Tagged: dessert

Desserts / Photo Gallery / Recipes

Mixed Berry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

A great cake to bake for breakfast, a snack or a dessert! It’s perfect for a party or to bring for a pot luck event since it serves many people.

It’s moist and full of berry flavor. With Spring around the corner berry season will be here soon to make this cake. Enjoy!

Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups Bisquick or any other biscuit mix

2 cups flour

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1/2 stick melted margarine

1 cup milk

Berry Topping:

2 cups mixed fresh or frozen berries (or use a can of berry pie filling and skip ingredients and cooking instructions)

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons of water

1 teaspoon of corn starch

Crumb topping:

1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup instant oatmeal (if desired)

Instructions:

Step 1. Fruit Topping:

Place the fruit into a small saucepan and cook until bubbly. Add the water and corn starch and cook until thickened.  Let cool while the cake bakes.

Step 2. Cake:

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs for 1 minute until foamy. Add the remaining ingredients except topping and mix on low for 2 minutes minutes. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Grease a medium size deep baking pan approximately 13×9. Pour the batter into the pan.

Step 3. Crumb Topping:

Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl. Blend with a fork until it forms a crumbly like texture.

Sprinkle the berry topping evenly spread over the batter. Top with the cake with the crumb topping.

Bake:

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until lightly golden brown and tooth pick comes out clean.

Serve hot or cold. Enjoy!

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery

Peach Blueberry Tart – Pastel de Pêssego e Mirtilo

You’ll love this fresh summer tart. My daughter Lisa made it last weekend for my niece’s bridal shower and it was a big hit! In fact it was such a big hit we barely got a chance to try it. I looked over at the dessert table and noticed one little piece left, so I got up and took the last delicious square. We’ll be making a lot this summer during peach season. Lisa had many requests for the recipe and here it is! Enjoy it everyone!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of puff pastry (I used pepperidge farm)
  • 1 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 3 large peaches (sliced into thin slices)
  • 1 cup blueberries (washed and pat dry)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons cream cheese (softened)
  • 2 tablespoon apricot preserves
  • 1 tablespoon water

Preparations:

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pre heat oven to 425 and set aside.
  2. The package comes with 2 sheets but I used only 1. (The dough should be thawed but very cold, store in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the tart.) Score the dough to form along the 1-inch border. Prick the remaining dough using the a fork.
  3. Gently toss peach slices and blueberries in a bowl, with 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon sugar and salt.
  4. Whip cream cheese with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and spread in a thin layer over crust inside border.
  5. Arrange the peaches layered into 3 sections with blueberries on the borders, or as desired. Place on parchment paper and bake 15-20 minutes until the crust is light golden brown. (check bottom of the tart, it should be golden and slightly crusty)
  6. Stir together apricot preserves and water until thinned and rush crust and fruit.
  7. Let cool slightly before cutting into desired squared. Serve warm or room temperature.

 

Recipe adapted from: http://foodbabbles.com/2013/08/blueberry-peach-tart/

 

Desserts / Photo Gallery / Recipes

Banana Cake with Cinnamon Sugar – Bolo de Banana com Açúcar e Canela

banana-cake-2

banana-cake-3

 

This warm banana bread is irresistible! The recipe for this batter is very light and fluffy, with a touch of sugar and cinnamon. FYI, did you know that the word “banana” originates from the Portuguese word “banana”?

This recipe is shared from a fan of Tia Maria’s Blog!

Thanks Mary! I’ve posted the recipe in both English and Portuguese as shared by Mary. Enjoy!

Um bolo de banana quentinho… hum irresistível! A receita dessa massa é muito levinha e fofinha e leva um toque de açúcar com canela. Prepare essa delícia!

Recipe by: Mary Connie De Pao

Ingredients:

3 eggs – 3 ovos (separated)
1/2 cup orange juice – ½ xícara (chá) de suco de laranja
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar – 1 e ½ xícara (chá) de açúcar
1/2  cup vegetable oil – ½ xícara (chá) de óleo
2 cups sifted flour – 2 xícaras (chá) farinha de trigo peneirada
1 tablespoon baking powder – 1 colher (sopa) fermento químico em pó
2 large ripe bananas – 2 bananas ( grandes) nanica madura
Sugar and cinnamon for topping – (1/4 cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon)  Açúcar e Canela para decorar

Preparation:

1. Beat the egg yolks, orange juice, sugar and the oil in a blender or kitchenaid mixer.

1- No liquidificador bata as gemas, o suco de laranja, o açúcar, o óleo.

2. Cut the bananas lengthwise into thin strips and reserve for later.

2- Corte as bananas no sentido de seu comprimento, em fatias bem finas. Reserve.

3. Place the egg and sugar mixture into a large bowl and add the flour a little at a time mixing well.

3- Passe a mistura para uma tigela e adicione a farinha aos poucos.

4. Add the baking powder and mix well.

4- Acrescente o fermento em pó e misture.

5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks.

5- Em outra tigela bata as claras em neve.

6. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until mixed.

6- Coloque delicadamente as claras na massa de bolo e misture.

7. Pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured bundt pan.

7- Despeje a massa em uma forma untada e polvilhada com farinha de trigo.

8. Place the banana slices over the entire top of the cake batter.

8- Em cima da massa adicione as fatias de banana cobrindo toda a superfície do bolo.

9. Make a mixture of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle 1/2 of mixture over the banana cake.

9- Faça uma misturinha de açúcar e canela e salpique em cima do bolo de banana.

10. Bake in pre heated oven at 350 degrees F. for approximately 45 minutes until golden.

10- Leve ao forno pré-aquecido 180° por aproximadamente 45 min ou até que esteja dourado.

11. Sprinkle on the rest of sugar and cinnamon and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

11. Salpique o resto de açúcar e canela em cima do bolo e leve of forno por aproximadamente 5 -10 min.

12. Let cool slightly and remove cake.

12.  Deixe esfriar um pouquinho e desenforme.

12. Serve

12- Sirva a seguir.

Note: Mary doubled the recipe for an extra large cake.

Desserts / Photo Gallery / Recipes

Orange Pound Cake with Orange Marmelade Glaze – Bolo de Laranja

Recipe and image by: Mary Connie De Pao

A beautiful summer cake recipe sent to me by a fan of Tia Maria’s Blog. Enjoy the recipe!

Orange Pound cake

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cup sifted flour + 1 tablespoon flour

1/2 pound (2 sticks of soft unsalted butter)

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

zest of 2 oranges


1/2 cup of whole milk

1/2 cup of fresh orange juice

Glaze:

6 oz of jarred orange marmelade

or orange marmelade recipe here

2 tablespoons of water


Preparation:

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt and baking powder until creamy.  Add the eggs one at a time and continue beating. Add the orange zest and beat well to mix.

Combine the milk and orange juice. Begin making batter by adding 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the liquid and beat on medium. Add another 1/3 of flour and the remaining liquid followed by the rest of the flour. Beat well until everything is smooth.

Grease well a 10 inch bundt pan with cooking spray or margarine.  Poor in batter and cook for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F.. Rotate cake 180 degrees in the oven and continue baking  another 5-15 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool slightly before removing from pan.

Make glaze by heating the marmalade with the water for a few minutes until thickened. When ready to serve, poor glaze over the cake.

 

 

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery / Portuguese Christmas / Recipes / Traditional customs

Coscorões – Angel Wings Fried Pastry

photo credits: narwencuisine.blogspot.com

Coscorões are fried dough often referred  to as Angel wings, and similar to filhos. However, no yeast or other leavening agents are used to make the dough. They are usually made during the Christmas season.

This recipe is from the SaborIntenso.com website which has many Portuguese recipes in video. It’s a good resource for those of you that like to watch the process of cooking recipes. Watch the video below.

Ingredients:

5 cups  flour (600 gr flour)
4 eggs
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
4 tablespoons melted butter (60 gr)
 4 tablespoons sugar ( 60 gr)
2 oz. of whiskey (50 ml aguardente)
cinnamon
sugar
pinch of salt
oil for frying

Instructions:

Beat the sugar, eggs and butter. Add the pinch of salt, orange rind, orange juice, aguardente, and the flour and continue beating until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl and set aside for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, pour the batter onto a very floured counter. Knead the dough with enough flour until the batter is no longer sticky.

Roll out the dough into 3×5 inch rectangles 1/4 inch thick. Make cuts lengthwise  in center of the rectangles.

Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb any grease.

Blend sugar with cinnamin in a bowl and coat each Coscorões.

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery

Bolo de Bolacha Maria – Maria Cookie Cake

This easy recipe requires not baking and makes an elegant dessert. Bolo de Bolacha Maria is traditionally made with butter, or sweetened condensed milk, but my version uses home made pastry cream which makes it lighter and uses less sugar. You’ll find that you have all the ingredients for this recipe in your pantry. If you don’t have Portuguese Maria Cookies, you can use the Mexican Maria Cookies found in most grocery stores as an option. Enjoy!

Makes 1 small cake or approximately 4 parfaits

Ingredients:

1 package of Bolacha Maria (Maria Cookies any brand)

1 or 2 cups of warm strong black coffee

2 cups of whole milk

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of corn starch

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of butter

pinch of salt

Whipped cream

Instructions for Pastry Cream:

In a small saucepan heat the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, vanilla and pinch of salt until scalding but not boiling and set aside.

Meanwhile mix the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and corn starch until smooth and creamy.

Slowly add the yolks to the milk beating as you pour. Cook the mixture on medium heat for two minutes until it thickens stirring constantly.

Pour the cream into a bowl and add the butter. Beat with a mixer for about 5 minutes until very smooth and creamy.

Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to cool completely and thicken.

Dip 1 cookie into the coffee for about 5 seconds and place into the bottom of parfait glass. The cookie shouldn’t fall apart, if you find it gets too soft dip the cookie for only a few seconds.

Spread pastry cream on top of the cookie and continuing layer to your desired height leaving the last layer with the cream on top.

Crumble a few cookies in a plastic bag and sprinkle on top.

If you want to make the cookie mold with ribbon it’s very easy to do.

Place whole cookies around the sides to form an even square. Wrap a ribbon around and make a bow. Add tiny flowers for a nice effect.

Store in the refrigerator for a few hours to set. When ready to serve top with fresh whipped cream and cookie crumbles.

You can also make this recipe as individual parfaits but don’t top with the cream until ready to serve.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

 

 

Desserts / Photo Gallery

Portuguese Biscuit Cookies

biscuits

This recipe for simple biscuit cookies is one of my favorites. They’re perfect for breakfast or a snack any time of the day. Enjoy them!

Portuguese Biscuit Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs

3 cups of flour

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of whiskey (optional)

1/2 of a lemon zest

1 egg yolk for brushing tops

sugar for dusting

 

Instructions:

In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar until frothy. Add the milk, lemon zest, oil, whiskey and cinnamon. Beat until well incorporated.

Add the baking soda and then the flour about 1 cup at a time until the batter becomes like cookie dough.

Form the batter into round balls about 2 inches wide and place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Cook at 350 degrees until they turn golden brown. Release one cookie to check the bottom to be sure they don’t overcook after a few minutes. Let cool slightly and sprinkle on more sugar.

 

 

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery

Flourless Chocolate Cake


This flourless chocolate cake is very simple to make. It’s very light and moist and I promise your guests will love it!

I adapted it from Sarah Carvey. Here’s the link to the video which is part of the Martha Stewart video collection. My daughter Lisa and I made it yesterday and we were very pleasantly surprised at how easy this is to make. We served with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter

8 ounces dark chocolate chips (at least 50% cacao, the more the better)

6 large eggs (room temp and separated)

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of instant espresso (optional)

Pinch of salt

Sweetened whipped cream for serving

Chocolate shavings (optional)

strawberries (optional)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan and set it aside.

Place the butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of water on your stove on medium heat. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.

Reduce the heat to simmer making sure the water does not boil. This is a slow process but be patient and keep stirring until completely melted.

Let the chocolate cool slightly and then whisk in egg yolks until completely absorbed into the chocolate.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until semi hard peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over beat.

Whisk some of the egg whites into the chocolate and then fold in the remaining egg whites very gently.

You may notice some white streaks in the batter but that’s OK since you don’t want to over mix the egg whites which may make them collapse.

 

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 50 minutes on the center oven rack until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.

 

 

Cool the cake completely and remove the sides of the spingform pan.

 

Let the cake sit for a few hours before serving because the chocolate gets richer as it sits. Serve with either dusted confectioners’ sugar or with whipped cream and strawberries as pictured below.

Desserts / Photo Gallery

Lemon Raspberry Coconut Cake

Lemon Raspberry Coconut Cake is perfect for your next Birthday Cake. I made it this weekend and it was a big hit! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 Package of Lemon Cake mix

Ingredients as per package

Raspberry Filling:

1 and 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen Raspberries

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of corn starch

Frosting:

1 can of vanilla frosting

1 and 1/2 cups of flaked coconut

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the cake mix per package directions and pour into 2 round cake pans.

Let the cake cool completely or leave it overnight before frosting.

Place the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until the raspberries have dissolved into a jelly consistency.


Add the corn starch and cook for another few minutes until the mixture thickens. Place the raspberries in the refrigerator until cold. They mixture should be thick like a jelly not too runny.

When the cake has cooled, spread the jelly over one layer and top with the other layer.

Spread the vanilla frosting over the cake and then top with the flaked coconut.

Desserts / Holiday Recipes / Photo Gallery

Rabanadas – Portuguese Style French Toast

Order these beautiful ceramic mugs and glass cutting boards here Lisbon Blue shop

When I was a little girl, I would wake up on Christmas Eve mornings smelling the aroma of the sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on the warm Rabanadas that my mother had made for our Christmas Eve dessert table.

This classic old time dessert is delicious and has become one of my favorites which I make very often for my own family any time of the year. I think about my dear mother every time I make them, and that’s a good thought!

The traditional way to make them is by frying them in hot oil, but I grill them with margarine for a lighter version.

Ingredients:

1 loaf day old crusty bread

2 cups milk

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

butter for cooking

sugar and cinnamon for topping

 

Instructions:

Slice the bread into 1inch slices and place in a deep dish pan. Beat all the other ingredients in a bowl.

Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread. Let the bread slices sit in the egg for about 30 seconds and then flip them over to absorb into the other side 

Meanwhile on medium high heat, melt butter in a large flat skillet or griddle. When the skillet is hot, lower the heat to medium and gently place the slices of bread on the grill greasing the pan as needed.

Cook both sides of the bread until golden brown and it becomes firm to the touch. If you find the bread still soggy, continue cooking them on low heat for longer.

Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon while still hot. Enjoy!