desserts | Good Dinner Mrs Mellen

Category: desserts
- Chocolate Covered Easter Eggs
  
  Posted at 8:20 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Apr 4th
  These easy to make chocolate covered Easter Eggs will delight all your family members young and old alike. I sometimes omit the coconut and just make cream eggs and peanut butter. You can serve them plain or decorated with purchased sugar appliqués. However, you choose to embellish these candy eggs will be a big success.
  
  CHOCOLATE COVERED EASTER EGGS
  
  EGGS
  
  8 tablespoon butter softened
  
  4 cups confectioners sugar
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  3/4 cups sweetened condensed milk
  
  7 ounces sweetened coconut
  
  2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  
  CHOCOLATE COATING
  
  1 package(12 ounces) Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  
  6 tablespoon butter
  
  2 tablespoon heavy cream
  
  Sugar decorations
  
  Cream butter gradually with confectioners sugar. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Mix until combined. Divide sugar mixture in half adding coconut to one half and peanut butter to the other. Shape cream mixtures into small eggs. Place on wax paper
  
  Place chocolate and butter in a large glass bowl. Then, microwave one minute on high. The chocolate will look shiny; stir to combine butter. Microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring after each, until totally smooth. Chocolate continues to melt once you take it out of the microwave. If you microwave the chocolate until it looks completely melted, you risk burning the chocolate.
  
  Add cream to chocolate mixture until combined.
  
  Roll eggs in chocolate and place on wax paper. Don’t coat the underside of eggs. Use a small spatula to smooth out the chocolate and cover the eggs of the filing. Decorate. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. The eggs can be made ahead and frozen. Makes 36 eggs.
  
  Enjoy!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Chocolate, Dessert, desserts, Easter Recipes, entertaining, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Holiday Celebrations | Tagged Chocolate easter eggs, Easy recipes, Ghirardelli Chocolate
- French Macarons a special Valentine’s Day treat for your Sweetheart!
  
  Posted at 10:00 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Feb 9th
  via French Macarons a special Valentine’s Day treat for your Sweetheart!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, Baking, cookies, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Valentine Day | Tagged baking, Cookies, French Macarons, Valentine's Day
- Oatmeal Cherry Thumbprints
  
  Posted at 12:45 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 15th
  I do love to bake cookies, yes they do take time to make but so worth all your effort. My fondest memories of Christmas are helping my mother bake. One of my jobs was to use my grandmother’s cast iron single pizzelle mold. My mother would make the dough and then it was my job to hold the mold on the stove and cook on each side just until the cookie was done. The mold only made one cookie at a time. I retired mold but the wonderful remembrances live on and keep me baking copious cookies quantities during the Christmas season. A tradition I am passing along to my grandchildren.
  
  Oatmeal Cherry Rounds are easy to make, simply delicious, and add a festive look to any cookie collection. If you are a cookie virgin I would suggest these Oatmeal cookies as a great first cookie to bake. I used red cherries, you can use red and green cherries or pecan in the center it is also nice.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1 cup brown sugar
  
  1 egg
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 tsp cinnamon
  
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  
  1/2 tsp salt
  
  1 1/2 cup oatmeal (quick cook)
  
  1/4 cup sugar
  
  1 package(4 oz) red cherries
  
  Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. If you plan to be a baker invest in a stand mixer to make the task quick and easy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well mixed. Combine dry ingredients and add to cream mixture, stir in oats. Shape dough into small balls and roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Cut cherries in half and press half in center of ball pressing down to flatten cookie. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  
  Enjoy!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, Easy recipe, oatmeal cherry rounds
- Perfect Chocolate Cake
  
  Posted at 9:46 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 16th
  Perfect Chocolate Cake
  
  For birthday celebrations my mother made her chocolate cake with rich fudge frosting and a chocolate filling. I believe she found this recipe in McCalls Cooking School publications, a series of cooking magazines with detailed instructions. When I married she shared with me her prize recipe and I’ve made this moist flavorful cake for birthday’s ever since.
  
  1 cup unsifted unsweetened cocoa
  
  2 cups boiling water
  
  2 3⁄4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  
  2 teaspoons baking soda
  
  1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  
  1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
  
  1 cup butter, softened
  
  2 1⁄2 cups sugar
  
  4 eggs
  
  1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  6 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
  
  1⁄2 cup half and half
  
  3/4 cup butter
  
  2 1⁄2 cups unsifted confectioners’ sugar
  
  1 cup heavy cream, chilled
  
  1⁄4 cup unsifted confectioners’ sugar
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  1 cup heavy cream
  
  8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
  1 teaspoon almond extract
  
  Preheat oven to 350°F.
  
  In a medium bowl, combine cocoa with boiling water, mixing with wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely. Sift flour with soda, salt, and baking powder. Grease well and lightly flour three 9 by 1 1/2 inch layer-cake pans. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, at high speed, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, scraping bowl occasionally until light-about 5 minutes.
  
  At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternately with the cocoa mixture (in thirds), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not over-beat.
  
  Divide evenly into pans; smooth top. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.
  
  Cool in pans 10 minutes.
  
  Carefully loosen sides with a spatula; Remove from pans; cool on racks.
  
  Frosting: In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate pieces, cream, butter; stir over medium heat until smooth.
  
  Remove from heat. With a whisk, blend in 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar.
  
  In a bowl set over ice(I use ice cubes) beat until it holds shape.
  
  Filling:
  
  Heat the cream in a saucepan or in the microwave, until the mixture begins to steam.
  Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir — at first slowly, then more vigorously — until the chocolate is completely melted. If necessary, reheat very briefly to soften any remaining hard bits of chocolate. Add almond extract. Refrigerate ganache until thick.
  
  To assemble the cake:
  
  On plate place a layer, top side down; spread with half of the ganache. Place the second layer, top side down; spread with rest of ganache.
  
  Place the third layer, top side up.
  
  To frost: With a spatula, frost sides first, covering ganache; use rest of frosting on top, swirling decoratively.
  
  Enjoy!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, Baking, Cake, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, Food | Tagged chocolate cake, easy
- Blueberry Pumpkin Loaf Bread
  
  Posted at 8:49 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Oct 12th
  Autumn holds a special place in my heart; I was born in Autumn and I feel a pull – a strong kinship to this time of the year. I love the sights and smell of the season – burnished crimson leaves, crisp red apples, cinnamon spice pumpkin lattes, hayrides, pumpkin patches, mums exploding with color, and the majestic vistas filled with nature’s glory in New England. Autumn is my favorite baking season with a bountiful array of ingredients to create flavorful treats.
  
  Pumpkin tea bread is so easy to make and although I have so many different variations, I still find new recipes to create. I love blueberries so I thought why not combine blueberries, from the summer, with a pumpkin flavor from the fall. Add a crumb topping for extra texture for an amazing tea bread to accompany a rich Chai Tea.
  
  “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” F. Scott Fitgerald.
  
  Nonstick cooking spray
  2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  
  2 ½ tsp. pumpkin spice
  ⅔ cup buttermilk
  ½ cup canned pumpkin
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  ½ cup butter softened
  ½ cup granulated sugar
  ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  2 eggs
  ½ cup fresh blueberries
  
  1 recipe Almond-Oat Streusel Topping
  
  Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
  
  In a medium bowl stir together the next five ingredients. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  
  In a large bowl beat butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately, beating on low after each addition just until combined (batter will be stiff). Fold in blueberries.
  
  Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Top with Almond-Oat Streusel Topping. Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool loaf pan on a wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan.
  
  Almond-Oat Streusel Topping
  
  In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. each rolled oats and sliced almonds, 4 tsp. all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. the ground cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir in 3 Tbsp. melted butter.
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, breads, Breakfast, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Autumn baking, Pumpkin bread, Tea Bread
- Fall Apple Desserts
  
  Posted at 8:25 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Sep 11th
  Autumn, crisp mornings when dew glistens on burnished crimson leaves and you can taste the ripe apples in the orchards, just waiting to be picked. Apples, caramels, walnuts, and cinnamon flavors my favorite ingredients baked into fabulous desserts!
  
  Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  In New England we are love to celebrate the fall season. Cool morning with warm sunny days, jewel tone leaves, farm roadside stands bursting with the last of summer’s bounty all signal the change in the seasons. Nature’s premier show on display for all to enjoy. Fall baking is one of my favorite past times and I especially love to make apple desserts. Going through all my post I realized I’m kind of obsessed with apples, cakes, pies, cupcakes and more. When I’m creating a new cake or pie the fall just inspires me like nature to give it my all and go wild! Here are a few of my fall favorites that I have posted over the years.
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  Candied Apple Fudge Bundt Cake
  
  FANTASTIC APPLE PIE
  
  Fantastic Fall Apple Pie
  
  CANDIED APPLE CRUMB CAKE
  
  Candied Apple Crumb Cake
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  FALL APPLE PIE
  
  View original post 3 more words
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Apples, Cake, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Apple cake, Apple Pie
- Blueberry Pie with Pecan Topping
  
  Posted at 9:32 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Jun 23rd
  I just love blueberries and blueberry pie. While traditional blueberry pie is mouthwatering delicious sometimes I just like to change it up so I created this sinful decadent Pecan crumb topped sour cream blueberry pie. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but even this picture can only go so far in capturing the nutty topping with blueberry juice bursting from the fruit all in a creamy custard. I want another piece just writing this! Don’t forget to top with Bryers French Vanilla ice cream.
  
  Pastry
  
  1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
  1/4 cup sugar
  
  1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  2/3 cup butter
  
  2-3 tablespoon water
  
  1 egg, beaten
  
  Filling
  
  1 cup sour cream
  
  3 ounces cream cheese
  
  1 large egg
  
  3/4 cup light brown sugar
  
  1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  4 cups blueberries, washed and picked over
  
  Crumb Topping
  
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  1/3 cup light brown sugar
  
  1 tablespoon cinnamon
  
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 cup butter
  
  3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
  
  1. To prepare pastry, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. With pastry blender cut in butter to consistency of coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle water one tablespoon at a time, mix until pastry holds together. Shape pastry into a ball.
  
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into an 11-inch round. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Turn extra dough at the edge into rim and flute or crimp raised edge. Just before placing the blueberry filling in pie shell, brush with beaten egg.
  
  3. To prepare filling, combine sour cream, cream cheese, egg, brown sugar, flour and vanilla in a bowl. Beat thoroughly until smooth. Preheat over to 450F. Fill pie shell with blueberries. Pour cream mixture over blueberries. Bake 10 minutes at 450F, reduce temperature to 350F and bake 35-40 minutes.
  
  4. Prepare crumb topping by mixing flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt, butter, and nuts. Blend to form a crumbly mixture.
  
  5. After baking the pie, remove the pie from oven, cool, then distribute crumb mixture evenly over top. Return to oven and bake 10-15 minutes more.
  
  Enjoy!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, BLUEBERRY, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Pie | Tagged Blueberry Pie, Crumb topping, July 4th
- DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TEA BREAD
  
  Posted at 11:53 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Apr 13th
  If you follow my recipes and blog you know that I adore baking. I began my infatuation as a young child by my mother’s side, her eager helper. From her I learned to bake a delicious cake, pies, and pastries; my first lessons were baking. My mother and grandmother were intuitive cooks who rarely used a formal recipe instead of creating delicious meals from scratch – a little this – pinch of that. Baking as my mother shared with me requires precise measurements and ingredients for the perfect results. I have never forgotten her words as we baked together so long ago!
  
  DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TEA BREAD
  
  1 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  ½ teaspoon salt
  8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  1 cup of sugar
  2 large eggs
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  1 cup sour cream
  
  ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 9 x 5 loaf pan.
  
  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
  
  Beat butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy in another bowl. While beating, gradually add sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth.
  
  Add one-fourth flour mixture to egg mixture alternating with one-third sour cream, beginning and ending with flour; beat just until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
  
  Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until knife or skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely in pan. Gently loosen edges chocolate loaf with a knife and remove from pan. Slice and arrange on a plate then dust lightly with powdered sugar.
  
  Serve with fresh strawberries and vanilla ice-cream.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  You can find Good Dinner Mrs. Mellen
  
  @buzzchomp.com and gooddinnermrsmellen@blogspot.com
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, Chocolate, desserts, Food | Tagged chocolate cake, easy baking, quick cake, Tea Breads
- CHOCOLATE TIRAMISU CAKE
  
  Posted at 7:05 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Mar 6th
  A luscious outrageous cake that will wow your guest! I loved creating this cake and had so much fun making the crepes that I hadn’t done in many years. Years ago when crepes were extremely popular I purchased a Sunbeam M’sieur Crepe maker. To my surprise I found the maker in a cabinet in my basement, unfortunately, it no longer worked so I used an omelet pan to make the crepes. This cake should be started two-three days before you want to serve. The cake is time-consuming yet easy to make. And your guest like mine will be so impressed with the cake because it looks and tastes amazing,
  
  INGREDIENTS
  
  Crepes
  ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
  
  ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  
  ¼ cup granulated sugar
  
  2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
  4 large eggs
  
  5 large egg yolks
  
  1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  
  2 cups whole milk
  
  3 tablespoons cognac
  
  Tiramisu Filling
  1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
  
  4 cups mascarpone cheese
  
  1/4 coffee liqueur
  
  1/4 cup natural cocoa powder plus 2 tablespoons for topping
  
  1 cup heavy whipping cream
  
  2 tablespoon powder sugar
  
  DIRECTIONS
  
  1. Make the crepe batter: Sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in the butter, then the milk and cognac, until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  
  2. Set an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Gently stir the crêpe batter, then pour ¼ cup of batter into the skillet. Holding the skillet by the handle, tilt and turn the skillet to quickly disperse the batter. Cook the crepe until the underside is golden-brown, about 1½ minutes. Lightly jerk the skillet to loosen the crepe, then flip the crepe over using a spatula, a more vigorous jerking motion or your fingers. Cook on the other side until golden-brown, about 30 seconds, then slide the crepe onto a plate. Top with waxed or parchment paper to prevent crepes from sticking together. Repeat until all of the batter is used (you’ll end up with about 20 crepes total, and will need 18 for the cake). Refrigerate the crepes on a plate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
  
  3. Make the tiramisu filling: Sift the confectioners’ sugar. Add the mascarpone cheese, coffee liquor, and 1/4 cocoa. Combine the mixture at low speed until well combined.
  
  4. Remove the crepes from the refrigerator. Add 1 crepe to the bottom cake plate so it lies flat. Add ¼ cup of the tiramisu filling to the center of the crepe and use a small offset spatula to evenly spread the filling over the crêpe. Repeat with the filling and 17 more crêpes. Refrigerate the leftover filling; you’ll use it to finish the cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
  
  Place the sugar into the mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
  
  Fold whipped cream into remaining tiramisu cream just until combined and no white streaks remain.
  
  Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Spread the remaining tiramisu cream on top and sides of the cake. Add the cocoa powder to a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle it over the top of the cake. Slice and serve.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  gooddinnermrsmellen.com
  
  buzzchomp.com
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, desserts, Elegant, entertaining, Food | Tagged chocolate tiramisu cake, crepes
- Sandies
  
  Posted at 12:23 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 18th
  My love of baking started when I helped my Mother bake cookies at Christmas time. Since then I’ve never stopped baking cookies for Christmas. Baking isn’t very hard and I am always amazed when I hear people say I don’t like to bake. What’s not to like, sugar, butter, chocolate, all those wonderful ingredients in one place. Baking is very precise, you need to measure the correct amount of ingredients and follow the recipe especially if you’re a beginner. Once you get some experience with baking you can add your personality. Christmas cookies make wonderful personal gifts to share with family and friends. And so many beautiful boxes, bags, tins can be used as containers for your cookies gifts.
  
  A few tips that will help novice bakers. Read all the recipe through before you start and assemble everything that you need. Do any preparation before you start, if the recipe calls for chopped nuts, chop and set aside, eggs separated, the same thing. This will make the flow of baking so much easier. Only use unsalted butter. I love Cabot, it’s made in Vermont by the cheddar people, I’m not sure if this butter is available outside of New England. The first time you try a recipe always bake for less time than the recipe calls for and then add additional minutes if needed. Unless your oven is calibrated perfectly and even then, ovens do bake differently. Nothing is worse than over baked cookies, cakes, etc. Dry is not good!
  
  At Christmas, I just start baking cookies and stop when I don’t have any more time left. I have so many recipes and cookie cookbooks and I keep buying more, I just can’t help myself. I try out one or two new cookies each year to see if I can find another favorite for my holiday tradition. The two recipes that I have included below are some of the first cookies that I make with my mother. These cookies are very basic and easy to make. Out of tradition, I make them every year and I want to share them with you.
  
  Sandies – These are wonderful cookies to make a few weeks ahead of time because they keep very well.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  2 teaspoons water
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 cup chopped pecans
  
  1 cup confectionery sugar- for rolling cookies after baking
  
  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and water. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape into small balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in 325 F over for 20 minutes. Remove. Cool slightly. Roll in confectionery sugar
  
  An easy way to do this is to put sugar in a plastic bag and add 3-4 cookies and gently shake around to coat cookies. Or you can put sugar in a bowl and roll around to coat.
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Print
  Email
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, pecans
← Older posts
- Search for:
- Recent Posts
- Categories
  - Food (138)
  - Good Dinner Mrs Mellen (128)
  - Easy recipes (82)
  - Vegetarian (59)
  - family meals (57)
  - Main Meal (47)
  - Main Dish (47)
  - Healthy (45)
  - entertaining (43)
  - Baking (39)

%d bloggers like this: