Tortillas and Oranges » dessert

Sugar Cookie Bars

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 20:47:54 +0000

These delightful creatures taste like one of my favorite Provo bakery’s cookies. I won’t say which bakery.

1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract

Mix everything together in a bowl. Dough will be surprisingly dry. Spread evenly in cookie sheet pan (11×13). Bake in 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes. Cool for at least 1 hour. Frost with frosting listed below. Cut in small squares and serve.

Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
3 oz cream cheese
1 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk, to achieve desired consistency
Pink food coloring if you are feeling creative, or leave white and sprinkle with multi-colored jimmies. So cute.

Rum Cake (Jennette/Danny’s favorite cake) Cake

admin — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 20:01:56 +0000

1 box vanilla cake
½ cup oil
½ cup rum
4 eggs

Combine ingredients and bake cake at 325◦ for 50 minutes.
Sauce:
1/8 cup water
½ cup sugar
1/8 cup rum
¼ cup butter
Boil water, sugar, butter for one minute, add rum and continue boiling (until you are comfortable with amount of alcohol burned out, at least one minute). Double sauce recipe if you want the cake to be soggy. Pour sauce over cake.

Dessert: Brown Bread Ice Cream

admin — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:39:14 +0000

Weird, huh? Brown bread and ice cream? The truth is, I’m sharing one of my most beloved recipes with you. This is a dessert I pull out when I want to either impress someone or comfort someone. It is supposedly an Irish recipe and if I’m really on top of my game, I serve it on St. Patrick’s Day after my our corned beef and cabbage. Don’t judge this recipe until you’ve tried it. It is a gem. If you have any questions about it, email me (tortillasandoranges@gmail.com).

Irish Brown Bread Ice Cream (epicurious.com)

If you’ve made candied pecans, the bread preparation is very similar to that recipe. You combine bread crumbs and brown sugar and bake the mixture until it is candied. Commence watering of mouth.

note from epicurious.com: Considered a luxury in the nineteenth century, this ice cream has flourished in the past decade and has become a modern classic in Irish restaurants. But it is easy to prepare at home, too, because the recipe does not require an ice cream maker. In this version of the ice cream, the breadcrumbs are turned into a praline.

1 cup crumbs from brown soda bread or crustless whole wheat bread
14 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
2/3 cup whole milk
1 3-inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 large egg yolks
1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
2 1-pint baskets strawberries, hulled, sliced

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with foil; butter foil. Mix breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar and brown sugar in medium bowl. Scatter over prepared baking sheet. Bake until sugar begins to melt and crumbs are slightly darker, stirring crumbs occasionally with metal spatula to prevent sticking, about 10 minutes. Transfer breadcrumbs to bowl and cool. Break crumbs into small pieces.
Place milk in medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes.
Whisk egg yolks and 5 tablespoons sugar in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in milk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Strain into small bowl. Chill custard until cold, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
Beat whipping cream in large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold custard into cream. Gently fold into breadcrumbs. Transfer to covered containers and freeze. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep frozen.)
Combine strawberries and remaining 6 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Let stand until juices form, about 20 minutes. Scoop ice cream into bowls. Spoon strawberries and juices over and serve.

Thursday Flashback: Caramel Apple Cider

admin — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:58:34 +0000

Happy Halloween and let the cider drinking begin! Seriously, I may hand this out next week instead of candy. As my daughter Annabelle says, I am totally not kidding.

Originally published October 22, 2009

It’s a shame how long I’ve gone without posting anything. Life has taken over. Last summer, as we drifted about enjoying our free time, I looked at my growing girls and suspected that Fall would be crazy nutty. And although I usually don’t write much about my family online, I must say that this Fall has been spectacular. E and G are turning into amazing people. They enjoy their music and it’s starting to pay off. A is thinking about starting to read. P has discovered the joy of multi tools. I accomplished the one thing I knew I had to do after I finished bearing children–I ran a marathon. It was exhilarating, difficult, dissapointing, and emboldening all at the same time. I’ll do another some day. Having written all of that, here is a recipe you must have for the Fall. Fix this for the Trick or Treaters and you will be the talk of the town.

Dessert: Fresh Peaches with Syrup

admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 04:36:38 +0000

What can I say? It’s this simple:

Make buttermilk syrup and let it cool in the fridge (can be done even a few days in advance). Recipe below.

Buy peaches at your local farmers’ market.

Wash, peel, and slice peaches.

Drizzle peaches with buttermilk syrup.

Serve.

Email me because you can’t believe how amazing this idea is. TortillasAndOranges@gmail.com

I know, I know.

Buttermilk Syrup
1 cup butter
1 cups buttermilk
2 cups sugar
1 t. baking soda
4 T. Karo syrup
2 t. vanilla

Cook in a large pot (it bubbles up!) Keep stirring for 7-10 minutes at boiling temperature. Now, make sure you boil it long enough. The first time I made this, I didn’t boil it long enough and it was too runny.

Baked Good: Mint Brownies

admin — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:54:56 +0000

There is a famous pastry at my alma mater. The mint brownie. Most students love it, a few hate it. You judge for yourself.

Mint Brownies
This confection consists of three different layers: A brownie-like base, a mint filling, and a chocolate frosting. The recipe below makes a large batch (2 9×13 lasagna pans or one baker’s half sheet–a 13×18 pan).

Layer #1–brownie base
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Layer #2–mint filling
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tblsp butter
2 Tblsp evaporated milk
2 Tblsp milk
1 tsp. peppermint flavor
green food coloring (optional)

Layer #3–chocolate topping
5 Tablespoons butter
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and grease bottoms of two 9×13 pans or one baker’s half sheet (aka jelly roll pan–13×18). Make layer #1. In a stand mixer, mix all ingredients (oil, sugar, cocoa, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla, nuts). Bake brownie base for 20-30 minutes. While layer #1 bakes, wash stand mixer bowl and make layer #2. Combine all layer #2 ingredients (powdered sugar, butter, both milks, peppermint flavoring, and green food coloring). Remove layer #1 from oven. While brownie base is still warm, spread layer #2 over base. Cool in fridge or on counter. Once brownie base is cooled completely, make layer #3. Combine butter and chocolate in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Carefully mix chocolate chips and butter together until completely melted. (Remember, if you overheat the chocolate it will seize and become a crumbly mess. You can avoid this by melting the chocolate slowly and carefully. In a microwave, melt chocolate no longer than 30 seconds, checking and stirring it often and letting it sit in its own heat until melted.)
Spread chocolate layer over mint layer and let cool. Score into small bites and serve.

Dessert: J.R.’s Chocolate Mint Cake

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:56:08 +0000

Well, I’ve told you about J.R. before. She’s great at finding amazing recipes, even greater at making great food. Great. Here is J.R.’s great “fooled ‘em” cake. I swear this will not taste like a box cake when you are finished. And don’t tell anyone you used a box. Just smile and say, “So glad you liked it!”.

J.R.’s Chocolate Mint Cake

1 Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix
4 oz. instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
2 tsp. peppermint

1 cup sour cream
12 oz. chocolate chips

Grease and flour a bundt pan and set aside. Mix cake mix, pudding mix, oil, water, eggs and peppermint. Then add sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour in bundt pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Dessert: Magleby’s Chocolate Cake

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:54:36 +0000

My birthday was last weekend. I had a blast. A few days before my birthday Danny and I were driving in the car and he sweetly asked what cake I’d like. Here’s how the conversation went, script style:

Danny: What kind of cake do you want?
Me: Chocolate would be lovely.
Danny: Great. I think I’ll make a French chocolate cake, a flourless dark chocolate creation.
Me: Ummm. That sounds amazing.
[pause for 5 minutes while I gather courage]
Me: Actually Danny, I have to be honest with you. I want a real chocolate birthday cake. I know you are an amazing baker and I know that flourless cake is so fancy. But I am who I am. I want a two or three layer, “thick with chocolate frosting, makes you sick it’s so good All American Chocolate Birthday Cake.”
Danny: Hey baby, whatever you want.

No, he really did say that. He is very very nice to me.
The next day he searched the Internets and came up with a Magleby’s chocolate cake copycat recipe. For those of you who don’t know about Magleby’s, let me enlighten you. Magleby’s is a Provo, Utah Institution. It’s been around since I was in diapers and it’s still going strong today. While I could write several posts about the Magleby’s I willingly mock, their crown jewel quiets all the food snobs in Provo (and trust me, THAT is a growing crowd). Magleby’s Chocolate Cake is their best and most famous dish. People love it so much that Magleby’s sells darling little packages of their cake in each restaurant’s storefront. I’ve been know to grab one occasionally, and DON’T ask why. You may make this and ask me, “What’s the big deal?”. The truth is, I don’t know. I do know that for most of my BYU friends, the big deal is that one of the world’s greatest comfort foods can be found just down the street. And when you live in a dorm or a student apartment and you did poorly on a test or your boyfriend broke up with you or you are really really homesick, a culinary fix (and a gallon of milk) are just down the street…at Magleby’s.

Magleby’s Chocolate Cake
Very meticulously, grease and line with parchment paper 3 9-inch baking/cake pans. Force yourself to do this first so it’s out of the way. I know it’s a pain but you’ll be so glad you did it.

Mix together then set aside:
1 Cup butter (softened to room temperature)
1 Cup water
4 T. heaping cocoa

Sift together the following:
2 Cups flour
2 Cups sugar
1/2 t. salt

Pour chocolate mixture over dry ingredients, gently mix.

In separate bowl combine the following:

2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 t. soda — dissolved in little water
1 t. vanilla

Combine with chocolate ingredients… then add

1/2 Cup sour cream

Gently mix. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter evenly among 3 9-inch rounds, then bake at 325 for about 1 hour.

Frosting (PS, Magleby’s freeze the cakes before frosting)
1 cup butter — let sit until room temperature
1/2 cup milk
3 T cocoa
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Alternate ingredients while stirring by hand with whisk or your favorite hard spoon.

Appetizer: Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:49:59 +0000

The big game is coming up (we’ll miss you Tebow). I have the perfect Super Bowl appetizer for you. Why not show up at your party with a healthy party food and negate those horrible rumors about Super Bowl Fare.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Fruit Salsa:
2 apples (1 red, 1 green), diced
1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup kiwi, diced,
2 cups frozen raspberries mashed or 2 Tblsp. raspberry jam
2 Tablesp. orange juice
2 Tablesp. brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Add more brown sugar according to taste (or less).

Cinnamon Chips:
Of course you can just buy a bag nowadays but just in case:
4-6 flour tortillas
water, butter, or cooking spray
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 475. Spray one or both sides of the flour tortillas with water or cooking spray or spread butter on both sized (depending on how low fat you want them. But I think low fat is lame.). Immediately sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place tortillas on a cookie sheet and cut into triangles or strips (using pizza cutter). Bake for 5-7 minutes or until desired doneness, remembering that when the tortillas are removed from teh oven, they will harden as they cool. Serve with fruit salsa.

Dessert: Peanut Butter Moon Balls

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:03:15 +0000

Are you stuck in doors during this most awful time of the year? I am. But here’s a little goodness that you can munch while you watch the snow gather. ugh. And you can even have your kiddies do the work. They’ll love it! and you will too.

Do you remember these babies? Boy I do. I love them at 37 as much as I did when I was 7.

Peanut Butter Moon Balls
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup dry milk

Mix all together. Form into small balls then roll in crushed graham cracker crumbs (wait, you’re not crushing the actual crumbs…you know what I mean). Cool in fridge until firm. Better have cold milk on hand.