Desserts

This recipe came from a recipe book that the staff and students from Pasadena Primary did up years ago.

Peanut Butter Whirls aka Twirls

Our family have nicknamed these cookies Twirls.  That is what I can remember calling it when I was a child.

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package of 12oz chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

2 tablespoons of milk

Cream shortening, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla.

Measure out 2 cups of flour, salt, baking soda and stir to blend.  (You may have to use more flour in order to get the right consistency for rolling your cookie dough)

Add dry ingedients, alternately with milk to cream mixture. ( You can use the mixer at first but once so much of the dry ingredients get used you'll then have to stir it by hand)

Roll out cookie dough on wax paper to a rectangle 1/2 inch thickness.

Melt chocolate chips over hot water (or in double boiler) spread on rolled cookie dough.

Roll up length wise jelly roll fashion and chill for 1/2 hour.  (Our family sometimes puts it in the freezer.  We let it thaw out for a couple of minutes before cutting.  Or we just eat the dough right out of the freezer...it is so good that way.  It was our favorite way to eat them as kids, even now sometimes too, LOL.)

Slice with a sharpe knife into thin 1/8" thick slices.

Place on greased (or non-stick) baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake
Yield: 10 servings

1 1/2 c Chocolate wafer crumbs
1/4 c Melted butter
2 tb Sugar
1 3/4 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks, divided
1 c Whipping cream
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp. Kahlua, divided
24 oz Cream cheese, softened
1 c Sugar
1/3 c Cocoa
3 Eggs
1 ts Vanilla extract
1 tb Powdered sugar

Mix crumbs, butter, and sugar. Press onto bottom and up the sides
partway of a 9-inch springform pan. Freeze 5 minutes, then bake at 350F
for ten minutes and allow to cool. Heat in a bowl or pan over boiling
water 2/4 cup chocolate chunks until melted and smooth. Add 1/4 cup
whipping cream and 1/4 cup Kahlua and stir until blended. In another
bowl, beat cream cheese, cocoa and sugar until fluffy. Add first
mixture to the second and blend well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing
well after each addition, and vanilla. Pour over prepared crust and
bake 10 minutes at 400F. Decrease to 275F and bake another 45 minutes.
Remove from oven to cool: loosen cake from rim of pan and remove.
Melt remaining chocolate. Then add 1/4 cup whipping cream and the 2
Tbsp Kahlua, mixing well. Spread on top of cake and refrigerate six or
so hours. Before serving, beat remaining whipping cream with the
powdered sugar and garnish cake by piping it on and decorating with a
few remaining chocolate chips. Refrigerate leftovers.

KAHLUA MARBLED PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
Yield: 10 servings

3/4 c Gingersnap crumbs
3/4 c Graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c Powdered surgar
1/4 c Melted unsalted butter
2 pk 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c Granulated sugar
4 Eggs
1 cn (1 pound) pumpkin
1/2 ts Ground cinnamon
1/4 ts Ground ginger
1/4 ts Ground nutmeg
1/2 c Kahlua

In a bowl, combine gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs with powdered sugar and butter. Toss to combine. Spread evenly onto bottom of 8-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees F 5 minutes. Cool. In mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add granulated sugar and beat until light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well after each addition. Transfer 1 cup mixture to seperate bowl and blend in pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and Kahlua. Pour half of pumpkin mixture into prepared crust. Top with half of cream cheese mixture. Repeat layers using remaining pumpkin and cream cheese mixtures. Using table knife, cut through layers with uplifting motion in four to five places to create marbled effect. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Without opening oven door, let cake stand in turned off oven 1 hour. Remove from oven and
cool, then chill. Remove from pan.

Prize Winning Fudge (Rich chocolate flavor is one reason this candy wins blue ribbons)

1 (12 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips (2 cups)

3 (4 oz.) bars sweet cooking chocolate

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme (about 2 cups)  

4 1/2 c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tblsp. butter or margarine

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can evaporated milk (1 2/3 c.)

2 c. chopped walnuts (we make without the nuts)  

Put chocolate chips, cooking chocolate and marshmallow creme in bowl. (i use stainless steel due to really hot ingredients soon to go in there) Combine sugar, salt, butter, and evaporated milk in 3-quart heavy saucepan.

Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil steadily over medium heat 6 minutes (keep boiling all the time). Stir constantly to prevent scorching.

Pour boiling syrup over chocolate and marshmallow creme in bowl; beat until chocolate is melted. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into lightly buttered 13"x9" pan. Let cool until firm. Cut into 77 or the desired number of pieces.(We cut them alot smaller cause they're rich) When cold, pack in airtight containers and store in cold place. Makes about 5 pounds. Enjoy!      

I posted these on my blog and then was directed here to post, so here goes:

Credit given where credit is due...this one I printed off the Oprah website wayyy back in 2003 and it remains a very special, and rare treat. For one thing it takes a long time to make, and for another it's stupidly rich, but worth every calorie.

The Smith Family Twelve-Layer Cake

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (room temp)
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs (room temp)
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing/Ganache
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Pecan halves, coconut, chocolate shavings for garnish if desired.

Position racks in the centre and bottom third of the oven and preheat to 375. Lightly butter four 8 inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Flour the pans and tap out the excess.

To make the batter: Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Sift again, set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl until light in colour and texture (I use electric beaters as I don't have a mix-master). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the milk. Add in the vanilla. Using a scant cup for each layer, spread the batter evenly in the pans. It will make a thin layer. (Note: Most of the time I end up with 10 layers, not 12, but who's counting?)

Staggering the pans on the racks so they are at least 2 inches from each other and the sides of the oven and NOT directly over each other (another note: I only have 2 pans, so I cook them 2 at a time, not 4, increasing prep time but lowering my probability of screwing this part up), bake the layers until they feel firm when touched in the centres and are beginning to pull away form the sides of the pans - about 12 minutes. Cool IN THE PANS for 5 minutes. Remove to cake racks, remove parchment, and cool completely. Wash and prepare the pans. Repeat until all layers are baked and cooled (Yet another note...I peel the parchment off, but then as they cool re-stack the layers with the parchment loose but in between to keep the layers from sticking together until the icing is ready).

Bring the sugar, cocoa, butter and evaporated milk to a full boil in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook until it has thickened slightly (Resembles choc syrup but will thicken as it cools) about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Let icing cool until thick enough to spread but still pourable.

Place a layer of cake on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet. Spread with a few tbsp of the icing, letting the excess run down the sides. Stack with the rest of the cakes. Pour the remainder over the top of the cake and smooth over the sides. Garnish.

Now, if you have extra syrup, it's excellent used as hot fudge sauce on ice cream. :-) Also, it doesn't mention anything about moving the cake to a serving platter. What I've found works best is to use 2 large, very sturdy spatulas to lift it A SHORT DISTANCE to a waiting plate. It's a damned heavy cake. But gorgeous, and when you slice it it looks like ribbons on the inside. MMMMM.

This one is a LOT easier....seriously it takes 5 min to make and a half hour or less to bake. If I have unexpected company for dinner this saves me as far as dessert goes. It's also from my Food-For-Life friend and so is low in fat, unfortunately not so low in sugar. :-)

Brownie Pudding

1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 cup milk
2 tbsp melted shortening (I use margarine)
1 tsp vanilla.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa. Add milk, shortening and vanilla. Mix until smooth, and turn into an 8x8 greased pan.

Mix together 1 cup brown sugar and 4 tbsp cocoa and sprinkle over top of the brownie batter. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over top and DO NOT STIR! (yes, it looks funny. Trust me.) Bake at 350 for approx 30 min.

What comes out is delicious dark brownie smothered in hot fudge sauce. :-)

So there you are...two of my favourite chocolate recipes.

Donna

Low Fat Orange Dream Cheesecake

Low Fat Orange Dream Cheesecake

1 cup graham cracker, crushed
2/3 cup boiling water
1 pkg. orange sugar free low calorie jello
1 cup cottage cheese, 1% Milkfat
8 oz. fat free cream cheese
2 cups fat free Cool Whip

Sprinkle crumbs onto bottom of 8- or 9-inch springform pan or 9-inch pie plate sprayed with cooking spray.

Stir boiling water into gelatin in large bowl at least 2 min. until gelatin is completely dissolved. Cool 5 min.

Pour into blender container. Add cheeses; cover. Blend on medium speed until well blended, stopping occasionally to scrape down side of blender container; pour into large bowl.

Add whipped topping; stir gently until well blended. Pour into prepared pan; smooth top with spatula.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Remove side of pan just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Number of Servings: 8

Source: Kraft website