Tag

dessert

Homemade Caramel Sauce

Autumn is my absolute favorite time to cook, bake, and just be in the kitchen. However, this time of year is also one of our busiest times. I often find myself putting meals in the slow cooker before we head out the door for the day, or I am whipping up a 30 minute chili after soccer practice.

Because of this, I was looking for a dessert that was quick to whip up, but could be versatile. That is when I thought of Caramel Sauce. It really is a cinch to make, takes no time at all, and like dessert sauces, can be used to top all kinds of things (cakes, brownies, ice cream, a spoon).

 

Plus, what is more Fall like that a caramel dipped apple?

 

Home Made Caramel Sauce
1 stick of unsalted butter (you don’t even have to bring it to room temperature)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)

 

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter.

 

Next, whisk in brown sugar until completely dissolved.

 

Add cream, salt, and vanilla.

 

Then, stirring continuously for 5-7 minutes stir mixture. It will simmer and bubble gently. You may want to lower heat slightly as to not hurt yourself while you stir.

 

Remove from heat, and continue to stir for about 3 or 4 minutes to let the mixture cool gently.

Pour into a heat safe container.

 

You can use sauce now, or let cool to room temperature, cover, and store in the fridge.

 

To reheat place in microwave without lid or put in a water bath of gentle simmering water.

Stay tuned for a fun Thirsty Thursday recipe with this awesome Caramel Sauce later in the week.

 

If you liked this dessert sauce, check out my recipe for Red Berry Sauce.

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Versatile Valentine’s Treat: Red Berry Sauce

I love when I can make one recipe, but use it for a bunch of different things. My favorite example of this kind of recipe is a roasted chicken. You can use it for so many different things: eat it right out of the oven, put on top of a garden salad, make chicken salad, make tacos, have a sandwich, stir it into soup. The possibilities are endless. It’s a wonder we all don’t keep one in our refrigerator at all times.

I am starting to think Red Berry Sauce is going to be ranking right up there with a roast chicken as a pretty versatile recipe.

 

This wonderful smooth sauce could be used to top pound cake, ice cream, pancakes, french toast, or even be used to make a neat cocktail (come back for ThirstyThursday to see that recipe). So far it has been a nice alternative to chocolate, and is a gorgeous shade of red which is perfect for the upcoming Valentine’s Day.

Red Berry Sauce

1 pint fresh strawberries hulled and sliced
6 oz fresh raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp fresh lemon zest

 

In a sauce pan over medium heat add sugar and water and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. This should take about 1-2 minutes. Stir in berries and lemon zest. Bring to a slight simmer. Lower heat, and cover pan with a tight fitting lid. Cook on low for 3 – 5 minutes. Remove mixture from heat and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

 

When mixture is cooled, pour into a blender. Blend on medium speed for about 1 minute until berries until berries are completely broken down. Finally, pour mixture through a fine strainer.

 

You can eat right away or store in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 or 4 days.

 

I poured ours with homemade pound cake with whipped cream.

 

Later this week I will be sharing a cocktail made with this treat!

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Heaven in a Jar: Homemade (Nut Free) Chocolate Spread

Ahhh Nutella. Everyone who can have it loves it. However, there is a huge portion of the population that cannot have this delicious treat because of the hazelnuts in it. I was feeling bad that my littles were being denied such a wonderful and versatile treat and was trying to find something that would be similar. Unfortunately, many of these spreads have nuts or are processed in the same facilities as nuts or other allergens.

I had to take matters into my own hands. I scoured the internet, and to my delight I found ONE recipe sans nuts.

Thank you so much, SugarHero! My kids now know the joys of spreading chocolate on toast. They know how glorious pretzels and chocolate taste together. And they will never look at graham crackers the same way again.

The only change I made to the original recipe was I did add a bit more sugar and vanilla, but it is truly Heaven in a Jar.

Heaven in a Jar
1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
1 stick of unsalted butter cold and cut into small chunks
pinch of salt

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat add water, sugar and cocoa powder. Stirring constantly, cook until sugar is completely dissolved. Then, bring to a slight simmer. This should take about 2 – 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla, chocolate, butter, and salt until a smooth texture is formed and all the ingredients are melted and incorporated.

Pour the mixture into a jar or airtight container. Cover with plastic wrap so the wrap is touching the top of the chocolate (so a skin doesn’t form), and then cover with lid.

Refrigerate overnight, and enjoy. (According to SugarHero! the spread will last for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.)

There’s only one thing I can say about this recipe. You’re welcome!

For a Printable Version of this recipe CLICK HERE!

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Decadent Chocolate Chip and Doughnut Bread Pudding

In the past few weeks my sister, her husband and kids have been extremely helpful with a few babysitting needs that we have had. Also, my sister is starting her third year as principal and as you can imagine the beginning of the school year can be quite stressful.
As a thank you for the help, and a special treat for the beginning of the year, I made this awesome bread pudding.

Let’s face it nothing says comfort like a warm bread pudding.

 

I have seen recipes for bread pudding with cake, brioche and all other sorts of things. However, when I saw plain Entenmann’s doughnuts at the store, I thought, hmmm…

 

Entenmann’s doughnuts have been a favorite since childhood. The chocolate ones were a favorite of my Dad, and I kind of handed the tradition down to my kids. In fact, my kids love them so much you may remember this post of yore. Can you believe how little they were then?

I looked up a few recipes for bread pudding, and then put together this recipe. It is completely decadent and if you are dieting you might want to save this for a special day. I have decided that I am making this for Christmas!

Chocolate Chip and Doughnut Bread Pudding

12 Entenmann’s plain cake doughnuts
6 Tbs. softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. pur vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Glaze
6 Tbs. melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tbs milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease at 9 x 13 baking sheet. Cut doughnuts into bite sized chunks and put in the pan and set aside.

In a mixer with a whisk attachment,  blend together butter and sugar until creamed together. Add eggs, cream cinnamon, vanilla, and salt and mix on medium speed for a few minutes until well incorporated.

 

Pour the mixture over the doughnuts and let the doughnuts soak up the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Finally, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over the doughnuts.

 

Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes until set. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes.

 

While the pudding is baking for the last 10 minutes, make the glaze. Mix together the melted butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until a glaze like texture is formed.

 

Pour over the finished bread pudding and let the dish set for about 15 minutes to cool down and let the glaze soak in before serving.

 

Everyone loved it, but I have to say because I knew what was in it, I felt like I should run a few miles after eating it.

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Summer Treat: Banana Chocolate “Ice Cream”

When the kids are watching Disney Channel, I sometimes watch with them. Ok, ok, you caught me sometime I watch without the kids. I cannot help it, I think Good Luck, Charlie is pretty funny for a kids show.

Anyway, sometimes in between shows there is this little cooking segment. I’m not really sure who hosts it, but I do take notice anytime anything cooking related comes on television.

A few weeks ago, I saw them make banana “ice cream.” I couldn’t believe how healthy and simple this “ice cream” was to make. The reason I keep putting “ice cream” in quotes is because there is no cream, milk, eggs, or sugar in this ice cream, but I’m not really sure what else to call this treat. In the thirty second spot on TV, I pretty much got the gist of the recipe and and I could not wait to try it as a summertime treat.

 

As you can see, I did make one change though, I added some chocolate syrup, because let’s face it… everything is better with a little chocolate. However, the chocolate is completely optional, and I think would be great with all kinds of other toppings or mix ins.

Chocolate Banana “Ice Cream”

4 large ripe bananas cut into sliced
2 Tbs chocolate syrup

Put the sliced bananas in a freezer safe container or freezer bag. Put in the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight.

 

Next, put in a food processor and begin to blend until fluffy consistency is formed.

 

Add chocolate syrup and blend for 10 seconds until well combined. Serve.

 

Suggestions for Other Toppings or Mix Ins
– Sliced strawberries
– Sprinkles
– Chocolate chips
– Almonds
– Pineapple chunks
– Nutella
– Peanut Butter
– Blueberries
– Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Do you think you could get any healthier than whipped frozen bananas that taste like Ice Cream for dessert?

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Smart Cookies: Salted Caramel Brownies

If you follow Home Everyday on Facebook, you’ll know I mentioned last night that I am on the salted caramel bandwagon. After making salted caramel dark chocolate truffles in February, I thought it was time to do something with this flavor combination again.

Leave to to Ina Garten, one of my favorite Food Network chefs, to give me the idea for this month’s Smart Cookie recipe.

The first time I make anything, I typically follow the recipe exactly and then I doctor it up or change what I don’t think my family will like. I do NOT think I will have to do that with this recipe. Everything is perfect. The only suggestion I might make is if you don’t want to make the brownies from scratch, I would say it is ok to use your favorite box mix and then add 3/4 of a cup of chocolate chips. Then, follow the rest of the directions.

Without further ado, here is the recipe or you can click here.

Salted Caramel Brownies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces plus 6 ounces Hershey’s semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 to 6 ounces good caramel sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 12 x 1 1/2-inch baking pan.

Melt the butter, 8 ounces of the chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

 

In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of the flour, the baking powder, and salt and add to the chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 6 ounces of chocolate chips and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour in a medium bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture.

Spread evenly in the prepared pan.



Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Don’t overbake!



As soon as the brownies are out of the oven, place the jar of caramel sauce without the lid in a microwave and heat just until it’s pourable. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the caramel evenly over the hot brownies and sprinkle with the sea salt.


Cool completely and cut into bars.

WARNING! MUST HAVE MILK ON HAND! These brownies are tasty and very rich.

For past Smart Cookie recipes, check out the links below:
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate and Dried Cherry CookiesLucy CookiesWhite Chocolate and Cranberry BlondiesChocolate Dipped Vanilla Biscotti Italian Butter Cookies with Lemon Glaze, and Salted Carmel and Dark Chocolate TrufflesIrish Creme Delights, Erin’s Light Lemon Squares.

Out of my Comfort Zone: Chocolate Zabaglione

This past weekend, our friends invited us over for dinner. It was wonderful. There is nothing better than good conversation, great food, and happy kids playing for hours.

I asked if I could bring something, and thought maybe this would be a good time to try something new. I wanted to go beyond a traditional baked dessert of pie, cake, brownies, or cookies. Also, since I only had to bring dessert, I thought it might be fun to try something that was a little bit more labor intensive.

 

I stared digging through my cookbooks, and in Giada De Laurentiis ‘s Everyday Italian I saw this recipe for Chocolate Zabaglione.

Zabaglione is traditionally an Italian vanilla cream custard that is served with fruit. To Brian, it isn’t dessert unless it is chocolate, so I thought this would be perfect. Also, it gave me a chance to use my new double boiler.

I did make a few changes to the recipe based on what I had on hand. For example, I used a very dry white wine that I had on hand instead of a Marsala wine. Also, I did not have the large eggs that the recipe calls for, so I used 9 egg yolks instead of 8. Finally, the kids love all kinds of berries, so instead of using just strawberries, I used a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Everyone LOVED it!

Chocolate Zabaglione adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
8 large or 9 medium egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup dry white wine
pinch of salt
1 pint strawberries hulled and sliced
1 6 oz container of raspberries
1 6 oz container of blackberries

In a small sauce pan, gently heat cream and chocolate chips stirring constantly until smooth. Set aside, but keep warm stirring occasionally.

In the top part of a double boiler, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, wine, and salt. Then carefully set over the bottom part of the double boiler with simmering water (NOTE: Don’t let the water touch the bottom of your double boiler). Whisk the mixture constantly while over the heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from heat, and then carefully fold in the chocolate mixture.

You can serve warm over berries, or let cool for 6-8 hours in the fridge before serving. It is important to note you cannot reheat this recipe.

We enjoyed it cold.