New Orleans-Style Beignets

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups warm water, between 110 and 115 degrees (F)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup evaporated milk
2 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
7 cups bread flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups peanut oil, for deep frying
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. In a medium-size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast and whisk well to combine. Sit aside for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has bubbled up and become foamy.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and evaporated milk. Beat in 3 and 1/2 cups of the flour until smooth. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast mixture (careful here - this mixture can splash up if added to quickly!); beat until smooth. Add in the butter and beat until incorporated. Finally, beat in the remaining 3 and 1/2 cups of flour and salt. Beat until dough is smooth and cohesive; about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.
3. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with three layers of paper towels, set aside.
4. In a large enameled cast-iron pan, heat 4-inches of oil to 360 degrees (F). Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 2 and 1/2-inch squares.
5. In batches, fry the dough until they puff up and are golden brown in color, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beignets to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
6. Dust with powdered sugar and serve at once!

Notes: We visited New Orleans during Spring Break in 2020, right before the pandemic lockdown hit. We loved the beignets we had there. I requested that Brittany make beignets for my birthday breakfast several months later (December 2020) and this is the recipe she tried. Over two and a half years later I am finally posting the recipe. We have had beignets at least once or twice since then and always enjoy them. They are a lot of work though and take a lot of time to make.

Source: Baker By Nature

Raspberry Coconut Macaroon Pie

Ingredients

1 9-inch single pie dough
5 cups (20 ounces or 570 grams) frozen or fresh raspberries
⅔ cups (135 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (21 grams) cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½ teaspoon almond extract

For Topping:
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Pinch salt
¼ teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF and place oven rack on the second to lowest level.
2. Roll out pie dough to a 11" circle. Fit pastry in a 9” pie plate, tucking in and crimping the edges as desired. Set in the refrigerator to chill while making the filling.
3. In a large bowl add raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, coconut and almond extract and toss to coat. Set aside.
4. Make the streusel: Melt butter in a medium pot, turn off the heat. To the pot add sugar, flour, coconut, salt and almond extract and mix until fully combined.
5. Place the raspberry filling inside of the pie crust. Sprinkle the macaroon streusel evenly over the top of the filling.
6. If desired, put an egg wash on the edges of the pie dough.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
8. Lower the oven to 400ºF and remove pie and cover loosely with foil. Place back in the oven and continue to bake for 40 minutes or until the center of filling is puffy.
9. Let cool at least 2 hours before serving, or until the pie is just barely warm.

Notes: I think I liked this one more than the Raspberry Cream Pie. I just used a store-bought crust as this was my backup pie for a pie contest at work. I used the larger unsweetened coconut flakes as that is what we had. I think the texture would have been better with shredded coconut instead.

Source: Everyday Pie

Raspberry Cream Pie with Coconut Crust

Ingredients

1 (5.3-oz) package shortbread cookies
⅔ cup packed, shredded unsweetened coconut
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 heaping cup fresh raspberries, plus more for topping
3 large egg yolks, beaten
2 tsp cornstarch
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup cream cheese
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Confectioners’ sugar, for topping (optional)

Preparation

1. Finely grind shortbread cookies in a food processor. Add coconut; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse to combine. Spoon into an 8-inch pie plate and press across bottom and up sides. Freeze 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put raspberries in a fine-mesh strainer set over a small saucepan. Press berries through strainer with back of a large spoon, catching juice in pan below. Scrape juices from underside of strainer with spoon. You will need ⅓ cup raspberry juice. Discard solids.
3. Whisk raspberry juice with egg yolks, cornstarch, and condensed milk in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just starts to simmer, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in cream cheese and zest. Let cool 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Pour filling into crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until set. Pile raspberries on top and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Notes: I only had a 9-inch pie plate. The crust end up being thinner and harder to shape up the sides of the plate than I would have liked. We really enjoyed the flavor of this pie, though.

Source: Parade

Vanilla Berry Pudding

Ingredients

2 large egg yolks
½ cup (100 g) sugar
⅓ cup (37 g) cornstarch
2¼ cups whole milk, divided
2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, divided
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1" pieces, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste or extract
2 cups chilled heavy cream
⅓ cup strawberry or other berry jam
18 oz. mixed fresh berries (such as raspberries, blackberries, and/or blueberries), halved if large
½ 11-oz. box Nilla Wafers

Directions

1. Vigorously whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, ¼ cup milk, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl to combine. Heat remaining 2 cups milk in a medium saucepan over medium until steaming. Pour in egg yolk mixture, scraping bowl with a spatula to get every last bit, and cook, whisking constantly and making sure to get into corners of pan, until bubbling and thickened, about 3 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla bean paste and whisk until butter is melted and pudding is smooth. Scrape pudding into a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
3. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream and remaining 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in medium bowl until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
4. Using electric mixer, beat chilled pudding until smooth and glossy, about 45 seconds. (It may look clumpy and broken initially, but don’t worry. It will quickly smooth out.) Stir one quarter of whipped cream into pudding to loosen, then fold in remaining whipped cream.
5. Set 4 or 5 cookies aside for serving. Stir jam in a medium bowl to loosen; gently fold in fresh berries.
6. Spoon one third of whipped pudding into a medium serving bowl or dish. Top with a layer of cookies, breaking each into 2–3 pieces. Top with half of berries. Repeat layers once more, using half of remaining whipped pudding. Top with remaining whipped pudding. Lightly crush reserved cookies and sprinkle over. Cover with silicone lid or plastic wrap; chill at least 6 hours before serving.

Notes: The photo is terrible but really enjoyed this dessert for Father's Day this year and wanted to include it on the blog.

Source: bon appetit

Leche Asada (Baked Milk Custard)

Ingredients
6 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
Garnish with ground cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Crack 6 eggs into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add sugar and milk and whisk to combine.
4. Pour through strainer (to remove larger egg residues) into individual ramekins or one 1 1/2 quart ramekin. 
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes in the small ramekins or for 1 hour in the large. (Setting them in a water bath will make them creamier).
6. Chill for about an hour.
7. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon (if desired) and serve.

Notes: This is a simple but tasty dessert. Brittany has done water baths for custards before but I had never actually made a custard before, so I learned something new making this. (This is how I did it: set ramekin into larger baking dish. Bring some water to a boil and pour into larger baking dish until it is approximately level with the custard in the ramekin.)

Source: Global Table Adventure