#MeatlessMonday - Spiced Cupcakes with Chai Frosting #dessert

Spiced Cupcakes with Chai Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup buttermilk

Frosting:

6 tablespoons butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons half & half

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the ginger, cinnamon, allspice and pepper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons spice mixture. Gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
3. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Bake at 350° for 24-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy; beat in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and remaining spice mixture until smooth. Add enough half & half to reach desired consistency.
Pipe frosting over cupcakes and decorate as desired.

#MeatlessMonday - Grandmother's Apple Dumplings #British #dessert #recipe

My British grandmother was a wonderful cook, especially when it came to desserts. Before she emigrated to America, she worked as a housekeeper for a well-to-do manor house in Sheffield, England. She would tell me many stories about England and how much she missed it. I loved hearing them and found myself pining for the green hills of Yorkshire with her. Many years after her death I was able to travel to her birthplace and saw why she missed it so. My latest paranormal novel, Whispers in the Wood, is a nod to her as it takes place in England.
This was one of my favorite childhood recipes she taught me how to make. If you don't wish to venture into homemade pastry, frozen sheet pastry will do (buy enough for two pies). Enjoy!

Ingredients 

Pastry

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
5-7 T cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt mixture until it resembles small peas. Add cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until pastry sticks together. Roll out into a thin sheet and cut into 4 squares.

Apples 

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
Fill each core with a pat of butter, a teaspoon of sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon

*Wrap each apple with pastry, closing the top like a drawstring purse, and set in a baking pan.

Sauce

Mix:
1-3/4 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
3T butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Boil mixture for 3 minutes and pour over pastry wrapped apples.

Bake uncovered at 500F for 5-7 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350F and bake for 35-40 minutes more. Enjoy with tea (of course!) and a good book.

#MeatlessMonday - Honey-Ginger Scones

Photo by Jo Zimny Photos via Flickr

Fall is here! With the cooling of the weather comes a yearning for warm and yummy things. My British grandmother couldn't go a day without her tea and scones, regardless of the weather. I'm unsure what she'd think about this recipe, as it's not traditional, but the ginger is a nice touch and one of my favorite spices. Enjoy!

Honey-Ginger Scones

3½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ cup sugar
½ cup honey
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 cup crystallized ginger
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add salt, ground ginger, and sugar and stir well. Using a pastry cutter, work the cubed butter into the flour mixture until reduced into very small pieces. Chop the crystallized ginger and add into the bowl along with the cream, honey, and buttermilk. Mix briefly just until the ingredients come together—don’t overwork.
Shape the dough into individual 2-inch balls (or) one flattened ball and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Topping

¼ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger


Mix together sugar and ground ginger and sprinkle on top of the dough.

Bake at 375˚F for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Top with clotted cream, jam or enjoy plain with your favorite cup of tea.

#MeatlessMonday - Apple Cider Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze #dessert

This may seem like a complicated recipe, but it isn't. You can use whatever apples you wish (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples work well). If you don't like pecans (or any nuts) you may omit those. Enjoy!

Apple Cider Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze

Ingredients 

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Cake:

4 medium apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup + 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple cider

Salted Caramel Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbs butter, cubed
1/4 tsp salt

_____________________

Directions

For the streusel topping:

Combine all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

For the caramel glaze:

Combine sugar and water in saucepan. Without stirring, cook on medium-high until mixture comes to a boil and begins to caramelize (5-10 minutes.) Once the mixture shows streaks of gold, stir a couple of times and remove from heat when it turns a dark amber. Immediately pour in the cream and whisk. Add butter and salt and whisk. Return to medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until slightly reduced.

Set aside to cool completely

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F

Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until the mixture thickens and becomes pale. Whisk in oil and apple cider.

Combine egg mixture with dry ingredients. 

Fold apples in gently with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the greased spring-form pan.

Sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake at 350F for 55-70 minutes until golden-brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely.
Drizzle with glaze and serve.

#MeatlessMonday - Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting #dessert

I made these for my birthday last Wednesday. My teens liked them better without icing. Enjoy!

Spice Cupcakes 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream


Preheat oven to 350°

1) In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
2) Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
3) In another bowl, whisk, flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt.
4) Add ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition.
5) Beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff. Fold into batter.

Fill lined cupcake tins 3/4 way full.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.


Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

#MeatlessMonday - Key Lime Pie #dessert #recipe

Easy to make. Decadent as hell. What's not to love?

Photo courtesy of Greg Williams via Flickr

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup fresh Key lime juice (regular lime juice works too, it's just not as sweet)

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients. Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake pie crust at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.

Stir together sweetened condensed milk and lime juice until blended. Pour into prepared crust.
Bake at 325° for 25 to 28 minutes. Chill 8 hours. 

Top with whipped cream 

#MeatlessMonday - Lime-Glazed Cookies #dessert

Happy Spring! Thought I'd start the week off with some cookies. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of nsdis via Flickr

Lime-Glazed Cookies

Ingredients

2 teaspoons lime juice
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine the 2 teaspoons of lime juice with the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the lime zest and milk mixture.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and blend into the creamed mixture. 

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are light brown.
To make the glaze, stir together the remaining lime juice and sugar. Brush onto cooled cookies.

#MeatlessMonday-Butternut Squash Muffins #dessert

Summer break is officially over--my oldest starts high school today. With my other daughter in middle school, I'll be shuttling my kiddos between two different schools. It should be quite chaotic! BUT it means I'll be getting back to working on THE ISLAND with plans to finish by December. That's the plan and I'm sticking to it.

Photo courtesy of trpnblies7 via Flickr

So, fall is just around the corner (she said stubbornly) which means there will be lots of squash and pumpkin around. Both are great vegetables for hiding...I mean using in recipes if you have veggie hating teens like I do. Here's a great recipe for breakfast on the run. You can easily substitute pumpkin for the butternut squash if you'd prefer. Enjoy!


Butternut Squash Muffins

1/4 pound of peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup plain yoghurt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup oil 

Boil squash for about 20 minutes until tender. Puree--you should get about 1 cup of pureed squash.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spices

Mix squash, milk, egg and oil and fold into dry ingredients 

Fill lined muffins tins 3/4 full

Bake at 400F for 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

#MeatlessMonday-Burnt Sugar Caramel Cupcakes #dessert

Photo courtesy of Candace via Flickr

For the burnt sugar syrup:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup hot water

Add sugar in a skillet over medium-low heat. Shake the pan to spread the sugar and let it melt, shaking again to keep the syrup browning evenly. Once it becomes the deep bronze color and begins to smoke, gradually add the hot water. Stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.

For the cake:

3 cups unbleached cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
2/3 cup of the burnt sugar syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour, salt, soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream butter, adding sugar gradually until light and fluffy. Add one egg yolk at the time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla. Stir in cooled burnt sugar syrup.

Alternately mix the flour and the buttermilk into the batter, beating until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter.

Fill lined cupcake tins 1/2 way with batter.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool completely before frosting

For the caramel frosting:

3/4 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
Dash of salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Mix butter, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Let bubble for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Mix in cream. Cook and stir for another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Transfer to another bowl. Beating at high speed, gradually add confectioner's sugar until it comes to a spreading consistency. Add more cream if necessary.

Once cupcakes are frosted you can drizzle caramel over top if desired.

#MeatlessMonday-Butterscotch Funny Cake #dessert

Photo courtesy of Dorothy SH via Flickr

We're doing a dessert today! If you're looking for a vegetarian entrée, please click on the #MeatlessMonday tag at the bottom of this post to see any recipes you may have missed!

My (very) British grandmother was known for her sweet tooth and endless array of dessert recipes. She carried them all "in her head" and never wrote anything down. This was a challenge, because unless she was around to make something for you--good luck at reproducing it! There were several recipes we managed to get her to write down before she passed many years ago. They never turn out as good as hers did, of course. Grandma's cooking is just special like that.

This is a recipe she used to make and I've never seen it in the States, so I thought I would share. It's a combination of a cake and a pie, with the butterscotch sauce as a layer between both. Enjoy!

Butterscotch sauce
In saucepan melt:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2T corn syrup

Cook until boiling. Add 3T water. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring consistently. Let cool

Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients. Add shortening, egg, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes on foil-lined pan in case butterscotch drips over during baking.
Pour cake batter into uncooked pie shell. Pour butterscotch sauce on top of cake batter. (Butterscotch sauce will end up at the bottom after cooking.)

#MeatlessMonday-Nanaimo Bars #dessert

Photo via Joy from Flickr

Licensed under the 

Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license 

I thought I'd take a break from my usual healthy recipes to share a sinfully delicious dessert from my childhood--Nanaimo Bars. A traditional Canadian cookie bar which requires no baking, they are named after the city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. The popularity of the bar has led Canadians to vote it "Canada's Favorite Confection."

Enjoy!

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8X8 pan.

Middle Layer:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 T plus 2 tsp. cream
2 T Birds custard powder (or any vanilla custard powder)
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder and powdered sugar together. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Top Layer:

4-1 oz.squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 T butter

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool slightly and pour over middle layer.
Chill in refrigerator and cut into bars.

#MeatlessMonday-Scottish Oatcakes #dessert

Crunchy and biscuit-like, the oatcake is a favored Celtic bread that has many variations. Early Scots survived on a frugal diet that included oatcakes. Oats were mixed with water, sometimes seawater, and baked on hot stones. This is my own modified recipe. These oatcakes are good for dipping in coffee (or tea if you must) and quite addictive, so mind yourself!


Mix dry ingredients:

1-1/2 cups oats
1-1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Cut 3/4 cup butter into dry ingredients until crumbly
Add 1/3 cup water and mix into a dough

Roll out about 1/4" thick. Cut into shapes

Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. They can be frozen or stored in an airtight container.