Dark and Chewy Hot Fudge

I really love the hot fudge at old style ice cream shops (or should I say shoppes?). The kind that is gooey and a little chewy once it chills on the ice cream. The only problem is, I usually like my fudge a little darker than the stuff they serve. After searching and testing, this is what I came up with: It has the texture that is more like goo than syrup, with a dark, creamy, taste that's not too sweet and melts in your mouth.

6 oz dark chocolate of your choice
1/4 C cocoa powder (I use a combo of regular and Dutch processed)
2 TBS butter
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp Vanilla or coffee extract

Chop chocolate into chunks. Put all ingredients in a saucepan on medium low heat and stir until melted. If you like even chewier hot fudge, cook it for a few minutes after its melted. Use it to make old fashioned ice cream sundaes. Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge. I've never had it go bad on me.

Panna Cotta

For reasons I can't articulate, I've been terrified of custardy desserts. Maybe it's the fantastic failure at my attempt at a lemon meringue pie, or maybe it's the bother of stirring constantly lest I scald boiling milk and thereby ruin my dessert.

Anyway.

Panna cotta is so stupidly easy that my terror of it is rather embarrassing. Had my pregnant self not been craving it so strongly, I probably wouldn't have ventured.

Ingredients:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons cold water

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half and half

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1)In a very small saucepan sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand about 1 minute to soften. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat until gelatin is dissolved and remove pan from heat.

2) In a large saucepan bring cream, half and half, and sugar just to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture and vanilla.

3) Divide cream mixture among eight 1/2-cup ramekins and cool to room temperature. Chill ramekins, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.

4) Dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into a bowl of hot water 3 seconds. Run a thin knife around edge of each ramekin and invert ramekin onto center of a small plate.

Vanilla Pudding

It seems like all my favorite food blogs have posted their favorite pudding recipes within a week of one another. This seems odd as pudding is really low on the hierarchy of dessert foods. But something about it...the way it sounds exactly like it tastes...its unassuming nature. For the first time in my life, I actually craved vanilla pudding. In the end I chose Martha's recipe, and it was pudding perfection.

Note: Instead of a vanilla bean I used vanilla paste as a short cut. I added a little cream for extra richness.

Martha Stewart's Vanilla Pudding Recipe

• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, seeds reserved
• 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 ounce milk chocolate shavings, for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. Prepare an ice bath; set aside. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl until smooth; whisk in cornstarch mixture.
2. Combine milk, remaining sugar, and vanilla-bean scrapings in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Slowly pour milk into egg mixture, whisking constantly.
3. Return mixture to saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and transfer mixture to a medium heat-proof bowl.
4. Whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Set bowl in ice bath, stirring occasionally, until chilled. Serve pudding with chocolate shavings on top, if desired.
Read more at Marthastewart.com: Vanilla Pudding - Martha Stewart Recipes

Fresh Berry Tart

The best thing about Oregon in the summer is the abundance of berries. Oregon berries are sweeter and juicier than berries from the store. But because of this, they're pretty delicate and spoil quickly. We picked 20 quarts of strawberries on Friday and I had to find some uses for them besides just freezing the little guys. I stumbled upon and adapted this recipe from Oregon Live and it was absolutely insanely perfect. It wasn't THAT difficult but looked so impressive for our graduation party. Ma requested that I make it again for Independence Day and add blueberries (red white and blue, heh, yeah).

This was my first time making a real pastry cream and I've decided it will be my go to recipe for cream puffs or Boston cream pies. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Vanilla pastry cream

* 3 cups whole milk
* 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, or 2 teaspoons vanilla (see note)
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 4 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 2 egg yolks

Crust

* 24 butter cookies (7 ounces), such as Le Petit Beurre, or enough to make 2 cups cookie crumbs
* 1/3 cup butter, melted

Fresh Fruit
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled, or other fresh berries

Glaze (optional)
Current jelly or homemade strawberry jelly

Instructions

To make pastry cream: Bring the milk to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the vanilla bean pod and seeds, remove from the heat, cover and steep for 15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt until there are no lumps. You may need to sift your mixture to ensure that there are no lumps. This is very important in this recipe! Add the eggs and yolks and whisk until very smooth. Discard the vanilla bean pod from the milk and gently bring milk back to a boil.

Wrap a damp towel around the base of the mixing bowl with the egg mixture to secure it. Temper the eggs by whisking in one-quarter of the hot milk. Then, pour all the contents of the mixing bowl back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it suddenly thickens and boils. Use a heatproof rubber spatula to scrape into the corners of the pan, then whisk for 1 minute more.

Remove from heat. Immediately use the spatula to scrape the pastry cream into a clean bowl, cover immediately with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours and up to 5 days.

To make crust: Place the cookies in a resealable plastic bag and use a rolling pin to pound and roll them into fine crumbs. Pour the cookie crumbs into a mixing bowl and drizzle the melted butter all over. Use a rubber spatula to coat the cookie crumbs with the butter.

Spread the cookie crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Use a metal measuring cup to tamp them down into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides. Chill for at least 1 hour uncovered and up to 5 days in plastic wrap.

To assemble, evenly spread the pastry cream on the chilled crumb crust. Cut stems off berries and half them from stem top to pointy bottom. Arrange strawberries in concentric circles, cut side down, working from the outside in. For the best appearance, use the largest strawberries on the outside edge and the smallest on the inner rings. Chill until ready to serve. Glazing with jelly gives it a fresh, shiny appearance. To glaze, use a pastry brush and delicately glaze each berry so that it shines.

To serve, remove the ring from the springform pan and slide onto a serving platter. Some of the crust will crumble off. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 to 10 serving pieces, wiping the blade in between each slice.

Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

This came from My Kitchen Cafe which consistently has really awesome recipes. These salty/sweet/textured bars are super rich and addictive. Click the link to see her pictures.

Since I am still banned from the grocery store, so I made my own caramel instead of melting cream and store-bought caramels. I think the result is divine.


Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars

*Makes 9X13-inch pan of bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup melted butter

14 ounce bag of caramels
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk
1 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Mix the first six ingredients together and sprinkle half on the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, melt the caramels and whipping cream or milk in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave at 50% power, stirring often, until the mixture is smooth. When the bars have been removed from the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust and pour the melted caramel over the top. Sprinkle the rest of the crust over the top and bake in the oven for an additional 10-12 minutes, until the caramel is bubbling and edges are lightly browned. Cool the bars completely before serving so they can set up properly.

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

These are particularly sinful. And yummy. And addictive.

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie mixture:
1 c. butter (2 sticks)
2 c. white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark baking cocoa (or Ghirardelli baking cocoa if you are feeling particularly indulgent)
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream cheese mixture:
Beat together till smooth the following
8 oz. cream cheese (one normal brick)
1/3 c. white sugar
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend brownie mixture ingredients until smooth.
3. Spread brownie mixture into 9X13 pan.
4. Beat cream cheese mixture with hand mixer until smooth.
5. Glob dollups of the cream cheese mixture onto the prepared brownie batter and swirl in with a toothpick or wooden skewer
6. Bake 28-30 minutes (I like them to be a little gooey still, but not liquidy in the middle when I poke a fork in)
7. It's better to cool before cutting as they cut more smoothly, but I doubt you'll be able to wait :D

Bourbon Peach Cobbler

Warning: this stuff is napalm DEATH to any fitness/weight loss aspirations. But it's so good. So. very. good. You've been warned.

Ingredients:

• 8 peaches, peeled and sliced, (approx 6-8 cups)
• 1/4 cup bourbon (substitute rum if you wish)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl add peaches, bourbon, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon and mix well to coat the peaches evenly; set aside. If possible, allow to refrigerate overnight.
3. Prepare the dumplings: Into a bowl or processor, sift together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter into small pieces. Add it to the flour mixture and cut it in with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. Pour in the cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Don't overwork; the dough should be slightly sticky but manageable.

4. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add the peach mixture and cook gently until heated through, about 5 minutes. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls over the warm peaches. There can be gaps, the dough will puff up and spread out as it bakes. Brush the top with some heavy cream and sprinkle with some sugar; put it into the oven on a baking sheet to catch any drips.

5. Cook uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes until the top is browned and the fruit is bubbling. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream (Haagen-Dazs 5 Vanilla Bean is my favorite)