Cherry Almond Coffee Cake

Ingredients

cake:
1 3/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat and it worked!)
1/2 cup plus 1 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg
3/4 c sour cream
1 t almond extract

topping:
1/3 c flour
2 T sugar
2 T cold butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds

filling:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
3/4 c cherry preserves, warmed

Directions:

For the cake, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until mixtures is like coarse crumbs. Beat egg, sour cream and extract until smooth. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. My batter was too thick, I think because of the whole wheat flour, so I added water.
For topping, combine flour and sugar, cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds and set aside.
For filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Pour half of the cake mixture into a greased 5 x 9 pan. Pour cream cheese filling over it, then the preserves and swirl. Cover with remaining batter then sprinkle with the topping. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Delish! This was a hit with the hubbs, the Christmas party and me!

Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:



1 3/4 cups warm water
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 teaspoons fine salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chipped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Put the water in a medium bowl; whisk in 2 tablespoons of the flour, then sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.



Whisk the remaining flour and the fine salt into an electric mixer.



Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture and 1/4 cup of the olive oil.



Gradually mix the flour with wooden spoon to make a shaggy, loose dough.



Mix on high until dough is workable but still moist. (about 4-5 minutes). Form dough into a ball.



Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl, turning around to coat. Cover with moist kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes.



Knead dough on lightly floured surface briefly before reshaping into a ball and setting aside in the bowl to rise for another 45 minutes.

Pour remaining 1/4 cup olive oil into an 11 17 inch jelly roll pan.



Put dough in pan and flatten by hand.



Set aside for 10 minutes until dough spreads easily in pan. Turn it over so both sides are well coated with the oil.

Stretch and press from the center to the edges of the pan.



Make indentations in the dough with fingertips and sprinkle with rosemary.





Cover with towel and let rise until puffy, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 425, sprinkle dough with sea salt. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Slip focaccia from pan and cool on a rack.





Serve with delicious pasta!




(original recipe found in Food Network cookbook)

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin pie filling, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of homemade whipped cream.

Taken directly from Paula Dean. This woman knows what's UP with pumpkin pie! It was perfect and I don't even like pumpkin pie. I think the thing that really made it excellent was the pie filling I used: Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix!