chocolate chips

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable, don't use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)
Directions:

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

source :here

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Chocolate Pots

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus resting time
Cooking time: 45 minutes
You will need
175ml double cream
½ vanilla pod, split lengthways
75ml milk
125g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
2 small egg yolks
1 heaped tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to serve
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C/Gas 2 ½. Warm the cream with the vanilla pod, whisking to disperse the seeds, then cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the milk with the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Do not stir until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat. Add the vanilla infused cream to the chocolate mixture, gently stirring all the time. Beat together thoroughly. Pass through a fine sieve and pour into little pots or ramekins.
3. Place the pots in a deep oven tray filled with water – enough to cover a third of the way up the sides of the pots. Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until slightly puffed up. Then cool in the fridge for at least six hours before serving. Sift a little icing sugar on each one to serve.

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Brazilian Banoffee Pie Recipe

Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 25 minutes plus resting time
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
You will need
200g digestive biscuits
50g Brasil nuts, roughly chopped
60g unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
400g Doce de Leite (available ready-made)
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 firm ripe bananas
½ lime
50g good-quality dark chocolate
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4. Break the biscuits into small pieces and place in a food processor. Add the nuts and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the melted butter and egg and blend until the mixture just starts to come together.
2 Scrape the mixture into a 24cm-diameter tart tin with a removable base. Press it evenly over the base and sides with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Put the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 15–20 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove and leave to cool completely, then chill for at least 1 hour until firm.
3 Spread two thirds of the Doce de Leite evenly over the pie crust base. Whip the double cream and vanilla extract to soft peaks. Peel and slice the bananas into rounds, then squeeze over a little lime juice to prevent them from browning.
4 Neatly arrange the banana slices over the caramel. Spread the whipped cream over the banana layer. Grate the chocolate into a small bowl and sprinkle it over the cream to decorate, then drizzle with the remaining Doce de Leite. Carefully unmould the pie from the tin and transfer to a cake plate to serve.
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Fay Ripley’s Greek Shepherd’s Pie

Serves: 4–6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
You will need
1 red onion
A splash of olive oil
500g lean minced lamb
2 tsp dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
200ml red wine (change to stock if not using)
300ml beef stock
2 tbsp tomato purée
50g black pitted Greek olives (Kalamata)
For the mash:
800g potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
30g bunch of fresh mint leaves, chopped
120g feta
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6.
2 Put the potatoes on to cook for the mash. Place them in a large pan of salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick frying pan, fry the onion in the olive oil for five minutes. Add the lamb mince, turning till it browns, for about five minutes.
3 Stir in the oregano, garlic and chopped pepper and cook for another five minutes. Now add the wine and let it bubble away for five minutes more over a high heat. Stir in the stock and tomato purée for another five minutes. Drop in the olives and scrape everything into a medium-sized oven dish, about three litres.
4 Drain the potatoes, mash and then stir through the olive oil, lemon juice and chopped mint. Crumble in chunks of feta and some seasoning and gently mix together.
5 Fork the mash roughly on top of the mince, place the dish on an oven tray and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, till golden and bubbling.

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Christmas Mince Pies

Makes: 24
Preparation time: 15 minutes plus chilling time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
You will need:
500g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
185g unsalted butter, chopped
60g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1–2 tbsp lemon juice or iced water
250g fruit mincemeat
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Icing sugar, to dust (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Grease two 12-hole small patty pans.
2. Make the pastry by sifting the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter using fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Add the egg yolks and enough lemon juice or water to bring the ingredients together to form a dough.
3. Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Halve, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. Roll out one of the pastry parcels between two sheets of baking paper until three to five millimetres thick. Using a six and a half centimetre round cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Place the rounds into the prepared pans.
4. Spoon two teaspoons fruit mince into each. Re-knead the scraps and chill before rolling out again and using to line pans. Repeat with remaining dough, reserving some pastry for decorating the tops.
5. Re-roll scraps of pastry and cut into small stars. Top each pie with a star. Brush with egg white. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Leave to cool completely in the pans. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with a little icing sugar, if you like.


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Blackberry and Apple Pie

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 35 minutes plus chilling time
Cooking time: 30 minutes
You will need
For the pastry:
250g plain flour
50g caster or icing sugar
1 lemon, grated rind only
125g butter, diced
3 egg yolks
For the filling:
500g cooking apples, quartered, cored, peeled and sliced
Juice 1 lemon
175g blackberries
50g caster sugar
1tbsp cornflour
Little beaten egg or milk to glaze
Little extra caster sugar for sprinkling
Method
1. To make the pastry, add the flour, sugar, lemon rind and butter to a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with fingertips or an electric mixer until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and mix with a round bladed knife then squeeze together with fingertips to make a soft dough. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Mix the apple slices with the lemon juice then add the blackberries, sugar and cornflour and toss together.
3. Lightly knead the pastry then roll out on a lightly floured surface until a rough shaped circle about 33 centimetres in diameter. Lift over a rolling pin on to a large baking sheet. Pile the fruit mix high in the centre then fold the pastry up and over the filling, leaving the centre uncovered and pleating the pastry slightly to make a large round pie.
4. Brush the top edges of the pastry with beaten egg or milk then sprinkle with a little caster sugar. Bake in a preheated oven set to 190°C/ gas mark 5 for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the fruit tender. Serve warm cut into wedges with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

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Vanilla Cupcakes with Rose Butter Icing

Makes: 12
Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus drying time
Cooking time: 20 minutes
You will need 
For the cupcakes:
175g caster sugar
175g unsalted butter
3 large eggs, separated
175g self raising flour
175g plain cooked (vacuum packed) beetroot, drained (hold a few drops of juice back to use as colouring) and pureed
1 tbsp vanilla extract 
For the icing:
300g Icing sugar
150g unsalted butter, slightly softened
A few drops rose flower water, to taste
A few drops beetroot juice, to colour
For the crystallized rose petals:
3 pink roses, separated into petals
1 egg white
Caster sugar (a sprinkling)

Method
1. Make the crystallized rose petals the day before you want to serve the cupcakes. They will keep in an airtight box for a few weeks. Lay out a piece of silicon-coated baking paper on a tray. Pick through the petals and choose the 12 loveliest looking ones and lay them on the tray. Brush gently with egg white and sprinkle all over with caster sugar. Allow to dry in a warm place for eight hours before using.
2. When you are ready to make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180˚C/356˚F/gas mark 4.
3. Blend together the sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks, flour, pureed beetroot and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff. Take a large spoon of egg white and beat into the cupcake mixture to loosen it a little. Then, using a large metal spoon fold the remaining egg whites gently through the mix, taking care not to over beat.
5. Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the cakes are firm to the touch. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
6.To make the icing, beat the icing sugar and butter together, either in a food mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon. Add a few drops of rose flower water to taste, and a few drops of beetroot juice to colour the icing.
7.Spread generously or pipe over the cooled cupcakes and top each with a rose petal.

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Chocolate chip strawberry shortcakes

These shortcakes are so good, I almost ate 2 of them right out of the oven, without any strawberries, because they tasted like huge, puffed up, and soft chocolate chip cookies:

Ingredients

• Strawberries:
• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and cleaned, sliced
• 2/3 cup sugar, or more
• whipped cream
• Shortcakes:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips, plus extra - for topping

Instructions

Strawberries:
1. Combine sliced strawberries and sugar in a large bowl and mix together. Let the strawberries sit in sugar for a bit to bring out their juices and form a very yummy syrup.
Shortcakes:
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a food processor, combine and process flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Chop cold butter in small cubes, add to the food processor and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk, and pulse a few times just until combined. Turn off the food processor, remove the blade, then, using spatula, fold in chocolate chips, avoiding to handle the dough too much.
4. Move the dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, divide the dough into 6 or 8 equal portions, and drop the dough in small flattened balls on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake the shortcakes for about 15-20 minutes, until the tops turn golden-brown. For decorating purposes, after 10 minutes of baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully place extra chocolate chips on top of each shortcake, lightly pressing the chips in so that they remain on top (which already gets crusty) and don't fall off - and then, return the baking sheet to the oven, and continue baking for the remaining amount of time.
Assembly:
6. Let the biscuits cool. Using serrated knife, slice each biscuit in half. To serve, place the bottom side of biscuit on a serving plate, top with strawberries, then whipped cream. Place the top side of the biscuit on top, then add more cream or strawberries or both! Sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the each serving. 

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Salted Pistachio Brittle

The result is a haphazard pile of shiny chips that remind me a little of stained glass. You know, if stained glass were made of butter and sugar and could be melted upon the tongue. It's gorgeous — and delicious, too. So delicious, in fact, that you won't miss the cookies a bit.

Salted Pistachio Brittle
Adapted from Food & Wine's Best-Ever Nut Brittle

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces shelled pistachios
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is deep amber and has the very first hints of a lightly burnt aroma (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the pistachios, then immediately scrape the brittle onto a large rimmed, nonstick baking sheet. Using the back of a large spoon or an offset spatula (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.

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Recipe: Holiday Nut & Fruit Brittle

Holiday Nut & Fruit Brittle

Makes 4 to 6 gifting portions

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (optional)
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, or to taste (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup cashews, chopped
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped
Sea salt for sprinkling

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick mat. Prep all of your ingredients before starting and set aside.

Place the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Stir to combine. Heat over medium-high heat (without stirring) for about 15 minutes, or until mixture reaches 300°F, or the "hard crack" stage on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat and carefully stir in the salt, baking soda, and spices. Add in the butter and vanilla. Stir in the nuts and seeds. Quickly but carefully pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread out into an even layer before the mixture sets. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Let cool completely before breaking up into pieces. Store in an airtight container

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Chocolate Lasagna

Well, Vera, which of all of your chocolate treats would you take to a desert island?” I was thinking to myself and laughing at the same time and knowing it was mission impossible. Of course, after that, you begin thinking, measuring and comparing different chocolate treats. Soon I was literally drooling :)

Ingredients

1. 36 Oreo cookies (regular, not double stuff)
2. 6 tablespoon butter-melted
3. 8 oz cream cheese-softened
4. ¼ cup granulated sugar
5. 2 tablespoons cold milk
6. 12 ounce tub Cool Whip-divided
7. 2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding.
8. 3¼ cups cold milk
9. 1 and ½ cups mini chocolate chips

Instructions

In a food processor finely crushed Oreo cookies into fine crumbs.
In a large bowl using a fork mix Oreo with 6 tablespoons melted. When the butter is mixed, transfer it to a 9 x 13 inch dish and using a spatula press down the crumbs into the bottom.
Transfer the crust in the refrigerator while you are mixing the fillings.
Mix the cream cheese until it's fluffy, add 2 tablespoons of milk and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and ¼ cups Cool Whip.
Spread the mixture over the crust.
In a medium bowl mix chocolate instant pudding with 3 and ¼ cups cold milk. Whisk for a few minutes until the pudding starts to thicken
Spread the pudding over the cream cheese layer.
Let it sit for 10 minutes to firm up the pudding.
Spread remaining Cool Whip over the top and sprinkled with mini chocolate chips.
Freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerate for 4 hours before serving

 Source : here,

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Crepes with agave-ricotta cheese filling,

Ingredients:

• Homemade crepes (detailed tutorial with photos here)
• gluten free crepes (use this link if you’re gluten intolerant)
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 2 pears, cored and sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey

Makes 4 servings (4 crepes topped with pear mixture on top)
1) Heat ricotta cheese and agave nectar in a small skillet on medium-high and keep mixing it until the mixture becomes liquid and of even consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool. Once it cools a bit, the mixture would become more solid, which is what we want.
2) In a separate medium size pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter on high heat. Add sliced pears to the butter, close the pan with the lid and let it cook on high for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, flip sliced pears on the other side, close the pan with the lid and let it cook on high for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Depending on how hot your stove gets, it might take you less or more time, the key is to brown the pears or even get a slightly “burned” effect. But don’t over-do it, and once pears have this “roasted” appearance. Once you removed the pan with pears from the heat, immediately add honey to the pears – adding honey will make pears sizzle and will caramelize them beautifully, off heat.
3) To serve: add 2 tablespoons of agave-ricotta cheese mixture on top of the open crepe, fold the crepe in half, then fold it one more time to form a triangle. Pour hot mixture of honey, butter and pears on top. Ready to serve!


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Crepes with ricotta cheese and blueberries

Ingredients:

• Homemade crepes (detailed tutorial with photos here)
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 or 3 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Makes 4 servings
1) Prepare crepes according to instructions.
2) Heat ricotta cheese and agave nectar in a small skillet on medium-high and keep mixing it until the mixture becomes liquid and of even consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool. Once it cools a bit, the mixture would become more solid, which is what we want.
3) To serve: add 2 tablespoons of agave-ricotta cheese mixture on top of the open crepe, scatter blueberries, and fold the crepe in half. Ready to serve!

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Dessert crepes with ricotta cheese,

this very easy Summer treat (especially if you pre-made the crepes)! 
Ingredients:

• Homemade crepes (detailed tutorial with photos here)
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar (or 2 tablespoons honey)
• strawberries, cleaned and sliced
• blueberries
• kiwi, peeled and sliced

Makes 4 servings
1) Heat ricotta cheese and agave nectar in a small skillet on medium-high and keep mixing it until the mixture becomes liquid and of even consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool. Once it cools a bit, the mixture would become more solid, which is what we want.
2) To serve: add 2 tablespoons of agave-ricotta cheese mixture on top of the open crepe, add some sliced strawberries, blueberries and sliced kiwi, fold the crepe in half. Sprinkled with powdered sugar if desired. Ready to serve!


 Source : here,

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Crepes with caramelized apples

Ingredients:

• Homemade crepes (detailed tutorial with photos here)
• 4 medium apples, cored and sliced, length-wise
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar

Makes 6 servings (6 crepes topped with pear mixture on top)
1) Place sliced apples into a large bowl, add sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and mix. Let apples sit for about 15 minutes to release juices.
2) In a medium size pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter on high heat. Add sliced apples (without juice at the bottom of the pan) to the butter in the pan, close the pan with the lid and let them cook on high for about 5 minutes, checking periodically. After 5 minutes, flip sliced apples on the other side, close the pan with the lid and let them cook on high for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Depending on how hot your stove gets, it might take you less or more time to cook apples, the key is to brown them or even get a slightly “burned” effect. But don’t over-do it, once the apples have this “roasted” appearance. Right after you remove the pan with roasted sliced apples from the heat, immediately add honey – it will make apples sizzle and will caramelize them beautifully, off the heat. Then, add all other juices from the bowl.
3) In a separate, small skillet, heat ricotta cheese and agave nectar and keep mixing it until the mixture becomes liquid and of even consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool. Once it cools a bit, the mixture would become more solid, which is what we want.
4) To serve: add 2 tablespoons (or less) of agave-ricotta cheese mixture on top of an open crepe, fold the crepe in half, then fold it one more time to form a triangle. Pour hot mixture of honey, butter and caramelized apples on top. Ready to serve!

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Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes

This time the danger was triple because Ferrero Rocher balls were supposed to be saved (I really don't know a person who doesn't love them) and after that beautiful Chocolate Nutella Frosting, and in the end, the finished Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes should stand at least a little while in the fridge.
Ingredients
For Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cocoa powder
¾ cups vegetable oil
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 Ferrero Rocher


For Chocolate Nutella Frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup cream cheese
⅓ cup Nutella
4 oz semisweet baking chocolate
2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
pinch of salt
½ tespoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line standard cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
With electric mixer beat together oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract on medium speed until well combined.
Add dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
Cupcake liners should be about ⅔ full. First add about 1 tablespoon of the batter, then place unwrapped Ferrero Rocher in each cup and add remaining batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean (it takes about 16-20 minutes)
Wait the cupcakes to cool completely before icing
To make the frosting melt 4 oz chocolate and let it cool to a room temperature.
Beat the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, then add cream cheese and mix well.
Add vanilla, salt, Nutella,cocoa and melted chocolate and mix it well to combine evenly.
Set the frosting in the fridge for 15 minutes to set, then frost the cupcakes and garnish with Ferrero Rocher.
Store in the fridge until serving.  Source : here,

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Pumpkin Lasagna

that was left was to make these three layers a little sweeter with a little more whipped cream and to put chopped walnuts and our little pumpkin lasagna was ready to be cooled off in the fridge.

Ingredients
For crust:
1 cup flour
½ cup butter-softened
½ cup toasted walnuts (or pecans)-chopped
For cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese- softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipped topping
For pumpkin layer:
2½ cups milk
3 small pkgs. vanilla instant pudding mix
15 oz Pumpkin puree
1 tsp. cinnamon
For topping:
1 cups whipped topping
¼ cup toasted walnuts (or pecans)-chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven at 350 F and spray 8x8 inch baking dish. (NOTES : I made Pumpkin Lasagna with these ingredients in 8x8 inch baking dish, but some people have commented that they have a problem to fit it, so I suggest you to avoid this potential problem using a 9x9 inch baking dish)
Mix flour, butter and ½ cup walnuts, press into a sprayed baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until it’s light and fluffy, add 1 cup whipped topping and spread over cooled crust. Set in the fridge while making pumpkin mixture.
Mix milk and vanilla instant pudding mix, add pumpkin puree and cinnamon and mix until it’s smooth. Spread over top of cheesecake layer.
Spread remaining 1 cup of whipped topping and sprinkle chopped walnuts and set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.source here 

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Borscht Vegetariano

INGREDIENTES (para 4 personas)
3 patatas medianas
1 zanahoria mediana
1 cebolla
1 tallo de apio
1 remolachas cocida
300-350g de col
3 tomates cherries
1 cda. de aceto balsámico
1 cdta. de comino en grano
1 hoja de laurel
Una pastilla de caldo de verdura
Eneldo picado
sal y pimienta
AOVE
crème fraîche o yogur griego para servir
Opcional: Unas gotas de salsa picante (a nosotros nos gusta así)

ELABORACION
En una olla grande ponemos 1,5l de agua con la pastilla de caldo de verdura a hervir. Mientras, troceamos las patatas en gajos grandes y el apio en brunoise. Lo añadimos al caldo.
En una sartén con un poco de aceite de oliva pochamos la cebolla que habremos cortado en trozos pequeñitos. Vamos troceando la zanahoria y la remolacha en bastoncitos y los tomates por la mitad. Lo  incorporamos todo  a la sartén.  Sofreímos durante unos 10 minutos a fuego medio, o hasta que las verduras estén blanditas. Cuando ya estén, añadimos unas gotas de aceto balsámico, que hará que la remolacha no pierda el color. Damos  un par de vueltas mas y reservamos fuera del fuego.
Cortamos la col en tiras pequeñas y la añadimos  a la olla del caldo junto con el contenido de la sartén. Dejamos que cueza todo hasta que las patatas y la col estén hechas. Rectificamos de sal y pimienta y añadimos un poco de eneldo picado y unos cominos en grano.

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Oven-Baked Ribs

A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour; you have to add your own!

Ingredients

2 rack of pork baby back ribs

1 can tomato paste (156 mL)

1 cup orange juice

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup Dijon mustard

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup chili powder

Salt

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The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend in. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and crisscross mark them with a floured fork. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies just start to colour around the edges.

2. Yield: 2 dozen cookies

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