Posts Tagged ‘quick and easy desserts’

Simple Cherry Clafoutis

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

cherry-claufouti-slice

This is a classic French dessert, so easy and so delicious.  Take advantage of all the beautiful fresh stone fruits and berries available now and make this lovely dish.  The recipe is a variation of the recipe from Chef John at Foodwishes.com.  I’ve added 1 Tbsp of butter, almond essence and a pinch of cinnamon to the batter.  The batter is like pancake batter with less flour to produce  a spongy custard around the fruit.  Traditionally, the pits are left in the cherries.  If you don’t pit the cherries, be sure to tell everyone about the pits.  Try this with apricots, apples, nectarines, peaches or figs for the perfect light ending to a great meal anytime of the year.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh bing cherries
  • 3 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter
  • pinch of salt

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Butter a 9-inch pie plate.  Wash and remove stems from cherries.
  2. Place remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined. 
  3. Pour a cup of batter into the prepared pie plate.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.
  4. Place cherries over batter and pour remaining batter over cherries.
  5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top is brown and edges begin to pull away from side of pan.
  6. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.  May be served with a dollop of thick Greek yogurt or sweetened creme fraiche.

cherry-claufouti2

5 more minutes to bake but its looking good.

Pound Cake and Chocolate Ricotta Pudding with Raspberry Sauce

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

Pound Cake on Foodistapound cake slicesWhen you need a quick dessert for a summer dinner, try this one using a homemade or store bought pound cake and a jar of homemade or store bought raspberry jam.  Start with a puddle of chocolate raspberry sauce, place the pound cake in the puddle, imbibe it with Amaretto liqueur, add a nice big scoop of chocolate pudding made with ricotta cheese, and top it with whipped cream and shaved almonds.  You can change the sauce and the liqueur, add your favorite nuts and coconut flakes, or just a dollop of whipped cream to make it your own creation.  The whole family will love this one. 

Chocolate Ricotta Pudding

Mix together in a bowl until smooth

  • 15 oz. ricotta cheese, pressed through a fine-mesh sieve
  • 1 oz. square bittersweet chocolate, grated
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp almond extract

Raspberry Sauce

Cook and stir over medium heat until sauce thickens:

  • 1/4 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
  • 1/2 cup water with 1 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Assembly:

  1. Spoon 2 – 3 Tbsp of sauce onto individual serving plates.
  2. Place 1 slice of pound cake on sauce.  Drizzle 1 Tbsp of Amaretto over cake.
  3. Top with large spoonful of pudding.
  4. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls and/or almonds