Creme Puffs and Vanilla Creme Filling a la Leah - Homemade from Scratch

These extra big and fluffy creme puffs have been made by my mother and I for years, the homemade vanilla filling t'aint bad either! I make them extra big 4 x 5 inches and are usually 3-4 inches tall when completed. As a funny true story, these usually were pre-bought at the yearly church festival when the people knew we were bringing them down...we would usually have to make at least 4 batches....and we would sell them for $5 a piece easily!

Who knew making 'slow food' could be so good!

Ingredients

I will list for both the creme puffs and the vanilla filling, though you can easily make these creme puffs half their size and fill with savory foods as well.
I include variations on the fillings as well as tips and tricks here for having great fluffy creme puff results.
This creme filling can be used as pie filling as well....
****Creme Puffs Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter unsalted preferred - can use 50/50 ratio of shortening and butter mix as long as butter is at least 1/2 of the ratio.
1 cup boiling hot water
4 eggs at room temperature
2 quart pot with lid
wood spoon
whisk
timer
parchment paper OR clean brown paper bags
large cookie sheet
****Vanilla Filling Ingredients:
double boiler - or bowl over simmering water in pot
2/3 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
2 eggs or 4 egg yolks
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
+ 2 Tablespoons sugar if not using optional additional flavorings
2-3 tablespoons optional flavorings: godiva chocolate liqueur, etc.

Directions

Oven needs rack on middle shelf and should be very well preheated to 425 degrees before you start to make your pastry dough.
This will ensure your creme puffs bake as high as possible.
Once in, do not open oven door for any reason until at least 30 minutes have past.... seriously =-0 - or your creme puffs might deflate :-(
Crack eggs into small bowl so they are ready to be added once at a time without having to stop while stirring them in when you are ready.
With pot on stove over medium heat, add all your dry ingredients and whisk till combined: flour, sugar, salt.
Add 1 cup of boiling water to dry ingredients all at once.
Stir with wooden spoon over medium heat till dough is formed and started to come away from walls of pot/pan.
Let dough (while stirring) cook over heat for at least 3-4 minutes then remove from heat.
I usually place pot onto trivet on counter while adding eggs.
Add eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition until eggs has been completely incorporated into dough. The color of the dough will change from light creme to a nice light yellow yellow.
Once done, take parchment paper or cut up brown paper bags which is what my mom used to do all the time instead of using parchment paper, and line cookie sheet.
Lightly grease parchment paper before adding pastry dough onto cookie sheet and parchment paper.
With large spoon create and divide from bowl: six dollops of pastry dough onto cookie sheet leaving at least 2 inches in between globs of pastry dough.
They will double in size easily once they start baking.
Taking a fork, create small peaks in the pastry dough by pulling up dough slightly with fork....like you might do with the top of a cake when frosting or with meringue to make it look pretty.
Once ready, with oven mitt handy, place cookie sheet onto middle rack of oven and close door gently and immediately.
Bake for 30 minutes - DO NOT PEEK or OPEN DOOR for first two thirds of baking time. After 25 or 30 minutes, your creme puffs are done.
You should though allow them to stay in oven, with oven turned off and oven door ajar (left open slightly) to ensure any beads of moisture no longer is seen on the tops of your creme puffs have dried away - maybe ten minutes.
Keep in a dry and warm place until ready to fill and serve.
This will ensure a dry and crispy creme puff that has more staying power then one which is soggy and flat, think not pretty.
Once cooled, fill with creme filling noted below, or with a filling of your choice including savory fillings such as lumped crab mix salad, mushroom mousse, etc.
***Creme Filling directions:
In double boiler, add the following ingredients: all dry ingredients, sugar, flour, salt over medium heat.
Add 2 cups of milk slowly and whisk in milk.
Stirring constantly, cook over heat until mixture starts to thicken - 5 minutes.
Cover with lid, and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While that cooks, crack eggs into bowl and stir to mix eggs.
Remove from heat (take out that trivet again) add a little bit of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper them, then add beaten eggs back into the hot mixture and stir to quickly combine eggs with hot mixture.
Put back onto stove over heat and allow to cook for 2 full minutes. Remove from heat.
Add butter and vanilla extract and allow to cool.
Once slightly cooled, add to fridge with lid to completely chill.
Once chilled, whip up heavy cream, adding the additional sugar and any extra flavorings you might like, then add whipped cream to creme filling which will be rather stiff now.
The whipped cream will 'lighten' the creme filling which you can now use to fill your creme puffs.
You can slice them in half, or cut slits in them and fill with spoon or pastry bag if you are so inclined to use your kitchen gadgets.
Serve creme puffs on pretty plates, serve up plain or the preferred way: sprinkle with confectioner's sugar plain or with a bit of cocoa in it for extra flair.....
Enjoy these crowd-pleasing favorites which are not too sweet, but instead something really fancy that people will think you labored more than you actually did!
Make 'em drool with jealousy!!!!
Should there be leftovers - they can stay in the fridge over night, but I would suggest eating them up the next day.

Leahs Crispy And Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

Fun easy chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside cookie will make you forget it can actually be healthy (ok healthier than say a chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie) due to the oatmeal and optional raisins. I also add notes on how to make into a 'chocolate' version - see directions for that!

Baking these in a moderate oven at 325 degrees really helps these be chewy on the inside while still allowing the outside to crisp up. Great cookies for shipping and freezing and for any time of the day when you need a pick me up.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (oatmeal)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) unsalted
1 cup light brown sugar packed
1 jumbo/large egg (preferred) or 2 medium eggs
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup toffee bits
1 cup raisins (optional)
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder or 2 oz melted unsweetened chocolate (if making chocolate version)
cookie sheets
parchment paper for baking (optional)
Preheated oven at 325 degrees
Hand or stand mixer
Cookie Cooling Racks

Directions:

Made these a couple of weeks ago and felt the need to make them again they were that good. So I have the ingredients coming to room temperature as I share this recipe. The photo is from when I made them a couple of weeks ago.
Remember to preheat oven at 325 degrees and you will be baking these from anywhere of 12 minutes to 15 minutes.
****OK Here we go!*****
Cream butter then slowly add sugar and once combined, turn mixer on high and allow the creamed butter and sugar mixture to slightly change in color (it will get lighter in color)
Add vanilla extract and egg and mix again for 2 minutes.
IF MAKING CHOCOLATE VERSION: Add cocoa powder (preferred) or melted unsweetened chocolate to mixer and stir in at this point.
Sift flour with baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
To dry mixture add oatmeal and stir till combined.
Add dry mixture to wet mixture, slowly with mixer at first to prevent a cloud of flour from creating.
Add coconut and toffee bits, mix in then add optional raisins.
Make spoonfuls and gently roll into round (if at all) and drop onto greased cookie sheets or onto parchment paper (which I prefer for easy removal and to help prevent any burning)
Place on middle shelf in preheated oven and set timer.
Check on cookies at 12 minutes, if they need a little more time, then bake till 15 minutes, but no more than that. They should have flatten slightly and have a light golden color.
Once out of the oven, let cookies set for one minute before removing from cookie sheets to cooling racks.
Let cool completely before freezing to ensure crispy and chewy factor.
Enjoy with Milk or your favorite beverage...

Butterscotch-Coffee Dessert Sauce Recipe

I went all out last night, after purchasing some coffee ice cream, I got to thinking - why not try my hand at making up a butterscotch/coffee/caramel dessert sauce... well this is it! Sauce thickens upon cooling even more, serve over your choice of ice cream/pound cake/brownie - you get the idea - over anything! A little warning, if you are a lover of coffee, this sauce is easily addictive.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coffee (I used my left over freshly ground hazelnut coffee.)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heavy skillet over low heat
whisk and one good arm

Directions:

Produces about 2 cups of sauce. Serve it over ice cream/pound cake, etc.
Put both cream and coffee together and stir, then set aside.
Careful while cooking sugar, as this will be very hot.
Put sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in skillet or deep heavy pot.
Caramelize the sugar in the heavy skillet over low heat stirring constantly.
Let sugar melt completely and then remove from stove top.
With pot off of heat, carefully pour in both cream and coffee.
Return to heat and boil slowly until thickens or until it reached 228 degrees.
Remove from heat once again and add vanilla.
Let cool down a bit before serving.

Now if you only wished to make a butterscotch sauce, you can use 1 cup of cream versus the 1/2 cup of coffee and 1/2 cup of cream as the recipe calls for. This is a delectable dessert sauce that is so much better than anything you could buy in the store - and frankly at roughly 50 cents per serving, it is not only way cheaper, but you know every ingredient you have put in to make this delicious sauce.

To store, I normally reuse a clean glass jar with lid (like a jelly jar) and keep the sauce in the refrigerator. This will keep for at least three weeks, though I doubt it will last that long in your refrigerator once the word gets out.

Leahs Scalloped Peaches Dessert

Warm succulent baked peaches with a different twist, since it is made in layers. A crowd favorite and super easy to prepare - a fun different dessert to make now that peaches are coming into season. Serve up with a dollop of whipped cream - and you got that 'oh my - and oh yes some more please' factor going on at your dining room table.

Ingredients:

Preheat oven 400 degrees
1 greased casserole dish with lid.
3 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches (frozen ok, but...)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1/2 cup water
***2 cups of buttered crumbs:
2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (plain, unseasoned, ok to use stale bread or italian bread)
1 stick of melted butter - 1/4 cup shortening

Directions:

Great recipe to bring in the kids with since its that easy.
Melt butter for bread crumbs, sprinkler over bread crumbs and stir, set aside.
Add almond extract to your water and set aside.
My mother always taught me to use some almond flavoring when doing anything with peaches, since the inside nut of the peach pit resembles the almond, and it truly brings out the peach flavor big time! - Same with cherries too people.
Layer in your greased casserole dish, buttered crumbs, peaches.
With each peach layer, sprinkle a little of the brown sugar, then repeat until finished with the ingredients, ending with a layer of your buttered bread crumbs.
Pour the water and almond extract over all and put lid on your casserole.
Place on middle rack in your oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes without the lid.
Spoon out and serve up with fresh whipped cream, add a sprig of mint to be extra fancy. Enjoy!

Butterscotch Pecan Soufflee - Best Recipe from Scratch

OK, Who would like another dessert? I do, I do!

So here is my version of a butterscotch pecan soufflé - yes it's soufflé day at my house...cheers! This is similar to the others I have posted, but has a few changes...so do take note.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
2/3 cups firmly packed BROWN sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
4 eggs separated (separate when cold, much easier to do when eggs are cold)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter to stabilize egg whites
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped and toasted pecans
Well pre-heated oven at 425 with oven rack placed low in oven (not on the lowest, but not in the middle either)
1 UN-greased casserole dish 1-1/2 quarts size

Directions:

Note: you can bake this at two different oven temperatures...
If you want a soufflé that is evenly moist, then bake it at 325 for 50-60 minutes.
If you want a soufflé that has a thicker crust and a soft moist interior, then the quick baking method is for you: bake your soufflé at 425 for 25 minutes.
The above baking techniques work for all fruit soufflés that I post.
In a saucepan on top of stove on medium low heat, combine flour, sugar, salt and stir in milk a little at a time stirring with a whisk.
Cook stirring constantly until the entire mixture is smooth and thick.
Beat egg yolks under mixer until thick and yellow. Gently fold into cooked mixture and allow to cool on counter.
While that is cooling, add extract and toasted finely chopped pecans and stir that in.
Wash out your mixing bowl really well and beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add cream of tartar and mix in.
Fold one half of the beaten egg whites into the cooled down cooked mixture to lighten up the 'batter', then add remaining egg whites and gently fold in.
Pour into un-greased casserole dish and put into preheated oven at your chosen temperature.
Try not to peak as this can upset the soufflé from rising. Let it do its thing. I know! - Patience is a virtue and a perfectly baked soufflé!
Sprinkle a little sifted confectioner's sugar on the top of the baked soufflé.
Once baked, bring to table at once and serve it up with a soft dollop of whipped cream - to go extra fancy, add a little drizzle of butterscotch or caramel sauce along with your homemade whipped cream and add a fresh spring of mint on the serving for that "Martha look".
And as I mentioned above in the description, you can do all the preparing, and throw your soufflé into the oven when you are sitting down to eat your dinner. By the time you have finished dinner and you are making coffee, your dessert will be ready to eat!

Strawberry Whip Sensation

Now most of you know by now, that I am a from scratch homemade, 'just out of your garden' kind of cook and baker, but this recipe I tried the other day from a foodie pal I know as 'Shirley Oma' and was hooked from the start. She found it on a website and shared it with me, so I in turn am sharing it with you. I wish I could tell you where the recipe came from, but alas, we do not know.

I was surprised at not only how great this delicious dessert tastes, but how easy it was to make and is so pretty and perfect to make for those hot summer nights coming up. The fresh strawberries and lemon juice make for the perfect combination for this quick dessert. Just make sure you have at least 6 hours before you wish to serve this dessert to allow it the freeze and set up properly before serving.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups fresh strawberries, divided
1 can (14 oz.) EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
8 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

Strawberry Whipped Sensation
Recipe Rating:
Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 6 hr 20 min
Makes: 12 servings
LINE 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan.
Mash 2 cups of the strawberries in large bowl. Add condensed milk,juice and 2 cups of the whipped topping; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
MIX chopped cookies and butter. Spoon over whipped topping mixture.
Cover with ends of foil and gently press cookie mixture into whipped topping mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.
INVERT dessert onto serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil.

Spread remaining whipped topping onto top and sides of dessert.

Slice remaining 1 cup of strawberries; arrange over dessert.
Store leftovers in freezer

Now that you know how to make this dessert, let me know how great it was for you and your guests and family!

Creamy Chocolate Almond Butter Cream Frosting Recipe

Who doesn't love chocolate - This unexpected twist on milk chocolate frosting has almond extract as flavoring adding a delightful "adult-touch" to the frosting - perfect to use as decorating frosting too. Keeps really well and can be used as the "insides of mock truffles" See comments below for the how to on mock truffles....

Ingredients

1 box (1 pound) of confectioners sugar sifted roughly 3-1/2 cups
1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick) (margarine will make a much softer frosting not great for decorating)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
4-5 tablespoons liquid - milk preferred - but water works great too.
2/3 cups cocoa (I've tried the 3 oz squares of melted unsweetened chocolate
- but really prefer the dried cocoa to melted chocolate which made a
mess and screwed up the proportions of liquid measurements)
Equipment needed: Mixmaster such as kitchen-aid or hand mixer. Couple of bowls.
Sieve to sift sugar, One cake readying themselves to be covered with
delicious-tasting chocolate frosting and peeps to lick the beaters
(yourself included, of course)

Directions

Sift confectioners sugar and sift one more time with the cocoa powder and salt. - Set aside temporarily.
Take butter and place in mixing bowl, whip till lighter in color maybe 2-3 minutes.
Take and add about 1/3 third of powered sugar which now has the sifted cocoa
powder in it, to the mixing bowl. Start mixer slowly at first to avoid
sugar cloud coming up from out of the bowl with all that powdered sugar.
Increase speed to incorporate well, stop mixer on occasion to scrape sides down
with spatula to ensure all butter is incorporated into frosting.
Add additional third of powered sugar along with 2 tablespoons of milk or
liquid of your choice. Start mixer again to incorporate.
Add last third of powdered sugar, and two tablespoons of remaining milk.
Start mixer again slowly at first with each addition of powdered sugar,
scraping bowl as necessary.
If frosting is too stiff for you, you can then add the additional one tablespoon of milk
at a time (or liquid you chose to use) - be sure to mix well at high
speed to create the creamy texture this frosting is known for.
Grab that cake and start frosting away!
Want to learn about the mock truffles? See comments below...
Enjoy! - This recipe is part of my holiday jelly roll cake that was a huge success this last Christmas holiday.

Technorati Tags: frostings, adult flavors, chocoalte, almond, butter cream frosting, quick, easy

Mock Truffles:

You can make these when you are in a jam and even have some leftover frosting if you made the recipe above.

Get frosting cold by chilling it in the refrigerator, and using a little melon scoop, roll a ball of it with your hands, moving quickly. Then roll balls into sifted confectioner's sugar or straight cocoa powder. Let put back into fridge until ready to serve. These melt in your mouth - and are so decadent.