Peach Sorbet

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Chatty Kathy

Some days the creamy smooth texture of homemade ice cream, made with peaches ripe and still warm from the sun is exactly what I’d like …. other times the bright and fresh taste of peach sorbet is ideal. It is so refreshing that it is like an icy peach.

Peaches right off the tree can’t be beat!

At this time of year, I like to have simple syrup made and cold in the fridge so it is ready to go whenever the fruit is bursting with flavour. It’s called simple syrup for a reason – just bring equal parts water and white sugar to a boil, allow sugar to dissolve completely and remove from the heat. Stir well and keep in the fridge.

My kitchenaid mixer gets a lot of use, and the ice cream maker bowl attachment was a brilliant purchase.

Puree about 2 pounds of fresh peaches (you want to end up with about 5 cups of peach puree. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and a dash of salt. Allow to completely chill in the fridge before pulling out your ice cream maker.

Combine peach & lemon puree, 1 1/2 cups simple syrup and stir in 1 tsp vanilla paste.

With the bowl of your ice cream maker turning already, slowly pour in the mixture and allow your mixer to do the work – usually it takes about 20 minutes, but this can vary depending on the temperature of your peach puree, and the temperature in the kitchen. Once the mixture looks smooth and thickened, put it into a clean container in the freezer to firm up.

Raspberry Peach Pecan Galette

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Chatty Kathy

This recipe works really well with any berry or fruit – the pecans give the pie crust a rich, nutty, crunchy texture and flavour. Really – what is a galette? An easy way to make a pie!

Ready for the oven, this raspberry peach galette looks delicious already.

DOUGH
1/2 cup pecans (toasted)
1 cup plus 2 TBSP flour
2 tsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold unsalted butter (in small pieces)

FILLING
2 cups raspberries
1 peach
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar, plus a bit more to sprinkle on crust
2 tbsp milk or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375

Once your pecans have been toasted, and cooled – pulse in food processor until they are a coarse crumble. Add flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Pulse just until combined. Add butter pieces and pulse just until mixture looks like a coarse crumble – a few pea sized bits are great. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and drizzle in 4 tbsp ice water and mix. If necessary add another tablespoon of water just until it comes together. Gently pat the dough into a circle, cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in fridge for at least 1 hour. (it will keep in the fridge for 2 days or you can freeze it for a month)

Toss raspberries, cornstarch, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12″ round. Carefully put on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Mound fruit mixture into centre of dough, leaving about 2″ around the edge. Fold edges over, overlapping slightly.

Brush dough with milk or cream and sprinkle raw sugar over.

Peel, and slice peach – in the center opening, arrange peach slices.

Bake until crust is dark golden brown and filling is bubbling – at least 45 minutes.

Fruit bubbling and oozing, crust golden brown ….. difficult to wait for it to cool before slicing!

Allow to cool before slicing.

Peaches and raspberries were ripe and ready at the same time this year, so I served this with a yummy peach bursting sorbet …..

Basic White Cake

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Chatty Kathy

Everybody needs a basic white cake in their wheelhouse, and this is mine. Double it for a layered cake, or keep it simple – either way it is moist and delicious.

Basic white cake, today with a layer of fresh strawberries baked into the middle of the cake and served with softly whipped cream.

1 cup white sugar
1⁄2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3⁄4 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.

Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk until batter is smooth.

Scoop batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

This might just be sweet little Stella’s first whipped cream beater to lick …. but shhhh – don’t tell anyone, Mom and Dad are away!

This cake is so versatile – tonight I spooned half the batter into the pan, covered with sliced strawberries and then covered those berries with the remaining batter.

Mexican Chocolate Cake with Pecan Glaze

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Chatty Kathy

A hint of cinnamon, a whiff of coffee, and a moist delicious chocolate cake – doesn’t get much better than this!

CAKE
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup cold coffee, or espresso
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have it – use 1 tbsp lemon juice and fill to 1/2 cup with milk)
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bundt cake pan well and dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess.

Melt butter (2 sticks) in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then whisk in cocoa. Add coffee and whisk until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in separately sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl, then sift again into cocoa mixture and whisk until just combined (don’t worry if there are lumps).

Pour batter into cake pan and bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 45 to 55 minutes. (Leave oven on just to roast pecans.)

Cool cake in pan on a rack 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a thin knife and invert onto a plate.

GLAZE

2 cups chopped pecans (71/2 ounces) Roast lightly until slightly browned – set aside.
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
5 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over low heat, then stir in half-and-half and confectioners sugar. Add chocolate and cook, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and salt. Cool glaze until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Spoon glaze over top and sides of cake (cake will still be warm) and spread with a small offset spatula or knife to cover completely.

Raspberry Meringues with Salted Caramel Sauce

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Chatty Kathy

These make the most delightful tasty dessert – thanks to my friend Jean for preparing these for our Annual Canada Day visit!!!

The strawberries in the garden were ripe so we added a few to this treat, along with just a wee scoop of ice cream ….

These definitely need to be prepared ahead of time but the actual work is pretty easy.

4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster (or superfine) sugar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp fleur del sel
1 cup raspberries

Preheat oven to 200 F

MERINGUES:

In bowl of mixer, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form before increasing the speed, adding the superfine sugar slowly – a bit at a time – until fully incorporated. Whip at high speed until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture takes on a shiny, glossy look and nice stiff peaks form up.

Drop a teaspoon of the jam into a small section of the egg white mixture – swirl and and scoop a heaped tablespoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with another teaspoon of the jam, and a bit more of the meringue mixture until you have 12 meringues.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Leave in the oven to cool off and dry out overnight.

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

Heat white sugar in medium size, heavy bottom saucepan over medium-high heat. Use a wooden spoon, and stir a LOT while this is going on, and don’t worry – it will harden and clump as the sugar melts. DO NOT STIR ONCE THE SUGAR STARTS TO CARMELIZE. Quickly stir in the butter, cream and fleur del del (or a flaky sea salt). Let simmer for 1 minute, then transfer to a heatproof bowl and allow to cool completely.

This caramel sauce keeps really well in the fridge, and is amazing on pretty much anything.

ASSEMBLY

Place meringue on plate, lightly drizzle with salted caramel sauce and sprinkle with raspberries – perfection!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Chatty Kathy

This cake just keeps getting better – didn’t have quite enough banana, but I had made some apple sauce for baby Stella Rose, just enough to bump up the fruit to the 3 cups – so moist and delicious!

chattykathychatsandcooks

This was one of those favorite school box recipes. The kids loved it for years – and it was one of Meghan’s favorites so when she got married this year, I made it once again and it was just as popular.

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups bananas

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time – beating well with each until the battery is light, creamy and fluffy. Add vanilla and banana. Mix until smooth.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to butter, egg, banana mixture alternately with the sour cream.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon

Spread half in a greased and floured 9×13 baking pan. Sprinkle half the brown sugar, cinnamon mixture over…

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Banana Blueberry Bread Pudding

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Chatty Kathy

It is not often that we EVER have banana bread left over, but surprisingly enough, we did and I was wondering how to use it up. Also have never made bread pudding … and always wanted to.

Cube up leftover banana bread, and toast it until slightly crunchy and dried out.

About 4 cups of bread cubes work with:

3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1 tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup sugar

Whisk all ingredients together.

In greased baking dish place the banana bread cubes, top with blueberries (or whatever fruit you have on hand – fresh or frozen) and pour the egg/milk mixture over. It should just cover the bread cubes and fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for between 45-60 minutes. A knife inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.

Banana Loaf

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Chatty Kathy

Just in case the little ones around your house leave you enough bananas to work with … make banana loaf!

3 ripe bananas

1 cup white sugar

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tbsp sour milk

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

(If you need sour milk stir some lemon juice or vinegar into fresh milk – let sit for a few minutes and stir)

Sift dry ingredients together:

Mash bananas, blend in sugar and add egg. Mix and add milk and butter.

Stir banana mixture into dry ingredients, only until just mixed – do not over mix!

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 50 min at 350

Citrus Loaf

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Chatty Kathy

The sweet/tangy glaze drizzled over this citrus loaf adds the perfect touch!

1 medium lemon – zest and juice

1 medium orange – zest and juice

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Grate 1 tbsp peel from lemon, and squeeze 1 tbsp juice – set aside

Grate 1 tbsp peel from orange, and squeeze 5 tbsp juice – set aside – separately from lemon juice

In large bowl combine dry ingredients, then cut butter in, stir in lemon and orange zest.

In separate bowl beat eggs, milk and 4 tbsp orange juice.

Stir liquid into flour just until mixed, do not over mix.

Turn into greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pan. (I like to use parchment paper so it is easy to lift out)

Bake 1 hour, at 350 degrees – cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove to a cooling rack.

Once you take the loaf out of the oven, combine the remaining 1 tbsp lemon juice, 4 tbsp orange juice and 2 tbsp sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and allow to gently boil until reduced slightly and thickened. Once loaf has cooled a bit, drizzle glaze over top.

Try to resist cutting the loaf until it has cooled quite a bit ….

Mexican Chocolate Snow Caps

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Chatty Kathy

These delicious little bites were waiting for Hayley, Sloan, Stella and I when we arrived at big sister Meghan’s house – you can’t have just one! She made them as peppermint, and they are fabulous. Gluten free too!

8 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp butter

1 1/4 cup ground almonds

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs (room temperature)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp ancho chile powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Sifted icing sugar to roll cookies

In a heatproof bowl (over pan of gently simmering water) melt chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in almonds and salt.

in a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until pale and thickened, about 2 minutes. Add in chocolate mixture and spices. Fold until well blended. Cover and put in the fridge until very firm – about 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form dough into 1 1/4″ balls. Roll balls in icing sugar.

Place 2″ apart on trays. Bake until puffed, starting to crack on top and the edges are firm – about 12 minutes.

So easy to switch these up and make them into Peppermint Caps – substitute the chile powder and cinnamon for 1 tsp peppermint extract.