DESSERTS AND BAKED GOODS

Any of these dessert recipes that call for butter should be made with unsalted butter. It is best to use it in all cooking, to better control the saltiness of the food.

• Cream together: ¾ cup of sugar, 1 ½ tablespoons butter, 2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest.
• Next, add 2 or 3 egg yolks (depending on egg size) and beat well with a whisk.
• Stir in 3 tablespoons flour alternately with ¼ cup of lemon juice and 1 cup of milk.

• Beat 2 or 3 egg whites with a small pinch of salt until stiff.
• Mix about 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg white into the mixture and stir with a whisk; carefully fold in the rest with a spatula.

Butter a 7” souffle dish or custard cups, fill and place in a baking pan with hot water to at least half way up the baking dish sides. Put into a pre-heated 350° oven and bake for 45 minutes for cups and 1 hour for the dish, or until set. In the baking process the cake will form on top, with a custard layer beneath.

Do not allow the water in the pan to boil, add a little ice if it does. Serve hot or at room temperature.

This dessert can be flavored with orange or lime, etc. instead of lemon. A good one is made with “nectar”, which in New Orleans is almond extract and vanilla mixed (or use orgeat if you can find it).

CC found this recipe in the old Joy of Cooking and made it often.

Cut the peeled bananas in half widthwise, then again in half lengthwise. Saute in butter until the edges begin to brown, then add brown sugar, more butter and rum (be careful) off the fire. Ignite the rum and serve, accompanied with vanilla ice cream.

There are as many recipes for bread pudding as there are cooks who are all trying to make the definitive one. The greatest is the bread pudding souffle that was invented for Commander’s restaurant. But that’s beyond this collection - we never made it. This recipe is just the basics, and you can invent your own embellishments.

We use the method that most local folks used, and that is to layer slices of stale bread (usually the old French loaf that was much wider than the poor boy loaf) in a buttered soufflè dish, then pour the custard mix over it. Use enough custard to cover the top layer, let it soak, then top it off.

Raisins, pecans, fruit or whatever can be added while building the layers. Place small pieces of butter all over the top. Place the dish in a pan of hot water, but do not let the water boil, if it does, add a few ice cubes. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour in a 350° oven, or until the top is puffed and well browned.

The custard mix is made with one large egg and 1/4 cup of sugar (or to your taste) per cup of milk, along with vanilla and nutmeg and a pinch of salt.

Serve with hard sauce.

Since we often bought brioche to have at breakfast, we saved any leftovers in the freezer to use in making the bread pudding. Pannetone is super as an ingredient, but rather expensive. Brioche (or Challah) makes an elegant pudding, as does raisin bread.

(Fruit cake is excellent in a bread pudding. It is fashionable to throw it away, but about 1/3 chopped fruit cake and 2/3 bread does the trick.)

This is Mawmaw's recipe and it has been in the family forever: Make a simple syrup with 2 cups of sugar and ¼ cup of water. Take off the fire and add a stick of unsalted butter to melt, stirring to incorporate. Next, stir in ½ cup of Bourbon whiskey or Cognac. Serve warm.

Bread pudding is a good dessert to experiment with. Some of the variations we have done are: soak the raisins in cognac or bourbon well beforehand, and perhaps adding chopped or sliced fresh fruit – such as apples, pears, or peaches; pecans or other soft nuts; cooked dried fruits, etc. Sometimes a meringue is put on top after baking and colored under the broiler. One can fold beaten egg whites into the custard mix to lighten the texture.

King cakes were made with a brioche dough, which is a soft egg dough. It is difficult to handle, but gives delicious results. It is similar to challa bread. The king cakes sold commercially now are made with a cinnamon roll dough which is gummy in the center. These king cakes are unfortunately also are stuffed with cream cheese and all sorts of overly sweet chocolates and candies and glazed with nasty white icing. It is the quintessential junk food.

The only reasonable addition to the real king cake is chopped glaceed fruit or a sprinkle of colored sugar on the surface. The original was scented with saffron or anise. It was elegant simplicity.

If you have access to a good French cookbook, you can find several different kinds of king cakes (or Gateaux des Rois) to commemorate the Magi on Epiphany. Our custom of having king cake parties is a direct carryover from the French custom, little bisque doll and all.

“We thought you might like this recipe for King Cake sent to me by Esther Bartholomew, probably in the 1960's. I made King Cake only once, maybe from this recipe. Even in Houston now, good ones are available for purchase.” Barbara Bartholomew

• 1 package yeast
• 2 sticks butter
• 1/4 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs

Dissolve yeast in the water. Add enough flour to make a very soft ball of dough. Place the dough into a bowl of warm water, cover and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour. (The ball will sink at first to bottom, but later will float and be filled with bubbles-indicating that it has risen)

Cream the butter, sugar and salt and add to that the eggs, one at a time, beating in after each addition. Gradually stir in remaining flour. Beat hard until the mixture loses its stickiness. Remove half the risen dough from the water, add to flour mixture and continue beating. Add the remaining dough and continue mixing and beating. (The longer it is beaten, the finer the grain.)

Turn into a greased bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, 4 to 5 hours, then punch it down.

Place dough on a greased and floured baking sheet and shape it into a crown or ring (it helps if the dough is first shaped into a thick snake). Let it rise again for 1 hour, covered.

Brush with beaten egg and bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes. “A bean may be baked in the cake if desired.”

I took the liberty of tweaking this recipe a little. I changed “teaspoons” of sugar to “tablespoons”. It was more in line with the recipes for brioche in various books. You may want to try the original first.LC

“I especially remember one visit at the Bartholomews' when Aunt Margaret was there and they had a wonderful conversation, comparing notes about minute variations in ingredients and cooking processes for the rum cakes, each lobbying for her own methods. It's a memory I treasure of those two ladies together. The letter that accompanied this recipe is dated April '67.” Barbara Bartholomew

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 4 eggs
• 1 envelope of dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Sift flour into a large bowl, set aside. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water. (If it starts to foam after a few minutes it is live.) Add 5 tablespoons of the flour to the yeast to make a sponge.

Fill a bowl half-full of lukewarm water, cut the sponge in half and put both halves in the water, cover with a towel and wait until the sponge rises to the top of the water.

To the remainder of the flour add salt and sugar. Blend in the Crisco as for pie dough. Add 1/2 of the sponge and mix it in, then add the other half and do the same. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well until it is all incorporated.

Grease the muffin tins and put one tablespoon of dough in each. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 1 hour. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

Syrup:

• 3 cups sugar
• 4 1/2 cups water
• 15 drops Anise oil (If unavailable, try Ojen, Pernod, or other anise flavored liquors.
• 3 ounces rum or whiskey

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, let cook about 4 or 5 minutes, add the anise and rum.

Turn the cooked cakes into a large bowl or pan, and while hot, pour the hot syrup on them, tossing well. They will not absorb the syrup if cool.

This is a Julia Child recipe that we all liked. It is simple and elegant and can be served hot or cold. Apples, peeled and thinly sliced, can be substituted for the pears.

Peel, quarter and core 2 lbs. of pears, slice them and arrange in an 8” souffle dish smeared with 2 tablespoons of butter. Strain ¼ cup of apricot preserves, mix the liquid part with ¼ cup of white vermouth or wine and pour over the pears. Pulverize ½ cup of French macaroons (or any crisp cookies) and sprinkle over the top, dot with 3 tablespoons of butter in small bits. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 400°.

Maw-maw was very fond of sweets and this was one of her favorites. She would clean the granite top of the sideboard and spoon the praline mix on to it to cool. She also made fudge and taffy, but don’t even think about them-too much sugar.

2 ½ cups of sugar, 1 cup of half & half cream, 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 cups of pecan halves. In a heavy pan, combine 2 cups of sugar, the cream and butter, heat to boiling. In another saucepan, melt the ½ cup of sugar with a very little water until the sugar caramelizes to a light brown. Add the cream mix and the pecans to the caramel, cook to the soft ball stage (235° on a candy thermometer, or drop a bit into cold water and feel it). Remove from heat and beat until it thickens. Add a tablespoon of sherry and stir well.

Drop 3” circles onto waxed paper and let it harden.. It should not be hard and crisp, but sugary and rather soft, somewhat like fudge.

• 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips or bar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg – room temperature
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 ½ tablespoons cognac
• ¾ cup of rich cream, heated to boiling.

In a blender, pulverize the chocolate, add the other ingredients except the cream and mix well. Pour the boiling cream in while the machine is running and blend for 1 minute. Strain into the pots, custard cups or demi-tasse cups. Cover and chill overnight. May be topped with whipped cream.

• 1 teaspoon of gelatine, softened in 1 tablespoon of cold water,
• 2 tablespoons of boiling water to dissolve the gelatine,
• ½ cup of sugar
• ¼ cup of cocoa
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 cup of heavy cream.

Dissolve the softened gelatine in the hot water, stirring until there are no lumps. Mix the sugar, cocoa and vanilla with the gelatine and stir well. Let it cool. Beat the cream until it is firmly whipped, fold with the gelatine and cocoa mix. Put into cups or a bowl. Chill until set. Whipped cream may be used to top it. A teaspoon of Cognac added to the mix enriches the flavors.

Cook 1 diced apple per person. Melt 2 oz. butter in a frying pan, add the apple, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon and cook on a low fire until the apple is softened and somewhat caramelized. Roll or fold up into French style dessert crepes and serve 2 per person. Top with pan juices and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Cream is good on it. See Crepes.

See Sweet Crepes.

This is not difficult. Just be sure that you have the liqueurs on hand. Peel the orange zest only (no pith) from 4 large navel oranges and cut it into fine julienne. Put the zest in cold water to cover and just bring to a boil, quickly drain and rinse with cold water.

Melt 3 cups of sugar in 1 cup of water over low heat, add the zest and cook on medium for 10 minutes, cool and add ¼ cup of Cointreau and 2 teaspoons of Grenadine.

Remove the pith and membrane covering the flesh of the oranges. Cut the oranges in half and remove any seeds. Place , cut side down, in an appropriate dish and cover with the boiling syrup and zest. Let cool and serve at room temperature or chilled. They keep well in the refrigerator. Serve with a knife and fork.

This is the basic recipe.

• 4 eggs
• ¼ to ½ cup of sugar, up to you
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups of milk or half-and-half, scalded
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla.

Mix the eggs with the sugar, salt and vanilla; beat lightly and slowly add the milk, stirring well. Strain the mixture and pour into cups or a bowl. Put into a baking pan in a 325° oven and fill the baking pan with hot water to ¾ the height of the cups or bowl. Cook for 50 minutes or until a knife comes out of the custard clean. Be careful to not overcook and do not let the water boil, as that will curdle the custard. If it starts to make big boiling bubbles, put a couple of ice cubes in the water. Check it out every 10 minutes or so.

To make Creme Caramel: Heat ½ cup of sugar and a tablespoon of water in a skillet or heavy saucepan until it is smooth and takes on a very light caramel color. Do not stir as that causes granulation. Quickly spoon a tablespoonful into each empty cup and let it cool and harden. Pour the custard mix on top of the caramel and bake as above. Do not use a teflon skillet, one cannot see the color change.

This is from Maw Maw's recipe. She liked to make them at Christmas time.

• 3 tablespoons of light corn or cane syrup
• 6 tablespoons of Bourbon whiskey
• 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa
• A pinch of salt
• 1 cup of chopped pecans
• 2 ½ cups of vanilla wafer crumbs or other stale cookie crumbs
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• ½ cup of pecan meal.

Combine the first seven ingredients and mix well. On a sheet of waxed paper combine the sugar and pecan meal. Flour your hands and roll a tablespoon of the whiskey mix into a ball, roll the ball in the sugar and nut mix to coat it. Set aside on a rack to dry. Put them into a tightly covered container in layers separated by waxed paper and let them ripen for 3 or 4 days before using.

The difference in confectioners’ sugar and powdered sugar is that confectioners’ contains cornstarch. Do not use it in things like beverages.

This was another of Maw Maw’s favorite sweets. You can tell that this is an ancient recipe by its name. It would now be called refrigerator pie. This comes from her written recipe, but I believe that, even now, every can of Eagle brand condensed milk has the recipe on the label.

• Vanilla wafers – crumble enough to cover the bottom of a buttered 9” pie plate to about 1/4“ thickness and line the sides of the pan with whole wafers.
• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 4 eggs – separated
• 4 lemons.
• sugar

Grate the zest from 2 lemons and reserve. Juice the 4 lemons, strain and add the yolks and condensed milk, stir well. Pour carefully into the prepared pie plate.

Make a meringue: Whisk the egg whites until they are beginning to stiffen and add a small pinch of salt and a small pinch of cream of tartar. Slowly sprinkle in 4 tablespoons of sugar, whisk until stiff and holding peaks. Cover the pie with the meringue, being certain that it covers the tops of the cookies. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is browned on the peaks. Let it cool before chilling in the ice box. Sprinkle with the grated lemon zest before serving. Do not keep it in the fridge for more than a couple of hours. It weeps.

Both made with with a dough called pâte à choux. The dough is easier to make than it looks in the recipe. After making it successfully a couple of times, you will not hesitate to do other things, such as gougères, quenelles, etc. Check out the cookbooks.

• 1 cup of water
• 1 stick (1/4 lb.) of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of flour
• 4 eggs
• pinch of salt.

Combine the water, salt and butter and bring to a boil. When the water boils and the butter is melted, add the flour and stir vigorously until it coheres into a ball. This is called a panade. Let it cool slightly, move it to a bowl, then add the eggs, one by one – beating each one thoroughly into the panade with a wooden spoon before adding the next.

Or, use a food processor. Cut up the panade and put it into the processor bowl, along with the lightly beaten eggs and mix until smooth - a few seconds. The dough is very soft and sticky. A soft spatula is helpful here to scrape it out.

Grease a baking sheet or line it with baking parchment or silpat. Heat the oven to 450°. Drop the dough onto the sheet by tablespoons for the big cream puffs or by the rounded teaspoon for the small ones (profiterolles, etc.). Or pipe from a pastry bag (or a plastic zip-top bag with a ¼” of the corner cut out). Pipe strips about 3” long for eclairs. Using a pastry brush dipped in milk, smooth down any pointed pieces of dough and brush the dough with a light coating of milk. Be careful to not get any milk on the baking sheet, it will glue the pastry down.

Bake for 10 minutes on the middle shelf at 450°, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake for 20 minutes. Take out and pierce the sides with a knife to release the steam, then let them sit in the turned off oven with the door propped open with a wooden spoon - to dry out.

Fill with pastry cream, using the pastry bag, or cut them in half horizontally and fill. The Éclairs are usually filled with chocolate pastry cream and glazed on top with chocolate icing. The small puffs can be cut in half horizontally, filled with ice cream and covered with chocolate ganache to become profiterolles, the really upscale member of the family. The large round puffs are usually filled with vanilla pastry cream.

   
   
   *2 large egg yolks
   *1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
   *3 tablespoons sugar
   *1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   *4 tablespoons softened butter (1/2 stick)
   *1 cup milk

Prepare a 2 cup or so bowl on ice. In another bowl, thoroughly beat together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla. Bring the milk to boiling and pour it slowly into the egg mixture. Stir with a whisk while pouring. Pour it back into the milk saucepan and bring it to a high boil, stirring and keeping the edges from scorching. Boil until it thickens, 5 or 10 seconds, and pour into the chilled bowl and stir. When it is lukewarm, add the softened butter and stir until smooth.

Cover the surface of the cream with plastic wrap to keep air off it, so that it does not form a hard film on the surface. Keep refrigerated.

When I was a kid, the great treat was a frozen eclair. Refrigerators were still a new thing, and freezing eclairs (or chocolate dipped bananas) was novelty. I wish I had a frozen eclair right now.

Best in Summer, when a great variety of fruit is in season. It is easy – peel and seed the fruit and cut it into chunks or cubes, about ¾” or so. Place it all in a serving bowl and add some Kirsch, Cassis liqueur (aka black currant syrup) or Grenadine, or any suitable light liqueur or white wine. Not much, just enough to help meld the fruit flavors. Peaches, plums, apples, pears, grapes, mangoes, apricots, berries, etc. are best here. Banana, pineapple and other strongly flavored fruits should be used together – not with the milder ones.

This is a mixture of fruits, prepared as above and cooked in just enough water to keep them from scorching. Cook for about 20 minutes at a simmer. Add some sugar and a very little vanilla. It is good on ice cream, or as a dessert on its own. Plums are always in the mix.

In winter, make this with dried fruit – prunes, apricots, pears, etc., along with some sliced fresh apples.

Both CC and Maw Maw made these. They are good with ice cream, or just by themselves. The texture should be airy and crisp. They can be kept in a tightly covered container for several days. Do not refrigerate.

3 egg whites, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, pinch of salt, flavorings: these are optional - vanilla, almond (or a combination), cocoa, chopped pecans, etc. They may also be tinted with a little food coloring

Mix the salt and egg whites and whip at room temperature, using a whisk or electric beater, until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and any flavorings. Continue beating until it makes firm peaks and the sugar is dissolved. The mix should be shiny and rather dense.

Set the oven at 200°. Line a baking sheet with parchment or lightly oil and flour it. Place the meringues on the sheet in well-spaced 1“ or 2” wide mounds with a pastry bag or a spoon. A star tipped pastry bag will make the best looking ones.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 3 hrs., propping the door open a little with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat, set the oven door ajar and let the meringues cool in the oven.

The idea is to dry them out as much as possible so that they will be light and crispy.

• 7 lbs. fresh Celeste figs
• 5 lbs. sugar
• 4 cups water
• Lemons, quartered - enough for 2 pieces per jar

Rinse the figs and put them into a stock pot, sprinkle liberally with baking soda and cover with boiling water. After 3 minutes drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine the sugar, 4 cups of water and lemons. Cook for 20 minutes to make a syrup. Do not stir, or it will recrystallize. Add the figs and cook until the syrup is thickened some more. (Cool a fig and taste it, be careful to not overcook them to bursting.)

Put in jars and process before sealing.

This is a recipe cut from the Times-Picayune. It is from a column written by Miriam Guidroz, whose recipies were reliable.

• 1 gallon skim milk
• 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon rennet (try health food stores)

Place milk in a large container. Temperature must be between 70 and 80° F. Add the buttermilk, stir well. Add rennet and agitate for 1 minute. Do not stir again, as that would break the cheese formation. Cover the container and let it stand 12 to 15 hours at room temperature.

The rennet will be converting the milk to a cheese and the longer it stands, the firmer the cheese will be. After it has set, ladle it into molds so that the water can drain off of the cheese. In a large roasting pan, place a rack elevated on custard cups, then put the molds on the rack. Let them drain until the water stops dripping, about 6 hours. Transfer the cheeses to clean containers.

Molds can be made with plastic containers for sour cream, olives, etc. Use an icepick or hanger wire and heat it until it glows, then quickly burn holes in the plastic.

The cheese keeps for about a month in the fridge. Eat with sugar or salt and pepper. Serve with some heavy cream poured on it.

Yogurt was a popular dessert a long time ago (mid 20th century), particularly in Europe. It was not generally available in the U.S. until Yoplait made it into a kind of ice cream concoction. Then everyone ate it - at least the sweetened kind. The best way to make a dessert with yogurt is to simply pour some really good honey on it. The next best is with plain old sugar, fruit optional. Check the ingredients to see that it is made of just milk and acidophilous bacteria, and usually a preservative.