dessert

Salted Caramel Corn | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

December 3, 2012 by Rebecca 280 Comments

Update: The Pick Giveaway Winner plugin chose Christi P. as the winner of the Whirly Pop and Coconut Oil. Look for the email I’ve sent you, Christi! I can’t even wait for you to get to try these things. Congratulations!

My Grandma is one of my biggest cooking heroes. She has spent the majority of her life feeding people. My Grandpa, her husband, was a pastor who couldn’t walk away from someone who looked hungry, and everyone looked hungry to Grandpa. I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that one of my most treasured possessions is my collection of recipe cards handwritten for me by Grandma in my first years of marriage. There is just nothing to compare to road-tested recipes written by the hand of someone you love bigger than the bay. The only drawback? Well, maybe I get just a touch weepy whenever I make her recipes. In other words? I weep a lot.

The recipe I’m sharing today is a holiday staple. I only allow myself to make it from December first through January thirty first because otherwise I’d be the size of a house. We give bags of this to friends, Romans and countrymen. In other other words? We give it to EVERYONE. If you walk near my house in Advent, you’re getting a bag full of Salted Caramel Corn shoved in your hands. It’s just the way we do things, because it’s how Grandma does it.

And since we’re talking about Grandma, let me tell you, she was ahead of her time. Grandma was doing Salted Caramel WAY before anyone else. As in decades. When salted caramel hit the food scene I was all, “What? You mean other people DIDN’T salt their caramel?” Honestly. I was agog. Aghast. Alarmed. Arsey-versey. Shall I stop now? Please say yes. I’m all out of words that mean agape that begin with ‘A’. Oh, no I didn’t. Oh yes, I did… Astounded, awestruck, astonished, amazed…

We were, however, talking SALTED Caramel Corn. On the back of the recipe card, Grandma wrote about the final step of the process, “This is what makes it crisp and it does not stick to your teeth-” I’m neither an orthodontist nor have I played one on t.v., but many of my kids’ braces wearing friends are able to eat this with no issues! If you’re looking for a caramel corn that fits the bill for your favourite dental appliance sporting pals, this is the one!

Think of this as the ultimate in caramel corn. It’s perfectly caramelled (new word. I made it up), just a touch salty, crispy and not at all sticky and is totally simple to make. I promise you many accolades and much affection (more ‘A’ words!) if you make a batch of two of these to give away. Here’s where ‘Make Ahead Mondays’ comes into play. This caramel corn is good for about ten days after it’s made. One batch makes roughly eight quarts. Make a batch, bag it up and give it away for the next few days. If it starts softening a bit, crisp it up in a 250°F oven for a few minutes. This is a room-temperature storage item. You want to spread some joy? ” The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” AND give them a bag of this stuff. I’m pretty sure Buddy would approve. (My final ‘A’ word.)

If you want to try a sample of this good stuff, I’ll be selling it as a fundraiser for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer at the 26th Annual Arts and Crafts Fair at Houghton College in Houghton, New York tomorrow (Tuesday, December 4th) and Wednesday the 5th. Come on down and see me!

Salted Caramel Corn | Make Ahead Mondays

There is nothing that can compare to Grandma's Salted Caramel Corn with its brown sugar, nutty browned butter and touch of salt. Grandma is a genius.

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
8 quarts plain (unseasoned, unsalted) popcorn in a very large mixing bowl

Instructions

Line 2 half-sheet pans with silpats, parchment paper or non-stick foil. Preheat oven to 250°F.

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla and salt in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda. It will foam up big time! Don't worry, it's to be expected.

Pour the molten caramel over the popped corn in the bowl and stir gently but thoroughly to evenly coat the popcorn. Split the popcorn between the two prepared pans and spread it out evenly. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring well every 15 minutes. Grandma says "Watch it closely during baking to ensure it doesn't stick and burn. If it tends to do this, lower the temp a tad. This step is what makes it crisp and it does not stick to your teeth!"

Let the caramel corn cool on the pan (if it is sufficiently done, you'll hear it crackling as it cools!), then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/12/03/salted-caramel-corn-giveaway-and-make-ahead-mondays/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Now the GIVEAWAY! This one is sponsored by ME! Just me! No one else! Several years ago, my Aunt Molly sent my family a Whirly Pop. Have you ever heard of one of these? I hadn’t until she sent me one. It is, in short, the ULTIMATE popcorn popper. It’s a funky pan with built in stirring mechanism that makes up to SIX QUARTS of theatre style popcorn in under THREE MINUTES. I’m telling you, this is on the short list of things I would replace the same day if it broke, not that I see it breaking any time soon. Honestly, folks… it has a 25 year warranty on all moving parts. Can you beat that? We’ve put this thing through its paces for almost seven years and it’s still going strong! We seriously use this every. single. day. Sometimes we eat three batches a day! Oh! And you can make the best kettle corn of all time in these bad boys, too!

It is so much more inexpensive and incredibly healthier to pop your popcorn this way. Plain bagged popcorn is FAR less costly than and contains none of the weird, nasty preservatives found in the microwave stuff. You can get away with using much less oil when using the Whirly Pop than you would using a big pot on the stove. It’s pretty much the best way ever to make popcorn.

So here’s what I’m giving away. ONE WHIRLY POP…

and ONE JAR OF EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL.

Believe me, you haven’t had popcorn until you’ve had it popped with coconut oil in a Whirly Pop.

Here’s how to enter! (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry method you use so each one is counted!)

Mandatory Entry:

What’s your favourite popcorn topping? Hot sauce? Plain old salt? Sardines? (What? Could happen!) Nutritional yeast? Talk to me!

Optional Entries:

Like Foodie with Family on facebook.

Follow Foodie with Family on Instagram.

Follow Foodie with Family on Pinterest.

Follow Foodie with Family on Twitter.

Tweet the following, “I want to win a Whirly Pop and coconut oil for the perfect popcorn from @foodiewithfam ”

Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by me and paid for by me. Sadly, I can’t ship this package outside of the continental US, so this giveaway is only open to residents of the aforementioned!

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Desserts, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, Christmas, Christmas cookies, dessert, family-friendly, Food gifts, frugal gifts, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, Vegetarian

Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce

November 28, 2012 by Rebecca 27 Comments

I’ve spoken before of my deep, deep love for the hot fudge sauce made by my stepmom, Val. Grandma Val’s Hot Fudge Sauce is a staple around the Foodie With Family household. It goes on ice cream, to be sure, but it is also drizzled on cake and stirred into hot milk for fabuloso hot chocolate. On days when I feel particularly frazzled or mom’ed out, a spoonful of it applied directly to my mouth is sometimes the only thing standing between me and stark raving lunacy.

The other day, a friend complained loudly about the quality of the peppermint mocha she purchased at a big name restaurant. Her description was:

If you’re considering trying McD’s peppermint mocha drink cuz it looks good and nice and warm and holiday-ish with the oncoming cold weather, here’s a tip to save some money: Make a pot of coffee, and while that’s brewing, go brush your teeth (some mouthwash after is good too). Then come back to the pot, pour some sugar and vinegar into it, pour yourself a mug, and drink up! Voila! Now you don’t have to go buy one.

Blech. That was enough to dissuade me. With all that, though, I still wanted a Peppermint Mocha. I decided to turn the ubiquitous Grandma Val’s Hot Fudge Sauce into the vehicle for the world’s best Peppermint Mocha. I turned it into Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce.

Mercy.

I’ll share the Peppermint Mocha recipe tomorrow, but first? First you must make this Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce. Believe me. All by itself it is a holiday treat second to none. If you can resist eating this by the spoonful then you’re a better animal than I am. But when you drizzle this over a bowl of Perry’s Mint Tingaling or Peppermint Stick ice cream? Oh Holy Night. It is something to remember.

When it’s still hot it’s a deep, fudgy, smooth, thick-yet-pourable, minty sauce with a hint of vanilla. When you pour it onto cold ice cream, it turns into a chewy caramel candy that keeps you coming back for more.

…Speaking of coming back for more, be sure to check in tomorrow for a Peppermint Mocha recipe that DOESN’T taste like toothpaste, vinegar and bad drip coffee and a GIVEAWAY that you will NOT want to miss.

Peppermint Hot Fudge Sauce

When it's still hot it's a deep, fudgy, smooth, thick-yet-pourable, minty sauce with a hint of vanilla. When you pour it onto cold ice cream, it turns into a chewy caramel candy that keeps you coming back for more. This is also the base for the best homemade Peppermint Mocha of all time!

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
¾ cup boiling water
1½ teaspoons peppermint extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (homemade is best! )
pinch of salt

Instructions

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and boiling water. Increase heat to medium and stir mixture until it reaches boiling. Boil without stirring for 8 minutes. Really. Do not stir that stuff.

Remove from heat and stir in the peppermint extract, vanilla extract and salt. It will bubble up violently, so be careful. Let rest for 5 minutes before pouring into a heat-proof container with a tight fitting lid. (A canning jar works perfectly for this situation.) Be certain the container you use is small enough to fit into the microwave for reheating purposes. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded, heat-proof container.

To Reheat:

Remove lid from the jar and microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir. Heat in additional 10 second bursts until the hot fudge flows freely when poured.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/28/peppermint-hot-fudge-sauce/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Condiments, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, dessert, family-friendly, Food gifts, Frugal Food, frugal gifts, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, seasonal, Vegetarian

Zombie Apocalypse Tres Leches Cake | Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

November 14, 2012 by Rebecca 5 Comments

Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be zombies. Isn’t that how the song goes?

Something like that, yes?

My eldest baby is just about to turn fifteen. It’s kind of freaking me out a little bit. I hit major freak out territory when I realized -thanks to his observation- that he’ll be old enough to vote in the next presidential *CHOKE* election *HACK*. I’m sorry. It’s just kind of giving me respiratory distress to think that this sweet little chubby boy I birthed is not only nearly old enough to vote, but is only a year away from driving. (Another of his observations, thankyouverymuch.) Eek!

I’m going to fan myself for a minute. Or get some smelling salts. Do they sell smelling salts any more? I kind of think they should come standard issue for mothers of sons.

The aforementioned son had a few of his best and biggest friends (because WHEN did they all get taller than me? Salts. Gimme my smelling salts.) over to celebrate ahead of time. The guys had a few simple requests.

Food. Lots of food. Mostly Cheddar Tailgating Bread, please.
They wanted to watch Napoleon Dynamite and Inception.
More bread? Maybe more than one loaf per person?
They wanted an epic Nerf battle.
They wanted cake.
They wanted to play Zombie Apocalypse.

I was all in ’til they got to the last part and said, “What?” Zombie Apocalypse, it was explained to me, was pretty much just tag. Well, except that it had to be after dark and the one who was it pretended to be a zombie and eat others’ brains turning them into zombies and thereby… Blah blah blah. That’s where I tuned it out. I asked a the only question I could think of other than ‘why?’ , “Does anyone actually get hurt?” They assured me no one’s brains were actually eaten in the process, so I gave it my stamp of approval and started baking a cake.

Chocolate Tres Leches sounded about right to me. My plan was to hit it with a little chunky strawberry sauce before plating. I got a little distracted by the screams of horror from the faux zombies inmy front yard while I was blending the strawberries with the other ingredients, though, and ended up with a silky smooth puree. Those Vitamixes are super efficient.

When the Zombie Apocalypse was finished, the newly minted un-dead came in for the cake.

As I drizzled the strawberry sauce over the cake, someone remarked, “HEY! That looks like BLOOD!” and thus, Zombie Apocalypse Tres Leches was born.

Clearly the zombies hadn’t been satisfied by their recent brain feast, because I got exactly zero pieces of the cake before they polished it off.

Nine out of nine zombies agree, this cake is better than brains.

Zombie Apocalypse Tres Leches Cake | Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

This chocolate tres leches cake is decadent devil's food cake topped with chocolate pudding, whipped cream and drizzled with a smooth and punchy strawberry sauce.

Perfect for special occasions and birthdays for your favourite zombies.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (can substitute whole milk if necessary)
For the Good Stuff on Top:
3 cups of your favourite chocolate pudding (I use a double batch of Nana's Spanish Style chocolate pudding.
3 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Zombie Apocalypse Strawberry Sauce:

1 pound frozen strawberries, partially thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

To Make and Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch by 2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a batter blade, or with a hand mixer in a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla until it is fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder until no lumps remain. If you can't whisk out the lumps, push it through a sieve or sift it.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the contents of the mixing bowl. Beat it in on medium low until no dry pockets remain. Add 1/3 of the milk and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue adding the flour and milk alternately, mixing until combined and scraping down the sides of the bowl each time. The last addition should be milk. Mix just until evenly combined.

Spoon the cake batter into the pan. Smooth the top of the batter and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the edges of the pan a bit and a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan on the rack completely before proceeding.

When cake is cool, use a skewer or chopstick to poke holes all over the cake. Pour the pudding on top of the cake, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cake and let it soak for at least an hour but up to overnight before proceeding.

To Make the Zombie Apocalypse Strawberry Sauce:

Put the partially thawed berries, granulated sugar and balsamic vinegar together in the blender and blend on high until smooth. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve the cake.

To Top and Serve the Cake:

When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract together until you reach soft peaks. Spread the whipped cream over the cake evenly. Cut the cake into pieces of desired size. Drizzle individual servings with the Zombie Apocalypse Strawberry Sauce.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/14/zombie-apocalypse-tres-leches-cake-chocolate-tres-leches-cake/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

P.S. Don’t feel too badly for me. I made another one and ate a third of it by myself.

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, dessert, family-friendly, kid friendly, party food

Chocolate Nutter Butter Cake

October 31, 2012 by Rebecca 16 Comments

For years I had that thin, “shatterproof” tableware because I thought it was easier to care for, cheaper, and whatnot. Over the years, I realized -with the help of my built in high stress advanced material test laboratory that I call my five sons- that those things weren’t shatterproof. Or break proof. Or even remotely capable of standing up to five very energetic and twitchy little boys. Not only were they not sturdy, but they seemed to be built to explode into a million pieces like a Mission Impossible assignment when giving up the ghost.

I carried on, though, because they were dishwasher safe and I already had them on hand. Well-meant gifts of the stuff from people who were weeding it out of their own cabinets kept me going for years although I was becoming disillusioned after cleaning up a bajillion shards of soup/yogurt/spaghetti sauce/ice cream coated, microscopic, razor sharp daggers of shatterproof dishes. Because honestly? Those things never broke when empty and dry. They almost invariably had the messiest most splashy contents to enrobe the little beastly foot jabby bits of glass. I told you we were an advanced materials testing lab.

Yeah. Traumatized? Noooo. Not me. (She says while cradling her poor scarred feet and rocking back and forth.)

A couple of years ago, I slowly but surely started pitching the other tableware: aided by the fact that they kept exploding in the most not-delightful way and replacing them with something ANYTHING other than what I’d had. Salvation Army stores became my haunting grounds. I didn’t care if NOTHING on my table matched… It was better than what I’d had before.

Then, oh mercy, I discovered the joys of pottery. What was mere admiration has grown into a full-fledged fixation that is nudged along by my friendship with a honest-to-goodness potter: Staci Curry of Firefly Pottery in Angelica, New York. Her stuff is beautiful, whimsical, colourful, STURDY, pretty, oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. Did I mention sturdy? Oh Staci… You’re my hero. I want to live in the show room of the store she shares as part of the Three Clay Sisters (including Mud Puddle Pottery and Creek Bed Pottery).

Staci recently made a guh-huh-huh-huh-hooooorgeous cake plate for me. Naturally, I had to make a cake worthy of being on that fabulous cake plate to break (ohdearmedon’tbreak. DON’T BREAK.) it in properly. It had to be an epic cake for an epic cake plate. Enter the Chocolate Nutter Butter Cake… inspired by my perty new cake plate.

Super moist chocolate cake layered and topped with a truly majestic amount of… wait for it… PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM. It combines crunchy peanut butter (for texture and flavour) AND cream cheese AND butter AND heavy cream. Mmmmmm. It’s so indulgent I almost kind of sort of feel like I should apologize. But then I take a little fingerful (or a paw full) of the frosting and that little spark of worry that was showing disappears in a eye-rolling-to-the-back-of-my-head, fluffy, creamy, sugar rush…

Whether you have a fabulous cake plate or not, though, I want you to make this cake. Nay, I INSIST you make this cake if you have one ounce of cake love in your body. I might go so far as to say it’s the best cake I’ve ever made in my life.

Seriously.

I think I did this cake plate proud.

Chocolate Nutter Butter Cake

Super moist chocolate cake layered and topped with a truly majestic amount of... wait for it... PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM. It combines crunchy peanut butter (for texture and flavour) AND cream cheese AND butter AND heavy cream. Mmmmmm. It's so indulgent I almost kind of sort of feel like I should apologize. I would, but my mouth is full of frosting.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk (can substitute whole milk if necessary)

For the Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), softened to room temperature
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (if you want super smooth frosting, use creamy peanut butter)
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 1/2 to 2 pounds (6 to 8 cups) powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
For Garnish:
15 Nutter Butter Cookies, crushed
1 package Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups

Instructions

To Make and Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease and flour three 8- inch round cake pans.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder until no lumps remain. If you can't whisk out the lumps, push it through a sieve or sift it.

Divide the cake batter evenly between the three pans. Smooth the tops of the batter and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the edges of the pan a bit and a skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cakes rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To Make the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Buttercream:

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, peanut butter and vanilla extract on HIGH until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the powdered sugar to the mixture and combine, starting the mixer on low and stopping it a couple of times until most of the sugar is moistened to prevent a big pouf of sugar. Again, beat on HIGH until smooth and combined. Turn off the mixer and add 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream. Beat on high until smooth. If you want thinner frosting, add more cream, 1 teaspoon at a time.

To Frost the Cake:

Lay 1 of your cakes on a cake plate or large platter (make a square of 4 pieces of parchment paper to lay your cake on to keep the plate clean while frosting if you want.) Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of frosting to the middle of the cake and spread to the edges. Lay another cake on top and repeat with the frosting. Lay the final cake on top and go to town with the rest of the frosting. Spread it thickly over the top and sides. Rim the cake top with mini-Reese's peanut butter cups then sprinkle the crushed Nutter Butters into the center.

Remove the parchment, if you used it, and refrigerate for an hour or so before slicing.

Enjoy!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/31/chocolate-nutter-butter-cake/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Cakes, Comfort Food, Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: dessert, family-friendly, special occasion

Big Batch Crisp Topping and Any Fruit Crisps | Make Ahead Mondays

October 8, 2012 by Rebecca 12 Comments

Desserts are the big to-do. The thing over which you slave for hours or -in some cases- even days and present with a flourish to ooooohs and aaaahs. I’m as guilty of that as the next food-obsessed gal, from time to time.

But really? Desserts are supposed to be a relaxing thing. Grab a spoon or a fork, a plate or a bowl of the good stuff, plop down somewhere comfortable and give a good ahhhhhhhh. They’re supposed to feed your soul without taxing it first. In fact, ‘DESSERTS’ are ‘STRESSED’ spelled backwards. Tell me if this has ever happened to you.

I’m going through my day getting done what needs to be done. I make dinner and think to myself, “Oh, we don’t need dessert tonight. We have a big dinner and that’ll do the job.” Then after dinner, when it’s just me and my honey sitting on the couch, I think, “I wish I’d made dessert. I could go for something a little sweet right now.”

Is anyone with me? I know it can’t be just us with should’ve-made-dessert regrets. ‘No desserts’ backwards is ‘stressed on’. See?

I have a solution.

Make a big batch of crisp topping -essentially, this is sugar, oats, flour, a little spice and a lot of butter- drop it into canning jars or other airtight containers and pop it in the freezer.

When you hit the dessert-regret stage of the evening, fill a little ramekin or two or a big pan with fresh fruit or even canned pie filling. In a pinch, you could put jam in the ramekins.

Grape Pie Filling and Grape Pie | Make Ahead Mondays

September 17, 2012 by Rebecca 14 Comments

I’ve been blessed to have the chance to move around a little bit in this great country of ours and see a bit of the world. Although I’ve lived in rural Western New York longer than I have anywhere else, I was born a Michigan girl and I believe I’ll always identify myself as a Michigander. There are, however, a few moments where I’m close to claiming that New Yorker moniker.

It probably comes as no surprise that most of those moments are surrounding food; beef on weck, white hots, wings, salt potatoes and grape pie. Grape pie was -perhaps- the biggest revelation of all of those quintessential New York foods. Made of Concord grapes, it retains that highly perfumed, heady scent that fires up instant salivation. It’s the smell that every grape soda and candy in the history of soda and candy has tried and failed to capture. There’s something about those fresh Concord grapes that makes my brain absolutely swim with joy. It is pure autumn.

New York is carpeted with vineyards and u-pick grape farms. If you drive through the right area of the state with your windows down in September you will smell that distinctive aroma. The perfume drifting across the countryside combined with the Crayola-tinged leaves and the brisk air is a clear indicator that the season has turned.

Grape pie is a food I used to wait for every single year. That is until I learned to make and can my own grape pie filling. Why this hasn’t caught on commercially is beyond me. Grape pie is tart and sweet, juicy and velvety, with the soft, simmered grape skins providing body and texture. It’s a little high on the labour side, when you’re used to just tossing berries into a pot with sugar and Clear Jel, but part of the initial joy of the grape pie is the experience of sitting in a circle around two big pots on the front porch slipping the skins from the grapes two at a time. Holding a grape in each hand, we laugh as we gently squeeze the juicy insides into one pot and deposit the grape skins in the other. Maybe it takes us a half an hour? Maybe an hour? Time has a mind of its own with a mug of whatever gets you out of bed in the morning -coffee or tea- wedged between your feet and enjoying that weather and each others’ company so thoroughly.

Into the kitchen with the pots… the grape guts simmer until the seeds come free and then are poured through a colander to filter out the pesky seeds. The remaining pulp and juice go into the pot with the skins and just enough sugar, a little lemon juice or citric acid and some Clear Jeland bubble away ’til boiling and thick. Fill the jars, wipe the rims, add the lids and tenderly lower those jars into the canner. When they’ve processed, wipe them clean, label them and put them on the shelves for mid-winter attacks of grape pie cravings coupled with reminiscences of autumn splendor.

And geez. Don’t feel obliged to make pies only. Grape pie filling transforms into a lovely cake filling or ice cream topping. You wouldn’t be too far amiss spreading it on a sandwich and I certainly wouldn’t judge if you made turnovers or ‘jam’ filled cookies with it.

When it’s time for the fabled pie you ease your favourite crust into a pie plate, open a jar of the royal purple filling and empty it in. Crimp the edges, cut a few vents in whatever style dings your chimes…

The trickiest part of the whole process comes right now. It’s the waiting; waiting for the pie to bake, then waiting for the pie to cool, then waiting that seemingly interminable wait for that wedge of fragrant, sweet, caramelized-sugar dusted crust to be delivered to your hands.

In the end, it is all worth it; it delivers on all of the tantalizing promises of scent and vision. Every second of what sweet torturous anticipation was worth it when your fork drops into a flaky pie crust surrounding thickened, silky grape juice surrounding tender grape skins. Lips and teeth and tongues are stained purple like your finger tips were months earlier when you put up the pie filling. These are the moments that hook you on canning.

Grape Pie Filling and Grape Pie | Make Ahead Mondays

This classic autumnal Western New York pie captures the pure perfumed, robust sweet and tart essence of Concord grapes.

Do yourself a favour and serve the pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The cool, sweet, vanilla is the perfect foil to the tart, sweet grape pie. It's a match made in heaven.

Ingredients

For the Pie Filling:

22 cups Concord grapes, washed
4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice (or 1 teaspoon citric acid)
1 cup ClearJel starch (or another brand of the same type of starch)

For the Grape Pie:

1 quart of grape pie filling
Pie pastry for a double crust
1 egg, beaten
raw sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling over the crust, optional

Instructions

To Prepare and Can Grape Pie Filling:

Working over two pots, take a grape in each hand and gently squeeze it over the first pot. Deposit the grape skins in the second pot. Continue until you have separated all of the grape pulps from the grape skins.

Place the pot with the grape pulps (do not add water!) over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, allowing it to boil for 5 to 6 minutes. Put the hot pulp through a food mill or pour it through a colander, pressing to get as much pulp through as possible. Pour the hot, sieved pulp over the reserved grape skins.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and ClearJel (and citric acid, if using.) Sprinkle over the grape pulp mixture and use a big whisk or sturdy spoon to mix in thoroughly. Put the pot over medium heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thick. It should thicken quickly, but it does still need to be bubbling before you can put it in jars.

Place a canning funnel -for neatness' sake- over the opening of a clean, sterilized quart jar and ladle in the hot pie filling leaving 1-inch of headspace. For help on learning how to sterilize your jars, click this link Moisten a paper towel and wipe the rims of the jars so they are spotless. Center a new lid on the jar and screw the ring in place until fingertip-tight.

Place the jars in a canning pot, ensure they are completely covered with water, bring to a boil and process for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes are up, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and let the jars rest for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack or a towel on the counter. Let cool, undisturbed, overnight before removing rings, wiping clean and labeling. Store the jars in a cool, dark place for up to two years.

To Make the Grape Pie:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll out half of the pie pastry and lay it gently in the pie plate so that it covers the whole plate and drapes a little outside of the top, too. Pour the jar of grape pie filling into the crust and spread it with a spatula. Roll out the second crust to just slightly larger than the circumference of the top of the pie plate. Lay it on top of the pie filling and gather the excess pastry, folding it under to form a neat edge. Crimp with a fork or whatever style you prefer, cut a few vent holes in whatever shapes you like.

Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and then sprinkle generously with the sugar, if using. This creates a deeper coloured crust and a little bit of sparkle.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is deep brown and the filling is bubbly. If you find the crust is browning too quickly, you can gently crimp foil around the outside edge to protect the edges.

Carefully transfer the pie plate to a cooling rack and let cool completely -if ever you can make yourself wait- before slicing. The filling will still slump out, but may hold together a bit better if you let it cool first.

For the ultimate Western New York experience, serve each slice of pie with a scoop of Perry's Vanilla Ice Cream on top.

Store leftovers tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/17/grape-pie-filling-and-grape-pie-make-ahead-mondays/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Desserts, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, dessert, family-friendly, seasonal, Vegetarian

Brownie Cake with Nutella Peanut Butter Frosting

August 21, 2012 by Rebecca 18 Comments

Salty sweet. Salty sweet. Salty sweet. Salty sweet. Salty sweet.

Despite the prevalence of desserts here on Foodie With Family, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I think that is why I’m so picky about my desserts. When I DO want a sweet, I don’t want just any sweet. I want the best.

Oh, hi. I’m high maintenance on desserts. There are certain things that are almost guaranteed to make me happy: dark chocolate, Nutella, and peanut butter or any combination thereof.

During a rare attack of my sweet tooth last week, I turned to one of the fastest ways to satisfy; I made brownies. They weren’t just any brownies, though, oh no. They were THE brownies. The fail-safe, fool-proof, can’t-mess-’em-up brownies I’ve been making for years. I’ll tell you know, they’re cakey. I kind of think of them as brownie cake rather than br-ow-nies. Brownies are, to me, just this side of fudge. And I don’t know what possessed me, but this brownie cake that I’ve made so many times and left plain? I had to go and frost it. Simply had to do it. I was compelled.

Into the stand mixer went butter, Nutella and peanut butter. Because, well, I don’t know. Because I could? Whatever the reason was, I’m awfully glad I did it because I ended up with the fluffiest, Nutella-y-est, peanut buttery-est frosting ever to get licked from the bowl. I grabbed ye olde offset spatula and put an entire batch of the frosting on the big brownie.

Then thought to myself, “EGADS. That is going to be sweet. SALT! I’m going to put salt on it.” A little shower of Maldon sea salt flakes later, I sat down in front of the cutting board and cut off a corner of the now frosted and salted brownie cake to take a bite.

Have you ever had salt with your chocolate? Do you know what it does to you? There is a scientific reason behind why it is do dadburned good. Salt makes your taste buds wake up and take notice of what it rides in on. When you put salt on chocolate, the chocolate tastes more chocolatey. You know that’s a good thing.

I do have one little bit of warning, though. Don’t make this when you’re going to be home alone. Just don’t. Not that I ate too much of this by myself… But hey, if you’re in the neighborhood, maybe you could roll me out to my pilates mat?

Brownie Cake with Nutella Peanut Butter Frosting

This fool-proof, fail-safe, crowd-pleasing, deep-chocolate brownie cake is topped with fluffy Nutella and peanut butter frosting and then sprinkled with Maldon Sea Salt flakes.

Ingredients

For the Brownie Cake:

4 ounces (4, 1oz squares) unsweetened baker's chocolate, chopped
2 sticks (8 ounces or 16 tablespoons) butter
2 cups raw sugar (can substitute granulated white sugar if necessary)
4 large eggs
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces by weight) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Nutella Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 stick (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup Nutella
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Serving:

Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

Instructions

To Make the Brownie Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9"x13" baking pan with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Unwrap and add the 2 sticks of butter and the chopped chocolate to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the pan over very low heat and stir until the butter is melted and the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a batter blade (or a mixing bowl in which you can use an electric hand mixer.) Add the sugar and mix on medium until combined.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, quickly whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add it to the mixer all at once and mix on low just until combined and there are no more dry pockets. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and tap the pan on the counter two or three times to even it out.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or just until the center is set. Do not overbake! Remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies cool completely in the pan.

Use the foil to help you transfer the brownie cake from the pan to a cutting board. Carefully pull the foil from under the brownie cake.

To Make the Nutella Peanut Butter Frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, blend the softened butter, Nutella, and peanut butter on high until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and start and stop the blender a couple of times to prevent a POOF of powdered sugar from flying into the air. Once you're sure you're in the clear, turn the mixer to high and blend until it is even. Pour 2 of the tablespoons of milk or cream and the vanilla extract while the mixer is running. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix on high again until smooth and fluffy, adding some of the additional milk if necessary.

Frost the cooled brownie cake. Cut into squares and sprinkle with Maldon Sea Salt Flakes -grinding them between your fingers over the frosting- just before serving.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/08/21/brownie-cake-with-nutella-peanut-butter-frosting/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Cakes, Chocolate, Comfort Food, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: Breakfast, dark chocolate, dessert, family-friendly, party food, quick and easy, Snacks, Vegetarian

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

August 10, 2012 by Rebecca 26 Comments

Last week was a beautiful, fantastic whirlwind.

My house was filled with out-of-town family members who had converged to celebrate the wedding of my baby brother, Luke, to the woman of our, er, his dreams, Elvi.

Luke is a poet and I do not mean that esoterically. He’s an actual poet. He’s finishing up his master’s degree in poetry this year and I am not referring to limericks.

Elvi is an artist and I don’t mean that figuratively, either. She’s a working multi-media artist who does incredible things. Everything she does looks like art, even passing communion…

If you’re thinking that the wedding of a poet and an artist would be a feast for the senses you’d be one-hundred percent right, but of all the magical things there were on that day the most wonderful of them all was the love radiating from Luke and Elvi.

Gosh, I love these two so much.

Their car did not cooperate with the wedding plans. It you-know-what-ed the bed in a big way just a couple days before the ceremony. Did they let that get ‘em down? No way! My little sister and her boyfriend led a contingent of little kiddles in decorating the happy couple’s bikes so they could ride away in matrimonial style. Off they went into the Buffalo sunset for a celebratory wedding coffee, seltzer cans rattling and streamers snapping behind them…

I think Luke summed up all our feelings with one victorious little hand gesture.

You know it, little brother. Welcome to the family, Elvi, we like you more than ice cream. I know you know that’s big…

~~~~~

So why the cupcakes? Yours truly was in charge of baking, decorating and bringing the wedding cake.

The wedding cake presented some -how to say it, ah yes- big challenges. Namely, it didn’t behave well but that’s a story for another day. Also, my children -shockingly- were not willing to give up eating for three days for me to perfect the cake. So selfish, those children.

In short, the cake was made, but the Earl Grey Cupcakes that were planned as “dessert insurance” (in case the cake went too quickly) were tossed onto the “good idea but not do-able in time” pile. Instead, I drank all but one batch’s worth of the tea-infused milk and just got around to making the cupcakes yesterday. What? Noooo. I didn’t do that on purpose so that I could eat a whole batch of cupcakes by myself. I’m not that kind of girl. On Thursdays.

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

These lightly Earl Grey flavoured, super-moist cupcakes are topped with a fluffy lemony buttercream. Serve these for afternoon tea or as an elegant dessert.

If you want to amp up the Earl Grey presence a little more, you can use some of the chilled, infused milk in the buttercream in place of the heavy cream.

Ingredients

Ingredients for Earl Grey Cupcakes:

2 cups whole milk
5 Earl Grey tea bags
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Lemon Buttercream:

1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces by weight) butter, softened to room temperature
4 cups (1 pound, by weight) powdered sugar
6 tablespoons heavy cream or chilled infused Earl Grey whole milk
2 teaspoons lemon extract

Instructions

To Make the Cupcakes:

Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Scald the milk (heat until it is steaming and many tiny bubbles have formed in the milk around the edge of the pan. Add the tea bags, remove the pan from the heat and put the lid in place. Let the milk cool to room temperature like this. When the milk is cool, squeeze the excess liquid from the tea bags and discard them. Measure one cup plus 2 tablespoons of the cooled infused milk and reserve the rest.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a mixing bowl with an electric hand-held mixer) beat together the butter and sugar until lighter in colour and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/egg/sugar. Beat on low just until combined. Add about 1/3 of the infused milk that you measured. Again, beat just until combined, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and repeat -flour, milk, flour, milk- until both flour and milk are completely incorporated.

Line 24 muffin/cupcake wells with cupcake liners and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the liners about 2/3 full of cupcake batter.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until they spring back when pressed lightly or a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

To Make the Lemon Buttercream:

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer) beat the butter on high until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until incorporated. Then, with the mixer on high, whisk in the cream or infused milk and the lemon extract until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Use an offset spatula to smear the buttercream on the cupcakes or load it into a pastry bag with a big tip to pipe on the frosting.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/08/10/earl-grey-cupcakes-with-lemon-buttercream/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com