This weekend I was feeling like making us something pretty decadent as a weekend treat for our Saturday night movie night. We were going to watch Grease again for the umpteenth time, well a toss up between that and America Graffiti . . . so I decided to make us a dessert that would be completely at home with groups of teenagers congregating in soda shops! Meet Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sundae Pie. (Don't try to say that too quickly!)
I guess we kind of had a soda shop when I was a teenager. It was the old Shaker Restaurant in Middleton, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was on the main street in the middle of town, right next to the Capital Movie Theatre.
It was the place to congregate after school, on the weekends, etc. It was called the Shaker restaurant because the whole wall behind the ice cream counter was filled with shelves holding the largest collection of salt and pepper shakers anyone had ever seen. Their main waitress looked like someone from the 1940's, right down to her Victory Rolls. I thought she was rather cool.
The most I could ever afford to get there was a coke and sometimes a friend and I would share a plate of chips. My allowance was not very much, and if I wanted to be able to afford to go to a movie or to a school dance, it didn't allow for a lot of other things. The Shaker Restaurant was the place to see and be seen however.
It has been a Chinese Restaurant for at least 35 years now and the movie theatre is no more as well. Its a diner/pub, called what else but . . . The Capital. They serve free Christmas Dinners on Christmas Day for those on low incomes and homeless people. My daughter loves to go there and celebrate birthdays with her friends. I, myself, have never eaten there.
Anyways, back to this pie! This is one heck of a gorgeous dessert and a real blue moon treat. Its a huge peanut butter cookie that is stogged full of semi sweet chocolate chunks and baked in a skillet.
Incredibly edibly moreish on its own of course, but why stop there. Topped with ice cream and your favourite toppings it becomes the ultimate dessert!
Today I used Clotted Cream Vanilla Bean Ice cream and running with the peanut butter flavour and my North America spirit, warmed Bonne Maman Strawberry Conserve . . . only on half the ice cream.
The other half of the ice cream was topped with a drizzle of warmed Bonne Maman Hazelnut & Chocolate Caramel spread . . . in for a penny in for a pound!
I sprinkled some chopped dry roasted peanuts on top because they are sundaes after all . . . and what's a sundae without some chopped nuts!
You could of course do just strawberry jam . . . or just caramel sauce . . .
Or you could just use a hot fudge sundae sauce . . .
I can guarantee whatever you choose to top this with, you are going to definitely ENJOY this immensely. Trust me on this. Unless you don't like peanut butter that is, and I, for the life of me can't understand how anyone wouldn't love peanut butter, especially in cookie form!
Yield: 8
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sundae Pie
Your favourite cookie in a pie, served warm and topped with vanilla bean ice cream along with your favourie toppings.
Ingredients:
For the cookie pie:
- 120g butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- 100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
- 95g of granulted sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large free range egg
- 90g of your favourite peanut butter, crunchy or smooth (1/2 cup)
- 210g plain l flour (all purpose 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 130g semi sweet chocolate chunks (3/4 cup)
To serve:
- vanilla bean ice cream
- strawberry jam, lightly warmed
- chocolate caramel sauce, lightly warmed
- chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions:
How to cook Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sundae Pie
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 10-inch oven proof skillet. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter, both sugars and the peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour and soda. Add to the creamed mixure and stir in until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks. Press into the prepared skillet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.
- Top each warm cookie wedge with some icecream, your favourite toppings and some chopped nuts. Delicious!
You could bake this in a large ten inch tart tin with removable sides as well if that is what you have. Heck, if you wanted to you could make individual cookie cups and divide it between muffin cups and bake it that way. In that case you would only need to bake it for 10 to 15 minutes. Enjoy!
One thing is for sure . . . warm peanut butter cookies, strawberry jam, chocolate chunks, chocolate caramel sauce and ice cream all go togeher like Rama lama ka dinga da dinga don! Shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom! Maybe it might be love. (You're welcome!)
When I used to drink black tea, Earl Grey was one of my favourite blends of tea. With its flavours of Bergamot, orange peel and calendula petals it pleased the senses on every level.
The smell was always amazing to me. I wish they did a room fragrance that smelled like Earl Grey Tea!
I thought it might make a great tea loaf to enjoy with hot drinks if you were to infuse the loaf with the flavours of Earl Grey.
I had some in the cupboard and wanted to use it.
I used Earl Grey Tea from the Brew Tea Co. It was a proper loose leaf tea, with whole rolled black tea leaves, so there is no powder. This is mixed with the Bergamot oil, chunks of dried orange peel and dried calendula leaves.
In retrospect I should have ground them a bit before using as this is such a high quality tea but never mind . . . if you were to use Earl Grey Tea bags, the tea would be finer ground.
I found this recipe on Jeannie Tay's blog, and she adapted it from a recipe from the cookbook Okashi. A book of Japanese sweet treats.
Its not a book I would normally have even given a second look at personally, but this cake turned out quite nicely!
My loaf did not rise quite as much as the photographs on Jeannie's blog shows, and her tea is more dispersed so if I make this again (and I am sure I will) I will use a narrower loaf tin and I will grind the tea up a bit.
Having said all that however, it is a really nice loaf, with a beautiful delicate flavour.
The flavour of the tea doesn't jump up and slap you in the face.
But its there . . . I loved the way the rolled tea leaves look in the loaf as well as the golden hints of the calendula petals and bits of orange . . .
It smelled quite, QUITE lovely when it was baking . . .
You make a lemon syrup to brush over the cake as it is cooling down, beginning as soon as it comes out of the oven.
I like to brush it on, let it soak in and then brush on some more until it is all used up.
This was really a nice finishing touch . . .
I learned something new as well. She cuts down the middle of the loaf before baking it.
This gave it a lovely nice crack down the centre which was fabulous for soaking up some of that glaze.
Other than the fact that I think my tea should have been finer, I would call this a beautiful loaf and a recipe that I would recommend!
Earl Grey Tea Loaf
Yield: makes one 8 by 4 inch loaf
Moist and delicious with the lovely flavours of black tea, orange and bergamot.
Ingredients:
- 150g self rising flour, sifted (1 cup plus 1 1/2 TBS)
- 150g unsalted butter at room temperature (2/3 cup)
- 110 g icing sugar sifted (1 cup less 2 1/2 TBS)
- 2 tsp golden syrup (corn syrup)
- 3 large free range eggs
- pinch salt
- 5g Earl Grey Tea (can use from tea bags, about 2 TBS)
- 15g ground almonds (3 TBS)
- 1 TBS milk
For the glaze:
- 100ml water (3 1/2 fluid ounces)
- 50g granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 2 TBS lemon juice
Instructions:
How to cook Earl Grey Tea Loaf
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter an 8 X 4 -inch loaf tin and line the bottom with some baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter, icing sugar and syrup until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape the bowl every so often. Add the salt, tea and almonds. Beat for one minute.
- Add half of the flour and beat at a low speed to amalgamat. Beat in the milk. Beat in the remaining flour until all is well blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth over the top and then cut a line down the middle with a knife.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown, risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Make the lemon syrup for glazing while the cake bakes. Measure the water and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the mixture thickens, without stirring. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice. Brush this mixture over the warm cake, allowing it to soak in before brushing on more.
- Cut into slices to serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
This would be wonderful served at a ladies' tea party. It would make for something a tad bit unsual than the normal tea time offerings I think!
Fish for Friday today with a delicious Asian Glazed Salmon! You can't go wrong with a delicious boneless and skinless Salmon fillet.
I have never been fond of skin on my fish. To me it is a bit of a turn off, so that is why I really love these boneless and skinless salmon fillets I get from Seafresh.
Their fish is so amazing. I have never had any fish from them that I
didn't like. Its frozen fresh at the source and so it is some of the freshest
fish that you can find.
Their salmon fillets
are absolutely gorgeous. Boneless and skinless and individually frozen
so that you can take out as many or as few as you want to cook at any given time.
At the moment when those of us who are self isolating are unable to get the shops and home delivery slots are really difficult to get, shopping at online shops like Seafresh is the way to go!
They make it so easy to shop. Just log on to their easy to use shop, choose what you want, pop it into your cart and then pay. There is same day dispatch on all orders place before 1 PM, and free delivery on order over £50.
I have been getting fish from them for a while now and I really can't fault them. Everything has been impeccable, from the ordering, to the packaging, delivery, quality, etc. And their customer service is examplary.
I love their Salmon fillets. Being centre cut they are cut from the centre of the fish and not the tail.
This means that they are of a beautiful thickness and are not really "fishy" tasting if that makes sense. Cuts of salmon closer to the tail have a much stronger flavour, which I am not overly fond of!
They are also sustainably sourced from the cold and clear waters of Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
Their salmon is some of the best I have ever eaten, and I confess, I have eaten a lot of Salmon in my lifetime!
One thing I love about Salmon is that with its slightly stronger flavour it lends itself beautifully to glazes and rubs and one of our favourite glazes is this beautiful Asian one.
Its sticky and sweet from the use of brown sugar, which mixes very well with salty dark soy sauce. A bit of lime juice adds some tartness to counteract the sweet.
Even more Asian flavours are injected into the glaze with the use of some Hoisin sauce and ground ginger.
I always have Hoisin sauce in my refrigerator. For those of you not familiar with it, Hoisin sauce is a lovely thick and fragrant asian sauce which is a beautiful combination of salty and sweet.
This sauce also packs some heat with the use of crushed red chilli flakes and some ground black pepper. You can control how much heat you want or don't want.
I tend to go for less than the recipe calls for myself, although Todd is certainly not adverse to eating food that bites back.
The whole recipe itself is a very easy one. Fish, I find, is very easy and quick to cook.
For this you simply make the sauce, which is just a matter of combining the ingredients and bringing them to a boil. (I like to do it in a measuring cup in the microwave.) Once made, the hot sauce is poured over the fish fillets in a baking dish.
The baking dish gets popped into a moderate oven and 12 to 15 minutes later you are rewarded with perfectly cooked and glazed delicious pieces of salmon!!
While it is baking you can cook some rice and a vegetable to enjoy along side, or even a salad if you are couting your carbs. An asian coleslaw would be lovely!
Today I served it simply with some steamed long grain rise and honey lime carrots. Just peel, slice and cook some carrots until crispy tender, drain well and then return to the saucepan along with a small knob of butter, some honey, some lime zest and a bit of lime juice, stiring and tossing them together until they are heated through and sweetly glazed. Terribly yum!
Yield: 4
Asian Glazed Salmon
Perfectly cooked boneless, skinless salmon fillets with a sweet and spicy Asian glaze. This simply delicious.
Ingredients:
- 4 (4 to 6 ounce) salmon fillets, boneless, skinless, thawed if frozen
- 100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
- 120ml asian soy sauce (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS hoisin sauce
- 2 TBS ground ginger-root
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 TBS fresh lime juice
Instructions:
How to cook Asian Glazed Salmon
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. fas mark 4. You will need a glass baking dish large enough to hold the fish fillets in a single layer with some room around each. Spray the dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place the salmon into the dish in a single layer.
- Place all of the remaining ingredients into a glass microwavable safe measure. Whisk together to combine and then heat in the microwave on high until the mixture comes to the boil, about 1 1/2 minutes. Alternately measure the ingredients into a saucepan and cook over moderate heat until the mixture comes to the boil.
- Pour the hot glaze over the salmon fillets in the baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is just cooked through.
- Serve the fish fillets immediately, with some of the glaze spooned over top.
This recipe also lends itself perfectly to cutting in half to serve only
two people. This is so tasty that I would serve it to company without
blinking an eye. The ease of preparation, and quick cook time, make it perfect for that, not to mention the beautiful combination of flavours.
As with any fish dish, quality speaks for itself. When you are starting
with really good fish, you really don't or shouldnt' have to do very
much to it to get the best from it. The Salmon fillets from Seafresh
are beautiful. I think they are the best I have ever eaten and that says
a lot! If you are looking for quality fish at a great price with a
fabulous delivery service
I can't recommend Seafresh highly enough! Their product, delivery
service, packaging and customer service are exemplary in my opinion and
so is this recipe!!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Note - Although I was gifted with product free of charge for the purposes of review, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange, nor would my integrity allow me to recommend anything if I did not truly like it. Any and all my opinions are my own entirely.
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