Dessert Night

In APRIL we met at Pam Arnold's house for a Dessert night.

Michelle showed us how to make Eclairs

Chocolate Eclairs

1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup Swans Down cake flour
4 eggs

Combine butter, milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Heat to the boiling point. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously. Remove from stove as soon as mixture can be lifted by spoon without sticking to the sides of the pan.Cool (to prevent eggs from cooking) and add four eggs, one at a time, beating between the addition of each egg.

Beat again after all eggs are added.

Shape mixture on a buttered sheet into cakes- four inches long by one inch wide- using a pastry tube or two spoons, allowing one inch for spreading. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. If removed before thoroughly cooked, the eclairs will fall.
Cool. Make a cut in the side of each to fill with cream filling. Then frost.

Filling:
1 pkg of instant chocolate pudding
whipped cream-
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
a few grains of salt
Make pudding according to package directions. For whipped cream, mix all ingredients and beat until stiff. Fold whipped cream into the pudding until desired taste is achieved.

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter
2 oz semisweet chocolate
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat butter and chocolate over low heat; stir until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Using a spoon, a pastry brush, or the dip method, glaze tops of eclairs.

Yes, they tasted as good as they looked

Aimie showed a fancy way to decorate a cake

Frosting tip: dip your frosting spatula in hot
water to smooth out the bumps on the cake

She placed Mint Chocolate Pirouette sticks around the sides

Chocolate Curls: Put a cookie sheet in the fridge; melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Spread some melted chocolate along the back of the cold cookie sheet.

When the chocolate is almost hard, use a spatula or cheese grater to peel off some curls.

Another way to make Chocolate Curls: Melt chocolate chips and pour into a container that is lined with foil. Allow the chocolate to harden in the fridge, then remove the chocolate block from the container. Use a spatula or cheese grater across the chocolate block. This will make smaller, thinner curls.

A mint chocolate cake masterpiece

Jessica shared some tips for making desserts a little healthier. You can substitute applesauce for butter in baking. You can use skim milk instead of whole in nearly all baking and cooking. More lower fat options are: use no fat cooking spray, use brown sugar for 1/2 the sugar content when it calls for white sugar, rinse off the extra fat from ground beef after draining it.

Jessica also made a Coke cake- as simple as a can of soda mixed with a cake mix (chocolate works best), then bake! We all tried it, and we couldn't even taste the pop- it just tasted like a cake/brownie.

Kira made a dessert requested by other ladiesBanana Pudding Squares

35 reduced fat Nilla Wafers, finely crushed (about 1.25 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz tub Cool Whip, thawed, divided
3 bananas, sliced
2 1 oz pkgs vanilla jello instant pudding
3 cups cold milk
1/2 square baker's semi-sweet chocolate, grated

Mix crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom of 9x13 dish. Refrigerate until ready to use.Beat cream cheese and sugar in medium bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in 1/5 cups Cool Whip. Spread over crust. Top with bananas.Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk for 2 minutes; spread over bananas. Top with remaining Cool Whip, and grated chocolate. Refrigerate 3 hours.