TWD: All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie

I could say something about my absence the last several months but I'm sure I probably don't have any readers left. I'm sure you all have busy lives and don't want to hear about mine. Life happens.

While life is happening, sometimes I am baking and sometimes I am not. For the things have made and not blogged about, I am planning to post. I find the hardest part is not finding the time to bake but finding the time and words in which to blog. I am not a writer, never have been and never will be and most days I don't have any interesting stories. But, I do love baking!

I recently got the chance to meet Dorie Greenspan, the author of this amazing book we are baking through and without whom, this group wouldn't exist. She was even more wonderful in person than I imagined her to be. What struck me as the most inspirational that night was when she said that Baking: From My Home to Yours and Around My French Table are what she considers to be her autobiographies. I am going to remind myself of her dedication every time I want to be a slacker.

That said, I have actually made this pie 3 times! The first pie, seen below, I made with apples from last year. I had peeled, cored, sliced and frozen them and needed to clear them out of my freezer. I made it for the first day of school for the teachers my husband works with. They all loved it. I was not impressed. The problem was with the apples, they tasted fine but had a mushy texture that I did not enjoy. Two days later, my husband came home and said one of his fellow teachers had dreamed about my pie.

The second time, I made the pie, I forgot to take a picture. I am so disappointed because in my opinion, it came out the best. One of the most beautiful apple pies, I've ever seen. I took the pie to the cast party for my husband's show. Again, I received rave reviews. Not only did I not get a picture, I never even got a bite. They inhaled it.

The third time, pictured at the top, I made as a thank you gift. The reviews were just as amazing as the first 2 pies. She has also requested more baked goods as soon as possible.

In the end, I only got a sliver of the first pie, which I didn't like! But The reviews speak for themselves, the pie is amazing!


The only change I really made was that I used flour as the thickener instead of tapioca. I didn't have tapioca and the flour substitute turned out great.

Thank you to our hostess this week, Emily of Sandmuffin. The recipe can be found on her blog.

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

Molasses, Oats, Cherries, Chocolate, Pecans, Coconut...Oh My!

Yes, folks, that is a lot of ingredients to pack into one little cookie. But let me tell you they are delicious.

Dorie's recipe uses a combination of both butter and shortening, I decided to take the lazy way out and just used all butter. She also gives a lot of room for creativity in this recipe. You can use any combination of nuts and dried fruit you would like. I opted for using dried cherries and pecans in additional to the oats, coconut and chocolate chips that were already part of the recipe. I loved the flavors together. They all complimented each other really well. The cookies were sticky in texture from the molasses and the the dough had a strong molasses flavor but in the end I didn't really notice a molasses flavor at all.

Thank you to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Apple Crisp

Baking has become a huge passion for me. After a rough day at work, coming home to my kitchen and making dinner or baking is relaxing to me. It has become my therapy.

With that in mind, I have been trying to decide if baking/cooking is something I was to pursue as a career of some kind. I love being the behind the scene person or serving people. As we speak, I am waiting for our dinner guests. I can't wait for them to get here so I can serve them the yummy dinner that has been simmering in the slow cooker all day. I had to give up on making a dessert. They really wanted to bring something so my husband told me I had to share.

I'm slightly off topic...I have recently decided I am going to try to sell some of the things that I make. The problem with that is that every recipe I make is someone else's work. After a bit of research I figured out how to make something my own.

Here I present to you the first recipe I have written...Apple Crisp.


I had to start simple. I am really pleased with how it come out and even more proud to call it my own. I debated whether or not to share this news with you as I am not ready to share the actual recipe yet. It still needs some tweaking, as evident by the juice in the bottom of the bowl. But I was so excited about this first step that I had taken that I had to share the news.

I think I hear the door bell! I'm off to greet my dinner guests!

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet

I think this is by far the easiest TWD I have ever made! I'm sure it helped that the recipe called for store bought puff pastry dough (props to those who made their own puff pastry!) I don't think it gets much easier than this. I will definitely be keeping this one in my back pocket for last minute guests.

The only change I made was to add some additional brown sugar right after they came out of the oven for an added sugar crust. We served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Amazing!

Our Hostess: Jessica of My Baking Heart

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

I had a hard time motivating myself to make this week's recipe. It just didn't seem to appeal to me and I really don't know why.

The hardest part was peeling and coring the mangos. I am very thankful for my mango corer! My mangos had great color and weren't green and yet were still a bit green underneath. I wish I had double peeled them and got rid of some of the tougher skin. I bought 2 mangos for fear I wouldn't have 2 cups with just one. I ended up with about 3 1/2 cups. I added the extra mango just for the fun of it. I skipped the raisins and the lime zest.

I made the full recipe and actually ended up with a loaf of bread and 12 muffins! My husband loved it and took the bread to his rehearsal (as usual!).

The bread reminded me of a spice cake. The texture and flavor of the bread actually reminded me of a rhubarb cake that my mom made when I was little and I loved it. I'm glad I made the bread but I think I will stick with my mom's rhubarb cake (the rhubarb is easier to cut!)


This week's hostess was Kelly of Baking with the Boys. You can find the recipe on her blog.

PS. Come back next week for Chipster-Topped Brownies and I'm next week's hostess!!!!

TWD: Banana Cream Pie

What do you do when you are a member of a weekly baking group, baking for only 2 people, both of whom are trying to shed a few pounds??? Portion Control!

I was really excited to make my first ever banana cream pie. My mother-in-law makes one that I absolutely love. But bananas don't age well at all. With that in mind, I knew a whole pie was out of the question. Suddenly the light went off! Tartlettes!!!

It worked out perfectly! I made a whole recipe of pie dough and froze half. Rolled the other half into balls and pressed them into my muffin pan. Half the pie recipe made 6 little tartlettes.

The cream part of this recipe was a bit of a problem for me but I made it through. I used skim milk instead of whole milk. I only made half the recipe and in the end even that was too much. We skip the whipped cream topping to save the calories too! The cream was super thick for me. After cooling it in the fridge, I put it in my mixer and slowly added more milk until it was creamy.

My husband and I both loved these!

Head over to Amy at Sing for Your Supper for the recipe.

Curry Couscous

This is a twist on a recipe from a Weight Watchers menu. The original recipe uses rice. We decided to use leftover couscous. I wasn't a big fan but my husband loved it! I don't know why, maybe it was just the texture of leftover couscous.

Curry Couscous

couscous
dried fruit (I think ours was raisins, apricots and cherries)

Rehydrate the fruit with just a little hot water. Add to couscous including water. Heat through, adding a little butter, 3/4 teaspoon of curry powder and a pinch of salt.

Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping

French Toast with an Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping!
Yummy!

I don't have a recipe for this as my husband made dinner for me once again. From my bird's eye view on the couch, I believe it was made like this:

Cook the diced apples in a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little salt and sweat out the apples a little. Add some sugar and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. Cook until softened and the sugar is caramelized a little. Place on top of french toast (made traditionally) and drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce.

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

I'm at a bit of a loss for words tonight.

But I will say that this cake went over extremely well with 2 people who either do not like cooked fruit or do not like blueberries at all! I can say that I will be making this one again!

Our recipe this week was chosen by Sihan. A few bakers chose other fruits and/or made muffins instead of cake, check the TWD blogroll to see what the other bakers came up with!

CEiMB: Nutty Granola

This is terribly long overdue but here it is anyway. An old Craving Ellie recipe from several weeks ago. I didn't make it at the time but really wanted to. In fact when it was my turn to chose a recipe, this is one of the recipes I considered.

I am finally getting this up because each time its been made and there have been several, my husband has eaten it all before I could get a picture. Granola is one of his favorites! Needless to say he has loved this recipe. It is so incredibly easy to make and very yummy!

Apple Spice Bars

It is only day 5 NaBloPoMo and I find myself already struggling to get this post up. It is not for lack of material to post but a lack of creativity. I find I don't know what to write. I don't know what to say to inspire to get to your kitchen and make the recipes I'm posting. I find great joy in my kitchen. And when I am successful I find even more joy.

Maybe that is why I am struggling today. I have lost my joy. I am frustrated with circumstances in my life. I want answers. If I can't have an immediate answer than give me some hope that we can find one in the future. I want to feel normal. I don't just want to just feel normal, I want to be normal! I realize for many of you that little tantrum doesn't make any sense but that is what is on my mind right now. Those are the thoughts clouding my mind.

These bars however, give me great joy! It is the next best thing to a homemade apple pie without all the work. This recipe is super easy to whip up. The longest prep is the slicing and dicing of the apples. Truthfully, if the apple cutting was any easier, these would be in my house far too often! I love the spice combination of cinnamon and nutmeg mixed with a touch of clove. And the house smells wonderful when they are in the oven!

The original recipe comes from Katie at Good Things Catered. I have made a couple slight changes but you can find her original recipe here.

Apple Spice Bars

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 Tablespoon flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and diced
cinnamon sugar mixture for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. Give it a good coating, these are sticky when cooled.
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Whisk to combine well and set aside.
In bowl of stand mixer, combine sugars and butter. Beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine. Add vanilla and beat to combine. Fold in apples. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Place in oven and bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, about 30-4- minutes. Remove from oven and let cooled completely before removing from pan, cutting and serving; bars will be very soft.

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

I really wanted to bail on this week's recipe. Several TWD bakers had tried their hand at whipping up this cake before I got to it and some were not very successful. I was not excited about failing. Particularly because I planned to serve this cake as dessert at my first party this past weekend. Not exactly the first party I've ever planned or hosted but the first in my own home in NYC with new friends. I wanted everything to be perfect. So a tricky cake recipe was calling me chicken.

As you can see from the pictures I baked the cake! Thanks to my husband for pushing me out of my comfort zone (he's good like that!). He reminded me that one of the reasons I joined TWD was to learn to bake out of my comfort zone. Cakes are just not my thing.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work and a lot of work it was. There was several time consuming steps for this recipe. Many TWD bakers complained about the cake sinking in the middle, though it is normal for it to sink slightly, many were disasters. I carefully followed the instructions (I love Dorie's descriptions!). My cake sunk slightly but I considered it normal. Once I had the cake fully assembled, you couldn't even tell it sunk. The filling does a good job of make up for lost cake!

I altered the filling a bit and added more sugar and more vanilla based on a few complaints that it was bland. I loved my end results and have been eating my leftover filling but the fingerful straight out of the fridge! I also had to give in and use frozen berries. I couldn't bear the thought of buying berries out of season; they are too expensive and don't look good! I thawed them before putting them in the middle of my cake.


In the end, I was very pleased with my cake. I was glad I made it and I loved the filling. However, I didn't love the cake. It was bad but just not was I was expecting. A slight disappointment for me in the end BUT my husband LOVED it! And by love I mean, I think he ate half! I was surprised because neither of us really love cake. But, my party was a big success so all is well in the end! :)

Thank you to Mary Anne of Meet me in the Kitchen for challanging me to step out of my comfort zone. You can find the recipe here. Check out the other TWD bakers to see how their cakes turned out!

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins

Yum, yum, yum!!! These were amazing, easy to make, delicious, flavorful, sweet and spicy! A new favorite in my book. I don't think I need any more words except, GO MAKE THEM!!

Thank you to Kelly for this week's selection. A fabulous fall recipe.

Ok, for the details of the recipe. I left out the nuts because all I had were peanuts and I just didn't feel like they were going to do justice. I also didn't have sunflower seeds for the top and didn't feel the need to spend the extra money.

I bought a fresh pumpkin and pureed my own instead of canned pumpkin. It was super easy, more to follow on that in another post.

Lesson learned this week: Don't crack the egg on the side of the bowl, while the mixer is running. For example, the beater might bump your hand, causing you to drop the entire egg into the batter. Luckily, my quite reflexes stopped the mixer so the shell was still in large enough pieces so I could pick them out easily. So far no one has complained of a crunchy muffin!

My blog needs a facelift!

Check this out! You could win a blog makeover! For those who actually read mine, I certainly could use something new here. However, for all my computer knowledge, I have no knowledge of graphic design!

TWD: Summer Fruit Galette

If you are a faithful follower of Tuesdays with Dorie then I'm sure you have already seen a ton of galettes this week. My reasons are legitimate and I do apologize for being late. It is really hard to get settled again after moving. Of course, life doesn't ever slow down enough for you to make a major move without feeling some stress. I have dealt with too much stress recently and though I wish I could say life is going to slow down it just isn't going to slow down right now.

I did manage to make this delicious treat on time. I had a lot of trouble with my crust this time. I was rushing and just didn't take the time to let it rest enough. Thankfully, this is supposed to be rustic and not pretty so all worked out in the end.

I had a rough time blanching the peaches. I think they may have been a little too ripe. But no worries, Dorie's 8 peaches is more than enough to fill the galette. I paired the peaches with some homemade red raspberry jam. It was amazing!

Thank you to Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs for selecting such a fabulous treat for a very stressful week!


And as promised...pictures of my new kitchen!

TWD: Double Crusted Blueberry Pie

I'm am posting this super fast because I'm heading out the door for a business trip. This week's recipe was chosen for us by Amy of South in Your Mouth. The original recipe was for a blueberry pie and though I've recently learned to almost like eating cooked fruit, cooked blueberries are still a problem for me. I know I'm weird I can't help it. And my husband does not like blueberries at all.

Fighting the urge to skip this week's recipe all together, I remembered a bag of frozen raspberries left over from our mixed cobbler a couple weeks ago. The crust came together very easily for me which I was surprised by since I have never made pie crust before. Dorie's explanation and tips lead me all the way to a fabulous flaky and buttery crust. I did forget to put the breadcrumbs at the bottom of the pie but mine came out great anyway. I loved this pie. The crust was amazing and the fruit was sweet with a zing of lemon! Another winner in my book!

For actual blueberry pies, check out our blogroll at TWD.

TWD: Mixed Berry Cobbler

This week our TWD host was Beth from Our Sweet Life. She chose a perfect summer dessert. However, Dorie threw in a twist! A mixed berry cobbler with frozen berries. I have to say I was surprised when Dorie recommended them. Fresh berries were an option if we so chose but I'm a picky eater sometimes. I don't like cooked fruit. I'm a texture eater and for those of you who share that with me, you understand what I mean. There are certain foods that I just can't eat based on texture. I make one exception when it comes to cooked fruit, my grandma's apple pie. Other than that, if the fruit is cooked and mushy I won't eat it.

Enough about my eating issues because this week's recipe changed that for me. I found frozen berries at Target and for what I considered to be inexpensive. I chose a bag each of mixed berries, raspberries and blackberries. Once cooked, these berries did not lose their structure. They were not mushy! I couldn't believe it.

The recipe came together very quickly. On the recommendation from fellow bakers who baked before me this week, I added cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla to the crust for flavor. It was perfect. My husband loved the crust too.

I was tempted to skip out this week but I'm really glad I pushed myself to try something new. To see more fabulous looking cobblers visit our TWD blogroll.

MasterBaker: Vanilla

I realize that this post is way overdue and I don't really have an excuse. Well, I do but I'm sure you don't really want to hear them. However, since the roundup still isn't posted I figured I still had time. That and I really loved this recipe. And although it is posted very late, I did make this on time!

The master baker ingredient was vanilla and since I had never used real vanilla beans before I wanted to give it a try. I've heard rave reviews about vanilla beans. Someday I will become adventurous enough to make my own vanilla extract and vanilla sugar. Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors.


I decided to make vanilla bean angel food cake with a fruit salsa. I didn't have a very much success with the angel food cake. I have a mini-bundt cake pan with designs on the top. You can see in the picture above how well that turned out.


Since, I don't have a regular sized bundt pan, I put the remaining batter in my springform pan. It certainly didn't rise very much. It ended up being a dense little cake. I learned that angel food cake can only be made in a regular size bundt cake pan.

Despite the appearance, it tasted fantastic!! And the fruit salsa on top was amazing!!


Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake
Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 (2-inch) piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup sifted cake flour (about 4 ounces)
12 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice


Directions
Preheat oven to 325°.

Place 3/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, and add seeds to sugar; discard bean. Work the vanilla seeds into sugar with fingers until well combined.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and sugar mixture, stirring with a whisk to combine.

Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in juice. Sift flour mixture over egg white mixture, 1/4 cup at a time; fold in after each addition.

Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan; cool completely. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Invert cake onto plate.

Fruit Salsa
Source: Cooks Illustrated via All Things Mimi

Ingredients
2 T. apple jelly
2 T. light brown sugar
1/4 c. orange juice
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
2 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and chopped fine
1 pint strawberries, hulled and chopped fine
3 kiwis peeled and chopped fine

Directions
Whisk jelly, brown sugar, orange juice and chile together in a large bowl. Add apples, strawberries and kiwi and toss to coat.

TWD: La Palette's Strawberry Tart

Super apologies for my lateness!!! My excuses are as follows...

Thursday through Tuesday's temperatures exceeded 95 degrees in NYC.
Only the bedroom of my apartment has A/C (I actually put the tart dough into the pans in my bedroom using a TV tray)
Thus, you can conclude I am a dedicated TWD baker for turning on my oven in these conditions.


I had grand ideas for these little tarts! One day soon (I hope) I will execute my ideas. For now, I bring the original recipe with strawberry jam and strawberries (my favorite, so far) and black raspberry jam with raspberries (a little too sweet). I loved the tart (and so did my husband!) even though mine wasn't crumbly because the butter was melting as I was cutting it into the dry ingredients!


In conclusion, I am very happy I braved the heat to turn on my oven because these tarts were fabulous!

Thank you to Marie from A Year From Oak Cottage for hosting this week!
See other amazing tarts on the TWD blogroll.

VTV: Avocados

First, I have to apologize for my delay in posting this week's vegetable. Sorry, Nina! The timing just didn't come together for me this weekend. So, with my avocados and mango super ripe and needing to be used I made my salad as soon as I got home from work tonight.

I was really excited about this week's vegetable but I guess I've really only eaten avocados as guacamole and not by themselves. I did make guacamole this week as well, stay tuned for that post. I wasn't as thrilled with avocados on their own. Maybe mine were a little over ripe and therefore a little too mushy. I'll have to play around with this one some more. I did really love the dressing on the mango though!

The avocado roundup can be found here and come back next week for asparagus!



Avocado and Mango Salad
Source: adapted from Joy of Cooking
Photo: my kitchen

Ingredients

1 lemon
2 avocados
1 ripe mango
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I don't think I used this much, I just eyed it)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions

Halve the lemon. Halve, pit, peel and thinly slice lengthwise the avocados. Squeeze the lemon over the avocados. This prevents the avocados from turning brown.
Peel and seed the mango. If you have a mango peeler, it really does the trick!
Whisk together in a small bowl the oil and lemon juice . Season with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over the avocados and mango.
Mix together and chill for 1 hour before serving.