Brownie Ice Cream Sundae Cake

Some recipes have you wanting to rush right out, gather all the ingredients and prepare the recipe. This is one of them. Of course, it helps that it is a hot, humid Sunday afternoon in the Deep South. This recipe is in the June 2014 issue of Coastal Living. The only change I plan to make is to substitute pecans for the walnuts. Those of you who know me, also know I'll melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave. It's so much easier and takes way less time. Just be careful to check every 30 seconds, stirring each time, to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.

Brownie Ice Cream Sundae Cake

6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Simple Butterscotch Sauce (recipe follows)
1 half-gallon container (8 cups) vanilla ice cream, softened
Simple Hot Fudge Sauce (recipe follows)
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9-inch round cake pan AND one 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

Combine chocolate and butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until melted. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir sugar, eggs and vanilla into chocolate mixture. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake 14 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center emerges with moist crumbs clinging. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Pour half of Simple Butterscotch Sauce over cake baked in springform pan. Spoon 4 cups ice cream evenly over butterscotch sauce. Remove cake from round cake pan, and place on top of ice cream, pressing gently. Pour over remaining butterscotch sauce; top evenly with remaining ice cream. Freeze about 3 hours or until firm.

Run a knife around edge of springform pan, and release cake. Place on a serving plate. Pour Simple Hot Fudge Sauce on top of cake. Sprinkle with huts.

Makes 8 servings.

Simple Butterscotch Sauce

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Heat butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in cream; cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until well-blended. Cool completely.

Makes 1 1/3 cups.

Simple Hot Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate,  chopped

Combine whipping cream, corn syrup and sugar in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, 7 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate until smooth. Let cool.
'Makes 1 1/3 cups.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins

Fall is in the air. Really. It may not always feel that way in October in the Deep South but Halloween is coming up quickly, which means Thanksgiving isn‘t far behind. These yummy muffins are just the thing to get us all in the spirit. This recipe comes from the April 2013 issue of Coastal Living magazine. I saved it for the fall because there’s just something about pumpkin and cinnamon and cloves that just seems perfect for this time of year.

Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups sugar, divided
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
4 tablespoons chilled butter
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Like 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with paper liners.

Stir together cream cheese, vanilla extract, and ½ cup sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine ½ cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until large crumbs form. Set aside.

Combine remaining 3 cups flour, remaining 1 ¾ cups guar, remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil and milk in a medium bowl; stir in egg mixture into flour mixture, just until moist. (Do not over mix.)

Spoon half of batter into prepared muffin pans. Dollop about 1 tablespoon reserved cream cheese mixture in center of batter, and top evenly with remaining batter. Sprinkle with reserved streusel mixture.

Bake 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Raspberry Almond Streusel Muffins

Once upon a time I baked a lot of muffins. Really. All kinds of muffins. Most of them were quite tasty though some were better than others. A particular favorite was Blueberry Muffins made with fresh blueberries.

Life changes, doesn’t it? I no longer cook to satisfy myself and I no longer head to an office five days a week. That was always a wonderful way to try out new recipes and not have to eat it all by yourself.

This recipe from the April 2013 issue of Coastal Living magazine might get me baking muffins again. Fresh raspberries and a streusel topping can only be described as heavenly. I hope you enjoy. And be sure to check out this issue of the magazine for more muffin recipes and some wonderful tips on visiting Galveston, Texas.

Raspberry-Almond Streusel Muffins

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, melted
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 pint fresh raspberries
Streusel Topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, milk butter and almond extract in a medium bowl. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until blended. (Do not over mix.) Gently folk in raspberries. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans; top evenly with Streusel Topping.

Bake 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 3 minutes. Remove muffins from pans, and serve warm.

Makes 18 muffins.

Streusel Topping

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Combine flour, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl; cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in almonds.

Makes 1 cup.

Key Lime Pie with Raspberry Sauce

Spring is finally in the air. Hooray! This is such a beautiful time of year when we get to enjoy the outdoors after the cold has left and before the blazing heat has arrived.

What better time to bring on the Key Lime Pie? It just so tropical and fun. This recipe comes from the March 2013 issue of Coastal Living.

Key Lime Pie with Raspberry Sauce

2 14-oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons lime zest
¾ cup fresh lime juice
Almond-Graham Crust (recipe below)
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Raspberry Sauce (recipe below)
Garnish: lime slices, lime zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, eggs, lime zest and lime juice until well blended. Pour mixture into Almond-Graham Crust.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until pie is set and edges are golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack about 1 hour. Chill 2 hours or until firm.

Combine sour cream and powdered sugar; spread mixture over top of pie. Serve with Raspberry Sauce and garnish, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Almond-Graham Crust

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup chopped sliced almonds
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, almonds and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in butter. Press mixture firmly into an 11-inch tart pan or 9 ½-inch deep pie plate. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 1 piecrust.

Raspberry Sauce

1 12-oz. bag frozen raspberries
½ cup sugar

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, crushing raspberries against side of pan and stirring constantly, 6 minutes or until sugar melts. Pour mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing with a spatula or the back of a spoon; discard seeds. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Makes ¾ cup.