Easy Dessert Filling To Keep On Hand For The Holidays

I had to make a dessert for a family party the other day and decided to try and make something from ingredients I already had on hand.  I almost always have nuts in my pantry and always have brown sugar, so I knew I had a filling. I just needed something to fill. I ended up with a ton of leftover filling and I realized it is great for so many things!  First I will give you the original recipe I used it for and then I will tell you my ideas for other uses.

Now, you need to know, I'm not big on measuring unless a recipe really needs things to be precise, so be prepared - there are no measurements here. It's all by look and smell. Sorry.

The filling ingredients are simple.

Ingredients:
Nuts: Walnuts, pecans, almonds (or whatever kind you like/have)
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Melted Butter (optional)
*See not at bottom about other add in items

First I got out my food processor. (I think the bowl holds about 6 cups - but it doesn't really matter)  I filled the bowl with walnuts, pecans and almonds.  Mostly walnuts, they're the biggest and also what I had the most of.  I pulsed just until they were ground up.

Then I put them in a mixing bowl and added brown sugar.  Again, sorry, didn't measure. I just dumped it out of the bag until it looked like enough. I mixed it all in with the nut mixture, breaking up the lumps of sugar as I went.  If you're not confident with just winging it, start with little and just add a bit at a time until it looks and smells right to you. The mixture should be a good balance of the brown of sugar and the white/yellow of the nuts.

Then I added the cinnamon and nutmeg.  I happen to be fond of cinnamon, so I added a lot. It's a matter of taste. I just poured it right in.  If I had to guess, I'd say about 5 tbsp., maybe more. I didn't have much nutmeg, so I just added what I had left and mixed everything together.

Note: I had a few sliced almonds in a bag leftover, so I added them. I also added a small handful of chopped pecans and a handful of chopped walnuts - just so there'd be a little piece of nut now and then - but that's up to you

As luck would have it, I had some frozen puff pastry sheets in the freezer.  Unluckily, the kitchen got so warm throughout the day that when I went to use the dough it was too soft and I couldn't use it! Doesn't that figure!  But.... Luck was on my side. Earlier that day, my hubby had bought me some Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations (crescent roll dough without the perforations). So I used that instead.

I unrolled the dough onto a foil lined cookie sheet. I brushed the dough with melted butter (again, a matter of taste - it's not essential, but I like the flavor of the added butter).  Then I used a spoon to spread the filling across the dough. Don't go right up to the edges as it will spread out as you roll.  You can add as little or as much as you like.  Then carefully roll up the dough and leave the seam side down on the cookie sheet.  Some of the filling will spill out the sides.  Just push it back in or pinch the ends together. Try not to worry too much. You cut the ends off before serving anyway.

I brushed a little more melted butter on the top before baking.  Bake at 375 for about 20 - 23 minutes, until golden brown. 

Once the log has cooled, cut off ends, slice and dust with powdered sugar and you have a delicious strudel.

(this was all that was left when I decided to do a blog post)

 

Now - you will have a ton of nut/sugar mixture left over. I put it in a canister so I have it handy and ready to go. What do you do with it? What can't you do with it is a better question!

Of course, I can use it with my puff pastry.  I can use it more crescent dough and slice it before cooking and arrange it in a cake pan and cook like cinnamon rolls, glazing after they bake.  I can cook it in layers of phyllo dough or puff pastry and top with a honey glaze for a mock baklava.  I can use it with sugar cookie dough.  Use it with any kind of dough - bread dough, pizza dough, biscuit dough.  Even cake batter. Use it as a streusel filling in a Bundt cake.  Add some flour and butter to it and use it as a crumb topping on a cake or fruit dessert.  Mix it with Chex and mini pretzels and bake for a sweet take on Chex Mix.  Put it on top of a sweetened cream cheese and make Danish. The possibilities are endless!

With this on hand in a canister or zip lock bag, you have a quick dessert ready to make.  Get a last minute invite? Have company come over unexpected?  If you have this and a can of rolls, biscuits or cookie dough in your fridge, in 5 minutes you can have something delicious baking in the oven.

ADD INS:

Of course, you've probably already thought of lots of ways you could alter this filling.  I know lots of people love clove for the holidays (I don't happen to be one of those people) but you could certainly add some of that. You could add dried fruits. You could leave it basic and just add to it when you use it for a particular batch of whatever.  Here are some ideas for things you can add in - I'm sure you'll think of even more!

* Cloves
* Allspice
* Ginger
* Orange/Lemon zest
* Cocoa Powder
* Chocolate Chips/White Chocolate Chips
* Peanut Butter Chips
* Butterscotch Chips
* Toffee Chips
* Dried Fruit (raisins, currants, Craisins, dried cherries, etc)
* Candied fruit/fruit peel
* Coconut flakes

Hope this gives you lots of ideas and makes your holiday baking easier.  Enjoy!

NOTE: Someone asked me if this was gluten free. Natural nuts that have not been flavored are gluten free. So is natural cane sugar - so yes, as long as you are careful with your ingredients (which you probably are if you need gluten free) then you are fine. What you use it with is up to you - so again, you can control it being gluten free

 

When Did "Indie" Become Synonymous with "Vanity"?

   

When I was in my early teens I remember hearing Independent filmmakers being heralded as "groundbreaking", "bold", "daring", "pioneering", "trail blazing", "fresh", "confident", and even fun adjectives like "cheeky" and "spunky". Indie Rock Bands were often described the same way. They were beheld with a certain amount of, well, if not exactly respect, admiration perhaps, for getting out there and doing what their art dictated.

These people didn't wait for The Man to decide whether or not he would grant his Divine Approval on their talents and deem them fit for the masses. They had faith in themselves. They had a voice that cried out to be heard. They let the people decide for themselves if their art spoke to them. And while not all of them were successful, several were.

If not for Independent Film we would never have had Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", David Lynch's "Eraserhead", James Cameron's "The Terminator", Terry Jone's "Monty Python's the Life of Brian", Bryan Singers "The Usual Suspects" or Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets" just to name a few.

Without Indie Rock the world would not have R.E.M, The Smiths, Pixies, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Oasis, and The Strokes. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea musically, but important bands in their own rights none the less.

But when an author decides to take their work and publish it themselves rather than be at the mercy of the big publishing machine, they are termed "vanity projects". Huh? Wait a minute. If I create a film and go outside the studio system to create it I'm "bold" and "groundbreaking". If I create music and choose not to battle the recording studios to get my music to the people I'm "fresh" and "trail blazing". But if my art is in the form of crafting stories from thin air; of creating characters and situations that touch and entertain people, and I make the difficult decision not to spend years hoping for the benevolence of a publisher somewhere to buy my story and instead elect to go through the cost and constant effort of self-publishing to get my art to the people, I am merely engaging in a "vanity project".

NOT! Perhaps there are some people with an awful lot of free time and expendable cash who might publish a book just to be able to see it in print, but they are most certainly the exception, not the rule. Authors are just as much artists as filmmakers and musicians. Without authors, what would filmmakers make movies about? If there were no stories, how limited would be the world for other artists to draw inspiration.

It is hard to put yourself out there and say "here's my book, please read it." You'd have to be a real egomaniac to do that just to satisfy your vanity. Self-published authors are just as much an Indie Artist as any other creative person who works outside the system to bring their creations to life for the entertainment of others. So why aren't we considered as such?

It should be that way. From now on, I am not a self-published author, I am an Indie Author. I am an artist. Damn it.

Kerry Rockwood White

Author of the Fair Hero Series

Banana, Peanut Butter and Bacon - Cupcakes Fit for a King!

My nephew Billy just loves bacon! Who doesn't?  But he is seriously crazy about bacon. So for his birthday party this year I made him some special cupcakes.  Roasted banana cupcakes with creamy peanut butter frosting and candied bacon! You can almost hear Elvis singing, can't you?  They were a hit.  I was skeptical about the bacon - but it was actually good.  I love me some bacon - but I was leery of having it with something sweet (other than maple syrup). But it was really tasty.

Banana Cupcakes with PB Frosting and Bacon

(shown with chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel)

Roasted Banana Cupcakes: (I doubled this recipe)

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
2 cups cake flour, sifted
(I always use cake flour which would be 2 cups plus 4 tbsp)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated - room temp
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place 3 whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast for
15 minutes. The peels will darken (black!).   Remove from oven and allow to cool before
peeling. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

2.Line a regular muffin tin or two with 16 paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking soda,
baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar
until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add roasted bananas, and beat to combine. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream. Beat until just combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

3.In another mixing bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks
(about 5 minutes); fold one-third whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in two batches.

4.Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins
halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.
Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

I frosted with peanut butter frosting - recipe below

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 heaping cup creamy peanut butter (I used Peter Pan - but any good PB will do)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

Instructions

1.In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the peanut butter and butter for 2-3 minutes. You want the color to lighten by a few shades.

2.Add the powdered sugar, scrape the sides of the bowl and mix until combined.

3.Pour in the heavy cream and beat until smooth. Scrape the bowl again.
4.Mix in the salt.

5.Beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until the buttercream has become light and fluffy.

6.Use immediately.


We also candied some bacon to crumble on top. My nephew just loves bacon!  To do this, we sprinkled brown sugar on a foil lined cookie sheet. Then laid out several strips of thick cut bacon and sprinkled more brown sugar on top. We baked it at 400 degrees, turning once, until the bacon was well done.  Lay it on parchment or wax paper or even a rack to cool. Do not put it on paper towel - it will stick.  When it's cool, crumble or cut into pieces and sprinkle a few on each cupcake.