Apple-Blueberry Crumble

This Apple-Blueberry Crumble was a first for me. In the Netherlands, our 'crumbles' contain a crust, filling, and crumble on top, usually dusted with some powdered sugar. So when I got this recipe I thought it was quite interesting to see the British variety of 'crumble' is basically the best part of the pie: the filling and the crumble, without the crust. Seems like someone had their priorities straight. I had to give it a go, and it turns out this apple-blueberry crumble is nothing short of a tasty mess.

The crumbs are sweetened with vanilla and sugar, and the mixture of apples and blueberries gives the 'filling' a sour-sweet flavor. To my taste, the sweetness of vanilla and the sourness of the berries contrasted a bit too much. Perhaps apples and pears would have been a better choice, but that's not to say the apple-blueberry mixture didn't work alright. My brother-in-law tested it and gave a thumbs up, and I had two scoops of it.

To conclude, the recipe categorizes this dish as a dessert. While that's not a stretch, to call it comfort food would do it better justice. It's really the sort of food to munch on when you're binge-watching the Gilmore Girls in your PJs. It's messy, tasty, and easily eaten out of the baking dish. (It's also tempting to take a bite from in passing, simply because it doesn't require slicing.) 

Now, on to the recipe, which serves 8:

Ingredients:

• 3 apples
• 150 grams blueberries (deep-frozen)
• 200 grams self-raising flour
• 150 grams sugar
• 3 tbsp oatmeal
• 175 grams cold butter
• 1 vanilla pod 
• Optional: 8 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 190°C or 375°F. Peel apples, remove core, and dice. Mix apple dices with blueberries and spread out onto the bottom of the baking dish.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, and oatmeal. Dice butter and add. Scrape seeds from vanilla pod and add. Knead with fingertips into a crumbly dough. Scoop onto the fruit.
3. Bake for 35 min. in the center of the oven. Can be served hot (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) or cold. 

Boterkoek and Apple-Almond Pie

One of my favourite things to bake is the traditional Dutch 'boterkoek' (butter cake). That's not just because it's one of the most delicious pastries of the Dutch kitchen. It's also very practical, as in: it's easily made and not too hard on your wallet. 

The flavor and texture are not easily described or compared to other cakes. The koek in boterkoek literally translates to 'cookie', and that's a fairer comparison, or at least gives a better idea of the sort of pastry this actually is. It's a 'what you see is what you get' sort of cake. There are no layers or fillings, but to simply call it a giant cookie wouldn't do it justice. The texture is comparable to almond paste only a little more solid, and the flavor is sweet, just what you get when you mix butter and sugar. Chewing on it almost feels like it melts in your mouth, and that's quite an achievement for a pastry of any kind.

Perhaps it's best to leave the descriptions for what they are. Try for yourself, and you'll see you won't regret it. But if you're hesitant, rest assured: this cake was entirely family approved.

Ingredients:

• 300 grams soft, sweet cream butter
• 100 grams fine sugar
• 100 grams caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 300 grams flour
• 1 whisked egg

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C or 390°F. With an electric mixer, beat butter, sugars, and salt into a cream.
2. Mix in flour and knead until you have a ball of dough. Wrap in plastic foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Grease a boterkoek pan (or another type of low cake pan). Press the dough into the pan and flatten the surface. Brush whisked egg onto the surface and use a fork to draw a checkered pattern on it.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a few hours or until the butter has completely solidified. 

As for the apple-almond pie, it's such a common pastry that it needs no introduction. What makes this pie different than the traditional apple pie is that it is filled with almonds and apples, which makes the filling a little less sweet and a little more chewy. The pie got good reviews: it was munched away by five people, including myself.

Ingredients:

• 300 grams self raising flour + extra to dust
• 275 grams caster sugar
• 200 grams cold sweet cream butter
• 50 grams of grated almonds
• 1 egg (split)
• 4 apples
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 big tbsp apricot jam
• springform pan ø 18 cm or 7 inch.

Directions:

1. Mix flour, 200 grams sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using two knives, cut in the butter and mix until you have a crumbly dough. Add egg white and knead with cool hands into a ball. Wrap in plastic foil and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Pre-heat oven to 175°C or 350°F. Dust working surface, rolling pin, and dough. Roll two-thirds of the dough into a sheet of 1 cm or 0.5 inch thick. Use the springform to cut out a circle and place it on the bottom of the springform pan. Cut out strips to cover the sides of the springform pan. 
3. Peel the apples, remove the cores, and cut into cubes. Put the cubes into a bowl, add the almonds, and stir in the cinnamon and the rest of the sugar. Scoop into the crust. 
4. Roll the rest of the dough into a sheet and cut out strips of about 2 cm or 1 inch thick. Place them onto the filling in a checkered pattern. Brush some of the yoke onto the strips.
5. Bake a little below the center of the oven for about 1 hr. If the strips get too dark, cover with silver foil. When the cake is done, brush the apricot jam onto the surface. Let it cool in the pan for about an hour.

C'est tout. Bon appetit!

Grape Tart & Strawberry Pie

Challenge 6 (tarts) and 7 (pies) were done at the same time because I was getting behind on schedule (Fall Baking Challenge).

Grape Tart with Ricotta and Walnuts

This recipe was actually for 6 grape tarts of about Ø 10cm, but I only had a springform pan of Ø 18cm so I made one big one instead. I didn't think it would matter much, but the weight of the grapes caused the tart to break when it was taken out of the pan. I suspect this wouldn't have happened if it had been smaller. On the other hand, the grapes leaked their moisture into the dough and I don't think smaller pans would have made a difference as far as that goes. But all in all the flavor and structure of the tart were quite okay. 

As you can probably guess from the photo above, the tart is a bit heavy on the stomach. The dough and the ricotta are quite filling, so a small slice was quickly enough for me.

All in all the grape-walnut tart is nice, but I wouldn't opt to make it again. The ricotta tastes fine and goes well with the grapes, but I think there are many, much nicer pastries to make, eat, and serve guests.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams flour
• 100 grams sugar
• 100 grams butter
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• 200 grams ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp. molasses sugar
• 300 grams seedless grapes, sliced in half
• 100 grams walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp. regular sugar
• plastic foil
• rolling pin
• 6 tart molds of about Ø 10cm, or in this case a springform pan of Ø 18cm

Directions:

1. Mix flour, sugar, butter, egg, and salt, and knead into a supple dough. Wrap in plastic foil and refrigerate 30 min.
2. Pre-heat oven to 190°C. Mix ricotta with molasses sugar. Use rolling pin to flatten dough. Press dough into the tart molds/springform pan.
3. Put grapes with the round side up into the crust. Add ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts and sugar.
4. Bake 20 to 30 min. in the center of the oven. Let cool and take out of the molds/springform pan.

 'All American' Strawberry Pie

This recipe, sent to me by an American pen pal, was originally an 'All American Blueberry Pie' - but the supermarket didn't have blueberries, and I couldn't be bothered to go out of my way to get them. Hence, strawberries it became. 

Also, for the crust the recipe mentions 'unbaked deep-dish pie crusts' as an ingredient, which seems a rather typical American thing to me. While those crusts are available here they are not as common as they apparently are in the USA - which meant I had to go search for them and I didn't want to. Besides, I like baking my own crusts much better. Otherwise what's the point of baking? So, I adjusted the recipe to my taste and convenience. 

I should mention that it was my first time baking any sort of pie, hence my first time baking any sort of crust. So, the crust ended up a bit too thin, and the strawberry filling boiled over the edges, as you can see in the photo. Now, the pie looks messy but I think it adds a rustic sort of charm (if pies can have charm), so I'm very pleased with it.

As for the filling, I'd slice one open and show you but I think the photos are pretty self-explanatory. 

The pie is very good - about as sweet as the strawberries are. Mine were a bit sour, but I love sour and think that's actually better. The crust is crunchy  - my father calls it bland, but I think it's just right because it would distract from the filling otherwise. 

All in all, two thumbs up for this one. Definitely one to gobble up by yourself or share with guests.

Ingredients for the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 5 - 7 tbsp cold water

Ingredients for the filling:

• 6 cups diced strawberries
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1 tbsp. powdered vanilla or 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Other:

• Silver foil
• Deep dish pie plate (I used the same springform pan I used for the grape tart)

Directions:

1. Put flour into a mixing bowl with the butter. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour. Add salt and water. Knead until dough is formed. Roll out on flat surface.
2. Preheat oven to 220℃. Coat a deep-dish pie plate or springform pan with non-stick baking spray. Line with half the dough dough. Roll the rest of the dough into a circle and cut into strips. Set aside.
3. Place strawberries in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, orange zest, and vanilla. Add to strawberries. Toss to coat. Pour into pie crust.
4. Place 5 pastry strips on top of the strawberries in vertical rows and then in horizontal rows. Seal all of the strips to edge of crust, crimping with fingers or a fork. Place pie on baking sheet.
5. Bake 20 to 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 175℃. Cover with silver foil and bake 30 minutes more (or until juices are bubbling and thickened). Remove from oven, remove foil. Let cool completely before slicing.

And there you go, your delicious pie is ready! 

 

 

Baklava, or: Pistaccio Rolls

So, weeks - nay, a month has passed since my last post and too many pastries have been baked, eaten, and digested unreported. Since my disastrous Orange Mascarpone Cake (recipe contrived by a sadist), the Fall Baking Challenge has required us to make foreign desserts, cookies, tarts, and pies. Today (the day this post was written) was the day for the latter two since I was falling behind, and since this is a day of catching up I might as well post an update gigantique. Well, split in three, because all those photos in one post would be overkill.

So. Baklava. The Turkish goodness. 

Personally, I love baklava but the baklava I know is soft, sweet, squishy, and moist with what I suspect is syrup. Quite different from the pistaccio rolls these things apparently are. 

Anyway, you wouldn't guess from the looks of it but this dessert took me around 5 hours to make. (Includes a trip to the supermarket for pistaccios and filo dough.) Most of the time went into the chopping of the nuts. 

The recipe recommended grinding them in a food processor, but since I don't own a food processor I had to go old school. This meant that the nuts didn't get as finely ground as they were supposed to, but the result was all the more satisfying.

This heap of nuts is nowhere near the actual amount 10 rolls require. It's far too much. I didn't want to waste anything, so I kept on folding pistaccio rolls until I'd run out. In the end I had about 25 rolls.

Also, a heads up: the folding is not as simple as the recipe makes it sound. Practice is needed for decent looking rolls because the amount of filling must be just right and evenly divided. On top of that the dough must be folded just right, otherwise the sheets might open again, or they break or tear, and everything spills out.

It's a bit of an art, actually. In total, I must have spent two hours measuring and folding, spilling butter and ground nuts all over the place. In the end I was so fed up I used the rest of the filling to make one big ass baklava roll, just to get it over and done with.

But all that work pays off. Even though it's not quite what you get at a Turkish bakery, it's actually very good. Crispy, crunchy, and sweet (imagine pistaccio flavor blended with honey and cinnamon), and it works great as finger food / party snacks.

They have been Dad Approved, so you can rest assured they make a good treat. Personally, I love the syrup that comes with it. It's delicious.

Without further ado, the recipe:

Baklava Rolls
Makes: recipe says 10 but if you're going to make bite-sized rolls definitely 20 to 30
Takes: 25 min +15 min baking. That is, if you're a Gordon Ramsay specialized in Turkish desserts. No, this will take a few hours.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 tbsp honey
• 300 grams unsalted nuts like pistachios and almonds + 1 tbsp of unsalted ground pistacchios
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• a pinch of black pepper
• 100 grams of unsalted dairy butter
• 10 to 20 sheets of filo dough, depending on how you fill the rolls and what size the sheets are
• food processor or chopping knife
• parchment lined baking sheet

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, mix 100 ml water, 100 grams sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 - 15 min. Stir in honey and let cool. (This is the syrup.)
2. Preheat oven to 200°C or 392°F. Grind the nuts and mix with the sugar and spices.
3. Melt butter. Take a sheet of filo dough. Brush butter onto it and fill with nut mixture. Scoop nut mixture onto middle of the dough sheet. Roll the left part of the sheet over the nut mixture, fold sides over the filling, and roll again until closed. Brush butter onto all sides and place on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10 - 15 min, or until golden-brown and ready. Put them on a dish and pour the syrup onto them. Sprinkle with ground pistachios. Serve lukewarm or on room temperature.