Desserts!

Who doesn't occasionally love something a little snacky? Here are six yummy desserts (including Lemon-Almond Butter Cake and Apricot Cobbler Supreme) for everyone who loves that occasional snack. Enjoy!

CHAI-SPICED PEAR PIE

This is from Audra, otherwise known as The Baker Chick. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you might remember me posting quite a few recipes from Audra (although it’s been a while). Her blog rocks! If you haven’t checked it out, you really should. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

This recipe begins, “I can’t possibly let you enter Thanksgiving week without another pie recipe. As the person in charge of desserts in my family, I’m always looking to make something classic with a twist and this gorgeous pie is just that apples get all the attention in the fall, but baking with firm, sweet pears is in my opinion just as good but way more unique and impressive.

“This pear pie is tossed with warm chai spices like cardamon, cinnamon, ginger and even a crack of black pepper. The result is just a bit more kick than what you’re probably used to with apple pie, but that same warm, melt-in-your-mouth goodness just waiting for a scoop of vanilla.”

Yield: 1 9-inch pie

To view this online on Audra’s blog, click here.

Ingredients

2-3 single layers of Pie Crust (see note)

10 cups of peeled, thinly sliced pears (from about 8-10 pears depending on size, use something firm like bosc)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3-4 twists of freshly ground black pepper (1/8 teaspoon, optional)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Keep crust chilling in the fridge while you prep the pears.

In a large pot or dutch oven, toss together the pears, brown sugar, flour, and spices. Stir in water and dot with the butter.

Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, tossing everything around to par-cook the pears a bit. Keep checking to see when a pear slice is "bendy" and slightly tender, but for me I cooked them for 10-15 minutes.

Allow pears to cool while you prep your dough. If you are doing a lattice or braided crust, roll some of the dough out now, form the braids, and freeze them until pie is ready to be assembled. If you are just doing a double crust- wait until the pears are mostly cool.

Roll out one layer of crust and drape over the bottom of a 9- inch pie pan leaving a bit of overhang. Pour the cooled pears into the crust and top with another sheet of pie crust, a lattice top, or the braids.

Trim and crimp edge of crust and pop the whole thing in the freezer for 10-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425.F. Place pie onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then reducing the heat to 350F and baking for another 45-50 minutes.. If the crust seems to be getting too dark you can drape some foil on top for the remainder of the baking.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Notes

*If you want a little extra pie dough to work with for a decorative crust, I like to have a bit extra and usually make 3 batches of crust. If you are just doing a classic top, two single layers is fine!

CRANBERRY PIE



My dad loved to cook, and usually came up with decent recipes. He sent this one in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.”

This pie can be made either with a single crust (above photo) or with a top and bottom crust (below). If making this with a top crust, poke several holes through the top crust to vent, then covering with foil for the first 10-15 minutes, then taking the foil off for the last 10-15 minutes. (If using only a bottom crust, foil around the edges where the crust shows would be preferable, again for the first 10-15 minutes.)

This recipe can be found in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking.



2 T cornstarch

1 C sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 C hot water

1 C raisins

1 T butter

2 C cranberries

Pie crust

Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)

VARIATION

2 Tbls cornstarch

3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 C hot water

1 C raisins

1 T margarine

1 1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)

Pie crust

Make as above.

APRICOT COBBLER SUPREME

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list.

Ingredients

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tbs melted shortening

2 cups cooked apricots, sweetened

Directions

Beat egg and sugar until creamy. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and vanilla to creamed mixture; add shortening. Put fruit in greased baking dish; pour in batter. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until batter is done. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.

Any type fruit, fresh or canned, may be substituted for apricots. If using fresh fruit, sprinkle with 1cup sugar and heat before pouring in batter. Enjoy!

BANANA MUFFINS WITH TART LEMON ICING

This comes from an old Weight Watcher's emailing list. Unfortunately, I no longer have a link to it, as WW has changed enough over the years. The points value is from when the email came out.

The recipe begins, “If the mouth-puckering lemon icing isn’t enough flavor for you, try adding 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to the flour mixture.”

POINTS® Value: 3; Servings: 18; Preparation Time: 15 min; Cooking Time: 30 min; Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, divided

1 large egg(s)

2 tsp vanilla extract, divided

2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup fat-free skim milk

4 large banana(s), ripe, mashed

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest, strips, or more to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 18 muffin holes with paper liners.

Place sugar and 5 tablespoons of butter in a large bowl; cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla; beat until thoroughly mixed.

In another large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add half of flour mixture to butter mixture; beat well with mixer. Add milk and remaining flour mixture; beat until batter is combined and then fold in mashed bananas.

Spoon batter into muffin liners about 3/4 full. Bake until muffins start to brown and a tester inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.

Meanwhile, to make icing, combine powdered sugar, remaining tablespoon of butter, lemon juice, zest, and remaining teaspoon of vanilla in a medium bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Ice cooled muffins; cover and refrigerate any uneaten muffins. Yields 1 muffin per serving.

LEMON BARS

This yummy recipe comes from Ina Garten, star of The Food Network show, Barefoot Contessa.

Total: 1 hr 35 min; Prep: 10 min; Inactive: 30 min; Cook: 55 min; Yield: 20 squares or 40 triangles; Level: Intermediate

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

For the crust:

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

6 extra-large eggs at room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup flour

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Watch how to make this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

LEMON-ALMOND BUTTER CAKE

This was in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter, and begins, “This buttery almond cake with lemon curd baked inside is like the ultimate citrus tart, without the heartbreak of pie crust. It's fancy enough to be served as a dinner party dessert, yet substantial enough to be served with Sunday brunch. (Bonus: you'll have several tablespoons of lemon curd left over. It's delicious on toast or pancakes.)”

Yield: 8 servings; Time: 2 hours 30 minutes, plus cooling time.

This was featured in “Not The Usual Chef On The Shelf” and can be viewed online here.

Ingredients

For the Lemon Curd:

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 extra-large eggs

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

For the Cake:

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour

1 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 extra-large eggs

1/2 cup ground toasted almonds

2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds

About 1/2 cup heavy cream for garnish

1 tablespoon almond liqueur (optional)

Preparation

For the curd, combine zest, juice, sugar and eggs in a heatproof bowl, and beat well. Add butter, and place over a saucepan full of simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until mixture thickens into curd, about 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl, and press plastic wrap onto surface to keep skin from forming.

Refrigerate until cool, at least 1 1/2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch spring-form pan with 1 tablespoon butter, and dust with 1 tablespoon flour, shaking out excess.

With an electric mixer, cream the remaining butter and 1 cup sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt, and stir in. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until they start to foam. Do not overbeat or the cake will be tough. Add eggs and ground almonds to batter, and mix well.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Drop 8 individual tablespoons lemon curd around perimeter of batter, leaving a 1-inch border, and taking care to space drops evenly. Drop 3 to 4 tablespoons curd into center of batter. Refrigerate remaining curd for another use. Sprinkle cake with toasted almonds and 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, depending on taste.

Bake until cake is toasty brown on top and a toothpick inserted into cake (not curd) comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool on rack 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan, and cool completely.

Whip cream with almond liqueur. Present cake at table, and offer whipped cream on the side.