Category Archives: Desserts

The Best Carrot Cake I’ve Ever Eaten

The original Frog Commissary Carrot Cake
The Original Commissary Carrot Cake (embed from visitphilly.com on Flicker)

The best carrot cake I’ve ever eaten was the one they served at Steve Poses’ long-gone Commissary Restaurant in Philadelphia. That carrot cake was insanely over the top – pecans and raisins in the cake, three layers with pecan cream filling between, cream cheese frosting on the outside with baked coconut topping and an icing carrot on top. I’ve made it before, and it’s incredible. (Though mine never looked as good as the one up there…)

But the original Commissary carrot cake is very, very rich. It’s also a lot of work. As Poses says in his cookbook –

This cake is most easily made if you start it at least a day ahead, since the filling, for one thing, is best left to chill overnight. In fact, the different components can all be made even several days in advance and stored separately until you are ready to assemble the cake.

Right. I can barely get started cooking in time for dinner, let alone start a cake a day ahead of time.

So I started making the cake without the make-ahead filling and the coconut topping, and discovered that I much prefer it that way. This simpler version allows the sumptuous cake flavor and texture to shine, and the pecans and raisins become stars instead of just members of an ensemble cast.

I usually make this cake in a tube pan. But this time, planning to serve the cake as dessert at a small pre-theater dinner at our apartment, I decided that I did not want leftovers to tempt me next day.  So I made individual cakes in a large muffin tin to use that night, and with the rest of the batter made cupcakes that I froze to frost and serve at some later date.

If you want to make the original Commissary Carrot Cake,  Steve Poses has posted the recipe on his blog. Better yet, buy the Commissary Cookbook. The cake was not the only amazing thing on that restaurant’s menu.

CARROT CAKE ala THE COMMISSARY

I used canola oil instead of corn oil. Be sure to use high quality golden raisins ( I got mine at Fairway)  I always wondered how this cake would taste using brown sugar, but never had the nerve to change it. Let me know if you do. 

  • 1 1/4 cups canola oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 cups grated carrots (about a 1-pound bag)
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan (or a large muffin tin and two cupcake tins)

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk oil and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in half the dry ingredients.Then alternately add in the rest of the dry ingredients while adding the eggs, one by one. Combine well. Add the carrots, raisins, and pecans. Pour into prepared pan and bake (70 mins for tube pan, 30-40 mins for large muffin size and 20-30 mins for cupcakes.)  Cool upright in the pan on a cooling rack.

When completely cooled, remove cake from pan and cut into two layers using a serrated knife. Frost.

Cream cheese fosting

  • 8 ounces soft unsalted butter
  • 8 ounces soft cream cheese
  • 1-pound box of powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream the butter well, then beat in cream cheese. Add sugar and  vanilla. Refrigerate till use.

Not Quite Rococo Torte – Another Gem From a Favorite Vintage Cookbook

Breadcrumbs in a cake? I’d never head of such a thing. But I had a few leftover baguette crusts in my freezer, and the memory of an amazing cake I’d made a few years back from this wonderful little vintage cookbook, Favorite Tortes and Cake Recipes by Rose Oller Harbaugh and Mary Adams.

If the authors were suggesting I use breadcrumbs in my torte, who was I to question? Besides, it was long past time to see what other gifts the book might have in store for me, other than the charming illustrations and typeface, which are a true delight.

I’m happy to report that Ms Harbaugh and Adams came through for me again, this time with a recipe for Rococo Torte with Mocha Frosting. A touch of cinnamon in the batter enhances the chocolate flavor of the not-too-sweet sponge-like cake that is filled and iced with just the right amount of mocha frosting.

What exactly is a Torte?

Ms Harbaugh and Adams tell us that tortes are “the cakes of European cooks”.  They are made light with eggs instead of leavening, with ground nuts, cracker or bread crumbs used in place of or in addition to a markedly small amount of flour. They can be filled with fruit pulp or whipped jellies, and extracts are used to flavor their whipped frostings.

Tortes are a favorite Passover dessert, since eggs rather than baking powder or soda create the leavening, and little to no flour is used. This rococo torte could be modified for Passover by substituting ground nuts for the flour and using ground matzo meal instead of breadcrumbs. (Alternatively, you can use ground nuts to substitute for both the flour and breadcrumbs.)

Why my torte is not quite Rococo

A bit of internet exploration yields evidence that the Rococo Torte recipe in my cookbook may hail from Hungary, where it is called  Rokokka Torta, and is made with a hazelnut filling and whipped mocha frosting. (Click the link to see a truly gorgeous torte!)

As I looked at the traditional Hungarian Rokokka Torta, I realized that I had used the wrong mocha frosting on my torte! The authors had actually suggested mocha whipped cream frosting, which is just what the Hungarian recipe uses. And indeed, there the right frosting was, on the same page of the cookbook as the frosting I had mistakenly made.

So it seems that my little torte is actually “not quite rococo”. But it’s simplicity makes it much less fancy than the traditional Hungarian torte, and it really is a delicious and lovely little cake.

NOT QUITE ROCOCO TORTE

  • 5 eggs, separated and allowed to come to room temp before using
  • 5 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp homemade bread crumbs (recipe below)
  • 3 tbsp flour (cake flour if you have it)
  • 2 squares bittersweet chocolate, grated or processed fine in the food processor
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • shaved chocolate for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Butter and flour 2-8 inch cake pans. (I also lined the bottom with waxed paper.)

Beat egg whites till stiff. Set aside. Beat egg yolks till lemon-colored. Add sugar and beat well. Add bread crumbs and sifted flour and beat thoroughly. Beat in grated chocolate and cinammon. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Divide between two 8-inch cake pans and bake for 25-30 mins till done. Fill and cover with Mocha Frosting or Mocha Whipped Frosting (recipes below) Shave some bittersweet chocolate on top.

The cakes did not immediately drop out of the pan for me, even after running a spatula around the sides, so I slipped the spatula an inch or so under one side and then used my hands to remove the cake, which was light and yet remarkably sturdy. (Alternatively, you could use two 8 inch spring form pans.) Here’s what the bottom looked like after I removed the waxed paper –

and what it looked like filled and frosted –

MOCHA FROSTING

Although at first it seemed like it was not enough, this recipe makes exactly the right amount of frosting for this cake. I substituted Kahlua for the mocha extract.

  • 1/3 cup sweet butter
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 tbsp cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp mocha extract (I used Kahlua)
  • 1 tbsp strong coffee (I dissolved a tsp of instant espresso into a tbsp of hot water)
  • Sift sugar and cocoa

Cream butter thoroughly in electric mixer. Add sifted sugar and cocoa. Add mocha extract. Add coffee a drop at a time until spreading consistency (I used the entire tbsp of coffee).

MOCHA WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING

  • 2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
  • 2 tbsp cocoa
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 pint whipping cream
  • 1 tsp mocha extract

Sift sugar, cocoa and cinnamon. Whip cream. Fold in sifter dry ingredients. Add mocha extract and whip till spreading consistency.

Homemade bread crumbs

Allow frozen bread to come to room temp. Slice into 1 inch slices and lay out on a baking sheet. Heat in a 250 degree oven till dry but not brown – about 15 minutes – turning halfway through so they dry evenly. Cool, then process in food processor till finely ground. Store in a tightly capped jar in the freezer till use.

Bring It On, Irene…I Made Jumbles

I’m ready for you.

The terrace is cleared.

The roof is as secure as we can make it.

The windows and doors are closed.

The tub is filled with water.

As are all the pots, the teapot,

bowls and water pitchers.

Even the big trashcan is filled.

(You may think I’m going overboard, but when we lose power, we lose water here on the 12th floor. During the big blackout a few years back we went through every drop in the tub and pots. But we were clean.)

I’ve got two flashlights and loads of batteries.

Laptops are charged and shut off. Cell phones are charged, shut off and forwarded to the home phone. Two back up battery phone chargers are charged and ready to roll. (One even has solar recharging capacity.)

The old phone is out of the closet, hooked up and working. (It doesn’t need electricity. During the blackout, we were the only ones who had a working phone.)

Dog is walked (and not too happy given that the rain had already started when I walked her for the last time this evening…)

We are showered. (sorry,no pic…)

But most importantly…

I made cookies.

Because when a hurricane is on the march up the coast, and the subways, buses and Broadway are shut down, you do what you gotta’ do.

Bake.

Stay safe, and I’ll see you on the other side of the storm.

Jumbles

A sweet little recipe from The Rumford Complete Cookbook (copyright 1908), a little gem I picked up at an antique store upstate. (Google Books actually has the entire book online!) The actual recipe is so old that they don’t give cooking temperatures, just tell you that most baked goods require a “moderately hot oven”. I decided that meant 350 degrees fahrenheit. But on a regular cooking sheet, making the cookies using a melon baller, my first batch were too brown on the bottom and not enough on top. So I used an insulated cookie sheet, pressed the cookies down before baking and extended the cooking time from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. Perfect! If you don’t have an insulated cookie sheet, lower the heat to 325 and let me know how that worked for you. Makes 24 cookies.

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 level tsp salt
  • 1 level tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork
  • Grated rind of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Grease an insulated cookie sheet. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl; add the egg, the lemon rind, and then the dry ingredients, beating slightly after each addition. Drop onto cookie sheets using a melon baller. Flatten cookies slightly with your fingers. Bake 12-15 minutes till edges are browned. Serve immediately.

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Although I did not actually make this masterpiece*, if it were being published in a journal I would be last author, Mr TBTAM second, and my daughter first author. I initiated the project and sent Mr TBTAM shopping for the ingredients, but when I invited my daughter to join me in making the pie, she stated “I want to make it myself”.

And so she did.

Nice job, honey.

* The recipe is from Bon Appetit via Epicurious, although we substituted a double recipe of pate brisee from the Pleasures of Cooking for the shortening crust. I guess they get authorship too, huh? I’m think a dusting of confectioners sugar and a dollop of vanilla ice cream would be an excellent way to serve it at Easter Dinner later today.

Gold Rush Apples and Ginger Crisps – A Perfect Pair

Maybe it’s the fact that they are only available during a brief period in the late season, but these Gold Rush apples from North Star Orchards in Chester County, Pennsylvania are hands down the best apple I’ve ever eaten. (Yes, even better than the Ginger Golds I found last year.)

Gold Rush apples are crisp, juicy, full of flavor, with the perfect balance of tart and sweet and covered with a skin that is not too perfect so you know you’re getting a real apple from a real tree.  They are best eaten cold from the fridge, where they will hold their flavor for months. (We’ve got ours out on the terrace for now since the 20 lb bag is too big for the fridge…)

While these babies are perfect eaten alone, they also pair beautifully with ginger cookies for a light and lovely dessert for company, which is how we served them last night. I also packed up some apples and a tin of the cookies for my daughter to take back to college today, which made me think that the combo would make a very nice holiday gift package.

Brown Sugar Ginger Crisps

This is a classic recipe from Gourmet Magazine, via my mother-in-law Irene, from whence cometh all great recipes.

2 sticks butter at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt) and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the brown sugar, then beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, and crystallized ginger. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Drop the batter onto ungreased baking sheets (I use a small melon scooper for this, you can just drop by teaspoon if you prefer). Bake in the middle of a preheated 350° F. oven, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are just golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to racks to cool completely. These cookies make ahead and keep well frozen in airtight containers.

Makes about 50 cookies.


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As of today, North Star Orchard’s website states that there are still some gold rushes available for pick up at designated area farm markets, so if you are in the Chester county area, I’d encourage you to get some.

If you know of a local orchard in your area that is selling Gold Rushes, let us know in the comments.

TBTAM Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

Apple Torte

If you’re looking to break out from the old pumpkin pie for dessert at Thanksgiving, here are a few ideas from the TBTAM recipe collection. They all have that autumn-into-winter, fruits of the harvest feel that Thanksgiving is made for, with just a tad of unexpected flavor or texture to jolt your diners’ taste buds out of their turkey-induced stupor.

Apple Torte – This is a great make-ahead dessert that keeps well in the fridge. It’s impressive appearance belies a very easy preparation.

Ginger Stout Cake – Nothing says autumn like a ginger cake, and this is one of the best. It’s what I’m bringing to dinner this year.

Fig & Plum Tartlets – Adapt this tartlet recipe for a large crowd by making one large tart instead. Enough fruit to feel healthy after a heavy meal, with enough sweetness to feel special.

Prune & Almond Tart with Armanac – Another impressive tart that’s easy to make and delicious to eat.

Apple Crumb Tart – Made with a shortbread crust and a breadcrumb topping, this tart is a nice change from the old apple pie.

Ginger Stout Cake

Autumn brings thoughts of ginger – ginger snaps, ginger bread, and our new family favorite – Ginger Cake. I’m not sure what makes ginger a cold weather spice in our society. Maybe it’s because in cooler climates like ours, the rhizomes are harvested in autumn. No matter – I love ginger all year round, and keep crystallized ginger in the freezer to use in recipes or munch on whenever I want a tangy bite.

This particular recipe uses both ground and fresh ginger root  – an entire 4 oz of fresh ginger, to be exact. This looks like a lot while you are chopping it,  but don’t worry. It tastes just fine and the small pieces are undetectable in the final product except as flavor. The cake itself is moist, flavorful and really very special.

Making this cake is almost as fun as eating it. Remember that erupting volcano you made for your 4th grade science fair? You get to relive that experience when you add the baking soda to the boiling beer/molasses mixture. Bring the kids in to watch – it really erupts! (Science buffs can tell us why in the comments.)  Make sure you use a large pot, or you’ll have a real mess on your hands.

STOUT GINGER CAKE

This recipe comes from the Gramercy Tavern, was originally published in Gourmet and is now available on Epicurious. The original recipe calls for Guinness Stout, but here I used a double chocolate Stout that gave it an exceptionally fine flavor. I’ve also added a garnish of sliced candied ginger and serve it with a dollop of  whipped cream. I like my whipped cream with a tad of sugar, but you can make yours unsweetened if you prefer. Thanks to Irene for introducing us to this wonderful cake and talking me through the baking of it.

1 cup stout beer (Guinness or other – I used Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, available at Food Emporium here in NYC)
1 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
½ tbsp. baking soda
4 oz. piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped by hand (make it as fine as you can)
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
¾ cup canola oil (you can use vegetable or peanut oil if that’s what you have on hand)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsps. ground ginger
1 ½ tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Sweetened whipped cream and and thinly sliced crystallized ginger for topping and garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 or 9 inch tube pan.
2. In a very large saucepan over high heat, combine the stout and molasses and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the baking soda. Allow to sit until the foam dissipates. Stir in the chopped fresh ginger and let it steep while the mixture cools to room temp.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs and both sugars. Whisk in the vanilla and oil.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and black pepper.
5. Combine the stout mixture with the egg mixture, then whisk this liquid into the flour mixture, half at a time.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the top springs when gently pressed.  (Mine took exactly an hour, Irene advised you to check yours at 50 minutes) Do not open the oven until the cake is almost done, or the cake may fall slightly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Make sure to cool completely and loosen the edges well before inverting onto plate – it should come away intact.

Serve with crystallized ginger slices and whipped cream.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup cold whipping cream
3 tbsp confectioner sugar
a drop of vanilla

Combine ingredients in a large bowl and whip at high speed using an electric mixer till it forms soft peaks. Refrigerate till use.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake – What a Batter!

I have a confession to make – I am a batter taster.

I love those moments just after the cake pan is put into the oven, when the empty bowl beckons. The kids have absconded with the mixer paddle, which they have licked clean and left somewhere around the apartment, where I will have to fetch it in a few minutes. But for the moment, I am left standing at the counter next to the sink scavenging the Kitchen Aid stainless steel mixing bowl.

My technique is to use the thumb side of the pointer finger, trying to get as much as possible with one swipe as I run it across the bottom and around the rim of the bowl. I lick the batter from my fingers with abandon and without shame, going for every last bit of loveliness I can find. Towards the end, I often have to resort to using the red rubber spatula, but somehow this does not bring the same satisfaction as the finger swipe.

When it becomes clear that I have gotten all I can get without resorting to licking the bowl itself (that would be going too far), I reluctantly let go of the bowl, dropping it into the soapy water in the sink as I imagine that I am Rose, prying Jacks’ frozen fingers from mine and releasing him into the icy blackness alongside the sunken Titanic.

Rules for Batter Eating

As you might expect, there are certain rules for batter eating. This lends to the act a sacredness shared by other religious dietary laws. First, one must wait until the entire batter is made. Baking is chemisty, and early tasting risks upsetting the delicate balance of ingredients in the final product. Just try telling this to your daughter as she reaches into the bowl for a clump of brown sugar and butter you have just creamed while making chocolate chip cookies…

Secondly, one must limit oneself to small amounts of batter, since removing too much for tasting risks not having enough final product to fill the pan. As you might expect, this sets up great personal conflict, and I often feel the inner struggle as I use the rubber spatula to get the last bits of batter into the cake pan, knowing that in doing so, I am leaving less for myself to taste later. (Ah, sweet turmoil!)

Finally, batter is not something to be eaten in anything other than small amounts – some would say not at all – and most certainly not if you are pregnant or immuno-suppressed, since, after all, eating raw eggs risks salmonella. I must say, however, that in almost half a century of licks I have yet to become ill.

You can judge a cake by its batter

I truly believe that one can judge a cake by its batter. In fact, I can say with confidence that if I don’t love a cake uncooked, I won’t like it when it’s finished – so I might as well not waste the energy baking it up. Which reminds me of a tongue twister my mother taught me as a child –
Betty Batter bought some butter.
“But”, she said, “this butter’s bitter!”
“When I put it in my batter,
It makes all my batter bitter.”
So, she bought some better butter
and put it in the bitter batter,
to make the bitter batter better.

If you are a batter taster, you’re going to love making this Chocolate Zucchini cake, which comes from a recipe I found at Alpineberry, who got it from the King Arthur Flour Website. I don’t even care that I didn’t win her King Arthur Cookbook giveaway. This batter is prize enough.

Oh, right. The baked cake was lovely.

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Everyone loves this cake! (But did they taste the batter?)

Working Class Foodie’s Apple Cake

I’ve been enjoying watching Working Class Foodie, a Web Show on Hungry Nation that features Rebecca and Max, two siblings with “a love of cooking and eating” who create simple meals using seasonal, local ingredients for under $8 a serving.

Their traditional apple cake recipe is a perfect example of simply delicious food. It’s your basic Jewish Apple Cake made from a recipe Rebecca and Max got from their aunt Tracy, who prefaced her recipe with these words to her niece and nephew – “Don’t mess it up!”

This recipe differs from others apple cake recipes I’ve seen in several ways – First the ratio of sugar to flour is almost 1:1. Other recipes I’ve seen have about a 2:3 proportion, making this cake considerably on the sweeter side. Perhaps to balance out the sugar, there’s a heck of a lot of cinnamon – 2 tbsp to be exact, compared to 2 tsp in most other traditional apple cake recipes. (Not to worry, it doesn’t overpower.) In many ways, the batter reminded me of the Commissary Carrot Cake (one of my fave cakes of all time – I’ll make and post it for you someday), and indeed when I checked that recipe, the proportions of eggs, flour, sugar and oil were almost identical.
The recipe gives the option of of using either white or brown sugar – I decided to go half and half with each. It also offers the choice of apple chunks or layered slices – I went with the chunks, since that’s how Rebecca does it in her video. I also followed more of a standard approach to combining the ingredients, mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another, then combining them, as opposed to Rebecca’s dump it all in at once approach. It’s just the way I learned to make oil-based cakes.Mr TBTAM absolutely loved this cake, as did my daughter and her friends. It was moist and flavorful, with a delightfully crispy crust. The cake did fall just a tad away from the crust as it cooled, but the dusting of confectioners sugar hid the unevenness of the top that resulted. The apple chunks were like little pieces of love embedded in sweetness. I have to admit, the cake was a bit sweet for my taste and I enjoyed the more natural sweetness of the apples in contrast to the sugariness of the cake.

I’d like to try this cake with some whole wheat flour substituting for some of the white flour and with a bit less sugar. I’ll bet the whole wheat would play off the apples really well. I think I’ll try it using one of those 2:3 ratio recipes, leave the skins on the apples, slice them paper thin and layer them. There’s a nice Polish Apple Cake recipe in Marlena Spieler’s book Jewish Cooking that I’ve been wanting to try that fits that bill pretty well.
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Rebecca and Max make their Aunt Tracy’s Apple Cake.

Macaroons for the Chemo Tummy

The good thing about being both a doctor and a cook is that when you don’t have any more medicine to offer, there’s always the food.

Case in point – my sister’s chemo-induced nausea. Despite maximum doses of Zofran, she still finds herself quite queasy, usually between meals. We decided to try some mint lemonade and bingo! – the stuff really works for her. She’ll nurse a tall glass all afternoon to help keep her tummy in control.

Then, her good friend Lorraine, an onco nurse, told us she heard anectodal reports from her colleagues that macaroons were also helpful for chemo and radiation induced GI distress, both upper and lower. Well, that was all I needed to head to the kitchen to whip up a batch of cousin Jessie’s macaroons. Indeed, Sis found them useful when she has that empty stomach queaziness. (They didn’t work if she had already eaten something that makes her nauseus.)

Unfortunately, Sis is now on a low residue diet and macaroons are off the list. Coconut is a nut, after all, so don’t overdo it, and avoid them completely if you are at risk for obstruction. And remember, both these foods are high in sugar, so take them in small doses. Fortunately, that’s the way they seem to work best – a sip here, a nibble there…

Minted Lemonade

Make lemonade either homemade or from canned concentrate. (I would not use powdered) in a 2 qt pitcher withy a lid. Tear up a whole lotta’ mint leaves (we use about a 1/4 cup torn leaves) and mix them in with the lemonade. Store in the fridge – it will keep for several days. Serve over lots of ice. Alternatively, freeze the mint with water in ice cube trays and use the mint ice cubes in your lemonade.

Jessie’s Macaroons

I’m sure any macaroon recipe would work, but these macaroons are the best I’ve ever had. Cousin Jessie makes for Passover every year, so of course, they are flourless. Be sure to use unsweetened coconut – the sweetened stuff has additives like propylene glycol and sulfites.

2/3 cup egg white
¾ cup sugar
1/8 tsp salts2 ½ cup natural coconut
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
1 tbsp white corn syrup
Almonds

Combine all ingredients, stirring well, in a moderate size saucepan. Heat over mod heat till warm. Off heat let stand 10 mins. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop by tsp or small scoop onto baking sheet and place half an almond on top. Bake in 325 oven 18-20 mins till golden. Let cool on the paper. Store in a tightly covered container.
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Sorry for Poor Quality photo – it was taken with my old phone.

Apple Tarts for an Abbreviated Autumn

We decided to play it safe and close up the cottage early this year. Looks like we we’re not a week to soon. We arrive to find that 6 inches of snow had fallen the day before, creating a sight we’ve never seen before – autumn in winter. Lucky for us it didn’t get cold enough for the pipes to freeze.

We’ve got a fire going and there’s half a bushel of local apples that we picked up last weekend at the Fall Festival in Forksville, just begging to be put in a nice crust. While rolling out the Pate Brisée, I gaze out the kitchen window at the snow covered ground and begin to entertain the possibility of winterizing the place so that next year we can enjoy it all year round.

But for now, it’s the bittersweet end of another season in the Endless Mountains. Tomorrow morning we’ll pack up the contents of the kitchen cupboards, strip the beds and bring in the hammock, the porch furniture and the bikes. It’s too cold for a bike ride, so we’ll take one last hike around the lake before we hit the road. And we promise ourselves that this winter, if the lake ice freezes, we’ll come back up for the Toboggan Slide. Even if we have to stay at the Inn.

Because this place sure looks awfully pretty in the snow.

Abbreviated Autumn Apple Tarts

I used a minimum of ingredients so the flavor of the apples would dominate. The Pate Brisee is from The Paris Cookbook by Patricia Wells, and the recipe was inspired by (but nowhere near) her recipe for Ultra-Thin Apple Tart from Carton’s Bakery in Paris. I sliced the apples as thin as I could without a Mandolin. One of these days, I’ll make a real Tart Aux Pommes.

1 recipe Pate Brisée (see below)
2-3 tart apples (I used Crispins)
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Confectioner’s sugar for garnish.

Roll out pastry dough and line 4 small tart pans. If you have time, freeze for an hour before filling.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel and core the apples, then slice them as thin as you can. Arrange the apple slices on the tart shells in layers, brushing each layer with melted butter. Sprinkle the granulated sugar on top of the tarts. Place the tarts on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool ever so slightly, sprinkle with confectioners sugar and serve.
Patricia Well’s Pate Brisée

1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
8 tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
3-4 tbsp water

Process the flour and salt in the food processor to mix. Ad the butter and pulse for about 10 secs till well blended. With the machine running, add the water gradually until the dough just begins to form a ball. Turn out onto a floured work surface and scrape it bit by bit across the work surface till it is smooth, then form into a flat ball. (Or do as I did, and just gather it with your hands into a ball.) Refrigerate for an hour, or up to 24 hours.
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More photos from my lake hike

COMMENTS

  1. Bardiac says: EditBeautiful!It’s too bad apple crisps probably wouldn’t survive being in the mail, isn’t it.Reply
  2. kathy a. says: Editoh, the snow on the ground! we just never get that where i live. the toboggan slide looks like great fun!and your tart looks lovely. i can almost smell it from here.Reply
  3. snoring mouthpiece says: EditHi,Apple tarts? I never try this recipe before but I think this is great sharing. May be after this I will ask my wife to make apple tarts for testing.Cheers,the snoring mouthpieceReply
  4. Maris says: EditI don’t know what looks more beautiful – your apple tarts or those photos!Reply
  5. ccinnkeeper says: EditIf you go up for the toboggan slide, please consider staying at The Crestmont, it’s owned by a friend of mine and she & her family do a great job there.

Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday, Mr TBTAM.

Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake

This is a tried-and-true family birthday cake favorite. From Irene, of course. For the grated chocolate, we use chocolate chips, ground in the food processor till it is about a 60/40 mix of finely ground and tiny pieces. I screwed up this one by forgetting to add the chocolate on top till after it was baked – no problem, just sprinkle it on while it’s still hot and no one will know the difference. Serve with tall glasses of milk.

½ lb. butter
1 ¾ c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup milk
2 2/3 cups self-rising flour
½ c. grated semisweet chocolate (inside)
½ c. grated semisweet chocolate (topping)
Powdered sugar for the top

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Cream butter and sugar till light. Add egg yolks one at a time. Beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Beat in flour and milk alternately, starting with flour and ending with milk, adding about a third of each at a time and working quickly. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter with ½ cup grated chocolate. Pour into greased and floured pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate on top.

Bake at 350°: 9 x 13 baking pan 45 minutes or large tube pan 55 minutes, or 2- 9 inch layer pans 40 minutes, or 2 loaf pans 45 minutes. Cool, sprinkle top with powdered sugar.

Short Stories and a Shortbread Crust

I love baking any day, but Saturday afternoons are my favorite time to spend in the kitchen. That’s because I get to listen to Selected Shorts while I work. The Saturday I made this tart was no exception, as I listened to “Enough” by Alice McDermott and “Just a Little More” by V.S. Pritchett, both stories about food and life.

I have to admit I am not a short story reader (although I am looking forward to reading Olive Kitterage for my book club this month), so Selected Shorts has pretty much been my main exposure to this genre since I graduated from college. The show is recorded here in New York City at Symphony Space, but occasionally goes on the road as well. Not all of the stories at the live performances make it to the radio program, so it feels pretty special to be there. Not to mention seeing some pretty amazing folks reading – famous names like Signoury Weaver, Alec Baldwin, Leonard Nimoy, Steven Colbert, and John Lithgow, just to name a few. We saw Ann Patchett when we went to hear the show commemorating the stories of Eudora Welty. Pretty cool.

Oh, yeah. Here’s what I was baking –

Apple Crumb Tarts

This recipe from Epicurious has a wonderful shortbread crust that I’m hoping to find additional use for in the future. It is also yet another use for the wonderful homemade breadcrumbs I’ve been making lately. My kids have declared this dessert my “best ever”.

I thought one of the comments on the epicurious website was intriguing – to add a layer of apricot jam under the apples to prevent the bottom of the crust from getting soggy. Maybe I will try that next time, though have to say the simplicity of the flavors in this tart is very appealing, and I don’t know that I’d want to muddy things with another strong flavor like apricot.

The original recipe from Epicurious is for two tarts, enough for 20 people. I was afraid to cut the pie crust recipe in half, so I made the whole thing and used the leftover dough to make some little bar cookies that I pressed and cut out.

Shortbread Crust (enough for two tarts)

This recipe makes two 9-inch tart crusts – You can cut it in half if you want. Let me know how it turns out if you do.

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Combine the ingredients in a food processor and pulse till it starts to form a ball. Take the dough out and press it onto a greased 9 inch tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees till light brown (about 20 mins). Remove and cool.

Filling (for one tart)

2 large Granny Smith and 2 large Macintosh apples
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cups + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 cup homemade fine dry bread crumbs (make them this way, but don’t add the olive oil)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Peel, quarter, and core apples. Cut quarters crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices and toss with flour, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup sugar. Toss bread crumbs with melted butter.

Assemble Tart

Add apple mixture to tart pan, arranging prettily and overlapping slices in circles. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over tarts and sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp sugar over crumbs.

Bake tarts in middle of oven until apples are tender and crumbs are golden brown, about 1 hour.