PI (Pie) Day Wednesday March 14th with Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings

Lucky Leaf is honoring "Pie Day".

Hop on over to their FaceBook page and click on their Easy-As-Pie tab for helpful tips and hints today!

Click link here:

Lucky Leaf Face Book Page

Happy Cooking!

Enjoy!

Holiday Cherry Cheesecake With Lucky Leaf Pie Filling

Here is my favorite cheesecake recipe. To make it fancy like this one all you need is some extra creamy whip cream and some Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings of your choice. They have the best flavor with the most fruit packed into the can! I recommend this brand it's thicker and works better for all your baking needs.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/3 cup margarine or butter, melted

1-1/4 cups sugar, divided

3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

2 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1 can (21 oz.) Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350°F if using a silver 8- or 9-inch springform pan (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 8- or 9-inch springform pan). Mix graham cracker crumbs, margarine and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Press firmly onto bottom and 2-1/2 inches up side of pan; set aside.

BEAT cream cheese and the remaining 1 cup sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour into crust.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Turn oven off. Open oven door slightly. Let cheesecake set in oven 1 hour. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Loosen cheesecake from rim of pan; remove rim. Top cheesecake with pie filling just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Happy Baking ;)

Chewy Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies By Britt's Brother's Mothers Cookies!

I have the opportunity to share a wonderful new product that just hit the market going a hundred miles an hour and has no signs of slowing down!

Britt's Brother's Mother's Cookies

My box was hand delivered to my door today! I was so excited. We tasted and tasted. Had to grab a glass of milk! The cookies are large enough to share but did we? No! We all ate our entire cookie!

Britt's Brother's Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies are "Amazing"....."Great!".... "Lalicious".... "Yummy!" All quotes from my Daughter Chloe', Son Jack and their Friend Ariana while they were testing out these huge chocolate chip cookies filled pieces of heaven.

In or around 1988 Cherri Detkowski (the baker) needed a new oven. She went to the appliance store to find one. The Salesman asked what she was looking for. Her response was "something that will bake cookies" for she was having a hard time baking Chocolate Chip Cookies. The Salesman said I have the oven for you a Gagganeau (a German brand appliance). She said as long as it bakes cookies and the price was right. He said this is the oven for you.

Cherri baked a batch of cookies in her new Gagganeau oven and she was shocked how amazing the cookies turned out. They were perfect. She was amazed how the right oven made a difference! She continued to bake from then on.

While Cherri's Children Brittney and Rick were in school Cherri would bake these cookies for all the Football and Sports parties after the games. Brittney and Rick's Friends would load up the pockets of their hoodies and sneak them away because they couldn't get enough of them.

With the slow economy and needing extra income Cherri's kids said "Mom you need to sell your cookies!" She finally gave in. Now her famous Chocolate Chip Cookies are on the market and available for purchase. She has hit the ground running.

Rick, Cherri's Son put a post on Face Book that the cookies would be coming in the Fall, the first day they received hundred's of hits! I do have to say I was one of them. They have arrived!

Britt's Brother's Mother's Cookies are huge, chewy, gooey and loaded with tons of chocolate chips. All homemade no preservatives.

She bakes them fresh for each order and sends them out within 12 hours of baking. Packed in a gorgeous gift box for giving. Each bag is sealed with six cookies in each, packed with tissue and a gift card personalized for gift giving.

Britt's Brother's Mom's Cookies are great for gifts for the Holidays or anytime. The product and packaging are all first class and anyone receiving some will be so impressed as well as happy after they try one.

Here is the price list for Cherri's Premium Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 Dozen (boxed) $22.00

1/2 Dozen (boxed) $11.50

Singles (wrapped) $2.00

Mini-Mother's (wrapped) $1.00

Party Trays Available Also

Call or email to order:

Britt's Brother's Mother's Cookies

(248) 625-6737

bbmcookies@yahoo.com

Happy Cookie Eating!

Pumpkin Pie Tarts With Maple Glaze

Written by my friend Rico Cunningham

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I wanted to tell you guys about one of my favorite Thanksgiving dinner traditions. Since before I can remember, my mom has baked pumpkin pies for our entire family to enjoy. The thing I love the most about the pumpkin pies she bakes is that they aren't overly sweet like the kind you find from most places. You can actually taste the true flavor of the pumpkin. Maybe it's because I grew up on it, but outside of the ones my mom makes, I have difficulty eating pumpkin pie. Most of them are just too sweet for my liking.

Each year my mom bakes about four to six pies depending on how many of my extended family members decide to visit for the holidays. My family holds a Thanksgiving feast every year at our house in Jacksonville. The rest of the dinner is your garden variety Thanksgiving meal with a turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cornbread and cranberries. While most of my family stuffs their faces on that stuff, I save plenty of room for dessert. After I have my fill of pumpkin pie, I always end up plopping onto the couch and watching some Directtv. Sometimes I even get a second wind and can even grab another slice a few hours later. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts with Maple Glaze by: Joy The Baker

makes 9 tarts

crust recipe from King Arthur Flour

For the Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

1 large egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 large egg (for brushing the dough)

For the Filling:

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1 large egg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Maple Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons milk

To prepare the Crust:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and break it up in the flour mixture using your fingers, a pastry cutter or a food processor. There may seem like there’s a ton of butter in your flour. There is. Work it in until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture. The mixture should also hold together when squeezed into a ball.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and stir to make sure that moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean counter with flour and knead the dough on the floured counter for a few turns until it really starts to come together. Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. I find that the dough is just a bit easier to work with when it’s chilled.

While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling:

In a small sauce pan, heat pumpkin puree and spices over medium heat. Just heat through until the spices become fragrant. This helps to bring loads of flavor into the filling. Remove from heat and place spiced pumpkin in a medium sized bowl. Whisk in egg, salt and sugar and place in the fridge to rest while you roll out the dough.

On a well floured work surface, press dough into a 3×5-inch rectangle, roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. The dough should be slightly larger than 9×12-inches. Trim dough with a pizza cutter, creating a rectangle that is 9-inches tall and 12-inches long. Using the pizza cutter, cut each side into thirds, creating 9 squares. Place dough squares in the fridge while you roll out the second piece of dough in the same way.

Brush one set of 9 squares with beaten egg. This will act as the glue for the top layer of dough. Spoon about one tablespoon of pie filling into the center of each brushed dough square. Top with a piece of dough and use a floured fork to crimp the sides closed. Use the tines of the fork to create vent holes in each tart.

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Let tarts rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.

Remove tarts from the fridge and place in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

While the tarts bake, whisk together ingredients for the glaze and set aside.

Let baked tarts rest on a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing. Best served within 2 days.

Recipe by: Joy The Baker

Happy Baking ;)

Summer is over, Fall is here German Chocolate Cake

Summer is over, Fall is here

Guest post of the week by Darrin Avery

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Summer vacation is long gone and everyone in the family is looking for an opportunity to relax and enjoy an old fashioned meal. Thanksgiving fits the bill. For our family, Thanksgiving has always meant the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings. When my mother was living that dinner included a pot of perfectly seasoned southern greens from her garden; and a beautiful and delicious German chocolate cake.

We still enjoy a great meal, but we miss my mom dearly. After the meal, the family usually settles down to do something relaxing. Having satellite television from http://www.directstartv.com/localchannels/Kansas/ means that we have a ton of channels from which to choose, so we flip through football games and parades until we find something that suits the family--or I should say what suits my husband since he is captain of the remote. However the best part of Thanksgiving is that we are together as a family one more time. Of course with Black Friday sales starting so early these days, the family togetherness will give way to hunting for those special bargains for that next big family holiday! Stay tuned . . .

German Chocolate Cake

One big, tall 9-inch cake; about 16 servings

For the cake:
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons water
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cup + ¼ cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 ounces butter, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted

For the syrup:
1 cup water
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum

For the chocolate icing:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 ½ ounces unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream

1. Butter two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Melt both chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water. Use either a double-boiler or a microwave. Stir until smooth, then set aside until room temperature.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and 1 ¼ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

6. In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft, droopy peaks. Beat in the ¼ cup of sugar until stiff.

7. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible.

8. Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cake layers completely.

While the cakes are baking and cooling, make the filling, syrup, and icing.

To make the filling:

1. Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the 3 ounces butter, salt, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large bowl.

2. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.)

3. Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (It will thicken.)

To make the syrup:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum.

To make the icing:

1. Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.

2. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature.

To assemble the cake:

Remove the cake layers from the pans and cut both cake layers in half horizontally, using a serrated bread knife.
Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.

Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, then spreading ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.

Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping.

(It may seem like a lot of chocolate icing, but use it all. Trust me. You won’t be sorry.)

Happy Baking ;)