Peach Sorbet

I just found out today that August is National Peach Month. That is perfect timing because I have a recipe for Peach Sorbet to share.  Being able to make this recipe made so happy for so many reasons. I'll have to give you a little background first.

When I was 16 my first job was working at TCBY.  It really was an awesome job and I was able to get my BFF a job there too so it never really seemed like work.  TCBY has so many yummy flavors, white chocolate mousse, pumpkin spice and coffee to name a few.  But my all time favorite was Peach Sorbet.  I would eat it by the pint when ever it was in stock and when I became assistant manager I made sure we always had it on hand.  Eventually I stopped working at TCBY and they ended up closing the store so I had to live without it. This past year a new TCBY opened and I was so excited for the chance to have peach sorbet again, but it turns out they don't carry the flavor.  I was so sad and complained on Facebook about it.  My war hero brother-in-law, Steve, who is in Afghanistan, commented that I should just make it myself and I told him I couldn't because I didn't have an ice cream maker.  Fast forward to this past Christmas. We were spending our traditional Christmas Eve with my husband's family.  There was an ice cream maker waiting for me from Steve. I couldn't wait to make peach sorbet, but I had to wait for peaches to be in season and now they are!  I'll be freezing a few batches of peach puree so I can have the sorbet during the rest of the year.

Enough of my blabbing, time for the recipe. This recipe is a two day process.






















Ingredients

2 lbs peaches
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp peach liqueur (optional)




Directions

In a small heavy saucepan make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside and let cool.

Peel and pit peaches. I like to leave a little skin on the peach because I am too lazy to peel it perfectly  I like texture.






Chop peaches.




Puree peaches in a blender or food processor.






Stir in syrup and lemon juice.




Chill peach mixture for at least 6 hours or up to one day.




Stir in peach liqueur (optional) and freeze in ice cream maker.




You can serve right away or freeze in an airtight container. The liqueur helps to make it not freeze as hard if you store in the freezer.  If you leave the alcohol out just take the sorbet out for about 15 minutes to thaw a bit before serving.




What do you like to make with peaches in the summertime?

Coconut Cake

Hi! Remember me? I love to cook and share my recipes with you.  Sorry I have been away for so long, but moving is such a pain and the unpacking is taking forever.  Our new house did not come with a dishwasher or a working oven so things have been difficult to say the least

Today I have a recipe for Coconut Cake. I actually made this cake for Christmas dinner but I thought it would be fitting to share today. You see, I gave up chocolate for Lent and I have to ignore recipes containing chocolate for 40 days.  Anyone else giving up anything for Lent? I'm not Catholic but I decided this year to give up something and given my love of chocolate it was a no brainer.

I couldn't find the perfect recipe online when it was time to make a coconut cake for Chritmas so this is kind of a Frankenstein cake, I made using 3 different recipes. For the cake I started with a recipe from Duncan Hines.  For the filling I looked to Emiril.  And for the frosting I was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa.



Ingredients

For the Cake

1 box White Cake Mix
1 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
4 large Egg Whites
4 oz Sweetened Shredded Coconut



For the Filling

1/2 cup Butter
4 oz Cream Cheese
3/4 lb Powdered Sugar
1 Lemon, zested,
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Milk



For the Frosting

1 lb Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 lb (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 lb Powdered Sugar, sifted
6 oz Sweetened Shredded Coconut



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two round cake pans.





In a large mixing bowl, blend the cake mix, coconut milk and egg whites. Beat at low speed until moistened (about 30 seconds). Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Pour batter evenly among the prepared pans. Fold in coconut.



Bake for 18 - 21 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool layers in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out of pan to cool completely before frosting.

Now it is time to work on the filling.

Using an electric mixer, cream the remaining butter with the cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Mix well. Spread a thin layer of the filling on top of each cake. Place the layers of cake on top of each other.





And for the finale, the frosting.

Add cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts to a bowl and mix on low speed. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.





Frost the tops and sides of the cake.



Sprinkle the top of cake with coconut and gently press onto the sides of the cake.





Yum, you wind up with this delicious coconut cake.

Chocolate Godiva Cake

I guess you could say I saved my best Thanksgiving recipe for last, my Chocolate Godiva cake. A  holiday menu without a chocolate dessert is like a day without sunshine. It is really just too sad to think about. I must think happy thoughts now. Unicorns, Rainbows and Shoes.  OK, I am better now.  I have been making this cake for a few years and I tweak it every time, but I think I have it perfected now.  This can be made the night before.



Ingredients
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 1/3 cups of Chocolate Godiva Liqueur (this replaces the water the cake box calls for)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 box JELL-O chocolate fudge instant pudding
12 oz chocolate morsels
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp Chocolate Godiva Liqueur

Directions
Preheat oven according to package directions.

Add cake mix, Chocolate Godiva Liqueur, oil and eggs to a large bowl.



Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 2 minutes.



Am I the only who likes to walk away from the Kitchen Aid mixer and pretend that I am using the force to mix the batter?



Pour into Bundt pan.



Bake according to package directions, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool Completely before adding ganache.

To make ganache.

Place chocolate and butter in a large bowl.



Bring heavy cream to a boil over medium high heat.



Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted melted and the mixture is glossy. Add liqueur.







Allow ganache to cool before pouring over cake. The longer it cools, the thicker it will become. Add ganache to cake.



What is your favorite dessert for Thanksgiving?

Halloween Treats

I love Halloween. I do believe it is my favorite holiday.  Halloween is all about fun. There is no stress with having to finding the perfect present. I don't have to plan out a holiday menu or work on a seating chart. In fact the only thing I have to worry about is if I am going to be a sexy witch or a sexy superhero.  The best thing about Halloween? The treats and the candy.  I live in an apartment complex and we never get trick or treaters, but I always have a couple of bags of my favorite candy on hand, just in case. Don't judge me if you catch me eat miniature Kit Kat's while watching infomercials at 2 in the morning.

 I am starting my Halloween celebration early by heading down to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights tomorrow.  I love a good scare!  Since there are 13 more days until Halloween, I thought I would share links to 13 spooktacular recipes on the web.  You may notice that a few of the recipes involve candy corn. I have a confession I am addicted to candy corn, I will eat an entire bag at once, so I tend to be drawn to candy corn recipes. I will check out a 12 step program in November. Maybe.

If you stop by these blogs, be sure to tell them I said hi!

Recipe Girl's Candy Corn Bark

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's Candy Corn Meringue Cookies

Culinary Concoctions by Peabody's Candy Corn Whipped Cream Frosting

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's Halloween Candy Brownies

Love From the Oven's Halloween Cupcake Cake Pops

Sweetopia's Spider Web Decorated Cookies

Our Best Bites' Glow in the Dark Food

Lila Lola's Jack-O-Lantern Cookies

The Other Side of 50's Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Mandy Mortimer's Devils Food Cupcakes

Buns in My Oven's Pumpkin Caramel Spiderweb Cookies

The Pioneer Woman's Halloween Cake Balls

Lexie's Kitchen's Kid DIY Banana Mummies

Apple Dumplings

Fall is in the air, or so everyone keeps telling me. I live in Florida, and this past week the temperature has been in the nineties.  So I have to live vicariously through my northern friends who brag about the cooler weather and having to put on a sweater. Michael would say we are the lucky ones since we are still running around in shorts and flip flops, but I miss autumn. I miss the cooler weather, the leaves changing colors and the briskness in the air.  The only reason I really know it is fall is because the fall TV season has begun. My old friends are back and I get to check out some new ones. We are television junkies in my home.  My favorite show is Bones, but that is starting later in the season. Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in a new show called Ringer. Buffy is one of my all time favorite TV shows, so it is great to have her back on TV.

Anyway, you didn't come here to have me ramble on about TV. I'm sorry I am easily distracted. Don't ever wave anything shiny in front of me.

Apples are the fruit of fall and today is National Apple Dumpling Day so I thought I would try to make some.  Most of the easy recipes I found online used crescent rolls, I decided to used cinnamon rolls. They are a little bit messier to work with, but I think the extra cinnamon flavor really works for the apple dumplings. Plus the scent of them baking is better than any potpourri.

Ingredients
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
2 tbsp Butter
1 can Cinnamon Rolls (5 count)
3 - 4 Apples
3-4 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg



Directions

Add the sugar, butter, water, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small saucepan.



Bring to a boil.



Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small bowl combine 3-4 teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg.



Peel, core and chop apples. I love my apple peeler that removes the core at the same time.



I placed apples in a bowl with water and a little lemon juice to keep from turning brown.



Next it is time to prepare the dough.

Take a cinnamon roll and flatten it out. I started out using the rolling pin, but I decided it was much easier to use my fingers.




Add apple pieces and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.



Fold up sides and seal.



Drizzle sauce over dumplings.



Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

I had extra sauce and apples, so I added apples to the sauce and let it simmer while the dumplings baked.



Serve warm. It tastes great with vanilla ice cream.



I poured the extra sauce and apples over the vanilla ice cream.

Adventures in Grilling: Pineapple & Pound Cake

Yesterday I cooked on the grill for the very first time. Because I love desserts I decided to try preparing a dessert on the grill while the coals were still hot.   I thought it would be handy to be able to prepare a desert over the grill in case of a power outage during  hurricane season.  You never know when you will have a dessert emergency.

This recipe prepares dessert for two!

Ingredients
4 slices of pineapple
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 slices pound cake



Prepare and preheat grill.

Combine brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, lime juice, and cinnamon.

Spread mixture over pineapple slices.



Place 2 pineapple slices in an aluminum foil packet.



Grill for five minutes, turn over and grill for an additional 5 minutes.



Remove packets from grill.

Place pound cake slices on grill. Cook for about 1 -2 minutes on each side. You want the cake to be warm throughout and to have grill marks.





Place pineapple slices on pound cake slices, drizzling sauce from the packets. Top with whipped cream if desired.