Lesson Learned

Last year we learned the cold, hard truth about pumpkin beer in Chicago (rant seen here). The lesson learned is that pumpkin beer is available for a limited time only and not when you would expect; most everything is sold out by October. Well, this year we did not take any chances. We are fully stocked this October and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Can't wait for October! Best month of the year! Although, this will be rivaled by September 2012. More on that to come.

Apple Galette

Desserts get in my head in two different ways; first, they are amazing and I think about them a lot; second, they can own you and send you into a tailspin. Ian, fortunately and unfortunately, has witnessed me in both states. When asked to make a dessert for a get together I have a routine: frantically search through every baking book I own, scour the internet for more recipes and, finally, settle on a recipe that is part from a cookbook and part from the internet. This can at times lead to trouble, but in this instance it worked out great. Enter the apple galette.

The first idea was to make little apple tartlettes, then I thought I would make a pie, but instead ended up with a galette. They are rustic and with the fragrant apples this time of year it really felt like a special fall treat. I should give some credit to Ian for his willingness to chop all the apples (excellent work seen above). Cutting the apples is the most time consuming part, once that is done you just lay them in a ring in the center and fold the edges over and voila!

The recipe was from none other than Smitten Kitchen. She really gives the best instructions and lays it out for you in the simplest way. I used my favorite pie crust instead for this recipe from The Art & Soul of Baking and skipped the apple glaze she uses to finish it off. Also, it calls for five tablespoons of sugar to be sprinkled on the top. No. That is way too much and the apples were already plenty sweet. I used about two and I thought it was perfect. I think next time I would throw in some cinnamon or allspice to really make it feel warm and cozy. This was such a perfect welcome to fall dessert!

Peanut Butter Pie

For more than a week, I have seen the blogging community band together through pie. When I read about a blogger whose husband died suddenly, I was moved by the responses I saw from some of my favorite bakers. This community of people and their heartfelt words prompted me to make this peanut butter pie. The sentiment with the pie was to share it with someone you love and that is just what I did.

It is a tad on the richer side, and a little goes a long way. You really can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter, it is such a great combo, but it will make you feel sick if you eat too much. I decided to go with the Not Without Salt version of the pie as it looked a little more like mousse than a dense filling. Here is the recipe:

8 ounces chocolate cookies (I used Newman's Cookies and cut out the cream filling)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 oz mascarpone
3 oz sour cream
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Pre-heat the oven to 350*

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. Press mixture into the bottom and pie pan. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, until set and crisp. Add the chocolate to the warm crust and let the residual heat melt the chocolate. Spread the chocolate with a spatula and sprinkle the peanuts on top.

Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Place the mascarpone, sour cream and peanut butter in a deep bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and salt. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream). Fold in another ⅓ of the whipped cream. Reserve the remaining whipped cream to top the pie. Pour the filling into the prepared pie pan. Refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving. Serve with remaining whipped cream.

Iggy

And I hung out with this little guy tonight. Meet Iggy. He is the newest addition to the Shrews family, but I hope to be a close second aunt. I want four of him.

Summer Galette

My apartment has felt like the subtropics as of late, making baking a thing of the past. I was able to get a respite from the heat last week when I visited the great Northwest. It was a perfect few days in Seattle and was topped off with summer fruit galette at the coast.

There is a little treasure in Manzanita that gets me every time. It is the Manzanita Fresh Foods grocery store. Here you will find 25 cent pony rides out front, and without fail, gourmet cooking products inside. Really, it always has what you need. Outside there are baskets of fresh fruit from around the area that smell unbelievable. We picked up Ian's favorite fruit combo--blackberries and nectarines to make something at home. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and is incredibly easy to follow.

Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender.) Add cold water with machine running. Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Filling
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
3 medium nectarines, each pitted and cut into 16 slices
1/2 -pint basket blackberries
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, still not sure if I liked it in there)
1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)

Make filling: Stir sugar and cornstarch in medium bowl to blend. Mix in fruit and vanilla. Let stand until juices are released, stirring fruit occasionally, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F. Transfer baking sheet with dough to work surface. Let stand 8 minutes to allow dough to soften slightly if too firm to fold. Spoon fruit and juices into center of dough. Fold border down over fruit (center 6 inches of fruit remain uncovered). Brush folded border with egg glaze; sprinkle with raw sugar.

Place baking sheet with tart in oven. Bake until crust is golden brown and fruit filling is bubbling at edges, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven; slide large metal spatula under tart to loosen from parchment. Brush fruit with preserves. Slide tart onto rack. Cool 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

Here is the end result, and the smell was amazing. In addition, we had some wonderful wine that made the trip complete.

This galette brought back all the good feelings of desserts baking away in the kitchen. I am so looking forward to breaking in our new kitchen come September. In other news, we are moving! Very exciting. Hyde Park, you will sorta be missed. Updates to follow.

Mini Bundt Cakes

I made these delicious mini bundt cakes after seeing the recipe on one of my new favorite websites, food52. I had planned on bringing them to work, or to a friend's birthday party, but alas, it didn't work out that way. I would like to say they all looked like the picture above, but instead they mostly looked like the picture below:

There clearly was not enough butter in the pan. I am facing the sad reality that excessive amounts of butter are the true secret to perfect baked goods. This recipe is too good not to post despite my failed attempt. They came out just as described and I was immediately sold when the ingredients included chocolate and coffee. I halved the recipe and used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. The recipe calls for sour milk, and after some research, found that combining milk and lemon juice makes sour milk. Let stand for five minutes. Another cool trick is to whisk the flour in the bag/container and scoop from the whisked flour to get a correct measurement.

Recipe:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups dutch process cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sour milk
1 cup freshly brewed strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

- Preheat oven to 350. Butter a bundt pan and dust the inside with cocoa powder, set aside.
- Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a mixer on low add the milk, coffee, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla one at a time. mix until everything is incorporated. Then, with the mixer still on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once all of the flour mixture is added, mix the batter for a full four minutes on medium speed.
- Then, pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes (or 20 minutes for mini bundt cakes), or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Then, dust with powdered sugar and serve.

And Then There Was One

Over the course of one week, it seems most things have changed. First year of law school is over, it finally started to feel like summer, and lastly, Ian has left for the summer. The last change is the toughest, and the thought of baking for one sounds a little sad on top of dangerous to the waistline. Until now; Oatmeal Muffins from 101 Cookbooks. I love Heidi's recipes because they are light and healthy and this recipe is no different. I don't feel so bad having these around when their ingredients include yogurt, wheat flour and oats. They are incredibly delicious.

I love those recipes where every ingredient is readily available in your kitchen. This is an extremely rare scenario for me, but I am planning to keep the kitchen stocked for the summer of baking. Hopefully there won't be such a lag between posts, as seen in the past (whoopsie). The summer fruit that should be hitting the markets soon inspires numerous summer baking endeavors. Next up, popsicles and fudgesicles.

Recipe:
Crumble topping:
scant 3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g rolled oats
1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g natural cane or brown sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g unsalted butter, melted

Muffin batter:
1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats
3/4 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
7/8 cup / 7 oz / 200 g unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g natural cane or brown sugar
1 1/2 cups / 12 oz / 350 ml plain yogurt
2 large eggs, whisked

Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Butter one or two muffin pans generously. I didn't use paper liners, and I'm glad I didn't. Place oven racks in top third of oven.

Get your crumble topping for your muffins started first. Use a fork to combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions, and use your hands to form into three flat-ish patties. Place the patties in a bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes.

Now, onto the muffin batter. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flours, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, and then the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir just until combined. Do your best to avoid over mixing.

Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. Pull the crumble from the freezer and break it up into small and medium pieces. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with crumble, place the muffins in the oven and bake 30 - 35 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool just a minute or so, then turn out onto a cooling rack - important!

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 35 min