Turtle Pie

Sometimes I get a hankering for pie. Pie is one of those desserts that you don't always have handy and is therefore put on a pedestal as a special treat. It takes a deliberate effort and timeliness in making. It's more casual than cake but more grandiose than cookies. In our book, it meets all of the criteria for a simply decedant dessert: Southern by nature, includes buttery flavors, makes the mouth water at just the idea of it. 

Turtle Pie

crust

1 1/4 cups pecan halves or pieces (6 to 7 ounces), toasted, divided

1 plentiful cup of finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 or 7 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

sauce and filling

3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 pints (4 cups) premium vanilla ice cream, divided

ganache topping

Almost 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Almost 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Directios:

crust

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Using on/off turns, finely chop 1 cup pecans in processor; transfer to medium bowl. Mix in graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Drizzle butter over; blend until evenly moistened. Press mixture firmly over bottom and up sides of 9-inch glass pie dish (not on rim).
  
  
• Bake crust until golden brown, about 12 minutes (if crust puffs, press firmly back into place). Cool crust completely. Wrap in foil and freeze at least 1 hour.

sauce and filling

• Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking until sugar dissolves. Boil caramel 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Turn off heat; whisk in butter, vanilla, and salt. Cool completely.

• Slightly soften 1 cup vanilla ice cream in microwave on low in 10-second intervals. Spread ice cream evenly in frozen pie crust; spread 1/4 cup caramel over. Freeze pie until ice cream and caramel are firm, about 1 hour. Repeat with remaining vanilla ice cream in three 1-cup portions and caramel in two 1/4-cup portions. Freeze pie overnight. Cover and reserve remaining caramel at room temperature.

ganache topping

• Combine chocolate, cream, and corn syrup in medium metal bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Cool ganache at room temperature until thick but still pourable, about 30 minutes.
• Pour ganache evenly over frozen pie. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans **.
  
  

** I toasted these pecan halves but butter and 
brown sugar on broil for about 2 mins

• Freeze until ganache is firm, at least 45 minutes. Drizzle decoratively with 1/4 cup reserved caramel. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen. Cover and chill remaining caramel.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
• Let pie stand 10 minutes at room temperature. Rewarm remaining caramel, stirring over low heat. Cut pie into wedges and serve with caramel.

Brownie Points

Literally, the best brownies you'll ever eat. These changed the way we will look at brownies forever. AND they are SO simple!


Ingredients:

1 box of Brownie mix
2 eggs
1/2 a cup of vegetable oil
1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup of your favorite ice cream (make it a plentiful 1/2 cup)
1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled)

Directions:
1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the brownie mix, 2 eggs and oil until combined…and thick. We did NOT add the water. Add ice cream, chocolate chips and hot fudge (chilled).. Mix until its combined

2. Pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been GENEROUSLY sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.

3.  Let cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Recipe Recap:

A- How much did it cost? Less than $15

B- Level of difficulty? Beginner

C- How long did it take? 15 minutes to make, 40 minutes to bake, 20 to cool, 5 to serve

D- Pros: Tasty! Texture was good, easy to throw together, the ingredient are something most have on hand

E- Cons: None

F- Would you make them again? YES!

Almond Butter Cream

My little brother wanted to make cupcakes last night and wanted White Cake from the box - fine by me! So I thought they needed something to give them a little kick. I have been wanting to try flavoring our signature buttercream recipe (used here with our Strawberry Cake). The essentials are all the same:

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 to 2 tbsp. whipping cream

However, instead of using 1-2 tsp. vanilla extract, I used about 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract AND 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract.

It really turned out nicely. I am a huge fan of almond so, naturally, I liked them... The vanilla helps to balance the flavor. I'm sure you can substitute other flavors to your liking! If you do, let us know! I think we'll try lemon next time :)

PS- Sorry no pics... I'm so upset over it too because we used Toy Story 3 toppings!

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies = A Hot Mess

At first, this recipe looked cute, fun and simple. However, as the our cooking progressed things began to go downhill quickly.

1. Due to unexpected weather conditions, the power went out.

2. Being the pioneer women we are, we decided to go old fashion and use the gas stove to make the melted chocolate... FAIL. We burnt the chocolate.

3.  The delicacy of the Shortbread cookies persisted a problem as we didn't realize our own strength as we continuously broke the cookies while trying to cover with chocolate. This resulted in a numerous amount of half-broken and crumbly cookies.

Despite our fails, the cookies turned out delightful! They were the melt-in-you-mouth kind of shortbread with just the right amount of chocolaty sweetness... Heres how...

Shortbread:

- 1 cup of butter
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/2 cup cake flour

1- Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix with electric mixer on low until combine.

2- Add vanilla and mix until fluffy

3- Add the flour and mix until completely incorporated

You are now finished mixing the batter. Place a large sheet of plastic wrap on a flat surface (We used a cookie sheet). Spoon the dough down the center of the plastic then fold the plastic over the dough and shape into a long rectangle. Seal plastic wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place about half an inch apart on an buttered baking sheet. Bake for about 18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove cookies from the pan and let cool on parchment paper.

Chocolate:

- 1 cup of chocolate chips
- 1 cup of sprinkles (or any crushed treat of your choice)

1- Place chocolate chips in a small microwavable bowl and melt on high for 1 minute. Stir and if the chips are not yet melted, place back into microwave for 18 seconds. Stir after each time until chocolate is completely melted. Be careful not to let the chocolate burn or it will become gritty (Don't try it on your oven either).

2- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Dip one end of each cookie into the melted chocolate. Scrape the excess chocolate from the cookie. Immediately dip the chocolate part of the cookie into the sprinkles. Lay the cookie on the baking sheets and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

3- We made a TOTAL mess when we did this last part- But it was totally fun and delicious. Enjoy!

Recipe Recap:

A- How much did it cost? Less than $10

B- Level of difficulty? Beginner

C- How long did it take? 15 minutes to make, 2 hours to refrigerate, 18 minutes to bake, 10 to cool, 10 to serve

D- Pros: Tasty! Texture was good, easy to throw together, the ingredient are something most have on hand

E- Cons: Cookies were a little crumbly 

F- Would you make them again? YES!