I hope that your week is going great so far.  Today, I want to share with you a super simple dessert that’s perfect for when you are in a pinch or when you are simply craving a sweet treat.   Beat the HEAT with this simple and easy dessert for a crowd.

I don’t do this very often but I went with a frozen pastry tart as the base of this dessert. For one, they are simple to use and second they are very tasty and flaky.

This dessert literally only takes 17 minutes to prepare and yet it’s a delicious simple treat that you can dress up whatever way you like it.

Ingredients

• 12 Pastry Tart Shells
• Ice Cream
• Caramel Sauce
• Blueberries

Method

1. Prepare the tart shells as per instructions.

.

2. Let tarts cool.



3. Drizzle bottom of tart with caramel.



4. Add ice cream.
5. Top with blueberries.
6. Drizzle with more caramel.
7. Set back in the freezer to harden.
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: How to ensure a tender pastry crust? Minimal handling helps to achieve a tender crust. Think of your fingers as feathers, gently mixing the dough. Handle the dough just enough to mix it and roll it- it’s that simple. Lots of handling lengthens the gluten in the flour, making a chewy pie crust.

Before I leave for another day,  I was wondering - what is your favorite flavor of ice cream? For me I am pretty plain on most days and love vanilla ice cream.  Sometimes, when I’m feeling adventurous, I branch into Neapolitan.  Have a great hump day – the weekend will be here before you know it.

Stay tuned for some house pictures on Monday.  The landscaping is complete and looks great!

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday and welcome to a new week!  I was unsure what to share with you today because I have so much in the hopper and ready to go and there is so much going on in the coming weeks.  As you know from last week, September 1st marks the start of HELP THE STUDENTS event and I cannot wait.  It will be a one month series, featuring simple, quick meals that anyone can prepare with simple everyday ingredients.  They will also focus on being cost effective as well as packing lots o’ flavor.

Before we get into today’s recipe which I pretty much love – I want to share some feedback I have heard over the blog in the last few months both positive and negative.  The positive feedback just reassures me that I am doing something I love and will continue to do.  The negative feedback is what I really love.  Sound bizarre?  Not really.  I find the negative information drives me to deliver a better blog, add more value for you the reader and an enhanced experience for all to enjoy.

Positive Feedback

• Amazing Photography
• Tasty recipes that I can actually make
• Love the Zesty Tips
• Fun to read

Negative Feedback

• Not enough Vegetarian recipes
• Want more posts each week
• More pictures of zesty and his family
• Would love to see more E-books of recipes

On to the Food

Ever need an idea oh how to use up a fresh summer pineapple in a different way?  I know myself I have the hamsters moving in my head all the time to come up with innovative ideas to use fruit in the summer to impress both my palette and yours.

Most recently I had a gorgeous fresh pineapple from the farmers market and I knew I wanted to grill it.  By grilling fruit, the sugars inside caramelize so well and give you that sweet warm texture as you bite into them.  For this quick recipe all you need are a few ingredients and about 10 minutes to whip it up.  I have tried this twice now, so far and it has been a hit each time.

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Pineapple ( sliced and cored)
• Vanilla Ice cream
• Pink Peppercorns (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
• Orange zest

Method

1. In a bowl add butter and brown sugar and microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Preheat grill to medium heat
3. Coat the pineapple in the borwn sugar butter glaze and place on grill.  Stay close as it will cook quickly and you do not want it to burn
4. Once golden brown, remove from heat and top with Vanilla ice cream, a few pink peppercorns for a bite and some fresh orange zest.
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For a little crunch, try adding some toasted walnuts, peanuts or even pecans to elevate the flavor and texture combination even more.

I hope you enjoyed this quick spin on fresh fruit.  See you on Wednesday for the Help the Students event kick-off.

Take care
zesty

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How are ya?  That’s good!  Let’s just say I have been better.  I will take a few minutes to recap yesterday and all its glory.  Well in order for the full story you will need some background from the weekend.

On Saturday we had a lot of rain and high winds – which always concerns me as far as the new house – so I drove out Sunday morning to have a look.  Ran down the basement to check for water… all is clear.  I take a walk up stairs around the perimeter of the house just checking the floors to make sure the roof is not leaking… all is clear.  I wander around a little longer to the south  side of the house and I see wet marks on the floor next to the windows.  My heart beats faster and I say ” Oh Dear”.  I look to another window and see the same thing.  WINDOWS ARE LEAKING!

I call the builder on Monday morning and tell him and he says “ I know Cory… I was down on Sunday at 7:00am because I couldn’t sleep last night”. What are we too do?  Well the guys decided to do a water test yesterday and sure enough the windows are leaking - but how and where.  We call in the siding guys and they take some siding off and do a few more tests.  It turns out the window is leaking itself.  It is not an installation issue but even worse – a product issue.  Now I am upset and borderline cranky.  I got the call as we are waiting in a three hour line up for our H1N1 immunization.   So I immediately called the supplier of the windows and asked to have a rep sent out on site ASAP to get this fixed. As I type this I feel like I am pounding on the keys a little harder than normal so I am going to stop now and get to the good part of this post.

On to the Food

As promised from yesterday’s post I have the easiest tasty apple crisp ever for you today.  We had about 8-10 apples left over from the orchard pick so I thought I would use them up and make a sweet treat.  7 ingredients for a dessert is pretty easy so here goes.

Ingredients

• 8 Cups sliced apples
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Cup flour
• 3/4 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup soft butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking dish by rubbing butter all over it
2. Combine apples, white sugar, 2 Tbsp. Flour and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix together.



3. Toss into baking dish and spread evenly



4. For the topping combine the final 3 ingredients and spread evenly over the top of the apple mixture.



5. Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on your oven.



6. Remove and let rest
7. Serve warm or cool



8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I like to make a thicker apple crisp in a smaller pan because as the apples cook they will begin to shrink and your crisp will fall.

This is a super fast dessert and goes great on a cool fall day.  I like to serve with homemade whip cream or my favorite… vanilla ice cream.  It can also be a great breakfast or even a nice mix into oatmeal.

Question of the day?

Does anybody like oatmeal?  What is your favorite oatmeal topping of all time!

Speaking of oatmeal, I need to try the new Autumn Medley recipe recommend by Chef David from the Quaker Challenge.  For those of you who haven’t already, please vote for me by giving my video a thumbs up!

Have a great day and just so you know – by the time I got to the end of this post, I think I feel better.  it must have been working with the apple crisp pictures.  Have an awesome Thursday.

Take care

zesty

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Hey there!  I am going to make this post fairly short and sweet by letting the pictures speak for themselves.  This dessert I am about to share with you is nothing short of “KILLER“.  Do you love a moist flavorful cake topped with a warm caramel sauce and hit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?  Enough Said!

I have to thank the Zest-In Law yet again for supplying a delicious dessert as the thanksgiving day finale.  Below is the scoop on how to pull this off.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups  coarsely chopped pitted dates
• 13/4 Cups Water
• 1/3 C butter
• 11/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Cup flour
• 3 Tsp Baking powder
• ½ Tsp. Ginger

Sauce

• ¾ Cup Butter
• 2 Cup brown sugar
• 1C whipping cream
• ½ tsp vanilla

Method

1. Lightly butter a 9×13 pan and find a roaster that it can fit into – for water bath !
2. Place dates in water cover and bring to boil.
3. Uncover and gently boil for 5 min remove from heat and stir in  baking soda.
4. Cream butter and sugar in mixer. Add eggs one at a time.  Beat well after EACH EGG ADDED.
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix well into sugar/butter /egg and pour into prepared pan.
6. Bake in water bath  at 350 for 20 min then reduce heat to 325 and bake for about 35 more min ( Until cake tester comes out clean ).
7. Remove pan from water  bath and serve  (I didn’t serve right away – I am a rebel that way).





8. For the sauce, melt butter and add brown sugar – cook until dissolved and well blended.





9. Add cream  and vanilla – Gently increase heat and bring to a gentle boil – cook for a few min until slightly thickened.
10. ENJOY!!

Zesty Tip: When baking any kind of cake in a pan, I like to cut around the edges with a knife as soon as it comes out of the oven to prevent it from sticking to the sides of the pan.

Have yourself a great Thursday and remember to come back for tomorrow’s big launch of the Zesty Video debut with Quaker and Goodbite.com

Take care

zesty

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Hello everyone! My name is Katrina. I write the blog, Gluten Free Gidget. A food blog devoted to living a happy, healthy gluten free lifestyle, with an emphasis on living. When I was first diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I felt like my life was being ripped out from under me. Something as basic as eating was suddenly a challenge. I began avoiding food related gatherings. I ostracized myself from my family and friends.

My breakthrough came when I stopped looking at all the foods I could not eat, and instead began focusing on what I could eat. I now consider Celiac’s to be one of the best things to happen to my culinary life. Without it, I never would have dreamed of eating Quinoa or Kale. I never would have known the joy of smelling fresh bread baking. I never would have learned just how strong and beautiful my body is. My life did not end two and half years ago when I was diagnosed with Celiac’s. It finally began!

Now, without further ado… I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to write a Zesty Guest Post! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed preparing it!

If you are anything like me, summer evenings mean one thing…. ICE CREAM! As a gluten free, dairy free girl with a penchant for clean eating, I naturally prefer to make my own ice cream. About one month ago, I received the best surprise of the summer. I returned from a trip to find a rather large box on my doorstep. This box contained none other than a Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker!

I began experimenting, searching the Internet, and perusing cookbooks for dairy free ice cream recipes. Many of the recipes I found required stove top cooking, then cooling, then processing in the ice cream maker, than freezing again…. You get the picture. I may love cooking, but this all seemed a bit excessive to me. I decided to take a more simplistic approach. At first, my creations were too icy or bland and tasteless. I tried various dairy substitutes before settling on Coconut Milk. My favorite brand is Native Forest Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk.

I also tried various sweeteners ranging from Agave Nectar to simple Bananas. In the end, I found plain, old sugar best replicated the creamy consistency found in dairy ice creams. The “big breakthrough” occurred when I discovered Xanthum Gum. Xanthum Gum is the key to perfect, creamy, dairy free ice cream. I’m not sure how, but it creates magic! My basic, “go-to” recipe was formed! It can be adapted to nearly any flavor under the sun! Just be sure to eat it quickly. Sun causes ice cream to melt!

Gidget’s Go-To Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cans Full, Fat Unsweetened Coconut Milk
• ¾ cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Flavored Extract (vanilla, peppermint, coffee, coconut, etc…)
• ¼ teaspoon Xanthum Gum

Method

1. Combine these ingredients in a blender.
2. Place entire blender canister in the freezer for one hour and allow to set.
3. After one hour, briefly re-blend ice cream mixture (about 45 seconds).
4. Pour mixture into you ice cream maker and follow manufacturer instructions.
5. I process mine for about 25 minutes before scooping into a freezer safe container and allowing to harden for about 1 hour.

Various mix-ins can be added to this recipe.

• Chocolate chips
• Nuts
• Crushed oreo style cookies (Kinnitoos for gluten/dairy free)
• Frozen, softened fruit
• Coconut flakes

You can enjoy your ice cream straight out of the machine if you enjoy soft serve. Personally, I prefer mine to have a firmer consistency, so I allow it to harden for at least one hour.
I hope you enjoyed this Guest Post. Visit my blog, www.glutenfreegidget.blogspot.com, for more delicious gluten free recipes and tips!

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Friday is here and I am so happy!  What a week!  Remember last Friday I talked about my/your favorite candy.  Well I had a lot of fun reading your responses and it inspired me to do a slight variation of it today.

Ice cream!  I love ice cream but I tend to consume it more in the summer than in the winter.  So lets talk about what kind of ice cream you like and in what forms.  I am a huge sucker for ice cream sundaes, ice cream sandwiches and ice cream desserts.  As a kid I used to love ice cream sandwiches at school and I really never grew out of it.

So all I have for today is this “ Tell me you favorite Ice Cream” whether it be flavor, type or style.  I want to know.

Have a great Friday and an excellent weekend.

Take care

zesty

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It is baking night at Zesty’s! Nothing fancy but I thought I would share with you a family favorite for a quick yet satisfying dessert. I sometimes add nuts but they are not a huge hit at our house so I left them out for this one.

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

• Chocolate Sauce (for topping)
• Cherries
• Ice Cream

Method

1. Grease bottom of an 8 inch square baking pan.
2. Melt both chocolates with butter in a medium saucepan stirring over low heat until smooth (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat.
3. Stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in flour, salt, vanilla,  stirring only until mixture is smooth and ingredients are combined. Once flour has been added, do not overmix to prevent toughening.
4. Spread mixture into prepared pan.
5. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to shrink from sides of pan.
6. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Note: if your brownies are dry or tend to be overbaked consistently, reduce the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees.
Recipe can be doubled by baking twice the amount of all ingredients in a 13X9 inch pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

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