Deep Dish Dulce de Leche Apple Pie

This year for the Relief Society Broadcast the Stake provided pie afterwards and, to my surprise, the pie they served was actually wonderfully delicious! It was the apple pie with a kind of caramel matrix/sauce with it and even though it must have been commercially made to feed so many I loved it and it has left me with a hankering to try making something like that myself. I found this recipe in a round about internet way, and when we had dinner with our friends the Perrys this weekend they requested it off of my extensive pie list. And while the pie was delicious, there is no doubt about that, I found the caramel a little lacking and thus am still on the perfect caramel apple pie recipe hunt. Should you know of one, find me the recipe so I can try it. If you don't have one, starting here will never disappoint but only make your mouth very happy.

P.S. I used Granny Smith and Fuji apples for my pie, and it was very sweet and I almost think I should have used straight Granny Smith so there would be more tart contrast of the apples against the sweetness of the caramel.

P.P.S. See below link for how to make the homemade dulce de leche.

From Recipe Girl:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/10/04/deep-dish-dulce-de-leche-apple-pie/

Ingredients:

1/2 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. granulated sugar
1/3 C. cornstarch (I used flour)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 T.)
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt (I also added a pinch of cloves)

7 to 8 cups of peeled, sliced apples
1/2 C. dulce de leche (canned or homemade)
2 T. apple cider (I used cranberry juice)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Double crust for 9-inch pie
Egg white mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
Coarse sugar for top, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a small bowl, mix sugars, cornstarch, spices and salt.

3. In a large bowl, toss together apples, dulce de leche, apple cider and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and toss to combine.

4. Roll out pie dough as large as possible keeping it a good thickness. Line deep dish pie pan with crust and let it hang over the sides. Brush with egg white mixture. Add filling and spread out evenly.

5. Roll out second crust and place on top of pie. Crimp edges together in a decorative fashion to seal. Brush with egg white mixture. Cut a few holes in the top crust for venting. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 375F and bake for another 30 minutes.

7. Remove pie from oven and cool on rack for several hours to allow filling to set.

Strawberry & Lemon Curd Easy Summer Pie

So there was this time when I saw an "easy summer pie" recipe in the New York Times and I wanted it SO BADLY to be the best summer pie because not only did it have strawberries and lemons, but the crust had vanilla wafers and saltines, something I first was introduced to by SLB when she was SLO but have never tried myself. So I was so excited to try this! I was!....

But oh dear. What a disaster it was. Not all the recipe's fault, but certainly parts of it were. For starters, the crust was so salty the Robber and I couldn't even eat it, we scraped all the curd off and threw the crust away. I think it is salvageable, so I'll post the recipe here sans extra salt anyway, just in case I get bold enough to try it again in the future. Secondly, I ended up dumping almost half the curd on the kitchen floor. And then, the berries. Well. Call me boring, but I like them better just plain with sugar. Gah. But what I am posting is the original recipe sans salt in the crust so here you have it, if after all my comments, you (the future me) still want to try.

From Millicent Souris' new cookbook "How To Build A Better Pie" by way of the NYTimes:

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/bookshelf-how-to-build-a-better-pie/?ref=dining

Ingredients:

For the saltine vanilla wafer cracker crust:

½ sleeve saltine crackers (16)

16 vanilla wafers

1 stick unsalted butter

¼ C. granulated sugar

1 egg white 

For the lemon curd (yield: 2 cups):

Juice & zest of 3 lemons

1 stick unsalted butter

1 C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the strawberry topping:

1 pint strawberries (the smaller the better)

2 T. raw sugar

Zest and juice of one lemon

½ tsp. salt

3 sprigs of tarragon, or 4 sprigs of mint, or 4 sprigs of chervil

Optional: a scraped vanilla pod

Directions:

For the crust: 

1. Melt butter in a small pan. Pull from heat before it browns and let cool. 

2. Toss the crackers and wafers in a food processor and pulse until crumbs begin to form. Gradually add the butter, sugar, salt and egg white. Turn the food processor off, and turn the mixture into the pie plate. With a level, steady hand lightly press the crust into the plate. Evenly tap the crust across the bottom of the plate and up the sides about half an inch. It should be even in thickness. 

3. Place crust in refrigerator to rest for at least 20 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once the crust has rested, bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Pull and cool. While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd.

For the lemon curd:

1. Fill a medium-size sauce pot about a third way with water and heat. Use a bowl that will fit atop the pot, or nestle down a bit, without touching the water. Cut the butter into small chunks and toss in the bowl with the sugar. Place on the pot so it starts to melt as you zest the lemons, keeping the zest separate to add at the end. 

2. Whisk the melting butter and sugar together and add the lemon juice, whisking together well.

3. Lift your bowl and make sure the water is gently simmering (not boiling). Gently beat the three eggs in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the bowl over simmering water, whisking everything together. 4. Once the mixture is combined, use a rubber spatula to continuously scrape the bowl around the sides (especially the bottom) so everything cooks evenly. The mixture will thicken in 7 to 10 minutes, and should become more cohesive as it firms up along the edges of the bowl.

5. Add the lemon zest and salt. Mix. 

6.Turn into another bowl and place cling wrap flush across the top of the curd (this prevents a “skin” from developing). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the strawberry topping:

1. Hull the strawberries, then cut in half lengthwise (if they are bigger than the tip of your fingers). Toss them with the raw sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. 

2. Pick the herb of your choice and chop. Gently bruise the stems and toss the them, the herbs and vanilla pod with the fruit. Let the mixture macerate at room temperature, while everything else cools.

Putting it all together:

1. After 30 minutes, fill the crust with the curd. Refrigerate again until the curd settles and tightens.

2. Cut the pie into 8 slices, soaking the knife into hot water after each slice and wiping it clean. Plate the slices, then take a spoonful of the dressed strawberries to top the pie. Finish with a drizzle of strawberry juice and enjoy.

Pumpkin Waffles and Magical Buttermilk Syrup

This last weekend the Robber and I went down to Claremont so that I could see where the Humbob used to humbobble around as he turned from a wee Bob to a young Bob. We stayed with his friends, the F.s, who were in the bishopric of his singles' ward at the time. The F.s are generous, enthusiastic cooks who love to eat and were constantly serving us the most delicious foods. At one point I was surrounded by fresh hummus, organic peanut butter, ricotta cheese dip, bagel chips, pita chips, apple slices, and pretzels. Oh my! For Sunday breakfast Sister F. made us fresh blueberry waffles with this syrup and the Robber just about died of happiness. He gushed about the syrup so much that I asked Sister F. for the recipe (along with several others.) Apparently she brings waffles and syrup to the high school she teaches at too and the kids there are much like the Robber in their response.

We didn't have the pumpkin waffles, but why not set the recipe down here just in case we run into a waffle maker some day?

From Sister F., no link available.

Ingredients and directions for the waffles:

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. baking powder

1 T. cinnamon

1 T. sugar

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

4 egg yolks

4 egg whites (beat until stiff peaks and then fold into batter at the end)

1 C. pumpkin

1 T. vanilla

1 1/2 C. milk

3/4 C. butter, melted

Mix all ingredients together. Best if you use a Belgium (Belgian?) waffle maker.

Ingredients and directions for the syrup:

In large frying pain, boil:

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. milk and 1 tsp. lemon juice (or 1/2 C. buttermilk)

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. light corn syrup

Remove from heat and then add:

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Syrup will be very frothy once you add the baking soda.

Raspberry, Almond, and Goat Cheese Empanadas

This was another recipe where I told the Robber what I made and he made a face at me and I wanted to say well then, you can't have any, but then he ate one and decided it was the best thing ever and I am a sucker when the Robber likes what I make and I get all happy, but maybe I would be happier if I hadn't told him and then I could just eat these all myself! So good!

I didn't have the time or energy to make 20 small empanadas, so I made 8 big ones which threw the filling-to-dough ratio quite off, with not enough filling, so I threw in some Ghiradelli chocolate chips and almonds into my leftover dough and it was delicous! I might just use this dough and put anything into it, but trust me if you have the goat cheese, go that route. So good.

Note: I also did not put the almonds in the filling but rather opted just sprinkle the tops generously with almonds (after brushing them with egg so the almonds would stick), which allowed the filling to remain creamy and smooth on the inside. I mixed the raspberries into the filling directly also instead of adding them separately to each empanada.

Note: If you make 8 empanadas, use about 1/4 cup of filling per empanada.

From a Hint of Honey:

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2009/05/raspberry-almond-and-goat-cheese.html

Ingredients:

For the basic sweet pastry dough:

3 C. all purpose flour (I used half white whole wheat)

1/4 C. sugar

Pinch of salt

2 sticks butter (16 T.), cut into 16 pieces

2 eggs

2-4 T. cold water

For the raspberry goat cheese filling:

12 oz. raspberries (fresh or frozen)

11 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature

½ C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T. orange zest

½ cup sliced almonds

1 egg, yolk and white separated and lightly whisked

¼ cup demerara or Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Prepare basic pastry crust dough as follows:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.

2. Add the butter, eggs and water until a clumpy dough forms.

3. Knead the dough for a few minutes.

4. Form dough into 2 balls, flatten into thick discs, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

5. Divide dough and roll out into as many thin disks as desired.

2. Combine the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange zest in a bowl, mix well.

3. To assemble the empanadas place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture, a couple of raspberries and a few almond slices on the center of the empanada disc.

4. Brush the edges of the empanada disc with the egg whites.

5. Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges, use a fork to help seal the empanadas.

6. Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the egg yolk; this will give them a nice golden glow when baked.

7. Sprinkle the almond slices on the top of the empanadas, do this immediately after you brush them with the egg yolk, it will help the almond slices stick to the empanada.

8. Sprinkle each empanada with a little bit of the demerara sugar.

9. Chill the empanadas for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake, this will help them seal better.

10. Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven at 375 F for 15-20 minutes (longer if making bigger empanadas) or until golden. Serve warm.

Yield: 8-20 empanadas.

Coconut Hot Chocolate

Because I have the sniffles today I deserve this, don't you think?

Note: This is very rich even using "lite" coconut milk, and especially with whipped cream (I didn't do the meringue) on top. I could barely drink half of it myself. I think little girls would love it in small tea cups. Who knew coconut milk could even be used in hot chocolate? I want to try this with white chocolate. The end.

From the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/dining/111arex.html

Ingredients:

For the hot chocolate:
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 15-oz. can coconut milk
1/4 C. dark brown sugar
Pinch kosher salt
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the meringue:
1 large egg white
3 T. superfine sugar.

Directions:

1. Whisk cocoa into 1/3 cup boiling water.

2. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, brown sugar and salt. Simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Whisk in hot cocoa and chocolate until smooth. Stir in vanilla.

3. In bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg white on medium speed until it begins to foam, about 1 minute. Add superfine sugar tablespoon by tablespoon as mixer is running. Beat until egg white stiffens to soft peaks and is shiny, 5 minutes. Dollop onto cups of hot chocolate.

Yield: 2 (-4) servings.

Raspberry Lemonade Bars

A really good lemon bar is like heaven on earth to me. I love them so much! I came to Stanford for graduate school partially because at recruitment weekend they fed us lemon bars, seriously. But I have not met with much luck in making them for myself. They always turn out runny or taste too much like eggs. But when I saw this recipe and knew that raspberries were still in season, I thought I would give it a try (especially as it would allow me to use my new kitchen toy, the immersion blender/food processor thingy.) I made a half batch in a 9x9 pan and they came out perfect! Tangy and sweet and delicious. The Robber and I ate the whole pan in two days. These are super easy so I will definitely make them again when raspberries are back. Now what to do with six egg yolks...

From Annie: http://annies-eats.net/2011/09/02/raspberry-lemonade-bars/

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2¼ sticks (18 T.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ C. sugar

2 C. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

For the raspberry-lemon layer:

3 C. sugar

1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

3 T. lemon zest

¼ tsp. salt

3 C. frozen raspberries, thawed (I used fresh)

6 large egg whites

2 large eggs

1 1/3 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used a wee bit of lime too)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.

3. Add the dough to the prepared baking pan. Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.

4. While the crust is baking, make the top layer. Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the raspberries to a fine mesh sieve and press through, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.

5. Add the egg whites and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend. Whisk in the raspberry puree and lemon juice until smooth. (Or you can just add everything into a blender and blend it around without the sieve part, we didn't have a problem with seeds using fresh berries.)

6. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

7. Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan. Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.

Dust the tops with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Post-edit: Made some of these with strawberries and they didn't set up as well as the raspberry kind. Don't know if it is the strawberries themselves or something I did differently, but I like the tangy-ness of the raspberry kind more anyway.

Nutmeg Scented Scones

I'm branching out from Annie and looking for more great scone recipes elsewhere. Eventually I'll get around to reviewing my Annie scones and making a list of keepers/non-keepers, but for now let me just say that I'm loving my new scone-for-breakfast lifestyle and my supply of old frozen scones is slowly dwindling! So I'm looking for new recipes and sorted through the trove on Epicurious of four star scones to try out. This was the first one I made because the ingredients were simple and I had everything on hand. But of course I froze them all right away and omitted the glaze, so like with the other scone recipes, a real review will have to come later.

Nutmeg Scented Scones, originally from Bon Appetit 2003:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Nutmeg-Scented-Scones-108945

Ingredients:

2 C. all purpose flour

1/3 C. golden brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. freshly grated whole nutmeg or ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

6 T. chilled unsalted butter, cut into smaller pieces

1 C. sour cream

1 egg white, beaten to blend with 2 tsp. water

2 tsp. sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in processor; blend 10 seconds. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add sour cream. Using on/off turns, blend until moist clumps form. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead 4 turns to form ball. Roll out dough to 8-inch square (about 3/4 inch thick). Cut square into 8 wedges.

3. Brush with egg-white glaze; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Transfer to baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

4. Bake scones until tops are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer scones to rack and cool slightly. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store scones airtight at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven 10 minutes, if desired.

Meringue/Pavlova

This recipe comes by way of my sister's blog rebeatworld.blogspot.com, and a bridal shower food that she made some time ago. I think she got the recipe originally from a pavlova search on Epicurious.The Robber and I made lemon meringue pie for pi day and the Robber was worried the meringue would go bad if we didn't eat it all fast, so I tried substituting the meringue from this pavlova recipe instead-- with the result that the meringue did NOT go bad, and was the most beautiful meringue I've ever made, but I think the vinegar gave the meringue a very funny flavor. I only had distilled white, not apple cider like R. used when she made it. The Robber loved the pavlova flavor, but I hated it so I don't think I'll make this again until I can figure out how to use something different. Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar for the acid? Does anyone know?

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 T cornstarch
3 large egg whites, ideally held at room temperature for 30 minutes
3 T cold water
1 tsp vinegar (recipe said distilled white; R. used apple cider and liked the flavor)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F with rack in middle.

2. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch. Beat whites with a little salt at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Add water (whites will loosen); beat until they hold soft peaks again.
Increase speed to medium high and add sugar/starch 1 T at a time. After it's all added, beat 1 minute more.

3. Add vinegar; beat at high speed until glossy and holding stiff peaks, about 5 minutes or more.

4. Spread meringue on parchment on a baking sheet; make a nice circle with its edge slightly higher than the center.

5. Bake until pale golden and with a crust, about 45 minutes.

6. Turn oven off and prop door open slightly with a wooden spoon. Cool in oven 1 hour.

Note: Because we used it on a pie we baked it for one hour at 300 degrees.

Maple Mousse Pie

Another pie from the NYTimes Thanksgiving list. This pie was not my favorite because the sugar-- if you cook it to 237-- becomes a tad too carmelized/burned which gives the pie not an unpleasant, but certainly a more done, flavor. The chocolate sauce helps to mitigate the effect. The crust is good though, and I figured out how to smash up chocolate cookies better than I ever had before, using a disposable roasting pan and a regular cereal bowl. It was a total triumph to me.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fine chocolate cookie crumbs

1 cup maple sugar

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

1 cup pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B

2 cups heavy cream

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix crumbs with 1/4 cup maple sugar, the salt and the butter. Press into bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Bake chilled crust 10 minutes, cool to room temperature, then place in freezer.

2. Beat egg whites until frothy. Place all but a tablespoon of remaining maple sugar in a saucepan, add 1/4 cup water, bring to a boil and cook until mixture is 237 degrees on a candy thermometer. Continue beating egg whites until softly peaked. Then, beating all the while, drizzle in all the maple sugar mixture and beat until egg whites are firm and glossy. Beat in 4 tablespoons maple syrup. Refrigerate.

3. Whip cream until stiff. Fold into egg white mixture. Refrigerate separately until cookie crust is cold. Spoon mousse in prepared cookie crust, smooth top and freeze 4 hours. When frozen, cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

4. Melt chocolate on low heat. Whisk in remaining maple syrup and vanilla. Place in a container, cover and refrigerate.

5. Do not thaw pie for serving. Dust top with remaining tablespoon maple sugar and serve. Spoon some chocolate sauce over each portion.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Mom's recipe, again I don't know originally from where. The only recipe lemony enough I have ever encountered! One of my favorite pies ever, I hope some day to master a meringue recipe to go along with it.

Ingredients/Directions:

Bake a nine inch pie shell.

Sift into a 2 or 3 quart saucepan:

1 1 /2 c sugar

6 T cornstarch

1/4 t salt

Gradually blend in:

1/2 c cold water

1/2 c fresh lemon juice

When smooth add, blending thoroughly:

3 well-beaten egg yolks

2 T butter

Add:

1 1/2 c milk

Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring gently. As it begins to thicken, reduce the heat and allow to simmer slowly 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in 1 t lemon zest or about 1/4 t lemon oil. Preheat oven to 325 or 350. Pour it into the pie shell and cover with meringue (meringue should completely cover lemon filling):

2 egg whites, whipped till frothy

add: 1/4 t cream of tarter

Whip till stiff but not dry; peaks should lean over slightly. Beat in 1 T at a time:

3 T sugar or 4 T powdered sugar and 1/2 t vanilla.

Pie should bake for 10-15 minutes at 325-350 until meringue begins to turn golden-brown.