Berry Coconut Smoothie
Strawberry Moscato Fool
So, these pictures do not really convey how fresh and delicious this dessert was. It’s even almost healthy, because it has no sugar and is half fruit. It has a splash of wine, which is great for your heart. Also, it is fast and easy to make. A FOOL could make this! And, you would be a fool not to.
Ingredients (serves 2):
1 cup strawberries (I used frozen and didn’t have time to defrost, so I popped them in the microwave)
1 teaspoon Stevia powder
1 1/2 tablespoons red Moscato
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
Blend the first four ingredients and set aside. Whip the cream using a mixer until it holds stiff peaks. Fold about half of the strawberry puree, or whatever amount you prefer, into the whipped cream. Serve with additional strawberry puree on top.
I tried to make a marbled design on top of mine, and it looked slightly better than this in real life.
So, have you ever made a fool? What kinds of fruit have you tried? I am totally into this because it’s the easiest dessert ever and I love to whip cream. Maybe I’ll try it with whipped coconut cream next time.
Make Your Own Chocolate Truffles (plus Vegan Coconut Almond Truffles)
Chocolate truffles are so easy to make, it’s amazing that places like Godiva get away with charging so much for them. If you want yours to be even more like the ones at the chocolate shop, you can melt your favorite milk or dark chocolate and dip the chilled truffles in it instead of rolling them in cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar. Use a fork to remove the truffle once it’s covered in melted chocolate. Let the extra drip off, and place the truffle on wax or parchment paper or in a candy cup. This is a deliciously rich, fancy, no-bake dessert that will impress anyone. Chocolate truffles also make a great gift wrapped up in a cellophane bag or placed in a decorative box or tin. This recipe makes about 20 truffles.
Ingredients (adapted from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten):
½ cup heavy cream
3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3.5 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoon brewed coffee
½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other liqueur of your choosing
5 ounces melted chocolate for dipping (optional)
Cocoa and powdered sugar for rolling (optional)
Break the chocolates into small pieces and place in a bowl (don’t use chocolate chips instead of bars, because they have additives you don’t want in this recipe). Bring the cream to a boil, then quickly pour it through a sieve into the bowl with the chocolate. Use a whisk to stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. If your chocolate isn’t quite melted, put the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until smooth.
Add the coffee, vanilla or other extract, salt, and liqueur and whisk until smooth. Chill the mixture for at least 45 minutes, until firm enough to scoop.
When the mixture is firm, use a melon baller or small ice cream scoop to form balls, and place them on a sheet of parchment paper. Don’t worry if the balls aren’t totally round and smooth; you will have a chance to perfect them later.
Chill the balls for about 15 minutes, then roll them in cocoa and mold them into spheres. Chill overnight is possible, then roll in powdered sugar before serving. Or, roll yours in a mix of cocoa and powdered sugar like I did. Alternately, place in the freezer for about 15 minutes, then dip into a melted chocolate of your choice.
Vegan Coconut Almond Truffles
Ingredients:
3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (check the label to make sure the brand you’re buying doesn’t have any milk products)
3.5 ounces semisweet chocolate
½ cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon brewed coffee
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons shredded coconut
4 tablespoons sliced almonds
Melt the chocolate as described in the recipe above, using coconut milk instead of cream. Add the extracts, coffee, and salt and whisk to combine.
Grind the coconut and almonds in the food processor until fine. Stir half of the nut mixture into the chocolate and save the rest for rolling.
Proceed as in the above recipe, chilling the chocolate mixture before forming it into balls. Instead of cocoa, roll the chocolates in the coconut and almond mixture.
Chocolate Mousse with a Secret Ingredient
Here it is…another fabulous vegan dessert! You
have to try this. It’s easier than easy, and super delicious. No
cooking is involved, and it comes together in less than five minutes.
So, I told you it’s vegan. Can you guess what
the secret ingredient is? I will give you one hint: it’s not avocado
(although I have been wanting to try this recipe for chocolate avocado pudding).
Here’s a picture of the process:
Have you figured it out? It’s coconut cream!
Isn’t that crazy? Maybe you already knew about this whipped coconut
cream miracle, but I had no idea until I saw this photo tutorial
the other day. Today after dinner (I tried to make shrimp korma—it was
pretty good but I want to tweak the recipe before I share it with you) I
had an extra can of coconut milk and a hankering to try it. But, I
felt like it would be lame to just make and eat a bowl of whipped
coconut cream. So, I searched for a dessert featuring this amazing
stuff, and found and adapted this recipe from
Baking Chic. If you have a can of coconut milk, go put it in the
refrigerator right now so you can make this tomorrow. If you don’t have
a can of coconut milk, go out and buy one, then put it in the
refrigerator so you can make this tomorrow. If you’re in a big hurry,
put your can in the freezer so you can make this in half an hour.
Ingredients (serves one):
Cream from one can of coconut milk, chilled
1-3 tablespoons cocoa, to taste
1-3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Open the can of coconut milk, and spoon the hardened cream off the
top. Save the liquid for something else, like a smoothie. Using an
electric mixer, whip the coconut cream until fluffy. Mix in sugar to
taste and vanilla. The original recipe called for three tablespoons of
sugar, but I thought that would be way too sweet once I saw how little
cream I had (maybe the yield varies by can). Mine was perfect with a
tablespoon and an extra teaspoon of sugar. Set aside a few tablespoons
of the whipped cream to use as a topping. Mix in the cocoa to taste (I
used a tablespoon and a half). Serve the chocolate mousse with the
reserved whipped cream on top.
Make Your Own Lemon Curd (and welcome to my blog)
Hi, I’m Becky and this is my new blog. The
first recipe I’m going to share with you is for homemade lemon curd.
While you may not think you need to make this unless you’re planning on
hosting a high tea, I’m going to try to convince you that you actually
need to make it right now. This stuff is ridiculously delicious, plus
easy and fun to make. I made mine to pipe inside the lemon coconut
cupcakes I’m making for Easter dinner, but I’m worried I might have to
make a second batch. I’ve been sneaking spoonfuls at every opportunity,
and my boyfriend and I each had a generous dollop on the Dutch babies I
made for breakfast this morning (recipe for that is here).
If you love lemon like I do, you have to try this! It would be
fabulous on scones. I’ve never made scones, but will have to try it if I
end up with any lemon curd left at all.
This recipe is adapted from Ina’s, in the Barefoot Contessa cookbook and here.
I reduced the sugar, and think mine has the perfect balance of sweet
and tart flavors. She says you can make this with oranges or limes
instead of lemons—let me know if you try it!
Ingredients (makes about two cups):
4 lemons, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 pound butter (1 stick) at room temperature
Generous pinch of salt
1. Zest the lemons, avoiding the white
pith underneath the yellow rind (I usually scrape each spot across the
grater twice). Place the zest in a food processor with the sugar, and
process thoroughly to break the zest up into tiny pieces.2. Juice the lemons (roll them under the palm of your hand first so
they’ll release more juice) until you have 1/2 cup of lemon juice. I
had to use all four lemons to get that much juice.3. Cream the butter with the lemon sugar (I used my stand mixer
with the paddle attachment). Add the eggs one at a time, and then the
lemon juice and salt. Mix well.4. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan. At this point, it probably
looks like a big mess. Mine looked like curdled milk. Maybe lemon curd
is named after its gruesome looks at this stage in the process? Don’t
worry though, your lemon curd will smooth right out as soon as it heats
up.5. Cook the lemon curd over low heat, stirring constantly, until it
thickens (10-15 minutes). I used a thermometer to keep tabs on
things—my lemon curd thickened around 155 degrees, and you don’t want to
let yours get much above 175.
That’s it! You made lemon curd. Now, try not to just eat all of it
with a spoon. I cooled mine and poured it into jars—it will keep for a
couple of weeks in the refrigerator, although I can’t see it ever
lasting that long at my apartment. Tomorrow I’ll be piping mine into
some springtime coconut cupcakes—I’ll let you know how it goes and share
the recipe soon!
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