JulepStyle » Desserts

Butterscotch Bird’s Nest No-Bake Cookies

Suzanne — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:41:59 +0000

When I was a kid, I used to love the Butterscotch Haystacks. This recipe modifies the traditional haystack recipe by shaping it like a bird’s nest and adding eggs to create a really cute (and tasty) spring dessert recipe. (I was totally inspired by the No Bake Easter Nest Cookie Recipe at Prudent Baby.)The other best thing is that it’s super easy to make.

1) Assemble ingredients: Two, 5-oz. cans of Chow Mein Noodle, Peanut Butter, an 11-oz. Bag of Butterscotch Chips, and a Bag of Peanut M&M’s.

Ingredients

2) Sort the peanut M&M’s by color. (So pretty).

Sorted Peanut M&M's

3. Combine Ingredients. Melt 3/4 cup of peanut butter and the butterscotch chips in a pan over medium heat. Stir regularly; you don’t want this to burn! Then add in the chow mein noodles, & take the pan off the heat. Stir in the chow mein noodles until they’re evenly coated with the butterscotch.

4. Spoon the noodles into “nest-sized” blobs on parchment paper. Add three M&M’s in an egg formation.

5. Allow cookies to cool on the counter; for good measure, I also chilled them in the fridge.

Butterscotch Bird's Nest

Butterscotch Bird's Nest - Close-up

Sunday’s Skillet Toffee

Suzanne — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:52:51 +0000

Rob and I wanted to try our hand at toffee this holiday season (what a great gift for everyone!), so I decided to try this AMAZING recipe from Apartment Therapy. I never knew toffee was so easy to make. And because I’m not a big candy maker, I found the whole process truly fascinating. I took pictures step-by-step to share the coolness.

We ended up making 3 batches. It’s pretty easy clean-up (hot water melts all the hard candy), and each batch goes very quickly. I tried to use my candy thermometer to measure the temperature to make sure I got it to a “hard crack” temperature (300-310), but the mixture wasn’t deep enough in the skillet. That said, the cracking on the toffee is perfect. You just have to get it to a deep golden brown (constantly stirring). We made one change from the original recipe; we used toasted pecan bits as our topping because it just felt more southern to us than the almonds. It’s seriously a perfect recipe!

Chocolate Kahlua Pecan Pie

Suzanne — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:14:29 +0000

For Thanksgiving festivities this year, I made/created a Chocolate Kahlua Pecan Pie. I know some pecan pie lovers are purists and against adding other ingredients to their traditional pecan pie, but I am not. And I love chocolate…and liquor! There’s nothing better to add to a pecan pie to make it even better!

Ingredients:
9″ Deep Dish Pie Shell
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Stick of Butter (1/2 cup)
4 Eggs, beaten
1/4 cup Kahlua
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Chopped Pecans
1 cup Whole Pecans (for top of pie)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Cool slightly. Combine eggs, Kahlua, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Slowly pour sugar mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Stir in chopped pecans. Spread Chocolate Chips evenly throughout the pie shell. Pour mixture into the pie shell. Starting from outside of pie edge, place pecans in concentric circles on top. Bake in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until set and golden.

It’s so good!

(And although my husband made fun of me, I posed my pie with some woodland creature candles I got at Pottery Barn last year. They wanted to be in the pictures!)

Eli’s P. T. B. (Pecan Toffee Blondie)

Suzanne — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 17:09:24 +0000

(that’s Pecan pronounced pee-can round here)
Just in time for your holiday get-togethers, we present:

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 stick softened butter
1 egg
(base layer)

then: 1 can eagle brand condensed milk
1 egg
1/2 pack toffee chips
1 cup chopped pecans

(optional topping)
1 jar of butterscotch or caramel topping and vanilla bean icecream

Cut together base layer with pastry blender until all batter appears to be “wrapped” in the softened butter, do not melt the butter. Press this layer into a “greased” (I used a Crisco stick) lasagna pan using your fingers, and allow it to sit out for around 20 minutes.

Then: Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over top just before putting into a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 minutes.

Remove from over and allow to cool, cut into small servings and drizzle butterscotch topping, and finish with a scoop of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream.

Submitted by: EliPeeDeeQueen

Sticky Chocolate Cake

Suzanne — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 16:34:52 +0000

Another cake submission! This is one of my favorite cakes ever; my mom makes it for my birthday. It is so good–gooey, sticky, chocolate goodness.

When I visited my grandmother’s, I always checked her cakebox in the hopes of seeing this cake. It’s one of my favorites.

-Vegetable shortening
-Flour
-Wax Paper

Layers:
-1 stick of butter
-2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-1 cup milk
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-2 extra large eggs

Chocolate Icing:
-1 cup sugar
-5 Tbl. fresh cornstarch
-2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, grated
-Dash of salt
-1 cup boiling water
-3 Tbl. butter
-1 tsp. vanilla extract

Prepare cake pans: Grease 3 or 4, 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable shortening & dust with flour. Cut wax paper to fit bottoms of cake pans. Grease both sides of wax paper. Line each pan with the greased wax paper after they have been greased and floured. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream lightly 1 stick of butter. Stir together: 2¼ cups self-rising flour & 1½ cups sugar.

Mix together 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 extra large eggs. Add milk mixture to butter mixture. Beat together for 2 minutes.

Divide batter among the cake pans, approximately 1 cup per pan if you use 4 pans. Spread batter evenly in pans, bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool 5 min.

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan. Add boiling water. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Blend in butter and vanilla.

Cut around edge of pan, flip out, peel off wax paper. Apply icing while layers are warm or completely cool. Be sure to spread icing on the cake while the icing is still hot.

Submitted by: Gloria

Pineapple Torte

Suzanne — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 01:04:25 +0000

My mom made this cake over the weekend for a dinner party and was kind enough to submit the recipe to JulepStyle. This cake is soooo good; it’s really one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.

Pineapples are a traditional symbol of southern hospitality. When you make this cake, be prepared for guests–they will all come running!

Layers:
-4 egg whites, extra large (Save 2 of the yolks to use in filling)
-2 cups + 2 Tbl. sugar
-1/2 cup soft butter
-1 and 3/4 cups plain flour, stir with fork before measuring
-2 and1/4 tsp. baking powder
-3/4 tsp. salt
-2/3 cup, minus l Tbl. milk
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-2 extra large eggs, stirred together
-1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds

Pineapple Filling:
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 Tbl. all-purpose flour
-dash of salt
-2 egg yolks, stirred together
-2/3 cup milk
-1 Tbl. Butter
-8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, thoroughly drained of juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2, 9 inch round cake pans with vegetable shortening and dust with flour. Cut wax paper to fit bottoms of cake pans. Grease both sides of wax paper. Line each pan with the greased wax paper after they have been greased and floured.

Mix meringue: Beat 4 eggs whites until foamy. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside.

Prepare batter: Cream butter lightly. Stir together remaining sugar with the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add mixture to butter and stir with spatula. Add milk and vanilla. Mix with spatula until flour mixture is damp. Beat at low speed, 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat 1 minute longer. (Do not overbeat.)

Baking: Divide batter between the two cake pans and spread out evenly. On the batter, spoon the meringue dividing it between the two pans. Carefully spread the meringue with a spatula to within 3/8 to ½ inch from the edge of the pan. Sprinkle the almonds on the meringue. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes, until meringue begins to lightly brown.

Cooling: Cool baked layers in pans 5 minutes. With a sharp knife cut around edge of cake in pans, place a plate on top of each layer, turn out, peel off wax paper. With another plate flip each layer back over. Set layers aside to cool.

Filling: In top of double boiler, combine sugar, flour, milk, egg yolks. Cook until thick. Remove from heat. Add butter and pineapple. Stir together, set aside to let cool completely.

Spread all of pineapple filling on top of one layer. Top with second layer and cover sides with whipped, whipping cream. (1 pint of heavy whipping cream, beat to soft peaks, add 1 to 2 Tbl. granulated sugar, beat until stiff peaks.) Refrigerate cake. Serve when cooled/chilled.

Submitted by: Gloria