Fruit
I recently announced my intention to pay more attention to the Fruit when baking, in light of the whole spring season thing going on outdoors. (Oh, and because I have been baking with a whole hell of a lot of chocolate lately, which is really quite a wonderful thing and a problem not worth correcting, [...]
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I feel a little bit bad about something. I feel like I have been a little too focused on chocolate as of late (like the Tunnel of Fudge Cake, and the Brownie Scrap Pile. Oh, and the Irish Cream Chocolate Mousse, don’t forget that one). I’m so not apologizing- I know it’s fundamentally wrong to [...]
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Love is in the air! So do something about it and stuff a giant chocolate-covered strawberry in your loved one’s mouth. BONUS 1: This is a ridiculously easy treat to make, so you can do it right before your fancy-schmancy Valentine’s dinner and not be all covered in flour or glazy from a hot oven. [...]
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Upside down cake isn’t just for pineapples, you know. Pears don’t get enough airtime in the dessert world, do they? No one ever hears about a pear pie, or a pear crumble. No one makes (or wants, let’s be real) chocolate-covered pears. So when pears are plentiful in the grocery store, and you’re feeling [...]
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The name sounds rather lackluster, but don’t be fooled… it’s a seriously killer bread that verges on cake territory (especially when you slather frosting overtop as I did in this particular round). I made this for the first time last year and have been dying to get back at it, but wanted to wait for [...]
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It’s almost too cute to eat. But that would be stupid, to not eat something this good. Here’s how the whole galette thing works (for me, at least): you take the leftover pie dough from a real pie you’re making (like the Decadent Deep Dish Pecan Pie or the Proper Peach Pie) and roll it [...]
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Is it possible for something to be good for you and easy at the same time? Anything that has whole wheat in it, is virtually fat free, and can be made by tossing the ingredients into a blender is a friend of mine. Oh, and if it tastes wicked too, then I’m a fan for life. (Wicked meant in the east coast way of saying ‘cool’- not ‘evil’, although that works too.)
So this cake is a takeoff on the Guilt-Free Mandarin Orange Cake that I have love love loved for years (yes, worthy of three love’s). Why not substitute the mandarin oranges for peaches, I ask? Why not substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the tried and true (but slightly less fibrous) all-purpose white wonder? (Note- whole wheat pastry flour is much friendlier to the taste buds than whole wheat flour is- it’s almost interchangeable with regular flour, so sneak it in everywhere you can.)
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What would you say if someone offered you a fresh peach pie, laced with a bit of cinnamon and ginger (but almost indiscernibly so), and baked with a flaky, buttery crust? You’d say ‘yes please’, and you can’t even pretend you wouldn’t.
I have been making a crapload of pies lately, so it was much to my surprise last week when The Husband asked me this:
“When are you going to make me a real pie?”
I looked at him (lovingly) like he was an idiot, and asked him this:
“Are you an idiot? All I’ve been making are pies.”
(Seriously- I just made Strawboffee Pie, Banoffee Pie, and S’mores Pie in like the last three weeks. I have been a pie making machine.)
And in the way that The Husband picked up from the many Brits he’d been working with, he said this:
“Yeah, but I want a proper pie.”
He’s right. I have been making imposter pies as of late, ripoff pies. If a pie doesn’t have a crust (especially a flaky buttery one), then is it really a pie? Does a graham cracker crust (or a McVitie’s Digestive Biscuit crust for the Brits) count as pie, just because it’s baked in a pie plate? (Technically yes, but The Husband wanted a pie with a crust and fruit.)
After I conceded that I had been depriving him of real pie (having not made one since the Good Old Fashioned Raisin Pie, which I technically made for his Dad anyway), and after apologizing for making his life so miserable because of this, he asked for apple pie. I promptly shot him down, because everyone knows that apple pies are for fall. After suggesting peach pie, he simmered down, like a baby with a pacifier. A pie pacifier.
So this one’s for you, Husband- a proper peach pie.
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I have been baking with strawberries quite a bit lately, and I’m not even going to apologize for it. (I am thinking of strawberry shortcake as I type this, and so you’ll probably end up seeing that dessert here soon.)
If you don’t like strawberries then a.) I don’t know if we can continue with this relationship, b.) you can always swap the strawberries for another fruit of your choice, and c.) hold on for another three months for when I go through my pumpkin phase. Pumpkins in, strawberries out. Fall- it’s a ‘comin.
But back to the dessert at hand.
Can I tell you how much I love puff pastry? (Can I tell you how uncomfortable I feel calling it “puff pastry” instead of “puffed pastry”?) One day I am going to be a bakeasaurus and make the puffed pastry on my ownsome, but for now the freezer pastry will do just fine. It’s lovely to thaw pastry that has already been slaved over by someone else (although I still can’t bring myself to buy a frozen pie crust, which makes no sense at all). I have noticed over the years that you can stuff pretty much anything you want inside of two rolled out pieces of puff pastry, as long as you seal the edges well. It’ll bake up and you’ll have a successful dessert in front of you (hopefully just you, so you don’t have to share.)
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Muffins… bread… they are interchangeable, so don’t judge me because the photo screams “bread” while the title reads “muffin”.
Don’t you always have a couple of browning bananas hanging around on the counter, too spotty to eat? Hold onto them and let them get more black than yellow, then smoosh them up into this muffin/bread recipe (which can be made in a jiffy). Next thing you know, you have a muffin that’s full of berrylicious antioxidants and your counter is cleared of ugly, ripening fruit.
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Work with me on this one, okay?
There’s this heavenly dessert known as Banoffee Pie, and if you’ve heard of it you’re nodding your head right now because you agree that it was made in heaven. Picture the layers starting from the bottom: cookie crumb crust, thick layer of toffee, sliced bananas, fresh whipped cream, chocolate shavings. Now you understand.
I was introduced to this masterpiece on a trip to Ireland with my Dad and sister back in 2003… and I have no plausible reason as to why I haven’t made it since my sister and I wolfed down that inaugural piece in a pub somewhere around Waterford. Or maybe Wexford. I have denied The Husband (who was not on said trip) the pleasures of Banoffee Pie, and that makes me a shameful wife. Up until now.
When organic raspberries are on sale at Whole Foods, one has to spring into action and buy 75 containers (give or take 69). It’s one of those “buy now, figure out what the hell to do with them later” situations, one of those “seize life” sort of moments. (Maybe not that profound of an occurrence, [...]
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Pineapple + coconut = yum. And since Malibu rum = fun, why not combine all three ingredients into a simple bread (that is also just as happy to be a muffin, by the way), that’s the life of the party?
(But for real- where has Malibu Rum been all my life? I have been a devoted Kahlua fan for years, but coconut rum? I overlooked it in my formative ‘learning how to drink’ years. What a shame. So now I’m finding ways to add it to baked goods… lucky you.)
In case you happen to not love cows, this recipe is dairy-free (but worry not- if you don’t have coconut milk on hand, regular milk will certainly do). This recipe also uses coconut oil (if you have it), adding a even deeper coconut flavor. Naturally coconut itself makes an appearance (in and on the bread)- so you technically have four levels of coconut going on (in the rum, the milk, the oil and the nut). It’s crazy. Only pineapple can compete with that kind of intensity.
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Rise and shine!
Why not wake up to a muffin full of flavor and just the right amount of sweetness to get you going? Plus, it’s so exciting to bite into something with so many ingredients. It’s like a party for your taste buds… so many textures, so many tastes, and yes, you can bet that they all play nicely together. (Who knew that fruits and veggies could join in unison and create a hit?)
Like with any muffin, these are pretty easy to make- the only annoyance comes from having to measure out so many ingredients. Oh, and from grating the carrots- but since I started using the grater thingy on my food processor (you know- this disc that you attach to the blade in the middle), life has gotten so very very much easier. Less time grating carrots means more time baking.
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I went a bit scone-crazy a couple of weeks ago, which wasn’t hard to do (because I have always loved a good biscuit- especially ones with glaze that drips off the edges and sometimes pools underneath). I did this because I wanted to participate in Pastry Chicago’s Scone Competition (a cool organization that puts on [...]
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There’s no better way to celebrate April Fool’s day than with a classic British dessert that calls itself a “fool”, is there? (Other than playing horribly evil jokes on coworkers and loved ones.)
With spring in full effect, it’s time to kick the fruit consumption into high gear… as an appetite-whetter of what’s ahead (strawberry season! strawberry season!). This fool recipe swirls berries and orange zest with a simple mixture of whipped cream and yogurt… served with crumbled Classic Shortbread Cookies.
(Be careful not to get too ambitiously healthy with this recipe. I altered the whipped-cream-to-yogurt ratio in my last Fool escapade, thinking I was all ‘responsible’ [we did just watch 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead' and feel the need to either sustain ourselves on 100% fresh fruit & veggie juice or stop eating altogether] and The Husband politely [but pointedly] protested. I ended up adding the full amount of the whipped cream after all, because it IS my aim to please, of course. If you’re looking to add less fat and sugar into your life, then keep this recipe as is and serve Baby Fools, as pictured. In short: don’t f with the Fool.)
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Who doesn’t love light, fresh, hazelnut-spiked meringue cookies layered with fruit and fresh whipped cream? (If you don’t, then click here to read about a decadent chocolate dessert instead, without fruit of any kind. Goodbye.)
Back to the meringue. Made without an ounce of fat (really… except for the little whipped cream layer), and relatively easy to make (easy but time consuming: full disclaimer), they reek of spring or summer- even when it’s a bleak wintery day. (Whipped cream and fruit makes everything seem like spring. It’s a fact.)
Back to the meringue, again. I have made this as a full-fledged cake (usually remembering to remove the parchment circles under the meringue layers before assembling, except for that one time in 2007), and as individual servings as pictured. So in addition to being not-altogether-unhealthy, and easy-ish to make, it’s a versatile dessert. Why don’t I make these more often?
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I have said this before, but I think that the marriage of sweets and alcohol is a wonderful thing.
Any opportunity to combine two vices seems like a recipe for fun… and in the grand scheme of things, adding rum to a little dessert ball isn’t all that evil. (Eating 35 out of the 40 balls might be bad, but even still- you won’t get drunk off these with only 2 ounces of rum in the whole batch. Sorry to disappoint you, if a rum ball buzz was what you were after.)
Take your pick of the three variations below… or do what I do- make all three and then figure out what to do with them. (Won’t be a tough problem to solve.)
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