Tag: Desserts

Lion House Cheesecake

The Lion House is a historical building in downtown Salt Lake City. It was originally a house belonging to Brigham Young, and is now a restaurant. My mom had a book with several Lion House recipes, and this is one of our favorites to make. I think my favorite part is the cinnamon in the slightly crunchy crust. The original recipe calls for just making it in a pie pan, but we usually make it in a springform pan. Also, the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I usually put a pan of hot water in the oven below the cheesecake to help prevent cracking.

I haven’t tried making this gluten free yet, but you’d need to change the crust, either using gluten free “graham” crackers or something like gluten free Oreos.

Lion House Cheesecake

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: medium
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Creamy filling with an amazing crust.

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 ½ c. Graham Cracker crumbs, rolled fine (or gluten free graham crackers or cookies)
  • 3 Tbsp. Sugar
  • 6 Tbsp. Butter, melted
  • 1 tsp. Cinnamon

Filling

  • 1 ½ lbs. (3 8 oz. Pkgs.) Softened Cream Cheese
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¾ tsp. Vanilla

Directions

For the crust, thoroughly mix ingredients and press into 9″ or 10″ pie pan or spring form pan. 

For the filling, beat cream cheese well. Add sugar a little at a time; add eggs one at a time; add vanilla. Combine thoroughly until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for at least 1 hour at 300° until set. (Cheesecakes are done when there’s a tiny bit of wobble in the middle or when the internal temperature reaches 150°.) Serve chilled.

 


 

Graham Cake

This might be the oldest family recipe in our family, coming from my great-grandma Mellie Kinghorn Hutchings’ family. I haven’t made it for several years, but we’d occasionally make it when we were learning about pioneers or discussing family history. Haha, this recipe might not be as old as the pioneers in the 1800s, but it’s as close as we could get. And I remember my mom always pronounced it “gremm cake”, and she said that’s how her whole family pronounced it. Note that it makes a GIANT batch in a roaster pan, but it does freeze well. And as an older recipe, it’s not as overly sweet as the cakes we usually eat today.

I haven’t tried making this gluten free, but I think I probably would just find a different recipe. Unless I find a gluten free substitute for whole wheat flour (I imagine there’s one somewhere).

Graham Cake

  • Servings: Haha, a LOT
  • Difficulty: medium
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Old-fashioned and gigantic.

Ingredients

  • 2 c. Raisins
  • 4 c. Water
  • 4 c. Whole Wheat (Graham) Flour
  • 1 c. White Flour
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 1 c. Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. Salt
  • 1 rounded Tbsp. Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. Nutmeg
  • About 1/3 c. Cocoa
  • 1 Tbsp. Baking Soda
  • ¼ tsp. Ground Cloves
  • 1 c. finely grated Carrots (about 2 large carrots)
  • 1 c. Apple Sauce
  • 2 c. Walnuts, chopped
  • 3 Eggs, beaten
  • 1 Tbsp. Vanilla
  • 1/2 c. melted Shortening, cooled
  • 1/2 c. melted Butter, cooled

Butter Icing

  • ¾ c. Butter
  • ½ c. Milk
  • 2 lb. Powdered Sugar
  • 2 tsp. Vanilla
  •  

Directions

Simmer raisins in water with lid on for 30 minutes. Cool. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (from flour to cloves). Then add carrots, applesauce, and walnuts, and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Then add cooled raisins and liquid to mixture. Mix thoroughly. Mixture should be “sloppy”—not too dry. Add water if necessary. Pour mixture into greased roaster pan. Cover and bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes. Cool with lid on.

For butter icing, mix all ingredients until smooth and spread over cooled cake. Cake freezes well. 


English Toffee

Another candy in our Christmas triumvirate: English toffee. Haha, with the other two being caramels and peanut brittle. I’m sure most recipes call for a specific temperature, but my mom would always say to cook it until it almost smells like it’s starting to burn. But lately I’ve been doing the ice water test to make sure it’s crunchy enough. Every once in a while this toffee can get a little grainy or not as hard as I want, but it’s so delicious that we don’t really care and still eat the slightly off batches.

You can kind of use any milk chocolate that you’d like–I remember my mom taking the plain Hershey bars from the miniatures collection or the Nuggets collection that no one wanted and melting them on top of the toffee. What a great use of the boring chocolate that everyone left behind. Haha. We’ve also made this toffee with pecans and sliced almonds instead of walnuts–both were great. So pick your favorite nut and try it out.

And thank goodness this one is naturally gluten free. Just make sure your nuts don’t say that they may contain wheat.

English Toffee

  • Servings: 1 pan
  • Difficulty: medium
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Crunchy, chocolatey, and perfect for Christmas.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. Butter
  • 1 c. Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Water
  • 2 c. Milk Chocolate Chips
  • ½ c. Chopped Walnuts (or desired nuts) (check for gluten free)

Directions

Pour a scant layer of chopped nuts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Mix butter, sugar, and water in heavy pan. Melt and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook about 5 minutes or until syrup turns a darker color and begins to smell like it’s burning, generally between soft and hard crack or around 270 or so. (You may want to try the ice water test to make sure it’s your desired texture.) Pour immediately onto foil-lined pan. Sprinkle top of hot candy with chocolate chips. Let melt and spread with knife to cover. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Let cool completely so chocolate is solidified. Lift candy slab from foil and break into pieces.


Eclairs & Cream Puffs (Pâte à Choux)

When we moved to New Jersey and started school, Mom picked us up at the end of the day and brought a special treat: Eclairs. And frankly, it may have been Bavarian filled doughnuts. But I remembered eclairs. And for some reason, my kindergartner brain thought that meant we’d get eclairs on every first day of school. So the next year when mom picked us up, I was disappointed that there weren’t eclairs. It wasn’t until many years later when I was a teenager that I laughed and told my mom that story. She felt bad about my disappointment and decided to have eclairs for us on the first day of school. She was so kind to give us eclairs.

We saw Alton Brown make eclairs on Good Eats, and it became a tradition to make eclairs for the first day of school every year. I even did it for my roommates when I was at college. I switched out the recipe for the choux over the years because I’d sometimes get flat shells with Alton’s recipe–but I kept his suggestion to fill them with pudding and frost it with either melted chocolate chips or frosting. It saves so much time instead of making a full on pastry cream or ganache–and if Alton Brown says it’s good enough, so do I. Haha.

I haven’t tried making this one gluten free yet, but I’ll use cup for cup flour when I do. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Eclairs & Cream Puffs

  • Servings: 8-10 eclairs
  • Difficulty: hard
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Fancy and amazing, but time-consuming.

Ingredients

Choux Pastry

  • 1 c. Water
  • 1/2 c. Butter
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Sugar
  • 1 c. Flour
  • 3 Eggs, plus 1 extra, if needed

Egg Wash

  • 1 Egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Water

Éclair Filling (Vanilla Pudding)

  • 1 Big Box Vanilla Pudding (instant or cook and serve)
  • 3 C. Milk (can opt for 2 1/4 c. milk for thicker filling)

Cream Puff Filling (Whipped Cream)

  • 1 c. Whipping Cream
  • ½ c. Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla

Chocolate Ganache/Frosting

  • 1 can Chocolate Frosting, warmed slightly in microwave OR
  • 1/2 c. Cream
  • 4 oz. Semisweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

For the choux pastry,

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat.
  2. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.
  3. Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, 1 egg at a time. Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.
  4. For eclairs: Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about the size and shape of a jumbo hot dog) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. You should have 8 to 10 lengths. For cream puffs: Pipe large 2” circles.
  5. Egg Wash: In a bowl, whisk the egg and water together. Brush the surface of each eclair with the egg wash. Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps or points of dough that remain on the surface. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375° and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Pierce the end of each shell to release steam. Let cool on the baking sheet.

For eclair filling, prepare the pudding according to the directions on the box (or use 2 1/4 c. milk for thicker filling). Refrigerate until cold. To fill the eclairs, fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair. Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don’t stuff them full).

For eclair frosting, you can make a simple version by simply microwaving a can of chocolate frosting until slightly soft (just a few seconds). OR In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until it boils. Immediately turn off the heat. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm. Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze and set on a sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set. Serve chilled.

For cream puffs, whip all filling ingredients together until soft peaks form. Cut the tops off the circular shells and fill with whipped cream, then sprinkle tops with powdered sugar. Optional: Flavor the whipped cream (such as chocolate) and place berries in the bottom of the shell before piping in the whipped cream.

 


 

Mini Fruit Tarts

My husband gets so excited to make these tarts. We’ve made them a few times, with the youth at church and for our anniversary during the pandemic–we had a “Paris at Home” day and made fruit tarts, eclairs, and cream puffs, among other things. I love the versatility of these tarts because it’s basically pudding with anything you want on top. They look beautiful, but they’re pretty easy to make.

Just as a note, we made this with a big box of pudding–and it was far too much. So a small box is the way to go. Also, it seemed like the orange zest that we added affected the texture. You could definitely feel the zest in your mouth. But the lemon zest seemed okay, if I remember correctly.

If you’re making this one gluten free, you’ll need to make a gluten free crust, whether you use gluten free “graham” crackers or a gluten free Oreo crust.

Mini Fruit Tarts

  • Servings: 24
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
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Beautiful, versatile, and simple.

Ingredients

Crust

  • 20 Full Graham Crackers (or gluten free graham crackers)
  • 1 c. Butter
  • 1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

Filling

  • 1 small box Instant Pudding (vanilla, chocolate, or other)
  • Milk necessary to make the pudding (check the box)
  • Orange or lemon zest (optional–may affect texture)

Topping options

  • Bananas
  • Assorted Berries
  • Mandarin Oranges
  • Other fruit (if desired)
  • Chocolate (shaved or curled)
  • Whipped Cream
  • Finely Chopped Nuts

Directions

For the crust, preheat oven to 350°. Crush graham crackers in a blender. Pour powdered sugar into the blender and mix thoroughly. Pour dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Mix in butter until all dry ingredients are wet. Should be clumpy. Scoop out portions a little bigger than a tablespoon into each cup of a mini cupcake pan. Press mixture to form a shallow cup with a mini tart shaper. (You can use your fingers or something else.) Bake 5-6 minutes or until edges are bubbling. It is normal for there to be “pools of butter” inside some if not all of the cups. Remove pan from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes.

For the filling, follow directions on box of instant pudding. Optionally, zest an entire orange or lemon (orange for chocolate flavored puddings and lemon for vanilla flavored puddings). Mix the zest with the pudding (FYI, it may affect the texture, so you may want to test a little in a spoonful before adding to the whole tart.) Once crusts have cooled, place pudding into each cup. You can either spoon in the pudding, pour it in, or use a pastry bag to pipe in the pudding. Once all cups have been filled in the pan, drop the pan from 1” onto the counter to help get rid of air bubbles. Smooth the top of the pudding with a spoon or spatula.

For topping, remove the tart cups from the pan with a spoon or knife and place on a platter before decorating. Arrange fruit and other toppings as desired.


German Chocolate Cake Frosting

You know, German Chocolate Cake from the store is okay, but once you’ve had homemade, it’s really hard to go back. So many of our family members’ birthday photos over the last few decades feature this cake. Because it is so amazing. It does take a fair amount of time and skill to frost the cake, but it’s so delicious!

Some tips: Stir constantly at the beginning so the egg doesn’t cook into small bits. If for some reason the egg does start looking like little scrambled egg bits, you can strain them out. And I have found if the frosting is still warm when you frost the cake, it’ll fall off the sides of the cake more easily. Of course that wouldn’t be an issue if you made the cake in an oblong cake pan, but we always make it as two round layers. And German chocolate cake seems especially soft and easy to rip, so frosting it is always tricky. But I’ve found that if I let the frosting cool in the fridge before I frost the cake, it’ll stay on the sides of the cake better once it is frosted. It’s best if it’s still a little spreadable, not totally cold and hard. But if it does get too cold, I’ve found that if I scoop out small spoonfuls of frosting and place them close to each other on the cake, I can use an offset spatula dipped in hot water to spread the spoonfuls into each other without ripping the cake. I never bother trimming the cake so it’s level because that seems like a waste of perfectly good cake. Here’s a picture of the whole cake:

Fun fact: German chocolate cake isn’t German. Haha, of course a cake with coconut wouldn’t be German. It’s just named after Samuel German, who invented the baking chocolate used in the cake.

If you’re making this one gluten free, of course the frosting itself is naturally gluten free (just check your nuts to make sure they don’t say, “May contain wheat” like a lot do)–you’ll just need a gluten free German chocolate cake.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

  • Servings: 1 double layer cake
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
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The best German Chocolate Cake frosting you’ll ever have.

Ingredients

  • 2 c. Walnuts (use walnut halves and chop slightly) (check for gluten free)
  • 2 c. Shredded Coconut
  • 4 Egg Yolks
  • 2 c. Evaporated Milk
  • 2 c. Sugar
  • ¾ c. Butter
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla (add after cooking)

Directions

Before cooking, chop walnuts slightly on cutting board and chop shredded coconut in food processor so strands aren’t long and stringy. Set aside.

In heavy pan, whisk egg yolks and milk well before turning on heat. Mix in sugar and butter. Then place on medium heat. Cook and stir 12 minutes after it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Then stir in walnuts and coconut. Beat until thick enough to spread. Let cool in fridge for stiffer frosting.


Ginger Snaps

These ginger snaps are actually soft and delightful, so maybe they aren’t technically snappy. But they’re amazing for Christmas. This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Stephanie’s family, and they are always a delightful spiced addition to any cookie plate.

If you’re making this one gluten free, I haven’t tried it yet. But all the ingredients except the flour are naturally gluten free, so I’ll just try swapping out gluten free flour for regular flour.

Ginger Snaps

  • Servings: haha, a lot?
  • Difficulty: medium
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Soft, full of spices, and perfect for Christmas.

Ingredients

  • 3 c. Sugar
  • ¾ c. Butter
  • 1 ½ Shortening
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¾ c. Molasses
  • 5 c. Flour (or gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
  • 4 ½ tsp. Baking Soda
  • 3 tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1 ½ tsp. Salt
  • 1 ½ tsp. Ginger
  • 1 ½ tsp. Allspice

Directions

Beat sugar, butter, shortening, eggs, and molasses. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Roll into balls and drop into sugar. Bake on greased cookie sheets at 350° for 10 minutes.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s the king of cookies: Chocolate Chip. Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a warm chocolate chip cookie. Or as my brother and I say, “Mm, cookie goo.” Haha. Of course room temperature cookies are also great, but warm cookies are Homer-Simpson-drool-inducing. Most standard chocolate chip cookie recipes are basically the same, but this one seems to have more butter than some–it’s just the recipe off the back of the Ghirardelli bag with an extra 1/4 c. flour, but boy is it delicious.

If you’re making this one gluten free, you may want to add a little extra cup for cup flour and cook it a little longer. I did make these cookies gluten free once, and they got pretty flat. They were delicious and I froze the extras, but they were a little flat. I may also want to try making big scoops and getting them nice and cold in the fridge beforehand so they hold their shape better. Oh, also, if you’re getting chocolate chips out of a giant bag, just be careful that you haven’t contaminated it with a flour-covered measuring cup from previous uses. You’re always safe to use a new bag instead.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Servings: 4 dozen
  • Difficulty: medium
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Buttery and heavenly.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. Butter, softened
  • ¾ c. Sugar
  • ¾ c. Brown Sugar, packed
  • 2 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 large Eggs
  • 2 1/2 c. Flour (or gluten free flour with xanthan gum, plus maybe a little extra)
  • 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • 2 c. Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color (about  4 minutes). Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend flour, baking soda, and salt into creamed mix. Stir in chocolate chips. For cookies that hold their shape better, refrigerate at least half an hour. Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet or Silpat. Bake for 9-11 minutes at 375° or until golden brown. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

 


 

Congo Bars

Not sure why these are called Congo Bars, but they’re basically slightly gooey chocolate chip cookie bars–and we always begged my mom for them when we were kids. Although, the last time I made them, they didn’t seem sweet enough. Maybe I’ll try the recipe again and update it. In any event, I have many fond memories of these treats.

I haven’t tried making these gluten free yet, but I’d just swap out cup for cup gluten free flour for the regular flour.

Congo Bars

  • Servings: 12?
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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A delicious cookie bar.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. Shortening, melted
  • 1 1/3 c. Sugar
  • 1 1/3 c. Brown Sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 1/4 c. Flour
  • 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp. Salt (heaping)
  • 12 oz. pkg. Chocolate Chips

Directions

Melt shortening. Combine with sugars and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Add eggs to cooled sugar mixture. Mix well and add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Spread in greased oblong cake pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

 


 

Dump Cake

Dump cake is the go-to, easy dessert when camping (haha, besides s’mores, naturally). Of course it’s called a dump cake because you basically just dump everything into the pot and let it bake. I’ve made this in a regular pot in the oven, as well as a Dutch oven over coals. Whatever you prefer, it’s going to be delicious.

Man, I made this gluten free once and it turned out really weird and rubbery. Maybe it was just the specific cake mix I used, but it was not pleasant. Maybe I’ll try it again later with a different cake mix.

Dump Cake

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
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An easy and delicious dessert, perfect for camping.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cake Mix (or gluten free cake mix)
  • 1 can Pie Filling
  • 1 can Sprite
  • ½ c. Butter, melted

Directions

Make using a conventional oven or Dutch oven. For Dutch oven, use 12”. Place foil in Dutch oven or pot if baking in conventional oven, and spray foil with cooking spray. Place pie filling in bottom, then sprinkle cake mix on top. Pour Sprite over all. For Dutch oven, cover and place 15 coals on top and 9 on bottom. Turn lid ¼ turn every 12 minutes, for 45 minutes total cooking. For conventional oven, don’t cover. Bake at 350° for 45+ minutes until golden. During the last 5 minutes, pour melted butter over top. Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream.