Tag: Spring

Mon Petit Parfait

People who will devour a gallon of ice cream in one sitting, eat a slice of cake the size of their head, or have three donuts for breakfast have always confused me. I just don’t have that kind of relationship with sugar. For me, whatever language you want to use – dolche, bonbon, a sweet – it should be that je ne sais quoi at the end of a meal or a long day; that breathy, little kiss goodnight.

I have a lovely little confection for you that you can whip up in less than 15 minutes and will promise you that lovely, little kiss goodnight. It’s light, delicate, and extremely versatile depending on the ingredients you have on hand.

Mon Petit Parfait

Ingredients:

  • Fresh Whipped Cream
    • 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
    • 2 Tbsp Sugar
    • Chilled Stainless Steel Bowl and Hand Mixer Blades
  • Berries: You need to go fresh and seasonal. This is the first layer of your flavor that you will base your additional ingredients off of.
  • Herbs: Depending on what you are making, mint, basil, or lavender paste could provide complex additions to your parfait.
  • Texture: This is where you pair your flavor and things get really fun. Think cereals, crumbled-up crunchy cookies, or crumbled-up pie crust. The goal with this layer is a flavor that plays off the fruit, but a texture that juxtaposes the rest of the ingredients.

    Note: I don’t recommend cake or soft, chewy cookie crumbles because between the cream and the fruit, you might end up with a parfait that is less than exciting if you make all the layers soft. You really are looking for a flavoring pairing, BUT, a texture contrast.

Preparation:

  • Step One: In a small mason jar, cup, or glass, spread a layer of your freshly whipped cream. Layer it evenly on the bottom using a spoon.
  • Step Two: Next comes your texture. Crunch up your cereal or sprinkle in your granola or whatever you plan to use. Then add your layer of berries.
  • Step Three: Add another layer of cream, another layer of texture, and another layer of berries.
  • Step Four: Add your final layer of cream.
  • Step Five: Garnish with flair! I suggest a little topper of berries and a cookie to enjoy with your parfait.

Where can I cheat?

The heart of this dish is the fresh whipped cream, so please don’t cheat on that. It takes 5 minutes to make it and you have so much opportunity to infuse and layer your flavors by adding extracts to the whipped cream.

Baking your own cookies would be an amazing opportunity to further control the combined flavors of the finished product, but cookies from your store or local bakery will be perfectly delightful.

So what’s your favorite parfait, Crunchy?

Ingredients:

So there you have it! A very light, fresh, and delicious dessert you can whip together to delight your little one, delight your loved ones, or delight yourself.

Nom on,

~Crunchy

Chocolate Raspberry Pancake with Chocolate Ganache

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My daughter asked me to make her something pretty one Saturday morning close to Valentine’s Day and I came up with this lovely concoction. Deeply infused layers of chocolate offset by the brightness of raspberries? Both to the palate and the eyes, this dish is a treasure. I will warn you, it took hours to make and she won’t stop asking me to make it again, so be careful who you serve this to. They will be repeat customers.

Chocolate Raspberry Pancakes with Chocolate Ganache

Equipment

  • Medium-sized cookie cutter, in any shape you prefer
  • Cast Iron or non-stick skillet
  • Small sauce pan

Ingredients

For the pancakes:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup *regular* cocoa powder
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
3/4 cups whole milk

For the ganache:
1/2 cup whole milk
5 oz semi-sweet, finely chopped chocolate
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

To plate:
1/4 cup fresh raspberries
Powdered Sugar

Preparation

For the pancakes:

  • In a large bowl, sift together the flower, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. (What is sifting?)
  • In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, and the milk.
  • Once you have both the dry and wet ingredients prepped, mix the liquid ingredients in and stir the batter until it is moistened and lumpy.
  • Heat your non-stick or Cast Iron Skillet to medium heat.
  • Grease the pan with a liberal amount of butter.
  • Place your cookie cutter onto the skillet and pour the batter in. The batter is very thick and will form a dense cake. You will need to go medium heat and babysit it as this much thicker cake batter will take about 4-5 minutes to cook. Poke it occasionally to test if the batter is cooked through. When you are getting fairly clean pokes with the fork, gently slide the spatula underneath and flip the whole thing over, cookie cutter included, to keep the shape. Cook for another 2 or 3 minutes. You don’t want to burn it. The end result should poke clean, but be a decadent, gooey end result when you actually dig in.
  • When finished, transfer to a plate to let it cool.

For the granache:

  • In a small sauce pan, heat the 1/2 cup of milk, the 5 ounces of finely chopped, semi-sweet chocolate, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Whisk over lower heat until the sauce is smooth.

To plate:

  • Place the pancake on the plate and pour the chocolate sauce over the cake. If you want to get creative, you can drizzle the sauce on the plate as well.
  • Arrange the raspberries on the plate next to the pancake.
  • Sprinkle powdered sugar over the whole dish and serve.

Nom your besotted, fussy-patns on!

~Love, Crunchy

Cream cheese sopapilla: Cinnamon-sugar perfection

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So I got all ambitious and bought LOADS of cream cheese a couple weeks ago thinking I’d attempt a cheesecake. And it sits there. And it sits there. And it sits there. I’m getting desperate. I need to use this stuff but I just don’t have time to make a cheesecake. Gak! After endless searching I stumble on this adorable little confection. It’s got sugar and spice and its handheld (a theme with me) and …. cream cheese! Yes. The process was still a bit time consuming, but man are these little suckers GOOD. I have had a hard time staying away from them they are so freaking good, and I don’t have a sweet tooth. No doubt they will tickle yours!

Cream Cheese Sopapillas

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1/2 pkg (4 oz) light cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Crust

  • 1 pkg refrigerated pie crusts
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 inch round biscuit cutter, or small juice glass

Preparation

  • Set the cream cheese out to begin softening.
  • Sprinkle flour on your board or cutting surface. Roll out crusts and cut out as many 2 inch rounds as you can. I had to combine and re-roll a few times. You should get about 24 rounds. Pop them in the fridge to keep cool.
  • Once the rounds are done and the cheese has softened, combine the filling ingredients and blend with a hand blender until smooth and soft. Use a rubber spatula to transfer to a sandwich baggie. Set aside.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350.
  • Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and lay out 12 crust rounds.
  • Snip the end off your filling baggie and pipe a small amount of filling onto each round.
  • Top the filling with the remaining 12 crust rounds. Using a fork, press along the edges of each pie to seal the crust layers together.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
  • In the meantime,
    • combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
    • melt your butter in a bowl. Set aside.

When ready, let the pies cool just slightly.

  • Coat the tops of your pies.
  • Either dunk and cover your pies in the sugar mixture, or sprinkle over the tops. It just depends on how sweet you want them to be.

Depending on when you serve them, they go great with fresh berries and a vanilla latte. Or you can just guilty pluck one out of the fridge every time you go in the kitchen. I hear tell the calories don’t count if no one sees you eat it.

Nom On, 

~Crunchy

Shout out: Although my version tastes more like a mildly sweet tart, I did want to give credit to the clever baker who created this variation of the traditional sopapilla: http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2013/04/sopapilla-cheesecake-hand-pies/