Johnny Appleseed Squares

 

Johnny Appleseed Squares
(Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 115.

This recipe was a bit of a mess - actually it was a big mess - as Michael is prone to saying "It is a Maida Mess". But it was a delicious mess.

First off, the recipe did not stick together well. I did place it in the freezer, as Maida instructed, but it was still difficult to cut into squares. Smaller apple slices would have helped and if you attempt the recipe, I would recommend very small apple slices because slicing into the apple is difficult and the apple pieces want to slide out of the squares (especially when eating them). 

After slicing the squares and storing them, the mixture became even softer and mushier. Still, this is quite a tasty treat and would be an unqualified hit if they were firmer. Perhaps I did not bake them long enough (although I did the full 30 minutes as directed).

This makes 16 to 24 squares, depending on how you cut them.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Scant 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg or mace
1 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
4 oz. butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 3 firm cooking apples (preferably Granny Smith or Jonathan)
1/2 cup pecans, toasted, cut into medium-sized pieces

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9 x 1 3/4 square inch pan with foil. Butter the foil and place it in the freezer until ready to use.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg. Stir in the oats and sugar.

 In a small bowl, mix together the butter, egg and vanilla. Mix it into the oat mixture.

Press one half of the mixture into the prepared pan. Set aside.

Place the remaining dough between two layers of wax paper. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 9-inch square. You can peel back the paper to adjust the mixture until it is the appropriate size for your pan. Place this sheet of dough back into the freezer for a few minutes.

 

 

Retrieve the first pan of dough that you prepared and arrange the apples over them. The recipes says "place the apples in rows, each slice overlapping another, to cover the bottom of the dough. Sprinkle with nuts." As I mentioned earlier in the introduction, I found that I sliced the apples too large so I would advise cutting them much smaller.

Now take the rolled-out dough from the freezer and peel away the wax paper. Place the dough over the apples in the pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. About 10 minutes before done, check the top and see if it is brown enough. If it isn't, raise the oven rack to a higher position.

Cool in the pan. It is best to chill before slicing. Cut into bars or squares.

 

Grand Marnier Chocolate Sauce

 

Grand Marnier Chocolate Sauce
Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 406.

Here is the delicious chocolate sauce recipe that I mentioned last week. This goes great with the Fantastic Vanilla Ice Cream or any ice cream for that matter.

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
2 tsp. dry instant espresso or coffee
1/4 cup boiling water
3 TBS. whipping cream
1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Finely chop the chocolate in a food processor. Transfer to a double boiler.

Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water. Add to the chocolate.

Add the whipping cream. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Remove from the heat and beat in the Grand Marnier.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

 

 

 

Fantastic Vanilla Ice Cream

Fantastic Vanilla Ice Cream
(Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed., pg. 301).

Ice cream is one of my favorite things on earth and I always have some on hand, although most of the time it is store bought. That is absolutely okay but once you experience home-made ice cream, you realize that the two are indeed separate entities. I have made some of Maida's delicious ice creams in the past (Devil's Food Chocolate and Blueberry instantly come to mind) but so far this year, had not even taken the ice cream maker out of the freezer. That is, until this week. I opted for something simple and came across this recipe.

This is a delicious ice cream but it is very, very soft and begins to melt almost immediately after being removed from the freezer. It is very rich so a little bit goes a long way. I made the Grand Mariner Chocolate Sauce to go with this and of my lord, talk about divine. I will post that recipe later.

You will need a candy thermometer.  This recipe makes 1 1/2 pints.

2 cups heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Divide the heavy cream into two separate cups.

Place one cup of the cream in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Let it stand until it achieves a wrinkled appearance.

Beat the egg yolks for a few minutes until they are pale and thick.  Gradually add the sugar and beat for an additional two minutes.

Add a little of the cream mixture to the egg yolks to temper it and then add about half of the cream to the eggs, scraping the bowl as needed.

Now add the egg mixture to the remaining cream that was left in the double boiler and place it back on medium heat.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape and stir the mixture until it reaches 180 degrees. Be sure and scrape the bottom of the pan as well.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl.  Stir until slightly cooled and add the vanilla extract and the remaining one cup of heavy cream.

Chill for an hour before putting it in your ice cream maker. Follow the directions for your machine (mine takes about 20 minutes).

Pepper Pound Cake

Pepper Pound Cake

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 168.

This Jamaican pound cake is a bit different from others that I have tried. The flavoring of allspice and black pepper give it a very unique taste. It is made with cream cheese and butter and has a fine texture. It is a breeze to make. I used a Bundt pan but a tube pan can be used. I served this with Grand Marnier soaked strawberries and a bit of cream. Very good!

3 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/2 lb. butter (softened)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. allspice

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1 TBS. vanilla extract

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

7 eggs

3 cups sifted cake flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray or butter and dust a 9 inch tube pan or Bundt pan.

Cream the butter and the cream cheese with the salt, allspice, pepper and vanilla. Add both sugars. Mix well, beating for 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time on higher speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The mixture will be very light. On low speed, slowly add the flour, beating until smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

Bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean (my cake was done in 1 hour, Maida advises 1 hour and 20 minutes!).

The cake will crack at the top - this is normal. 

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack and allowing to cool completely. Let it stand 8 hours or more (overnight is good) before serving.

 

Biscotti Cioccolato

Biscotti Cioccolato
Source: Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 237.

It has been a long time since I've made biscotti. In Maida's book "The Brand New Book of Great Cookies", she devotes an entire chapter to biscotti. I've tried three of them (Palm Beach Biscotti, Macadamia Shortbread Biscotti and Barbara's Milk Chocolate Biscotti). All were delicious. In checking my dates, I see that the last one I made was in 2013! That seems inconceivable but there it is.

I was recently corresponding with a fellow Maida fan and she highly recommended this recipe which is from another book (Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever). This "Biscotti Cioccolato" was featured in a New York Times article. And my friend is right, it is fabulous with a rich, chocolate flavor and it smells divine when baking.

I was afraid to try biscotti the first time I made it but it happens to be very easy. It is time-consuming because you have to bake it twice (but hey, at least you don't have to blanch the almonds). It feels like a strange thing to do and I wonder how someone came up with the idea. Surely it was a mistake that turned out to be delicious.

1 1/4 cups whole unblanched almonds

3 large eggs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 cups sifted unbleached flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp. white pepper

1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)

2 TBS. instant espresso or coffee powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350. Toast the almonds for 12 minutes and set aside. Line two cookie sheets with foil.

Beat the eggs with the brown sugar and the vanilla and almond extracts.

In a mixer bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, ginger, cocoa powder, espresso and sugar.

Place the chocolate in a food processor. Add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture and process for one minute.

Now you have three mixtures - the flour mixture, the chocolate/flour mixture and the egg/brown sugar mixture.

Place the flour mixture into the mixer bowl and add the chocolate/flour mixture and the egg/brown sugar mixture -

Beat in the nuts -

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Lightly sift a bit of flour over the top of the dough. Cut the dough in half.

Lightly flour all sides and turn the dough a few times and then form it into an oval shape about 10 inches long -

Carefully transfer the dough to the cookie sheet. The dough may be soft so do it slowly.

Repeat the procedure with the remaining dough -

Bake both sheets at the same time for 50 minutes, reversing the sheets about halfway through.

Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 275. Transfer the biscotti to a cutting board and cut it into 1" strips with a serrated knife -

Place the cookies cut side down on the cookie sheets again and put them back in the oven. Bake an additional 30-40 minutes, turning them over about halfway through.

Cool completely. If desired, you can ice one side of the biscotti with melted bittersweet chocolate ( a 4 ounce bar should be enough).

I iced about half of them and of course I liked the chocolate covered ones best of all!