One mixing bowl desserts and cakes... you gotta love that, right!? I came across a recipe via a Facebook ad thrown at my face that sounded sort of souffle-ish, sort of custard-ish, sort of cheesecake-ish... and I thought it sounded pretty good, but would be better with a few adjustments. Lo and behold, it came out great first time around! What I didn't know is that there is a name for these sort of dishes - the French call it clafoutis. This is my version with blueberries... not super sweet, which is the kind of desserts we prefer. You could most certainly sprinkle the top with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar if you wanted.
Had a cover of a Depeche Mode song come on the speakers while I was typing this recipe out and I was like, "Who is this?! I like this!" Turns out, it was No Use For A Name doing "Enjoy the Silence". Give it a go! -jen
BLUEBERRY CLAFOUTIS Prep Time: 10 minute Cook Time: 50-55 (with an additional 30 to rest) Difficulty: Easy Serves: 6-8
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1+1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1+1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray - bottom and up sides.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together until smooth. Add melted butter, ricotta, yogurt and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add flour, salt and baking powder - mix until combined.
Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle blueberries over the top. Bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes. Edges should turn golden brown and tester inserted in center should come out clean. Cool in pan on baking rack for 30 minutes. Serve room temp or chilled.
I dove into this recipe with good, healthy intentions. "Oh... I could do a crust-less pumpkin pie... low sugar, low fat, low carbs..." Totally had the intention of leaving flour out of the topping and going light on the sugar. Then... then it turned into something evil and decadent and delicious. Still went lighter on the sugar than most pumpkin pie recipes would call for but... I crunched the numbers (because I have a sick love of spreadsheets) and they weren't pretty. Per slice: 230 calories; 8 grams of fat; 31 net carbs; 6g of protein. Still, healthier for you than a Snickers bar, and better tasting! Not exactly diet-dessert, but probably a little better for you than most. I got a ton of sugar pumpkins from a friend, so I made my own puree. Can't speak for the outcome if you use canned... but I'm sure it'd be fine.
Since Halloween is in less than a week, I've really been getting into the spirit. We hit up the pumpkin patch today because I love carving jack-o-lanterns. And I did a last practice run on my Dia de los Muertos calavera (sugar skull) makeup! So I felt like a song in the graveyard spirit might be in order. Koffin Kats doing "Graveyard Tree". -jen
1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc)
Filling:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried, ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 24oz canned puree)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously coat a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a food processor, combine all of the topping ingredients and pulse. If you don't have a food processor, cut the butter into the flour, then add the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, clove, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl using an electric mixer, beat together pumpkin, brown sugar and eggs. Add evaporated milk until blended. Add dry ingredients just until combined.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and use a spoon to sprinkle the topping over the top to your desired thickness. (You can use the back of the spoon to gently pat it into the filling if it looks like it's just resting on a skin.) Bake an additional 20-25 minutes. Crust should be golden-brown and a knife inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cool on a wire cooling rack for an hour. Refrigerate for storage.
Was just sitting around on this 4th of July, watching bad tv, pondering what we had in the kitchen. Came across the four bananas that were getting close to being too ripe. Thought about just doing some banana bread or banana muffins, but that seemed more "bready" than I felt like. Last week, I'd found some pumpkin in the freezer from last fall when we'd roasted and pureed a few pumpkins. I made a great, hearty crust with oats and nuts, so I figured... why not make some banana cream pie bars using the same crust? I've never made banana cream pie before, though strangely, that's kind of how I met Justin - it was a topic of conversation. Then when I was grabbing the vanilla extract, I caught the chocolate chips out of the corner of my eye and decided they'd go into it, too.
Been listening to music all day today. Lots of Lagwagon, Strung Out, Swingin' Utters. It was kind of hard to choose a song. But one album I pulled out today was NOFX's "Punk In Drublic". Total flashback to my angst filled freshman year in high school. I remember specifically playing this cassette tape over and over on my boombox while playing Super Nintendo with my little brother. So I chose "Leave It Alone." -jen
BANANA CREAM PIE BARS Time: 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy/Medium (it seemed easy to me) Makes: 12 bars
Crust
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter (3/4 of a stick), softened
1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, etc)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Custard
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup water, room temp
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 large, ripe bananas, sliced thin
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine oats, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and butter. Beat until butter is cut into flour and crumbly. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Prepare a 13"x 9" (2 qt) baking dish by buttering or coating it with non-stick cooking spray. Press mixture into the baking dish evenly, coming slightly up the sides (make sure to even out the corners so they're not real thick). Bake crust at 375 degrees F for 17-20 minutes (until crust is golden brown). Remove and set on a cooling rack.
While crust is baking, prepare custard by combining sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium sauce pan. Whisk in cream and water. Then whisk in egg yolks. Cook over medium-high heat, continuing to whisk until sauce thickens and boils (about 6 minutes). Remove from heat and then whisk in butter and vanilla.
Cover the cooled crust with a layer (2 to 2.5) of sliced bananas. Scoop half of the custard evenly over the layered bananas, and carefully spread across them as evenly as possible. Repeat a second layer of sliced bananas and custard. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour before serving.
