Tidewater Kitchen - Sweet Endings: Pamela Meredith

Sweet Endings

What’s for dessert? During the day, except for fruit, dessert is probably the thing you skip. But when you are making a special meal for friends or family, dessert is the good part ~ the smile of relief in the seriousness of life! The dessert should be the final perfect touch to a good meal, and my main course always determines what I serve. If I have served a light dinner, I usually prepare a rich dessert to follow, and with a heavier main course, my dessert is always light. The main advantage of making cookies, pies and muffins from our own kitchen is that they are cheerfully irregular and lumpy. People

who love good food are suspicious of perfection. They know that a machine can turn out perfectly regular crust or muffins, etc., but who needs that? Good desserts look as handmade as they are. Many of the desserts included here are classics and favorites of my son, Keillan. They will make a special occasion out of an ordinary supper or a picnic at the beach. Whether they come out of the oven picture perfect or a bit lopsided, their taste will be spectacular

MOLASSES GINGER SNAP COOKIES

3/4 cup butter, shortening is best 1 t. ginger 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 1/4 cup molasses 2 cups flour 1/4 t. salt 1 t. baking soda 1 t. cinnamon 1 t. cloves

Mix all ingredients together at once. Form dough into balls. Roll dough balls in sugar and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

You can make these in your stand mixer. The speeds and mixing time make the cookies really soft! 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup butter, softened 2 eggs, room temperature 1-1/2 t. vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 T. 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. baking soda 1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup toffee chips, optional

Place sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of your stand mixer. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to Speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl. Turn to Speed 4 and beat for 30 seconds.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda together. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture on Stir Speed, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to Speed 2 and beat for 30 seconds. Add chocolate chips and toffee chips on Stir Speed and mix for 15 seconds.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Tip: Chilling the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour, no matter how the dough is shaped, can inhibit spreading in the oven- and thus prevent the cookies from becoming too thin.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS

1 cup flour 1/2 t. cinnamon 2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. salt 1/2 t. nutmeg 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup shortening 1 egg 1/2 cup pumpkin 2 t. milk

Sift the dry ingredients together. Then cream together sugar, egg, shortening, pumpkin and milk until just blended. Do not over mix. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes on the 2nd shelf. Makes six muffins.

BANANA BREAD

1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar

1 t. vanilla 2 eggs 1-1/2 cup2 all-purpose flour, sifted 1 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 cup ripe bananas

In a bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat again until well blended and fluffy.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt and add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir gently only until moist. Fold in bananas and nuts and pour into a

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BAKED APPLE CRUNCH

For the filling: 6 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup sugar 1 t. cinnamon 1/2 t. nutmeg 1/2 t. ground cloves For the crunch: 1/2 cup flour 4 T. sugar 3 T. butter 1 t. vanilla extract Confectioners’ sugar for garnish

Combine apples, sugar, cinna-

mon, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl. Stir to coat apples and place in an 8” pie pan.

Preheat the oven to 350°. To make the crunch, combine the flour, sugar, butter and vanilla and work the mixture between fingers to make crumbs and drop on top of apple filling.

Bake for one hour or until golden brown. Cool slightly, then serve warm with fresh whipped cream or powdered sugar.

WHIPPED CREAM

This is a wonderful topping for fresh fruit, ice cream, cake or hot cocoa. If the dessert is sweet, don’t add any extra sugar. The whipped cream is better if served immediately after

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Tidewater Kitchen 1 t. ground cinnamon 1-1/2 T. butter For dough: 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 5 T. ice water- very important! Equipment: 8-inch pie pan

whipping.

1 cup heavy cream 2 t. confectioners’ sugar 1 t. vanilla

Chill the cream, the metal bowl and the beater in the refrigerator. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. Beat in the sugar and vanilla, and continue beating just until the cream stands up in peaks when you lift the beaters. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator up to an hour until ready to use. Serve in a chilled bowl.

Peel and cut apples into thin slices. Stir the 3/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl until they are thoroughly mixed.

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the apple slices. Toss the slices with your hands until they are coated with the cinnamon sugar. Set aside.

Making the Dough

Turn the oven to 400°. Make sure it is on the middle oven rack.

ALL-AMERICAN APPLE PIE

7 large firm apples 3/4 cup sugar

Place flour in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening. Blend together using either a pastry blender or a fork. When most of the flour and shortening has been transformed into lots of little lumps and the mixture looks like grated cheese, you have mixed enough. Make a well, and add the water. Stir with a fork to press the dough together until it forms a ball.

Divide the dough ball into two equal parts. Leave one in the bowl, and roll out the other between two sheets of wax paper. Place the rolled dough into the pie pan. If the dough is hanging over an inch, trim it with scissors. Roll the other ball of dough for the top of the pie. Pile the apple slices into the dough-lined pie pan, then cover with the other rolled dough. Using the prongs of a fork, press down the edges of the dough all the way around the pie. This seals the edges. Make a few slits so the steam will escape. Bake for 40 minutes.

PUMPKIN PIE

Yield: 2 pies 1-1/2 cups pumpkin 1 cup sugar 1/2 t. salt 1 t. cinnamon 1/2 t. nutmeg 1/2 t. ginger 3 eggs, beaten 1-1/2 cups milk

Follow pie crust recipe and di-

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rections in previous recipe. Line two pie plates with crust and set aside. Mix together pumpkin and next five ingredients; add eggs and milk and mix well. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.

This is a great Hot Fudge Sauce. Always make sure you use a good quality chocolate. This makes about 2 cups of sauce.

6 T. unsalted butter 1/2 cup water 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate 1 cup superfine sugar or brown sugar 3 T. heavy cream 1/8 t. salt 2 t. vanilla extract

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed 1 quart saucepan, then add the water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar. When dissolved, add the heavy cream.

Add the chocolate, stirring until it melts completely. Boil and make sure everything is mixed

VANILLA ICE CREAM (makes about 1 quart)

2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup milk 2 cups whipping cream 1 t. vanilla extract

Combine eggs, sugar and milk with a mixer. Stir in cream and vanilla extract. Place mixture in an ice cream maker. Once ice cream is thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon, add chocolate chips or any favorite mix-ins. This is a fun and easy way to make ice cream.

together. Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt.

EASY

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

3 T. margarine 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into a bowl and beat for about 30 seconds. Serve this delicious sauce hot or cold. It is wonderful over coffee ice cream.

A longtime resident of Oxford, Pamela Meredith, formerly Denver’s NBC Channel 9 Children’s Chef, now teaches both adult and children’s cooking classes on the south shore of Massachusetts.

For more of Pam’s recipes, visit the Story Archive tab at tidewatertimes.com.