Pies and Tarts – Page 12 – Wait…are those…cookies?!

September 27, 2016September 28, 2016

Sometimes, dessert just needs to be an unashamedly sloppy, delicious mess

This tart is a lesson in what dessert sometimes should be: an aesthetically pleasing, sloppy, delicious mess. Because sometimes dessert should just be eaten out of the pan it was baked or assembled in, with two spoons and happy grins. Or, you could attempt civilized plating (as I did) when you consume it for dessert, with a hasty decant into bowls topped with ice cream. Which is perfectly acceptable. Until the next morning when you peek at the custard tart that’s been hangin’ in the fridge overnight and notice that the custard has decided to attempt an escape outside its proscribed bounds, at which point you decide to eat it out of the pan with spoons. Wise and delicious decision!

Sometimes, you need a less than perfect dessert. Messy, delicious and less than perfect is exactly what this tart is. You’ve been warned! Indulge accordingly.

In other news, I completed another year on this earthplane, and celebrated accordingly at Gary Danko! Nowhere else am I going to sit down to a four course dinner with two desserts. Shockingly, I didn’t even need a wheelbarrow to leave…. I consider this a success all around. Thanks to everyone who made my birthday weekend such fun! Y’all are so rad.

Hmm, what else. It’s officially autumn! Which means apples, scarves, boots, and pumpkin. And baking. Except that the Bay has decided to have a heat wave these last few days, which means baking is totally off the table until it gets back down into the 80s, at least. Since when do I wear a dress and no jacket in San Francisco all evening?! Since never… until yesterday! Reason number one to eat messy, cool, creamy dessert that can be had with minimal baking and heating of the kitchen!

More drawing! A wee bit of dome practice with the beautiful San Francisco city hall.

Nighttime cityscapes are so beautiful.

But back to the food!

This tart presents beautifully but once cut, devolves into a sloppy, delicious mess. But, fear not! Just grab a spoon and eat it straight from the pan. Messy and delicious, just how dessert should be.

Maple Custard Apple Tart with Almond Crust

Lightly sweet, creamy and an appropriate amount of crust. Refined sugar free, grain free, gluten free, paleo & dairy free with one small swap (coconut oil for butter in the crust). Yield: 1 10″ pie pan of the deep variety; serves as many as you feel like sharing with. Recipe adapted from Hip Foodie Mom, here!

For the crust:

2.5 c almond flour
scant 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp coconut sugar
4 tbsp salted butter (or coconut oil), melted
1 runneth-over tsp vanilla
1 egg white

For the custard:

1.5 c coconut milk (mine was light; use whatever you have)
6 egg yolks
1/2 c pure maple syrup
1/4 c tapioca starch
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the apple topping:

2 apples, finely sliced
3 tbsp raspberry jam, thinned with a bit of water and lemon juice

Because the custard needs to sit and chill in the fridge after cooling for at least 2 hours, I made this a day ahead and let it hang out in the fridge overnight. The crust only takes about 15 minutes to bake, so the tart itself comes together quite quickly.

Preheat the oven to 400 and lightly grease a 9 or 10″ deep pie plate with coconut oil or butter. For the crust: in a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, and coconut sugar. Add in melted butter or coconut oil, vanilla, and egg white, and stir until combined — I found it more fun and more efficient to use my hands at the end. Press the dough into the bottom of your pie plate of choice, poke the bottom a few times with a fork, and bake for 15 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the custard: in a medium saucepan, heat the coconut milk over medium, until small bubbles begin forming along the egg whites. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, maple, tapioca starch, and salt. Slowly temper the eggs by pouring the hot coconut milk into the egg bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly until all the milk is incorporated. Pour this whole bowl of goodness back into the pot that was previously holding the coconut milk, and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard begins bubble and thicken (you’ll know. it’ll go from watery to thick enough that your whisk makes tracks). Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and let sit until cool. Give it a good stir, and store in an airtight container in the fridge if you made it ahead.

Pour the custard into the completely cooled crust. Thinly slice 2 apples of choice, and drop them in a bowl of lemon water to prevent browning while slicing. In a small bowl, thin the raspberry jam with a few tbsp of water and lemon juice (I used the leftover from my apple-soaking water). Fan the apple slices across the surface of the custard, brush with the raspberry jam mixture to prevent excess browning. Cover and refrigerate if not eating immediately!

Keeps well overnight in the fridge, covered, but don’t expect it to stay in one piece! The custard is runny — best advice (and I definitely put this into practice) is to just eat it with a spoon, straight out of the pie plate. For breakfast! Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

September 20, 2016

Fig season is upon us!

It’s fig season!!! Another reason to love fall, as if I didn’t have enough already.

As much as I start missing the fresh summer berries, it’s so refreshing when the seasons start changing (ish. Emphasis on ish. It’s been in the upper 90s over here for the last few days…um okay I get it! We’re making up for lost time?! But seriously, enough). Figs are so fun with their little tiny seeds. I used to not be such a fig fan, but they’ve won their way into my heart. Especially when they hang out with goat cheese and hazelnuts and honey. But really, I’ll eat them in any form.

Especially when rice pudding is involved… I never ever say no to rice pudding. EVER.

This version is baked into a cake/tart type thing, and is sliceable and delicious and fantastic for breakfast as well as dessert. I could wax rhapsodic about this dessert but you really should just make one and thank me later. It’s delicious! It doesn’t use much sweetener either, which is a giant plus in my book and also makes it doubly acceptable for breakfast (also it’s excellent with coconut gelato… just looking out for you!)

Handily enough, it also comes together quickly and doesn’t require any wildly unusual pantry ingredients.

I’m reminded of the Italian cake Torta di Riso (I did one years ago and it’s somewhere on the blog… I used blood oranges for that one) — basically a rice custard that is baked into a sliceable cake. This one is a little denser than the Italian version (definitely NOT a bad thing), and is infinitely adaptable to whatever fruit is in season (though I highly recommend figs).

I’ve also had some time to draw again lately, which I love. Baking + drawing = happy days.

Enjoy fig season in all its glory and bask in some rice pudding. Happy Equinox!

Baked Coconut Rice Pudding Cake with Honeyed Figs

Gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free! Densely textured, lightly sweet cake perfect for dessert and breakfast. If you love rice pudding, this cake is for you. Yield: 1 9″ pie pan (mine is the deep variety, about 2″ deep). Recipe lightly adapted from A Fork and a Pencil, here!

1 c arborio rice, rinsed
1 c water
1 1/3 c light coconut milk, divided (should be exactly one standard 13.5 fl oz can)
4 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
2.5 tbsp coconut sugar
figs to your heart’s content (I used 4), halved
enough small dollops of honey to drop into each fig half

In a saucepan, combine rice, water, and 2/3 c coconut milk. Heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until it just barely boils. Cover, Reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice has absorbed the liquid, no more than 10 minutes. Once rice is cooked (it should still have some chewy bite to it) and the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat and let cool briefly while assembling everything else.

Lightly grease your pie plate with coconut oil and preheat the oven to 350.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together, add vanilla, sea salt, maple, and coconut sugar. Pour the cooked and cooled rice into this bowl, and stir to combine. Pour the whole thing into the prepared pie dish (don’t freak if there’s some leftover liquid on the top of the dish, it will be fine! Promise). Halve the figs and press them into the rice, dropping small dollops of honey into the center of each fig half.

Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until the top is firm when touched and the surface is golden brown. Mine came out perfectly at an hour. Let cool for a bit before slicing. I like it cold, so I refrigerated mine for a few hours before eating, but that’s your call! Store any leftovers covered in the fridge (foil over the pie plate works just fine). Enjoy for dessert with your fave ice cream or gelato (coconut is marvelous) or for breakfast alongside your eggs and kale!

August 27, 2016November 7, 2016

The only acceptable summer blues

Hi! I made galette again because it was so good last time I just couldn’t stay away. Besides, it’s still gloriously late summer so I will stay happily buried in late summer fruit desserts until seasonality dictates otherwise.

These are the only acceptable kind of summer blues!

I also sojourned up to Portland for a minute last weekend and caught up with all the PNW buds and did ALL the EATING. No really. ALL of it. Rather glad to be back to eating my kale and eggs, I will say — love traveling and love eating but omg I need a break after awhile! So now I’m back and galetting around, blah blah the usual.

I may have gone a little overboard in my excitement of finding an enormous (2 pound!) clamshell of organic blueberries at whole foods for a reasonable price…. apparently they disappeared about 2 hours later too so obviously it was meant to be and my excitement is warranted. There were 2 full cups of blueberries in this thaaang, which meant that I was more than slightly concerned with its structural integrity. However! The crust held its own (barely) and all the goodness stayed contained within its slightly leaky exterior. Galette structural engineering for the win.

For those who love lemon and blueberry, this is for you. Flaky crust, jammy blueberries and tart lemon curd. Late summer shenanigans don’t get much better than this! Messy, beautiful and delicious, just like summer should be.

Grain Free Blueberry Galette with Lemon Curd

Grain free, gluten free, paleo, and refined sugar free! Easy to put together and obviously delicious or I wouldn’t be shoving these photos into your inbox. Yield: 1 largish galette; about 9″ across. Serving size is up to your discretion… like the last one, this one was dessert and breakfast with a bit of leftovers for 2. No shame.

For the crust:

I used the same one as I did for the last peach galette I did; but omitted the almond extract.

1.5 c almond flour
1/2 c tapioca starch/flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
6 tbsp salted butter
1 eggs, divided
1/2 tbsp coconut sugar
scant tbsp vanilla extract (yes, that is a tablespoon!)

Glaze:

1 tbsp coconut sugar for sprinkling over the crust
1 egg, lightly beaten for the egg wash
a few small chunks of butter to dot the top of the fruit

For the paleo lemon curd: I used meyer lemons for this recipe here from What the Fork blog (which was absolutely delicious); any lemon curd recipe will work just fine; here is a traditional one that I made a billion years ago that is also spectacular (just excuse the horrendous pictures). Make this a day before (or earlier in the day) so that it has time to cool completely before you put it into the galette. It will thicken / not run all over the place, and you’ll thank your foresight.

For the blueberry filling:

1.5 c fresh blueberries
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the crust: In a food processor or high-power blender (I used a Vitamix), pulse almond flour, tapioca starch, salt, and butter, and pulse to combine until it looks like coarse meal. Add in egg, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract and pulse just until combined. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

While the crust is chilling (or a day before, which I found to be easier), make the lemon curd! See links for recipes.

Once the dough has chilled, toss the ingredients for the filling into a large bowl: blueberries, tapioca, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice; toss to coat and incorporate.

Preheat the oven to 375, and roll out the dough into a circle between two pieces of parchment. It should be uniformly thick; about 1/4″ but no thinner. Slide the dough and the bottom piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Spread a thick layer of lemon curd in the middle of the dough, leaving about a 2″ border all around. Pile the blueberry filling onto the lemon curd, and carefully fold the edges of the crust up around it, sealing any cracks that happen. Some juices will probably leak out when you bake it, but that’s no big deal. Brush the crust with the beaten egg wash, and sprinkle with a bit of coconut sugar. Dot the tops of the blueberries with a few small chunks of butter. Bake for 35-40 minutes – mine is usually always perfect at 35; the crust should be lightly golden and firm to the touch.

Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes; then slide the whole piece of parchment+galette onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve with extra lemon curd and vanilla gelato! Galette leftovers keep on the counter overnight and make a fabulous addition to breakfast; if you keep leftovers any longer I would store them in the fridge. Store any leftover lemon curd in the fridge!

August 16, 2016

Late summer galettes and camp shenanigans

Hello! Long time no see.

Mostly because it’s summer so I had to do this:

Step off the grid for 10 days to reconnect, laugh, love and play in the dirt at my favorite place on earth. Two Sentinels will always be my mountain home, and there is nothing like my camp family!

But now I’m back! And because it’s late summer, all the fruit desserts are called for. Especially galettes, because there is something about the rustic pie dough thing that is so forgiving and accepting of whatever fruit you have on hand that reminds me of late summer. Besides that, galettes play much nicer than pie in the sandbox: less time in the oven, less fussy dough (usually) and less crimping, fussing, and general worries about ice cold this and that and the other thing. Which is mostly why I love them, but also because they’re delicious (and I am totally not hating on pie; I love it equally!! But I also love not dying in a hot kitchen, so there’s that).

This galette made the perfect dessert with a spot of ice cream, and then a rad breakfast accompanied by eggs and kale… you really can’t go wrong here.

Grain free, lightly sweetened, almondy crust surrounds almondy peaches and a homemade almond paste. Very little sweetner actually goes into this, since the peaches are so sweet on their own. Pretty much any summer fruit can go into this, but I love the combination of peach and almond!

Hopefully you have some late summer produce hanging around, begging to be made into a galette. Trust me, it’s a good plan. Definitely recommended to eat this for breakfast… Happy baking!

Grain Free Almond Peach Galette

Grain free, refined sugar free, and paleo! Yay! Minus chilling time, the actual galette making comes together in a snap. Lightly sweet: the perfect vehicle to highlight late summer produce that is so sweet on its own. Yield: 1 galette; serves two for dessert and breakfast with leftovers, or somewhere between 6-8 peeps. Your call on how much you feel like sharing… Crust recipe lightly adapted from Running to the Kitchen, here! The almond paste and filling are Wait are those Cookies brainchild. Happy eating!

For the crust:

1.5 c almond flour (not meal; you want the finer flour variety)
1/2 c tapioca flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
6 tbsp salted butter, chopped
1 egg
1/2 tbsp coconut sugar
scant 1/2 tsp almond extract

For the almond paste*:

1/3 c almond flour
1/4 c almond butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
scant 1/2 tsp almond extract

*disclaimer: didn’t measure when I made this… so these are best guess estimates! Taste as you blend, and adjust the flavor as you like!

For the filling:

3 peaches, thinly sliced
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp coconut sugar

Last little beautification elements:

1 egg, beaten
1-2 tsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp butter, chopped

Let’s make galette!

In a food processor or high-power blender (I used a Vitamix), pulse almond flour, tapioca starch, salt, and butter, and pulse to combine until it looks like coarse meal. Add in egg, coconut sugar, and almond extract and pulse just until combined. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

In the (cleaned) blender or food processor, combine the ingredients for almond paste: almond meal, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and almond extract. The texture should be pretty thick, and should stick to itself when you press it between your fingers. Add more almond butter or flour, and adjust sweetness accordingly. Set aside once made.

Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 375. Slice the peaches, and toss in a largish bowl with tapioca, extracts, and coconut sugar. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, keeping the circle to about 1/4″ thickness. Peel off the top piece of parchment, and slide the rolled out dough on its parchment onto a baking sheet. Top the dough circle with the the almond paste, spreading it to about 2″ from the edge. Pile on the peaches, keeping them towards the center if possible. Begin folding up the sides, creasing them together as you go – if the dough is cracking, that’s okay (you can crimp the cracks back together; remember: galettes are forgiving and rustic!); you can use the bottom piece of parchment to help fold up the sides. Top the exposed peach filling with dots of butter, and brush the edges of the dough with the beaten egg. Sprinkle a little coconut sugar around the sides.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until edges are golden brown — mine came out just fine at 35 minutes, so check accordingly. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully slide the whole galette onto a cooling rack to let it cool completely. Serve with your fave ice cream or whatever of choice! Keeps well covered in foil on the counter; mine didn’t last longer than about 2 days so I can vouch for it at least that long!

Galette in situ:

June 2, 2013

Happy Birthday, Bloglet!

Happy Birthday, little Bloglet!!

My little baby bloglet is TWO years old this week!! (I say this week as I’m really not sure what day I started, and wordpress isn’t telling and I’m far too lazy to look back at my posts, whoops).

I feel like a proud parent! It’s so cute. To celebrate, I made… pie!!! (of course). I love my bloglet. Pie equals love. Therefore (QED?!), because I love my bloglet, I have made it a pie! And then I get to eat said pie, so everybody wins. Mmm, warm pie. Happy birthday, little two year old bloglet! Thank you for giving me an excuse to make pie (right. As if I ever needed an excuse to do that), even if it was a thousand degrees the day I made it and my dough got all sticky. Note to self: hot weather = sticky things = use mo’ flour! Whatever, got the crust in the dish in one piece so sticky is clearly sooo not a big deal.

There has been such a massive amount of change over the two years I’ve been writing this, I’m so thankful I’ve had this as a creative outlet. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I started! 142 posts, lots of snark, and some epic fails later, I can look back with quite a bit of pride! Lots of growth to be had if you check out the early pictures (actually, do me a favor and let’s ignore those, shall we?) versus the later ones. Lots more invisible internet friends! You know I love you. Some things haven’t changed though: I’m still as irreverent and ~~alternative~~ awesome as I’ve ever been (wait. Probably even more than I was…you can be the judge of that ;) and the food is still delicious. I think. Most of the time!

For now, here’s a list (because I love them) of things I’m loving right now:

1) Gottschalk’s Symphonie romantique, “La nuit des tropiques”! Love love love.

2) Monarch of the Glen. Ob.SESSED.

3) Whole wheat english muffins. Like that’s ever going to change…

4) ALLL the grains and seeds (bird food. whatever): barley, amaranth, millet.

5) LENTILS! Enough said. I eat them for breakfast (I heard that and saw that eyeroll. Let’s not be judgy, you wouldn’t love me unless I did weird things like that, riiiight?!)

6) Reading several books at once. I think my current total is 4. And yes, I will finish them all ;)

7) Raw honey and cinnamon on toast. How have I not discovered this before now?

8) Single crusted pies. That way, you get smacked in the tastebuds by summer’s gloriousness!

Anyway. Random things that were on my mind, and now they’re on yours. Muahha! Next thing you know you’ll be eating lentils for breakfast…

Marionberry-Peach Pie

Makes one 8″ pie. The crust is the same one I’ve used before, coconut oil-whole wheat. It’s delicious and easily the fastest and least irritating pie crust I’ve ever made. Even when it’s ridiculously hot in your kitchen, it still cooperates with only minimal fussing. Oh yeah, and it’s absolutely delicious as well!

Crust: 1 whole wheat coconut oil crust, 8″

For the filling*:

1 bag frozen peaches (I cut up the slices a bit because they’re usually really chunky)
2 bags of frozen marionberries
1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp tapioca (I use quick-cooking)
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp honey

*I used the amount of fruit that would fill my pie dish—the pie was 8″ single crusted, and I didn’t want the filling to sink too much so I threw in an added bag of berries. In my relatively shallow pie pan it was perfect!

Prepare pie crust of choice and preheat oven to 425.

In a large-ish bowl, toss together peaches, marionberries, flour, tapioca, cinnamon, and honey. I usually thaw my berries/fruit slightly, since honey tends to be difficult when it hits frozen things—it mixes a bit better when the fruit is slightly thawed. Once everything is combined, pour filling into the prepared pie crust, and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temp to 350, and bake for about another 45 minutes, until the juices are bubbling and the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit (but serve warm!).

May 10, 2013

Transcendental Pie.

Oh little bloglet, I do love you. I wasn’t even going to post today, but I suppose the bloglet muse struck…

AND I have this pie. Oh my goodness.

There are no words. So, you get pictures.

Actually, there are words. Words like family. Sunshine. Warm fruit. Warm weather. Nostalgia. Long evenings, dusky twilights. Memories. Summers that felt endless. Fresh. Happiness. Peace. Soul.

Pie.

Pie to me seems older than many traditional desserts or foods… it’s one of those intrinsically ‘family’ foods. When I make it and eat it, I feel a connection to generations of female family members who made pie before I did, and fed it to their loved ones. This is why I make pie by hand, not with a food processor or any other technical kitchen implements. I like just using a simple pastry cutter, and my mom’s wooden rolling pin. So simple, yet I think it makes the best pie. Why is it that the simplest things are so often the best? Probably because we get so much more out of the taste sensation than delicious food: nostalgia and taste receptors go hand in hand. To me, pie is generations of strong women. It makes me proud to feel connected to them in a physical way—those strong, wonderful, loving women who came before me.

So this pie is an homage to them: I am proud to derive my lineage from such a long line of fantastic women and their pies!

Happy early Mother’s Day to my mama, and to all of the wonderful mothers in this world!

Simple Peach Pie

I know this is the second peach pie recipe on the blog, but um… I LOVE peach pie. So I’m giving you choices! This one is slightly healthier than it’s predecessor, not like that particularly matters when it comes to pie. But actually, this is my favorite of all of the pies on here! Simple, and delicious. The crust comes together easier than anything, and the filling is easy as well. Since it wouldn’t be a Hayley post without some nutritional tidbits, of course I have to add a note about the healthy fats from the coconut oil crust, and the blood-sugar regulating properties of cinnamon. Peaches are fruit, fruit is good for you… Whole wheat crust! And minimally processed sweeteners, from unrefined sources. Wheee!

Crust recipe lightly adapted from The Joyful Pantry, here! I made 1/2+1/4 of the recipe, as I wanted cut outs for the top. My pie pan was a shallow 8″, and I had just enough left for a few decorations. The measurements below are for a double crust, makes two 8″ crusts.

Make pie. Eat. Love.

Crust:

3/4 c coconut oil
2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp coconut sugar
5-6 tbsp ice water

Filling:

2 bags frozen organic peaches (I think between 2-3 c sliced)
1/4 c honey
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tbsp quick cooking tapioca

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and coconut sugar. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the coconut oil until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add in ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until you can form a dough (I like to do this part with my hands). Gather the dough up into a ball, then roll out on a floured surface (I like waxed paper, as it makes it easier to flip the crust back into the pie dish). Once it’s larger than the circumference of the dish, flip the dough carefully back onto your pie dish, and press into place. Poke the bottom a few times with a fork, and crimp the edges so it looks pretty!

Combine peaches, honey, cinnamon, flour, and tapioca in a large bowl. Give it a few stirs… see? I told you this was easy. Pour this into the prepared pie dish, top with whatever kind of crust you’d like (double, lattice, cutouts, whatever), and then pop it into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered, then use foil to tent it and prevent excess browning, baking it for another 30 minutes. The filling should be bubbly when done, and will thicken as it cools.

Let cool a bit before slicing, but not too much… pie should be eaten warm!

Haha, what leftovers??

May 6, 2013

Spinach. On. The. Ceiling?!

Did I tell you that vaccuum vati found a piece of spinach on the kitchen ceiling the other day?

…

Yeahhhh. That happened. How on earth did I manage that?! Welcome to my life: “Hello, my name is Hayley and I am obsessed with spinach!” I toooold you I put spinach where it didn’t belong, but um I had no idea it had gotten on the ceiling..?! I mean, I know I eat it multiple times a day, but that must have been some pretty ferocious chopping. You know, like Chopped Kitchen type of chopping.

On. The. Ceiling. The mind boggles.

Anyway.

Today’s post has nothing to do with spinach and everything to do with apples. Mmm. Appleeesssssss. I feel like the witch in the Wizard of Oz when I say that…

This tart is simple, good for your body, and good for your soul. It’s not very sweet–if you’re looking for a sweet dessert, this isn’t it. But I like it for a mid-meal snack post workout… or dessert, since I like mine less sweet anyway. I liked it with some added applesauce, and a few pieces of chopped date. It’s gluten free, vegan if you sub out the honey for maple, and contains no refined sugar. Hooray! I made it on a day that was cloudy and overcast, perfect for apples and baking. Simple, beautiful, and good for the soul.

And here. Happy Monday, here’s something beautiful! Have a wonderful day :)

Apple-Almond Tart

Recipe lightly adapted from Tales of a Kitchen, here! This makes one full-sized tart/pie, depending on the pan you use. I would recommend a pie pan, as the crust is very crumbly—I don’t think it would come out of a tart pan too well. Next time I make this I think I’ll add dates to the crust instead of honey—I’d like it to be a bit crustier, less crumbly. But still delicious as is! Serves 8.

Laze around with me on a cloudy Sunday and produce the following:

1 c oat flour
1 c almond meal/flour (I grind my own from an equal amount of almonds in the food processor)
1/2 c unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp honey
zest of one lemon
3 apples, cored, peel on (I used fuji and daisy girl)
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
5-6 tbsp almond meal
2 apples, finely sliced, peel on

Preheat the oven to 375, and lightly grease your pan of choice (I used a pie pan).

In a large bowl, combine oat flour, almond meal, coconut, coconut oil, honey, and lemon zest. Mash it all together (ideally using your hands, it’s much more fun) until combined. Press the resulting mixture into the prepared pan, making sure it’s evenly distributed. Poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork, and bake for 9-10 minutes, until lightly browned. When done, set it aside to cool slightly.

While the crust is baking, toss cored apples, cinnamon, and vanilla into the food processor (or blender). Blend until a smooth puree is reached. Toss this into a bowl, and stir in 5 tbsp almond meal. If it’s not thick enough and is still a little watery, add another tbsp of almond meal. Pour the filling into the slightly cooled crust, and arrange the finely sliced apples in a pretty pattern (this is very soothing, I found).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until your house smells delicious and the apples are a golden brown. Let cool before slicing, and store in the fridge! Excellent with a little extra applesauce, or I’m sure whipped coconut cream would be delicious as well, if you can be that on top of things (unlike me).

March 22, 2013March 21, 2013

Pie.

I love that word. It’s so simple, but it brings with it so many positive associations! Fruit. Ice cream. Family. Eating al fresco. I’m sure you have your own; those are mine. Besides all that, I love that I can pack a dessert full of fruit and then call it good for me… and then call it snack. And breakfast. And maybe lunch. Why not? Fruit+whole grains+healthy fats = a balanced(ish) meal, happy tummy, and happy soul.

This post is rather short, as I’ve been a bit under the weather. I also loooove the photos, so this time, less is more!

Life is short. Eat pie. Be happy!

Simple Blueberry Pie with a Coconut Oil Crust

I used the coconut oil crust recipe from Food 52, here, with only a slight modification (ww flour, always!). I wanted to use coconut oil, since it provides a nutritional bump in healthy fats (among other things like antioxidants, antimicrobials, and a host of other wonderful things). I always struggle with pie crust, partially from lack of patience and practice, and also probably because I’ve never used a trusted recipe. I really liked this one though—not only did it come together relatively easily, but it also was quite probably the best-tasting crust I’ve ever made. Winner. I’ll be making this one again, when I can get my hands on some peaches :)

I used blueberries I’d frozen in the summer—if you use frozen fruit, no need to thaw it first.

Whole Wheat Coconut Oil Crust

2.25 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp coconut sugar (or other granulated sugar)
1/2 c coconut oil, cool enough to be solid
1/3-1/2 c ice water

You can do this by hand, or use a food processor if you want to save time, like me. Food processor method: toss flour, salt, and sugar into the processor and pulse to combine. Add in solid coconut oil, and pulse again. It should start to come together when you pinch a bit. Pulse in 1/3 c ice water, until the dough starts to come together even more; adding ice water a tablespoon at a time until it holds together. You should be able to hold a handful without it disintegrating into crumbs. A few crumbly bits are okay, but it should be relatively easy to form it into a ball to roll out.

Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Toss dough onto the freshly floured surface (or, if you’re smart, onto wax paper so you can pick it up easily… definitely remembered that trick *after* I rolled it all out on the counter, oops), and roll it out until it’ll fit into your pie dish of choice. I used a deep-ish one, so I had enough crust left over for a few decorations but not for a lattice.

Gently lift crust into the pie pan, and crimp the edges so it looks nice! Prick the bottom a few times to prevent sogginess (no one wants that). I baked mine immediately—if you’re going to wait a bit, wrap the ball of it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge, letting it come to room temperature before rolling it out.

Blueberry Biz!

enough blueberries to fill your pie pan of choice. I probably had 1.5-2 c, and could have used a bit more if I’d had them.
squirt of lemon juice (about half a lemon’s worth, mine were Meyer lemons, hooray!)
2-3 tbsp brown sugar, depending on berry sweetness
1/6-1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour*

*apologies for the indefinite measurements… when I make pie filling, I usually don’t measure and taste as I go!

Preheat oven to 425, and make sure you have your prepared pie crust lurking around on hand somewhere.

Toss blueberries with lemon juice, brown sugar, and flour in a large bowl. Add blueberries into the prepared pie crust. If you have leftover crust and want to roll it out so that you have an excuse to play with cookie cutters, by all means do so! Place little pieces of crust on top of blueberries, and pop the entire thing into the oven for 15 minutes on 425, then lower the temp to 350 for another 45 minutes. Pie is done when the juices are a little bubbly and the crust is browned. I like my blueberries to have more body and be less like soup, so I took mine out at the hour mark. Let cool for a bit before slicing! Pie stores well in the fridge for the next day’s breakfast… and is reeeeally good with whipped coconut cream. Just sayin’. (I used a can of Trader Joe’s Coconut Cream, chilled it for a few hours, scraped off the cream and whipped it with an electric mixer. I added just a hint of vanilla and maple syrup).

And one more… just because I happened to make this on Pi Day, and seriously, who doesn’t like extra pictures of pie??

January 24, 2013

An obsession with perpendicular vaulting and also rice pudding

I kind of love Harry Potter.

As in, not the kid. Obviously. But the books! And the movies, on a certain level. They’re just so my generation. And besides, when I turned eleven and didn’t get a Hogwarts letter, I convinced myself that the yank version of Hogwarts started later, and that I still had a chance to be magical. Doesn’t every little kid at some point want to do magic? Wand waving type magic though, not the sawing people in half variety…

My patronus would undoubtedly be a tiger… which is really just a big kitty!!

I also wish I had classes in a castle. I mean, HELLO have you SEEN the perpendicular vaulting in there?! It’s freaking gorgeous (Side note: during the epic battle of Hogwarts takes place in the last book, I kind of had a mini panic attack until I reminded myself that it was a set, and not some piece of glorious architecture). And um, turrets?! Lancet windows? The great hall ceiling?? And staircases that move? (wait, maybe no on that last one for expediency’s sake…) Anywayyy. Nerd alert! Ever since I wrote my thesis I’ve been startlingly aware of gothic architecture. At one point I toyed with the idea of proposing a thesis discussing the Hogwarts architecture in relation to the neo-gothic, but I kind of didn’t think that would go over real well… Whatever. It would have been an entertaining presentation!

Anyway. Enough babble: time for dessert (which is obviously why you’re all here anyway, riiiight? Or can it be that you really like reading my random tangents? Wait. Don’t answer that). I have an Italian dessert for you today, which is kind of a cross between baked rice pudding and a soufflé. It’s delicious. I don’t care if you don’t like rice pudding, you should make this anyway. Big thanks to Elaine and Ramona who dropped off a massive bag of blood oranges for me! I’m still figuring out what to do with the rest, but never fear, they’ll go in many delicious things I’m sure.

Torte di Riso

Ever so slightly adapted from Nutmegs, seven, here! I was able to get 9 servings out of my 10″ springform pan. This torte is delicious, worth every minute of stirring over the stove. It is dense yet light, chewy yet fluffy. The blood oranges lend it just a little bit of citrusy overtones, and the vanilla bean makes your kitchen smell like heaven. I know those little beans are expensive, but seriously: this is worth it!

4 c milk (I used 3.25 unsweetened almond milk, 0.75 c 1% dairy, as that’s what I had)
1 vanilla bean, split
zest of 1 blood orange
1/3 c granulated sugar
7/8 c arborio rice
3.5 tbsp blood orange juice
3 large eggs, separated

Add milk, vanilla bean, orange zest, and sugar into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Add the rice and simmer for 30 minutes, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid (Mine went for more like 40 minutes, so use your best judgement). The rice should be cooked and slightly al dente. Whisk it good a few times, then leave to cool (if you can prevent yourself from eating it straight out of the pan… not that I speak from experience or anything *ahem*). It should thicken a bit more as it cools.

Preheat the oven to 350, and grease a 10″ springform pan (I used coconut oil as usual).

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks; then add in orange juice and whisk until thick and gorgeously orangey. Stir this into the cooled rice. Whip the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks, then fold 1/3 of them into the rice. Once incorporated, fold in the rest.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, evening out the top with a spatula. Bake for 60-65 minutes, until a tester comes out clean (mine went for exactly 60). If the cake browns too much during baking, loosely cover the top with foil. Let cool, then cut with a sharp knife! I stored mine in the fridge and it kept well for a few days (let’s be real, it only lasted about two).

August 21, 2012

“Is this a special occasion?” And other no-bake madness.

Apparently once as a toddler, I said to my mother (regarding an ordinary dinner): “Always eat your veggies first, except for special occasions”… pause… “Is this a special occasion?”. See? Apparently my brain is hardwired this way (it must have been all the tofu I was fed as a kinder). Veggies are delicious. But I also love dessert… so what better when dessert and good-for-me ingredients tango together and create fabulous babies?? Or rather, when I can sneak healthy-type things into otherwise deceptively delicious desserts. Precocious child that I was (ha) I apparently developed my philosophies waaaay early in life: always attempt to get away with eating dessert first! Life is short.

Although I also was quoted saying (in response to my mother saying that veggies made you strong), “No mommy, sleep does that!”. Hehe. Right on both counts, I should think?

Anyway. Pie. The next in the series of it’s-too-hot-to-bake-much-less-live-ew ‘baking’, here’s pie! Thankfully it’s cooled off slightly around these parts in the last few days, so I’m thinking cookies or somesuch later today. Because (after getting up at 5) I washed my car, which desperately needed it, and now I’m tired and need sustenance. Preferably snacky cookies. Uh oh, look out. But back to pie. Who doesn’t love pie? Delicious. Snappy. Frosty. Melty.

Just goes to show, bananas are awesome in pretty much any form. Besides, I love that they give this pie body and make it acceptable for breakfast. Potassium win. Plus antioxidants from cocoa and healthy fats from cashews and peanuts. AND dark chocolate. Definitely breakfast material in my book. Or at least elevenses, that awkward hungry time between breakfast and lunch (otherwise known as second breakfast, if it involves a muffin in Ricardo’s class).

that crust could have used a minute less in the oven…

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Banana Pie

I gratefully borrowed the recipe from Back to Her Roots, here! I made a few small adaptations so that I didn’t need to make a run to the store, but if I made it again, I’d like to try peanuts in the crust (I used cashews, as it was what I had). I also made this in a deep-dish pie dish, so I made 1.5 times the filling so that it would be a little taller. In a normal dish, the amount below should be fine. Maybe next time some coconut needs to go somewhere in this? Food for thought…

Putz and acquire for the crust:

1.25 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Pinch kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup raw cashews*
1/3 cup milk bev (I used 1% cow’s milk)
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil (canola is fine too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling-tastic (second set of numbers is the amount for a deep dish pie):

3 large, ripeish bananas (or 4.5)
1/4 cup honey (optional, only add if bananas aren’t very sweet)**
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (1/4 + 1/8 c)
1 cup light coconut milk (canned, please) (1.5 c)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (1.5 tsp)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter (1/4 + 1/8 c)

Chopped salted peanuts and dark chocolate for the topping, plus ice cream if you’re feeling frisky.

*The original recipe called for equal amounts of unsalted peanuts, but I still had raw cashews left over. The crust was still really good (I love the addition of nuts), but I’d be curious to try it with peanuts.

**I used just about 1/4 c of honey in my total amount of filling (1.5 times the recipe above), since I wanted this to be a bit sweeter than I usually prefer (sharing is caring). I may leave it out next time, depending on banana sweetness.

Preheat the oven to 375.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cashews. Pulse until combined and nuts are finely ground. In a liquid measure, combine milk bev, egg yolk, vinegar, oil, and vanilla. With the food processor running, drizzle the liquids into the dry ingredients and run until the dough forms into a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out until slightly larger than the diameter than your pie pan of choice. Transfer the crust to the ungreased pie pan and flute the edges. Use a forkish thing to poke steam vents in the bottom (no one wants soggy, puffy crust). Bake for 16-18 minutes, until lightly browned (mine would have been good at 16ish, my edges got a bit brown). Let cool completely before filling.

While the crust is cooling, make the filling! If you’re not like me and have a decent blender, use that. If you’re like me and your blender is utter crap (yes. it is. it struggles even with a basic milkshake, much less anything more solid. Blender fail), use your food processor again. Chuck in all the filling ingredients (bananas through peanut butter, above) and blend until smooth, scraping the sides if necessary. Once the crust is cool, pour in the filling and smooth it out. Top with chopped peanuts and chocolate. Carefully transfer to the freezer, and freeze for 2ish hours. Mine sat for longer, so I let it thaw on the counter for about 25 minutes before we served it, which worked perfectly.