custard

Boston Crème Blondies

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I’m really on top of it.

And sometimes I’m posting one year’s football fare the following January.

I’ll let you decide which way this post is leaning!

Do you even remember who played in THE pro football game of 2017?

I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the food photos still stored on my camera.

The answer: New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. The winner: New England Patriots with a score of 34-28. No, I did not remember the result of the game, thankfully the Internet knows everything.

To celebrate the big game, I thought it’d be fun to cook something associated with each team. For Atlanta, I went with something peach. (Peach Chipotle Meatballs you’ll be seeing next week.) For New England, Boston Crème Blondies!

blondies (Wal)

Just look how little that baby boy is!!

Boston Crème Blondies

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 1/3 C softened butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided use
  • 1 egg
  • 1 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 6 tbsp sugar, divided use
  • 4 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 C milk
  • 1/4 C semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 C heavy cream

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the brown sugar, butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add the egg and mix until combined.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed butter mixture and mix until incorporated.
  4. Press blondie batter into the prepared pan and bake 20-22 minutes. Cool.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Add the cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
  6. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and 3 tbsp sugar. Bring to a gently boil.
  7. Temper the egg yolks by adding 1/2 C, slowly, to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. When warm, pour the eggs into the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Spread over the blondie base. Refrigerate until completely cooled.
  8. Make the ganache: Put chocolate chips and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring, until the chocolate is melted. Allow ganache to cool only slightly, pour over the blondies. Let set before cutting into bars. (Option to cut squares first and drizzle with the chocolate.)

*This recipe is adapted from Holly at https://www.spendwithpennies.com/boston-cream-bars/*

Boston Creme Blondies | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

#SundaySupper: Kids Favorite Recipes

~ lk529 ~ 20 Comments

I got pretty excited when I saw the theme for this weekend’s Sunday Supper announced a few weeks ago. Kids Favorites! As a relatively new mom, I can answer this prompt from the parental side of the equation.(If you were asking me as a child, my answer would have been Kraft mac and cheese…)

When I thought about what my 2 year old likes to eat, I immediately thought: chocolate. He will occasionally come up to me and straight up ask for chocolate. Now, when he asks for chocolate he really means Nutella. So really… I could just share a recipe for my kid’s favorite food… It’d look like this: Open jar of Nutella, provide a spoon, have a wet napkin handy.

I decided to expand upon that. Another of his favorites: ice cream. I could have done a Nutella ice cream, but when I had this planned on my menu my dad was here for Firecracker’s 2nd birthday. My dad, who is allergic to nuts, needs to have a little something sweet after dinner, so I stuck with plain chocolate. In all actuality, I kind of made the frozen custard more for my dad than for my son; not that Firecracker didn’t get excited for his small bowl of ice cream!

Chocolate Frozen Custard (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

I started out with one ice cream recipe in mind and then completely switched it up to make a frozen custard as I found myself with 5 egg yolks leftover from a crepe recipe that I’ll be sharing another day.

This ice cream or frozen custard, if you will, is incredibly rich and fully intended for those who adore chocolate. I found serving it with mint or raspberries helped cut the richness. My husband was out of town for work the week after I made this and he was quite bummed to discover that I’d only left him one serving when he returned! Sorry, I’m not sorry.

A big thank you to Ellen of Family Around the Table for hosting a great event. To discover more dishes loved by children, scroll past my recipe.

Chocolate Frozen Custard

Ingredients:

  • 3 C heavy cream, divided use
  • 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/3 C sugar

Steps:

  1. Combine 1 1/2 C heavy cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, add the chocolate chips, and stir until melted. Mix in the vanilla. Set aside. (Having only one medium saucepan, I simply scraped the mixture using a spatula into a glass bowl.)
  2. In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow.
  3. In another (if you have it) saucepan, heat remaining 1 1/2 C heavy cream over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
  4. Temper the egg yolks: Take about 1/4 C of the hot cream and whisk into eggs. Constantly whisking, add eggs to milk. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens and reaches 170 degrees F. The custard should coat the back of a spoon so that your finger will leave a path.
  5. Strain the custard into a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate mixture from Step 1. Place the bowl of custard in a bowl of ice water to cool, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes. (Don’t let the water into the custard!)
  6. Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure to make contact with the custard. Place in the refrigerator a minimum of 3 hours.
  7. Follow ice cream maker instructions and freeze. Set frozen custard out at room temperature a few minutes prior to serving.

*This recipe is modified from Sara at http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-mexican-chocolate-and-almond-ice-cream-dessert-recipes-from-the-kitchn-59333*

Chocolate Frozen Custard for #SundaySupper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

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Chocoholic Waffles

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Valentine’s Day is this weekend (Sunday to be exact) and I have the perfect brunch to share with your loved ones – unless they don’t like chocolate. Every component of this recipe involves chocolate! There’s chocolate waffles, which are quite good on their own but it’s Valentine’s Day people, step it up. Then there’s a white chocolate custard, and to top that off there’s a mocha whipped cream! All three components compliment each other beautifully.

I am an admittedly lazy cook and seriously thought about not making the custard. But I couldn’t. Because, Bobby Flay. Yep, surprise! Yet another brunch recipe from one of our favorite celebrity chefs! This particular recipe is one we watched on Cooking Channel last year. It comes from the Brunch at Bobby’s episode titled Chocoholic Brunch.

Chocolate Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 2 C flour
  • 1/2 C cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • 2 C buttermilk
  • 1/4 C canola oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 stick butter, melted
  • 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks with the brown sugar until smooth. Add in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
  3. Combine wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix in the butter and the chocolate.
  4. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the waffles batter.
  5. Into a hot greased waffle iron, drop 1/3 C of batter and cook until browned.
  6. Assemble waffles with custard, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries.

White Chocolate Custard

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 vanilla bean, halved
  • 1 1/2 C half-and-half
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 3 oz white chocolate, chopped

Steps:

  1. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean. Put the seeds and the pod in a small saucepan with the half-and-half. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, remove from the heat, and let cool.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Slowly add some of the half-and-half until smooth. Whisking, add to the pot of remaining half-and-half and return to the stove. Cook over medium heat without allowing it to boil, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spoon.
  3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the white chocolate until melted.
  4. Strain and refrigerate.

Mocha Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 C heavy cream
  • 3 tbsp dark chocolate covered cacao nibs (I used Pacari)
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder

Steps:

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring heavy cream and cacao nibs to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place in a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight.
  2. Strain the cold cream and discard the nibs.
  3. Using a hand mixer, beat the cream until thickened. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and espresso powder. Beat until firm peaks form.

*These recipes are adapted from Bobby Flay at http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bobby-flay/dark-chocolate-waffles-with-white-chocolate-custard-sauce-and-chocolate-espresso-whipped-cream.html*

chocoholic waffles chocolate waffles, white chocolate custard, mocha whipped cream Sew You Think You Can Cook

Pretzel Caramel Bread Pudding

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Last month’s Foodie Extravaganza celebrated pretzels and caramel. I used the leftovers to try my very first bread pudding.

I’d never made bread pudding or eaten bread pudding before. Something about it made me shy away. I’m not a fan of scrambled eggs and don’t like it when there’s too much custard on my french toast. Stuart was requesting a bread pudding so with the pretzel rolls we couldn’t finish in time I finally gave in.

And it was good! Especially with some fresh green apple to combat the sweetness. Bread pudding seemed essentially to be a baked french toast and with the caramel it reminded me of a flan.

Pretzel Caramel Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 C brown sugar
  • 2 1/4 C milk
  • 2 1/4 C heavy cream
  • 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 3/4 – 1 lb stale soft pretzels or bread, cubed
  • 6 tbsp caramel sauce

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl whisk eggs with brown sugar, milk, cream, vanilla, and salt.
  3. Toss pretzel cubes in custard. Pour into a 9×13″ caserole dish. Top with caramel.
  4. Bake covered for 20-30 minutes until custard is set.

*This recipe is modified from Riley at http://www.mydailymorsel.com/2013/04/09/salted-caramel-bread-pudding/ *

Bread Pudding