Rum Raisin Almond Tart

The other day I had a craving for Rum Raisin ice cream.  I am not a big fan of raisins but for some reason I really like the ice cream.  Off I went to the store to get some to squelch the craving. Nowhere to be found, so I asked around.  No one had ever heard of the stuff.  You would have thought I was asking for a piece of the moon with sprinkles on top!

Now I had to head back home, still carrying the same craving as I had started with.  Well, that just would not do.  So I went about looking for recipes and landed on this particular one.  It was not ice cream, but it sure did get rid of the craving.  Also, it had just enough raisins to add some flavor but not be overwhelming.

To me, the recipe is really something unique.  It is almost like a almond pie but with an occasional pop of flavor from the rum soaked raisins.  Also, the sweet pastry dough could just as well be sugar cookie batter.  The recipe does have a few components. Yet once those are made, the dessert comes together quickly and easily. The first component does require that this recipe should be started the night before to serve the next day.

Rum Raisin Almond Tart
adapted from Simply Sensational Desserts

Sweet Tart Dough (actually enough for two tarts)
9 tbs butter, softened
1 3/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 cup plus 1 tbs powdered sugar
1 large egg

Almond Cream Filling
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark rum
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups slivered almonds
1 cup and 1 tbs butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2 large eggs
1 tbs flour

Topping
1/3 cup apricot preserves
2 tbs rum
3 tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp water

Place the raisins and 1/4 cup rum in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let soak overnight.

The next day, start on the dough by placing sugar, flour and salt in a sifter.  Sift ingredients into a medium size bowl and set aside.  Take out a food processor and fill with the butter.  Process butter for about 20 seconds or until smooth.  Pour in the sifted ingredients and add the egg.  Process mixture again until it turns into a dough and lumps up into a ball inside the bowl.  Divide the dough in half and flatten each into a disk.  Cover in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for 2 hours.

During the chilling time, the filling can be prepared.  Use the food processor again, grind the almonds with 1/4 cup of sugar.  It should take about a minute to grind the almonds into fine bits. Set aside.

Fill a bowl of a stand mixer with the remaining cup of sugar and add the butter.  Beat for about one minute on high.  Pour in the ground almonds and beat for another minute on low.  Then add the egg yolk and beat for 30 seconds.  Repeat the same process for each egg.  After this, beat the mixture for 3 more minutes and scrape down sides of bowl at one minute intervals.   Lastly, sprinkle the flour on top of the batter and use a wooden spoon to fold it in.  Once all is blended, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  After the dough has chilled, take out one disc and roll out on a floured surface. You can seal and freeze the other dough disk for future use. The rolled disk should be 1/8 inch thick and the size of a 10X20 inch rectangle. Using a 9 inch tart ring or 9 inch ring from a springform pan, place on the dough and cut around to form a circle.  Make two circles.  Place one on a baking sheet by itself.  Place the ring on the other baking sheet and put the dough circle inside the bottom.

Take the almond cream mixture from the fridge.  Then drain the raisins from the rum and fold the raisins into the almond cream batter. Spoon the mixture into the dough lined ring and smooth the top so all is even.

Place baking sheet with dough disk on top rack in oven and tart filled one on the next lower rack.  Once the dough disk has a golden brown edge, it is done baking.  This should take about 15-17 minutes.  Remove and place pan on cooling rack.  The tart round should continue to bake until tester comes out clean.  This should take 18-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and place it on a cooling rack as well.

Brush the two tablespoons of rum over the top with a pastry brush while still hot out of the oven.  Then take the apricot preserves and microwave for 20-30 seconds.  Remove and pour into a sieve placed over a small bowl.  Use the pastry brush again and brush the strained apricot over the top of the tart.

Place the plain tart round over the top.  Should it not fit correctly into the pan, shave the edges with a paring knife until it fits inside the pan on top of the tart.

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl and add the water, mixing until all is smooth.  In order to get the correct consistency, you may have to add additional water.  Pour glaze over the top of the tart and smooth out evenly by using the back of a spoon.  Then  place back in the oven for about 5 minutes.  This should result in an opaque center and clear edges on the top.

Cool and remove the tart ring when ready to cut and serve.
                                  **LAST YEAR: B52 Cookies***

Fraternity Brunch Bars

When I went to college, my mother said that several of her friends could not believe she let me go to the one I picked.  The college has a lot of great academics, however, it also has been labeled as a big party school.

One of the memories I have is when the sorority girls were to help out the pledges at a fraternity on a raid to the the frat house.  We all gathered together, with one pledge advising us how to get into the house and what to do.  I think this was to be a raid with water balloons.  The plan was to take over, surprising the Frat brothers in the middle of the night.  The pledge leader urged everyone on and said "Let's go troopers" and proceeded to slip a large trash bag over his head.  Funny, the tough guy thought his head would poke right through the bottom, but he struggled to get it over his head and finally took it off and found some scissors  After that silliness, we were not so sure he should have been the leader.  So here we were ready to go.  Some had old clothes on, some with rain ponchos and others with zip lock bags on our heads to protecting our hair.

We moved in towards the back of the house. I opened the window to the room with the pool table and started climbing in. Halfway in, I felt the window sash hit me in the back.  At that time I quickly realized that someone had leaked our plans.  Luckily, another trooper had managed to invade the house and help me in.

Then the chaos ensued! Things flying down the hall, people running every which way. Not a single soul was surprised, they were all up and waiting  The worst was when they pulled out the fire extinguishers.  If you have never seen the effects of the spray, it is made to saturate every tiny crack and hole, even the ones so small we do not know exist.   I can remember seeing several white coated people. One poor guy with glasses looked like he was sprayed right in the face!  He had made little circles on his eye glasses so he could peer out through all that powder.

Our attire quickly become mottled with food as well as extinguisher powder.  However, one guy clearly was not bothered by this. He was the one fraternity brother that was getting the best of everyone.  I believe it was due to the initial shock of his nakedness that caught us off guard. One girl finally exclaimed with a forceful tone "Dude you really need to get some clothes on!"

Needless to say the raid was a failure.  We all finally retreated back outside and went to get some sleep.  Sadly the pledges were stuck cleaning up the mess the next day.

So for all the crazy college fraternities members as well as pledges, I dedicate these bars. The things that make these unique is the malt powder as well as the rum.  This bar has all the same qualities of a blondie, but thinner with a kick of rum.  I still am undecided if the malt taste is evident, but you can be the judge.

Fraternity Brunch Bars
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground vanilla beans
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 egg
2 tbs malted milk powder
1/2 cup dark rum
1 cup brown sugar,  packed
1/4 cup shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the inside of a 9X13 pan.

Sift together the salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour and vanilla bean powder.  In a separate bowl beat together shortening, sugar and egg. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, add rum and malt powder.  Place over medium high heat and stir.  Let mixture start to boil and then remove from heat. Give it one last stir and then pour into the egg mixture, blending until all ingredients are mixed together.

Mix the wet batter into the sifted dry ingredients.  Blend until smooth and and then fold in the nuts. After thoroughly mixing, spread evenly into pan.  You can use a damp knife or damp clean hands to help spread it evenly.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until done.  Center will be firm to the touch when done.  Remove from oven and let cool completely in pan.  Then cut and serve.
                                **LAST YEAR: Caramel Streusel Bars**
 

Hawaiian Zephyr Cupcakes

These cupcakes get their name because of two things.  The first thing-pineapple, it makes me think of Hawaii.  I remember staying on the island of Kauai and the place had no air conditioning, just these big windows with shutters.  You could open the shutters and get a nice cool breeze.  The gentle breeze, or zephyr, is the second thing.

This cupcake is very moist and gets its pineapple flavor from pineapple soda in the batter as well as pineapple juice that it brushed on over the top while the cupcake is still warm.  The top has a honey rum glaze sprinkled with toasted pecans.  Also, the crowning touch is a dollup of cinnamon whipped cream with fresh pineapple bits on top.

I am very happy with the results and I will definitely be making these again! The recipe makes about 1 dz cupcakes.

Also, thanks to all of you that voted me in to Top 9 yesterday, it made my day!
Hawaiian Zephyr Cupcakes
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Cupcakes
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup pineapple soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbs butter, cubed
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
pineapple juice (drained from 8 oz can of pineapple tidbits)

Ingredients/Glaze
3 tbs honey
2 tbs rum
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup toasted ground pecans

Ingredients/topper
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
8 oz can of drained pineapple tidbits

For cupcakes, grease the top edge of muffin cavities and fill with paper liners.

Sift together baking soda, salt, baking powder and flour.  Whisk in sugar and set aside.   Take out a small saucepan and fill with butter cubes and soda.  Place over medium heat and cook until the butter is melted and mixture starts to boil.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Also place a cooling rack over a sheet of wax paper, making sure all the space below the rack is covered.

In a small bowl, beat together egg, buttermilk and the vanilla extract.  Set aside.  Then pour the cooled pineapple butter into the flour blend.  Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry streaks remain.  Lastly, blend the buttermilk/egg mixture into the batter.

Pour the batter evenly into the 12 liners.  Each liner should be about 2/3 full.  Place in oven and bake until tester comes out clean, which is about 15-20 minutes. Once baked, let cool in pan for about 2 minutes then remove and place on cooling rack.

Using a pastry brush, brush the pineapple juice over the tops of the warm muffins.  Let soak in and then brush a second layer over the top.  Let cupcakes cool completely before glazing.

To prepare the glaze, fill a small sauce pan with honey and rum.  Place over medium heat and let come to a simmer.  Remove and add powdered sugar.  Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry streaks remain and then beat for 2 minutes to make sure all the powdered sugar lumps are dissolved.

Then dip the tops of the cooled cupcakes in the glaze, making sure the excess drips off before placing upright on cooling rack. You may have to tip the saucepan to get complete coverage.  Also, when you get down to the last one or two, you may have to pour the glaze onto the cupcakes because there is not enough to dip the cupcake into.

After they all are glazed, sprinkle with the toasted pecans. It will take a few hours for the glaze to set.

The topper is something you will want to do right before serving.  Fresh fruit as well as whipped cream is better when eaten right away than stored in the fridge for hours.

In a small bowl beat cream, sugar and cinnamon together until soft peaks form.  Place a dollup or pipe the cream onto the center of the top of the cupcake.  Then place a few pieces of pineapple tidbits on top.  Now they are ready to serve!
                                          **LAST YEAR: Chinese Chews**            

Cinnagrog Pie

 When I saw vanilla spice eggnog in the grocery store, I could not pass it up.  Regular eggnog is good by itself but the extra spice sounded like it would be better.  Also, for the same cost as plain, why not?

I decided that I would make an eggnog pie, but I wanted to have another extra flavor in there.  I started considering all the fall spices and decided on the cinnamon.  Instead of just adding this spice to the pie, I thought about a layer of a cinnamon cream pie.  The best ingredient for that would be Biscoff spread.

After trial and error, I came up with a pie that has a Biscoff cream cheese layer topped with an eggnog rum cream.  The crust is made out of ground Biscoff cookies and I sprinkled the top with the crumbs as well.

My original intent was to swirl the two, however, the consistency variation did not allow for that, the eggnog cream is lighter than the biscoff. That is how I arrived at the layers.  I was a little worried about the eggnog layer, because when I tasted the batter before putting it on the pies the rum was very strong.  The chilling overnight cause the flavor to dissapate, so the true flavor comes with time. I have included the measurement for rum extract for those that do not like alcohol. This recipe makes 6 mini pies, 4 1/2 inch in diameter or one 9 inch pie.

Cinnagrog Pie
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Crust
1 1/4 cup ground Biscoff cookies (plus 1/2 cup extra for sprinkling on top)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp nutmeg

Ingredients/Biscoff Filling
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 cups  heavy cream (whipped)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Biscoff spread

Ingredients/Eggnog Filling
1 1/2 tsp of unflavored gelatin
1 tbs conrstarch
2 tbs cold water
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbs rum or 3/4 tsp rum extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup eggnog

For the crust. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together cookie crumbs, sugar and nutmeg.  Then stir in the melted butter.  Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the insides of your pie pan(s).  If making mini pies, place pies on a baking sheet.  Place baking sheet or 9 inch pie pan in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Remove pie pan(s) and let cool on rack.

For the Biscoff filling, beat together the cream cheese, Biscoff spread and sugar until smooth.  Then fold in the whipped cream.  Fill each of the cooled pie crusts halfway with the filling, smoothing the top.  Place in fridge to chill while you prepare the next layer of filling.

For the eggnog filling, put the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and eggnog.  Place over medium heat and cook, continuing to stir.  Once you can run your finger through the mixture on the back of a spoon and it leave a streak, it is done cooking.  My cook time was about 8 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Then use a sieve placed over a heat proof bowl and pour the mixture into the sieve.  You may have some cornstarch and/or gelatin that is left in the bottom of the sieve but push it through with a spoon and scrape all off of the bottom outside into the bowl.  Chill the mixture in the fridge until it turns into a pudding like consistency, about 30-40 minutes.

Then fold in the whipped cream and rum.  Take this batter and finish filling the pies.  Sprinkle the cookie crumbs on top of the pie(s). Let chill overnight before serving.
                             **LAST YEAR:Almost Tortuga Rum Cake

Jazzy Jam Cupcakes

Well, if any of you make your own jam, this recipe has a use for that!  Most of the times when you hear about jam being used in a baked good, it usually is a filling between cake layers or a pastry filling. However, in this case, the jam is actually mixed and cooked into the batter.

The cake part reminds me of a hummingbird cake. The subtle flavor of the pineapple jam goes well with the cinnamon and ginger spices.  The icing on top tastes much like a praline, especially since the edges are rolled in ground pecans.

I am now thinking of all the other jams that could be used to flavor a cake or cupcakes and the different icing combinations you can come up with. The only concern on a variation is the type of jam. It would need to be seedless, so you may have to do some straining. This recipe makes 3 dz cupcakes.

Jazzy Jam Cupcakes
by flourtrader

Ingredients/cupcakes
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup of pineapple jam
6 eggs
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter (room temp)
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

Ingredients/Frosting
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2  tsp rum
1/2 cup ground pecans

To make your cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease the top edge of the cavities of a muffin tin.  Line the cavities with paper liners.  Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter until it reaches a creamy consistency.  Slowly add the light brown sugar and beat for an additional 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time for about 30 seconds each.
Fold the jam in the batter with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed, then beat for 1 minute.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and ginger together.  Fold in 1/4 of the dry mixture to the wet batter, then add 1/4 cup of buttermilk.  Continue with this process of adding and mixing in the dry mixture and buttermilk-ending with the addition of the last bit of flour.
Then stir in the pecan pieces.

Fill each cavity of the pan with the batter. Batter should be nearly to the top edge of each cavity.   Place pan in oven and bake until done, or when tester comes out clean.  Mine took about 20-25 minutes.

Remove pan and let cupcakes cool for about 3 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

To make the frosting, place first three ingredients into a saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir the mixture until the butter is melted.  As you stir, let the mixture come to a boil and then
boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in rum.  Let cool for 20 minutes.

Then add wet frosting mixture to powdered sugar, stirring to blend.  Place a sieve over a large bowl and strain frosting mixture into bowl, using a spatula to stir out any lumps from the powdered sugar.

Using a spoon, smooth the frosting over the top of the first cupcake, making sure that the edges are covered. You should let excess frosting drip down into a bowl.  Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack for about 3 minutes for the icing to start to set up.  After about 3 minutes, roll iced cupcake edges into the bowl of ground nuts, pressing lightly. If icing still drips off into pecan crumbs, stop and wait another 3 minutes and resume rolling in the crumbs. I was able to frost about 6 cupcakes at each interval before rolling in nuts. After all the cupcakes are frosted and decorated with nuts, allow the frosting to set up. This should take about an hour.

Then you are ready to serve.

Ivory Monkey Parfait

I am sure you are wondering what this Ivory Monkey is.  It is a pudding parfait that is made up of vanilla rum pudding, roasted bananas with cashews, shortbread cookies and caramel.

The pudding is enough for about 6 parfaits that probably only hold a little over 1/2 cup, filled to the top.  As an alternative, this can always be made in a big trifle dish.  The only ingredient that I had extra of was the cookies.  The exact yield is hard to place because people have their own preferences on how thick and how many layers they want in the individual serving.

As you go through this recipe, consider the versatility of the layers, they do not have to be used in a parfait.  The cashew bananas are great on ice cream as well as the banana whipped cream.  The pudding is great all alone or with some crunched up shortbread cookies on top.  I am sure you can come up with your own creative combination. Note that the pudding has to be prepared a day in advance.

Ivory Monkey Parfait
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Pudding
3 beaten egg yolks
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vanilla rum
1/2 tsp ground vanilla beans
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup and 3 tbs of sugar
2 tbs cold water
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin

Ingredients/Layers
Cashew shortbread or regular shortbread cookies (I used Keebler brand of Sandies)
Caramel ice cream topping (12 oz)
4  bananas
1 1/2 tsp water
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2 tbs confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream

The day before serving, make your pudding.  Put 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl then sprinkle over the gelatin powder and set aside.

In another bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and frothy.  This should take about 3 minutes. Pour the milk into another bowl and cover.  Then heat in microwave about 30 seconds.

Pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and stir.  Repeat process until all the milk is blended into the batter.  Then fill the bottom pan of a double boiler with water and let it come to a boil. Place the top pan over the bottom and pour in the batter.  Let cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the gelatin mixture and stir until it is dissolved and remove pan from heat.  Set aside to cool.

Beat the whipping cream in a bowl until soft peaks form and fold into cooled batter.  Lastly, add the rum and ground vanilla beans, stirring until well blended.  Cover bowl and place in fridge overnight to set up.

The next day you will make the layers.  Peel three of the bananas and slice into rounds between 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Fill a saucepan with 1 1/2 tsp of water and place over medium high heat.  Place banana pieces in pan, spacing apart.  Cover pan and let the bananas steam cook for 1 minute.  Uncover and drain pan.

Melt the two tablespoons of butter and place in a shallow bowl.  Place the chopped cashews in another, setting it beside the bowl of butter.  Then take a baking sheet and line with foil.

Handling each banana piece lightly, dip into the butter and roll in the chopped cashews.  Place on the prepared baking sheet, making sure none are overlapping or touching.  Bake bananas in oven for 5-6 minutes on each side. You want all the cashews on the banana pieces to be toasted.  Remove pan from oven and let bananas remain on pan to cool.

For the whipped cream, place the remaining banana in the food processor and puree.  In another bowl, combine vanilla extract, confectioners sugar and heavy cream together.  Beat until stiff peaks are formed.  Then fold in the banana puree.

Take several cookies and break them up into small crumbs and place in a separate bowl.

Now you are ready to assemble your parfait.  I used a layer of pudding between each item.  It went like this (from bottom to top): pudding, caramel, pudding, cookie crumbs, pudding and cashew coated bananas.  Lastly, I spooned the whip cream on top and sprinkled it with cookie crumbs. Then it was ready to be served. 

The assembly is where personal preference comes in as to how big your parfait will be, how thick the layers will be and how many layers you will have.  Either way, this is a wonderful banana rum treat.  Enjoy!