Desserts
Donna Meringue
I invited Donna to dinner early in 1997. A cheque was delayed in arriving and the cupboard was almost bare. Donna is from Montreal and she mentioned during Christmas that she loves meringues. Donna Meringue was born. This dessert is elegant, yet it uses basic ingredients. Make use of whatever fresh fruit you have on hand.
Servings: 4
4 Meringue Shells (see page
Creme Patissiere (see page
Easy Cocoa Sauce (see page
2 - 4 kiwis
1/2 - 1 cup frozen blueberries
Prepare Meringue Shells. While Meringue Shells are baking, prepare Creme Patissiere. Slice kiwis horizontally or vertically. When Meringue Shells and Creme Patissiere are cool, prepare Easy Cocoa Sauce. Drizzle 4 dessert saucers with 1 - 2 tablespoons sauce. Place a shell on each saucer. Drizzle each shell with 1 - 2 tablespoons sauce. Fill each shell with Creme Patissiere. Arrange kiwi slices on Creme Patissiere and around Meringue Shells. Drizzle desserts with remaining sauce. Separate blueberries from juice. Drizzle desserts with juice. Arrange blueberries on desserts.
Meringue Shells
Servings: 4
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 275 mF. Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat with mixer until foamy; add sugar gradually and continue beating until very stiff. Drop by tablespoons onto lightly buttered unglazed brown paper on cookie sheet and flatten to make a thin base about 2 inches in diameter. With a homemade, waxed paper pastry bag, surround base with meringue to a height of 2 inches, leaving center unfilled. Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 250 mF and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off oven and let meringues stand in oven about 1/2 hour longer. Remove from paper and cool on rack. Makes 4 shells.
Creme Patissiere
Servings: 4
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons margarine
3 egg yolks
1 cup milk
Combine flour, sugar, margarine, and egg yolks; mix well. Heat milk and combine with mixture. Cook over hot water until very thick, stirring constantly. If filling is lumpy, beat with a hand mixer or a whisk. Cover. Cool before filling. Makes enough filling for four meringue shells.
Phyllo Shells
Phyllo is purchased frozen. It is sold in either a box or a freezer bag. Phyllo dough is less expensive if you purchase it from a bulk food store. However, if you have never worked with phyllo dough, purchase phyllo dough in a box. Thaw and work with phyllo dough according to the directions on the box. Any unused portions may be refrozen.
Servings: 12
12 sheets frozen phyllo dough
1/2 cup margarine, melted
Preheat oven to 350mF. Using six sheets of phyllo dough, liberally butter each sheet with a pastry brush, stacking one on top of the other. Cut the buttered sheets into six equal pieces. Press each piece into an ungreased muffin cup. Repeat process with the remaining sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool. Remove from cups.
Summer Berry Cups
Phyllo Shells (above)
Crepe Filling (see page, tripled, or yogurt
2 cups fresh berries (blueberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, sliced cultivated strawberries, or raspberries)
Spoon Crepe Filling into Phyllo Cups. Top with berries. Garnish with Chocolate Butterflies.
Fruit Kebabs
Servings: 6
1/2 pineapple, cored and peeled
5 apricots
1/4 lb. cherries
1 tablespoon margarine
1 teaspoon sugar
Warm Chocolate Sauce
Cut the pineapple into slices and then into wedges. Quarter the apricots. Pit the cherries. Heat the broiler. Thread the fruit onto 6 skewers. Melt the margarine and brush on the fruit. Sprinkle with the sugar. Broil the kebabs about 8 minutes, turning the skewers several times. Serve with warm chocolate sauce and cookies, if you like.
Chocolate Dipped Fruit
Servings: 8
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 teaspoon shortening Orange, tangerine, clemantine, or mandarin sections, strawberries, apple wedges, etc.
Melt 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon shortening. Dip half of each orange section in chocolate mixture; place on waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Refrigerate until set. Store in refrigerator.
Variation
Substitute white chocolate chips for the semi-sweet chocolate dips. Better yet, dip your fruits in semi-sweet chocolate and then dip them in white chocolate.
Three-Chocolate Mousse
Servings: 12
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped
3/4 cup whipping cream
1-1/2 teaspoons unflavoured gelatin
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped
8 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
1 cup strawberries, pureed
Grease an 8-1/2-inch by 4-1/2-inch by 2-1/2-inch loaf pan; line with plastic wrap. In saucepan over low heat, melt bittersweet chocolate with margarine, stirring until smooth. Allow chocolate to cool, then fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream. Pour mousse into loaf pan; smooth top. Refrigerate, without removing loaf pan from roasting pan, until mousse is firm (about 2 hours). In a saucepan, combine heavy cream and gelatin; let stand 5 minutes. Add white chocolate; heat over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool, then fold in another 1/3 of the whipped cream. Pour mousse into the loaf pan; smooth top. Cover and chill until firm (again about 2 hours). In a saucepan over low heat, stir milk chocolate, butter, and strawberry puree until smooth. Cool; fold in the last 1/3 of the whipped cream. Pour mousse into loaf pan; smooth top. Chill until firm - about 2 hours. Freeze mousse 1 hour before slicing. Garnish with Strawberry Sauce, Chocolate Filigree, and fresh strawberries.
Phyllo Apple Turnovers
Phyllo may appear to be expensive but it is not. Unused portions may be reused. It is easy to store. This recipe uses less fat than its traditional counterpart. Furthermore, despite the warnings in other recipe books, phyllo is not hard to work with.
Servings: 10
1/2 package phyllo (10 leaves)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
7 medium apples, pared, cored, and sliced
1/4 - 1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 mF. Thaw phyllo. Place stack of 10 leaves of phyllo on table. Freeze remaining phyllo. Cover stack completely with a damp tea towel. Combine remaining dry ingredients, except 1/4 cup sugar. Remove two leaves of phyllo from stack. Cover remaining leaves of phyllo completely with damp tea towel. Slice phyllo lengthwise with either kitchen shears or a sharp knife. Brush with melted margarine. Place 1/2 cup apple mixture on phyllo, as shown in Figure 1. Fold phyllo, as illustrated in Figure 2, (a) trhough (f), enclosing apple mixture. Place turnovers on ungreased cookie sheets, final fold underneath. Brush with melted margarine. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Repeat steps 3 through 5 four more times. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Soft Guanaco
250 ml fresh cream
500 g semi-sweet chocolate
Melt diced bits of semi-sweet chocolate. Boil with cream.
Baked Apples
Servings: 2
2 apples
2 teaspoons margarine
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Water
Preheat oven to 375oF. Core apples; place upright in loaf pan. Fill centre of each apple with 1 teaspoon margarine, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour water into pan until water is 1/4-inch deep. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until apples are tender when pierced with a fork.
Single Apple Crisp
Servings: 1
I love to make this recipe when I want a quick, delicious, and hot snack or dessert. I also make this recipe when Jeremy asks for an apple and he only takes one bite.
1 medium to large apple
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons margarine
Preheat oven to 350oF. Core, peel, and thinly slice apple. Arrange apple slices in a custard dish. In a small bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Rub in margarine with fingers until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple slices. Bake for 20 minutes, or until apple is tender when pierced with fork.
Fried Apples
Try them! You may like them. People wrinkle their noses at the notion of fried apples but anyone who tries them loves them!
Servings: 1
1 apple
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Core apple. Slice horizontally into 1/4-inch thick rings. Heat margarine over medium heat in frying pan until melted. Fry apple rings, turning when undersides are light brown. Fry until apples are tender. Remove to serving dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Dessert Crepe Filling
Servings: 4
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup Plain Yogurt (see page
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
In chilled bowl, whip cream with sugar with chilled beaters; fold in yogurt and vanilla.
Cream Puffs
Servings: 1
1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup flour
4 eggs
2 batches of Creme Patissiere
8 squares of bittersweet chocolate
Preheat oven to 425oF. Bring margarine and water to a vigorous boil in a pot with a heavy bottom. Reduce heat to low. Add flour all at once. Stir rapidly until mixture leaves side of pot and forms a ball. Put mixture in a food processor. Add one egg to the mixture. Process until thoroughly blended. Repeat with remaining eggs. Mixture should be smooth and velvety. Using a tablespoon, form eight mounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Mounds should be 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 45 minutes, or until puffs are dry and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slowly. Split puffs in half horizontally with a sharp knife. Remove moist shreds of dough inside puffs. Fill bottom-halves of puffs with cooled Creme Patissiere. Replace tops. Melt eight squares of bittersweet chocolate over boiling water. Spoon chocolate over the tops of the cream puffs.
Marikli Torte
Tortilla tortes are everywhere. Substitute marikli for tortillas and Mother's Choclate Dessert for expensive fillings and you have an inexpensive and suprisingly simple, yet elegant, dessert.
Servings: 4
Marikli
Mother's Chocolate Dessert
1 cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Make 8 marikli; set aside. Make Mother's Chocolate Dessert; do not pour into dessert cups to chill. Lay 1 marikli on a serving dish. Spread marikli to the edge with 1/4 cup of Mother's Chocolate Dessert. Centre another marikli on the chocolate-spread marikli. Alternate remaining marikli and chocolate mixture, ending with a marikli. Pour 1/2 cup of chocolate mixture on top marikli, letting it drip down the side of the torte. Cover torte with plastic wrap; chill overnight. Thoroughly mix yogurt and sugar. Remove plastic wrap from torte. Put yogurt mixture on torte in a mound.
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Copyright Rexanna M. Keats 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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