frozen - Around My Family Table

Pineapple Mint Granita

September 21, 2012 · by amft · 2 Comments

Fall is in the air for a lot of the country, but it’s still in the upper 90′s here in sunny Arizona. So, I had to squeeze in one last frozen treat for the season. It’s so easy and only has 4 ingredients.

When I attended the Phoenix Cooks event earlier this month, one of my most favorite dishes from the entire event was a pinepple mint sorbet from District American Kitchen (I believe). Oh, it was so delightful and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I really want to check out that restaurant and score a bigger portion…I wonder if it’s on their menu?

I’m gonna preach at you again about the importance of a great blender. If you have a powerful one (Vita-Mix or BlendTec only), then feel free to use add in the pineapple core. If you don’t, then you will need to cut it out before throwing everything in the blender.

Trust me…the mint really gives this sweet dessert a fantastic taste. It’s just a hint of mint, but it’s definitely there. And it’s so easy, throw it in the blender, pour into a freezer container, and once it’s frozen scrape with a fork to loosen it up.

It’s a nice, clean, and not overly sweet dessert for the end of summer!

Pineapple Mint Granita

1 whole pineapple

2 mint leaves

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Slice off the pineapple peel and roughly chop. (If not using a powerful blender, remove core.)

Place all ingredients in blender. Process until smooth, just 45-90 seconds. Pour into a large freezer safe container and freezer for about an hour.

When ready to serve, remove from freezer. Using the tines of a fork, scrape the mixture into little ice crystals.

Enjoy!

http://www.aroundmyfamilytable.com/2012/09/pineapple-mint-granita/

Filed Under: desserts, frozen treats · Tagged: dessert, frozen, mint, pineapple

Coffee-Drizzled Cream Cheese Pie

November 12, 2010 · by amft · 2 Comments

Since my party also featured the International Cafe coffee, I thought I would make a dessert using one of them. I pulled this recipe of Nabisco’s site too.

It was easy and tasty. The additional of the coffee sure made this a unique tasting pie. It sort of reminds me of a cheesecake, but with coffee. YUM! I think I had too much fun doing the swirls on the top of the pie. You could totally make this a couple days before your party, stick it in the freezer, and then pull it out several hours before your gathering. I sure did!

Coffee-Drizzled Cream Cheese Pie

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp. MAXWELL HOUSE INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ Suisse Mocha Café

1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

1 graham cracker pie crust (6 oz.)

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until creamy. Stir in milk. Remove 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture; place in small bowl. Stir in flavored instant coffee mix (I needed a little more milk to make it thin enough to drizzle). Drizzle 1 tbsp. of the coffee-flavored cream cheese mixture onto bottom of crust. Set remaining flavored cream cheese mixture aside.

Stir whipped topping gently into remaining plain cream cheese mixture, stirring just until marbleized. Spoon into crust. Drizzle with remaining coffee-flavored cream cheese mixture. Swirl knife gently through mixtures several times for marble effect.

Refrigerate 2 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 2 hr 15 min
Makes: 8 servings

Filed Under: desserts, pie · Tagged: coffee, dessert, frozen, make ahead, party food

Nutella Blended Coffee Drink

November 3, 2010 · by amft · 40 Comments

I had you at Nutella, right? If you like blended coffee drinks at all, this Nutella Blended Coffee Drink is for you! The other day, I was working hard on decluttering another part of the house and I needed a break. I took the opportunity, since Little Man was sleeping, to make me this treat and take a short break before he woke up and more chores started screaming my name.

I needed to use up lots of odds and ends in the pantry and freezer and this drink totally helped with that. The hazelnut flavor in the Nutella really provides a unique and different flavor to the basic chocolate coffee drink. This drink is so good…it’s probably more of a dessert than a breakfast coffee or snack, but I really don’t care.

I used my homemade chocolate syrup…it’s super easy, have you made your own yet? Not to worry…if you have the store bought stuff in the fridge it works just the same for this!

Nutella Blended Coffee Drink

1 cup milk (soy, rice, whole, etc)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
4 tsps Nutella (or try my gf, df homemade Nutella)
1 tbls sugar
1 cup ice
garnish: whipped cream, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder

Add all ingredients in the blender, except the garnishes. Blend until smooth. Finish by swirling a little chocolate syrup in your cup, pour in your drink, top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder.