Cheesecake Brownie Bites

                    
                      Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day, it just has to be chocolate something, right? I've had this recipe in my file for ages and finally made them for a luncheon. Women will refuse a dessert for lunch, but if you put a plate of little gems like this out, they're gone in no time. So rich, dense and smooth that you really only want a couple bites....sort of like candy, but better, I think. Minis are definitely the way to go with this sweet treat. Your whole family will go nuts over them and they freeze beautifully.

Cheesecake Brownie Bites
Found on Just a Taste

Ingredients:

For the brownie batter:

4 large eggs

1¼ cups baking cocoa, sifted

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder, mixed with 2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2¼ cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

1½ cups all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake filling:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 large egg yolk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, baking cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso mixed with water, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the sugar and melted butter until well combined, then stir in the flour. Set brownie batter aside.

In a separate bowl, prepare the cheesecake filling by stirring together the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk until well combined. 

Grease a non-stick mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or butter and then spoon a tablespoon of brownie batter into the greased cups. Add a spoonful of cheesecake filling atop the brownie batter. At this point, I took a toothpick and swirled a little. Then top off each cup with an additional teaspoon of brownie batter. Swirl again.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let the brownie bites cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.

Butterscotch Pudding

I don't know about you, but I'm a pudding lover from way back. My mother used to make all kinds of puddings for dessert....even blancmange, which I actually liked! Talk about bland. Her custards were perfection. No holes, not watery, just creamy mouthfuls.
My favorite pudding, or should I say the one I make the most, is plain old tapioca (I remember in boarding school we called it fish eye pudding), but any pudding will do (except instant.). Even chocolate pudding, for which I posted a divine recipe HERE, and you know I'm not a chocolate lover, so you know this is ambrosial.
Well recently, Lori from Recipe girl posted a butterscotch pudding recipe and I made it immediately. It's creamy and delicious and so simple to make. When the mood strikes you, give this a try. Bet you have everything in your pantry to make it.

Butterscotch Pudding
From Recipe Girl

Ingredients:
1 1/2  cups brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3  cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
unsweetened whipped cream, for serving

Method
Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan.  Pour in the milk and egg yolks; whisk to combine, and stir the together over medium heat.  Once it starts to boil, reduce heat and while stirring, cook until thickened. When it seems like it has a nice, thick texture for pudding- pull it off the heat and stir in the butter.
Spoon the pudding into small glasses or dishes and chill for at least 2 hours.  Top with whipped cream before serving.

Gingerbread Shortcake with Pears

Oh my....Thanksgiving is nearly here and Christmas not far behind. Are you ready? I'm not!

The flavors and spices of the season always make me happy and they also make me think of gingerbread, which I almost always make at least once each holiday season. 
Instead, this year I made a cross between a scone and shortbread, but with the flavor of gingerbread. Sort of a holiday, wintery, strawberry (without the berries) shortcake if you like. Pears were used in this recipe, but you could use apples or any seasonal fruit you wish. This was a great success and I'll make it again; it's a lovely dessert for the holidays. 

Gingerbread Shortcake with Pears
From :pastry studio, who adapted it from The Art and Soul of Baking by Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet

Ingredients for the Poached Pears:
3 ripe but firm pears
2 1/2 C water
1 C sugar
1 t fresh lemon juice
1/4 vanilla bean, split and seeded

Ingredients for the Gingerbread Shortcakes:
2 cups flour 
2 1/2  teaspoons ground ginger 
1 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
1/3 cups brown sugar, firmly packed 
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
4 oz (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” cubes 
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons  buttermilk 
2 tablespoons molasses 

1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoon water
3 tablespoons turbinado or Hawaiian washed raw sugar

1 cup cold heavy cream 
2 teaspoon sugar, to taste 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method:
To poach the pears:
Bring the water, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean to a low simmer. Peel and core the pears. Cut them into 1/4" slices, placing in the poaching liquid as you go. Simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and cool completely. Save the poaching syrup.

For the shortcakes:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Place the flour, spices, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 10 seconds to blend. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse about 5 times or until the butter is cut into smaller pieces. Combine the buttermilk with the molasses, add and pulse just until the dough starts to hold together in large, thick clumps. The mixture will look a bit like dark lumpy cottage cheese. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gather the dough and gently pat together into a circle about 7” in diameter and about 1” thick. Cut the dough into 8 equal wedges (or any shape you like) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2” apart.

Beat the egg with 2 teaspoons of water. Brush the tops only of the shortcakes with the egg wash. Sprinkle generously with turbinado or raw sugar and press it gently to secure. 

Bake for 14 to 15 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack.

Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla just until very soft peaks form. Don't overbeat.


To serve: 
Gently slice the shortcakes in half. Place a dollop of whipped cream on the bottom half and layer some pears. Drizzle with the poaching liquid and top with the other shortcake half. Serve immediately.

Bittersweet Brownies with Cranberries

You all know I'm not a great chocolate lover, but who could resist these? Deep, dark chocolate and chock full of fresh cranberries. These are fudgy inside, with a crunchy top and when you bite into it, you get a hit of sour from the cranberries. Great foil for this rich brownie and a perfect way to start off my holiday recipes!

Bittersweet Brownies with Cranberries
From Gerhard Jenne's Deservedly Legendary Baking via Luisa at Wednesday Chef

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 1/3 cups sugar

6 1/4 ounces butter

6 1/4 ounces dark chocolate (I used 60% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces

1 1/3 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 1/4 ounces fresh cranberries

Method:

Heat the oven to 350 F . Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, then whisk in the sugar until frothy. Set aside.

Put the butter in a pan and melt over medium heat until it has completely melted. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted.

Whisk the eggs and sugar again until pale and frothy, then whisk in the chocolate mixture until well combined. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and stir gently with a spatula until there are no white streaks remaining. Add the salt. Fold in the cranberries. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and level the top. Bake for about 25 minutes, then place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies Treats

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies Treats

From Crunchy, Creamy, Sweet

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter 
2 pkg (3.5oz.) of pumpkin shaped Peeps 
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice 
5 cups rice krispies cereal 
1/3 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

Method:
Line a 8" square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Grease the paper with butter. Set aside. 
Grease a large mixing bowl with butter. Add rice krispies cereal. Set aside. 
In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add marshmallows to melted butter and melt, stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in pumpkin spice. 
Add marshmallow mixture to rice krispies cereal and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and press down. 
Sprinkle top with mini chocolate chips and gently press them down to stick to the bars. Do not spread. 
Chill bars in your fridge for at least 30 to 40 minutes.

Baked Hasselback Apples

Well, hello September! And here's an apple recipe to start it off. I know I'm late to the party on this one (what else is new?)......I've got to be the last blogger to post hasselback apples! Nonetheless, here it is and it was worth the wait. If you haven't made these yet, don't delay....sooooo good. You can serve this with a lo-fat ice cream, or any ice cream you choose. Might be good with just some coffee cream poured over too...the way my mother used to serve baked apples. We had it for dessert of course, but my daughter has been eating the leftovers for breakfast.

Note: According to Cooking Light, choose firm apples with sweet-tart flavor, such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp; it appears Fuji and Granny Smith fall apart. As indicated below, I used Galas, and they were perfect.

Baked Hasselback Apples
From Cooking Light

Ingredients:
2 large firm apples (I used Galas)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon                

Ingredients for the second coating:
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly grease an 8” square baking dish.
Peel and core the apples, then cut them in half vertically. Starting at the outermost edges, cut most (but not all) of the way through each apple half at about 1/8” intervals. Place apple halves, cored sides down, in the baking dish.

Combine 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon and brush the mixture evenly over each apple half.  Cover the pan with foil.  Bake 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully lift off the foil.  Return to the oven and bake for 10 additional minutes uncovered.  Remove pan from oven.

Combine remaining 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, oats, flour and salt.  Carefully fan open the cuts in the apple halves.  Spoon the oat mixture evenly over the apples, pressing some of it into the grooves.  


Bake 10 minutes uncovered.  Remove from oven.  

Rhubarb Mousse

This is my final rhubarb recipe for the summer. I promise. And I wasn't even going to do this one, but Food 52 sent it in an email and how could I resist? It reminded me so much of my mother's Lemon Sunshine recipe, I can't figure out why I never thought to make her recipe with rhubarb! Loved the amaretto addition too. 
It was so pretty to serve with some edible flowers...made it festive and elegant.  
Note: needs to be refrigerated 3 hours so the gelatin can set up nicely.

Rhubarb Mousse
From Kevin, via Food 52

Serves 4 - 6 

Ingredients:
1 pound rhubarb – cut into 1” lengths  
4 tablespoons Amaretto - separated  
2 tablespoons water  
3/4 cup sugar  
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin  
1 lime  
2 egg yolks  
2 cups whipping cream  

Method:
Peel lime, being careful not to include pith, cut into strips, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate. (I didn't do this part as I used flowers to garnish.) Squeeze juice from lime(s). You need about 1 tablespoon. 
Place rhubarb in a large sauce pan with 2 tablespoons amaretto, water, and 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until rhubarb breaks down - about 15 minutes.
Transfer to a blender, add gelatin and lime juice, and process until smooth. Taste. The mixture should be fairly tart but should make you pucker. You made need to add a bit more lime juice or a bit more sugar. 

In a double boiler, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until they are a pale yellow. Cook over just bubbling water, stirring constantly, until yolks have thickened. Cool to room temperature. 

Mix rhubarb mixture with egg mixture. In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff then whip in remaining 2 tablespoons of Amaretto. Fold cream into rhubarb mixture.Chill at least 3 hours in your favorite serving glasses or bowls. 
When ready to serve, garnish with strips of lime peel. (Or edible flowers, if you have them.)

Sophie Dahl's Rhubarb Rosewater Eton Mess

Well, it's sort of Sophie's recipe. I used mine for the meringues. Nonetheless, it's everyone's favorite and you most often see it made with strawberries, but puhleeze!!! There's rhubarb in my market! 
Another plus: if you must, you can cheat and use meringues from your bakery or supermarket bakery. But this dessert is so much better using homemade meringues. 
(Lordy! Could this be any more fattening?)

Sophy Dahl's Rhubarb Rosewater Eton Mess

Ingredients for the meringues:
3 egg whites, room temperature 
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 
3/4 cup sugar 
1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Ingredients for the rhubarb compote:
scant 1/2 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons sugar
4 sticks of rhubarb chopped in rounds
1 teaspoon rosewater

Ingredients for the whipped cream:
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste


Garnish: toasted almond slivers and/or crystallized rose petals

Method for the meringues:
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in mixer bowl with whisk attachment on high speed until foamy. Beating constantly, add sugar, a little bit at a time, beating after each addition until sugar is dissolved before adding the next. Continue beating until whites are glossy and stand in stiff peaks. Beat in vanilla.
Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper. Hard meringues are not actually baked, but are dried in a 225°F oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. They are left in the oven after it is turned off to continue drying without browning.

Method for the Rhubarb compote:
In a pan, boil the water with the sugar and add the rhubarb when it starts bubbling. Stir and let it cook for about 5 minutes on a medium heat. When the rhubarb is tender, remove from the heat. Add the rose water and leave to the side.

Method for the whipped cream:
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Add the vanilla bean paste.

To serve: add a dollop of whipped cream to the bottom of your serving dish. Break up the meringue and place half of it on top, then add the rhubarb, then some whipped cream. Repeat, ending with the whipped cream. Top with browned almonds or crystallized rose petals.

Chocolate Chip Palmiers

Palmiers are so versatile...savory or sweet. Easy to make, impossible to mess up and best of all: fast. Mostly, I prefer savory palmiers. The choices for fillings are everywhere online if you need guidance, but use your imagination. I serve them frequently with cocktails.
I've only made sweet palmiers once before, last fall: the apple cinnamon version.  We have to be careful in Florida as palmiers don't like humidity much so it's best to serve them fairly quickly after you make them. Certainly the same day. At any rate, I saw this chocolate chip idea on Pinterest (forgot to write down whose) and thought I'd make them. Using Ina Garten's basic sweet palmier recipe but adding mini chocolate chips, you'll find these a big hit...everyone will love this crunchy, sticky cookie with the little bits of chocolate hiding in the swirls.

Chocolate Chip Palmiers

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
dash kosher salt
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted in fridge overnight
1/3 cup or so mini chocolate chips

Method: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.

Spread 1 cup sugar on a flat surface, the size of your puff pastry. Place the pastry sheet on top of the sugar. Sprinkle generously with sugar (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup) Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry gently. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and with your fingers, press them into the puff pastry. 
Fold the short ends over about halfway to the center. Fold them over again, so that the two folds meet in the center of the pastry sheet. Gently fold one side over the other, so when you look at the end, it looks like an oblong heart. Slice the cookies about 3/4 of an inch thick and place on your cookie sheet.  Repeat with other sheet of puff pastry.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn them over. Use a metal spatula and remember how hot melted sugar is. Bake an additional 6-8 minutes, until the bottoms are as browned as the tops. Let sit for a minute and then remove to cool completely.

Irish Coffee Cheesecake Squares

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I've been saving this since I saw it on Sue's blog. Love the flavors and if you have time, be sure to click the link for making your own Irish Cream. Makes all the difference.


Irish Coffee Cheesecake Squares
From The View From the Great Island

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt

For the filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Homemade Irish Cream
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I use THIS) 
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
garnish
sweetened whipped cream
shaved chocolate

Method:
Set oven to 350F
Cream the butter and sugar and then blend in the flour and salt until the mixture is crumbly. Pat into a buttered 9 x 13 pan, pressing down slightly with your fingers to get an even layer.
Bake for 15 minutes.
For the filling: cream the cream cheese and sugar together. Make sure your ingredients are at true room temperature to avoid a lumpy batter.
Beat in the homemade Irish Cream, and then the eggs, one at a time.
Blend in the instant espresso, cocoa powder, vanilla, and flour.
Turn the batter out onto the crust and smooth out evenly.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes just until the cheesecake is set.
Let cool before slicing.
Serve with whipped cream, and garnish with shaved chocolate.

Valentine's Day: Two Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

Once again, I'm a tad late to the chocolate party, but had to wait for my chocolate taster daughter to visit. This dark mousse from the New York Times article was adapted from the molecular gastronomist Hervé This. The Times recipe sprinkles the mousse with fleur de sel, which I didn't use here.
It's an interesting concept...two ingredients, chocolate and water, which usually don't play well together. But this works. Quite amazingly, actually. You need lots of elbow grease; we took turns whisking.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Two Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
From The New York Times

Ingredients:
285 grams bittersweet chocolate (about 10 ounces), roughly chopped
water

Method:
Create an ice bath in a large bowl using ice and a little cold water. Fit a smaller bowl in the ice bath.
Place chocolate and 1 cup water in a small pot and heat over medium. Whisk until mixture is melted and smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Immediately pour melted chocolate into the bowl in the ice bath. Vigorously whisk chocolate mixture by hand until thick, 3 to 5 minutes. The chocolate should be fluffy and form a mound when dolloped with the whisk. Stop whisking when the consistency resembles whipped cream. Dish into ramekins and either serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. If the consistency is off (if you've beaten it too long and it gets too firm), just melt and start over again. 
We dolloped some whipped cream on top.
For a lighter mousse, use 265 grams of bittersweet chocolate or just add more water.

Very Berry Cherry Clafoutis

My daughter was home for a couple weeks which meant I had some things in my fridge after she left that I don't normally eat: mainly assorted berries and milk. She always takes home the leftover coconut bread (her favorite, toasted) and any remaining coffee beans (I don't drink coffee), so that leaves berries and milk in my fridge. I'm a citrus person in the morning and I never drink milk unless there are pb cookies in the house, which is like never. Unfortunately.

Staring in the fridge at the leftover berries and milk, I remembered this recipe as it's an unusual clafoutis recipe: rather than using only cherries (the traditional way with a clafoutis), you can use berries of your choice to mix it up. Perfect for my leftovers. I even had a few black cherries in the fridge so used those, which kind of makes this a legitimate clafoutis.

Really, is there anything simpler than a clafoutis recipe? Rather like a popover batter. So light and airy. And in this one, the berries all pop to the surface. Oh yeah.

Mixed Berry Cherry Clafoutis
From Noble Pig

Ingredients:

2 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries here)

2 cups whole cherries, pits removed

2-1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup superfine sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups plain white flour

Powdered sugar to dust

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place eight-1 cup capacity strong heat proof dishes onto a baking sheet and into the oven to preheat. 

Note: As you can see, I made a small casserole along with some individual ramekins. (Not shown, but they used up the rest of the batter and berries.)

Remove eight tablespoons of the superfine sugar from the 1 cup of sugar and set aside.

Whisk together the milk, the remaining sugar, vanilla, eggs, salt and flour. Remove the heated dishes from the oven and divide the cherries and berries evenly between them. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar, one tablespoon per dish. Then ladle the batter over the berries evenly.

Place back in the oven (still on the baking sheet) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the center is no longer runny and dishes are puffed up and golden brown. Watch carefully as I baked two sizes and one was ready sooner. Plus, the larger casserole took longer than 35  minutes. 

Dust with powdered sugar.

Fresh Peach and Almond Bars

More stone fruit!  I'm crazy about stone fruits, aren't you? This particular stone fruit recipe is a multi-layered bar using lovely fresh peaches. So many ways to serve it too. You can drizzle a confectioners sugar icing on it (as I did in first photo), or warm it slightly and serve with a scoop of ice cream, or just cut into squares, wrap them and take along on a picnic.

Fresh Peach and Almond Bars
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
For the crust and topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats 
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
For the peach filling
1 large egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium peaches, peeled and chopped (about one and a half cups)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 and line 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil with enough overhang on the sides for easy removal. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

In a processor, pulse the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon to mix. Then add the cold, cubed butter  and pulse until it reaches coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture and add the sliced almonds to this. Set aside for the topping.

Press the remaining oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes as you prepare the filling.

By hand, whisk the egg and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and salt. Whisk until combined. Fold in the peaches. 
Remove crust from the oven after 15 minutes and pour the filling over hot crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat/almond mixture. Bake for 30-32 minutes or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 2 hours before cutting into squares.

                                                               How about a little peach bar with your ice cream? LOL

Rhubarb Crumble

Sweet alert! Lots of crumbles and crisps add oatmeal or even breakfast cereal to give some body to their toppings. Not this one. It's tastes like pure brown sugar, even though there is some flour in the crumble. And while I was astounded to read the suggestion at the end of the recipe to serve with a scoop of ice cream, I tried it. It's true. The creaminess actually cuts the sweetness a bit. 


Rhubarb Crumble
Recipe courtesy of Catherine Newman

Ingredients:
2 pounds rhubarb , cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter , cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
Vanilla ice cream , for serving (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375°. To make filling, put rhubarb, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and vanilla into a 9" x 13" baking dish and toss well to combine; set aside.

To make crumble topping, put remaining 1 cup flour, light brown sugar, butter, and salt into a large bowl and toss well. Using your fingertips, rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Working with one small handful at a time, squeeze dough together to make a ball, then gently break it into chunks and scatter them on rhubarb filling in baking dish.

Bake until rhubarb is very tender and bubbly and crumble topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Childhood Memories: Mother's Lemon Sunshine

Do you have sweet memories of childhood desserts? I don't know what made me think of this one the other day, but perhaps it would be fun to make an occasional blog presentation of our favorite desserts from childhood. Making this one was a trip down memory lane. I don't think I even made this for my kids!  I saved all my mother's recipes in my files and between my mother and grandmother, we had some awesome treats as children. The British and French often refer to them as nursery desserts. 
Lemon Sunshine was frequently on the menu, as we all loved it.  Easy to make, sweet, airy and lemony in your mouth.  I used a Meyer lemon here because I had one left over. I also cut back on the sugar. The recipe calls for a cup total, but I used 2/3 of a cup total. Taste as you go, both the lemon mixture and the egg white mixture and sweeten as you wish.

Mother's Lemon Sunshine

Ingredients:
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon, grated and juiced
1 teaspoon gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar

Method:

Soften the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water.
Beat yolks in a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar, lemon rind and juice. Whisking constantly, cook until slightly thickened. Whisk in the softened gelatin and stir until melted and thickened. Cool the mixture somewhat in an ice bath.
Beat the egg whites, beat in sugar until the whites are thick and shiny. Fold in the cooled lemon mixture. Chill. Makes about 6 custard size cups.

Rhubarb Shortcakes

My first rhubarb recipe of the season. And look at that color! This rhubarb is dark red for a good reason...it's roasted in red wine. Of course, the deeper red your fresh rhubarb is, the darker the color in any recipe, but here, it's even more so. The shortcake recipe is excellent too...tender and better than my grandmothers!  A pretty dessert for company and you can make it all ahead and assemble it at the last minute. 

Rhubarb Shortcakes
From  Bon Appétit, April 2013, by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer 

Ingredients for roasted rhubarb:

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed, sliced 1-inch thick 

1 cup sugar 

1/2 cup red wine 

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 

Ingredients for biscuits:

1 cup cake flour 

4 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 

1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for work surface

Ingredients for assembly:

3 cups chilled heavy cream, divided 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 

Method:

Preparation for Roasted Rhubarb: 

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine rhubarb, sugar, and wine in a medium baking dish or ovenproof skillet. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean and toss to combine. 

Roast until rhubarb is very tender and juices are syrupy, 30-40 minutes, depending on thickness of stalks. Let cool. Discard vanilla bean. 

Biscuits and Assembly 

Preheat oven to 375°. Whisk cake flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and 1 cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups cream; gently mix just until dough holds together. 

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a 9x6-inch rectangle about 1-inch thick. Cut dough in half length-wise, then cut crosswise 3 times to form 8 rectangular biscuits. 

Arrange biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Brush tops and sides of biscuits with butter. Bake until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool (biscuits can be served warm or at room temperature). 

Assembly:

Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Split biscuits and brush cut sides with remaining melted butter. Fill biscuits with roasted rhubarb and serve with whipped cream. 

DO AHEAD: Rhubarb filling can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool, then cover and chill. Reheat slightly before serving. Biscuits can be made 1 day ahead. Let cool completely and store airtight at room temperature.