Yeasted Thanksgiving Corn Bread with Cranberries

Posted on November 9, 2011 by sparecake

Several weeks ago I had lunch with my grandfather’s cousin. She gave me Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which is pretty cool! This is the first bread I made from it, based on the broa, a Portuguese corn bread. I don’t have a cast iron pan, which is what the bread is supposed to be cooked in and would have improved the texture, but it was still really good.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 1/2 tablespoon yeast
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • zest of half an orange
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 3 tablespoons softened butter, lard, or bacon grease

Stir together the yeast, salt, and water in a large bowl. Add the cornmeal and flour.

Stir together until evenly mixed, but do not knead.

Cover and let rest until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), about 2 hours.

You can continue on with the recipe now, or cover and refrigerate up to 10 days before using.

When you’re ready to use the dough, grease a cast iron pan (or cake pan if you don’t have one) with the butter/lard/bacon grease. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then shape it into a ball in your hands by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four side, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Flatten the ball to 1/2″ thick with your hands.

Sprinkle the sugar and orange zest on the dough, and scatter on the cranberries.

Roll the dough up like a jelly-roll.

Shape the roll into a ball.

Flatten the ball to about the size of your pan and drop it in.

Allow the dough to rise for 40 minutes, or 80 minutes if it had been refrigerated.

Place a broiler tray in the oven and preheat the oven to 425. Just before baking, heat your pan over the stove on medium heat for one to two minutes to help the bottom caramelize. If you’ve only got a cake pan, not a cast iron, turn the stove only to low so you don’t burn the bottom.

Transfer the pan from the stove to the oven. While the oven door is open, pour 1 cup of warm water into the hot broiler pan. If you have a long oven glove, it’s best to wear that so that any steam created doesn’t burn your arm.

Check on the bread after 20 minutes and remove from the oven when it’s a rich yellow-brown. In a thick pan, this will probably take about half an hour.

Turn the bread out of the pan and slice, or just eat out of the pan.

This is one bread that’s better to eat within a few hours, texture-wise.

Zesty!

The way you work the fruit in means there are pockets that are sweeter than other parts, which I actually quite enjoyed. I’ll probably make this again for Thanksgiving!

I’ll be submitting this to YeastSpotting, hosted this time at the Tartine Bread Experiment.

Yeasted Thanksgiving Corn Bread with Cranberries

From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 1/2 tablespoon yeast
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • zest of half an orange
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 3 tablespoons softened butter, lard, or bacon grease

Stir together the yeast, salt, and water in a large bowl. Add the cornmeal and flour. Stir together until evenly mixed without kneading. Cover and let rest until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), about 2 hours. If desired, refrigerate now for up to 10 days.

Grease a cast iron pan with the butter/lard/bacon grease. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then shape it into a ball in your hands by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four side, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Flatten the ball to 1/2″ thick with your hands. Sprinkle the sugar and orange zest on the dough, and scatter on the cranberries. Roll up like a jelly-roll then shape into a ball. Flatten to the size of your pan, and allow to rise in the pan 40 minutes (80 if refrigerated).

Place a broiler tray in the oven and preheat the oven to 425. Just before baking, heat your pan over the stove on medium heat for one to two minutes to help the bottom caramelize.

Transfer the pan from the stove to the oven. While the oven door is open, pour 1 cup of warm water into the hot broiler pan.

Check on the bread after 20 minutes and remove from the oven when it’s a rich yellow-brown, likely half an hour.

Turn out of the pan, or just slice and eat right from the pan.

Posted in Bread | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Frozen Custard

Posted on November 7, 2011 by sparecake

I just got a Jamie Oliver cookbook and I’m totally excited about a ton of it. After making the cranberry bundt I posted last week, I had a bunch of egg yolks left over and custard seemed like a good first move. As an extra bonus, vanilla beans were on a big sale!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons superfine sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 8 large egg yolks

Prepare the vanilla bean by cutting down the length of it, opening it on one side. Scrape the seeds  out and put them in a saucepan.

Add the milk, cream, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, and the scraped-out bean in the pan.

Heat until just boiling, then remove from the heat and let cool for several minutes.

In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar in a large bowl until pale.

Remove the vanilla bean from the milk mixture. Ladle a bit of the warm milk into the yolks, whisking as you do so.

Continue ladling the milk into the yolks, whisking all the while.

Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and cook gently on the stove, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.

That's what cooking with real vanilla looks like!

After several minutes, the mixture will thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon, at which time you should take it off the heat immediately. You can eat it warm or cold as is, or chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator and then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the ice cream maker’s instructions.

On the other hand, if you cook it a bit too much, the egg will start to scramble.

Take it off the heat immediately, and either transfer it to a cool pot or put the bottom of the current pot in a bowl of ice water for several minutes. Allow the custard to cool briefly, then strain the egg chunks through a sieve and the remaining mixture will be fine.

I froze mine in an ice cream maker with a big spoonful of fudge sauce, and it was super good!

Delightful!

Frozen Custard

From Cook with Jamie.

  • 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 tablespoons superfine sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 8 large egg yolks

Cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds, bean, milk, cream, and 4 tablespoons of the sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and remaining sugar until light yellow. Ladle a small amount of the milk mixture into the yolks, whisking as you add it. Continue adding the milk to the yolks until fully added, whisking the whole time.

Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and return to low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove immediately from the heat. Serve cold, warm, or chill and then freeze in an ice cream maker.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Olive Oil Cranberry Bundt

Posted on November 4, 2011 by sparecake

November 15th is National Bundt Day! Leading up to that, the Food Librarian has been posting a bundt a day since October 15th. She’s also going to send an ‘I Like Big Bundts’ pin to everyone who makes a bundt and sends her a picture of it before November 24th, so if you’ve got time in the next few weeks, try this one out and send her a picture here!

I was looking for a fall-feeling recipe, (and hoping for a break from apples,) and this cake hit the spot! I’ve apparently never tried raw cranberries before, but EWWRG they are awful! I tried one before making the cake and got really concerned that I had misunderstood and the recipe wanted craisins. All’s well, though, as they become delightful once they’re baked into the cake. They’re a nice bit of tartness in a lovely fluffy bundt.

No need for craisins!

Ingredients:

  • 6 egg whites (save the yolks – I’ll be posting a custard recipe soon!)
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup chopped cranberries

Halves was as "chopped" as seemed necessary to me.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9″ bundt pan. I just got an oven thermometer this weekend. And got some jeans hemmed for the first time. I feel so oooold!

I am super suprised to find out our oven's actually fairly accurate, at least at the front!

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.

Beat in the sugar until fluffy, then mix in the olive oil.

Not as green-yellow as I expected.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Alternate adding the egg mixture and the buttermilk to the flour mixture, mixing after each addition. Adding about a quarter each time seemed good.

Fold the cranberries in, then pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip out on a wire rack to cool completely/until you’re hungry.

Jamie Oliver book open in the background as I figure out custard...

For once, I didn’t think this needed any frosting or glaze, but if you need something sweet a dusting of powdered sugar will probably do nicely.

It’s got quite a nice flavor from the olive oil, and almost enough sugar to keep me awake until mid-morning snack. I mean…until my nutritious lunch? Sure…

Olive Oil Cranberry Bundt

From AllRecipes.

  • 6 egg whites
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup chopped cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9″ bundt.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. Beat in the sugar until fluffy, then mix in the olive oil.

In another large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Alternate adding the egg white mixture and the buttermilk, one quarter at a time, to the dry goods, beating after each addition.

Fold the cranberries into the batter, then pour into the pan.

Bake for one hour, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Snack | Tagged , | 4 Comments

White Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on November 2, 2011 by sparecake

For those of you that aren’t huge fans of white chocolate: don’t give up on these! Ted, who I made the cookies with, and Jeremy, the coworker who brought in the cast iron cornbread, both claimed to hate white chocolate, yet both really liked these cookies.

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips, divided
  • 1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (reserve 2 tablespoons to add to melting white chips)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup broken pretzel pieces
  • extra sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Melt 1 cup white chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a double boiler until melted.

Add the melted mixture and the remaining peanut butter to the butter mixture and blend. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Put the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add to the peanut butter/sugar mixture and blend until just combined, then pour in the pretzels and remaining cup of white chocolate chips and stir in.

taste test

Scoop the dough into small balls, with a cookie scoop if you have one.

Flatten with the palm of your hand until dough is roughly 1/2″ thick, then sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until the edges have started browning and look crisp. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a cooling rack…or just eat.

Once again, rubbish white balance.

I hear, from my coworkers, that these go well with tea. Thanks to all that peanut butter, they’re fairly filling, for a cookie. Yum!

White Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies

From Picky Palate.

  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips, divided
  • 1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (reserve 2 tablespoons to add to melting white chips)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup broken pretzel pieces
  • extra sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease or line two or three baking sheets with parchment. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

In a double boiler, melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons peanut butter. Beat the melted chocolate, along with the rest of the peanut butter, into the creamed butter. Add the egg and vanilla and beat.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then add to the peanut butter/sugar mixture and blend until just combined. Pour in the pretzels and remaining cup of white chocolate chips and stir in.

Scoop onto the prepared baking sheets, then lightly press with the palm of your hand to flatten to 1/2″ thick. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden on the edges, then let cool 10 minutes on the pans before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sloppy Joes

Posted on October 31, 2011 by sparecake

First non-apple post in ages, and I forgot to put it up this morning!

I got this recipe from Cooking Light, where it was written kind of stupidly. Once you get around that, though, it is actually a tasty recipe, so I’ll try to write it a bit more coherently. This makes enough for 4 sandwiches, but I might have some sort of side ready, as it’s not a suuuuper huge amount of food.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • a heaping 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (or just a heaping 1/4 cup) ketchup
  • 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 8 ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce
  • 4 buns

Combine the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire, tomato paste, red wine vinegar, and tomato sauce in a small bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. While it heats, grate the carrot and chop the onion, if it’s not pre-chopped. Add the carrot, onion, and beef to the pan.

Cook 6 minutes or until the beef is browned and the vegetables tender. Add the garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper and cook one minute.

Add the ketchup mixture and stir to evenly coat the beef mixture.

Simmer 5 minutes or until thickened. While the sauce thickens, toast the buns if you want to. I made more cool rise bread for buns.

And then it’s dinner!

Sloppy Joes

From Cooking Light.

  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • a heaping 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (or just a heaping 1/4 cup) ketchup
  • 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 8 ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce
  • 4 buns

Combine the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire, tomato paste, red wine vinegar, and tomato sauce in a small bowl. Stir together and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. While pan heats, grate the carrot and chop the onion. Add the carrot, onion, and beef to the pan.

Cook 6 minutes or until the beef is browned and the vegetables tender. Add the garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper and cook one minute.

Add the ketchup mixture and stir to evenly coat the beef mixture.

Simmer 5 minutes or until thickened. While the sauce thickens, toast the buns if you want to. Serve as sandwiches.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged | 1 Comment

Apple Danish

Posted on October 28, 2011 by sparecake

I had some ups and downs with this recipe (I MASSIVELY screwed up the dough at first due to lack of adequate recipe reading), but in the end it was so good I would have been very happy with it if I had bought it at a bakery. You can do most of the work at night and then it’s really easy to finish the next morning for brunch.

Ingredients:

Dough:

  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups finely chopped tart apples

Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Heat the milk in the microwave or on the stove until warm, about 110 degrees. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milk. Add the salt and 2 cups of flour and beat for two minutes. Beat in the eggs and butter, then stir in 4 more cups of flour, half a cup at a time and beating well after each addition.

Spread the remaining half cup of flour on a clean flat surface, then turn the dough out onto it. Knead until smooth and elastic, about five minutes.

Put in a large bowl and cover with a towel. Set in a warm place and leave to rise for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.

After rising, roll out the dough into a 10X22″ rectangle.

Chop the apple and stir together with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and sugar.

Spread half the melted butter over the dough then spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a centimeter clear space around the edges. Wrap the remaining butter and put it in the fridge.

Roll the dough up, rolling a long side so it stays wide.

Move the roll onto a parchment-lined pan, curving it into a C.

Cut slices at 1-2″ intervals, cutting halfway through the log. Once sliced, the log will curl more and you can bring it around to a ring. Why do that? Because it made me really happy to look at it!

Cover the dough loosely and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, it will have leaked a bunch of juice. It’s like when you make pie filling, fruit and sugar = liquid. Remove the danish from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pour the apple juice that leaked out of the danish into a small bowl. The danish is solid enough that it shouldn’t budge while you tilt the pan. Remelt the leftover butter and stir in half of the apple juice. Stir together the butter and juice, then brush over the surface of the danish.

Bake 25-35 minutes, until browned.

Spread some foil on the counter and place a cooling rack over it. Transfer the danish to the rack. The apple juice stuff that’s leaked out and cooked and is left in the pan is basically candy at this point, so enjoy that but then get your pan under hot water pretty fast before the stuff turns rock hard.

Whisk together the powdered sugar with 3-4 tablespoons of the remaining apple juice, adding as much as necessary to reach a drizzle-able consistency. Drizzle over danish and enjoy!

It’s suuuper delicious!Yum!

I’ll be submitting this to YeastSpotting.

Apple Danish

Adapted from Paula Deen’s website.

Dough:

  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 cups finely chopped tart apples

Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Heat the milk in the microwave or on the stove until warm, about 110 degrees. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milk. Add the salt and 2 cups of flour and beat for two minutes. Beat in the eggs and butter, then stir in 4 more cups of flour, half a cup at a time and beating well after each addition.

Spread the remaining half cup of flour on a clean flat surface, then turn the dough out onto it. Knead until smooth and elastic, about five minutes.

Put in a large bowl and cover with a towel. Set in a warm place and leave to rise for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.

After rising, roll out the dough into a 10X22″ rectangle.

Chop the apple and stir together with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and sugar.

Spread half the melted butter over the dough then spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a centimeter clear space around the edges. Wrap the remaining butter and put it in the fridge.

Roll the dough up, rolling a long side so it stays wide.

Move the roll onto a parchment-lined pan, curving it into a C.

Cut slices at 1-2″ intervals, cutting halfway through the log. Once sliced, bend the log into a ring.

Cover the dough loosely and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the danish from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pour the apple juice that leaked out of the danish into a small bowl. The danish is solid enough that it shouldn’t budge while you tilt the pan. Remelt the leftover butter and stir in half of the apple juice. Stir together the butter and juice, then brush over the surface of the danish.

Bake 25-35 minutes, until browned.

Spread some foil on the counter and place a cooling rack over it. Transfer the danish to the rack.

Whisk together the powdered sugar with 3-4 tablespoons of the remaining apple juice, adding as much as necessary to reach a drizzle-able consistency. Drizzle over danish.

Posted in Brunch | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Paper Bag Apple Pie

Posted on October 26, 2011 by sparecake

While I am getting towards the bottom of my giant bag of apples from NH, there’re still enough for a few more recipes, including this one, an apple pie you bake in a bag.

(I didn't end up needing one of the big ones and one of the small ones.)

I’ve never been super confident when making pie crust (I usually just buy them), so I was relieved that this pie has a streusel top, so at least I only had to make one crust. The bottom crust turned out to be pretty easy, actually, and the coworkers I shared the pie with thought it was good. Success!

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

  • 3 1/2 to 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced; enough to make 8 cups sliced apples
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider, or apple juice concentrate
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Streusel topping:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into pats

Start the crust by whisking together the flour and salt. Work the shortening in with a pastry blender or your fingers until well combined. Work the butter in until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some butter pieces still a bit larger than others.

Add the water one tablespoon at a time, stirring as you sprinkle. When the dough is moist enough that it holds together when squeezed, stop adding water and knead it three or four times to bring it together. I just did this in the bowl so I didn’t have to clean another surface, and it worked fine. Pat it into a thick disk, then roll the edge of the disk on a counter to smooth out the edges. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight. I did this much at 11:30pm, then got up at 5am to finish the pie so I could bring it to work. Oof.

When you’re ready to make the filling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put all the filling ingredients into a big bowl and stir. I found out at 5am I didn’t have lemon juice, so ended up just replacing it with more apple juice concentrate, and nothing exploded, nor did the apples get overly browned.

If you do refrigerate the dough for more than half an hour, take it out about halfway through cutting apples, so it has 10 minutes to warm back up before you use it.

Microwave the filling uncovered for 5 minutes.

While the apples are in the microwave you can start rolling out the dough into a 12 1/2″ -13″ circle.

Rolling into a circle is a rough concept for me.

Lightly grease a 9″ pie pan and lay the crust gently into the pan.

Spoon/pour the filling into the crust.

Make the streusel topping by working together all the ingredients with a pastry blender or your fingers until crumbly. Don’t overwork or it’ll turn into a solid lump. Sprinkle the streusel over the filling.

Use your fingers to form a little moat wall with the edge of the pie crust, removing any huge extra chunks.

At this point, if you have a brown paper supermarket bag, put the pie in that and staple or paperclip the end shut. If you don’t have a bag, you can just staple two pieces of parchment around the pie. Please, please, don’t use wax paper. If you’re not aware, you’re not supposed to bake with wax paper. It isn’t meant to withstand high heat and will get fumes all up in your baked goods.

Bake for one hour.

Looks delicious!

Cut open the bag, lifting the flap you cut so that it’s aimed away from you so that you don’t get burnt by any steam that may be inside.

Remove the pie from the bag and cool for at least half an hour before slicing. After about half an hour it was still hot, but I had to go to work in the rain, so I (very loosely) wrapped it with foil, but poked holes in that and didn’t close the sides so that it could steam/cool without the top getting soggy. Carried the pie in one hand and an umbrella in the other for half an hour! Learned something about my own arm strength (–that I don’t have any in my right arm).

I really liked the crunch (and the sugaryness) of the streusel. I thought the filling was a bit too nutmeggy, but I was the only one that thought so, and I’m always strongly anti-nutmeg, so that’s probably just my problem.

If you think any of this pie made it back home…you are mistaken.

Paper Bag Apple Pie

Lightly adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

  • 3 1/2 to 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced; enough to make 8 cups sliced apples
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider, optional but tasty (I used some leftover frozen apple juice concentrate)
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Streusel topping:

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into pats

Make the crust by whisking together the flour and salt. Work the shortening in with a pastry blender or your fingers until well combined. Work the butter in until the mixture is unevenly crumbly, with some butter pieces still a bit larger than others. Add the water one tablespoon at a time, stirring as you sprinkle. When the dough is moist enough that it holds together when squeezed, stop adding water and knead it three or four times to bring it together. Pat it into a thick disk, then roll the edge of the disk on a counter to smooth out the edges. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

When you’re ready to make the filling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Stir together all the filling ingredients in a large bowl.

If the dough has been refrigerated for more than half an hour, take it out about halfway through cutting apples, so it has 10 minutes to warm back up before use.

 Microwave the filling uncovered for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, roll out the dough into a 12 1/2″ -13″ circle. Lightly grease a 9″ pie pan and lay the crust gently into the pan. Spoon the microwaved filling into the crust.

Make the streusel topping by working together all the ingredients with a pastry blender or your fingers until crumbly and then sprinkling over the filling.

Use your fingers to form a little moat wall with the edge of the pie crust, removing any extra crust.

Place the pie in a brown paper supermarket bag or make a pouch out of two sheets of parchment. Either way, seal with staples or paperclips, then bake one hour.

Cut open the bag, avoiding any steam that may be inside.

Remove the pie from the bag and cool for at least half an hour before slicing.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Apple Cheddar Pierogies

Posted on October 24, 2011 by sparecake

Apple cheddar everything is pretty much my life right now. Such a good combo! I’ve always liked the Mrs. T’s potato and cheddar pierogies, but thought adding apple might be even better. I’d say it was! The filling was tasty, and I liked the texture of the outside. The best thing about these is that you can make the filling and prep the dough beforehand, or get them put together but freeze them uncooked for later, so you’ve got plenty of options.

The amount of filling I made was about twice as much as I needed for the amount of dough I made. It was roughly four people’s worth of pierogies, plus the extra filling. I’ll cut the filling recipe in half below, so it should work out about right.

Ingredients:

Filling:

  • 1 1/2 large or 2 small russet potatoes
  • 1 large tart apple
  • 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • salt and pepper to taste

Dough:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Also:

  • butter and onions for sauteing
  • sour cream and apple sauce on the side

Prepare the filling by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. While that heats, peel the potatoes and apple and cut into large chunks.

Off-white lumps.

Put the chopped pieces into the boiling water. The apples will probably float, while the potato pieces sink.

Boil until a fork slides easily into the potato pieces. This took about ten minutes for me. Drain, then return to the pot and add the cheese and butter.

Mash until smooth, then add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t be disappointed if you can only taste the potatoes until you add the butter and salt – they allow the other flavors to come through as well.

You can put this in the fridge until the next day, or go on and make the pierogies now.

To prepare the dough, mix the flour and salt. Beat the eggs and add to the flour and stir. Add the sour cream and butter and stir together, then turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead. The mixture was dry for most of the time I was kneading, but as the last bits got incorporated it became sticky. Continue kneading until it loses most of its stickiness.

Divide the dough into two even portions and form each into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for half an hour. You can also do this in advance and leave the dough in the fridge for up to two days.

When you’re ready to make the pierogies, put a pot of water on the stove on and bring to a boil. Roll one disk of the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8″ thick.

Cut out 2″-3″ circles with a biscuit cutter or glass. Place a small ball of filling on each circle.

This turned out to be more than I could fit when I sealed them.

Fold the dough over into a half-circle and crimp the open edge with a fork.

Freeze at this stage, or put as many of the pierogies you’ve made in the pot of water as fit without overlapping, and continue making more pierogies while they boil, using both halves of the dough. The pierogies will be done when they float, 8-10 minutes. Give them a quick stir once 2 or 3 minutes in so that you know they’re not stuck to the bottom.

Take out the pierogies as they are cooked and rinse them under cool water briefly. Set aside to dry slightly, and continue cooking more.

When you’re done forming additional pierogies, while you wait for more to boil, cut as much onion as you want into thin rings. Place in a pan on the stove over medium high head with a tablespoon of butter.

I'm not into it, so I just made a few for Kyle.

Saute until they are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until each side is browned, adding more butter to keep some in the pan at all times. If your pierogies have one dryer side, put them dryer-side down when you put them in the pan so any water on the other side doesn’t make the butter sputter and spit.

PLENTY of pierogies for Kyle and me...

Serve them with sour cream and/or applesauce.

The high life!

Apple Cheddar Pierogies

Filling:

  • 1 1/2 large or 2 small russet potatoes
  • 1 large tart apple
  • 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • salt and pepper to taste

Dough:

  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Also:

  • butter and onions for sauteing
  • sour cream and apple sauce on the side

To make the filling: Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Peel and roughly chop potatoes and apples. Boil until soft. Drain, then add cheese and butter. Mash until smooth, add salt and butter to taste.

To make the dough: Mix together the flour and salt. Beat eggs and stir into the flour. Add the sour cream and the softened butter pieces and stir together. Knead until all evenly combined and no longer sticky. Divide the dough in half and form into two disks. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate at least half an hour, up to two days.

Preparing the pierogies: Heat a pot of water on the stove. Roll one portion of the dough out to 1/8″ thick. Cut out 2″-3″ circles and put small portions of the filling on them. Fold dough over to form half-circles, and seal shut by crimping with a fork. Boil prepared pierogies while continuing to make more. When pierogies float, take them out and rinse them under cold water, then set aside to dry.

Slice onion into rings and pan fry in butter until soft. Pan fry pierogies until browned on each side, setting aside pierogies and onions as done to make more room in the pan.

When all pierogies are cooked, serve with sour cream, prepared onions, and apple sauce.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Apple Upside-Down Cake

Posted on October 21, 2011 by sparecake

The second recipe I made to help get rid of the huge bag of apples I brought back from NH was apple upside-down cake. I’m horrible at cutting evenly, but once you’ve got the apples prepped, this cake comes together pretty quickly and easily.

Ingredients:

Topping:

  • 2 medium apples
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup

Cake:

  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Lightly grease a 9″ cake pan with sides at least 2″ tall. Line the bottom with parchment and re-grease.

Slice the top off one of the two medium apples, leaving the stem attached if there is one. Set aside, then peel and slice the remainder of that and the other medium apple into 1/4″ thick wedges. Place the apple top stem-down in the middle of your prepared pan, and arrange the apple wedges in a ring around it.

Set the pan aside and prepare the rest of the topping by combining the butter, sugar, cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup in a pot over low heat. Stir until the sugar and butter are dissolved and evenly mixed in.

Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture over the prepared apples in the pan, and set the rest aside.

To make the cake, beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed.

Mix the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl, and stir it into the batter until just blended. Fold in the chopped apples and if you’re using nuts, throw them in too.

Spoon the batter over the apples in the pan, gently spreading it to cover the apples evenly.

Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. I somehow failed at this test, as the middle of mine turned out to be still somewhat undercooked when i flipped it, so…be careful? Make sure you’re stabbing all the way in, not just stopping on an apple chunk right below the surface.

It _looked_ cooked...

After removing the cake from the oven, run a thin spatula or knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan, then allow it to cool for five minutes. After the brief cool, flip the cake out onto a serving plate, apple-side up. Scrape any sauce remaining in the pan onto the cake.

Reheat the reserved topping and pour over the cake. If the butter has separated and isn’t stirring back into the mixture, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does melt back in.

I realized in time that this cake was nearly the size of all my biggest plates, so I cut it roughly in half and put it on two plates before pouring sauce over it so that I didn’t just end up making a ridiculous mess all over the counters. Not as grand looking, but…prudent, with the plates I’ve got to work with.

Not the most attractive thing I’ve ever made, but apple and brown sugar is a hard to deny combo. If you’ve got a large serving plate, go to it and find out for yourself how good this could look!

Apple Upside-Down Cake

From King Arthur Flour.

Topping:

  • 2 medium apples
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup

Cake:

  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9″ round cake pan with 2″ or taller walls. Line with parchment and re-grease.

Slice the top off one of the two medium apples, leaving the stem attached. Set aside, then peel and slice the remainder of that and the other medium apple into 1/4″ thick wedges. Place the apple top, stem down, in the middle of your prepared pan, and layer the apple wedges in a ring around it. Set the cake pan aside.

Prepare the remainder of the topping by combining the butter, sugar, cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup in a pot over low heat. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved and evenly mixed in. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture over the prepared apples in the pan, and set the rest aside.

To make the cake, beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed.

Mix the flour and baking soda together in a small bowl, and stir it into the batter until just blended. Fold in the chopped apples and nuts.

Spoon the batter over the apples in the pan, gently spreading it to cover the apples evenly.

Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Run a thin spatula or knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan, then allow it to cool for five minutes. Flip the cake out onto a serving plate, apple-side up. Scrape any sauce remaining in the pan onto the cake.

Reheat the reserved topping and pour over the cake. If the butter has separated and isn’t stirring back into the mixture, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does melt back in. Serve warm or room temperature, and with whipped cream if desired.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cast Iron Cornbread

Posted on October 19, 2011 by sparecake

Currently at work there are 3 of us that work in a tiny, windowless room with no supervision. The work’s mind-numbing and easy, leaving plenty of free time for two of us to pressure the third, Jeremy, into making food for us. Jeremy was nice enough to not only bring in a full pan’s worth of cornbread to share, but also took pictures and wrote up a guest post! The cornbread was delicious enough that we didn’t leave him any to bring back home, and the pictures are even more thorough than I usually manage. Without further ado, here’s Jeremy’s post:

Cast Iron Cornbread

This recipe is an adapted version of a recipe given to me when I bought the bag of corn meal from the Grist Mill at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. I have made it several times with little changes in cook time, pan, and ingredients.

The biggest thing you’ll notice is the absence of milk. I have replaced this with a single can of creamed corn to give more corn flavor and to keep the finished product moist. You can include a cup of frozen corn if it strikes your fancy.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 14.5 oz can of creamed corn
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Bacon Grease (optional)

The first step is to assemble all of your ingredients.

Here are the dry goods measured and waiting.

Melted butter can be substituted with any liquidated cooking fat (Oil, Shortening, Lard).

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Grease your baking dish (this recipe fits perfectly in 10″ cast iron skillet).

I’m particularly proud of my well seasoned 10” cast iron skillet , which was rescued from a rusty grave at the bottom of a garage. The bucket o’ bacon grease is standard in any southern kitchen, IMHO.

Use a paper towel to spread a healthy layer of bacon grease on the pan (or you can spray Pam on your baking dish if you hate your taste buds).

Sift dry ingredients.

Sift them dry dudes. Please note I use a metal strainer for this task. I got bad hand cramps last time I tried to use my old squeeze handle model. I got fed up and threw it away. This works faster and is easier to clean anyway.

Add wet ingredients.

Put the wet on the dry.

Mix without overworking the batter.

Pour into prepared dish.

Spread that batter evenly, but don’t mind if its sloppy, the rustic look is good.

Bake 25 min, until golden brown.

Put in your preheated oven and wave goodbye.

Hello again golden brown and delicious friend.

Let cool for 10 – 20 minutes and serve warm with butter or honey.

Here is a close up of the dark brown crust underneath that can be seen when the finished cornbread pulls away from the edge of the pan.

Cast Iron Cornbread

From Jeremy.

  • 3/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 14.5 oz can of creamed corn
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Bacon Grease (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Grease 10 inch baking dish.

Sift dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients.

Pour into prepared dish.

Bake 25 min, until golden brown.

Let cool for 10 – 20 minutes and serve warm with butter or honey.

Posted in Bread | Tagged , , | 2 Comments