New Year, Lighter Dessert

     After months of eating and overindulging, it's time to start being a little bit more careful about how we're eating. Although I love to bake and make desserts, some sweets are worse for you than others. So, on New Years Eve, I decided to give a lighter dessert a try. I got this recipe from Cooking Light magazine, and I changed it around a bit to make it easier to serve and eat (no silverware required!). I also swapped the meringue for whipped cream and added candied cranberries. Not only is this a relatively light dessert, it is also incredibly simple and requires no baking.

     The end result was very tasty- the filling is tart creamy and sweet, the topping creamy and the cranberries and shells add a little crunch. And, they're bite-size, so you experience all of the flavors and textures at the same time. The only issue I had with these is that they won't keep well- the shells get soggy several hours after you fill them, so it's better to do them right before serving. You can, however, make all of the components in advance and just assemble them immediately before serving. On a side note, I had extra candied cranberries, and they are actually delicious by themselves. They would make a healthy, sweet snack if you just want a little something to satisfy your sugar cravings!

Bite-Size Cranberry Tarts (makes 30 tarts)

-cranberry curd

-candied cranberries

-whipped cream topping

-plastic sandwich bags (zip-top)

-pastry bag with star tip

-2 boxes of frozen phyllo shells (come as packages of 15)

-Thaw the phyllo shells per package instructions. If you want them to be extra crunchy, you can pop them in the oven, but make sure to cool them well before you fill them.

-Place the chilled cranberry curd into a zip-top bag, close the top and push the filling into one corner. Cut a 1 cm hole in the corner and hold as a pastry bag. Fill each of the shells with filling, using the bag to press it into the nooks and crannies of the shells. 

-Place whipped cream into the pastry bag and pipe onto the tarts. To make them look as I did, start in the middle and pipe towards the edge. Just before you reach the edge, make a circle. Then continue in a circular pattern until you run out of space and then leave a point at the top. 

-Top each tart with a candied cranberry and serve.

Cranberry Curd:
12-oz fresh cranberries
1 c sugar
3/4 c water
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c cornstarch
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbs butter, softened

-Combine cranberries, 1/2 c sugar, 1/4 c water and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for ~10 minutes, until the cranberries burst.

-Mix cornstarch, egg yolks and remaining sugar and water in a medium sized and whisk until smooth. Set aside until all cranberries have popped.

-Slowly add 1 cup of the cranberry mixture to the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly. Add the mixture back to the saucepan and cook till it reaches 160 F (use candy thermometer), stirring constantly.

-Strain the mixture with a fine sieve (push through the sieve to maximize yield) and discard solids. 

-Add butter and stir in while the mixture is still warm. Chill the curd until you're ready to fill the shells

Whipped Cream Topping:

-Heavy whipping cream (~1 c)

-powdered sugar

-almond extract (or vanilla, if you prefer)

-Pour approximately 1 c of cold whipping cream into a bowl and whip with a whisk. Continue to whip until the mixture holds together and has the consistency of whipped cream.  

-Stir in a little bit of powdered sugar (between 2 Tb- 1/4 c, add to taste) and ~1/4 tsp almond extract. May be refrigerated until ready to use.

Candied Cranberries:
-1 c sugar
-1 c water
-1- 1 1/2 cup cranberries
-1/2 c sparkling or turbinado sugar

-Add regular sugar and water to a saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Bring the syrup to a simmer and then remove from heat. Allow it to cool until just warm and pour over the cranberries.
-Cover and chill for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
-Drain the syrup and reserve for another use. Roll the cranberries into the turbinado and sparkling sugar and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Allow to dry at room temperature for at least 1 hour. 

Too cute to eat... Snowman Pops

    I can't believe that it's been almost 3 months since I last posted... the last couple of months have been a little crazy. There were several weeks this fall that I had 3 or more interviews, but now that I'm done travelling, it's time to get back to the kitchen! For the past couple of months, I have been teaching swim lessons to offset some of the expense of interviewing (and have some fun :-) ). 

     I wanted to do something special for the kids I've been teaching, and my sister, Melissa, gave me this idea- she made these for the students in her student teaching class this semester. She used candy corn for the noses, but I couldn't find any this time of year, so I used "Mike and Ike" candies and cut them in half. I'm not sure this actually qualifies as "baking," but I thought they were too cute not to share! It's a little tricky to make the pops, but decorating them is easy and could be a fun project for kids.

Oreo Snowmen Pops

- 1 box double-stuffed Oreos

- Popsicle sticks 

- 1 bag (14-16 oz) white chocolate chips 

- 1 box candy corn or Mike and Ikes

- Royal Icing (I bought a can of meringue powder and followed the recipe that came with it)

- food coloring (I used black for the eyes and mouth)

- Parchment or wax paper

- While this is a simple concept, it can be a little tricky to pull off, so I've added a couple of tips to make it a little easier. 

-To prepare the Oreos, pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften them up a bit. If you start with cold cookies, it will be difficult to insert the popsicle sticks and the cookies may crumble in the process. Stick one popsicle stick into the icing of each warm cookie. Chill the cookies in the fridge until they firm up, probably at least a couple of hours

- Once the cookies have been chilled, it's time to melt the chocolate and get it ready for dipping. The key to making this step a success is to heat the candy gently and to remove it from heat when it is melted. You can either do this with a microwave or a double boiler on a stove. I used the microwave in short increments (1 min to start, then 30 secs at a time) at LOW heat (50% power) and stirred in between increments. When the chocolate is mostly melted, with just a few lumps in it, you can use even smaller increments. Stop heating it as soon as all of the chocolate is melted.

-Now, you're ready to dip the Oreos! To do this, I placed each cookie top down into the melted white chocolate and spooned chocolate to cover the entire outside. Then, to remove excess, I tapped the popsicle stick attached to the cookie on the side of the bowl. This makes the surface of the "snowman" very smooth. When you are satisfied with the result, you can place them on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment or wax paper.

-Allow them to cool for ~30 min before removing them from the parchment paper. When the pops have set, you can start working on the faces...

-To make noses, cut Mike and Ike candies in 1/2 (or use candy corn, whole). You can use melted white chocolate or icing to "glue" on the noses in the middle of the pops.

-Make royal icing, and use large amounts of black food coloring to darken the icing. Draw dots for eyes and mouth. Allow the icing to set before packing with cellophane and ribbon.
-Enjoy!