~ Baked Almond-Stuffed Peaches

Modified from:

Dishy Desserts (book)

Description:

Hot peaches crowned with crunchy granola~

Ingredients:

2 peach halves, pitted
1 tbsp rolled oats, toasted
1 tbsp chopped almonds
1/2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 egg

Directions:
1) Mix oats, almonds, brown sugar and egg together.
2) Spoon the mixture into the pits of the peach halves.
3) Place the peach halves into a tin and fill up with water, leaving the top of each halves exposed.
4) Bake at preheated oven at 180 deg  for 20 - 25 min. Serve warm.

Remarks:
In the book, crushed amaretti biscuits were supposed to be in place of the oats that I've used. I accidentally baked them for 40 min and they turned out slightly burnt on top, as I had forgotten about the time while I was taking pictures of the chocolate egg custard. I would suggest adding a little cinnamon or spice to spruce up this easy crunchy juicy treat~

~ Tuna Sandwich Filling

A perennial favourite for my family. The recipe can be found here.

~ Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding

Taken from:
Allrecipes

Description:
Less-guilt hasty chocolate pudding~

Ingredients:
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
5 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2/3 C + 1 tsp milk
1 1/2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1) In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. 
2) Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. 
3) Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

Remarks:
This one tasted just like chocolate whipped cream while it was warm! Cooling thickened it slightly, so it became more like a pudding. I forgot to add in the salt, and omitted the butter in the original, accounting for the airy cream-like texture. Sieve the corn starch and cocoa powder to minimise clumping, and whisk everything in a bowl or blender before pouring into the saucepan to cook; these would save a lot of trouble getting the pudding to be clump-free. I guess I should invest in better cocoa powder as well, since 5 tsp of cocoa yielded less than satisfactory chocolate taste for me (a dark chocolate lover).

~ Craisin Nut Bread

Taken from:
Allrecipes

Description:
Sweet festive bread infused with orange flavour and studded with craisins~

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C white sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 C chopped craisins, soaked in boiling water or OJ for 5 min and drained

1/2 C chopped almonds

1 egg

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 cup orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

1/2 tsp orange extract (optional)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 X 12" loaf pan.
2) Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the cranberries and walnuts, and stir to coat with flour.

3) Mix together the egg, oil, orange juice, orange zest and extract. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

4) Bake for 90 min in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 min, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
5) Cover bread with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 24 hours before serving for best results.

Remarks:
For the first time, I've followed a recipe almost exactly - didn't change anything except to cut the sugar by 1/4 C and baked the bread for another 40 min as it seemed very moist on the surface. It turned out that the exterior was rubbery and the interior was crumbly. I found the bread too sweet too (I realised that this IS a sweet bread after all), and I couldn't find my orange zest, almonds and cranberries! =(

After it was wrapped up and stored overnight, the bread was more fragrant and had the texture of a fruit cake. Next time, I'll stick to the 50 min mark for baking time, reduce the sugar again, coursely chop the almonds, add in more craisins and orange zest. Those should do the trick!

All in all, this recipe seems okay if the ingredients are accessible.

~ Pineapple Tarts (again)

I just love pineapple tarts (and these are a great way to clear those expiring pineapple filling sitting in the fridge behind that jumbo peanut butter container)! Unlike the last time, I've taken nicer pictures to do justice to such wonderful jewels this time round! The recipe can be found here (archive Jan 2009).