Peach Cannoli's

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 Teaspoon Sugar
Dash of Salt
1/4 cup Butter milk
1/2 Cup Marsala Wine
1 Egg
Vegetable Oil For Frying

Filling
2 1/2 Cups Full Fat Ricotta Cheese
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Cup Chopped Roasted Pecans
1/2 Cup Peaches copped fine
1 Vanilla bean scraped of seeds

To make the shells:
Mix together the flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Begin to add the Butter milk then the wine, adding enough so that you have formed a fairly firm dough.
Knead for a few minutes until smooth. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let sit at room temperature for about one hour.
Half the dough, and roll thinly to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 4 squares. Place a metal tube diagonally across each square, and wrap the dough around the tube. Seal the edges with a little beaten egg.
Heat the oil in a large pan until it reaches a temperature of 375 degrees F. Drop one or two tubes into the hot oil at one time, and cook until golden. Remove from the pan, cool, and gently slide the cannoli shell from the tube.
Continue to make the rest of the shells in this manner.
To make the filling:
First let the ricotta sit in a strainer over a small bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to remove excess whey.
Mix the ricotta with the rest of the ingredients. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Fill each cannoli shell carefully, and sprinkle with a little extra powdered sugar if desired. Serve with a scoop of Ice Cream.

Banana Pudding

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup self-rising flour

2 cups milk

3 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Vanilla wafer cookies

3 bananas, ripe but firm

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the salt, and the self-rising flour in a bowl.

Slowly stir in milk. Put mixture in top of double boiler over simmering water and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Beat egg yolks then briskly stir a small amount of the hot mixture (about 1/2 cup) into them. Add egg yolk mixture back into the hot mixture in top of double boiler and stir in butter and vanilla. Cook until mixture thickens again.

Place a layer of vanilla wafers in an 11x7-inch baking dish (or other shape 2-quart shallow baking dish). Add half of the sliced bananas. Pour half of pudding mixture over banana layer. Repeat layers, ending with remaining pudding. In a mixing bowl beat egg whites until foamy; gradually beat in 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cream of tartar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pudding. Bake at 350° until browned completely. Remove from oven. Serve hot or cold.

Egg white merinue is the traditional topping. You can always go with Whipped Cream, or other favorite topping.

If you don't make the merinue, Here are some easy and great tasting cookies.

Pecan Meringue Cookies

1 cup whole pecans (preferably lightly roasted - 8-10 min at 250°F)

3 egg whites

Pinch salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vinegar

 Preheat oven to 300°F.

 Place pecans in zipper baggie and beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Set aside.

 Put egg whites into a standup mixer bowl. Add salt. Start the mixer speed on low, gradually increasing the speed until soft peaks start to become visible and the egg white bubbles are very small and uniform, about 2 to 3 minutes.

 Increase the speed to medium-high, and slowly add the sugar to the egg whites. Continue to whip the eggs and sugar for a few minutes. Then add the vinegar to the bowl. Increase speed to high and whip the egg whites until they fluff up and become glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 4-5 minutes.

 Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the pecan pieces. Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper .

 Put the cookies sheet in the 300°F oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Leave them in the oven overnight. In the morning they should be ready.

Banana Rum Custard

4 egg yolks

2 cups half-and-half

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla        

 In the top of a double boiler over hot water, beat together egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar and salt. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture is slightly thickened. The mixture should be thick enough coat a spoon. Strain custard; add rum and vanilla. Let cool, cover, and chill. This sauce after chilled is still just thin enough to ladle over sliced bananas in a small bowl or dessert dish.

Buttermilk Biscuit Pudding

4 leftover biscuits

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

 Place torn biscuits and 1 cup milk in 1 1/2-quart baking dish; soak until soft. Add sugar mix well, then the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add butter, vanilla, and remaining milk. Bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes, or until custard is firm and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Rice Beignets

1/2 cup uncooked rice

 3 cups boiling water

 1 package active dry yeast

 3 eggs, well beaten

 1/4 cup flour

 1/2 cup granulated sugar

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

 1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg

 seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 cap of extract

 oil (for deep-fat frying)

 confectioners' sugar

 Cook rice in boiling water until very tender and mushy. Drain and set aside to cool. Dissolve yeast in 2 tablespoons warm water. Mix with cold rice and let stand in a warm spot overnight or at least 4 hours. 

 Beat in eggs, flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, adding more flour, if necessary, to make a thick batter. Heat oil to 370 degrees F on deep-fat thermometer. Drop batter from tablespoons into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm