Category Archives: Desserts

Desserts

Shortbread

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups butter
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 4 cups flour

Steps

  1. Cream butter.
  2. Slowly add sugar.
  3. Add egg yolks. Blend thoroughly.
  4. Add the flour. You may need to knead in the last of the flour.
  5. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat oven to 325F.
  7. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a 1/4 inch thick.
  8. Cut with a cookie cutter.
  9. Arrange on greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with sugar.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light gold.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup quick rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Cream the margarine and sugar.
  3. Beat in the egg and vanilla
  4. Add flour and baking powder.
  5. Fold in the oats and raisins. Do not over-mix.
  6. Drop on a greased cookie sheet.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from rack.

Trifle

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There are 2 main types of trifle: those made with jam and whipped cream and those made with jelly and custard. This is the latter type. Note that it contains alcohol which you can replace with fruit juice.This recipe keeps it simple by using canned fruit and custard, but the results are better if you make the custard yourself using custard powder, sugar and milk.

You will need a small bowl, a large serving bowl, a can opener

Ingredients

  • 1 swiss roll, sliced or 8 ladyfingers
  • 1/4 cup of brandy, sherry or rum
  • 1 large can fruit, drained
  • 1 pkg jelly powder
  • 2 cups custard
  • whipped cream

Steps

  1. Arrange the cake in the bottom of the serving dish and sprinkle with alcohol.
  2. Arrange fruit over the cake.
  3. Make the jelly and before it sets, spoon it over the fruit.
  4. Allow jelly to set.
  5. Top with custard and finish with dabs of whipped cream.

Options

This version of trifle changes a lot depending on the flavours of jelly and the choice of fruit. It seems to work every time, no matter what combination you use. If the jelly is still liquid when you pour it over the fruit, it will soak into the cake which gives the dessert a different texture.  Still good.

Rice Pudding

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Rice puddings vary in their texture. Essentially they are all rice cooked in custard but the results vary from a milky egg custard to a thick creamy pudding. This recipe is the egg custard style and delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3-1/2 cups milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 300F.
  2. Butter a 9 x 6 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with rice and raisins.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat together the remaining ingredients.
  4. Pour the egg-milk mixture over the rice and stir briefly.
  5. Bake for 2 – 2-1/2 hours.

Blueberry Cobbler

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Cobblers and grunts are made with stewed fruit on the bottom and a soft scone like pastry on top. They are easier to make than pies which adds to their popularity.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups blueberries
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 T corneal
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp grated orange rind
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 T butter

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Place the berries in an 8 inch oven proof casserole dish
  3. Pour in the orange juice and drizzle with honey.
  4. Sprinkle with cinnamon
  5. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and orange rind
  6. In a separate bowl beat the egg, milk and butter.
  7. Stir the egg mixture into the flour and spoon over the blueberries.
  8. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown

Blueberry Pie Filling

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Pastry is a matter of choice and there are a variety of pastry shells available including frozen options. Here we present a filling for a 2 crust pie.

Ingredients

  • 3-1/2 cup blueberries, washed and patted dry
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamon
  • 1 small tart apple, peeled and grated
  • 1-1/2 T tapioca or cornstarch

Steps

  • In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon, spices and apple
  • Add tapioca or cornstarch, and toss to cover the fruit.
  • Let stand 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • Line a pie plate with pastry
  • Pour in the fruit filling.
  • Cover with a second layer of pastry. Turn under the extra pastry and crimp the edges together with a fork or your thumb.
  • Cut steam vents into the top layer of the crust.
  • Bake 20 – 30 minutes until golden brown.
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and let cook for 30 minutes
  • Let cool 1-2 hours on a wire rack before serving so the juices and tapioca can form a syrupy custard.

Blueberry Ice

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Granita is semi-frozen dessert made from water, sugar and flavorings. In this case, the flavour comes from fresh blueberries which also turns a sugar high into a healthy alternative.

Ingredients

  • 3-1/2 cups blueberries
  • 1/2 cup castor sugar or 1/3 cup honey
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 T lemon juice, or to taste

Steps

  1. Combine the blueberries and sugar in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth
  2. Strain through a mesh strainer, squeezing out the juices with a spoon.
  3. Add the water and lemon.
  4. Turn the mixture into a freezer proof bowl and place in the freezer where you can access it easily
  5. About once an hour, use a fork to break up the ice, crushing and scraping it smooth.
  6. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and break up the ice with a fork
  7. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a few fresh blueberries.

Alternative

Reduce the lemon juice to 1 tsp and add 1 T of candied ginger to the blender with the blueberries

Jubilees

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This is a basic sugar or vanilla cookie where the dough is rolled into balls and dipped in crushed nuts. What is delightful about this recipe is that it is versatile.  Some of the many possibilities are listed after the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, crushed or in pieces (optional)
  • jam

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in eggs.
  4. Beat in vanilla.
  5. Add baking powder and continue mixing.
  6. Sift in the flour and baking soda. Mix thoroughly.
  7. Add the crushed nuts (optional).
  8. Let stand in fridge for 10 minutes so the dough cools and is easier to handle.
  9. Rub your hands in flour and pinch off one inch balls of dough.
  10. Roll in chopped nuts and place on a cookie tray.
  11. Press a dent in the centre of each cookie and fill with a dab of jam.
  12. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to let rest.

Alternatives

  1. Instead of jam, finish off the jubuilees by dipping them half-way into chocolate after they are baked
  2. Instead of walnuts, try pecans, almonds, coconut, chocolate wafers, or chocolate chips. Just remember that they are rolled in more nuts so choose something complementary and don’t add too many into the dough. For example you could try
  • crystallized ginger in the dough, rolled in cocoa
  • chocolate chips in the dough, rolled in coconut or pecans
  • a dash or orange juice and a handful of almonds in the recipe, rolled in coconut or cocoa with marmalade instead of jam

Shortbread

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Shortbread is easy to make and can be flavoured in a variety of ways. It’s a good choice for teaching young hands how to bake. If you bake it too long, the edges will begin to burn, but they taste pretty good even when they are a bit too brown. The biggest failing comes from the dough being too dry. Add a tablespoon of cream to the mix if that happens or increase the butter. Don’t add water or milk or the dough will begin to turn to pastry and the texture will be compromised.

You will need a bowl and a cookie sheet.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white or brown sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 cups butter
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Sift together the dry ingredients.
  3. Rub in the butter until the batter forms a thick, sticky dough.
  4. Roll out or use your hands to flatten dough into a large circle on a floured pastry sheet.
  5. Crimp the edges into a decorative pattern and use  a fork to dimple the surface.
  6. Score lines for breaking the slab into sections.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on surface

Options

  1. Bake the dough in a jelly roll pan. While still warm after baking, cut into fingers.
  2. Roll dough into 1-1/2 inch balls, flatten and dimple or decorate and bake as individual cookies.
  3. Using brown sugar instead of white changes the flavour.
  4. Add 1/2 tsp of almond flavouring to the dough
  5. Add 1/4 cup of crystallized ginger, walnuts, or almonds to the dough.

Orange Sauce

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup hot water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • orange peel from 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 T cornstarch
  • Juice of 2 tart oranges

Steps

  1. Combine the cornstarch and the juice of one orange. Stir until dissolved. Add remaining juice.
  2. Boil the water, sugar and orange peel until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Add the cornstarch-orange juice mix and boil until it thickens. Stir constantly or the sugar will stick to the saucepan and burn.
  4. Remove orange peel and add butter. Stir well.
  5. Serve fresh and store any remainder in the fridge.