Ms. Judith's Coconut Cake

My good friend in Nashville said her mother wasn't a great cook while she was growing up but her favorite food memory was her coconut cake.  I had the pleasure of meeting her mother while in town recently and asked her for the recipe so I could recreate it for my son who loves it.  She went on the hunt for it and sent me this picture telling me she'd have to decipher it for me as it was so faded.  

Berry Tiramisu

I saw this on "The Kitchen" and thought it would be great to make with all the local fresh berries in abundance right now minus strawberries, they're done locally now.  The liqueur in it cost me $53 here in Canada 🙄.  I would use it for some "French martinis" though another time 😋.  

Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

I stumbled across this recipe and decided to give it a try.  It seemed easy for what I've always thought would be complicated to make and I guess if you were making your own puff pastry, then it would...They're never the same here if you've eaten them in Portugal, but I thought I'd give it a go since they're a fine breakfast or dessert, regardless.

Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Crust

This recipe is Joanna Gaines', from Magnolia network.  I saw her make it on her show and thought how much my son would enjoy this, so I made it for him.  I didn't look to see if I had powdered sugar in the cupboard (I did) so bought it while out shopping for this.  Are you kidding me, a bag of icing sugar was $4.69!!!  I used to love food shopping, now I just feel like I'm getting reamed. 💰😠 ...and I won't even eat this, lol.  What I used:

Tiramisu

I made this  before and it was really tasty and easy to make.  The only downside of this dessert is the cost of Mascarpone cheese!  It cost me $16 for a 400 gram container!  On the up side, it freezes really well which was another bonus.  And the fact it's simple, no eggs meaning less work...One thing I've learned is to not soak the lady fingers too long or too short of a time.  I find you should dip, feel the liquid starting to penetrate, flip, then quickly remove.  If you get the timing right there will be zero liquid left over.  I've had it where there was waaaay too much left and not enough.  You have to find the groove of it...

Carrot Raisin Walnut Loaf

I make banana bread or some type of banana muffins every single week for lunches.  I thought I'd change it up this week and use carrots instead.  Well, the real reason is I had no bananas and had lots of carrots so this is what I concocted:

Overnight Clotted Cream

I found I was able to buy organic cream that is 36% milk fat here so I wanted to try making overnight clotted cream.  Of course it would be served with scones.

Banana Tarte Tatin with Malai Ice Cream

I saw this chef's show on Netflix and knew I had to make it.  I've never made homemade ice cream before either though I have made tarte tatins a few times.  I found her recipe here.  I made the ice cream the night before and here's what I used:    

Pecan Pie Brownies

This is the time of the year my Costco always has these "Ghirardelli Brownies" box mix in stock.  I don't eat them but my son does so I bought them for him.  I decided to try and perk it up by making a topping and found this recipe.   I subbed maple syrup for the corn syrup.

Lemon Brownies/Blondies

I had company coming and I was making 3 courses.  I almost bought dessert but it got tough as I wanted to make sure I served something they'd like.  I know lemon is okay with them so came up with this, as it's easy.  I decided I could make it the night before as well and if it sucked, I could pick something up the day of...

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler

I had company coming who eats gluten free, so I made this dessert for us.  I was dismayed to find that arrowroot starch was $10 at the grocery store, seemed like a huge rip off!!!  My friend grew the peaches in her yard which was amazing and said these were the last of them for this season.  They smelled so good sitting on my counter it was hard to resist eating them.  I followed this recipe:  The bold italic text below is for the peach mixture, the rest for the topping.

Lemon Curd

I recently re-discovered this delicious treat and love it.  One of the few sweets I cannot say no to.  I had to try making it myself.  The one I bought was not only expensive but also hurt-your-teeth sweet!  I found a few supposed "easy peasy" recipes and made 3 cups as I wanted to gift some as well.  I even bought mason jars for it.  When I want to gift food, it often doesn't turn out the way I imagine, so fingers crossed!  🤞  What I used:

Salted Honey Buttermilk Pie

One of the best things I've done during the pandemic is join an online "Buy Nothing" community group.  Gifting neighbors feels great and even better is that things I no longer want finds a person who does want it.  The community spirit has given me comfort and hope in people during a time I've been feeling very 'out of sorts'.  One of the lovely people I've "met" (online only so far) unexpectedly gifted me some honey she makes in her own back yard as a hobby!  I wanted to do something with it, and share it with her, hopefully.  I found this recipe which I used for the filling.  "Sweet & Salty" is a nice combo...

Oreo Crust Ice Cream Cake

I had an unopened bag of Oreo cookies.  As it was son's birthday coming up, I decided to use them to make an ice cream cake.  I knew the Oreo crust was ridiculously easy to make.    

Easter Impossible Pie: Dark Chocolate with a Coconut Twist

My neighbor friend sent me this recipe and a picture of how hers turned out suggesting I give it a try.  This seemed right in my son's wheelhouse, so I made it for Easter dessert this year.  Since I like her pie dish so much, I'll show hers, and I'm always so happy when friends send me their food pics.   

White Chocolate Orzo Pudding

I saw this on food t.v. and it looked delicious and easy, especially if you like rice pudding which we do.  I halved the recipe being that there was only two of us and had to improvise a little with the ingredients.  I had leftover Italian white chocolates from a Christmas box, so that's what I used instead of white chocolate chips.  What I used tonight:

Christmas: Panettone Bread Pudding

A kind neighbor brought me a Panettone over Christmas and I decided to make bread pudding with it.  I haven't seen a panettone since I dated my Italian ex.  His parents seemed like they had a 100 of them on their counter at Christmas, that they received as gifts.  Quite a sight, so many different types and makers of it.  I always wondered what they did with them all... Anyway, bread pudding always makes me think of both New Orleans as it's a specialty there and my dad (RIP), who made it for us as kids.  Here's what I concocted today:

Black Bean Chocolate Chip Brownies with Pecans

I saw this on "skinnytaste" and wanted to make it for my son.  He loves sweets and pandemic life makes it a bit hard to be as active as he is in "normal" times.  I thought this would be a healthy treat to make and he loves brownies.  What I used:

Thanksgiving: Spiced Rum Bananas Foster

Instead of pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, I decided to do Bananas Foster.  This is a favorite of my sons.  I followed this recipe though it's pretty straight forward to guess on your own if you've had it before.  I bought Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and made a pound cake with their recipe for it.  I made the cake the day before and froze half of it for another time, the rest was wrapped in Saran and put in the fridge. 

Chocolate Espresso Crème Caramel (Flan)

I don't do desserts usually, but actually bought this on the beach in Huatulco from a vendor.  I asked what it was and her only English was "flan".  My friend and I thought it was great.  I recently saw this on food t.v. and thought I'd give it a go...  I bought espresso powder online a while ago as I could never find it when I used to shop everywhere pre-pandemic days, so thought this would be a time to use it.