Category Archives: Desserts & Treats

Karl’s Anzac Biscuits for Diabetics

Max Miller recently did a podcast on Anzac Biscuits—Americans would call these “cookies.” We have not had a decent Anzac Biscuit since we visited New Zealand twenty years ago. Wife Jan decided that she really wanted some. Max always strives to use the original ingredients and methods in his show. I have no such constraints, as I always try to make any recipe my own. One problem—with any cookie actually—is that these tasty treats are not exactly diabetic friendly. While I started with Miller’s authentic 1926 Recipe for Anzac Biscuits as a basis, I substituted many of the ingredients to make them healthier for me to eat.

Karl’s Anzac Biscuits for Diabetics

Karl’s Anzac Biscuits for Diabetics

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Karl’s Tangerine Curd

Daughter Miriam gave me a pile of Meyer lemons and I made my lemon curd with them. Wife Jan’s response was, “This is good, but what would really be great is tangerine curd.” Off to the store I went.

Karl’s Tangerine Curd

Karl’s Tangerine Curd

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Filed under Breakfast, Desserts & Treats

Karl’s Tuile – French Almond Wafers

Adapted from a Travel Gourmand recipe

Tuile—French for a curved roof tile and pronounced tweel—is a thin, crisp, and curved cookie, frequently used to garnish desserts. Wife Jan is making chocolate mousse for my birthday and asked me to make some tuile to add to the dish. Although, I have watched them being made—we hosted a French family and the father made some while they were here—I have never tried my hand at them.

Karl's Tuile

Karl’s Tuile

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Jan’s Almond Chocolate Mousse

For me Claudia’s Chocolate Mousse is the mousse by which all others are judged. It is however, not a health food. Jan has started to make it on anyone’s birthday. Jan spent years perfecting the techniques of making the mousse, but she got bored with making just “chocolate” mousse. She now makes a different variation every time she make it. For example, she has made a cherry liqueur variation, a Baileys Irish Cream variation, and a low sugar  variation.

Jan's Almond Chocolate Mousse with Tuile

Jan’s Almond Chocolate Mousse with Tuile

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Jan’s Cardamom Triple Ginger Cookies

Adapted from an Epicurious recipe

Like a lot of house bound people wife Jan is starting to bake. Cookies make her happy. So she decided to bake some.

Chai with Jan’s Cardamom Triple Ginger Cookies

Chai with Jan’s Cardamom Triple Ginger Cookies

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Karl’s Apple Oat Muffins

My wife Jan had a hunger for oat muffins/cookies. She sent me a recipe and I disagreed with almost everything about it—too much flour, oil, and sugar, not enough oats or cinnamon. While I very loosely based this on that recipe, I changed almost everything.

Karl’s Apple Oat Muffins

Karl’s Apple Oat Muffins

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Filed under Breakfast, Desserts & Treats

Karl’s Hamantaschen

Adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe

My daughter Eilene loves hamantaschen. She has been asking for weeks for these Jewish festive treats served for Purim. These triangular cookies are filled with a variety of sweet fillings—wife Jan and Eilene’s favorite is the traditional poppy seed.

Karl’s Hamantaschen

Karl’s Hamantaschen

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Karl’s Cinnamon Chocolate Rice Pudding

I made an enchilada casserole for dinner and I wanted an dessert to go with it. Wife Jan loves rice pudding. Chocolate and cinnamon are classic ingredients of Mexican cuisine. I had wanted to add chilies, but the wife nixed that as too spicy.

Karl’s Cinnamon Chocolate Rice Pudding

Karl’s Cinnamon Chocolate Rice Pudding

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Filed under California Fusion, Desserts & Treats

Jan’s Peanut Butter and Spice Stuffed Dates

While I am sure that our mothers did not invent the original dish, it was a common holiday treat in both of our house growing up.  Sweet Medjool dates stuffed with crunchy peanut butter and dusted with powdered sugar says “Christmas” in our house. These are easy to make, but they do not last long—even when there are no children around. Wife Jan, of course, decided to improve on the recipe this year by adding some spice.

Jan’s Peanut Butter and Spice Stuffed Dates

Jan’s Peanut Butter and Spice Stuffed Dates

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Filed under Desserts & Treats, Holidays, Vegetarian

Karl’s Spiced Almond Biscotti

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

Every year we make several Christmas giveaways—food treats to bring joy to our friends. It really started to get serious almost 30 years ago when we moved a house with orange, lemon and grapefruit trees. Since then, we moved across the street to a house without fruit trees, but I found that I could still beg yard fruit from my neighbors.

Karl’s Spiced Almond Biscotti

Karl’s Spiced Almond Biscotti

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