This is the best dessert you've never tried. It's elegant and simple and can be made ahead. I had no idea what to expect when I tried it, but it's a delicate apple mousse. I never expected a dessert like this out of the land that produced goulash- no lard, no paprika, not even sour cream! My first thought, since I had never baked apples before, was to figure out how much pulp I got from 2 pounds of apples and then substitute applesauce, but the pulp from the apples is a little thicker and I think it would change the outcome. However, I got just over 2 cups of pulp, so if you don't have a food mill or an easy way to peel and core the apples before blending it, it might be worth a try. The apples I used had some red on them which tinged the apples a pretty pink hue. No, you don't cook the egg whites. Please don't let this stop you from trying this. It's wonderful! This is again from Countess Morphy's Recipes of All Nations. I included a photo of the recipe at the end of this post. Ingredients: 2 pounds apples juice from half a lemon 6 tablespoons sugar 1/3-1/2 cup whipping cream optional: fruit to garnish Directions:
1. Wash the apples and put them in a baking dish in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes until they are very soft. Take them out and allow them to cool. 2. Quarter the apples and run them through a food mill, or peel and core them and puree them in a blender or food processor. Set them aside. 3. In a clean bowl, beat the whites of two eggs until they are foamy. Add the lemon juice and sugar and finish beating until stiff. Use a spatula to fold these into the apple puree. 4. Wash out the bowl from the egg white and pour in the cream. You don't need to sweeten it because the apple puree is so sweet. How much you use really depends on how much you love whipped cream. Beat it until it's nice and thick (but stop before you end up with butter!). 5. You can serve everything together in one glass dish or make separate servings in individual glasses. Top with the whipped cream. Next time I will serve it either with shaved apple slices or raspberries if I can get them.
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I question the wisdom of posting about apple pie when this is my first one. I might be the last woman in America to jump on the apple pie bandwagon, but in case you too are intimidated by recipes calling for vegetable shortening or 40 caramel candies, I've decided to include this. Plus, if I post this there's no way I can lose the recipe and hope exists that I will make it again. I made two little pies 6 inches across, the dumpling-like monster in the picture above, and something that looked like a pop tart. The fake pop tart and the dumpling got the highest marks since there was a better ratio of filling to pie crust according to my home experts. The first discovery was Martha Stewart's recipe for pate brisee. I'm pretty sure I've seen that same recipe since the late 80s when I used to drool over my mother's copy of Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts, way back when the Martha Stewart empire was still a dream and she was just a perfectionistic caterer with a book deal and an awesome photographer. (At least that's the way I remember it.) The second discovery was that buying an apple peeler/corer/slicer was totally worth it. I'm not sure that I will use it more than once a year, but I am still charmed by the whole idea. If I have to visit another apple orchard this year just to stave off buyer's remorse, then so be it. So first- the recipe for pate brisee. Click and cook. It was perfect- but be prepared with 3(!!) sticks of cold unsalted butter. I made this recipe twice, and it turns out that that last 1/4 cup of flour is important, so follow the directions more carefully than I did. Apple Pie Filling:
This is straight out of the Ball Blue Book of Canning. I planned on doubling and tripling this to freeze for future pies, but ran out of apples. Next time. Ingredients: 6 pounds apples peeled and cut up 2 cups sugar 1/4 cup flour 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 2 Tablespoons lemon juice Directions: Mix together and cook until it thickens. Cool and freeze. Tamar Adler is brilliant. I love her cookbook, An Everlasting Meal, and this recipe is taken from there. I always have cream, leftover rice hardening in my refrigerator, and coconut milk falling off a shelf in the garage. This means I am never more than an hour away from thick, sweet rice pudding. I've eaten it as a dessert, a snack, or even for breakfast. Ingredients:
2 cups of leftover rice 1 can coconut milk 1 cup cream 1/4 cup sugar, white or brown 1/2 cup raisins 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon sprinkle of nutmeg Directions: Add everything to a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, and then simmer it for 45 minutes. Stir it occasionally, especially toward the end. When the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, it's done. I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but these were pretty hard to resist. They had a really nice fruity coconut flavor and are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. They would taste AMAZING dipped in black coffee, my favorite being anything from Forte Legato Coffee Company. (This coffee is the best you will ever have in your life. I am a sugar and cream kind of girl, but Forte Legato's coffee tastes good black. It's strong without being bitter. Try it!) These were supposed to be strawberry buttermilk donuts. They are nectarine donuts because the strawberry stand at the farmer's market had already packed up and gone home. They aren't buttermilk donuts because who keeps buttermilk around? Until I have a cow to milk and cream to churn to butter, my house will probably remain buttermilk free. So clearly this isn't a recipe you have to follow too closely. The coconut flavor was so nice that next time I will probably try this with sweetened flaked coconut on top. Or inside. And maybe coconut milk. The Pros:
Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 2/3 cup coconut oil 1/2 cup milk 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup finely chopped nectarine or other ripe soft fruit 1 cup confectioner's sugar 1 Tablespoon water Directions: 1. Mix the flour through the salt together in a bowl. 2. Mix the oil throughout the vanilla together in a separate bowl. 3. Stir the flour mixture and the wet mixture together and add in half the fruit. 4. Grease the donut pan with butter or coconut oil, put 2 Tablespoons of batter into each mold, and bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees until the donuts are golden and a toothpick inserted in a donut comes out clean. If the donuts cook faster on one side, rotate your pan halfway through cooking. 5. Invert the donuts onto a baking rack and allow them to cool COMPLETELY. If you glaze the donuts before they've cooled you'll end up with soggy donuts. 6. Whisk the confectioner's sugar, water, and remaining fruit together for the glaze. Dip the cooled donuts in the glaze and put them back on the rack until the glaze sets. This recipe made 14 donuts. It was adapted from a recipe in Saveur Magazine for Strawberry Buttermilk Fonuts. I once made tiramisu so heavenly that I seriously considered making it for my own wedding. Though twenty years have passed and the tiramisu fad has come and gone, I still believe I might pull out a repeat performance one of these days when I have an entire day to devote to the project. But until then, here is a quick version that my kids were able to help with.
The key to this is the chilling time. Don't eat it the day you make it; it will be foul. But the next day it miraculously transforms to perfection. Ingredients: 6 egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar 2/3 cup milk 1 cup cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 pound mascarpone cheese 1/2-1 cup of strong coffee 4 tablespoons of rum or kahlua or anisette 1 7-oz. package of ladyfingers (this might include a few extra for snacking) cocoa powder for dusting Method: 1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together. 2. Add the milk, continue to whisk, and bring the whole mixture to a boil for one minute. Chill the yolk mixture for one hour. 3. Beat the cream and vanilla together. 4. Whisk the mascarpone into the yolk mixture. 5. Combine the rum and coffee and dip the ladyfingers in. They will absorb like sponges, so you might have to pull them out pretty quickly. 6. In a pie dish or an 8x8 baking dish, layer half the lady fingers, half the mascarpone mixture, and half the whipped cream. Repeat the layers and sprinkle with cocoa powder through a sifter or a sieve. 7. Chill overnight. |
AuthorI love trying new foods, cooking, and gardening. I hope to share these experiences on this site. Thanks for taking a look! Categories
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