JoAnne's Family Traditions

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Location: Western, New York, United States

I spend most of my free time gardening, reading garden magazines, photographing the garden or baking (mostly sweets, which list chocolate as the main ingredient). I play the guitar and sing in a contemporary choir of which I have been a member for 26 years.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Limited time in the Garden

I have not had much time in the garden these days. At least not much time to enjoy it. I just weeded the other day for the first time in probably a month or more and I didn't really pull that many weeds. While I was weeding I of course was checking out my huge Elephant Ears and trying to decide whether or not I wanted to cast one of them. As I was doing this the Humming Bird Hawk Moth came a buzzin' by so I ran in to get the camera. This is the only shot I was able to get. I also go another picture of a huge dragonfly with aqua and pink coloring. I had been wondering if and when this shell flower was going to bloom. I had been watching it and only recently have been able to see some buds as you can see here. It is unfortunate that this vine blooms so late. It is nice to have the fall color but we will have a frost before it is in full bloom. Of course this is not really the right climate for growing this plant. I think this will be my last year for this one. Here you can see what the blooms look like. It is actually very beautiful. But I think next year I'd like to grow mini pumpkin gourds on this obelisk. Every year as fall approaches I notice that I don't have much fall color. I am getting better or should I say the gardens are getting better but I still need to begin planning for fall in the spring. Here are the Elephan Ears I am planning to cast. Actually I have one in the studio that I cast on Sunday. I have not taken a look at it yet. I want to be sure it is totally dry before I unveil it. The largest leaf is 28 inches wide by 37 inches high. I also got a great deal at the end of the summer last year on some raspberries. Little did I know they were fall bearing. Here they are in bloom, large fruit with a great taste and there are still lot's of buds.










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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Chocolate Raspberry Torte



This torte can be easily converted to a Gluten Free recipe by substituting a gluten free brownie mix. Everything else is already gluten free.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

Brownie:
1 pkg. (19.5 Pillsbury) Brownie mix ½ vegetable oil
¼ cup water 2 eggs

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Spread in 9” pie or spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes (no more). Cool 30 minutes. For spring form pan, run knife around sides of pan to loosen: remove sides and cool completely.

Filling:
1 - 10 oz. pkg. frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed Fresh Raspberries optional
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Put frozen raspberries with syrup in blender and process until pureed. Strain to remove seeds. In small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually add raspberry puree, mix well. Bring to a boil and cook mixture until clear stirring constantly. Cool 5 minutes then spread over brownie layer to within ½ inch of edge. If using fresh raspberries arrange evenly over top and refrigerate.

Topping:
1 - 8 o pkg. cream cheese
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbls. white cream de cocoa (optional)
1 cup white chocolate wafers, melted
1 cup whipping cream, whipped OR
1 - 8 oz. tub whipped topping

In mixing bowl combine cream cheese (softened cream cheese will mix better so pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so first. Don't melt it, just soften.), powdered sugar, and cream de cocoa, beat until smooth. Add melted wafers and beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream, cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes. Stir topping mixture until smooth and spread 1 ½ cups over raspberries and raspberry filling. Pipe or spoon remaining topping around edges. Garnish as desired with more fresh raspberries, chocolate curls or drizzle, grated chocolate, mint or small raspberry leaves, etc.

NOTE: I did not have white cream de cocoa so I only used 1/2 tablespoon in this picture. Since it is brown, I didn't want it to discolor the white topping. You can omit it totally as I have in the past. The Gluten Free brownie mix was slightly thicker than a normal brownie mix so you might want to use a slightly larger pan but then you might have to modify the baking time. At any rate, with the gluten free brownie mix, you can use the toothpick test for doneness.