Holidays

Making the Holidays Sweet with Eagle Brand // KitchenAid Mixer GIVEAWAY

14 · Dec 1, 2013 · 335 Comments

This post and KitchenAid Mixer GIVEAWAY is brought to you by Eagle Brand™ // I don't know about you, but the holidays just would not be the holidays without some good old holiday sweet treats. Christmas morning lasts but a short hour or so, but… Holiday cooking and baking last the whole month long. Those are the memories that last for generations. I can't tell you what I received as a kid for Christmas when I was eight or nine, but I can tell you about the scrumptious goodies I helped my Mom make those years. I remember the flavors of the season and those flavors are what usher in those holiday memories each year.

Every year my Dad would get a box of chocolate covered cherries. I loved those gooey treats! I'm sure I drove him nuts constantly asking if I could have one. I just adore cherries and when you add chocolate to the mix… It's a match made in HEAVEN!!

I have since come up with a tasty dessert to share during the holidays that takes me back to childhood…

If you love cherries and adore chocolate, this dessert is one you should try! Click HERE for the Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie recipe.

Now, my Mom has always been a bit of the adventurous person in the family. We never stuck to the rules when it came to any kind of cooking or baking. When it came to Christmas, some years she liked to introduce a bit of Latin flair to our holiday table. We would have Soapapillas for New Years and she would make an amazing Flan for Christmas that I have adored forever!!

If you haven't had flan, you are missing out!! It is a creamy egg custard sweetened with Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk and topped with a lovely caramel sauce that is to die for. Click HERE for my Creamy Flan recipe.

So… what flavors usher in the holidays for YOU? The folks at Eagle Brand would like to help sweeten your holidays with a new KitchenAid mixer and a Eagle Brand™ gift pack… This would for sure help to sweeten your holiday!! All you need to do is to follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below.

This giveaway is open to anyone with a shipping address within the United States. The giveaway will run from December 1st through the 8th with the winner announced here and on Facebook on the 9th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more chances to win… Now through December 14 visit Eagle Brand™ on Pinterest and re-pin your favorite recipes for a chance to win one of over 100 great prizes including a KitchenAid Mixer and other baking essentials! #SweetenTheSeason

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand™. I received product and a KitchenAid mixer in order to help create the post.

Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie Recipe

1 · Dec 1, 2013 · 2 Comments

This post brought to you by Eagle Brand // As a kid, one of the things I looked forward to every holiday season, was when my Dad would share some of his FAVORITE chocolate covered cherries with me. I would have to say the apple didn't fall to far from the tree when it comes to this favorite confection. I adore cherries and to add chocolate to the mix made them absolutely PERFECT!

Not too long ago, my Mom introduced me to a recipe that I have since fallen in love with. I modified it a bit and came up with this scrumptious Chocolate Covered Cherry Mousse Pie…

Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

1 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 oz. of a unsweetened Hershey chocolate bar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 prepared graham cracker crust

20 oz. maraschino cherries, drained (2 jars)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup cold water

3.9 oz. box of vanilla instant pudding

1 cup of whipping cream, whipped OR 3 cups of Cool Whip

Chocolate swirls optional

Directions for Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

In a small double boiler over low heat and occasionally stirring, melt the unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 of the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. Once the chocolate mixture has melted add a 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bottom of the prepared graham cracker crust.

Next, take one of the 10 oz. bottles of cherries and cut them in all in half and place on top of the chocolate mixture in the crust.

Set the pie aside at this point and start on the mousse.

Reserve a few cherries to garnish the pie and then chop the remaining cherries and set aside.

In the mixing bowl of your mixer, whip the cream cheese until light. Gradually whip the water into the cream cheese and remaining Eagle Brand Milk. Add pudding mix, the remaining extract and chopped cherries. Mix well. Gently fold in the whipped cream or Cool Whip. Pour into pie crust and chill for 4 hours or until set. Garnish with whole cherries and chocolate swirls if desired.

You can even make this recipe as mini pies… Perfect to serve at your holiday gatherings.

They are so yummy and when your guest take their first bite, they get the yummy chocolate surprise at the bottom…

Chocolate covered cherry heaven!!

The folks at Eagle Brand would love to help YOU sweeten your holidays with a fun GIVEAWAY!! They are giving away a KitchenAid Mixer along with an Eagle Brand™ gift pack to one lucky WhipperBerry friend…

Click HERE to visit the GIVEAWAY

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk. I received product and a KitchenAid Mixer to help create this post series.

Creamy Flan Recipe

21 · Dec 1, 2013 · 3 Comments

This post brought to you by Eagle Brand // I LOVE FLAN! I don't know if I can emphasize that enough. My Mom has made flan for years and it has become a bit of a holiday tradition. All be it, a rather non-traditional holiday tradition. Most people don't correlate Flan, a creamy custard like dessert with strong Latin roots with Christmas, but they should! It's so easy to make and the creamy custard with the caramelized sugar is just lovely.

Ingredients for Flan Recipe

1 cup sugar

1 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 12 oz. can of Carnation® Evaporated Milk

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

Directions for Flan

Caramelize sugar by putting it into a saucepan and melting the sugar until it becomes caramel. Try to avoid stirring the sugar, just swirl the pan. If you stir the sugar it could cause sugar crystals to form in your caramel. When the sugar has fully caramelized, pour into the bottom of your oven safe ramekins or a 8×8 baking dish.

Set aside and let cool while you are mixing the custard.

In your mixing bowl, combine the Eagle Brand™ Milk, Carnation® Evaporated Milk, eggs, vanilla and salt and whisk together well.

Pour custard into your dish or ramekins right on top of the caramel.

Next, you will need to heat some water. Place your ramekins or baking dish into a larger baking dish. Pour the hot water into the dish up to the middle of the custard dishes.

This is called a Bain Maria or hot water bath.

Place in a 300˚ oven for one hour or until the custard has set. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes. If you are using ramekins, you can then invert the flan out on a plate at this point. Or, you can let it chill and serve later.

We really like to serve it with whipped cream and berries… SUPER yum!!

The folks at Eagle Brand would LOVE to help make your holidays a little sweeter. They are offering a fabulous GIVEAWAY!!

Click HERE to visit the GIVEAWAY!!

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk. I received a KitchenAid Mixer and product to help create this post.

Three Tips for Picture Perfect Pie Crust

15 · Nov 27, 2013 · 109 Comments

This post brought to you by Crisco // When I was about 14 years old, I had a wise woman in my life, her name was Mrs. Robinson, who gave me some great advice… When in the kitchen, learn how to make one thing REALLY well. If you love chocolate cake, learn how to make the best chocolate cake. If you love pies, learn how to make the best pie out there. She said that if you have one really good dessert recipe, you could catch any guy you want. LOL!! Well, I decided that I wanted to make the perfect pie. To be more specific, I wanted to learn how to make the perfect pie crust. That way I could have several more options when it came to my man catching baking skills!

I have to say, I got pretty good at it. I was always called on to make the pies in my house during the holidays and after many attempts after awhile, they turned out nice and flaky every time. Then I met my so-to-be husband and boy was she right… He loved pies. All kinds of pies… Blueberry, Peach, Cherry & Apple. I was golden… Thank you Mrs. Robinson!!

Recently, I was asked by the lovely folks at Crisco to become a Crisco Pie Partner and I was thrilled. I'm excited for two reasons… I'm excited to share some of my hard earned pie tips and tricks with you, and that I could also honor my friend Mrs. Robinson, who has since passed on by sharing her sweet advice with all of you. So here you have it… Some tricks to making Picture Perfect Pie Crust EVERY TIME thanks to Mrs. Robinson.

With the holidays here, we are all gearing up to do all kinds of holiday baking and pies are always on the list. However, many of us have taken to using store bought frozen pie crust and my friends… it's just not the same. We have been tricked into thinking that pie crust is hard to make and it's not. It's really rather easy if you follow a few basic principles. Here are my tried and true pie crust secrets…

Tip #1 // Selecting the Right Ingredients

For years the debate with pie crust has been, which fat is better… Butter, Crisco or Lard? After MANY years of making pies and trying each option myself, I hands down select Crisco shortening every time. It just seems to make the lightest, flakiest crust each time. Sometimes I will do half butter, half Crisco if I'm wanting that buttery flavor but I always use Crisco or even the butter flavored Baking Sticks. The recipe I'm using today is your simple basic pie crust using just flour, salt, Crisco and water…

It's super simple click HERE to visit the recipe page. Can I just take a minute and thank Crisco for coming up with the Baking Sticks… I LOVE them!! No mess, no fuss and the measuring is done for you. PERFECT!!

Tip #2 // Cold Ingredients are your Friend

The absolute key to making good crust is to use COLD ingredients. I place my Crisco Baking Sticks in the freezer for a few hours before hand and I use ice cold water when mixing the crust. I also try not to touch the dough too much with my warm hands. That will also cause the dough to warm up and you don't want that.

The reason why you want things to stay cold is… You want your Crisco to stay solid and in small little pieces within the crust. When those little nuggets are hit by the heat in the oven that is what makes those flaky little pockets in the crust that we love so much. Without those little gems, your crust will turn out solid and tough and not a whole lot of fun to eat.

To start, I place my flour and salt in a large bowl. Then I remove the Crisco from the freezer and cut it into small pieces…

Sometimes, I even stick the Crisco back in the freezer for a few minutes after I have cut it, in order for it to chill again. Then I place my shortening into the bowl with my flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter I cut the Crisco into the flour…

Again, you want to make sure to leave your shortening in small little pea size pieces so don't over work.

Tip #3 // The Key is a Light Hand

When it comes to working with this kind of dough. a light hand is key. Don't over mix the Crisco into the flour. Next, you will lightly fold in the cold ice water into the dough. I use a rubber spatula at this stage and gently fold in the water starting with one tablespoon and slowly mixing it just until the dough starts to come together. Again… light hand here. The more you mix the tougher the dough will be.

For this crust, the recipe calls for 3-6 tablespoons of water. I ended up using 4 but, that will depend on your environment where you are baking. You may need more, you may need less. Then I pour the loose dough out onto a clean board and this is what it should look like…

Now, this is the one step where I will quickly use my hands. I carefully pull the dough together and form it into a disk like so…

Then I wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Once it has chilled again, than I am ready to roll it out. On a clean floured surface I roll out my dough. I carefully turn the dough after a few passes with the rolling pin, to ensure that the dough doesn't stick to the board. You may even need to turn it and flour your surface a few times. But, be careful not to over flour.

Then using your rolling pin as a handy tool… roll the dough onto your pie plate…

I trim my edges a bit and then crimp my edges using my two finger pinching method…

Now, you have the perfect canvas for any pie that you can dream up…

Not sure what to make? Crisco has you covered! Here are some fabulous resources for creating the perfect pie…

You can call the Crisco Pie Hotline 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438) for all kinds of around the clock PIE help this holiday season!
Crisco has a Picture Perfect Pie Pinterest board that has all kinds of fabulous recipes.
The Crisco Kitchen has teamed up with Michele Stuart owner of Michele's pies in Connecticut, she is over at Crisco's site sharing all kinds of fun pie tips and ideas.
Crisco is hosting a fun Rate & Review contest for a chance to win a Michele Stuart pie prize pack. Visit the Rate & Review site to rate your favorite pie for a chance to win!

I hope Crisco and I have inspired you to pass on the freezer pie crust and try your hand in a truly homemade pie. I promise, if you follow these tips you will blow your family away with your scrumptious pies this year! In order to do just that… Crisco is giving away a fabulous Perfect Pie Prize Pack to one of you!! Here is what you will win…

A Prize Pack valued at $200!! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below to enter. This giveaway is open to those with a shipping address within the United States and will be open from November 27-January 2 with the winner announced on January 3rd.