Pistachio Panna Cotta

One of my favorite things about having a blog is the opportunity to try new recipes and learn new cooking methods. I have never made Panna Cotta before, but it seems to be a relatively simple dessert to make.

Panna Cotta, which means “cooked cream” in Italian, is an Italian dessert traditionally made with sweetened cream and gelatin. Because of the gelatin, it maintains the shape of whatever vessel it is in.

It would have probably made sense to try to make a class panna cotta first, but my husband and I love all things pistachio, so I decided to try to make a Pistachio Panna Cotta as a treat for us!

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz shelled roasted and salted pistachios
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 2 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • chopped pistachios, for garnish

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Cherry Slab Pie

Note: I was sent Northwest Cherries in order to write this post. All opinions are mine alone.

When it comes to summer get togethers, there tend to be plenty of mouths to feed. So I’m a big fan of crowd recipes that feed multiple people, or allow you to make ahead and portion out as you like!

With cherries in season, there is no better time to make a simple Cherry Slab Pie. Slab pie is just pie made in a sheet pan with sides, which is a great option for making dessert for a bunch of people. It’s a bit more rustic, so you don’t really have to worry about perfecting your pie crust skills (it will still taste awesome!)

Ingredients:

Slab pie (serves 12):

  • 8 cups fresh cherries, destemmed and pitted
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • the juice and zest of 1 large lemon
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 store bought refrigerated 9-inch pie crusts (2 packages)
  • 1 egg, plus 1 tablespoon water, whisked
  • granulated sugar, for garnish

Almond Whipped Cream:

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Continue reading Cherry Slab Pie

Steamed Mussels in Saffron Broth

I am so excited to share this dish for Steamed Mussels in Saffron Broth with you for a few reasons:

  1. I love mussels and am always looking for a new recipe to add to my rotation
  2. This recipe looks fancy pants because it has saffron in it
  3. BUT  it’s really simple to make!

 

 

This is actually yet another recipe sent my way through the Cooking Light Diet plan. (That plan is on a roll. The menus are amazing!)  They suggest serving it with an easy rice noodle mixture but if you’re feeling a little more carb-y, you could serve this with day old bread, over rice, or with pasta.

 

This sauce is amazing.  I actually packaged up the leftover broth to use to make rice the next day. Why yes, I did love it THAT much.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons whipping cream
  • 1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock
  • 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded

Continue reading Steamed Mussels in Saffron Broth

Mini Berry Trifles

I’m so ready for spring. I am trying to will the warmer weather to be here ASAP by making a bunch of spring-themed posts. Sara Lee must have read my mind because they contacted me about using their yummy pound cake in a recipe — what better way to show off Sara Lee Pound Cake than with a trifle?

These mini berry trifles use fresh berries, pound cake, and fresh whipped cream with lemon curd, making a yummy and bright spring dessert. I made them in mini trifle bowls but you can adapt this recipe to go in a traditional trifle bowl.

Ingredients (makes 4 mini trifles):

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 jar ( roughly 11 oz) lemon curd
  • 1 Sara Lee pound cake, defrosted
  • strawberry jam
  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • 2 strawberries, halved

 

 #spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Sara Lee. This could include the Sara Lee providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.

Continue reading Mini Berry Trifles

Brownie Petit Fours

Here’s another delicious dessert I made for New Years Eve – Brownie Petit Fours. (You can read about my New Years Eve party and get a recipe for Honey Citrus Champange Cupcakes here) The original BHG recipe included bourbon, but I already had Bourbon Truffles on the menu so I decided to go without it in this recipe.

I was a little wary of making these little guys, petit fours seem pretty difficult to make. But I was surprised with how simple it was to make these!

Ingredients:

  • BROWNIES
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons  coffee grounds (I measured them out from a k cup)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING & SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE GLAZE
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 11.25 ounce milk chocolate pieces
  • 16 ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces

Continue reading Brownie Petit Fours

Banana Split Cupcakes

The inspiration for this post is a bit convoluted. I was originally looking for some way to incorporate wet walnuts into a recipe for my dad. My dad is a huge fan of wet walnuts and he just had surgery so I wanted to make him a little pick-me-up treat. Wet walnuts are usually a topping on ice cream so I thought it would be fun to make a spin on a banana split in cupcake form. Later, I found out that Banana Splits do not traditionally even have wet walnuts as a topping. Oh well!

I used a banana cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart and filled each cupcake with homemade whipped cream. I then topped 1/3 of the cupcakes with vanilla frosting, 1/3 with strawberry frosting, and 1/3 with chocolate frosting. I topped them all off with sprinkles, wet walnuts, and maraschino cherries!

These are sugar overload so despite the photos showing all 3 types, stick to one cupcake at a time 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

Banana Cupcakes (makes 12 cupcakes):

  • 1 ½ cups cake flour
  • ¾ cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick) melted
  • 4 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Whipped Cream Filling

  •  1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  •  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  1 tablespoon granulated sugar

 

Frosting

  • 1 ½ cups butter, softened
  •  6 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed
  •  6 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more if needed
  •  ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
  •  Pinch salt
  •  ¼ cup strawberry jam
  •  ¼ cup cocoa powder

 

Wet Walnuts

  •  1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup agave
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

 

Toppings

  •  Maraschino cherries
  •  Wet walnuts
  •  Rainbow sprinkles

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Happy Pi Day! As a Mathlete alum, Pi Day has always been a part of my nerdy math world.  And what better way to celebrate than to make a pie?

I have some other pie recipes on here, but I have had a hankering for peanut butter lately, so I am celebrating this year with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.  This is a FoodNetwork.com recipe but I decided to make my own crust (you are more than welcome to just buy one – use a 9-inch pie crust).

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

  • 1 package oreos
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Hot Fudge Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3.5 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

Peanut Butter Pie:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Chopped peanuts, optional
  • Whipped cream, optional
  • Crushed cookies, optional

Continue reading Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Mini Cranberry-Vanilla Coffee Cakes

What is it about tiny treats that make the food taste better? I love perfectly portioned food so I was excited to be sent Petite Treats: Mini Versions of Your Favorite Baked Delights. The cookbook has recipes for mini donuts, muffins, scones, pies, and bundt cakes. The recipes sound absolutely delicious but to make most of the treats, you’ll need quite a bit of hardware: mini bunt cake pans, mini donut pans, mini scone pans, mini cupcake pans, etc. There are a few recipes that use a normal muffin pan that sounded really appealing, including mini cakes, but I decided to make the mini coffee cakes so I could have breakfast all week.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen cranberries, thawed)
  • 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,at room temperature, divided
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Continue reading Mini Cranberry-Vanilla Coffee Cakes

Lobster Ravioli with Saffron Cream Sauce

Everyone needs a quick but really impressive meal in their cooking arsenal. My go-to is usually ravioli; it cooks in a few minutes and all you really have to do is make an awesome sauce.
You can make the meal in a half hour, and most of the ingredients are relatively easy to have on hand. (I know it’s a bit odd to have saffron threads in my spice collection but Trader Joe’s sells some that isn’t terribly expensive.) You can buy lobster ravioli if/when it goes on sale and store it in your fridge until needed which means this seemingly fancy recipe for Lobster Ravioli with Saffron Cream Sauce is actually a quick and easy dinner option!
I was pretty excited when I came across this recipe because it sounded amazing. Um, it was beyond amazing. Seriously. This is one of my favorite sauces I’ve ever made. Mmm. Ok, sorry. I should probably share it with you now.
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs, optional
  • 1 package lobster ravioli
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 2 pinches saffron threads
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • lobster chunks, if desired
  • Fresh chives, for garnish

Continue reading Lobster Ravioli with Saffron Cream Sauce

Tim Tam Tarts with Raspberries and Rose Water Whipped Cream

Tim Tam Tarts. Isn’t that oh so fun to say? A Tim Tam is a chocolate cookie from Arnott’s in Australia. You might see them every now and then in America, but don’t be fooled, those are made by Pepperidge Farm and I’m sorry, they just don’t live up to the originals. These happy little biscuits covered in chocolate are absolutely delicious. Their motto is “The Most Irresistible Chocolate Biscuit” but I think it’s more appropriately “Visitors to Australia’s Biggest Australian Obsession”. Seriously. They are the best.

So when one of my friends traveled to Australia recently and asked what I’d like, I basically yelled in her face “TIM TAMS!” which can be quite alarming to someone who has zero idea what a Tim Tam is. I clearly made an impression, because she returned with two boxes! Now, Tim Tams are perfectly delicious on their own, maybe with some milk. But I’m a food blogger, so I had to try to turn the cookies into something even better. A Dark Chocolate Tart with Tim Tam Crust, Raspberries, and Rose Water Whipped Cream? YES! (I adapted this recipe for Tim Tam Tarts with Raspberries and Rose Water Whipped Cream from taste.com.au)

Note: I am currently taking the Melt Buttery Spread Challenge and am substituting any and all butter/oils with Melt. I wrote a review of Melt a while back, which you can read here. If you can’t find Melt in your supermarket, use other coconut oil spreads, or just butter in this recipe)

Ingredients:

For the tart:

  • 1 box of original Tim Tams
  • 2 ounces Melt , melted (about 1 tablespoon in its original form)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • ~7 oz dark chocolate (200g if you’re using a scale), roughly chopped (I used almost 5 dark chocolate candy bars!)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Raspberries and Rose Water Whipped Cream, to serve

For the Rose Water Whipped Cream:

  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon rose water

Continue reading Tim Tam Tarts with Raspberries and Rose Water Whipped Cream

Caprese Tomato Bites

I know, I know. It’s January. What the heck am I doing posting a Caprese recipe? I had a craving for a Caprese salad and I can’t bring myself to buy large tomatoes so out of season. Cherry tomatoes always seem to be around the same level of taste all year long, so I thought this might hold me over until the spring. The recipe incorporates all ingredients found in a traditional Caprese salad, while making it into a cute appetizer bite. I found this recipe on Taste of Home and mainly stuck to the recipe, with  a few changes based on what I could find.
Ingredients:
  • 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into smaller pieces
  • 6 fresh basil leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Continue reading Caprese Tomato Bites

Lemon Pound Cake with Mint Berries and Cream

I thought I’d step away from cookies and cupcakes for the moment to make… pound cake. I don’t know why I am on such a baking kick, but at least I have the chance to try a bunch of different new recipes! I found this recipe through MyRecipes.com, originally from Southern Living. The recipe sounded absolutely fantastic so I stuck to it for the most part, but I added blueberries because, well, I like blueberries!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 (12-ounce) jar lemon curd
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1 pint fresh blueberries

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