dessert

Pear Clafoutis!

Jennifer Leave a comment

pear clafoutis 3-30-19

This week, I had too many ripe pears and decided to make a clafoutis, which I don’t think I have made in over ten years. Clafoutis are flan-like cakes, originating from France, and traditionally made with cherries. You can substitute the pears for pitted cherries (2 cups) and use almond extract, instead of vanilla extract. The result will be delicious and you’ll have trouble resisting seconds. It’s a nice, light dessert or snack 🙂

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
½ cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for baking dish
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ripe pears, diced
powdered sugar (optional)

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter glass pie dish or 9” cake pan.
2. Beat sugar and eggs until light in color
3. Gradually add butter and mix until well-incorporated.
4. Add flour and salt; whisk until combined.
5. Slowly add milk, while mixing.
6. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Batter should appear smooth and shiny
7. Add pears to prepared baking dish and pour batter over the fruit.
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until slightly browned and set.
9. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp!

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strawberry-rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb is now in season and I picked up a few stalks at the coop the other day. It kind of looks like celery but the stalks tend to be thicker and bright pink in color. Since it’s pretty tart, it’s usually baked as a sweet and most popularly paired with strawberries. This crisp is really the perfect balance of sweet and tart, with a 1:1 ratio of filling to topping. It makes for a quick and easy dessert! No need to mess with pie dough here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Fruit filling:
8 ounces strawberries, hulled and halved (quartered if large)
8 ounces rhubarb, trimmed, roughly cut into ½ inch dice
½ cup raw (turbinado) sugar
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Topping:
1 cup rolled oats
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter (½ stick), melted
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine strawberries, rhubarb, raw sugar, arrowroot powder or cornstarch, and sea salt. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish.
3. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, butter, brown sugar, and salt. Stir until combined and slightly clumpy. Spread evenly over fruit.
4. Bake until juices are bubbling in the center and topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp recipe

Lemon-Ricotta Muffins!

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lemon-ricotta muffins

With leftover fresh ricotta from my pasta recipe earlier this week, I decided to try baking these lemon-ricotta muffins. The turbinado sugar on top forms a nice crunch for contrast. The lemon zest and lemon juice make them perfectly lemony, while the ricotta keeps these muffins nice and moist. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup water
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons turbinado/raw sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl.
3. In another medium bowl, combine the ricotta, water, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg.
4. Make a well in the flour mixture and add ricotta mixture, stirring just until moist.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups and sprinkle each with turbinado sugar.
6. Bake for 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Adapted from Cooking Light‘s Tuscan Lemon Muffins recipe

Double Chocolate Banana Bread!

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double-chocolate-banana-bread

My husband really enjoys banana bread and since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I decided to bake a double chocolate banana bread for him to bring to the office. This banana bread is basically a luscious chocolate cake that I would easily choose over a brownie and healthier! I’m not sure I can go back to regular banana bread now. This is really a treat!
Ingredients:

3 medium-to-large very ripe bananas (about 1 cup mashed banana)
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder + more for dusting pan
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
Procedure:

1. Heat your oven to 350°F. Butter and dust a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cocoa powder.

2. Mash bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk in melted butter, then brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sift baking soda, salt, cinnamon, flour and cocoa powder in a sifter or fine-mesh strainer and add to wet ingredients. Stir dry and wet ingredients with a spoon until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks or chips.

3. Pour into prepared pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: The banana bread will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. Keep it wrapped in foil for freshness.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen‘s recipe

Chinese Almond Cookies!

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almond-cookies

Happy Chinese New Year! I wanted to make something special to share for the New Year and these are one of the traditional desserts. One of my friends in high school used to bake almond cookies for all different occasions. My Mom used to make a similar cookie during Christmas but she would top it with half a maraschino cherry. Brushing egg whites on the top before baking gives them a nice golden finish. Enjoy!

Yield: about 42 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup raw almonds
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon water

Procedure:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.
2. Roll into 1-in. balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork. Place almond in center of cookie.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg white and water. Brush over cookies.
4. Bake at 325° for 14-16 minutes or until edges and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Almond Gelatin!

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almond-jello

In honor of Chinese New Year (year of the Rooster) this weekend, I wanted to post one of my favorite desserts that can often be found at Dim Sum restaurants. It’s something that my Mom and I used to make when I was little, so it’s sentimental, although not the most healthy. The gelatin and fruit are really refreshing after a heavy meal, which is bound to happen during the holidays! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Almond Gelatin

Ingredients:

8 – 1 ounce envelopes of Knox unflavored gelatin

3 cups hot water

2 – 12 ounce cans of condensed milk

3 teaspoons almond extract

2 – 30 ounce cans of fruit cocktail
Procedure:

1. Dissolve gelatin completely in hot water.
2. Add condensed milk; mix thoroughly
3. Add almond extract; stir. Cover and refrigerate until gelatin is set, at least a few hours.
4. Dice up gelatin and mix with fruit cocktail.
5. Enjoy!