English Tea Scones (aka Alfred Cakes)

My son came home with an assignment to make "Alfred Cakes" for a school history class. They are very delightful! They taste just like English scones- all warm, fluffy, and filled with fruit. They even have currents which I have never baked with before. (Very much like a cross between dried cranberries and raisins. In fact, you can just use raisins or cranberries because they are cheaper.)

English Tea Scones


2 C. flour
1/2 C. sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C. currants or raisins, or Craisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 C. dates, cut into small pieces

6 tbsp. butter, cut up

2 eggs
1/4 C. heavy whipping cream
1/4 C. orange juice

Set oven to 425 degrees.
Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, bkg. pwd, salt, nutmeg.)
Cut in the butter until mixtures resemble breadcrumbs.
Add dried fruit and mix together.
In smaller bowl mix eggs, cream, and orange juice together.
Add wet mixture to dry and mix carefully until just incorporated. Do NOT over mix!
Pour contents of mixing bowl out onto lightly floured surface and knead until dry ingredients are mixed into the wet.
Gently roll or pat out the dough until about 1 to 1 1/2" thick. Using a cup or your hands, form dough into circles and place on baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until tops are lightly golden brown.

Put a small spoonful of glaze on top of each scone and gently spread around the top.  Enjoy!

Orange Glaze

1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. orange juice
Mix together until all lumps are gone. Mixture should not be too runny. Add more sugar if it needs to be thicker.  Pour or spoon over scones.

 

Black Tie Mousse Cake

(photo by baylor_gal on food.com)

I'm not kidding you, this stuff is like heaven in your mouth. Your tastebuds will scream for more. Your body will crave it when it's gone. You will dream about it!  It has many steps, and you need to be patient, but when you take it out of the refridgerator and slice through the smooth creaminess, and your tongue slides the rich, fluffy mousse from your fork, and your saliva starts to ooze like a slow moving chocolate river, you will KNOW you did the right thing!


Black Tie Mousse Cake  (from Food.com)

Ingredients:

Layer 1:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix (prepared in two round cake pans according to box directions. You will use one round for this recipe.
1 pkg. chocolate pudding mix- added to cake mix

Layer 2:

1 teaspoon knox unflavored gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

2 tablespoons boiling water

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

 

Layer 3:

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon knox unflavored gelatin

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Layer 4:

 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

18 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

 

mini chocolate chips for decorating sides of cake

 

Directions:

 
1. BOTTOM LAYER (cake)
2. Bake according to directions on box using 2 round pans, then cool. Once cooled, use the cake from one pan as one layer (you do not need the second cake from the second pan. In other words, you only need half the box cake recipe). Place this round cake at the bottom of a CHEESECAKE PAN. Press it with your fingers and flatten the cake a little. This is the bottom layer out of four layers.
3. SECOND LAYER (the chocolate mousse):
4. Melt chocolate and cream cheese together. Let cool. Soften gelatin with cold water for 1 minute, then add boiling water, stir until dissolved and clear. Let this cool while you start whipping the heavy cream and sugar. As cream starts to thicken, add gelatin. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the cream to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Then fold this into the remaining cream. Once you have it completed, spread this chocolate mousse onto the cake and refrigerate.
5. THIRD LAYER (the custard):
6. Beat egg yolks until pale. Add sugar, flour, and gelatin, then beat until mixed. Bring cream and vanilla extract to a boil. Add a small amount of cream to egg mixture while stirring. Gradually add until all of the cream has been added and then pour entire mixture through a strainer into the pan. Continue to cook until custard begins to thicken. Cool slightly, then pour on top of the chocolate mousse layer and freeze while getting the fourth layer ready.
7. FOURTH LAYER (the icing):.
8. Please note: this makes a lot of icing so feel free to half this part of the recipe (I just happen to like a lot of icing on top). Bring butter and cream to a boil, pour over chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool until it starts to thicken. Remove cake from freezer, remove the cheesecake pan collar, then pour some of the icing and use a spatula to spread it evenly across the top and sides of the cake. While this is still wet, put mini chocolate chips onto the side of the cake. Optional: Melt half a cup of white chocolate chips (in the microwave) and swirl into the icing if you want yours to look like the picture.
9. Refrigerate the cake. Serve cold. Delicious!

Divine Hot Fudge Sauce

I LOVE homemade hot fudge! Who doesn't?  Well, I tried a new recipe last night- other than my usual- and it was divine! It takes just a few minutes to make.

Divine Hot Fudge Sauce
(taken from my friend Karen Brown's recipe. I doubled the recipe so I can keep the rest in a jar in the fridge for later and made one small change noted with an *)

2 C. sugar
1 Can evaporated milk
1/4 C plus 1 Tbsp. Cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. Karo Syrup

2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. Rum flavoring* (original recipe calls for 2 tsp. vanilla)

In saucepan, boil first 4 ingredients, stirring constantly until a ball forms when dropped into cold water. (This was about 5 minutes.)  Remove from heat and stir in butter and rum flavoring.  Serve over ice cream. Keep left overs in covered container in refridgerator and eat by the spoonful when the kids are at school!

Mint Chocolate Brownies

Ok, folks. Mint + Chocolate + Brownies = a no-fail crowd pleaser!  These are from-scratch, so none of that out-of-the-box stuff here. (Although, I don't mind some out of the box brownies. Really.)

Mint Chocolate Brownies  by Erin Taylor

Brownies:
1 1/4 C. Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch-processed.)
2 1/4 C. granulated Sugar
1/2 C. chopped nuts* (pecans, almonds, walnuts... whatever. *Optional.)
4 eggs
3/4 C. butter, melted

preheat oven to 350 deg.
Throw everything in a big mixing bowl and stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour into greased 9 X 13 pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting and serving.

Mint Frosting:
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. Shortening
4 c. Powdered Sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 egg
1-2 tsp peppermint extract (depending on how minty you like it.)
dash of salt
green food coloring (about 4 drops, but you can make it as green as you like.)

Whip all ingredients (but food coloring) in mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add food coloring and whip until mixture is all one uniform color. Spread over cooled brownies and drizzle with chocolate drizzle. (below)

Chocolate drizzle:

1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. Shortening

Melt chocolate chips and shortening in microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until chocolate is smooth and melted. Dip spoon into chocolate and drizzle in sweeping motions back and forth across the brownies. Repeat until all chocolate is used, or until brownies look to good to wait to eat any longer!

French Silk Pie to DIE for!

I absolutely adore chocolate cream pie. WITH A PASSION! But don't so much care for the chocolate puddding and whipped cream old standby. This, my friends, is divine! I found it on The Pioneer Woman's website HERE, along with about 50 million more reciped I want to try. And it is super easy, AND, it doesn't require whipped cream for the filling! Enjoy!


(picture taken from The Pioneer Woman website)

French Silk Pie (from  The Pioneer Woman website, with a tiny bit of Erin added)

Ingredients

• 4 ounces, weight Unsweetened Baking Chocolate (I used about 1/2 C. plus 1 Tbsp regular semi-sweet chips because I like it sweeter.)
• 1 cup Salted Butter, Softened
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 package Baked Pie Shell (homemade is fantastic, too.)

Preparation Instructions

In small microwave safe bowl melt 4 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate until stirrable (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat 1 cup (2 sticks) of regular (salted) butter and 1 ½ cups of white sugar until fluffy (about 1 to 2 minutes). When melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it over the butter/sugar mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined (on a Kitchen Aid mixer, you will be using the whisk attachment).

* (the following step is crucial you follow exactly):
Turn your mixer to a medium speed and over a period of 15 to 20 minutes add in the four eggs, one at a time, leaving about 5 minutes between each egg addition. *Don't worry if the filling is gritty and sugary when you start adding the eggs. Once all the eggs are added, it is very smooth!

Once the pie filling is well mixed, pour it into the baked and cooled pie shell, scraping every last speck of it out of the bowl. Smooth out the pie filling and place pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (preferably longer).

*Erin's addition: I swirled in some softened marshmallow cream after the filling was finished mixing to make a chocolate marshmallow pie. It was VERY sweet. I would use unsweetened chocolate in place of the semi-sweet chips I used if I were to add marshmallow cream again.

White Chocolate Mousse Cups

An extremely simple but incredibly elegant pastry! You won't believe how simple it is!

White Chocolate Mousse Cups             by Erin Taylor

1 pkg. frozen Puff Pastry dough (in sheets, not cups)
1 egg white beaten with 2 tbsp. water

* Let pastry thaw for an hour or two before use. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Open up pastry and separate into two sheets. Cut each sheet along fold lines into thirds. Then cut each third into thirds so you have 9 squares per sheet. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray and place each square into muffin tin, pressing down bottoms and letting corners stick out over edges. (This will also work very nicely with the mini muffin tins). Brush each square with egg white mixture all over inside, and outer edges. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool while making mousse recipe.


White Chocolate Mousse

8 oz (1 half bag) White Chocolate Chips (or block white chocolate chopped very small)

2 egg yolks

1/4 C Sugar

1 1/4 C. Heavy Cream

2 egg whites, beaten until stiff peaks form (optional)


Directions

Place chocolate in large bowl and set aside.


Add egg yolks and sugar to a small bowl and whisk until pale in color.


In saucepan over low heat, bring 1/4 C. of the cream to a simmer. Slowly add cream to egg yolk mixture while whisking to temper the eggs. Pour the creamy mixture back into the pan and stir with a wooden spoon until it coats the back of it.


Pour hot mixture (through mesh if it looks lumpy) into white chocolate and stir until completely smooth.


In another bowl whip remaining 1 C. of cream to almost stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream in with the melted chocolate mixture. Be careful not to over mix, but gently fold. Add whipped egg whites at this point, also folding gently in.


Place in refridgerator for about an hour until ready to use.

*When mousse is cooled, spoon mousse into center of each puff pastry cup. (You may use a decorative tip with a pastry bag to make it look more professional.)  Fill all pastry cups then make ganache recipe below.


Dark Chocolate Ganache
1 C. dark chocolate chips
1/4 C. heavy cream

Heat cream until hot, but not boiling. Place chocolate chips in bowl and pour cream over chips. Let sit for 10 minutes and stirr chocolate until completely melted. If chocolate is too cool to melt, may microwave in 10 second intervals until melted.

Spoon mixture in baggie with small tip of one corner snipped off. (Or use pastry bag). Drizzle chocolate in zig-zags over each pastry. Place in refridgerator to cool and set. You may top each pastry with a raspberry, blueberries, strawberry or orange slice to decorate.

Puffy Coconut Macaroons

If you like coconut, and I sure do, these cookies are the ultimate!  I took a basic macaroon recipe and tweaked it just a bit, and I think they are just about the best macaroons I've ever had, if I do say so myself.  Super easy to whip up, and they don't last for long!

Puffy Coconut Macaroons   by Erin Taylor        Yield: about 18 - 20 cookies

14 oz. package shredded coconut, sweetened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. Vanilla, or Almond extract
2 egg whites, beaten with 1/4 tsp. salt until very frothy
2/3 C. Bisquick baking mix

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix coconut with sweetened condensed milk. Add vanilla extract. Add egg mixture and combine thoroughly. Stir in Bisquick mix until well incorporated.   Scoop with ice cream scoop or large spoon onto greased cookie sheet, or parchment paper covered sheet.  Bake for 21-22 minutes until golden brown.  Let rest on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transfering to a cooling rack or paper towel. Keep in plastic bag or sealed container in refridgerator.

*Optional: dip bottoms in melted chocolate chips and place on wax paper. Place in refrigerator until chocolate is firm.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

The roll dough is so gooey and fluffy and soft, these are just irresistable deliciousness! Make them the night before and all you  have to do is take them out of the fridge, let them raise a bit, and bake and devour!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls



On top of the stove, or in microwave, scald:
1 cup milk
add:
1/3 cup butter

Pour into mixing bowl and let cool to warm, then add:
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1/2 cup white sugar

Let sit for 5 minutes to let yeast develop.

Next, add flour and eggs alternately (1 C. flour, 1 egg, 1 C. flour, etc..) mixing until thoroughly combined between each addition:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 eggs

Finally, add:

1 teaspoon salt

Mix for 5 minutes more until dough is elastic and smooth, pulling away from sides of bowl. Place in a greased bowl and let raise, covered, until double in size.

Roll out into large rectangle about 1/3" thick.

Spread over the dough:

1/3 C. butter, softened

Then, sprinkle evenly over the butter:
2/3 to 1 C. sugar

1/4 C. flour

3 Tbsp. Cinnamon (less if you like it less cinnamony!)

Roll carefully and evenly and pinch end into dough to seal it.

Carefully slice with a serrated knife, 1" sections. (I start from the very center, then work left, then right from the first slice. It helps keep it all together.)  Or you can use dental floss to cut it.

Place on greased cookie sheet about 2" apart, tucking the end of each roll under the bottom to keep it from uncoiling when raised.  Spray tops of rolls with pan spray and cover with plastic wrap. Place immediately in refridgerator overnight.

The next morning:

Remove from refridgerator. Preheat oven to 375 deg. and prop door open a few inches. Place pan of rolls in open oven to "thaw" and soften up. As soon as they are softer, remove from oven to finish raising while oven preheats fully. 

Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until outside is firm to the touch, but tops are NOT brown. You want your rolls to be soft, and if you wait until they brown, they will be too hard.

Remove from oven and frost generously with Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp. Butter, room temperature
3 C. Powdered Sugar
2-3 Tbsp. milk  (or to desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients and whip until fluffy.  Drop by spoonfulls onto each roll. Gently spread over warm rolls, but let it "ooze" over the sides.

BEST Homemade Donuts EVER!!!

I have tried and tried and tried homemade donuts over the years with disappointing results- until now! I discovered this donut recipe online from the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog.  I have a favorite donut place up the street, and their donuts are so fluffy and crispy, yet tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. However, I often crave donuts in the evenings, and of course, no donut places are open that late! Now, I can make donuts when I want them, and they'll be delicious!!!! Thanks Pioneer Woman!!!

Note:  This recipe requires you to make the dough and refridgerate it the night before. I strongly recommend this! The dough does not take long to whip up (right before bed!), and not long to roll out and cut the next morning. They just need time to raise and they're ready. So, don't be shy, try them today!!!

Homemade Glazed Doughnuts

by Ree Drummond  (step-by-step pictures are available on her web site HERE)
 (with a few extra tips from Erin!)

Donuts

1-⅛ cup Whole Milk, Warm (Erin's tip: I used 1% milk and it turned out fine)


■¼ cups Sugar

■2-¼ teaspoons (one Package) Instant Or Active Dry Yeast

■2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten

■1-¼ stick Unsalted Butter, melted

■4 cups All-purpose Flour

■¼ teaspoons Salt

■Canola Oil


GLAZE

■3 cups Powdered Sugar

■½ teaspoons Salt

■½ teaspoons Vanilla

■½ cups Cold Water Or Milk

*Erin's Frosting tips:   I put powdered sugar in 3 bowls. One I made the standard glaze -above-, the second I added a few Tablespoons of Cocoa powder and vanilla and made chocolate glaze, and the third I added maple syrup for maple donuts! They were fantastic!!!*
 
To Make the Dough:



1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.

2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.

3. Add yeast into a small bowl.

4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.

5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.

6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.

7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.

8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.

9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.

10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.

11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.

12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl. (Erin's tip: don't add more flour! It is stickier than you would expect, but it works! Just complete the steps below and it turns out great!)


13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.

14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.

15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.

16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.



To Make the Doughnuts:

1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. (*Erin's tip:  dough will be firm. It worried me at first, but it maked it easier to roll out, and it softens up and raises as it warms up.)


2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness. (*Erin's tip: I preferred my donuts to be thicker and puffier, so I rolled them almost 1/2" thick and they were more like my donut shop donuts, and didn't make as many, which I didn't need that much anyway!)

3. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc. (*Erin's tip: I used a heart shaped cookie cutter, and a small heart for the center! Super cute!)


4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter.

5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.

6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.

7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.



To Fry the Dougnuts


1. Heat plenty of canola oil in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees—do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor. (*Erin's tip: I used Crisco shortening in place of oil because I have found in the past it gives scones a crispier outside. IT worked great, but I'm sure the oil is fantastic, too.)

2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.

3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.

4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.

5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.

6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.



To Glaze


1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth. (or make the 3 flavors as stated in Glaze recipe above!)

2. One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.)

4. Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.)

5. Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.

(*Erin's Tip: Roll a few donut holes or donuts in sprinkles after you dip in the glaze! Kids can't stay out of them!)

Layered Chiffon Pie

Someone asked me once, "How do you make a jello pie?" I had absolutely NO idea! Growing up in Utah it is practically imprinted in your DNA to know every Jello recipe there is, right? I must have missed that somehow! Well, I asked a checkout lady at the grocery store how to make a jello pie. I tried it and it was.... ok. Then, I made one "Erin Style" and it has been one of our summertime favorites every since! It is beautiful,light and fluffy, and super easy! You can use any flavor of jello you like, (lime jello tastes like Key Lime pie with a gingersnap crust!) and it tastes great frozen (like an ice cream cake) or refridgerated! We always make one for Easter because the different striped layers look like Easter eggs!

Layered Chiffon Pie
by Erin Taylor

1- small tub Cool Whip
2 blocks cream cheese, softened (can use lowfat for a lighter dessert)
1/2 C. powdered sugar (or granulated sugar)
1- large tub Cool Whip (or two small)
1 small box Jello (any flavor)
1/2 C. hot water
1 box Nilla wafers (crushed)(or ginger snaps, shortbread cookies, graham crackers, oreos, macaroons)
1/2 C. melted butter

Mix melted butter with crushed cookies and press in bottom of a springform pan (do not make it come up the sides, keep it all on the bottom)

Stir the 2 blocks of cream cheese with the 8 oz. container of coolwhip and 1/2 c. powdered sugar. Spread over cookie crust in pan, make top level and smooth.

Dissolve Jello packet in 1/2 C. hot water.(will not be completely dissolved, and that's ok.) In bowl combine large container whipped cream (reserving about 1 C. to spread on top of dessert when finished) and gently fold in Jello so it is incorporated, but doesn't deflate the whipped cream. Spread this mixture over cream cheese mixture and flatten top. Spread remaining whipped topping over pie and cover with plastic. Place in freezer for 3 hours, or refridgerate until ready to serve.

*For thawed pie, remove from freezer about an hour before serving

Romantic Valentine's Dinner

by Erin Taylor

Ahhh... my typical Valentine's Day Date: I make a yummy fancy dinner and serve it to my hubby and son by candlelight on our good china. Well, why not? They are the two best men in my life! And since Valentine's Day is on a Sunday this year, and since we don't go out to restaurants on Sundays at our house, what better way to spend the evening than eating by candlelight in our own home?

Here are some surprisingly easy, gourmet-type dishes you can serve your family this Valentine's Day! Spinach Artichoke dip, Broiled Parmesan salmon with basil butter, and Decadent chocolate torte.

Appetizer:
Spinach and Artichoke Dip with baked tortillas

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 C. chopped spinach
1/2 Can artichoke quarters, chopped
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 C. fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/4 C. milk

Add all ingredients together and pour into microwave save container. Microwave until warmed through. Pour into pretty, oven save serving dish and broil for a few minutes until golden on top and bubbly.

Slice a few flour tortillas into triangles. Heat oven to 450 and brush each tortilla with a small amount of canola oil. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden and crispy.
Serve with warmed dip!


Main Course:
Broiled Parmesan crusted Salmon with Basil butter

2-4 6 oz portions of salmon. (does not need to be skinless. Skin will be easily removed after cooking.)
butter
lemon juice
finely grated parmesan cheese (the stuff in the bottle works great for this recipe.)

Pat the salmon dry. Spread a small amount of butter over the pink part of each. Squirt a little lemon juice over, then sprinkle with parmesan cheese covering each piece well. Broil on middle rack in oven for about 6-8 minutes until tops are bubbly and golden, and fish is firm to the touch and is no longer dark pink inside.
Serve with a scoop of basil butter on top.

Basil Butter:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 C. fresh basil
1 tsp. garlic, chopped

combine all ingredients in food processor and blend well. Chill and scoop with spoon or small ice cream scoop.

Serve with wild rice, or couscous for a fancy presentation!

Dessert:
Decadent Chocolate Almond Torte
Adapted from a recipe on Food Network by Emeril

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 1/2 tablespoon
1 pound semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. almond extract
8 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 C. sifted Corn Starch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder, for garnish
toasted almonds and fresh whipped cream for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Using 1/2 tablespoon butter grease a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with a parchment round. Cover pan underneath and along sides with foil and set in a roasting pan. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil.

Combine the chocolate, butter, and almond extract in a metal bowl set over simmering water or in the top of a double boiler. Melt the mixture, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; reserve.

Meanwhile combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy and almost doubled in volume, about 5 to 10 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula. Repeat this process 2 more times - until all of egg mixture has been folded into chocolate mixture. Add sifted corn starch and baking soda and fold in until encorporated.

Pour batter into prepared springform pan and place in the roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides. Bake until cake has risen slightly and edges are just beginning to set, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove cake from roasting pan and cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove foil, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Remove cake from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Remove springform pan sides, invert cake onto a large plate, and peel away the parchment paper from bottom. Reinvert cake on another large plate or serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.