dessert | Adventures in Thyme

Blueberry Crisp

May 21, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

Blueberry Crisp

Sashay through you local grocery store’s veggie section and you’ll no doubt encounter some luscious blueberries calling out your name. Seriously, listen close – they want to go home with you! This simple little Crisp recipe will not only provide a wonderful dessert for your next dinner party but can easily be used as a topping for your morning yogurt (if you choose not to share it with family and friends). Depending on the ingredients you use, this versatile dish can be both vegan and gluten free, or neither. The choice is yours. Let’s get cooking!

Crisp filling:
~4 Cups fresh blueberries
1 meyer lemon, zested AND juiced (a “regular” lemon would work too, Meyers are just sweeter)
2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Crisp topping:
1.5 Cups of Quaker quick oats (Bob’s Red Mill sells gluten free oats if you want a substitution)
1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 Cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut butter slightly melted in the microwave (you can substitute regular butter)
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of ground cloves

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all the filling in one bowl; mix all the topping in a different bowl. Pour the filling into an 8×8 oven safe pan, it does not have to be “prepared” (so no oiled sides). With clean hands, carefully crumble the topping over the filling doing your best to cover up all the blueberries. When the oven is ready, place the pan in the oven for about 40-45 mins. The oats will brown a bit. If you want lighter oats, take them out sooner, if you want a crunchier top, leave it in a little longer.

It will be hard to wait it out, but give the blueberries and juices time to cool and firm up a bit. What your first bite will tell you is, “Hey! This isn’t super sweet, OMG I love this – it’s the perfect bite!” So go ahead and have another serving, because you’re good enough, and smart enough and doggone it – you deserve it berry much!

Easy Cherry Cobbler

May 7, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Cherry Cobler

This recipe truly can’t get any easier. So whether you forgot you’re attending a party in two hours, or you just want to curl up on the couch with some comfort food all to yourself – this cobbler is a snap to make and utterly sinful to eat.

Ingredients:
2 cans Oregon Fruit Products Dark Sweet Cherries (do not drain, you will use the juice)
1 box plain white or yellow cake mix (vanilla flavored is okay)
1 stick butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. You’ll be cooking to the boxed cake’s specifications which is *normally* 350 degrees for 30 mins. In the photo above, we cooked our cobbler in a deep pie dish, but a 9×13 pan is far better, either will do with a teensy adjustment. We’ll get there in a minute.

For the 9×13 Pan: Pour in both cans of cherries and juice. Sprinkle entire cake packet over the top evenly. Cut the stick of butter into even “pats” and then lay across the top of the cake mixture (space them out, they will melt together to make the crust). Now bake!

For the Pie Dish: Three changes to the above directions – retain 1/4 cup of the juice (or more if you are using a smaller pie pan); sprinkle ~ 1/2 the cake mix on the top, or just enough to cover evenly so you don’t see the cherry liquid below it; use only 1/2-3/4 of the butter stick to cut into pats and place on the cake mixture. Now bake!

And that’s really it, well, that and making sure you’ve got some ice cold milk, or hot coffee to go with this yummy indulgence. It’s sooo good warm. 🙂

Should you want to make this for a romantic evening or even an intimate dinner party, here’s another idea how to bake – adjust ingredients accordingly:

Mini Blueberry Cobler

Mini Cherry Cobler

Banana, Caramel and Ice Cream, Oh my…

February 19, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Bananas and Rum Caramel over Ice Cream

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
6 Tablespoons Butter
2 Bananas, sliced (slightly green work best)
2 Shots Rum
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Combine the brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Melt and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When it starts to thicken drop a little of the caramel into a glass of cold water. It should form a soft ball of caramel in the water. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons if butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 shots of rum. Return to the heat and stir to combine the ingredients. Add the sliced bananas and cook over medium heat, stirring gently, for a few minutes, until the bananas are soft, but not falling apart.

Remove from heat and let cool until warm. Server warm over vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin Goat-Cheesecake

December 4, 2013 by Dan Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For those willing to broaden their culinary horizon, we present to you a cheesecake made from goat cheese. Indeed, some turn up their noses at the thought of goat cheese, but that earthy tang so often found in goat milk products is not so pronounced when blended into this delicious cheesecake. Oh, and we have gingersnaps, did we mention that?

Here is the recipe we served at Thanksgiving.

Crust

10 oz. gingersnap cookies (I like the ones from World Market)
2-4 T softened butter
2 or 3 T sugar for pan

Filling

3/4 cup sugar
12 ounces mild, soft, white goat cheese (10 oz logs from Costco, 4 oz from the grocery store.)
1 t Vanilla extract
1/2 T cinnamon
1/2 T nutmeg
1/2 t ginger
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
4 egg yolks
6 egg whites

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9-10 inch spingform pan and dust with sugar (like you normally would flour a pan for baking).

Process the gingersnaps in a food processor until they are a course powder. Add in the butter and process until well blended. Press the mixture into the bottom of your springform pan and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while you finish your filling.

Combine the sugar, cheese, vanilla, flour, pumpkin, spices and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend together until smooth. Set aside.

In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Be sure the bowl and beater are clean and dry or the eggs won’t beat properly.

Gently fold 1/4 to 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into your filling mixture, by hand with a rubber spatula. Add another 1/4 to 1/3 and fold in, then fold in the remaining egg whites. This should make a relatively light batter. Be sure to fold in the egg whites, do not beat or mix.

Pour your filling into your springform pan and place on the center rack of your oven. Bake for approximately an hour or until the batter is mostly set. It will still be a little jiggly in the middle. Remove from the oven and gently run a butter knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen it from the edge of the pan.

Cool and serve with whipped cream.

Try it out and let us know how you did, or better yet, if you were able to trick your family into trying something new.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

November 27, 2013 by Dan Leave a Comment

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Ah the humble pumpkin, the herald of the “holidays” – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. When Starbucks updates their Fall menu to “Pumpkin Spice Latte” we know its time to kiss our diets a fond farewell and dive into pumpkiny indulgence in all its many forms. Gather together pilgrims, it’s time to sing the praises of squash. Can we get an amen! Our ode to the season is this delicious Pumpkin Bread Pudding. So easy, so delicious, you’ll love it as much as we do.

2 loaves pumpkin bread (we used the Krusteaz mix you can get in the store for the holidays)
8 eggs
4 cups goat milk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1.2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Cut the pumpkin bread into 3/4 to 1 inch cubes and place into the 9 x 13 baking dish.

Lightly beat the 8 eggs and whisk together with the 4 cups of milk, the spices and vanilla. Carefully ladle or spoon the mixture over the bread. Let the bread and custard mixture stand for 1/2 to 1 hour.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the bread pudding into your oven on the middle rack and back for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, until the custard is done. Place on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or place it in your refrigerator to serve tomorrow. You can warm it or serve it cold.

To serve, cut into portions and drizzle with caramel sauce and top with whipped cream. There is a good, easy caramel sauce on the Food Network website, here.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving, may you see the many blessings of this life everywhere you look.