Anyone who’s ever made Creme Caramel knows that the hold-your-breath moment happens way after all the work- when the rich flan has been chilled and is ready to be unmolded in all its jiggly glory. As one runs the thinnest knife possible around the edges of the pan, and gets ready to transfer it to a serving platter- that’s the moment we learn whether it’s baked up smoothly and whether the caramel has melted perfectly.

But here’s an idea: make your Creme Caramels in individual portions, such as these affordable aluminum containers pictured above. Serve them right from there with spoons, and you take unmolding completely out of the equation. The containers are disposable, yes, but they look just fine- and believe me, once your friends and family take their first spoons of these creamy delicious flans- made only with egg yolks- they won’t care. Really.

Mini Creme Caramels

1 cup white granulated sugar, divided into two half-cups
6 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk, warmed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
hot water

Preheat oven to 350F. Now make your caramel: Put 1/2 cup sugar in a heavy saucepan, and cook into a caramel- a rich golden brown (too much and it’ll be bitter, too little and it’ll be too sweet). Immediately remove from heat, and divide up into 9 mini custard cups. Set this aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg yolks with the other 1/2 cup sugar. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Slowly (you don’t want to cook the eggs) drizzle in the warm milk. Then stir in vanilla. Pour into your custard cups.

Set cups in a large baking pan, place on the oven rack, then add hot water to the pan, up to about half of the custard cups. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in centers comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Cover with foil, and chill until ready to serve- with spoons!

Cherry Brandy was one of those things that sounded absolutely delicious to me as a child. I was determined to drink it when I grew up. Now that I’m all grown up, though, I’ve discovered something I like much better than Cherry Brandy- Brandied Cherries!

There’s just something about brandying my own fresh cherries that make me feel all fifties housewife with fire engine red lipstick and a pink apron. Here’s how to do it:

Homemade Brandied Cherries

Ingredients:
5 pounds fresh, dark cherries (the sweeter, the better!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup good brandy

Method:
Wash and pit your cherries. To a large pan, add sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add the pitted cherries, and let simmer for around five minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the brandy. Et voila! The most delicious Brandied Cherries ever.

What to do with these? My favorite way is atop a generous slice of chocolate cake. It’s also killer over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or- if you really want to be wicked- with a scoop of Cherry Garcia and a good dousing of chocolate syrup.

Chocolate can really kill you when it comes to heartburn but what if you have a sweet tooth and you just can’t pass up on dessert? What are the alternatives open to you? Here are a couple of recipes from Spark People – they are simply delish and keeps heartburn away as well.

Easy Angelfood Trifle
Ingredients
1 angel food cake
2 boxes fat-free sugar-free vanilla pudding, prepared with skim milk
1 tub cool whip free
2-3 pints fresh fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries

Directions
Cut angel food cake into 1″ squares. Place 1/2 in glass trifle dish. Mix pudding according to directions. Pour 1/2 over angel food cake. Spread 1/2 of cool whip over that layer, then place 1/2 of the fruit over cool whip. Repeat in order with remaining ingredients.

Number of Servings: 24

That one’s so easy as you do not have to bake the cake yourself but hey, if you’re into baking why not make your own Angel cake?

Peach Pie

Ingredients
One bag frozen peaches, thawed
1 package fat free, sugar free, vanilla cook and serve pudding mix
2 cups skim milk
1 package sugar free peach Jell-O

Directions
Prepare pudding according to microwave directions on the box. Add peach Jell-O mix and stir until dissolved. Place peaches in a pie pan and pour pudding/Jell-O mixture over peaches. Refrigerate until firm.

Number of Servings: 4

Do take note that these recipes work best with fat free ingredients. Otherwise, you might not get the full heartburn free benefits.

Thinking of a good foodie gift for Christmas? Or maybe you need to whip up quick snacks for people to munch on. Here is a perfect recipe for you – Chocolate pretzels from Germany. I found this recipe from Taste.com.au and I think that it just might be a hit this year.

Ingredients
• 125g butter, softened
• 1/2 cup pure icing sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 200g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, chopped

Method
1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and icing sugar until pale and creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Sift flour and cocoa over butter mixture. Stir until dough comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth. Press into a 1.5cm-thick disc. Wrap in baking paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 large, flat baking trays with baking paper. Using 2 teaspoons dough per biscuit, roll out dough into 20cm-long sausage shapes. Bend into horseshoe shapes, with ends towards you. Cross over ends. Rest ends on top loop of dough. Place on baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, swapping trays after 6 minutes, or until golden and firm to touch. Allow biscuits to cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water (do not allow base of bowl to touch water). Stir occasionally with a metal spoon until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Dip each pretzel into chocolate. Place on baking trays. Allow chocolate to set.

What do you think? Looks easy enough to make?

Ingredients

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups hot milk
2 pounds butternut squash
3 eggs

What’s Next
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a small saucepan, cover squash cubes with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash. Measure out 2 cups of mashed squash and refrigerate remaining leftover amount.
Mix sugar, salt, and spices. Blend in milk, squash, eggs, and butter or margarine. Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.
Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 40 minutes, or until a knife blade inserted in the center comes out clean.