Sweet treats without baking

Cafe Society
1

It’s my birthday next Sunday and on Monday I want to bring in something nice for the cow-orkers. In our international office we have some terrific bakers and I would love to keep up the tradition of home-made treats. Unfortunately, however, the oven in my (rented) apartment is, for all intents and purposes, broken.

Can anyone think of good recipes that are not tricky make big amounts of (about 20 people), that can be transported to the office (we do have a fridge to put things in) and, most crucially, that do not require an oven?
P.s. The Italian cow-orker makes the best Tiramisu ever. I’m not even going to try competing with that so that option is out.

2

My first though was rum balls. Always a hit at office parties. There’s a gazillion recipes out there - I just linked the first one that looked right.

3

An unbaked cheesecake? There must be millions of recipes.

4

Yes, I had thought of those and can probably find a recipe, but if anyone has a terrifically nice or unusual version that would be great.

5

These are simple, but the first one, particularly, makes people curious.

Potato candy:

Boil a small to medium potato until completely cooked (you don’t need to cut it up). Drain, put in bowl. Begin adding powdered sugar and mixing with the potato. It will get very liquidy, but keep adding and mixing. Eventually, it will become doughy. Roll out until it’s fairly thin & with an even thickness. Spread with peanut butter (or other spread of your choosing - I wouldn’t go with anything sweet as a filling because the dough is already very sweet). Roll up and slice across so you have round(ish - mine are always more oval than round) spirals. Place in layers in a dish - cover each layer with a very slightly damp paper towel - this keeps them soft. Otherwise the dough gets hard. Refrigerate until ready to serve. The potato can’t be tasted at all.
People puppy chow:

Needed: 1 stick butter, 1 box corn or rice Chex (or store brand equivalent). 1 cup peanut butter, 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1-2 lbs powdered sugar.

In a saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate and peanut butter together over low heat. While this is melting, place the cereal in something you can mix it easily - like a roasting pan or a deep dutch oven. When the chocolate mixture is completely melted and smooth, pour it over the cereal and mix until pieces are covered.

Place about half the powdered sugar in something you can shake easily - a paper grocery bag works well or a deep pan with a lid. Put the cereal mixture in the container, put more powdered sugar on top, close (fold the bag or put the lid on the pan) and shake well until pieces are coated. The powdered sugar will help keep the pieces from sticking together (though some still may). Put in a container and cover until ready to serve.

6

How about some ricotta with good honey, a spot of orange blossom and some wafers?

7

Can’t get any sweeter than pure sugar. And no, I’m not just trying to be witty here. My mother has a recipes for home-made mints. I don’t have a copy of it, but the recipe goes roughly like this.

Boil some water
Add a lot of sugar*
Some peppermint extract
Spoon onto waxed paper
Let cool
Eat

It tastes pretty much like pure sugar with mint flavouring, but it was always one of my favorite Christmas treats as a kid.

*We’re talking way beyond saturation point here

8

rice krispy treats are very easy, and require only a microwave to melt the marshmallow :slight_smile:

9

Shweethaat, you don’t need an oven to make tiramisu. What you do need is:

  1. A package of ladyfingers
  2. Mascarpone, sweetened
  3. Strong coffee
  4. Liqueur (I use brandy)
  5. Cocoa powder or shavings for the top

Making tiramisu is an assembly process. A layer of ladyfingers, soak with coffee and liqueur, spread on mascarpone, repeat until you run out of ingredients. Then sprinkle chocolate on top.

10

I know, my dear.

What I was trying to say is that the office Italian (every office should have one) does such a good job that I don’t want to even try to make the same thing.

11

I think some of the office workers would be a bit bemused by that one but it sounds lovely. I think this might be more one for the more select company of friends back at my place rather than the office.

12

If any of your coworkers are recovering alcoholics, they won’t be able to partake.

Just sayin’.

13

This recipe works really well. Sweet without being cloying, and doesn’t include any alcohol (just in case there’s a scenario like twickster mentioned):

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Over low heat in a heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.

Chill 2-3 hours or until firm.

Shape into 1-inch balls. Coat with whatever floats your boat: Minced nuts, coconut, sprinkles, cocoa powder, powdered sugar… whatever. Chill 1 hour or until firm. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

14

Mmmm, those truffles sound good – and easy. I’m guessing you could use mint chocolate chips if you wanted – do you think white chocolate would work?

15

Special K bars. You need a stove and a microwave.

In a saucepan, combine a cup of suger and a cup of corn syrup. Heat until it starts to bubble. Then, turn off the heat and add a cup of chunky peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter melts. Next, add 6 cups of Special K cereal and stir until all the cereal is coated. Dump that mixture onto a cookie sheet and spread it out to a nice level, a half-inch or so thick.

While that’s cooling, melt a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a bag of butterscotch chips (the 11 to 12 ounce bags for each) together in the microwave. Keep stirring, so that they form one smooth mixture. When all is melted, spread on top of the Special K mixture. Let cool, then cut into bars. Yumminess will ensue.

16

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

Microwave a couple of minutes, stir until smooth, fold in mini marshmallows, let set in fridge.

1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter

Microwave a couple of minutes, stir until smooth, fold in mini marshmallows, let set in fridge.

Every Christmas, while Mom was busy making all the complicated stuff, she got us kids to make those in the meantime, made us feel like we were helping. She made those before we ever became “helpers”, and she still makes them today, and they are now a staple of my Christmas cooking - while everything else is simmering, baking, rising, setting, popping, boiling, freezing, or mixing - these are the easiest things to make, and they’re delicious, too!

I used to make my own “truffles”, which are also simple, but I no longer remember the measurements. It was just a simple mixture of cocoa, butter, and lots of icing sugar, made into a nice dough, you could add extracts to it - roll into balls, then use toothpicks to dip into melted semi-sweet (or for a real treat, milk) chocolate. You could use any type of melted chocolate, just about - mint would be good, white or butterscotch probably would be good, those raspberry chocolate chips were divine… I’d like to try them with those new Nestle swirls chips, like the chocolate caramel ones…

Or, a mixture of peanut butter with icing sugar, dipped into melted milk chocolate. I always set mine on wax paper in the fridge, and they hardened, I’d melt extra choclate - sometimes more milk chocolate, sometimes a semi- or bitter- sweet chocolate, and drizzle it over the holes the toothpicks left in the top of the balls. Always made my truffles and PB balls look like nice candy you get from a box.

17

Oh, and for that top chocolate marshmallow square recipe, alter it by lining a pan with whole graham crackers, add some coconut to the mix, and maybe some peanuts, too, pour over crackers, sprinkle with more coconut - voila! Rocky Road bars.

18

I’m sure I’ve posted it before, but here’s my cheesecake recipe:

Dulce de Leche Mousse Cheesecake

Crust

2 cups crushed shortbread cookies (about 1 package)
1 stick butter, melted

Filling

1 cup Dulce de Leche, separated
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 ½ cups chilled whipping cream
9 ounces white chocolate, chopped or in chips
3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup Baker’s sugar
For Crust: Combine crushed cookies and butter well. Press mixture into bottom of 10-inch diameter springform pan.

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat 2 cups whipping cream to peaks. Set aside in refrigerator.

Bring ½ c cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate and gelatin and stir until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and ¼ to ½ cups Dulce de Leche in large bowl to blend. Slowly beat white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture. Fold whipped cream into white chocolate/cheese mixture. Pour filling into prepared crust. Heat remaining Dulce de Leche in pastry bag or Ziploc bag to melt slightly, and drizzle over cheesecake. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Dulce de Leche is an Argentine milk caramel. My mom used to make it, but I have found that the Smucker’s brand is just as good and much easier. It’s by the ice cream toppings at my grocery store. It’s really rich, so you might want to start small and taste as you go. Baker’s sugar is important since this cheesecake isn’t cooked. It doesn’t leave a gritty feeling.

I’m developing a slightly denser mocha version, but I won’t have all of the kinks worked out until Friday. If you want it after then, email me and I’ll pass it on too.

19

Yeah, but the ones who aren’t will be very, very happy. :smiley:

20

Fudge!