Dessert

Nutella Brownies

~ Lynn ~ 42 Comments

I made it 13 hours into 2011 before breaking my new years resolution. And then I had breakfast.

I had resolved to cut back on the sweets. I’m going with the “it’s not my fault” excuse. There were a ton of desserts at our New Years celebration. My cousin picked up an enormous Gateau St. Honoré for my birthday and refused to let me leave without taking the leftovers home with me. A Gateau St Honoré is basically a giant cream puff. This one was filled with pastry cream, chocolate pastry cream, whipped cream, and even had some pieces of chocolate cake in it. I couldn’t let it go to waste.  So I had a piece for breakfast. And another later in the day for dessert.

So my New Years resolution starts.. Now!

My contribution to the New Years celebration were Abby Dodge’s Nutella Brownies. If you read a reasonable number of food blogs, you’ve probably come across these already. A few months ago I saw post after post about how incredible these are. The reviews were right, these are awesome. I don’t know why I waited so long to make them.

They are also incredibly easy to make.  If you’re not much of a baker this recipe is a great place to start; there are only 4 ingredients and you don’t need to know any baking techniques.  If you can mix (or have a mixer) you can make these brownies. I found this recipe at Savory Sweet Life.

Nutella Brownies

  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 1 egg
  • 5 tbsp flour
  • icing sugar for dusting (you could also top with chopped hazelnuts)
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a mini muffin tin.
  2. In a large bowl mix the Nutella and egg together until smooth.
  3. Add the flour, mix until completely incorporated.
  4. Try not to eat the batter, there is just enough to fill the muffin tins.
  5. Pour batter into mini muffin tin, filling till about 3/4 full.
  6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  7. Let cool completely, then dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

A Birthday Trifle

~ Lynn ~ 16 Comments

My birthday is coming up later this week. I have what I would call a love hate relationship with birthdays, I hate getting older but looove getting presents. This year I’m feeling a little neutral about it though. I guess compared to the stress/panic excitement of 30, 31 is just no big deal. Besides, one of my coworkers told me I look 27 the other day and I’m choosing to believe her.

Despite my neutral feelings, I will never pass up an opportunity for a treat. I still have a ton of sweets left over from Christmas so I decided to follow Sarah of The House Wife Diary‘s lead and create something out of them.

For Christmas I made Anna Olson’s Marzipan Cake. This cake was incredible, it was moist and tender with a lovely almond flavour. I replaced the lemon zest with orange, which went very well with the almond.  I decided to use the leftover cake to make myself a mini trifle. Then I started thinking about all the sugar I’ve been eating and thought maybe I should tone it down. Traditionally a trifle has layers of cake, fruit, custard, and cream. I replaced the custard and whipped cream with greek yogurt. I left the yogurt unsweetened as the cake and jam I used were both quite sweet. If that’s too tangy for you, try sweetening it with a little honey.

Marzipan Cake

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup marzipan
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted, for dusting
  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch round pan and line with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Cut the marzipan into chunks and beat into the butter mixture one piece at a time until its completely incorporated.
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the zest and extracts.
  4. In separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the marzipan mixture, beating until well incorporated.
  5. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

Greek Yogurt Trifle

  • Leftover marzipan cake
  • Greek yogurt
  • Raspberry jam
  1. Layer the cake, jam and yogurt into a tall glass or bowl. Let chill until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas! Have Some Stollen

~ Lynn ~ 16 Comments

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas morning in my parents house is the same every year. We wake up, head to the living, open presents, then have breakfast. What we eat for breakfast is a tradition too. There’s a selection of Polish sausages, ham and other cold cuts, pate, rye bread and Babka. The meal isn’t fancy, but it says Christmas to me.

This year, since the Daring Bakers challenged us to make Stollen, we replaced the babka with it. Stollen is a traditional German Christmas bread, made with dried fruit. Penny added a twist to the challenge by asking us to make it in the shape of a wreath.

I actually made the recipe 3 times. The first time was a test run; I halved the recipe and baked it in a loaf pan. Unfortunately I took the bread out of the oven too soon, so the middle was not cooked through. The ends tasted wonderful though.

The second time I made it for an office brunch. Once again I used half the recipe, and I replaced the dried fruits with chocolate chunks, cinnamon chips, and cranberries. I shaped it like the Premiere Moisson Chocolate Cranberry Christmas bread, several balls of dough placed in a round pan. It was beautiful, and my coworkers seemed to love it. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures.

On Christmas Eve I baked it for the third time. Part of the joy of Christmas morning is slathering butter on a slice of babka, so I decided to split the recipe in half, part of it became a wreath and the rest was baked in a bundt pan so that we could cut off nice slices. I used the chocolate cranberry mix for the wreath, and the traditional dried fruits for the bundt.

Both turned out great. I’m glad I took the time to do the test runs, they gave me a chance to figure out how the dough rises and bakes. The recipe calls for an overnight rise in the fridge, however I also tried just letting it rise in a warm draft free space for two hours. Both ways worked well, and the taste was identical. Thanks for a great challenge, Penny!

Stollen

(makes two loaves)

  • ¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
  • 2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (1/2 oz) active dry yeast
  • 1 cup (240 ml) milk
  • 10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter (can use salted butter)
  • 5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) (770 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour (Measure flour first – then sift- plus extra for dusting)
  • ½ cup (120 ml) (115 gms) sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon (3 ¾ ml) (4 ½ grams) salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 grams) cinnamon
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (very good) vanilla extract
  • 3 cups dried fruits that have been soaked in rum or orange juice (I used cranberries, apricots and blueberries) OR 1 cup cinnamon chips, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries.
  1. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water into a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely.
  2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup (240 ml) milk and 10 tablespoons (150 ml) butter over medium – low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
  3. Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl and add lemon and vanilla extracts.
  4. In a large mixing bowl (4 qt) (4 liters) (or in the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment), stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange and lemon zests.
  5. Then stir in (or mix on low-speed with the paddle attachment) the yeast/water mixture, eggs and the lukewarm milk/butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. It should be a soft, but not sticky ball. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with either plastic or a tea cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
  6. Add the dried fruit and knead for 8 minutes (6 if using an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook). If using the chocolate cranberry filling, start kneading with just the chocolate and cinnamon chips, then add the cranberries towards the end being very careful so that the dough doesn’t turn pink.
  7. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm dry place for two hours, or in the fridge overnight.
  8. Punch the dough down and form into your desired shape. Let rise for 1 hour.
  9. Preheat the oven to 350. The time to bake the dough will depend on the shape chosen. Using half the dough, the wreath took 35 minutes in my oven, and the bundt took 50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

~ Lynn ~ 19 Comments

Sometimes I think the only reason I have cable is to watch the Food Network. All weekend long I have the TV on as I do my cooking and cleaning. Ina Garten, Laura Calder and Bobby Flay are like the soundtrack to my weekend.

I’m not a huge fan of competition shows in general but one of my favourite cooking shows is Top Chef, which in Canada airs on Food Network Canada a few weeks after it begins in the United States. I love watching chefs come up with incredible (and sometimes terrible) meals, and seeing their creativity grow each week. I would also love to know the truth about the pea puree. Unfortunately, I got my December issue of Food and Wine before the finale aired in Canada, so despite all my efforts to live in a bubble, I knew who was going to win.

All this to say these cookies are from Food and Wine’s feature of Kevin Sbraga. The cookies all looked delicious, but I decided the first one I had to try was the chocolate biscotti. My dad makes biscotti every Christmas, but I had never made them myself. The batter is just as easy to put together as a sugar cookie. The only real difference is the baking process. First the cookies are baked as a log, the log is then sliced and the pieces are baked again until they dry out.

These biscotti were very tasty. The chocolate and pistachio go together very well, but to be honest with you, I prefer my dads. Just because.

I’ll be submitting these cookies to Cream Puffs In Venice for Magazine Mondays. Magazine Mondays are a weekly event designed to help us get through those stacks of magazine recipes we’ve put aside to make “one day.”

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

From the December 2010 issue of Food and Wine

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups raw pistachios
  • 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
  • Melted bittersweet chocolate, for dipping or drizzling
  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and rum beating until well combined.
  3. In separate bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and cinnamon.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Beat in the pistachios.
  5. Divide the dough in two, shape each half into a log. Brush the logs with the egg whites. Bake for 25 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Cut the logs into slices, return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes until the cookies have dried out. Let cool completely. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Enjoy!

Maple Butterscotch Pudding

~ Lynn ~ 22 Comments

I’ve been really behind in my blog reading lately. There are so many posts and so little time!

This week I spent a few evenings catching up on some of my favourite blogs and came across this post by Jamie at My Baking Addiction. I started reading the post because A. I love her blog, and B. I’m obsessed with Cranberry Bliss Bars. But what really caught my attention was the contest. My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats are giving away Kerry Gold Butter.

Yes, butter. My favourite ingredient. Clearly I had to enter.

All we had to do to enter the contest was post one of our favourite recipes that use butter. I racked my brain for something to post. For some reason everything I thought of had butter in the name, Buttered Rum, Buttered Popcorn, Butter Cookies. And then it hit me, Butterscotch!

There are a lot of butterscotch recipes out there, all fairly similar. For this recipe I based myself on recipes from David Lebovits and Joy of Baking. I decided to give this recipe a local twist by adding some Gelinotte, a maple liqueur made in Quebec, instead of scotch. Butterscotch does’t actually require alcohol, the name is believed to come from the words butter scorched.

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by KerryGold. Voting begins December 19th at 12AM. Please visit either site and vote for your favourite recipe (hopefully mine!)

Maple Butterscotch

  • 4 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 teaspoons Gelinotte Maple Liqueur (if unavailable use whiskey or rum, or omit the alcohol)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Stir in the sugar, maple syrup and salt. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of the milk until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Whisk in the egg yolks.
  3. Slowly pour the remaining milk into the butter and sugar, whisking constantly. Then add the cornstarch mixture.
  4. Return the saucepan to the heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture starts to boil. Lower the heat and continue to whisk for one minute. The mixture should be quite thick.
  5. Pour into 4 serving bowls and chill for at least four hours.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Truffle Cake

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments

You didn’t think I’d let my Moms birthday go by without a cake, did you?

I usually decide on a type of cake myself, but this time I decided to ask my mom what she wanted. She said chocolate, chocolate mocha. So I got to work looking for the perfect recipe. The perfect recipe turned out not to exist, but I was inspired by two chocolate truffle cake recipes, one from Food and Wine and the other from Anna Olson. I used Anna’s cake recipe so that the cake would have some coffee flavour, and I used the ganache filling from the Food and Wine recipe. I added espresso powder to the dark chocolate layer, and kahlua to one of the white chocolate layers. Unfortunately I don’t think I used enough coffee, the chocolate flavour kind of took over. Despite not being very mocha-ey, the cake was delicious.

Before I get to the recipe, I have a blog award to share. Alina at Russian Season was kind enough to give me the Stylish Blogger Award.

Alina’s site is full of great Eastern European dishes, if you haven’t already you should definitely visit her site. So I’m giving the award right back to her and to these blogs I’ve recently discovered.

All Day I Dream About Food

Amy Bakes Everything

Black Book Kitchen Diaries

Oil and Butter

Wilde In The Kitchen

Pretty Peas

 

Chocolate Truffle Cake

For the cake

  • 3/4 cup hot brewed coffee
  • 1 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup regular cocoa powder (not Dutch pressed)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg white
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For the White Chocolate Kahlua Ganache

  • 8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 2/3 cups heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons Kahlua

For the White Chocolate Ganache

  • 8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 2/3 cups heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  1. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 15 by 12 inch baking sheet.
  2. In a small bowl, pour the hot coffee over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted then set aside.
  3. Sift sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs on high-speed for 1 minute. Slowly add the oil, buttermilk and vanilla.
  5. Alternate adding the flour and coffee mixture to the eggs.
  6. Taste the batter, it’s like pudding.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, bake for 25 to 30 minutes then let cool completely.
  8. Make the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until small bubbles start to appear. In a small bowl pour over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted and is shiny. Chill for 1 hour.
  9. Make the white chocolate Kahlua ganache: Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler. Heat the cream and butter until small bubbles appear then pour into the melted chocolate. Stir until completely combined. Stir in the Kahlua. Chill for 1 hour.
  10. Make the white chocolate ganache: Melt the white chocolate over a double boiler. Heat the cream and butter until small bubbles appear then pour into the melted chocolate. Stir until completely combined. Chill for 1 hour.
  11. Assemble the cake: Slice the cake into 4 equal parts. On the first layer spread the chocolate ganache, reserving some ganache for the top of the cake. Top with another layer of cake. Spread the white chocolate Kahlua ganache on the cake. Top with the third layer of cake, and spread the white chocolate ganache. Top with the final layer of cake and ice with the remaining ganache.
  12. Let the cake set for at least 1 hour. When serving slice with a hot knife.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Nutella Bites

~ Lynn ~ 37 Comments

The idea for these cookies came to me in the shower, which means it could have been genius or madness. A ball-shaped shortbread cookie with a Nutella filling, sort of like a cookie truffle. There were some technical issues that had to be addressed, namely how to make a ball out of a spread. My solution was to chill the Nutella for 30 minutes, scoop it out using a mini melon baller then freeze the balls for 30 minutes.

The next issue was would the cookie dough hold its shape, or would they turn into a leaky Nutella mess? The only way to find out was to try, and these were a definite success. They kept a fairly round shape, and the Nutella stayed put in all of them.

Best of all, they were delicious; the perfect blend of chocolate and hazelnut flavours.

I think these are destined to become a holiday tradition.

Chocolate Nutella Bites

  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup superfine sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • icing sugar for dusting
  1. Put the Nutella in the fridge for at least 30 minutes till hardened. Using a mini melon baller scoop out 24 balls, place them on wax paper then freeze for 30 minutes.
  2. While the Nutella is freezing, make the cookie dough. Melt the chocolate with the espresso powder, set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Blend in the chocolate, followed by the cornstarch and salt.
  4. Mix in the flour until a smooth dough is formed.
  5. Eat some cookie dough (for quality control)
  6. Shape the dough into a log, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
  7. Once the dough has chilled, slice it into 24 even circles. Take a circle, put a Nutella ball in the center then using your hands roll it into a circle, making sure there are no seems. Repeat for the remaining dough/nutella. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350.
  9. Bake for 15-18 minutes.
  10. While the cookies are baking put your face up to the oven window and watch. Pray your cookies don’t leak.
  11. Once cooked, let them cool completely then sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

~ Lynn ~ 27 Comments


What did people do with over ripe bananas before banana bread was invented? I always used to make mine with walnuts and chocolate chips. Classic. Delicious. Then a little over a year ago I developed an allergy to walnuts, which means my classic banana bread recipe will make my face swell up into something that looks like this:

I haven’t made banana bread since.

So I need a new banana bread recipe. I could put just chocolate chips, but that seemed too easy. After a quick consultation with Janice, I decided peanuts was the way to go. Unfortunately I forgot to buy the peanuts. Instead I used peanut butter, sort of like a pre-made peanut butter and banana sandwich.

My results were mixed. The flavour was great but the overall experience was lacking. I wanted the peanut butter to swirl through the batter, but the two ended up almost completely combined. I think because of the that the cake was a little dry, sort of like having peanut butter without a glass of milk. I also missed the texture of the nuts in the banana bread. Next time I’ll remember to buy the peanuts.

I’m posting the recipe as I made it, but I’d suggest increasing the amount of mashed banana or yogurt, or maybe even butter. Some experimenting may be required. Or just a large glass of milk.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl combine the bananas, butter, eggs and yogurt.
  4. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into it. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into a greased 8 by 8 inch pan. Dollop the peanut butter randomly over the batter and swirl into the batter using a knife.
  6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
  7. Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!

PS: If anyone has a fail proof swirling method, I’d love to know what it is!

Daring Bakers do Crostata

~ Lynn ~ 29 Comments


The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

This was my first Daring Bakers Challenge that didn’t scare the bejezus out of me. It was nice to just take a couple hours to put together this classic tart. I thought about what to fill the tart with for a while, then finally asked my family what they wanted. My brother requested something creamy/custardy, my mom requested lemon. And so my lemon scented custard crostata was born.

I wanted to try a lattice top to the tart, but I wasn’t able to slice the into even strips so I chose to cut out circles of dough instead. Once the crostata had baked I topped it with some of the candied lemon slices I made.  The crostata was delicious, but I think baking it in a tart pan was a mistake. To me a crostata should be more rustic looking, like it just got thrown together by an italian nonna on a Sunday afternoon. I thought about making another one, but my ever expanding waistline talked me out of it. There is a lot of baking to be done leading up to Christmas, and I need to choose my calories wisely.

Crostata

For the Crust:

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 and 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

For the filling

  • 2 extra-large eggs
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 500 ml milk
  • 3 strips of lemon peel about 3″ long and 1/2″ wide
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp limoncello (optional)
  1. Make the crust: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter to the flour and rub the mixture together until it has a coarse crumb consistency.
  2. Make a well in the center of the butter flour mixture and pour the egg into it. Use a fork to blend the dough together. Knead the dough lightly, then form a disk.
  3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
  4. Once chilled, cut 1/4 of the dough off then roll the remaining dough out and place into a 9 inch tart pan. Chill the rolled out dough for 30 minutes.
  5. Dock the pastry (poke little holes), cover with parchment and weigh the crust down with pie weights or dried beans.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Remove the weights and let the dough cool.
  7. Make the filling: In a large saucepan heat the milk and lemon peel slices until steaming. Let the milk and lemon steep for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon peel.
  8. In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and flour together. Pour a small amount of the milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly and quickly. Slowly pour the rest of the milk into the egg mixture, always while whisking.
  9. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and warm at very low heat, stirring often. When the mixture starts to thicken, turn the heat up higher and cook one more minute, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the limoncello.
  10. Pour the custard into the tart shell. Roll out the remaining dough, cut into strips or shapes and place on top of the custard.
  11. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
  12. Decorate with candied lemon slices.

Enjoy!

I’ll Never Be A Princess Pie

~ Lynn ~ 55 Comments

I heard some news last week that made me very, very sad. Prince William and Kate Middleton are now engaged. With this news the reality that I will never be a princess came crashing down on me. Sure, it’s unlikely that I’d ever meet Prince William, but as long as Kate was just “the girlfriend” there was still hope. That hope is now gone.

So I turned to the food that brings me the most comfort; pie. In this case Pear and Cranberry Hand Pies from Food & Wine Magazine. The recipe calls for store bought all butter puff pastry. I didn’t have any on hand so I decided to make my own. Now before you get all impressed with my mad skills, I used Nick Malgieri’s Quick Puff Pastry recipe from Bake! Although it doesn’t rise as much as a traditional puff pastry, for a recipe like this where height is not required it’s perfect. And it’s as easy to make as a traditional pie crust.

The hand pies are delicious. One bite brought me right back to my usual happy self. And it reminded me that while Prince Harry is a little young for me, he does meet the half my age plus seven criteria.

I think.

This is my Magazine Monday submission for this week. Head over to Cream Puffs in Venice every Monday to see what other bloggers have cooked up from their magazine collections

Pear and Cranberry Hand Pies

  • 2 pears, cored, peeled and dice into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 3/4 cup cranberries
  • 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 pinch ground cinnamon
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 batch of Quick Puff Pastry or a 14 oz package of all butter puff pastry
  • 1 egg, beaten
  1. In a medium bowl, toss the pears, cranberries, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt together.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry until 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 12 four inch circles.
  3. Spoon some of the pear filling into the center of half the circles. Brush some of the egg on the edges of the dough, then cover with the remaining circles. Press the edges together making sure they are tightly sealed. Cut slits into the top of each hand pie to let some of the steam escape.
  4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  6. Brush the tops of the hand pies with the egg wash, then bake for about 30 minutes until the crust is a nice golden brown.

Enjoy!