articles online: food & wine

Just Desserts
An online supplement to the story appearing in the December/January 2008 issue of Decatur Magazine.

The same holiday desserts featured at local restaurants can grace your holiday table as well. Decatur chefs share their favorites:

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies
Rhubarb Swirl Cheesecake
Strawberry Cookies
Apple Cranberry Crisp
Chocolate Chip Kaluha Pecan Pie

Aaron Brunworth
Archer Daniels Midland Food & Beverage Director

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4-oz. ADM chocolate wafers, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Filling ingredients:
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping ingredients:
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup sour cream

Mint Sauce ingredients:
1 cup butter
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
dash of salt

Start with the brownie crust. Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate wafers to the butter; stir until chocolate melts, and remove from heat. Whisk in flour, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt.

Spread batter in thin layer on bottom of greased and floured 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling:
In a small saucepan, warm heavy cream. Cool. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 egg and yolk. Add sour cream, flour, vanilla, and heavy cream; beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon filling evenly over brownie crust.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake about 35 minutes, or until filling puffs slightly around the edges and center is set. Cool completely on rack. Cover pan with foil, and chill overnight.

Topping:
In a small saucepan, stir sour cream and confectioners' sugar over low heat until sugar dissolves; do not boil. Spread topping evenly over filling. Cool slightly. Cover and chill until topping sets, at least 2 hours. Cut dessert into 24 bars. Serve cold.

Mint Sauce:
Mix butter, sugar, milk, peppermint extract, and salt. Drizzle mint sauce and melted ADM chocolate over top; serve with mint sprig.

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Virginia Bilyeu
Raspberry Tea Room, Elwin

Rhubarb Swirl Cheesecake

2-1/2 cups thinly sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb*
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup of sugar, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
8 1-ounce squares white baking chocolate, melted

In a large sauce pan, bring rhubarb, 1/3 cup of sugar, and orange juice to a boil. Reduce heat, cook and stir until thickened and rhubarb is tender. Set aside.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, press into greased 9" springform pan, place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, sour cream, corn starch, vanilla, salt, and remaining sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat just until combined. Fold in white chocolate. Pour half of filling into crust; then top with half the rhubarb sauce. Cut through batter with knife to gently swirl the filling. Repeat process with remaining batter and filling.

Place pan on double thickness of heavy duty foil about 16" square and securely wrap foil around the pan. Place in large baking pan and add 1 inch of hot water to the larger pan. Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack. Then, carefully run knife around edge of pan to loosen, but do not remove sides. Cool for 1 hour.

Cover and chill overnight. Remove sides from pan. Leftovers must be refrigerated. Yields 12-14 servings.

* If using frozen rhubarb, measure while still frozen. Thaw completely and drain before using, but do not press liquid out.

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Julie Dauer
South Side Country Club

Strawberry Cookies

¼ cup butter or margarine
1-1/3 cups (8 oz) snipped pitted dates
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
Dash of salt
1-½ cups oven-toasted rice cereal
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 containers (2 ¼ oz each) red sugar crystals

In a skillet, melt butter or margarine. Add dates, coconut, sugar, egg and salt. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens and bubbles (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in cereal, walnuts, and vanilla. Cool 10 minutes.

Use 1 tablespoon of the date mixture and shape into a strawberry, keeping fingers moistened with water. Roll each in red sugar. Trim with green frosting leaves. Use leaf tip that comes with icing or a number 65 decorating tube and pastry bag.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies.

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Chef Paul Christian Boedeker
Porter's on Merchant

Apple Cranberry Crisp

7 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces spiced rum
1/2 cup flour, sifted

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour into a 9" x 13" baking pan.

Topping:
1-1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sifted flour
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix only until crumbled. Drop crumbles over apple mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Makes 12 servings.

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Ray Durbin
Bizou

Chocolate Chip Kaluha Pecan Pie

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup Kaluha, reduced to 1 teaspoon*
1 1/4 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Deep dish pie crust (frozen)

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together first five ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Place pecans and chocolate chips in the pie crust. Pour mixture over nuts and chocolate chips. Bake 50 minutes to one hour on the center rack of a conventional oven.

* To reduce Kaluha, bring 1/4 cup to a boil in a small pan, then reduce heat and simmer until evaporated down to one teaspoon.

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This is an online supplement to an article which originally appeared in the December / January 2008 issue of Decatur Magazine.
It may not be reproduced or redistributed in whole or in part without the publisher's consent.
© Copyright 2007 Decatur Magazine - First String Productions. All rights reserved.