Desserts

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

For the fall season, you just can’t beat a dessert with pumpkin in the ingredients.  Add in some nuts and well, to me that’s nearly perfection.  Honestly the smell alone when baking this is enough to make me happy.  
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Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 29oz. Pumpkin puree
  • 1 12oz. Evaporated milk
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 T Cinnamon
  • ¾  C – Sugar
  • 1 Yellow cake mix with pudding (Pillsbury or other brand)
  • 1  C Pecans, chopped
  • 2 Sticks butter 
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 1 pkg. Cream cheese
  • ¾ C Powdered sugar
  • ¾ C Cool whip

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 350.  
  2. Spray 9×13 pan with non-stick spray.  
  3. Mix first 5 ingredients and pour into pan.
  4. Spread yellow cake mix over top of mixture in pan
  5. Spread pecans over cake mix and lightly pat in
  6. Melt butter and spoon over batter evenly
  7. Bake 50 minutes or until nuts are golden brown.

Notes

Use mixer to blend ingredients.  After cake cools, frost!      (*If desired, cake can be baked the night before.)

Brigadeiros

Many years ago I was a Rotary Exchange Student in Brazil when I took a gap year between high school and college.  It was an amazing experience and the people were so kind and welcoming.  I came away with so many great memories…and THIS amazing recipe!  This delicious sweet is traditionally served at the dessert table, especially at birthday parties. 
While it’s a bit more time consuming than my normal criteria would allow, it’s well worth it.  A treat my kids LOVE and always reminds me of my time in Mogi Mirim.  Que bom!  (The directions were from my Brazilian “mom” in Portuguese and then I translated them into English so I hope they make sense.)
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Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Cans Condensed Milk
  • 1 Can full of Milk (using emptied condensed milk can)
  • 4 T Chocolate Powder (I use Nestle)
  • Chocolate Sprinkles
  • Small paper cups for candy (Amazon)

Method
 

  1. Mix well all ingredients in pan.  On medium-high, stir ingredients 20-30 minutes.  When you can easily see the bottom of the pan when stirring with your spoon, take a small amount of the taffy and drop into a cup of water.  When you take the taffy out of the water with your hands and it sticks into a ball, it’s ready. 
  2. When ready, butter a shallow bowl or pie pan and put taffy in bowl to cool.  On a separate plate, pour a layer of the chocolate sprinkles.  After taffy has cooled, butter hands and roll into small balls.  Roll balls into plate of chocolate sprinkles and place in small paper cups.
  3. Store in tupperware container with lid until ready to serve.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

This recipe was a staple growing up for every 4th of July party I can remember.  As a kiddo, Dad always made it a huge production and let us share in pouring the rock salt on the ice as it was churning.  Great memories.  That, and always ended up having a tummy ache from eating too much…but then doing it again the very next time without fail. 
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Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 6 Eggs
  • 2 ½ C Sugar
  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • 1 qt. Half & Half
  • 1 pint Whipping Cream
  • 5 T Vanilla
  • 2 T Fresh Lemon Juice
  • ½ Gal. Whole Milk

Method
 

  1. In large bowl, mix first seven ingredients with hand mixer.  With the dasher inside the cylinder of the ice cream maker, pour in the mixer.  Fill the remainder of the cylinder with whole milk.  (My dad’s recipe says to fill it within an inch of the top.  However the mixture will expand when frozen.  I would allow for more room, closer to 3” from the top would work.)
  2. Pack the sides of the ice cream maker with ice a third of the way up the canister, and sprinkle with about ¼ C of rock salt.  Add another layer and repeat until you reach the lid and turn on.  Continue to add ice and rock salt as needed.  When the engine starts to sound as though it’s straining, you’re done.  (The time varies from ice maker to ice maker, but approximately 25-30 minutes.)
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