Mocha Tart

This recipe will impress everyone! Beware, it has caffeine content!
My favorite food magazine for years was Family Circle. This is one of the gems I collected from there. Perfect for grown-up events.

1 ready-made pie crust
2/3 cup semisweet choc chips
1 cup rough chopped walnuts
3 Tbl butter
3 Tbl instant espresso powder
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream (recipe can be found on my other recipes)

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Fit pie crust into a 9 in removable-bottom tart pan.
• Sprinkle chocolate and walnuts evenly over crust. Set aside.
• Microwave butter in large glass bowl 40 or until melted. 
• Whisk in espresso powder.
• Beat in brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
• Pour into crust.
• Bake in lower third of oven for 35-40 min. Cool on rack to room temp. Remove outer rim and garnish with whipped cream before serving. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

A Holiday dessert to please two requests! My sister in law gave me this recipe from a very impressive HyVee (grocery chain) magazine that her mother brought her from Iowa. What better time to try it than Thanksgiving?













1 refrigerated or frozen pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp.
3/4 cup of sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbl rum or 1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/4 cups pumpkin from a can
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place refrigerated crust in a pie plate, fluting with fingers as shown or folded and pressed with thumb for edging. Or use my favorite brand, Marie Callendars frozen crust.

Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg, nutmeg and rum with a mixer until smooth. Spread evenly in prepared piecrust.

In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin, evap. milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, cinn, ginger, cloves and salt until thoroughly combined. Begin by pouring near the edge of the pie and slowly pour pumpkin mixture over cream cheese layer. Bake for 40 min. Remove crust shield and add steusel topping and bake for another 15-20 min, till crust is golden. Cool to room temperature. Chill and serve with Rum Whipped Cream. Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.

Meanwhile, make streusel topping.

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbl flour

2 Tbl butter

1/2 cup pecan pieces
Combine brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender (if you read my blog, you'll want to buy one!) until mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in pecans.
Rum Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl sugar
1 tsp rum or vanilla

Beat with a mixer on high until soft peaks form.

Cooking tips:

• Serve that day or next. It's not as good after that.
• Make your own crust shield with aluminum foil. Fold the foil in half and cut a half circle out. Gently place over pie. 
• Chill your glass or metal bowl before you beat the whip cream and it will go faster. 
• Don't add until it's time to serve.

Cranberry Orange Scones

One of my favorite flavor pairings is cranberries and oranges, especially in muffins or scones. The main problem Americans have with scones is that they are too dry for our liking. Some people try to substitute muffin mix for the dough, but it just doesn't have the same texture. I have tried a couple of different recipes, and find that this one was a big hit! 

I am a part of a Jane Austen Movie club, and this month we had a tea party while watching A&E's Pride and Prejudice. Since food is such a social thing, every month we pick a recipe to make together before hand so people can share cooking tips. This was the recipe of the month. 

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cloves
2 tbsp. sugar
Zest of an orange
1/2 cup Craisins or golden raisins, chopped
1 stick of cold butter
2/3 cup buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
coarse sugar for sprinkling

Whipped Cream (recipe at the end)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

• Mix all the dry ingredients together. 
• Cut the cold butter into small cubes 1/4-1/2 inch. With a pastry blender or stand mixer, mix until the butter is just coated with flour, leaving chunks the size of dimes. 
• Stir in the Craisins and the zest. 
• Stir in 2/3 cup buttermilk and mix for about 30 seconds, or just until the liquid is absorbed. (The batter will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl). 
• Using clean hands, scrape the dough down and form it into a ball. Place the ball on a baking stone, baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a buttered sheet of wax paper. 
• Pat the ball into a flattened circle 1 inch thick at the center, slightly thinner around the edges. Divide the circle into eight wedges and separate the wedges out leaving a 1/2-inch space between them.
• Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk or an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm with butter, jam, whipped cream or clotted cream. The tops of the scones may be lightly dusted with confectioners sugar, if desired.

Cooking Tips:

• Use the Pampered Chef Food Chopper to quickly and cleanly chop the cranberries.
• Put your bowl in the sink when whipping the cream to make clean up easier. 
• Don't knead your dough! The chunks of butter, when melted, create air pockets that make the scones flaky. 
• When zesting an orange, don't get the white. If using a zester, do short strokes to get smaller pieces. 
• Invest in a zester and pastry brush. You can get them at Dollar Tree or the grocery and they make life easier!
• Substitute Chocolate Chips for the cranberries. Get creative! Raisins, dates, poppyseed, you name it!

Whipped Cream

1 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of juice from orange (used earlier for zest)

Beat on high for 5 minutes or so until soft peaks form. If you under beat, it will be runny. If you over beat, it will turn to butter. When it's getting close, turn off the mixer and test the peaks every minute.