Apple "Pie"

With apples in season, I've been itching to make an apple pie. I haven't had the time, and I have been trying to exert some self control to not consume something so rich with all the baking I've been doing for special orders and my CSB. For a quick fix, I cooked some apple, topped it with healthy frozen yogurt, and a drizzle of caramel. Yum! Only the boys missed the crust....

Pretend Apple Pie Ala Mode

1 apple, peeled and chopped or thinly sliced

cinnamon

frozen vanilla yogurt or ice cream

Caramel Sauce

Place the apple pieces in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add a few drops of water. Microwave on high about one minute, or until the pieces are softened. Divide between four sundae cups. Top with a scoop of fro-yo or ice cream and a drizzle of warmed caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Warm, Tingly Brownies

A few weeks ago I realized it had been at least a year, maybe longer, since I'd made brownies! Usually I can only eat one since they're often super rich, so they're not usually my first thought when it comes to making cookie-like confections (snickerdoodles and sugar cookies are a whole other story, however!). I was feeling creative, though, and wanted to play with some chile powder.

I used a typical brownie recipe base and added a whole bunch of tasty things to jazz them up. Don't be afraid of the chile powder. It's mild and smoky and gives depth to the chocolate without being spicy. A warm heat lingers as the aftertaste in the back of your throat, and a hint of orange makes you pause and enjoy the flavor combination thoroughly. If you have some leftover, these make a wonderful base for an ice cream sundae!

Dark Chocolate Ancho Chile Brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped*
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp ancho chile powder**
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder, optional
1/4 tsp dried orange peel (or fresh, to taste)
pinch smoked (or regular) sea salt
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8" square baking pan.

Stir the butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk the eggs together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar to form a grainy paste. Stir in the vanilla, espresso powder, chile powder, orange peel, and salt. Stir in the melted chocolate until well mixed. Fold in the flour and pepitas.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack until cooled completely.

*As with all recipes, the quality of your ingredients drastically affects how your baked goods will turn out. Be sure to use high quality chocolate. I use Scharffenberger in these brownies.

*Ancho chile powder is mild and smoky flavored. Find it at Penzey's or in the Mexican aisle of your grocery store with the spice packets. New Mexico chile powder is similar and can be substituted.

Bakery Research

One of my favorite things to do when I get out of town is to check out eateries, bakeries, and farmers' markets in other places. I spent the last weekend in Portland visiting with family, picking up items I can't get locally, and looking into gluten-free baking.

Gluten-free? I am SO not hopping onto that trend personally.* It seems that whenever I'm out and about I am approached by people asking if I have done any GF baking, and several of my CSB members have asked as well. The interest is there, and not one bakery locally caters to the gluten-sensitive population. While I won't necessarily change the way I bake for my family and friends, I thought it would be interesting to sample some GF baked goods and see if they can be done well. I figure if I can make something yummy either way, then it doesn't really matter what type of flour I use.

My sister and I spent Friday afternoon driving to a few bakeries and collecting cupcakes and other treats to sample. We bought vegan, gluten-free, vegan-gluten-free, and some standard varieties from Sweet Pea, New Cascadia, Dovetail, and Back to Eden. I had them lined out on the counter top before cutting each into little bite-sized pieces (for sharing with our group), my camera poised to take a picture, and got sidetracked. My daughter was trying to climb onto the counter to get at them, fell over, and I stopped to shoo her out of the kitchen. So I forgot to take the picture. Oops! Please just imagine what each looked like....

Sweet Pea Vegan Bakery~ Sweet Pea is completely vegan, and overrated in my book. They serve sandwiches, soups, coffee, and sweets. They had some pretty layer cakes in their case, along with some nutty brownies, scones, and other items. We bought a vegan "regular" cupcake (wheat flour, but made without butter, eggs, or other animal byproducts) that was chocolate with pink raspberry buttercream and a cupcake that was vegan-gluten-free in a coconut-lemon flavor. Alongside those we picked out a hefty 4x5" pumpkin cheesecake square. Let's just say I am not a fan of Sweet Pea after trying those. Or maybe of vegan baking. The cakes were dry and relatively flavorless. The raspberry buttercream didn't really taste like raspberries. My brother-in-law thought the dry, spongy GF lemon-coconut cupcake tasted like suntan lotion (how he knows that...?!). And the cheesecake square? It was equally odd, not really tasting much like pumpkin, just of creamy orange-colored tofu. My son wouldn't even finish his teeny piece of "cheesecake."

Back to Eden~ I like this little shop. It's a cute little place on Alberta Street (a very fun, hip neighborhood) and is situated next door to Townshend's where we enjoy getting delicious bubble tea (which, for the record, is not like the usual funky bubble tea. This is more high-end.). The people working are always friendly, and I believe it's also a vegan establishment. I picked up two cupcakes here, Lemon-Lavender-Poppyseed and GF Coconut-Rosewater. The Lemon-Lavender-Poppyseed was moist, almost like it had been syruped, and had a slightly tweedy texture from the crunchy seeds. It was tasty and made me say "mmm." The GF one was just OK. It was crumbly, with lots of flaked coconut throughout the cake, and the flavor wasn't particularly great. I have visited this store several times in the past, and while their goodies aren't quite as good as others I've had they are still pretty tasty.

Dovetail Bakery~ This is a bright, sunny little restaurant also located on Alberta Street. I believe they partner with a local CSA to do their own sort of CSB, but I wasn't able to talk with the owner to confirm that. They offered some beautiful fresh goods that looked prettier than the other bakeries I'd visited. I chose a lemon-blueberry sweet roll that had been baked in a jumbo muffin tin. What a brilliant idea! It kept its form and had an elegant presentation that I might just have to try and copy. Oh, and the flavors were bright and delicious, and their pastries are obviously made with high quality ingredients.

New Cascadia Gluten-Free Bakery~ New Cascadia is a completely GF facility, and they had stacks of premade pizza crusts, interesting brick-shaped loaves of bread, loaves of sourdough that looked like their artisan wheat cousins, and gorgeous jumbo cupcakes hanging out, ready for purchase in their bakery case. I bought three cupcakes: Vanilla, Pink Champagne, and Mexican Hot Chocolate. These were the best desserts we sampled, hands-down, and even knowing they were GF we couldn't tell a difference in texture, taste, etc. Oh, YUM! The crumb was fine and delicate, not dry or spongy like the others. The vanilla was a little...vanilla and run-of-the-mill, but still tasty. The Pink Champagne was awesome, delicately flavored and definitely memorable. The frosting on both was a typical butter and powdered sugar combination...good, but not extremely special. But the Mexican Hot Chocolate...? Wow. It was so moist, almost fudgy (but still light and fluffy, if that make sense), and had a definite cayenne kick in the chocolate cake, dark chocolate buttercream, AND in the large chocolate shavings decorating the top. A hint of cinnamon played with the pepper flavor, all melding to make the most divine sensation in our mouths. Everyone agreed it was stellar. This bakery is a must-stop when I get back up north! I even met the owner the next morning at the farmers' market, who was friendly and said her secret was probably just lots and lots of sugar. Hey, I can appreciate honesty!

I feel like I now have a good sense of how GF baking can be done well, and I have a small springboard to jump off from in my quest for a decent homemade GF cupcake. Stay tuned, and if/when I nail something tasty I'll definitely be posting it!

(Oh, and by the way, I didn't eat every single one of those cakes! Ugh. We cut them into little bite-sized pieces, plated them, and shared between the 6 of us, with leftovers!)

*I said "trend" because a lot of people think that going gluten-free will help them feel better or lose weight or whatever. There are a LOT of these types of people, especially in the Portland area. I mean no offense to people with wheat allergies/sensitivities or Celiac's Disease.

Just a Few...

Have you ever wanted to bake cupcakes for your family, but find that a batch makes WAY too many? For this reason I almost always cut the recipe in half, but even with the reduced portions I end up giving several away.

Also, I have found when baking cupcakes that making 12 or 24 rarely happens. In order to make them correctly, it is critical the baking cups are filled no more than 1/3-1/2 full. Otherwise the cakes will fall or spread over the top of the muffin pan and possibly be unsightly, with crisp edges. So, making a batch of 12 cupcakes usually ends up totalling 15 or 16.

Anyway, this morning I made a ton of canned apple pie filling. I had a little of the sweet gel left in the bottom of the pot, so I scraped it out and saved it. For what? I didn't quite know yet! Fast-forward to this evening when I went into the kitchen to assemble the crock-pot fajitas I had going. I couldn't resist whipping up a small batch of Buttermilk Spice Cupcakes and using a little leftover Cream Cheese Frosting and the remaining pie filling for a topping. Next time, though, I'll probably go with just cream cheese frosting...or I'll pipe some pie filling into the centers of the cupcakes before frosting them. But these were fabulous as well!

8 cupcakes is still generous, so you may still have leftovers...but you shouldn't be too overwhelmed (if there are four of you, like us)! Be sure to keep them refrigerated if you use cream cheese.

Buttermilk Spice Cupcakes (small batch)

1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup, plus 1 1/2 tbsp buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting

Apple Pie Filling, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8 muffin cups with papers.

Using a hand-held mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg. Add the spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix just until combined. Add the buttermilk and flour. Beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and beat three minutes.

Divide batter between the 8 cups. Bake 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely before frosting or topping with the pie filling.

Makes 8 cupcakes.

Simple Gourmet...

I love homemade pasta. I used to think it must be overrated; store bought is so much easier to just grab and dump into a pot of boiling water. In reality, homemade pasta is easy and just requires a little bit of planning and preparation. It's much more nutritious (or can be, anyway) than its dried cousin too.

My husband returned from deer hunting this evening, so I made a tomato sauce from garden tomatoes and onions, grilled some meatballs, and made a batch of whole wheat pasta to greet him as he walked in the door. I used eggs that I'd just gathered from our hens and half whole wheat and half white flour. The great thing about using eggs when making your pasta is that it adds protein and a host of other nutrients, perfect for vegetarian meals. (For this reason I often don't add meat to our pasta, but tonight we had to celebrate his return and meatballs are fun!) By using whole grains we consistently eat at least half the amount of pasta than we would if it was just plain white spaghetti noodles.

Whole Wheat Pasta for a Family of 4

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2-3 eggs, at room temperature
water

Mix the flours together in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs into the center and whisk using a fork, until the flour clings too much to be workable. Knead, using your hands to incorporate all of the flour. This process takes a few minutes, and you may need to add some water depending on how many eggs you used. Just add it slowly so you don't end up with a sticky dough...you want a smooth, almost craggy dough. Once your dough ball feels good, knead it 5-10 minutes longer. Cover and let rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Divide the dough in half. Flatten one piece and flour it well. If it's sticky it will stick to your pasta machine and tear. Roll to the thickness you prefer and cut. Repeat with remaining dough.

Cook in lightly salted boiling water until al dente, 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the noodles. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

Serves four, with a little leftover.

CSB Treats, Week 1!

For my first CSB pick-up I made a Whole Wheat Butter Cake, Raspberry-Plum Sauce, and whipped, sweetened Creme Fraiche for each customer. Naturally, I made one for my family too, and we enjoyed some of it for dessert tonight after an easy dinner.

The sauce was really easy to make, and the other recipes can be found on this blog as well (see above links, highlighted). Last week I picked local Green Globe and Italian plums, which I thought would pair nicely with the raspberries I had frozen (from our neighbor's house this summer).

Raspberry-Plum Sauce

Amounts are completely estimated; you can experiment and see what tastes the best to you, and work with whatever fruit quantities you have on hand.

A few pounds plums

Equal amount raspberries, fresh or frozen

Sugar, to taste

Halve and pit the plums. Place in a stockpot, add some water, cover, and cook until very soft. Run through a food mill to remove the skins. Place the puree back in the pot, add the raspberries, and bring to a boil. Add sugar to taste, depending on the quantity of fruit you're using (start small and increase slowly). Stir to dissolve.

At this point you can either cool the sauce and refrigerate it, or serve it warm. If you'd like to can it, bring it back up to a full boil, ladle it into hot jars, and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Super Healthy Muffins!

In my laziness I didn't take a picture of the morning muffins. A muffin's a muffin, right? We eat a lot of these mini quickbreads, and I'm always trying to come up with new versions of old favorites so we don't get bored. The following recipe uses maple syrup instead of sugar, and is 100% whole grain, without losing any sweetness and maintaining a light texture. My kids gave it a thumbs-up, and I'll be making them again and again!

To reduce the fat and make them even healthier, you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for some of the oil. I would've, except that I chronically forget to buy it at the store and I'm currently out of homemade, waiting for apple season to come locally.

Whole-Grain Morning Glory Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried currants, cranberries, or raisins
1/2 cup maple syrup
zest of 1 orange, optional
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil (or 3 tbsp canola oil, 3 tbsp applesauce)
1 large, or 2 medium organic carrots, grated
1 large apple, grated (Fuji works well)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, dry buttermilk, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the currants.

In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk, syrup, oil, zest, and eggs. Cover and refrigerate until the next morning, or proceed with recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffins cups, or line with papers.

Place the grated apple and carrot on top of the flour mixture. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir gently just until combined. Don't over mix!

Divide batter between muffin cups. Bake 18-22 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5-10 minutes in the pan before serving warm.