Truffles

I love truffles but I've always been afraid to try making them myself. Something about the words "double boiler" always scared me. Silly. I made these today for Krynn for Valentine's Day and they were really easy. I found the recipe on one of my favorite blogs: My Baking Addiction. I would love to bake every recipe on that site. Which would be bad because we'd never eat anything but sweets. Yum.

Basic Truffles

12 ounces chocolate, chopped (semisweet or bittersweet)

3 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/3 c. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a double boiler over barely simmering water, combine chocolate, butter and cream. Heat until melted and stir until smooth.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. (Claire started screaming at this point and I forgot this step. They were still good without, but I wish I had put in the vanilla.)

3. Pour into a shallow casserole dish and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about two hours.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small scoop or melon baller (I used my smallest cookie scoop) scoop out chocolate mixture and roll into one-inch balls. Place on prepared baking sheet. Roll balls in your desired coating. I used sprinkles, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: About 30 truffles.

Here is a link to the original recipe: Truffles. The blogger provides some good tips and ideas for making these extra special.

Chocolate Mellow Bars

Colored marshmallows are highly favored in our house by one little girl in particular. I wanted to make these candies during Christmas with her, but I ran out of time so we made them a couple of weeks ago instead. I remember Mom making these when we were little. I tweaked her recipe a little bit. These are also called Cathedral Windows and are meant to resemble the stained glass window panes in a church. I think they'd be really fun for Valentine's Day with pink mini marshmallows. You could pick out all of the pink ones from the package. Or you could have a little preschooler do it for you. They'd love it!

Ingredients:

8 ounces chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg, beaten

3 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds)

1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

Melt chocolate chips and butter in a saucepan on low heat. Add egg; mix well. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Combine marshmallows and nuts in a large bowl. Pour chocolate mixture over the nuts and marshmallows. Cut two 13 x 9 inch pieces of wax paper. Divide coconut and sprinkle half of it down the length of each piece of wax paper. Divide the chocolate mixture in half and shape each piece into a log on top of the coconut. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Roll up like a jelly roll. Freeze one hour. Unroll and slice into 1 1/2 thick pieces.

No Knead Bread

I got this recipe from my teacher (she is my favorite, see below), who brought it to a party we had at the end of last semester. I finally tried and loved it. She said that I couldn't mess this one up, and I didn't! So easy and soooo yummy! I halved the recipe, just to try it and totally wish I would have made the whole recipe!

Courtesy of Tamara Vitale

6C Flour

3C Cold water

1T Salt

1/2 tsp Rapid-rise yeast

Cornmeal for sprinkling

Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water till the mixture is blended. The dough will be loose and wet. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature 12 to 19 hours– the longer the better.

Flour your hands and sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour. Turn the dough over on itself a couple times. Form the dough into a ball using as little flour as possible. The dough will seem somewhat fluid but it will form a ball. (It's tempting to use a lot of flour here but don't. The dough should stay moist.)

Place the dough on a smooth-surface sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour or cornmeal, then cover it with a smooth-textured towel. Let the dough rise until doubled (about 2 or 3 hours).

At least a half hour before the dough has finished rising, place a Dutch oven with a lid in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Remove the pot from the oven and carefully place the dough in the Dutch oven. Shake the pot to distribute the dough evenly. Replace the lid and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes or until the top is golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely before slicing.

Bacon Cheddar Scones

To me,a scones fits in somewhere between a biscuit and a muffin. I actually never knew what a scone was until about ten years ago when I made a recipe for what I thought was a fried scone like you'd find at the fair and it turned out to be this kind of scone, the kind you find at Starbucks. It was a nice surprise and I've been hooked ever since. These scones are surprisingly light and tender, yet very filling.

(Adapted from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 - 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

4 green onions, thinly sliced

10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces

1 - 1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Egg wash:

1 large egg

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add butter and cut with pastry blender or two knives until butter is pea-sized. Stir in grated cheese. Mix in the green onions, bacon and 1 cup of buttermilk. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is too dry to come together, mix in the remaining buttermilk a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8-inch circle. Slice the dough into 8 wedges.

In a small bowl combine the egg and water and whisk together. Brush each wedge lightly with the egg wash. Place scones on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

New York Cheesecake

During the holidays, my mother-in-law and I made the Famous Borjas Cheesecake. The Borjas cheesecake is very traditional, in fact, it's practically a member of the family. It shows up at important family events and celebrations. It's been around since the early 1950's. And I can't deny it's good, but for me, it's temperamental. I have about a 30% success rate with it. So I decided to find out the the secret of this cheesecake, you know, why it only works sometimes. And I found an interesting tidbit: the difference between the New York cheesecake and other kinds of cheesecake, is the thin layer of sour cream on top. I also found a new recipe fairly similar to the Borjas Cheesecake and some cheesecake cooking tips. The girls and I had to try the new recipe. We made it and felt so rebellious! It worked perfectly and was so good.

(adapted from Joy of Baking.com)

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Filling Ingredients:

32 ounces (4 - 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature (do not used reduced fat cream cheese)

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream (not low fat or fat free)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour in mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth, (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat on low until mixed. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake on a cookie sheet and set on the center rack in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continue to back for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. This tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day. Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauces.

To freeze: Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm. Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag. Seal and return to freezer. Can be frozen for several months. Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight.

Tips: To help prevent the surface of the cheesecake from cracking, do not overbeat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. Also, do not overbake. Your cheesecake is down when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. Finally, make sure the springfrom an is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools.

Rolo Cookies

These are the new favorite cookies at our house. Alayna loves to help me make them, and they are so yummy right when they come out of the oven, when the caramel is still gooey. Also great dunked in milk. I got this recipe from thenerdswife.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 pkg Rolos
A bit of sugar for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Unwrap the Rolo candies.
Beat sugars and butter until fluffy.
Add vanilla and eggs to mixture.
beat until combined.
Combine flour, cocoa, and soda.
Add flour mixture to fluffy mixture.
Shape about a teaspoon of dough around each Rolo.
Be sure to cover it completely.
You want it to be about the size of a golf ball.
Optional- Press one side of the dough ball into the leftover sugar. Place sugar-side up on a baking sheet, about two inches apart.
Bake 8-10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Cucumber Spread

Grayson's nurse has been losing weight by eating healthier food in proper portion sizes and exercising. So since it's January and all, and we're in sugar detox mode from the holidays, Olivia and I have decided to give it a try, too. We had salad last night and tonight I made some pita sandwiches -- with whole wheat pita bread, tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, and some left over shredded beef. I am sure we would have immediately died if we were to cut back cold turkey, so I had to make this spread to make sure we would all survive through the night. I would have used plain non-fat yogurt if I would have had it--actually, no I wouldn't have. It just cannot replace the cream cheese without some major bad side effects. Forget it. This is good. Spread it on wraps, bagel sandwiches, pita sandwiches, or a toasted baguette.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Kosher salt to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate.

*Dave got a new mini food processor from a coworker for Christmas. I was so elated! I've never had a food processor. I chopped the cucumbers in the processor and then added all the remaining ingredients and wa-lah, it was done. I would recommend your coworker give you one for Christmas next year.