Nutella Truffle Brownies

I stared at a picture of peanut butter truffle brownies for about 3 days before I said enough and quit fighting the urge to bake them. My mother-in-law doesn't like peanut butter though, and she's more tolerant to nutella so I changed the recipe a bit. Anyone who likes nutella knows how much better it is anyway. So here's my adjusted recipe. I highly recommend them for a chocolate craving day because they are rich! This was, in my opinion, an extremely easy and quick. :)

1 box brownie mix, and it's ingredients

Filling
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup nutella
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp milk

Topping
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter

Make brownies as directed on box. Cool completely.

In bowl, mix filling ingredients until smooth. Spread evenly over brownie base.

Microwave topping ingredients uncovered on high 30 to 60 seconds. Stir until smooth. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Pour over filling. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Store covered in refrigerator.

Strawberry Rhubarb Trifle

This one is absolutely amazing. I found this in a Taste of Home book and there is nothing that I would recommend changing about it! However, for a different consistency, you could try pound cake instead of angel food cake. Either one are excellent. It's so refreshing and delicious. You can try it and add more strawberries or different fruits if you like. I highly recommend it for any occasion. I will be trying this recipe out as a base for other fruits myself.

Custard
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 cups whole milk
5 egg yolks, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
4 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 prepared angel food cake (8 to 10 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Directions
In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.
Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl. Cool to room temperature without stirring.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the rhubarb, sugar and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 5-8 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and mixture is thickened. Cool completely.
In a bowl, beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold a fourth of the whipped cream into the custard. Fold in remaining whipped cream.
Place half of the cake cubes in a 2-1/2-qt. trifle bowl. Spread with half of the rhubarb mixture; top with 1 cup of strawberries and half of the custard. Repeat layers. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake

I searched the internet for what seemed forever to find a recipe that was for cheesecake with strawberries and rhubarb in the actual cheesecake. I couldn't find one, and if I did, I didn't like it. So, I decided to make my own. This was my first attempt. The result: It was very good. I must find a different crust, and it could be creamier. It was really good though and if you don't want to wait until I try it again and re post my findings, please try it yourself!

Crust

1 package (9-10) Graham crackers, crushed

1/3 cup brown sugar

6 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Filling

5 oz strawberries

5 oz rhubarb, steamed
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Combine all crust ingredients and press in bottom of a 9" spring form pan. Bake for 7 minutes. Let cool.

Puree strawberries and steamed rhubarb together. Combine cream cheese and sugar in electric mixer until blended. Add flour and eggs slowly. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Finally, add the strawberry rhubarb puree. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake for 1 and 1/2 hours or until center is softly set and edges begin to color, puff, and crack. Refrigerate, uncovered, for minimum 4 hours. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

With an overabundance of strawberries in the house, this is one of the things I made for the Memorial Day party this weekend. It turned out quite amazing. Next time I would add a tablespoon of cinnamon to the topping because that's how I usually make it. I also doubled the topping because it's my mom's absolute favorite and she complains when there isn't enough. I didn't use it all on the fruit but I did use it. See below. Other than that, it was perfection. Here's a picture of it in my fridge. Better pics tomorrow! :)

4 cups fresh rhubarb, 1-inch diced (4 to 5 stalks)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal, such as McCann's
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit mixture. Pour the mixture into an 8-by-11-inch baking dish.

For the topping, combine the flour, the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

I had some left over topping because it's my mom's favorite part so I put it in a cupcake pan and made crumb cookies. They were quite tasty as well! They bake on the same temperature for about 10 minutes.

UPDATE: 5/29/12

This was a good crisp. It wasn't my favorite though. It was to orange tasting. If you make this I would recommend not using the orange juice. I have a better recipe that I'm going to try from a family member. However, I don't think this was awful. If you like a bit of orange, it's amazing. I ate most of it because I love fruit crisp in general. If you are looking to have just that strawberry rhubarb flavor, you won't be completely satisfied.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

I was put in charge of making desserts for a Memorial Day party at my grandparents. Due to the amount of strawberries in the house, I wanted to do stuff with those. However, my grandma doesn't like strawberries, so this one's for her. She loves anything that's lemon so let's hope she likes this!

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest from two lemons
juice from one lemon
1 cup buttermilk
3 cups flour
3 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Oil and flour your bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat butter and sugar together in a medium-sized mixing bowl until fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add in remaining ingredients and beat until completely combined. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until cooked through.

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

UPDATE: 5/29/12

So after serving this beautiful cake at the Memorial Day Party, everyone loved it! It wasn't too lemony or sweet or anything. It was just perfect. I did have to bake it longer than the recipe calls for. Just cook it until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. My dad loved it so much he wants me to make it again. He and my grandma fought over who was keeping the left overs! If you try it, let me know what you think!

Introduction

Hello! My name is Megan and I recently finished all my classes to become a chef at Potomac State College of West Virginia University. I will earn my degree completely as soon as I have completed a 500 hour internship at a place of my choosing. I put this on hold, however, because I am expecting my second child within the next few weeks. I will pick back up and finish my internship next summer. I have decided to make this blog so that when I find recipes online or something, I don't lose them when they are good. I'll post a recipe per post and if they are good I will keep them and give feedback. Sometimes I change recipes to my liking, in which case I will repost them later on. Recently my family and I have gone strawberry picking at a local farm and picked a total of about 41 lbs. Yes that is a lot but we also have a lot of things to do with them. Recipes soon to come! Also, I love when people give me new recipes to try out so please send me recipes of your own! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful time cooking and baking!