2 C pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

Crust: Line a 9 inch square pan with foil, allowing extra foil to hang over allowing for ease in removing from pan.  Spray foil with pam. Place flour, sugar, pecans, salt and baing powder in food processor and pulse until resembles coarse cornmeal, about 5 pulses.  Add butter and pulse about 8 more times until mixture resembles course sand.  Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan and bake at 350 until crust is light brown and springs back when touched, about 20 minutes.
Filling: While crust bakes, whisk sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, rum, vanilla, and salt together.  Whisk in egg until incorporated.  Pour filling on top of hot crust and sprinkle pecans evenly over top.  Bake until top is brown 22-25 minutes. (Original recipe said bake until cracks start to form...I never saw any cracks.) Let cool to room temperature on wire rack, 1-2 hours.  Use foil sling to remove from baking pan and use sharp knife to cut into wedges (to feel more like a piece of pie) or bars.  Amazing on their own, but great served as a dessert with whipped cream.

**These were insane! If you like pecan pie, you'll love these.  I made these for our Thanksgiving (Wednesday night) because I was taking 2 pecan pies to our real Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and just wanted to switch things up.  My Mom and I couldn't get enough!
**I am dying to know how they would taste different if you mixed the pecans in the filling instead of pressing them on top. Hmm, might try it next time just to see.

Pumpkin Pie Cake Crumble

Pumpkin Pie Cake Crumble



2 packages (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine, at room temperature
4 large eggs
2 cans (15 ounces each) pumpkin
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 C butter, chilled
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Whipped cream for garnish

Spray a 9x13 with pam. Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix from the 1st cake mix and reserve for the topping.  Place the remaining cake mix (from the first box), the butter, and 1 egg in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 1 minute. Using your fingertips, press the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan so that it reaches the sides of the pan. Set the pan aside. For the filling, place the pumpkin, evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, remaining 3 eggs, and cinnamon, blend on low speed until combined, 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the mixture lightens in color and texture, 1 to 2 minutes more.  Pour the filling over the crust in the pan, spreading to the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula. Set the pan aside.  For the topping, place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the  1/2 C chilled butter, and the reserved 1 C cake mix, plus 1 more Cup from 2nd box of cake mix,  in a food processor.  Pulse until just combined and crumbly. Stop the machine and pour in the pecans, pulse 2 or 3 more times to mix in pecans. Distribute the topping evenly over the filling mixture. Bake the cake at 350 until the center no longer jiggles when you shake the pan and the pecans on top have browned, 70 to 75 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack, 20 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature, but whipped cream is a must!

**If you are wondering why the wasted 2nd cake mix...it's because the crumble topping NEEDED to be doubled.  I've made it both ways and doubled it is way better! Promise.  You'll use the unused portion when you make it again in a few weeks.
**Hans thinks this name is hilarious and that we should add cobbler to the end of it, then it will hit every dessert avenue....except cookie.
**A huge hit for Thanksgiving...kids love it much more than pumpkin pie.

Creamed Corn

Creamed Corn

6 C frozen sweet white corn (from Costco)

1/2 C whipping cream

1 C milk (whole is best)

1 1/2 t salt

1/8 C sugar

pepper to taste

¼ c. melted butter
¼ c. flour

Mix corn, cream, milk, salt, sugar, pepper in pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.  In a separate saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter, whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute.  Add to corn, mixing thoroughly.  Cook over medium heat until thickened.

**So when I went to Austin a few months ago, I sat next to a guy named Nick....a fellow foodie.  We talked food the entire flight, driving our fellow passengers crazy.  We were heading to the BBQ and smoked meat capital of the world....Nick's heaven, he's a smoker...of meats that is.  He was kind enough to share some family recipes with me and since then I've have been in touch with his darling wife talking food and running. Story continues....I was asking Breanna the other day what the biggest hit at the Thanksgiving table is at her house....creamed corn....her recipe was almost exactly the same as Nick's "sugar corn."  So I made a few adjustments...a little less cream than Nick's, a little more corn than Breanna's, and now it is a Magleby favorite....Grayson had four huge helpings on Thanksgiving!  Thanks Nick and Breanna!

**For Thanksgiving dinner, I made it earlier in the day and put it in a crock pot.  I put it on warm about an hour before we ate and it was perfect for the huge crowd.

Chocolate Cream Pie

Chocolate Cream Pie

baked pie crust (see below)
1 C sugar               
1/4 C cornstarch
1 1/2 C whole milk           
1 1/2 C half and half
3 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 eggs yolks
1 T butter               
 2 t vanilla

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch.  Gradually stir in milk and half and half.  Add chocolate.  Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Reduce heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat.  Beat egg yolks lightly with a fork.  Gradually stir about 1 C of the hot filling into yolks.  Return all to saucepan; bring to a gentel boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.  Remove from heat.  Stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour the hot filling into pie crust.  Cover filling with plastic wrap (to prevent film from setting on top) and place in fridge for a minimum of 5 hours.  Serve with Stabilized Whipped Cream or top with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream (below), which is our preference.


Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
1 C sugar
1 8oz cream cheese
2 C whip cream
Cream sugar and cream cheese together beating well so sugar dissolves.  Whip cream and at very end, add cream cheese and sugar mixture.  Put on top of pie.  It is a lot of topping, I usually don’t use all of it, but it is fun to have a really tall pie. (Hans likes a higher chocolate ratio to cream.)


Monette’s Pie Crust - Baked Crust
2 1/4 C flour
1 C butter flavored Crisco
½ t salt
cut in
1/3 C cold water (refrigerated -   super cold)
Cut Crisco into flour and salt until  resembles coarse meal.  (I usually use my hands) Sprinkle a tablespoon of cold water at a time over flour mixture and let sit for 5 minutes once all of the water has been added.  Mix with fork and work as little as possible. Dived in half and roll out.  (Best if you use a pastry cloth for rolling out.) Place in a pie plate, finishing edges as desired. Poke dough with fork several times around pie to prevent crust from bubbling up.  Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

** I had a chocolate cream pie when I was pregnant with Truman in Vermont.  It is so memorable as one of the best things I've ever eaten.  This pie is it. My favorite over banana cream any day!

Banana Cream Pie

 Banana Cream Pie

3/4 C sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1 1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 C half and half
4 egg yolks
1 T butter
1 1/2 t vanilla
baked pie crust
2 1/2 C sliced bananas (about 3 medium bananas)

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in milk and half and half.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat, cook and stir for 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.  Beat egg yolk lightly with a fork.  Gradually stir about 1 C of the hot filling into the yolks. Return all to saucepan, bring to a gentle boil, cooking a stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour 1 C of hot filling into baked pie crust. Layer sliced bananas on top of filling.  Pour the rest of the filling on top of bananas.  Gently shake to help custard move down in between banana slices. Place plastic wrap right on top of custard to prevent film from forming.  Refrigerate at least 5 hours.  Top with Stabilized Whipped Cream up to several hours before serving.

Monette’s Pie Crust - Baked Crust

2 1/4 C flour
1 C butter flavored Crisco
½ t salt
cut in
1/3 C cold water (refrigerated -   super cold)
Cut Crisco into flour and salt until  resembles coarse meal.  (I usually use my hands) Sprinkle a tablespoon of cold water at a time over flour mixture and let sit for 5 minutes once all of the water has been added.  Mix with fork and work as little as possible. Dived in half and roll out.  (Best if you use a pastry cloth for rolling out.) Place in a pie plate, finishing edges as desired. Poke dough with fork several times around pie to prevent crust from bubbling up.  Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

 

**The MOST requested dessert in our house. Have yet to get a good picture of a single slice.

Stabalized Whipped Cream

Stabilized Whipped Cream

1 envelope (1 T) unflavored gelatin
1/4 C cold water
3 C Heavy Cream
1 C powdered sugar
2 t vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine gelatin with water, let stand for a 2 minutes.  Over low heat, stir constantly just until dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly but do not allow to thicken.  In mixer, whip cream until soft peaks form, add sugar and vanilla. Mix. On low speed, gradually add gelatin, then beat on high until cream is thick.

**They say, that this whipped cream will hold up for 4-5 days without separating. Our pies never last that long, but it does allow me to have them all decorated several hours in advance.
**From Lion House Classics

Raspberry Yogurt Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

This cake has a story. A compilation of foodie friends! First, I made these cookies (Frosted Oatmeal Cookies) on advice from my nieces Stephanie & Breanna. I took some to friends and they all were dying over the frosting.  I mentioned to my friend Heather that we needed to find a cake for that frosting.  She proceeded to make me two different cakes, but I think this one is the winner, because it was her creation, adapting a recipe from one of our favorite books...A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.  I served it this week a long with several other desserts and it was a surprising favorite. Hooray for 4 foodie friends contributing to something so great! Thanks ladies!

Raspberry Yogurt Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Cake:
1/2 C plain whole fat yogurt
1 C sugar
3 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C  flour
2 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 C canola oil
2 C raspberries (I used frozen, and I thawed them.)

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a round 9 inch cake pan, line with parchment and grease parchment.  In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour 1/2 of batter in prepared cake pan. Drop raspberries all around cake batter trying to evenly space. Top with remaining batter.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. (This was tricky because the moisture in the thawed raspberries caused the cooking time to increase, so just keep checking with a toothpick. I think I went to almost 50 minutes.) Try not to overbake.  Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.  When the cake is thoroughly cooled frost with Browned Butter Frosting.

Browned Butter Frosting:

1/3 cup butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cream

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt

Brown butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Cool to lukewarm.  Beat in remaining ingredients until smooth.

** Heather, you really were the genius mastermind behind this...thank you!