{ dulce de leche }

One of my favorite sweets in the world is leche quemada (burned milk) candy, available at the checkout counter at most mom & pop Tex Mex restaurants where I grew up. It's made from dulce de leche, or "candy of milk." It has such a sweet, distinctly creamy taste that so much reminds me of Friday nights in the summertime and being a bit tipsy on margaritas.

Dulce de leche couldn't be easier to make, especially when made in the crockpot (yes, the crockpot). The most difficult part of the entire process was finding which aisle stocked the mason jars at my local grocery store.

Countless recipes call for dulce de leche, and each is likely worth the time. So having a jar or two on hand is a great plan. An even better plan is sticking a spoon into the dulce de leche jar at 11:30 p.m. when you can't fall asleep ... and are craving something sweet.

Just sayin'.

Dulce de Leche
Ingredients

• 3 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk.

(yep! that's it!)

Process
Open cans of condensed milk and pour each into a pint-sized glass mason jar.

Secure the lid of each jar and place in the crockpot.

Fill the crockpot with water to just above the point at the jars where the cream is topped. Place the lid on the crockpot.

Heat milk jars on low for 8-10 hours (the longer the cooking process, the more solid the dulce de leche) -- I actually cooked mine overnight.


Once process is complete, the consistency will be thick. In order to thin the dulce de leche to use as a dip or sauce, spoon into a dish and add milk or cream. Slowly heat (the microwave works just fine) and whisk until desired consistency is reached.

{ berry crumble with almond-crusted shortbread }

The days are getting longer and warmer, and all those pretty summer berries have been making their way back into the produce section at the grocery store. It's been increasingly difficult to resist them, and today, I wasn't able to do so.

I'm a raspberry girl. They're my favorites. Raspberry cocktails, raspberry pies, raspberry anything -- I'm putty in the hands of anything of the framboise persuasion.

Ty, on the other hand, is a strawberry and blackberry guy. So, because I'm that kind of good-hearted and selfless person, I decided to mix things up and make a berry medley, rather than my originally-intended raspberry something or other.

I was actually inspired by the fresh stuff, but opted for the frozen version -- blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and, of course, raspberries.

So, welcome back, summer berries. I've missed you.

Berry Crumble with Almond-Crusted Shortbread
(adapted from uneGaminedanslaCuisine)

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup + 1/2 cups of sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, cold and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoon of pure almond extract
1/2 cup of finely chopped almonds (I used a mini food processor until almonds were almost powder consistency)
2 tablespoon cornstarch
8 cups fresh or frozen berries

Process
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Set pan aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add butter pieces. Using a pastry cutter, cut them into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in eggs, almond extract, and almonds.

Press two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining 1/2 cup of sugar; add berries and gently toss. If using frozen berries, don't thaw them. Break them up, and toss them with the cornstarch. Spoon over crust.

Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Place dish on a wire rack, allowing as much time for cooling as possible.

{ boston minis }

Sometimes a big, full-size cake is just too much of a good thing.

Ty loves Boston Cream Pie of any kind (including the Dunkin Donuts variety), so when I discovered this recipe for the mini version of the classic dessert, I was pleased as pudding (HA!). It was a perfect Valentine's Day sweet treat that wouldn't ruin our healthy eating efforts for the entire week by taunting us with leftovers from the fridge.

So yummy -- it was a major hit with the Boston Cream Pie lover in my house. I foresee this being a recipe I'll repeat ... any times.

Mini Boston Cream Pies
(adapted from kraftrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 1 envelope (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavored instant pudding
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1-1/2 cups thawed whipped topping, divided
• 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Process

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes. Cool completely.

With electric mixer, beat pudding mix and milk about 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. With the same knife, trim the top, rounded layer off of cupcakes so that both the tops and bottoms of the cakes are flat.

Fold 1/2 cup whipped topping into pudding; spoon onto bottom halves of cupcakes, using about 1 Tbsp. for each.* Cover with cupcake tops.

 

Microwave remaining whipped topping and chocolate  squares in small glass bowl on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until well blended.  Spoon and spread chocolate onto cupcakes. 

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (the longer, the better) and serve.   

*I actually doubled the pudding recipe, as it's my favorite part of the recipe. I ended up with way more than I needed, so as the cupcakes began to cool, I pulled them apart and added another dollop of the cream mixture. Initially, the pudding was too runny to do so and just ran over the side, so I let it set for a while before adding more