Desserts

This time of year, when it seems we all have a non-stop food-fest, Desserts are more prevalent than during the rest of the year. (At least, that's how it seems to me.)

That said, here are six dessert recipes to help you through the day, including Buckeye Roll-Ups and a Million Dollar Cream Pie. Enjoy!

CREAM CHEESE DANISH HEART

Years ago, when my better half and I first got cable, I was channel-surfing, something most of us have done occasionally. I ran across a baking show on PBS called Breaking Bread with Fr. Dominic, featuring Fr. Dominic Garramone. I fell in love with the show, and watched it almost every time it was on. (Unfortunately, it only ran from 1999 to 2001.)

Anywho, this recipe was featured on his show; you might even find it in one of his many cookbooks (and yes, I’m planning to pick up a copy of at least one or two of said cookbooks).

Makes 1 heart.

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 envelope FLEISCHMAN’S RapidRise Yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 large egg

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 (8-ounce) pack cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 drops red food coloring

Directions

In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, sour cream and butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add egg and 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in remaining flour to make a stiff batter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.

Remove dough from refrigerator; roll to 16- x 8-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with Cream Cheese Filling (directions below). Beginning at long end, roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Pinch seam to seal. Form a large heart; pinch ends together. Place on greased baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut 1/3 through heart at 1-inch intervals, alternating from side to side to resemble a braid. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from sheet; cool on wire rack. Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Glaze (directions below).

Cream Cheese Filling: In a bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Powdered Sugar Glaze: In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Add food coloring; stir until well blended.

LEMON BLUEBERRY SORBET

This is from a long-since-forgotten emailing list. It begins, “Lemon verbena enhances the lemon flavor of this blueberry sorbet. The rum is optional. The recipe calls for frozen blueberries, so you can make it year-round.”

Yield: 4 servings.

Ingredients

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup whole lemon verbena leaves

1 bag frozen blueberries (14 to 16 ounces)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons lemon-flavored rum (optional)

Preparation

Put sugar and lemon verbena in a food processor and process 30 seconds. Add frozen blueberries and process 1 minute.

With the processor on, pour lemon juice and rum, if using, through the feed tube; process until smooth.

Serve sorbet immediately, or transfer to a covered bowl and keep in freezer (soften slightly before serving, if necessary).

LEMON SORBET

Here’s another recipe from that infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring the water and the sugar to a boil, stirring the mixture to dissolve the sugar. Add the lemon juice and zest to the sugar syrup and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

RHUBARB CRISP

This is from Mark Bittman, also in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Mark wrote, "When you think of rhubarb you probably think of strawberry-rhubarb pie, a quintessential spring dessert, especially if it’s made by someone who makes good pies. I usually manage around one pie crust annually, so I need alternatives. Thus, when the spring’s first rhubarb shows up, I adjust the execution and produce a crisp. If rhubarb is young and fresh, you can trim it in seconds. If it has fibrous outer strings, peel them off as you would those of celery. Toss the rhubarb with orange or lemon juice and zest, and only a little sugar. (You can also substitute strawberries for some of the rhubarb if you want the classic combination.) Blend the ingredients for the crisp topping in a food processor, crumble the topping over the rhubarb mixture, and bake — it is nearly effortless and as good or better than a pie."

Yield: 6 to 8 servings; Time: 1 hour.

This was featured in "Rhubarb Crisp That Stands Up to Pie" and can be viewe online here.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing pan

2 1/2 to 3 pounds rhubarb, trimmed, tough strings removed, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice

1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste

Pinch salt

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup pecans

Preparation

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish with a little butter. Toss rhubarb with white sugar, orange or lemon juice and zest, and spread in baking dish.

Put the 6 tablespoons butter in a food processor along with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt, and pulse for about 20 or 30 seconds, until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together. Add oats and pecans and pulse just a few times to combine.

Crumble the topping over rhubarb and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

MILLION DOLLAR CREAM PIE

This comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli, who wrote for The Spruce Eats. (Check out her website at https://carrollpellegrinelli.com/. You won't regret it!)

For this recipe, Carroll wrote, "Million Dollar Pie thankfully doesn't live up to its name cost-wise, but its popularity on Pinterest proves it's worth adding to the recipe vault. Also called Millionaire Pie or Millionaire's Pie, this creamy concoction blends canned pineapple, toasted nuts, and shredded coconut into sweetened condensed milk. It gets its lofty height from the addition of a whipped dessert topping. Some versions incorporate cream cheese, and others call for heavy cream, but they all result in a luxurious bite of sweetness.

"The basic recipe can branch into many directions, with maraschino cherries making frequent appearances, oranges joining the pineapple, shortbread or flaky pastry replacing the standard graham cracker crust, frozen adaptations, and even a chocolate-pecan impostor.

"You can start with this classic rendition, then adjust, modify, and remaster it to your stomach's content. The recipe makes two pies with one can of condensed milk, but you can cut the ingredients in half to make just one."

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 0 minutes; Total Time: 20 minutes; Chilling Time: 2 hours; Yield: 2 pies (16 servings)

To view this online, go to https://www.thespruceeats.com/million-dollar-cream-pie-304933.

Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 (8-ounce) cans crushed pineapple (drained)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

2 (8-ounce) containers frozen whipped topping (thawed)

2 (9-inch) graham cracker crusts

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk and lemon juice. Let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.

Add pineapple, 3/4 cup of the coconut and 3/4 cup of the pecans. Stir until thoroughly combined.

Fold in whipped topping and divide evenly between two crusts.

Spread the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut on a cookie sheet and toast in 350 F oven, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, approximately 5 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle toasted coconut and remaining pecans onto the pie.

Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.

BUCKEYE ROLL-UPS

This is from Old El Paso, and begins, "You can make these addictive peanut butter and chocolate roll-ups a full day ahead for maximum convenience — but will you be able to resist the sweet and salty deliciousness for 24 whole hours?"

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes; Makes 32 servings

To view this online, go to https://www.oldelpaso.com/recipes/buckeye-roll-ups.

Ingredients

1 container (8 oz) whipped cream cheese

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 package (11 oz) Old El Paso™ flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas; 8 inch)

1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts

1 tablespoon unsweetened baking cocoa

Preparation

In small bowl, mix cream cheese and powdered sugar. Divide peanut butter among tortillas, spreading evenly over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border. Divide cream cheese mixture evenly among tortillas, gently spreading over peanut butter. Top half of each tortilla with chocolate chips and peanuts.

Starting from side with toppings, roll up very tightly. Wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

To serve, cut 1 inch from end of each roll, and discard. Cut each roll into 4 (1 1/2-inch) slices. Sprinkle with cocoa.

Expert Tips

The whipped cream cheese is a cinch to combine with the powdered sugar, and it spreads easily straight from the refrigerator.

For best results, use a small offset spatula for spreading the peanut butter and cream cheese mixture.