Peach Hand Pies

Peach Hand Pie

Peach Hand Pies

I really wish I had something interesting enough to write here, but honestly, this is just another great recipe that I want to be able to keep track of, so here it goes on the blog.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

• 225 g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal measurement; for Morton's Kosher use rounded half teaspoon)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 90 g butter, frozen 
• 100 g Crisco shortening, preferably cold
• 120 g ice water

Peach Filling:

• 100 g white sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 medium/large peaches, cut into 1 cm cubes or smaller

Topping:

• 1 egg for egg wash
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Crust: 

• In a medium sized bowl place the flour, sugar, and kosher salt. Stir with a whisk to combine.
• Take the frozen stick of butter and roll it in the flour mixture, then grate it directly into the flour mixture. Toss lightly to coat the grated butter with the flour.
• Cut the Crisco into thin slices, or chunks about 1-2 teaspoons in size. Toss with the flour and butter and pinch the larger pieces so they are approximately 1/2 to 1 teaspoon size chunks. 
• Pour the ice water into the mixture and use a fork to stir and toss the mixture. Once all water has been added, use a bowl scraper or large silicone spatula to fold dough and incorporate all of the ingredients. 
• Once it's mostly combined, use your hands to kneed lightly to create a cohesive ball of dough.
• Place dough onto a lightly floured surface. 
• Press and form it into a sort of square and then roll it into a rectangle that's about 3/8 inch thick. 
• Fold each short side up the the middle and then fold in half so you have a four-layer rectangle. 
• Roll the rectangle out again to 3/8 inch thickness and fold again the same way.
• Wrap the folded dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

• Remove the dough out of the fridge and cut it almost oil half -- you want one of the pieces to be slightly larger than the other (You need to top pieces to be larger than the bottom or accommodate the peaches).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the smaller piece of dough into a rectangle. Using a ruler and a pizza cutter, trim off as little as possible to even out the edges. Mine was 22 cm by 30 cm after I trimmed off the edges. It doesn't have to be exact, but you want to end up with 6 decent sized hand pies. Cut that rectangle into 6 equal rectangular/square pieces. Place on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and place in the fridge.

• Roll out the other piece of dough in the same way, but it will be larger. Trim to even out the edges. Mine was about 25 cm by 33 cm after trimming. Then cut into 6 equal rectangles/squares. Cut 4-6 vent holes into these top pieces. 

Filling:

• Prepare the peaches at this point. Don't do it before because you'll loose too much juice if you let the peaches sit too long. 
• Stir together the sugar, corn starch, and kosher salt.
• Place peaches and lemon juice in a medium bowl and stir. Then add the sugar mixture and stir to incorporate. 

Assemble and Bake:

• Build one pie at a time. Spoon about 1/4 cup or so of peaches onto the center of one of the bottom rectangles/squares. Just make sure you leave a 3/8-inch border free of peaches and juice. Use a pastry brush to brush some egg wash around the edge. 
• Place one of the top pieces over the peaches, stretching a bit if needed to make the edges of the top match the bottom piece. Use a floured fork to crimp all of the edges. 
• Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. 

• Brush the tops of all pies with the egg wash and then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until pies are golden brown.
• Place pan on a cooling rack and allow pies to cool at least 10 minutes before enjoying.

Makes 6 hand pies

Heidi's Pecan Pie

Heidi's Pecan Pie

Last Thanksgiving was the first time I ever actually tasted pecan pie. Call me an apple-pie-person. At any rate, my dear sister-in-law Heidi always makes the pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner. She really just follows the recipe on the back of the Karo Syrup bottle, with one small tweak: she adds a teaspoon of butter flavor/extract, and it really makes all the difference in the world.

The fact that Heidi's pecan pie is superior to other pecan pies was proven to me yesterday when I tried some Perkins Restaurant pecan pie that was left over from our holiday meeting at work. The pecan pie tasted fine, but not delicious, and not really worth the calories, in my opinion. (Sorry, Perkins.) The big difference, I think, was the butter flavor. Mmmm.

So, if you are already a pecan pie fan, or are open to the idea, give this recipe a whirl. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I have. 

(Note: The pie picture here is a half-recipe pie baked in a 6-inch glass pie pan.)


Heidi's Pecan Pie

   -- Adapted from Karo Syryp's Homemade Pecan Pie recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 3 eggs, beaten lightly, room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon butter flavor/extract
• 1 3/4 cup pecans (about 8 oz)
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (see recipe below)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
• Place the corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and butter flavor/extract into a bowl and stir with a spoon.
• Stir in the pecans.
• Place the unbaked pie crust onto the prepared baking sheet, and then pour the liquid & pecan mixture into the pie crust.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pie reaches 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely and then refrigerate so the pie can set up. After that you can serve cold or at room temperature.
• Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 9-inch pie

(Note: the pie pictured here is a half-size pie.)

Liquid ingredients mixed and ready for pecans

You'll end up with quite a bit of pie crust scraps.

Pie Crust

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 3-4 tablespoons ice cold water

Instructions:

• Place flour and salt in a medium size bowl and stir to distribute the salt evenly.
• Cut in the 4 tablespoons of butter until butter is in 1/4-inch chunks.
• Cut in the vegetable shortening until the shortening is in 1/4-inch chunks, and the butter is cut pretty finely.
• Add the cold water to the mixture by sprinkling in one tablespoon at a time while you toss with a fork. 
• After you've added 3 tablespoons of water, try squeezing the dough together. If it does not stick well, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and mixt just until combined. You will have a lot of dry parts, but that's okay.
• Start pressing and squeezing the dough to form a cohesive ball. Try not to overwork the dough or else you'll end up with a tough crust.
• Once the dough is cohesive, place a 1 foot piece of plastic wrap on the counter and then try to form the dough into a disk on top of the plastic. Smoosh the disk to about 6-7 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the pie filling.
• Roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. 
• If dough is nowhere near a perfect circle shape, cut off a piece that sticks out, dab with a little water, and place on a spot that needs more dough. Continue to roll out until you have a circle of crust that will fill the pie plate.
• If you're not sure what to do at this point, you're probably best off going over to Youtube to see how other people form and shape their pie crust. My words won't do the process justice.
• Makes one 9-inch pie crust 

Mixture before adding water

After stirring in water

The cohesive mass

Wrapped and ready for refrigeration

Little Tiger Cakes

Tiger Cake aka Financier Tigre

I first had these delightful little cakes at Douceur de France, a great little French restaurant-bakery in Marietta, Georgia. It's dense little cake with chocolate sprinkles and a dollop of dark chocolate ganache in a little divot on top. The cake is moist, flavorful, just sweet enough, and with just enough chocolate to satisfy any chocolate fan.

Since I don't live near there, and since I love to bake, I've tried making these a couple of times. The first time I had to use a mini muffin tin, and those little cakes tasted good, but didn't look good at all.

I finally splurged and purchased two silicone baked donut molds at a Chinese kitchen store in San Francisco where I was visiting my cousin. What I discovered when I made these was that I needed to wash the mold by hand, as opposed to putting it in the dishwasher. The dishwasher left behind a residue that the batter stuck to, despite the wet paper towel wipe-down I gave it.

After an ugly first batch, I made a half batch for these blog pics. I buttered and floured 5 of the 6 cups. All six popped out beautifully, so next time, I don't think I'll bother with the butter and flour treatment. I'll just need to wash these molds by hand each time. Easy peasy.

I used regular all purpose flour in the batter, but I think this recipe would be fine with any gluten free all purpose flour if you need to make these gluten free. 

Enough said. Here's the recipe.

Tiger Cakes
    --Adapted from OliviaPatisse.com


The Cake Ingredients:

• 150 grams of butter
• 150 grams of egg whites
• 170 grams of icing sugar
• 100 grams of almond flour
• A pinch of salt
• 50 grams of all-purpose flour
• 60 grams of chocolate vermicelli/sprinkles

Ganache Ingredients:

• 10 Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, chopped into small pieces (or 80 grams good dark chocolate chopped into pieces)
• 100 grams heavy cream

Instructions:

Make the brown butter first by putting the butter in a medium pan over medium heat and letting it melt. When it stops crackling, remove the pan from the heat and pour melted butter into a heat-proof bowl to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are concerned about the cakes sticking, butter and flour the individual cake cups in the silicone baking mold/pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites with the icing sugar. Add the almond flour and the salt. Add the all-purpose flour and the chocolate vermicelli. Then stir in the cooled butter (emphasis on “cooled” because warm or hot butter will melt the chocolate vermicelli).

Fill silicone donut baking pans ¾ full of the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 19-20 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before gently turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

While cakes cool, prepare the chocolate ganache: in a small pan over medium low heat, bring the cream to a simmer. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and pour the heated cream over the chocolate. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and then stir until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth.

Pipe or spoon a puddle of liquid ganache into the center divot of each cake. Allow to cool until ganache has somewhat firmed up.


Makes 12 little cakes

That's the browned butter in the white bowl, top right.

The chocolate vermicelli goes in before the browned butter.

I wish you could smell this browned butter. Mmm.

On the left are the sad messed up ones from the first batch.

Almond Flour Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Almond Flour Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Almond Flour Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Topping Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 6-7 slices canned pineapple
• 12 maraschino cherries, sliced in half

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 cups blanched almond flour/meal*
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 medium eggs or 1 large egg plus 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional Caramel Sauce (if the cake isn't sweet enough already):

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice from the can of sliced pineapples
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Spray two 12-cup muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray
•  Prepare the topping:
• Melt the 5 1/2 tablespoons butter and then stir in the brown sugar. Stir until smooth.
• Evenly distribute the brown sugar/butter mixture into the bottoms of the sprayed muffin pans.
• Cut the pineapple slices into small pieces, about 12 pieces per slice. Arrange 3-4 pieces of pineapple and half of a maraschino cherry on top of the brown sugar/butter mixture in each muffin cup. Set aside.
•  Prepare the cake:
• In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar, salt, & baking powder.
• Whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.
• Combine the wet with the dry ingredients with a silicone/rubber spatula.
•  Spoon,scoop, or otherwise distribute batter into the muffin cups.
• Place a sheet of foil under each muffin pan in case there is overflow.
• Bake muffins at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 16-18 minutes, or until done and browned around the edges.
• While cakes bake, heat the pineapple juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the juice is boiling, add the 1/2 cup brown sugar, stir, and continue to boil over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces a bit thickens. It will be the consistence of a thin caramel sauce. Turn off the heat and add the 2 tablespoons butter and stir to melt and incorporate.
• This is the hard part: once cupcakes are baked, allow to cool just a few minutes. use a sharp, thin knife to loosen the edges of the cupcakes form the sides of the pans.Then place a baking sheet over the top of the pan and carefully flip. Best of luck to you getting them to come out pretty. Let me know if you have a trick I can try.

 Makes about 24 cupcakes

Reality. The pineapple stuck to the bottoms of almost all of the muffin tins.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

 

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

My parents recently moved into a great assisted living community. The food there is pretty delicious, from what I've tasted--particularly the food they serve for their Sunday brunch. Oh my goodness, that brunch is awesome. The dessert table is almost always stunning.

One Sunday when my husband and I were there, we shared a slice of carrot cake cheesecake that was so creamy and so flavorful, I can't get it out of my head.

So, we have a post-Thanksgiving gathering to go to this Saturday, and I decided to give this cheesecake a try. I did not get a recipe...all I have is the pic I took of our half-eaten piece with my mom in the background.

This cake is everything delicious about carrot cake and cheesecake all in one slice. There's the sweet creaminess of the cream cheese frosting next to the light spiced cake with a few nuts, and then there's the dense not-too-sweet creaminess of the cheesecake. The kicker is really the speculoos cookie crust. It just adds a deep caramelized spiced and a little bit salty element to the whole thing. Honestly, it's one of the better things I think I've ever made.

I'm hoping the folks at the post-Thanksgiving party enjoy it too. I cannot bring this home with me. (And yes, I did slice it and try it BEFORE taking it to the party. These folks understand that I'm quirky like that.)

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Carrot Cake (Adapted from CakeWhiz.com)

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cup finely shredded carrots
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts tossed in 1/8 teaspoon flour

Cheesecake

• 1 cup speculoos cookie crumbs or graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 6 -8 cups of hot water (for water bath--not for the cheesecake)

Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but cool
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 3/4 cup (1 pound) powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup (approximately) toasted chopped pecans for garnish

Particular Equipment and Materials needed

• 7-inch spring form pan 
• plastic roasting bag
• roasting pan
• mixer
• spatula
• measuring tools

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• First make the carrot cake layer.
• Line the bottom of a 7-inch spring form pan with a parchment circle, and then butter and flour the sides.
• In a small bowl, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir with a whisk and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla.
• Add the dry ingredients and the carrots. Stir just until combined. Then fold in the walnuts.
• Pour and evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs.
• Remove from oven to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then remove the sides and bottom of the pan.
• When the cake is cooled completely, wrap in plastic wrap.
• Wash and dry the pan.
• Next make the cheesecake.
• Again line the springform pan with a parchment circle.
• Mix the cookie crumbs and butter and press firmly and evenly into the bottom of the pan.
• In a large bowl, or in the bowl if a standing mixer, mix the 16 ounces of cream cheese until smooth.
• Add the sugar and mix until smooth again.
• Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until smooth.
• Add the sour cream and heavy cream, mix until incorporated.
• Pour batter over the prepared crust.
• Place the pan in a roasting bag and gather up excess in one or two places, and secure the excess with a twist tie. (You need to basically water-proof your spring form pan so you don't soak your cheesecake. Watch this video for a basic tutorial on another way of doing a water bath. Here's another good idea.)
• Place the cheesecake pan in a roasting pan that is at least 2 inches wider than cheesecake pan on all sides.
• Place the pan in the 350 degree oven and carefully pour water in the roasting pan to create a water bath for the cheesecake while it bakes. Water should come up about halfway up the side of the cheesecake ingredients in the pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until center is completely set and only gently jiggles like set Jell-O when tapped on the side of the pan.
• Remove from oven and remove the cheesecake pan from the water bath. Place the cheesecake pan on a cooling rack and carefully remove the plastic roasting bag.
• Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Assemble the cake.
• Unwrap the carrot cake layer and carefully place top on the cooled cheesecake in the pan. 
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely chilled, preferably over night.
• Making frosting and putting it on the cake.
• Beat the 8 ounces of cream cheese and the 1/4 cup butter until smooth.
• Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
• Mix on low until sugar is incorporated, and then beat on medium speed until frosting is completely smooth and creamy. Try not to whip air into the frosting.
• You will probably only use 1/2 to 2/3 of the frosting, depending on how thick you like frosting.
• Frost the entire cake with the cream cheese frosting. 
• Using a large spoon, scoop up some chopped pecans and gently press the pecans into the bottom edge of the frosted cake. Pick up and place any fallen pieces onto the cake.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. I like to put cocktail umbrellas into my cake so the plastic wrap does not stick.

Makes about 8-12 servings

A pic of Mom with the original at Celebration Village 

 Water bath

Carrot cake and cheesecake layers ready to join forces

Just drop that cake on top.

Ready for frosting

I generally start frosting from the top, but I'm no pro cake decorator.

I've found this is the best (and cutest) way to keep frosting intact.

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust (& Chocolate Cream Pie)

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust

Chocolate Cream Pie with Almond Flour Pie Crust

I don't know what the deal is with wheat and gluten these days, but now I, personally, have to jump on the gluten free bandwagon because I've discovered that when I eat the yummy breads and rolls that I love to bake, I get this odd and uncomfortable pain in my right forearm, elbow, and shoulder. I'm assuming it's some sort of inflammation, and I've tested my hypothesis enough to know that it feels better when I don't eat wheat. Boooooo.
Fortunately, I do have some good gluten free recipes and resources up my sleeve, so it's not like I'm really suffering (#firstworldproblem). I found this recipe via Pinterest, and it's from All Day I Dream About Food--a gluten free low carb recipe blog.
I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of this crust--it's a little crumbly, but that's okay, because I was almost expecting a chewy texture. My husband thought it was a bit salty, and I did notice the salt a little bit, but I thought it was a nice complement to the chocolate filling I put in it. I don't think it tasted like almonds at all, just a nice crisp, crumbly crust for the delicious chocolate cream pie. Gluten free or not--it's great.



Gluten Free Almond Flour Pie Crust
     --adapted from All Day I Dream About Food

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour/meal
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, melted, but not hot

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a medium size bowl, mix the almond flour, sugar, and salt. Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly.
• Pour mixture into a 9" glass pie pan and gently distribute evenly over the bottom of the pan. Go around the pan and press enough of the mixture up the sides of the pan to get within about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the top. Crust thickness should be about 1/8 inch, maybe slightly thicker, but definitely less than 1/4 inch. Spread remaining mixture over the bottom of the pan and press, taking care not to press too hard or break what you've already pressed.
• Prick crust all over with a fork and bake at 325 degrees for about 20-21 minutes, or until evenly golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

Ingredients mixed

Pressed into pan

Baked and cooling

Filled with chocolate cream pie filling and topped with whipped cream

Chocolate Cream Pie

     --Adapted from Once Upon a Chef

Ingredients:

For Crust

• see recipe above

For Filling

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 cups whole milk
• 28 Dove Dark Chocolate Promises, unwrapped & chopped (or 8 oz. other kind of chopped dark chocolate)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Topping

• 2 cups stabilized whipped cream
• 1 Dove Dark Chocolate Promise, refrigerated

Instructions

1. In a heavy medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk milk and egg yolks until combined.  Pour milk mixture into pan while whisking.  Whisk until smooth.  Place pan on burner set to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly (yes, constantly), making sure to scrape bottom and edges of the pan, until mixture starts to thicken, about 7-9 minutes.  Remove from heat and immediately whisk in chocolate, butter, and vanilla.  Transfer hot filling to a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap rests in contact with the filling so a skin does not form.  Refrigerate filling until cool,1-2 hours.

2. Once filling and crust are cooled, spoon filling into crust and spread evenly. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly against surface of filling, and chill for at least 6 hours or up to one day.

3. Before serving, pipe or spread stabilized whipped cream over the top.  Using the small holes on a grater or a microplane grader, grate final Dove Dark Chocolate Promise all over the top of the pie. Refrigerate until ready to serve and then refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes 1 whole pie