Stuff You Should Make in 2011

If you didn't try them in 2010, these are the recipes you should try in 2011.

My Favorites of the Year:

Mimsy's Spiced Rum Apple Cake

This is my own recipe and it's fabulous if I do say so myself. The concept is a blend of various apple cake recipes I've tried before, but this one involves creating a "paste" of spiced rum and dates that are blended into the batter.

Mimsy's Spiced Rum Apple Cake
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup rum
1 cup unsalted butter
Combine and heat to a just below a simmer in a tiny sauce pan, then remove from heat. Soak for 1 hour. (You can also do this in a bowl in the microwave)

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
3 sour apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 eggs
Stir into the date mixture set aside.

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
Sift together in a mixing bowl, then combine with date mixture until moistened. Spread in a 9 X 13" greased pan and bake for about 1 hour or until done. Serve with Spiced Rum Sauce.

Spiced Rum Sauce
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup cream
2 1/2 Tbsp spiced rum
Combine in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ginger Bread and Pumpkin Custard Trifle

This is a trifle that I've been dreaming up ever since the cool weather hit in September. I was surprised to find out that other people had thought of the same thing, and there are a couple of recipes floating out there. I wasn't too thrilled with either one, because they both used Jello pudding mix, so I came up with my own recipe. Delicious!

Ginger Bread and Pumpkin Custard Trifle

Ginger Bread
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 dashes black pepper
6 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup water
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine dry ingredients. Beat wet ingredients until combined. Add dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Pour into greased 8 x 8" pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Spiced Rum Sauce
1 1/3 brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
3 T spiced rum

In a small sauce pan, boil brown sugar, water, and butter for 2 minutes. Take off heat and add spiced rum.

Pumpkin Custard
1 cup sugar
6 T corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups half & half
2 cups pureed fresh pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)
6 egg yolks, beaten
4 T unsalted butter

Mix dry ingredients together in a sauce pan. Whisk in half & half and pumpkin until smooth. Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Whisk a little of the hot pumpkin mixture into the beaten egg yolks at a time until they are hot, then add the egg yolks into the rest of the pumpkin mixture in the sauce pan. Cook and stir for another minute or so until thicker. Remove from heat. Add butter and stir until melted. Cool, completely.

Whipped Heavy Cream
1 quart heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar

Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Add sugar and whip until combined.

Poke holes into the gingerbread with a skewer or knife. Pour the Brown Sugar Spiced Rum Sauce over the Gingerbread. and allow it to soak up the liquid. Layer the gingerbread with the pumpkin custard and whipped heavy cream in a trifle bowl. Chill and serve cold.

Pecan & Walnut, Irish Creme, Chocolate Pie

Pecan & Walnut Irish Creme Chocolate Pie

Your favorite pie crust, uncooked
1/2 cup pecans, chopped & toasted
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped & toasted
1/2 cup high-quality dark chocolate chips
4 eggs
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
6 T unsalted butter, melted
2-3 T Irish creme
1 T flour
1 T vanilla
Dash nutmeg
Dash cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place crust in pie plate. Sprinkle toasted nuts and chocolate chips over the crust. In a large bowl, beat together the remaining ingredients until combined and syrupy. Pour syrup over the crust, nuts, and chocolate. Bake the pie for 50 minutes or until set. Cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Mimsy's Apple Pie With Subtle Custard

This is my new favorite apple pie. The custard is so subtle that you really don't know you are eating a custard pie, it just adds a bit of creaminess and richness that most apple pies don't have. This is my own recipe, and it's a keeper!

5 -6 granny smith apples, cored and peeled
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 Tbsp cornstarch

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter

Your favorite single pie crust recipe for a deep pie plate

Preheat oven to 300ºF

Thinly slice apples and mix in a bowl with cornstarch, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Melt butter in a large skillet. Saute apple mixture in skillet until apples are tender. Set aside.

Beat granulated sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add cream and vanilla and beat until combined.

Fit pie crust into plate, fill with apples and top with egg & cream mixture. Bake in oven for 45 minutes. Meanwhile mix together brown sugar, butter and flour to make a streusel topping. Carefully sprinkle streusel over the pie and return pie to oven. Bake an additional 50 minutes to an hour, or until completely set and inserted knife comes out clean. Allow to stand 1 hour before serving.

Elijah's Philly Ice Cream Formula (Easy!)

My youngest son makes ice cream just about every other day or so, all summer long. This is his proven formula. It's simple, in a "less is more" way.

Elijah's Philly Ice Cream Formula
3 cups Half & Half
1 cup smashed fruit (ice cream pictured has strawberries)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or other flavoring of choice

Mix in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve fresh!

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Philadelphia style ice cream is not a frozen custard, so it doesn't require cooking or eggs.  Some people prefer frozen custard, but I find that I'm less likely to use my ice cream maker if I have to cook the ice cream and let it cool first.  My son and I are always dashing off different flavors of Philly style ice cream and the family loves it all summer long.  My husband, Dave, and my children all prefer the flavor of Philly style ice cream over custard.  I like both.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
1 cup cooked pumpkin (from a can is fine)
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie seasoning (or a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
1 cup coarsely crumbled shortbread biscuits (cookies) or gingersnaps

Combine all but the shortbread/gingersnaps in a bowl.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Freeze in ice cream maker as directed.  Add shortbread crumbles for the last 2 minutes.  Serve fresh.