Mom's Apple Dumplings

If you use small apples like the recipe calls for then you have quite a bit of leftover dough. I trim the excess and use it to make decorative leaves and stems so that it resembles an apple. It's actually quite cute!

SAUCE
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup red cinnamon candies
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

DUMPLINGS
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 to 2/3 cup cold milk
6 small (2 1/2-inch diameter) baking apples, peeled, cored
3 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar

half-and-half (optional)

1. In medium saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

2. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. With pastry blender or fork, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle flour mixture with milk while tossing and mixing lightly with fork, adding enough milk to form a soft dough. Shape dough into ball.

3. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 18x12-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into 6 squares. Place 1 apple in center of each pastry square; dot with margarine. Bring corners of pastry squares up to top of apples; press edges to seal. Place in ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Pour sauce in pan evenly around dumplings. Brush dumplings with egg white; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

4. Bake at 375°F. for 40 to 50 minutes or until dumplings are light golden brown and apples are tender. Serve dumplings warm or cool with sauce and, if desired, half-and-half.

Plum Raspberry Crumble

Plums are in season...I'm not sure for how long. I hope it's till the fall because this crumble just seems so harvest like to me. Probably because a warm crumble evokes feelings of briskly cold evenings and sitting by a wood burning stove eating some wonderful fruit cobbler, crisp or crumble, feeling all toasty before going to bed. This is also great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Try it and I think you might agree.

Ingredients
2 pounds red plums, cut in 1/2, pitted, and cut in 1-inch wedges
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the sliced plums, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Add the raspberries and toss lightly. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.
For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well.
Spread the topping evenly over the plums, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This recipe belongs to: Ina Garten. Click here.

Raspberry Bars

Has anyone besides me eaten those ridiculously loaded raspberry bars? You know the ones made with the pretzel-butter crust with a cream cheese layer and then a raspberry or strawberry topping? Have you ever though "Geez this is going to stop my heart...but dang these are good!". If you said yes to any of these questions try this recipe. It is a lighter, slimmed down version. I love the picture, and it makes me salavate, but I haven't tried it yet. So if you do give a holler and say what you think.

Crust
3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour (see Note)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Filling
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons water
3 cups fresh raspberries, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons nonfat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons low-fat milk
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

1. To prepare crust: Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat an 8-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Place flour, pecans, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt in a food processor; process until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter one piece at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition, until incorporated. Add ice water and vanilla and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Transfer to the prepared pan. Press evenly and firmly into the pan to form a bottom crust.
3. Bake the crust until it looks set, but not browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
4. To prepare raspberry filling: Sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl; let stand, stirring once or twice, while you prepare the rest of the filling.
5. Reserve 16 raspberries. Puree the remaining raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan and stir in 1/2 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until bubbling. Stir in the gelatin mixture and cook, stirring, until the gelatin is melted, about 1 minute.
6. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Pour the raspberry mixture into a medium bowl and set it in the bowl of ice water. Refrigerate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of loose jam and is beginning to set around the edges, about 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, milk and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.
8. Spread the thickened raspberry filling evenly over the crust. Dollop the cream cheese mixture over the filling. Draw the tip of a sharp knife or skewer through the two fillings to create a swirled effect. Nestle the reserved berries into the filling, evenly spacing them so each bar will be topped with a berry when cut. Refrigerate until the bars are completely set, about 3 hours. Cut into 16 bars, one raspberry per bar.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per bar: 101 calories; 5 g fat

TIP: Note: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole-wheat. Find it in the baking section of the supermarket or online at bobsredmill.com and kingarthurflour.com.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

eatingwell.com

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

This dessert would be right at home at a Fourth of July barbecue. You can substitute sliced fresh strawberries for the raspberries, if you prefer.


Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 store-bought pound cake (12 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
1 bar (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups fresh blueberries (three 1/2-pint containers), rinsed and dried
3 cups fresh raspberries (two 6-ounce containers)

Directions
1. Make lemon syrup: In a small saucepan, bring 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool completely, then brush over both sides of cake slices. Quarter each slice.
2. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with remaining 1/3 cup sugar on high speed until lightened. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add heavy cream in a steady stream; continue beating until mixture is light and airy (mixture will be like a very soft whipped cream).
3. Arrange half the cake pieces in the bottom of a 2-quart serving dish. Spoon half the cream-cheese mixture over cake in dollops; spread to sides of dish. Scatter half the blueberries and raspberries on top. Repeat layering with remaining cake, cream-cheese mixture, and berries, piling berries in the center.
4. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Serves 6
marthastewart.com

Tip: You can buy pound cake from the bakery section of your grocer, Sara Lee also makes a yummy frozen pound cake, you could also make one from a boxed mix which turns out pretty darn good.