Apple Pie

I am back - beat the cold, back in shape, AND as promised, made for the first time a yummy, classic Apple Pie... from scratch! (Really, a sweet challenge). If you went apple picking and don't know what to do with your fall harvest, I suggest you try this classic recipe (apple and not-so-much apple lovers will appreciate it - hubby never really liked apples, even less apple pies but he really, honestly enjoyed this fresh, homemade classic).

Thank you Joanne Chang from Flour Bakery (Boston) (http://www.flourbakery.com/) - you should check out her book, Flour. 

Here is what you'll need :

For the dough (Pâte Brisée)
1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (228 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoon cold milk

For the Apple Pie
7 medium-large apples (or about 10 small Macintosh) - peeled, cored and slided (1/4 - 1/2 inch thick). Joanne C. suggests a double two-apple pie, with 4 large Granny Smith and 3 medium Macintosh. I only had small Macintosh and so I used about 10-12 of them (they were small)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
Optional: 2 tablespoon sanding sugar, pearl sugar, or granulated sugar.

First start with the Pâte Brisée:
Using a stand mixer, mix flour, sugar and salt together (about 15 seconds). 

Add the butter on top and mix on low speed for about 1- 1 1/2 minutes...or until lumps of butter  (size of pecans) are visible.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and milk...and add the to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds.

Looks messy? Normal :) Now dump all of that on a  counter / surface (unfloured)..and gather all of that mess into a ball (mound). With palm of your hand, smear the dough side by side until it comes together (until most butter chunks are smeared into the dough). 

When it looks cohesive, with streaks of butter, wrap up tightly in pastic wrap and press down to flatten into a disk about 1 inch thick.

Place into refrigerator for at least 4 hours (yeah go on, do something else...go play outside!) :)

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Had fun? Okay, let's hit the pie!

Get the dough from the fridge and on a well-floured surface, roll out 3/4 of the dough into a 12" diameter (about 1/8 inch thick). The other 1/4 will be used for the lattice at the end.

Roll the dough around your rolling pin and unroll (unfurl) it on top of a 9-inch pie pan. Press the down gently into the bottom and sides of the pan, leaving 1/4-inch lip around the edge (it will shrink in the oven!).

Place the pie shell in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
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Pre-heat the oven at 350°F. 
Line the pie shell with parchment paper and add rice, beans or pie weights. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the shell is light brown.

Meanwhile, combine apples, brown sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Toss to coat the apples evenly. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes (will allow apples to soften).

When pie shell ready, remove from oven and gently remove the rice (beans or pie weights) and the parchment paper. Make sure no rice is left or stuck in the shell :-)

Pile the apples, pressing down gently.

On a well-floured surface, roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle about 10" x 6" (about 1/4 inch thick). Cut length-wise into strips of about 3/4 inch wide. (If you have a fluted pastry wheel, it will look prettier. Otherwise, a pizza wheel or dough knife will work well). 

Brush each strip with the beaten egg and start draping (placing them on the pie for deco). Make sure you let the strips drape over the edge as they will shrink in the oven - you will trim these at the end when baked.

Depending on your oven, bake 1 hour (Joanne suggested 1hr-10 minutes to 1hr-30 min)...took my oven 1 hour...or until lattice strips are golden brown all the way through (make sure there are no pale spots otherwise they will be soft and chewy). The apples should be soft and easy to pierce with a small knife. 

Let cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour. Trim the lattice overhang with a knife.

Voilà! Enjoy...you can serve warm...and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream...yum!

FALL

Fall - one of my favorite seasons of the year! Although it's not yet officially Autumn, we are starting to feel it in the air - cooler temperature, greens starting to fade, and of course, apple picking time! 

Although this season brings all this lovely time, this change of weather for me means...a bad cold. It's become a bad tradition - new season, new cold. I have been in bed all weekend with this nasty cold or flu and so, in spirit of keeping my germs to myself, I will be trying a new recipe or baking something later this week.

Two potential recipes for you to be on the lookout: 1- a classic Apple pie (or any other Apple dessert) - thanks to our lovely friends who brought us a TON of beautiful apples of the season. And 2- perfect for this time of year, Walnut & Maple Scones.

Stay tuned :-)

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Since it's back-to-school, and because everyone is busy with life - work, kids, school, activities, family, etc. etc. - I decided to try something simple, not too time demanding and that hopefully everyone will appreciate.

I never really did a REAL chocolate cake - well, I did, but they were never devilish, or moist enough...and so I found one that seemed appealing on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/pin/95138610849029645/): Moist Chocolate Cake (and like the title says, well, moist - is what I am looking for) + seems easy, not too complicated and not too long to do...thank you Jennifer Hill.

Let's see how this goes!

What you'll need:

CAKE

• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (I realized that I used baking powder instead)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk*
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (or 2 teaspoon of instant coffee in 1 cup of boiling water)

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can easily substitute it by using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a cup then filling the rest up with milk; let stand 5 minutes until thickened...it does the trick!

FROSTING (Thank you Savory Sweet Life for this recipe)

• 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cup of icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 tablespoon of milk or heavy cream

Let's go:

Preheat the oven at 350°F. Grease and flour (or use parchment paper) two 9 inch cake pans. Set aside.

Using stand mixer, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Super easy, no need to have multiple separate steps - just mix everything together and voilà.

Remove bowl from stand mixer and stir in hot coffee with rubber spatula. Note that the batter will be very runny.

Pour batter evenly into the pans.

 

Place in the middle of the rack and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Then remove from pan, place or wire rack and let cool completely before using the frosting. 

Note: I thought that my cakes were cool enough (after waiting about 45-60min.) but it seems that they weren't completely cool...so the frosting was kinda melting...messy and not so pretty!

For the FROSTING

Start by mixing the icing sugar and cocoa together.

Using stand mixer, cream the butter f a few minutes.

 

Turn mixer off. Sift in 3 cups of the sugar and cocoa mixture. Turn mixer to low-speed until sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase speed to medium. Add in vanilla extract, salt, and milk (or cream). Beat for about another 3 minutes. 

Note that if you want your frosting to be more stiff, add more sugar. If want it more smooth, add more milk. You can easily adjust consistency. 

It's time to assemble and INDULGE!

Enjoy this easy, simple, divine chocolate cake. Perfect for anytime during the week or for party over the weekend!

Basboussa (Egyptian Dessert)

Well, I think I managed my first 4 weeks of the challenge. Now is back-to-school time but I still want to try and remain constant with my postings...and still bake and try new sweets:)

Today though, I am sharing one of my favorite desserts: Basboussa. This is not to be confused with the Lebanese Nammoura - they look alike but don't really taste the same. Nammroura is darker and in my opinion, much too sweet. I am kind of biased of course - but I nonetheless much prefer Basboussa, with its rich, sweet, comfy taste that reminds me of my childhood. You'll see, it is very easy to make, and doesn't take long.

What you'll need

- 1 lbs of #2 semolina 

- 1/2 pound (1 cup or 227g) of unsalted butter

- 1 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of 2% milk (I sometimes use skim or 1% - less fat but still pretty good)

- Almonds (for decoration)

Syrup:

- 1 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of water

- 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice (few drops so it won't stick)

First start with the syrup.

Stir together the water, sugar and few drops of lemon and bring to boil. Lower the heat and let boil until it thickens a little.You don't want a too thick syrup but rather a medium, "thick enough texture").  

Set aside.  You want to make sure it is cool when the basboussa is ready...like with other recipes, it will better absorb the syrup if one is cool and the other is hot.

For the Basboussa

Preheat the oven at 350°F.

Grease cake pan. I usually use a rectangular pan, about 16 x 9, but I am going to try something new - if you don't try, you won't know, right?!. So for the first time, I will use a round 10" cake pan). 

Melt and stir together butter, milk and sugar. (low-heat)

Once melted, pour over the semolina. If too liquid, add/sprinkle some more semolina (I usually add some extra to get the right thickness - but you'll get the right amount over time.) 

Mix well and then pour into pan. 

Add almonds for decoration.

Bake 350°F for about 1 hour. Remove from oven

And immediately pour over the syrup. Voilà ;) Bon appétit!