Alice in the Kitchen

Strawberry Margarita Dessert

Mom hosted Book Club at our house last week.  She served this dessert, and I tasted it, and it was delicious, so we’ll start with that!!

Frozen Strawberry Margarita Dessert

This delicious recipe has a pretzel crust for great salty, crunchy contrast. Prepare just as directed and freeze. Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely crushed pretzels
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:

Eskimo Bars – Best Thing I Ever Ate?

A few weeks ago, a friend challenged me to make something he had seen on the Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  The theme of the episode he watched was “Chilled Perfection” and the item he was interested in was something called “Eskimo Bars,” which Giada claimed to have been just out of this world treats.

He described it to me.  Brownies, topped with ice cream, dipped in chocolate, served with hot caramel sauce.  Sounds great right?  He really wanted to try them, but unfortunately, they were only served at a restaurant called the Snake River Grill in Wyoming.  So, he asked, could I make that?  And I guess I’ve become a little arrogant about my cooking because I  responded confidently, “Yes, absolutely, no problem, I could make that.”  Ha. Ha. Ha.

I told him I was going to give it a try for a Memorial Day get together, and he enthusiastically provided me with a link from the show, which I think you’ll agree, makes it seem like these little Eskimo Bars are going to be a snap to make.

Well the joke was on me.

The brownie part was easy – I just baked a thin batch of brownies in a 9×13 pan.   I think it was about an inch thick.

The ice cream part?  That was easy too – I just spread a half gallon of softened vanilla ice cream over the brownies and stuck them in the freezer to harden up.

Cutting them into “piano keys” as described in the video??  Not bad either.  I used a pizza cutter which I warmed up with hot water and it sliced right through.  I was so optimistic at this point.

I mean truly, I was feeling like a pro.  So, I melted the chocolate chips, let them cool, and added a little shortening.  I was ready to start dipping!!

Massive fail.  The chocolate, cool as it was, instantly melted the ice cream, which in turn, made the chocolate curdle.  Or something.  But whatever happened, it was bad.

I threw away a lot of chocolate.  And the bars were looking like this:

The ice cream was running out, the chocolate was hard as a rock once you put them back in the freezer (not to mention WAY too thick), and this whole Eskimo Bars thing was quickly turning into a disaster.   This is what they looked like in my trash can:

I was really frustrated.

So I quit for awhile and tried to brainstorm how I could make these DANG ESKIMO BARS.  Then it hit me.

Magic Shell.

For those of you unfamiliar with Magic Shell, it essentially a chocolate syrup that hardens quickly into a “shell” when poured on a cold surface.  It’s main ingredients are chocolate and coconut oil, which is what makes it liquid at room temperature but solid when cold.  And Magic Shell saved the day.  I squirted some in a small dish and started dipping my “piano keys” of brownie and ice cream.  And finally…

Perfect!!  I actually got better at dipping them too, but I was so excited that I forgot to take any more pictures!!  Except for this one, which is missing a bite.

We ate them with hot caramel sauce served in a mini crockpot.  And they just might be the best thing I ever ate!

Thanks to Giada for the suggestion and Jamie for the challenge.  I’ll try not to hold it against either of you.

Well Dressed Fruit

Fruit loves getting dressed up.  Especially when the event calls for black tie attire.  So for the big engagement party, it seemed only appropriate to make some chocolate tuxedo strawberries!
I didn’t take any pictures while I was making these, so here’s a basic tutorial, starting after you’ve washed and dried your berries and melted your chocolates!

1. Dip the front side of the berries in white chocolate or bark.  Let dry on wax paper.
2. Hold the strawberry by the green leafy part, and dip the sides in a ‘V’ pattern in milk chocolate to make the tuxedo jacket. Leave some white showing on the front for the tuxedo shirt.   Put them back on the wax paper.
3. Using a toothpick, make a small bow with the dark chocolate. Add a row of 3 buttons underneath.
4. Let dry and serve!

If you don’t have a ton of time, make half of the strawberries in tuxedos and do plain swirls on the other half.  Still looks great.

Love is in the Kitchen

This past weekend, we celebrated the impending nuptials of not one, not two, not three, but FOUR lovely couples.  In honor of them, there were plenty of love-inspired desserts.  For a change, I’m going to post a treat that was not made by me, but is totally worthy of being shared because it was delicious!!  Every last bite of this was devoured.

Strawberry Brownie Shortcake!!

Ingredients

1 pkg Duncan Hines® Double Fudge Brownie Mix
1 (3.5 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping
1 quart fresh strawberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies; pour into prepared pans. A baking tip to get the brownies out of the pan easier is to put a circle of parchment paper on bottom of pan.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

Meanwhile, stir pudding mix and milk in medium bowl; mix well. Chill 5 minutes or until thickens. Fold in whipped topping. Chill. To serve, place one brownie layer on plate. Top with half each of pudding mixture and strawberries. Repeat. Garnish as desired.

Look at these layers!!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

This is probably one of our most often made desserts – so much so that the cookbook pages around this particular recipe are covered with chocolate!  This is really very easy and very good.  To save time, I usually make the recipe as directed and pour the filling into two store-bought oreo crusts, rather than a springform pan – just as good and very simple.  You may have to adjust your baking time, but cheesecake is fussy anyway so you should be watching (through the oven door) all along.

Here goes:
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

1 9 oz package chocolate wafer cookies
3 T butter melted

(or two oreo crusts)

12 oz Semisweet choc chips
1 C heavy cream
3/4 C Raspberry jam
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 C sugar
4 Eggs
2 t vanilla

Grind cookies to a fine powder, mix with the butter and press into the bottom and up the sides about an inch of a 9″ springform pan (or 2 7″ pans).  Refrigerate while making the filling.

Combine the chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat at high for 3 to 4 minutes or until smooth. Stir every minute. Mix in the jam, stirring until disolved, let cool 10 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and the chocolate/raspberry mixture.  Mix well.

Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 325 or until cake is set around the edges but still jiggles slightly in the center. Cool and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours. Decorate as you like – but it’s just as pretty plain!

This is a nice dessert for company or to give as a gift.  Really, it’s that good!

Just in Time – King Cake

Today was the absolute last day to make a King Cake.  So keeping in line with my tradition of doing things at the very last minute, I made one, tonight.

King Cake can only be made after Twelfth Night (January 6) and before Mardi Gras day (today)… but is it okay to eat it tomorrow? I hope so. I will.

This wasn’t really too special, but the cream cheese filling was yummy.

Taking it into the office tomorrow!  Happy Fat Tuesday!

Spinach Balls

These were a surprise treat.  I had been holding on to the recipe for awhile and finally got a chance to make them before an impromptu holiday party at my folks’ house at Christmas.  I mean, they were really good!  And they’re made of spinach!  I mean sure, they’re loaded with less-than-healthy extras, but it’s mostly spinach!  Popeye would approve.  I think that these would be a nice cocktail appetizer for the vegetarians in the crowds, and carnivores will love them as well.  Matt, my resident non-vegetable-eater, ate 1/4 of one and declared it “actually pretty good” – and if I haven’t won you over yet, then I give up.

Here we go:

2 boxes frozen chopped spinach

2 cups herb bread stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm – it’s better if you can run this through the food processor before mixing)

2 onions, chopped fine

6 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon garlic salt

2/3 teaspoon thyme

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Rinse and drain spinach according to directions on box – squeeze out the extra moisture. Mix in remaining ingredients. Make into marble size ball (the directions say marble size, but I think golf ball size is more accurate.) Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

And you know what’s clutch?  You can freeze these bad boys before baking and then thaw them for an hour before you need them.  I had a bag in the freezer that we took on two ski weekends and they still heated up and were delicious.  I even think these would make a nice holiday gift, maybe along with some sausage balls – a savory alternative to all the sweets at Christmas time.

Christmas 2009

Oreo Truffles, Gingerbread Truffles, and Velveeta Fudge

Gingerbread Truffles

Gingerbread truffles… a nice Christmas treat, especially for those people (freaks) in your life who don’t love chocolate.

The ingredients are fairly simple.  Make sure the ginger snaps are crushed very fine:

And when you get ready to roll your truffles, your mix should look like this:

These truffles are very rich, so I recommend rolling them very small – smaller than golf balls, slightly larger than marbles.

Much easier than a Gingerbread House!  Merry Christmas!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts
• 2.5 cups gingersnap crumbs (about one 14-oz box)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

Preparation:

1. Place the white chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, stirring after every 45 seconds to prevent overheating.

2. Once the white chocolate is melted, add the corn syrup, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract. If it seems to be separating, stir gently with a whisk until it comes back together. Stir in the gingersnap crumbs, powdered sugar, all the spices, and the chopped nuts. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is firm enough to shape, about 1 hour.

3. Using a teaspoon, roll the candy into small balls between your palms. Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl, and roll the balls in the sugar.

4. Place the gingerbread truffles in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. These candies store for several weeks, but they tend to lose some of their strong ginger flavor after about a week. Allow the truffles to come to room temperature before serving.

A Very Redneck Christmas – Velveeta Fudge

I asked Matt’s roommates recently if they had ever eaten (or even heard of) Velveeta fudge.  Their responses were, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly skeptical.

Not that I can blame them.  When I first heard about “Velveeta Fudge” I remember thinking that it sounded pretty disgusting – a regular fudge made with Velveeta cheese?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to be a redneck, but really?  Fudge made with Velveeta?  We’re not too poor to make real fudge… are we?

But let’s be honest.  I’m not above trying it.  And this Christmas seemed like the perfect occasion, especially in light of the fact that my dad will eat just about anything, so it probably wouldn’t go to waste.

The ingredients were simple: Velveeta, butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa.  But I’m not a huge fan of plain fudge, so I also bought some dried cherries to throw in the fudge, along with some extra pecans we had at the house.

So we begin.  Melting the butter with the Velveeta was easy enough, but it didn’t really look “smooth” as the recipe suggested that it might.  Perhaps the problem was that I didn’t stir “continuously,” as was also suggested in the recipe.

So after this mix got all melted together, I added some vanilla, the cherries, and the pecans, and ended up with this:

At this point, I was fairly doubtful that the Velveeta Fudge was going to be edible.  But I pressed on.  Now I stirred the mixture above into 2 pounds of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of cocoa:

And then pressed the mixture above into a lightly greased 11×7 pan:

And put it into the fridge to chill.

Later we sliced it, and we ended up with:

drumroll please…..

some REALLY delicious fudge!  It was smooth and light and creamy, just like fudge should be – and there was no hint of a cheese flavor.

So I’m happy to have been the test kitchen for you – Velveeta Fudge is a winner!  The recipe on the Velveeta website is quite a bit more complicated than the recipe I used, so I can only vouch for the one below, and it’s very easy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, sliced
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped nuts, pecans, walnuts
• 2 (16-ounce) boxes confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Directions

Spray lightly the bottom of a 9×9 or 11×7 pan.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the cheese and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla and nuts (and the cherries if you so choose!)

In a large bowl mix together the sugar and cocoa.  Pour the cheese mixture into the sugar and cocoa mixture and stir until completely mixed.

Using your hands, remove candy from bowl and press evenly and firmly into pan.

Chill and cut!  Enjoy!!