Hazelnut Rounds

This hazelnut shortbread cookie recipe is a souvenir of my high school cooking class...rather a long time ago.  I have made them off and on throughout the years and always think of Mrs. Pucher...my fabulous instructor with her European accent and her contagious enthusiasm.  I have no idea what ever became of her...but her cookies live on!  They are a great addition to cookie trays during the holiday season.

• 1 cup butter  (no substitutes)
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts
• chocolate for drizzling, optional

1. Cream butter and sugar well.
2. Add vanilla.
3. Add flour and ground nuts and mix well incorporated.
4. Roll teaspoons of dough into small balls.
5. Place 2" apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
6. Flatten to 1" in diameter, using the flat bottom of a glass tumbler dipped in sugar.
7. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
8. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
9. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Chocolate Mousse

Never fail chocolate mousse...that is what I would call it. But it is also known as the 'church mousse'...since I became very familiar with this recipe at church functions...where we would make up enough to serve 200-300 people. It can be made in pans and cut into squares...as a chocolate mousse pie...or spooned into parfait glasses. Light and fluffy...and chocolate...it's hard to go wrong!

Crumb Crust:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (Oreo Baking Crumbs)

1. Melt butter; stir into crumbs.
2. Press into bottom and sides of a nine-inch pie plate or eight-inch square pan.

Mousse:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 envelope gelatin (Knox)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 carton Cool Whip - 500 ml

1. Combine sugar, cocoa, salt and milk.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.
2. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and add to boiled mixture along with vanilla.
3. Cool in fridge until almost set (needs to be quite firm).
4. Beat in Cool Whip until combined and smooth...using 'low' setting on mixer.
5. Pour into prepared crust.
6. Chill several hours before serving.

*To make a 9" x 13" pan, double the recipe for the mousse...and use 2 cups crumbs with 1/2 cup butter for the base.  This recipe can also be frozen for later use...and is great in chocolate cups for special occasions.
 

Crab Rolls

With shorter days and cooler temperatures, we are spending more time indoors at this time of year...and appetizers fresh out of the oven go over well. We had an appetizer and dessert night recently...and these tasty little rolls were a hit. The recipe came from my sister originally...and has been in my files for years.

Crab Rolls

• 20 slices soft white bread
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 oz. tin crab meat
• 2 tablespoons parsley or chives, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Sesame seeds

1. Remove crusts from bread. Flatten slices lightly with a rolling pin.
2. Combine cream cheese and butter and soften in microwave until easily stirred.
3. Drain crab meat; add to cheese mixture along with parsley or chives.
4. Spread 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture on each slice of bread and roll up.
5. Place rolls on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down.
6. Brush melted butter over rolls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
7. Broil for 3-4 minutes or until golden.
8. Cut each roll into 3 pieces.

Yield: 60 tiny rolls.

Banana Hazelnut Split Cake

After enjoying a version of this cake at my friend Janet's place several times...I re-created it in my kitchen.  It was my daughter's birthday cake a few weeks ago...and was a hit!

Banana Hazelnut Split Cake

• 1 cup margarine or butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3-4 mashed bananas
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 cups whipping cream 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
• 1 pint fresh strawberries

1. Mix butter and sugar.
2. Beat in eggs...and vanilla, bananas and buttermilk.
3. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  
4. Add to banana mixture; stir until blended.
5. Pour into two well greased nine inch round cake pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes...or until set in centre. 
7. Allow cakes to cool completely.

To assemble:

1. Whip cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff.  
2. Split each cake layer in half horizontally. 
3. Spread the bottom half of each cake with a generous layer of Nutella, and reassemble to form two cakes.
4. Create a flat top on one of the cakes by shaving off the rounded top.
5. Set this layer on a cake plate...and spread with whipped cream, sliced strawberries and more whipped cream.
6. Gently set remaining cake layer on top.  
7. Frost with whipped cream.  Garnish with strawberries.

Enjoy the goodness of bananas, strawberries, chocolate and hazelnuts all rolled into one...and smothered in whipped cream!

Dinosaur Cake

My grands have all kinds of requests for birthday cakes...

but my youngest grandson never really has any opinions about his birthday cake...

and so he got a dinosaur this year.

I got the idea from a book called Cakes for Kids by Matthew Mead...

and then improvised. 

• 1 chocolate cake mix
• 1 recipe creamy vanilla frosting
• purple gel food colouring 
• 15 - 20 half-round fruit slices (scales)
• 1 large marshmallow (eyes)
• Smarties or M&M's (dots)
• green gummy worms (claws)
• red shoestring licorice (mouth)

1. Prepare cake mix according to directions.  Pour batter into greased  9" round and 6 " round cake pans that have been lined with parchment paper.  Fill pan about two-thirds full. Bake at 350° F until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about 25 minutes for the 6" pan and 35 minutes for the 9" pan).  Cool cakes completely before removing from pan.
2. Prepare frosting. 
3. Place the cooled cakes on a cutting board, and cut each one in half vertically.  Spread frosting over the top of one 6" half round and one 9" half-round.  Stack the matching halves on top of each other.  
4. To shape the head...cut away a pie-shaped wedge on the left side of the arc, as shown in the diagram above.
5. Transfer the larger cake to one end of a large platter (about 15" by 18"), having the curved part up.  This is the body of the dinosaur.
6.  Place the head on the platter in front of the body.   
7.  I used large mallows to build a base for the tail and legs before frosting the cake.
8. Spread a skim coat of white frosting over entire cake to mask and seal in crumbs.  Chill until firm...about 30 minutes.
9. Add colouring to remaining frosting.  Put a generous layer of frosting over entire cake.
10. Arrange two rows of fruit slices along the top of the back.
11. Add smarties to dot head and body.
12. Use an appropriate length of red shoestring licorice for mouth.
13. Eyes are made with a slice of white marshmallow and a brown candy attached with white icing.
14. Claws were cut from green gummy worms.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting
This frosting spreads and pipes smoothly. Make sure the butter is really soft so the frosting won't split when tinted.

• 1-1/4 cups (300 mL) butter, softened
• 6 cups (1.5 L) icing sugar
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) whipping cream
• 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla

1. In large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. 
2. Alternately beat in sugar and cream, making 3 additions of sugar and 2 of cream. 
3. Beat in vanilla.