French Silk Pie

                           

This pie is one that is calling all chocolate lovers and chocoholics, hence the reason I made it! Because I love, love, love chocolate!  This is a very, very rich and decadant chocolate french silk pie that has a very intense chocolate flavor, and the texture of the filling is so smooth, creamy, and dreamy and it has a yummy and crunchy oreo cookie crust. This is a very good pie and a small sliver goes a long way! Plus, it is simple and quick to make and put together and it doesn't call for many ingredients and it looks like such a fancy dessert!

French Silk Pie (Paula Deen):

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie

-2 1/2 cups crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwhich cookies (I used a mix of strawberry milkshake filled and regular oreos because that is what I had on hand and the pink filled oreos looked so precious on top)!

-6 tablespoons butter, melted

-1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

-10 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, chopped

-2 cups miniature marshmallows

Garnish: oreos, whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter, stirring until combined. Press mixture into bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup cream, chocolate, and marshmallows; cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, and let stand for 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat remaining 1 cup cream at medium-high speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold cream into chocolate mixture. Spoon into prepared crust; chill for at least 4 hours. Garnish with cookies and whipped cream, if desired.

Baked French Toast Casserole

I made this baked french toast casserole for my dad over the weekend for Father's Day along with potatoes and sausage! His favorite meal of the day is breakfast and this casserole turned out  really, really fantastic and we both enjoyed it!

It was sweet, but, not too sweet and the middle was  soft and oh so fluffy and it had a great cinnamony flavor with a hint of nutmeg. The top and the sides of the casserole were slightly crunchy from the topping of brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup that caramelized so perfectly on top. The topping also dripped in between the slices of bread giving it a gooey syrupy filling which was sooo good! I garnished it with powdered sugar and strawberries and served it with maple syrup and some leftover strawberry sauce that I had.

Baked French Toast Casserole: (Paula Deen; adapted by me; I halved the recipe and made a few other changes in the praline topping. For Paula's recipe go to Here to find it!)

Ingredients:

-8-10 ounces of French bread (I bought a 16 ounce loaf and cut it in half and used a little bit extra)

-butter for pan

-4 large eggs

-1 cup half-and-half

-1/2 cup milk

-1 tablespoon sugar

-1/2 tablespoon vanilla

-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-Praline Topping, recipe follows

Directions:

Slice french bread into 1-inch thick slices. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9x9-inch baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and beat with a whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes (cover the baking pan with foil for the first 20-25 minutes and then take the foil off and finish cooking the last 20 minutes to prevent the top from burning), until puffed and lightly golden.  Serve with syrup and desired toppings.

Praline Topping:

-1/2 stick butter

-1/4 cup packed brown sugar

-1 tablespoon light crn syrup

-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and blend well. Spread over bread as directed above.

 

Frozen Brownie Sundaes

This is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis and I saw her making these yesterday and knew that I had to try them out right away because brownies and ice cream are two of my most favorite desserts and combining them together is pure decadance! My mouth was basically watering the whole time she was making them!

These turned out wonderfully and even with all of the steps they were a breeze to put together (I also made 3 cheesecakes today along with these brownies!) and are the perfect summer time dessert. The combination of the rich, fudgey, and dense brownie with the cool and creamy ice cream and the milk chocolate topping were amazing! And then the added bonus of strawberry sauce...MMMM! It was really great and the perfect compliment for this dessert because it was slightly tart which balanced out the richness of the dessert and the color of the sauce just popped and was so beautiful! My brother said this was like the best dessert he ever had! I definetly reccomend making these and enjoying them on a hot summer day!

Frozen Brownie Sundaes: (Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

Brownie Layer:

-vegetable cooking oil spray

-2 tablespoons water

-1/4 cup vegetable oil

-1 large egg, at room temperature

-1 3/4 cups brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)

-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

-2 (1.4-ounce) milk chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped (recommended: Heath or Skor) (I didn't add these)

Ice Cream Layer:

-1 pint dulche de leche or caramel ice cream, softened

Chocolate Layer:

-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

-1 3/4 cups milk chocolate chips

Sauce:

-1 (12-ounce) bag frozen strawberries, thawed

-1/3 cup powdered sugar

-1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

Brownie layer: Preheat even to 350 degrees F. Spray and 8 by 8-inch glass baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches of paper to overhang the sides. Set aside. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray

In a large bowl, mix together the water, oil and egg. Add the brownie mix and stir until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and candy bar pieces. Transfer batter to the pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into the cener of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the brownie layer completely in the pan.

Ice cream layer: Using a spatula, spread the softened ice cream on top of the brownie layer and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Chocolate layer: In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium-low heat until hot but not boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the ice cream layer. Freeze at least 1 hour.

Sauce: Put the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.

To serve: Remove the laters from the pan and peel away the parchment paper. Cut the layers into squares and drizzle with the strawberry sauce.

Enjoy!

Almost-Famous Maple-Butter Blondies

This recipe is a copycat recipe for Applebee's famous maple-butter blondies that I got from the Food Network Magazine. In every issue they have one copy that recipe where the Food Network kitchens whip up very similar recipes to some of our favorite foods from our favorite restaraunts. The blondie's at Applebee's are served warm on a piping hot skillet with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream that drips down the sides of the blondies and has this really yummy maple caramel sauce drizzled all over.....if you have never had one it is absolutely fantastic and I adore there deliciousness! Of course, I was so excited when I came across this recipe for them and couldn't wait to try them out!

The results of my copy that maple-butter blondies if I do say so myself were........absolutely wonderful! I really, really enjoyed and so did my boyfriend's sister who also loves them and even my boyfriend said he couldn't stop eating them and he doesn't even really like the applebee's one! The blondie tasted pretty close to what the actual Applebee's blondie tastes like. These blondies are more cakey than dense, which normally I don't like at all....but these are one exception! They were moist, soft, buttery, nutty, and filled with white chocolate chunks. My maple caramel topping didn't turn out (me and boiling sugar and butter never seems to work...it intimidates me!) so I just served it with store-bought caramel sauce and butter pecan ice cream and it was soooo yummy and decadant and they are also great to eat just plain!

For the Blondies:

-10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan

-1 cup walnut pieces

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

-3 large eggs

-2 tablespoons vanilla extract

-6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks or white chocolate chips

For the Topping:

-1/3 cup maple syrup

-6 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1/4 cup heavy cream

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1. Make the blondies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13-inch pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter or spray the pan with cooking spray. Pulse 1/2 cup walnuts in a food processor until almost fine (do not overprocess). Whisk the ground nuts, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat 10 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate and the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts.

3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the blondies are light brown around the edges and spring back when pressed, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack.

4. Meanwhile, make the topping: Place the maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the mixture bubbles and thickens, swirling the pan, about 6 minutes. Add the cream and continue to cook until the mixture is the consistency of caramel.

5. Use the foil to lift the blondies out of the pan, then cut into large bars. Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream or your favorite ice cream, the maple-butter sauce and the walnuts.

Blueberry Streusal Muffins

This is a really yummy, quick, and easy muffin recipe that is perfect for breakfast, a brunch, a snack or dessert. They were moist, tender, fluffy, and bursting with pretty plump blueberries. They had a slightly crunchy top from the delicious streusel topping, I really loved the sweet streusal crunchy topping on the muffins, I think it was my favorite part!  You can add any kind of fruit you want...have fun and experiment with different fruits! My cousin Tommy asked me to make him some more!

Streusal Muffins: (Paula Deen)

Makes 15 muffins.

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 cup sugar

-2 large eggs

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 tsp. almond extract

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-3 teaspoons baking powder

-1/4 tsp. salt

-1 cup whole milk (I used skim)

-1 pint fresh fruit

Streusal Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin pans liberally with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs and extracts, beating just until blended.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Fold in fruit. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Sprinkle evenly with streusal topping. Bake for 20 minutes, or intil a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans immediately.

Streusal Topping:

Makes about 1 cup

-1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-1/4 cup butter

In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

This double chocolate gooey butter cake is a Paula Deen recipe and there are so many different types of variations of this cake, which is really more like a bar or a brownie than a cake. Paula Deen is pretty famous for these cakes and I know why.....because they are really, really yummy and they were enjoyed by family and friends who gave me rave reviews about them! They had a slightly crunchy and crumbly top, followed by a very lucious gooey and fudgey center that was so delicious, and a soft cake-like crust. You can garnish these with powdered sugar, fresh berries, and whipped cream or just serve them plain!

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake (Paula Deen):

Ingredients:

-2 sticks butter (seperated), melted

-1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

-1 egg, plus 2 eggs

-1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder

-1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 cup chopped nuts, if desired (I didn't use nuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 1 stick of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in the nuts, if desired, with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.

Bake for 40-50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake, the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces. Garnish with desired toppings.

Banana Raspberry Crumble Bread

This banana bread turned out to be the best banana bread I have ever made and my most favorite one. This bread was sooooo delicious and it smelled so yummy while it was baking. It was so moist, flavorful, and sweet with the crunchy crumb topping and slighty tart from the beautiful sweet little red raspberries. This bread is perfect for breakfast which I enjoyed this morning with a glass of milk or it is great for a snack! This bread is to die for so I reccomend getting in the kitchen and baking this now!

Doesn't it look so pretty!?

Banana Raspberry Bread:

-1/2 cup butter, softened

-1 1/4 cups sugar

-2 large eggs

-2 ripe bananas, mashed

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1 tsp. baking powder

-3/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/3 cup buttermilk

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup fresh raspberries

Crumb Topping:

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1/3 cup flour

-1/4 cup butter

In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan well.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs and bananas, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, stirring well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Lightly fold in raspberries.

 Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan and top evenly with half of the crumb topping mixture. Pour remaining batter on top and bake for 25 minutes (reserving the rest of the crumb topping in the fridge). Sprinkle remaining crumb topping on the partially baked bread and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.