Today is National Coffee Ice Cream Day.

Nobody in my household likes coffee so this recipe doesn’t get made very often.  I hope you get to enjoy it more than we do.

Coffee Ice Cream Recipe

1. In saucepan, stir sugar, cornstarch, coffee and butter until blended.

2. Stir in milk and bring to a boil over medium, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Let cool completely.

3. Stir in condensed milk.

4. In a mixing bowl beat cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold into milk mixture.

5. Pour in 9″ square pan and cover.  Freeze for 6 hours or until firm.

Today is National Macadamia Nut Day.

When we think of this delicious nut we instantly think of Hawaii however they actually originate in Australia where the tree they grow on is native.    Demand and prices for these treats are quite high due to the slow growing nature of the plant and producers need to plant large orchards to be able to keep up the supply.  Macadamia Nuts are now grown in Hawaii, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Africa, and Israel to name a few.

Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets with margarine or cover with parchment paper.

In mixing bowl add butter and sugar.

Cream together

Add egg and vanilla.

Beat together until smooth.

In another bowl mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture.

Chop the macadamia nuts.

Add nuts and chocolate chips to batter.

Stir to incorporate.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake until golden about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies Full Recipe

Today is National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

You need:

This is really glossy, rich, sticky icing very much not like any you’ve tasted before.

In a bowl over a pot of simmering water whisk together the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar.

Once it is warm, remove it from the heat and beat until glossy and thick peaks form.

Add the vanilla and beat for another minute.

You want to use this immediately. I used it for this my sponge cake recipe.

Marshmallow Frosting

1. In a bowl over a pot of simmering water whisk together the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar until warm.
2. Remove from heat and beat until glossy peaks form. Add the vanilla and beat 1 minute more to combine. Use immediately.

Today is National Cherry Turnover Day.

This isn’t a true way of making turnovers but it sure is simple and quick. You can make your own pastry and roll it out and cut it in triangles but buying these premade crescent rolls work just as well when you are in a pinch for time. Substitute other pie filling flavours if you want.

Cherry Turnovers

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Unroll the dough and separate into triangles.
3. Place 4 triangles on baking sheet.
4. Spoon 1/4 of the pie filling into the centre of one triangle and place a second triangle on top, sealing the edges.
5. Repeat with remaining triangles.
6. Bake for 10 -12 minutes or until golden.
7. In a small bowl mix together the milk and sugar and drizzle over the turnovers.

Today is National Pot de Creme Day and National Banana Lover’s Day.

A Pots de Creme refers to the custard dessert as well as the special dessert pot that it can be made in. It looks like a tea cup and saucer with a lid but isn’t a necessity for this recipe. Ramekins can be easy substituted.

Pots de Crème with Bailey’s

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place 6 ramekins inside a deep baking dish.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat bring the milk and 1 1/2 cups of cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt until blended. Whisk in the warm cream mixture and then mix in the bailey’s. Strain into a large measuring bowl.
5. Pour the liquid equally between the 6 ramekins.
6. Fill the baking dish with hot water until it reaches halfway up the ramekins.
7. Cover with foil and bake until set about 20 minutes. Let cool then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Today is National Peach Pie Day.

This recipe doesn’t use a traditional crust. Instead all the ingredients are blended together and poured into the pie plate for baking.

Peach Pie

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a pie plate.
2. In a large bowl beat together the eggs, milk, corn syrup, butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Blend well.
3. Add the peaches. Blend well.
4. Pour the batter into the pie plate and bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Today is National Sponge Cake Day.

This cake is a great base for a shortcake or trifle.

You need:

Preheat your oven and lightly grease and flour your loaf pan.

Sift together the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl.

In a larger bowl beat the eggs until thick and light.

Add the sugar and beat together well.

Fold the flour into the egg until  well combined.

In  a small saucepan over low heat combine the lemon juice, vanilla and milk.  Cook until just hot.

Pour the hot liquid into your batter and beat on low until smooth.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t look like enough. As it cooks the cake rises almost double in size.

Cook until a tester inserted in the centre comes out dry 30-35 minutes.

As you can see this is why it’s called a sponge cake with all it’s holes and pockets.  Perfect for absorbing juices and sauces.

Of course now that I have this wonderful cake I had to do something with it.  Here’s what I did.

I cut the loaf in half on the horizontal.

One one side I spread melted white chocolate.

One the other side strawberry jam.

I finished it off with a layer of fresh strawberries. Then put it back together.

See the wonderful centre with its gooey fruit and chocolate.

Finally I finished it by covering the whole thing with a marshmallow icing.  Yum!

Sponge Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl sift together the flour and baking powder; set aside.
3. In another bowl beat the eggs until very thick and light. Gradually beat in sugar.
4. Fold in the flour mixture until blended. Combine milk, lemon juice and vanilla in a small bowl and heat in small saucepan on low until hot.
5. Add the hot milk mixture to the batter and beat on low until smooth.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Today is National Pecan Torte Day.

Pecan Torte

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Grease two 8 inch round cake pans.
2. Beat egg whites in mixing bowl until stiff. Set aside.
3. In another bowl beat egg yolks. Add 2/3 cup of the sugar and vanilla. Beat well.
4. Fold the egg yolk mixture into egg whites.
5. Gently fold in flour, ground pecans and cocoa.
6. Spread the batter into the two pans and bake for 25 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool. from pans.
7. In another bowl beat together the sugar, whipping cream and cocoa until stiff. Spread 1/3 of the cream on top of one of the cake.
8. Place the second cake on top of the whipped cream and finish spreading the remainder all over the top and sides.

Today is National Vanilla Custard Day.

Vanilla Custard

1. Split the vanilla pod down the middle and using your knife scrap out the seeds. Add the seeds and pod to the milk in a large saucepan.
2. Heat the milk over medium until small bubble begin to form. Remove the heat, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.
4. Add the milk to the eggs and whisk continuously.
5. Place a saucepan of hot water on the stove and set to low heat. Place the mixing bowl with the milk mixture over the pot.
6. Stir the milk constantly until thickened about 15 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds.

Today is National Bratwurst Day and National Rum Day.

Rum Balls

1. In a bowl over a pot of simmering water melt the chocolate chips.
2. Place chocolate in another bowl with the powdered sugar, corn syrup and rum. Stir well.
3. Add the chocolate crumbs and nuts and stir well.
4. Roll the mixture into small balls.
5. Place the sugar on a flat plate and roll the balls, coating them completely.
6. Store in airtight container for 2 days before serving.