Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Last week we had some dear friends over for dinner. We split up the dinner responsibilities and decided that ice cream would be the perfect choice for dessert. I decided to make two different kinds of ice cream and this was one of them.

I have been holding onto this recipe since last fall because you can't make cherry ice cream without fresh cherries. Summer was the only logical time for me to make this ice cream. This is a no-custard needed ice cream, so it is fairly easy to mix up.

I didn't get to taste it because I am not eating sugar at all this month, but my daughters each had a small spoonful right after it was done churning and they declared it delicious. It might have something to do with the beautiful pinkish color of the ice cream, but I'm pretty sure it is mostly the flavor. :)

Have a good weekend!

Here is the recipe for Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
* I used semisweet chocolate
* I didn't add the Amaretto, but added 1 1/2 tsps of pure vanilla extract

Cherry-Lime Cups

I made these little dessert cups almost 2 months ago and somehow they just haven't had their time to shine yet. I made them for no reason really, just because I saw them in an issue of EveryDay Food Magazine and they looked interesting and I had extra egg yolks I was trying to use up.
They consist of a tart-like crust, a simple lime filling and fresh cherries. I made my husband take them to work and they received rave reviews.

Cherry-Lime Cups
from June 2011 issue of Everyday Food Magazine

for the crust:
7 Tbls cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces + more for the muffin pan
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

for the filling:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tbls all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 1 Tbls fresh lime juice (from 3 limes)
1/4 tsp coarse salt
9 cherries, halved and pitted

1. Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter six standard muffins cups. In a food processor, process butter, flour, sugar, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yolks and vanilla and process until dough comes together when pressed (dough will be crumbly).

2. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll each into a ball and place in a muffin cup, pressing evenly into bottom and up sides. Place a paper cupcake liner into each muffin cup over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are dry, 15 minutes. Carefully remove liners and weights; bake until crusts are dry and barely golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, sugar, lime juice, and salt. Place 3 cherry halves into each crust and divide filling among each. Bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes. With the tip of a knife or a small offset spatula, remove cups from pan. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (To store, refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day.)

Fresh Cherry Tart

I am not a big fan of cooked fruit in desserts.
I prefer to eat my fruit fresh, especially in the summertime.

I wanted to make a dessert for the 4th of July and really wanted to use sweet cherries, since they were ripe and at a great price.
My husband loves cherry pie, but I just couldn't bring myself to cook these beauties. They were so sweet and delicious.

I searched for a way to serve them fresh in a dessert that would let them shine in all their beauty.

I found the perfect recipe in this Fresh Cherry Tart.

It has a basic graham cracker crust and then a cheesecake-like filling, that doesn't require any baking time.
The cherries are pitted and halved, then glazed with a small amount of thinned jam.

This tart was absolutely perfect. Crowd pleaser, beautiful and delicious.

Recipe for Fresh Cherry Tart
* the 1/4 cup sugar that you add to the filling is missing from the ingredient list, but in the instructions it tells you when to add it

Wheat Berry Salad with Lemon-Cumin Tuna

I bought some wheat berries a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to try this recipe that was in Ellie Krieger's So Easy.

I took this salad to a family dinner and was really hoping that there would be leftovers for me to eat the rest of the week for lunch.
Everyone tried it and most people liked it.
Wheat berries are really chewy, so you definitely get a chewing workout. They also require quite a bit of cooking time, but I read the recipe thoroughly in advance so I knew how much time they would need.

Once again, I wasn't sure how the dried cherries would work with everything else, but they added just the right amount of sweetness and tartness with each bite.
I used canned tuna instead of chicken to top the salad and modified the lemon-cumin dressing to work with the tuna.

I really love having this type of salad for lunch during the week. Filling, nutritious and so good.


Recipe for Wheat Berry Salad
Ellie changed this up in her new book and served it on a bed of spinach leaves
* I added a can of drained, rinsed chickpeas
* I used pecans instead of walnuts
* I mixed 2 cans of tuna with lemon juice, a little olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps cumin, salt & pepper and then mixed that into the wheat berry mixture

A Variety of Mini Scones

On Mother's Day, we had a brunch and program for all the women at church. When we were discussing the menu, we decided to keep it simple. I suggested scones and volunteered to make a few varieties.
I apologize for the bad photos, but they were taken in a rush, on my way out the door to church.

I made a few recipes that I have made before- like these rhubarb and cranberry ones (Yes, I had one last bag of cranberries in the freezer that I used). And I tried a couple new recipes, like the Cherry Chocolate Scones and the Ginger Scones- both were very popular.

I also made a gluten-free scone, but used a gluten free mix and just had to add butter, buttermilk, dried blueberries and lime zest.
I used the Pioneer Womans' directions found in this post, to cut all my scones into minis, making them all much more figure friendly. Each recipe yielded about 30 or so mini-scones.
I also shaped and froze most of the scones ahead of time and just baked them straight from the freezer (just add a few minutes to the baking time)- a tip that Bridget shared on one of her posts about scones.

Recipe for Cherry Chocolate Scones
* I used milk chocolate chips
* I made a glaze with half&half and powdered sugar for these scones

Recipe for Ginger Scones
* I used milk, powdered sugar and ground ginger for the glaze

Recipe for Rhubarb Scones
* I used fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar for the glaze

Recipe for the Cranberry Scones
* this time I left out the egg yolk and used 3/4 cup buttermilk instead of heavy cream
the scones were much easier to shape because the dough wasn't as wet
* I used fresh orange juice, zest and powdered sugar for the glaze

Rainier Cherry Crumble and Vanilla Ice Cream- Philadelphia Style

My daughter loves fruit.
Recently, she has been begging for these beauties- Rainier Cherries.
They are a little expensive, but I like it that she wants healthy foods, and I saw a buy 1, get 1 free sale, so we got 2 containers.

There was a recipe in the July issue of Cooking Light for Rainier Cherry Crumble. In the back of the magazine, at the bottom of the index, there is a little section where the magazine lists the "Greatest Hits" of that particular issue. The Rainier Cherry Crumble was a greatest hit, so I went for it.

I decided that since there are just 2 adults and 3 kids at our house, we really didn't need the full crumble, so I made 1/4 of the recipe. I also had these really cute mini dishes I wanted to use, so making a smaller amount worked perfectly.

Well, if you are having a warm fruit dessert in the summer- you have to have vanilla ice cream, right? (I love my vanilla beans)
I unpacked my ice cream maker, and remembered a great post by Nancy about David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream-Philadelphia Style- which means, no egg yolks involved. You steep the vanilla bean in the cream, meanwhile dissolving the sugar, and then it cools in the fridge for awhile. 30 minutes later, you have this stuff.

One of the other great things about this recipe, is that you don't add any sugar to the filling- just a little cornstarch and fresh lemon juice.

Sometimes warm fruit desserts, like crisps, cobblers and crumbles are too sweet for me. This one was perfect. The cherry filling was slightly tart, with the topping adding the perfect amount of sweet and crunch. The ice cream was fabulous. I used some of the leftover ice cream to make root beer floats- Yum!

The ice cream recipe says that you can use either all cream or a mixture of cream and whole milk, which is what I used.

I highly recommend both the crumble and the ice cream.

My husband ate an entire little pink dish full, so the kids and I split the other one 4 ways.
I figure eating 1/16th of a Cooking Light recipe really can't do that much damage. I hope.
And if it does, it was worth it.




Nancy's post about this ice cream

Recipe for Rainier Cherry Crumble

Please locate the recipe for David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream-Philadelphia Style here

Tuesdays with Dorie-Lenox Almond Biscotti and Macadamia, Lime, and Dried Cherry Biscotti

This week's recipe was chosen by Gretchen of Canela & Comino. Check out her blog for the recipe or go to NPR where this recipe is posted. But really you should just be able to turn to page 141 of Dorie's Baking from my home to yours, because I know you all realize by now that you should own this book! Don't the goodies look good? Well, they are, and if you don't have this Cookbook you are seriously missing out, in my opinion.
A couple of weeks ago I saw a beautiful picture of biscotti on Steph's blog, A Whisk and A Spoon. She made some beautiful Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti and put them in a glass cup with a ribbon. So, I copied her idea.Mine didn't turn out nearly as cute as hers, but it was the best I could come up with. At least I am giving her the credit right? What really happened to these biscotti, both batches, was that they got packed up really tight and were shipped to a lucky soldier for Operation Baking GALS. I figured that since biscotti are already crisp, it wouldn't matter if they sat in the mail for a week or two. Hope they tasted good!

I made 2 batches. The first was plain, Lenox Almond Biscotti and the second were Macadamia, Lime, and Dried Cherry Biscotti. I only kept the very ends, so we really didn't get to taste too much of these. Out of the scraps that we tasted though, the Macadamia version were much more popular. These turned out rather flat, but I think that is because I didn't shape the logs into precisely the measurements that Dorie suggested. I got close enough and decided that was fine.

I had to bake them for longer than suggested, but other than that, this was a pretty simple recipe. To see all the other gorgeous Biscotti, check out the Tuesday's with Dorie Blogroll! Coming up next week-Pumpkin Muffins, yum!

Cherry Pistachio Wedding Cookies

These cookies were on my "want to make" list for quite a while. I just couldn't seem to fit them in anywhere. But, then my younger sister came to visit and asked if there were any treats. I took that as an invite to whip these up!
I was a tad bit skeptical because I wasn't sure how this cookie was going to hold together and how it would taste since it was light. But they baked up perfectly and were absolutely fabulous. I will make these again, because they are quick and easy and taste really great. I am thinking that maybe I will add them to my holiday treat making (Yes, I am already thinking about it!)





Cherry-Pistachio Wedding Cookies from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups cake flour (about 6 ounces)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

3 teaspoons ice water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried tart cherries

1/4 cup finely chopped salted dry-roasted pistachios

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.2. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine.

2. With food processor on, add butter through food chute a few pieces at a time; process 1 minute or until mixture is the texture of sand.

3. Combine 3 teaspoons ice water and vanilla in a small bowl. With food processor on, slowly add ice water mixture through food chute; process 1 minute or until very well combined. (Mixture will remain crumbly.) Add cherries and pistachios; pulse 10 times or just until combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl. (Mixture will be crumbly.) Gently press mixture into a level tablespoon; pack lightly with the heel of your hand. Turn out onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining dough to form 32 cookies.

4. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or just until bottoms are golden. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes on baking sheet.

5. Place remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add cooled cookies; toss gently to coat with powdered sugar. Transfer cookies to wax paper to cool completely.

TWD- Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler with Mango-Banana Frozen Yogurt

This week's pick was chosen by Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake. Check her blog for the recipe. I like rhubarb and have eaten it since I was little, so I had no problem there. Cherries, well I like them too. Cobbler isn't my favorite dessert, but I was willing to give it a try. We have rhubarb growing in the garden and tons of frozen Bing cherries from my grandpas cherry trees, so I was ready to go. Then the oven died. It has been throwing fits alot lately, not wanting to light the pilot light, and usually I can fix it, by timing it just right and lightly a long match, sticking it under the bottom of the oven and somehow lighting it. But, this time, it wouldn't work. I was making cookies at the time, and we had to take the oven apart. To make a long story short, we didn't fix it. I waited until the last minute on this one and then, I happened to open the latest issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray (I knew all those magazine subscriptions would pay off someday) and saw a feature on how to make cobbler on the grill. SO-problem solved. I got out a cast iron skillet, followed the recipe to a tee, and then tried to get the gazillion year old grill hot enough to bake something. I covered that thing with foil and, after 1 1/2 hours, ta-da! It worked! There was a bit of a smoky grill flavor, so I will have to try this again, when the oven is fixed, but at least I know it is possible. I also threw together some great Frozen Yogurt (check it out below). Go check out everyone else's take on this cobbler by checking out the TWD blogroll.