Pinwheel Cookies

For Christmas I made some Hershey Kiss Cookies for my son and daughter. One batch with pecans one batch without. This is another cookie recipe that my son Mikey likes to have around the holidays. I did make a batch, but Bob kept eating them, so I had to place them in a tin with a big note saying “Do NOT Touch”.

I felt bad about it so I decided to make my honey his own pinwheels. I think I’ll surprise him with a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped off with a couple of these delicious cookies for dessert after dinner tonight. He can take the rest to work with him (or else I’ll just eat them all!)

Pinwheels
(BAKER’S Book of Chocolate Riches)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 squares BAKER’S unsweetened chocolate, melted

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well after each addition. Divide dough in half; blend melted chocolate into one half.

Roll chocolate and vanilla doughs separately between sheets of waxed paper into 12x8-inch rectangles. Remove top sheets of paper and invert vanilla dough onto chocolate dough. Remove remaining papers. Roll up on long side and then wrap in plastic. Freeze for 1 hour. Cut into ¼-inch slices and place on cookie sheets that have been been covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 375-degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or just until cookies have began to brown around edges. Cool on racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

NOTE: I made these with a sprinkle of cinnamon in the vanilla dough and used almond flavoring in both vanilla and chocolate doughs. I wanted to use Mexican chocolate, but I would have had to reduce the amount of sugar called for in the recipe and I have not experimented yet to see by how much. So for now, I just gave it the flavor essence of Mexican chocolate.

Rice Pudding – 2 ways

The heat is finally beginning to waver. Instead of a steady triple digit temperature, we’ve cooled down into the ninety’s. It’s not cool enough to have the oven on for cookie baking or that luscious “black and white” pound cake I’ve been wanting to share with you (unless I get up at 5:30 in the morning and that’s NOT going to happen!). So I opted for something simpler…something comforting…something that reminds me of mom. Rice Pudding. This was one of her comfort foods. We always had rice at home (as well as beans, pinto beans) so eating it as something other than Mexican rice was quite a treat.

Well, you guys have come to know me well enough to know that I would take that delicious recipe and attempt a chocolate version. I wasn’t really sure how it would come out; I’ve never tried it before. But let me tell you, I’m making this again. The Mexican chocolate (Chocolate Abuelita) addition to the basic recipe made it a keeper. It doesn’t take much to make something special for yourself or for your family; you just have to want to do it. See what you have at home…in the pantry, and dress up an old recipe. You won’t regret it.

Basic Rice Pudding Recipe

2 cups water
Pinch of salt
¾ cups uncooked long grain white rice
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup raisins (or in my case, craisins…I love them)
2 squares Abuelita chocolate
¼ cup whole almonds
Ground cinnamon, optional

In a medium sized saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Add the rice and bring back to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium heat. Allow to cook for 25 to 30 minutes until rice is completely soft.Add the evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon stick, butter and vanilla. Continue to cook on low heat (uncovered), occasionally stirring to keep from sticking, for about 30 minutes.

Divide the cooked rice in two. Add the craisins to half and the chocolate to the other. Once the chocolate has melted, fold in almonds. Sprinkle ground cinnamon to the “white” rice pudding if desired.
Check out the Southern version of this delightful dessert over at Tina's Mommy's Kitchen. You'll love that one too. Enjoy.

Luscious Dessert for Mother's Day

Mom's are so good all year long. They deserve a special dessert just for them on their day -- Mother's Day.

Say you start off with this. A little boring you say??
So, add a few ingredients. Ice cream, nuts and a special Dulce de Leche sauce.
Now here's a dessert that would make any mother proud. The secret (and the reason this dessert is on a chocolate blog) is the addition of Godiva Chocolate Cream Liqueur. Ahh, so good. But we're not done yet. How about adding this to her dessert table?
A delicious and satisfying Dulce de Leche Cocktail...just for mom. Let me tell you, I could linger at the table savoring these delicious treats long enough for someone else to clean up the kitchen.

However you celebrate Mom on her day, make memories. It's the one time of the year where kids can be mushy and pamper mom with moments and memories gone by. Take a ton of photos and present them to her on her birthday or at Christmas. You can really rack up the points with her. Just treat her like the special person she is and all will be well on this earth.

Pound Cake Dessert with Dulce de Leche Topping
1 or 2 slices of your favorite pound cake
1 scoop of brown sugar ice cream
1/4 cup Dulce de Leche Sauce
Pecans, optional

Assemble and serve.

Dulce de Leche Sauce1 cup whipping cream
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup "La Lechera" Dulce de Leche
1 ounce Godiva Chocolate Cream Liqueur

In a small sauce pan, stir together brown sugar and whipping cream over medium heat. Add Dulce de Leche. Stir until it starts to boil. Allow to boil over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat source and add 1 ounce of Godiva Chocolate Cream Liqueur. Allow to cool for a bit. Serve over the ice cream. Enjoy.

Dulce de Leche Cocktail

1 ounce rum
1/2 ounce "La Lechera" Dulce de Leche
1/2 ounce Hershey's Caramel Ice Cream topping
1/2 ounce Godiva Chocolate Cream Liqueur

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a pretty glass just for mom. I used Lily's margarita (Chiquita Margarita) glass to make this drink. Cute, huh?
Have a lovely weekend.
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If you can't find "La Lechera" Dulce de Leche, make your own. Here's a recipe by Alton Brown that you might like.


Dulce de LecheRecipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
1 quart whole milk
12 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds in a large, 4-quart saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the baking soda and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered at a bare simmer. Stir occasionally, but do not re-incorporate the foam that appears on the top of the mixture. Continue to cook for 1 hour. Remove the vanilla bean after 1 hour and continue to cook until the mixture is a dark caramel color and has reduced to about 1 cup, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to a month.

Have a lovely Mother's Day weekend everyone.

Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake, or 3 Milk Cake, is a popular dessert offered in Mexico. With the growing population of Hispanics in North America, this delicious cake is now offered in ever growing numbers of restaurants across the United States as well.

Where it originated is unclear. Some say Nicaragua, some say Mexico. There are even reports that makers of evaporated milk developed this cake recipe to encourage consumers to purchase its product.

As food historians have noted, the 3 Milk Cake has similar characteristics to Tiramisu, Rum cake, fruitcake or even bread pudding, some of which originated in Europe. The main similarity is that the cake or bread is soaked in a tasty liquid prior to being served. So in their opinion, it is quite possible that the idea to create a “soaked” milk cake was fashioned after one of these delicious recipes.

The three types of milk that are poured over the warm cake are: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk or cream. Some pastry chefs have experimented with this recipe and have introduced additional soaking mediums. Some of these, similar to tiramisu, are a simple syrup infused with some type of liqueur, coffee, brandy, or rum. The cake is frosted with whipped cream flavored with vanilla, or any type of liqueur that you like.

But for the purpose of remaining authentic, the Tres Leches Cake is simply made with three types of milk.

Of course no one said I couldn’t make it in chocolate, did they? So, here is my version of a Chocolate Tres Leches Cake, just for you. Enjoy.

{If you want the non-chocolate ((gasp!)) version of the Tres Leches Cake, go to my Mexican-American Border Cooking blog for the recipe. I know you will enjoy that one too.

Cake:

6 eggs, separated
2 cups light brown sugar
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cups milk
2-teaspoons vanilla

Tres Leches Sauce:

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 ½ disks Mexican Chocolate, melted (these can be melted in microwave oven for about 1 ½ minutes or over a double boiler)

Combine sauce ingredients and blend well.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly grease and dust with cocoa powder, 2 (9 inch) cake pans.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
Beat 6 egg whites until stiff. Reduce speed and gradually add brown sugar to beaten egg whites. After sugar dissolves, add yolks. Beat for 3 minutes.
On medium low speed, alternate flour and milk mixture to eggs until blended. Pour equally into 2 prepared cake pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
While still warm, poke holes into cake layers with a wooden skewer. Pour sauce over both layers and allow to cool in refrigerator.

Ganache:

¾ cups whipping cream
1 1/3 cups chopped Mexican Chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla

Heat cream in small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Place chopped chocolate in medium size bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir with wooden spoon until melted. Add vanilla. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate in refrigerator for 1 hour. Also place beaters in refrigerator to chill. Remove from fridge and whip on high for 2 to 3 minutes until it reaches spreading consistency.
Carefully remove first cake layer from pan and place on cake plate or board. Spread ½ cup ganache on top. Place second layer over the first and completely frost cake with remaining ganache. Garnish if you like with edible flowers or chocolate covered strawberries or, as in my case, Amaretto Cherries. These are cherries that have soaked in Amaretto in the fridge for a couple of hours, drained and allow to dry naturally. Use your imagination to decorate this cake in any way you and your family would like. Enjoy.