Yeah, I know, everyone makes Key Lime Pie. Well, my neighbor didn’t give me enough key limes for pie. Five or six very small limes. Wonderful taste, but small. I needed something that used the zest and the juice, heavy on zest because there was more zest than juice.

Searched the web and cobbled together a couple of recipes:

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/3 granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze

1/4 cup to 1/3 powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon margarine (melted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch loaf pan.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Mix in the yogurt, sugar, the eggs, lime zest, and vanilla. Beat the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. I beat it with electric beaters for about 3 minutes to get some air in there, hoping to make it fluffier. Whole wheat flour can make a denser cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Make the icing by heating the margarine and lime juice and mixing in powdered sugar.

If you want a “soaked cake:” While the cake is still warm, pour the lime-sugar icing over the cake and allow it to soak. This works best if you’re eating it right away.

Otherwise wait until the cake is completely cooled and use the icing as a glaze.

The cake will store longer and better under a glaze. If you “soak” the cake, you might want to refrigerate it.

We’ve all had marshmellow krispie treats. My niece, at a family reunion, made some that had a few twists–peanut butter flavor and chocolate icing on the top. I asked her for the recipe, but she didn’t come through in time for my craving, so I ended up making my own from her basic description. What follows is my recipe and then hers–hers are probably easier to make, but I don’t know. So far I’ve only tried mine, which came out pretty darn good for all my guesses.

Prepare a 9 x 11 baking pan by spraying with a non-stick spray.

Melt 1 tablespoon margarine or butter in very large sauce pan
Melt a 10 oz bag of marshmellows in the sauce pan

Heat over very low heat, stirring constantly so the marshmellows don’t scorch. When the marshmellows are almost completely melted, add 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter (you can use smooth if you prefer!)

Turn off heat to the pan and stir until marshmellows and peanut butter are combined well.

Add 6 cups of rice crispie cereal and mix. It’s difficult to mix–you’ll need a strong spoon, a hefty arm and you want to work quickly. As the mix cools, it gets less inclined to mix.

Spread in sprayed 9 x 11 baking pan. Use non-stick spray on your hands to make it easier to press into shape.

Combine 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels with 1/2 cup butterscotch morsels and melt in the microwave. I use the defrost setting at about 1 minute intervals, stirring between each interval to make sure the mix doesn’t burn.

Once the chocolate is melted, spread over the rice crispies! Cut and eat. Fast, easy and decadent!

Now, here is the recipe from my niece:

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
6 cups rice krispies
1 bag butterscotch chips
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt first 3 ingredients together until smooth. Add the rice krispies and
stir until well coated. Press into sprayed pan. Melt chips together and
spread over rice krispies (Note here- do not “over melt” the chips- they
will start to get too thick and fudge-like and won’t spread! Mistake I
made!) Refrigerate until the chocolate on top hardens.

I was recently asked about a recipe for making chocolates. It’s been a while since I’ve made chocolate, mainly because it is not for the faint-of-heart. There’s a couple of different recipes I’ve used. Only one of them is easy by any stretch. Making chocolates is also a rather messy undertaking and can be expensive if you buy any of the mid-to-higher end unsweetened chocolate as your base.

Is it worth it? Yes. Yes, I’d have to say it is. You can control the amount of sugar in the chocolate, you can add flavors like orange essence and you can control the cream. The two important ingredients in chocolate are cream and sugar. You can get away with a lot less sugar by making a very creamy chocolate. You can also use less sugar if you soak orange peels in the cream overnight, strain the cream and make “orange” chocolate, one of my favorite flavors. (You can do this with mint leaves if you like mint, but mint leaves are harder to work with –start with lemon zest or orange.)

My favorite chocolate making cookbook and where I got my start:

Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate

One of the best cookbooks I’ve ever read. One of the most important things it taught me was what ganache is, how to temper chocolate (that nice shell you need) and how to work with chocolate. Basically a ganache with a shell is the type of chocolate you buy when you get a box of See’s candies–a creamy chocolate center with or without nuts that has been dipped in a “shell.” These are very difficult to make. Don’t start here. You want to start with a chocolate that doesn’t require getting everything just perfect to “set.”

Because the chocolate coating in this recipe is not tempered, you must keep them in the fridge and eat them one at a time! (If you can contain yourself to that.) The secret, according to Bittersweet is the ratio of cream to chocolate. I tried various ratios and didn’t find a bad one.

4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate (my favorite is 62 to 64 percent. I’ve used as high as 70 percent, but added 1 tablespoon of sugar to the chocolate.)
1/2 cup heavy cream (plus 2 tablespoons if you are going to add orange zest)
2 tablespoons orange zest (grated orange peel) –optional

8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate for dipping (I use a 55 percent Lindt bar)

If you want the centers to have the essence of orange, put the orange zest in the cream and refrigerate the mix overnight. When you are ready to make the chocolates the next day, strain out the orange peel and the cream is ready to heat.

To make the center, break the 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and place in a glass bowl. The chocolate should be about the size of small chocolate chips. If the chocolate is thin, it’s going to work a lot better. I have used Ghiradelli bars, Lindt bars and Sharffenberger bars.

In a small pan, bring the cream to just boiling. Pour over the chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate is melted. Refrigerate at least 4 hours until the ganache is set. Do not stir.

To form the chocolates, scoop out one inch round balls using a melon baller or very small ice cream scoop (one used for making ice cream decorations.) Place one-inch balls on a plastic sheet inside a large rectangular container. Keep the balls from touching each other! When you’ve formed all the balls, cover them with the lid and freeze them in the container overnight. You want them frozen hard.

When you are ready to dip the frozen centers, set up a baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt the 8 ounces of chocolate in a medium bowl (use either slow/low microwaving or you can use a double boiler). When the chocolate is smooth and melted, it is ready to use.

Take the frozen balls from the freezer, dip them into the melted chocolate and set them on the waxed paper. Use the edge of the bowl to keep the chocolate from dripping. DO not lick your fingers as you work, no matter how tempting!

Work fast, you don’t want the centers to get too soft. When you’re done, put all the chocolates in the fridge and let them firm up. Once the coating is hard, remove them from the wax paper and store in the refrigerator. These chocolates will “melt in your hand” but they are VERY tasty!!!

NOW, you can lick the bowl!

I never said it would be easy…

My neighbor made these cookies once–the cookies were huge and the recipe made several dozen cookies. I looked around, tried two or three recipes and came up with my own:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

5 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or more if you’re in the mood.)
1/2 cup M&M’s (or more if you want more color…)

Cream sugars, butter and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add oatmeal and baking soda; mix well. Add chocolate chips and M&M’s. Chill in fridge for at least 1/2 hour. Drop onto cookie sheet and flatten. Bake at 350° F until done (about 12 – 15 minutes). Do not over bake.

As you get older, you get told to eat oatmeal to lower your cholesterol and ease up on the salt. I’ve posted several low-salt recipes and recently I reinvented my chocolate chip cookie recipe to add more oatmeal to my diet (the doctor didn’t say how to eat oatmeal). After playing around with the recipe, it turns out I like these cookies even a bit more than my regular recipe!

Cream together:

1 cup margarine
3/4 cup regular sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

Add and stir well:

1 egg (high altitude needs two)

Add and stir:

1 cup flour (high altitude needs 1 tsp baking soda at this time and an extra two tablespoons of flour)

Add:

2 3/4 cups oatmeal (2.5 cups for for gooier cookies)

Stir and then add:

1 to 2 tsp vanilla (I like 2 tsp, which is unusual for cookies)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or more if you prefer)

Stir everything well and chill for two hours. Form one and a half inch balls and flatten with a fork on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.

Whew.  That’s so healthy, I think I’ll go have myself a big fat BLT!!! 

Is there anything less healthy???? Possibly, but nothing I’ve made recently. These bars are essentially peanut butter cups…very high in sugar, high in fat…you know, dessert!

So I wanted these bars, but wanted to make them slightly more healthy. Or maybe I should say I wanted them to be a little less of a health risk…

Here’s the modified recipe, with ground oatmeal in place of some of the graham crackers:

3/4 cup ground/shredded oatmeal (Use a food processor. Just pulverize whole oats.)
1 and 1/4 cup ground graham crackers (Food processor again. I used one package of crackers. The recipe called for 2 cups, but I was subbing in some oatmeal.)
1 cup melted margarine
2 cups powdered sugar (Due to guilt, I used scant cups of sugar. Might have saved a single calorie.)
1 cup peanut butter (I am pretty sure I had at least a 1/4 cup extra)

Mix all the above and press into a 9 by 9 oblong pan.

Melt 1 cup 63 percent (or higher) cocoa chocolate chips in the microwave. If you want this icing to remain somewhat soft, add 2 tablespoons peanut butter and mix thoroughly. Without the peanut butter the chips will harden nicely. Spread on top of the peanut bars. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into bars. Best eaten with unsweetened tea.

After my huge success in finding a mousse pie recipe, I decided to try the Scharffen Berger Pudding recipe–as a pie. Now, it might have been my fault because I didn’t have Scharffen Berger chocolate this time and I wasn’t certain of the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate I was using. I know it wasn’t 70 percent so I cut the sugar in half (and probably could have done without any additional sugar.)

As pudding goes, it was okay. A little…well, it was just pudding. It wasn’t really smooth and creamy, it was more gelatin than that. So from a texture standpoint, it was just okay. Taste was pretty good, nothing to complain about there. I would definitely have preferred more chocolate flavor (ie a darker chocolate) but that was probably my own fault for starting with an unknown.

For pie, I also tried this French Silk Recipe that I obtained from the very helpful MuttonChops over at BookSpotCentral

French Silk Pie
9″ baked pastry shell (the oreo crumb shell is good for this)
3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
1 and 1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon of cocoa
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
Add cocoa after creaming butter & sugar, mix
Add eggs mixing 3-5 minutes after each
Add vanilla
Spoon into shell; chill 2 hrs; top with whipped cream

The French Silk is the fastest and the easiest. For taste? I’d stick with the Mousse Pie Recipe I told you about the other day. It’s a bit more work to make, but it was the lightest, fluffiest and best tasting. When I’m in a hurry, I’d make the French Silk, because it really is a close second. I might try substituting some of the butter with whipped cream to fluff it some. I might even end up using all cream. The beaten eggs do fluff it up some, but I thought the overall consistency of the mousse was the best and the most elegant.

Mind, the one that has the most nutrition would be the pudding.

Christmas cookies–little round butter cookies shaped like a snowball and known by many names. These cookies are flaky, light and delicious–a bit messy to eat mind you, because the powdered sugar on the outside tends to explode over one’s shirt, but ah, well worth the sacrifice!

1 cup butter, (or margarine) softened to room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups of flour

3/4 cups chopped pecans

Extra powdered sugar for finishing.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, stir well. Add flour and mix well. Add chopped pecans and mix. Note: Finer chopping of the pecans makes it easier to form the cookies into balls. Larger chunks tend to make lumpy cookies and the pecans may fall away from the main ball as you try to compress them into shape.

Chill dough for at least an hour. Compress about a tablespoon of the flaky cookie mix into a firm, round ball. Place on cookie sheet. These cookies will not rise or change shape during cooking so you can place them fairly close together.

Cook at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes until the bottoms of the cookies are just lightly browned. When cooked, remove from oven. Cool for two to three minutes and then roll the cookies in powdered sugar. A second coating of sugar may be added after the cookies have cooled more.

These look wonderful on a gift plate.

In mixing bowl mix:

1.5 cups sugar
1 cup margarine or butter

Add:
2 eggs

Mix together in mixing bowl and then add:

3.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Mix well and add:

2 tsp vanilla extract

After mixing, refrigerate until the cookie dough is firm. On lightly floured wax paper, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie shapes or rounds.

Cook at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until bottom is very lightly brown.

These cookies decorate very well with a colored glaze frosting.

When I started searching for a tiramisu recipe, I was surprised at how many variations I found. I started with a simple one and then made modifications for my own taste.

8 oz mascarpone cheese (this is an Italian cream cheese—look in the specialty cheese section)
2 egg yolks
1/8th cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

3 tablespoons grated or shaved milk chocolate or cocoa

1 package of ladyfingers (usually found in the refrigerated bakery section.)
1 shot of espresso or a half cup of coffee cooled to room temperature

Prepare whipped cream:
Whip 1 pint of heavy cream with 1 tsp vanilla and 2 tablespoons sugar (Or to taste. Keep in mind much of the sweetness comes from the cheese mix.)

Coddle the eggs to kill any salmonella. (The basic idea is to get the yolks to 160 degrees—this kills salmonella without cooking the eggs.)

Beat the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla until smooth and light yellow. Fold mascarpone into egg yolk mixture.

Fold half of the prepared whipped cream into the mascarpone. Taste the result and add more or less whipped cream. Some people like the taste of the cheese and don’t add any whipped cream. I use the whole cup.

Dip the ladyfingers in coffee or espresso. If you don’t want too much coffee taste, baste the ladyfingers with the coffee rather than dipping them in. Arrange 6 of them in the bottom of an 8×8 inch dish. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Dust the top with grated milk chocolate bar or cocoa. Repeat with remaining ladyfingers, mascarpone and chocolate. Cover and chill 1 hour.

That probably got your attention…

I make my own vanilla extract. I started doing it because I got a very good deal on two vanilla beans–the prime ingredient in making vanilla extract for baking. I had some Canadian Whiskey sitting around (No idea where it came from. It has been in the cupboard for years). Sliced the vanilla, added to the bottle, and after shaking for a few days, I had my very own, VERY aromatic vanilla extract. I think I made about a cup of extract for the small price of 4 dollars (the two vanilla beans). But I ran out. Woe!

Back to the cupboard. Well, we had some light rum sitting around and some dark rum as well. I don’t like rum and neither does husband. No idea where it came from. It’s been there for years and we’ve even moved it once. Anyway, any liquor that is high in alcohol content works for making extract. I wasn’t too certain about having the rum flavor in there, but I figured I’d just add an extra vanilla bean to cover it up. :>)

The recipe is pretty easy:

2 vanilla beans
1 cup of whiskey or other high alcohol rated liquor.

Cut the vanilla beans every 2 inches or so and then slice down the middle. Try not to lose too much of the little “seeds” inside. You want those in the whiskey. Add the beans to the whiskey, shake and let sit for about two weeks. Shake the concoction twice a day or whenever you think of it.

It will be the best vanilla extract you’ve ever had. Commercial varieties these days add water and sometimes sugar. Either ingredient dilutes the pure vanilla goodness. The beans smell like the best of the best vanilla ice cream. Good stuff.

I bought my beans at Boston Vanilla Bean Company. Their service was excellent, shipment timely and check out the packing that was used. The beans were individually wrapped and then packaged in capped vials. There was some bubble wrap in the box too. Highly recommended.

Making your own vanilla tastes better and unless you go out and buy premium whiskey or scotch, it will be cheaper than buying a commercial brand. It’s easy too. I wish you could smell this stuff. It’s awesome.

For when you are in the mood for a light chocolate cake, perhaps on a summer afternoon with coffee or tea, this wacky cake is a good choice. (Look here for a decadent chocolate buttermilk cake.)

This recipe uses no eggs, and I don’t icing the cake. It’s more of a “coffee” cake type cake.

In large mixing bowl, sift:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda

Add:
3/4 cup oil
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups cold water

Blend until smooth. Spray 9 X 13 pan with nonstick spray. Bake cake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Cool and serve.

Yeah, it’s another healthy-sorta recipe! I’ve been using regular whole wheat in quite a few recipes lately–homemade granola, pie crusts, and cakes. I heard about whole wheat white and decided to give it a try. It’s a winter whole grain rather than red summer wheat. It’s not as white as bleached flour, but it is lighter in taste and color than regular whole wheat. Because it is “lighter” in flavor it’s supposed to be easier to use in baking.

Today’s recipe is sugar cookies! I still used some regular bleached flour because I don’t want an entire batch of sugar cookies to be too grainy. But meanwhile, the whole wheat is in there, doing its job by providing me extra B-vitamins, fiber and calcium–yes, unaltered wheat is a high source of calcium and a lot of other minerals!

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 1 /2 cups granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream the butter and sugar. Add two eggs and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir. Add in all the flour and the baking powder, mix well. Chill the dough for two hours. You can either roll the dough out and cut shapes or just flatten cookies with the palms of your hands–do not roll and leave rolled–they will not flatten and spread on their own!

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Chill remaining dough. You can icing these after they are very lightly browned (do not overcook!) or you can eat them as-is with a nice cup of coffee or tea!