Category Archives: dessert

Apple Craisin tart

dessert 4 Comments

First, I must apologize if my pictures look… off for a little while. My favorite lens met its maker on Christmas Eve. Well maybe not its maker, but at least the hardwood floor.

<<observed moment of silence>>

ANYHOO. The tart.

I’ve been wanting to try this tart dough recipe for a while now because who ever heard of melting the butter first? I figured it was definitely worth a shot. And it was great! A totally new way to make it, and totally fun to play with.

Definitely read through David’s instructions before making this. He is, obviously, the expert here, and has lots of great information in that post. But here is what I did:

Apple Craisin tart

Ingredients

For the crust
    • 90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola works great)
    • 3 tablespoons water
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • 150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour
For the filling
  • 4 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup craisins

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 410F
  2. Put butter, oil, water, sugar and salt in an oven-safe bowl
  3. Place in preheated oven and let cook for 15 minutes till mixture is bubbling and the butter is starting to brown a bit at the edges
  4. Remove from oven (carefully! It will sizzle) and dump in flour (mixture will sizzle more here), stirring quickly to combine. As David says, it’s not usual practice to have a hot mixing bowl on the counter so keep reminding yourself not to grab the bowl with your bare hand
  5. Plop the dough into a tart pan or cast iron skillet (because, hey, any excuse to use cast iron) and pat it out a little with your spoon; wait for it to cool enough to handle, then use the heel of your hand and your fingers to gently press into place on the bottom and up the sides. At this point David recommends blind baking for 15 minutes, then cooling, then filling. I hate blind baking. So:
  6. Bump oven temperature up to 425F
  7. Toss thinly sliced apples in lemon juice to prevent browning, then add in lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and Craisins; stir to evenly coat everything (I used my hands)
  8. Spoon into unbaked dough and bake for 15 minutes at 425, then lower oven temp to 350F; cook for another 25-30 minutes or until apples are super soft and crust is browned
  9. DO NOT CUT RIGHT AWAY. I know, I know. But you have to let it sit long enough for the juices to thicken up or it’ll just run everywhere
  10. Cool, slice, then foist upon your neighbors to prevent yourself from eating all of it straight out of the pan

 

Cutie Cake

baking, dessert 10 Comments

I am SO HAPPY with how this turned out!

I really wanted to make a clementine cake this year before they’re gone again, so I picked up a little crate then looked up a couple clementine cake recipes; what I found were flourless cakes involving springform pans, which I don’t own (oops). So I decided to take a different route and adapt an old Betty Crocker applesauce cake recipe to include clementines. It’s so good! The whole process makes your house smell amazing and the taste is incredible too!

Hi, I’m gushing.

Anyway. The prep for this involves cooking the clementines for a couple hours first so leave yourself ample cooking and cooling time.

Cutie Cake

Ingredients

  • 5 clementines
  • 1 cups Craisins
  • 2 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp. AP flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • sprinkle of allspice
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Put the clementines in a pot and pour in enough cold water to cover; bring to a boil then cook at somewhere between a simmer and a boil for two hours; drain and cool, then halve the clementines and run them through a food processor (that’s right, the whole fruit) until you have a smooth puree
  2. Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour a Bundt pan
  3. Toss Craisins with 1 Tbsp. flour and set aside
  4. In another bowl mix remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; stir well and set aside
  5. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer till light and fluffy, then add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each till well incorporated. Now alternate adding in the flour mixture and the pureed clementines until batter is smooth, then stir in floured Craisins
  6. Spread batter evenly in Bundt pan (mixture will be a little thick) and bake at 350F until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes; cool on a rack then sprinkle with powdered sugar

I do hope y’all try this. Let me know what you think!

Peppermint syrup

dessert, drinks 15 Comments

This is another one of those “I can’t believe I ever spent money on this” sort of recipes. I love those!

Last year I sweet talked a barista into selling me a bottle of peppermint syrup so I could have my own peppermint coffees at home. You know, for less than $6 a cup. This year I thought I’d go one better and make it myself. As with so many things, it is ridiculously simple to make on your own.

Peppermint syrup

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

Instructions

  1. I did this in the microwave in my trusty Pyrex but in a saucepan on the stove is fine too — just stir together the sugar and water and heat till the sugar dissolves, then stir in the peppermint extract (which, I have found, varies a lot from bottle to bottle, so be sure to taste and adjust accordingly)

You can also replace the peppermint extract with vanilla for quick and easy vanilla syrup.

That’s all, folks! Then add about a tablespoon to your coffee, hot chocolate or whatever floats your boat. Enjoy!

Krispy Kreme chocolate cake

baking, dessert 6 Comments

Kiddo’s Aunt Burgle came in town for her birthday this year. Party! We always make Krispy Kreme bread pudding when she’s here but I wanted to up the ante a bit with some chocolate and some icing, it being her birthday and all. Want to try it yourself? Break out your fat pants!

Krispy Kreme chocolate cake

Ingredients

  • 18 chocolate glazed Krispy Kreme donuts (a bit stale if you can stand to let them sit around), cut into chunks
  • Six eggs
  • 2 cans condensed milk
  • pinch of salt
  • 7 Tbsp. butter
  • 2 heaping Tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 3 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 pound powdered sugar
  • a Bundt pan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. In a very large bowl thoroughly beat eggs and whisk in salt and condensed milk; stir in donut chunks and let sit for 15 minutes or so, stirring periodically
  3. Grease and flour a Bundt pan (or use an oil-plus-flour spray) and pour donut mixture in; bake for 45 minutes or until set
  4. Toward the end of cooking time make the icing: melt butter in a saucepan and stir in cocoa powder till completely combined; remove from heat and whisk in milk and vanilla, then powdered sugar; keep warm over low heat till needed
  5. Cool cake in pan for ten minutes, then turn onto a plate or rack; immediately pour still-hot icing over top
  6. Reconsider your ban on elastic waist pants

Cheerio Peanut Butter Pumpkins

baking, dessert, kids 19 Comments

When General Mills put out the call for bloggers to create some cereal-based treats for Halloween I noticed Cheerios were on the list. CHEERIOS! The foundation of Kiddo’s nutrition. I’m in! These were so much fun to put together, and Kiddo is thrilled with them. The inside is based on an old favorite recipe, and the peanut butter candy coating is from a classic Betty Crocker recipe.

Cheerio Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 10 ounces marshmallows
  • 6 cups Cheerios
  • Orange paste food coloring, or red and yellow gel food coloring (not liquid!)
  • 1 bag peanut butter chips
  • 1 can white frosting
  • Green jelly beans

Instructions

  1. In a large microwave-safe bowl melt the butter in the microwave and carefully swirl it around to coat the bottom half or so of the bowl; add the marshmallows and microwave at 50% power till marshmallows are melted; stir in Cheerios
  2. Grease up your hands or some disposable gloves with butter or oil spray and carefully (it’s hot!) shape Cheerio mixture into pumpkins, squeezing them pretty firmly so they don’t fall apart. Let them cool on wax or parchment paper while you mix the peanut butter coating
  3. Put a two-quart saucepan over low heat and melt peanut butter chips, stirring constantly, until just barely melted and thoroughly smooth; remove from heat and stir in frosting and coloring. Have fun with the color! Add a little at a time till it looks just right to you (I put mine in the stand mixer to mix the color in; the mixture is pretty stiff). If the mixture is cool enough to handle after all that mixing, proceed to step 4; if it’s not then set it in the fridge till it’s safe to work with
  4. It’s play time! Take small amounts of the peanut butter mixture and pat it onto the Cheerio pumpkins till the Cheerios are fully coated, then use the edge of a rubber scraper to make lines in each pumpkin. Finally press one green jelly bean in the top of the pumpkin for a stem. All done!
  5. Keep covered in the refrigerator for storage; chill for at least one hour before servin

Happy Halloween!