Baking

A good dessert…usually.

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Lemon Lovers Unite

This is some finely chopped sage.  It is for the crust of a lemon tart that I made for dessert.  It is no secret that I don’t really like citrus flavors in the food I cook.  I’m not a big fan of  zest in anything and I don’t like to punch up any flavor with citrus juice.  When the troops were asking for something that had lemon in it, I had to think what recipes I had that at least had something in it that would interest me.  I have been reading Martha Stewart’s ‘Pies and Tarts’ and I saw this recipe for a Marbled Lemon Tart with a Sage and Cornmeal Crust.  This sounded different enough.  This was what I would make to get the lemon lovers their fix.  I was actually surprised.  A crisp crust that contained sage and cornmeal, along with lemon curd that had its bite taken down a few notches by the addition of creme fraiche.  It was pretty good.  So let’s make a lemon tart that even non-lemon heads can handle.

For the Sage-Cornmeal Crust:

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
  • 3/4 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 5 tablespoons ice water
Directions:

Pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, sage, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined.  Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Whisk egg yolks and ice water in a small bowl.  With machine running, add to flour mixture through feed tube; process until dough just holds together.  Turn out dough onto a work surface.  Divide in half, and shape each portion into a disk.  Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).  On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 disk to a 10-inch round.  Fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; trim edges flush with rim.  Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 1 day).  Reserve remaining dough for another use (it can be frozen up to 3 months).  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Dock the shell by pricking the bottom of tart shell with a fork.  Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Let cool.

For the Filling:

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
  • 1 tablespoon cold water
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
  • 3 tablespoons creme fraiche

Directions:

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl, and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.  Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large heatproof bowl.  Gradually whisk in lemon juice.  Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and whisk constantly until mixture has thickened and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.  Whisk in gelatin mixture.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until smooth.  Let cool, stirring occasionally.  Prepare an ice-water bath.  Place bowl of yolk mixture over bath and stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Spread curd into crust; smooth top.  Dollop creme fraiche on top.  Using a wooden skewer or the tip of a knife, swirl creme fraiche into curd to create a marbleized effect.  Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours (or up to overnight).

In my rush to get the dessert out to the lemon lovers, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product so I included a copy of Martha’s so you get the feel.  While no one’s dessert can look as good as one shot by a professional photographer, mine was pretty close….let’s just say in a more ‘rustic’ way.  Given that I usually give citrus the cold shoulder, even I thought this dessert was pretty tasty and refreshing.  So when lemon is the name of the game, give them something different with a lemon tart with a marble swirl in a sage-cornmeal crust.  It’s the perfect summer treat.  What desserts do you make that contain lemons?

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A Crisp Coconut and Chocolate Pie

This is the most uncomplicated pie we know.  We received a copy of Martha Stewart’s “Pies and Tarts” cookbook and knew that we would need to make this pie.  We love coconut and chocolate, so what could be bad in putting these two ingredients together.  However, we didn’t have a lot of time and this recipe obliged.  In keeping with our quick and tasty theme, this pie requires only four ingredients-butter, chocolate, cream and shredded coconut.  The press-in crust comes together in seconds in a food processor.  After you bake the shell, you fill it with velvety chocolate ganache, which sets to a smooth sheen.  If you decide you want something sweet and it’s a little late in the day for a big production, give this crisp coconut and chocolate pie recipe a try.  Here we go:

Ingredients:

For the crust:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 11 ounces (about 6 cups) sweetened shredded coconut

For the filling:

  • 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61% cacao), finely chopped

Directions:

Make the crust:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a food processor, process butter and one-third of the coconut until mixture forms a ball, 1 to 2 minutes.  Transfer to a medium bowl.  Sprinkle remaining two-thirds coconut over mixture and combine with your fingers.

Place a 9-inch pie plate on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.  Press coconut mixture into bottom and up sides of pan to form crust, leaving top edges loose and fluffy.

Place a foil ring over edge to prevent burning.  Bake until center begins to brown, 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove foil and back until edges are browned, 4 to 6 minutes more.  Transfer crust to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling:  Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan.

Pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.

Let sit 10 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is combined.  Pour into coconut crust.  Refrigerate until filling is set, 1 hour or up to 1 day.

There you have it:  ready, set, eat.  It sort of reminded us of a deconstructed chocolate macaroon.  It was the perfect match to our simple supper of salad, breaded chicken cutlets and whole wheat linguine aglio e olio.  Nothing fancy and time consuming–just a quick mix of chocolate and coconut.  Life is good.  What do you use when you need dessert in a jiffy?

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Crisp Toffee Chocolate Bars? Cookies? – The Jury Is Out On What To Call Them

This is the fastest dessert recipe we know.  It’s perfect when you find out at the last minute that you need to bring a dessert to dinner.  How about when your kid needs something for school the next morning and it’s 9 o’clock at night?  This will do the trick.  The recipe calls it a bar, but we think of it more as a shortbread cookie.  Because it is like shortbread, the dough is not the same consistency as a regular drop cookie.  The success of this dough is all in your hands.  This dough needs to be pressed into the pan with your hands.  It is also best to start mixing it with your hands when you start to add the flour.  Another tip–start with super softened butter.  If you do, you can mix all the ingredients together in one bowl and a wooden spoon.  What you get at the end is a toffee-like cookie/bar thanks to the butter and brown sugar with the gooey goodness of the chocolate chips.  There is no one in the room that can resist this dessert.  It’s salty and sweet goodness is a hit with everyone.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened, plus more for the pan
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  •  1 teaspoon coarse salt
  •  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  •  2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  •  1/3 cup pecans, chopped
  •  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Add the flour and mix well to combine.  Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Press the dough into the prepared pan.

Bake until golden and set, about 20 minutes.  Cut into even squares while still warm.

Fast and fabulous.  We made this over Memorial Day weekend for a party that we went to and they were an absolute hit.  Give these a try the next time you want something delicious and don’t have a lot of time.  Let us know too if you think they are a cookie or a bar.  We can’t ever seem to decide.  What are your favorite quick desserts? 

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Funky Italian Stuffed Peppers

This is a cubanelle pepper.  I’ve seen them in the supermarket many times and always wondered what you used them for in cooking.  Well, I know now!  The Brooklyn Italian Grandmother is back, fully jeweled, and is making her version of Italian stuffed peppers using cubanelle peppers.  She tells us that this is her own creation that she has come up with over the years through trial and error.  What is unique about this dish is that you actually start by mixing and frying the stuffing.  Once cooled, the fried stuffing is then placed in the peppers and baked until the peppers are tender.  These are one of those dishes that seem to taste better the next day after all the flavors have settled and melded together.  So let’s join our Brooklyn Italian Grandmother and make some funky Italian stuffed peppers…the cubanelle way.

Ingredients:

  • 5 cloves of garlic, chopped into small pieces
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
  • 4 thin slices of Italian sopressata, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
  • 6 cubanelle peppers, cut in half and cleaned

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix garlic, eggs, bread crumbs, cheese, sopressata, salt and pepper in a bowl and combine well.

  Bling and stuffing!

Heat the olive oil in a skillet until hot.  Put the mixture into the oil and fry it until it becomes golden brown.

  Hot stuff and I’m not talking about what’s in the skillet.

Take fried stuffing out of the skillet and place it into a bowl.  Let it cool until it can be handled.

Stuff each pepper half with the fried stuffing and place stuffed pepper halves into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

  Always wear a ring that matches your baking dish.

Sprinkle each stuffed pepper with paprika.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 25 minutes.  When pepper begins to get tender, remove foil and continue cooking until pepper feels tender when pierced with a fork (about 10 more minutes).  Remove from oven and drizzle balsamic vinegar over each pepper.

You can be the judge here on how you want to serve these wonderful peppers.  They are great as a side dish and they can stand alone on their own and be a wonderful lunch.  In fact, make enough so that they can serve both–side dish and lunch.  I love the savory aspects of the stuffing along with the little flavor punch that the pepper and balsamic vinegar give this dish.  If you are a stuffed pepper lover, this is the dish for you.  What great Italian side dish recipes do you make and serve at your house?

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Chocolate Love In A Bowl

This is heaven in a bowl.  Warm, gooey chocolate with a blast of vanilla ice cream.  What could be bad with a dessert like this?  My answer:  Nothing!  If you are a chocolate lover, this dessert is perfect for you.  It is also pretty easy to assemble and bake which makes it a great choice when you don’t have a lot of time.  I’ve made this dessert for a while and I think I got it from an Anna Pump recipe.  Anna Pump is a wonderful chef, cookbook author, baker and innkeeper famous for her Hampton’s bakery, Loaves & Fishes.  She is not what I would call a “famous” food personality like a Martha or an Emeril, but she is often mentioned by many famous foodies as one of their inspirations.  If you don’t know about her, I encourage you to buy one of her cookbooks and enjoy one of her recipes.  She knows how to cook.  One taste of this Brownie Pudding and you’ll understand what I’m saying. 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
  • 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup good cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (I have also substituted 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract when I didn’t have a vanilla bean in the pantry)
  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Lightly butter a 2-quart (9 by 12 by 2-inch) oval baking dish.  Melt the 1/2 pound of butter and set aside to cool.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow.

Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. 

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds and the cocoa powder and flour mixture.  Mix only until combined. 

With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined.  Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan.  Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. 

A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out 3/4 clean.  The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.  Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream.

The part I like about this dessert is the fact that it is part chocolate brownie and part chocolate pudding.  You sort of get the best of two chocolate worlds in one dish with this recipe.  If you are having friends over for dinner, this is a great one to serve…it always pleases.  We hope you like this dessert.  Anna Pump never disappoints.  What chocolate dessert recipes are your favorites?

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Fleur De Sel Caramels

This is a good little dessert or a nice piece of candy when you are craving sweets.  It’s key ingredient is salt.  Salt is very popular today.  I’m not talking about table salt (i.e., the Morton’s kind), but more the designer salts that have been on the market for quite a while, but have only now seemed to pick up in popularity.  You know, salts like sea salt, smoked salts, imported salts.  If you are a unique type of salt these days, chances are you are in some glamorous recipe.  Which brings me to our caramels.  These caramels are made with fleur de sel.  Fleur de sel (“Flower of salt” in French) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans.  Traditional French fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany, most notably in the towns of Guérande, Noirmoutier and Camargue.  Due to its relative scarcity, fleur de sel is one of the more expensive salts.  Fleur de sel is often slightly grey due to the sand collected in the process of harvesting the salt from the pans.  Fleur de sel also contains more mineral complexity than table salt.

Its presence in these caramels makes for a delicious taste, mixing the sweet and buttery taste of the caramels with the salty and savory taste of the fleur de sel.  It’s the right balance that seems to keep people asking for more.  I have them on strict rations here on Glen Road, otherwise we would eat the entire pan in a few hours.  Trust me, they are addictive.

Ingredients:

  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over the sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.

In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat.

Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown.  Don’t stir-just swirl the pan.  Be careful, when the sugar mixture begins to turn brown, it can quickly go from brown to burnt.  Once it turns warm golden brown, immediately take it off the heat.

In the meantime, in a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture.  Be careful as it will bubble up violently.  Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.

Very carefully (remember that it’s hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.

When the caramel is cold, loosen the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the caramel into several 1-2″ lengths and then cut into pieces.  Sprinkle each piece with fleur de sel.  Remember that it’s easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil.

Cut glassine or parchment paper into 4-by-5-inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends. You can also place the slices directly onto a plate or serving platter.  Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels slightly chilled.

We like to serve these caramels on a plate after dinner as a dessert.  If it is a large dinner party, we like to place them out with the other desserts for anyone that wants just a little bite of something sweet.  Most times, however, we just like to make them and eat them when we need a little candy.  Trust me, they don’t usually last too long however you decide to serve them.  Get into the designer salt craze and give these fleur de sel caramels a try.  They are so good, you can’t quit eating them.  Your teeth will be stuck together until the last one is gone…trust us!  Do you have any recipes you can share on Acorns On Glen that contain designer salt in them?

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Salute Spring With A Hummingbird Cake

This is a cake to bake when you want to celebrate Spring.  This is a hummingbird cake which is a great way to salute Spring.  I’ve had the recipe for years from an old ‘Martha Stewart Living’ magazine but I had never made it.  This weekend, I was looking at my actual hummingbird feeders and for some reason decided to make the hummingbird cake.  I guess I will do anything to get a hummingbird to come live on Glen Road.  Other than this cake, we have not been given this opportunity in the six years we’ve been here.  I guess the cake will have to do at this time.

Does anyone know the reason they call this cake a hummingbird cake?  My clipped recipe says that its delicious taste makes people who eat it hum with delight.  It also says that it is as sweet as the sugared water that attracts its namesake.  All I can say is that this is a delicious cake.  The cake itself mixes pineapple, pecans, bananas and coconut into a thick, rich batter.  It is frosted with a delicious cream cheese frosting.  I even took the extra step of making elegant dried pineapple flowers to put on top of the cake.  While the pineapple flowers look difficult, they are actually quite easy.  If you have some spare hours or are obsessed in making an elegant cake statement, the hummingbird cake is for you.  Again, it’s not quick, but it is super delicious.  I wrapped my head around making this cake by thinking of doing it in three stages:  making the pineapple flowers, proceeding to making and baking the cake and then finishing the cake by frosting it.  Let’s start with step one and make the dried pineapple flowers that are used for decorating the top of the cake and are edible as well.

Ingredients:

  • 1 to 2 large pineapples (I used one large pineapple and got about 12 flowers)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Line baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper.

Peel pineapple(s).  Using a small melon baller, remove and discard “eyes”.  Slice pineapple very thin.  Place slices on baking sheets. 

Cook until tops look dried, about 30 minutes.  Flip slices; cook until completely dried, 25 to 30 minutes more.  Cool on a wire rack. You can refrigerate the flowers in an airtight container up to 3 days.  Note:  For me, the cooking process took about twice as long, most likely due to the fact that my slices were not super thin.  Continue baking the flowers until they feel dry to your touch.  If you take them out and they still feel moist, they are not done yet and need to go back into the oven.  Here are the flowers after drying is complete.

Step two, let’s make and bake the cake.

Ingredients:

  • Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pans and racks
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 cups mashed ripe banana, about 4 large
  • 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup flaked coconut, unsweetened (I bought mine at the local health food store from the bins.  It is the only place where I can find flaked coconut without added sugar.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in the center.  Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans.  Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.  Butter paper and dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat oil, vanilla, and sugar until combined, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next.  Beat at medium speed until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together banana, pineapple, pecans and coconut.

Add to egg mixture; stir until well combined.

Add flour mixture; blend well.  Divide batter between pans.

Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.  Transfer pans to a greased wire rack.  Let cool 15 minutes.  Run a knife around edges to loosen.  Invert onto racks; reinvert, top side up.  Cool completely.  Assemble cake, or wrap each layer well and freeze (thaw before using).

We are almost there.  Let’s finish with making the cream cheese frosting and putting it on the cake followed by the pineapple flowers.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
  • 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.  With mixer on medium speed, gradually add butter, beating until incorporated.  Reduce mixer speed to low.  Gradually add sugar, beating until incorporated.

With a serrated knife, trim and discard rounded top off one layer.  Place layer on serving platter.  I like to put the bottom layer on top of small rectangles of waxed paper that hang over the side of the cake stand.  When frosting, the wax paper catches any wayward frosting.  When you are done frosting your cake, pull the wax paper away from the cake/cake stand and you will have a sharp edge on the bottom layer and a clean cake stand.

Using an offset spatula, spread top of layer with 1/4 inch of frosting.  Top with other layer.  Frost sides and top of cake with remaining frosting.  Decorate with pineapple flowers, if desired.  Serve at room temperature. Cake can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

We’re done.  Take a minute to catch your breath and then dig in to a slice of this delicious cake.  You and your friends and family will not be disappointed.  Why not spend some time to salute Spring in the right fashion?  Bake this hummingbird cake and show Spring how much you love her.  We sure are glad that we did.  What other Springtime desserts do you make at your home?

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When Rhubarb And Strawberries Unite

 This pie always reminds me of Spring.  It is a rhubarb and strawberry pie with a lattice top crust.  Making a pie is always intimidating to me.  It’s the crust.  Either I have a problem rolling it out or I have a problem getting it into the pie pan.  A lot of people tell me they have the same issues, but I keep trying to perfect the art of pie making here on Glen Road.  This pie was a surprise in that for the first time in a long time I didn’t have any issues.  I even put a lattice top on it without making myself nuts.  It must have been the deep breaths and the frequent praying.  The idea of rhubarb and strawberries mixed together in this pie was so perfect for Spring.  I couldn’t wait to get a piece.  We’ve talked about rhubarb and strawberries a lot here on Acorns On Glen.  Spring just seemed the perfect time to mix them together for everyone to enjoy.  Let’s get baking!

 Ingredients:

For crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Up to 10 tablespoons ice water
For filling:
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices of trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled and halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Directions:

Make crust:  Combine flour, sugar and salt into a food processor.  Using the pulse button, cut in shortening and butter into the flour mixture until coarse meal forms.  Blend in enough ice water (2 tablespoons at a time) to form moist clumps.  Gather dough into a ball; cut in half.  Flatten each half into a disk.  Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour (can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling).

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F.  Combine first 7 ingredients into a large bowl.  Toss gently to blend.

Assemble pie:  Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface into a 13-inch round.  Transfer to a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish.  Trim excess dough, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang.  Place into refrigerator so the crust can continue to chill after being worked with in this step.  Chilled pie dough bakes the best.

Roll out second dough disk on a lightly floured surface into another 13-inch round.  Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips.  Spoon filling into crust.  Arrange 7 dough strips on top of filling, spacing evenly.  Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction on top of filling.  Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust.  Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal.  Crimp edges decoratively.  Brush glaze over crust.  Place pie back into refrigerator so that it can chill again for several minutes.  Chilled pie dough bakes the best.

Transfer pie to baking sheet.  Bake 25 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.   Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 30-35 minutes.  Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

During cooking, it is important to keep an eye on the pie and keep baking until the sauce in the pie gets thick (versus watery in form).  This may mean you will need to cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or a crust cover to prevent it from burning.  Once the sauce is thick, you know the pie is ready to take out of the oven.  The sauce will continue to thicken during the cooling process.  You can eat this pie plain or with a scoop of ice cream on top.  Eating something fresh and in season is the eighth wonder of the world.  This pie is the right pick for Spring.  I hope you like it.  What other Spring recipes are you cooking in your home?

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Never Met Bread That I Didn’t Like

This is a quick recipe.  We eat a ton of Italian food here on Glen Road (have you noticed?).  What goes better with Italian food than garlic laced, herbed bread?  Nothing, trust me, nothing.  I have never met bread that I didn’t like.  Give this garlic herbed bread a try one night at dinner.  You and your family will love it. 

Ingredients:

  • 6 large garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup good olive oil
  • 1 large baguette

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the garlic, parsley, basil, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until finely minced.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and parsley mixture and cook for 1 minute, until the garlic is tender but not browned.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Slice the baguette lengthwise down the center, but not all the way through, and spoon the garlic mixture into the bread.  Place the bread on a sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes.  Slice diagonally and serve warm.

Super quick and super easy.  The kind of recipe that I like.  If you are in a pinch, I’ve also used dried parsley and basil flakes when I didn’t have fresh herbs on hand.  It won’t yield the same flavor intensity as using fresh herbs, but it does come out very tasty.  Give this bread a try and let us know how you liked it.  What other bread recipes do you have that you can share on Acorns On Glen?

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Strawberries and Bread

This is a pint of organic strawberries.  I got them at the organic market this week and needed to use them or they were going to go bad.  That’s the problem with strawberries for me.  You quickly need to use them or they need to be thrown out.  I know, you’re saying to me “that’s why them call them fresh”, but I wish they could last a little longer.  You know, like an apple or a pear.  Even given this one downside, the taste of a strawberry is one of my favorite fruit flavors.  So what should I make with them?  Shortcake seemed a little too summer like.  Strawberry ice cream was out given that it is still a little cold outside.  So I decided on making strawberry bread.  This recipe makes a very moist bread marbled with crushed strawberries.  It is a real change of pace and a great way to use those pesky strawberries that seem to lose their freshness way too fast.

Ingredients:

  • 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter softened, plus more for pan
  • 1 pint strawberries rinsed, hulled, quartered, and mashed with a fork
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. In a small saucepan, bring strawberries to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

Add flour mixture alternately with 1/3 cup water, beginning and ending with flour.

Fold in reserved strawberries.  Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with foil after 45 minutes if top is getting too dark). Cool in pan 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges; invert onto a rack. Reinvert; cool completely.

I love that the loaf is so golden brown in color and I wish you could have smelled my kitchen.  The smell of baking bread and strawberries filled the air.  Add a little butter or cream cheese to a slice for an added taste bonus.  This bread is great for breakfast, a snack or any time you need something a little sweet.  Try strawberry bread for a real change of pace.  Your bananas will be jealous.  What have you been baking this weekend?