TWD: A Tourtely Apple Tart

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection of A Tourtely Apple Tart (page 306 & 307 of Dorie Greenspans' Baking From My Home to Yours) was made by Jeanette of The Whimsical Cupcake.



I halved the recipe and made four mini tarts. Isn't he cute?

I had a little trouble adjusting the baking time and temperature for my mini portions, but even with their crispy brown edges the tarts tasted great. They could have been a little sweeter and a little juicer, but not too bad for my first attempt at Dorie's Tourtely Apple Tart.

Thanks Jeanette

TWD: Caramelized Apple Shortbread Cake

A few days ago I discovered Dorie Greenspan's Cranberry Shortbread Cake, and I like it so much I decided to make it again, this time with apples.


First I caramelized the apples with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. I wish you could get a whiff of the smells coming from this skillet. Warm, spicy and oh-so Fall-like. Happy, happy, days.


After the apples had cooled, I grated my frozen shortbread cake dough into the pan and topped it with the apples. Yes, grated. I read somewhere that grating the dough creates a lighter, more delicate crust and it is true. Next time give it a try, you won't be sorry. Just watch those finger-tips!

A layer of Apple Butter...

And the rest of the grated shortbread dough. Note: I used too much dough on the bottom, so the top layer looks a little bare.

And if it wasn't sweet enough I topped the finished cake with cinnamon glaze. Can anyone say sugar coma? But hey, what a way to go.



Caramelized Apple Shortbread Cake

Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours pg 208-209 & 408


For the Cake:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• With an electric mixer beat the butter on medium speed until soft and smooth.
• Add the sugar and continue to beat until the sugar dissolves into the butter.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the eat, beating until it is absorbed.
• Beat in the vanilla.
• Add the flour mixture and using a sturdy rubber spatula mix only until it is incorporated.
  
• Divide the dough in half, pat into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until solid.
  

For the Caramelized Apples:

Ingredients:
3 medium apples, cored, peeled and sliced
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Ginger

1/4 - 1/2 cup Apple Butter (optional)


Directions:

• In a large skillet over medium-high heat melt the butter, then sprinkle the sugar over the melted butter.
• Cook the butter and sugar for 1 minute or so. You want the sugar to caramelize but not burn.
• Add the sliced apples and spices to the skillet and toss to evenly coat the apples with the spices, and butter/sugar. Cook until they are tender but not soft, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer the apples and buttery liquid to a plate.

Assembly:

• When the dough is frozen solid, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line the bottom and 2 sides of a 9 x 5" loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over the 2 sides. Lightly butter the parchment paper and non-covered side of the pan.
• Remove one ball of frozen dough and grate into the prepared pan. Distribute evenly.
• Spoon the caramelized apple on top of the bottom layer of dough.
• Cover the caramelized apples with the Apple Butter (optional).
• Grate the other half of the dough on top of the apples.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the cake is lightly golden brown.
• Cool for 20 minutes. Run a blunt knife on the two sides of the cake not covered by parchment paper. Lift the cake from the pan using the parchment paper sides as handles.
• Add a glaze if desired.
  

Cran-Apple Crisp Pie

I wanted to bake an apple pie for our Christmas Day lunch, but I couldn’t decide which recipe to try. Should I use a recipe that called for pre-cooking the apples or one that used raw? Raisins? Nuts? Did I want a double crust pie or one with crumble? The possibilities were infinite.

In the end I decided to use Dorie Greenspan’s Cran-Apple Crisp recipe but baked in a 9” deep-dish pie shell instead of a soufflé dish. Like all of Dorie’s recipes, it turned out yummy.

Here are the filling ingredients just waiting to be tossed together.

And here are all the yummy sugar-coated goodness squeezed into their pie-shell home.

And the crumb/crisp topping. (Not very pretty, huh?)

Such a shame to hide all those beautiful bright red cranberries and crisp green apples, but I new the end product would be delicious. Thanks again Dorie. Your recipes never disappoint.

Cran-Apple Crisp Pie

Adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours – Dorie Greenspan

For the topping
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

For the filling
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, don’t thaw)
1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden)
1/2 cup pecans
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 - 9" deep-dish pie shell (frozen or home made)

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

To make the topping:
Put all the topping ingredients in a large bowl. Using your fingers or a fork, cut the butter into the topping mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumb. (You can make the topping up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight bag.)

To make the filling:
Toss all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl. Place frozen (or home made) pie shell on the lined baking sheet. Pour the filling into the pie shell, and spoon the topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake 40-45 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit juices are bubbling up around it.

TWD - Cran-Apple Crisps

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie I tried the Cran-Apple Crisps (minus the cranberries). They were not the prettiest things to look at, but they sure were tasty.


Per Dorie Greenspan's instruction, the topping is made first which is a mixture of butter, brown sugar, oats, flour, coconut, cinnamon and ginger.


Dorie said to put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles "big curds". What the heck is a "big curd"??? I just mixed until the butter chunks were pea size. Close enough I guess. I also hate dirtying more dishes than absolutely necessary so I used my fingers instead of a food processor. A little messy, but one less appliance I have to clean.


Next toss all the "filling" ingredients together: apples, cranberries (I used pecan instead), raisins, sugar and little bit of flour.


Into the bowls the filling goes...


And then sprinkle the "crisp" on top of the filling.


Just out of the oven.


Like I said before, not the prettiest desert, but it taste like heaven. Sweet, spicy and oh so appley (sp). The perfect fall dessert.

TWD - Applesauce Spice Bars

This week's TDW (Tuesday with Dorie) challenge was Applesauce Spice Bars on pages 117 and 118 from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Individually I like all the ingredients in this recipe, but I wasn't wowed by the finished product. I found it too moist and wet, especially after the second day. I loved the glaze (it tasted just like pralines), but I think a maple cream cheese frosting (pictured above) would have been a better match with the spices.

Do I sound negative?

I don't mean to be discouraging, a lot of people love these bars, but I just like 'cakier' baked goods. If I tried it again, I would add more flour to the batter, include a crisp shortbread crust, and pair it with a maple cream cheese frosting. I guess I would also have to come up with a new name, because if I made all those changes they wouldn't be Dorie's Applesauce Spice Bars anymore. :)

Here are the apples, raisins and pecans waiting patiently for their dip in the batter.

The dry stuff...

Everything all mixed together...

Just out of the oven. I cut the recipe in half, and baked it in a 8" x 8" pan.

Cooking the glaze.

On the TWD website a lot of people mentioned that there was not enough glaze so I cooked twice as much (yum). They also mentioned that the glaze was thin and runny, so I cooked the syrup an extra 2 minutes. I may have gone overboard the cooking, because my glaze was a little brittle after it cooled.

The finished Applesauce Spice Bars with Brown Sugar Glzae.

Mini Apple Pies

A few months ago I stumbled across a blog entry for Mini Apple Pies and fell in love with the concept. Miniature little pie shells, tiny crimped edges, the little gems were just too cute for words! I had to give them a try...




When the 4th of July rolled around, I decided to bake mini apple pies rather than my usual offering (Mrs. Smith's frozen pie). So off to the store I went for Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust and apples. People always say to use tart varieties like Granny Smith in pie filling, but I like a mix of sweet, tart, firm and soft apple in my pies. Just call be a pie rebel.


Below is the Apple Pie filling recipe I used. It is from Michael Lomonaco with a few minor adjustments by me (added brown sugar and nutmeg, eliminated cloves and raisins).

Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds firm apples
1/2 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Pie Dough (make your own, or buy the roll-out kind like me)
1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons water to make an egg wash


Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4-inch wedges.


Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the apple wedges and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar to the apples and stir until combined. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and stir.

In a small cup combine the lemon juice and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the sauteing apples. Stir to combine and remove pan from the heat. Let cool completely.


Roll out your pie crust to 1/8" thick and using a 5-1/2" bowl, cut out a circle.


Don't , I repeat DON'T, use a 4-1/2" cookie cutter for this! It may look big enough, but it doesn't give you enough extra dough to crimp the top and bottom crusts together. Just look at what happened to my first batch:

~~ Oh the Shame ~~

I used the 4-1/2" round cookie cutter and the bottom piece of raw dough fit perfectly into the cupcake pan, BUT I didn't have nearly enough dough to form a good crimp. I was hesitant, but I told myself it would be okay and forged boldly ahead. Little did I know what horrors awaited me. Sometime during baking process the seal failed and apple filling bubbled out. The sticky stuff oozed onto the pan and down in between the bottom crust and the side of the cupcake well. What a mess. What a royal mess. The pies stuck to the pan like glue and in some cases had to be chiseled free. So learn from my mistake and give yourself a lot of crimping room.

Now back to the directions....
Place the (extra large) circle of dough into the cupcake well.

And carefully smooth and stretch the sides to fit flat.


Overfill with that delicious pre-cooked apple filling.


Put a smaller round of dough on top of the filling (I did use the 4-1/2" cookie cutter for the tops), and squash the edge of the top crust into the bottom. Trim off the excess, leaving about 3/8 - 1/2" of dough all the way around.


Crimp the top and bottom pie crust together and curl on top of the pie. Don't leave the crimped edge on the flat part of the cupcake pan or the crust will burn. Add pie dough decorations (I used little cut-out leaves) and cut three little slits for steam venting. Brush the top with egg wash (oops, I put the egg wash on a little too thick), and sprinkle with sugar (I used coarse decorating sugar).


Pop the minis into an preheated, 375 degree F oven and bake for 20 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown).

That's it. Easy as pie.

Enjoy…