Dried Cranberry Sticky Toffee Pudding

Reminiscent of Christmas Puddings from the past this pudding is the perfect fit 

for a holiday treat.  Pat brought over four individual puddings along

 with the toffee sauce as a finale to our New Year's Eve dinner celebration.  

Thank you Pat and Grant.

For the puddings:

1 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.  Add the vanilla and baking soda.

Add the dried cranberries and set aside to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Lightly beat the eggs and gradually add to the butter mixture. Lightly mix the flour and baking powder together and gently fold into the batter.  Fold into the cranberry mixture.

Puddings can be baked individually in ramekins or muffin cups and size 

can vary according to what you have available.

This recipe makes 8 half cup ramekins.  Butter and flour the ramekins or muffin cups.

Bake at 350 for  25 to 30 minutes.

Toffee Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

Combine the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and stir over low heat 

until the sugar dissolves.  Simmer until the sauce thickens.  

To serve remove the puddings from the ramekins, invert on a plate and 

drizzle with warm toffee sauce.

The puddings can be made ahead (even frozen) but it best served warm (reheat in 300 oven).  The sauce can also be made ahead and reheated. 

Happy New Year

Jenny's Apple Custard Pie

Ingredients for Pie

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 lbs.  apples 

(Pink Lady or Honeycrisp are good options) (4 to 5 apples) (sliced for pie)

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. dark rum (optional)

1/4 tsp. table salt (divided)

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 blind baked pie crust

Ingredients for Topping

1 cup sliced almonds

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp. unsalted softened butter

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Melt butter in sauté pan.  

Add apples and 2 tbsp. of sugar. Sauté until apples are soft but not mushy.  Stir in rum and salt. 

Spread apples over the bottom of the blind baked pie crust.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, cream, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and 

remaining 1/8 tsp. salt.  Pour over apples in pie crust. 

Bake pie about 30 minutes at 325 degrees

 until custard is barely set in the centre.

For the almond topping combine almonds, sugar, softened butter

 and a pinch of salt in a bowl. 

Remove pie from oven and sprinkle with topping.

Return pie to oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until custard is almost set but still slightly jiggly in the centre.  Cool pie completely before slicing. Can be refrigerated but remove from fridge to serve at room temperature.

NOTE:  Topping can be varied.  Another variation would be a topping that would be used for apple crisp (flour, sugar and butter OR flour, oats, sugar and butter). 

Other nuts could be used for the topping as well.

Enjoyed this pie at Jenny's in Boylston on a Pre Christmas Visit 2024.

Crockpot Pierogi Casserole

 On our pre Christmas visit with the Lewis Crew 2024 we chatted about pierogi comfort food and Jenny shared this recipe.  Grandmaman is hoping to try it out soon as who can resist pierogies, cheddar cheese and kielbasa on a winter's eve.

Ingredients

about 36 frozen cheddar pierogies

4 cups chicken broth

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 kielbasa sausage (sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

Layer 3 cups of chicken broth, frozen pierogies, sliced kielbasa

 and shredded cheddar cheese in 4-6 quart crockpot.

Set the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6 hours.

Prepare the cream cheese mixture 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.  Warm the block of cream cheese (in microwave or on stovetop) with the remaining one cup of chicken broth. Once warmed whisk the mixture until smooth.

Pour the smooth cream cheese mixture into the crockpot, stirring well to integrate.  Sprinkle the remaining cup of shredded cheddar cheese over the top.  

Cover the crockpot and set it to cook on low for an additional 30 minutes, 

Serve the casserole hot, garnished with sliced green onions if desired.