Thimbles, Bobbins, Paper and Ink: November 2013

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Cake Dome Sunday #41: White Chocolate Mousse and fresh Raspberry Sauce

With the holiday season of MANY holidays and Holy days fast approaching, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Years, these festivities involve food and family and friends and tables laden with delicious foods and desserts. I'm not one to shy away from a cake or pie or plate of cookies, but sometimes one craves a dessert that is lovely in presentation, bright with fresh fruit, sweet with freshly whipped cream and just a little sweetness added to the mix but still on the light side. After all, we've just eaten a fabulous, albeit heavy meal. Enter my recipe for White Chocolate Mousse and fresh Raspberry Sauce.

This is a recipe you can pull together in a matter of minutes and put in your freezer or refrigerator until you're ready to serve.

White Chocolate Mousse and Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (10 ounce package) of frozen raspberries
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier or other liqueur (optional)
1 drop of red food coloring

Mousse

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
6 ounces white chocolate; broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

For the raspberry sauce, combine the undrained berries and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree. Strain the raspberry puree to remove any seeds through a fine strainer, pressing with the back of a spoon.
Add sugar, cornstarch, water and the liqueur and blend well.
Pour the raspberry sauce into a medium saucepan and over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and continue stirring for one minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool until ready to use.
For the mousse, in a glass measuring cup sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and allow mixture to soften for one minute. Cook on high (100% power) for 20 - 40 seconds in the microwave and allow to stand for 2 minutes or until granules are completely dissolved.
In a small saucepan, bring milk to the simmering point and remove from heat and add the white chocolate. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Blend the gelatin into the chocolate mixture. Stir in 1 Tablespoon of raspberry sauce and the drop of food coloring into the chocolate mixture and transfer to a large bowl. Refrigerate until slightly thickened but not gelled: about 10 minutes.
Whip the cream until stiff and peaks hold their shape. Fold in the white chocolate mixture into whipped cream.
Beginning with the raspberry sauce, alternate layers of mousse with raspberry sauce into four tall parfait glasses. Refrigerate one to two hours. To serve, garnish with partially frozen whole berries or fresh, if available.

Yield: 4 servings

This is so fast and easy to make and a lovely lighter dessert option after a heavy meal. I hope you'll try it.

Until next time,

Cheers!

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Sunday, November 17, 2013

Cake Dome Sunday #40: Sweet Potato Biscuits

It's Sunday and that means I've baked something special for the Mister. It is a very rainy, cold and dreary Sunday morning and I wanted to make a stick to your ribs kind of breakfast. Oatmeal is always warm and satisfying so to bring it up a notch I made some Sweet Potato Biscuits, fried up some apple slices in butter, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, made a pot of oatmeal and there we had a filling and very tasty breakfast.

The biscuits are basically your traditional buttermilk biscuit recipe, but incorporate some cooked and mashed sweet potato and brush the tops before baking with some buttermilk and cinnamon/sugar. They are lightly sweet and ohhhhh so good. I added the fried apples because the Mister loves apple pie. You might put the fried apples on the oatmeal instead and just add a touch of butter to your biscuit slice (that's what I did).

However you choose to serve the Sweet Potato Biscuits you are going to enjoy them! Guaranteed!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup cold whipping cream
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles small peas and the dough is crumbly. If using a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients with the cold butter 5 or 6 quick pulses to achieve the pea-sized, crumbly mixture. Freeze the dough mixture for at least 5 minutes to re-chill the butter.
Stir together the sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup whipping cream. Add to the flour mixture, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface (mixture will be very crumbly! This is OK!!) Knead dough for 1 minute and then pat it into a 3/4 inch thick circle. Cut dough with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter, re-rolling the scraps as needed.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; lightly grease the paper with cooking spray. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheets. Brush tops of the biscuits with 2 tablespoons whipping cream
Stir together the remaining granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Bake at 450 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Watch carefully so as not to get too brown.

Yield: 12 biscuits
Recipe adapted from 2013 Southern Living Special Collector's Edition Fall Recipes.

These Sweet Potato biscuits would be wonderful as a side to ham and eggs, adding a slice of ham to the biscuit. Bacon or sausage would be equally as good.

Best of all...just eat them plain! You can't go wrong.

Until next time,

Cheers!

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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Cake Dome Sunday #39: Blueberry Coffee Cake

We woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning. Winter has arrived in spite of what the calendar may say. In order to bring a little summertime goodness to this cold and snowy day I decided to whip up a fast and easy Blueberry Coffee Cake. It is on a day like today that I'm ever so Thankful for the summer bounty that I've preserved or frozen.

I baked the coffee cake in my 9" spring form pan and cut pie wedge slices to go with our scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning. Truly, this coffee cake is so fast to mix together and bake that you can prepare a festive breakfast in no time at all.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt ( I used plain fat-free with honey)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk together the egg, milk, yogurt and vegetable oil in a large bowl.
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Toss 1 1/4 cups blueberries in 1 Tables flour; fold into batter. Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch spring form pan. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup blueberries.
Stir together 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; removed sides of spring form pan and serve.

Recipe adapted from Southern Living Special Collector's Edition Fall Recipes, 2013

Until next time,

Cheers!

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Horsing around and sewing

As the seasons change, so do the fields and foliage where my horses graze and spend their days. Fall means the great big, sharp and pinch-y burrs appear. When I returned from my trip last month my horse's tail was covered and wound and bound with burrs from the tip of her long and flowing tail right up to her rump. Gypsy has an extremely thick tail and trying to remove all of the burrs took hours. The next day when she went out to the field she came back in once again covered in burrs.

Below is what these nasty burrs can do. Once a few stick into the hair more and more will attach to the other burrs and end up weaving what once was a beautiful horse tail into a matted mess.

About all I knew to do was to grab a bottle of Cowboy Magic and pull out the burrs one by one... That is until I heard about tail bags. They are simple enough to make can be made out of a variety of materials. I know many people use tube socks and even panty hose. But I wanted mine to be lightweight AND to resist attracting burrs. I chose a very lightweight but sturdy nylon fabric.

I bought a meter of nylon fabric which was far more than I needed for one tail bag. It came in handy though and I was able to make extra bags for other boarders at the barn.

Each bag is about 26 inches long and 5 inches wide. I rounded the bottom so there would not be any pointed corners banging into my horse's hocks. At the top of the simple bag I sewed two straps: one down the center of the front of the bag and placed the male side of hook and loop tape (the sharper pointed side of the tape). The hook and loop tape is about 6 inches long and using two strips it is 2 inches wide.

The tab on the back of the bag is about 9 inches long with 6 inches of the female side (the soft side) of the hook and loop tape.

Once the bag was complete it was time to prepare my horse.

With the braid secured I folded the end of the braided tail about 6 or 8 inches up and slid her tail into the bag. I slide the tab on the back side of the bag through the center of the top braid and attached it to the hook and loop tape on the center front tab.

Voila! The bag is securely in place and no ties or clips were needed. The photo above is my mare after wearing the bag for two straight days. The burrs won't cling to the nylon bag. Her tail stays clean! A simple sewing project that will save my horse's tail, keep it clean and eliminate the prickling and sticking of the sharp burrs into my hands when I groom her. Win! - Win!

Until next time,

Cheers!

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