Whoopie Pies

Who doesn't love a whoopie pie? As a New Englander, I grew up with whoopie pies, but I never realized that they were a regional thing. So, for those of you unfortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the whoopie pie, it is a marshmallow-cream filled pie/cake/cookie combo, originally from the Amish. According to legend (legend? Are the Amish that old?), Amish women would bake these and pack them in lunches for their husbands. When the husband opens his lunch box for the day, he would see the pie and shout "Whoopie!" (Disclaimer: I'm not totally convinced that this is true, but whatever).

Anyway, this is a fun and easy take on the whoopie pie that my friend Kathleen showed me. Bonus: They're fat free, gluten free, AND they only need 3 ingredients! Kathleen uses a can of pumpkin puree, but I used squash puree instead, and it worked out just fine. I made these for my sister's graduation party and they were a HIT!

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Halava

If you attend Florida State University, you are probably aware of the amazing vegetarian lunches served in the Student Life building (previously in the International Student Center). These are colloquially referred to as "Krishna Lunches", because the head chef, Daru, is a Hare Krishna who also runs a local yoga center. And he cooks amazing vegetarian Nepalese/Indian food every day.

Halava is one of his most common desserts, and Daru calls it a "helluva good dessert" (which is a good way to remember it!). Not the most healthy, but when is a dessert actually healthy? When I made it for myself, I reduced the butter and sugar by about 25% each, and it was fine, though not quite as good. Below I've listed "fruit" as an ingredient, and really, you can use anything you want. This time I used about 4 oz of canned pineapple, but I've made it previously with about 1/4 cup blueberry ginger compote, and that was my favorite. You could do chocolate, peanut butter, or just about anything you can think of.

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Banana Gelato

The rumors are true...there IS such a thing as 1 ingredient banana gelato. And, yes, the single ingredient is bananas. Here's what you do:

1. Cut the bananas into a few pieces and freeze them. (How many? its up to you. I used 3 large bananas).

2. Once they're frozen, toss 'em in a food processor and blend away. At first they will get kind of grainy looking, and just about a minute more of processing and they will become soft and smooth and heavenly.

A few side notes:

Those of you, like myself, who do not own a food processor should not worry because you can still make this delicious treat. I used a blender to first blend the bananas, but when they became too difficult to blend, i transferred the mixture to a bowl and used a hand mixer.

You can add anything you want to the bananas to change the texture, flavors, etc. I chose some peanut butter (which i am currently obsessed with) and 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder. Yes, it was amazing. (If you use peanut butter, it helps to pop it in the microwave to melt it - it blends easier.)

I haven't tried this, but i would bet that you could add some milk, or (if i were going to do this) some fat free plain greek yogurt) and re-freeze the gelato, and you would have a milkier consistency, much more like ice cream.

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Turon with coconut ice cream

these are like filipino dessert spring rolls served with homemade coconut ice cream. top them with some hot chocolate and you have a little bit of heaven in your bowl. need i say more?

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(this photo doesn't do it justice)

for the turon
ingredients:
lumpia wrappers (available at an asian grocery store)
a couple of bananas
canned jackfruit (also available at the asian market)
brown sugar

1. let the lumpia wrappers thaw according to package instructions (this could take up to 2 hours, so plan ahead).

2. carefully separate them. they are very, very thin so be careful not to tear them.

3. slice the bananas into quarters (slice it longways once, then cut each of those in half). Also prepare the jackfruit so you have the same size pieces. dip the bananas in the jackfruit syrup and place 1 piece of banana next to 1 piece of jackfruit on the top center of the lumpia wrapper (about 1/2 of the way down on the wrapper). sprinkle a little brown sugar on the fruit.

4. to roll, fold the top of the wrapper over the fruit, then fold either side towards the center. roll the fruit over a couple of times in the wrapper, so you are left with what looks like a spring roll. dip your fingertips in water to seal it.

5. in a pan, heat about 1/4 inch vegetable oil. fry each turon until they are golden brown on each side.

6. once you're finished, drain most of the leftover oil from the pan. place the turon in the pan (if you took them out) and sprinkle them with brown sugar. flip them over and sprinkle more sugar (so the sugar gets on all sides). saute for a few more minutes, until the sugar melts.

for the ice cream
ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut extract

1. place the eggs and sugar in a blender and process 2 minutes. they should get kind of thick and almost fluffy.

2. pour this mixture in a double boiler (or put some water in a medium saucepan and put a smaller saucepan on top of that, and put the egg mixture in the smaller saucepan - just be careful not to get water in it). Heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes. it should thicken and start to look like custard.

3. put this in the fridge to chill.

4. once the egg mixture is chilled, take the whipping cream and whip it (whip it good). stiff peaks should form. fold in coconut milk, extracts, and finally the egg mixture.

5. place in freezer for at least 8 hours.

Serve the turon hot, drop on some chocolate sauce, and eat with ice cream.

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Rainbow cupcakes!

These are fabulous, but I can't take the credit for them. I found the website here .

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Ingredients:

cake part:
1 white cake mix
12 oz sprite zero
food coloring - the gel kind

Icing:
1 tub fat free cool-whip
1 package fat free vanilla pudding powder.

1. Mix the cake and the sprite. Stir until its not lumpy.

2. Divide evenly into 6 bowls. Color appropriately.

3. Add muffin liners to a muffin tin - I got 12 muffins out of this recipe.

4. Drizzle gobs of cake mix into the cupcake liners in whatever order you want. they won't mix with each other.

5. bake according to package instructions.

6. when they are cool, you can frost them. seriously, you have to wait until they are completely cool. combine the cool whip with the pudding powder, and voila! I also added a tiny bit of food coloring.

Most amazing bread pudding

I don't post a lot of dessert recipes. Bread pudding is another that is so, so good, but so, so bad for you. I save this one for parties.

Ingredients:

For the pudding:
1 loaf of French Bread
1 quart of milk
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons vanilla
3 tablespoons butter

For the sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
3 tablespoons bourbon (more to taste)

1) Tear bread into pieces and soak in milk for 1 hour.

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2) Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla. Add to bread mixture. Sir in the blueberries.

3) Melt 3 tablespoons butter in oblong baking dish. Pour pudding into baking dish, cover, and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

4) While the pudding is baking, make the sauce. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the bourbon.

5) Remove the pudding form the oven. Cut into serving cubes and place in individual bowls. Top with whiskey sauce and serve.

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