Desserts Archives ⋆ Page 32 of 33 ⋆ Books n' Cooks

White Wine & Cardamon Poached Pears

I’d been poking through several cookbooks, looking for an interesting recipe to try out for Thanksgiving (my family never did the traditional pumpkin or pecan pies). I stumbled across one recipe for Red Wine Pears in Williams Sonoma’s Cooking for Friends (p. 206).

So, I decided to give poached pears a try, but with a twist – white wine (my preference) and with cardamom, a relatively new spice for me. I learned about it a couple years ago, when we first made a Cranberry Pear Tart (now a Thanksgiving staple when I go home for the holiday) but otherwise haven’t come across it in many recipes. I’m on a bit of a crusade this season, to experiment with this new spice, beginning with Cardamom White Hot Cocoa, and now, White Wine & Cardamon Poached Pears, served with a White Chocolate Cardamom Sauce.

Thanks to S. for filling in when my camera died on Thanksgiving.

White Wine & Cardamon Poached Pears

Created by Me!

Ingredients:

6 pears – ripe, pealed, halved and cored
1 c. water
3 c. Chardonnay or other dry white wine
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp. ground cardamom

Combine water, wine, sugar, vanilla bean (split open with seeds scraped into the pot) and cardamom in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.

Add pears to water and wine mixture. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to low. Cover and allow pears to simmer until pears are soft and tender, about 25 minutes. Be sure to stir pears, flipping them, and occasionally basting pears with the sauce.

When pears are soft, move them to a bowl.

For the final time, bring the water and wine mixture to a boil, boiling until sauce has reduced to about a cup and a syrup has formed, approximately 10 minutes. Pour over pears and refrigerate at least 3 hours (or up to overnight) before serving.

Transfer pears (without the syrup) to a serving bowl. Serve cold or at room temperature.

White Chocolate Cardamom Sauce

Created by Me!

Ingredients:

6 oz. good-quality white chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. half and half
1 tsp. ground cardamom

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until combined.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Pour over poached pears or the dessert of your choice.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

A friend made this recipe a couple years ago, my first ever pecan pie. Now that I’m in charge of Thanksgiving desserts, I figured we’d gift it a whirl for myself. The pie was good – it was all gone!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Adapted from: Betty Crocker

Ingredients for the Crust:

* 1 c. all-purpose flour
* 1/4 tsp. table salt
* 1/3 c. plus 1 Tbs. shortening
* 2-3 Tbs. cold water

Ingredients for the Pecan Filling:

* 2/3 c. sugar
* 1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted (I used 1/4 c. unsalted butter, see note below)
* 1 c. corn syrup
* 2 Tbs. bourbon (optional)
* 1/2 tsp. table salt
* 3 eggs
* 1 c. pecan halves or broken pieces
* 1 c. (or 1 6 oz. bag) semisweet chocolate chips

Note: Betty Crocker says you can decrease the butter to 1/4 a cup and the pecans to only 1/2 a cup if you wanted to make this recipe a bit healthier. Nutrition information, compliments of Betty Crocker, is based on full portions of both ingredients.

Make the Crust:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Combine flour and salt. Then, using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until combined. The mixture will be slightly lumpy.

Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, “tossing” with a fork after each addition. The dough should be moist and will leave the sides of the bowl. If necessary, add an extra teaspoon of water.

Lightly flour the countertop. Pull dough into a ball and flatten on the prepared counter. The directions said to….. Roll the dough into a circle that is 2 inches larger than the upside-down pie plate (about 9 inches around) and then transfer to pie plate. Press dough against the bottom and sides. Leave a 1-inch overhang around the pie plate, and trim the rest off. Fold or roll the 1-inch overhang so that the dough is even with the plate….

But I had trouble rolling the dough, so instead flattened it as much as possible with my hand, and then manually fitted dough to the pie plate. It wasn’t the prettiest pie crust, but it was still nice and flaky, and was actually my favorite part!

Set the pie crust aside (nope, don’t bake yet!)

Make the Filling:

In another bowl, beat the butter, sugar, corn syrup, bourbon, salt and eggs until combined.

With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour filling into prepared pie crust.

Cover edge of pie with a 2-3 inch strop of foil to prevent burning. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until pie is set. Remove the foil after about 30 minutes of baking.

Let the pie cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until chilled, before serving.

Amazing Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Bright cranberry and white chocolate flavors and a dough sweetened with coconut flakes make this oatmeal cookie stand out above many others.

Let’s talk about Thanksgiving traditions, shall we? Are you Team Pumpkin or Team Pecan? Me? I grew up in a house on Team Cranberry. There was never a Pumpkin or Pecan Pie on the dessert table unless a guest brought it over. Instead, we gravitated toward wonderful fall cranberries, with a Cranberry Pear Tart always sitting in the center of our holiday table.

Alongside that tart were these cookies, which are so delicious that we enjoy them all year round. These Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies stand out from the typical oatmeal cookie, as the coconut flakes, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries create a sweeter cookie than the standard oatmeal cookie. And the best part? They freeze incredibly well (I actually prefer them a bit frozen) and are still soft and chewy after freezing. The trick is to hide them in the back of the freezer, behind the frozen vegetables, so that they don’t disappear when you’re not looking. 😉

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Bright cranberry and white chocolate flavors and a dough sweetened with coconut flakes make this oatmeal cookie stand out above many others.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Liz

Ingredients

12 Tbs. 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar packed
1 Tbs. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c. cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/2 c. sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. sweetened coconut flakes
3 1/2 oz. white chocolate coarsely chopped
1/2 c. pecan coarsely chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add egg, corn syrup, and vanilla. Beat until combined.
With the mixer running, mix in all-purpose flour, cake flour, salt, and baking soda, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
Using a sturdy spoon or spatula (I like my silicon spatula), stir in the bowl of coconut, white chocolate, cranberries, oatmeal, and pecans.
Using a 1-inch ice cream scoop, portion out cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are golden and top of the cookie is dry but still soft.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Recipe Notes:

Fine Cooking recommends you lightly toast the coconut flakes and pecan pieces. I never do — too lazy!
These cookies store well in the freezer for 2-3 months.

This recipe was adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine No. 74, p.73 but is also found online here.

This post was updated in March 2018.

Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Dec 2009 Update: So very sorry to all my readers! A friend pointed out a typo in this recipe in the amount of flour used. The correct amount is 2 1/4 cups of flour!

Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from Ocean Spray

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. confectioner’s sugar
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. dried cranberries
1 c. white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 F and prepare a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.

Cream together butter and confectioner’s sugar, until light and fluffy.

Gradually add flour, beating until combined. Dough will be a bit crumbly looking.

Stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Gather dough into small balls, using a 1/8 measuring scoop for guidance. Roll dough together.

Put dough onto baking sheet and press down slightly.

Bake for 14 minutes (less if you pressed the cookies fairly flat). Let sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two before moving to a wire rack to cool, as cookies will be very soft.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or an afternoon coffee. 🙂

Bailey’s Icing (for Chocolate Cupcakes)

This idea came from Annie’s Guinness and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes. However, since we had some little kids over, I needed to make sure there were some cupcakes for them. Sooo… boxed chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing on some, and Bailey’s Icing on others.

This recipe is supposed to be enough for 24 cupcakes… I made 2/3 of the recipe and had lots left over, so I’d recommend downsizing the icing, even for 24 cupcakes.

Bailey’s Icing

Source: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes (p. 214)

Ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter
1 lb. (4 c.) confectioners’ sugar
3 Tbs. Bailey’s Irish Cream liquer
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

With an electric mixer, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth.

Reduce speed and add confectioners’ sugar one cup at a time. Beat well after each addition, increasing the speed as you go. You’ll beat for about 5 minutes total.

Add Baileys and vanilla until smooth.

Keeps for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge (bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth before serving).