Raspberry Cream Profiteroles with Three Dipping Sauces

Raspberry Cream Profiteroles with Three Dipping Sauces

We’ve reached the finale in our 3 course, video recipe dinner menu for Valentine’s Day. We’ve partnered with CBC Newfoundland and Labrador once again for this series which has included some succulent shrimp cakes as an appetizer and a tender pork main course with Madeira sauce.

Today’s romantic dessert is one that’s perfect for sharing with your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day. The tender, fluffy choux pastry profiterole shells get filled with a raspberry infused whipped cream and comes with a choice of chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces. Now wouldn’t a glass of bubbly be lovely as you feed these sweet treats to your Valentine? 

Here are the links for the other two courses in this Sweetheart Dinner:

Shrimp Cakes with Lime Cilantro Aioli

Prosciutto Pork Tenderloin Marsala

See how it's done by watching the video below.

For mobile users, if the video does not load below please click here.

Raspberry Cream Profiteroles

Makes about 18

For the cream puff pastry combine add to a saucepan:

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup butter

Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium flame and add, all at once:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt

Cook this mixture stirring constantly for an additional 3 minutes. Allow this mixture to cool slightly for about 10 minutes before adding, one at a time:

• 4 extra large eggs

Beat well after adding each egg until batter is smooth
Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls ( or pipe small mounds using a piping bag ) onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the puffs are golden brown and do not collapse when removed from the oven. These should be uniformly golden all over with no pale sides and sound hollow when tapped. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Raspberry Cream Filling

Beat to firm peaks:

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 3 rounded tbsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Gently fold in:

• 3 to 4 tbsp raspberry puree ( I press it through a sieve to remove the seeds)

Place the raspberry whipped cream in a piping bag with a star tip or large round tip. Push the tip into the cream puff shell and fill the entire inside of the shell with the cream. If you do not have a piping bag you can also split the cream puff shells in half with a serrated knife and spoon the filling into the top and bottom halves and then putting them back together.

Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, raspberry coolis and white or dark chocolate ganache.

Raspberry Coolis – half a cup raspberry purée + 2 tbsp sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

White or dark chocolate ganache – melt together ½ cup chopped chocolate and 3 tbsp whipping cream.

Shrimp Cakes with Lime Cilantro Aioli

Prosciutto Pork Tenderloin Marsala

Raspberry Cream Profiteroles with Three Dipping Sauces

Cranberry White Chocolate Magic Bars

Cranberry White Chocolate Magic Bars

Magic bars are one of the most popular Holiday baking recipes out there. I remember making them even as a very young child. Its popularity owes much to its ease of preparation which essentially just layers the ingredients before baking.This is a baking recipe even for those who do not bake.

I've seen many variations of this recipe over the years using different nuts and dried fruits too but I really like the contrast of the tart cranberries with the sweet white chocolate...and it looks a bit more festive too.

Cranberry White Chocolate Magic Bars

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Cranberry White Chocolate Magic Bars - a differently delicious take on one of the easiest and quickest bar cookies ever invented. The tart pop of the cranberries works well with the sweet white chocolate and the crunch of the toasty almonds. A perfect Holiday baking recipe.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: 24 cookie bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 3/4 cups (14 oz can) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups roughly chopped almonds

Directions

1. First choose the size of pan you prefer. The bars in the photo are baked in a 9x9 pan because I like them thicker but if you prefer these can be baked in a 9x13 pan for thinner bars. Lightly grease the pan and line it with parchment paper.
2. Mix together the graham crumbs, sugar and butter and press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Sprinkle the white chocolate chips evenly over the base.
4. Sprinkle the cranberries evenly over the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the cranberries and white chocolate.
6. Finally sprinkle on the nuts and press down lightly.
7. The 9x9 pan will bake for 45-50 minutes and the 9x13 pan for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
8. Cool completely in the pan before cutting in bars or squares.
9. These freeze exceptionally well when stored in airtight containers.

M & M Summer Fun Cookies

M & M Summer Fun Cookies

Hey everyone, it's Olivia again! Did you miss me? ;)

So the other day, mom and dad were talking about possibilities for great summer recipes, and a lot of them were pretty adult-focused. Well I got to thinking, and I thought it was about time to make something fun for the kids! Here's what I came up with: these bright and colorful M&M Summer Fun Sandwich Cookies!

The cookie itself is like a chocolate chip cookie, but chock full of M&M candies. Chewy, crispy, buttery and chocolaty, you just can't go wrong. To go further, we turned those delicious cookies into little sandwiches with sweet white chocolate icing, dyed into fun summer colors to add a little spirit ;).

So if you're looking for a delicious easy recipe for all of the kids- and the kids at heart, here's your ticket. Perfect for family barbeques, picnics, or even for a little treat, these babies are certain to be a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or butterscotch flavoring (or both! Hint, hint.)
• 1/2 pound pkg regular m&m candies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil or line with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the m&ms gently by hand as the mixer will break them up into pieces .

Form cookies by placing 1 inch balls of dough on the prepared cookie sheet two inches apart. Bake until light brown around the edges, about 10 minutes, depending on cookie size.

Your oven temperature and the type of cookie sheet you use will vary the baking times considerably. When they are golden brown around the edges is the time to remove them from the oven. Thinking they are a little underdone is probably a good thing. Experiment by baking only a couple of cookies at a time to see what the perfect baking time is for your oven

Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

Filling:

Melt together

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp butter

Don’t let the chocolate mixture get too hot. You want the chocolate to be just melted but not hot.

Blend in until smooth:

• 1 1/2cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 2- 4 tbsp milk

Adjust the milk or icing sugar to get a good thick consistency.

Divide the frosting into as many colors as you want to use (or just use it white) Food coloring paste works best here and not liquid food coloring.

Spoon the filling into a piping bags with a large plain round tip (or just a Zip-loc bag with the corner snipped off) and squeeze some of the filling onto the center of half the cookies. Place the other half of the cookies on top and press down to evenly spread the filling to the edges of the cookies. Allow these cookies to sit for a couple of hours for the filling to set up before serving.

Homemade White Chocolate Fudge Oreos

We live just around the corner from my kid's school so every day there is a parade of teens who come to our house for lunch and are often taste testers for new baking experiments. Such was the case earlier this week when the kids all loved our Homemade Fudgee-Os so the idea occurred to me to try a white chocolate fudge center to make a sort of Super Oreo! Although the Fudgee-Os are still my favorite, the kids thought these were amazing and they sure did not last long. I certainly prefer the white chocolate fudge filling than the traditional Oreo filling...it is sooo good!

Makes about 2 dozen completed sandwich cookies.

Chocolate Wafer Cookies

Sift  together and set aside:

1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups cocoa

Cream together until well combined:

½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract

Add

4 egg whites

Beat until light and fluffy. Fold in the dry ingredients until a soft dough forms. Form the dough into a roll about 2 ½ inches wide, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a very sharp knife, cut off thin slices of the chilled dough, about ¼ inch, and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fudge Filling:

Melt together

1 cup white chocolate chips

2 tbsp butter

Don’t let the chocolate mixture get too hot. You want the chocolate to be just melted but not hot.

Blend in until smooth:

1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
2- 4 tbsp milk

Spoon the fudge filling into a piping bag with a large plain round tip (or just a Zip-loc bag with the corner snipped off) and squeeze some of the filling onto the center of half the cookies. Place the other half of the cookies on top and press down to evenly spread the fudge to the edges of the cookies. Allow these cookies to sit for a couple of hours for the fudge to set up before serving.

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Strawberry White Chocolate Buttercream Cake - our 800th recipe!

Strawberry White Chocolate Buttercream Cake

This is a big "pause" moment for me. Today marks the 800th recipe posted on Rock Recipes. Just writing that seems more than a little odd. On a quiet Saturday afternoon, as I write this recipe, I take a step back to ask the question, "Why the heck am I doing this anyway?". It is a good question and one I'm often asked, so I've stopped to consider what the real answer is.

Cooking and baking has always come naturally to me. As a child, I was transfixed by the possibilities that simple ingredients could be transformed into something greater than the sum of it's parts. The fact that only butter and flour could be transformed into puff pastry for example, was magic to me. How was that possible? The realization that the fusion of simple ingredients to create something much more amazing than its simple components was the catalyst that pushed me forward. In seeking the possibilities, I came quickly to realize that they were endless.

Endless possibility in anything that you are passionate about is what enriches your life and makes it better. Even in the early days of beginning to cook, I resisted repetition. Why have meatloaf for dinner every Tuesday when there were so many more possibilities ? I think ultimately, that is why I write this blog, to help illuminate the possibilities.Thanks to all who joined along the way. We haven't exhausted the possibilities yet.

To celebrate I've created this terrific layer cake. I always think this cake is even better the next day when the sugar from the frosting has made the berry chunks even more sweet and luscious.


Vanilla Cake

Sift together and set aside:

• 1 1/2 cups cake and pastry flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Cream together until fluffy:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar

Add, one at a time, beating well after every addition;

• 4 eggs at room temperature

Beat in

• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with

• 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk

When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.


Pour batter evenly into 2 well greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to over bake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

• 8 cups icing sugar (i.e. powdered sugar, confectioners sugar)
• 2 cups butter

Using an electric mixer on low, mix the butter and icing sugar together until the butter breaks up and get evenly dispersed throughout the sugar in small pieces. The mixture will still appear dry at this point. This stage ensures even distribution and prevents butter lumps in your frosting.

Add

• 4 tsp vanilla extract
• Approximately 6 tbsp milk

Both of these liquid measures can be adjusted. The milk can be adjusted to make a thicker frosting by adding less or a more spreadable frosting by adding a little more. Use you own judgement here. The vanilla extract can be adjusted to your own taste too.

When the icing reaches the desired consistently continue to beat it on high speed for 5 minutes to incorporate more air into the frosting to make it lighter and fluffier. Fold in:

• 2 cups diced fresh strawberries

Frost the middle and sides evenly with the frosting and chill the cake for several hours before adding the white chocolate ganache glaze.

White Chocolate Ganache Glaze

In a double boiler melt together

• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips( or 8 ounces chopped white chocolate)
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

Stir this mix constantly and get it off the heat as soon as the chocolate is melted. You do not want this mixture hot but just luke warm; as close to the melting point as possible. Let it cool down if it gets too hot.

Working as quickly as you can, ( a lazy susan is a big help if you have one) pour the ganache directly in the center of the cake, and then using an icing spatula spread it evenly over the top of the cake, letting it drip off the sides. Garnish with chopped white chocolate and fresh strawberries.

For butter and/or shortening based frostings like this, I do store the cake in the refrigerator but take it out at least an hour before serving to let the frosting warm up to room temperature. Cold frosting is too hard and letting the cake warm up allows this frosting to return to the creamy texture it is meant to have.

White Chocolate Orange Macadamia Cookies

White Chocolate Orange Macadamia Cookies

White chocolate and macadamia is a pretty popular cookie flavor combo and one of my personal favorites and this version adds even more flavor with the simple addition of some grated orange zest to the dough.  To get that perfect crispy chewy texture, be careful not to over bake them and be very certain to chill the dough completely before baking. The chilling is very important with such a soft dough or the cookies will spread too much on the pan and possibly over bake. Just omit the orange zest if you want the classic version of this cookie.

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 oz chopped white chocolate
• 3/4 cup macadamia nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; aluminum pans are best.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. 

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts along with:

Zest of 1/2 large orange, finely chopped

Chill dough completely for a couple of hours in the fridge.

Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on the parchment lined cookie sheet about 3 inches apart

Bake until light brown around the edges, about 12 minutes.

Over baking is the biggest problem with most chocolate chip cookies. Your oven temperature and the type of cookie sheet you use will vary the baking times considerably. When they are golden brown around the edges is the time to remove them from the oven.

Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

Blackberry White Chocolate Galette

I had to get a dessert together quickly for an impromptu dinner with my visiting sister from Alberta this week and decided on this very quick and easy dessert. I think it will probably make a great holiday entertaining recipe for all those inevitable occasions when you don't have a lot of time to throw together a dinner on short notice. Substitute your favourite fresh berries or other fruits for a myriad of variations.

Serves 6

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 pint whipped cream
8 oz white chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pint blackberries
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

Fold ½ inch of the edge of the puff pastry toward the center all around the outer edge of the puff pastry. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and use a fork to poke holes in the dough in about a dozen places over the surface of the dough. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Make sure the bottom of the pastry had browned sufficiently before removing it from the oven to cool completely on a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler and set aside to cool almost to room temperature.
Meanwhile, whip the whipping cream and vanilla to firm peaks. Fold the melted white chocolate gently into the whipped cream and spoon the mixture over the pastry. Place the berries over the top and sprinkle the galette with the lemon zest.

Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Tuxedo Tarts

Thanks to Janette who suggested a garnish of White Chocolate Whipped Cream to my Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Tarte; it inspired this little invention. I previewed these photos over on the Rock Recipes Facebook group as I often do with completed recipes that I haven't gotten around to actually writing yet, and I got so many message responses from it that I decided to post it here right away. Really, it is just a variation on the Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Tart that was posted a couple of weeks back. Find that recipe here: http://nlrockrecipes.com/2008/11/strawberry-chocolate-truffle-tarte.html

These do present nicely as individual tarts which are a great idea for the upcoming holiday entertaining season. I made them in 4 inch individual tart pans but they could easily be made in muffin tins if you don't have such pans. The baking time has to be adjusted of course; I found that these tarts only took 15 minutes in the oven after baking the pastry shells. I'd estimate about 10 minutes if baked in muffin tins.

The addition to these tarts is a white chocolate flavoured whipped cream that I piped on top to envelop a fresh, ripe strawberry, the recipe for which follows.

White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Scald to almost boiling in the microwave

1/4 cup whipping cream

Pour immediately over

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Let stand for five minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, beat to firm peaks

1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk in the white chocolate mixture in three equal portions until well incorporated. Chill for an hour or two before piping the cream on top of the tarts. Store in the refrigerator.
Makes a very nice garnish for many other desserts as well.