My Quick Dinner Recipes » Dessert

Cornflake Crisp Cakes

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Ingredients:

1 x 4oz bar of plain chocolate
2 tbsp golden syrup
4 oz cornflakes
1 oz desiccated coconut
2 oz margarine
Paper muffin cases

Instructions:

Place margarine, syrup and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and melt. Once melted, add the coconut and cornflakes and stir.

Spoon mixture into paper muffin cases and refrigerate until set for at least one hour.

Enjoy!

Delicious Mother’s Day Dessert Ideas for Kids

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:08:00 +0000

Moms love to receive special, handmade desserts from their kids. And you don’t have to be an expert to make something special and beautiful! Help your kids give their mom a sweet treat for Mother’s Day with some of these ideas. And remember, it’s Mother’s Day, so clean up the kitchen when you’re finished!

Cookies

Decorating cookies can be a lot of fun. Using any sugar cookie recipe or mix, kids can decorate the cookies with icing and candy sprinkles. They can make flower designs on each cookie and use skewers to make a bouquet, or bake one large cookie for the flower center and surround it with smaller, colorful cookies for the petals. Another idea is to use frosting or candies to make a letter on each cookie to spell out “HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.”

Cupcakes

Like cookies, frosted cupcakes can be topped with letters, flower designs, candies, and so forth. Cupcakes can also be arranged in decorative patterns, including stacks and tiers. Get creative – the kids might even like to make Mom a cupcake caterpillar! Use green icing (you can add green food coloring to white store-bought icing) and let the kids make the caterpillar as long as they like. Use icing and candies to decorate the body and make the face, and licorice to make antennae and legs.

Chocolate Roses

Using bamboo skewers, strawberries, and chocolate, you can make Mom an edible bouquet. Simply melt down semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler. Let the chocolate cool a bit until it is still liquid but not hot. Have the kids dip the tops of whole strawberries (leave the leaves on) into the chocolate, one at a time, and lay them on a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet.

Put the sheet in the refrigerator for the chocolate to harden. Then, skewer the leaf end of each strawberry and let the kids arrange the “roses” in a pretty vase or jar. Older kids or an adult can cut the skewers into different lengths using kitchen shears to vary the height.

For a creative “dirt” effect, crush chocolate cookies in the blender or plastic zip top bag. Fill the jar or vase with the chocolate “dirt” and stick the skewers into it.

Dress Up Store-bought Confections

So you don’t have time to bake. Don’t worry – you can still make a creative confection using cakes or cookies from the store. Try these ideas.

* Kids can use a store-bought angel food cake to make a creative dessert for Mom. An adult can cut the cake in half to make two layers, and the kids can fill the middle with whipped cream and strawberries. Put the top layer on and the kids can top it with more whipped cream and berries. Finish by sprinkling with mini chocolate chips.

* Twinkie Tower (yes, Twinkies – although you can do this tower effect with many different store-bought cakes). Unwrap and arrange these little sponge cakes on a plate in a circle pointing outward, like the spokes of a wheel. Do a smaller circle on top, laying the Twinkies on the gaps between the cakes on the bottom.

Make each subsequent circle smaller so that the tower will taper as it goes up. When you finish, stud the cake with edible flowers, candies, dollops of whipped cream, cherries, strawberries, etc.

Cranberry and Chocolate Drops

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 15:15:48 +0000

Ingredients:

1 package (6 oz) chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup finely crushed graham wafers
1/2 cup mixed nuts, chopped
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cranberries

Instructions:

Place chocolate chips in a pot over boiling water and stir until partly melted. Remove from heat and stir constantly until fully melted. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop from a teaspoon onto waxed paper. Set aside until cool and firm.

Enjoy!

Shamrock Cookies

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:05:18 +0000

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Mix shortening and sugar until creamy using an electric mixer. Add the eggs and combine well. Stir in milk, vanilla and salt. Then carefully mix in the flour. Work the dough with your hands for a minute.

Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Use more flour if needed if dough sticks to your rolling pin.

With a shamrock cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cookies turn golden brown.

Ice with green icing (see recipe below) and serve at your St Patrick’s Day Party.

Shamrock Cookies Icing

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
10 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup margarine
5 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

Place the powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. With a mixing spoon, work the margarine into the sugar, then add salt and vanilla. Stir in the milk slowly while stirring continuously. The icing should be soft and smooth. Add the food coloring, combine well and spread onto your shamrock cookies.

St Patrick’s Day Lime Punch

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:09:12 +0000

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon lime sherbet, softened in fridge before using
2 liters Sprite or 7-up

Instructions:

With a hand mixer, blend softened sherbet and soda in a big punch bowl. Serve immediately or chill in the fridge until party time.

Coconut Delights

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flaked coconut

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the coconut and blend with a mixer. Stir in the flaked coconut and mix thoroughly.

Grease a cookie sheet. Drop teaspoons of cookie dough onto cookie sheet and bake in oven for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Be My Valentine Champagne Cocktail

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Serves 1

Ingredients:

3 oz chilled good quality champagne
1/2 oz cognac
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 sugar cube

Instructions:

Place a sugar cube into a champagne flute and soak with the bitters. Add the cognac and fill the glass with champagne.

Garnish with a lemon twist placed on the rim.

Enjoy with your loved one!

Banana and Mango Delight

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup raspberries
2 cups cottage cheese
1 tsp apricot jelly

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine sugar and lemon juice. Add banana and mango slices and stir, so that the fruit is well coated.

Use a fine mesh strainer and press the raspberries with the back of a spoon. Extract all the raspberry juice.

In a small pot on very low heat, melt the apricot jelly and stir in the raspberry juice.

Divide the cottage cheese in 4 individual bowls and cover with the fruit slices. Drizzle with raspberry sauce and enjoy this delicious and light dessert.

Valentine’s Pear Dessert

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:58:00 +0000

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1 piece cinnamon stick (about 3)
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 firm pears

Sauce:

1/4 cup cream (half-half)
1/4 cup sugar
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp almond extract

Instructions:

In a two quart microwave safe casserole dish, combine water, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Microwave at HIGH (100% power) for 4 minutes, covered.

In the meantime, pare pears, cut thin slice off each bottom so that pear will stand up. Leave the stems on.

Place pears in the casserole dish with hot syrup and microwave covered at HIGH for 10 minutes. Turn the pears after 5 minutes. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Sauce:

In a medium size bowl, combine cream and sugar. Microwave, uncovered, at HIGH for two minutes, After 1 minute, give it a quick stir. Add the chocolate and microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Add almond extract and butter and stir until melted.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of chocolate sauce onto each dessert plate, top with a pear and pour another tablespoon of sauce on top.

Serve immediately!

Orange and Coconut Freezy

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
4 cups orange sherbet, softened
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1/3 cup toasted coconut

Ingredients:

In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour, walnuts and sugars over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture is golden brown. Put the mixture into a 9 inch square pan and press down firmly with the back of a spoon to form a crust. Set aside and let the mixture cool completely.

In the meantime, combine the ice-cream and sherbet in a bowl and stir lightly until just marbled. Spread the mixture on the cooled crust and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours or until nice and firm.