Ingredients

• 2 Cups applesauce
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1/4 Cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Cup Bisquick baking mix
• 1/3 Cup sugar
• 3 Tbs. butter or margarine, firm
• 1/4 Cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°.

Mix applesauce, brown
sugar, raisins, and cinnamon in a 9-inch
ungreased glass baking dish.

Heat 15 minutes in the oven (or 5 – 7 minutes in a microwave.)

In a separate bowl, combine Bisquick, sugar, and firm
butter just until crumbly.

Stir in nuts. Sprinkle evenly over applesauce mixture. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

• 1 box cake or brownie mix
• 4 cups vanilla ice cream or any flavor or your choice
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Prepare cake or browny mix to the directions on the box.
Cut into square and put in freezeruntil chilled. What you will
make is an ice cream sandwich. Lower level of cake or browny,
then a layer of ice cream, then a top layer of cake or browny.
Place back in freezer to remain chilled and frozen.
Beat egg whites until frothy, add salt, almond or vanilla extract
and slowly add sugar, beating until stiff and glossy.
Spread over ice cream sanwiches, sealing edges.
Place under broiler 500 degrees F (260 degrees C) for 2 minutes or until
browned. Serve at once.

Another option to putting it under the broiler until brown is to use
a blow torch to quickly brown the surface of the baked alaska.

Serve at once. Time is working against you. Once the egg whites are browned
the moisture in the air immediately begins breaking down the
egg white, so this is a dish that you must finish immediately before
service….but you will get nothing but “BRAVO !!!!” when you make
it.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds phyllo dough (approx. 40 sheets)
• 6 ½ cups finely chopped walnuts
• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ pound unsalted butter (melted)
• 2 ½ cups honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Grease a 13×9 pan (bottom & sides) and set aside.

Mix well the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack.

Note: When working with phyllo be sure to work fast and keep the unused portion covered with plastic wrap at all times, as it tends to dry out pretty fast. Also, be sure to carefully follow the defrosting instructions on the phyllo – the sheets will stick together if you try to do a “speed defrost”.

Set aside one full-size sheet of phyllo dough. Cover with plastic wrap.

Cut remaining phyllo sheets into 13×9 sheets. Actually, measure your pan and cut the sheets to match the actual inside dimensions. On my pan it is actually 12 ¾ x 8 ¾, for example. With a big sharp knife you should be able to cut all of the phyllo at the same time. You will most likely have a lot of left over phyllo – consider finding another dish where you could use the smaller pieces of leftover phyllo dough.

Carefully lay the full-size phyllo sheet into the greased pan, folding over the pan edges. With a pastry brush, liberally apply melted butter.

Lay a cut sheet of phyllo into the bottom of the pan, and with a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter. Repeat 9 more times, so that you have the one full sheet and 10 smaller sheets as your bottom layer.

Sprinkle 2 cups of the walnut mixture into the pan. Lay 6 more sheets of phyllo on top, making sure to liberally apply the melted butter between each sheet. Repeat this 3 more times, so that you have 4 separate layers of the walnut mixture. For the top layer place as many phyllo sheets on top as you have remaining, again making sure to liberally butter between each sheet.

Using a sharp plastic spatula, carefully fold over the large sheet of phyllo that should still be extended over the edge back onto the top, so that you can see down the inside edges of the pan. In effect you now have one big baklava package wrapped with your initial phyllo sheet.

Using a very, very sharp serrated knife, carefully score the baklava into whatever shape you want. A diamond pattern is the traditional shape. Try to cut about half-way down into the baklava when you do this.

Bake for 2 ½ to 3 hours at 300 degrees until nice and brown.

About 5 minutes before removing the baklava from the oven, combine the honey and lemon juice and heat over a medium heat until runny. Do not boil it, just heat it well so it has a consistency more like water.

Remove the baklava from the oven and very carefully drain the butter that it will no doubt be floating in.

Set the baklava on a cooling rack, and pour the honey mixture completely over it.

Cover the baklava and let sit for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best (if you can wait that long!)

When you are ready to cut the pieces, cut through the score marks with a sharp knife, and use a spatula to remove the pieces. Have patience with this step, if you are not careful here you can make a real mess of it!

You are done, enjoy the fruits of your labor. This is a labor intensive dish but well worth it!
Related Entries

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• brown sugar
• glassful of rum

Directions

Slice your bananas lengthwise into a buttered fireproof dish, and sprinkle them with brown sugar. Pour a glassful of rum over them, and cook the mixture in the oven until sugar is dissolved.

Source: The Wise Encyclopedia of Cookery (1948)

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons or 1/4 stick butter
• 2 bananas, sliced
• vanilla wafers

Directions

In a large glass bowl, beat egg yolks. Add the milk and continue beating. When smooth and bubbly on top, add 1 cup of the sugar and 3 tablespoons of the cornstarch. Beat until well combined.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and puncture a hole in top with a knife. Cook in microwave on HIGH for three minutes. Whisk and re-cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH for another two minutes. Add vanilla and butter. Mix well and add banana slices.

MERINGUE

In another bowl, beat egg whites and add the remaining tablespoon cornstarch and the three tablespoons of sugar. Beat well until stiff peaks form. Spread the meringue over the pudding mixture. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until brown. When done, line pudding with vanilla wafers.