Welcome To Our Favorite Dessert Recipes!

Latest Dessert Recipe

Shortbread Mincemeat Bars

2 shortbread mincemeat bars stacked on a plate

Loraine grew up loving shortbread cookies, her mother, who was of Scottish heritage, made them for all occasions. Over the years she has tried many different brands, some imported all the way from Scotland and others from small local bakeries. Many were good and a few were excellent, but nothing really beats a fresh homemade shortbread cookie.

This is a very simple recipe to make and the end result is an excellent, super fresh, homemade shortbread mincemeat bar.

Don't bother to ask how long they can last as they will be gone very quickly!

Cherry Chocolate Fudge Cookies

There are some flavor combinations, that some people, such as Loraine and I, never get tired of. Chocolate and cherry are one of those flavor combinations.

These decadent cookies use a combination of white and dark chocolate, bitter and semisweet combined with chunks of glazed cherries and the flavors of vanilla and coffee.

They truly melt in your mouth.

Chocolate Cake

This is our basic go to chocolate cake, very easy to make (can be made with a hand mixer), nice chocolate fragrance and flavor. This recipe makes one 8" sq. layer about 1" thick.

This is the chocolate cake recipe that we use for our Ultimate Desert.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream Icing

We have been experimenting with different icings and toppings for cakes. We applied this chocolate whipped cream icing on our go too chocolate cake. So this recipe is only for the chocolate whipped cream.

We stabilized the whipped cream by adding 1 teaspoon of gelatin to the mixture at the start of beating. Stabilizing the whipped cream is new to us but we find that it makes a big difference if you are not going to consume the cake immediately. In this case we had the cake in the refrigerator for 3 days and the stabilized whipped cream held up as if it was freshly made.

Chocolate French Silk Pie on Shortbread Pastry

When Earl and I lived in Florida, every now and then we would treat ourselves to a French Silk pie made by a small chain of family style restaurants called the Village Inn.

If you haven't had a French Silk pie, this is the best definition we have found: A velvety smooth chocolate silk covered with real whipped cream.

We recently came across what was supposed to be a copycat recipe of their French Silk pie. Although the pie was good, it was disappointing as it was not the same pie we remembered.

Chocolate French Silk Pie II on Shortbread Pastry

In our first recipe for a Chocolate French Silk Pie we had said that we were looking for the recipe for a pie that we had purchased numerous times from a restaurant in Florida.

In that recipe, although it was a nice pie, it certainly wasn't the Chocolate French Silk Pie that we hoped for.

Then by chance we came across this recipe for a chocolate pie filling, that had some of the qualities of a mousse, yet it was somewhat lighter. We made a pie, using our shortbread pie crust recipe and this recipe for a filling.

Chocolate Frosting

We are not ashamed to say that we are chocoholics and this cake hits all our buttons. The cake is moist with a rich chocolate flavour but the butter cream frosting that we did on it was very sweet and we felt that there was a better frosting out there to try.

We thought about whipped cream but it didn’t ring any bells for Loraine so we did some surfing on the net and after a great debate we decided on this one.

We liked it because it has melted chocolate in it instead of cocoa powder and it whips up pretty quick. We may have whipped it a little to much because Loraine had a little difficulty in frosting the cake it didn’t want to smooth out. But it sure is good with lots of chocolate flavour and not to sugary sweet.

Chocolate Layer Cake (4" sq.)

This is the perfect chocolate layer cake for two people and provides for desert after two meals. We bake the cake in a Fat Daddio's anodized aluminum square pan with removable bottom, 4" by 4" by 3". The removable bottom is not a requirement but it does make releasing the cake from the pan quite easy. The cake rises almost to the top of the pan when baked.

Because the amount of batter made is quite small it is easier to whisk the ingredients by hand then it is to use an electric stand mixer. We used a stand mixer the first time we made this cake and found that the ingredients weren't combining as the machine's whisk barely touched the ingredients on the bottom of the mixer bowl.

Chocolate Log Roll

While a lot of people associate a log roll with Christmas festivities, Loraine and I make it because it helps to satisfy the cravings of us chocoholics! A soft and fluffy chocolate sponge cake with inner layers of chocolate whipped cream and all of it covered with a chocolate ganache, what more could anyone ask for.

I know that a lot of home bakers shy away from log rolls because they appear to be very complex and I can understand that, Loraine and I were the same way. Many years ago we attempted a log roll and it turned into a big disaster. The cake wouldn't roll up and broke into at least a dozen pieces.

Chocolate Mousse

We believe that this is one of the most decadent chocolate mousse recipes you will ever have the privilege of devouring. It melts in your mouth and if it doesn't make your eyes roll back into your head when it hits your taste buds, you just aren't a normal person!

It can be served alone, covered with whipped cream or as part of many other deserts. This is the chocolate mousse that we use for our Ultimate Desert.

Coffee Caramel Sauce

Caramel is not the easiest item to make, it requires a great deal of continuous stirring and it's difficult to tell someone how long each stage will take as different pots can make a couple of minutes difference as can the temperature of the stove, the temperature of the cream, water and coffee. However, that being said, Loraine and I think that the final product is worth the effort.

This is the coffee caramel sauce that we use for our Ultimate Desert.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is a flourless (although it does use 4 teaspoons of all purpose flour) chocolate cake recipe. It is definitely made in the dreams of chocoholics as it is sinfully rich and delicious.

We have made this cake a number of times and have honed the ingredient amounts.

A thick raspberry sauce goes extremely well with this flourless chocolate cake.

Fudge Brownies

If you're a chocoholic as Loraine and I are, then fudge brownies have to be in your recipe box. This fudge brownie recipe comes after some experimentation. We learned that the difference between a cakey brownie and a fudgy brownie was basically the amount of flour used. But, you can't create a brownie without any flour, so it's a fine balancing act.

We believe that we have finally defined the amount of flour to create a great fudge brownie.

If you don't already have a great fudge brownie recipe you might want to give this one a try.

Jumbo Cinnamon Buns

These jumbo cinnamon buns are exceptionally soft and sweet it's hard not to eat more than one. But, one will actually fill you up. The smell while they are baking will permeate your home, and that's not a bad thing, except that it will have you panting at the bit for their completion.

Loraine and I think they are actually better the second day. Leave them on the counter, loosely covered with plastic wrap. We like to tear them open and spread on a layer of butter. Are they a desert or a brunch? You decide as we believe that they suit either category.

Pie Crust - 6"

Loraine and I are just learning the techniques and secrets of baking pies and cakes. The biggest challenge, to date, has been making the pie crusts. After a lot of experimentation (read as failures) we can now successfully make this very easy 6" pie crust recipe.

The image shown is for a blind baked pie shell. Blind baked means that you cook the pastry prior to adding the filling. Some recipes want a blind baked pie shell. We have included the instructions for blind baking the pie crust following the directions for the pastry shell.

Pineapple Corn Muffins

This is based on a Chef John recipe. Loraine found the corn muffins dryer than she likes. In my opinion corn muffins are always dry and that is why they need some butter spread on them before eating. The flavor of the pineapple combined with the corn meal was quite good and we would make them again.

We think that rather than eating them as standalone muffins they would probably be better with an entrée such as chili or maybe even a stew.

Raspberry Sauce

This is the recipe for the raspberry sauce that we use with our flourless chocolate cake. Although there is no reason it can't be used on a host of other things, from ice cream to waffles.

We really didn't care for raspberry sauce until we found this recipe. The key is that it is really smooth and all of the seeds have been eliminated.

This sauce takes about 45 minutes to put together (a lot of stirring and skimming) and cook. It stores extremely well. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for 12 months.

Shortbread Pie Crust

Loraine has a weak spot when it comes to shortbread cookies. So, after some trial and error we created a shortbread pie crust that is simple to make and adds to the decadence of almost any pie. We used it as the pie crust for our Chocolate French Silk Pie.

The most difficult part is pressing the pastry into the bottom and sides of the pie dish so that it ends up with an even thickness.

Triple Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

Loraine and I are in the midst of trying to create the perfect chocolate cherry cheesecake and although we believe that there is potential to refine this desert even more than we have already we have decided to present our last attempt because it was very close to what we are looking for.

Some of the unique characteristics of our chocolate cheese cake includes the use of 72% baking chocolate. We also incorporate 18%MF sour cream and we use brown Demerara sugar which has a higher proportion of molasses than other types of cane sugars. But, we believe the really key, is that the cheesecake is much lighter than most cheesecakes as we whip 2 egg whites into stiff peaks and then fold them into the cheesecake filling prior to baking.

Ultimate Desert

Loraine and I are chocoholics. For us, when you combine chocolate cake, with chocolate mousse, add whipped cream and a coffee caramel sauce it creates one of the most mouth watering creations possible. This is the desert that could have launched a thousand ships or could have been served to Zeus high on Mount Olympus.

When making this desert for guests, be extremely careful, as it's possible to consume the desert long before they arrive!

White Chocolate Ganache Mushrooms

One day, after we had finished making a chocolate log roll, Loraine was pondering how to add some decoration to it. She came up with the idea of making mushrooms from white chocolate ganache.

The mold we used had been sitting in a cupboard for quite some time and we are not sure exactly when or for what purpose we got it originally.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to get the white chocolate ganache to a suitable consistency for forming the mushroom caps, we finally hit on the correct combination of ingredients. However, that wasn't the only challenge, getting the white chocolate ganache to the correct moment of setting was very frustrating. We eventually placed the silicone mold with the white chocolate ganache in the freezer overnight and voilà it worked.

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