RECIPE: TWO BERRY COMPOTE FOR ICE CREAM, PANCAKES, ETC

TWO BERRY COMPOTE

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes    Cook Time: 10 minutes

This berry compote recipe will be your new favorite go-to for desserts, spooned over pancakes, on biscuits, or drizzled over ice cream. Delicious served hot or cold; keep some in the fridge or make it in a flash. Makes any recipe a little more elegant and you can even use frozen fruit if you must.

1 cup fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon lemon zest

¼ cup Chambord liqueur (crème de cassis will also work)

Put the sugar into a saucepan over medium heat for about one minute or until the sugar begins to melt slightly. (Watch it because it will burn quickly!) Add the fruit, lemon juice and zest and toss to coat. Increase the heat slightly and cook and stir for 2 minutes until the sugar is melted and the fruit has broken down slightly. Remove from the heat. Stir in the liqueur. Carefully return to the heat and cook 1 minute more. Allow to cool slightly before using. Will keep up to a week in the refrigerator. 

RECIPE: WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND BREAD PUDDING

One of my favorite flavor combinations; white chocolate and almond pair so well together. You can substitute chocolate and pecans or any flavors you like with this custard. The key to decadent bread pudding is to make sure the bread is suspended in the custard and to bake it in a covered water bath so that it helps keep the pudding moist.

White Chocolate Almond Bread Pudding is easy and always a hit!

WHITE CHOCOLATE ALMOND BREAD PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

8 eggs, beaten

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

4 cups heavy cream

1 ½ pounds bread cubed and lightly toasted

1 cup (8 ounces) white chocolate, chopped

Pinch kosher salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ teaspoon Amaretto or almond extract

1tablespoon ground cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1 ½ cups sliced toasted almonds

 INSTRUCTIONS

For the custard: Mix all together except the almonds.  Push the cubed bread down into the mixture. It should be light on bread, heavy on custard. Let it sit as long as possible before you bake; even overnight is okay. Before baking, pull a piece of the bread apart to see if it is soaked through.

To Assemble: Use heatproof ramekins. The bread should be suspended in the custard, not dry. Start with a layer of nuts on the bottom. Using your hand, pick up the bread from the custard and add that next. Continue to layer the nuts and bread and pour custard over the top, filling about ¾ full.

To bake: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Use a water bath to cook the puddings so they don’t dry out. Fill a pitcher with warm water. Put the ramekins in pan with high sides. Fill the pan ½ full with the warm water but take care not to get water into the ramekins.

Cover the pan with 3 layers of plastic wrap. Don’t use foil. You need to be able to see the ramekins. If you lift it, you will remove the steam. Bake at 300 for 30-35 minutes.

Serve warm. Pour over some heavy cream flavored with a bit of Amaretto if you want or shave some white chocolate over the top. Delicious. 

RECIPE: PUFF PASTRY NAPOLEONS ARE PERFECT FOR A PARTY!

Napoleons are one of those desserts that look so fancy and elegant but are as simple as they can possibly be. Perfect for any party or special occasion, you use puff pastry from the store to create these little masterpieces. You can cut them to the size you want; small for  bite size or larger for a full dessert portion at the end of a dinner party.

Make beautiful pastry shoppe quality Napoleons with store bought puff pastry from the freezer section!

STRAWBERRY NAPOLEONS

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries

1 T. granulated sugar

2 T. Grand Marnier (optional)

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup marscapone cheese

1 T. vanilla

3 T + more Confectioners sugar (you will need some for garnish)

1 orange for a bit of juice and the zest (optional)

1 box of frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions

flour

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

Clean, core and slice strawberries. Put in a bowl with the sugar and Grand Marnier. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the whipping cream, vanilla and 2-3 tablespoons of the Confectioners sugar plus 2 tablespoons orange juice (or use Grand Marnier) and 1 teaspoon orange zest. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in the Marscapone cheese. Spoon into a piping bag. Refrigerate.

Dust the work surface with flour. Open one package of the puff pastry. Cut along the fold lines to make 3 pieces and cut each of those into 4 pieces. Repeat with the second package. Put on the baking sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Split each of the puff pastry squares in half. Put the bottom halves on a serving plate. Pipe with whipping cream mixture.

Drain the strawberries. Add a layer on top of the whipped cream. Pipe some additional whipping cream and put on the top. Dust with powdered sugar.