Category: dessert
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Banana Bread with Spiced Walnut Topping
March 22, 2016
For when you just didn't get to those bunch of bananas...if they are brown and soft and you don't have time for this recipe, throw them in the freezer. Just be sure to defrost them before you make the bread. The additional of sour cream makes it EXTRA moist, and the spiced nut topping was inspired by one of my fav @CIAGreystone Instructors, Chef Paul. You may remember him by the now infamous Chef Paul's Mushroom Salad. You can trim the calories and fat in this recipe by using low-fat sour cream and/or a plant-based butter, such as Earth Balance.
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Blue Cheese Cheesecake Bars
February 9, 2016
Is it a dessert? An appetizer? You decide! Slide the scale on the amount of blue cheese and sugar in this recipe and you can make either. To go savory, use my recipe below and serve with a jam like the one pictured, my Tomato Strawberry Jam, or even an Onion Jam. To go sweet, decrease the blue cheese and increase the sugar and serve with sweetened berries and powdered sugar. BTW, this is the best graham cracker base I've ever made hands down. The secret, per @CIAGreystone classmate @jbarrette25, is brown butter...read on to learn how to do it!
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Gluten Free Pie Crust
January 19, 2016
Recently I've been getting requests for gluten free (GF) pizza and pie crusts recipes. Since I didn't have one, I thought I'd take the challenge. In culinary school, I became very comfortable using @CupForCup because a very good friend and classmate, Liz (@LizelleTomorrow), is gluten intolerant. Cup4Cup's motto, "gluten free but you'd never know it," is pretty spot on. Classmates scoffed when I told them I made GF lemon bars with it, but the next time when I made brownies and only told Liz on the side they were GF, no one knew the difference and scarfed them up!
That's why I was elated when I attended the Fancy Food Show (@craftcarejoy) in San Fran yesterday and first saw their booth, then found out it was created at The French Laundry (@_TFL_) just down the road in Yountville! Unfortunately, though, when I bought GF flour for this recipe Cup4Cup wasn't availability in my local grocery store so I used @KingArthurFlour's version. The results were pretty solid - not as flaky as I had hoped, but buttery for sure.
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Tomato Plum Galette
July 7, 2015
The inspiration for this rustic tart came from a good friend, Donna, who used my new "Submit Your Recipe" feature to request a new use for seasonal plums. I was surprised to see an abundance of tomatoes already at the farmer's market so combined the two along with creamy goat cheese, basil and orange blossom honey. The French galette is a relative of the crepe both of which come from Brittany where it's traditional to use buckwheat flour. The dough comes together in a snap using a food processor. One slice is "High In" vitamin A, a "Good Source" of fiber, vitamin C and iron, and "Low In" sodium.
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Snickerdoodles
June 29, 2015
I know, I know...why would I ever turn the oven on in July? But these cookies will be your go-to for summer baking, I promise. Three ingredients and 10 minutes in the mixer, then throw in the fridge until ready to bake. Here I've sprinkled on cinnamon-sugar for snickerdoodles, but you can also add cocoa powder to make them chocolate or just dip them in chocolate post-baking - the possibilities are endless. You can also easily make them gluten-free - I sub'd rice flour for wheat with great success.
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Rochers
January 27, 2015
You may not think that a fancy French chocolate could be a game day winning dessert, but trust me. Four ingredients, 25 minutes active, low carb, kid-friendly to make...have I got your attention now?! You might recognize the name Rocher because of "Ferrero Rocher" that is made similar to this recipe, but with hazelnuts instead of almonds. Feel free to sub any nut or type of chocolate, and even add new ingredients, such as dried fruit, to the mix. Game on!
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Pumpkin Simple Syrup
October 28, 2014
Spice up Halloween with spicy pumpkin simple syrup! With this syrup, you can make treats by drizzling over ice cream or using in cookie batter, or be tricky by adding your favorite liquor for a happy Halloween indeed. Of course, I chose the latter, but to keep the mixture thick for the former just don't strain it. Pumpkin is super high in Vitamin A so no matter if you are tricking or treating, you'll be doing good for your skin, teeth and eyes.
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Puffy Pancake
October 14, 2014
I was watching an old "Good Eats" and Alton was cooking popovers. It made me think about the Puffy Pancake my beau's mom makes, which uses a popover-like dough (basically a very wet one). You may also know this as a Dutch Baby. This traditional one is a sweet and sour version with powdered sugar and lemon butter, but with a neutral batter like this, the possibilities are only limited by your own creativity. The first few ideas that come to mind are topping with Sloppy Joes, Pumpkin Chili, Tofu Cacciatore, or Tandoori Vegetables. Bonus nutrition - one serving is "High In" Riboflavin and Thiamin and "Low In" Sodium.
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Grandmother Borden’s Peach Custard Pie (if she was southern!)
August 20, 2014
I took some liberties with this recipe my step-mom generously passed along for her mother's peach custard pie. I've learned a lot of new pastry techniques that I wanted to show off (mainly the patience to chill the dough at every stage, which helps to make it flaky) and for some reason, I always pull recipes southern. Perhaps it was my many summers spent on the North Carolina coast, or maybe just the southern blood from my own mother (she was born in Kentucky).
Despite it being dessert, a slice of this heaven does have some redeeming nutritional qualities, including being a Good Source (that's 10-19% of your Daily Value) of fiber, vitamins A and C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin.
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Cookie Bread Pudding
December 29, 2013
Right about now you're probably up to your eyeballs in sweets. Here's one way to off-load some cookies by transforming them into a magical sweet bread pudding. I used Becky's Persimmon Cookies here, but any cake-type cookie will work (crispy cookies are too dry to use). Since these already had raisins, almonds and spices, I just added a little more cinnamon and...Grand Marnier!
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Becky’s Persimmon Cookies
December 8, 2013
Persimmons are another fruit I never knew before moving to California. They are harvested in winter, and it's common to find persimmon trees in many neighborhood backyards and on small farms. This family recipe comes to me from Bill and Becky C. who have lots of cookie admirers for this chewy, spicy treat.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake
November 24, 2013
This cheesecake is made with silken tofu. Before you click off the page, hear me out. I compared this recipe with Betty Crocker's classic Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe (which you can find easily at bettycrocker.com). That recipe states that it makes a (laughable) 16 servings for a 9" pie. We all know that even after having stuffed ourselves that this pie is always going to be eight slices. I'll give Betty the benefit of the doubt and compare her 16-slice pie to my 8-slice pie. Mine still saves 75 calories, 10g fat, 9g saturated fat, 16mg salt, 110mg cholesterol and adds 2g fiber per slice - and let's not forget the important point that you get DOUBLE the size slice. Reconsidering tofu?
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Apple Sage Upside Down Polenta Cake
September 15, 2013
Inspiration found me this week at the farmer's market. Apples coming in to season...corn on its way out...and free fresh sage - yes, free! I infused a brown sugar-butter glaze with sage and apple cider, set crisp apples slices in it, and poured on a polenta and cornmeal batter studded with sage on top. Baked, cooled, and inverted...all in less than 30 minutes active time.
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Baklava
September 1, 2013
Baklava has absolutely nothing to do with Labor Day or the start of football season - other than one tray feeds a crowd of sweet tooths. So perhaps you should consider whipping up a batch for a unique end to the barbecue this weekend. You may recall walnuts are most often used, but I read that in some towns in Turkey pistachios and almonds are common. That was exciting to me because then I could make it local (almond and pistachio trees abound in NorCal) - along with honey from Oakland. Plan ahead though - after it's cooked you need to soak it in the honey syrup for at least three hours.
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Greek Yogurt ‘Nanna Pudding
June 2, 2013
Did you know that Greek yogurt is just strained regular yogurt? Save more than 55% per ounce when you buy the regular stuff, and spend literally seconds straining it yourself (I show you how below). In this Southern dessert, I use the strained low fat vanilla yogurt as a healthier (and easier!) pudding alternative. Salted almonds are a savory, crunchy addition, but of course, optional.
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Lavender Goat Cheesecake with Almond Brittle
February 10, 2013
The perfect romantic dessert for two this Valentine's Day. Tangy goat cheese and marscapone blend beautifully together with dried lavender and lemon zest for a velvety sweet ending note. A crunch of salty almond brittle makes sure this dessert is not too smooth and sappy. Best to make this Wednesday night to ensure a cooled and perfectly set cheesecake. Did I mention that it's really fattening? Best to skip the nutrition facts and go right to the recipe. If you want to lighten it up, skip the brittle and use low fat goat cheese.
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Mini-Christmas Muffins
December 16, 2012
Germany is the land of Christmas, and in Christmas-land there is a sweet, fruit and nut bread called stollen (pronounced shhto-len). It's akin to Italian panettone, but a bit denser, baked in a loaf and is topped with powdered sugar. I read the first recipe reference to this holiday favorite from Dresden was in the early 1300s. Here I gave in to the mini-muffin/cupcake craze and turned them into bite-sized treats that you could serve along holiday cookies and bars.
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Maple Apple Granola Crumb Pie with Peanut Butter Shortbread Crust
November 11, 2012
A few new twists to liven up your Thanksgiving apple pie this year. Brandy and maple syrup marinate crunchy apples. Peanut butter infuses a buttery (olive oil butter buttery) shortbread crust. Granola inspires a crumb topping with oats, raisins, peanuts and cranberries. Despite the complexity, this pie comes together pretty easily and the three main components can sit in the fridge until there is room in the oven. WARNING: This is vegan, but not a diet food - time to indulge just a bit this Thanksgiving.
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California Olive Oil Cake
October 14, 2012
It's the most magical time of the year in Northern California - harvest. That mainly means wine grapes and olives. I was inspired to use some local olive oil to bake this gorgeous cake studded with flecks of lemon zest and finely chopped rosemary. If you are short on time, you can add all the eggs in step #2, but separating and whisking the egg whites makes the cake light as a cloud.
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Grape Lemon Ice
May 20, 2012
In this recipe I wanted to use up two pints of grape jelly I made last fall from our concord grape vines, but you could use any fruit jelly, jam or preserves in your fridge to make this easy, low fat dessert. I mixed the jelly with Meyer lemon, but lime would work just as well.
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Orange Cake with Grand Marnier Sauce
March 11, 2012
A colleague, Roy E., baked a lovely cake drizzled with a rich cinnamon sauce for a recent meeting - totally sinful, but I had to have the recipe. I made a few slight alternations in my attempt to be better (not exactly good) by reducing some of the fat and sugar and, looking at all the oranges in my fridge, I added an orange flavor all around with zest, juice and Grand Marnier.
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Chocolate-Salt Dipped Lemon Pistachio Biscotti
December 18, 2011
I had some store-bought biscotti this week and knew I could rock it better with local, in-season lemons and pistachios. A salty chocolate dip was 'just because' and I thought it would make a pretty finish. This would be great for any holiday table (Santa comes to mind...) or as homemade gifts (biscotti is very easy to make - promise!).
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Spicy Pumpkin Bread
October 16, 2011
Even though it's still 80 degrees in NorCal, I wanted Fall so I pulled out some pumpkin puree I froze last year to make this spicy pumpkin bread. It comes together quickly so get the oven going immediately. You could use canned pumpkin puree, but it's thicker than roasted, pureed, fresh pumpkin so you may need to back off on the dry ingredients here. It's great toasted with jam or butter for breakfast.
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Virginia Peanut Brittle
October 2, 2011
I'm back in the South - Richmond, Virginia - where I went to school, met my beau and started a career. There is hardly anything more Virginia than the peanut. This isn't healthy, but a treat. Substituting coarse salt gives it a great salty bite.
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Bourbon Peach Iced Tea Popsicles
July 24, 2011
Needing something to cool and quench without forgoing drink, I jumped on the food fad bandwagon for a 'cocktail popsicle.' With a demure nod to the South, Kentucky bourbon marries fresh peach iced tea scented with mint sprigs.
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Arroz con Leche
May 22, 2011
This is my next recipe pairing creation for Java City Coffee. This month they are featuring El Salvador Portezuelo, a lightly roasted bean with notes of citrus and spice. I thought a great accompaniment would be arroz con leche, literally ‘rice with milk.’ It is a staple treat in many Latin and Spanish cultures, but I found Salvadorians prefer a milkier texture with the light spice of orange zest, cinnamon and cloves. Sweeteners can include condensed milk or, as in the recipe below, white sugar and a couple of pats of butter.
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Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies
March 20, 2011
I've started a new partnership with Java City Coffee, a Sacramento-based roaster with cafes sprinkled around the city. They've asked me to create new recipes to match their monthly featured coffee every other month starting in March. This recipe is the result of weekend of work perfecting the balance between rich, dark chocolate flavor, sweetness and a slight dark red hue from the addition of the beets. It's a prefect pairing to their March Featured Coffee - a Red Velvet Latte. Take a peek at the entry for the recipe on the Java City Blog to get the scoop on my inspiration for beets in brownies. It's an amazing flavor combination!
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Meyer Lemon & Rosemary Granita
February 27, 2011
I've had a few citrus donors in the past few weeks, and the latest was a student from my cooking class who brought me bunches of beautiful Meyer lemons. These lemons are a bit sweeter than regular lemons so I had a brainstorm to turn the very popular Rosemary Lemonade into a dessert. A granita is sort of like a sorbet, but instead of using an ice cream maker you place the liquid in a shallow pan and as it freezes, you scrape it. The result is light and fluffy, and resembles a snow cone with a bit more creamy texture.
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Spiced Dark Chocolate Pots de Creme
January 23, 2011
This is actually a light dessert - no kidding! Dark chocolate and spicy nutmeg give it a flavor boost that make you forget you're using fat free milks and less eggs then the typical recipe. Instead of nutmeg, use your creativity for other versions, including adding instant coffee or espresso, Bailey's Irish Cream, dried chili and cinnamon (for a Mexican flare) or even smoked salt.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
December 19, 2010
This is one of my favorite cookies from my childhood. I remember my mom making these and sneaking into the freezer all Christmas long to snag these crunchy, chocolatey treats. Mind you these are not healthy by any stretch, but they are surely comforting during a cold and, in Davis' case, ridiculously wet winter...and it doesn't involve any baking what-so-ever!
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Caramel Popcorn
October 17, 2010
I seem to be making caramel popcorn weekly, and it struck me when Michael commented that he didn't know why people don't make popcorn from scratch because it's so darn easy - and cheap. This recipe will give you sweet corn for a crowd, so make some before the Giants game today or later this week. Following the steps just to make the popcorn gives you a base to be as creative as you want. Make savory popcorn by adding melted butter, SnP and grated Parmesan. Make a quick sweet corn by shaking on cinnamon sugar while it's hot. The possibilities are limitless!
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Chocolate Covered “Bacon”
July 18, 2010
Well I know I said I'd be off today, but I was doing my weekly post for Davis Life Magazine (called the Early Girl Foodie Weekend) and I covered the California State Fair that opened last Wednesday. Every year they announce a new food item, usually a greasy, fried abomination. This year was no different (for example, fried scorpions are a new menu item), but I was quite intrigued by the chocolate covered bacon. I had heard of people making bacon ice cream so this seemed interesting. I made my own, veggie style, and I have to say the results were not that bad. I added some creative enhancements - freshly cracked salt, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and banana. I would have to say, remembering what bacon used to taste like, that unless you are a veggie, go with the real stuff. The fakin' bacon just doesn't have the fat and salt punch. Nevertheless, it's a fun little dessert.
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Chocolate Chip Cookies
June 13, 2010
These are my fa...vor...ite homemade chocolate chip cookies. They're light, crispy, buttery and super chocolatey. The oats add a chewy texture, and price, at about 17 cents each, just can't be beat by any gourmet bakery. Let them cool to room temperature to enjoy the crispiest cookie. Bet you can't eat just four or five!
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Polish Easter Babka
April 4, 2010
Half of my heritage is Polish - coming from my dad. There weren't many Polish food traditions growing up so I tried to create this one for Easter. I learned about babka (pronounced 'bob-ka') when I went to Greenpoint, the Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn, to explore the grocery and candy stores and delis. I came back excited to hear from my dad if he had babka at Easter growing up and how it was made. Similar to the Italian panettone or the German stollen served at Christmas, this Polish version is a yeast bread with citrus and raisins that has many different variations - some with nuts, some sweeter, different icings, etc. He said his mother made it very plainly with a simple lemon icing. And that's the way I've been doing my Polish Easter Babka ever since. I've modified this recipe slightly cutting down on the 10 egg yolks (yes, 10!), butter and sugar to lighten it and make it at least a bit more healthy (but don't fool yourself, this is no health food). The double rise is time-consuming, but absolutely critical for a fluffy, buttery texture. Enjoy this bread as you would a coffee cake after Easter dinner or toast it for breakfast.
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Iced Oatmeal (Drunken) Raisin Cookies
February 7, 2010
I thought about this recipe for days. Iced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies sounded pretty good, but also kind of boring. Then a spark of pure genius hit me in the middle of the night! To keep raisins juicy, recipes often call for soaking them in warm water. Why not do one better and soak them in rum?!? The result became a juicy, spicy, chewy little delight with a slight oatmeal crunch - pure heaven. If you like your cookies even spicier, go ahead and add 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp each allspice and nutmeg. I kept to a mildly spicy with just cinnamon and cloves.
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Vegan Palmiers
December 13, 2009
Rainy or snowy day out? Got 5 hours stuck in the house? Time to make palmiers! I fully expect no one to write to me telling me they made this recipe. I was determined, however. I love palmiers - the flaky, delicate, sugary French heart-shapped cookie. But these things are expensive! Probably $1.00 per cookie. And after spending my entire Saturday rolling and refrigerating them, I will gladly pay the Frenchman anything he wants for them. Wow, it really did take me 5 hours to make these. They are gorgeous and delicious, but I guess the French, in their food-perfection culture, make time for these treats - not so much for the Americans.
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Zucchini “Brake”
August 2, 2009
A colleague from work, Lee O., gave me this family recipe for when the summer zucchini is overflowing. She says they call it "brake" because it's a cross between bread and cake - a great dense consistency with a sweet bite. I'm calling it a dessert - perhaps an icing is in order?! It's terribly easy to put together. Just plan to bake in the morning or late at night - this recipe calls for a 350 degree oven for an hour.
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Espresso Cream Pie
July 19, 2009
Not the best picture of the final product. I wanted to get a shot up as soon as possible and it wasn't quite set enough to cut. I'll try and get a replacement tomorrow...My Pancake Bars were such a hit that I thought I'd try another dessert. Although I didn't plan it that way, this one is almost a vegan dessert, except for the half and half and probably the chocolate wafers have butter in them - oh right and the eggs. In any case I used soy milk and plant oil-based butter instead of the real stuff and adjusted down on the bad ingredients by using half and half instead of cream. But don't worry, this Espresso Cream Pie comes out chill, silky and heavenly. Unfortunately this is a recipe that uses both the oven and stove, so plan to make this earlier in the morning or late at night. Oh and don't let the number of ingredients scare you off. This comes together pretty quick...the hard part will be waiting for the pie to chill completely because you’ll want to eat it as soon as the custard hits the crust!
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Pancake Bars
June 7, 2009
I thought I should try a dessert for once - and actually this is the first dessert for Vegetarianized! If you cook, you probably don't bake and vice versa. Well, I cook with a side of 'I can make cookies, bars and ice cream because I have an ice cream maker.' These little lovelies are my latest obsession because they mix up quicker than your oven can preheat and they taste just like warm pancakes with butter, maple syrup and nuts - I promise! Here I use a mix of pecans and almonds, but I bet you could use whatever is your favorite nut.