German Chocolate Angel Pie

 This pie recipe is one my mom has made for years. She got it when she was taking cooking classes through the county with a friend. All sorts of chocolaty goodness!

German Chocolate Angel Pie

2 egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c finely chopped nuts

1/2 tsp vanilla

for the filling:

8 oz German Sweet chocolate

3 Tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1 c heavy cream, whipped

Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar til foamy. Add sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and beat until very stiff. Carefully fold in copped nuts and vanilla. Spoon into well greased 8" pie plate to form a shell. Build up sides 1/2" above the sides of the pan. Bake 55 minutes at 300*.

Melt chocolate and water, cool until thickened. Add vanilla and whipped cream by folding into chocolate mixture. Pile into meringue shell. Chill 2 hours.

Can be made early in the day but not the day before or the shell will get soggy.

Banana Pudding

Gotta say, not one of my favorites but I'll put the recipe here for next time I need to make it since it *is* a favorite of someone in my house. This is easy to make and a delicious dessert. I got the basic recipe from Delish then modified it a bit and it turned out perfect. It's good to have a trifle bowl or a glass bowl of some sort so you can see the layers. The amounts of some of the ingredients depends on the size of your bowl.

Banana Pudding

5 oz package of vanilla pudding

1 c milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz Cool Whip

1 or 2 bananas, sliced

Vanilla wafers

Whisk together the milk, pudding mix, and condensed milk. Chill in the refrigerator for 5 minutes or until set. Mix in about half of the Cool Whip.

 

Cover the bottom of your trifle bowl with vanilla wafers. Top with 1/3 of the pudding, cover with a layer of cookies and a layer of banana slices. Add another layer of pudding, cookies, and bananas and finish with a last layer of pudding. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight. Top with the rest of the Cool Whip and sprinkle with some crumbled cookies.

You can make it fancy looking by putting the cookies on edge along the outside of the bowl and flat in the middle.

Pecan Tassies

This is the Pampered Chef classic recipe. We usually have a pecan pie, among others, for Thanksgiving but there's only a couple of us that eat it. I have also found that it's too sweet; tastes change. These are just the perfect bite or two, the perfect taste of pecan pie.

Pecan Tassies
makes 24

1/2 c butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c pecan halves, finely chopped
powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350*. For the tart shells, beat the butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add the flour, mix until a soft dough forms. Scoop the dough into 1" balls and place  into ungreased cups of a mini-muffin pan. Using a mini-tart shaper (or the back of a spoon), press into the dough with even pressure until the dough rises slightly above the rim of the pan (flour the tart shaper before using).

For the filling, in a small bowl combine the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Finely chop the pecans, add to the filling and mix well. Fill each tart shell with filling (do not overfill). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tarts are light golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes. Remove the tarts from the pan to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Apple-Cranberry Slab Pie

Oh, my goodness, this was so good! We went to dinner at a friend's last weekend and we were asked to bring either an appetizer or dessert. I gravitate towards desserts and went looking at my pinterest board. This looked good and since there were going to be eight of us plus a couple of kids I needed something that had at least 10 servings. I didn't get a good picture, I was running late trying to finish the glaze, get it on, plus get changed to go out but at least I got one before we finished it off.

Apple-Cranberry Slab Pie
serves 16

2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (about 7 cups)
1 c dried cranberries
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1/4 c unsalted butter, cubed
about 3 Tbsp milk
coarse sugar (for sprinkling on top crust)

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted
4-5 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 15x10 baking sheet. In a large bowl stir together the apples, cranberries, sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, unfold one pastry sheet. Roll the pastry into a 16x11 inch rectangle and transfer to the baking sheet. Spread the filling over the pastry to within an inch of the edge. Evenly dot the filling with the cubed butter.

Unfold the second pastry sheet and roll into a 15x10 inch rectangle. Place this on top of the filling. Brush the edge of the bottom pastry with milk. Fold the bottom pastry over the top and press to seal with a fork.

Using a sharp knife cut slits in the top pastry. Brush with milk and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Bake 50-55 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the pastry is puffed and golden. If needed to prevent overbrowning cover the edges of the pastry for the last 10-15 minutes of baking.

While the pie cools, prepare the icing. In a bowl combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt; add enough milk to reach a drizzling consistency.

Once the pastry has cooled drizzle the frosting over top, slice, and serve.


from inspired by charm

Nan's Chocolate Mousse

This is such an easy and delicious dessert. It can be a bit on the sweet side so don't make it into two portions, not matter how much you want to! Just a little is enough. It's a great dessert for that romantic dinner you're planning.

Nan's Chocolate Mousse
serves 4

1 6-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier, etc (optional)
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar

Dump all the dry ingredients and the egg into a blender. Heat milk to scalding*. Add milk to blender; whir for about 1 minute. Pour into custard cups, fancy drink glasses, etc. and chill until set. A shaved curl of orange peel or a small dollop of whipped cream is a nice garnish.

*I zapped mine in the microwave for 2 minutes, makes it plenty hot.

Key Lime Bars

Happy Easter! For dinner today we had grilled pork tenderloin (just salt & pepper on the grill, so good!), bacon wrapped asparagus, and rice with leeks. I totally forgot to put out the fruit salad that my mom made. For dessert my mom brought pineapple upside down cake and I made key lime bars. I had made them a while back for something at church and they were so good. They're a quick and easy take on key lime pie, which I love, and they also are just the right portion size. Actually I should probably call them "key" lime bars since I used regular limes, not key limes. The recipe is sort of a combo of two different ones from Martha Stewart.

Key Lime Bars
makes 9-16 bars depending on how small you cut them

crust
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 c sugar
1 sleeve graham crackers, broken
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lime

filling
2 egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c fresh lime juice (about 5 limes)
whipped cream (optional topping)

Preheat oven to 350*. Blend graham crackers in a food processor to get crumbs. Mix all crust ingredients together. Butter the bottom of an 8x8 pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Press crust into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 8-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool, about 30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and condensed milk. Add the lime juice and whisk until smooth. Pour filling into cooled crust; carefully spread to edges. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan, then chill at least an hour before serving. Lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into 9 medium or 16 small squares. Top with a spoonful of whipped cream before serving.

Chocolate Chip Pie

Oh, my, goodness! Where has this deliciousness been all my life?? I'm sure there's some of you that grew up eating this occasionally or had it somewhere else, but I'd never had it until a few months ago. Yum! Chocolate chip cookies in pie form. This is super easy as well as being delicious. Enjoy!!

One tip - make sure the butter is soft. I was reading through the comments on the Nestle website and someone commented that it was too much butter, that her pie was oily. The butter needs to be very soft to fully incorporate into the filling; if it's not you'll end up with small, visible pieces of butter and these will make a "pool" of melted butter instead of being fully part of the filling.

Chocolate Chip Pie

1 unbaked deep dish pie crust
2 eggs
1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 c chocolate chips
1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325*. Beat eggs in a mixer until foamy. Beat in flour and sugars then beat in butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts then pour into pie crust. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and center comes out clean. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Recipe from Nestle.

Mt. Dew Cake

This is another recipe from my friend Wendy. We needed to take a dessert to a potluck for the Guatemala mission team and I was told by one of my girls that this was really good. This is really easy and makes a good tasting, moist Bundt cake. This would probably be really good with a lemon glaze drizzled on it. Maybe we should try that next time.

Mt. Dew Cake

Lemon cake mix
12 oz. Mt. Dew
4 eggs
Lemon pudding
2/3 c oil

Mix all the ingredients together. Spray a Bundt pan really well with non-stick spray. Bake at 325* for 40-45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a rack.

Aunt Betsey's Carrot Cake

I've had this recipe of my aunt's for carrot cake for years and love it each time I make it.

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 c cooking oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 c flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 c chopped walnuts
3 c grated carrots

Blend oil and sugar, add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake in a 13" x 9" pan, 50-60 minutes, 350* oven.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Mousse

A super quick and easy chocolate mousse.

Nan's Chocolate Mousse
serves 4-6

1 6-oz package semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 c milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, etc  (optional)
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar

Dump all dry ingredients and the egg into a blender. Heat milk to scalding. Dump milk in blender; whir for about 1 minute. Pour into custard cups or small dishes and chill until set. For garnish - a shaved curl of orange peel, whipped cream or chocolate curls.

Sparkling Cranberries

My sister made this recipe from Southern Living over Thanksgiving. Oh, my gosh! These are so addictive! The sweet syrup and sugar against the sour cranberries is perfect. The note on the recipe says they can be served with baked Brie or as a garnish on cakes or pies, but they're also super good just eating them out of hand.

Sparkling Cranberries
makes 2 cups

1 c pure maple syrup
2 c fresh cranberries
1 c sugar
parchment paper

Cook maple syrup in a saucepan over medium-low heat 1 to 2 minutes (don't let the syrup get too hot or the cranberries will pop). Remove from heat and stir in cranberries. Cover and chill 8 to 12 hours. Place sugar in a baking dish. Drain cranberries in a colander then add a few cranberries at a time to the sugar; gently toss to coat. Place cranberries in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; repeat with remaining cranberries. Let stand until completely dry.

Note: I used a full bag of cranberries instead of just 2 cups, kept the rest of the ingredients the same.

Caramel Apple Pull-Apart Bread

I think I came across this recipe last fall, never made it while it was cool, and obviously wasn't going to make it this summer. It's a great "welcome to fall" bread, good for either breakfast or as a dessert. Not too hard to make, but I thought that I could have used another set of hands for the layering part. It was quite tasty!

Caramel Apple Pull-Apart Bread
from Alaska from Scratch


For the dough:

1/4 cup warm water
2-1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (plus 1/4 cup or more, if needed)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

For the filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced (Golden Delicious or Granny Smith recommended)

For the caramel glaze:
 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Combine warm water and yeast in a mixing bowl. Heat milk and butter together until the butter is melted but not too hot. Add the vanilla.

Add flour, sugar, and salt on top of the water/yeast mixture in the mixing bowl. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on low, add the eggs and stream in the butter/milk, mixing until a soft dough forms. Add the extra flour (as necessary) by tablespoonfuls until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a ball. Knead for 3 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the filling. Set aside. Prepare the apple and melt butter just before the dough is done rising. Grease a standard 9x5 loaf pan.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll into a large rectangle, roughly 12x24. It doesn't need to be perfect and it will be thin.

Brush the dough with the melted butter, then spread the brown sugar mixture over the whole thing. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into long strips (I did four). Sprinkle the first strip with 1/4th of the apples, layer on another strip* and another share of apples. Repeat until all the layers are stacked.

Cut the stack into 4-6 squares of roughly equal size (4-5 inches). Stack the squares vertically into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350* and bake on the middle rack 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and it is cooked through. If it gets too brown on top before it's done baking, cover it loosely with foil.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the caramel sauce - add the butter, brown sugar, and milk to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Turn the bread out onto a wire rack over parchment paper. Drizzle the loaf with the caramel sauce. Best eaten the day it's made, but it still tastes good a day or two later (if it lasts that long).

*this is where I could have used another set of hands

Frosty Strawberry Squares

This is a summer dessert that Sarah and I love but this is the first time I've made it this year. <sad face> I ran across the recipe the other day and decided to make it before we dive headfirst into apples and pumpkins. The last burst of strawberry goodness will be nice this evening since it's a hot day. I will warn you though that it can make a mess when you're whipping the egg whites and strawberries together.

Frosty Strawberry Squares
from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook
serves 12-16

1 c flour
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c butter, melted
1/4 c packed brown sugar
2 egg whites
2 c sliced strawberries
1 c sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 c whipping cream

For crumb mixture, combine flour, nuts, butter, and brown sugar. Spread evenly into a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 350* oven for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle 2/3 of the crumbs into a 13x9x2 baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg whites, strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Beat with mixer on high speed about 10 minutes or till stiff peaks form. In another mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream till soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture. Spoon evenly over crumbs in baking pan; sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Cover and freeze at least 6 hours or until firm.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

As most of us do at one time or another (or quite often) I had some bananas that were past the point that anyone in our house would eat. I made some banana bread the other day and usually make muffins but had cake on my mind today. It made a great dessert for Sunday dinner. After a short search, I found this really easy, quick recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker blog. Just a note about the frosting, you can double the recipe easily and that will actually take it to what she had on her blog. Although I love cream cheese frosting, I found that half the recipe (which you'll find below) was perfect.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
serves about 12

For the cake:
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 c sugar
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c buttermilk

For the frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch salt
2 c powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375*. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Using a mixer, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until completely combined. Add both eggs and beat, then add the mashed bananas and vanilla; beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing until combined. Pour into pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and salt. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it has all been combined. Add the vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy.

Spread the frosting over cooled cake, cut into squares and serve. Leftovers should be covered with plastic wrap and kept at room temperature or in the fridge for up to four days.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I had a hankering for some homemade ice cream the other night. We've got a small ice cream maker, which works great. The only problem I ran into was that it was filled with an inch of ice (it has a canister you have to put in the freezer and somehow it got a bunch of water in it). Once that defrosted and I could get it out, I refroze the container and we were good to go.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
makes 1 quart

1 1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 c mini chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions, stirring in the chips towards the end (before it gets too hard).

Almond Pound Cake

I love almond pound cake! I didn't know this until I went to a friend's Tastefully Simple party and bought some. Now, I love the ease of a cake in a box, just add butter and egg, mix and bake. But I don't have a box of almond pound cake around all the time, especially since I haven't been to a TS party recently. I've been on the lookout for a good recipe so I can make one whenever I want and found one last year in Family Circle. I had an opportunity to make it yesterday for an event I was going to and it was easy and delicious.

Almond Pound Cake
serves 12

2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 c milk
1 tsp almond extract

Heat oven to 350* and coat a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a medium size bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light-colored, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture. Scrape down the side of bowl and beat in milk (carefully!). Add remaining flour mixture and the almond extract and beat until smooth. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake cake at 350* for 1 hour or until crowned and set. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert to remove and cool upright on rack.

Topping
1 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbsp sliced almonds, lightly toasted

To make the topping, in a medium size bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, 4 teaspoons water, and the almond extract. Whisk until smooth. Spread over cooled cake and top with toasted nuts. Let icing dry at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Not sure why, but I've had whoopie pies on my mind recently and really wanted to try them. Since we don't really need a bunch hanging around, I had to wait for an "event" to make them. Perfect opportunity came up with the church youth group's Super Bowl party. I went with red velvet since Rosie Jane loves red velvet and since they're red, it worked well with Sweet Pea and Bob's love of the New England Patriots. Sadly, we got no love back from them last night.

I used my best friend Google to find a recipe. I thought about using Paula Deen's except she didn't have a cream cheese filling. With red velvet, you must have cream cheese filling so I kept looking. I found this recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker, which does have cream cheese filling.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
modified from browneyedbaker

makes 2 dozen whoopie pies

For the pies:
3 cups flour, sifted
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp red food coloring
1 c buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350* and line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter, shortening, and both sugars on low speed until just combined.  Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and the red food coloring and beat until just blended.

Add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk and beat until completely combined.

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop a tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart.  Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling....

For the cream cheese filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed.  Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined.  Add the vanilla and increase the speed to medium-high; beat until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes.

To assemble:  spread the filling onto the flat side of one cake using a knife or back of a spoon. Top with another cake, flat side down.  Repeat with the rest of the cakes and filling.

To store:  Assembled whoopie pies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days (like they'll last that long).  If you need to stack layers, place a piece of wax paper between layers.

Cranberries!!

If pumpkin is my love in the fall, cranberries are my favorite in winter.  I love cranberries in just about any form, except it's "natural state" as my husband calls it...that would be in a cylindrical form with ridges on the side.  Don't really care for cranberries that way, but any other way I love them.  I LOVE the Ocean Spray commercials on tv, they're quite funny.  I was pretty excited to see their cranberry bog in Epcot when we were at Disney earlier this month.

So tonight after I got the stew going for dinner I made a couple of cranberry dishes to take with us for Thanksgiving dinner, first was cranberry-orange relish then a cranberry pie dessert.  I'll have more cranberry recipes to share in coming weeks.

Cranberry-Orange Relish

1 bag of fresh cranberries (can be frozen)
1 seedless navel orange
1/4-1/2 c walnut pieces
sugar

Using a food processor, chop the cranberries.  Cut the orange into quarters then chop it and the walnuts.  Mix together in a bowl.  Add sugar to taste.  This is pretty subjective but you want a nice blend of sweet and tart.  Start with about 1/4 c of sugar, mix and let it sit for a few minutes.  Taste and add more sugar if needed.

Cranberry Pie Dessert
In family history, this recipe came to us from my brother's second grade class.  I think they must have made it for their Thanksgiving "dinner" at school.

2 c raw cranberries
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c chopped nuts
2 eggs, beaeten well
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1/2 c butter, melted

Grease a 10" pie pan.  Mix cranberries, 1/2 c sugar, and nuts.  Press into bottom of pan.  Beat eggs with 1 c sugar; add flour and butter.  Beat well and pour over cranberry mix in pan.  Spread it to cover.

Bake at 325* for 60 minutes until golden brown.

The recipe I copied this from says that it freezes well, but I only make one when I need one and there's never any to freeze.  Maybe I should try making two and freezing one?

Ice cream cake

Sweet Pea and I were talking about her birthday this morning, trying to figure out when she was going to have her party.  The day she usually does it, she'll be busy.  It's so hard to plan birthday parties when you have a birthday near Thanksgiving.  Talking about her party reminded me that she always asks for ice cream cake for her party.  My friend Wendy gave me this recipe years ago that we've used ever since for Sweet Pea's birthday parties.  The really nice thing about it is that you can get the ice cream flavors that you want and it's super easy to make.

Ice Cream Cake
makes a 9x13 cake

1 package of Oreos (or similar sandwich cookie)
2 gallons of ice cream, softened; can be the same flavor or different
frosting (optional)

Put half of the cookies into a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.  Spread them in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Scoop the first flavor of ice cream on top, smoothing it.  Crush the rest of the cookies and spread them on top of the ice cream.  Scoop the second flavor of ice cream, smoothing the top.  You may not use all the ice cream, it depends on how deep your pan is, when you put down the first layer of ice cream make sure to leave enough room for the second layer.  If you want you can frost and decorate the cake (I usually don't).  Cover the cake with tinfoil and put it in the freezer until hard.  Take it out 15-30 minutes before you want to serve it to soften up enough to cut into slices.

Pumpkin scones

This past weekend, the MOPS* group that I belong to was having a bake sale at church. I immediately signed up for scones or cookies.  I was hoping to find a good scone recipe; who doesn't love a good scone and cup of tea?  It's getting to be that time of year when tea sounds good in the afternoon.  Anyway, I found two recipes, one for pumpkin scones and one for cranberry scones.  I think the cranberry one needs a bit of tweaking before I post it but both were really good and sold well at the bake sale.

Pumpkin Scones
from Joy of Baking

2 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 c raisins
1/4 c toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts
1/3 - 1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 c pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Egg wash: 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp. milk or cream

Preheat oven to 400*. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.  The mixture shoudl look like coarse crumbs.  Stir in the raisins and pecans, if using.  In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix just until the dough comes together.  Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges.  Place the scones on the baking sheet.  Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool


*MOPS = Mothers of Preschoolers; no, I don't have preschoolers but they asked me to be a mentor mom to a group of moms.