Dessert

Ingredients
4 ounces chocolate chips (I used a mix of bittersweet and semisweet.)
¹⁄₂ cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
6 tablespoon flour
Extra butter and white sugar for dishes

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 425*F. 

2. Place chocolate and butter in large microwafe-safe dish and nuke on high 1 minute or until butter is melted.  Remove from microwave and stir until chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in powdered sugar until well blended.  Whisk in eggs and egg yolks.  Stir in flour. 

3. Butter sides and bottoms of 4 custard cups or ramekins (mine are 7ounces).  Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon sugar per dish and shake out excess. 

4. Divide batter between dishes.  Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are still soft.  Remove from oven and let stand 2 to 3 minutes.  Serve in dishes or run knife around edges to invert onto plates. 

Comments
This recipe was passed on to me by a friend, so I don’t have a link for the original source.  I also don’t have a picture, maybe because they were such a huge hit that I didn’t take the time to photograph anything!  My mom and I made them together and they were a cinch.  (Edit: The photo has since been updated!)

These were super rich, a perfect serving size, and just divine.  Lance, the chocolate cake connoisseur in the house, declared them as awesome as the ones he has gotten in restaurants which is pretty high praise!  The only thing that could have been better is that the centers were a little too runny – I think a few more minutes of cooking would have done the trick.  But liquid chocolate in the middle of cake is never a bad thing, so we all devoured our little cakes. 

I served these with Vanilla Ice Cream which nicely tempered the super richness of the chocolate.  I think we may have found a new Thanksgiving tradition that we can all get behind!

Unknown

Ingredients
3 cans crescent rolls
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon vanilla
¹⁄₄ cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Unroll 1 ¹⁄₂ cans crescent rolls on bottom of 9 by 12-inch baking dish. 

3. Beat together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla in electric mixing bowl.  Spread mixture over crescent rolls. 

4. Unroll remaining crescent rolls and place over cream cheese mixture.  Brush butter over top then mix together cinnamon and remaining sugar.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over melted butter. 

5. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until top is nicely browned and dough is fully cooked.  Cool before serving.  Eat warmed or chilled, depending on your preference.

No photo

Comments
This recipe is from Live Love Pasta and it combines two things I like quite a bit – cheesecake and sopapillas!  I made this as a late night snack one night and we all enjoyed it.  Art and I enjoyed the leftovers nuked about 15 seconds in the microwave, but Lance preferred the leftovers chilled.  I’m not sure that I’ll make these again, but they were certainly tasty this time.

Internet - Live Love Pasta

Ingredients
For the cake
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 ¹⁄₂ cups flour
¹⁄₃ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut, flaked or shredded (optional)
¹⁄₂ cup pecans, chopped (optional)
1 7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff
_
For the frosting_
¹⁄₂ cup butter, melted
¹⁄₃ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons milk
6 cups powdered sugar

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish.

2. Beat eggs until thick. Beat in sugar until combined.

3. Combine butter, flour, cocoa powder, vanilla, coconut and pecans in medium bowl. Add flour mixture to sugar-egg mixture. Stir well. Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes, or until done toothpick inserted comes out clean.

4. Remove cake from oven and spread marshmallow fluff gently over warm cake. (The warmth from the cake will help to melt the fluff.)

5. Mix all frosting ingredients. Spread frosting over fluff using a table knife to swirl frosting into marshmallow. Cool before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from my most excellent mother.  I assume that she initially got it from a magazine or newspaper, since her recipe card is a glued clipping.  This recipe has been in my life for as long as I can remember and it was always a grand treat for birthdays when we’d get Mississippi Mud.  The best part of the cake is when you get a piece 3 to 4 days after it has been made because the frosting crystallizes a bit and it’s stellar.  Not that the cake often lasts so long, but it’s great when it does! 

I think that, in the future, I might make a few changes because no one in the family has quite the sweet teeth that we did 20+ years ago.  In the future I’d double the cake part of the recipe and keep the frosting the way it is.  Or bake it in a 9 by 9 and halve the frosting while keeping the cake the same.  As the recipe stands, the frosting layer is about as thick as the cake layer, and it would be nice to have a 1:2 ratio. 

This specific cake was made for my mother’s birthday.  I’m sure she was happy that there were 6 other people to help her eat it all!  (We only had one votive candle, which is why there’s a round dent in the middle of the cake.)

Person - Mom

Ingredients
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups cake flour

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 325*F.  Butter loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper or foil. 

2. Mix butter and sugar on medium speed with mixer until very light, about 5 minutes.  Beat in vanilla.  One at a time, beat in three eggs, beating until smooth after each addition. 

3. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in ¹⁄₃ flour until fully absorbed.  Beat in another egg until smooth, followed by another ¹⁄₃ flour.  Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula.  Repeat with remaining egg and remaining flour.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. 

5. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes, or until cake is done with cracked top, golden brown color, and a toothpick inserted into center emerges dry. 

6. Cool cake in pan five minutes, then remove from pan and cool on rack. 

No photo

Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.  Sadly I didn’t get a picture because this was part of my mom’s birthday celebration and it completely slipped my mind.  We ate it with berries and whipped cream, even my picky nephew had a piece!  It was a teeny bit dry, but I sort of forgot to press start on my timer after setting it so I might have cooked it too long.  I won’t know for sure if the dryness is a function of the recipe until I make it again and actually remember to turn the timer on.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate chips or bars
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sugar
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line bottom of 8 by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. 

2. Place butter and chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment, until melted and smooth.  Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to mixing bowl. 

3. On low speed, mix in sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Beat the eggs into the batter one at a time until fully blended.  Add flour and cocoa powder and beat until batter is just smooth. 

4. Pour batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 35 to 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely on cooling rack.  Remove brownies from pan, cut into squares, and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the blog Use Real Butter and I made them for Thanksgiving 2010. These are probably the richest brownies I’ve ever eaten, so I recommend serving them with vanilla ice cream.   If you like rich, fudgy brownies, this is the recipe for you.

Internet - Use Real Butter

Ingredients
Crust:
1 ¹⁄₄ cups all purpose flour
¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

Filling:
2 eggs
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
¹⁄₂ cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
2-4 cups pecans, chopped (I used 4 cups, the original recipe called for 1 ¹⁄₂ cups…)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a 9 by 12-inch baking dish with aluminum foil. 

2. Combine flour, sugar and salt in food processor.  Add butter and process until coarse crumbs form.  Transfer mixture to dish and press into a smooth crust.  Poke several holes in the crust with fork.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown. 

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs and add sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt.  Mix until smooth.  Add pecans and stir until pecans are well coated.  Pour filling into pre-baked crust and bake for 20 minutes or until filling is set. 

4. Cool on rack until completely cool, about 1 hour.  Use foil to lift bars out of dish and cut into squares. 

Comments
This recipe is from My Story.  The original recipe called for a mere 1 ¹⁄₂ cups of pecans which just did not cut it for me.  I ended up using the entire bag I had, which was a whopping 4 cups.  I’m so glad I made that change because these were perfectly pecan-y.  I had initially planned on taking these to share with choir friends, but, at the last minute, I decided that I didn’t want to share.  They’re just that good.

Internet - My Story

Ingredients
2 ¹⁄₂ cups pecan halves
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Instructions
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and place near the stovetop. 

2. Using a rubber spatula, stir together sugar, oil, and vinegar in a medium-sized saucepan set over medium heat. Continue stirring until sugar melts and mixture begins to bubble. 

3. Add pecans and stir to coat.  Continue cooking and stirring 5-6 minutes until pecans are toasted and evenly coated with syrup. 

4. Turn pecan mixture onto prepared baking sheet and use forks to separate and spread pecans into a single layer.  Allow to cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Comments
This recipe is from the blog Cook Like a Champion.  I always find nuts to be a lovely and relatively light dessert when company is over and I’m always looking for new ways to use my beloved balsamic vinegar.  Of course, I had intended to make this with some dark chocolate balsamic vinegar when I read the recipe but I managed to complete forget this while actually cooking.  This just means that I’ll be forced to make this recipe again.  I have such a hard life. 

These were super flavorful and just the right amount of sweet.  The only downside is that they’re pretty sticky even when fully cooled and not at all braces friendly!  I do believe that this would work equally well with different nuts such as almonds or walnuts.

Internet - Cook Like a Champion

Ingredients
6 cups cooked rice, cold and unsalted (Mine was jasmine.)
2 (13.5 ounces each) cans coconut milk plus enough half and half to equal 7 cups total
²⁄₃ cup sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon, optional

Instructions
1. Simmer rice, milk, coconut milk, sugar, and salt, uncovered, in a large saucepan over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 40 minutes.

3. Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla. Serve warm or cold, depending on preference.  Top with cinnamon if desired. 

Comments
I made a whole lot of fail rice the other day.  I’d never made jasmine rice before and I attempted to make it with the same rice to water ratio I always use.  Apparently this road leads to failure because the rice was extremely mushy and unpalatable.  I didn’t want to throw it all away so decided to try salvaging it in the form of rice pudding.  This recipe is from Epicurious.com and I thought it turned out very well.  I did find the rice to liquid ration was off and ended up using twice as much rice as the recipe called for.  Delicious.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
3 cups half and half (Or 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup heavy cream.)
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
7 large egg yolks

Instructions
1. Bring milk, cream, and ¹⁄₂ cup sugar to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in ginger and let steep, covered, 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together yolks and remaining ¹⁄₂ cup sugar.

3.  Add a small spoonful of milk mixture to the egg mixture and whisk. Repeat, one spoonful at a time, until egg mixture is warmed.  Add egg mixture to remaining milk mixture and continue to whisk until completely incorporated. 

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon (do not let boil).

5. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl, discarding solids, and chill, covered, until cold, about 1 ¹⁄₂ hours.  (Chilling it overnight is fine too.) 

6. Freeze in ice cream maker, then transfer into an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 4 hours.

Comments
This ice cream recipe is from epicurious.com and I think it’s one of the first I ever tried after I got an ice cream machine and, oh boy, did I screw it up.  I think I must have added 9 tablespoons of ginger that first time, and I didn’t bother to strain it before freezing, and it was… not very good.  This time I followed the instructions and it was fantastic.  The ginger gives the ice cream quite a bite!

Shown here with Chocolate Wontons.

Internet - Epicurious

Ingredients
¹⁄₃ cup half and half
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
12 wonton wrappers (If you can’t find wonton wrappers, egg roll wrappers cut into four squares will also work.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
5 cups vegetable oil

Instructions
1. Bring cream and butter to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl and let stand 1 minute. Whisk ganache until smooth, then chill, covered, until firm, about 1 hour.

2. Lightly brush 1 side of each of 6 wonton wrappers with beaten egg, then put 1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons chocolate ganache in center of each. Fold filled wontons in half to form triangles, pressing gently around filling to eliminate any air bubbles and sealing edges with more egg. (If there are any pockets of air, wontons may burst when fried.) Make 6 more wontons in same manner. Freeze filled wontons on a wax-paper-lined tray until firm, about 20 minutes. (Note: You can make these ahead and freeze them until ready to use – I’ve frozen them for 12 hours with no problems.)

3. Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Fry wontons, 3 to 4 at a time, turning once, until golden brown, about 1 ¹⁄₂ to 2 minutes total. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. (Allow oil to return to temperature between batches.)  Dust with powdered sugar if desired and serve warm. 

Comments
Years ago I ran across this recipe on epicurious.com and thought that it sounded pretty tasty.  I can’t remember if I was looking for an Asian-inspired dessert or what, it was quite a long time ago.  They were delicious, but I never got around to making them again until now.  And they are still delicious.  They’re fairly easy to make, but I can never make just 12.  I recommend doubling everything. 

Shown here with Ginger Ice Cream.

Internet - Epicurious