Herself's Recipes

This recipe is not near as complex as the directions make it sound and it is so worth the trouble.

1 16-ounce bag frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, or raspberries or strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp almond flavoring
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 teaspoons all purpose flour

-Combine fruit with juices, 1/4 cup sugar, water, almond, and cinnamon in heavy medium saucepan.
-Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
-Simmer until sauce thickens and is slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
-Using slotted spoon, remove 1/4 cup cherries from sauce; drain well.
-Transfer to work surface and chop coarsely; reserve chopped cherries for cakes. Set aside cherry sauce.

-Butter two 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups.
-Whisk cocoa and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl to blend.
-Stir chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.
-Remove from heat; whisk in cocoa mixture.
-Whisk in egg yolks, then whole egg and flour.
-Fold in reserved 1/4 cup chopped cherries.
-Divide batter between prepared ramekins.

-Preheat oven to 350 and bake until edges are set but center is still shiny and tester inserted into center comes out with some wet batter attached, about 22 minutes.
-Warm sauce over low heat.
-Cut around cakes to loosen; turn out onto plates. Spoon sauce alongside.

Dark colored fruits such as cherries and blueberries tend to be much higher in anti-oxidants than pale colored fruits. Chocolate is also high in anti-oxidants so you should serve these regularly at home as a health food.

Cherries do not continue to ripen after they are picked, so make sure the ones you grab at the store are already ripe and keep them refrigerated until ready to use.

Cherries were being cultivated in Greece as early as 300 BCE.

Simple Cheesecake with white chocolate and raspberries

I’m still searching for the ‘perfect’ cheesecake recipe. This is the closest I’ve found so far. There are records of cheesecake being made 2,000 years ago, but it is believed to have been made as long as 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. It was served to Olympic athletes in Greece in 776bce. Today cheese cakes are usually made with cream cheese which was invented in 1872. Later in 1912, Kraft learned how to pasteurize cheese making cheese cake available to the masses.

Cheese filling

2 -8 oz packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Mix well

One chocolate, vanilla if you prefer, graham cracker crust
pour cheese mixture into crust

Fruit filling

1/4 cup raspberries
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted (optional)

Mix well and then gently spoon onto cheese mixture and fold in gently with a spoon

Bake one and a half hours at 325′ until set in the middle

Tips:

Take the ingredients out of the refrigerator and sit them on the counter for a half hour so they warm up to room temperature.

Do not over mix the cheese mixture. Beat just until mixed.

Cool the cake slowly on the counter, not in the refrigerator or it will get cracks.