DIY Cherry Garcia

We had some leftover cherries we didn't have time to finish, so I threw them in the freezer. I also had some chocolate I wanted to use up, but didn't want to eat plain. (What's wrong with me?) And with this weather, what's not to like about ice cream? One of my favorites is Cherry Garcia, so I thought I'd try making some. Initially, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use raw eggs for the thick, creamy feel, but I decided I'd go for it. If you're concerned about raw eggs, you could also make a custard first or use a pasteurized egg product. I'm thinking I'll try making the custard first next time so I can compare the two.

Do you prefer making a custard first or just using raw eggs?

DIY Cherry Garcia

by CJ Huang

A rich, creamy ice cream churned together with cherries and dark chocolate shavings. Almost like Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia!

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: none
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 1 quart

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
35 grams	1.25 ounces	1/4 cup		dark chocolate shavings
140 grams	5 ounces	1/2 cup		cherries, chopped
			2	eggs
160 grams	5.625 ounces	3/4 cup		sugar
479 grams	1.875 ounces	2 cups		half and half
234 grams	8.25 ounces	1 cup		cream

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Beat eggs until fluffy.
	3. Dissolve sugar in half and half.
	4. Gently combine eggs, whipped cream, and half and half.
	5. Place mixture into ice cream freezer.
	6. Add chocolate shavings and cherries when ice cream has mostly frozen.

Shared with: Delicious Dishes, Wonderful Wednesday, Waste Less Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Wednesday Showcase, Creative Ways, Pinworthy Projects, What's For Dinner? Sunday, Happiness is Homemade, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Sustainable Sunday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, What'd You Do This Weekend?, Turn It Up Tuesday

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Since James' parents have birthdays about a week apart, and I made Mini Key Lime Mousse Pies for his mother, I figured I'd go ahead and make these Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes for his dad. This recipe makes four mini pineapple upside down cakes, the exact number we needed for each person to get one and leave no leftovers. Sometimes, I'm making a bunch of miniature treats, and sometimes I just want enough for what I'm making. This recipe qualifies as just enough for a little treat without having an abundance left over because you just made a full sized batch and baked in small containers. :) I also liked the quantity this recipe makes because a small can of pineapple slices contains 4 slices, the perfect number for this recipe - just enough and none left over. (The amount of pineapple juice in a small can is perfect too!) I put these mini upside down cakes back into ramekins after flipping them over since we were transporting them, and you could easily just serve them on a plate. :)

What's your favorite pineapple treat?

Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake

by CJ Huang

Mini pineapple upside down cakes consisting of a caramelized pineapple ring and maraschino cherry on top of a soft, sweet cake.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
17 grams	0.625 ounces	4 teaspoons		butter, melted
11 grams	0.375 ounces	8 teaspoons		brown sugar
161 grams	5.75 ounces		4	pineapple rings
5 grams	0.25 ounces		4	maraschino cherries
40 grams	1.333 ounces	1/3 cup		flour
43 grams	1.5 ounces	3 tablespoons		sugar
		1 teaspoon		baking powder
53 grams	1.875 ounces	3 tablespoons		pineapple juice
		1/2 teaspoon		vanilla extract

Methods:

	1. Gather all materials.
	2. Divide butter into four portions and pour one portion into each ramekin.
	3. Place one pineapple slice and one maraschino cherry in each ramekin. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
	4. Form Dry Team by combining flour, sugar, and baking powder.
	5. Pour pineapple juice and vanilla onto Dry Team and combine.
	6. Pour mixture into ramekins and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Flip onto plate to serve.

Shared with: #recipeoftheweek, Wonderful Wednesday, Wednesday Showcase, Waste Less Wednesday, What's Cookin' Wednesday, Creative Ways, Foodie FriDIY, Throwback Thursday, Pinworthy Projects, Happiness is Homemade, What's For Dinner?, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, What'd You Do This Weekend?, Turn It Up Tuesday

Peachy Pear Dream Bars

I'm excited to introduce Loy from Grandma Loy's Kitchen as we start another week of guest posts here at Morsels of Life. I first "met" Grandma Loy when linking up my Five Friday Finds. Grandma Loy's always got some sweet treats picked out - things you'd expect to come out of grandma's kitchen. :) Let's all give Grandma Loy a warm welcome as she shares her Peachy Pear Dream Bars!

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First, I want to thank CJ for allowing me to post on her wonderful blog. We "meet" most weeks over at Finding Joy in Your Kitchen when we link up to Friday Favorite Finds. I am always anxious to see CJ's picks for the week. If you are popping over from my blog, Grandma Loy's Kitchen, stick around awhile and check out CJ's great recipes.

Peaches, pears, coconut, and nuts atop a shortbread crust. Transport yourself to the midst of summer anytime by eating these cookies/dessert bars!

Sweet Potato Chocolate Cherry Bread

A moist spice cake with sweet potatoes, cherries, chocolate, and of course, spices.

Soda Bread Biscuits

With St. Patty's Day coming up, I am seeing a lot of Irish soda bread in stores, which got me thinking about soda bread and what it is. Soda breads (and biscuits) are a type of quick bread that uses bread soda (aka baking soda) as a leavening agent. This method works because the baking soda will react with the lactic acid in milk (and buttermilk) to form carbon dioxide.

I'd also been thinking abut biscuits for a while, so I thought I would combine the two and make some soda bread biscuits! I hoped for far better results than my previous biscuit making attempts, since those resulted in some golden brown hockey pucks! Fortunately, I am excited to report that these soda bread biscuits not only filled the apartment with their sweet aroma, but they were incredibly light and crusty, even after being stored! You can make them even lighter by using cake flour or white flour. However, I opted to use a 50/50 mixture of white and wheat flour. As for the cross on top, some theories say that it's to ward off evil spirits or to let the fairies out of the bread - or perhaps the fairies ward off the evil spirits, I'm not really sure. :P In addition, the cross allows for a more uniform heat transfer to the inside part of the bread.

Traditionally, the bread does not have any "add-ins" like raisins, zest, etc. However, since I had some dried cherries that I wanted to use and many American versions of the Irish soda bread use raisins, I thought I would throw some cherries into half the dough and make a half batch of plain and a half batch with cherries. Both turned out wonderfully! I prefer the ones with cherries and James prefers the plain ones, so there's no fighting over who gets which ones. :)

Soda Bread Biscuits

by CJ Huang

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		3 cups		flourv	I used half wheat and half white.
		1/4 cup		sugar
		1 teaspoon		baking soda
		1 teaspoon		salt
		1/2 cup		butter
		1.25 cups		buttermilk	Or 1.25 cups milk with 1 tablespoon replaced by vinegar.
				dried cherries, raisins, zest, etc.	Optional

Methods:

1. Butter a muffin tin. I used 12 ramekins instead since my muffin tin went missing, and those worked well too.
2. Mix the remaining butter with the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until it's homogeneous. If you're using any add-ins, add them at this point.
3. Pour the buttermilk (or milk and vinegar) into the center of the flour and mix gently. A minimal amount of handling/mixing should be used to avoid toughening the dough. The dough should be a bit moist, but not too sticky. If it's too wet or dry, add either flour or buttermilk/milk.
4. Working quickly, separate the dough into 12 portions and place one into each well in the muffin tin. Once the acidic milk and alkaline baking soda mix, carbon dioxide will begin to form and the leavening will start.
5. Bake at 425F until the tops are golden brown and delicious. A toothpick inserted in the center of the biscuit should come out clean and tapping on the top should result in a hollow sound.