Ricotta Cranberry Custard

Hello! For my final blog post, I have chosen to make "Ricotta Cranberry Custard" from my book, Petite Sweets.

This recipe was chosen by my dad and older brother, Austin. I think my brother chose this because the picture from the book looks like cheesecake, and he loves cheesecake. But let me tell you, it's definitely not cheesecake. But we'll get to that later.

Ricotta Cranberry Custard from Petite Sweets (Ojakangas 98)

To start, I gathered the necessary ingredients: 

Custard: 

• 12 ounces (1½ 8-ounce packages) cream cheese
• ¾ cup ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup sugar 
• ½ cup heavy cream

Sauce: 

• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

First I preheated the oven to 250°F. Then I added the cream cheese to the electric mixer. 

But that's when I realized I only had one stick of cream cheese, instead of two, to complete the one AND one half ounces of cream cheese needed. 

Now that my whole recipe was off due to lack of one ingredient, I had to problem solve. I really wanted to get this done that day because the rest of the week I would be busy and I didn't want to put my mom in a bad mood by making her go all the way to the store just for one stick of cream cheese so, I did the only thing I could do. I adjusted the whole recipe. 

Since I only had 8 ounces of cream cheese instead of 12, I knew 8 divided by 12 was 2/3. That meant I would have to multiply my whole recipe by 2/3. 

So, I did. Except the eggs, which I just left at 2. 

Now that I was back on track, I started adding my ingredients to the electric mixer again; ricotta, eggs (one at a time), vanilla, sugar, and cream and mixed until combined (Ojakangas 99).

Once everything was smooth, I spooned the batter into two ramekins. After they were evenly divided among the two, I placed each one into a large, transparent baking dish. Then I poured "enough hot water into the baking [dish] around the ramekins to reach about halfway up the sides" (Ojakangas 99).

Carefully, I placed each baking dish with the ramekin inside into the oven and set it for 40 minutes. When 40 minutes had passed, I took them both out of the oven. "The top should not have changed color at all" (Ojakangas 99) and since it didn't, I knew I was on my way to making a successful dessert.

After they had cooled slightly, I wrapped both of the ramekins with saran wrap and placed them in the fridge, where they would stay and chill for about three hours. 

In the meantime, I started working on the sauce. Though, that didn't take long either. 

But I'm 90% sure I messed up the sauce too. My mom had gotten me a cranberry sauce can where all I had to do was heat it up and mix it around, but I didn't realize that so I put that in a pot and heated it up and mixed it around, as well as adding one cup of water and one cup of sugar. It came out fine though so nothing too problematic. 

So I wrapped that up like I did with the ramekins and placed it in the fridge where it would chill for three hours as well. 

When everything had chilled for three hours, I took it out of the fridge. 

And then I scooped the cranberries on top of the custard (I probably shouldn't have added so much cranberry to the first one).

What I learned from this experience is that custard ≠ cheesecake. I went into that first bite thinking something solid, but my spoon went through it like goo. Keep in mind that I hadn't really read the title of this recipe, I just saw the picture and went "ooh la la" and wanted to make it. I know what custard is... now. 

If I were to do this again, I'd probably try to find something better to do in those three hours where all I did was wait. Also, I would've made sure I had all my ingredients ahead of time.

I would recommend making this dessert if you have a lot of free time and like custard. Me? I don't like it so much. 

Have you ever tried a food that you thought would taste totally different based on it's looks? 

Thanks for reading!

Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-Size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print.

Making a Pumpkin Pie!!! :)

  In the recipe book," Country Kitchen Collection: Fruit Basket" by Anna Nicholas, has a wide variety of different recipe to make and try. There were some other options I was thinking of doing, but I ended  up making the decision to make the "Pumpkin Pie." This recipe states that," this dish is always connected with the United States and is regarded as being so American, like the Thanksgiving turkey, that it is almost a national dish."

This a picture of my product in an oven that is baked and done 

The recipe from the book is the following:

  You will need sufficient flaky pastry, either bought or made in the usual way, to line a 9-inch (23cm) flan tin. Either way, it must be well chilled right up to the last minute you need to use it. Halve a 3-lb pumpkin and remove the strings and seeds. Place cut sides down on a baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven until the flesh is soft (1 hour). Remove the cooked pumpkin from the oven and turn up the temperature to 400 degrees F. Puree the pulp in a sieve or blender and combine 3/4 pint of it with 5 oz brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, a half-teaspoon each of ground ginger and salt and 1/8 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cloves. Mix thoroughly and incorporate 12 fl oz double cream and 3 tablespoons of rum. Line the flan tin with the pastry and pour the mixture into it. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the pie, Serve either chilled or at room temperature, on its own or topped with lightly whipped cream. 

This is the end product with a piece on a plate

This recipe involves actually using a pumpkin and cooking it for the pie, and I don't usually make pumpkin pie, but I've had it beforehand and wouldn't think an actual pumpkin flesh was used in the process, so i learned something new and made something delicious! Do you think that experiencing new ideas and things can make a major impact on our lives??

Nicholas, Anna. "Pumpkin Pie." Fruit Basket. London: Grange, 1996. N. pag. Print.

Bakin' Cookies

          For as long as I could remember, my family and I loved to bake. Baking is a great way to bring the family together and have fun. I decided to bake "delicate cake-soft cookies frosted with a rich butter-flavored icing" (McConnell 11) called Browned Butter Cookies from the book Cookies Cookies Cookies By Shelli McConnell.

The final product of the Browned Butter Cookies

Ingredients Needed:

• 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 & 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 2 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 cup dairy sour cream
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 
• Browned Butter Icing 

Recipe:

Step 1: In a medium sized mixing bowl stir well together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. After the ingredients are well mixed set aside the bowl.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl combine the brown sugar and margarine or butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed till well combined. Then beat in eggs and vanilla till fluffy.

PLEASE NOTE: Leave out the butter for about 5-10 min or until the butter has soften prior from adding it to the mixture

Step 3: Add the flour mixture to the newly made margarine mixture along with the sour cream, mix well. 

Step 4: Stir in chopped nuts 

Step 5: Scoop and roll the cookie dough till your satisfied with how large the balls are and set them 2 inches apart onto the greased cookie sheets. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 10 minutes or till set. (Note: The time is a suggestion and can be changed till satisfaction) 

Step 6: Take out the cookies from the oven and set the baked cookies on wire racks or plates and wait till they are cooled down

Step 7: Frost cookies with browned butter icing and decorate with sprinkles or other wanted sweets

Step 8: Eat up and enjoy with your family and loved ones!

      Through the process of making these cookies I learned that it was a lot harder and more work alone then I initially thought . Usually, my mom would do most of the work and my sisters and I would just do the 'fun parts' like mixing and pouring in the ingredients. I am genuinely glad that I am finally putting in a lot more effort into learning how to bake and I hope you guys enjoy learning with me. 

Do you enjoy baking?

 If so who do you like to bake with & what is your favorite thing to bake? 

McConnell, Shelli. Meredith Corporation. Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 1992. Print.