Dessert Pizza

This is an old Pampered Chef recipe that I learned to make many years ago. It’s very easy to do because the crust is made from refrigerated cookie dough. You can lay the fruit in any pattern or design you want. It makes a very pretty presentation and is sure to wow your dinner guests when you serve it. Little do they know how simple it was to make!

DESSERT PIZZA

• 1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 box (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 4 cups assorted fresh fruit such as strawberries, kiwi, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, etc.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. For the crust, shape the cookie dough into a ball.
3. Place ball in center of a cookie sheet or pizza pan and flatten it lightly with the palm of your hand.
4. Roll out the dough to a 12-inch circle using a lightly floured rolling pin.
5. Bake the sugar cookie crust for 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
7. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined.
8. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cookie crust.
9. Arrange fruit over the cream cheese mixture in any design or pattern you want.

NOTE:  For a large 16-inch pizza like the one I have pictured, just double the recipe.

Here’s a picture of another one I made for a different occasion. As you can see, the design possibilities are endless with all the fruit combinations you can come up with.

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Cocoflan Cake

This cake is a play on my Chocoflan Cake. I was making a Chocoflan Cake for Cinco de Mayo and I started thinking how fun it would be to make a coconut flavored flan cake, so I went out to buy ingredients for a test drive. It took a few trial runs over the next few weekends, but eventually my Cocoflan Cake was born! Thankfully my family doesn’t mind being the guinea pigs who have to taste and EAT all my kitchen experiments.

I like how this final version turned out. The dessert isn’t overly sweet, the cake is moist, and the flan is smooth and creamy. It looks like a lot of steps, but if you read through the recipe, it’s really not hard to do. Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean.

COCOFLAN CAKE

Macapuno Topping:

• 1 cup white sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup macapuno, you can add more if you like

Leche Flan:

• 4 ozs. (½ box) cream cheese
• 1 can (14 oz.) condensed milk
• 1 can (13.5 oz.) unsweetened coconut milk
• 5 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. coconut extract

Coconut Cake:

• 1½ cups all­-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• ¾ cup cream of coconut (or coconut milk)
• 2 tsp. coconut extract
• ½ cup butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs

Make the Topping:

1. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and place on stove over low heat.
2. Let come to a boil and continue to cook until sugar starts to caramelize. Watch it carefully! The sugar can burn in an instant.
3. Once the sugar starts turning reddish brown, take it off the heat immediately. It will continue to darken and you don’t want it getting bitter.
4. Pour the sugar syrup into a bundt pan and swirl the bundt pan around so the sugar syrup coats the bottom and about an inch up the sides of the pan. Be careful. The bundt pan will get very hot so use oven mitts!
5. Put the bundt pan down on a trivet.
6. Distribute the macapuno evenly over the sugar syrup.
7. Set the bundt pan aside to cool.

Prepare the Flan:

1. Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and heat in microwave for about 30 – 40 seconds so the cream cheese becomes very soft.
2. Add the condensed milk to the softened cream cheese and whisk vigorously together with a wire whisk until well-blended and very smooth.
3. Add the coconut milk, eggs, and coconut extract, and whisk together well.
4. Set flan mixture aside while you prepare the cake batter.

Make the Cake:

1. Prepare a water bath by placing a roasting pan half full of water into the oven.
2. Turn oven on to 350ºF to preheat.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. In another small bowl, stir the cream of coconut and coconut extract together.
5. With an electric mixer set on high speed, beat butter and coconut oil together until smooth.
6. Slowly add sugar, continuing to beat until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
7. Reduce speed to medium and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
8. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of cream­ of­ coconut mixture.
9. Beat until just combined.
10. Pour the cake batter on top of the macapuno-sugar syrup in the bundt pan, smoothing the batter evenly with a rubber spatula.
11. Slowly pour the flan mixture through a sieve over the cake batter. Don’t worry if it sinks or causes the batter to separate in clumps.
12. Cover bundt pan tightly with a piece of tin foil and place into water bath in oven.
13. Bake for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake uncovered for 30 minutes more or until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center.
14. Remove from water bath and allow to cool to room temperature; then place in refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
15. To serve, invert cake onto a large cake plate or serving platter.

NOTES:

• This cake is best prepared a day or two in advance and kept chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.
• Macapuno is a Filipino delicacy. It’s basically shredded young coconut that’s been cooked in syrup to preserve it. It’s sold in jars in Asian food markets. If you can’t find macapuno, you can omit it from this recipe.

French Coconut Pie

Unlike its name, French Coconut Pie did not originate in France but was actually invented in America. Wherever it originated from, it’s one of the easiest pies you’ll ever make and tastes amazing to boot! You can make your own pie crust if you want to. I have a great recipe for homemade pie crust here. Or you could just purchase a ready-made pie shell from the grocery and save yourself some work. Either way, this pie turns out delicious! It’s literally a pie to die for.

FRENCH COCONUT PIE

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 deep-dish 9-inch pie shell, purchased or homemade

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Bake pie crust for 18-25 minutes until lightly golden on the edges.
3. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined.
4. Pour filling into pre-baked pie crust. Crust doesn’t have to be cool for this step.
5. Bake 45-55 minutes or until lightly browned and custard is set.
6. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour, before serving.

Maja Blanca

My sister-in-law, Tina, is an amazing person. She’s the middle girl in Old Goat Honey’s family and typical of the middle child, she’s easy-going but hardworking, innovative and willing to try new things, kind-hearted, peace-loving, and makes a great friend. She’s had some trials in her life but her perseverance always pulls her through with flying colors. She loves animals and her home in Australia has turned into a mini animal sanctuary for all the animals she’s rescued. I’m forever in awe of how artistic she is. She can draw, paint, sculpt… She made a mobile for No. 1 when he was born that was absolutely adorable. I always say she’s the family McGyver. Give her a sheet of plastic and an exacto knife and she’ll have a bunch of crowns made and all the children playing King Arthur’s Court in no time. Did I mention she cooks and bakes, too? She taught me how to make Maja Blanca. This is her recipe.

Maja Blanca is a traditional Filipino dessert. It’s kindof like a coconut pudding studded with kernels of corn. It sounds strange to think of coconut and corn together, but believe me this dessert is sooo good, you’ll find yourself coming back for seconds and thirds. I think Maja Blanca is traditionally topped with latik which is basically coconut milk curds. To make latik, you bring some coconut milk to a simmer and keep simmering till the oil separates from the milk solids which eventually start to fry in the oil and and turn into little brown curds. It’s a lot of work. My shredded coconut topping is way easier.

When you shop for the canned milks for this recipe, you’ll need to buy:

• 4 cans (13.5 oz. each) coconut milk
• 1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

From the 4 cans of coconut milk, you’ll be able to get 5 cups for the 1st Mixture, but you won’t have enough left over to make 2 cups for the 2nd Mixture. Never fear. What you’re going to do is pour the last of the coconut milk into your 2-cup measure and then add enough of the liquid drained from the whole kernel corn to make 2 cups.

Same thing with the evaporated milk. You won’t have enough in the can to make 2 cups but it’s not worth opening a whole ‘nother can when you’re just a little bit short, so pour the evaporated milk into your measuring cup and then add enough corn liquid drained from the whole kernel corn to make the 2 cups that you’ll need for the 1st Mixture. If you run out of corn liquid, go ahead and use water. It’ll be fine.

MAJA BLANCA

1st Mixture:

• 5 cups coconut milk
• 2 cups evaporated milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 can (14¾ oz.) cream-style corn
• 1 can (15.25 oz.) whole kernel corn, drain and reserve the liquid

2nd Mixture:

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 2 cups cornstarch

1. Grease a rectangular pyrex glass baking dish or metal baking pan with butter or margarine.
2. Mix all the ingredients of the 1st Mixture together in a large pot.
3. In a bowl, mix together the ingredients of the 2nd Mixture using a wire whisk until smooth.
4. Bring 1st Mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally.
5. When boiling, pour the 2nd Mixture into the pot, scraping it all in with a rubber spatula, and continue to cook, stirring constantly until thick. The mixture will thicken really fast so this step is best done by two people. One person to stir the pot while the other person pours the 2nd Mixture into it.
6. Quickly pour maja into prepared baking pan.

Toasted Sweet Coconut Topping:

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1. Melt butter in a frying pan.
2. Add grated coconut and sugar and toast, stirring constantly until golden brown. Watch carefully because the coconut burns fast!
3. Sprinkle toasted sweet coconut over maja blanca.

NOTE:  If you can’t get fresh grated coconut, you can substitute unsweetened dessicated coconut. If you can’t get unsweetened dessicated coconut, you can use sweetened dessicated coconut but cut the 1/2 cup sugar down to 2 tablespoons.

This is a big recipe so it’s great for potlucks and family gatherings. It makes enough to fill a 9×13 rectagular baking dish with enough left over to fill an 8-inch round pie plate. If you have a dish bigger than 9×13, use it to make one giant dessert.

Cherry Clafoutis

It’s cherry season and the cherries are out in full force. I see them everywhere – at the farmer’s market, in the grocery stores, on street vendor’s tables – and they’re absolutely delicious! So dark and sweet and juicy.

I picked up a sackful from the store yesterday and decided to make them into a fresh cherry clafoutis (pronounced “clah-foo-tee“). I love clafoutis. Especially when it’s just out of the oven and served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream melting on the side. Yum! As an added bonus, it makes the house smell so good while it’s baking, too!

If you have a cherry pitter, use it. It sure makes the work of pitting each cherry a lot easier. I used to be the Room Mom for my kids’ kindergarten classes and one year, as a thank you gift, the children gave me a pretty white basket filled with fresh cherries. Tied to the basket’s handle with a red-and-white checkered ribbon was a silver cherry pitter. I still have that same cherry pitter to this day. It’s proven to be a mighty useful contraption over the years.

FRESH CHERRY CLAFOUTIS

• 4 cups fresh cherries
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 can evaporated milk (or 2 cups fresh milk)
• 1 cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup demerara sugar (or plain white sugar), optional

1. Wash, stem, and remove the pits from the cherries. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9×13 pyrex glass baking dish.
3. Using a wire whisk, whisk the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
4. Empty the can of evaporated milk into a measuring cup and add enough water or fresh milk to make it amount to 2 cups.
5. Add the milk and melted butter into the flour mixture and whisk together well. Batter will be thin.
6. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
7. Scatter the cherries over the top of the batter, distributing them evenly so you get a cherry in every bite.
8. Sprinkle the top with the ¼ cup demerara sugar, if using.
9. Bake for about 50 minutes or until top turns light brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

NOTE:  You can make this clafoutis with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches or any other fruit you like.

This recipe can easily be halved and baked in a 9-inch square pan for a smaller clafoutis.

Blueberry Lemon Bread

I had a bunch of blueberries that I needed to use up. Today didn’t feel like a blueberry pie kind of day so I decided to make cake instead. Blueberries and lemon form the perfect sweet and sour flavor combination. Specially if you get blueberries when they’re in season and are at their peak, practically bursting with juicy sweetness. This recipe makes a super moist cake that’s great for breakfast or for an afternoon snack with a nice cup of hot tea.

Speaking of which, I saw a picture somewhere (probably on Pinterest) of a blueberry cake that was cut in small little rounds so I decided to try doing that. I baked one loaf cake with half my batter, but poured the other half of the batter into an 8-inch round pan to make a thinner cake which I cut into little circles with a mini-biscuit cutter. Don’t those look adorable? How perfect for a dessert table or for my annual Mother’s Day tea party!

BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 3 cups flour + 2 tbsp. for tossing with blueberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain yogurt (can substitute sour cream)
• zest of one lemon
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract

Topping:

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• ¼ cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and sides of two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Toss blueberries in 2 tbsp. flour. This helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf. Set aside.
3. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk eggs together; then whisk in melted butter, milk, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.
5. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
6. Gently fold blueberries into batter.
7. Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
8. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans.
9. Make topping by mixing lemon juice and melted butter together.
10. Brush lemon-butter mixture on top of loaves.
11. Sprinkle with a heavy layer of sugar while tops are still wet.

NOTE:  My kids love the crunchy sugar topping made by sprinkling granulated sugar over the loaves, but if you prefer to have a glaze for the topping, just omit the butter, replace the granulated sugar with 1 cup of powdered sugar, and stir in 2-3 tbsp. of lemon juice till it reaches a good consistency for drizzling.

A nice trick to help you remove a cake from a loaf pan is to line the bottom of the loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper long enough to go up the short sides and stick out at least a couple of inches past the edge of the pan on either side. After your cake has cooled for 10 minutes, grasp the ends of the parchment paper that stick out past the loaf pan and use them like handles to lift the cake up and out. You can then tip the cake on its side to peel the parchment strip off.

Chocolate Cobbler

A cobbler is an old-fashioned American dessert that’s been around since the 1800’s. It’s traditionally made with fruit, like peaches or blackberries, that are baked in their juices and topped with a cakey or biscuit-like dough. There are different variations on how the topping is made depending on where you’re from.

A chocolate cobbler breaks from tradition in that it isn’t made with fruit, but as far as making it goes, it’s just as easy to put together as any fruit cobbler and it’s every bit as delicious! Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s absolutely to die for. Whenever I make this, it disappears almost as soon as it comes out of the oven!

CHOCOLATE COBBLER

• 2 sticks butter
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 1½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ¾ cup evaporated milk

For the Chocolate Layer:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsps. cocoa powder
• 2 cups boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Place the 2 sticks of butter into a 9×13 pyrex glass baking dish and put in the oven to melt.
3. While butter is melting, stir together 1¼ cups sugar, flour, vanilla and milk in a bowl.
4. Pour the batter over the melted butter. Do not stir!
5. In another bowl, mix the 1 cup sugar and cocoa powder together, and sprinkle on top of the batter. Again, do not stir!
6. Pour the boiling water on top of everything. Resist the urge to stir! Just don’t do it!
7. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until you have a nice golden brown crust on top.
8. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is a very popular Italian dessert. It’s not a very old recipe. In fact, it’s said to have been created in the 1960s. These days, you can find it offered in practically every Italian restaurant all over the world. Tiramisu is typically made with mascarpone cheese, eggs, sugar, and ladyfingers that have been dipped in espresso. It’s rich and creamy and so delicious that you’ll be tempted to have a second and a third piece!

Mascarpone cheese is pretty easy to find nowadays, but if you can’t get it in your local grocery store, you can substitute 1 box (8 ozs.) of cream cheese, blended with ¼ cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons butter. (You would have to double that for this recipe.)

TIRAMISU

• 2 cups boiling-hot water
• 3 Tbsp. instant espresso powder
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. coffee liqueur, like Tia Maria or Kahlua
• 6 large egg yolks
• ¾ cup sugar
• 16 ozs. mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup chilled heavy cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 24 to 46 ladyfingers or savoiardi cookies (depending on how big your cookies are)
• unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

1. Stir together water, espresso powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, and coffee liqueur in a  shallow bowl or pie plate until sugar has dissolved, then set aside to cool.
2. Using a wire whisk or hand mixer, beat egg yolks and ¾ cup sugar together in a double boiler set over gently simmering water until tripled in volume, about 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add the mascarpone and beat until well incorporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Cover and place in refrigerator while you prepare the vanilla cream.
6. In another bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form, then beat in vanilla.
7. Gently fold one-third vanilla cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten it.
8. Then gently fold in remaining cream until thoroughly combined, taking care not to deflate the cream. Mixture will look lumpy. I have no idea why it does that. Don’t worry about it. It’ll still taste good.
9. Quickly dunk each ladyfinger in the cooled coffee until the coffee soaks about halfway through, leaving the center of the cookie dry (you can break one in half to check). Don’t get the ladyfingers completely saturated or you’ll end up with a layer of unrecognizable, soggy mush. Gently shake off excess coffee and lay soaked ladyfingers in 9×13 pyrex glass baking dish, lining them up to completely cover the bottom. If you need to, you can break some of the ladyfingers to create a snug fit.
10. Spread half of mascarpone filling on top of the ladyfinger layer.
11. Dip remaining ladyfingers one by one in coffee and arrange in second layer over mascarpone cream.
12. Spread remaining mascarpone cream evenly on top of second layer of ladyfingers.
13. Cover and chill in refrigerator until set, at least 4-6 hours.
14. Before serving, dust top generously with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh sieve.

NOTE:

• You can substitute 2 cups freshly brewed espresso or double-strength drip coffee for the water and instant espresso powder.
• Tiramisu can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before serving.
• If you don’t have a double boiler, you can make one by setting a heatproof glass bowl on top of a pan of gently simmering water, as pictured below.
  

Coconut Toast

I read about Coconut Toast on this blog called Laugh With Us Blog. It reminded me of this Filipino coconut dessert we ate all the time growing up. It was called “bukayo.” Bukayo is a native coconut “candy” made by cooking fresh grated coconut and sugar together. One of these days, I’ll have to post a recipe for you guys so you can see what it’s like. Our cusinera (cook) — yes, we had a cook when I was growing up — used to make it for us for an afternoon snack all the time. It’s usually shaped into little balls or little flat patties, but Manang Francisca used to just pile it all into a bowl and we each got to have a tablespoon or two of it. Saved her the work of rolling it into balls, I guess.

Anyway, the coconut in this recipe is prepared a bit differently as it has egg in it, but it reminded me a lot of bukayo. Of course, piling it onto bread takes it up a notch. How clever is that? Then you actually get to eat it with your fingers! No spoon needed. And eat it you will! Esther from Laugh With Us Blog wasn’t kidding when she said this was a must try. OMG! You’ll not only eat it with your fingers, but you’ll lick every little crumb off said fingers, too! It’s that good!

COCONUT TOAST

• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 9-12 slices of bread

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and coconut together.
3. Spread the mixture onto each slice of bread.
4. Arrange bread on an ungreased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toast is lightly browned.

NOTE:  The original recipe is supposed to make enough mixture to cover 12 slices of bread. Apparently, we slather it on a lot thicker than that because we only get 9 slices of bread per recipe. LOL! Just spread the mixture on as thickly as you like. You’ll get anywhere from 9 to 12 pieces of toast.

Also, for those of you looking to cut down on your sugar intake, I’ve made this recipe with only 3/4 cup of sugar. It’s just as delicious as it is with the full amount.

Halloween Fondant Ghosts

To add to the treats I was making for the kids this Halloween, I decided to make some fondant ghosts. You can make your own homemade fondant like I did, or buy ready-made fondant. Obviously, homemade marshmallow fondant tastes a hundred times better than the store bought kind, but it can be a pain to make so it’s entirely up to you. The ghost bodies underneath the fondant are made by stacking chocolate candies that you “glue” together with melted chocolate chips. Whether you choose to make your own fondant or buy the ready-made kind, assembling these ghosts is definitely easy and fun to do! They look adorable on your Halloween table, too.

HALLOWEEN FONDANT GHOSTS

• 1 recipe marshmallow fondant (or you can buy ready-made white fondant)
• 1 bag Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups
• 1 box Whoppers malted milk balls
• 2-3 tbsp. chocolate chips, to use as “glue”
• powdered sugar or cornstarch, for dusting
• 1 tube of black ready-to-use decorating icing

1. Heat chocolate chips in microwave in 30-second increments until completely melted.
2. Smear a little melted chocolate on top of a Reese’s peanut butter cup and press a second cup on top of it. This is your ghost’s body.
   
3. Next, smear a little dollop of melted chocolate on a Whopper and press it onto your peanut butter cup stack. This is your ghost’s head.
4. Knead the fondant till it’s soft and pliable.
5. Dust work surface with powdered sugar or cornstarch.
6. Pull off a piece of fondant and cover the rest with a damp towel. I like to work with fondant in small batches to keep the big piece of fondant from drying out.
   
7. Roll out the piece of fondant you pulled to a little less than a quarter inch thick.
8. Cut out 4½-inch circles from the fondant.
   
9. Break off another piece of fondant, roll, and cut out more circles.
10. Repeat till you have the number of circles you need for however many ghosts you’re making.
11. Drape a fondant circle over a chocolate stack, arranging it so it drapes in nice folds.
    
12. Pipe two eyes with black decorating icing. If desired, you could add an “O” shaped mouth as well.
    
13. These ghosts can be served as is, or use them as cupcake toppers or to decorate a cake.