I Had Puff Pastry and Nothing To Do

I was bored. Very bored. I wanted to bake something. Anything. I took inventory...I had apples, pears, and puff pastry, so I found this recipe by Dave Lieberman on the Food Network website.

Apple and Raisin Strudel
Ingredients
2 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick*
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice until the apples are thoroughly coated. Add the raisins, 1/4 cup sugar, and the 2 tablespoons cold cubed butter and toss well. Set aside.
Lightly dust the counter or work surface with flour. Lay the puff pastry on top and dust the rolling pin with additional flour. Gently roll the puff pastry to 1/8-inch thickness.
Spread the apple and raisin mixture over the bottom half of the puff pastry square leaving about 1-inch of space along the side edges. Fold the top half of the puff pastry over and pinch to seal the edges together.
Brush the entire strudel with the melted butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon and remaining sugar. Using a serrated knife, make 3 diagonal slits across the top of the strudel.
Place the strudel on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Recipe courtesy of Dave Lieberman
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/puff-pastry-apple-and-raisin-strudel-recipe.html?oc=linkback

*I had Granny Smith apples, so I increased the sugar to about 1/3 cup.

I had raisins (a pantry staple) and, surprisingly, a lemon. I was good to go!

Thank goodness for my Silpat, because it leaked out and made a mess. My seal didn't hold. But the smell was divine. The house smelled of autumn.



But then, what to do with the other piece of puff pastry? I cored a couple of pears and a small Granny Smith apple and sliced them thin. I placed the slices down the middle of the puff pastry pieces and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. I put them in the oven at 375 on a parchment lined baking sheet and turned the pan after about 15 minutes. I took them out when the pastry looked golden. I heated up some apple jelly in the microwave and spread it over the tarts.

Here is the finished product.

The Magnificent Mini

Oh, not the skirt, I'm far too old for that. No, I am talking about bite-sized treats. I was asked to make some things for a reception at church and I decided to make some mini desserts. Today I made some pecan tassies and some mini red velvet cupcakes. I used Martha Stewart's recipe and it made a lot, A LOT of minis...105.

The problems with this is that these suckers are labor intensive. Easy, but I spent a lot of time on my feet.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting.

This is how you cool baked goods when you have two very curious cats.


I was not pleased with the color. I used 1/2 tsp of gel color, but I think that I got more on me than in the cake.



Frosting

12 oz room temperature cream cheese
1 c room temperature butter
1 lb XXX sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla and cream until smooth.

The finished product.


So, for now, I am going to put my feet up and drink some tea, and watch some tv.

The Perfect Food

Today is my father's 80th birthday. I asked him what he wanted, and he told me pot roast. So I prepared a delicious pot roast, Alton Brown's green bean casserole. and potatoes au gratin. And I made his favorite cake.

I made a Triple Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

First, is there anything that isn't improved by the addition of cream cheese frosting? Second, carrot cake is a perfect food. It's got fruit (raisins), protein (eggs and nuts), vegetables (carrots), and dairy (cream cheese). It has it all! Unfortunately, it is labor intensive. And messy. I will spare you the details of the many places in which I have found carrots.

It made my dad happy.

Triple-layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
Bon Appétit | October 1994

Serves 10.

Cake
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce)
1/2 cup raisins

Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
preparation
For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally.
Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes.
Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place 1 cake layer on platter.
Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place 1 cake layer on platter.
Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Sorry about the photo quality. It was cut and about half was gone before I was able to take the pic.



It is the perfect food.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

It's a sad story. It really is. I started to make this last week. I prepped the pan and was assembling the ingredients while the oven was preheating, and heard a hissing, popping, sizzling sound. I turned to see flames dancing in the oven. The bottom element was on fire. No cake that day.

But the oven is now repaired and I finally got to try this recipe. I found it on one of my favorite blogs, Chef In Training.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1½ cups milk
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
½ cup butter, melted
TOPPING
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
GLAZE
2 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 glass baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In an electric or stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined well , slowly stir in the melted butter. Pour into the prepared 9×13 baking pan.
For topping
In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together until well combined and creamy. Drop evenly over the batter by the tablespoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.





Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out nearly clean.
FOR GLAZE
In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together with a whisk. Drizzle evenly over the warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.



The thing is, it really tastes like a cinnamon roll.

Fried Apple Pies

I mentioned these before, when I made fried peach pies. I tried today to replicate my Aunt Alma's fried apple pies. Mine, of course, were different because I bought Sunmaid dried apples. Aunt Alma would pick apples from my Uncle Ed's trees. These were not pretty apples. They really were not fit to eat raw. They were knotty and spotted and hard. They were usually eaten by the farm animals...horses, cows, and goats.



But, Aunt Alma would peel them, slice them thin, and place them on newspaper in the back of the car during the hottest part of summer to dry. Their car always smelled wonderful!

She would put the dried apples into the freezer and pull them out whenever the occasion called for dessert. She would make a biscuit dough and fill it with the apples, re-hydrated and cooked in sugar. They were pan fried, not deep fried, and always delicious...perhaps because they were made with love.

Filling:

2 bags dried apples
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs salted butter

Place the apples in a sauce pan and barely cover with water. Add sugar and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Lower temperature and simmer until apples are plump and soft, not chewy, stirring occasionally. This can take as long as an hour. Add butter and take off heat. Cool completely.



Dough:

2 to 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
6 tbs shortening
3/4 to 1 cup ice water

Add shortening to 2 cups flour and work with hands until combined. Add water and mix well. Place on floured board and add flour if needed. Roll approx 1/8" thick and cut into a circle. (I used a saucer as a template.) Place filling in center, being careful to not over-fill. Apply water with fingers to edge of dough and fold over. Seal by pressing with a fork. Place in fridge for 10 to 30 minutes.

Place 4 tbs shortening and 2 tbs butter in iron frying pan and melt. Turn heat to medium high and place pies in hot oil. (I was able to fit 2 at a time in the pan.) Cook for approximately 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on paper towel lined plate.



As you can tell, they will char if not careful. Not burned, but there is a char on them. It looks worse in the photo than it really is.



But they are very, very yummy. Aunt Alma would be proud.

Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese

I often wonder if there is any recipe that the good folks of America's Test Kitchen, Cooks Country, and Cook's Illustrated cannot make more complicated. However, I will give them props, they truly simplified a cheese souffle and made it foolproof. I've had better souffles, but I've never made one that was this easy.


Chris Kimball of ATK

Cheese Souffle- ATK
Serves 4-6
1 oz. Parm cheese, grated (1 ½ C)
¼ C. (1 ¼ oz) all- purpose flour
¼ t. paprika
¼ t. salt
1/8 t. Cayenne
1/8 t. white pepper
4 T. unsalted butter
1 1/3 C. Whole milk
6 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded ( 1 ½ C)
6 Large eggs, separated
2 t. minced fresh Parsley
¼ t. Cream of Tartar
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position & heat oven to 350*. Spray 8” round (2 qt) soufflé dish with Veg oil spray, then sprinkle with 2 T. Parmesan Cheese.
2. Combine flour Paprika, salt, cayenne, white pepper in bowl. Melt butter in small saucepan over MED heat. Stir in flour mixture and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and bring to simmer. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and smooth, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in Gruyere and 5 T. Parmesan until melted and smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes, then whisk in egg yolks and 1 ½ t. parsley (SLICED Scallions instead).
3. Using Stand Mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites and cream of tartar on MED-LO speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to MED-HI and whip until STIFF peaks form, 3-4 minutes. Add cheese mixture and continue to whip until FULLY combined, @ 15 seconds.
4. Pour mixture into prepared dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 T. Parm. Bake until risen above rim, top is deep golden brown, and interior registers 170*, 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with ½ t. Parsley and serve immediately.



I must confess that I used slightly less cayenne and I omitted the parsley. I bought my parmesan cheese at the Piggly Wiggly and it was not aged very long. It was moist and did not do very well in coating the dish, so I (and I'm blushing here) used the stuff in the canister.

It was beautiful! Delicate and fluffy and light as air.

The thing about a souffle is this...it is delicate and beautiful and light as air and you really want to show it off. But it cannot be made ahead. It has to be eaten immediately because it will deflate before the meal is done. And, how can you spend all of that time in the kitchen away from your guests? Should you? So, when served with a salad, it becomes a light family dinner.

Soft, Sweet, Salty Pretzels

I love the big, soft warm pretzels at the mall. I avoid them, because I really don't need them, but I do love them. Salty with mustard or cheese, or cinnamony sweet with a cream cheese icing for dipping. So today I decided to try making them for myself.

I researched several recipes and this one really called to me...perhaps because of the word "buttery" in the title. Now, having made these, I cannot believe how easy they are to make. Only a few ingredients, and I had everything in the pantry. I found it on Allrecipes.com and it is by Christa Rose.

Buttery Soft Pretzels

Ingredients
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping*

Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

It's a hot day, so I put it out into the garage for an hour and look at what a beautiful dough it made!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in 4 cups hot water; set aside. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda-hot water solution and place pretzels on baking sheets. Sprinkle with kosher salt.*


Rollin' rollin', rollin.


Dunkin'.


Twisted and ready to go in the oven.



Bake in preheated oven until browned, about 8 minutes.

At this point, I dipped them in butter and them rolled half in cinnamon sugar.



*I sprinkled the rest of the butter dipped pretzels with Gray sea salt.



And, here you go, just like at the mall, with honey mustard and a Diet Dr. Pepper.



They are delicious, easy, and will be great fo snacking while watching the football game tonight...Roll Tide!