Grasshopper Pie or See You Later Alligator Pie

Crust

1 1/4 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

Mix and press into a pie plate, cake pan or spring form pan.  

Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  

These amounts (filling and crust) are for a regular pie plate.

Filling

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup sugar

dash salt

1/2 cup cold water

 3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup creme de menthe

1/4 cup creme de cacao

1 cup whipping cream

Mix the gelatin, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, water and egg yolks.  Stir well til gelatin is dissolved and thickens slightly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in liqueurs.  Chill.  Beat egg whites stiff. Add remaining sugar and beat until very stiff, fold in gelatin and whipped cream.  Turn into shell.  Chill 2 hrs in freezer or overnight in fridge.

Fruit Pizza

4 cups crushed cereal (Rice Chex, Chocolate Chex, 

Corn Chex, HoneyNut Chex or Cinnamon Chex for gluten free)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup soft butter

1 beaten egg

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

sliced fruit (strawberries, kiwi, blueberries)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  

In a large bowl, mix sugars, peanut butter, butter, egg and vanilla.  Stir in crushed cereal.  Spread in an ungreased 12 inch pizza pan or a flan pan.  

Bake for about 10 minutes.  Cool the crust.

Cream the cream cheese with the powdered sugar.

Once the crust is cooled, spread the cream cheese mixture 

evenly over the top of the crust.

Add the sliced fruit to the pizza.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Lemon Scones

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs.  Whisk buttermilk with egg; add to flour mixture, stirring with fork to make a soft dough.  Avoid overmixing.

With lightly floured hands, press dough into a ball.  Turn out onto floured surface; knead gently 10 times. Avoid overkneading. Pat out into 3/4 inch (2cm) thick round.  Using 1 3/4 inch (4.5 cm) floured round or fluted cookie cutter cut out rounds. I used a larger cookie cutter, about 3 inches.  Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Topping: Brush scones with lightly beaten egg; sprinkle with sugar.  Bake in 400 degree F oven just until bottoms are golden, about 12 minutes.  Let cool on pan on rack.

Serve with strawberries and whipping cream.  Strawberries can be sweetened with sugar and flavored with lemon zest (about 1 tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. lemon zest to 2 cups sliced strawberries).

Tasty served with afternoon tea.

To change it up, try mini chocolate scones.  Reduce the flour to 2 cups and add 1/2 cup cocoa powder.  Increase the sugar to 1/4 cup.  Omit the lemon zest.

Chocolate Earl Grey Caramels

Unsalted butter for the pan

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (99% dark preferable), finely chopped

1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves, finely ground

2 tablespoons cacao nibs, crushed (optional)

Line a 9 x 9 pan with 9 x 17 piece of parchment paper.  The paper will droop over the sides.  Butter well.

Stir together the cream, sugar, corn syrup and salt together in a heavy bottom pan. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until it reaches 250 F.  Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes.

Add chocolate and tea.  Stir together and pour into the pan and spread with an offset spatula.  Gently press on cacao nibs and let the caramel sit for a few hours.

Cut apart into 1 inch squares.  Serve or store in an airtight container.

A few tips

The first time I tried the recipe I used my double boiler as I thought it would prevent burning.  It took what seemed like forever to get the mixture to a boil, I never did reach quite 250 degrees and the caramels turned out quite soft.  The second time I tried the recipe I put the pan directly on the heat.  It quickly came to a boil and only took about 10 minutes to achieve 250 degrees.  The caramels were solid, yet still soft......perfect.

I found the cacao nibs at Nutters and apparently they are very good for you although too bitter to eat right out of the bag.

I used whipping cream for the heavy cream and white corn syrup for light corn syrup.

Great for a "tea party".

Bavarian Cheese Cake

Crust 

1/2 cup butter

 1/3 cup sugar

 1 cup flour 

1/4 tsp vanilla

Pat in pie plate or flan pan (bottom and up sides).

Filling

 1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

8 oz cream cheese

Whip until smooth and pour onto crust.

Chop 3 or 4 medium apples (peeled and cored)

 for top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

After a day of scootering and cycling nothing tastes better than a slice of 

chocolately, chocolately, chocolately cake.

(gluten free)

Cake Ingredients

six  1 oz squares of semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Glaze Ingredients

two 1 oz squares of semi-sweet chocolate

1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp. milk or light coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp. honey or Agave syrup

To Make the Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 7 inch tart pan, springform pan or round cake pan 

by lining the bottom with parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray.

In a double boiler, melt and stir the chocolate squares and the butter

 until just melted and smooth.

Add the sugar and salt and cook while stirring for about a minute

 until the sugar starts to dissolve.

Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the eggs one at a time.

  The mixture will be smooth and glossy.

Use a mesh hand sieve to sift the cocoa into the mixture.  

Continue to whisk the batter until mixed in and smooth again.  

Whisk in the vanilla.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake.  The cake should be just firm to the touch.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert on to a plate.

To Prepare the Glaze

Melt the 2 squares of chocolate and the butter together in the double boiler.  When melted and smooth remove the pan from the heat.  Add the milk, honey and vanilla and stir until smooth.  Let the glaze cool for about 3 minutes before pouring it onto the cake.  Pour all the glaze into the middle of the cake.  Then using a rubber spatula spread the glaze letting it drip down the sides.

Serves 6

Chocolate Pudding

This chocolate pudding makes a yummy Valentine dessert.

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

3 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a saucepan stir cocoa, sugar, salt and cornstarch. (I used the double boiler which takes much longer to heat to boiling but requires less careful watching.)  Add milk slowly and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.  It may be frothy on top.  When mixture comes to a boil, boil one more minute.  Take off heat and add butter and vanilla.  Once the butter is melted and mixed in, pour or scoop the pudding into a bowl or individual dishes to cool.  

Press plastic wrap on the top of the pudding to keep a skin from forming.  

Chill 3 to 4 hours.  Serve as is or with whipping cream and/or fruit, chocolate shavings, chocolate kisses, etc. 

This recipe is gluten free.