Cranberry-Maple Pudding Cake

Makes 6 to 8 servings
Great for dessert or breakfast.

Ingredients

    2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
    1 cup pure maple syrup (grade B or grade A dark amber)
    2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
    3/4 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
    Pinch plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
    2/3 cup all purpose flour
    1/3 cup yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    1 large egg
    3 tablespoons sugar
    1/2 cup whole milk
    1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Crème Fraîche, softly whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Combine first 4 ingredients and pinch of salt in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Whisk egg and sugar in another medium bowl. Whisk milk, melted butter, and vanilla into egg mixture. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; whisk to blend. Pour warm cranberry mixture into 11x7x2-inch or 8x8x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Pour batter over.

Bake cake until golden and cranberry mixture bubbles at edges, about 28 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Serve cake warm topped with crème fraîche, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Coconut Flan

A Classic Dessert with a Caribbean Twist

Ingredients

    1 cup sugar

    5 eggs

    1 cup GOYA® Cream of Coconut

    1 cup GOYA® Sweetened Condensed Milk

    1 can (13.5 oz.) GOYA® Coconut Milk

    ¼ tsp. GOYA® Vanilla Extract

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 325°F. In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, bring sugar and ½ cup water to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Using a wet pastry brush, wipe off any sugar that sticks to the sides of the pan. Cook, without stirring, swirling the pan, until the syrup turns golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully pour the hot caramel into eight 4 oz. ramekins; set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, using a whisk, beat the eggs until completely combined. Whisk in the cream of coconut, condensed milk, coconut milk and vanilla until smooth. Divide the egg mixture evenly among ramekins.

3. Place ramekins in a shallow baking dish and place in the middle rack of the oven. Pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins; cover with aluminum foil. Bake until the Flan is set but still wiggly in the center, 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes. Using tongs, carefully remove the ramekins from the water. Transfer to refrigerator to cool completely.

4. When ready to serve, gently run butter knife around edges and invert onto serving plates. Garnish with raspberries and mint leaves, if desired.

Serves 8

Prep Time: 15 min.

Total time: 1 hr. 30min., plus cooling time

Dessert Pancakes with Custard and Berries

Makes 8 servings

These thin, anise-flavored pancakes are similar to French crepes.

Ingredients

Custard:

    1 lemon

    2 cups whole milk, divided

    2/3 cup sugar

    1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

    1/3 cup cornstarch

    2 large egg yolks

Pancakes:

    3 large eggs

    1 3/4 cups whole milk

    2 1/2 tablespoons Pernod or ouzo

    1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt

    1 cup all purpose flour

    Olive oil (for brushing)

    Whipped cream

    Fresh raspberries (for garnish)

Preparation

For custard:

Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from lemon in long strips (yellow part only). Combine half of lemon peel (reserve other half for another use), 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar, and cinnamon in large saucepan. Bring to boil; cover and remove from heat. Let steep 15 minutes.

Whisk remaining 1/2 cup milk, cornstarch, and egg yolks in medium bowl to blend. Bring lemon-milk mixture to simmer. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into lemon-milk mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly (custard will be very thick). Strain into medium bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of custard and refrigerate. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.

For pancakes:

Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Whisk in milk, Pernod, and salt. Add flour and whisk batter to blend well. Let batter rest 1 hour.

Heat 10-inch-diameter skillet with 8-inch-diameter bottom over medium-high heat. Brush skillet with oil. Add scant 1/4 cup batter to skillet and quickly swirl batter to thinly coat bottom of skillet. Cook until golden brown on bottom, adjusting heat for even browning, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip pancake over and cook until just cooked through and golden brown in spots, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer to parchment-paper-lined plate. Repeat with remaining batter, placing parchment paper between each pancake. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place covered pancakes in oven until warm, about 10 minutes. Fold pancakes in half, then in half again, forming triangle. Place 2 pancakes on each plate. Spoon dollop of custard and dollop of whipped cream atop pancakes. Garnish pancakes with fresh raspberries and serve.

Test-kitchen tip: Pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard prevents a skin from forming as the mixture cools in the refrigerator.

Apple Upside-Down Biscuit Cake

Ingredients
For topping

    3 tablespoons unsalted butter
    1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
    1 lb Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges

For biscuit cake

    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/4 cup granulated sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

    Accompaniment: crème fraîche or sour cream (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Make topping:
Heat butter in an ovenproof 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably well-seasoned cast-iron) over moderate heat until foam subsides. Stir in brown sugar and remove from heat. Spread mixture evenly in skillet and arrange apples, overlapping, in 1 layer.

Make cake:
Blend flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl and add buttermilk, stirring just until mixture is moistened.

Drop batter on top of apples and gently spread, leaving a 1-inch border around edge of skillet. (Cake needs room to expand.)

Bake cake in middle of oven until golden brown and firm to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cake in skillet on a rack 3 minutes, then invert onto a platter. Replace any apples that stick to skillet on cake.

Serve warm.

Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheesecake

Makes 10 to 12 servings

"Each year we receive hundreds of reader requests for recipes from restaurants around the world. And this past year there was a clear favorite — cheesecake. One of the best we tested is from Zoom in Park City, Utah. Here's their delicious version. — The Editors

At the restaurant, this is served with roasted pears. The cake needs time to set up in the refrigerator overnight, so begin making it at least one day ahead.

Ingredients

Gingersnap crust:

    Nonstick vegetable oil spray

    1 1/2 cups ground gingersnap cookies (about 7 1/4 ounces)

    5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

    2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

Cheesecake:

    4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

    1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

    2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

    5 large eggs

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel topping

    1 1/2 cups sugar

    1/4 cup water

    1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

    1 cup heavy whipping cream

    4 1.4-ounce English toffee candy bars (such as Heath or Skor), chopped

Preparation

For gingersnap crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 9-inch springform pan with 2 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Stir ground cookies, butter, and sugar in medium bowl until moist clumps form. Press cookie mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil. Bake crust until firm and beginning to darken, about 14 minutes. Cool crust. Maintain oven temperature.

For cheesecake:

Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in butter, then eggs, 1 at a time, until just blended. Beat in vanilla. Pour batter over crust in pan. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cake uncovered until filling is puffed around edges and moves slightly in center when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove pan from water; remove foil. Place hot cheesecake uncovered in refrigerator overnight.

For caramel topping:

Stir sugar, water, and lemon juice in large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Chill until thickened but still pourable, about 15 minutes.

Spoon caramel over top of cake just to edges (do not allow caramel to drip down sides). Garnish top edges with chopped English toffee. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release pan sides.