Lemon pudding

Ok everyone, this post is a little bit of a cheat. My husband announced that his favorite kind of pie is Sour Cream Raspberry. Who knew? after 5 yearrs I thought that was one thing I had down -- apple or cherry pie were the go-to-make every thing better-pies. Apparently not so much. He said he's never said anything because he's never seen them anywhere but Frontier Pies and that's out of business so he's settled for others.
Well, that got a bug going and I was determined to recreate his pie.  I even picked fresh raspberries.

BUT...This post isn't that pie :) The pie is coming soon. I made it. It was good but not THE pie. So, it's coming soon. However, after making the pie I had leftover lemon pudding, so I made us a fun little treat.

There is nothing fancy about this dessert. It probably shouldn't be blog-worthy. However, it's yummy, it took 5 minutes, it looks awesome and it was fun to have a "fancy" little treat on a friday night. So, next time you want to impress but want to keep it as simple as physically possible, here is your go-to.

{Ingredients}
1 package instant lemon pudding
2 cups COLD milk
raspberries, or berry of choice
mint leaves, optional

{Directions}
Pour milk into bowl, add pudding and whisk for 2 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It will be soft set. Yes, these are the directions on the pudding box. Pour into small individual cups, top with fruit and a mint sprig. chill until you are ready to dive in.

Yummy!

Come again!

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

Have you ever had a dinner or shower or get-together of ANY kind where you're bringing the dessert and you're short on hands-on time  but need something that will impress? *Enter Chocolate Bundt Cake.

This recipe is a no-fail amazingly delicious and easy recipe. Best part -- everywhere I take it people rave at how pretty it is and delicious it tastes. Doesn't get much better than that! Trust me, this is one you don't want sitting on your counter for days (like it would ever last that long) becasue it truly stares you down until you eat every. last. crumb. and love it!  :)  

Comes from Taste of Home with my own little tweaks

And -- yes I actually DO know how to focus my camera :) Unfortunately I was hurrying and only took one picture of the whole cake so pretend like it's a beautiful crisp picture tempting you with a cake that you will love, instead of the blurry one above. 

Ingredients: 
 
1 package chocolate cake mix (regular size) 
1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix 
3 tablespoons baking cocoa 
1-3/4 cups milk 
2 eggs 
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips 
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder (*more to taste)
3 Tbsp milk  
Confectioners' sugar

Directions: 

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, cocoa, milk and eggs. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Turn up the speed and beat on medium for another 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. **If you don't love rich rich rich chocolate leave out the chocolate chips. They are of course delicious but they are quite rich and the cake is still divine without them. (yes, I said sometimes less chocolate is still divine, don't crucify me)

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan (I believe the *correct* term would be a 10 in. fluted tube pan). Pour cake batter into pan and bake at 350º for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Always test close to the center since that will take the longest to cook! 

Cool the cake for ten minutes in the pan and then flip it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely. 

Mix powdered sugar, cocoa powder and 2 Tbsp milk briskly with a fork until your icing is well mixed but not runny. If needed add the third Tbsp milk and any more that you may need. A good rule of thumb is if it runs off the fork in a steady stream but is still slightly thick. This consistency is best for drizzling so it stays even. 

Drizzle with icing and dust with confectioners' sugar if desired. 

Yield: 12-15 servings.

Apricot-Almond Crunch Pie

Prepare to have your world ROCKED!!! I'm not kidding, this was amazing! Maybe my new favorite pie. Actually, not maybe, definitely my new favorite pie. MMM! I think I need another one, STAT!

So here is how this pie came to be. A neighbor of mine had a bajillion apricots and i bought a bunch off of her for an amazing deal, thank you Heather! But, in 5 minutes I went from oh let's get some apricots to a 5 pound box sitting on my counter, all ripe and ready to be devoured. 

Que: Pinterest. I searched for every apricot recipe I could find so that I could use them up before they got soft and squishy and gross. To be honest, there were loads of ideas on pinterest but they all sounded OK, nothing life changing. And we needed life changing. Strike One.

Que: The never fail cook book. Better Homes and Gardens, Thank You. Who has that red and white checked cook book?  Do you LOVE IT!!??!!??!!?? I use it for everything and I love it for everything! So, the filling comes from that cookbook and the crust is my grandmas AMAZING pie crust, seriously the best crust ever. It's delicious and flaky and light and oh so fattening. Perfect combo right?

Let's do this...

 

 Slice up your apricots-- You choose, I left the skin on. Mostly a laziness factor.

 

Prepare your topping and set aside. 

 

  Prepare the filling and set aside.

 Prepare and roll out your dough. Lay in pie plate and crimp as desired. I did two (see picture above and below). Fill each pie with filling.

 I used the bowl of a spoon for this design. It's super easy.

 Cover pie with crumb topping. It will seem like there is WAY too much topping, trust me, use it all! Finally top with almonds.

Pre-cooked. Doesn't this look divine?

Bake and feast!

I liked it better cool, my husband thought it was best hot, with ice cream of course :)

*And just a note, something you may want to remember and plan on...I made 2 pies. One for our family and one for my neighbors who were moving. I sadly, (or happily?) admit that pie number 2 never made it to their house. 

Oh yeah, it's that good :)

{CRUST RECIPE} (Makes 2 crusts, you will only need one for this pie)

2 C flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 C butter-flavored shortening

3 Tbsp. water, chilled (add a few more drops if needed)

Mix flour and salt together. Measure shortening and set in bowl with flour. Set in refrigerator to chill. When chilled, mix together thoroughly with pastry cutter. Stir in water with fork, 1 Tbsp at a time, working dough gently and briefly. Divide into 2 halves, shaping each into a slightly flattened disk, Refrigerate one while you are rolling out the other. Roll out on lightly floured surface and place in pie plates. This recipe makes one two-crust pie or two one-crust pies. If for one-crust pies, prick with fork and bake at 450 degrees 10-12 minutes. 

*note: for ease of rolling out, use a cloth rolling pin cover and roll out on a pastry cloth. Always roll from the center outwards. 

{CRUMB TOPPING RECIPE}

Stir together 1/2 C all-purpose flour and 1/2 C packed brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in 3 Tbsp butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

{PIE RECIPE}

1 recipe Crumb Topping (above)  

3/4 C Sugar

1/3 C all-purpose flour

4 C sliced, pitted apricots ( I left the skin on, if you would prefer to peel them that works too)

2 Tbsp amaretto or 1/2 tsp. almond extract plus 2 Tbsp water

1/4 C slivered almonds

In a large mixing bowl combine sugar and flour. Add apricots and amaretto or almond extract/water. 

Transferr apricot mixture to pastry-lined pie plate. sprinkle Crumb Topping over the filling. Sprinkle with almonds. 

To prevent over-browning, cover edge of the pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until top is golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Poached Peaches and Cream

"Poached Peaches?" you say with a squirmish little face? It's ok, so did I when Mr. Chef presented his "appetizer" one night. Well, let me just tell you...Wipe that worried little look off your face and dig in! These babies are yummy yummy yummy and fast and easy and really pretty healthy!
My creative husband came up with these on a whim one night because we needed to use my COSTCO size tub of sour cream that I bought on a whim one night. Who buys Sour Cream at Costco when you don't have something specific to use it for and there are only 2 of you (i'm leaving out my 1 yr. old, she doesn't eat enough sour cream to count)? Well, apparently I do :)
So, go buy your sour cream at Costco, just for fun, and get your poachin' on!

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{Ingredients}
1 15.25 oz. can peach halves in heavy syrup
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Sauce:
1 C Sour Cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

{Directions}
Drain peach syrup into shallow pan. Add lemon juice, vanilla and brown sugar. Cook on medium/high heat until warm, stirring until sugar dissolves completely. Add spices (Allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon).
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add peach halves, flat side down. Cover the pan but leave the lid open a crack. Allow to boil until sauce is about 1/2 it's original volume.

While boiling prepare sauce. Whip sour cream, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla together until soft peaks* form.

Serve sauce on top of peaches.

*Soft Peaks: When you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks are just starting to hold. They're soft and melt back into themselves after a second.You can go a little longer if you prefer and make "firm peaks" that are still soft but hold their shape.

Hope you all enjoy this as much as we did!

**serving suggestion: Make and serve these in individual ramekins with one peach half in each ramekin. This is the way we usually do it and it creates a more sophisticated feel. Kind-of fun :)

Oreo Truffles

I was telling my sister and brother-in-law about these last night and decided that the world (or anyone who ever reads this blog) needs this recipe because some desserts are just worth the calories! My sweet friend and old co-worker, Krista, introduced myself and my fellow co-workers and friends to these amazing little treats at a fund raiser our company was hosting. From that day on, these have been requested at every opportunity any of us could come up with. I no longer work at that job but I imagine they are still the go-to treat for every occasion!

Thanks Krista!

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{Ingredients}
1 package Oreo cookies
1, 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
23 oz. milk chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips, if you choose)
4 Tablespoons vegetable shorting
lollipop sticks (found at a craft store)

Optional topping ideas

crushed peppermint
shredded coconut
sprinkles
nuts
candy bar crumbs
etc...

In a food processor, blender or by hand, crush the Oreo cookies until all big chunks are gone. (If crushing by hand the bottom of a drinking glass or a pan work well to evenly crush the cookies) Pour cookie crumbs into a large mixing bowl and stir in softened cream cheese until mixed well. Form the dough into little balls (about golf ball sized, or smaller) and place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Cover with tin foil and place cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour.

Meanwhile, combine chocolate chips and veggie shortening in a large sauce pan and melt together, taking care to not burn the chocolate. Once the oreo balls are frozen enough to allow for easy handling, stab the lollipop sticks in and dip each ball in the chocolate, (dip in other toppings at this point, if desired) returning them to the wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Freeze for another hour. Serve chilled, and keep the leftovers refrigerated.

Enjoy in several bites rather than one big bite, I have no idea why but they taste so much better this way

*Other ideas

Try mint or peppermint filled Oreos

For a fancier look drizzle chocolate balls with the opposite color of
chocolate ie: dark chocolate truffles with white chocolate drizzle.

Get creative and make them cute for various holidays

Dip half of the truffles in white chocolate and dye remaining chocolate red. Fill a bowl with white and red truffles to use as a delicious centerpiece for Christmas or a U of U game.