Posted April 14, 2022 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 2 Comments
For the last dish in my PETER RABBIT menu, let me introduce you to these sweet little bites of heaven: mini no-bake blackberry cheesecakes! As soon as I started planning my menu, I knew I wanted the dessert to draw from the blackberries and milk Peter’s siblings enjoy at the end of the story. I tossed around lots of ideas, eventually deciding on no-bake cheesecake because my daughter loves cream cheese (her egg allergy prevents her from enjoying regular cheesecake). Plus, cheesecake is one of my husband’s favorite desserts. I made several batches during recipe testing, and he LOVED being my guinea pig! 😀
This was my first time developing a cheesecake recipe, so to make sure my proportions were right, I consulted two no-bake cheesecake recipes from Live Well Bake Often and Chenee Today. I found my filling to be a bit too loose after it set (possibly due to the additional liquid from the blackberry puree I mixed in), so I used a method I found at Simply Recipes, which calls for mixing a bit of gelatin in at the end. It set perfectly, which was a huge relief, since I would have been so sad to nix the puree. Not only does it provide a fun sweet-tart kick, but it turns the cheesecake an adorable lavender color. Bon appetit! 🙂
NOTE: THIS RECIPE NEEDS TO SET FOR AT LEAST 4 HOURS.
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Posted March 31, 2022 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Even though Peter Rabbit doesn’t eat any carrots in his story, I feel like a rabbit-centered menu needs a carrot recipe, y’know? However, I suppose it’s rather fitting that this recipe doesn’t have carrots in it either—just crescent roll horns disguised as carrots! 😉 This super cute idea for crescent roll carrots was originally developed by Beth at Hungry Happenings, though I did change it a bit. The idea is super adorable, and Beth also uses an amazing shortcut for diy pastry cones if you don’t have cream horn molds. The secret? Ice cream cones! I used waffle cones for mine. Since they’re bigger, than means more room for filling!
For the filling, I used my favorite chicken salad recipe, which uses poppy seed dressing from my Petunia Bowl Salad instead of mayo. It’s a bit healthier than regular chicken salad, and it’s great alternative if you have an egg allergy (like my daughter).
My kids LOVED this. And talk about a perfect Easter recipe! 😀
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Posted March 17, 2022 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
The funny thing about learning to cook through food blogging is that my cooking skill hasn’t followed a linear progression. Instead of starting with the basics and working my way up, I hopped around from making soup one day to ornate pastries another. It definitely keeps me on my toes. However, it also puts me in the odd position of knowing how to make chocolate cream puffs with brandy pastry cream…but not quiche. Somehow, in the 8 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve never had an opportunity to make it. So when I sat down to plan the entree for my PETER RABBIT menu, I knew I wanted a dish that could showcase the contents of the McGregors’ garden, and quiche was the perfect candidate.
First, I reread PETER RABBIT and made a list of every plant mentioned in Mr. McGregor’s garden. The potatoes caught my eye, since they would be a great way to make the dish hearty and filling without meat (I’m trying to keep it vegetarian, since PETER RABBIT is a garden-centric story). For flavor pairings, I was inspired by the Leek and Potato Soup with Parsnip and Garlic from my cookbook. Leeks are a type of onion, and onions are mentioned as being present in the McGregors’ garden too. So I took potatoes, leeks, and garlic and made a quiche I could imagine Mrs. McGregor serving to her husband after a hectic morning of chasing off mischievous little rabbits.
I started with my go-to pie crust recipe and added in some fresh rosemary. For my quiche base, I used two recipes for reference: Easy Quiche from The Spruce Eats and Crustless Potato Asparagus Quiche from The Natural Nurturer. I LOVE how the final product turned out. Lots of rich flavors coming together in a filling, aromatic dish!
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Posted March 3, 2022 by Alison's Wonderland Recipes in Book of the Month Recipes / 0 Comments
Today we’re starting a Peter Rabbit menu…and I’ve been looking forward to it for TWO YEARS! 😀 Such a garden-centric story is perfect material for a literary food blog like mine. Plus, there are so many fun uses for a Peter Rabbit menu: kids’ birthday parties, baby showers, Easter, and more!
Originally, I had plans to include a Peter Rabbit menu in my second cookbook, but I had to drop it during the planning stage when I reduced the scope of the book to cold weather holidays only (otherwise the book would have been MASSIVE). Still, I never forgot the delicious Peter Rabbit menu I dreamed up. Now I’m realizing that dream!
Today’s recipe is inspired by the chamomile tea Mother Rabbit has Peter drink when he gets sick. I love tea-infused baked goods, and I’ve been jonesing to make some scones lately. Still, scones alone felt a bit too simplistic. I had peaches on the brain after canning some for the first time a couple months ago, so I developed a peach jam recipe too. The peach and chamomile complement each other sooo well. Yum!
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