THE PUDDING INCIDENT

What have you been up to in the kitchen?

Friday, February 29, 2008

Tirmimousse

(another TJ's recipe)
(also, I don't HAVE my cookbook, so I'm going to try to remember the recipe but it might change after I get it back from my friend)

You will need:
1/2 tub mascarpone cheese
2 tbs Marsala wine
Approx 14 oz of DARK chocolate (I used 71% cocoa)
Instant coffee
2 TBS hot water
1 pint heavy whipping creme

I *think* that is everything. Use the water to turn the instant coffee into coffee. Blend together everything except the chocolate in a blender or food processor. Melt the chocolate. I put the chocolate in a glass bowl, and put the bowl in a pot of hot/boiling water. When the cocoa is melted, dump it into the mixture and stir it until everything is a melty gooodness. Dump it into glasses and refridgerate for 2+ hours. If you would like, garnish with a strawberry or a chocolate truffle from Trader joes!

Steph's Super Fantastic Apple Pie

Pie crust for 9" pie plate-you'll need top and bottom
5 large or 7 small Rome apples, sliced
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
6 slices of butter

Slice Rome apples and arrange into 1st layer in pie shell.
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl (mixture should be dark) and sprinkle mixture over sliced apples.
Repeat until apples are slightly taller than the top of the pie plate.
Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top, placing 6 slices of butter on the top.
Cover with pie crust, cut tiny slices in the top crust for ventilation.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1 hour 15 minutes, top will be brown.

Dessert for Recyclers

After Kelsey made her mocha cream puffs, there was plenty of leftover chocolate cream filling, which had a weird gluey texture. Never one to throw away perfectly edible food (even if it doesn't taste good), I devised a way to salvage these leftovers.


1 batch Chocolate Cream filling from the Mocha-filled Cream Puffs
1 pint whipping cream
1 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 dash salt
1 pound cake, sliced
Unsweetened cocoa powder

Whip the cream with sugar, vanilla, and salt until stiff but not butter. Mix half of the whipped cream with the leftover chocolate cream filling. Place half of the pound cake slices on the bottom of an 8" x 8" pan, spread with half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat layers, then top the whole creation with reserved whipped cream. Dust top with cocoa powder. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: If desired, drizzle the pound cake slices with coffee or liqueur.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Cool fact...

Even though the pictures of my desserts aren't mine...my desserts actually DID look like these ones. Hurrah!

Brownie Pudding Cake


THIS IS THE REAL ENTRY!!!! This recipe is quite deceitful as there is no pudding involved in the process. Hm.... This cake was eaten during an "The Office" marathon with my radical friends. The general consensus was that it's divine when warm, and not as good when cooled down. A quick and easy recipe. Unlike the cream puffs which were terribly hard.

Heat Oven to 350*F.
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 Cup sugar
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Cup milk
1 TBS cooking oil
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 Cup boiling water

In a bowl add flour, baking powder, 1/4 Cup sugar, and ONE TABLESPOON of cocoa powder. Add milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir till smooth and put in a small baking casserole dishy thing.

Add the remaining TWO TABLESPOONS of cocoa powder and the 1/3 Cup sugar. Gradually add the boiling water.

Pour this mixture over the batter evenly. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Eat warm with some vanilla ice cream or sweet cream of some sort.

ENJOY...it's bomb.

Mocha-Filled Cream Puffs


I made two desserts for the challenge, but this one I decided should not be considered...

I ate this with two friends. We decided, and tested to prove later, that the recipe turns out better with a few squirts of Chocolate sauce and about 1 cup of whipped cream mixed into the cream filling. You could probably do away with the coffee as well. of course, then, it would just be cream puffs, not mocha cream puffs. But here is the original recipe.

Chocolate-Filled Cream Puffs
Ingredients:
CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLING(recipe follows)
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
Directions:

2. Heat oven to 400°F. Heat water, butter and salt to rolling boil in medium saucepan. Add flour all at once; stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth and velvety. Drop batter by spoonfuls into 12 balls (about 1/4 cup) onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. While puff is warm, horizontally slice off small portion of top; reserve tops. Remove any soft pieces of dough from inside puff; cool completely on wire rack. Fill puffs with CHOCOLATE CREAM FILLING. Replace tops.

CHOCOLATE MOCHA CREAM FILLING

1-1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 Tbs Powdered Instant Coffee

1. Stir together sugar, cocoa, coffee, cornstarch and salt in medium saucepan; gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils; boil and stir 1 minute.

2. Remove from heat; gradually stir about 1 cup hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return all egg mixture to saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until cold. Do not stir. About 3 cups filling.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

February's Challenge: Dessert

It's still cold out most places and this is the month when the store shelves are full of pink and red candy. So what to do?

Let's celebrate our sweet-tooth cravings with some real desserts! The rules are as follows:

1) Make it tasty! - all cooking methods are open, all flavors and styles too. Extra credit for attempting a new technique, or putting a new twist on a flavor we might not usually find in desserts. Remember, The Pudding Incident is about being adventerous in the kitchen!

2) Share it! - we will do away with the scoring on this round, and if you enter a recipe, you are encouraged to also vote for your favorite from amongst your competitors (via comments). That said, feedback from your guinea-pigs is helpful and encouraged.

3) Post your recipe by midnight, the 29th of this month. If you would like to vote, please do so by that time as well.

Winner gets a gift card, and will be asked to contribute ideas for the next month's challenge!

(Note: Please do not add your recipes as tags when posting - we would like to keep the tags as more of a category-sorting method, so if you bake, add the baking tag, but please do not add the name of your recipe as a tag.)

Fig and Date Bread

This recipe is tried and true... and to die for!

Scant 2.5 cups whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 Tbl. salt
1 oz/30 g yeast
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 Tbl. Molasses
1.25 cups water
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
1/2 cup dates, chopped

* Makes 2 small loaves

1. Put the flours, salt, yeast, butter, molasses, and water into a bowl and mix for 5 minutes. Tip out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for 5 minutes, then put the dough back in the bowl and let rise for 1 hour.

2. Line a baking sheet. Incorporate the figs and dates into the dough, then divide into two pieces. Shape the pieces into balls, then place on the baking sheet and let rise for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 425F/220C. Dust the loaves with flour and, using a knife, make three equidistant horizontal cuts all around each ball. Bake for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool

I made a mascarpone spread and it was awesome with the bread!

1 Small container marscapone cheese
2 Tbl. honey
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract (add more if you please)

Mix all ingredients together well. Spread on bread- enjoy!

and the winner is...

Kelsey and her fabulous falafel!

She adventured out into new cooking territory, trying both new ingredients and a new recipe/cooking style, while making something that is an accessible and tasty winter-time meal.

She wins a gift card to Le Gourmet Chef, and the title of First Pudding Incident Challenge winner!

Friday, February 01, 2008

ALERT! ALERT! ALLISON!

This recipe is in my "Cooking w/ TJ's" Cookbook:

Perfectly Paired Gorgonzola Quesadillas
4 Tortillas
1 (8 oz) Pkg Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese (or maybe bleu, for the Obsessed?)
1 Pear, thinly sliced (fresh or jarred [preserved, not impacted])
1 Tbsp Butter
1 C Pear Sauce (i guess available at TJs?)
1/4 C Candied Walnuts

(from here there are a lot of instructions, but what they boil down to is this)
1. Assemble Quesadilla
2. Cook quesadilla (preferably in a cast iron skillet)

Make it and tell me how it is. K, thx.