Peach Pie

I am taking a break from all the healthy, wholesome cooking to make way for this peach pie.

This pie is a full butter, double crusted, gluten-full pie made from refined white wheat flour.

The peaches came from a can which probably leached BPA.

White refined sugar was added to the peaches.

While the overall goal here is to make healthier, whole foods to feed my family. I’m taking baby steps towards it.

That canned peach? It was something I unwittingly bought a few months ago. I am using it as I am clearing my pantry of the less healthy food items and replacing it with the healthier ones.

Having said that, I don’t think i will go to the extremeties such as completely eliminating a certain food.

I ‘ll still use wheat flour to create gluten-full bread.

I will still dump cupfuls of sugar into my cookies. ( well, maybe I will hold back just a little)

My version of “healthy” is defined in the most universal way. Health ideas that most of us can unanimously agree on. And my first focus would be to buy ingredients as fresh and as less processed as possible.

I really don’t like the idea of reading the ingredient list on  say, a pack of biscuit in the supermarket and not being able to pronounce some of the items listed there, be it preservatives, additives, or even coloring,  So if i were really craving for that pack of biscuit, i would load up my grocery cart with flour, butter, sugar and whatever it takes to make that biscuit.

So wish me luck everyone. *tosses empty can of peach*

Peach Pie

Makes a small pie with a diameter of about 12 cm

80 grams flour

60 grams butter, cubed and frozen

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

1 to 1.5 tablespoon ice cold water

Filling

1 tbs beaten egg

1 cup of peaches (I used canned peach)

1 tbs flour

25 grams sugar

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/2 tbs butter

1. In a food processor, add the flour, salt and sugar and pulse a couple of times.

2. Add the butter, and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles peas.

3. Add ice water and pulse. The dough should start to hold together.

4. Remove dough from the food processor, and place it over your working surface. Form the dough into two discs, cover in pastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

5. Preheat oven to 425 F

6. Take the dough discs and roll it out till it’s at least 18 cm in diameter.

7. Place the rolled dough and arrange it into the pie dish. Brush the pie crust with egg whites so that it doesnt get soggy.

8. In a large bowl, place the sliced peaches. In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar cinnamon,salt and the beaten egg. Pour the mixture over the sliced peaches and mix gently with a wooden spoon.

9. Roll the second disc of dough to make the top crust. Cut small round holes into the disc to let air during baking

10. Spoon peaches onto the pie dish, cover with the second dough, folding the edges under.Dip a fork in the egg wash, and start pressing the edges with the tines of the fork.

11. Bake for 10 mins in a preheated oven. the reduce the heat to 350 F and bake for an additional 30-35 mins.

12. Cool before removing from pie dish,

 

 

Baby Pineapple Tart

A sugar free, gluten free homemade pineapple tart for Baby Crustabakes!

Pastry
140 gr gluten free flour
95 gram unsalted butter (cold)
1 egg yolk (free range)

Rub butter with flour till crumblike, add yolk, mix till well combined. Set aside to chill in refrigerator
Pineapple Jam
1 pineapple (get the small, ripe ones)

Cinammon stick
Cloves

Peel Pineapple, get rid of its “eyes”
Blitz  pineapple with a food processor along with its core (do not discard core as it gives the jam the fiber it needs).

Cook pureed pineapple, cinammon stick and cloves over stove till it thickens and has a jam like consistency. Discard clove and cinammon stick

Set aside to cool. Roll into balls.

Wrap pineapple jam in pastry.

Bake at 180 degree for 20 mins.

Banana Caramel Cream Pies

While banana cream pies are many and aplenty, banana CARAMEL cream pies are  not. And while a large banana cream pie is to be sliced and shared, my banana caramel cream pies came in mini sizes.

 

I have not exactly mastered the art of making caramel. Some days my caramel curdle, and the milk solids would separate away (does anyone have any insight on this???).

But fortunately, there is no need to that stress inducing scenario today. Because instead of dumping cream into burning sugar, we add chopped bananas. And don’t worry about bananas and hot hot cooking sugar. They wont separate on you.

The recipe for this is a multi steps process. First we blind bake the crust.

 

Then the banana custard goes into it. The banana custard gets cooked twice. Once over the stove, and once in the oven. The custard would already be fully cooked over the stove. The second oven time is just to further caramelize the custard for a deeper flavour. oh yeah.

Top it off with whipped cream, shaved chocolate and toasted almonds,

And we’re good to go!

 

Banana Caramel Cream Pie

Taken from Daily Delicious

Sweet Shortcrust pastry
125g …………………………. Plain flour
25g …………………………… Icing sugar
…………………………………. A pinch of salt
75g …………………………… Unsalted butter, cold but pliable
1 ………………………………. Egg yolk
1-2 tsp …………………….. Iced water
Banana caramel filling
75g …………………………… Caster sugar
25ml ………………………… Water
350g ………………………… Bananas, peeled and chopped into pieces
25g …………………………… Unsalted butter
50ml ………………………… Milk
1 1/2tbsp …………………. Cornflour (cornstarch)
150g …………………………. Whipping cream
Topping
250g …………………………. Whipping cream
30g …………………………… Caster sugar
1tbsp ………………………… Rum
1 ……………………………….. Banana
………………………………….. Sliced almond, toasted
………………………………….. Dark chocolate, shaved

Mix flour, icing sugar and salt together in a bowl, add the butter and rub until combine.
Add  the egg yolk and water, mix until the dough come together.Take the dough out of the bowl and knead until smooth.
Pat into a block, warp and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Roll the pastry out thinly and line 18cm-round round tart pan.
Line the pastry with aluminium foil, and blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and beans and cook until a pale golden brown, 10-15 minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 180°C.Heat the sugar in a saucepan with 25ml water and boil over high heat until the sugar turns into a caramel. Add the banana pieces and butter, and simmering gently until the banana is soft. In a bowl beat the milk and cornflour until smooth, then take the pan out of the heat, beat the milk and cornflour mixture into the saucepan with the whipping cream.
Return to the heat, cook until boiling.Pour into the pastry case, bake for 10-15 minutes until golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.Whip the cream with sugar, and rum until soft peaks formed.
Spoon the whipped cream over the top with banana slices, dark chocolate, almond and drizzle with the caramel sauce.

Egg Tarts

So i made these egg tarts and served it for breakfast yesterday.

So when the question” Where are my favourite egg tarts?” came about on the breakfast table this morning, i knew i hit gold with this recipe.

If i had to guess, these egg tarts are more Chinese than anything else.

Made of a butter cookie like tart shell, this dessert are filled with baked custard

Soft, silky custard on top of a butter cookie.

It’s pretty amazing!

Each of these tart was baked in its individual little tartlet tin.

The crust got baked first before the custard mixture was poured in and the tarts went into the oven a second time.

Sure, it’s double the effort and double the baking time,

But it’s damn worth it!

Taken from Yochana’s Cake Delight

Ingredients:

Pate Sucree:

125 gm. Butter – chilled
60 gm. icing sugar
1/2 egg white
1 egg yolk
200 gm. plain flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence

Egg Custard:

280 gm. fresh milk
160 gm. sugar
3 nos. eggs
1 tsp. rum
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence

Method:

(1) For pate sucree: beat butter and icing sugar till wellmixed.
(2) Add in white and yolk and mix.
(3) Add in vanilla essence and then the flour and mix into a dough. Rest for 10 mins. Press dough into small tart moulds.
(4) Bake the tart shell till half-cooked.
(5) For egg custard, heat sugar and milk together. Once sugar dissolves, off heat.
(6) Whisk eggs and pour into the milk mixture. Do not whisk till frothy.
(7) Add in rum and vanilla essece.
(8) Sift the egg custard and pour into tart moulds and bake at 175C till egg custard sets.

Note:
Half baked should be around 10 mins at 175C. I didn’t put the timing cos everybody’s oven is different. Judge yourself and see that it’s like puff up slightly and turned white.

After pouring in the custard, bake at a lower shelf to make sure that the pastry will be cooked at 175C. Bake for about 10 mins and watch over it. If you see the custard is about to puff up into a ball, take it out from the oven immediately. Once it puffs up, the egg tart will wrinkle when it’s cooled. What you can do is to shake the tray of egg tarts and if the custard wobbles, then it a sign that it’s not cook and if it doesn’t wobble, then it’s set and you can take it out from the oven.

Thin Apple Tarts

This apple tart recipe was the perfect recipe for me today.

Firstly,

It allowed me to use up my stock of apples.

Secondly,

it allowed me to use my new mandolin slicer toy.

The apples were cored and quartered and then sliced to 1/4 inch thick. I loved how precise and uniform each of my apple slices were, thanks to that toy.

and thirdly,

there is no rolling pin required for this.

A soft dough cream cheese dough is patted into a circle, before the apples go on top.

Perfect for a morning weekday rush, 

not to mention, very convenient. 

I drizzled maple syrup over these tarts. They didnt really need it as they were sweet enough as they were.

I can be such an over-achiever.

Thin Pear Tart

Note: I changed the pear to apple obviously.

Taken from Martha Stewart’s Pies and Tarts

Ingredients

• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons pear brandy
• 1 Bosc or Red Bartlett pear
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine cream cheese and butter in a food processor. Add flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt, and process until combined. Dough will be sticky. Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet. With lightly floured fingers, pat dough out into a flat 8-inch circle.
2. In medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar with lemon juice and brandy. Halve pear lengthwise; core; leave skin on. Cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices; transfer to lemon-juice mixture; coat well. Place slices in strainer to drain liquid. Arrange lengthwise around border of dough, overlapping slightly. Arrange remaining slices in center. Sprinkle tart with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. Dust pears with cinnamon. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Crab Rangoon, Cajun Fries and Nutella Bread

Today’s breakfast:

Creamy Crab Rangoon.

The filling is made of frozen crab meat, mayonnaise, cream cheese with a dash of hot sauce. This mixture is piled into ready made wonton wrappers and baked in the oven.

Then, we had Nutella Bread:

The bread was from a hot dog bun. I made 4 slices across each bun and just spread some Nutella over 2 of the slices. Then i topped it with the remaining slices and  steamed them just a bit to soften up. 🙂

And lastly,

Oven baked Cajun Fries

Isliced a potato into wedges. Then i tossed some oil, and some cajun seasoning before i sent them to bake. These were not as crispy as when they are fried i guess, but at least we saved on the fats.

So that was breakfast for us. I hope u had a good breakfast too.

Ingredients
1 can (6 oz.) white crabmeat, drained and chopped
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons light mayonaise
½ teaspoon Sriracha
2 teaspoons finely slice chives, plus more for garnish
fresh ground pepper to taste
12 won ton wrappers

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine crab meat, cream cheese, mayonaise, Sriracha, chives, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
3. Place 1 won ton wrapper in each 12 mini muffin cups. The edges of the won ton wrappers will extend beyond the mini muffin tin cups and may need to be folded slightly. Fill the center of each won ton cup with crab mixture.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges of cups are golden brown and filling is heated through. Garnish with reserved chives.

adapted from Kraft

Fruit Tart

I made cream tarts today.

And topped it with strawberries and dragon fruit.

That’s health food allright.

 

 

It doesnt matter the butter in the crust.

Or the  full fat milk and whole yolks in the pastry cream.

Having fruits on the tarts offset that.

In fact, having fruits on anything is healthy by default.

Right.

Fruit Tart

Sweet Tart Pastry

250gr butter

110 gr icing sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

430 gr AP flour

1. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla,

2. Beat flour into butter mixture till incorporated

3. Bake at 170 degree celcius till golden brown (about 15 – 20 mins)

 

4. Pipe pastry cream into baked shells

5. Arrange fresh fruits on pastry cream

Pastry Cream Recipe from Martha Stewart.

Yet another Chicken Pie

Seems like i can’t think of anything savoury to bake aside from chicken pies.

In fact, this is the third chicken pie within a month of each, the first one HERE, and the second one HERE.

Well, at least this one uses a different crust.

This crust uses sour cream.

And that’s epic.

At least for me.

Because i honestly wasn’t expecting the result i got.

Using sour cream creates a softer, wetter dough. It’s trickier than most of the dough i’ve handled.

But it is also more delicious than most of the dough i’ve handled.

It’s a trade-off.

And i am willing to trade.

The sour cream imparts a fancy twang of .. erm.. sourness into the dough (duh).

I can’t really describe it, but i would say, it made the crust taste somewhat more savoury.

And definitely more appetizing.

It also made me just want to pluck at the crispy, crimped edges around the pie. The edges which tasted really rich, and was light and flaky at the same time.

I almost wanted to run back into the kitchen and make another batch of chicken pie with the same crust.

But i really shouldnt. Cause that would be my FOURTH chicken pie between June and July.

Perhaps some of you can help me think up of savoury ideas other than pies to bake with ?

Thanks in advance!

Chicken, Leek and Pea Pie taken from Christine’s Recipes

Chicken handpies

Making puff pastries intimidates me. I remember clicking the “x” button in resignation on a web page that was trying to fill me in with some basic puff prophecy. It felt like reading an instruction manual on how to assemble a multi tier rack. A rack with its bonus packet of assorted bolts and nuts.

so for the past couple of years, i forged ahead with my baking journey. Carefully sidestepping recipes which included  this elusive pastry. It was okay at first, but it became quite limiting after a while. I felt i was constrained in my baking menu.

I decided it was time to pick up that instruction manual again.

And boy, was it rewarding.

Truthfully, i was all set for disappointment and a tray of greasy, un-inflated dough.  Imagine my sweet delight when i pulled a batch of puffy chicken handpies.

These puffy handpies came companionably with my puffed up my ego. It was one of those moments where i felt like i owned baking. Or that i must be the Martha stewart of my past life.

Well, they weren’t exactly perfect. Some of them burst open at the sides from the fillings. But that’s okay. it just meant whoever picked them up knew exactly what to expect inside the pastries.

A creamy mix of chicken, potatoes, broccoli and carrots. The same filling for my tube-shaped chicken pies actually.

or my chicken pot pie,

In which i filled a ramekin with pie fillings and topped it with a sheet of puff pastry.

Of course, with all that cutting and shaping, you are bound to get a few scraps.

And u know what they say! Waste not, want not…

I egg washed them, sprinkled some sugar and sent them to bake of course!

Chicken Handpies

(This is the exact recipe as my previous post. Just that i served them different)

Chicken Pie

My chicken pie comes in a tube today.

If you have ever made puff pastry before, you would probably be familiar with the repetitive process of rolling your dough into a rectangle, and then folding the two ends (top and bottom) so that they overlap in the middle. This process is repeated for a total of 4 times (according to my recipe) before your puff pastry dough is ready for use.

I was doing just that this morning. As if on autopilot mode, i was either rolling the dough upward, or downward to maintain the rectangular shape of my dough. And that was what happened even after i completed my fourth turn. Instead of rolling my dough into a circle for the base of the pie, i spacily rolled it to its accustomed rectangle.

 

But instead of beating myself up over it, i decided to make do with my blunder. Rather than docking my puff pastry into a pie plate, i pipped the fillings for this pie down the long side of my rectangular puff pastry then rolled it from the short side  up to seal.  Which pretty much explains the tunnel of chicken pie.

But then again, no one had to know of your carelessness, cause this looks perfectly normal as a roulade.

Filled with chicken, potatoes, broccoli and carrots, this pie is pretty much a meal on its own. Warm, hearty and satiating. It made a good breakfast menu for me, but i am already thinking about it for lunch, AND maybe if there’s some left, dinner.

Slicing into this pie was a dream too. I absoultey loved hearing the soft crunch as my knife sliced into the top of this very tender and flakey pie.

And as you can see, the puff pastry didnt rise much when weighed down with the filling. However, at the sides where i sealed the skin together, it rose up quite a bit!

I am no expert when it comes to rolling pie pastry, and i must say i am pretty happy with the way this puffed up!

And biting into a raised puff pastry is messy. But it sure is delicious. So be sure to hold a plate under your chin to catch the crumbs!

Chicken Pie

Taken from Baking Made Easy by Agnes Chang

*my notes in red

Puff Pastry :

360 gr plain flour, mixed with 1tsp salt, sifted, + 60 gr butter

8 – 10 TBS cold water, mixed with 1 tsp lime juice

180 gr pastry margarine

1 beaten egg, mixed with a pinch of salt (for glazing)

Filling:

300 gr diced chicken meat, mixed with 1/2 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp concentrated chicken stock (I omitted the cornflour, and used powdered chicken stock)

2 sausages, diced

1 cooked potato, diced

10 button mushrooms, diced (omitted)

1 big onion, chopped, + 3 TBS butter/ oil

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg (omitted)

2 TBS flour, + 1/2 Cup water

1. Pastry: Put the sifted flour into a big mixing bowl, Rub in butter, add enough water to mix into a pliable dough. (I placed flour, salt and butter in a food processor and blitzed it before gradually adding the water mixture) Knead till smooth. Rest for 15 mins. Roll into oblong shape. Put pastry margarine into 2/3 of dough, fold into 3 layers. Roll again into oblong shape and fold into 3 layers again. Repeat 3 more times ( rest pastry for 15 minutes each time)

2. Filling: Heat up butter/oil in a fruing pan. Sautee chopped onions till fragrant. Add chicken meat and fry till fragrant. Add potato, carrot, button mushrooms(omit), nutmeg powder (omit) and salt and pepper to taste. Dish up. Heat up another 1 TBS oil and fry plain flour till fragrant. Add water to form a thick sauce. Mix in the chicken meat mixture. Dish and leave to cool.

3. Roll the pastry into 3 mm thickness. Cut into rounds and press into the pie dish. (I rolled it into a long rectangle, piped the filling down the middle, and rolled it up from the sides to form a roulade)Add filling and cover up with another piece of pastry. Glaze with beaten egg and slit on top to let steam out during baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degree celcius till golden brown (about 25 – 30 mins). Remove from oven and ready to serve.

Souper Quiche

I have recently taken up yoga in my attempt to “counter” all the sinful forces that are lurking in my blog here. And in my journey to yoga-dom, i was introduced to the term “yogic power”.

But instead of taking in that word, and listening to what it signifies, i giggled foolishly in class. Geez, I must have came across as a moron, disrespectful of Yoga and its terms. But please,  please forgive me, for that was not at all my intention. You see when i heard the word “yogic power”, my mind wandered to public parks and stealing picnic lunches, a power possessed by YOGI Bear.

Yogic power. Yogi Bear’s power. See the connection?

Seems like everything eventually comes around to food in here.

Predictably, for today’s post, i had picnic lunches in my mind. While sandwiches are probably the most common items, so are pies. But i decided to take on the savoury road on this one.

and made a broccoli and ham quiche.

As mentioned before, i am not much of a cook. I was therefore more than happy to pop open that can of Campbell soup and SPAM for this. Easy Peasy right?

But before you go all judgemental on me, let me redeem myself by telling you that i did make that pie dough, and boiled those broccolis. 🙂

And what came out of this homemade crust and storebought cans of food was indeed a very beautiful union. The custard was able to set up so perfectly. It was silky smooth and was yet firm enough to slice through. It’s almost like the squares of soft, Japanese tofus you see in supermarket, only waaaaay more tastier.

The custard was not only creamy, but it was so full bodied and rich. With Campbell soup, i dont think you can err in terms of taste. They must have spent a gabazillion dollars and years upon years of research perfecting that.  You can be sure to bank in on that.

As for the crust, i have used Martha Stewart’s patee brisee, which almost always produces the flakiest and tenderest of pie crusts. It’s one of my favourite pie crusts recipe to date.   

So between the reliable Martha Stewart pie crust, and the uncontestedly delicious Campbell soup in the custard, this quiche is soupberply good. In fact it is so good that i am thinking of organizing a picnic lunch around it.

For Pate Brisee Recipe, Click HERE

For Filling Recipe:

Taken from Cooks.com

4 eggs
1 can (10 3/4 to 11 oz.) condensed soup
1/2 c. light cream
1 c. shredded cheese
SPAM
1/2 c. Broccoli

1. In medium bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add soup and cream, mixing well.

2. Sprinkle cheese, meat and vegetable evenly over pie crust. Pour soup mixture over all. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F. 50 minutes or until center is set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.
* Note: I blind baked my pie crust before adding in the custard and baked it a second time.

Cream Cheese Jelly Berry Pie

I’ve never seen a pie like this.

 A graham cracker crust, a jell-o layer, and a cream cheese layer.

All in a pie.

Fresh strawberries are arranged on the baked graham cracker crust before a layer of jell-o was poured over it. The jell-o would set and hold the strawberries in place. Then, a layer of cream cheese filling gets frosted over it.  

And boy, what a creamy creamy cream cheese filling that was.

By blending an instant pudding mix into the cream cheese, this was not only fuss free but was also tasty. We all know how delicious those pudding mixes are right?

And if you think that’s where it ends, u’ve got another thing coming. Beside the instant pudding mix, a whole can of condensed milk also goes into the cream cheese. Yes, you read that right, a whole can. A pretty bold but befitting move, for not only does the condensed milk add on to the creaminess of the cream cheese but also was able to sweeten it without the grittyness that powdered sugar has.  

And I think i might just have found myself a favourite cream cheese filling recipe.

Cream Cheese Jelly Berry Pie

Pies ( Taken from Taste of Home)

1-1/4 C graham cracker crumbs

5 Tbs melted butter

2 Tbs sugar

1 Tsp ground ginger (I omitted this)

Filling

3/4 C sugar

2 Tbs + 3/4 tsp Cornstarch

1 Tbs Strawberry gelatin

3/4 C cold water

2 C sliced fresh strawberries, divided

1 Can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1/4 c cold milk

1 Package (3.4 ounces) Banana Cream instant pudding mix ( I used white chocolate flavour)

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and ginger. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of n ungreased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins or until lightly browned.  Cool onwire rack

2. For filling, in a small saucepan, combine sugar, constarch and gelatin. Stir in water until smooth. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool slightly. Arrange 1 C strawberries over crust. Pour gelatin mixture over strawberries, Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.

3. In a large bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, milk and pudding mix for 1 minute. Spread over the top of pie. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Garnish with remaining strawberries. Refrigerate leftovers.

Butterscotch Praline Cream Pie

When i first saw the name Butterscotch Praline Cream Pie, i was very vague on what was going on.

Frankly speaking, i don’t know my butterscotch from my toffees, or my toffees from my caramels. All i know is that sugar cooking is involved.

So to set things straight, here goes!

Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars

Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour

Butterscotch is similar to toffee, but for butterscotch the sugar is boiled to the soft crack stage, and not hard crack as with toffee

-Thanks Master Wikipedia !

Right, now that we are all a little bit smarter, let’s get back to the matters on hands.

Butterscotch Praline Cream Pie– A tender, flakey pie crust containing a deep, smokey butterscotch custard.

Let’s start with the pie crust. A buttery patee brisee with a scant amount of sugar.

And you know something, between all that rolling, chilling and blind baking, I am never one to agree with the term “easy as pie”.

They should really change it to “Easy as pie eating“. That i can definitely relate to.

So anyways, into this crust, i pile on the butterscotch custard.

I met with a bit of a technical difficulty with this butterscotch. It was not the lush luscious custard that i was expecting.

If you can see it closely, it is quite lumpy. They are not really serious and significant, but they are still visibly noticeable.Thankfully, the sandiness didnt present itself when u spoon the custard into your mouth. I suspect it’s globules of fats from the cream which was not well incorporated as i poured it into the hot caramel. Thankfully it was not intolerably rough, but it was enough to make me grit my teeth (no pun intended).

Grits or no grits, i soldiered on to the whipping cream, which was pleasantly folded with praline.

Praline – a family of confections made from nuts and sugar syrup.

Although the suggested nut in the recipe was hazelnut, i used good ole peanuts. Just because that’s the only nuts i have.

I wouldn’t advise on skipping the whipping cream to save the calories though. The lightness of the whipped cream was so pleasant against the dark, smoky butterscotch custard. A good balance of complex and simple flavours. But then again, i wouldnt skip on the praline either, just cause it gives a good crunch.

And so there you have it, A crash course on toffee, butterscotch, caramel, and a Butterscotch Praline Cream pie!

Taken from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for surface
• 1/2 recipe Pate Brisee
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark-brown sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Crushed Hazelnut Praline

Directions

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll pate brisee to 1/8-inch thickness. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Trim edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Tuck overhang under dough so edges are flush with rim, and crimp edges. Lightly prick bottom of dough with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line dough with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges begin to turn gold, 15 to 18 minutes. Carefully remove weights and parchment. Bake until crust is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Crust can be stored overnight.)
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter browns. Stir in sugar until it dissolves, about 5 minutes. Slowly pour 1 cup cream down the side of the pan, stirring constantly until smooth (caramel will bubble). Remove from heat.
4. Whisk cornstarch, salt, and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Whisk into butter mixture until well combined. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, about 7 minutes total (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil.)
5. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Pour in milk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking until completely incorporated. Return mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Immediately remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Let custard cool in saucepan on a wire rack, whisking occasionally, for 10 minutes.
7. Pour custard into piecrust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of custard. Refrigerate until custard filling is chilled and firm, at least 4 hours (or overnight).
8. Whisk remaining 1 cup cream until stiff peaks form. Reserve 2 tablespoons praline, and fold remaining praline into cream. Spread cream over pie, and sprinkle reserved praline on top. Serve immediately.

Crushed Hazelnut Praline

Ingredients

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon water
• Salt
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skins rubbed off with a damp cloth

Directions

1. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Heat sugar, corn syrup, water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook, without stirring, until deep amber. Remove from heat, stir in nuts, and spread evenly on baking sheet. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack.
2. Break praline into medium pieces, and transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, crush into pea-size pieces. (Crushed praline can be stored for up to 1 month.)

Malted Chocolate Tart

This tart is a cookie.

Or shall i say that this is a cookie baked in a tart pan?

A jumbo sized cookie the size of a skillet, and kicked up a notch with some malt powder.

The malt powder in the cookie is a welcoming fresh take than the usual chocolate and vanilla cookie. It gave the cookie such different depth and flavour.

And since it’s been a while since i had a malted milkshake, or malted anything, i dont think i could have put a finger on what could have brought about the familiarly comforting taste.

And the thing with malt powders, they are salted. We all love that bit of salt in our desserts don’t we? 🙂

These cookies are frosted with melted chocolate, and then topped with chopped malted milk balls. The malted milk balls were so delightful. They added a nice crunch to the cookie, and i really liked how it made the cookies look more interesting. I added Maraschino cherries too,  just for aesthetical pleasure.

Oh, u don’t want to overbake this. These are best when they are soft baked, just so that you can easily slice into them.

Malted Milk Cookie Tart

Taken from FoodBabbles

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup malted milk powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon (scant) coarse kosher salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (do not exceed 61% cacao)

1/2 cup malted milk balls, coarsely chopped

– Preheat oven to 325°F. In a food processor, pulse the flour, malted milk powder, sugar, and coarse salt. Add the butter and pulse until moist clumps form.

– Transfer dough to work surface; gather into ball. Press evenly onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom.

– Bake crust until evenly golden brown, about 25 minutes. Scatter chocolate chips over; let stand 5 minutes to soften…

…then spread melted chocolate over hot crust in the well that forms as center sinks.

– Sprinkle malted milk balls over.

– Cool completely. Remove tart from pan; cut into wedges.

– Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Cream Pie

Let’s face it. I am not good with chilled desserts. There is just something about “Refrigerate until filling is chilled and firm” that i can’t seem to abide. I am terribly when it comes to that part of the recipe, constantly snooping into the refrigerator and poking my nosey finger into the dessert to see if it is “firm”.

And this is just one of those desserts.

A silken chocolate pie.

I guess i only have myself to blame. I could have the most elegant looking slice of pie, prim and proper with the neatest cut. But instead i got this slipshod.

But just as Joe is sloppily delicious, so is this pie.

Being used to chocolate pies with rich chocolate ganache filling, this pie was new to me.

For one, the filling was light and super soft.

It was like a cross between a pudding and a custard. The texture of the filling was silken and smooth. If you are familiar with the Asian silken tofu, this is it, but slightly softer and less set. Eating this pie is like eating a cookies (the crust) dipped in soft serve ice cream (filling), hmm, that does sound good, doesnt it?

And as if that wasn’t enough, this pie has got another trick up its sleeves, because over the satiny, barely set custard, was a generous dollop of caramel infused whipped cream

With its pallid colour, i know i am probably not convincing anyone of its caramell-y goodness. I guess that’s what happens when you pour a liliputan bowl of caramel into a sea of whipped cream, and moreover, my caramel was a strong amber colour.

But trust me, while the whipped cream was laxing in colour, it did make up in flavour. The caramel taste was definitely tasteable and frankly speaking i wouldn’t have this any other way. A strong caramel whipped cream would probably overshadow the chocolate filling.

So there you have it,  soft, creamy chocolate filling topped with pale but delicious caramel whipped cream.

But what about the crust?

Well… this is akward, but really, the crust was just like a hamburger box to a hamburger. It served the pie well by walling up the wonderful content, but i really wouldn’t miss this crust if the filling was served on a bowl instead.

So if you have chocolate pie on your craving list, but have chocolate on your “say no to” diet list, this is definitely for you. With only 110 grams of chocolate and a couple of egg yolks, this pie is definitely less evil than its ganachey , full-on chocolate  counterpart (Not that i don’t love them though)!

Taken from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour, for surface
• Chocolate Pate Sucree
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent to 70 percent cacao), finely chopped
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Caramel Whipped Cream
• 1 thick block bittersweet chocolate, room temperature, for garnish

Directions

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll pate sucree to 1/8-inch thickness. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Trim edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Tuck overhang under dough so edges are flush with rim, and crimp edges. Lightly prick bottom of dough with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line dough with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges begin to look dry, 20 to 22 minutes. Carefully remove weights and parchment. Bake until crust is darker around edges and bottom looks dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Chocolate crust can be stored overnight.)
3. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl. Heat milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate melts.
4. Whisk 1 cup hot milk mixture into sugar mixture until smooth. Whisk milk-sugar mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, 4 to 5 minutes total (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil).
5. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Pour in milk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking until completely incorporated. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just begins to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Let custard cool in saucepan on a wire rack, whisking occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
7. Pour custard into chocolate crust. Press plastic wrap directly on surface of custard. Refrigerate until custard filling is chilled and firm, at least 4 hours (or overnight).
8. Spread caramel whipped cream over pie. Using a vegetable peeler, scrape chocolate block at a 45-degree angle to make a small mound of shavings, and sprinkle over whipped cream. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and serve within 2 hours.

Caramel Whipped Cream

Taken from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

Salt

1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream

Directions

Prepare an ice-water bath. Heat sugar, water, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Cook, without stirring, until mixture is amber. (Do not let caramel burn.) Carefully pour in 1/2 cup cream in a slow, steady stream down the side of the saucepan, whisking constantly, until smooth (caramel will bubble).

Remove from heat, and place saucepan in ice-water bath. Let caramel mixture cool, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes.

Whisk remaining 3/4 cup cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold caramel mixture into whipped cream, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Use immediately.

Cook’s Note

The caramel mixture must be very cold before the whipped cream is folded in. Otherwise, the whipped cream will collapse.

Nutella Ravioli

I love Nutella. I love it spread on a sandwich bread, a cake, or even a cookie. But most of all, i like my Nutella just with a spoon.

Like so.

But all of us know, that is very highly frowned upon, and you don’t get to do it when someone is in the room with you.

So, i decided to make little raviolis out of it,

 

and fill it up with Nutella as much as i could (or dared), without having the whole ravioli bursting.

Like so.

So u can imagine, the day started with rolling and shaping dough,

And i have used a square cookie cutter which was plenty helpful as it eliminated all that architectural work of measuring and slicing the dough against your ruler.

It’s pretty easy actually, basically you just sandwich the Nutella between two pieces of the cookie cutter dough, seal it, and crimp the sides with your fork.

voila!

On a side note though, the Nutella did dry out, and lost its fluidity to become a more solid mass.

Not that i mind.

Nutella Ravioli

(Taken from the purple foodie)

For the Ravioli dough

Ingredients:

12 0z (330g) plain flour
3.5oz (100g) icing sugar
6 oz (180g) butter
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water

1. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead gently. Flatten to form a thick disk and wrap it in cling film and chill it for at least an hour.
2. Put the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and rub the butter either with your finger with gentle, quick movements or with a pastry cutter until you achieve breadcrumb like texture. Add the egg yolks and cold water until the mixture comes together.
3. Roll out the dough to 3-4 mm (1/8th inch) thickness and use the cookie cutter to cut it into uniform squares.

To Assemble:

1. Dollop some Nutella chocolate cream on one piece of dough

2. Take another piece of dough and cover over the Nutella.

3. Seal the edges by gently pinching the sides with your fingers and then crimping the edges with a fork.

4. Pop this into the fridge for about 15 minutes. Once that’s done, remove it and bake it in a preheated oven at 170C/350F for 10-12 minutes.
Next, pull it out to brush it with a little egg wash for a nice, golden sheen. Pop it back into the oven for another 5-7 minutes.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Tart

Oh lordy lord. I have just made a tart.

And boy, was it good.

Can i tell you all about this pie? Pls say yes, i feel like i will burst if i don’t.

Let’s start with the crust. The crust tastes just like peanut butter cookies. See the cookies on the side? Those are made from leftover tart dough, and they are good enough to be eaten as they are.

But cookies are not the topic for today. Today, it’s about a certain tart, a chocolate peanut butter mousse tart.

That’s the peanut butter mousse, all smooth, silky, soft and luscious. This mousse makes me go weak in my knees and my head swoon like a top.

I just love recipes that totally scale to what you just need. This recipe makes just enough tart dough to make a full tart (and a few cookies), while the mousse recipe was just enough to fill up that tart.

Frankly speaking, i was quite hoping that there will be some mousse left for me to dip my spatula into and lick off.

But let’s be disciplined adults here. Good things will come. Soon.

Chocolate ganache over peanut butter mousse. I don’t think i need to convince anyone.

Next, comes the hardest part of the steps in the recipe- Refigerating this tart (2 hours at least) to set.

I am sorry, i didn’t do that. I popped it into the fridge, and went to read some Archie Comics.

I lasted about 15 minutes, and came back with a knife in my hand.

So now, please please please do not fault this perfect pie for my impatience. This pie WILL cut cleanly if i didn’t muck around with it too soon. Trust me, i had another slice two hours later,  because i wanted to see whether it set as it was supposed to (what a lame excuse!).

For now, let’s just be contend with a half set pie.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse Tart Recipe

(Taken from David of Leite’s Culinaria)

Ingredients

| metric conversion

For the peanut butter mousse

• 7 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, softly whipped

For the milk chocolate ganache

• 3 ounces milk chocolate
• 2 ounces bittersweet  chocolate
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Make the peanut butter mousse

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, preferably fit with the whisk beater, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar just until the mixture is uniform in color. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla. Beat in 1/4 cup of the whipped cream just until it is incorporated. With a large rubber spatula, fold in the rest of the whipped cream, mixing until the mixture is well blended but still airy.

2. Scrape the mousse into the sweet peanut butter cookie tart crust and smooth the surface so that it is level. (If the dough is rolled to the exact thickness specified, the filling and ganache amounts will be exact. If the dough is rolled a little thicker, there will be a little leftover filling and ganache.) Refrigerate the tart while preparing the ganache.

Make the ganache topping

1. Break the milk and bittersweet chocolates into several pieces and place in the bowl of a food processor fit with the metal blade. Process until the chocolate is very finely ground.

2. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a heatproof glass measure in the microwave. With the food processor’s motor running, pour the hot cream through the feed tube into the chocolate mixture. Process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice, about 15 seconds. Add the vanilla and pulse a few times to incorporate it. Transfer the ganache to a bowl. Cool to room temperature.

Assemble the tart

1. Pour the ganache over the peanut butter mousse in a circular motion, being careful so that it does not land too heavily in any one spot and cause a depression in the mousse. Using a small metal spatula, start to spread the ganache to the edges of the pastry, then spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of the tart. If desired, make a spiral pattern by lightly pressing the spatula against the surface and running it from the outside of the tart to the center. Refrigerate the tart for at least 2 hours to set or up to 5 days. (You can wrap the tart well and freeze it for up to 3 months.)

2. Remove the tart from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving. Unmold the tart and cut it with a sharp, thin-bladed knife, dipping it in hot water after each slice. It is as good lightly chilled as it is at room temperature.

Sweet Peanut Butter Cookie Tart Crust Recipe

Ingredients

| metric conversion

• 1/2 cup (2.5 ounces) bleached all-purpose flour (dip and sweep method)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/16 teaspoon salt (um, that’s a pinch)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar, preferably superfine
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably Jif, at room temperature
• 1/2 large egg (beat the egg lightly before measuring out half of it, which ought to weigh .8 ounce)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

2. If using a food processor: In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for several minutes or until very fine. With the motor running, add the butter cubes. Add the peanut butter and process until smooth and creamy, about 10 seconds. With the motor running, add the egg and vanilla and process until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and pulse just until incorporated.

If using an electric mixer: In a mixing bowl, beat the sugars until well mixed. Add the butter (you’ll need to softened it slightly) and peanut butter and beat for several minutes on medium-high speed until very smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl. Reduce sped to low and gradually beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated.

3. Scrape the dough into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

4. Press the dough evenly into the tart pan. (It is a little more challenging, but faster and neater to roll the dough out between sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thickness and 11 1/2 inches in diameter. Remove one piece of plastic, invert the dough into the tart pan, and gently ease the edge of the dough inside the pan so that the sharp top surface does not cut it off.) Use a piece of plastic wrap to gently and evenly press the dough into the pan, pressing it against the sides. If the dough softens and sticks, refrigerate it until the plastic wrap doesn’t stick. If the dough tears, simply press it together or use the scraps to press into any empty areas. Cover the tart pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. (You can wrap the unbaked crust well and freeze it for up to 3 months.)

5. Bake the tart shell, without weights, in a preheated 375°F (190°C) oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. It will puff at first and then settle down toward the end of baking. The sides will be soft but spring back when touched gently with a finger. Cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Galette

I’ve never attempted a galette before, and i must say, the experience of making one was indeed very humbling.

While i have made acquaintance with a couple of pies before, i came to realize that all my pies were always pre-baked before i load up its fillings.  Things were a little different with this galette, in which wet sloppy filling went on top of raw dough before both got baked together.

Thats when problems arose for me.

For one, there was the rush against time in filling and pleating this galette. We all know how raw butter dough has to be handled quickly to prevent all that butter from melting and oozing out of the dough. Living in tropical Indonesia, this issue is magnified. My butter melts twice faster, which means i gotta work twice the speed.

Two, there was the problem of moving a heavy, wet, strawberry filled raw dough from your working space onto a baking sheet to be baked. That’s quite a nerve wrecking task considering my dough was starting to melt and stick to my countertop. My first galette didn’t survive that trip, and my kitchen looked like a crime scene with scarlet red strawberry fluids spattering from the broken dough.

But of course, lesson was learnt from that experience. For my second galette, i worked on my filling and pleated it ON my baking sheet to eliminate the hazardous task of shifting the unbaked galette around, and i must say, it worked like a charm!

Phew!

Ingredients

crust

(Taken from Dorie Greenspan’s Christmas Galette)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons chilled nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; pulse until coarse meal forms. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before continuing.

To Assemble:

Roll out the chilled dough in between 2 plastic sheets or parchment papers to a 11″ round. Transfer the pastry to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Layer the strawberries, overlapping each other in a circle on the dough, leaving a 1″~2″ border. Fold the edges over the strawberries. Brush the dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Bake in preheated oven at 200degC for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is golden browned.Filling:

(Taken From Happy Home Baking)
1 punnet (250g) strawberries Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and cut into halves or thick slices. Toss the sliced strawberries with the sugar and cornstarch.
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 egg plus1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon granulated white sugar

Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and cut into halves or thick slices. Toss the sliced strawberries with the sugar and cornstarch.

A lil Christmas Baking

A mini post on other Christmas related bakings i’ve done 🙂

1. Christmas Biscottis

While biscottis are traditionally dunked in tea, or coffee, these are good enough to be eaten on its own. Crushed candy canes are mixed into the biscottis batter for an added touch of sweetness to the otherwise plain tasting biscottis.  I’ve done this cookie two ways, one is to dip them in melted white chocolate and sprinkle them with more crushed candy canes:

And another is to drizzle some white frosting on them and sprinkle even more candy canes!

A lil note though, the candy canes will lose their crunch and get a bit sticky after a while. But that didnt bother me as they were still delicious.

Recipe from Annie

Candy Cane Biscotti

Ingredients:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
2/3 cup finely chopped peppermint candies, plus extra for garnish
14 oz. white chocolate

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir briefly with a fork to combine.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated.  Fold in the 2/3 cup crushed peppermints with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated.

Evenly divide the dough into 4 portions.  Form each into a 9″ by 1½” log on the prepared baking sheet, spaced evenly.  Bake until the cookies are light golden brown on top, about 18-20 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325° F.

After the logs have cooled for 10 minutes, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the logs into ½-inch slices on the diagonal.  Arrange the cut pieces on the baking sheet, laying on one of their cut sides so one cut side is facing up.  Bake for 15 minutes more, until the cookies are light golden brown and crisp.  (They may seem a bit soft, but will firm as they cool.)  Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once the biscotti have cooled, melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler.  Dip one half of each cookie in the chocolate, shake gently to remove the excess, and transfer to a baking sheet or work surface lined with wax paper.  Sprinkle with extra crushed candy canes while the chocolate is still wet.  Let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has set completely.  Store in an airtight container.

2. Cranberry Bliss Bar

The cranberry bliss bar is a Starbucks breakfast favourite it seems, but the truth is, i have never tasted the ones sold there before. The Starbucks here (Indonesia) don’t have it on the menu! But if the ones sold taste anywhere as good as these, i could definitely relate to why they are such a hit.

The base of these bars are subtly flavoured with ginger and studded with cranberries and white chocolate. They are then topped with a lemony cream cheese frosting before being piped with a sugared icing.

Between the white chocolate vs cranberries, or, the cream cheese frosting vs the sugary icing, these bars are a good balance of sweetness and tartness. These will definitely zest up your mornings and double up as good wake up calls!

Recipe from Megan

Cranberry Bliss Bars
see on Brownies for Dinner, originally from My Little Mochi
(printable recipe)

Bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) white chocolate chips (or chopped white chocolate)

Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Drizzling Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt and mix well. Gradually add flour and mix until smooth. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate. Pour the batter into the greased pan, using a spatula to evenly spread the batter in the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until edges are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until completely smooth. Spread on the completely cool cake. Sprinkle the top with cranberries.

Drizzling Icing:
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp of milk, powdered sugar, and vegetable shortening. Gradually add more milk until the icing has a thick but drizzly consistency. I used closer to 2 tablespoons. Put the icing into a ziploc bag and snip off a tiny bit of the corner. Drizzle the icing on top in zig-zags.

Cut into squares or triangles and enjoy!

3. Chocolate Hearts with Crushed Christmas Candies

These are yogurt cakelets made in a heart shaped pan, dunked in melted dark chocolate and sprinkled with christmas candies. The yogurt cakelets are incredibly moist and dense, but most importantly they pop out prettily from the pan 🙂

These are better refrigerated as the candies and the chocolate will get melty and sticky after a while. But i am definitely liking the dark chocolate contrast against the candies.

Recipe from Kirbie

Vanilla Yogurt Cakelets

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the cakelet pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl and set it aside.
3.
In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, and eggs. Slowly whisk the dry
ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the
vegetable oil into the batter until well incorporated.
4. With a
spoon fill the cake pan with the cake batter about 3/4 full. Do not over fill it. Bake
in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and
cake is lightly brown.
5. Remove from cake pan
once it is completely cool

With that, I would like to thank Annie, Megan and Kirbie for sharing the wonderful recipes! Happy Christmas everyone!

Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart

I wanted to recreate the success i’ve had with the mind blowing Peanut Caramel Topped Brownies I made just a couple of days ago. And yet, i didn’t want to make the brownie a second time in such a short period of time.

So, my fingers kept flipping to the page where the recipe for the Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart was.  This recipe is like a cousin of the brownies, both carrying chocolate, caramel and peanuts heritage.

And being of the same lineage, this tart, almost as a birthright was readily welcomed in the family. Of course, it didn’t hurt that this tart was so handsomely dark, luscious and mysterious.

And whoever said about beauty runs skin deep is totally wrong when it came to this tart. For beneath that surface of the ganache, lay a display as impressive, the caramel peanuts.

Ahh, be still my lil’ heart…

My heart did a double take when i saw how neatly this tart cut. The ganache set beautifully with the caramel peanuts just peeking beneath it.

And if that brownie of a cousin was considered rich, this tart probably thieved more than half of the family’s heirloom, qualifying it to be in the “filthy rich” bracket.

And who wouldn’t want a piece of that filthy rich pie, or rather tart? LOL.

Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart (I was too lazy to type the recipe in , this recipe is from Chocolate Moosey. She chose this tart for TWD last September. A very fine choice indeed!)

Caramel
Scant 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons salted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature

Ganache
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature

3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 9-inch tart shell made with Dorie’s Sweet Tart Dough (p.444), fully baked and cooled

Getting Ready: Because you have to work quickly once the sugar caramelizes, you should have all the ingredients for the caramel measured out and at hand before you start. Also have a medium heatproof bowl at hand to hold the hot caramel.

To Make the Caramel: Bring the heavy cream to a boil.

Meanwhile, put a medium skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat and sprinkle in about 3 tablespoons of the sugar. When it melts, stir it with a wooden spatula or fork and sprinkle over another 3 tablespoons. When that sugar is melted, add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar – the sugar in the pan may already have started to color, and that’s fine. Stir in the corn syrup and boil the syrup until it reaches a deep caramel color – it will probably begin to smoke, and that’s normal.

Stand back and stir in the butter. The caramel will bubble furiously and may spatter, so make sure you’re away from the action. When the butter is in, add the warm cream – the caramel will bubble furiously again. Lower the temperature just a tad and let the caramel boil for just 2 minutes (226F on candy thermometer). Pour the seething caramel into the heatproof bowl and set aside while you make the ganache.

To Make the Ganache: Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and have a whisk or a rubber spatula at hand.

Bring the cream to a boil. Then pour half of it over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Working with the whisk/spatula, very gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece. Don’t stir any more than you must to blend the ingredients – the less you work it, the darker, smoother and shinier it will be.

Cover the ganache with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface to create an airtight seal. Set aside at room temperature for the moment.

To Assemble the Tart: Stir the peanuts into the caramel. If the caramel has cooled and is too thick to spread easily, gently warm in the microwave in 3-second spurts. Spread the caramel over the bottom of the tart shell; you’ll have a thin layer. Refrigerate the tart for 15 minutes to set the caramel.

Check the ganache. If it has thickened, warm it in 3-second spurts. Rap the bowl to break any surface bubbles, pour the ganache over the caramel and jiggle the pan to even it.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes – no longer – then keep it at room temperature until serving time.