Pamela Toman

Dessert

Tapioca Pudding

A decent amount of hands-on work, but delightful warm or cold. The milk can be replaced with dairy-free alternatives (up to ⅔ coconut milk). Makes 3½ cups.

Ingredients Step
⅓ c. small pearl tapioca
¾ c. water		 Soak in a saucepan for 30 minutes. Do not drain if there is remaining water.
2¼ c. milk
¼ c. sugar
2 egg yolks
¼ t. salt		 Add to saucepan. Stir over medium heat until boiling, then simmer uncovered for 10-15, stirring often.
2 egg whites
¼ c. sugar		 Beat together until soft peaks form, maybe 5 minutes. (The egg whites should quickly curl and fall into themselves, not holding their shape.)
OPTIONAL ADD-INS
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder PLUS 2 T. sugar
1 oz. dark chocolate pieces
⅔ c. finely chopped fruit (dry or fresh)		 Stir in to hot tapioca mixture. Let cook ~1 minute.
Temper the egg whites with the hot tapioca (transfer at least ¾ c. tapioca). Then gently fold the warmed egg whites into the hot tapioca mixture in the saucepan.
Stir and cook pudding over low heat for another ~3 minutes.
½ t. vanilla Cool 15 minutes, then add vanilla.

Source: Bob's Red Mill

Tapioca Pudding was published on 7 April 2024.

Recipe uses: milk

Hamentaschen

A nice hamentaschen dough recipe. Each batch makes 36 circles.

Ingredients Step
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
½ c. butter
1 c. sugar		 Cream together. Beat until fluffy.
1 t. milk
1 t. vanilla		 Add. Beat well.
1 egg Add. Beat well.
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
pinch salt		 Sift together. Stir to make a soft dough. Chill in fridge for 20 minutes.
⅓ c. filling (e.g., cherry, apricot, prune, poppy seed, mini chocolate chips, raspberry) Roll out dough on a lightly floured board to ⅛" thick. Cut out circles. Add jelly to center and then pinch or fold three corners.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Source: Barb

Hamentaschen was published on 19 March 2024.

Recipe uses: jam

Chocolate Crinkles

This recipe must chill overnight, so plan ahead. It makes roughly 4 dozen small cookies.

If you substitute butter for shortening, use ¼ c. milk instead of ⅓ c.

Ingredients Step
½ c. shortening
1⅔ c. sugar		 Cream together.
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 oz. unsweetened Baker's chocolate, melted		 Add & beat.
2 c. flour, sifted
2 t. baking powder
½ t. salt		 Sift together.
⅓ c. milk (or ¼ c. if using butter) Add to the mixer alternately with dry ingredients.
½ c. walnuts, chopped Stir in.
Scrape down bowl, cover, and chill overnight.
powdered sugar Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in confectioner's sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Source: my grandma

Chocolate Crinkles was published on 8 December 2023.

Recipe uses: Bakers-chocolate, walnuts, shortening, milk

Toto Cookies

Made for Sarah's birthday in 2023. Makes 3½ dozen.

Ingredients Step
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
3¼ c. flour
1½ c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
¼ c. cocoa powder
1¼ t. black pepper, fresh ground
1½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. clove
½ t. salt		 Sift together.
¾ c. shortening Work in the shortening (aim for coarse cornmeal texture).
½+ c. milk
⅔ c. walnuts, chopped		 Add milk and nuts. Mix by hand until well-blended. If necessary, add a bit more milk so the dough holds together.
Pinch off 1-inch pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until firm.
1½ c. powdered sugar, sifted
3 T. milk
1 t. rum extract		 Beat until smooth for a thin frosting (while the cookies bake). Add a wee bit more milk if necessary.
sprinkles Let cookies cool on racks only until warm. Dip tops into icing, then sprinkle with colored sprinkles. Let the frosting dry completely, then layer the cookies between wax paper to store.

Source: ciaoitalia.com (Mrs. Tigani's Chocolate and Black Pepper Cookies)

Toto Cookies was published on 8 December 2023.

Recipe uses: walnuts, milk

Pumpkin Pie

Classic. Makes 2 pies, so you'll need 2 crusts. Alternatively, baking without a crust also works totally fine, but you have to watch the cook time because you'll probably want to bake in individual ramekins rather than in a pie plate.

Substituting oat milk and Miyoko's butter works just fine.

Ratios below the recipe for batches based on a single egg/scant cup of pumpkin puree. (Downscaling the recipe is a great way to use up leftover pumpkin.)

Ingredients Step
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4 eggs, beaten slightly
3½ c. pumpkin (the big can)
1⅓ c. sugar
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1 t. salt		 Mix well.
4 T. butter, melted
1¾ c. milk, scalded		 Heat together until butter is melted, either stovetop or in microwave. Add to the pumpkin mixture and stir together thoroughly.
2 pie shells, uncooked Pour into uncooked pie shells. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake up to another 35 minutes. Remove from oven when there is a roughly 4"-diameter ring of seemingly-uncooked filling in the center. Cool completely before cutting or serving.

Source: my great grandma

For each scant cup of pumpkin puree, you'll produce enough filling for two 7-oz ramekins plus one 4-oz ramekin. You'll use: 1 egg, scant 1 cup pumpkin, ⅓ c. sugar, heaping ¼ t. of each spice, 1 T. butter, scant ½ c. milk. Bake for 5 minutes at 450, then 8 minutes at 350 before checking every few minutes until just the center 1½ inches is still unset.

Pumpkin Pie was published on 15 November 2023.

Recipe uses: pumpkin, milk