Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pudding

There will be lots of cookies dough recipes hitting the web this week as Quirk books publishes Lindsay Landis's new cookbook, The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook. 

 We loved this easy to read, spiral bound book that lays flat when open. It is full of photos and quick tips for making the recipes a success. She starts with a simple basic recipe for each treat, but then gives you several ideas to take it up a notch. We really loved the recipes where she suggested adding peanut butter because around here, we believe peanut butter goes with anything, especially cookie dough. This book covers everything from Candy, Cookies, and Brownies, to Cakes, Custards and Pie. There is also a section for Indulgent Breakfast- who could resist  cookie dough in their breakfast? There really is something for everyone in here. 

 Our first recipe was the eggless chocolate chip cookie dough which is the base for many of the recipes, including the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough truffles (above). While these truffles had great texture, they were a little light on flavor, so on the next attempt we used dark brown sugar and this really boosted the cookie dough flavor. This was delicious stirred into vanilla ice cream.

 Next we made the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough pudding. It was silky, creamy and cool, full of brown sugar flavor and mini chips sprinkled throughout for a nice bite of chocolate. Cookie dough has long been a favorite in our kitchen ever since the kids were old enough to sneak a bite, and we can't wait to try some of the other recipes in this book over the summer. 

 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pudding
 Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook.

 3/4 cup light brown sugar divided*
 1/8 teaspoon salt
 3 tablespoons cornstarch 
2 cups whole milk
 1/2 cup heavy cream 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
 * I used dark brown sugar 

In a saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, salt and cornstarch until no lumps remain. Add milk and heavy cream and whisk over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken and starts to bubble, about 5 to 7 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and continue to whisk until thick, about 5 minutes more. 
Remove from heat and stir in the remaining brown sugar, vanilla and butter until smooth.
Pour pudding into a large serving bowl or individual dishes. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic onto the surface of the pudding and chill until set, 1 to 2 hours. Before serving, remove plastic wrap and sprinkle pudding with 
chocolate chips. 

 This fun little book will be released June 5 and is available for pre-order at Amazon.com

link:  Foodie Friday

Recipe Round Up

I really love belonging to cooking groups, but I don't like posting about foods that have no recipes to go with them, since this is a cooking blog. To that end I started doing a monthly roundup of recipes I made for Tuesday's with Dorie and French Fridays with Dorie. Well, this month I decide to combine both of the monthly round ups into one big round up. The recipes for Tuesday's with Dorie can be found on the weekly host's blog, to which I will include a link, but for French Friday's there is no host, so if it is a recipe that intrigues you send me an e-mail and I will give you more information.

Our Tuesday's with Dorie recipes were the Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins and the Chocolate Pots de Creme.

Lauryn of Bella Baker chose Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins. These muffins had a big citrus taste, with a coarse almost chewy texture. We made these three different ways; some plain, some with raisin, and a few with craisins. Everyone liked the craisin version the best. The dried cranberries added a nice sweet/tart taste to an otherwise pretty plain muffin. The raisins were good, adding sweetness, but lacking the balance of the semi-tart craisins.

 Christine of Black Cat Cooking  chose Chocolate Pots de Creme.

  This was an intensely chocolate pudding. Dorie had you cook and cool it in a water bath covered with plastic wrap, but I really don't think this improve the texture of this pudding, and next time I would skip this step. We would make this again for the deep, rich chocolate flavor. As a family we don't usually love chocolate flavored desserts because they tend to be too sweet or completely lacking chocolate taste, but this silky smooth pudding and Dorie's chocolate ice cream have both been winners, so she is definitely on to something with her chocolate treats!

The French Friday recipes we made this month were the salted butter break-ups. The pictures in the book were so fabulous and we were most excited about this recipe, but unfortunately, this was the most disappointing. It was really nothing more than a giant sugar cookie, brushed with egg wash for color. It was fun but nothing special. We were hoping the salt would come through, and even used the higher suggested amount, but it was pretty boring. We even tried dipping pieces in melted chocolate, and when that doesn't save a recipe, you know that it is something you probably won't make again.

Scallops with caramel orange sauce was a quick and tasty way to prepare scallops. Although caramel sounds like s dessert item, this sauce had a nice almost burnt taste that paired nicely with the sweet oranges, and was perfect over mildly sweet scallops. This is definitely a recipe that we will make again. It will be a nice change from a quick pasta or chicken dish on our busy school nights.

Brown butter, dried figs, raisins, pistachios, chives, almonds, Parmesan cheese and orange zest

And finally, the real star of this month's recipes was the Beggar's Linguine. Mimi Jr. and I made this for lunch one day because we were pretty sure that the other Mimi's weren't going to go for this fruity pasta. We even had our doubts as we were putting it together and taking our first few bites. We were really close to just skipping it, but figured that the whole point of the group was to try new things so we went for it. The most surprising thing was that with each bite we liked this strange pasta dish more and more. Somehow, the flavors all come together to create a wonderfully savory pasta that is not the sweet dish we had expected it to be based on the ingredients.What we didn't like were the small bits of fruit and nuts with the long strands of pasta. Mimi Jr. suggested that the fruit and nuts would be good with orzo or couscous as everything would be more similar in size and one forkful could get a little of everything. Since I had all the ingredients we made it the following day with couscous. I used about half the amount of butter, and it was perfect. We loved it at room temperature and think it would also be good served chilled as a salad or a side dish with some well seasoned grilled meats.

This month was full of surprises, with some new favorites, and some disappointments. We are excited to see what April's recipes will bring to the table.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

It's citrus season in California. My trees are full of ripe grapefruits, tangerines, limes and oranges. Alas my new little lemon tree is fruitless, but there are plenty of lemons to be had from friends and neighbors.

 My oldest daughter, Mimi Jr., made this lemon buttermilk cake for me this week. She is turning into a very fine baker. Mimi J found the basic recipe  in an old issue of Bon Appetit magazine (February 2005). As this delicate lemon  cake bakes  a  lemon curd  sauce forms on the bottom of the baking dish. The cake is so velvety smooth it melts in your mouth. The lemon sauce has just the right tang, to balance the sweetness of the cake and the blueberries are the perfect finishing touch.  This cake is like sunshine in a dish and  will surely make your winter  a little warmer.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

adapted from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sugar divided

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large egg whites.

Fresh berries

Whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter an 8x8x2 inch glass baking dish. Blend buttermilk, 1/2 cup sugar egg yolks lemon juice, flour, butter and salt in blender until smooth.

Using an electric mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.  Gently fold the buttermilk mixture into white in 3 additions, batter will be runny.

Pour batter into prepared dish.  Place dish in a roasting pan. Pour enough not water into roasting pan to come half way up the sides of dish.  Bake until entire top is evenly browned and cake moves very slightly in center but feels slightly springy to touch, about 45 minutes.  Remove dish from roasting pan, place dish on cooling rack and cool cake completely. Refrigerate 3-6 hours, until cold. Serve with fresh berries and lightly whipped cream.

print recipe

Enjoy!

Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

Persimmon are an interesting fruit. They have a unique flavor and can be used in a variety of recipes, from sweet to savory. The puree of ripe persimmons has the consistency of pureed bananas, but a flavor reminiscent of dates, and the most beautiful, intense, orange color. When I was a little girl my grandfather had a persimmon tree and I remember helping my mom make a persimmon fruit cake. Although fruit cake makes most people wrinkle their nose, this one was dense, dark, rich,  moist and very delicious. I'm not sure what happened to my mom's recipe, so when I was recently given persimmons by my neighbor, I was on my own. I found this recipe in the November 2009 Bon Appetit. I hadn't made a steamed pudding before, and now seemed like the time to give it a try. This "pudding" is really a moist cake with delicate flavors, nice crumb and beautiful color.  Creme Anglaise is the perfect accompaniment, adding a touch of cinnamon without disguising the persimmon flavor. Of course a dollop of whipped cream wouldn't hurt either.

Persimmon Pudding

adapted from Bon Appetit November 2009

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh persimmon pulp
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup apricot preserves ( I omitted this step)
Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

Butter and flour one 8 cup metal pudding mold with center tube and lid, than spray mold and lid with nonstick spray. Bring a large kettle of water to a boil. Place a rack in bottom of deep pot large enough to hold the pudding mold. Whisk the first six ingredients in a bowl. Using and electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and beat until blended. Beat in persimmon puree and lemon juice.
Spoon batter into pudding mold. cover with lid.( I didn't have a lid so I used heavy duty tin foil as a cover and a large rubber band to hold it in place.)
Place pudding mold on rack in pot. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of mold. Return water to boil, cover pot, then reduce heat and simmer until top of pudding feels firm to touch and tester inserted near center comes out clean, adding more simmering water to pot to maintain water level, about 2 hours.
Remove mold from pot. Uncover pudding; let cool. Invert onto plate.
(I omitted this step) Bring apricot preserves to simmer in small sauce pan. Strain through fine strainer set over bowl. Using a pastry brush spread preserves over outside of pudding.

Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

2 cups whole milk
1 3-4 inch cinnamon stick
6 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt

Combine milk and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Over medium heat bring to a simmer . Remove form heat; cover and let seep 1 hour.
Whisk egg yolks, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Return milk mixture to a simmer. Gradually whisk milk mixture into yolks mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens and instant read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 165 degrees F., about 3 minutes, do not boil.
Remove from heat. Strain through sieve into small bowl; cool. Cover: chill until cold.

Serve pudding at room temperature with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

Chocolate and Vanilla Pudding

TWD: Split Level Pudding

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe was chosen by Garrett of Flavor of Vanilla. This sophisticated two layer pudding was easy to make. The bottom layer is a chocolate ganache covered by a smooth and creamy vanilla pudding. What I really like about this combination is not just the flavors, but the fact that the ganache is much firmer than the custard but not hard and brittle the way chocolate gets when it is refrigerated. The ganache was creamy and firm yet still spoonable; it was like having a piece of chocolate in each bite followed by the cool silky texture of the pudding. The flavor combinations are endless; my next rendition will be to add orange zest to the pudding and Grand Marnier to the ganache. To help keep the layers separate when adding the second layer, use a teaspoon with bowl side up, position it just over the first layer, and then pour your second layer letting it gently slide off the bowl of the spoon. This is a perfect do ahead dessert for entertaining.

If you want to make this delicious  dessert stop on over at The Flavor of Vanilla,  or buy Dorie's book.