Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Just Desserts with the House Elf Liaison

House Elf Liaison, back from the kitchens...

When life gets busy, frazzled and harried, what to turn to but our crafting chocolate!!!! Or if not chocolate, dessert (but why not just shave, drizzle, or drench it with chocolate?)

Tell me about your favorite sweet treats, the one you make the best, the one you pick over the all the others, or the one that changed your world! Recipes, tips, and general comments are all welcome!
The House Elves want to know: What's the best dessert you've ever eaten?

9 comments:

  1. This is my very best recipe for dessert. With your own picked bilberrys, picked with love! (and much time...)
    Crunchy Bilberry pie with vanilla sauce

    Put bilberrys in a ovensafe bowl. Sprinkle some sugar and potatoestarch over.
    In another bowl mix 2 dL wheatflour and 1 dL sugar. Spread the flour mix over the bilberrys. Slice butter in thin slices and put on top of the flour evenly. Put in oven , 200C until the crust is crunchy and slightly brown.

    Home made vanilla sauce (Custard?)
    1 vanilla pod
    3 dL milk
    3 dL thick cream
    4 egg yolks
    1 dL sugar

    Cut the vanilla pod open and scrape the seeds into a pot, put the pod in the pot as well.
    Pour milk and cream in the pot, heat to boiling. Put a side for 5 minutes. Meanwhile beat the egg yolks with sugar until they are light and fluffy. Pour the milk and cream over the eggs under powerful stirring. Pour back to pot and heat to almost boil, stir the whole time so the eggs won’t coagulate. Heat until the sauce get thick. Let cool down and serve with bilberry pie.
    (I'm sorry if I use wrong words but I thought I'd better translate from swedish :-) )

    //solfjader,first year

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  2. My favorite everyday dessert is brownies. I have two recipes that I use often - a small everyday kind and a bigger more involved kind.

    But my "I'm dying - what can I eat" dessert is probably Gypsy Cake. It's layers of pound cake, custard, and canned peaches drowned in a rum sauce and baked. Serve chilled. It's awesome. I'll try to remember to find the recipe.

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  3. I made this for my mom for her birthday. The most complicated cake I've ever made, but soooooooo worth it. It's from America's Test Kitchen, who attest that this is their best recipe EVER.

    Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake

    3/2006

    Do not substitute semisweet chocolate chips for the chopped semisweet chocolate in the frosting�chocolate chips contain less cocoa butter than bar chocolate and will not melt as readily. For best results, don't make the frosting until the cakes are cooled, and use the frosting as soon as it is ready. If the frosting gets too cold and stiff to spread easily, wrap the mixer bowl with a towel soaked in hot water and mix on low speed until the frosting appears creamy and smooth. Refrigerated leftover cake should sit at room temperature before serving until the frosting softens.


    Serves 10 to 12


    Cake

    12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), very soft, plus extra for greasing pans
    1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting pans
    4 ounces unsweetened chocolate , coarsely chopped
    1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (3/4 ounce)
    1/2 cup hot water
    1 3/4 cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    1 teaspoon table salt
    1 cup buttermilk
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    4 large eggs
    2 large egg yolks

    Frosting

    16 ounces semisweet chocolate , finely chopped
    8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
    1/3 cup sugar
    2 tablespoons corn syrup
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1/4 teaspoon table salt
    1 1/4 cups heavy cream (cold)

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  4. 1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high cake pans with softened butter; dust pans with flour and knock out excess. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, and hot water in medium heatproof bowl; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 inch of simmering water and stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar to chocolate mixture and stir until thick and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool.

    2. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk and vanilla in small bowl. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk eggs and yolks on medium-low speed until combined, about 10 seconds. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, increase speed to high, and whisk until fluffy and lightened in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add cooled chocolate mixture to egg/sugar mixture and mix on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated, 30 to 45 seconds, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add softened butter one tablespoon at a time, mixing about 10 seconds after each addition. Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until incorporated after each addition (about 15 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture (batter may appear separated). Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans; smooth batter to edges of pan with spatula.

    3. Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before frosting, 45 to 60 minutes.

    4. TO MAKE FROSTING: Melt chocolate in heatproof bowl set over saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, heat butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium; add sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt and stir with heatproof rubber spatula until sugar is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to clean bowl of standing mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.

    5. Place mixer bowl over ice bath and stir mixture constantly with rubber spatula until frosting is thick and just beginning to harden against sides of bowl, 1 to 2 minutes (frosting should be 70 degrees). Place bowl on standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.

    6. TO FROST CAKE: Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 1/2 cups frosting evenly across top of cake with spatula. Place second cake layer on top, then spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Cut into slices and serve.

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  6. I'm not going to post a recipe today, but I thought I would mention my favorite dessert. It wasn't the best, but it was the most memorable and I'm sure a few of you have heard it all before...

    I went to New Zealand this spring and got to meet up with our awesome prefect, MopseyRoebuck. We went out to dinner and talked knitting. For dessert I ordered chocolate wasabi cake, which was pretty excellent, even if it sounds a bit odd. Anyway. It was a great dessert, mainly for the wonderful company!

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  7. I've never met a dessert I didn't like. There's no way on earth I could come up with a favorite - other than my favorite is what's in front of me right now.

    But what I do tend to use as my fast & easy, can't think of anything complicated dessert is just warm brownies, with ice cream and chocolate syrup and whipped cream on top. It isn't fancy, but it always works. :)

    I can't wait to try the other recipes posted here, but I'm not sure what a bilberry is.

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  8. i would have to say when i am frazzled and looking for sweets i like to head for the comforts of either a chocolate chip cookie or a snickerdoodle. those are my instant pick me ups.

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  9. I'm a big fan of cheesecake, but I also love chocolate ganache with raspberry sauce. Yummy!

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