Black Cow

"Summertime or winter, our cool, creamy frozen desserts will delight everyone" (Mildred 242). Now I'll just be completely honest, I'm not quite sure why this recipe is called a black cow, because It's really just a root beer float. Either way, this is a classic and I highly recommend you go make this since it's "ideal for casual entertaining and everyday eating" (Mildred 242). It's great to make, share, and enjoy with friends too. Make sure you splurge on a good brand of soda and ice cream for this otherwise you might be dissatisfied with the outcome. For example, I used A&W root beer and Breyers Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Alright, I'll now show you how it looked, recipe came from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a can of chilled root beer
• vanilla ice cream

Steps:

1. Pour root beer into tall 10-ounce glass
2. Top with generous scoops of slightly softened vanilla ice cream. Serve immediately with long straw and spoon

Foamy and delicious, what more could you ask for!?

The side profile is so sleek and clean your guests will be jealous

The finished product was, well a root beer float. That isn't a bad thing since it tasted great. I literally had to pull out my fancy glasses for this one since I usually just make it in the free plastic cups from IKEA. Getting off topic, hopefully you enjoy your black cow and learned a new name for a root beer float during the process!
When you make this, do you usually eat it with a spoon or straw? Do you drink all the root beer first, or eat the ice cream first?

Citation:
Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.

Hot Fudge Cake Pudding

"Of all the different kinds of desserts, puddings are the ones to call "comfort food" (Mildred 74). But I wanted to take pudding to a whole new level, which is why I decided to make hot fudge cake pudding for my fourth post. It's basically like a brownie complimented by chocolate pudding as a sauce on the bottom of it. "Look for variety in texture as well as flavor: smooth and custardy, like Hot Fudge Cake Pudding" (Mildred 74). This is exactly correct, the outcome tasted great and it had an incredibly smooth/custardy texture to it; a pleasure to indulge in. This dish is a good enhancer to go with any regular meal! Below is the final product of the recipe that came out of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts.


Ingredients:

• 2 1-ounce envelopes unsweetened baking chocolate flavor
• 1.5 cups buttermilk baking mix
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Beat chocolate flavor, buttermilk baking mix, milk, 2/3 cup sugar, and vanilla extract in large bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Pour batter into 12x8 inch glass baking dish
2. Mix Cocoa and remaining sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle over batter in baking dish
3. Carefully pour 1.5 cups of boiling water over mixture, do not stir
4. Bake 25 minutes
5. Serve immediately or sauce will be absorbed into cake

Don't forget to serve immediately, over wise the sauce will be soaked up by the cake

Cooked to perfection; straight outta oven

It turned out perfectly gooey. Mmm so scrumptious!



It may look disgusting in the pictures, but trust me when I say this is absolutely addictive.

I was very pleased with the way the final product turned out. My only issue with this was that it was hard to find envelopes of unsweetened baking chocolate flavor needed in the ingredients list. However, it was all definitely worth when you consider how great the taste of this was in the end.

If you made this dish, would you change anything in the ingredients to make it different? If so, what would you change?

Citation:
Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.

Warm Banana Soufflés

For my third post I was feeling fruity so I made some banana soufflés. This dish was new for me because I've never made any type of soufflé before. "Soufflés are generally soft and smooth, easy to serve and eat, and stunningly varied in color and flavor" (Mildred 8). This special dessert is a great addition to any meal and "can put the taste of summer on your table any time" (Mildred 8). I will now show you the outcome of this recipe which came from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts.


Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 3 medium sized bananas
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Steps:

1. preheat oven to 450 degrees, spray soufflés dishes with cooking spray
2. mash bananas with lemon juice and vanilla extract
3. beat egg whites with mixer until peaks form, gradually sprinkling in powdered sugar
4. gently fold beaten egg whites into banana mixture with rubber spatula
5. spoon mixture into soufflé dishes
6. bake 15 minutes or until soufflés are puffed and browned

Add a dash of powdered sugar on top to make it appear even more delicious.

The dish was perfectly cooked, make sure not to overcook or it might get crispy.

Notice how it looks fancy served on colorful plates and with a spoon!

Overall, I was quite pleased with the way this dish tasted. I was surprised for it to taste so good with just a few simple ingredients. I will definitely make this again since it was quick to make for a dessert. Well if you've never tried I soufflé before, I highly recommend this one for starters.
If you made a soufflé, how would you serve it and what toppings would you put on it?


Citation:
Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.

Chocolate Mousse

For my second post I thought of making something really delicious that would be a great dessert for a family party. Since it is the holiday season, this dish would make a great addition to your dessert menu for Christmas dinner! This recipe for a chocolate mousse is "right for any occasion, from everyday meals for family and friends to special events when you want to impress" (Mildred 10). I have a great looking dish to show you today, made from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts.


Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 6 1-ounce squares of semisweet chocolate
• 2 1-ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

The final product turned out looking fantastic, and tasted amazing. See the pictures below to check it out

I served this chocolate mousse to my family after dinner and they loved it

Even up close, this dish looks stunning.

Notice to whip cream and chocolate shavings garnishes I added to this dish for a little extra pop in the presentation to it

I had a fun time making this dish, and was happy how it turned out. I will certainly consider making this dish again next time I have a family and friends gathering because "cold mousses can be made ahead, [and] they're perfect for entertaining" (Mildred 10). Well I hope you all learned a new thing to make after reading this post.
If you were to pick a mousse to make, would it be chocolate like this one, or another flavor? Which flavor would that be?


Citation:
Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.

Fruit garnishes

For my first post, I decided to learn about garnishing a dish, specifically with fruits. Whenever you serve someone food, or even serve yourself some, you of course would want it to look as attractive as possible to give the food a sense of even more deliciousness. This is the purpose of a fruit garnish. It makes a dessert look especially nice looking and gives it an illusion of healthfulness sense it's fruit that's on top of it (Mildred 66). I have a few great looking fruit garnishes to share today. I used strawberries, oranges, and lemons as my fruit of choice after reading a part of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts for ideas to top off a pudding.


This is called the Strawberry Fan. You thinly slice a strawberry lengthwise several times, leaving the hull connected, and spreading it out. I also added whipped cream for added attractiveness.



This is called Strawberry Halves. You just cut a strawberry in half and lay both halves face down or face up.



This is called Citrus Julienne. I used a vegetable peeler to remove strips of the skin of the orange and laid them on top of each other. It may seem odd on a pudding, but this is just an example of what it might look like. Notice the chocolate chips for extra enhancement.



This is called Lemon Twists. You cut lemons crosswise in slices then entangle two slices in the opposite direction. I also threw in some vanilla wafers to make the dish more desirable in appearance.

After this, I will certainly start putting more fruit garnishes on the desserts I make. My favorite part was trying to figure out how to arrange them on top of the food. There were so many different ways you could put the garnishes on top of it! However, one thing to watch out for is that "the fruit should be appropriate in size, shape, taste, and color to the food it is served on" (Mildred 66). Overall, I think these fruit garnishes added an extra oomph to these dishes and ultimately made them both look and taste better. I hope you all learned some new tips from this and use them for your own future cooking.
What is a fruit garnish you are thinking of putting on a dessert, and what dessert will you put it on? Explain how you would do this.


Citation:
Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.                         

Illustrated Book of Desserts

For my IRP 2 project, I am doing a book on how to cook desserts.  I will be using the book, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts by Mildred Ying. I am reading this book so I can improve my cooking skills and get some new recipe ideas to make for the holidays and rest of the year! Cooking is an essential and fun thing to learn, especially making dessert since they are the most delicious category of all foods.


Ying, Mildred. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts. New York: Hearst, 1991. Print.