Berry Cobbler

Hello everyone! I am still alive I promise. I have been doing a lot of wedding stuff, including moving into a new empty apartment. The good news is: I now get to bake more! I am slowly trying to get my fiance to enjoy sweets more, but I think I have a long road ahead of me. It's ok...I'm up for the challenge.

This recipe came from my mom. When I was younger she used to make this cobbler with fresh blackberries in the summer and it was so wonderful (especially with vanilla ice cream). I used frozen berries because I am broke and it's all I have. I also tweaked the recipe too because my cobbler was a little more dry than I like it. My mom warned me to take out the majority of the juice from the frozen berries because it can make the cobbler soggy. I think I might have taken out too much. To fix the problem I added a few spoonfuls of Reduced Sugar Raspberry Preserves and it brought life to this cobbler. :)

This is the reason I haven't been baking as much...he occupies a lot of my time. It is completely well worth it too. :) :) :)

This is what the cobbler looked like before it went in the oven.

This is what it looked like in the end. Not the prettiest cobbler, but it is really really really good.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen berries, thawed and heated in the microwave

1/2 cup butter, melted (I only had that spreadable non-margarine stuff, and it worked fine)

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup self-rising flour (I usually HATE self-rising, but it worked well in this recipe I must admit).

1 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla preferred)

1/2 tsp. butter extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix the flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl. SLOWLY add the milk. Mix in the melted butter slowly as well. Mix in the extracts and cinnamon. Pour into a baking dish (you can use a cobbler dish, a pie dish, or a 13x9 pan which I used). Spoon the fruit evenly on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min.

Strawberry Margarita Pie

I was in the mood to make a pie, and I definitely don't have a lot of money to spend on ingredients so I went for this yummy sounding pie recipe I found off the pillsbury website. The picture they have makes the pie look a whole lot bigger, but in reality it's slightly smaller. I also added about 1 cup of crushed graham crackers to my crust to make it a little thicker. Pay attention to the fact that the whipping cream, whipped, is used IN the pie. I, having a dumb moment, thought it was just for a whipped topping and I skipped on buying it at the store. Then I realized, one: there is no whipped cream on the top of the pie in the picture, and two: that it actually goes IN the pie. Oh well, I used the small amount of Cool Whip I had in addition to a touch of milk. There were, consequently, a few little white dots from the Cool Whip, but it still tasted really refreshing and light! This is a perfect summer dessert. 

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 1/4	cups crushed pretzels
1/4	cup sugar
1/2	cup margarine or butter, melted
Filling
1	(14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2	cup frozen concentrated margarita mix, thawed
1	(10-oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
1	cup whipping cream, whipped Directions: In small bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix well. Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. n large bowl, combine condensed milk and margarita mix; beat until smooth. Add strawberries; beat at low speed until well blended. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust-lined pan. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Store in freezer.

French Silk Pie

This recipe comes from http://www.suite101.com/

I've never made a French Silk Pie before, and I must say that I'm kind of proud of my first endeavor. I did make a few minor adjustments of my own to recipe of course.

*it does contain raw eggs 

French Silk Pie Recipe

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
• 2 tsp pure vanilla
• 3 large eggs

Directions:

*You can make your own pie crust, but I just used a pre-made graham cracker crust. I melted 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and spread over the crust. Put in the freezer for a few minutes; this creates a chocolate layer in between the pie and crust and it's really good.

Part 1:

1. Melt chocolate in a small bowl over hot water. Do not let the chocolate harden up.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter at medium to high speed about 1 minute.
3. Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and continue to beat until light and fluffy. This will take 3-5 minutes. Scrape bowl often. It must be mixed long enough so it is no longer gritty.
4. Slowly add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed until the chocolate is well blended and mixture is smooth and creamy. Scrape again.
5. On medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating after each one before adding the next egg.Scrape bowl.
6. Add vanilla and give it one more mix.
7. Spread into a pie crust. 

Part 2:

• 1 cup Whipping cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
• Chocolate curls, optional for garnish

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, beat cream until it sets up. There is no way to explain how long this will take. Every mixer is different. It should be light and fluffy and look like soft whipped cream. Do NOT let it get to the butter stage which can happen very quickly. If in doubt, under mix. You can always whip it a little more after the sugar is added.
2. Add powdered sugar and and vanilla and beat until fluffy and stiff. Do not over beat.
3. Put whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and decorate the pie. Or pile the cream on high with a spatula.
4. Sprinkle with chocolate curls.
5. Refrigerate pie and any leftovers.

Makes one 9 inch pie

Coconut Pudding Pie

          My personalized graham cracker crust creation.

As promised, I'm putting up more recipes on here, though I still feel like I've lost some of the people who used to come and visit. :( Sad. I hope you all come back though! I do again apologize for my bad pictures. I don't have a very good camera at all, nor am I able to turn the flash off b/c I don't know how.

I kind of felt like I was in a baking rut...I was tired of doing bars, brownies, cookies, or candies, so why not make a pie? To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of pies in general. I don't like pastries or crusts or anything of that sort, especially doughnuts--gross. 

I found this recipe off of www.pillsbury.com I wanted to make a pie with a fruity filling, and once I saw this Choose-your-own Filling Pie I was heart-set on using coconut. I did modify their original recipe, using Coconut Creme Pudding instead of vanilla and I also used a graham cracker crust instead of a crescent roll crust, which sounds weird to me. To make this extra special, I had the brilliant idea (humble I know) of smearing a layer of melted chocolate on top of the graham cracker crust. Once my mom tried this pie, she informed me that every pie ever made will HAVE to have chocolate on top of the graham cracker crust. This pie is super easy to make and only takes about 10 min. to make it. 

Moment of honesty: I haven't tried this pie. I did try a little of the filling and it was good--very light. This would be a great summer pie b/c you wouldn't feel heavy and gross and after it. Oh yeah, go check out Pillsbury's website! They have a ton of wonderful recipes on it.

Ingredients:

1 graham pie crust

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 box (4 serving) of Coconut Creme instant pudding and pie filling mix (if your store doesn't carry it, Vanilla works too)

1 3/4 cups milk

2 tsp. coconut extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping

1/4 cup shredded coconut, toasted

Directions:

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth, about 2 min. Spread carefully and evenly over the graham cracker crust. Put in freezer for around 5 min. or until the chocolate is hardened.

Make pudding mix as directed on box, using 1 3/4 cups milk. Stir in vanilla and coconut extracts and the whipped topping. Spread on crust. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store covered in refrigerator. 

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Torte

I know that I haven't been posting many recipes on my blog, or even comments for that matter. I've been really busy with school as of lately so I haven't found much time to cook. My cake decorating class has received all my baking attention as of recently, but I promise that I'll do better and start posting more recipes ASAP! Don't forget about me and never check my blog anymore...I'm still alive. 

 I promise you that this tastes and looks much better than my horrible picture. Unfortunately before I could take a good picture it was cut up and served, hence the bad picture. This is like a chocolate chip cookie/cheesecake blessing of goodness! I found it off www.pillsbury.com I highly recommend this to anyone who likes chocolate chip cookies or cheesecake.

Ingredients:

1 roll (16.5 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat and it tasted fine)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocoalte chips

1 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts

1 cup butterscotch chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chocolate-flavored syrup (I actually used the magic shell syrup)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In an ungreased 10 or 9 inch springform pan, break up cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Bake 15-18 min. or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and egg until well blended. Stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the peanuts. Pour over cooled crust and spread evenly.

In a bowl microwave the butterscotch chips until smooth and melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Drizzle over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and peanuts.

Bake 30-40 min. until edge is set but center it still slightly jiggly. Cool on cooling rack 10 min. Run knife around side of pan to loosen the torte; carefully remove side of pan. Cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

To serve, cut torte into wedges. Drizzle 1 tsp. of chocolate syrup onto each dessert plate. Place wedges over syrup. Store in refrigerator.