Nutella Crescent Rolls

Nutella, oh how I love it. Sarah sent me this recipe and it was so yummy and so easy! I had to share!

Ingredients:

1 package crescent rolls

Nutella

sliced almonds

sugar

Directions:

(Each package of crescent rolls has a different temperature to be cooked at and recommended cooking time. Be sure to check your package! It will take a couple minutes less than recommended cooking time.)

Roll out each crescent roll and spread on the Nutella goodness. Sprinkle on the sliced almonds and roll it up. Sprinkle with sugar. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake.

Stand by for a delicious treat!

Great Grandma Pearl's Angel Food Cake

I can honestly say that this cake recipe falls into my top five dessert recipes! It is just THAT GOOD! Last summer, I came across it in the very, very back of a Food and Wine Magazine. There was no picture and the size of the recipe almost seemed more like they were trying to fill a spot than sell their reader on a old family recipe. Alas, some very ripe peaches spurred me to try it and I was instantly wowed! While quite a bit more comprehensive than just your average box mix, the end result is worth it!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups egg whites (from about 16 large eggs
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
5 peaches, sliced into thin wedges (any fruit could be substituted)
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

For a quick tutorial on whipping egg whites click here!

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. In a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in 2 1/2 cups of the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until smooth and glossy, about 4 minutes.
2. Transfer the egg whites to a large, wide bowl. Using a fine sieve, gradually sift the flour over the egg whites, gently folding in the flour with a spatula. Fold in the vanilla and almond extracts. Scrape the cake batter into a 10-inch angel food cake pan. Using a table knife, slice through the cake batter several times to release any air bubbles. Tap the cake pan once or twice on a flat surface.
3. Bake the cake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350° and bake the cake for about 35 minutes longer, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert the pan onto the neck of a wine bottle and let the cake cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, toss the peaches with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until juicy, for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
5. To loosen the cake, run a thin-bladed knife around the side and tube of the pan. Unmold the cake and transfer to a platter. Cut the cake into wedges and serve with the peaches and whipped cream.

THE Gold Bar-Updated!

I have been absolutely dumbfounded over the amount of traffic and comments that the APS Gold Bar has brought through Chow City! More than five completely random people have left comments saying something along the lines of, "You don't know how long I searched for this" or "No one but APS kids understand!" Isn't that hilarious?! What a strange bond to have with complete strangers! An undying love and total allegiance for an elementary school treat! Anyway, one of those Gold Bar hounds left the following recipe in comments and being a fellow guru, I had to try it.

Let this be the evidence of how good they were...there are NO PICTURES of them because we ate them that fast. They were amazing! So if you want a blast from the elementary/middle/high school past, make these! And as for the blogger who left this recipe-THANK YOU-from the bottom of my primary education heart!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups crunchy peanut butter

2 cups Rice Krispies

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

4 tablespoons melted margarine or butter

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Method: Mix peanut butter, Rice Krispies, powdered sugar, melted margarine, and light corn syrup until well blended. Press mixture evenly into a 9-by-13-inch pan that has been lined with plastic wrap over light oil. Melt chocolate in double boiler. Spread evenly over Rice Krispie mixture; chill until set but not hard (chocolate will begin to lose its shiny appearance). Cut into pieces of desired size. Return to refrigerator until chocolate has hardened completely. Remove from pan and store in tightly covered container in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Classic Lemon Squares

This lemon square recipe is from my friend Crystal's blog, Inspirational Ingredients, and let me tell you they are AWESOME! In my opinion, it's the perfect blend of texture and taste! So while it may seem a little lame to post a recipe from another friend's blog, I just couldn't resist! They are just too good to not pass on! And in case you're interested Crystal has lots of other amazing recipes on her blog too! So head on over and check her out!

Note: I was actually out of lemons and lemon juice so I used some key lime juice I still had from our trip to the Keys. I then topped the bars with toasted coconut right after they came out of the oven. The were delicious but I still think nothing can replace a classic lemon square! If you'd like to try them, however, just substitute the lemon juice for key lime and top with desired amount of toasted coconut and powdered sugar immediately after the bars come out of the oven. Refrigerate and slice according to the recipe's directions.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crust:
1 1/2 sticks Butter
2 cups all-purpose Flour
1/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Confectioners’ Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt

For the Filling:
4 Large Eggs Plus 2 eggs yolks
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose Flour
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1 cup Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 in pan with vegetable oil, Next line pan with aluminum foil and grease with vegetable oil as well.

First Make the Crust: Combine Butter, Flour, Sugars and Salt until incorporated, the recipe uses a food processor but I didn’t want to get it out so I used my mixer, it think either will work fine. Next Press mixture evenly into bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown about 25 minutes.

While the crust is baking make the filling: Whisk the Whole Eggs and Yolks, Sugar and Flour together until smooth. Whisk in lemon zest and juice.

When Crust is ready, remove from oven and pour filling over hot crust. Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Return squares to oven for 35-40 minutes or until “just set." (The top of mine looked very dry and powdery when it was finished baking).

Lastly, let the bars cool on a rack then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice, dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Source: Recipe Adapted from Food Network Magazine March 2010 issue

The Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cake

I made this cake for Easter and it was absolutely fabulous! The cake, which was more like pound cake, was dense and moist and the frosting was AMAZING. Overall, a lovely addition to our Easter meal and a recipe that I will be making several more times!

I found this tutorial to be helpful in making my cake, as well!

INGREDIENTS:

nocoupons3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk
4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut (I chose to not measure the coconut here and instead just covered my cake entirely!)nocoupons

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Adapted from Ina Garten's Coconut Cake recipe.