About Rene Carter

Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie

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Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie
In fall or any time of year, this nutty, rich and delicious pie is one I am proud to serve. While it seems very special, it’s a snap to make.

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
  • 1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) fat-free caramel ice cream topping
  • Additional fat-free caramel ice cream topping, optional

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Line a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate with pastry. Trim and flute edges.
  3. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth. Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel
    topping until blended. Pour slowly over pecans.
  5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned (loosely cover edges with
    foil after 20 minutes if pie browns too quickly).
  6. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour.
  7. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight before slicing. If desired, garnish with additional caramel ice cream topping.

Yield:
6-8 servings.

Pecan-Caramel Crunch Ice Cream

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Pecan-Caramel Crunch Ice Cream
Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 4 cups whipping cream
  • 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 (20-ounce) bottle caramel topping
  • Garnishes: oat mix and waffle cone pieces

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together first 5 ingredients; spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet.
  2. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Process in a food processor until finely chopped; set aside.
  3. Stir together 2 cups brown sugar and next 3 ingredients in a large saucepan over low heat, and simmer, stirring often, 1 minute. (Do not boil.)
  4. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually stir 1 cup hot brown sugar mixture into yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to remaining hot mixture; cook, stirring constantly, over low heat 2 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Remove pan from heat; stir in cream, condensed milk, and vanilla. Let cool to room temperature.
  5. Pour mixture into freezer container of a 6-quart hand-turned or electric freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions 5 to 7 minutes or until partially frozen. Layer top of ice cream evenly with oat mixture and caramel topping. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions, 10 to 15 more minutes or until mixture is frozen. (If desired, remove mixture from freezer container, and place in another container. Return to freezer, and freeze 8 hours or overnight.)

Caramel Brownies

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Caramel Brownies
Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup 2% milk
  • 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
  • 14 ounces caramels
  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Preparation

  1. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs and milk.
  2. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup pecans.
  4. Spoon two-thirds of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.
  5. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the caramels and condensed milk over low heat until caramels are melted.
  7. Pour over baked brownie layer.
  8. Sprinkle with remaining pecans.
  9. Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over caramel layer; carefully swirl brownie batter with a knife.
  10. Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake).
  11. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 2 dozen.

Fresh Apple Cake

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Fresh Apple Cake
Thinly sliced apples create rich, moist layers of fruit within the cake. Frost it with Browned-Butter Frosting (pictured), Dark Chocolate Frosting, or Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
  • Browned-Butter Frosting,
  • Dark Chocolate Frosting, or
  • Cream Cheese Frosting

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
  2. Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.
  3. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.
  4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes). Spread your choice of frosting over top of cake; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans.

Browned-Butter Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes or until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove pan from heat immediately, and pour butter into a small bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour or until butter is cool and begins to solidify.
  2. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with powdered sugar. Beat mixture at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Preparation

  1. Microwave semisweet chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a 2-qt. microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 1/2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt.
  2. Whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Whisk in butter; let stand 20 minutes. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture forms soft peaks. Use immediately.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
  2. Gradually add sugar and salt, beating until blended. Stir in vanilla.

Mile-High White Chocolate Hummingbird Cake

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Mile-High-White-Chocolate-Hummingbird-Cake
The Hummingbird Cake remains our most-requested recipe of all time. The origin of the name is unknown, but its signature ingredients—mashed banana, pineapple, coconut and pecans—assure its continued popularity. Eight layers and a spoon-licking white chocolate-cream cheese frosting make this updated version more spectacular than the original. But it’s easy as can be because of convenience products such as cake mix, instant pudding mix, and canned pineapple

Ingredients

  • 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
  • 2 18.25-ounce packages white cake mix (we tested with Duncan Hines)
  • 2 3.4-ounce packages vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups milk, divided
  • 2 cups canola oil
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 4-ounce white chocolate baking bar, finely chopped (we tested with Ghirardelli)
  • 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
  • 2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
  • 2 cups chopped banana (about 3 medium)
  • White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Garnish

  • Toasted pecans

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Drain pineapple, reserving juice for another use. Squeeze pineapple well using several thicknesses of paper towels to remove excess moisture.
  3. Combine cake mix and next 7 ingredients in an 8-qt. mixing bowl. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes; beat at medium speed 3 minutes. Fold in pineapple, white chocolate, and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into 4 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.
  4. Bake at 350° for 34 to 36 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely. Wrap and chill cake layers at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
  5. Using a serrated knife, slice cake layers in half horizontally to make 8 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on cake plate. Spread with 1/2 cup White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Repeat procedure 6 times. Place final cake layer on top of cake, cut side down. Spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. Cover; chill in refrigerator overnight. Garnish, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

Notes

  1. Cover cake in an airtight container and freeze up to 1 month in advance. Thaw in refrigerator overnight before serving.
  2. To prepare a 4-layer White Chocolate Hummingbird Cake instead, use half of all ingredients in both cake and frosting recipes. Follow cake recipe as directed in Steps 1 through 4, except use only 2 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. In Step 5, slice the 2 cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers. Follow White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe as directed except microwave white chocolate morsels in Step 1 for only 1 1/2 minutes. Assemble cake as directed. Both the 8- and 4-layer versions of this delicious cake slice best after they have chilled overnight.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

  • 3 cups white chocolate morsels
  • 3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 7 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Microwave white chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 3 minutes; stir until smooth.

2. Combine cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add melted chocolate, beating well. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at medium speed until mixture reaches desired spreading consistency.

Fudge Pie

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Fudge Pie
Adapted from a recipe in Encore! Nashville, this simple, decadent chocolate pie filling can easily be used in your favorite purchased or homemade pie crust.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/2 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 (9-inch) frozen unbaked pie crust shell
  • Ice cream

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Microwave first 3 ingredients in a large microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, whisking at 30-second intervals.
  2. Whisk sugar and flour into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each addition. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Stir in pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell.
  3. Bake at 375° for 35 to 40 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Serve with ice cream.