Archive for the ‘Dessert Sauces’ Category
A pat of butter and a generous drizzle of maple syrup is probably my favorite way to finish off a plate full of hot-off-the-griddle pancakes, but it isn’t the only option out there. Fresh fruit is another great way to top off pancakes, but as tasty as fresh fruit is, you don’t get the consistency with a handful of sliced berries and I like to have some sauce for my pancakes to soak up as I eat them.
This Strawberry Guava Syrup is a quick syrup I made in the microwave using fresh strawberries and some guava jelly (jelly or preserves available in most markets). It is one of those things that I realized I should share even though it isn’t particularly “fancy” because it is so good I’ve whipped some up at least a half dozen times since berry season started! The syrup has a lovely fresh and tropical flavor to it and, while it isn’t particularly thick, you end up with big chunks of strawberries in the finished syrup that add a nice look and texture to plates full of pancakes and waffles.
I use fresh strawberries for this recipe, but frozen berries will also work. The frozen berries will break down much more quickly than fresh strawberries will, so with frozen berries you might want to cook the syrup a little bit longer to break them down even further, creating a thicker syrup with fewer large chunks of berries. Frozen strawberries might also require a little extra sweetener that fresh berries at the height of the season will not need, so stir in an extra tablespoonful of sugar or so as necessary.
You can serve this syrup on anything, but since I’ve showcased it on top of a pile of fluffy buttermilk pancakes, I’m including the recipe for those as well as the syrup. The syrup is best the day it is made because that is when you can really taste the strawberry and guava separately. As you store it, the flavors will meld together a bit. Fortunately, the syrup takes less than a minute to make (and less than 5 minutes if you have to chop up the berries) so making it just before serving is even easier than making the pancakes to go with it.
+Continue Reading
While I do enjoy a good slice of cheesecake, I prefer to make cheesecake bars at home when I’m looking for a cheesecake fix. They’re easy to make, have a short baking time and don’t need to be baked in a water bath. They also make a great basic recipe for putting all kinds of variations on for different flavors. For this batch, I wanted to add a key lime element to my cheesecake bars and get the richness of cheesecake and the tang of a key lime pie in one dessert.
Most of the flavor comes from a homemade key lime curd that is swirled into the cheesecake batter before baking. This curd is a twist on a lower fat lemon curd recipe that I absolutely love. Made with tart key lime juice, the curd is very bright and citrusy. It makes for a nice contrast with the rich tasting cream cheese filling. I simply added a few dollops of the curd into the cheesecake and lightly swirled it around with a butter knife before baking. In some places where there was more curd than others, the lime curd sank below the cheesecake (other places it remained lightly swirled on top), creating a nice layered effect. The whole dessert is much less sweet than key lime pie, with a wonderfully rich cheesecake texture and a very refreshing lime flavor. If you don’t have key limes, you can use regular limes in the recipe for lime curd.
The bars have a vanilla crumb crust that is made with crushed vanilla wafer cookies and butter, and is baked and cooled before being filled with cheesecake mixture. Graham crackers would work for the crust, as well, but the vanilla adds a nice mellow flavor that goes very well with the flavor of the cream cheese. The crust holds up very well to the filling without getting soggy, and while it would be crumbly if you tried to slice it on its own, the filling adds the perfect amount of moisture to keep it together and still slice easily.
+Continue Reading
Creme anglaise is a classic French custard sauce made with egg yolks, sugar and milk or cream (as well as vanilla for flavoring) that is cooked until just thickened. This sauce can be served on its own as a dessert accompaniment, alongside fruit or cake, but it can also be put to other uses and one of the very best is when you put it into an ice cream maker and turn it into ice cream. This type of ice cream is often termed “French vanilla” and stands apart from other vanilla ice creams because of its rich custard flavor and high egg yolk content. Homemade ice cream starting with a true creme anglaise base is one of the best ice creams you can eat.
Creme anglaise itself is not difficult to make. A combination of egg yolks and sugar is tempered with hot milk, and the mixture is cooked in a double boiler until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. You can make your own double boiler easily with a bowl and a small saucepan, and using one will prevent your custard from overcooking while you thicken it. I typically infuse the milk with a vanilla bean and scape the seeds into it before adding it to the rest of the ingredients for a strong vanilla flavor, but you can substitute vanilla extract by simply whisking it into the finished creme anglaise just before cooling.
You really do need an ice cream maker for the best results with this recipe (although you can certainly make the creme anglaise, chill it and enjoy it on its own!) because an ice cream maker will allow you to achieve a very smooth ice cream. This ice cream has a delicious, rich vanilla flavor and a fantastic texture. Unlike ice creams that are made with less fat (using fewer/no egg yolks), this ice cream is always scoopable and creamy – even straight out of the freezer. It is best served in small portions, but that just makes the enjoyment last longer.
+Continue Reading
In Madrid, there is one dessert place that is a must-visit destination. That is Chocolateria San Gines. This chocolate shop has one specialty and that is Churros con Chocolate. The chocolate is thick, rich and pudding-like, and the churros are light and crisp. The combination is pretty much the only thing on the menu and the waiters tend to assume that this is what you want when you walk in (a good thing when you don’t speak all that much Spanish). The shop is open almost 24 hours a day, serving up this specialty as a snack, as breakfast and as dessert.
On my recent trip to Spain, of course I made it a point to stop in and I wasn’t let down. But I also wanted to be able to recreate this delicious snack at home when I got back. Fortunately, it turns out that the recipe for their Churros con Chocolate is available on the Food Network website!
The churros are unusually light because they start out with a dough that is very similar to the choux pastry used for cream puffs. This makes them very crisp on the outside and very tender, as well as very slightly eggy, on the inside. Although they are deep fried and it does take the oil a while to heat up, the recipe is pretty easy to mix up and make, but expect to spend some time over the stove because the churros will have to be fried in batches.
The chocolate sauce is somewhere between hot chocolate and chocolate pudding, with a consistency that is jsut the right thickness to drip the churros into, but still liquidy enough that you can drink the leftovers when you’re done. The sauce can be mixed up while you’re frying churros and reheats well. I recommend pouring it into small mugs or other individual cups so everyone has their own dipping (and drinking) container to work with.
You’ll probably notice that my churros, unlike the churros that you find at the ball park, are not completely straight. This is because these churros start to curl slightly as soon as they hit the hot oil, largely because it is not a heavy batter. Don’t worry about this. Not every one I had in Spain was perfectly straight either and I promise that they’ll taste just as good whether they come out straight as an arrow or curvy as an “s” – especially if you make the chocolate sauce to go along with it.
+Continue Reading
The only real problem I have with pears is that they bruise easily. They are juicy, have great flavor and go well with a huge variety of sweet and savory dishes. The bruising is a problem, though, because it really has an impact on the appearance of sliced pears and – at the risk of sounding a bit silly – a cheese plate just doesn’t look the same with a bunch of bruised pears on it. Fortunately, there is at least one great use for slightly bruised, but still ripe, pears: pear butter.
Pear butter is basically a very thick, smooth applesauce-type dish that is made with pears. It gets the name “butter” from how silky smooth the finished puree is. I was inspired to make a batch after smelling the wonderful scents of Apple Cider Butter being cooked at the Smuckers factory last week, as well as by the fact that I had a bunch of bruised Bosc pears sitting on my kitchen counter when I returned from the trip. You can use any variety of pears for this.
The butter is easy to make: just cook the pears down with a little spiced cider and puree it. I always put pear butter through a strainer at least once to make sure it is as smooth as possible. I don’t add any extra sugar, but if you prefer yours a little sweeter, feel free to add in 1/4 cup or so of brown sugar. You can taste the spices from the cider – cinnamon, cloves, etc. – in the finished butter, but I add in a little bit extra to keep the flavors strong. This will keep well in the fridge for about a week (maybe two, if stored in an airtight container) and can be used as a spread for English muffins, biscuits, toast, pancakes and even savory things like pork chops (very tasty!).
+Continue Reading
