Tag Archives: Dinner Party

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Delicious End to 2010

January 4, 2011 Keep It Sweet 36 Comments

As I take a look at some of the last month’s activities I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that my pants don’t fit…

We had our 5th annual Thanksgiving with Friends

(the infamous dinner with 8 desserts)

Had and fulfilled intense cookie cravings

Tried to make the perfect cookie

Baked the Brown Eyed Baker’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Not pictured but worth mentioning, made Jessica’s Cookie Dough Dip in Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Fudge

Went home to visit with family

The sister made chocolate covered pretzels

Dad gave me photography lessons

Mom made a zillion cakes

(Outrageous Brownie with Peanut Butter Icing and Chocolate Ganache)

(Pumpkin Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream and Cinnamon Whipped Cream)

(The third cake was a Chocolate Cake with Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercream)

Went home again for the 14th Annual Christmas Eve Brunch with my best friends from home

It snowed, so I rushed to the train to beat the blizzard

And since it was snowing, I had to make a trifle

We celebrated New Year’s Eve

With Frozen Yogurt Pie

And Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwiches

This delicious food and the fun events with family and friends was definitely worth gaining a few pounds. Better keep reminding myself as I fill up on vegetables over the next few weeks;-)

What memorable food did you eat this holiday season?

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Ice Cream Pie with a New Year’s Eve Worthy Topping

January 1, 2011 Keep It Sweet 37 Comments

A few months ago I received a few coupons for free Stonyfield’s ice cream or frozen yogurt. I finally used the coupons just in time for their expiration date and was inspired to use my frozen yogurts to make a New Year’s Eve dessert. I’ll leave a full review of the yogurt for a separate post, but I am very happy with the delicious dessert I came up with.

You are looking at layers of crunchy gingersnap crust, pumpkin frozen yogurt, and chocolate frozen yogurt topped with a salted caramel cream sauce. I came up with the dessert because chocolate and pumpkin are some of my favorite flavors, but as soon as I created it I realized that this mimics my favorite cheesecake bar. Ok, so it wasn’t the first time using these flavors, but I promise that it was worth the lack of creativity for an excuse to make the topping. This Frozen Pumpkin and Chocolate Yogurt Pie with Salted Caramel Cream Sauce was a very worthy end to 2010.

I love that the filling to this pie is fat free frozen yogurt, because it makes you think you are being really healthy. Never mind that the crust has half a stick of butter in it and the sauce is based on sugar, butter and heavy whipping cream. Details, details. Moderation is key, or so they say.

The pie is really easy to make. The sauce is a little more challenging. I simplified it after my first attempt where I ended up with rock-hard chunks of sugar and butter. It took a lot of soaking to clean that pot!

First thing to do is run your gingersnap crumbs through a food processor

Grind until the cookies are mostly fine crumbs

Melt the butter

And mix it with the cookie crumbs

Next, add sugar

When the crust is fully mixed, press it down into a 9-inch spring-form pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

Bake for about 8 minutes or until firm

Allow the crust to cool and put the vanilla frozen yogurt in a medium bowl

The vanilla is the base for your pumpkin layer

Fold in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice until well combined

Spread pumpkin layer over crust and freeze for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile, remove the chocolate frozen yogurt from the freezer so that it is softened

Spread chocolate yogurt over the pumpkin and freeze covered with foil until ready to serve

To make the caramel, begin by heating sugar over low to medium heat in a small sauce pan

Add butter

Stir butter and sugar until butter is melted and fully combined with sugar

Reduce the heat to low and add cream

Stir continuously until mixture bubbles

Then remove pot from heat and stir in corn syrup

Add salt and stir

The sauce will be a thick liquid that hardens as it cools; store it in the refrigerator and microwave on a low setting to re-heat

When it is time to serve the dessert, carefully remove outside of springform pan

Cut slices and drizzle with caramel cream sauce

When no one is looking, steal some extra sauce for cookies, fruit, your finger…

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Frozen Pumpkin and Chocolate Yogurt Pie with Salted Caramel Cream Sauce

Sauce adapted from the Serendipity Sundaes cookbook

Serves 8-12

Pie Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 25 cookies)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups vanilla frozen yogurt (I used Stonyfield fat free vanilla)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning

2 cups chocolate frozen yogurt (I used Stonyfield fat free chocolate)

Pie Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, set aside

To make the crust, grind up about 25 gingersnaps in a food processor until fine; set cookie crumbs aside

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and pour over cookie crumbs

Add 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and mix until well combined

Pour mixture into springform pan

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until firm

Remove from oven and allow to cool

Remove vanilla frozen yogurt from freezer a few minutes before use

Place the yogurt into a bowl and fold in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice until well combined

Spread pumpkin layer over crust and freeze for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile, remove the chocolate frozen yogurt from the freezer so that it is softened

Spread chocolate yogurt over the pumpkin and freeze covered with foil until ready to serve

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon sea salt

Sauce Directions:

Heat sugar over low to medium heat in a small sauce pan

Add butter; stir until butter is melted and fully combined with sugar

Reduce the heat to low and add cream; stir continuously until mixture bubbles

Remove pot from heat and stir in corn syrup

Add salt and stir

When it is time to serve the dessert, carefully remove outside of springform pan

Cut slices and drizzle with caramel cream sauce

Notes:

The sauce is best served immediately; if not, store it in the refrigerator and microwave on a low setting to re-heat at 15 second intervals stirring in-between

The sauce will firm up over the ice cream, don’t worry, that is supposed to happen!

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I hope that everyone enjoys a happy and healthy New Year!

What dessert did you have for New Year’s Eve?

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How do You Define the Perfect Cookie?

December 23, 2010 Keep It Sweet 31 Comments

Who doesn’t like a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie? No one I know. At the same time, if you put 100 people together in a room and had them each describe their perfect chocolate chip cookie, you would get 100 different answers. My dad, for one, LOVES crispy cookies. He likes to bite into a chocolate chip cookie and have it crunch and crumble inside his mouth. My mom would take half-baked if you had them. Who needs to wait for cookies to bake and cool when you can take them out of the oven after a few minutes when they are gooey, warm and delicious? My sister will take her cookie and eat around the chocolate chips (who is she?). And the Husband, he is happy as long as you give him a glass of milk to dunk into.

I am somewhere in between. While I don’t love extra crispy cookies, I can recognize their appeal. And really, who can resist warm and melty cookie dough?! There is a time and a place for all forms of chocolate chip cookies, and yes that includes a plain old Chips Ahoy in times of desperation.

However, right now, I am on a quest to reinvent the most delicious chocolate chip cookie I have ever had. Every year someone sends the most amazing cookies to our office, and let me tell you, I don’t eat office treats unless I think they are really worth it. These cookies, worth it. They are dense and chewy with the perfect hint of salt and a lot of chocolate chips. Something about them is so addicting. I’ll go into the kitchen and grab one, because look at me, I can eat just one cookie. But about two seconds after I take that last bite, I am back for more, because who am I kidding, I can’t eat just one cookie.

On my way to figuring out a recipe to recreate this “perfect” cookie, I found something quite different, but quite tasty. These Doughy Chocolate Chunk Cookies are about as addicting. To me, they exemplify the flavors of freshly mixed cookie dough in baked cookie form. Moist, chewy, doughy and slightly underbaked with the perfect amount of big chocolate chunks. I used Christmas colored dark chocolate M&M’s to give them a festive appeal and chunks of milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses for the sweet contrast. Any form of chocolate chip would work just as well.

To begin, lightly chop your Kisses and set aside

Combine flour with the other dry ingredients

Whisk together and set aside

Next, combine the butter and sugars until light and fluffy

Then, add your eggs and vanilla and combine well

Reduce the speed of your mixer to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients

Scrape your bowl a couple of times to make sure flour is fully mixed in

Stir chocolate pieces into your batter

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight

Use a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon for cookies

Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Once done, allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack

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Doughy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup dark chocolate M&M’s

1 cup milk Hershey’s Kisses, lightly chopped

Directions:

Lightly chop Hershey’s Kisses; set aside

Combine flour with the other dry ingredients and whisk together; set aside

Next, combine the butter and sugars; beat well until light and fluffy

Then, add your eggs and vanilla and combine well

Reduce the speed of your mixer to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients

Stir chocolate pieces into your batter

Chill your dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight

Once ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper

Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges; cookies will not change color much

Set the cookies aside on cooling racks

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Any tips for me on making this “perfect” cookie? I am having trouble finding that dense chewy texture that was so enjoyable.

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Chocolate and Peanut Butter Love

December 19, 2010 Keep It Sweet 39 Comments

I love peanut butter. If a day goes by where I don’t have it, I experience withdrawal symptoms. A few days without it? Don’t mess with me.

As much as I loved being in Italy for my honeymoon this summer, going without peanut butter for almost two weeks may have been enough to convince me that getting back to real life still kind of sucks isn’t so bad after all.

Oatmeal with peanut butter? Good. Banana and peanut butter? Yum. Ants on a log? Underrated children’s snack. Chocolate and peanut butter? The pair should have its own show.

You may remember that my Thanksgiving with Friends featured eight desserts. I enjoyed coming up with a fun and delicious variety of pick-up baked goods, but was stuck when it came to THE peanut butter and chocolate item. You have seen my fan favorite cookie bar and the peanut butter brownies with chocolate ganache. So have my friends. Both items were a hit, so I knew when it came to my peanut butter loving friends, I was going to have to outdo myself.

Well, I did. If you are human like peanut butter and chocolate, you are going to LOVE these. The one upside to marrying a crazy wonderful man who DISLIKES peanut butter? More for me!

These Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling start with a rich chewy cookie dough, used here, and are slathered with a creamy peanut butter filling that is irresistible. Salty and sweet, chewy and creamy. Oh, and these cookies are even good eaten right out of the freezer, not that I would know. Have I mentioned my pants don’t fit?

Begin by making the cookies

Mix together the dry ingredients- flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, and set aside

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer

Beat until light and fluffy

Beat in the sugar, eggs and vanilla

Mix well

Gradually add your dry ingredients with mixer on low, then mix at medium speed until well-combined

Next up, milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir in the chips

Use a cookie dough scoop for the most uniform cookies

A tablespoon will also work; beware, the dough will be sticky when shaping into balls

Cookies will flatten while baking, that is expected

Let them cool on wire racks

While cookies are cooling, make your filling

Cream softened butter until light and smooth

Add peanut butter and cream some more

Beware of the incredible aroma

Mix in sugar

When mixture is smooth and creamy, it is done

Time to make your sandwiches

Slather a tablespoon or two onto the bottom of one cookie

Cover with another cookie and gently press down

Repeat

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Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

Cookie recipe from Hershey’s

Makes ~2 dozen cookie sandwiches

Cookie Ingredients:

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

1 ¼ cup (2 ½ stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups granulated Sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 3/4 cup salted natural creamy peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

Cookie Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375

Mix together the dry ingredients, except for sugar, and set aside

Cream butter and sugar

Beat in the, eggs and vanilla

Gradually add dry ingredients with mixer on low; then mix at medium speed until well-combined

Stir in chocolate chips

Drop dough in heaping tablespoons on baking sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes or until cookies are slightly puffy

Let cool on cooling rack

Filling Directions:

Beat butter until light and creamy

Beat in peanut butter

Mix in confectioners sugar on low speed and then beat until light and fluffy

Sandwich Directions:

When cookies are cool, spread one to two tablespoons of filling on the bottom of a cookie

Top with a second cookie and lightly press down

Repeat

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Do you know anyone that can resist peanut butter and chocolate?

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Extra is Better

December 12, 2010 Keep It Sweet 35 Comments

This recipe was a complete accident. I was making Cookie Dough Topped Brownies and feeling over-confident in my memory of the brownie ingredients. When I got past the step of stirring in sugar, I realized something was wrong. The batter was much thicker than it should be.

Fortunately, I realized that my mistake was adding 50% more sugar than the recipe called for. Rather than throw everything away at that point, I added 50% extra of every thing else. As a result, I had an extra 9X9 pan of brownies and nothing to do with them…

Until I thought about what was in my freezer. Did you know that buttercream stores very well in the freezer? How about some White Chocolate Buttercream?

And then I looked again. Did you know that mocha ganache also freezes well? I happened to have extra from my Chocolate Chip Cookies with Mocha Ganache…

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Oh that is right, one rich chocolate brownie topped with not one, but two incredible toppings.

Thanks to a small mistake and leftovers from baking, I made Brownies with White Chocolate Buttercream and Mocha Ganache, another delicious dessert for our Thanksgiving with Friends.

Make these. No mistakes necessary.

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Brownies with White Chocolate Buttercream and Mocha Ganache

Makes 16 brownies (more if you want small pieces, brownies are very rich)

Ingredients:

Brownie (recipe from Baker’s)

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)

1 cups sugar

1 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup all purpose flour

White Chocolate Buttercream

2 ounces baking white chocolate

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 1/2 tablespoons milk (any type is fine)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Mocha Ganache

5 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate

1/4 cup extra-strong brewed coffee

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Brownies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter and chocolate in large sauce pan over low to medium heat

Stir in sugar

Stir in eggs and vanilla

Whisk in flour until smooth

Pour into a 9×9 pan lined with foil and greased or sprayed with cooking spray

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until knife comes out clean

Buttercream

While brownies are cooling, make buttercream

Combine the white chocolate and whipping cream in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat, stirring continuously

Remove from heat and stir in milk

Refrigerate for mixture for half hour

When white chocolate mixture is cool, finish making the buttercream

Beat the butter until creamy

Beat in confectioners’ sugar until butter and sugar are light and fluffy

Now beat in the cooled white chocolate mixture until buttercream is creamy and light

Spread over cooled brownies and refrigerate until buttercream hardens slightly

Ganache

While brownies with buttercream are chilling, prepare ganache

Chop up the chocolate, coarsely, and prepare extra-strong coffee

Slice up your butter and set aside

Now set up your double boiler; bring water to a simmer in medium pot over low-medium heat

Place heat-proof bowl of chocolate over the pot

Pour the coffee over your chocolate

Continuously stir until chocolate is melted and smooth

Remove bowl from heat and whisk in the butter until creamy

Then allow ganache to cool, stirring occasionally

Ganache is ready when the mixture gets nice and thick

Spread over buttercream layer

Keep brownies stored in a cool place

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What would you do with extra brownie?

Keep It Sweet Desserts

Tag Archives: Dinner Party

Delicious End to 2010

Ice Cream Pie with a New Year’s Eve Worthy Topping

How do You Define the Perfect Cookie?

Extra is Better

Cookie cakes, dessert platters, pop-ups and more!