Dessert

Happy Easter Egg Nests!

Posted on: March 31st, 2013 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

My inner child took over last night and I made a batch of Easter nests with eggs. The recipe is an old classic and a goody.

Easter Egg Nests

Makes 12

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups chow mein noodles
a splash of marshmallow vodka – optional for the “big kids” :)
Bag of chocolate mini eggs
 

1. Melt the chips and pb in the microwave on medium power for 1 minute. Stir and nuke for another minute.

2. Remove from the microwave and stir until all ingredients are blended. Add the vodka and stir well. Toss in the noodles and stir until all the noodles are coated.

3. Spray 12 muffin tins with oil. Scoop the noodles into the muffin tins, making them bowl shaped to hold the eggs.

4. Place the eggs in each nest while the chocolate is still soft. Store in fridge until they are firm.

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

Wishing You and Yours A Beautiful Easter Day

Full of Hope and a Little Too Much Chocolate!

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

Flaming Cherries Jubilee

Posted on: February 14th, 2013 by Carla Johnson No Comments

“Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.” H. D. Thoreau

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

This past Saturday I shared Flaming Cherries Jubilee, a simplified version of  “She’s a Trooper” Cherries Jubilee on the Cooking Stage at The Total Woman Show in Kitchener. On the Friday evening before I was practising my flambé skills – fortunately nothing was singed! – when I realized I was running low on Kirsch. I made a point of heading out early Saturday morning to buy another bottle only to learn the entire city of Cambridge was sold out!

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

I needed something with an alcohol content of 40% so it could ignite and one of the liquor store managers talked me into using marshmallow vodka. I had never bought or tasted it before, but I decided to take his word for it. I’m so glad I did!

When I arrived at the show I was so happy to find out my friend Jay Chagnon was hosting my segment. I was also relieved to have my friend Chef D of Chef D TV working nearby to help re-jig that cooking surface for me. Jay and I ended up inviting Chef D to join us on stage and we had a fantastic time. Much hilarity ensued and I just hope the audience had as much fun as we did.

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

Me and Chef D on The Total Woman Stage - Photo Credit K. Stenhouse

Deciding to add the marshmallow vodka at the last minute was certainly a risk, especially with a live audience there to taste it, but it was a wonderful surprise! In fact, it was so good that two of the volunteers who were helping afterward cleaned up the pan with their bare fingers! Yup, “finger licking good!” :lol:

If you saw us on stage, you know we joked about measuring the booze with a “wrist feel” where you pour until your wrist feels lighter, but for this post I’ll give you some more specific amounts. Feel free to add as much as you want. That’s all part of the fun and it’s especially timely for a Valentine’s Day dinner.

Flaming Cherries Jubilee

 
Serves 6
 
1 can cherry pie filling
2 ounces Cointreau
2 ounces marshmallow vodka
2 ounces Kirsch
vanilla ice cream
 

1. Pour the can of cherry pie filling into a large pan. Heat on high until bubbling.

2. Move the cherries to the side of the pan then pour the alcohol onto the scrapped side of the pan. This ensures the alcohol comes in contact with the pan directly and heats up quickly. Using a lighter with a long nozzle, ignite the alcohol.

3. Let the flames burn down then mix it into the pie filling. You can also douse the flames with the pan lid if you wish.

4. Pour the warm cherries and sauce over individual dishes of vanilla ice cream and serve.

*Tip* You will want to make this in the evening when it is dark to appreciate the glow of the flames.

I especially like this recipe because it is very simple, very showy and the cherries remain a nice red colour.

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

Photo credit www.RovingEye.ca

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Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

Christmas Crispy Squares

Posted on: December 23rd, 2012 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. 

~Norman Vincent Peale

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

What’s your favourite part? Watching the soft cottony marshmallows become a white satiny mush? Stirring in the crisp rice cereal? Pressing it into a pan with buttery fingers?

When I find the seasonal red and green rice crisps on the grocery store cereal shelf, I still get a giddy child-like rush. Crispy rice squares are such simple and beloved treats and they have become a Christmas staple in many homes. A few days ago, I was making a batch and I knew I had to make them a little *sin*ful – but of course!

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

The recipe on the cereal box is easy to follow and when I stirred in the vanilla, I also added 3 tablespoons of Irish Cream. Then, once the cereal was stirred in, I tossed in several handfuls of dark chocolate chips. When it comes to chocolate chips, generosity is the rule!

These squares are really rich and deeelish! And don’t worry; they are super kid-friendly.

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

*Tip – Use only fresh marshmallows. The first time I tried to make these squares I used older dry marshmallows, but they refused to melt. They just rolled around in the margarine and actually started to roast a bit! It made me laugh.

During this Holiday Season,

May your Home be Blessed

with Laughter and Love.

Cooking With Sin Carla Johnson

“Better Than Sex” Cake

Posted on: August 16th, 2012 by Carla Johnson 1 Comment

“I’m not an amazing cook, but I can follow a recipe!” ~ Rachel McAdams

Before Google, recipe lovers were limited to cook books & magazines. Many of us had them, those cherished magazines where the recipes were marked with bent pages or yellow sticky notes.

Judy Mills is an avid cook who enjoys preparing good meals for her family. She works at a home for people with mental challenges and over the years she has learned a lot of tips and tricks to accommodate dietary needs, so she keeps a sharp eye out for recipes she can use at home and work.

Many years ago she found this recipe in a magazine and loved it so much she kept it. Judy used this recipe once in a cooking class with children, so she changed the name to “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” Cake. Paula Dean also found it and has made her own versions, but the original came from an unknown magazine years ago.

Judy’s daughter Shanta Nathwani, shared this recipe with me recently. Shanta and I met at a networking event and when I explained my CWS project to her, she enthusiastically told me about her mom’s cake recipe. It is fun, it is flexible and as they say… it is better than sex!

BETTER THAN SEX CAKE

 
1 pkg. yellow cake mix- 2 layer size
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix- 2 serving size
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water
4 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, grated
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut
Rum glaze
Whipped cream
 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine ingredients in large mixing bowl. Beat 4 minutes at medium speed.

3. Pour the mix into greased and floured 10″ tube or bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour.

4. Cool in pan 10 minutes and remove to a cake rack to cool.

5. Drizzle with rum glaze and serve each piece with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Rum Glaze

 
1/4 lb. (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup dark rum

1. Melt butter in sauce pan, stir in water and sugar.

2. Boil 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat & stir in rum.

3. Drizzle the glaze over the cake top and sides, taking time to allow it to be absorbed by the cake.

Shanta made me laugh a lot and she shares her thoughts and insights about the world on her blog TantienHime’s Blog. I particularly like her story behind the blog name.

As for this recipe, she says, “Enjoy Responsibly.” ;)

Sugar Plum Sisters’ Strawberry and Lemon “Short” Cake

Posted on: June 30th, 2012 by Carla Johnson 3 Comments

A toast once heard:  “To my big sister, who never found her second Easter egg until I’d found my first.”  ~ Robert Brault

by Pam Ratzlaff

Laurel and I met Carla virtually on Facebook through a mutual friend after we posted about gourmet marshmallows on our blog www.sugarplumsisters.com  We found out that we have a fair amount in common…we all come from a Mennonite heritage.  But I think it’s fair to say that we’ve all broken out of the Mennonite stereotype.  Laurel and I love nice things…food, fashion, interior design and we love to travel to amazing places and that’s what our blog is dedicated to.

When Carla asked if I had a recipe for Cooking with Sin, I knew which one right away.  And this one is perfect for the strawberries that are currently in season in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia where we live.  The citrus of the lemon curd and the Cointreau really enhance the flavor of the strawberries.  A guest on Martha Stewart a number of years ago made this dessert, but we’ve put our own “Sugarplumsisters” twist on it.

All photos in this post courtesy of Pam Ratzlaff

Strawberry and Lemon “Short” Cake

Lemon Curd http://www.marthastewart.com/348239/lemon-curd

1 pound cake (store bought is fine) sliced about ¾” thick (about 8 slices)

6 cups sliced fresh strawberries (raspberries are yummy too!)

4 T. sugar

3T. Cointreau

3 cups whipping cream

3 T. sugar

1 tsp. real vanilla

1. Prepare the lemon curd. It will last in the fridge for about a week, so I usually make it a day or two in advance of serving this dessert.  One thing that I do differently than Martha Stewart (dare I challenge the guru!) is that I strain the cooked egg, lemon juice and sugar mixture after taking it off the stove and before adding the butter.  If the eggs happen to get a bit overcooked, straining the mixture will leave you will a very smooth consistency.  Once the butter is added, I add the zest.  Put in the fridge to cool.

2. Put the sliced pound cake on a cookie sheet and broil.  Watch it closely!!!!  This will only take a couple of minutes and you may want to turn the pan around mid-way through to get all pieces evenly toasted!

3. Wash and hull the strawberries.  Here’s a great trick I learned from Tina from The Pink Spatula….use a melon baller to hull strawberries.  Slice the berries (not too thinly) and add 4 T. sugar and the Cointreau.  Mix together and put in fridge until just before you are ready to serve.

4. Whip the cream with 3 T sugar and the vanilla.  This can be done ahead if you whip it to a thick consistency.

5. Fold the whipped cream with the cooled lemon curd.

6. Put one slice of toasted pound cake on each plate.  Spoon some of the whipped cream and lemon curd mixture over each slice.  Top with strawberries.  Delish!!!!

 

Keep an eye on Pam Ratzlaff and Laurel Edwards’ posts on Sugar Plum Sisters for the latest & hippest trends!

Carla Johnson "Cooking With Sin"

Laurel & Pam