Blackberry Cream Cheese Pie

This pie is to die for! Made it today with my mom's fresh blackberries, it was so incredible. You may want to make two pies when you make it. It is a delightfull summer pie.


5 cups blackberries
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 baked 8-inch or 9-inch pie shell
Whipped cream and/or additional berries, to garnish (optional)
In a medium-size saucepan, combine 3 cups of the berries with the water. Bring to a boil. Let cool, then strain to remove the seeds. Return the syrup to the saucepan. Stir in the cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stirring, and boil for 2 minutes. Cool.

When the syrup is cool, blend the cream cheese, milk, and lemon zest until smooth. Spread evenly in the baked pie shell. Top with the remaining 2 cups uncooked berries. Pour the cooled, thickened syrup evenly over the berries. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

~Amie Michelle~

Marshmallow fondant

I refuse to buy fondant. Why? I mean doesn't it look so pretty? Well yes it does, but it is a flavorless, silky, preservative! If I wanted to preserve the inside of me I would eat a jar of maraschino cherries because I like the way those taste better :).

After playing with this recipe and putting my spin on it I think this is just as beautiful, much more flavorful, and healthier (as healthy as a bowl of sugar could get?).

Her notes said the recipe yield was 2 1/4 pounds of fondant.... I didn't weigh it.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Directions (as altered)

1. Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler. Empty the bag of marshmallows into the top and place over heat.
   
2. Melt marshmallows and cook for 1 minute more. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Be sure that the mixture is very hot before transferring. If it is just barely melted it will be very hard to work with. I let mine sit over the water for a good 5 minutes or so.
   
3. Transfer to a kitchen aid or mixer. Using the kneading hook, slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar (a cup/ little at a time) until you have a sticky dough.
   
4. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.This is the point where if you are going to add coloring you need to separate the dough into as many portions as there will be colors. If you wait till later it is still possible to add color but very messy and tedious.
   
5. Skip this step if not adding color. Add the coloring a few drops at a time (I really like the paste coloring from the craft store, but regular food coloring works too) alternating with more powdered sugar. When you have the right color and a smooth dough that isn't sticky you are ready for the next step.
   
6. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. (I'm impatient, I chilled it for an hour or two and it came out fine)(chilling is important though, I think it's because the excess liquid is soaked into the sugar making a more dough like product?) To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature. Coat your hands in Crisco, I know, it's gross, but it works! Kneed/ work the dough until it is soft and pliable. Roll it out on a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.
   

Just a few more thoughts or need to knows about this recipe:

If you want it to look right you still have to cover the cake/ cookies/ cupcakes with frosting to give the fondant a truly smooth appearance.

For an extra touch of gloss use your fingers dipped in Crisco to smooth out the fondant and give it a shine. Also good for touching up tears. Pull fondant together and smooth together with fingers dipped in Crisco.

For extra smoothness on a sheet cake I used a flat ruler to scrape gently against/ flatten out my fondant.

Also fun to use are the shimmer powders available at the craft store to add a nice sheen/ sparkle.

~~ Sarah ~~


P.S. The original recipe is on allrecipes.com and has some very cool pictures of different creations using this recipe/ a modified version of this recipe.

P.S.S. I'm working on a party planner portfolio. Eventually, I will be a party coordinator and would love the experience.

Iced Coffee Mousse in a Chocolate Case

Last night I made the most decadent mousse. I made it twice in fact. This dessert has to be timed just right or you don't end up with a pretty dessert. The first time I made it the coffee set up way to fast (the book said to do the coffee part first and then the egg part, not enough time) and so the final product looked like brown spots in a very soft tan pudding. I made it again... Changing the recipe the way I wanted.

We ate it today with my brother's new family (in-laws) and had a wonderful and relaxing day. I'm sharing the recipe as I changed it and also warning you in advance that this needs to be babysat in order to come out right ;).

Ingredients:
2 Sachet powdered gelatin
8 Tbsp. very strong brewed coffee (I used coffee granules and reconstituted them with half as much water as called for, a) because we had instant coffee granules and b) because it was quicker than brewing strong coffee)
1 Tbsp. Coffee liqueur such as Kahlua or Troussaint (I used creme de Cocoa; again because we had it on hand and I wasn't buying another liqueur that we weren't going to use but once or twice a year...)
6 eggs, separated
1 C. minus 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 1/3 Cup whipping cream

Plain (fair trade) semisweet chocolate chips (For the chocolate bowl)

Grease and line a deep (7 in.) cake tin with baking parchment. I used a large cooking pot. In a double boiler melt the chocolate. Using a pastry brush, brush a layer of chocolate over the base of the tin and about 3 inches up on the sides, finishing with a ragged edge. Leave the chocolate to set before repeating. Put in the freezer to harden.

Now for the mousse!

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until thick enough to leave a trail. I stirred this for a very long time and never came to that point. I decided when it was semi thick that I had stirred enough and should call it good. When your egg mixture is thick remove from heat and whisk occasionally till cool.

Sprinkle gelatin over the coffee in a bowl/ small saucepan and leave it to soften for 5 minutes. Then place the bowl over the boiling water. Stirring until dissolved. Add the liqueur.

pour the gelatin mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream, stirring gently. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or until just beginning to set. When I did this the first time it set up really fast but didn't quite get cooled off. The second time I tried this I stirred the mixture every 5 minutes or so and that worked quite well.

Meanwhile, lightly whip the whipping cream so that it is just about doubled in volume but not fully whipped. Then whip the egg whites until stiff.

Remove the chocolate shell from the freezer and peel it out of the tin (slowly so you don't break it) remove the lining and place shell back in pan.

Fold the cream into the egg mixture followed by the egg whites. Then pour into the shell. Return to freezer for at least 3 hours. To serve, remove from tin and place on a plate. allow to soften in the refrigerator for 40 minutes before serving. use a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry to cut into slices to serve.


Next time I make this some things I might try....

I would like to try making mini cups for individual servings. I was thinking of using muffin cups to create the chocolate shell. This may add to the time but then you wouldn't have to cut it. The hotter the knife the better it worked.

Someday I would like to try it with the Kahlua for an even stronger coffee taste. Maybe I will see if the liqueur store has a small bottle of it.

Overall it was a very time consuming but beautiful dessert. I would make it again tomorrow if it wouldn't make me feel sick to eat so much dessert

~~Sarah~~

cake contest

My sister and I entered in a cake decorating contest a couple of months ago. The theme was "Valentines"

So the one on the bottom is mine. (Amie)

It is a very rich tasting brownie type cake, with a very creamy chocolate/whip cream frosting, with raspberry sauce in between the cakes, and topped with raspberries. Sarah's cake is on the top. It's your basic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and a marshmallow fondant on top for design. Her title was "puppy love"

~Amie