canning shelves 2014_opt_opt
Posts Archives
All posts with desserts tag.
In , on January 6, 2017 with No Comments

Pressure Cooker Rum Raisin Rice Pudding

I’ll admit I’ve been on a rice pudding kick ever since I got my Instant Pot. It’s just too dang easy to make it in the pressure cooker. Plus I found a good deal on bulk Arborio rice on Amazon, so a couple of clicks and 2 days later, I was stocked up on rice for a while. While the plain old-fashioned recipe is delicious, I wanted to add some spice to it for a change. There are so many different flavors you could add to rice pudding, but this one has just a hint of the cinnamon and nutmeg without it being overpowering.

Rum Raisin Rice Pudding

Follow the instructions for my Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding, but after cooking the rice, add the following to the egg/milk mixture:

1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (to taste)

Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste

3 tablespoons good rum

Continue to follow the above recipe for the old-fashioned rice pudding. Serve either hot or cold.

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on December 5, 2016 with No Comments

Pressure Cooker Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

I absolutely love dessert, especially old-fashioned, comfort desserts, and rice pudding fits the bill of comfort food in my book. However, I don’t like having to babysit the rice to make the pudding, so I don’t often make it. That changed when I got an Instant Pot pressure cooker.




I saw a bunch of recipes on Pinterest for rice pudding, and believe me you can find just about any flavor combination you want on Pinterest, but I wanted a plain, old-fashioned rice pudding recipe. I found one at Pressure Cooking Today’s website, and it’s a keeper. I’ve made this twice, and I haven’t even had my Instant Pot for a week! The first time I made the recipe as is, with the exception of using heavy cream for half of the milk the recipe calls for, but with my family, this didn’t make nearly enough. The second time I made it, I doubled all the ingredients and extended the pressure cooking time by 1 minute. It turned out perfectly delicious.

You can use whatever kind of rice you want in this, but I used Arborio rice, the kind you use to make risotto. It gives the pudding a creamier texture

rice-pudding

Pressure Cooker Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

1 cup Arborio rice

1-1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole milk, divided (I used 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon good vanilla

3/4 cup raisins (optional)

 

In a pressure cooking pot, combine the rice, water, and salt. Lock the lid in place, and select High Pressure and 3 minutes of cook time. When the beep sounds after pressure cooking is completed, turn off the pressure cooker, and use a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, use the quick-release feature to release any remaining pressure.

Add 1-1/2 cups milk and the sugar to the rice in the pressure cooking pot, stirring to combine.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1/2 cup milk and the vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add mixture to the rice in the cooking pot.

Select the sauté function and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to boil. Turn off the pressure cooker. Remove the cooking pot from the pressure cooker, and stir in the raisins if using.

Serve hot or refrigerate until chilled and serve. I let the pudding sit for 15 to 20 minutes after I added the raisins and then served, but it’s good either hot or cold.

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on March 26, 2016 with No Comments

Mexican Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

Of course when I get a craving for chocolate, I immediately think about cake. While I have my favorites that I go to frequently, like my Old-Fashioned Hot Water Chocolate Cake, I had buttermilk in the fridge, and I wanted to try a cinnamon chocolate cake. I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course!) on the Yesterfood blog. It’s super easy to make, and you can top it with some freshly made whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla or even cinnamon ice cream. Enjoy!

Shop Taste of Home

mexican chocolate cake 2

 

mexican chocolate cake slice 2

Mexican Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake

8 ounces semisweet chocolate baking squares

1 cup butter, softened at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

2 teaspoons good vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

 

Microwave the chocolate baking squares in a small bowl, stirring every 15 seconds, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 1 minute or so.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Stir in the melted chocolate, the chocolate syrup and the vanilla, and beat until smooth.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk (begin and end with the flour). Beat on low speed until just combined. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan.

Bake cake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour 10 minutes, checking the cake at 1 hour, until the cake tests done when a toothpick is inserted into the middle. Do not overbake. Cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.




Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , , on March 12, 2016 with No Comments

Fresh Strawberry Cake and Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

It’s a little cooler today here in Iowa, but I’ve still got spring fever. I stopped at the grocery store, and they had a special on fresh strawberries. Now, I can’t get local strawberries until June, and I usually don’t buy strawberries out of season simply because they just can’t match the taste of the local ones I get in early summer. However – these looked really good, and as I said spring fever was taking over, so I picked up a box.




I’d come across a recipe for a fresh strawberry yogurt cake on A Spicy Perspective. and I knew I’d found the perfect way to use these out-of-season strawberries. The recipe calls for either plain or vanilla Greek yogurt. While I usually make my own yogurt, I did pick up a carton of vanilla Greek yogurt. This way I can get a little vanilla flavor in the cake. I usually add a teaspoon of good vanilla to my baked goods, and since this recipe doesn’t call for any, the vanilla yogurt takes care of that for me.

This does make a thick batter, so don’t be off-put by that. I also used a full box of strawberries (16 ounces), and the recipe called for only 12 ounces. I doubt this really hurts it one way or the other, and I don’t like having tiny bits of fruit just sitting around, so I used them all. This recipe is really easy to pull together, and soon you can have that fresh taste of spring on your dinner table. This cake is going to be so awesome when I make it this summer with local, flavorful strawberries. 🙂

 

fresh strawberry yogurt cake side view

fresh strawberry yogurt cake

 

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided

Zest of 1 lemon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces plain or vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt

12 ounces fresh strawberries, washed, trimmed and diced

1 cup powdered sugar

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan (10- to 15-cup size).

Sift together 2 1/4 cups of the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest, and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and incorporate completely. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing until just combined.

Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, and gently fold them into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Place in the oven, and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes in the pan, and then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.


Babybasket.com - Adorable Baby Gifts & Baskets

I made a bacon and mustard chicken dish the other night for dinner, and I had some leftover chicken breasts from that. I hate leftovers, because no one in my house really eats them, so I decided to “repurpose” the chicken and make some chicken salad. I already had a bacon and Dijon mustard base going for the chicken salad, as the chicken breast was cooked with both, so I built upon those flavors in this salad recipe. Now I used Miracle Whip salad dressing in this, but you can always use mayonnaise if that’s what you prefer. I’m a Miracle Whip girl – I like that extra “tang” in my salads. I do use mayonnaise occasionally, especially if I’m making dips or appetizers, but most often you’ll only see the Miracle Whip in my fridge.

Start receiving snacks by mail today by signing up for Graze. Join today and get your first box for free!

This recipe is a shoot-from-the-hip type. I used the leftovers I had on hand, and I added ingredients that complemented bacon and Dijon mustard. I’ve listed the ingredients as if I didn’t start with the Dijon sauce from the night before, and it doesn’t list any bacon in the recipe (because this was in the previous night’s recipe). If you want bacon in your chicken salad, simply cook a couple of slices, chop it up, and throw it in with the rest of the ingredients. Plus I threw in some grapes and Granny Smith apples – I think you have to have balance with sweet, sour and salty tastes. I even made a homemade loaf of potato bread to put this chicken salad on. Okay, well, my bread machine made it, and I used Bob’s Red Mill Potato Bread mix. I have to have shortcuts now and then 🙂

potato bread 2

 

honey mustard chicken salad

 

chicken salad sandwich 2

Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

3 cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded as you prefer

1/2 cup Miracle Whip (or mayo if you prefer)

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup grapes, sliced in halves

1/2 a Granny Smith apple, finely diced

1/4 cup chopped pecans

 

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl until completely mixed. Chill for a few hours to let the flavors meld together. Serve with your favorite sandwich bread or roll.

 

Continue Reading
In on March 10, 2016 with No Comments

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding with Caramel Vanilla Sauce

There are several ways to use up day-old and leftover bread, buns and rolls. You can make quick breadcrumbs to top off a casserole, or you can use them my favorite way – to make bread pudding. I grew up eating bread pudding, and there are hundreds of recipe variations that can be found on the Internet. This one is very basic and simple – and delicious. Feel free to make the recipe as is, or change it up and make it your own by substituting chocolate chips for the raisins. Add some whiskey or bourbon to the vanilla sauce – the possibilities are truly endless.




 

bread pudding

 

bread pudding with sauce

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

4 cups cubed bread (slices, day-old buns or rolls – whatever you have)

1/2 cup raisins

2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon good vanilla

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

 

For the Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon good vanilla

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine bread and raisins in a large bowl. Combine milk and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the butter melts. Pour the milk mixture over the bread and raisins; let stand for about 10 minutes. Stir in all the remaining pudding ingredients, and pour the mixture into a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Bake at 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the pudding is set in the center.

 

To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients except for the vanilla in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and comes to a full boil, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

Spoon warm pudding into serving dishes and serve with sauce. Refrigerate leftovers.

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on February 19, 2016 with 2 Comments

Old-Fashioned Hot Water Chocolate Cake

This was my Great-Aunt Lib’s chocolate cake recipe, and for every birthday, my mom would make this delicious cake – unless I asked her to make a red velvet. It’s always been a toss-up between these two types recipes for me – I love them both equally. But sometimes you just want good, old-fashioned chocolate flavor, and this recipe fits the bill.

I’ve made this cake so many times over the years that my poor recipe card is stained and extremely faded, so I decided it was time to bring this recipe into the digital age so that I could have a copy that I could actually read 🙂 It’s a good thing I know this recipe by heart, because if I didn’t, there’s no way I could read this well-used recipe card.


I always frost this cake with my grandmother’s butter frosting. Again, I have an old recipe card that has seen better days. Now I’ve got an online copy to refer to whenever I need it, and you can enjoy these favorite family recipes.

 

hot water chocolate cake

 

Aunt Lib’s Hot Water Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup butter (not margarine), softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup boiling water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon good vanilla

 

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until combined. Add in the eggs, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Add the milk. Mix just until the mixture looks curdled.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda together. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, blending slowly and thoroughly. Add the boiling water and the vanilla, and mix until smooth; no more.

Pour cake batter into a buttered baking pan (9 x 13-inch square or 2 round cake pans). Run a spatula through the batter to help eliminate any air bubbles.

Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes, or until cake tests done. Cool before frosting.

 




People usually fall into three categories when it comes to frosting: none at all, middle of the road and give me the bowl of frosting and skip the cake. My brother-in-law is the last type – the more frosting you can pile on top of a cake, the better he likes it. Me, I’m a middle of the road person. I like just enough where I can taste it, but I still want to taste the cake.

My grandmother made a butter frosting, and this is the only frosting recipe I like to use on my hot water chocolate cake. They just go together because that’s how my family has always done it. I’ve tried different frosting recipes with this cake, but I always come back to this one. Grandma knew best.

 

Grandma Decker’s Creamy Butter Frosting

1/3 cup butter (not margarine), softened

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg white, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons good vanilla

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the salt. Gradually mix in 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Add the egg white and vanilla, and beat mixture until smooth. Add the rest of the powdered sugar, adding by 1/2 cup at a time, beating until smooth and creamy. If frosting becomes to thick, you can add 1/2 teaspoon water until it becomes creamy.

Chocolate Variation: Using the above frosting recipe, reduce the powdered sugar to 2 cups, and add in 1/2 cup good cocoa powder when you add the sugar to the recipe.

 

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on February 6, 2016 with No Comments

Peach Crumb Pie

I’m a fan of easy-peasy recipes, and when you can your own fruits and vegetables during season, it’s a snap when you want to throw together dinner or desserts if you have a pantry full of goodies.

The other day I made a Caramel Apple Crumb Pie with a quart of the caramel apple pie filling I put up this summer. The kids wanted pie again today, so I decided to use a quart of the peach pie filling I made this summer and use the same crumb recipe. Easy peasy.

We have 4 peach trees in the backyard, and they produce the small, golf ball-sized peaches that are super sweet and full of peach flavor, not like the peaches you can find in the grocery store. Making the filling is labor intensive in the fact that you have to peel all these little peaches (as opposed to the nice big Colorado peaches I use to can peaches by themselves). I threaten the boys each summer when I do pie filling, as they’ve been known to just grab a quart of pie filling off the pantry shelves and sit down to eat it – and then I have nothing left for pies or cobblers. True story – they ran me out of apple pie filling one year as they loved it just for a snack. I hid these peach pie filling quarts this year so that I would have a few of the precious jars for when I wanted to use them, not when their stomaches wanted something sweet 🙂 This pie can be a bit messy, so feel free to add 2 tablespoons of instant tapioca to your pie filling if you prefer so the filling doesn’t fall apart when you dish out the slices.

 

peach crumb pie half

 

Peach Crumb Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

1 quart peach pie filling

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour pie filling into unbaked pie shell. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cut in the butter using a pastry knife or fork until you get small crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture over top of the peaches.

Bake the pie for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until you see the filling bubbling. Cool before cutting, and serve with either whipped cream or ice cream.

peach crumb pie whole

Simplified Dinners for New Cooks

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on January 31, 2016 with No Comments

German Chocolate Silk Pie

I’ve been on a pie kick lately. The other night I made a caramel apple crumb pie, but today I was craving chocolate. So, what’s a girl to do but make a chocolate cream pie.

I love French silk chocolate pie, but those recipes usually use a bittersweet or semisweet chocolate in the filling. I had German chocolate on hand, so that’s what I used. It doesn’t matter to me (or my sons) as long as it’s chocolate!

 

german chocolate silk pie slice

 

German Chocolate Silk Pie

1 prebaked 9-inch pie shell

4 ounces German chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon good vanilla

4 eggs, at room temperature

3 cups whipped cream

1 chocolate bar (good quality), roughly chopped or shaved

 

Heat chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second intervals, stirring between, until completely melted. Set aside, and let cool for about 10 minutes until it is room temperature.

 

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cooled melted chocolate to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat the mixture on medium-low speed until completely combined. Add the vanilla, and mix until combined.

 

Switch to the whisk attachment of the mixer. Add one egg, and beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. Repeat with the remaining eggs, beating the mixture for 5 minutes after the addition of each egg. Pour the filling into a baked pie shell, using a spatula to evenly spread out the filling. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until chilled before serving.

 

german chocolate silk pie whole

 

Top with whipped cream, and garnish with chocolate shavings.

Simplified Dinners for New Cooks

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on January 30, 2016 with No Comments

Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

My oldest son can talk me into making just about anything sweet. One night after dinner, when I hadn’t made anything for dessert, he gave me those “puppy dog eyes” and begged me to make a pie. He knows I hate making pie crust, even though I love pie, and I just got tired of looking at those eyes. He won, of course, and he had pie in a few short hours.

During the summer and fall, I canned both peach and apple pie filling, as our fruit trees were loaded this year. I hadn’t made an apple pie yet with the filling, so this was the perfect opportunity. I did notice when taking the pie filling out of the canner that the ClearJel didn’t make the filling as thick as I’d hoped, so I made sure I had instant tapioca on hand to add to the filling. I had a frozen pie crust in the freezer (thanks Hy-Vee!), so throwing together a pie was pretty quick. Again, since I hate to make pie crust, I decided to use a crumb topping instead of doing the traditional top crust. All in all, it turned out pretty well, and my son savored his victory.

 

caramel apple pie whole

 

caramel apple pie half

 

Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (homemade or store bought is fine)

1 quart caramel apple pie filling

2 tablespoons instant tapioca

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, combine the apple pie filling and the instant tapioca until thoroughly mixed. Pour the caramel apple pie filling into the unbaked pie crust. Set aside.

 

In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cut in the butter using a pastry knife or fork until you get small crumbs. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over top of the apples.

 

Bake the pie for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until you see the filling bubbling. Cool before cutting, and serve with either whipped cream or ice cream.

 

Food52 bread set image

Shop Kitchen Products at Food52

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
In , on January 25, 2016 with No Comments

Banana Cream Pie

My family loves pie, and my husband’s favorite one is probably banana cream pie. For all the pies I’ve made over the years, I’d never made one until this past weekend. I’m not a huge banana fan, but I love cream pies, so I decided I’d try to make one.

The concept is really simple. You blind-bake the pie crust, slice up some bananas, and make a custard filling. Nothing hard about it at all. Most of the banana cream pie recipes you find on the Interest and in cookbooks are basically the same and use the same ingredients. For the custard filling, you can use whole milk or 2% milk, but I’d avoid using skim or fat-free milk. You’re making cream pie, for heaven sake! For mine, I used 2 cups of 2% milk and 1 cup of cream.

 

banana cream pie

 

banana cream pie half

Banana Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (either homemade or store bought)

3 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)

1 teaspoon good vanilla

4 to 6 bananas (depending on size), sliced

Whipped cream

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To blind-bake your unbaked pie shell, add a layer of parchment paper to the pie shell, and add dry beans or a pie weight to weigh down the parchment paper. Bake the pie shell for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and remove the parchment paper and beans. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the pie crust is nicely brown. Remove from the oven, and let it cool completely.

In a large skillet over low-to-medium heat, scald the milk. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir mixture into the scaled milk. Over medium heat, cook the milk mixture, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Temper the eggs by adding about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. When combined, add the egg mixture to the pan of the hot milk mixture, and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes more, or until the mixture is thick and custard-like.

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter and the vanilla. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Slice the bananas into the bottom of the baked and cooled pie crust. Top the bananas with the slightly cooled custard, making sure to smooth the filling over all the bananas. Refrigerate for several hours to allow the filling to set.

To serve, slice the pie, and top each slice with whipped cream.

 

banana cream pie slice 2

Simplified Dinners for New Cooks

 

Food52 image

Shop Cookware at Food52

Visit Canning and Cooking Iowa Style’s profile on Pinterest.

Continue Reading
1 2