Tiramisu

Tiramisu is a decadent creamy dessert originating from Italy. In Italian, its name literally means, “pick me up.” That describes this tiramisu recipe perfectly, referring to its high-energy ingredients, strong coffee and sugar. Traditionally this is made using lady fingers. But if you are unable to find them you could use pound cake, biscotti, sponge cake, vanilla cookies, or angel food cake. To cut down on calories, you can trade the mascarpone cheese for skim milk ricotta, and use splenda or truvia in place of the sugar.  Tiramisu’s flavors taste even better when they've had a chance to blend overnight. Make this dessert the day before you serve it.

The first time I made this I used Rum. This created a much stronger flavor then when I used Brandy the second time I made it. I was never able to get a straight answer as to which version my family liked.

1/2 pound mascarpone cheese (found in the specialty cheese case in the grocery stores)
3 egg yolks
1 package ladyfingers (24 cookies in total)
4 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons brandy or unflavored rum (although they do sell an espresso flavored rum I'm going to try using next time I make this)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup strong espresso coffee, cooled
3 egg whites
cocoa powder

1. Beat cheese, egg yolks, 2 Tablespoons sugar and 2 Tablespoons brandy.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff and shiny,set aside then whip cream.
3. Gently fold egg yolk mixture, egg whites and cream together. Mix espresso with remaining sugar and brandy.
4. Dip ladyfingers in espresso mixture 30-45 seconds per cookie. You want them soft but not soggy and falling apart, line dish and add 2-3 tbsp of espresso to the bottom of the dish top with half the cream mixture dust with cocoa powder. Add another layer of cookies with 2-3 tbsp of espresso and the remaining cream mixture.
5. Dust with cocoa powder.
6. Place plastic wrap over the dish
7. Refrigerate overnight.


Enjoy :)
<3 Laura ^.^

Warm soup on a cold day

Okie so I've done tons of posts on sweets so here's a real meal. I *LOVE* this soup. It's something I can make that the family loves and I can eat too. This makes a ton of soup too! Would be great for a pot luck, and better yet I make it in the crock pot. Set it and forget it! I can put everything in the morning and its done and smelling good when I get home at night.



White Bean Beefy Turkey Soup

1 1/2 lbs Ground Turkey (I use 98% fat free)
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef (I use 80% lean)
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
5 carrots, cut in bite size pieces
5 celery stalks, cut into bite size pieces
5 15oz cans white beans ( 3 drained and rinsed, 1 pureed with liquid and 1 pureed after being drained and rinse- I just do this with a potato masher)
1 15oz can corn
2 4oz cans mild green chilis
1 8oz can peas
1 8oz can Mixed Veggies
2 32oz boxes low sodium chicken broth
Salt, Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper, Garlic, Mrs.Dash Original Blend
Egg Noodles or Rice (optional)

1. Brown ground meats in a skillet. I dont use oil spray or butter while doing this, there is enough natural fat in the beef that when the turkey and beef are in the pan together it browns nicely. Add seasoning as much/little as you like.

2. While you are waiting on the meat to brown start working on the veggies. Cut in bite size pieces don't cut to small or thin as they will disappear when the soup is simmering. Once they are chopped drop into the crock pot.

 Carrots

 Celery

 Green Peppers

Onions

3. In a bowl open the cans of  veggies and 3 cans of beans (drained and rinsed) mix in a bowl and drop into crock pot.

4. Mix veggies in crock pot top with browned meat. 

5. Puree 2 cans of the white beans and place in Crock Pot Mix all ingredients (this helps to thicken the soup without using flour or a rue)

6. Top with more spices to taste, stir.

7. Cover Crock Pot 4 hours on high 8 hours on low. 

8. Can serve soup over Rice or Noodles or with some crusty bread. Can also top with tortilla strips,  a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese, or fresh herbs.

Yes I am aware that this is  a TON of soup. And there may or may not be a "Do not fill past this line" on your cock pot...only a mear suggestion right? lol You can freeze the leftovers or feed your neighbors. Either way this stuff is soooo yummy!!

Enjoy!

<3 Laura ^.^

Creme Brulee

Yes that is right I got a blow torch for the kitchen. Am I crazy? Maybe...ok probably! This is something I have wanted to attempt for a while but honestly thought the process would be A LOT harder then what it was. Seriously this is simple. Since this was my first time I did some recipe research meshed a few recipes and techniques together and I came up with this silky smooth custard.

The following recipe makes about 4 4oz Ramekins (one will be not so full)

1 cup Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons + 3  tbsp sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberry

1. Preheat oven 300 degrees F. Fill your tea pot and boil her away

2. In a ssaucepan over medium heat combine heavy cream with the 2tbsp sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles start to appear. Take off the heat and set aside.

3. In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light.

4. Pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks 1tbsp at a time. DO NOT RUSH THIS!! You need to do this slowly. While incorporating the cream constantly wisk the eggs. Do this so the eggs don't scramble. Beat until well blended and cream is incorporated into eggs, the color of the eggs will lighten.

5. Strain blended egg and cream mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup with a spout. This will make it easier to eye how much to put in each ramekin and easier to pour through the spout.

6.  Place a small handful of Berries in the bottom of each ramekin and top with custard.

7. Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven. Fill pan with boiling water from your teapot bringing water halfway up the sides of your ramekins. Be very careful not to burn yourself or to get water in your custards. Cover with foil. Bake until custard is just set. About 25-30minutes. I also turned off the oven and let the custards sit in the closed oven for about 20 more minutes.

8. Remove from oven and from pan, cover each Ramekin with plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap directly ontop of the custard. Chill for 2-3 hours

9. Right before serving sprinkle sugar evenly over top of cooled custards. With your torch move the flame continuously over the surface of the ramekins, in a circular motion until sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately garnish with a few fresh blueberries.

Tip: if you don't have a kitchen torch or are intimidated by one you can use the broiler. crank it up to high pop the ramekins under but keep a very close eye on them as the sugar does burn quickly.

Glossy Glassy top with a silky smooth custard underneath topped with fresh fruit...does it get any better then that?

I have several ideas for some different flavors since I do have a blow torch to use.

Enjoy!!
<3 Laura ^.^

this $h*t is Bananas! and nuts!

HAHA I know I'm a dork but considering this is my blog and only maybe 3 people read it I can be a dork. Moving on since last Saturday I made blueberry muffins I had to make banana nut muffins this week.

4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

1/4 cup of turbanado sugar

No need for a mixer with this recipe.
1. In a bowl smash bananas, I used a potato masher
2 Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3 Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.
4 Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
5 Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.
6 Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin, and top with a sprinkle of turbanado sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

This is a very easy go to recipe and family members ask me to make them constantly! I get random over ripe banana's left on my porch from time to time.

Enjoy
<3 Laura ^.^

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Warm, Cakey, Sugary, Crumbness. Saturday morning I got up went to the store grabbed ingredients and made these gems.
This batter is incredibly thick but that's OK don't freak out this only makes like 6-8 muffins depending on your tin size.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line with muffin tin with  liners. 

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups *right to the top* 

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.Really pack this on the tops. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.  


The butter in the crumb mixture melts and caramelizes and browns the sugar. They were a big hit right out of the oven, some people couldn't wait to try them!!

Enjoy :)
<3 Laura ^.^

Oh you know you want some of this...

 White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake...

So I told a friend of mine that I'd make him a cheesecake for his birthday. I decided on making a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. So I was playing around with my basic cheese cake recipe and came up with this one. It is currently sitting in the fridge and I'm surprised no one has cut into it yet, everyone says its to pretty to eat. Now when I remake this in a few weeks I'll be shocked if they actually let's me take it out of the house.


Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (I got chocolate teddy grams and crushed them myself)
6 TBSP sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (10oz) package frozen raspberries
2 TBSP sugar
2 TSP corn starch
2 TBSP Chambord (optional)
1/2 cup water
2  cups (16oz bag) white chocolate chips
1/2 cup half and half
3 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 TSP good vanilla extract
9 inch spring form pan

Tip: Before starting anything wrap the bottom and up the sides of your spring form pan with foil. This will insure that no water leaks into your cake during the baking process in the water bath.

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 6 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. You can pulse the cookies in a processor but I found it to be more fun to just beat them with a rolling pin or meat mallet :) this would also be a good job for a child helping you out.

2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, chambord (optional) and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. The sauce will thicken more as it cools do not over boil it. At this point you could strain the sauce but I like the look of the seeds so I left them

 (Pre cooking)

( After thickening)

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth. OR in a microwave safe bowl place the chips and the half and half nuke till melted stirring occasionally until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate.

5. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Swirl with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect. 

6.  Carefully place cake inside a jelly roll pan or roasting pan. Place in oven then fill roasting pan with warm water from a tea kettle. Fill halfway up the sides of the cake. 

7. Bake @ 325 degrees for 60minutes. 

8. At the end of 60 minutes DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!! simply turn it off and leave the cheesecake standing in the oven for another 60minutes. I know its hard but do not peek!!! This will ensure that your cake is fully cooked and set. 

Tip: If you are to impatient to do this you could make sure your cake is done by inserting an instant read thermometer into the center of the cake. The internal temp of the cake should be 160-165 degrees F. You can also do the old insert a knife in the center if it comes out clean it's done. But really just leave the cake in the turned off oven for the extra 60min it really is fool proof.

9. After the second hour take cake cake out careful not to spill the hot water. Take cake out of roasting pan remove foil and let cake stand on a cooking rack in the spring form pan till cool.

10. Once cooled cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan.

11. Cover top of cake with remaining raspberry sauce. I also topped with fresh raspberries and white chocolate curles. Can also serve with fresh whipped cream.

Enjoy!

<3 Laura ^.^

Sausage Roll

Today I am feeling a bit better then I have been the past few days. I still skipped the family affair today and just stayed home. It was a nice day, I did my own thing in the kitchen and didn't have to worry about a thing. I have been working on a few recipes and posts for this week. Up first..the monster sausage roll.

Ingredients:

1lb ground Sausage
1 cup tomato sauce
8oz mozzarella cheese
1 tube crescent rolls
*Pre-heat oven 350 degrees*

1. Brown Sausage in a skillet. I just put the sausage in the skillet, it has enough fat in it that you dont need to spray/oil/butter the skillet first. Once its browned take sausage out of skillet with a slotted spoon to drain grease. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel, replace sausage in skillet.

2. While sausage is browning unroll the crescent dough onto a cookie sheet and pinch together at the seams. Try not to handle the dough to much and keep it cold until needed. Keeping it cold and handled as little as possible will keep it from becoming tough and falling apart when you are rolling.

3. Once sausage is returned to the skillet turn heat down to med-med/low mix in 1 cup of tomato sauce and all of the cheese except a small handful. Warm till bubbly melty and creamy.

4. Carefully and Evenly spread filling on top of dough. Leave about 1/2in boarder so it doesn't squish out when you roll it.

5. Start from one side and roll to the other.

6. Top with the left over cheese and Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25minutes

7. Let stand for 5min before you slice and serve.

This thing is a monster! Next time I make this I think I will try to make it with making my own dough. This is flaky and good but being a crescent dough it's a bit on the sweet side for me.

Other ideas or variations: I think this would be good as an appetizer rolled in the individual crescent slices. I think that would be prettier for entertaining.

Sneak peak coming up this week:
Banana nut muffins topped with turbinado sugar
Cinnamon Sugar Crumb topped blueberry muffins
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^