S'mores Bars - Tasty Tuesday!

This past week was teacher conferences.  Our PTO provides dinner for the staff both nights of conferences, knowing that they're constantly running.  They absolutely appreciate it, and they adore that we make everything homemade for them rather than catering it.  I signed up to bring a dessert and wanted to bring something creative.  There are always a ton of brownies and cakes.  So I decided to make s'mores bars.

I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I had marshmallows, chocolate, and tons of graham crackers in my house, so there had to be a way, right?  I finally decided to do a takeoff of a shortbread bar recipe, and my luck held - it worked.

I brought a sample to a friend before conferences, and she ate the whole thing in one sitting.  After conferences, there were no leftovers even though desserts are usually overboard.  I made them again to bring to the Chicago Food Swap this past weekend.  My husband requested that I just trade with myself.  And they went over nicely at the food swap, too.  Even Mister Man liked them.  This was his reaction to them after he'd finished his sample.

S'mores Bars

Ingredients:
3/4 c butter at room temperature
2/3 c sugar
1 egg at room temperature
1 t vanilla
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
20 graham crackers
1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c chocolate chips
20-25 large marshmallows

Directions:
Crush your graham crackers.  I love pulsing them in my blender, because it's easy and not messy.  I've found that the best way is to break the graham crackers in their quarters and do half, pulsing until they're just about crushed, then adding the other half and proceeding the same way.  Otherwise, that large bag and a rolling pin or can works well, too - and helps get rid of frustration.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  It doesn't get light and fluffy if the butter is cold, so make sure it's at room temperature.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. until well combined.  Add the baking powder and mix once again.

Add the graham crackers and flour and stir until just combined.  Grease a 9x13 pan and put the graham cracker mixture into the pan, reserving around a cup or a little more for a topping.  This is a press with your fingers exercise.  I tried to be dainty and use my spatula, but it didn't work.

Pour the chocolate chips over the crust into a nice, even layer.  You can use chocolate bars (it takes about 7), but the chips taste better and are cheaper.  The marshmallows are the next layer.  Take the marshmallow in your fingertips and use your other fingertips to twist and pull it apart so you have two non-smushed marshmallow halves.  Place the halves sticky side down in rows over the chocolate.  I did five halves per row, but do what works for you.  Crumble the last of the graham cracker mixture over top that, and voila!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.  Let them cool fully before cutting.  By using the large marshmallows instead of mini-marshmallows, you've given yourself room to cut without your knife getting stuck in marshmallow and the topping pulling off.  See?  I'm thinking!

Once they're ready, you can serve them at room temperature and store them in a sealed container for three or so days.  If they last that long....

Mister Man decided he needed a fork to eat these.  Smart kid.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Cherry Cake with Fudge Filling and Triple Berry Frosting - Tasty Tuesday!

So Mister Man is officially 9.  While we haven't had his birthday party yet - and to be honest, I haven't planned it so shhh - we did celebrate as a family the day he turned 9 on 10/11/12 (seriously, how cool is that?).  And celebrations mean one thing: he gets to choose his dinner and the kind of cake I make for him.

Once again, he chose French toast, so once again I didn't actually eat the birthday dinner I made.  I know... I make an awesome French toast, but I don't like it.  Go fig.  I just discovered that I haven't put up my recipe for this, so apparently that happens the next time I make it.  Because you want that recipe.

Mister Man also asked for a cherry cake with triple berry frosting.  It was good.  Really good.

Cherry Cake

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 3/4 c sugar, separated
4 eggs, separated
2 3/4 c flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1 c milk
1 t vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract, same quantity)
1/2 t almond extract
1 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/4 t cream of tartar

Directions:
Beat the butter until it's creamy.  Slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups sugar while it's mixing (save the extra 1/4 cup for later), and beat on high until it's lightened in color and nice and fluffy, somewhere around three to five minutes of beating.  Separate your eggs while the butter and sugar are mixing.  Slowly add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Add the baking powder and salt, and mix well.  Add 1 cup of flour and stir until mostly combined.  Add the vanilla, almond extract, and 1/2 of the milk and stir until combined.   Add 1 more cup flour, stir.  Add the rest of the milk and stir.  Add the last of the flour and stir one last time.  Next, add the cherries, and carefully stir until just combined.

Why stir so little?  You don't want the flour to form gluten strands, which happens when you overmix it.  That's why you get bubbles in your muffins and cakes, which is not the look we're going for.  It also makes them tough, and we want a nice, light cake.

Next up is the egg whites you've been saving.  When they start, they'll look like this:

Add the cream of tartar, and start beating the egg whites.  Once they've gotten nice and frothy, go ahead and slowly add the last 1/4 cup sugar you were reserving while still beating the eggs.  Continue to beat them until they form soft peaks.  If you overbeat, they'll dry out and get nasty - again, not what we're going for.

Add about 1/4 of the beaten egg whites to your cake batter, and stir gently to combine.  You need to sacrifice some of the lovely fluff so the batter loosens enough to accept the rest of the egg whites.  This helps make the cake stay light and fluffy.  Once you have the first bit incorporated, pour the rest of the egg whites into the batter and gently fold the egg whites into the batter.  Scrape with a spatula under all the batter and twist to lift.

Grease 2 9x2 pans well (or 3 8x2).  Pour the batter evenly into the pans, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the cake tester comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting them to remove from the pans and cool the rest of the way.  Once they're fully cooled, frost as desired.

So.  We did a fudge filling (because my dad wanted chocolate in there) and a triple berry frosting.  While this looks like I used some sort of dye, I didn't.  And the crumbs?  Because of the cherry bits in the cake, the knife sticks some while cutting and pulls them loose.  This is actually a cake that doesn't have a lot of crumbs because it is so moist and yummy.

I don't measure anything when making frostings or fillings, so play with them.  They're very forgiving.

So the fudge filling: I used about 3 T butter, 1/2 c cocoa powder, 3 T milk and 2 c powdered sugar.  Oh, and a teaspoon or so of vanilla.  Maybe.  Basically, melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Add the milk and cocoa powder and stir.  Start adding powdered sugar.  Add a little more milk if it's too thick.  Add powdered sugar until it's as thick as hot fudge sauce (not chocolate syrup).  Keep stirring over the heat until the fudge starts falling off the spoon cleanly.  Stir until it's cooled down to almost room temperature and has thickened nicely.  The constant stirring helps incorporate air and keeps it soft and yummy.  Spread it on the cake.

And the triple berry frosting?  I used maybe half a cup of frozen berries, 2 T butter, and powdered sugar, maybe 3-4 cups.  Again, heat the berries and butter in a heavy saucepan until they're melted, then start adding the powdered sugar.  After awhile, I used my immersion blender to puree the berries in the frosting, then added more powdered sugar and cooked for another five minutes or so.  I stirred while letting it cool some, then spread it over the cake.

Yum.

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.

Food Processor Pie Crust - Tasty Tuesday!

I had grand plans for this week's Tasty Tuesday.  I was going to make one of my favorite late summer dishes that I hadn't made in forever that most people haven't had before.  Have you ever enjoyed Tomato Pie?

I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, I've been down with a migraine since Sunday, so I haven't been able to make all of this.  I made the pie crust last night, but today the thought of food is just not appleaing.  So next week will be the conclusion of Tomato Pie.  This week, I bring you the incredibly easy Food Processor Pie Crust - with my secret ingredient to a flaky crust.

Food Processor Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2 c flour
1 T sugar, optional (if I am making a sweet pie, I'll add the full 1T; if a savory pie, I'll add just a little)
pinch salt
3/4 c butter, chilled
1/4 c shortening, chilled
1/4 c ice water - less 2 T
2 T vodka (that would be the secret ingredient)

Directions:
This makes two pie crusts.  For prep, you need to chill your butter, shortening, vodka, and water.  I measure my water into a measuring cup, remove just a little and add ice cubes to keep it cold.  You also need to cut off two longish sheets of plastic wrap to wrap the dough in at the end.

Place the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of your food processor.  Make sure your butter and your shortening are well chilled.  If your fats aren't cold, they won't have pockets in the dough, and it won't be as flaky.  Trust me on this one.  Cut your butter and shortening into pieces, and toss them into the bowl, too.

Pulse five or six times, until the mixture has pea sized clumps, some smaller some larger.  It's important not to overmix this, as you want the dough to have those clumps of fat I mentioned earlier that will make steam pockets when it's baked and create the nice, flaky layers.

Now is when you want to add the liquid.  The vodka goes in first, and ideally you have this chilled, too.  Why vodka?  Well, mixing water and flour makes gluten which makes for a touch pie crust.  Using alcohol - and a fairly flavorless one with vodka - reduces the water and creates lessgluten nd ergo a more tender crust.  Ta da!

While you are pulsing, add the vodka.  Next will go the water.  I'll be honest that I measure my water, less a little from what I need and put ice cubes in the measuring cup with it tokeep the water extra cold.  Depending on the humidity, you may or may not need all your water, so watch carefully as  you are adding water.  As soon as you see the dough come together, stop.  Don't add any more water, and don't mix it any more.

You can test if there is enough liquid by picking up a small handful of dough and squeezing it.  If it stays together, you're good to go.  If it falls apart, you need more water.  You want to err on the side of slightly more than slightly less water, as you can't add water when rolling it out, but you can add flour.  This was my biggest mistake when I first started making pie crusts - I was too afraid I would add too much water and so never put in enough.

At this point, carefully remove the dough from the food processor, and place half onto one sheet of plastic wrap and the other half on the other sheet.  Using the plastic wrap to cover it, carefully press the dough into two disks.  Make sure they're sealed in the plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge for 8 to 24 hours.  Once they have fully rested, you can roll them out for pie.  If I am making a double crust pie, I will make one of my disks slightly larger than the other.  If not, I keep them the same size.

Can you see the fat pieces in the dough?  That's good pie dough right there!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.  Rachel from A Southern Fairytale has an awesome Mouthwatering Monday linkup that I participate in, too.