Recipes: Desserts!

I've never been much of a sweets fanatic, with the exception of adoring chocolate and cheesecake (or the sublime and permanently addictive food group created when I combined the two back when dairy wasn't an issue). Because of this, I've never spent a lot of time experimenting with desserts. I think I've only ever baked one single cake from scratch (no kidding), and I'm sure that the last time I baked a pie was over seven years ago. And should I mention that my last experiment with brownies -- from a mix out of a box, is still mocked good-naturedly by a couple of good friends who witnessed the outcome?

With all this confessed, I have to add that I've resisted attempting to learn to bake tofu-based cheesecake out of fear that I'd succeed (I'm weak, I tell you).

Thankfully, I've been able to dabble with some really simple (in terms of ingredients, time and cost) and relatively healthier dessert recipes over the years. Here are a couple of them. I'll post more over the next week.

Adapted from Kathy Cooks Naturally by Kathy Hoshijo:

Gingered Bananas

4 bananas, sliced
2 lemons, juiced
2 scant tsp of freshly-grated ginger

Toss everything together and serve. (I like to chill the lemon juice ahead of time.) Serves 2.

Pears In The Surf

2 cups of diced pears
1/8 to 1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs of agave nectar
1 tsp of freshly-grated ginger
1 tsp grated lemon rind
fizzy water (e.g. Perrier, San Pellegrino)

Mix juice, agave nectar, ginger and lemon rind and marinate the diced pears in it for a minimum of a half hour, chilling it and mixing it occasionally to ensure pears get covered nicely.

Spoon into serving cups immediately before serving and pour fizzy water over the fruit to fill the cups. Serves 2.


(Watching: The Sound of Music. Quit yer snickering!)