Chewy Almond Blondies

Yum- I think these are some of the best blondies I've ever made. They use a "Frangipane"- a mix of almond flour, butter, and sugar that's used to fill desserts, like almond croissants in France. The original recipe author was inspired by French almond croissants and came up with this recipe. I absolutely love the almond filling mixed with buttery blondie batter. My fam enjoyed these too. I need to make them again soon! Note: This recipe called for unsalted butter but I just used regular, salted butter. 

Chewy Almond Blondies  

adapted from An Edible Mosaic

Frangipane:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
6 tablespoons granulated white sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Blondies:

10 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

6 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon powdered sugar for garnish

1. For the Frangipane: Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.

2. For the Blondies: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper so it hangs over all 4 sides. (I skipped this because we just eat them right out of the pan.) 

3. Heat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, or in a double boiler on the stovetop. Once the butter is melted, stir until the sugar is fully dissolved and mixture is thick like caramel (this takes about 2 minutes). Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Then stir in the flour and salt, being careful not to over-mix.

4. Spread the blondie batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Drizzle on the frangipane. Sprinkle on the sliced almonds. Bake until the outside is golden and the center is puffed, about 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake! Less time is better so you don't dry these out. 

5. Cool to room temperature, and then dust the top with powdered sugar, cut, and serve.

Storage: You can store these bar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

The whole fam really enjoyed these cheesecake bars.  I actually made them back in December and am just getting around to putting them on here- lol.  I wasn't super happy with the way the pics turned out but I'm going with them anyway.  

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

CRUST:

2 cups (8 ounces) graham cracker crumbs (about 16-17 rectangles)
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) butter, melted

CHEESECAKE BATTER:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup (7.5 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup dulce de leche 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs

GLAZE:
2/3 cup dulce de leche
1 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a metal 9X13-inch pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper (for easy lifting of the bars after they cool and easier cutting). Lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  For the graham cracker crust, combine the graham crackers, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Cool while mixing the cheesecake batter.

3.  With an electric mixer (stand or handheld), mix the cream cheese, granulated sugar and sour cream together until light and creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add the dulce de leche and mix until well-combined. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until just combined (don't overmix or the cheesecake may crack while baking).

4.  Spread the cheesecake batter evenly over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are puffed and center is soft-set (not firm but no longer jiggly). Cool completely.

5.  In a microwave-safe bowl, add the dulce de leche and heavy cream. Heat for 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until pourable. (You can also use a small saucepan on the stove.)  Add additional milk/cream if the mixture is too thick. (The exact amount of milk/cream will depend on the brand of dulce de leche.) Spread the glaze over the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate until chilled.

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Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Bars

I made these awhile ago- I think when it was still summer weather.  Lol.  The original recipe calls for making it in a blender, but I thought that was unnecessary and I was right- I just used my stand mixer.   

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Bars

adapted from Oh Sweet Basil

Crust:

1.5 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
6 Tablespoons Butter melted
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Filling
16 Ounces Cream Cheese 2 packages, softened
1/2 Cup Sour Cream room temperature
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs room temperature
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Cinnamon Swirl
4 Tablespoons Butter melted
1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Flour

1.  Crust: Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the melted butter, graham crackers, brown sugar and cinnamon until it appears to be wet sand.  Press into an 8x8" baking dish and bake for 8 minutes. Remove to cool.

2.  Filling:  Turn the oven down to 325.  Using a blender, stand mixer, or hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Add the sour cream and beat until smooth again.  Add the eggs, one at a time until smooth.  Pour half of the filling over the crust, dot with cinnamon swirl (directions below) and carefully swirl with a knife.  Repeat filling and swirling one more time.  Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes or until the middle doesn't jiggle too much.  (Don't overbake- you want a *little* jiggling.)  Refrigerate two hours to set.

3.  Cinnamon Swirl:  Stir the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter together until smooth.

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Homemade Churros

These were so much fun to make!  We made them back during our "Spring Break" while we were locked down.  We ended up making three batches that first day, lol!  Then I had to make them again, since we ate them so fast that first time that I never got a pic.  We did use a churro maker for this.  Supposedly one can use a pastry bag, but I didn't want it to burst everywhere, so I got a "Star Blue" churro maker from Amazon. It works very well!  And has a lot of different tip designs for the nozzle.  If you choose to use a pastry bag, I'd view some Youtube videos first to get the gist of what to do.  

These were easier to make than I thought.  You cook together a simple dough on the stove and then pipe it out.  We didn't pipe these out right into hot oil, but rather piped them onto a sheet of parchment paper (a few pics down) so we could lift them up and into the oil when we were ready.  It worked out well; they didn't stick to the paper at all.  The hardest part of these is cleaning up any mess you might make from deep-frying.  (Not my fave thing at all, but worth it every once in a while... like once or twice a year.  Lol.)

We coated these in just sugar, like in Spain (no cinnamon there), or ate them plain; my fave way to eat them when I was a kid in Spain.  We served these with thick Italian hot chocolate; similar to the Spanish version.

Homemade Churros

adapted from Star Blue's Churro Cookbook

1 cup water

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons canola, sunflower, or vegetable oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 quarts (more or less, depending on what pan you use) oil for frying

1/2 cup white sugar, to taste

1 teaspoon cinnamon, to taste (optional; we left it off)

1.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons oil.  Bring to a boil and remove from heat.  Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.  

2.  Heat oil for frying in deep-fryer or deep skillet or saucepan to 375 F.  (190 C).  Pipe strips of dough onto sheets of parchment paper and lift into oil when ready, OR pipe directly into hot oil using a churros maker or piping bag.  Fry until golden; drain onto paper towels.  

3.  Place sugar (and optional cinnamon) in a shallow bowl.  Roll drained churros in sugar and serve.  

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Blueberry Cobbler (Using Frozen Blueberries!)

This cobbler was so good!!  It reminds me of a recipe my Aunt used to make- you layer fruit, batter, and then pour boiling water on top of the whole thing and bake.  It sounds weird but it turns into this delicious combo.  Plus, using frozen berries makes it super easy (and pretty cheap, too).  I used 2, 12 oz. of frozen blueberries for this.  My baking dish was pretty deep, though, and while it was really good this way, I wonder what adding one more bag of blueberries would do- I want to try that next time and I'll update.  We had this in lieu of dinner tonight with some vanilla ice cream.  :)

Update: I made this again with 3, 12-oz bags of frozen blueberries for my deeper-dish 9x13 and it was a good amount. For a regular, more shallow 9x13, I'd use 2 bags. 

Blueberry Cobbler (Using Frozen Blueberries!)
adapted from Reluctant Entertainer

5-7 cups frozen blueberries, or fresh (I used 2 or 3, 12 oz. bags of frozen*)
1 lemon juiced
6 Tbsp butter melted
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups boiling water

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Lay the blueberries on the bottom,  and squeeze juice of 1 lemon over the berries.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder, flour, and vanilla. Pour over the berries.

3.  In the same bowl, add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. Mix together and sprinkle on top of the cobbler mixture.

4.  Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the entire cobbler. Bake for about 1 hour. (Check at 45-50 minutes. Biscuit topping should be golden brown, like pictured.) Let cool a few minutes and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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Strawberry Tiramisu

I love Strawberry Tiramisu.  I first made it in a cooking class, and I finally made it at home recently, twice.  Lol.  For the liquid, instead of the coffee that's in usual Tiramisu, I used an Italian red multi-fruit juice.  I also cooked the egg yolks and sugar together in a double boiler until it reached 160 degrees F, to quell any raw-egg fears.  Although... I think European eggs/chickens are vaccinated against salmonella so it would have been fine.  But anyway... it worked well.  I just did it first so it could cool off before adding to other ingredients. 

This makes a lot!!  It filled up a giant 9x13 pan.  It wouldn't work in a regular one, I think. You need a pan with deep sides, for sure. 

Strawberry Tiramisu
from myself :)

5 egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
750 grams mascarpone cheese (about 1.5 pounds), room temperature
1 1/2 packages lady fingers (estimated... buy 2 packages, you might need more or less)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 kilo strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced in half (3-4 grocery store packages)
1/2 cup or more of any red multi-fruit juice (not cranberry) or orange juice or lemoncello, if you want

1.  In a double boiler, cook egg yolks and granulated sugar, whisking constantly, until it reaches 160 degrees F.  Set aside off the heat to cool slightly.

2. Beat egg mixture with mascarpone until light and fluffy.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form.  (I used my stand mixer for the cream, and my hand mixer for the egg mixture.)  Carefully fold the egg mixture into the cream with a silicone spatula. 

4.  Dip ladyfingers in juice quickly, on both sides.  You want the liquid to seep into them but not too much.  You don't want them to be soggy, or too dry.  You can dip one first and bite into it to test, if you've never done this before.  As you dip, lay the dipped lady fingers in the bottom of a large (deep) 9x13 pan in a single layer.  Top with half of the mascarpone cream mixture.  Top with an even layer of halved strawberries.  Repeat layers- dipped ladyfingers, mascarpone cream mixture, strawberries.  Best refrigerated for a few hours; overnight is best. 

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Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

I made these a few weeks ago for a special breakfast.  My daughter loves cinnamon rolls but I only bake them once or twice a year, lol.  Luckily I bought a fresh jar of yeast right before this craziness started, and my local store still had flour regularly until a few days ago.  I'm sorry for those who can't get these things right now. (I can't find any more yeast to buy now, though... hope there is more when I need it!)

Anyway.... these cinnamon rolls were so good! I took a recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe for the rolls themselves and used my own caramel icing.  I loved this combo.  The buttermilk cinnamon rolls were so fluffy and tender.  I think I'll use this as my base for cinnamon rolls from now on and just change up the icing.

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Here

ROLLS:

3/4 cup buttermilk, warm (try pouring the buttermilk in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power)
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon regular* or instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups flour

FILLING:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Caramel Icing:
1/2 cup butter
1/2  cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (can just use milk, too)
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

1.  For the dough, add the warmed buttermilk and butter to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or you can use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon). With the mixer running, add the eggs, sugar, yeast, salt and 1 cup of the flour. *If using regular (non-instant) yeast, proof in a bowl first with warm buttermilk and a pinch of sugar- then continue on. 

2.  Continue adding flour, just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should be very soft but not so sticky that it leaves a ton of residue on your fingers. Let it knead for just 1-2 minutes until it has come together in a soft, tacky ball.

3.  Place the dough in a large, lightly greased bowl and cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, around 2 to 2 1/2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen (you can speed up the rising by placing the covered bowl of dough in a very lightly warmed oven).

4.  Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish   In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.

5.  When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly greased counter and press it into a 16 by 12-inch rectangle.  Gently spread the softened butter over the rectangle, using an offset spatula or rubber spatula or just your fingers.

6.  Sprinkle on the brown sugar mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the top and bottom edges. Lightly use the palms of your hands to press the brown sugar mixture into the butter, adhering it to the dough.
Lift the longest edge closest to you and begin rolling the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam closed and roll the log so it is seam side down. Gently stretch the log to be 15- or so inches in length with an even diameter all the way throughout and pat the ends to even them up.

7.  Using a serrated knife, (or a piece of thread or floss) slice the log into 12 evenly sized rolls (or more if you like your rolls thinner). Arrange the rolls cut side down on the prepared baking pan and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours; it's really important to let them rise well or else they won't be light and fluffy after they've baked. (You can put them in the fridge overnight here.... works out perfectly.  Just remove from the fridge while the oven preheats in the morning.)

8.  Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, until the rolls are very lightly golden on top and cooked through but not overly browned.

9.  While rolls are baking, prepare the caramel icing: Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the brown sugar and salt and stir until combined. Continue cooking over low heat for another 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Add the heavy whipping cream or milk and stir to combine. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Whisk in the powdered sugar until nice and smooth. (I always have lumps in my icing because I'm too lazy to sift the powdered sugar.... but you can if you want.)

7. Remove rolls from oven and pour on icing immediately, or let them cool a few minutes and then pour on. Let cool slightly and serve.

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Lemon Curd Bars

Happy Easter!! I was going through old magazines for my son's at-home art project the week before last.  I came across a few Cook's Illustrated magazines and got sidetracked looking at them.  I enjoy the magazines but haven't really make much from them.  I decided on these Lemon Bars.  After making them, I realized they are really lemon curd bars- not traditional lemon bars I'm used to.  They reminded me of these Cranberry Curd Bars, in both texture and in the way they're prepared.  You prepare a lemon curd on the stove, then bake it on the par-baked crust a few minutes until set. 

Lemon Curd Bars
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Crust:
1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter , melted

Filling:
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs plus 3 large yolks
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest plus 2/3 cup juice (4 lemons)
4 tablespoons butter , cut into 8 pieces

confectioner's sugar, optional

1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. 

2.  Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in bowl.  Add melted butter and stir until combined.  Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press into even layer over entire bottom of pan- do not wash bowl.  Bake crust until dark golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.  

3. For the filling: While crust bakes, whisk sugar, flour, cream of tartar, and salt together in now-empty bowl. Whish in eggs and yolks until no streaks of egg remain.  Whisk in lemon zest and juice.  Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring/whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and registers 160 degrees, 5-8 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in butter.  Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over bowl.  (Straining removes the lemon zest and any accidental cooked egg bits.)

4.  Pour filling over hot crust and tilt pan to spread evenly.  Bake until filling is set and barely jiggles when pan is shaken; 8-12 minutes.  Let bars cool completely, at least 1.5 hours.  Before serving, dust bars with confectioners sugar, if desired.  

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Rice Pudding

I FINALLY made rice pudding!  I can't believe I've never made it before! I really like rice pudding but it's just not something I think about much.  I spotted a fancy recipe on Mel's Kitchen cafe and simplified it, and I love the results.  I've made this about 5 times since I found it 2 months ago.  I'm just using leftover jasmine rice from meals- I'll freeze it in 2-cup amounts and thaw in the fridge a few hours before I plan on making rice pudding.

The first few times I made this, I used 4 cups half and half like stated in the recipe.  The last time, I used half whole milk and half half-and-half.  It tasted the same to me- just as rich and good. **3/29/2020 I made this again with ONLY whole or ONLY 2% milk and it was just as good!!  Now during the Coronavirus, I'm trying to save our fresh milk, so I made this just now with half evaporated milk (a regular can and a little can) and the rest 2% milk.  It's so rich with evaporated milk!!** Cinnamon isn't included in the recipe- sometimes I'll simmer a cinnamon stick with the rice, add ground cinnamon to the recipe as it cooks, or just sprinkle it on top for serving.  Or, you can just not use any cinnamon.  I've experimented with using some vanilla sugar in place of the regular sugar, too.

Rice Pudding 
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

4 cups half-and-half (or a mix of half-and-half and whole milk)*
2 cups cooked medium grain rice (I use jasmine)
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten and brought to room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

cinnamon, optional

1.  Pour 3 1/2 cups of the half-and-half, cooked rice, sugar, and salt into a large 3 to 4 quart pot. Stir constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon or flat silicone spatula until the mixture thickens, 25-35 minutes. Remove from the heat.

2.  Place the beaten egg in a medium bowl. Slowly add a spoonful of the hot pudding to the egg, whisking vigorously and constantly. Continue to temper the egg with 3-4 more spoonfuls of the hot pudding, whisking constantly. Add the tempered pudding and egg mixture into the pot of hot rice pudding, stirring quickly to incorporate. Return the pot to medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture boils. Remove from the heat and stir in the last 1/2 cup of half-and-half and the vanilla extract. Sprinkle cinnamon on top; optional.

*Can use any milk or combo of milks.  Half and half, whole, 2%, and most recently, I used a mix of 2% and canned evaporated milk.  The evap. milk gave it a yellow-ish color, but it was SO thick and rich using the evap milk! I loved it.  

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No-Bake Berry Cheesecake

 I was skeptical about this recipe, but it's so, so good! My daughter and her friend wanted to make an easy dessert, so they picked this recipe and made it by themselves.  It's amazing that a few simple ingredients can make such a good cheesecake.  To make it even easier, I didn't puree raspberries like the original recipe; I opted for homemade strawberry freezer jam and just garnished with raspberries.  Use any kind of jam you want. 

The original recipe calls for crushed graham crackers, but I had a box of crumbs on hand, so they just used my scale to measure out what the amount would be. You can use Neufchatel cream cheese for this.

A few days after my daughter made this the first time, she made it again with her brother.  It's a great recipe for teens or pre-teens to make by themselves.  No baking, and you only have to use the stove to melt butter (unless you're a butter microwaver).  So, I've actually not made this myself, lol.... but it was so good I have to put it on here!

No-Bake Berry Cheesecake
adapted from Blonde Kitchen

Graham Cracker Crust
157 grams graham cracker crumbs (9 regular crackers)
1/4 cup (32 g) confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (113 g or 1 stick) regular (salted) butter,

Cheesecake Layer
16 ounces (170 g) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (125 g) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

about 1/3 cup berry freezer jam or homemade jam

1. Graham Cracker Crust: In a large bowl, combine graham crackers, 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, and melted butter, stirring until the mixture is the texture of wet sand. (Or, melt the butter in a big enough saucepan and mix the crust in there.) Dump the graham cracker mixture into a 8×8 baking dish. Press the mixture down with your hands to create an even layer. Freeze for 10 minutes.

2. Cheesecake: In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla, stirring until smooth. (A hand mixture works well for this.)  Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the graham cracker crust.

3. Dollop spoonfuls of the jam on top of the cheesecake. Use a skewer or knife to make swirls. Freeze uncovered for 1-2 hours or until set.  When no longer soft, cut with a sharp knife or brownie cutter.  Store in the fridge.  

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Blueberry Crisp

I really love fruit crisps, but don't have many recipes for them on my blog.  (I do have a few apple crisp recipes, and this lovely sweet cherry one.)  I love making crisps in winter with frozen fruit, which is what I used for this recipe.  Two 12 oz bags were the perfect amount for this recipe.  It was SO quick and easy to make, and tasted wonderful with vanilla ice cream.  I really love this recipe and want to try it with other fruit like cherries, other berries, peaches, etc. 

Blueberry Crisp
adapted from Spend with Pennies

5 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 lemon

Topping:
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oats regular or quick
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Grate the rind of the lemon and squeeze the juice of half of the lemon. Toss blueberries, with sugar, lemon rind, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 3 tablespoons flour. Place in a 2qt baking dish. (I "measured" my baking dish by pouring 2 quarts of water into it to make sure it fit.... lol.)

2.  With a fork, combine the butter, brown sugar, oats, flour, nuts if using and cinnamon until crumbled. (Can also use a pastry blender.)  Sprinkle over blueberries.

3.  Bake 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. Cool slightly and serve warm.

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Halawa Dihiniyya- Iraqi-Style Fudge

This is my seventh and final recipe for our Seven Countries Dinner.  You can click on that link to see them all.  I featured recipes from Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq.  I enjoyed the whole process of this dinner.  (Thinking of the idea in the first place, researching food from these countries, making a shopping list, and cooking.  I started cooking some things the day before.  The whole family loved this dinner and we had a chance to talk about these countries.)

The idea to do it actually came to me in a Zumba class.  :)  Lol.  (Where I do some of my best thinking, I guess.)  I was upset about the travel ban on these countries and was thinking of a way to do something to raise awareness and education about these countries. One thing all of humanity has in common is food.  We all need to eat, and so much culture and history is shown through food.  Food has the ability to bring people together.  I love learning about different cultures this way.  If I can't get the real thing from a country, I just make it myself.

I think trying food from different countries has the ability to make one more open-minded.  I hope you'll try some of these recipes.  For lots of recipes from all different countries, check out my Worldwide Cuisine tag.  

This fudge was just a delight. I'm so glad I found and made this recipe.  It had a great chewy texture that was broken by the nuts, and it showcased the flavors of coconut and cardamom.  This is something that I'll definitely be making again.  I recommend going to the original blog In My Iraqi Kitchen to read some history of this dessert.  The method is interesting; cooking some ingredients on the stove-top together, and then baking the whole thing. It was traditionally made using clarified butter, but I used half regular butter and half sunflower oil.

Halawa Dihiniyya- Iraqi-Style Fudge
adapted from My Iraqi Kitchen

1 cup milk
1 cup fat (I use 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sunflower oil)
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons date syrup (OR honey)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup walnut halves

1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.  Put milk, fat, sugar and date syrup (or honey) in a small heavy pot. Stir and let mix boil until bubbly over medium heat (about 10 minutes). Then take the pot away from heat and right away start adding flour gradually, using electric mixer, like you do with cakes. (I poured mixture into my stand mixer and mixed from there.  If you had a small hand mixer you could mix right in the pot.) Mix in cardamom.

2. Grease a 12x7x2 -inch pan (or approximate size- I used a 9x13), and spread the bottom with half of the coconut. Scatter the walnut halves all over it. Then, pour the batter over the walnuts, and cover the surface with the rest of the coconut.

3. Place the pan on the middle shelf of the oven, drape it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil, and let bake for 35 to 40 minutes. (I had a hard time telling when it was done.  It was still a little soft looking, but browned.  I took it out and it firmed up to a perfect texture once it was cool.)

4. Take it out of the oven, and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack. Cut it into squares and serve. Store the leftovers in a plastic container and keep in refrigerator, where it will stay good to eat for several weeks (if you can resist the temptation). Enjoy!            

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