dessert

Eating My Way Through the Alphabet: Letter L

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Lemon Citrus Cookies. With the arrival of Springtime comes the refreshing citrus flavor of this season’s lemons. Even if you’re not a fan, think about the benefits to your immune system. And then have another cookie…..or two. 
LEMON CITRUS COOKIES 
Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/4 cups flour
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and beat well. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. When blended, add salt, baking powder, and flour. Mix together into dough. Roll cookies into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges of the cookies.
Lemon Icing:

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened 

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 tablespoons milk
In a large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon extract and milk; beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel. 

Spread evenly on cooled cookies; top with yellow sprinkles. 

Eating My Way Through the Alphabet: Letter K

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Kona Coffee Molten Cake! Gerald and I spend some time on the tropical island of Kauai. While there we sip on freshly brewed coffee uniquely grown in the Hawaiian Islands. The taste is so richly smooth and delicious, I had to blend its flavor with dark chocolate. Each recipe is one serving, unless you share a bite. “Friends are the spice God adds to the cake of life!”
KONA COFFEE MOLTEN CAKE
Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons Dutch chocolate powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Kona brewed coffee*

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter**
Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Add milk, oil, and coffee to the dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. 

Pour batter into a tall microwave-safe mug. Make sure there is room at the top for the cake to rise. Drop the tablespoon of peanut butter in the center of the batter. Do not blend in. Bake in microwave on high for 1 minute. If it is not done, cook in additional 10-second intervals until done. Remove from microwave. BE CAREFUL. Enjoy the warm molten cake topped with a dollop of whipped cream. 
*Any strong brewed coffee may be used. If you omit the coffee, substitute 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. 

**The creamy peanut butter may be omitted or substituted with a hazelnut spread or marshmallow creme. 

Eating My Way Through the Alphabet: Letter D

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Dutch Chocolate Profiteroles! These yummy tender confections have a chocolate filling that will satisfy any sweet tooth. Once the shells are made, you can utilize a time-saving option. Simply change the filling to Breyers Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Your friends will think you spent hours in the kitchen. 
DUTCH CHOCOLATE PROFITEROLES
Cream Puffs:

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 whole eggs
Heat oven to 400°. Heat water and butter to rolling boil in saucepan. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about I minute; remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at once, continue beating until smooth. Drop dough by scant 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until puffed and golden, 35-40 minutes. Cool away from draft. Cut off tops; pull out any filaments of soft dough. Fill puffs with chilled cream filling. Replace tops; dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until serving time. Yield: 6 cream puffs. 
Cream Filling:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons cornstarch 

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups half-and-half

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla
Garnish:

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1/4 c semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels 
Mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in half-and-half gradually. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks. Blend into hot mixture. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla; cool. 

Eating My Way Through the Alphabet: Letter A

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Apricot-Orange Crumble Bars! Who doesn’t love this saucy little fruit? Apricots add an exotic touch of class to everything from appetizers to dessert. Try a dollop of jam on a round of baked Camembert cheese sometime. It is decadent! My recipe today serves as a breakfast food, an afternoon snack, or a delicate dessert option.  
APRICOT-ORANGE CRUMBLE BARS
Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar
Directions:

Cream together sugar and butter. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together. Add dry ingredients together. Spread 3/4 of batter into a 9×13 greased dish. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Spread 12 ounce dollops of Bonne Maman Apricot Preserves* on top. Slice dried apricot pieces over jam mixture. Fill in with a tablespoon or two of Bonne Maman Orange Marmalade*. Crumble remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar. Bake 350* for 30-35 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into 24 squares. 
* Bonne Maman is a product of France. 

Eating My Way Through the Alphabet 

What’s cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Stay tuned and you’re about to find out. It’s as simple as A-B-C. One of my passions is being at home in my own country kitchen. I love to cook, and my husband loves that I do it often. Now more than ever, since I am retired, I relish the thought of creating something delicious from scratch. I adore time-honored traditions using tried-and-true recipes. Yet, I often never think twice about tweaking old favorites or modifying others to suit the inner craving of the moment. Most of the recipes serve 2-4 people, but can be altered in any direction. The leftovers are golden morsels to be eaten again later or shared with others. And I love to share. To me, seeing a smile in gratitude is thanks enough. The recipes you will find here in the next several weeks can be prepared very easily. Feel free to contact me with questions. Now take a deep breath, inhale the aromas, and join me on a tasteful journey entitled, “EATING MY WAY THROUGH THE ALPHABET”.

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Jell-o Shots With Sugared Cranberries 

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Jell-O Shots With Sugared Cranberries! The holidays ring in the cheer with festive activities, enticing food, and snappy beverages. Make things awesome with dressed up Jell-O shots that cap off any occasion. Not only do they have an elegant look, but they satisfy the sweet tooth as a miniature dessert. By creating a garnish of fresh fruit with the sugared cranberries, it’s a classy finish with a gourmet twist! 
JELL-O SHOTS WITH SUGARED CRANBERRIES 
For Make-Ahead Sugared Cranberries:

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup filtered water

12-ounce bag fresh cranberries 

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions:

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup filtered water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Add cranberries. To prevent cranberries from bursting, do not boil. Stir until well coated. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a wire rack. Let dry for one hour. Working in batches, roll cranberries in remaining sugar until well coated. Refrigerate for one hour or overnight. Store in airtight container. 
Ingredients for Jell-o Shots:

3-ounce package raspberry gelatin 

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup amaretto liqueur 

1/2 cup ice water

Sugared cranberries Rosemary sprigs
Instructions:

Empty contents of raspberry gelatin packet into a mixing bowl. Add boiling water. Stir until completely dissolved, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add iced water and amaretto liqueur and iced water. Stir well. Pour into shot glasses. Refrigerate until set, 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with sugared cranberries and rosemary sprigs just before serving. 

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Pumpkin Roll

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Pumpkin Roll! Announcing a festive cake that looks as though you stopped by the bakery. Anyone can feel like a professional pastry chef with this holiday specialty. In a few simple steps, the rich pumpkin flavor is enhanced by the velvety cream filling. Afterwards all you have to do is sit back and bask in the accolades. 
PUMPKIN ROLL 
Ingredients for Pumpkin Roll:

3 eggs

2/3 cup pumpkin purée 

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

3/4 cup flour 

1/3 cup chopped pecans 
Ingredients for Filling:

8 ounces Neufchâtel cheese

3/4 teaspoon vanilla 

2 tablespoons butter, softened 

1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease and line a 10″x15″ jelly roll pan with waxed paper. For pumpkin roll combine eggs, pumpkin purée, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and flour. Mix until well blended. Pour into jelly roll pan and spread evenly to edges. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Bake 12-15 minutes. Watch carefully. Remove from oven. Sprinkle powdered sugar on a tea towel, turn cake onto towel, and remove the waxed paper. Starting at one end, roll the cake up, and refrigerate for one hour. Meanwhile, combine Neufchâtel cheese, vanilla, butter, and powdered sugar. Mix together until smooth and velvety. After one hour, unroll cake and spread the filling all the way to the edges. Reroll cake and refrigerate two hours longer. Dust with powdered sugar. Slice and serve. 

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Butterscotch Icebox Cookies!

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Butterscotch Icebox Cookies! Here’s an old-time favorite from the North Pole. Imagine Mrs. Claus, with her crew of kitchen elves up to their elbows in flour as the aroma of bakery items fill the air. Repeat after me: “Never substitute the butter with another oil.” It will completely change the outcome. Think about it for a minute. If you remove the “butter” from butterscotch, what will that leave? Trust me, you don’t want to find out. Go for the gold instead and reap the reward. Catch the spirit and watch your little helpers share the excitement, too. 
BUTTERSCOTCH ICEBOX COOKIES 
Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar 

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions:

Melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. In a medium bowl combine baking powder, sea salt, and flour. Pour the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, stirring to form a solid dough. Fold in walnuts. Shape dough into two long rolls. Wrap each log in wax paper. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. To bake, preheat oven to 375°. Slice dough thinly. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. 

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Crunch Compulsion!

Eating My Way Through the Holidays! Special Edition: Crunch Compulsion! If you’ve always wanted to make toffee, but didn’t have the patience for standing at the stove waiting for the candy thermometer to reach its mark, think about an easy alternative. Crunch Compulsion has the rich buttery taste of toffee layered over a firm graham cracker base. With a finishing touch of pecans and walnuts, you can certainly see where the “crunch” comes in. 
CRUNCH COMPULSION 
Ingredients:

1 package graham crackers

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon 
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the graham crackers in a single layer, completely covering the bottom of the baking sheet. Sprinkle pecans and walnuts over crackers. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, brown sugar, white sugar, cream of tartar, and cinnamon. Stir constantly until mixture boils. Do not burn. Reduce heat to medium and let mixture boil for 3 minutes without stirring. Carefully pour mixture over graham crackers, allowing liquid to cover all. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely. Break into pieces.