Category Archives: Desserts

Chocolate Pecan Pie

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That’s right. I said it out loud.

Chocolate Pecan Pie.  Or as Jimmy Carter would say, Peecan Pie.

If ever there was a pie that would be considered a “bad boy” in the world of “good girls”, this is it. Just saying its name out loud makes me feel a little guilty. But then I taste it and move on with my life, and don’t feel bad. Yes suh, it’s that good.

I love this pie so much in fact, last year Ryan was afraid I would leave him and run away with the Whole Foods version of this. When I told him that I was going to try out my own version, he almost refused to taste it citing, “the pain” as his reason.

I changed his mind.

Enjoy, kids. This is the best Southern pie you will evah evah have. Make me  and Jimmy proud.

Serves 8. Or 10 if you behave.

Ingredients::

  • One pie crust
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 5 TBS unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups pecans
  • 1 cup semi-sweet or Special Dark chocolate chips

Directions::

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll the thawed dough out into a thin round disk and place into standard size pie pan. Press pie dough into the bottom and up against sides of the pan. Trim any excess edge. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork a few times, and glaze the crust with egg yolk. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt in large bowl until well blended. Add the pecans and chocolate, gently folding in with a spatula or rubber spoon.
  3. When pie crust is slightly cooled (5-10 minutes out of the oven), pour pie filling into crust. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center seems a bit jiggly. Let cool on baking rack for at least 1 1/2 hours. Serve at room temp or still warm.

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Basic Pie Crust

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You will need this. Trust me. This little recipe (thank you Martha Stewart) with only 4 ingredients will become the base of many desserts I plan on bestowing upon you during the upcoming holiday season. In fact, later this week I will kick off the Holiday Desserts series. 

Don’t pretend you’re not excited. 

Memorize this recipe. Say it out loud 50 times if you have to. Make flashcards. Keep a 3×5 up on the mirror in the bathroom. Whatever you need to do to learn it, do it…this guy is your holiday dessert weapon. 

Plus, it’s quite tasty. 

You can make the dough in a food processor, but it’s risky unless you really know what you’re doing. I do mine by hand and just cut in the butter with a pastry blender. 

Makes enough for one double-crust or two single-crust 9-inch pies

Ingredients:: 

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
  • 1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

Directions:: 

  1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the butter, and cut in butter by hand with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining. 
  2. Add the ice water and continuing to use the pastry blender, mix it in gently, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not over blend. Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a little more water, 1 TBS at a time. 
  3. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen up to one month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using. 

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Mascarpone & Chocolate Puff Pastries

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My quest to create the best mascarpone cream based dessert continues. This was a mildly successful venture. Don’t get me wrong, it was good! There is definitely some room for improvement though. For example, next time I will mix the melted chocolate into the mascarpone cream base. And I will make puffs out of the pastry instead of squares. Then I’d fill them like an eclair or something. 

What I’m saying is, my recipe is sound. Learn from my mistakes and go forth. And if you do it my way, it will still taste good, but Ryan and I discovered that the best tasting parts had a solid mixture of chocolate and cream in every bite. So spread it out, good and thick, even into the corners! 

PS, Currently I have no electric mixer so I literally whipped the cheese and cream by hand. I just want you to know that this was a labor of love. For you. And maybe me. 

Makes about 6 square pastries 

Ingredients:: 

  • 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 TBS vanilla extract
  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
  • 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions::

  1. Preheat oven to 430 degrees F. Whip the mascarpone, vanilla, and cream on medium-high until medium peaks form. Set aside. Meanwhile, cut puff pastry sheet into 6 squares. Lay evenly on baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on baking rack. 
  2. After pastries have cooled, slice in half and spoon a generous layer of melted chocolate onto bottom half (see photo). Next, spoon a thick layer of mascarpone cream onto chocolate. Fold pastry over to form a “sandwich”. Top with any remaining mascarpone and chocolate. 

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In Season:: Apple Tart

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Yes. Fall is here. Almost. The October issue of Bon Appetit was so full of apple recipes, I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to make something.

This tart was my second attempt. The first was about 5 months ago when my parents came to visit and Ryan had his meet-the-parents brunch. I made the tart on an old baking sheet and just about burned the house down. Neither Ryan or my parents admitted it to me, but I feel it was a colossal failure.

This time, I made the tart on my new, fancy baking sheets and it came out SO much better. Hindsight, I would have left it in for a little longer, but check yours at about 18 minutes. Let’s face it, we aren’t all baking in ovens manufactured in 1981.

By the way, this recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman. If you haven’t checked her out, she’s amazing.

Ingredients::

  • 1 sheet puffed pastry, cut into half, thawed for about 15 minutes
  • 3 apples, cored, halved, and sliced (but not peeled)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • squeeze of lemon juice

Directions::

  1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees. Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray. Squeeze a little bit of lemon over top of your sliced apples, in a large bowl.
  2. Add the brown sugar and salt to the apples. Stir to mix well and coat the apples completely. Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go.
  3. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until puff pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and place on serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Peanut Butter Cups

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You read correctly kids.

As in Reese’s. As in a lovely chocolate shell. As in a melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter center.

This is the real deal.

I made these over Labor Day weekend at my family’s house outside of Nashville, TN. While the men were getting their football fulfillment upstairs, my sister, mom, and I cooked.

Um, kind of a lot. I’m actually a bit ashamed.

Well, whatever.

I made the big size (a lot larger than you can buy in the store), but you could definitely make mini ones too. You’ll need to get yourself whatever size muffin tin liners you want to use.

Refrigerate these until  you’re ready to eat them, then pull ‘em out to bring to an edible temperature. They’re kind of hard right out of the fridge, but some people like them that way!

Makes about 15 large cups

Ingredients::

  • 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter (not natural style)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 18 oz. semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions::

  1. Line a standard size (12) muffin tin pan with liners. Set aside.
  2. With an electric mixer, mix the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until ingredients are combined and mixture looks crumbly. Set aside.
  3. Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments in heat proof bowl, stirring in between each time. Using a spoon, put about 2 TBS of melted chocolate in the bottom of each muffin liner.
  4. Using your hands, form tablespoon size balls of the peanut butter mixture. Then, flatten balls into disc shapes so that they are roughly half the size (in diameter) of the chocolate cups. Place one disc in each chocolate cup, pressing down to submerge in chocolate.
  5. Finally, spoon a small amount of remaining melted chocolate over the peanut butter discs to cover completely. Refrigerate to set.

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Blueberry Shortbread Cakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Cream

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I told you.

I told you I would share this with you.

So…last week, Ryan and I went to Chef Geoff’s for Restaurant Week. For dessert, we had two things: a S’more brownie with honey & graham ice cream (which, yes, at some point I will try to recreate) and a strawberry shortcake biscuit with mascarpone.

My flash of inspiration resulted in a flaky shortbread cake, creamy vanilla mascarpone, and sweet end-of-season blueberries – all rolled into one.

I have to be honest, the cream was my favorite. Seriously. It was just the right texture, I could taste just a hint of heavy cream, and the vanilla flavor was exceptional.If you have never had mascarpone cheese, you can find it by the cream cheese in the dairy section. It is the base for a lot of Italian desserts, including tiramisu!

Please make this. And not just so I can say, “I told you” again.

Makes about 5 servings

Ingredients::

  • 10 shortbread “cakes”
  • 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup blueberries

Directions::

  1. Combine the mascarpone and heavy cream in a medium bowl. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and soft peaks form. Add vanilla, mix on low until just combined.
  2. Spoon a generous tablespoon mascarpone onto one shortbread “cake”. Top with blueberries and another shortbread “cake”.

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Shortbread, Pt. 1

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So. Last week was DC’s Summer/Fall Restaurant week. And let me tell you, I was inspired. 

You’ll find out more about that inspiration tomorrow, but for today I’m going to show you how to make the base of tomorrow’s recipe – Blueberry Shortbread Cakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Cream. 

Also, you have something else to look forward to! I’m headed down to Nashville to visit my family this weekend. You know what that means? Lots of good cookin’ and fun! Expect to see homemade peanut butter cups, spinach artichoke dip, and italian sausage meatball heroes, all with the Cummins’ twist of course! 

Makes about 10 “cakes”

Ingredients:: 

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ or granulated sugar

Directions:: 

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray nonstick spray onto a large baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Sift together flour and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, cream butter until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until very light in color and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, about 2 minutes more. Add flour mixture, and beat on low, scraping bowl if necessary, until flour is just incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed.
  2. Spread dough into prepared pan in an even layer with frosting spreader ; prick all over in even intervals with a wooden skewer or fork.
  3. Bake until firm in the center and just starting to color, about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Cut into circles with biscuit cutters or round cookie cutter. Cakes will keep, in an airtight container, at room temperature 3 weeks.
     

 

The Shortbread Mafia

The Shortbread Mafia

Only use the sugar for sprinkling the shortbread straight out of the oven...this is optional!

Only use the sugar for sprinkling the shortbread straight out of the oven...this is optional!

If you don't have one of these (frosting spreader), you're missing out - thanks Mom!

If you don't have one of these (frosting spreader), you're missing out - thanks Mom!

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