Wednesday, August 10, 2011

More Yummy goodness

At this rate it's going to be a gooseberry Patch Christmas. From the Christmas book 12 (like the one below) I tried another recipe.

Chocolate Coverd Cherry Cups
20 oz pkg brownie mix
16oz jar maraschino cherries drained and juice reserved
1/2 C juice reserved and divided
6 oz pkg simi sweet chocolate chips
1/2C sweetened condensed milk

prepare brownie mix according to the package directions using 1/4 c of the cherry juice plus water, if necessary, to equal the amount of water called for in the directions. Place paper liners in mini muffin cups (I couldn't find any so I sprayed well w/ cooking spray) fill aboug 1/2 full with brownie batter.Push a cherry into each cup and bake at 350 for 15-20 min. Remove and let cool



Combine chocolate cups;stir condensed milk in a small saucepan;stir over low heat until melted. Remove and add remaining 1/4 c cherry cuice as needed for frosting consistency. Place a dollop of warm frosting on each cup and let cool.,

Makes 3 dz

These turned out really good. I didn't make the iceing I happened to have smores icing in a bag so I just used that. Also be sure to spray the pans well I forgot to the second time and they were hard to get out....
Another tip to get the mix into those tiny cups put the batter in a zip lock baggie and sip off the corner like a piping bag and squeeze in the mix. Oh and.... pay attention to the cherries size, I got the smaller jar and it wasn't enought, be sure to get the kind w/o the stem, got those too.... (I was at walmart and a bit distracted.)
These would be a great easy addition to a party table.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Carrot Cake Jam - the trial run

I have the Gooseberry Patch Christmas book 12 and in it was a interesting idea for Jam. It's Carrot Cake Jam. I was looking at food options for gifts this year and this sounded good and different. It was pretty straight forward all you need it:
1 1/2 C carrots peeled and shredded
1 1/2C pears cored, peeled and choopped
14oz can crushed pineapple
3T lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
3oz liquid pectin
6 1/2 C sugar
6 1/2 pint canning jars w/ lids serilized. (mine made much more than 6 jars)

This picture is minus the sugar, somehow I forgot to get sugar. It calls for fresh pears but I couldn't find any so I went w/ canned it worked out fine.

Mix all the ingredients except pectin and sugar in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil over med heat. Reduce heat to Med-low; simmer for 20 min stirring occasionally.
Add pectin and return to a boil. Stir in sugar; bring to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Pour into hot sterillized jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Secure with lids. Cool and store in fridge up to 3 weeks.

 Here is a pict of it after it has set for the night. It has a good flavor it's sweet yet the spices give it a little kick. Interesting mix but i like it.