The Best Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

1 can coconut milk plus enough half-and-half to make 3 cups
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
recipe for a 9-inch single crust pie
Whipped cream to top
1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted to top


Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm.

Top with whipped cream toasted coconut.

Note: To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.


This recipes has also been shared at...

Food on Friday: Pies and Tarts

Marbled Cinnamon Loaf

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan.

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with milk just until mixed.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon

Pour a third of the batter into a greased loaf pan; sprinkle with a third of the cinnamon-sugar. Repeat layers twice

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.


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Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday

Black Forest Cake

Ingredients

2 8-inch or 9-inch chocolate cakes, baked and cooled
(use German Chocolate Cake)
2 cans of cherry pie filling
3 cups cold whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar


Directions

Split each cake in half horizontally to create a total of 4 layers. Crumble one of the layers into a bowl and set aside.

Beat the cold whipping cream and the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer set at high speed until stiff peaks form. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream for decorative piping.

Place one cake layer on the serving plate. Spread with 1 cup of whipped cream and top with 3/4 cup cherry filling. Place second cake layer on top. Spread with 1 cup of whipped cream and top with 3/4 cup cherry filing. Top with third cake layer.

Frost sides of cake with remaining whipped cream and pat gently with cake crumbs that were made earlier.

Spoon reserved 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Spoon remaining cherry filling over the top of the cake.

German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature


Directions

Grease two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a small bowl, pour boiling water on chocolate and stir until smooth, then set aside until it reaches room temperature.

In the bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.

Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there's no trace of egg white visible.

Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cake layers completely. Then proceed to fill as desired.

Minestrone

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
7 cups chopped vegetables (celery, carrot, pepper, onion, corn, cabbage, etc.)
5 cups beef broth
1 cup tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can white beans
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup uncooked small pasta of your choice
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping


Directions

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add chopped vegetables and continue to saute for approximately 5 minutes until vegetables begin to soften.

Add broth and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add beans, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for at 15 minutes.

Add pasta to the soup and continue to simmer until pasta is tender (at least 15 more minutes).

Once pasta is tender, the soup is ready to be served. Ladle into individual serving bowls and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.


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Sunday Night = Soup Night
Seasonal Inspiration Saturday

Ham & Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup diced cooked ham (I like more ham, so I double or even triple it)
water, enough to cover
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (goat's milk or rice milk also work)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the potatoes, celery, onion and ham in a stockpot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, corn, salt and pepper.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.


NOTE: I don't do the butter, milk and flour in a separate pot. Once the potatoes are tender, I add the butter to the pot. In a small bowl I whisk together the milk and flour and then add it to the pot and stir it over medium-low heat until the soup is thickened.

NOTE: Some people add peas or corn when making the soup and cheese when serving the soup. Also have used the recipe but changed out the veg and meat for different ones. If you have more time you can use ham on the bone and then de-bone it when you want to serve it.


This recipe is also linked to...

Seasonal Inspiration Saturday

Rugelach

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 jar apricot jam


DIRECTIONS

Cut cold butter or margarine and cream cheese into bits. In food processor pulse flour, salt, butter or margarine, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly.

Shape crumbly mixture into four equal disks, wrap each disk and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and finely chopped raisins (may substitute miniature chocolate chips for raisins).

Roll each disk into a 9 inch round keeping other disks chilled until ready to roll them.

Use a pastry brush to layer apricot jam over the round. Sprinkle round with sugar/nut mixture. Press lightly into dough.

With a chef's knife or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, you will end up with point on outside of cookie.

Place on ungreased baking sheets and chill rugelach 20 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

After rugelach are chilled, bake them in the center rack of your oven for 18 to 25 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers.

Variations: You could substitute brown sugar for the white sugar. You could also sprinkle the already rolled rugelach with cinnamon-sugar before putting on the pan and baking.


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Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Nuts

Roasted Yellow Beet & Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
1 large sweet potato
2 large roasted yellow beets
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground curry powder
salt & pepper to taste
crumbled cheddar (optional)
tortilla chips or crackers (optional)


Directions

In a large soup pot warm the oil on low heat while you dice the onion. Mix the onion into the oil and let it slowly saute. I remove the skins from the garlic and chop them in the food processor. When the onions are translucent, add the garlic. Keep the heat low, so the garlic can cook, but not burn.

Add the diced tomatoes to the pot, and dice the sweet potato. Add these to the pot and raise the heat just enough to bring the tomatoes to a slow simmer. Add a little water to thin out. I added about two cups. Add spices and let cook.

While the soup is cooking, I chop the bunch of cilantro in the food processor, peel and dice the beets and cut up chunks of cheese to top the soup. Sweet potatoes don’t take long to cook, so check them after about five minutes. Toss the beets in the pot after the sweet potatoes are soft. Let warm for about a minute and then mix in the chopped cilantro. Serve immediately with cheese and chips.


This recipe is also linked to...

Gluten-Free Wednesdays
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Sunday Night = Soup Night
Delicious Dishes

Yellow Beets with Pecans

Ingredients

4-6 small-medium yellow beets, well-scrubbed and washed, greens cut off for another use
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons red wine or other robust vinegar
4 tablespoons chopped scallions, whites only
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
Scant handful broken pecan meats, toasted in a skillet for approximately 10 minutes
Salt and Pepper


Directions

Cover beets and garlic cloves in water in a large saucepan. Boil until beets are tender, about 40 minutes. Remove vegetables from saucepan and set them aside to cool. When cool, squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins, then mash them in a bowl with the back of a spoon. Add olive oil and vinegar, mixing well.

Peel beets and slice into rounds about ¼ inch thick. Arrange beet slices on small plates, spooning garlic dressing over them. Divide and scatter the scallions, cilantro and walnuts over each plate, finishing lightly with salt and pepper.


This recipe is also linked to...

Delicious Dishes: Garden Delights
Everyday Sisters' Sharing Sundays: Yellow

Chocolate Mint Wraparounds

INGREDIENTS

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp imitation chocolate sprinkles
Green gel food colouring
1 egg white, beaten

DIRECTIONS

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt bittersweet chocolate; let cool to room temperature.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and peppermint. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt stir into butter mixture in 2 additions, using hands when stiff. Scrape half into separate bowl; stir in melted chocolate. Stir sprinkles into remaining dough and tint green (will be paler when baked).

Between waxed paper, roll out half of the chocolate dough to 12- x 4-inch (30 x 10 cm) rectangle; brush with egg white. Shape half of the green dough into 12-inch (30 cm) log. Place log lengthwise on centre of rectangle. Bring chocolate dough over log to meet; press edges together and roll log to reshape if necessary. Repeat with remaining dough. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Freeze in airtight container for up to 3 weeks.)

Cut roll into 1/4-inch (5 mm) thick slices. Arrange, 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, on prepared pans; freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake in top and bottom thirds of 350 degrees F oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until firm to the touch and bottom is light gold, about 12 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool. (Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and store for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.)