Jenal's No Fail Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tart Recipe

I'm cooking dinner this weekend for my family and I was looking for some new recipes to try. They're pretty particular and love the traditional dinner we do, so I don't want to stray too far, but I thought one or two new things would be great. I asked on my facebook if anyone had any no fail, super yummy recipes and this is one that I got back from my friend Jenal! She was such a doll to send it to me (in the facebook comment section no less)! I thought I would share it with all of you! 

Thanks so much Jenal! I'll let you know how it turns out! xoxo

White Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tart

40 gingersnap cookies
½ cup melted butter

Filling

2pkg unflavored gelatin
¼ cup dark rum (or spiced rum) or water
4 eggs
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg and salt
2oz white chocolate finely chopped
½ cup pasteurized egg white
¼ cup sugar
½ cup whipping cream
2 cups of pumpkin puree (not the pie mix)

Crust

in food processor grind gingersnaps, add butter. Press onto the bottom of cheese cake pan. Bake 350 for 10 min

Filling 

In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over rum, set aside. In large bowl beat eggs and brown sugar until pale, beat in pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Transfer to sauce pan cook over med heat, stirring constantly for about 6 min. Remove from heat add gelatin mixture stir until melted. Add whit chocolate stir until melted. Scrape into large bowl, refrigerate stirring until slightly colder than room temperature, about ½ hour.
In medium bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks. Beat in sugar 1 tbsp at a time until stiff and glossy.

In a separate bowl whip cream then fold into pumpkin mixture. Slowly fold in egg whites. Scrap on to crust, swirl top chill for 4 hours (better if chilled over night)

Lemonade Cookies

I've been so busy lately, and I've been dying to try out this new recipe I found for Lemonade Cookies. I was pretty happy the other night when I was finally able to find some time. It's a brand new recipe for me and I had no idea how they were going to turn out. I had to try a few different temperatures and cooking times, but after my 3rd attempt I finally got it right :) My test crew at the office seemed to like them and gave me their seal of approval. Susan said they were really good because they're not too sweet and she could enjoy them with her cup of tea.

The key ingredient in them is the frozen lemonade, so really I think you could make them with any kind of frozen juice. I'm thinking that cranberry, or pineapple would be pretty tasty. When they're done they end up having a moist cake like texture to them and they puff up a bit when you bake them. It's really important to keep them the size that's specified in the recipe or you risk burning them, or not having them cooked completely in the middle. (Believe me... I know!) :) So here you are... I've done all the testing and tweaking for you. Just follow the recipe exactly and you should be good to go!

Lemonade Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour, (make sure you sift the flour before measuring)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 small can of frozen lemonade from concentrate (or any other frozen juice you desire)
1 tsp grated lemon peel (optional)
granulated sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light, add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Sift flour and baking soda. Add to the cream mixture alternating with a 1/2 cup of the frozen lemonade. Stir in grated lemon peel. Drop dough by the teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and place 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. When done, brush hot cookies with lemonade concentrate and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Remove cookies to cooling racks.
Hope you're all having a lovely evening.
Tam xo

Cupcakes and Sunshine!

Two of my most favourite things! The beautiful weather is here, and with that I've been busy planting my flowers, doing some spring cleaning and trying new recipes in the kitchen. This one is a lemon cake with homemade lemon icing.
Was even yummier than it looks!

Here's the details for the icing:

1/2 cup a butter
2 table spoons of lemon juice (but I used a smidge more)
1/2 tea spoon vanilla extract
3 cups of icing sugar

Blend together and add a little yellow food colouring if you wish. :)
Hope everyone has a lovely day! xo