Moraga Pear Pie

When Eric and I were visiting my family the weekend after Thanksgiving, my dad realized that he had forgotten to make one of the desserts he’d been most looking forward to (I know where my absent mindedness comes from…hi Dad!). We ended up whipping this together in no time flat and it came out of the oven just as we were getting ready to leave. It was torture having this in the car with us on the way home and not being able to eat it! Pears aren’t in season right now but this came out delicious anyways. I wouldn’t recommend making it with canned pears as they are too mushy.

According to the original cookbook, this recipe was created by an 82-year old woman who won Moraga, California’s pear recipe contest. The town of Moraga was developed on Bartlett orchards, and they celebrate their heritage by hosting an annual pear festival.

Moraga Pear Pie from The Great Book of Pears by Barbara Jeanne Flores

What You’ll Need:

• 1 unbaked, premade pie shell (or 2 shells for a covered pie)
• 5 to 6 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

After preparing the pears (pre-pear-ing?), lay them in a regular pattern in the pie shell. I started out by fanning them in a tight spiral, but eventually you will have to just fit them in wherever you can. Also, be aware that the pears will decrease in size while baking, so you want the pie to be liberally mounded over the edge of the pie shell.

[I would insert a picture of this step here, except I forgot to take one. Use your imagination.]

In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the pears. I recommend doing this with the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet as it will likely splatter all over the place.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. After that, reduce the oven temp to 350°F and continue baking for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, cover the pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Bake for an additional 30 minutes (i.e. your total bake time is 75 minutes.)

I guarantee that this is unlike any pie you’ve ever had. The consistency is completely different due to the liquid mixture that is poured over the fruits – it is almost like a pear custard. Normally I am not a huge fan of pears (gotta be honest – the gritty texture kinda freaks me out) but I will gladly eat them this way any time! You can easily switch the pears for any other fruit you’d prefer, including apples, peaches, or plums (I plan on trying this in the spring.)  Have fun experimenting, and enjoy!

Pumpkin Crunch Bars

You totally doubted me, didn’t you? You all thought I’d renege on my promise to post again so quickly!

As an inspiration for my recent pumpkin fixation, I have to show you this video. Although it’s intended for Halloween, it’s still fitting for Thanksgiving, and holy hell it is HILARIOUS. We get to slicey dice, to makea da poompkin gooch!

Bork bork bork! Can you tell how excited I am to go see the Muppets movie? SO. FREAKING. EXCITED.

This is going to be a quick post because I’ve got lots to do to get ready for the holiday, as I’m sure everyone reading this does. This is a super quick, super easy, and super delicious last-minute addition to any meal, Thanksgiving or not.

Pumpkin Pie Crunch Bars (adapted from Duncan Hines)

What You’ll Need

• 1 pkg yellow cake mix
• 1 16 oz can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 12 oz can fat free evaporated milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups Splenda (or sugar)
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350°F, and grease a 9x12 pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk, eggs, Splenda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Blend well with a fork or whisk until the mixture is smooth, then transfer into the baking pan.

Cover the surface of the pumpkin mixture with the yellow cake mix so that no pumpkin is visible and the cake mix is in an even layer. Next, scatter the chopped nuts over the cake mix.

Drizzle the melted butter over the surface of the cake mix.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the surface is golden brown and the cake mix has slightly puffed.

Let this cool until it is just warm, and serve plain or with whipped cream.

This is, essentially, a delicious, non-fruity version of a dump cake. This is almost an upside-down pumpkin pie, and I love the way the nuts add a nice bit of crunch to the overall soft texture. As much as I love pumpkin pie, I love that this takes only 10 minutes to put together but ends up tasting just as great!

And with that, I’m signing off until after the holiday. On Thursday, while in the midst of your food comas, please remember that Thanksgiving is truly about how lucky we all are to have friends, family and loved ones by our side, and a bounty of food to share and enjoy. Now go eat your hearts out!

What’s Black and White and Yummy All Over?

This is one of those recipes that I originally made a reallly long time ago, but was definitely worth the wait before it made its starring appearance here on the blog. I brought these to a birthday party at work and they were a big hit.

Black Bottom Cupcakes (adapted from here)

What You’ll Need

White Filling

• 1 (8 oz.) package fat free cream cheese
• 1 egg (or ¼ cup egg substitute)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Black Filling

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup water
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

What To Do

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin with Pam or butter, or, alternately, line with paper cups.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the ingredients for the white filling (cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt.) Fold in the chocolate chips afterwards.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the black filling (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.)

Gradually add the wet ingredients (water, vinegar, oil, vanilla) to the dry mix. Mix well; the batter will be thin.

Fill the muffin cups ⅓ full with the chocolate batter. Top with one large spoonful of the white filling.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

You’ll know these are done when the white portion of the cupcakes starts to turn a slight golden brown.

Although it may be sacrilege to say this, I’m not a huge cheesecake fan. I find its richness to be overwhelming, and I can usually only get through a bite or two of the pure, unadulterated versions. I do, however, love the flavor when there’s something else to cut through the creaminess of cheesecake, and these were a perfect example. The strong but not overpowering chocolate portion is a great counterpart to the cheesecake portion, and the chocolate chips provide enough texture to keep these from getting too mushy of a texture.

On top of the great taste, they look pretty darned impressive when you’re eating them. Everyone you share them with will be sure to think you spent much longer slaving away in the kitchen than you actually did – don’t spill the beans that these are a cinch to cook!

Chocolate Overload Cake

Whether or not you’re a fan of the holiday, Valentine’s Day is always a great excuse to eat inordinately large amounts of chocolate. Currently in my house, I have half of an Edible Arrangements chocolate-dipped fruit bouquet, chocolate-dipped, candy-crusted pretzels, chocolate-dipped peanut butter pretzels, maple crème eggs, marshmallow chocolate hearts, and the list goes on…

Despite the fact that most of this was around on Monday, I still wanted to make a special dessert to go with the fancy dinner I cooked for Eric and I. Going with the chocolate theme, I picked this cake because it sounded so over-the-top chocolatey that I couldn’t resist it.  Although I made a couple changes, you can find the original recipe for the cake here and the glaze here.

Chocolate Overload Cake

What You’ll Need

Cake:

• 1 package Devil’s Food Cake mix
• 1 small package fat free, sugar free instant chocolate pudding
• 1 cup fat free sour cream
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup Egg Beaters or egg substitute (or 4 regular eggs)
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 cups (equivalent to 1 bag) semisweet mini chocolate chips

Glaze:

• ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ tbsp butter
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• Confectioner’s sugar for decoration

Preheat your oven to 350F. Generously grease a Bundt pan or two 9-inch cake pans.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the dry cake mix and instant pudding. Add the oil, applesauce, eggs, and water.  Mix well until no clumps remain. The batter will be slightly thick and stiff, but fluffy.

Dump in the mini chocolate chips, and mix until thoroughly distributed.

Transfer the batter to the greased cake pan (I used a bundt pan, and I’d recommend using this shape if possible as it holds the glaze well later on).

The original recipe said to cook this for 50-55 minutes, so I set my timer for 53 minutes.  Apparently my oven resides on the planet Sucktastica, because at that point the top looked cooked but it was still visibly liquidy when I tapped it with my finger. It took me another 10-15 minutes for a toothpick to come out clean when I poked a couple different places – if you use this method, just be aware that you might poke a melty chocolate chip. There is a difference between uncooked batter and melted chocolate on your toothpick – you don’t want to overbake the cake! Regardless, I don’t think this an issue with the recipe, more just with my oven, so try the suggested time before changing what you do.

When I took the cake out, it had risen to about the top of the pan and smelled amazing.

It’s important to let this cool for AT LEAST an hour before you flip it out of the pan.  To do so, place a cutting board or large plate over the pan, then invert it.  My cake popped out with no problem whatsoever – this is where liberal use of your nonstick cooking spray really comes in handy.

While this is cooling for another 5 or 10 minutes, make the glaze. Place the chocolate chips and butter into a microwave safe bowl, and heat on high for 45 seconds.  You’ll note that I didn’t include the corn syrup listed in the original recipe. mostly because I didn’t have any at home and I forgot to buy some at the grocery store.  I didn’t miss it at all, and will omit it in the future.  Mix the chips well after microwaving them once. Add the vanilla, then microwave for another 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth.  My chocolate chips are related to my oven and also reside on Sucktastica, so they didn’t melt so much as turn into a spongy chocolate mass.  I thinned them out with some milk and it tasted great.  I drizzled the glaze all over the top of the cake and let it drip down the edges, then dusted the top with confectioner’s sugar.

The glaze will harden almost immediately, forming a shell over the top of the cake. When you cut into this cake, the first thing you’ll notice are the myriad of tiny chocolate chips scattered throughout.

This is where it’s crucial to use the mini chips, and not the regular size.  Regular chips are too heavy, and the batter can’t support their weight while baking, so they will sink to the bottom. While still tasty, it won’t let you get little pops of chocolate in each and every bite!

This cake is unbelievably moist, and I’ve tried to make it as “healthy” as possible by subbing out half of the oil and all of the eggs the original recipe called for, as well as using fat free sour cream.  You could easily use applesauce for all of the oil without changing the consistency or texture of this cake. It’s rich, so you won’t want to serve giant slices, but it is delicious and was the perfect way to end our Valentine’s Day with.  Make it for your next party, church social, or for a special treat in the middle of a stressful work week!

Cake Wreck

At this point, you might be wondering why, after so many successful recipes, I decided to call this blog The Recipe For Disaster.  Wonder no more.

Remember this?

How it was so pretty, and white, and WHOLE?

This past week, I decided to make the snowflake cake for a coworker’s goodbye party. The cakes, a cinch. The frosting? Not so much.

I started out by making the pudding frosting as before. This time, though, it didn’t set well – I think I overbeat the Cool Whip and it lost its consistency.  After putting some in between the two cakes for the middle layer, I was wary of putting it on the top and sides of the cake, for fear that it would all slide off.  I tried adding more pudding mix – no go.  After much cursing and hair-wringing, I decided to just make a regular vanilla buttercream icing using butter and confectioner’s sugar.

I iced the cake on the top and sides, and breathed a sigh of relief.  The cake looked perfect.

And then.

AND THEN.



A giant seismic cakequake caused the entire top layer to break in two and slide to opposite sides of the plate.

COMMENCE FULL ON PANIC. I tried to reposition the two halves and fill in the gap with more frosting so that it might stick together.  It almost worked, until the two halves had a fight and decided to split up.



By now, hysteria had set in.  It was almost midnight, and this cake was supposed to be eaten for a work function in a mere 12 hours.  Eric was extremely supportive, exclaiming how it was fine, NO ONE WOULD NOTICE, and I should bring it in as is. HAHAHAHA. How cute.

Accepting defeat, I decided that the ultimate solution lay in the above average bakery at my local ShopRite.  Not wanting all my hard work to go to waste, I decorated the “cake” with the raspberries and white chocolate snowflakes I had on standby.



This caused Eric to gleefully state that I should mess up cakes all the time, because then we get to eat the mistakes! And in truth, he’s right – despite looking like a raspberry volcano, this was just as delicious as the first successful version.

So, in closing, always remember when reading this humble blog to pay heed to the subtitle – “Results may vary".  Things might fall apart, but at least they’ll (almost) always taste good!

Winter Wonderland

I made this as a special dessert on Christmas Day since the picture I saw online was so pretty and festive.  Even though this has a decidedly wintry theme, you could easily adapt it for any season by making different shapes for the topping.

Snowflake Cake
What You’ll Need

• 1 package Devil’s Food chocolate cake mix
  
• 1 package fat-free/sugar-free vanilla pudding
  
• 6 squares (1 bar) Baker’s white chocolate
  
• 1 small tub fat free Cool Whip
  
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
  
• 1 cup cold milk
  
• 1 small can raspberry pie filling, warmed and strained
  
• Wax paper

Start out by baking the cake in two 9-inch round pans according to package’s instructions.  I’m not going to go through that or show pictures because really, we all know how to make a boxed cake.
While the cakes are cooling, cut two pieces of wax paper large enough to cover cookie sheets. Also get some scrap paper, and using a Sharpie draw snowflake and/or star shapes ranging from between 1-3 inches.



Slip these sheets underneath the wax paper so you can trace over them.



In a small mixing bowl, break the white chocolate squares into small pieces.




Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler according to the instructions on the package.  I went with the microwave route and nuked the chocolate on medium heat for short bursts, with lots of mixing to make sure it blended evenly. After there are no chunks remaining and the chocolate is smooth, let it cool for 5 minutes.  Do NOT skip this step!



After the chocolate has cooled, use a spatula and scrape it into a Ziploc bag (sandwich size works best).  If you’re uber fancy, you could use a pastry bag, but who really has those laying around?  Snip the very edge of one of the bottom corners off of the bag to create a small opening. Using both hands, gently squeeze the chocolate onto the wax paper, tracing over the shapes on the paper.  After you’ve finished, freeze (or refrigerate if you don’t have room) the snowflakes for 10-15 minutes, or until they have hardened.



Be generous with your shapes – the thicker the lines, the easier they will be to remove and the more sturdy they will be on the cake! This definitely takes practice, as you can see by some of my skinny and sloppy snowflakes.  I filled two large cookie sheets with large and small snowflakes, which left me with plenty of extras once I started to decorate the cake.  My suggestion is to err on the smaller side as they are easier to pull off the paper and less likely to snap in half.  On the other hand, when that happens, you get to eat your mistakes!

To make the frosting for the cake, mix the pudding, confectioner’s sugar, and milk with a whisk for 2 minutes, or until the pudding is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth.



Using a spatula, gently fold in the entire container of Cool Whip.



Mix the frosting until there are no white streaks remaining, but not to the point of breaking down the consistency.  The texture should be light, fluffy, and creamy.



Transfer the contents of the raspberry pie filling can to a small bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until warm but not hot.  Using a spatula, scrape the pie filling into a small sieve or strainer.  Use the spatula to push the pie filling through, scrape the seedless extract from the bottom, and place it into a new bowl.



Place one of the cake rounds on a cake plate. Using a bread knife, I cut the top off of mine to get an even surface.



Spread the raspberry filling onto the cake, leaving about ¼ of an inch of the edges free.



Spread about ⅓ of the frosting on top of the raspberry jam, being careful not to mix the two.



Frost the cake with the rest of the frosting.  Carefully peel the snowflakes off of the wax paper and press them lightly into the surface of the frosting.  They will stick, even if it doesn’t seem like it.  Alternate the large and small snowflakes to completely fill the surface of the cake.




This cake was as pretty to look at as it was tasty to eat.  Even though it uses a box cake mix, the use of the fruit filling as well as the light frosting make it taste much more decadent.  The best part is that, besides the eggs/oil used in the cake, there’s no extra fat in the frosting! I will definitely be using this as an alternate to the regular buttercream frosting I whip up for all of my other cakes.  This cake is also very adaptable – the original recipe called for a yellow cake mix, but I felt more like chocolate.  You could easily use any other flavor of cake, or fruit filling, or even frosting. Feel free to tweak this according to your liking, and don’t feel guilty for eating something that looks so pretty!