Apple Pie

Dac and I went Apple Picking at an orchard in Warwick. It was a first for both of us - we had a lot of fun and got A TON of apples. (maybe like 10lbs). I love apple pie so decided to make one for Sunday dinner party with great friends. It was pretty easy to make and sooo delicious! Definitely not the healthiest thing but I am pretty sure I will be able to make a healthy version - so watch for that.

Recipe:

Pie Shell - Yes I have to make it from scratch - there's no other way! This will make enough for 2 9inch pie shells.

The key to this is to have everything (except the flour and salt) as cold as possible. When you are rolling out the first half of the dough be sure to have the other half in the fridge. You may need to refrigerate all of the dough to make it easier to work with.

Sift together and put in a food processor:

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

Add:

3 Tbsp cold butter cubed

1/2 Cup cold shortening

Pulse until resembles coarse crumbs.

Add 1/4 Cup Cold Shortening and pulse until pea sized crumbs.

Drizzle with 6 Tbsp ice cold water. Blend until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the side. (about 1 minute). Divide dough in half

Refrigerate or roll immediately. I rolled one half of the dough out just a little bigger than the pie pan. The other half I rolled out and cut into strips and latticed the pie.

Apple Filling:

6-8 medium/large apples - peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4 inch slices

In a large wide frying pan melt 3 Tbsp butter

Add the Apples and coat with the butter. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until apples are still crisp but tender.

Increase heat to high and add:

1/2 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Coat apples and bring to a rolling boil to thicken the liquid. Cook for about 3 minutes. When done remove apples to cookie sheet and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.

Once apples are cooled add to the pie shell. Lattice the top (or whatever top you decide on).

Cook for 30-40 minutes or until top is browned and filling starts to boil.

Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Mini Ricotta Cheesecakes with Carmelized Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

I made eggplant parm the other day and have a bunch of leftover ricotta. I don't want to just throw it out so here is a recipe I found and manipulated a litte bit. I've made ricotta cheese cookies before (haven't made since I started this blog) and they were great so I decided to try a different recipe. I also love cheesecake but don't get to enjoy it that often. In my searches for a recipe I came across a recipe by Giada that someone changed a bit. I also came across another recipe for a Turtle Cheesecake (that didn't call for ricotta cheese). So I decided to combine the two and make mini ricotta turtle cheesecakes.

The recipe called for 1/2 Cup of sugar but when I tasted the batter it was very sweet so I decided to add more ricotta and more cream cheese.

I had carmelized pecans in my cupboard (a gift from someone). I decided to grind them up and add them to the crust mixture. The mixture itself was very yummy uncooked, but then again how can carmelized pecans, melted butter and graham crackers taste bad?

Ok - so on to the recipe.....

Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare your mini muffins tins with mini muffin papers :)

Crust:

1 handful of Carmelized pecans - yes I didn't measure (If you don't have the carmelized pecans just omit them)

2/3 Cup crushed graham crackers

2 T. butter, melted

Put the pecans in a food processor until a crumb mixture. Add the graham crackers and blend. While the pecans and graham crackers are processing pour in the melted butter.

Put about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of the crust mixture into the prepared muffin tins. Use something a smiliar size to press the crust firmly into the papers.

Cheesecake Filling:

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
6 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp vanilla (I am going to use amaretto next time)
2 eggs

Put everything into a food processor and processor until blended and smooth.

Fill the muffin tins almost to the top (leaving a small space for a pecan or other topping (carmel, chocolate, etc.).

Get a sheet pan big enough to hold the muffin tin and fill 1/4 of the way with water. Place the filled muffin tin on the sheet pan. Place in oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately put in freezer for about 20 minutes.

Store in the refrigerator.

Topping: I did Caramel and Melted Chocolate drizzled on topped with a tiny piece of the carmelized pecans. But you can do any topping.

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 T Butter

1/2 T milk

Melt all in pot until sugar is dissolved and starts to bubble a little bit. Let cool for just a minute and work quickly to drizzle over the cooled cheesecakes.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Well the season is upon us! Time for soups and stews and comfort foods! And that includes sweets! I've been dying to make something with pumpkin so I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting...YUM!! I made them with no white flour and no white sugar and with all organic ingredients. That being said - I can't say that it is the healthiest thing in the world. Still has brown sugar and butter in it - but hey - have to indulge! So here we go....

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cupcake tin with papers.

Melt 2 sticks of butter. Set aside to let cool slightly.

In a large bowl sift then whisk together:

2 Cups Spelt Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a separate bowl whisk together until incorporated:

1/2 Cup light agave nectar

The melted butter

4 large eggs

1 Cup brown sugar

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk gently and only until incorporated. (You do not want to overmix since you are using spelt flour. The gluten in spelt flour is more fragile than white or wheat flour. Whereas wheat flour needs to be mixed and kneaded for awhile to strengthen the gluten, you need to be much gentler with spelt flour taking care not to over-mix or over-knead. Over-mixing may result in too a crumbly texture.)

Fold in a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree.

Fill the cupcake tins halfway with the batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the tops spring back or a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before icing.

Icing:

8oz Cream Cheese at room temp

1/2 Cup butter at room temp

1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar

4 T Agave Nectar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat until light and fluffy.

Sprinkle iced cupcakes with cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg.

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing

I made this cake for my friend, Alfonso's birthday. It came out moist and was pretty sweet, but he loved it. It has a ton of sugar in it - so not what I love to bake with but I wanted to do something great for his bday. He loves Buddha and similar things to that. i found this picture online and decided to replicate it on the cake. I don't think it came out too bad for my first hand drawing on a cake. They thought it looked great. Being a perfectionist I know it could be better...I just need to take a trip to Chef Central and pick up some more tools...

I made 2 types of icing because I wanted one white and one Chocolate. You can just do one or the other - but I put a decoration on the top of the cake which is why I wanted it white. The white sugar icing is much more sweet than the Chocolate icing.

Recipe:

Chocolate Cake

2 Cups Sugar

1 3/4 Cup AP Flour

3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350F. Grease and line 2 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Slowly stir in the boiling water. (The batter is going to be pretty thin). Pour evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-32 minutes, Cool in pan for 10 minutes and move to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

6 oz chocolate chopped

2 extra large egg whites (room temp)

3/4 Cup sugar

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/3 tsp salt

3 sticks butter (room temp - not melted)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside and let cool to room temp.

Mix egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt in heat proof mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat until warm to touch - about 5 minutes. Beat with whisk attachment for 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Add 1 T of butter at a time on medium speed mixing until just incorporated. Scrape down bowl and add chocolate and vanilla. Mix until blended. If too soft put in refrigerator for a few minutes and beat again.

White Sugar Frosting

2 Cup confectioners Sugar

1/4 Cup shortening

2 T + 1 1/2 tsp milk (more or less if needed)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cream the sugar and shortening together. Slowly add the milk and vanilla until smooth and stiff consistency.