Tag Archives: pastry

Mix It Up Monday – A Well “Rounded” Meal: Savory & Sweet Pies

08 Monday Oct 2018

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from Kris B.

Brunch Sausage-Apple Pie

Before I say too much about this recipe, I need to state a few things right up front:

  • Breakfast is my favorite meal.
  • I will any breakfast food for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
  • I’m a fan of one-dish meals.
  • As far as breakfast meats go, I prefer bacon to sausage.
  • I don’t care for fruit mixed with any other flavors…except bread.  I’m not a fan of chocolate dipped fruit except for strawberries.  I don’t like coffee infused with fruit flavors.  I don’t like dried fruit in a savory salad.
  • We choose the recipes for our posts several months in advance.

Keep these things in mind as you continue reading!

For whatever reason, this recipe sounded really good to me when I added it to our rotation.  Admittedly, I did not read the complete recipe at the time I chose it; I just looked at its basic description.  I like pie.  I like apples and cheese.  And though I do prefer bacon over sausage, I do like sausage.  Weber likes all of these ingredients and prefers sausage to bacon.  I figured this would make a good fall meal – breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

When I got around to make this is read the entire recipe, I was not so sure about it.  First of all, it is somewhat labor intensive.  Make the dough for crust.  Divide the dough in half; part for the actual crust and part to be used for a crumble on top.  Chill the dough.  Peel and slice the apples.  Roll the crust.  Bake the crust.  Cook the apples.  Cook the sausage.  Grate the cheese.  And finally, put it all together and bake it.  To eat this as a brunch meal, one would either need to get up very early, or have a very late brunch!

Here are the ingredients:

CRUST

FILLING

  • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter
  • 6 medium apples, cored, peeled and sliced approx. 1/4-inch thick
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
  • 8 ounces sausage meat, crumbled
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Notice that there is a lot of sweetness is this!  Brown sugar in the topping, sugar in the apples, as well as the apples themselves.  And the amount of apples far outweighs that of the sausage.  At this point, I started to question the recipe.  Then I decided that the cheese and sausage would work together to temper the sweetness of everything else.  So, on I went.

I was also concerned about the amount of butter used; not so much in the crust, but in the cooking of the apples.  And again, on I went, believing that whoever wrote the recipe knew something more than I did.

The dough for the crust was very easy with which to work.  It rolled without cracking and was easy to move to the 9″ pie plate.  Here is my method for moving the rolled dough into the pie plate.  Once rolled to the desired thickness, fold the dough in half and then in half again.  It is much easier to move the folded dough.  Then simply unfold it in the pie plate and continue to crimp your edges.

After cooking the apples and the sausage, and pre-baking the pie shell, the pie is assembled in layers.  First the apples, then the sausage.  The cheddar cheese goes on top of these two and is followed by the crumble, which is a portion of the pie crust which was reserved and to which brown sugar was added.  The pie bakes for 30-40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Once cooled (and photographed), it was time to give the Brunch Sausage-Apple Pie a try.

Weber liked it.  Me?  Not so much.

After having it for dinner, I sent Tracey a message that said that this was a recipe for schizophrenic food.  It doesn’t know whether it wants to be sweet or savory.  It is the culinary example of compromise – no one is happy.  The sausage intrudes on what would probably be a decent apple pie and the sweetened apples over-power the savory-ness of the sausage and cheese.  And after several bites, I realized that the whole thing is too rich for me.  The sweetness combined with the sausage and all of the butter was more than I could handle.

All this said, I think there are several changes that could be made that would make this recipe a possible keeper.

  • Put  cheese in the crust rather than as a layer in the pie itself.
  • Omit the sweet crumble topping and instead use a double crust.
  • Don’t cook the apples in butter.
  • Use a reduced amount of brown sugar (or not) when cooking the apples.
  • Mix the apples and the sausage together and spread this mixture in the shell rather than layering them.

Life is all about learning from all of our experiences.  With this one, I learned to trust my instincts and have a little my faith in my knowledge.

from Tracey G.

Mr. Washington’s Cherry Pie

Even though I know it’s apple season, I wanted cherry pie, so that’s what I set out to make for this week! I found this recipe for Mr. Washington’s Cherry Pie, courtesy once again, of King Arthur Flour’s website.

I’ve never worked with canned cherries, and this recipe uses canned sour cherries packed in water. I’ve used regular canned pie filling before, but not just the straight-up cherries, so this was kind of a fun adventure!

The recipe is crazy simple, and so are the ingredients:

  • One prepared double pie crust or your favorite recipe (I used this recipe of KAF’s for mine: Classic Double Pie Crust)
  • sour cherries, packed in water or individually quick frozen
  •  sugar
  • cinnamon, optional
  • quick-cooking tapioca or Pie Filling Enhancer ( I didn’t have any more of the Pie Filling Enhancer, so I just used the recommended amount of Instant ClearJel they state in the Tips From Our Baker’s section at the end of the recipe, and it also directs you to other ideas for thickening!)
  • almond extract
  • salt
  • butter, optional

It’s also really simple to put together, first you prepare you pan with your crust of choice. Next, add the drained cherries and 2/3 cup reserved juice from them into a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon (if using) and tapioca or Pie Filling Enhancer (or thickener of choice!). Add this mixture to the cherries, then stir in the salt and almond extract.

At this point, you’re ready to spoon the cherry mixture into the prepared pan, and top with the second crust in the style of your choice – I chose to do a lattice crust. Pie crust and I have a love/hate relationship, so if I can detract from my ugly edges, lol, I will!

Now it’s time to bake it in a 425°F oven for about 40-45 minutes, on a parchment covered sheet pan (to catch potential drips), until golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Remove it from the oven and cool completely on a rack so it has time to set up before you cut it. That’s it!

I can tell you right now, that I will be making this again – I really, really enjoyed this pie! The sour cherries are so yummy, I could just eat the filling without anything else! (But I do love pie crust, I must admit!) Not only does it taste fabulous, it’s really easy to make – the canned cherries make it pretty convenient as well. Next I’d like to try the recipe with frozen sour cherries, if I can find them in my neck of the woods!

If you want a yummy cherry pie, that takes a teensy bit more time than using a prepared pie filling, do give this one  whirl – there’s nothing there to disappoint at all!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Food Friday – Versatile Pie: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Dessert!

23 Saturday Jun 2018

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Zucchini (and Bacon) Frittata

It’s squash season and our diet is full of all things zucchini and yellow summer squash!

When it comes to summer meals, I am all for one dish dinners that are quick, easy, and don’t heat up the kitchen too much.  In years past, quiche with almost any kind of veggie filling has been go-to summertime dinner.  But, quiche, with its pie crust and heavy cream filling, though tasty, is not particularly weight loss friendly.  This year’s substitute for that quiche is the frittata.  Honestly, I find it equally as delicious and much more kind to my waistline!

This particular recipe is a little labor intensive, but it is definitely worth it.  Set the A/C a few degrees lower and go for it!  The day I made it, the thermometer on our patio read 105 degrees.  I have no regrets!

Ingredients:

The first step is to shred about two pounds of squash.  I did it in about 30 seconds using the food processor.  You can use all zucchini, all yellow summer squash, or combination of the two.  I used the a combination.  Once you have shredded your squash of choice, place it in a colander stir in the salt.  Place a heavy bowl on top of the squash and let it drain for about an hour.  You may also want to give it a few good squeezes.  The goal is to remove as much liquid as possible before cooking.

While the squash is draining, dice the onions.  If you wish to add bacon, this is also the time to cook it.  I used four slices of thick-cut uncured bacon. Set the cooked bacon aside.  Leave 2 TBS of the bacon drippings in the pan.

Once the squash has drained, mix in the onions.  Saute this mixture either in olive oil or the reserved bacon drippings.  Cook the mixture for about 20 minutes.  The veggie volume will greatly diminish!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Once the veggies are done, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cheese, and flour.  Stir in the veggies (having drained off any excess liquid), and cooked bacon.

Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil into a 9 or 10 inch round oven safe pan.  I used a cast iron skillet.  Pour the mixture into the pan spreading it evenly.  Bake it for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown.

That’s it!

I cut mine in to eight servings.

I am glad that I added the bacon to this recipe.  Without it, I think that it might have been a little bland.  Notice there are no herbs or spices.  If I were to make this recipe with veggies only, I would likely add a little garlic and maybe some red pepper flakes.

This is a super flexible recipe!  Use broccoli or spinach.  Add ham.  Experiment with herbs and spices.  Most importantly, enjoy!

 

from Tracey G.

No-Bake Fresh Strawberry Pie

Where to begin with this No-Bake Fresh Strawberry Pie recipe saga, how about here:

A week ago in a galaxy kitchen far, far away…

My temperamental kitchen sink drain/run of pipe decided it was a good time to clog up. Now it does this about twice a year, due to the poor plumbing job when the house was built (which Jeremy curses every time he has to fix said drain clogs), too long of a run of pipe and gravity is NOT on its side. Usually a bit of muscle get is it going. Well, we thought after the industrial-strength drain eater cleaner, it seemed to be ok. Nope, about a day or so later, we were back at the beginning again. Long story short after practically tearing apart the kitchen, pipes etc, we were good to go. Although there’s still a bit of a problem with the parts at the sink that I had to work around until new could be acquired.

Whew, ok, where was I? Oh right, the saga…

Well, this ” sink drain development” set me behind, and I mean REALLY behind in my Food Friday preparations. So much so that it was Friday morning when I finally got to get started on the recipe. But of course it’s one that needs to set up for about 2 hours (well, they do say that you can eat  it right away if you like/want, but I had photos to think of, so set up time was a good thing), and I knew there was no way it would be ready in time for photos and then posting, so I told Kris I’d be most likely posting on Saturday.

I had first seen this recipe in the Spring issue of Sift, and it calls for one baked 9-inch pie shell, so I used their Single Pie Crust recipe I’ve used many times. But when I looked up the recipe online, it had a different title (the “No-Bake” part added), different crust (although they list you can use a traditional crust in the “Tips From Our Bakers” section, which is what I did), a different amount of berries (2 lbs. instead of 1 lb., along with different sugar amount) and an extra option added for thickening – the KAF Pie Filling Enhancer, instead of just the corn starch listed in magazine.  Well, ok, good thing I got 2 lbs of strawberries!

I got my pie crust made, but let me tell you – I opted to try the “Stand Mixer Method” as talked about in this post from KAF’s blog, Flourish, entitled – “How To Make Pie Crust In Your Stand Mixer: Easy Does It”. And out of everything that went wrong for me along this recipe’s journey, this went so right! It was a great way to bring it together, and super easy! Unfortunately, myself and Pie Pastry have a long-standing love/hate relationship. Just when I think I have it mastered, it laughs at me and says “Oh no you don’t, take that! Ha!!” and becomes a mess to work with, as it did this time. I have no idea what I did wrong, likely not enough water – but let’s just say it became a “pat-in-the-pan” style crust.

Moving on…. I got the pastry shell baked, fairly successfully. I had a few cracks here and there, but nothing I’d worry about, ugly but oh well, ugly food can still taste good!

Now, on to the berry part. I prepped the berries as stated in the recipe. You then pull about 1 1/2 cups out and place in a saucepan, along with your sugar and thickener of choice. I chose to use the Pie Filling Enhancer as I had some that I wanted to use up that had come from a defective batch to KAF’s standards. They had initiated contact with me about it, refunded my money and attached alternate usage instructions for it. I figured this would be a good project to use up the rest of it for. Unfortunately, it didn’t offer a totally clear thickening, mine’s a bit cloudy. But again, it still tastes good!

So, you cook the 1 1/2 cups of berries in the saucepan along with the other filling ingredients (but not the lemon juice), until they thicken, then add in your lemon juice. After that, you stir the whole mix into the rest of the fresh berries and place in the pie shell. As I said before, they state you can eat it now, while warmish or refrigerate for a couple hours to set up. I felt that there weren’t enough berries, maybe I cut them too small, but it seemed to look under-filled – I think next time I’ll get one more pound of berries! The more the merrier I say!

As the saga continued, I had some more trouble when it came time photograph it – of course right? Everything else has had a hitch, why not this part too? While taking it out of the refrigerator,  I managed to break the crust further, lol. I did hide that area for the photo though, I’ve had enough issues with the making of this recipe and wanted something that looked decent!

I have to say though that I really loved this pie and will make it again. I used to love our Big Boy Restaurant’s Fresh Strawberry Pie and this is way better, lol. Maybe because I made it myself and I can eat as much as I want??? It’s so super easy, I swear Harry could make it without help, as long as there were no setbacks such as I dealt with along the way!

If you get some fresh berries – do try this pie! I love that it has a few crust idea alternatives along with the one they utilize in the online recipe. The one in the online recipe is a true pat in the pan crust! Not one that should be rolled out and decided to be difficult, lol. I wish now I’d have tried that one first! Could have saved me a step! 😀

 

Food Friday – Say Cheese!

04 Saturday Nov 2017

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from Tracey G.

Presenting the King Arthur Flour Everything-Cheddar Pastry Twist – easy to make and easy to eat. I was a bit intimidated by it when I read it, but once I actually started the doing, it was really painless to make something that looks pretty fancy and labor-intensive.

I will admit it, I’d bought a couple of the special ingredients needed for this few months ago for other purposes. The Vermont Cheese Powder I’d bought for making my own homemade cheese popcorn with my air popper to dress up my healthy snack a little and the Everything Bagel Topping, I’d bought to well, make bagels with. But after reading and making the recipe, if you wanted to use other flavors etc, the technique would still be suitable. It also called for the Pastry Flour Blend, which I happened to have, but it also gives you the option to use regular all-purpose flour as well.

The recipe is executed in a few steps, but easy ones they are. First you make your pastry dough, which consists of: flour (either the Pastry Flour Blend or AP flour), salt, baking powder, Vermont Cheese Powder, butter and ice water. Once you get it made, divide it into two equal portions, and then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

While that’s doing it’s thing chilling in the refrigerator, you make up the filling. This involves: Vermont Cheese Powder, Everything Bagel Topping, water, a bit of butter and grated sharp Cheddar cheese. I only had shredded Cheddar, so I went over it quickly with a knife to make the pieces smaller and closer to a grated-style. The cheese powder, bagel topping, butter and water get mixed together. The grated cheese stays separate.

To start the assembly, you roll out one of the disks of dough, to approximately 11-inches. It then gets trimmed down to a 10-inch circle via using a pie plate or a dinner plate that’s 10-inches as a template. Once you’ve done that, you pop it onto a piece parchment paper. Spread the dough with the filling mixture within about a 1/2-inch from the edge, then sprinkle on the grated cheese. At this point, you beat an egg with a tablespoon of water and brush the edge of the disk with it.

Next is to roll-out the other disk of dough, in the same manner: roll to an 11-inch circle, then trim to a 10-inch one using pie plate or dinner plate as guide for a perfect circle. This now gets placed on top of the other, and over the filling.

Now here’s where it gets interesting and rather fun! At this point you use a 2 1/2 to 3-inch round cutter (or anything you happen to have that could substitute for that, maybe a glass?) and set it in the center of the circle, it’s a guide so don’t cut with it. Working from the center out, you now cut the pastry circle into 32 wedges. I marked it off in quarters, then divided those up into 8 to make sure I stayed fairly even. You cut through both layers from the edge of the circle cutter all the way to each edge. Once you’ve done that, you take each little wedge and twist it in the same direction 3 times. That’s it. Proceed all the way around doing that with each little wedge.

This is before it’s baked, brushed and sprinkled with the remaining seasoning. You can see where the cutter was in the center – how it leaves a hub.

Lastly, once you’ve twisted them all, brush the whole with some of the beaten egg and sprinkle it with the remaining Everything Bagel Topping. Bake for 30-35 minutes, let cool for 15 and serve!! I should note here that in the actual recipe, it doesn’t mention sliding the parchment onto a baking sheet for baking – but after I did the cutting, I put it on a baking sheet, then did the twisting – and then the baking while on the sheet.

This recipe has a lot going for it – especially if you need an appetizer/snack. It’s simple and very stand-alone, meaning it doesn’t need a dip or anything of that nature to go with it. It would be easy to transport and plate for serving and look pretty as well! They mention it would go well with beer, cocktail or any beverage – with or without alcohol – that you choose or are serving, and I agree. Once I started taste-testing this, I couldn’t stop! I am so excited to find something this easy that looks like you know what you’re doing as far as pretty presentation!! Don’t be intimidated like I was at first, do try it, and now that I’ve gone through it once, it will be even easier/faster the next time! And on that note, you could vary the fillings anyway you like, just keep it fairly dry so it doesn’t ooze out while baking. I imagine you could leave out the cheese powder in the dough, that’s something I’d like to experiment with. You could use your own mixture of seasonings instead of the Everything Bagel Topping for example – I see lots of possibilities for this recipe technique.

But, this is one yummy snack/appetizer just as it is and I can highly recommend it!

Everything-Cheddar Pastry Twist

 

from Kris B.

This week’s offerings are from King Arthur Flour’s broad category, “Entrees, Sides, and Appetizers.”  To me, that translates to “real” food, something beyond sweet treats.  I think it says something about the way that Tracey and I think in that we both chose recipes that rely heavily on cheese.  This was not a planned theme for the week, but it sure is nice when it happens this way!

I often feel like a child when it comes to my food choices.  I still love simple foods, finger foods, comfort foods.  And, despite having eaten many a box of ten for a dollar “fake” macaroni and cheese when I was in college, I still love Mac and Cheese.  I am happy to say though that my palate and my wallet have “upgraded” from the poor college student version of this deliciousness!

I have been in several nicer restaurants lately where “gourmet” mac and cheese has been offered on the menu.  What makes it “gourmet?”  Usually it is the type of cheese or cheeses used and the specialty “add-ins.”  Gruyere, asiago, Roquefort, Fontina, and even smoked Gouda, my personal favorite, add a bit of grown-up flavor to this traditional comfort food dish.  Add-ins such as crab meat or bacon to any number of different kinds of vegetables also help to “adult” your mac and cheese.  The truth is that any macaroni and cheese made from scratch rather than from a box takes a huge leap in its gourmet factor.

I tried King Arthur Flour’s Garlic-Herb Mac and Cheese this week.  Made from scratch macaroni and cheese is definitely more time consuming than that from the box.  It took me more time to make this recipe than it took my husband to cook two rotisserie chickens on the grill, but, it was well worth the time.  Some of my extra prep time was because I always grate my own cheese; and the recipe calls for garlic oil, which I did not have so I had to make that too.  To do that, I used this simple recipe for garlic oil from Ina Garten.  It makes much more than you need for this mac and cheese, but since I know you will be making King Arthur’s Garlic-Herb Mac and Cheese again, having extra will save you a step next time!

Any type of smallish shaped pasta can be used in making this Garlic-herb Mac and Cheese.  It’s funny to me how the shape of the pasta can elevate the dish from looking like child’s food to a grown-up side.  Small shells are a favorite at my house because the cheesy goodness works its way into the center of the pasta, but this time I used a 12 oz. bag of orecchiette, ear-shaped pasta.  They acted like little cheese scoops  I should note that the recipe calls for 8 ounces of pasta.  The ratio of cheese to pasta was just fine despite having used four ounces more pasta than called for.

The pasta is cooked to al dente, drained, rinsed with cold water and set aside.

The cheese sauce begins as a basic béchamel, but it has no additional fat (butter).  The base is 2 3/4 cups of milk and 1/4 cup of flour.  I have to confess here that I used two cups of whole milk and 3/4 cups of heavy cream because I only had a pint of milk on hand.  Thus, I had a little extra fat in mine. 🙂  The recipe calls for you to add 1/2 cup of King Arthur Flour’s Vermont Country Cheese Powder to the white sauce as it thickens.  I did not have any so I used an equal amount of grated Parmesan, but waited to add it at the same time as the grated cheddar, salt, pepper, and ground mustard powder, which are stirred in after the white sauce has thickened and been removed from the heat.

Once all of the cheese has melted into the sauce, the pasta is stirred in.  The Mac and Cheese is then poured into baking dishes.  It can be baked in a small casserole dish or individual ramekins.  By using the 12 ounce bag of pasta, I made eight 3/4 cup ramekin servings.

It is the topping that kicks this mac and cheese recipe up a notch! The topping consists of panko, butter, the garlic oil, and King Arthur Flour Pizza Seasoning (or rosemary and thyme).  The butter and oil are melted together.  The panko and seasoning is then stirred in.  A generous layer of this crispy topping is then spread on top of the macaroni and cheese and the dishes a placed in the oven to bake for 25-35 minutes.

When they come out of the oven you have piping hot creamy cheesy goodness.  This recipe is most certainly worth the time.  It will also serve as a great base for trying your hand at some of your own sideside dishgourmet mac and cheese combinations.  I often add spinach to mine, tossing the fresh spinach in with the pasta in its last two minutes of cooking.  Kielbasa is a favorite meat add-in here.  Be creative!  Make it your own!  Experiment with different cheeses.

If you create a combination that you’d like to share, we’d love to post it here!

Garlic-Herb Mac and Cheese

Say cheese!  And, enjoy your weekend.

Food Friday – King Arthur Flour October 2017 Bakealong Challenge: Rugelach

20 Friday Oct 2017

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from Kris B.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about being a rule follower.  Apparently this week I am embracing my rebellious side.  Not only did I not follow the recipe as written, I also took this week’s photo with my phone camera.  Just so you know, Tracey and I together made a conscious decision to work outside our usual parameters with this week’s images.  We had a conversation about both feeling like our food photos were becoming more and more uninspired and boring.  We came to the realization that perhaps that’s what happens when you have taken as many food photos as we have.  How many creative ways are there to photograph cookies or a loaf of bread or a piece of pie?  And on the King Arthur Flour Bakealong weeks, there is an extra challenge in that we attempt to each photograph the week’s offering differently.  So this week, in an effort to spice things up a little, we agreed that we’d shoot our recipe photos and edit them using only our phones.  I think this may have been a subversive plot of sorts.  Tracey got the new iPhone and was just looking for a good excuse to try out all of the new camera options. 🙂

My photo was taken with the phone’s resident camera and then I edited using Hipstamatic and Rhonna Designs.  In some ways, editing the food shots with my phone proved more difficult than I thought it would be.  I was hoping that I could “snap and app” and call it done.  Many of the phone filters tend to over-process images.  That is the last thing you want with a food photo.  Food needs to look real, edible, and delicious when you are finished!  Hopefully I came close to that with my edits because the truth is that I was not at all happy with my photos when I was taking them.  I think that may have been a result of my overall feeling that I lacked any semblance of serious creativity at the time.

When it came to actually making the Rugelach, I followed the dough recipe as written, but opted to use a raspberry and almond filling that consisted of 1/2-3/4 of a cup of seedless raspberry jam and a cup of sliced almonds.  Also, rather than making the three disks of dough and slicing them into twelve wedges each to make individual pieces, I rolled the dough into four 12×8 rectangles, spread the filling on top of each one, rolled the rugelach jellyroll style (rolling the long side), and then sliced each rolled rectangle into nine equal pieces. The slices are roughly 1 1/3 inches each.

This rich pastry, especially with the raspberry and almond filling, is a favorite at my house.  It is a good thing that I finally decided that I could use one of my original photos because the Rugelach was disappearing quickly.  I am learning to figure out more quickly the look I want for my photos because I often have hungry people breathing down my back ready to be the taste-testers for the week’s recipe!

With the holidays fast approaching, this is a perfect recipe for the office brunch or lunch, your holiday party, or gift giving.  Visit the King Arthur Flour recipe site for even more filling options for your Rugelach.

Happy Baking!

from Tracey G.

Last year for Christmas, I was looking for a fast, filled-cookie, that was like these fig things I used to make. The fig cookies were a bit of work, and for some reason figs became hard to find in the grocery. So I was on the hunt for something reminiscent of that, but with easily-obtainable ingredients and time-saving. I found the Rugelach on the King Arthur Flour website. The raisin filling with the seasoning etc, was a lot like the fig cookie! And since that flavor/style cookie is a favorite in the family, I decided to try it. I should say right now – I do not like raisins, lol. Oh, they’re ok on their own occasionally or in Raisin Bran cereal but that’s as far as it goes for me, do not bake them in cookies etc! No! But then I tried this recipe, and the raisins in combination with the nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar is a wonderful thing. I was um, actually “quality” taste-testing it with a spoon, which is definitely something for this anti-raisin person!

Needless to say, I was super duper excited to see the Rugelach recipe as the October Bakealong! It’s yummy and crazy easy. Once you get “rolling” on it (yes, pun intended!) you can crank them out fairly quickly. One thing I noticed though, is that they’ve updated the recipe since I printed mine out last December. They’ve included optional dried fruits to use instead of just raisins. I followed my old print-out, so I was chuckling when I thought I was being clever with my dried cranberries in one batch as they are now included in the dried fruit options. Oh well, at least I’m glad to see I’m on the same page with them and the recipe! There was another difference, the original recipe called for cutting the circle of dough into 8 triangles, and now it’s been changed to 12. I did 8, makes a great size for going with a cup of coffee! But next time, I will try 12 for some smaller sized fun, and probably make some in  the style Kris went with as well!

The dough combination of flour, butter, cream cheese, sour cream and a bit of salt is one of the easiest pastry doughs I’ve ever worked with. After making it, you divide it into 3 pieces, shape into disks and refrigerate for bit. While my dough was in the fridge, I whipped up the filling in my little 3 cup food processor. Once your dough is chilled, you roll it out one piece at time, into a 10-inch circle. Brush the dough with water (or in the updated version they recommend trying Boiled Cider or a warmed jelly or fruit preserve if you like), then sprinkle on 1/3 of the filling, lightly pressing down. Cut the circle into 12 or 8 wedges, and roll up from the wide end, then place them on a parchment lined baking sheet for easier clean up. If you like you can now brush them with milk (or cream) and sprinkle with Coarse Sparkling Sugar, I didn’t because for one thing, it wasn’t in my version of the recipe (it is now included in the updated version) and for another thing – no one but me around here likes the crunchy sugar! Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cooled – either way they are wonderful and will disappear quickly! I am so glad I made a double batch, at least I had them for a day or two, lol!!

This is a recipe that I am so glad I’d found last year, it’s one that has found a permanent home in my bag of Holiday baking tricks, lol. Everyone loves it – and I am definitely going to experiment with other fillings and even the suggestions of savory fillings that KAF shared as jumping off points in the their blog post Baking Savory Rugelach. You do have to give these a try – shaping is easy either way you go, the way Kris did hers or the way I did mine, you can’t go wrong!

And if you’re baking gluten-free: They recommend using their Gluten Free Measure-for-Measure Flour!

P.S. Yep, I’ll admit it – part of using the phone for photos was wanting to put it through its photo capabilities trials! And the other part was just to switch it up as Kris said – needed to try a different avenue! For my photos, I went with my native camera and my Snapseed app for tweaking the brightness/sharpness. Then I added the text for the one in my Rhonna Designs app, and the the close-up shot I added the text and graphic while I was still in Snapseed! 😉

Food Friday – Food and Memories

13 Friday Oct 2017

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from Kris B.

It’s funny how seemingly random choices and decisions made really are not random at all.  Again, Tracey and I create the baking schedule for these posts several months in advance.  Back in July when I slotted in Baked Apple Dumplings this week, I’m fairly sure that what was on my mind was that fall is apple season and I should make something with apples.  Now that it is October and time to make the apple dumplings, my thoughts around them are completely different.

It is hard for me to believe that I am approaching the third anniversary of my dad’s death, October 17, 2014.  And, he actually passed away on a Friday making this whole scenario even more poignant for me.  My dad loved anything apple.  He ate a fresh apple almost every afternoon, sometimes with a little cheese, as a snack.  In fact, the knife that he used to slice his daily apples was still sitting on the side table next to his chair after he was gone.  As a treat, he wanted apple pie or apple dumplings.  He had discovered some kind of frozen apple dumplings that he was ordering from Omaha Steaks, or someplace similar.  That way he didn’t have a whole pie sitting around; he baked one dumpling at a time.  It was a gift to me to have the opportunity to bake for him on my visits during his last few months.

So this week as I am making Baked Apple Dumplings, my dad is on my mind.  I wish that he was here to share some of these Baked Apple Dumplings with me.

There are three basic steps to making King Arthur Flour’s Baked Apple Dumplings – the dough, the syrup, and the filling.  All are easy and can be done concurrently,    The dough is made first and put in the freezer  While it chills, the syrup is made and let to simmer for ten minutes.  While it’s doing that, the apples are peeled, sliced, and cored. The apples are sliced around their “waistline; not in the direction that you think of when slicing pieces.  I used a melon “baller” to then scoop out the seeds in the center.  This leaves a nice well for the filling.  The apples are then coated with lemon juice to prevent browning.  The cinnamon filling is also mixed while the syrup simmers.  By the time you are finished, all of the ingredients are ready to be assembled.

The dough was divided in half when put in the freezer.  When you are ready to assemble the dumplings, remove half of the dough and roll it into a 12 inch by 12 inch square.  Cut the square into four equal parts.  Place an apple half in the center of the square and fill its center with a tablespoon of the cinnamon mixture.  The sides of the dough are then moistened to hold the edges together when they are folded up around the apple.  The ends of the dough are tucked into the center of the apple.  This process is repeated with all of the remaining dough.  The recipe makes eight servings.

I did have a little difficulty rolling the cold dough because it kept cracking.  Perhaps it was a little too dry either from not using enough milk when I mixed it.  The recipe calls for 3/4 to a cup, directing that you begin with the lesser amount adding a little at a time until the dough comes together.  I probably added two tablespoons beyond the initial 3/4 cup.  It’s also possible that I had too much flour on my board when I started rolling out the dough.  As I worked the dough and it warmed, working with it became much easier.

The apple dumplings are placed in a greased baking dish, the syrup is poured over them, they are topped with sparkling sugar, and then baked for 45-50 minutes.  I did place my baking dish on a cookie sheet because I had this feeling that the syrup might bubble over and end up all over the bottom of my oven.  We all know that burnt sugar has a terrible smell and is the absolute worst thing to have to clean out of an oven.  I’m glad that I did this.  Now all I have to clean is a baking sheet, not the entire oven!

My family was pretty much standing in the kitchen with their forks ready to try the dumplings when they came out of the oven.  No one was disappointed!  They are delicious!  And, in the big scheme of things, relatively easy to make.  Many people serve Baked Apple Dumplings with a side of ice cream.  We are not big ice cream eaters, so we ate them plain and they stand on their own just fine.  And no one really needs ice cream for breakfast.  Oops!  Did I just say that?  Confession time.  We had the Baked Apple Dumplings for breakfast the next day.  They are breakfast food.  The dough is kind of like biscuits.  Fruit goes with any meal.  And the syrup is the repurposed brown sugar that you put on your oatmeal!  Think of it is  kind of a grown-up Pop-Tart and voila!  Baked Apple Dumplings are the perfect breakfast food. 🙂  If this line of thinking doesn’t work for you, serve them as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Either way, this recipe will not disappoint!

 

from Tracey G.

This time of year always turns me toward thoughts of my mom, she’ll have been gone  for 5 years now on November 1st. Hard to fathom it’s been that long! Time flies for sure, and I’ve noticed how life events become ways of marking time, like a calendar of sorts – sometimes it’s measured by how old Harry is or was at the time of whatever I’m trying to remember, and sometimes it’s marked by how long Mom’s been gone. It’s funny how that seems to happen.

But, anyway, with thoughts of Mom on my mind, when I chose this recipe from King Arthur Flour for Lemon-Blueberry Streusel Pie, it didn’t dawn on me immediately that this pie is actually a combination of my favorite pie – blueberry, and Mom’s favorite – lemon meringue, minus the meringue. It was when Kris and I were talking about what recipes we were making, and the recipe she had chosen brought along thoughts of her Dad, that I then mentioned that for me the anniversary of my Mom’s passing was coming up as well, that it dawned on me she’d would’ve loved this pie! It’s part of her all-time favorite, the lemon part! She loved any and all things lemon, and I must admit she did pass that love the lemon on to me too!

When I discovered this recipe, I was intrigued when I read it. A lemon pie layered by a blueberry pie – then topped off with a streusel topping. Sounded good to me and different, so it became my recipe for this week. It was very easy to do, it just has a couple steps along the way that might make it seem that it’s bit difficult. I am here to say that it is NOT difficult at all! There are three parts: the lemon filling, the blueberry filling and the streusel. Each have their own methods, and are very easy. It doesn’t have a recipe for a crust, but I used their recipe for Classic Single Pie Crust, and it was perfect for it, even though my pastry was less than perfect! I apparently didn’t add quite enough liquid so it ended up a bit dry and falling apart as I tried to get it rolled out and in the pie pan, lol. Oh well, the patches didn’t show once it was filled and it still tasted yummy!

So once you have your pie pastry sorted out and partially baked, you start on the lemon filling. It’s a combination of butter, lemon juice, small amount of cornmeal, cornstarch, salt, sugar and eggs. Once it’s mixed up, pour into your prepared crust and bake for about 20-25 minutes on the bottom rack of the oven. It will still be a bit wobbly when you pull it out, but as it sits and cools it is still cooking and doing it’s thing.

The recipes moves on, once the lemon layer is out of the oven, to making the streusel topping. The topping is a simple combination of flour, melted butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt tossed together to form irregular crumbs.

Next up is the blueberry filling. Here you have you an option to use either fresh berries or frozen. I used frozen as that’s what I had on hand. You combine the frozen berries with sugar, a bit of salt and thickener. Now, if you use fresh berries you’re to toss the berries, still wet from washing with the other ingredients. They specify for them to be wet still, or if using frozen, you toss the frozen berries with the other ingredients and allow to thaw, stirring occasionally to mix it all properly.

When the lemon filling is almost done (cooled) you start cooking your berries just until they’re bubbly then spoon them gently over the fairly cool lemon filling layer. Top the whole off with the streusel topping crumbs and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned. When it’s reached that stage, remove to a rack to cool completely then it gets refrigerated to set. It doesn’t specify how long to “chill to allow the pie to set”, but I imagine until it’s completely chilled. I let mine sit overnight due to the fact I wouldn’t have time to get it’s photo the day I made it.

As for how it tastes, this is by far one of the best things I have ever eaten. It’s such a simple combination of lemon and blueberries, but it’s a fabulous taste creation with the two. I know my mom would have loved this pie as much as I do! I have decided it’s going to be my go-to pie/dessert thing. It’s also beautiful when cut for serving, the colors are lovely – but the taste is even lovelier! I can’t describe how wonderfully they all go together, the streusel topping was the wild-card for me –  I knew I’d love the lemon/blueberry combination, but was really unsure if I’d like streusel with the whole thing. I would like to say that I wouldn’t like it any other way – it’s just too perfect as it is. This kind of reminds me of a pie you might find at an obscure diner, thought up by some creative cook needing a dessert. I am so glad I ran across it, and every time I eat a piece, I think of Mom, and really wish she were here to enjoy it with me because I know she would, and I have a feeling she’d ask me to make it often!

Lemon-Blueberry Streusel Pie

Food Friday – Pie for Dinner or Dessert!

08 Friday Sep 2017

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from Tracey G.

I love apples. I love pears. It’s a toss-up for me as which I like better, and I honestly don’t think I could choose!! I saw this recipe for Apple-Pear Pie from King Arthur Flour and, unfiltered first thought was “why didn’t I ever think of that combination?”! I don’t even think I got any further in my recipe search for this week’s Pies, Tarts & Turnovers category! I saw this one and it was an immediate “this one!!” sentiment.

It’s a really easy recipe – nothing fancy, just a straight-forward fruit pie. You have your choice as to what double crust pie pastry recipe you use, if you have a favorite use that. If you don’t here’s the one I used with great success, it’s KAF’s Classic Double Pie Crust recipe, and it hasn’t failed me yet. I’ve used it whenever I need a pie pastry recipe, as it’s easy and it’s always been a joy to work with. I’ve made it with all-purpose flour and with KAF’s Pastry Flour Blend and it’s worked beautifully with either.

The longest and most “work/effort” of this recipe is the readying of the pears and apples! I did it all by hand instead of getting out the peeler-corer-slicer thingy, and it did take a bit of time to do.

Your apples and pears are then tossed with the dry mixture of seasonings, sugar and thickener. The dry mixture is a combination of cinnamon (I didn’t have the Madagascar Cinnamon they call for, but used instead the Vietnamese Cinnamon I have on hand), ginger, sugar, salt and Instant ClearJel. I did look up on their Pie Thickener Chart that in the case of apples, and it looks like cornstarch can be use measure for measure in substitution of the Instant ClearJel if you don’t have it. I used the Instant ClearJel, so I can’t say if I had good luck with anything else for this particular recipe.

After the fruit has been tossed with this mixture, you add lemon juice and vanilla to the bowl, mixing them in well. In a saucepan, you melt 4 tbsp butter and add the fruit filling mixture to the pan to cook for about 10-20 minutes until the apples and pears start to soften and their juices start to thicken up. This then gets cooled completely.

Once it’s cooled, into your prepared pie pan it goes, placing the top crust however you desire (I did a lattice-style top crust), brushing with milk and sprinkling with Coarse White Sparkling Sugar OR, regular granulated sugar like I did, because the boys don’t care for the crunch of the big sugar crystals. Once you have that done – it’s into the freezer with the unbaked pie! I’ve never frozen a pie partially before baking it, but as the saying goes, there’s a first time for everything! You pop it into the freezer for 15-30 min until firm. Now, after this bit of freezing time, it gets baked. The temperature starts off at 425° F for the first 15 minutes, then it’s turned down to 375° F for an additional 50-60 minutes. All that’s left is to allow it cool completely before serving – then eat!

I absolutely loved this pie – not only is it two of my favorite fruits, but the combination of ginger, cinnamon and vanilla are wonderful. I’m pleased to have this Apple-Pear Pie recipe to add to my pie recipe collection – it was a great combination of flavors all the way around. Only thing that would maybe make it better – eating it warmed up with vanilla ice cream!

 

from Kris B.

Food processor blade – 1: Me – 0.

I chose this week’s offering of Hearty Ham and Spinach Quiche because I was short on time this week and needed my recipe to serve as both a meal for my familyand a subject for my post. Also, I was intrigued by this pie’s crust because it requires no rolling!!!

Little did I know that the most difficult part of the recipe, at least for me, would be washing the food processor blade before I even started baking.  My daughter had used it the night before, so the blade was is the dishwasher dirty. I pulled it out of the dishwasher without incident, but I was not so lucky once I got it the sink and added soap. Yep. It slipped and sliced the top of my finger. Upon hearing my explicative that rang out from the kitchen, Weber’s first words were, “Does it need stitches?” Sharp instruments and I have a dicey reputation in the kitchen. (Pun intended.). I am happy to report that I did not need stitches, only multiple layers of pressure wrap were necessary.

My daughter was kind enough to finish washing the blade. 🙂

Once I got my finger wrapped and found some food service gloves, I continued on with the making my pie. From this point on, it was smooth sailing. No choppy seas! Lol!

As I said, the crust for this pie is made completely in a food processor. The ingredients are mixed, rolled into a log that will fit through the food processor’s feed tube, and then chilled overnight. When you are ready to make the actual crust, the dough is fed into the food processor’s feed tube and grated using the coarse grate blade. To assemble the pie, the grated dough is pressed into a nine inch pie plate. Super easy! I am all for a pie crust that does not require rolling…if it tastes good, which this one did!

The filling, minus the ham and sour cream, is also mixed using the food processor. The ham is layered in the bottom of the pie plate, followed by the spinach mixture, and then topped with a thin layer of sour cream. I have to say that I was not so sure about this sour cream layer when I was assembling the pie, but once it is cooked and all of the flavors meld together, the whole is much more impressive than the sum of the parts.

This pie can also be made ahead of time or even frozen and reheated.

I suspect that the crust recipe used here could be used with almost any of your favorite pies. I am excited about the idea of a crust that I don’t have to roll! Give it a try!

Food Friday – July 2017 King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge- Blueberry Hand Pies

21 Friday Jul 2017

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I have come to love the week’s where we share our experiences with King Arthur Flour’s Monthly Bakealong Challenge.  I don’t have to figure out what to make and, often times, I am encouraged to make something that I may not have chosen to do on my own.  The July Bakealong Challenge, Blueberry Hand Pies, is one of those things that I probably would not have been drawn to immediately.  Pies are not “my thing.”  I love to eat them, but have never enjoyed making them as much as I do cakes, bread, or cookies.  My experience with this month’s Bakealong Challenge has changed my experience a bit toward the positive.

On first reading, the recipe may sound a little tedious, perhaps even daunting in that you first have to make the blueberry filling, make the crust and then cut all of the pieces, and then finally assemble the individual hand pies.  This is one of those recipes where the words are more cumbersome than the actual process of making the pies.  And, even if the process feels a bit cumbersome to you, the final product is well worth the effort!

The crust for these hand pies is rich, containing a full cup of butter as well as sour cream.  The dry ingredients are whisked together, the butter is cut in and then the sour cream is added.  The recipe says that once all of the ingredients are combined the dough should be turned out on a floured board and it should come together “with a few quick kneads.”  It definitely took more than a few quick kneads for me to get the pastry to come together.  I resisted the urge to add a little more liquid.  Eventually I had a nice crust that was easy with which to work.

For the blueberry filling, either fresh or frozen blueberries will work.  I used frozen because all the fresh blueberries at our house were used to top yogurt or in morning smoothies.  The berries, along with some lemon juice, sugar, salt, and a thickening agent are cooked down over medium heat.  They must cool to room temperature before the pies can be assembled.

I made my crust and put it in the fridge to chill while I made the filling and waited for it to cool.

To assemble, the pastry dough is rolled out to a 14v14 square and cut into sixteen 3 1/2″ squares.  Because I am a perfectionist, I used a 3 1/2″ square cutter for this step,  You can also use a ruler and a pizza cutter.  A heaping tablespoon is placed in the center of eight of the dough squares.  The edges of these pieces are then brushed with whisked egg.  The top pieces of the pies must be vented.  I used a small scalloped cutter to cut a hole in the center of each top.  I then placed the top crust, as well as the cut out piece, atop each of the eight pies.  The decorative aspect of the particular cutter that I used was lost in the baking.  something a little more pronounced, a star or a heart, might be a little prettier in the end.  The tines of a fork are used to seal the edges of the two pieces of crust.  The tops are then brushed with more of the egg mixture and sprinkled with sparkling sugar.  The pies are then transferred to a parchment lined baking sheet at baked for 18-20 minutes.  I split the difference and set my timer for 19 minutes.  The pies were perfectly done at that point.  I share this because I often have to cook things a bit longer in my oven.  So, if your oven tends to be “hot” you may want to check your pies before the eighteen minute mark.

I must say that the Blueberry Hand Pies were a HUGE hit with my husband.  Let’s just say that after my daughter and I sampled a pie, the other six were gone in two days.  Weber is not a big sweets person.  I think the fact that he enjoyed these so much is because the filling is not overly sweet; they are just sweet enough.

This recipe has been deemed “A Keeper.”

 

I am in complete agreement with Kris, I too have come to love the Bakealong weeks for the same reasons – I don’t have to think about what to make, and it does make me try something I may never have thought to make on my own. With this month’s Bakealong Challenge recipe though, for the Blueberry Hand Pies, the funny thing was I’d had the recipe printed off for a couple months and placed in my “to try” folder of King Arthur Flour recipes. I was exceptionally pleased to see it for this month’s Bakealong Challenge as it gave me the push and excuse to get it out and get going on it!

I won’t go into to much repetition here on the hows  – Kris did an excellent job describing the process, there was nothing different there for me! I too had that same thought of “a few kneads?”, when trying to get the crust ingredients to come together – and  I too resisted the urge to add more liquid, lol. I really loved working with this dough, though, it was so easy, even despite the work to get it to come together. Rolling was really easy, it wasn’t sticky and it wasn’t too dry, it was just right for easy working. They also came together easily, I used a ruler to cut my squares and my tablespoon cookie scoop to plop the filling in the middle. I used a knife to cut the steam-vent patterns on the top crust squares, sealed them up, brushed the top with beaten egg and dusted with regular table sugar because both of my guys dislike the large sparkling sugar. They don’t care for the crunch. I on the other hand love it, but since I was making these mostly for them, I chose the sugar they like.

And to say they like them, I think, is an understatement. Jeremy has eaten almost every one of them. I have only had a half, lol! The other night when I was getting his lunch together for him as he was running late, he didn’t ask if I put FOOD in it, he was more concerned with whether or not I put in the HAND PIES! It was hilarious. He’s declared them better than PopTarts, lol, which I take as a high compliment to be sure! I already have all kinds of fruit variations running through my head for these, they are just so perfect for easy eating and travel! No need to cut, no need for plates or forks etc. My next experiment with them is to try freezing the baked pies for future eating – to take a day and stock the freezer with them.

I, like Kris have discovered these to be a keeper, and something I will make often. I am so glad that this month’s Bakealong Challenge was the Blueberry Hand Pies recipe, it was fun to make and even more fun to eat! And there are oh so many variation possibilities!!!

And here’s a link for the walk-through and just the recipe:

Blueberry Hand Pie Walk-Through

Blueberry Hand Pies

Food Friday – Pastries, Pies, and Tarts…Oh My!

04 Sunday Jun 2017

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from Kris B.

Now that the lazy days of summer are mine to enjoy, I find that I have more time to fix, eat, and savor breakfast.  And once we make it to “real” summer here in Texas, morning is about the only time of day where a hot meal sounds the least bit satisfying.  Enter King Arthur Flour’s Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Quiche, with a bit of spinach added because a little green always makes a meal feel healthier.  Lol!

There really is nothing special about this recipe.  It is a Classic Single Pie Crust made from scratch, which should be obvious from my less than perfect crimping around the edge.  But hey, I don’t often…ever?…have people over for breakfast so I wasn’t too concerned about the aesthetic here.  This crust was totatlly a utilitarian crust!  It won’t be winning any bakeoff awards, but it tastes just fine!

To make the filling, 3/4 of a pound of bacon is fried and then drained.  The recipe calls for onion to be sauteed in butter using another pan.  I cooked the onion in the same pan as the bacon using a tiny bit of the bacon drippings and omitting the butter.  When the onion was almost translucent, I threw a couple handlfuls of spinach on top and let it wilt.  I then let this veggie mixture drain on a paper towel with the bacon.

To assemble the quiche, the eggs, cream, and milk are whisked to gether in a bowl.  The bacon, veggie mixture, cheese and seasonings are added and then this is poured into the prepared pie shell. The quiche then bakes for 40 minutes.  I did bake mine an extra 6 minutes because it did not seem set in the middle after the initial 40 minutes.

Since there are only two of us at my house and we did not eat an entire 9″ quiche for breakfast, I can report that the quiche reheats well and makes for a good lunch and/or dinner as well as breakfast!

from Tracey G

There’s kind of a funny story to how I ended up choosing this particular recipe for Tasty Toaster Tarts….

We were all sitting around one day, and I noticed Jeremy eating store bought toaster pastries, which is ok in itself, but I’d had a bunch of homemade treats laying about and I said so. To which, Jeremy, replied to me with “but there’s no homemade Pop Tarts now is there?” Um. Nope. Had me there. So, when this week’s recipe rotation came around to Pies, Tarts and Turnovers, it was a no-brainer for me as to what kind of recipe I was after! I’d show him! Ha! Homemade toaster pastries here we come!

This is a pretty easy recipe to make, nothing complicated – a very simple crust and simple fillings. Basically it’s like making 9 big ravioli, lol. I went two different ways for fillings, the original in the recipe is brown sugar and cinnamon, then they also give you the directions for a jam/fruit filling which I also tried. As if there’s not enough variations on filling, there’s also provided an alternate crust recipe, using their White Whole Wheat flour, and less fat, by substituting some of the butter with vegetable shortening. So, I tried that route too! This is the crust version that is used in the Flourish Blog walk-through of the Tasty Toaster Tarts.

Both the crust variations mixed up well, and were easy to work with, only trouble I had was feeling like I didn’t have “enough” dough to work with, but it was not a big deal. They rolled out well and it was easy to cut the rolled dough into the directed measurements. You then brush the bottom crust with a beaten egg, fill, and top with second sheet of rolled out dough, and seal around the individual tarts. Now, you can score, bake and then cut them apart, but I preferred to cut them apart and bake individually.

After they’ve baked and cooled completely, you can frost them if you choose – I frosted maybe half of each batch, which was just an simple powdered sugar icing that I added little bit of vanilla to for flavor. I loved the look of the rainbow sprinkles in KAF’s photo so I decided to do that too on my iced tarts.

As for the taste? They are fantastic, I think the first thing Jeremy asked me was “now, can these be frozen?” – I interpret that to mean “can you make more to have on hand?” I loved both crust versions and both filling versions, but I think my favorite filling was the brown sugar & cinnamon one. I think that wound up being my favorite because on the occasions I do eat the store-bought versions, that’s my favorite!

If you have some time, do give KAF’s Tasty Toaster Tarts (say that 5 times fast!) a try – these are definitely a bit more of a grown-up version of the old favorites, the crust is more pie crust than whatever you’d describe the store-bought crust obviously, and wow are they good!!!

Food Friday – February King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge: Dark Chocolate Eclairs

18 Saturday Feb 2017

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Hello all! I am flying solo this week for our Bakealong Challenge/Food Friday. Kris has out-of-town company visiting and had a hectic week schedule to boot, so since I owe her bigtime for helping me out while I was down with strep-throat, I totally wanted to help her out and make her life easier this week and give her a break! She deserves it and deserves to have fun with her visitor! Thank you again Kris, you saved my behind the past couple weeks! Love you my friend!!! 

 

This week it’s the King Arthur Flour February Bakealong Challenge recipe! I know I have said this more times than I can count, but I truly do enjoy these challenges. And I say that because most of the time they truly are a challenge, getting me to make something I never have, plus things I’d never even thought to make! This month’s, the Dark Chocolate Eclairs are one such never-thought-to-make recipe. They were always something bought in the bakery – certainly not something I myself could make! Well, I am here to tell you that it is a VERY doable. I was so proud of myself for creating these little lovelies in my very own kitchen. The Dark Chocolate Eclairs Bakealong Walk-Through on KAF blog, makes it even easier to follow along!

The ingredients were simple, even if I had stuck with the original ones called for in the recipe, lol. I’d read a few of the reviews for this Challenge, and one stuck in my head that thought the filling was too bitter, so it was suggested to try using semi-sweet chocolate instead of the unsweetened chocolate. That’s what I did, and I just used the semi-sweet chocolate chips I had in my pantry. I also used my own Hershey’s Cocoa Powder I had, not the Dutch Processed – I am just recovering from being sick for 2 weeks with strep, and wanted to make it as simple on myself as I could! The only things that I had to purchase special for this recipe, were a couple of items I don’t always have around – whole milk and heavy cream. The whole milk is for the chocolate cream filling and the heavy cream is for the ganache – the chocolate glaze coating. Everything else, was on hand –  eggs, butter, flour, water, cornstarch, regular cocoa powder, light corn syrup and granulated sugar.

I did mine in stages as well (I’d read through the walk-through blog post for this and it’s stated it works well that way if you need it to!) – and this recipe is a champ for that sort of thing! I made the eclair shells and the pastry cream one day, then the day I was going to photograph them, I put them together and made the glaze. Let me just say that photographing them was harder than making them! LOL!

I had never made a pastry cream (in this case I kept thinking of it as homemade pudding, because that’s what it tasted like every time I had to taste, for quality control purposes you know, lol) and it was much easier than I thought! The eclair pastry I’d had experience with as it’s a pate a choux and that’s what we made as part of the Kringle in the December 2016 recipe challenge! I actually got to use a skill/technique again, and I felt pretty confident! I used a pastry bag with no tip, just a cut end, to pipe the eclair pastry batter/dough, and they even recommend using an ordinary ziptop bag with a hole cut in the corner – it was easy peasy either way! I also piped in my chocolate cream filling with a 1M Wilton tip for prettiness AND easiness. You could use the ziptop bag thing again for that, or spoon it in etc. For me, it was less-messy and faster to pipe it in, and the bonus effect of it being pretty, lol.

The glaze was very simple to make and a recipe/technique I was very familiar with, a simple ganache. I use ganache to make my homemade chocolate truffles, so it’s definitely something I’m really used to making, and honestly, even if it was the first time I’d ever made it, it’s a very simple thing to do! I drizzled my glaze on top of my put-together eclairs, just because I wanted to, lol. It was purely and personal choice, you can dip the cut tops in the glaze if you like.

All in all, this recipe was a lot of fun to make and I feel like I added another skill to my repertoire – I CAN make eclairs! Yay me!! And you can too!! Seriously! It does make a lot of shells, so I am going to make a 1/2 batch of the Vanilla Pastry Cream to use them up, I do have some chocolate left as well, but I really want to try my hand at the regular pastry cream – if I can nail that, I’ll never have to buy custard-filled-anything again, I can just make my own! LOL!!

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