dessert recipes, sweets, baked goods

Bake something sweet to ease the inevitable bitterness in life.

Apple and Pear Crostata

Yield one crostata

One pie crust

3 large baking apples

3 pears

¼ cup flour

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter diced

Roll out pie crust on parchment paper and place on a sheet pan. Slice thinly or medium dice apples and pears and place on pie crust leaving a 1” border all around. Place flour, spices and sugar in a bowl and cut in butter with a pastry cutter or pulse in a food processor until course meal forms. Sprinkle on top of apples and pears. Fold edges of pie crust up over the fruit and pleat to make a free form circle. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is golden and fruit is tender. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Perfect Waffles

2 large eggs

1 ¾ cup Silk Unsweetened Coconutmilk

½ c canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups Castle Valley Mill soft wheat flour, sifted

3 tablespoons brown sugar

4 teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoon salt

Add all wet ingredients to a large (4 cup) Pyrex measuring cup or batter bowl (with a spout – to make pouring batter easier). Whisk by hand until well blended. In a separate medium to large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients and mix with a fork to blend. Add liquid mixture to dry mixture slowly and gradually, whisking constantly until the batter is smooth. Pour batter back into Pyrex or batter bowl. Plug in waffle iron and wait for it to heat up. When waffle iron is ready, pour batter in carefully to fill all the spaces but do not overfill. If using a round flip model iron, close iron, count to ten and flip. Once green light shows on the reverse side, flip back and remove waffle. A large wooden fork works great as a tool for this. Repeat and enjoy!

Pumpkin Waffles

3 large eggs

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 ¼ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups Castle Valley Mill soft wheat sifted

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Put wet ingredients in a medium batter bowl, whisk to combine. Place dry ingredients in a medium bowl and use a fork to combine. Gradually add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Or use a hand mixer on lowest speed. Pour batter back into batter bowl to make pouring easier. Plug in waffle iron and allow batter to set while iron heats up. If using a single round flip waffle iron, this recipe makes 5 waffles.

Deconstructed Banana Cream Pie

Walnut Cream Cheese Butter Cookies

4 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter at room temperature

6 ozs cream cheese or neufchatel at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped (or nuts of your choice - get creative!)

1 cup walnuts, roasted and finely chopped, optional

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add butter and cream cheese and mix on medium until blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Reduce speed to stir and add flour a cup at a time with the salt. Mix until just blended. Do not overix. Mix in the 1 cup of toasted nuts if using.

Spread a long sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface and place half the dough in a log shape on the plastic. Using the long sides to further shape the log, wrap the log and roll with your hands to continue shaping. Once shaped, fold short ends of plastic over the log. Roll log in parchement paper to provide stability. Repeat with other half of dough. Place in zip lock bag or freezer proof container and freeze for 30 minutes at minimum. The dough can remain in freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one log at a time, remove dough from freezer and unwrap. Roll log in 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts and slice in 1/4ish inch slices. Place cut side down on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating half way through, until the edges are browned and center is light brown.

Banana Custard Filling

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 2/3 cup water

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 very ripe bananas, 1 will be mashed and 1 sliced - but must be done at the last minute to prevent browning, do not mash or slice ahead of time

whipped cream - 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar or sugar amount to taste

shredded sweetened coconut to taste, optional

In a saucepan dissolve the cornstarch in water with a whisk, add in sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly but gently until mixture gets thick and starts to bubble. Remove from heat immediately and stir in vanilla, butter (coconut if using) and mashed banana. Allow to sit for 5 minutes then transfer to a bowl and press in a piece of saran wrap to prevent skin from forming. Allow to cool further. When just slightly warm, put in refrigerator until completely chilled - about 2 hours.

Assembly

Use a clear glass dessert dish (or martini glass, ball jar, stemless wine glass). Depending on height, you will either repeat layers or just use one layer of each component. Use slightly crushed (I like medium sized chunks) butter cookie as the base layer, add custard, a slice or two of banana and whipped cream to top. Garnish with a halved banana slice, coconut and a dusting of finely chopped nuts - whatever you like. Enjoy!