Best Recipes in the World

1 package (about 36) whole Oreos

1 cup (16 tablespoons) butter, divided

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided

1 (12 oz) bag dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Finely crush the Oreos with a food processor or blender. Stir crumbs together with 8 tablespoons melted butter until well combined. Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan. Freeze crust for 10 minutes until set.

2. Combine remaining 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream until smooth. Cool caramel about 15 minutes. Pour the caramel over the Oreo crust, then return to freezer for about 30-45 minutes until just chilled and set. (You don’t want the caramel to fully freeze.)

3. Place chocolate chips in a glass bowl. In a saucepan, bring 1 cup heavy whipping cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk until completely smooth. Pour the chocolate over the caramel and freeze for a final 30 minutes, until just chilled and set. OR refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Before serving, sprinkle the top with a flaky sea salt like kosher salt or Fleur De Sel.

Store covered in the refrigerator and serve chilled. Makes 8-12 servings.

Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/dark-chocolate-salted-caramel-oreo-pie.html#cxTRrf1PbPXrTM1S.99

CAKE:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups granulated white sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large egg whites

LEMON TRUFFLE FILLING:
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 large egg yolks
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/3 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
6 ounces (1 cup) chopped white chocolate or chips
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING:
1 cup whipping cream
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Directions:


1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

2. Prepare the cake: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and butter. Blend until the butter is evenly mixed. Add the vanilla. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then increase the speed to high and beat for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl constantly, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy.

3. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gently but thoroughly fold the whites into the cake batter. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cakes are no longer jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Split the cooled layers horizontally to make 4 layers in all. (I use a serrated knife… and gently saw around the center to cut even layers).

5. Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in water until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork. Slowly stir about 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking quickly while adding the hot liquid. (You don’t want to create scrambled eggs, so be sure to add the hot mixture slowly, whisking it into the eggs as quickly as possible). Continue adding 1/4 cups of the hot mixture to the eggs until you have warmed up the egg mixture. Whisk the egg yolk mixture back to the mixture in the saucepan. Cook over low heat until the mixture boils, whisking constantly, then continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

6. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and lemon juice and zest. Transfer half of the hot filling to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Add the white chocolate to the hot filling in the saucepan and stir until the chocolate is melted; set aside. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in the white chocolate mixture until light and smooth. At this point, you should have a small bowl of lemon curd and a bowl of white chocolate truffle filling.

7. Spread one third of the white chocolate filling over one layer of the cake. Top with a second cake layer, then spread with one third more of the filling; top with a third cake layer and spread the remaining filling over. Top with the last cake layer and spread reserved lemon curd. Refrigerate, uncovered, until the filling is set (2 to 3 hours).

8. Make the whipped cream: In another bowl, whip the cream and sweeten it with the confectioners’ sugar. Frost the sides of the cake with half of the whipped cream frosting. Put the remaining frosting into a pastry bag and pipe decoratively around the top and bottom edge of the cake. Refrigerate up to 8 hours before serving.

For the Blondies

1 cups/157g all-purpose/plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

1 sticks/113g butter, softened

¾ cups165g packed light-brown sugar

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup/150g semisweet/plain chocolate chips

For the caramel:

½ cup white sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup or light corn syrup

½ cup butter

1 tablespoon whipping cream

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping:

12 oz Dark Chocolate, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 f/ 170c degrees.

Grease a 9-inch silicone baking pan..

Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.

In a large mixing bowl. beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a until fluffy.

Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.

Mix in the flour mixture by hand until combined (this avoids a cake like consistency).

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Set aside to cool.

For the caramel:

Combine the sugar and syrup in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it becomes a light caramel color.

Add the butter, salt & cream stir until smooth. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla.

Set aside to cool slightly, then pour over the cooled blondies.

Allow to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate melt chocolate in a microwaveable bowl for 30 seconds at a time (stirring in between) until the chocolate is smooth and fluid.

Pour the melted chocolate over the caramel and set aside until the chocolate has cooled completely.

Cut into squares and serve.

Ingredients
1 premade pizza dough from a pizzeria
olive oil for brushing dough
1 ball of mozzarella (not the kind in water, the kind that is vacuum sealed), you will use about half of a ball, depending on the size of it
1 tablespoon minced garlic, with flavored oil
Italian spices

Directions
Prepare the crust: Transfer to a baking pizza pan. Brush dough lightly all over with olive oil.
Cut or pull apart the cheese with your fingers and spread all over the dough.
Drizzle the pizza with a little of the garlic flavored oil from the minced garlic, and sprinkle with minced garlic over the entire pizza. Add just a bit of Italian spices to the top, and bake.
For my dough, they instruct you to bake at 425 for 12-18 minutes. (See detailed instructions here)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water
3 pounds fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cold water. Sprinkle over flour mixture, and work with hands to form dough into a ball. Chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish, covering bottom and halfway up sides. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

In a large saucepan, mix the peaches, lemon juice, and orange juice. Add 1/2 cup butter, and cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted. In a mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cornstarch; mix into peach mixture. Remove from heat, and pour into baked crust.

Roll remaining dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into half-inch-wide strips. Weave strips into a lattice over peaches. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top crust is golden brown

1 box cake mix

1 can frosting

filling:

5 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 tsp salt

bake cake according to package directions. when cake is completely cooled, turn cake out of pan onto a large plate or platter. (i usually use a cutting board). if the cake is really moist, put the cake in the freezer for a couple minutes and it should pop right out!

cut the thickness of the cake in half with a large knife or cake leveler. using a second plate, remove the top of the cake and set aside. flip the bottom half of the cake back into the cake pan. for this part, you can make the cake all fancy and do multiple layers if you want to. it's all about what you want :)

In a medium saucepan cook 5 T flour, 1 c milk, 1/4 tsp salt until thick. when i say thick, i mean kind of like a thin gravy. When it is too thick it doesn't beat up as nicely in the end. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla. Let cool completely. I usually put it in the refrigerator to cool while I do the next step.

In a medium bowl, cream together 1 c granulated sugar, 1/2 c crisco, 1/2 c margarine and 1/2 tsp salt.

When the "gravy" is cooled completely, add it to the bowl of creamed ingredients and beat for 10 minutes. It should be fluffy and the consistency of twinkie filling.

this recipe makes around 2 cups of fluff. It would be enough to have a 1/2 inch of filling in a 9x13 cake.

spread the cream filling on the bottom cake layer, leave 1/4 inch of space around the outside of the cake. the cream will spread out when the top layer is put back on.

carefully flip the top layer back onto the cake. frost as you normally would. if you are going to do a cake with multiple layers, i would recommend putting the cake in the freezer so the twinkie filling sets up and does not mix with the frosting if it squeezes out of the sides.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt to taste
optional seasonings: black pepper, oregano, cumin, coriander, chopped garlic, hot smoked paprika, chilli powder—whatever you’re in the mood for (I just used black pepper, garlic and a tablespoon of fish sauce, which gives it depth)
one 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, pureed in the can with a hand blender or in a blender blender
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 box macaroni
1 cup each grated cheddar and mozzarella cheeses

Directions:
Sweat the onions in the oil with a three-fingered pinch of salt. Add the beef and cook it, breaking it up as you do. (Because my beef was very fatty, I cooked it separately and added it to the pot along with the tomatoes. Also an option, but uses an extra pan.) Add another three-fingered pinch of salt or two, along with any dry seasonings you want. Add the tomatoes and any fresh seasonings you may be using, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour.

Cook the macaroni in boiling water till it’s half done. Drain it and add it to the tomatoes. (I wanted this to stretch into two meals, so I used the whole box, but if you want your dish to be very tomatoey and beefy, you might want to add only half the macaroni). Stir it into the sauce. Taste it. Add more salt and other seasonings as needed, and cover. When it’s cooled and the pasta has absorbed the tomato juices, transfer it to a large baking dish and cover it with foil. It can sit out for several hours like this, be refrigerated for up to two days, or frozen a few weeks.

Bake it in a 400 degree oven till it’s piping hot (about 45 minutes if it’s cold to room temperature). Just before you’re ready to eat, remove the foil, cover macaroni with the cheese and broil till it looks beautiful.

Having used all the pasta, I put the second batch into the cleaned baking dish and covered it with foil, wrote “Mac and Beef, bake, cover with cheese and broil” on the foil with a sharpie—so that next time I’m gone, Donna has a mid-week meal ready to go.

Now that we have this frozen version, it begs the question, “What is the difference between pulling this homemade version and baking it, and cooking the ubiquitous store-bought kind?” Besides the fact that it’s more satisfying to serve from glass than from foil or plastic? Besides the good ingredients and lack of bad ones? Besides all that extra, gooey, delicious melted cheese? Besides that it was fun to make? Besides that it tastes better?