Chocolate-Cinnamon Cafe Au Lait

we had a big snow storm and decided everyone should come to our house for a drunken board game playing sleep over. we made a ton of food, hot toddies with honey bourbon and this following recipe. it was really good and i wish i made more. i added an extra cup of coffee because it was too sweet to me but you can adjust the recipe to your taste.

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
3 cinnamon sticks
20 whole cloves
5 ounces milk chocolate
2 ounces semisweet chocolate
3 cups freshly brewed strong coffee
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
ground nutmeg

Directions:

Combine milk, cinnamon sticks and cloves in medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add both chocolates and whisk until melted. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

Bring milk mixture to simmer. Add coffee, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir and heat through, but do not boil. Beat cream (sweeten with a little sugar, if desired) until soft peaks form.

cornmeal custard pie

i love cornmeal and custard. this recipe is supposed to be similar to chess pie but with custard instead of butterscotch. instead it made a layer of cornmeal under the custard instead of on top. it was yummy anyhow, like a flan with cornmuffin crust.

CORNMEAL CUSTARD PIE

4 eggs
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
3 tbsp. cornmeal
3 tbsp. flour
Pinch of salt
1 deep dish pie crust

Mix ingredients together. Cook about 30 minutes or until done. Oven at 350 degrees.

i forgot to take a picture of it because we ate it all pretty much as soon as it cooled down.

churros...another attempt

i really enjoyed the first batch of churros i made, but i found a simpler recipe and decided to try it. i personally think this is a better recipe. the churros were fluffier on the inside and taste less like egg.

*1 cup flour
*1 tsp salt
*1 cup boiling water
*1 egg

preheat oil. sift flour and salt. add boiling water and mix. add egg and mix until shiny. place dough inside decorating tool. squeeze into strips in the hot oil and fry until golden brown. remove from oil, place on paper towel to drain then roll in cinnamon sugar while still warm.

italian donut fritters

i decided to make a lot of doughnuts while i was visiting my family in new york because they love doughtnuts. especially my nephew. he'll try to eat them all. i wanted to make these particular doughtnuts because they had ricotta cheese in them and i loove ricotta. they were sooooo delicious. i recommend u make them right now. NOW! they definitely taste better right when they're first made so i would suggest you leave some of the dough for later and fry them whenever you need a batch.

Oil, for deep frying

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 pound ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 to 2 cups granulated or cinnamon sugar, for rolling

Heat the oil to 350 to 365 degrees F.



Combine all ingredients, except the rolling sugar, with an electric mixer until smooth. Drop by tablespoons into hot oil. Fry fritters until cooked thorough and golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes.



Remove from oil with tongs and drain on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. While still very hot, roll each ball in granulated or cinnamon sugar.

churros

i loooove churros. they remind me of being a kid. we used to buy them afterschool from people with churro carts and they pretty much sold churros at all the amusement parks. i made them the morning i got back from florida. i was a bit delirious at the time, i should i have been tired but i felt wide awake. looking back i shouldn't have been operating myself around hot oil at the time but luckily i came out uninjured.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup water
* 2 Tbs brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1/3 cup butter
* 1 cup white flour
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, depending on taste

Preheat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan to 375 degrees F. In a separate dish mix the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a 3 qt. sauce pan add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat to a good boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour. Stirring in the flour will take some muscle. Mix it in until well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until well blended and all the egg is completely mixed in.

Fill your decorating tool with the churro recipe dough and attach the largest star tip you have.

Test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. The dough should bubble up right away or that means the oil is not hot enough and a soggy churro is on the way.

Once the oil is hot enough, squeeze some dough (with decorator) into the oil about 4 inches long. I used my finger to release the dough from the decorator. Careful not to burn yourself.
churros www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com You should be able to cook 4 or 5 churros at a time. Cook them about 1 minute and turn them over with a slotted spoon. Cook an additional minute or two. You're looking for that nice golden brown color.

Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-covered plate to absorb excess grease.

While still warm, roll each churro into the dish with the sugar and cinnamon until coated.

You could serve this churro recipe with mexican hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. What a treat.

yet another recipe that i think could have used one less egg in it, but it was still really yummy, and pretty easy to make. my choosey 4 year old nephew loves doughtnuts but refused to try these at first. we pretty much had to shove it into his mouth when he was talking, and he loved them. he told me "you're right. these are delicious!"

pumpkin pie french toast

i made this for my mom for her birthday. she loves french toast and she loves pumpkin pie so it was perfect for her. my choosey nephew and brother in law enjoyed it too. it's super easy to make. it like making a pumpkin pie but u dip the bread into the mixture instead of baking it.

Ingredients

* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup half-and-half cream
* 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
* 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
* 8 slices day-old bread

Directions

1. Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat.
2. Whisk eggs, half and half, pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and walnuts together in a bowl. Soak one slice of bread at a time in the pumpkin mixture, then place in the prepared skilled. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread. Stir the pumpkin mixture between dips to keep the walnuts from settling. Cook the bread until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side.

i used evaporated milk instead if half and half because that's what i use when making a pumpkin pie but you can use regular milk instead. i also used nutmeg and all spice instead of pumpkin spice and i cut out the walnuts. i only used two eggs but i think using just one egg would be just fine.

traditional british bread and butter pudding

i was trying to cook everything that would perish in my house while i was away for a couple of weeks. i invited some people over and made pasta and this bread pudding. i also had a store bought coconut cream pie that was da bomb (i gotta try to make one some time). i tried this pudding once at chipshop and it was really good. this recipe calls for sliced bread instead of loaf bread (which i think i'd use next time) which made it a bit soggy but everyone seemed to love it.

Ingredients:

8 slices white bread
4 ounces brown sugar (113g)
3 cups whole milk
3 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
butter (for buttering the bread and greasing the baking dish)



Directions:

1. Preaheat oven to 325°F (170°C)

2. Grease an oven proof baking dish.

3. Evenly butter each of the slices of bread on both sides, then cut each slice into 4 triangles.

4. Place a layer of the buttered bread on the bottom of the dish, slightly overlapping each triangle.

5. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly across the bread for the second layer.

6. Continue layering bread then brown sugar until all the bread is used.

7. Sprinkle the top of the pudding with sugar.

8. Beat together the milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Pour this mixture on top of everything.Allow to stand for 30 minutes so the liquid is fully absorbed.

9. Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown.