BLACK BOTTOM BANANA CREAM PIE

Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

YIELDMakes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

•   For crust
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 7 ounces)
•   For chocolate ganache
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Vanilla Pastry Cream
• Vanilla Whipped Cream

PREPARATION

•   Make crust:
•   Butter 9-inch-diameter glass or ceramic pie dish. Stir butter and chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Mix in cookie crumbs. Press onto bottom and up sides of prepared dish. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
•   Make chocolate ganache:
•   Heat cream and butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until mixture is hot (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add chocolate and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons chocolate ganache in small bowl at room temperature; pour remainder over crust. Chill crust until chocolate ganache is firm, about 30 minutes.
•   Thinly slice 3 bananas. Arrange banana slices over chocolate. Whisk Vanilla Pastry Cream until smooth. Spread pastry cream evenly over bananas. Drizzle reserved chocolate ganache over pastry cream. Draw toothpick through pastry cream and chocolate to marbleize. Refrigerate until pastry cream is set, about 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
•   Spoon Vanilla Whipped Cream around edges of pie, or spoon whipped cream into pastry bag that's fitted with large star tip and pipe cream around edges of pie. Slice remaining banana. Garnish pie with banana slices.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

YIELDMakes 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

PREPARATION

•   Bring half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar, eggs, egg yolk and flour in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot half and half. Transfer to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Boil 1 minute. Pour into medium bowl. Stir in vanilla. Press plastic onto surface of pastry cream. Cover; chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Vanilla Whipped Cream

YIELDMakes 1 3/4 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup chilled whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

•   Beat cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until stiff peaks form. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

TUMBLE JUMBLE STRAWBERRY TART

Tumble-Jumble Strawberry Tart

YIELD 6 servings.

45 minutes, plus chilling and cooling

I first had a strawberry tart like this one more than 10 years ago at the Paris cafe La Palette, and I’ve been making my own version of it ever since. It’s simply a crust slicked with some jam and then topped with an abundance of berries; whipped cream or crème fraîche is optional. The recipe is straightforward, but the construction is genius. You bake the crust, which is both crisp and tender, to a beautiful golden color and then set it aside. (Use the scraps of dough to make cookies; sprinkle with sugar before baking.) When you’re ready for dessert, you cut and finish only as many servings as you need, ensuring that the crust will always have great texture and the berries will always be fresh and bright. You could use a store-bought crust, but there are so few components in this dessert, it’s good to make each one count.

 INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUST:

1 1⁄2 cups/200 grams all-purpose flour

1⁄3 cup/40 grams confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)

9 tablespoons/130 grams very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus additional for greasing

1 large egg yolk

1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 quart/680 grams fresh strawberries, hulled

Granulated sugar, as needed

PREPARATION

Step 1

Put the flour, both sugars, salt and lemon zest, if you’re using it, in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to blend. Scatter the butter on top; pulse the butter into the dry ingredients until you’ve got a bowlful of curds. At first the dough will look like cornmeal, but it will change as you go, so work in long pulses — you might need as many as 20 — and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl often.

Step 2

Whisk the yolk and vanilla together, and add in three additions, pulsing after each. Pulse just until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl; it should form moist clumps and hold together when pinched. Turn it out onto a counter, knead it into a compact ball and flatten it into a disk between two sheets of parchment or wax paper.

Step 3

Roll the dough into an 11-inch circle. If it’s cold enough, fit it into a 9- to 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, prick the bottom with a fork and trim the top even with the pan’s rim; if it’s not cold, chill it until it’s workable. Refrigerate the crust in the

(optional)

Whipped cream or crème fraîche, for serving (optional)

FOR THE TOPPING:

1⁄2 cup/120 milliliters strawberry jam

pan for at least 1 hour (or cover and freeze up to 2 months; bake straight from the freezer).

Step 4

Heat oven to 400. Place the dough in its pan on a baking sheet, cover with a piece of buttered foil or parchment and fill with rice.

Step 5

Bake for 20 minutes, then carefully remove the foil or paper and rice. Bake, uncovered, until the crust is golden, another 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, at least 30 minutes.

Step 6

If you’re serving 6, cover the bottom of the crust with a layer of jam, and then cut the tart into wedges. (Otherwise, cut the number of wedges you need, and spread each portion with jam.) Halve or quarter as many berries as you’d like — be generous — and if you want, toss with a little granulated sugar. Place each wedge of crust on a plate, and spoon over berries, letting them tumble where they might. If you’d like, top each serving with whipped cream, or pass the cream at the table.

CORNBREAD PUDDING, WHISKEY CARAMEL SAUCE

Cornbread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce

While this recipe is used in our Cornbread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce, don’t be surprised if your family starts to request it à la carte. It’s just that good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yellow cornmeal 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 cups buttermilk 
• 2 large eggs 1/2 cup butter

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425°. Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and eggs; stir into cornmeal mixture just until combined. Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add butter, and stir until butter is melted. Stir melted butter into cornbread batter. Pour batter into hot skillet.

Step 2

Bake at 425° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and cornbread pulls away from sides of skillet. Invert cornbread onto a wire rack; serve warm

Cornbread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel

 Hands-on Time Total Time 15 Mins 3 Hours

By SOUTHERN LIVING

Yield

Makes 8 to 10 servings

  Want to know a secret? There’s more than one way to serve our Cornbread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel.

Stick to the classic preparation and bake this sweet and savory bread pudding in a 3- qt. baking dish or you can serve it in individual ramekins (as shown here) for a personalized dessert that your friends and family can make all their own. You do the baking but let them spoon on that delicious Whiskey Caramel just before devouring— how much or how little will be entirely at their discretion. Word of warning: You might want to go ahead and double the sauce if you give your dessert crowd free rein. If you’re tempted to pick up a boxed cornbread mix (gasp) instead of baking up our homemade version, we urge you to go for the gusto and make the real thing. After that first crunchy, sweet, utterly satisfying

bite, you’ll never think of going store- bought again.

Ingredients

Vegetable cooking spray

Ben Mims' Perfect Cornbread, at room temperature

1/2 cup butter

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

5 large eggs

Whiskey Caramel

How to Make It

Step 1 Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 3-qt. baking dish with cooking spray. Cut cornbread into 2- to 3-inch pieces, and place in prepared dish. (You should have about 10 cups cornbread.) Cook butter in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in milk and next 3 ingredients until sugar melts. Whisk in eggs; pour mixture over cornbread. Let stand 10 minutes.

Step 2 Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 more minutes or until light brown and set. Let stand 10 minutes. Serve with Whiskey Caramel.

Our Whiskey Caramel sauce was developed for our dazzling Cornbread Pudding, but don’t let that stop you from drizzling it on anything and everything in sight. If you are thinking about skipping our recipe for the jarred stuff, know that this isn’t your average caramel sauce. It’s a decadent combination of flavors that will wow all the family and friends gathered around your dessert table. Heavy cream, butter, whiskey, nutmeg, an egg, and a hearty dose of sugar will yield two cups of this delicious confection once all is said and done. Plus, it only takes 30 minutes to come together. Use it as a topping on all of your fall pies, dress up your pound cake, or spoon it over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. No matter how you decide to serve it, our Whiskey Caramel sauce is about to become your new favorite dessert-time MVP.

Ingredients

How to Make It

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup whiskey

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 large egg 1/2 cup sugar

Stir together 1 cup sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until sugar melts. Cook, without stirring, 10 minutes or until medium amber in color. Remove from heat, and stir in cream, butter, whiskey, salt, and ground nutmeg. Whisk together egg and 1/2 cup sugar in a heatproof medium bowl; slowly whisk caramel sauce into egg mixture. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 minutes or until thickened.

MAIDA HEATER’S LEMON BUTTERMILK CAKE

Maida Heatter's Lemon Buttermilk Cake

This light, moist, lemony cake is genius for so many reasons: It’s powerfully puckery. It’s got both more fresh lemon juice and zest than you’d expect or normally see in a recipe, and the flavor holds up under heat. It’s given even more flavor because it’s soaked—really soaked—with a lemon and sugar syrup that seeps into the cake slowly and provides moistness, a little more keepability, and a lot more lemon intensity.

Ingredients

• Fine, dry bread crumbs, for dusting pan

•

• Finely grated rind of 3 large lemons (juice will be used below for Glaze)

•

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

•

• 2 2/3 cups (354 grams) all-purpose flour

•

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

•

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

•

• 1/2 pound (226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pan

•

• 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar

•

• 3 large eggs

•

• 1 cup buttermilk

•

• Glaze:

•

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

•

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

•

Steps

Directions

• Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F. You will need a tube pan with a 10-cup capacity (that is generally 9 inches in diameter); it can be a pan with a design or a 9 x 3 1/2–inch tube pan without a design. If you use a pan with a design, butter it (even if it is nonstick) and then dust it all over with fine, dry bread crumbs. If you use the plain 9 x 3 1/2–inch tube pan, butter it, line the bottom with parchment paper cut to fit, butter the paper, and dust all over with crumbs. With either pan, tap to shake out excess crumbs over a piece of paper. Set aside.
  Place the lemon rind and juice in a small cup and set aside.
  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
  In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients in three additions and the buttermilk in two, beginning and ending with the dry. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula, and beat only until smooth after each addition.
  Remove from the mixer and stir in the lemon rind and juice.
  Turn into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester gently inserted into the middle comes out clean and dry. The cake will be deeply golden brown and will have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
  While the cake is baking, make the glaze: Mix the juice and sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally.
  Remove the cake from the oven and let it stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Then cover it with a rack and very carefully turn over the pan and the rack and place it over a large piece of foil. Remove the pan. If you have used a paper lining, peel it off now.
  With a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the top, sides and tube of the hot cake.
  Let stand until completely cool.

BOURBON PEACH COBBLER

• 4
  cups yellow peaches, sliced and pealed (blanch in boiling water for about 30s depending on ripeness and skins should slip off)
• 1⁄2
  cup white sugar
• 1
  cup brown sugar
• 1⁄2
  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2
  teaspoon nutmeg
• 1
  fluid ounce Bourbon(optional)
• 2
  tablespoons fruit jam, blueberry and blackberry are very nice 
• 1 1⁄2
  cups flour
• 1 1⁄2
  teaspoons baking powder
• 3⁄4
  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2
  cup buttermilk
• 1⁄2
  teaspoon salt
• 3⁄4
  cup melted butter
• 1
  cinnamon stick
• 1⁄4
  cup orange juice
• 1
  teaspoon lemon zest
• 2
  tablespoons lemon juice

 DIRECTIONS

 Preheat oven to 350°F.

Reserve peals and pits from peaches.

Mix sliced peaches, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon powder in a bowl and reserve.

Combine bourbon (Maker's Mark is really good in this), orange juice, lemon juice, lemon zest, fruit jam, cinnamon stick, and peach scraps in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and reduce mixture for approximately 10 minutes.

Mix flour, buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside or in refrigerator for a few minutes. I have also used Dry Buttermilk Pancake Mix and 1/2 cup milk in place of the flour, buttermilk, baking powder and baking soda.

Strain reduced orange juice mixture and mix with peaches. Pour melted butter into an 8x11" baking pan.

Spoon dough mixture over butter evenly, but leaving some gaps (this helps the dough rise over the peaches later.

Pour peaches over dough.

Bake for about 1 hour at 350F, or until the crust has risen to top of cobbler and crisped slightly. Can add a bit of sugar to top of cobbler just before finished and place in broiler to get a crisper caramelized topping, but beware this can be tricky.

STRAWBERRIES WITH BROWN BUTTER SHORTCAKE

Strawberries With Brown Butter Shortcake By Kim Severson
YIELD 8 servings
1 hour 15 minutes
This recipe came to The Times from David Guas, a New Orleans chef. He substitutes a spongecake enriched with browned butter for crumbly shortcake. And instead of simply seasoning raw berries with sugar, he cooks them lightly over steaming water with orange zest, which fills the kitchen with the smell of warm, simmering fruit.
TIME
 INGREDIENTS
2 pounds (6 cups) strawberries, hulled, quartered if large
Zest of 1 orange 1 1⁄4 cups sugar
1 1⁄2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all- purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
Whipped cream for serving
PREPARATION
Step 1
Pour an inch of water into a large pot and simmer over medium-high heat. Stir strawberries, orange zest and 1/4 cup sugar in a large stainless steel mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place on pot so bowl does not touch water. Reduce heat to low and let strawberries cook for 20 minutes. Remove bowl and refrigerate until chilled. (Strawberry sauce, which will be chunky, can be made up to one day ahead.)
Step 2
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a 10-inch cake pan on parchment paper; trace and cut out a circle. Grease pan’s bottom and sides with one tablespoon butter, press parchment into pan, then flip paper over, buttered side up. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour on parchment and tap to coat bottom and sides of pan; discard excess.
Step 3
Melt remaining butter over medium-high heat. Simmer, whisking often to incorporate any solids that sink to bottom, until butter is a golden-amber color and smells nutty, about 4 to 6 minutes. If it sputters, reduce heat. Set butter aside to cool.
Step 4
Bring the large pot with an inch of water in it to a simmer again over medium-high heat. Whisk eggs and remaining one cup sugar together in a large heatproof bowl and place over pot of water. Again, bottom of bowl should not touch water. Reduce heat to low and whisk mixture
until it has tripled in volume, 4 to 5 minutes.
Step 5
Transfer to a mixing bowl and, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whip on high speed until mixture is thick and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed of mixer to low and slowly drizzle in warm butter (adding it too quickly will cause batter to separate), using a rubber spatula to scrape browned bits into batter.
Step 6
Sift remaining 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt together. Using a whisk, gently fold one-third of dry ingredients into batter, then half the buttermilk. Repeat, ending with last third of dry mixture. Transfer batter to cake pan and bake until cake sides pull away from pan and center resists light pressure, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before running a paring knife around edge of pan to release cake. Invert onto a rack to cool completely.
Step 7
Slice into wedges and serve topped with the strawberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.

FLORENTINES

Hands down the best Christmas Cookie ever.  It's really simple but as it's "different" it's a bit scary.  Once you've made a batch it will be hard to wait for the next chance to make/enjoy/share them.  

Florentines (Italy)

Total Time:

1 hr 35 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive: 45 min

Cook: 20 min

Yield:5 dozen 3-inch Florentines, or 2 1/2 dozen 6-inch Florentine

Level:Intermediate

1 3/4 cups sliced, blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Finely grated zest of 1 orange (about 2 tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Topping, optional:

2 to 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.

Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.

Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.

Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.

Optional chocolate topping:

Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)

For sandwiches: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto on the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.

For chocolate decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

Busy baker's tips: Store baked cookies carefully, separated by parchment or waxed paper, in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. Florentines are best stored separated from moist cookies and cakes.