Very Berry Cobbler

I made this cobbler for my teams holiday party. I was quite skeptical while making it as I wasn't sure if people would like it or not but it was infact quite well accepted and enjoyed by both my team and my aunt, uncle and nephew who were visiting us. The reason for my skepticism was because someone told me that cobblers are eaten mostly in summer and here I was making it for winter holiday party. But make it the right way and pair it with ice cream I think any desert can do wonders in any season.

So here is the recipe for this very berry cobbler. Needless to say I love berries for not only their tangy taste but for their anti oxidant nutritional values as well. I also like them especially because I do not have a sweet tooth and thus I find any berry desert to be much milder to deal with.

This recipe would serve 6 people so adjust accordingly. 

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh mixed berries (frozen or fresh)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In an 8 inch square baking dish, mix blueberries, 3 tablespoons sugar, and orange juice and 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are combined. If the batter is too dry then add few drops of milk to mix it well. The batter should not be runny or too dry.
4. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons over blueberry mixture. Try to cover as much of filling as possible.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Chocolate Orange Cheescake

For a dinner party that I was hosting I really wanted to make a desert with dark chocolate and orange flavor combined. I had never made cheese cake before as cheese cake not something everyone appreciates. For this evening I just decided to go for it but I used all fat free ingredients in order to make a little less sinful.

Ingredients

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (I got low fat cream cheese)
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
8 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 and 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter one 9 or 10 inch springform pan.

2. Combine the chocolate wafer crumbs, softened butter, 2 tablespoons white sugar, and the cinnamon. Mix well and press mixture into the buttered springform pan, set aside.

3. In a medium sized bowl beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup white sugar mixing until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat at low speed until very smooth.

4. Melt the 8 ounces semisweet chocolate with 2 tablespoons whipping cream in a pan or bowl set over boiling water, stir until smooth.

5. Add chocolate mixture to cream cheese mixture and blend well. Stir in sour cream, salt, coffee, orange extract and vanilla; beat until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

6. Bake in the center of oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Center will be soft but will firm up when chilled. Do not over bake. Leave cake in oven with the heat turned off and the door ajar for 45 minutes. Remove cake from oven and chill for 12 hours. Just before serving top cake with mounds of flavored whipped cream or drizzle chocolate sauce on top. Yields 16 servings.

7. To Make Flavored Whipped Cream: Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form, then beat in confectioner's sugar and 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur.

Tips

Always bake cheesecake with water bath. To bake the cheese cake with water bath cover the bottom of the springform pan with foil so that there is no water soaking the inside of the cake. Never bake cheesecake for too long otherwise the texture is lost.

Lemon Pie Bars

I just wanted to make these. No reason. Had this recipe in mind for a while and wanted to make it for the holiday season. But since we were out during the holiday season I just made it for my husban'd surprise birthday bash. This recipe makes 32 bars. It is unbelievable how soon this thing gets made with such simple ingredients.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix 2 cups of flour and confectioner's sugar together. Cut in the butter or margarine. Mix well until the dough resembles pie dough consistency. Press the dough into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Beat together eggs, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon juice and lemon rind for at least 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
5. Bake the bars another 20 minutes, or until the lemon topping has set. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar when cooled.

Rum Mocha Chocolate Cake

This recipe was inspired by my dear hubby's wish for his special year's birthday cake. He wanted a cake that had rum and coffee flavor in it. He offcourse wanted a super coffee flavored cake. After thinking for a while this was the best I could get. He surely loved it and so did my guests. Overall his surprise birthday party was such a hit that no matter how the cake turned out we all had a blast. Thanks to all my dear family and friends who made the day so much more memorable.

Somehow my last few baking expeditions were not as pleasant as they used to be. There has been some or the other mishap with either my cakes or my frostings. This time it was my frosting that just did not want to set. Not sure what I did to mess up the frosting but it was too runny in the beginning. Finally I had more cream cheese to get the right consistency.

The picture did not come out well as we all were too busy having fun and almost forgot to take a picture. But the cake surely received some rave compliments.

Ingredients

3 cups and 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 tablespoon and 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-3/4 pinches salt
2 tablespoons and 1-1/4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/3 cups boiling water
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon butter or margarine, softened
1-3/4 cups and 1 tablespoon white sugar
5-1/2 eggs
2-3/4 teaspoons rum
1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons milk

5-1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons boiling water
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum

Directions

This recipe yields 15 servings

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Mix together instant coffee, cocoa powder, and boiling water; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in rum. Mix the milk into cooled cocoa mixture, then beat into the batter alternately with the flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pans. (alternate or easy way is to bake a super moist chocolate cake. Just add rum and coffee granules to the cake batter for the flavor)

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

4. To make Mocha Chocolate Frosting: Sift together confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder; set aside. Dissolve instant coffee with boiling water; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream butter until smooth. Beat in sugar/cocoa mixture and coffee misture (add the coffee misture little at a time to make the frosting). Mix in the vanilla extract and rum. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until you reach the spreadable consistency. Chill in refregerator if required for stiffening the frosting. Spread between layers of cooled cake.

Tips

• Add more dry coffee granules if you intend to get a more coffeeish kich out of it. I had addeed 3 extra spoons of dry instant coffee granules to get the taste.
• I had also used imitation rum instead of real rum as I had kids attending the birthday party.
• Add less sugar first and check the frosting taste and then add more sugar as needed. You don't want the frosting to be too sweet.
• Finally the most important ingredient in baking in precision. In making every measurement and instructions should be precisely followed in order to achieve the perfect result.