Biscoff Cream Pie

When I first starting snooping around the Internet looking at food, this stuff called Biscoff was revolving all over the place - and it continues to be one of the most talked about item in the food blog world.

But - being from Canada - I had no CLUE what people were talking about. 

I knew I needed to get my hands on some as. soon. as. possible.

And while on vacation in Florida over Christmas, I dragged my sister-in-law to Wal-Mart one evening after coming back from the Animal Kingdom so I could get some.

Being that I had to drag it across a border, we held off sampling it until back in Canada. 

Then we dug in.

Oh.  My.  We Canucks are so deprived.

Biscoff cookies are given out as a treat when flying with Delta airline.  They were so incredibly popular, that the company that distributed the cookies started making them available in stores.  I'm not sure how they got around to making and distributing the spread, but they did.

Biscoff spread is the same consistency as peanut butter, and is kind of cinnamony and caramely.  Is that a word?  Cinnamony.  Anyway, the flavour is kind of hard to describe.

But it's SO. SO. SO. good!

Since I only had so much to work with (I only brought back three jars!  Geez!), I had to be super-choosy about what I wanted to do with it.

Even though I just wanted to eat it directly from the jar with a spoon.

I turned to Darla at Bakingdom.  I remembered she'd done a couple of things with Biscoff and I was POSITIVE she would have a killer recipe that I could try.

Oh boy.

Does she EVER.

This pie.

Start with the base.  Darla recommends using chocolate cookie crumbs, but I decided to use shortbread cookies because I really wanted the Biscoff to shine.

Crush up the shortbread cookies, I used my mini food processor, and combine with melted butter.

Press the cookie mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.

Then put the base into the refrigerator while the filling is made.  I recommend starting with the whipped cream.

Do this by pouring the whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer loaded with the whisk attachment.  (I prefer this statement to "bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, attached".)

Then start whipping the bejaysus out of it - on medium speed - until it starts to thicken.  Then reduce the speed to low and pour in the sugar.

Then whip the bejaysus out of it some more, until stiff peaks form.

Stiff peaks?

Like this.

Or this.

Then add in the vanilla and stir to combine.  And set aside.

Then move on to the other part of the filling.

In a clean stand mixer bowl (garsh I love having TWO bowls!) with the paddle attachment loaded, beat softened cream cheese until smooth.

Then add the Biscoff and beat to combine.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the icing sugar and mix until well combined.

Then add in two cups of the whipped cream.

And gently fold everything together until it combines.  Just a hint, when I was mixing this all together it didn't look like it would EVER combine and I FREAKED thinking I'd done something wrong.  But, I was persistent and just kept folding and folding.  Eventually it did come together.

It looks like this when combined.

And tastes DIVINE.  There was some concern that it would make it into the base.  A BIG concern.

Anyway.  Pour any remaining filling to the refrigerating base and smooth it out to make it as flat as possible.

FLAT I say.

Then top with the rest of the whipped cream.

You could top this with crushed Biscoff cookies or other delightful and pretty-making things. 

I don't have those types of things. 

And return to the fridge for 3 hours or so.

By the time 3 hours was over, I was too full from supper and too tired to cut pie - so I just left it for the next day.

A tip from me to you.  When I got this out of the fridge, I was so excited to try it that I foolishly cut into it and COMPLETELY mangled the first piece I got out, because the base had adhered itself to the bottom of the pie plate and I couldn't tell if I'd cut through the base or not.

It doesn't help that I STILL don't have a pie-lifter thingy.

After I got the first piece out - which I proceeded to eat because it was too ugly to take pictures of.  I went back and cut out a second piece.  Which came out of the pie plate BETTER than the first piece, but was still a pain to get out.

Then I took some pictures.

After taking pictures, I returned the pie to the counter and proceeded to cut up the rest of the pie (I was delivering some to my neighbor, Alison).

Guess WHAT.  The rest of the pie came out so. much. more. easily.  I have no idea why.  But my advice is to take the pie out and leave it alone for maybe 15 minutes.  Then cut.

I have no idea if that will help - but it might.  Let me know.

Back to the pie.

Oh.  Wow. 

Darla is a GENIUS of epic proportions.

Now I'm kind of regretting sharing with Alison.  And I don't suppose I could ask for it back....  *sniff*

It's light and fluffy and decadent and wonderful.  I was quite happy with the shortbread crust.

It's a completely delicious pie and one that I will look forward to making every time I bring home Biscoff spread.

And there will definitely be a next time.

Definitely.

This is the Cane girl - signing off.

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

Holy CRAP you guys.

Holy. CRAP.

Now, generally, one does not start a post about food using the word crap.  And in all caps nonetheless.

But I'm wordless, speechless, and over the MOON for this awesome appetizer.

When I came across Jenny's blog a couple of years ago, I knew I would find a plethora of "picky eater" recipes.

It only made sense as the name of her blog is Picky Palate.

And when she posted this particular recipe, I knew she'd totally struck gold.

Cheesy, spinachy, delicious gold that is.

So, a few weeks ago, I made this for my Mom's birthday and fed it to her, my Dad, my brother, my niece, and my cousin Dallas...

You know what?  They're STILL talking about it.

However, I was too busy playing hostess to really do what I needed to do to post this sooner.  And when I casually mentioned to my Mom that I had to make it again, she practically LEAPED through the phone with utter excitement.

Since she only got one the first time around.

And on an overnight trip to visit my parental units - I made it again.

I might casually mention here (as I generally do), that - yet again - I couldn't get one of the ingredients as recommended.  Because I'm in Canada.

So I improvised with a tube of Pillsbury pizza dough.  (pssst, I don't think anyone noticed or minded)

I'm going to make a little change to the procedure here.  Not that Jenny's way isn't perfect (because it totally is, I just thought I would like this way a little better).

To start, heat some olive oil over medium heat and toss in the chopped spinach.

Add the garlic to the now wilted spinach, stir together, and cook for about one more minute and remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine the softened cream cheese,

with the sour cream,

the chile poweder (I think I should note here that I only used half 1/8 teaspoon chile powder - I didn't want it TOO spicy), garlic salt, salt, and pepper,

the Parmesan cheese, and mix well.

Okay - so this IS the order that Jenny recommends doing the filling in.  The second time I made this - I made this in a different order and added the spinach when it was really hot from the pan and it created a soupy mess.  Although it turned out fine in the end.  So I guess I'm just being a crazy person.  Let's just do this Jenny's way - no messing about.

Then add the spinach and garlic and mix together until well combined.

See how weird it looks?

Moving along.

Spray a cupcake pan with non-stick spray.

Open the tube of dough, but don't roll it out.  And try not to almost rip it in half like I did.

Then slice it into 10 equal pieces.

Flatten out each piece to as close to a 3-inch circle as you can get it.

Then press each piece into the well of a cupcake pan.  Or muffin tin if you so prefer.

I found that when I did this part first, by the time I went to fill the dough cups I kind of had to smoosh them down a little bit.

But maybe that's the point?  I have no idea.

Divide the spinach mixture evenly amongst the little dough cups.  I used a medium-smallish cookie scoop.  It's not the smallest you can get - I might call it medium, but honestly, I have no idea what size it is. 

After all the cups were filled, I still had a little dip left over so I just eyeballed dividing the leftovers between the 10 cups.

Top with grated mozzarella, pop into a preheated oven, and bake for 15 - 17 minutes.  I turned mine about halfway through.

Although it may have been an auto-response because the cupcake pan was in there and I always turn the pan halfway through when I'm baking cupcakes.

I'm built that way.

Jenny's recipe says to remove the pan when the bread bowls are turning brown on the edges, but I found it a little hard to tell, so I just pulled them out after 17 minutes.  I figured they HAD to be done.

Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan.  I would let them sit around for about 5 or 10 minutes so you don't burn your tongue, the top of your mouth, and the upper part of your esophagus when you bite into them. 

Seriously.  Aren't these awesome?  And adorable?  And the perfect appie for a big group dinner, sporting event, or random Friday night?

You must make these immediately. 

Race right over to Jenny's blog for the recipe.  Do it now.

You'll thank me later.

You're welcome.

xoxo - the Cane girl.

Mac & Cheese Mondays: Cajun Shrimp Mac & Cheese

Did I ever tell you how cute my Mom is?

She's totally adorable.

When I went for a quick over-night trip to Mom & Dad's place, I called and asked her how she would feel if I made Cajun Shrimp Mac & Cheese. 

"I'd feel really GOOD about that!"  She said.  "I'll buy the groceries!"  She said.  "Send me your list."  She said.

The day I showed up:
Mom:  "I can't find Pepper Jack cheese."
Me:  "Well that's weird - they didn't have any at Superstore?"
Mom:  "I couldn't find any.  I'm at Wal-Mart and I can't find any here.  I'll go to Sobey's next."
Me:  (Suddenly concerned)

Later on:
Mom:  "I can't find Pepper Jack.  How about this "screaming chipotle cheese"?  That might be okay."
Me:  "No - it's not Pepper Jack.  Seriously?  You can't find Pepper Jack?"
Mom:  "Well, they have all kinds of Monterey Jack with "extras".  (reads me labels)"
Me:  "But that's what Pepper Jack is.  It's Monterey Jack with Jalapenos in it."
Mom:  "Oh.  I'll see if they have any."
Me:  "I'm sure they do, just look."

Later on:
Me:  "What's this? (pulling out the cheese)"
Mom:  "It's Pepper Jack."
Me:  "Why is it sliced like this?"
Mom:  "Because that's all they had."
Me:  "They didn't have blocks?"
Mom:  "No.  Just cut it up.  It'll be fine."
Me:  "Sigh."

The result of this little experiment - we've decided that next time we're going together. 

As I'm somewhat particular about stuff.

But it all worked out in the end.

Be forewarned - the recipe as is made a TON of food.  I would recommend halving it.  Funny thing is that I usually do, but I had a complete brain fart.

First, melt butter over medium heat, add the shrimp and some of the cajun seasoning and cook until the shrimp is pink.

Remove from the heat and set aside.

Then, in a large pot, melt some more butter.

Add some flour.

And cook until brown and fragrant.  Then add the milk and cook until thickened and slightly simmering.

Then add the cheeses.

Then the cajun seasoning.

And cooked pasta.

Then the shrimp.

And pour the whole lot into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Like I said, it makes a LOT.

Top with cheese.  I didn't have enough Pepper Jack so I just topped it with extra cheddar.

Then top with Panko crumbs.

And bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbling.

The heat from the cheese wasn't a sharp spicy heat, but just warmed up your mouth.  I think I may have let it sit for too long (Mom and I were deep in conversation and Dad was sleeping beside the fireplace.  Really!), but it really would have been more creamy if served sooner.

And I recommend using a large sized shrimp, I thought the smaller sized shrimp that I used kind of got lost in the dish.

But if you don't like shrimp, you could always leave it out.

I love using Panko crumbs, they give everything a nice solid crunch. 

Thanks to Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker for another great Mac & Cheese recipe!

This is the Cane girl - signing off.