These two recipes are from Sheilah Kaufman, author of 25 cookbooks and culinary instructor for more than 38 years, has shared her great passion for richly flavored, no-fuss food and cooking with thousands of home chefs across the nation. With her fearless and fussless series, including Sheilah’s Fearless Fussless Cookbook, (Delacorte, 1982), and Simply Irresistible: Easy, Elegant, Fearless, Fussless Cooking, she demonstrates the ease of entertaining with recipes that take less than 30 minutes to prepare and achieve achieving stunning results. Glamour magazine noted, “If you like to entertain, Sheilah’s Fearless Fussless Cookbook, should be your best friend.”

Ms Kaufman has been a guest speaker at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Jewish Museum of Montreal. She has written for The Washington Post, Tampa Tribune, and the Baltimore Sun and is the food editor for Jewish Women International and the Town Courier chain. She has developed recipes for Beatrice Foods, Smucker’s, Gourmet Delight, Sunsweet, and is known for creating “The Cheater’s Diet” for Walden Farms.

Visit www.cookingwithsheilah.com.

 

Chocolate Cherry Croissant Bread Pudding

What combination could be better than chocolate and cherries? This is a quick, easy, and elegant dessert, and it freezes beautifully. From: Upper Crusts Fabulous Ways To Use Bread (Delectable recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, vegetables, desserts, and more)  by Sheilah Kaufman (Capital Books).

1 teaspoon butter
3 stale croissants
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Cassis (or vanilla)

Generously butter a 9x9-inch baking dish.

Cut croissants into 1/ 2-inch pieces (as best you can) and scatter cubes, chips and cherries into prepared baking dish.

In a large bowl whisk together sugar, cream, eggs, and Cassis until sugar dissolves.

Pour sugar/cream mixture through a sieve into prepared baking dish.

Gently push down cubes so they absorb the egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.*

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bake for 40 minutes or until center is puffy and golden. Serve hot. Serves six.

If in a rush, skip chilling. Instead, pour only half of egg mixture in, push down to absorb; wait five minutes before pouring on some more but not all, leaving tops of cubes just above liquid line.

 

Horatio’s Velvet Chocolate Mousse

You can make this a day or two ahead, but there will not be any left for your company!

I found this unique mousse in Hawaii. After eating three bowls full, I begged the owner of the restaurant for the recipe, since it was like no mousse I had ever tasted. From Simply Irresistible: Easy, Elegant, Fearless, Fussless Cooking by Sheilah Kaufman

12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup whipping cream

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until very light and fluffy, about 10 minutes, making sure sugar is well dissolved. If texture is grainy when you taste it, beat longer.

Add the cocoa and beat until the mixture is smooth and the cocoa is dissolved.

In another large bowl, with an electric mixer at high speed, whip the cream until soft peaks form.

(If you over beat cream, you get butter!)

Fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture one half at a time, using a rubber spatula.

Divide the mixture into individual dessert dishes or glasses or spoon it into a large serving bowl.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Serves 10 - 12.