TWD: Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

This pie could be a metaphor for my life right now: A hot mess.

I mean, the components are all awesome... coconut crust, bananas, ice cream??? I mean.. you can't go wrong, right? Just like my life... work is busy, awesome vacations and busy weekends... it's all good, don't get me wrong! But it's kind of nice to get those things in small doses on their own, rather than all together at the same time.

But, when you have opportunities to do things in both your personal life and professional life you grab a hold of them and see how long you can hold on to it all (even if everything's happening simultaneously)... so far, I've been holding on tight and I have avoided the crash and burn, but I've still got a couple of weeks to go... so, we'll see what happens.

That's not the case with this pie. Things kept getting thrown into the dish until it was just too much to enjoy, for me.

First of all, I didn't really understand the concept of the pie. It felt like I was eating coconut cookies with chocolate ice cream and sliced bananas. I didn't feel like the flavors really melded all that well together. It was like instead of putting together a Dorie recipe, I was putting together a Rachael Ray dessert. It always annoys me when she makes desserts on her show. Like... seriously.. you don't need to show people how to make an ice cream sundae. Nobody is watching your show (at least the food network one, I never get to see her other show) for dessert recipes, trust me.

I made this for mother's day and was pretty disappointed in the end result. It wasn't that it was awful, cause it certainly wasn't. It just felt like so thrown together and separated. It didn't feel like a homemade dessert to me. Maybe it's partially my fault... I wasn't able to give the recipe the full time in the freezer to really freeze up. But, I kinda feel like that probably wouldn't have helped the issue I had with it. Which is that throwing sliced bananas into some chocolate ice cream and dishing it up in a delicious coconut crust does not a "dessert" make.

You win some, you lose some, I guess. In theory sometimes the idea of putting a whole bunch of things that you love together into one pot is a great idea. But in execution... it doesn's always work out that way, I guess. I'm hoping that's where the similiarities of my life and this recipe end.

Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan for Tuesdays with Dorie
Chosen by: Spike of Spike Bakes

The recipe called for chocolate ice cream, which I used, despite my better judgement. Dorie mentions that using vanilla ice cream is delicious, it's just the that bananas turn the ice cream a kinda of brownish-gross color. Which... on my own, I wouldn't have cared about. But for Mother's Day... not the best look.

I also skipped the lemon juice.. because... lemon juice and chocolate?? No thanks. But, I'm weird like that.

The real winner in this recipe is the crust!!!! Which I will use again and again.

Recipe Here.

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

I am currently gallavanting through Northern California's Wine Country, but please enjoy this post I prepared before I went on vacation. The recipe link at the end of the post will be updated once I get back to show the exact link for the recipe, instead of just the blog that the recipe is listed on. I realize the post is rather boring, but don't take that out on the cookie... it's delicious, I'm just in a rush. Thanks.

One of my favorite things to eat are chewy oatmeal cookies. They are like comfort food in a portable form. And you'd be surprised how hard it is to find oatmeal cookies that turn out chewy and moist instead of dry and brittle.

This recipe was chosen for Tuesdays with Dorie by Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet. And as I read through the recipe the first time, I immediately thought... Oh no, Dorie... dried fruit and chocolate in the same recipe... careful, now, careful. And then... then I saw molasses in the recipe, too! What the????

But, I started thinking about what combination of fruits, nuts, and chocolate I wanted to use that would all complement each other to my own picky palate (that hates chocolate and dried fruit) and go with the molasses as well. And I came up with the perfect combo: dried apricots, dried cranberries, pecans, and white chocolate.

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.

These cookies were DELICIOUS. I made them one morning before my mom came over to do some shopping. I made a full recipe, stocked the cookie dough in the freezer for easy baking later and baked up 4 immediately to photograph and take with us for a little snack while shopping. They were awesome!!!! All the flavors really blended well together!

Chockablock Cookies

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

So easy to make. As I said before, I used white chocolate, dried apricots and dried cranberries and pecans. Wonderful combination.

I've found that I dont like cookie dough that has molasses in it, but I do love the flavor that the molasses imparts once the cookie is baked.

Homey and delicious. A real winner.

Recipe can be found here.

 

TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

I know. Biscuits again, right? But this time... there's no buttermilk involved. Not only that, there's also no lard or even butter! Bring out the smelling salts... someone's Aunt Sue Ellen from Montgomery, Alabama just fainted or rolled over in her grave or whatever. Can't call it a biscuit if it doesn't have all of those things or !gasp! none of them! That's just not right. Or not southern, at least.

Well, screw it. These biscuits were the easiest biscuits I've ever made AND they tasted great AND had a great texture. Bring on the cream biscuits!

Now, it's kinda fitting that I'd be making these biscuits. You see, Nashville's own Biscuit Lady, Carol Fay Ellison passed away a couple of weeks ago. Her biscuits were the best biscuits I'd ever had outside of a southern lady's kitchen. They were light and tasty without being too tangy and they were rich without feeling heavy. They were delicious and luckily the recipe lives on at Loveless Cafe. But, I did eat there about a month ago and even though I was on a diet, I couldn't say no to having one biscuit with some honey drizzled on it. YUM.

I'm pretty sure that these sweet cream biscuits will now become my go-to biscuit recipe. Just because they are easy, they require few ingredients and they have a very mild flavor and a fluffy texture that fits perfect with jams, honey, or meats.

The night before I made these biscuits, I cut up some strawberries with some sugar and let it sit in the fridge over night to juice up. Having biscuits with strawberries is a childhood memory from my maternal grandmother. She always served her biscuits piping hot with strawberries that had been picked and stored in the freezer with a little sugar (okay, a LOT of sugar). Delicious.

Of course... when I tasted these biscuits and realized how delicious they were, I had to try them with a little bit of honey drizzled over, as well (my favorite way to eat a biscuit).

These may not seem like traditional biscuits to you when you read the ingredient list... but they sure taste like it.

Sweet Cream Biscuits

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

So, I always use White Lily flour. It's readily available in every store here and I find it to be the best flour. I love the soft, light texture of the flour. According to Dorie, it's so soft that you should add 2 tbsps for every 1 cup of all purpose that you use White Lily for.

I also did something different this time. I used a ton of flour when I rolled out the dough. I'd always been scared of using too much flour ("lightly dusting" it a relative phrase, I think). But, after watching an episode of Throwdown in which Carol Fay makes her famously delicious biscuits I noticed she used a ton of flour to roll her dough out... And let me tell you... it makes the process SO MUCH EASIER. (Incidentally, she lost on her episode of throwdown, which reminds me... I need to make Bobby's recipe to see how they compare!).

I also still don't have a biscuit cutter, so I just rolled into a square, cut the biscuits into squares with a sharp knife and placed them in a square baking pan that housed all the biscuits to where they were just barely touching each other.

They turned out perfect. Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite for choosing this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. It was a real winner, in my book!

Find the recipe here.

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

Well, it's finally happened.

After years of working on my baking, trying new recipes, having massive disappointments and failures, mingled in with some mediocrity and a few really great recipes sprinkled in, it's finally time to pack away the apron.

It's been fun. I love mixing and measuring, nothing soothes me more after a long day than getting lost in a recipe. And even though things don't always turn out utterly yummy... sometimes they do and even when they dont, my friends and family still gush and coo as only friends and family can do.

But this weekend, all that changed.

It all started with Nancy of The Dogs Eat The Crumbs (who, by the way, I just LOVE. She always posts all the crazy 1/4 recipe, 1/2 recipe , 8 inch pan, 10 inch pan, etc measurements (metric, even!!!) that keep math-idiots like myself from pulling my hair out when I don't want to bake an entire recipe to take a bite of and throw away. Stupid diets). She chose a recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie that I have been DYING to try.

The name is simple: Swedish Visiting Cake. And there is a picture accompanying the recipe... that shows a very dry looking cake baked in a skillet with sliced almonds on top. Now, honestly... the picture doesn't make the recipe look all that appealing. But the story that goes along with the recipe, about how it's so quick and easy that it's said you could whip it up in no time for unexpected guests who show up on your doorstep intrigued me. Not that I ever have guests like that... (but I might now).

 So, I was very excited to be finally attempting this recipe. The fact that the timing of the recipe coincides with my busiest time of year (tax season) and also my trying to eat healthy (marathon training season) did not bode well. But I was determined to make this recipe.

Saturday, I did it. And of course... it started off bad. I was halving the recipe, and making it in two mini loaf pans. I managed to halve the recipe easily, except... I totally forget to only use HALF the zest of a lemon (I actually used an orange) and I used the whole thing. I feared a citrus overload, but I kept on plugging. Initially, when I realized my mistake, I considered just making a whole recipe... but decided that that much orange can't be a bad thing.

The moment I took the mini loaves out of the oven, I realized it. I could already tell, just by looking at the cakes that I was done with baking. For years I've been searching for the one thing.. the one baked good that knocks my socks off and with the crunchy, yet moist crust settling on the counter as they cooled, I started to think... could this be the one? This could be the one!!! It could really, finally be the one!!

I waited for them to cool for 5 minutes and then cut into one of them.

Oh.My.God.

Seriously. This is/was hands down the absolute best thing I've ever put into my mouth. It was sweet and slightly gummy and chewy and lightly crispy on top. The texture was amazing. The flavor was amazing. And the effort was amazingly easy.

Hands down, bar none, the best thing I've ever baked. And I honestly can't imagine ever making anything else so satisfying. It's comfort dessert at it's best. It's like the macaroni and cheese of desserts. It's the one, I tell you!!!! THE FREAKING ONE.

I had fantasies that night of adjusting the recipe... maybe adding cocoa for some of the flour to make a chocolate cake. Maybe throwing in some chocolate chips. The opportunities are endless and I feel like there's no reason to bake any more. I've found my baking soul-mate.

Other recipes need not apply.

Swedish Visiting Cake
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

The easiest cake you'll ever make. I don't even know what else to say except I know that this is a recipe I'll know by heart very soon. I see myself making this many, many times throughout the year. It's simply delicious. The flavor profile is very basic... just sugary (and citrus-y if you added a shit ton of orange zest like I did), but it's the texture of the cake that sets it a part. It's light, but rich. It's moist, but chewy.

I didn't sprinkle the top with almonds, because I didn't have any, but I did use all almond extract in the recipe (simply because I'm out of vanilla extract). It seems like the type of recipe you can easily sub things in and out and still wind up with a delicious treat.
It's amazing.

Find the Recipe here on Nancy's blog, The Dogs Eat The Crumbs.

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

The older I get, the more I appreciate spring. I never really thought much about spring as a kid. My focus was always on getting to summer and more importantly, summer break. But, now that I don't have a summer break, I realize what a beautiful time of year spring really is.

After a cold, wet winter, we're finally getting warm, bright days and the trees and flowers are starting to bud out. The landscape is changing from brown to green and you can almost feel the excitement in everyone around you that it's finally spring. We deserve it. It's been a long winter.

This weekend, I spent all of Saturday and Sunday outdoors for the first time all season. And it was spectacular. A Saturday full of running and hiking and a Sunday with running and golf. It doesn't get any better than that.

Well, actually... it does... it gets better when you know you have a Coconut Tea Cake waiting for you at home to be sliced up and devoured. And there is something spring-like about a Coconut Tea Cake, as well. The light fruitiness of the coconut, the tenderness of the crumb. A perfectly dainty, but decadent (especially if you douse your cake in a coconut glaze like I did) cake to serve on a perfect, spring-time day.

Coconut Tea Cake

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

Chosen for Tuesdays with Dorie by Carmen of Carmen Cooks

I halved the recipe and cooked it in a regular sized bundt pan. This would have worked out fine, I think, except I let the cake cook just a tad too long, so it was a bit on the dry side, even with dousing with a coconut syrup and the powdered sugar glaze. Great flavor though. I was out of vanilla extract so I used almond extract and a touch of coconut extract. The coconut extract really enhanced the coconut scent of the cake, but I'm not sure if it enhanced the flavor.

Click here for the recipe

Sausage Pancakes

When I was a kid, I hated breakfast foods. I can recall a few mornings during my teenage years where I cracked open a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and had it for breakfast. Can you even imagine? Yuck. As I've grown up, though, I've started to appreciate biscuits and sausage gravy, omelettes, bacon and oatmeal.

But there is one thing that I have always loved as a kid and as an adult and that is my mom's pancakes. (Well, to be honest I've always loved any and all pancakes). I went through a phase when I was in middle school where my mom made me pancakes for breakfast 2-3 times during the week and I LOVED it. Sometimes I would even get lucky and they would contain the secret ingredient that makes her pancakes 100x more special and delicious. Her simple addition of one secret ingredient is something that I've still never seen anyone else do (although, I'm sure other people do, it's such a simple and damn tasty idea).

Here it is folks... brace yourself... Cooked, crumbled breakfast sausage.

Think about it... don't you LOVE the flavor of sweet maple syrup with the salty, sometimes spicy flavor of pork sausage? YUM. How brilliant is it to put it all inside the pancake? It's the perfect blend of sweet, salty, fluffy and tangy (if you use sour cream or buttermilk in your pancakes).

And it's so easy to do. All you do, is take your favorite pancake recipe (or, boxed mix!) and add cooked, slightly cooled, crumbled sausage to the batter (and you get even more flavor if you pour in the little bit of grease that the sausage rendered during cooking) and voila: Sausage Pancakes, or as I like to call them... the best pancakes ever!

And... another favorite pancake tip (from my aunt) is when you finish cooking your pancakes, turn the stove off or on low and pour your maple syrup into the pan that you just cooked your pancakes in (a griddle obviously wont work here) to heat it up before you pour it all over your pancakes. YUM.

Sausage Pancakes

Recipe: From my mom.

So, yeah, I basically described the method above. But will list it as an actual recipe. Mom always used boxed mixes, so you can do that or just use your favorite pancake recipe and add the sausages. I used a Nigella Lawson recipe as my base, which I will list below.

Seriously, these are the perfect mix of savory and sweet for breakfast. I realize that bacon is getting all the credit these days in the food world... but breakfast sausage has it's place, too.

Ingredients:

Breakfast Sausage (my mom is partial to Tennessee Pride, but I used All Natural Jimmy Dean. And you could use links if you wanted, but it's much better if you use the bulk sasauge that comes in the tube for slicing or crumbling or whatever).

Pancake batter

Crumble whatever amount of sausage that you want in your pancakes (personal preference) into a skillet and cook until light brown. Set onto a paper towel and let cool for a minute while you prepare your pancake batter.

Add the cool-ish sausage to your batter and proceed with your pancakes.

Nigella's American Breakfast Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson from her book How to be a Domestic Goddess

I'll print the original recipe with my changes in italics.

With my changes the pancakes were good, but also not quite as tender as I'd like. Probably my fault and not the original recipe's fault. But really... is there such a thing as a bad pancake?

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used White Lily AP flour)

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar (I used Splenda Brown Sugar)

2 large eggs (I separated them from the yolks and beat the egg whites till they were stiff peaks and then folded them into the batter at the end)

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 1/3 cups of milk (I used half light sour cream and half unsweetened almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

butter for frying (I used butter flavored cooking spray)

Nigellas Directions for her ingredients:

The easiest way to make these is to put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz. But if you do mix up the batter by hand in a bowl, make a well in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, beat in the eggs, melted butter and milk, and transfer to a pitcher; it's much easier to pour the batter into the pan than spoon it. I like to leave the batter for 20 minutes before using it; and then you might want to add more milk to the mixture if your frying in the blini pan, so that it runs right to the edges.

When you cook the pancakes, all you need to remember is that when the upper side of the pancake is blistering and bubbling it's time to cook the second side, and this needs only about 1 minute, if that.

I get 11 blini pan sized pancakes out of this, maybe 16 silver dollar sized ones on the griddle.

Amy's directions for her ingredients.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl or large spouted measuring cup. In a separate bowl, add your egg yolks, butter, milk, sour cream, and vanilla and mix them together, in another bowl, beat your egg whites till you get stiff peaks.

Next make a well in the center of your flour mixture and add the wet ingredients and carefully stir together. careful not to over stir. Then fold in your egg whites. Add your cooked sausage and cook in a skillet or on a griddle.

TWD: Toasted Coconut Custard Tart

I love coconut. Always have, hopefully always will. I agree it has a different type of texture... but, what doesnt? It's not like I sit around and eat coconut out of the bag or anything... but I LOVE it in things, on top of things, whatever.

But, it's one of those foods that divides people. You're either into the coconut, or you hate it. There's no "meh." As much as I love coconut, I've never really been one to eat a lot of coconut cream pie. I'm not sure why... probably because anything with a huge plume of whipped cream or meringue on top generally makes me suspicious. It's like someone's trying to hide something underneath a veil of white fluff. I'm onto you meringues. I know your game.

So, I generally get my coconut in the form of cookies, candy bars (almond joys? swoon), cakes, breads, etc.

So when Beryl of Cinemon Girl chose the Toasted Coconut Custard Tart for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, I was stoked. I'd never made a coconut custard tart and was excited to try something new. (Plus, coconut recipes are kind of low-man on the totem pole in a big group of bakers).

I made a small batch and of course, despite sitting down with the recipe and trying to quarter it properly... I botched it and came out with glop instead of custard. But, the beauty of this recipe is that it was STILL delicious. Like... one taste and I was in coconut heaven. It was unlike anything I'd ever had before. Creamy, sweet and packed with coconut flavor.

I cannot wait to make this again as a full recipe and see how good an accurately measured version is. If you're a coconut fan, this will seriously blow your socks off.

Toasted Coconut Custard Tart
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

Besides trying to quarter this recipe (which I don't suggest you do), I also made a few other changes. First of all, since I was making a mini-recipe, I made a graham cracker crust instead of a standart tart crust. Easy and delicious!

Next, I skipped the whipped cream topping. To me, meringue and whipped cream just get in the way. But, if you're sucker for toppings, by all means make the one Dorie puts with the recipes... rum in the whipped cream sounds delicious!

Also, I added vanilla to the recipe in addition to the dark rum, I thought it added a nice subtle flavor.

The bad news? I used WAYYY too much cornstarch and so my custard turned into a thick, thick, goopy mess. But... the flavor was still delicious.

Entire Recipe Here