Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

BERRY SURPRISE CAKE - Tuesdays With Dorie

                                          

Strawberry Cream Cake
Dorie calls this a Berry Surprise Cake. I call it a Strawberry Cream Cake with Raspberry Coulis. The cake is a semi-fragile sponge cake with sweetened cream cheese filling, fresh strawberries, decorated with real whipped cream and served in a puddle of raspberry coulis. It was as beautiful as it was delicious!

                                                          

Tuesdays With Dorie's - BIG NEWS!
I am now an official Tuesdays With Dorie Volunteer! Yeah, it's not a paid gig, but I'm enjoying writing up and posting the OSI (Our Secret Ingredients) meme for the week. Another gal, Tanya from Chocolatechic is gonna help. I'll take one month, she'll take the next and so on and so forth. This is what the job entails: We send out the OSI meme questions about a month ahead of time. The host/hostess for that week's recipe fills out his/her meme answers and sends them back to us. We take all that info, put it together in a real perty way, add photos that go along with their favorites, and post it to the Tuesdays With Dorie's site.

Check out the TWD site here to see what I've been doing with it! Then, it goes live so everyone can get an up-close-and-personal peek into the lives of all the bloggers. Everyone will eventually be in the spotlight for their 15 minutes of fame. However, if you're lucky number 386, you may have to wait around, oh,  7 (seven) years to choose your recipe and get your meme answers to me!

                                                                    

Berry Surprise Cake
Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen chose Berry Surprise Cake for her recipe of the week. You can find the recipe on pages 273-275 of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. If you're one of the only people on the planet that doesn't yet have Dorie's book, you can skip on over to Mary Ann's blog for the recipe.

I really enjoyed this recipe, everyone else did too! The recipe calls for fresh raspberries. I didn't use fresh raspberries. There wasn't there any at the supermarket, and even if there were, the price would have been ridiculous since this is NOT raspberry season here in Rhode Island! Strawberries on the other hand, were reasonably priced, so I bought a box of them instead. I was able to buy frozen raspberries and pureed them with sugar for a raspberry coulis.

                                                             

Sponge Cake
The cake itself is like a sponge cake. Very delicate with whipped egg whites and cream. Everything has to be folded in just so without deflating the egg whites. My cake didn't come out as high as I would have liked. Not sure what happened there. So, I had to improvise a bit and layer the fresh strawberries inside the cake rather than hollowing out a pocket for the hidden berries. It worked just fine.I made the cream cheese filling and used brandy in the recipe, and that was ultra-yummy too! Then, I layered it all together, and decorated the whole thing with fresh whipped cream. I had some perfect strawberries left over, so I cut them in half and decoated the cake with them.

                                                                     

Raspberry Coulis
I made the raspberry coulis by thawing out the frozen berries, adding some sugar to the berries and letting them sit fr a while. Then, I whipped it up with the immersion blender until the sugar dissolved and the puree was silky smooth. I refrigerated the cake for a about 4 hours before slicing just to make sure it held together without sliding. It cut real nice, looked very pretty inside and out, especially with the raspberry sauce!

Be sure to check out all the other Berry Surprise Cakes on the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll!

                                                               

FRENCH PEAR TART RECIPE - TWD

                                          

Tuesdays With Dorie
Guess who picked the Tuesdays With Dorie recipe last week? OK, you're never going to guess, so I may as well spill the beans! The French Pear Tart was chosen by none other than Dorie Greenspan herself! Thank you Dorie for letting us use your name and your book, Baking: From My Home To Yours for the last year! 52 recipes in 52 weeks! I missed a few here and there, but for the most part, I made my share. My book is splattered and stained with a bunch of dog-eared corners. There were plenty of successes and a few flops. Some I would make again and again, and some I would never make again.

Dorie Greenspan
I missed last weeks recipe because I thought I had to have fresh Bartlett pears for the tart. I brought them home rock hard. 5 days later, they were still hard. Then, I read the recipe! It calls for either canned or fresh pears! That's what I get for not reading the recipe first. Once I got to making the tart, it was a no-brainer. Very easy. You can find the recipe on pages 368 and 369 of Dorie's book, OR you can go directly to Dorie's blog for the recipe! YES, Dorie has her own blog! Go take a look and see how nice it is. Lot's of info and photos.

                                                                    

French Pear Tart
Anyway...to get back to the recipe. Easy-Peasy! Make a sweet tart dough and press it in the pan. I don't have a fluted tart pan, so I used my 9"  springform cheesecake pan. Bake the crust a bit. Make a delicious almond cream (which is more like a paste than cream) and spread it on the bottom of the cooled crust. Slice the canned pear halves almost all the way through and poke them into the almond cream and bake. When it cooled, I sprinkled some confectioners' sugar on top to make it look like it snowed (which it did!) and then we ate it!  The only change I made in the tart was to use brandy because Brad drank all the rum! I like brandy better than rum anyway. It's more mellow.

So, there you have it. An easy and delicious French Pear Tart. It would probably taste real good with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream on top, don't you agree?
 

Check out all the other French Pear Tarts on the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll and see how pretty they are! And, while you're there, you can read the exclusive interview with Dorie.

CORN MUFFINS RECIPE - TWD Savory Corn & Pepper Muffins

                                                    

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tuesdays With Dorie!
It's a New Year for Tuesdays With Dorie. And to celebrate one year, TWD decided to open up its membership again and welcome some more bakers in. As of this date, there are 388 bakers. Who would have ever thought it would get so big?

                                                                    

Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins
Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake chose Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins on page 6 of Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. If you already have Dorie's book, follow along on page 6. If not, you can find it by clicking on Rebecca's blog.

Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins are very easy and delicious. They were whipped up and baked in no time at all!. I added some chopped scallions and fresh cilantro to the recipe which gave it just the right flavor and ZIP!

                                                                              

Vegetarian Chili or Split Pea Soup?
I was going to serve these muffins with my Vegetarian Chili, but instead I made Split Pea Soup with barley and kielbasa. Oooo, it's awesome! I'm eating a muffin with Pea Soup right now as I type!

I missed last weeks TWD Pear Tart, so I'll have another post I'll be doing tonight.  Watch for it!

                                                                             

Go and look at the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll, and check out everyone else's Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. You'll be glad you did!

CHEESECAKE RECIPE - TALL & CREAMY - Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                           

TUESDAYS WITH DORIE
This is the last Tuesdays With Dorie recipe this year. 52 weeks and 52 recipes later, and next Tuesday TWD will be one year old! Hang on to your aprons, because that's the week, Dorie herself will be making an appearance! That's right! Dorie will be choosing the recipe next week. Then, you'll all be able to click on Dorie's link to her own blog!

                                      

TALL & CREAMY CHEESECAKE
Anne Strawberry picked the Tall & Creamy Cheesecake for her recipe this week. You can find it on pages 235-237 of Baking: From My Home To Your by Dorie Greenspan, or, you can click on Anne Strawberry's blog to find the recipe there. This is a typical cheesecake, the way I usually make all my cheesecakes. It's ultra-creamy, very rich and not for the calorie conscious!

                                      

I love Dorie, but a lot of her recipes are long and drawn out and confusing to the new baker. I make my cheesecakes as easy as possible, using the least amount of pans and bowls and multi-tasking if I can. Dorie suggests a water bath, and while this practice is typical, it isn't necessary in most cases. I used to do this myself when I first started making cheesecakes, but the mess it made when a springform pan accidentally popped open, or when water seeped into the pan, was enough to make me build a better mousetrap so to speak. Not to mention the total waste of time and money spent on ingredients!

                                        

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT CHEESECAKE
Now, I just wrap the bottom of the springform pan with aluminum foil, clamp the pan shut, and pull the excess foil up and around the outside of the pan to avoid leaks and drips. Then I put a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven, place the cheesecake on the top rack and close the door.

                            

I wrote a whole article on this subject; How To Make The Perfect Cheesecake. You can find it by clicking here and reading it at Suite101. I wrote the article to help bakers make a great cheesecake without all the mess and fuss.

The sections include:

• How to Use Springform Pans
• Ingredients
• How to Mix Cheesecake Batter
• How to Melt White & Dark Gourmet Chocolate
• How to Tell When a Cheesecake is Done
• How to Cool Cheesecakes
• How to Slice a Cheesecake
• How to Fix a Cracked Cheesecake
• How to Freeze Cheesecakes

                                                           

If You Liked Dorie's Cheesecake, Try These Cheesecakes Too!

• NY Style Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe with Gingersnap Crust
• Cherry Cheesecake Recipe with a Graham Cracker Crust
• Chocolate Zebra Cheesecake Recipe with an Oreo Cookie Crust
• Junior's Brownie Swirl Cheesecake Recipe
• White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe
• Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe with an Oreo Cookie Crust

Anyway...Dorie's Tall & Creamy Cheesecake is delicious and tall and creamy just like the recipe says. You won't be disappointed. For Dorie's recipe, I made a Chocolate Chip Cheesecake with an Oreo Cookie Crust, and then decorated it with chocolate ganache. Make it her way, and then try the same recipe using my tips & tricks and tell me what you think!

                                                                          

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cheesecake & Chocolate Cookies & Cream Cheesecake - Try Them All!

REAL BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING CREAM PIE - TUESDAYS WITH DORIE

                                                        

Tuesdays With Dorie
It's my turn! I can hardly believe it! When I joined Tuesdays With Dorie back in March, I was #76. Over the past nine months, I've moved up the list to #44! Bakers come and bakers go. Some made it, others had to let it go. It's been quite a commitment - baking every week - and since I started, I've finished almost 40 of Dorie Greenspan's recipes from her book, Baking:From My Home To Yours. I've missed a few, like ice cream recipes and a few recipes I didn't have the right pans for. All-in-all, it's been quite a ride!

My Turn! My Turn!
So, now it's my turn! I asked John what I should pick. After 50 recipes, we've made quite a dent in Dorie's recipes. It took some doing, and I was so torn over 3 different desserts. I picked out Bourbon Bread Pudding, and I told Laurie to put me down for that. But after some serious soul searching, I kept coming back to Real Butterscotch Pudding. (This recipe can be found on page 386 in Baking: From My Home To Yours.) The real reason I wanted to make Butterscotch Pudding was to make a Butterscotch Cream Pie! I loved Dorie's Chocolate Cream Pie, so I was determined to do a pie with Butterscotch this time!

                                                                      

 
Real Butterscotch Pudding with Real Scotch Whiskey
There was some concern over using real Scotch whisky in this recipe, but there's no reason you need to add it if you don't want to. I used Crown Royal whiskey for the Scotch and an extra Tablespoon of Buttershots liqueur. I gotta tell you, this was one of the tastiest puddings I ever made from scratch! 

Butterscotch Cream Pie
I might have made this Butterscotch Cream Pie with my own Flaky Pie Crust, but I really thought a Graham Cracker Crust (see below) would make this pie special. I don't have a big food processor and after all the horror stories people had with the Chocolate Pudding, I knew I was gonna make this pudding the traditional way - with a whisk and a hand-held mixer. Because I have a really large Pampered Chef pie dish, I had to double the pudding recipe. It worked fine and made plenty, enough to even have a few little dishes for a tasty sample!

So, I made the graham cracker crust, baked it for 20 minutes, let it cool and then filled it with warm butterscotch pudding. When the pie was totally chilled, I whipped up some fresh whipped cream and piped it onto the pie. That's it! That's all I did to make it a fancier dessert than plain old pudding, not that there's anything wrong with a dish of scrumptious pudding!

                                                         

Real Butterscotch Pudding Recipe 
Taken from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home To Yours (page 386)
Dorie says, "Here's the real deal--butterscotch pudding made with real butter and real Scotch whisky. It is, as all good puddings must be, smooth, creamy and comforting, but it's also got a little kick, making it anything but a nursery sweet."

• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1 3/4 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons Scotch whiskey (preferably a strong single malt)

Graham Cracker Crust, Whipped Cream and Buttered Pecans (see below, or on page 470), for topping (optional)

                                                                      

Getting Ready:

1. Have six ramekins or pudding cups, each holding 4 to 6 ounces 1/2 to 3/4 cup), at hand.
2. Put the brown sugar and water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, put the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stirring and lowering the heat if necessary, boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 and a 1/2 cups of the milk and the cream and bring to a boil--don't worry if, as it's heating, the mixture curdles.
3. While the milk is heating, put the cornstarch and the salt in a food processor and whir to blend. Turn them out onto a piece of wax paper, put the sugar and egg yolks in the processor and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk and pulse just to mix, then add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to blend.
4. With the machine running, very slowly pour in the hot liquid, process for a few seconds, then pour everything back into the saucepan. Whisk without stopping over medium heat--making sure to get into the edges of the pan--until the pudding thickens and a couple of bubbles burble up to the surface and pop (about 2 minutes). You don't want the pudding to boil, but you do want it to thicken, so lower the heat, if necessary.
5. Scrape the pudding back into the processor (if there's a scorched spot, avoid it as you scrape) and pulse a couple of times. Add the butter, vanilla and scotch and pulse until everything is evenly blended.
6. Pour the pudding into the ramekins. If you don't want a skin to form, place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of each pudding to create an airtight seal. Refrigerate the pudding for at least 4 hours.
7. Makes 6 servings.

Dorie says, "Serving one good buttery thing deserves another so I like topping the puddings with the buttered pecans. Even better is topping the puddings with whipped cream and topping the cream with the pecans."
Storing: Covered, and kept away from foods with strong odors, the puddings can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

                                                               

 


Butter Pecans Recipe:
Great over puddings, or ice cream or even buttered biscuits, these pecans are quick to make and so good to have on hand. You can multiply the recipe to meet your needs.

• 1/2 cup pecan halves, whole or chopped
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• pinch of salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Line a plate with a double thickness of paper towels and keep it near the stove.
2. Put a small skillet over medium heat and toss in the pecans. Cook the pecans, stirring, for 1 minute, or until they are ever so slightly toasted. Add the butter and continue to cook, turning, until the pecans have absorbed almost all the butter, another 2 minutes or so.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the salt, if you're using it, and turn the pecans out onto the paper towels. Cover with another double layer of paper towels and pat the pecans gently to remove some of the excess butter. Cool to room temperature between the paper towels.
4. Makes 1/2 cup (enough to top 6 servings)
5. Storing: In a bowl at cool room temperature, the nuts will keep for about 3 days.

                                                              


My Graham Cracker Crust Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Line pie pan, pressing evenly up against the sides.
   
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before filling with Butterscotch Pudding.

My Fresh Whipped Cream Topping:

• 1 cup Whipping cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, beat cream until it sets up. There is no way to explain how long this will take. Every mixer is different. It should be light and fluffy and look like soft whipped cream. Do NOT let it get to the butter stage which can happen very quickly. If in doubt, under mix. You can always whip it a little more after the sugar is added.
2. Add powdered sugar and and vanilla and beat until fluffy and stiff. Do not over beat.
3. Put whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and decorate the pie. Or pile the cream on high with a spatula.

Take a look at the TWD blogroll to see how all the other Butterscotch Puddings turned out!

                                                                        

MOST POPULAR CHRISTMAS COOKIES 2009

   

Most Popular Christmas Cookies & Recipes
Christmas cookies piled high in boxes, tins and cookie jars are evry kids delight, no matter how ld he or she is! Even though John is ahem... an adult, he still loves a plate full of Christmas cookies, as does my grown-up kids! No one is too old for Sugar Cookies!

 

COOKIES, COOKIES & MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!
I've been going nuts making Christmas cookies the last few weeks. I needed pictures for Suite101 and also for my blog, Spatulas & Corkscrews, so I figuured I may as well crank up my oven and bake! Thing is, it takes me so much longer with only one little baking pan and a small oven. John suggested I buy another Kitchen Aid mixer because I missed my old one so badly. But, no matter how much cookies dough I make, I still can't fit more than one pan in my oven at a time! 12 cookies, that's all I can do until the first pan comes out! So, what good is a Kitchen Aid mixer that pumps out enough dough to make 7 dozen cookies? It'd take me all day to bake those! Oh well, at least he was thinking of me...or was it his stomach he was thinking about?

 

Suite101's Most Popular Christmas Cookies
I wrote an article for Suite101's Baking & Desserts section the other day titled, "Most Popular Christmas Cookies & Recipes". The article has done really well too! Who would think that Christmas Cookies would be popular at this time of year? DUH! Anyway, I showcased a few of the most requested cookies in the article, according to my stats that is!

 

COOKIES!
My plan was to make a nice tidy list where you could find all the cookie recipes I've published over the months, without having to hunt for them. As always, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the recipes and hit the "Print Article" button for later use. Click "Email Article to a friend" to share the recipe. Then, before you go, don't forget to hit the "Recommend Article" button, because well, you know why! So, without further ado, here's my.....

Most Popular Christmas Cookies list for 2009!

Pecan Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Soft Sugar Cookies
Cherry Kisses Cookies
Soft Snickerdoodles
Thumbprint Cookies
Shortbread Cookies
Santa's Whiskers Cookies
Pecan Penuche Fudge Recipe
White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Chocolate No Bake Cookies Recipe
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft Molasses Cookies
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
Coconut & Lime Biscotti
Raspberry Rugelach
Buttery Jam Cookies
Chocolate World Peace Cookies
Chocolate Chunkers Cookies
All Occasion Sugar Cookies
Coconut & Lime Madeleines
Gourmet Chocolate Fudge Brownies Recipe
Gourmet Chocolate PB Cup Brownies
Nutella Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cherry & White Chocolate Granola Cookies
Whoppers Chocolate Malted Milk Cookies
Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookies

 

Don't miss My Most Popular Christmas Desserts list! It's full of recipes for cheesecakes, cakes, pies, tiramisu and much, much more!

BUTTER COOKIES with RASPBERRY JAM - Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                        

Tuesdays With Dorie
It's that time again! No, not Christmas! It's time for another Tuesdays With Dorie recipe! I know, another week has passed and Christmas is right around the corner. I mean, literally around the corner! I still can't believe next week is Christmas! In just a few weeks, Tuesdays With Dorie will be a year old. AND, next week it's my turn to choose the recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. I'm working on it right now, and no, it's not more Christmas cookies! So, make sure to come back December 23rd for something ultra luscious!

                                                                  

I want to say thanks to Heather of Randomosity and the Girl for choosing this weeks recipe for Buttery Jam Cookies. If you're following along with your own book, you'll find the recipe for Buttery Jam Cookies on page 80 of Dorie's book. If you don't have the book, then by all means, go right over to Heather's blog for it!

                                                                            

Buttery Jam Cookies
I have to say, I wasn't really impressed with the name of these cookies. Plus, with no photo in the book to compare with, I really didn't know how they were gonna turn out. The ingredients were like that of any other Christmas cookie. Butter, sugar, flour, egg, etc. But, there was another ingredient in these cookies that stood out...Jam! After reading the recipe through again, I realized these weren't Thumbprint cookies with a dab of jam in the center. The jam was mixed right into the dough!

                                                                 

Dorie's Recipe for Butter Cookies
Dorie's recipe calls for apricot jam, although any thick jam would do. I didn't have any apricot jam hanging around, so I used raspberry jam. It also called for a bit of ground ginger. Well, I didn't have that either, BUT I did have a piece of fresh gingerroot! I grated up the ginger and because it's pretty potent, I used a little under one teaspoon. Boy, did this smell good! The cookie dough was an odd shade of gray-ish pink. EEEWWW! I guess I was expecting a bright red color after adding red raspberry jam to the dough. But it was tasty, so I kept going.

                                                                              

The dough was thick, so I scooped it up and put it on the cookie sheet in mounds. I thought it would spread more while baking, but it just sat there in a ball. If you're looking for flat cookies, press the dough down a little before baking, if not, you'll have Buttery Jam Cookie Balls!                                                                

Decorating the Butter Cookies
The finished cookies were not pretty at all. In fact, they looked rather boring, like something I would definitely hide on the bottom of the cookie tray! I didn't want to trash these cookies, so I decided to dress them up instead. I rolled the raw dough in sugar and made a well in the top of some of the cookies and put a 1/2 teaspoon of jam in them after they were baked. Very pretty!

                                                              

BEFORE -- BORING!

Next, I drizzled chocolate ganache over the tops of some of the cookies. Even prettier! And still others were rolled in Christmas sprinkles. Ahhh, that's the color I was looking for! Red, green and white Christmas colors!

                                                                      

AFTER -- CUTE!

Thumbs Up? What Does John Think?
I felt much better about the cookies after that. I made them early in the day, so when John got home, the decorated cookies were all done and sitting on the cooling rack looking nice and festive. He thought he was gonna have to wait for me to take photos, but I surprised him by saying, "Would you like to try a few cookies?" HAHA! He was all over that plate in a matter of minutes! He pronounced them delicious. I just think they're cute!

                                                                      

 

Check this list out! It's a collection of all my favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes!

PECAN & PUMPKIN PIE - TWD "TWO-FER" PIE

                                                    

Pumpkin & Pecan Pie - A Tuesdays With Dorie Two-Fer Special!
Here's a pie that made a hit with everybody! But, what's with the name? Were all the good names taken? HELLOOO!?!  What was Dorie thinking when she named this pie? If I titled this post the "Two-Fer" Pie, would anyone, other than all my Tuesdays With Dorie friends,  have any idea what I was talking about?? I don't think so. This is another classic case of writing for print and not the web. I could go on and on about SEO and Keywords, but that's not what this post is all about. I'm here to tell you how good this pie really is!

                                                                      

Tuesdays With Dorie
Thanks to VIBI from La Casserole Carree for picking this recipe. It's not this weeks recipe. It was on the calendar for Thanksgiving week, but I was in Vermont visiting family. So, here it is now, thanks in part from VIBI. Make sure to click the English version of the post and scroll down the page for the rest of the recipe. Unless you speak, read and bake in French, this is the next best option!

                                                                

Pumpkin Pie or Pecan Pie, What Is It?
Do you like pumpkin pie? Good, then you'll love this pie. Do you like pecan pie? Good, then you'll love this pie! Do you see where I'm going with this? This pie has the best of everything in it. Pumpkin AND Pecan Pie in one pie crust, baked together, in one pie crust! I know, it sounds horrible and messy, but it really was good. And that's saying something coming from someone who dislikes pecan pie in the worst way!

                                                                  

How to Make a Pumpkin & Pecan Pie (aka Dorie's "Two-Fer" Pie)
First off, I don't care for Dorie's pie crust. I'm not the only one either. I've heard other Dorie-ites say the same thing. It's hard to work with and not worth the trouble. Period. I made my own tried and true Flaky Pie Crust Recipe, the one we used at the bakery for years. Quick and easy, BAM! In the pan and done! Next came the fillings. Both the pumpkin and pecan fillings were straight forward, easy to understand and very tasty. Nothing out of the ordinary. This was one of the easiest pies to put together, until..........

Yup! There's bound to be something that goes wrong. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the pie dish that I use. I do admit it's a big Pampered Chef stoneware pie dish, but not overly humongous that it should matter that much. I always read the TWD forums BEFORE I start on any of her recipes just to be sure there's nothing wrong with it. A lot of the bakers were saying they had WAY too much filling, and the pie took WAY longer to bake than the recipe in the book said. So, I adjusted my strategy. I still had to make an extra batch of pecan pie filling just to come to the top of the pie crust. OK, that's not so bad. It was quickly done.

A few other things I did differently. I don't have a large food processor and it's not really necessary to dirty one anyway if you have a mixer, hand-held or otherwise. Also, I didn't pre-bake the crust. What's the point? Besides, from all the burnt crusts I read about, I wasn't gonna be the next victim!

                                                                          

Baking Times
Here's where everyone was correct. The recipe says to bake the pie at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 300 and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes. NOT! This pie took me almost twice the time to bake it. AND, I had to crank the oven up to 350 for the last 30 minutes just to finish it. All together, this pie took me 90 minutes to bake! After it cooled, the filling shrank back away from the crust. Don't get me wrong. I love baking with Tuesdays With Dorie. After all, my turn is coming up in two weeks! YAY! But, I've had my share of disappointments too. If I wasn't on my toes, there would have been a lot going in the trash like some other bakers have had to do. All I'm saying, is be careful with the recipes. When in doubt, ask someone. Chances are, your gut feelings are right and can save you a butt load of money and mess.

                                                                            

Final "Two-Fer" Words
In all fairness, this was a delicious pie! It was rich, but not sickeningly sweet like some pecan pies tend to be. The texture was just right. The two layers were really noticable, and you could taste both of them too. It was also a very pretty pie. Some bakers didn't think so because of burned edges and filling that ran over the sides. All in all, I'd definitely make this pie again, but on my terms!

This is the end of my baking spree, until tomorrow that is! I'm all caught up and on track with Tuesdays With Dorie for now. Be sure to watch for my choice on December 23rd. Yes! It's finally my turn to pick and I've chosen something very delicious!

                                                                       

LINZER SABLES CHRISTMAS COOKIES - TWD

                                                              

Don't Miss The Lake Champlain Chocolates Giveaway Going on Now!

Christmas Cookies and More Christmas!
These pretty Linzer Cookies are just right for Christmas cookie platters and Christmas cookie exchanges. They're made with ground nuts, in this case almonds, real butter, a dash of cinnamon and cloves and sandwiched with raspberry jam. Kind of like a shortbread cookie with jam in the middle. I gave away all of my cookie cutters a few years ago, so I had to buy a few. I didn't want to spend a lot, so I got the Christmas basics. Snowman, gingerbread man, Christmas tree and a star. For this recipe I wanted something that would stand out and say WOW! Stars seemed like a magical choice for me!

                                                                        

Am I behind Or What?
Yes, I am behind, that's why you're seeing double today! Actually, you're gonna see triple today - three recipes - because TWD wants all recipes posted on Tuesdays from now on. Tuesdays??? The nerve!!! I posted Grandma's All-Occasion Sugar Cookies early this morning, now the Linzer Cookies, and in a few hours I'll post Dorie's recipe for a combination Pumpkin & Pecan Pie, also known as a "Two-fer"! Don't say I didn't warn you!
                                                                                  


Tuesdays With Dorie
Thanks to Dennis from Living The Life for choosing this weeks recipe from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours. You can find it on pages 134-135 if you want to follow along. If by any chance you are the one person on earth who HASN'T bought the book yet, you can get the recipe from Living The Life, where Dennis has bragging rights to play host for TWD!

                                                                       

Linzer Sables
The dough was quick and easy to mix even with the ground almonds. It does need to be refrigerated for a few hours before cutting out the cookies. This recipe was different than most rolled cookies, as I the instructions said to roll out the dough and place between waxed paper BEFORE cutting. It worked fine, although I had to adjust my baking time for a few extra minutes. I used raspberry jam inside my cookies and then dusted them generously with powdered sugar. They looked extra festive with their snowy coating. For something out of the ordinary, my friend Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction, used Nutella as a filling! Now, why didn't I think of that? They must have been delicious, right Liliana???

                                                                               

How Many did the Recipe Make?
I followed the recipe exactly like it said and I onlly came up with 30 single cookies or 15 finished sandwich cookies. She estimated 50 cookies and 25 cookies, all assembled. Maybe mine were a little bigger than Dorie's, but then again, I've always had trouble with Dorie's measurements, amounts and yields. That's OK this time as I had plenty of other cookies for my Christmas cookie tray. 

                                                     

So, here you go with Dorie's Linzer Sables. Go get the recipe from Living The Life, adjust the ingredients  depending on the size of your cookie cutters, and make up a cookie platter and give some away!

My Turn, My Turn!
PSSST! My Tuesdays With Dorie turn is coming up on December 23rd! Don't miss it. I picked out something very yummy!

 

ALL-OCCASION SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE - Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                  

Cookies, Cookies & More Christmas Cookies!
Christmas is right around the corner, and everyone knows Christmas cookies are the most popular treat anyone can give to friends and loved ones! My family loves Christmas cookies and the more varieties the better too. I used to make at least 10 different Christmas cookie recipes every year, sometimes more. When we had the bakery, we would make boxes and boxes full of cookies.

When we made as many as time would allow, we would get out all the trays and set up an assembly line. Three Pecan Butter Balls, three Cherry Kisses, five Peanut Butter Blossoms with Hershey Kisses, five Santa's Whiskers, three Snickerdoodles, two Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons, an assortment of Thumbprint cookies, Shortbread, Soft Sugar cookies, Spritz cookies, Chocolate Chip, Molasses and Oatmeal Raisin cookies rounded out the trays. I'd wrap them in pretty cellophane and tie them up with colorful ribbons. One year, as I looked the bakery, I realized I had made 220 pounds of cookies! Not cookies, but pounds of cookies! And you know what? We ran out of them! People were still calling for more! Ahhhh, memories!

                                                                           

Now that I live on a sailboat with my mini easy bake oven, I can only bake one sheet tray of cookies at a time. It takes me a LOT longer to make one batch now than it ever did. But, boat or no boat, I was bound and determined to make Christmas cookies this year! After four years of not making Christmas cookies to sell, I got right back in the festive cookie mood again, kind of like riding a bike or having sex! Anyway......

Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies
Many thanks to  Ulrike of Küchenlatein for choosing Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies for this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie challenge. You'll find the recipe on pages 146-147 of Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking: From My Home To Yours". If you don't have the book, feel free to click on over to Ulrike's blog for the recipe, and make sure to choose the English version.

                                                                         

This recipe for Sugar Cookies didn't thrill me as it was written. They looked a little boring to me. So, being the non-conformist baker that I am, I fooled around with the recipe a little. I divided the dough in half and colored half with red cake coloring. Then, I rolled them into long ropes and twisted the red and white ones together into a candy-cane like log. I rolled the log in holiday sprinkles, wrapped it in parchment paper and put it in the fridge to harden. When it came time to bake the cookies, I sliced the log into 1/4" slices, put them on the cookie sheet and baked as directed. That's why they're so cute and colorful! Easy Peasy Refrigerator Cookies! It sure wakened up my cookie tray that's for sure!

                                                                            

Tuesdays With Dorie
Guess what? I'll be choosing the recipe the week of December 23rd! I know, I can't believe it either! When I started baking with Tuesdays With Dorie way, way back in March, I never thought I would see this day come along. After all, I was number 76 back then. Baker coma and bakers go, and soon I was bumped up to number 44. You'll have to be patient though, as I can't reveal the secret recipe until that day is here. Then I'll be the hostess with the most-ess and I'll have the honor of typing out the recipe and posting it to my own blog! YAY and Woo Hoo! Make sure you come back and see what I picked!