One day late - TWD: Tarte Fine

This weeks recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie was picked by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. It was extremely easy and quick to make. I made the 'Playing Around'-version and also added some cinnamon to the apples: it was delicious!!!

Four weeks ago I started going back to college/university: I'll be studying to get my Bachelor in Communication and am so glad that I made the decision to go back to school. However, this does mean that I will barely have spare time left as I work full-time, attend classes two nights a week and have to study.

I do want to keep baking and cooking things, but know that I won't be able to write lengthy posts. Therefor as long as I have classes my posts will be pics and 'One Sentence Posts'. When I do have time (e.g. during school holidays) I will try to write longer posts.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Yes, that's right: more pancakes!! I actually made these the same day I made the Buttermilk Pancakes and boy was I happy with them today.... After sleeping for the biggest part of the day due to a migraine attack it was really convenient to pull these out of the freezer and pop them into the toaster!

I found this recipe at Les Gourmandises d'Isa. You guys should really check out Isa's blog, she has amazing recipes on there. I love visiting it as it's written in French and gives me a chance to practice my French :)

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

(adapted from Les Gourmandises d'Isa)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup yoghurt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup vanilla sugar

3 apples, peeled and grated

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

butter for baking

maple syrup for serving

• Mix the eggs with the yoghurt in a big bowl.
• In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla sugar.
• Mix the wet and the dry ingredients.
• Add the grated apple and cinnamon and mix well.
• Melt some butter in a pan over low heat.
• Put 1/4 cup of batter in the pan and flatten it with the back of a spoon.
• Make sure that the center is not thicker than the edges of the pancake or it will be undercooked.
• Bake until the bottom of the pancake is golden.
• Turn pancake and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Serve topped with some butter and/or maple syrup.
  
  
  

Apple, Cinnamon and Pecan Crumble and a short Valentine's Day review

Last Wednesday I went to Ladies Night at a cinema nearby with a couple of friends. Whenever we get together to go see a movie we always enjoy having diner together too, this gives us the time to catch up on everything. So this time we ate at my friend's C.'s house and she asked me to bring dessert. Why my friends keep asking me to bring dessert over when we have a dinner party is a complete mystery to me ;)

Since it had started snowing again I was in the mood for something warming and wintery. I went to my bookmarks over at delicous.com and searched through them until I came across the perfect dish. I spotted these crumble bars over at Dessert First in September, they looked gorgeous so I simply decided to not make bars but serve this as a dessert. It was delicious!! When I plated the crumb it was actually still warm and gooey. It was a bit too sweet for my taste though... I never thought I would say this, but apparently my tastebuds and preferences have changed since I was sick in December 2009.... Next time I'll add a little less sugar to the crumb. However my friends C., I. and the babysitter M. all loved it and didn't think that the crumb was too sweet at all. Neither did my parents who got to enjoy the leftovers :)

The movie we saw at Ladies Night was 'Valentine's Day'. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you what it's about and spoil the whole move for all of you that still want to go and see it. The three of us really liked it. It reminded me of 'Love Actually' with all the different story-lines within the movie. This is a perfect movie for a girls-night-out: a real feel-good-movie, I personally wouldn't go see it with a (potential) boyfriend.... Visit the official 'Valentine's Day' website for the trailer. Let me know if you saw the movie and what you thought of it!!

Now on to the actual Valentine's Day: I don't really like this day.... First of all I think it's such a commercial day, I prefer for my sweetheart to surprise me with something on any day: not just because it's Valentine's Day. And second of all somehow I've always been single around Valentine's Day, which (like Chrismas and New Year's Eve) is absolutely no fun!!!

Apple, Cinnamon and Pecan Crumble
(adapted from Dessert First)

Filling

3 large tart apples (about 1 3/4 lbs total)

3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

Streusel

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the filling:

• Peel, core, and chop the apples in 1/2-inch cubes.
• Set aside in a bowl.
• Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat.
• Add the apples and sauté for about 8 minutes until the apples are semi-soft.
• Add sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon to the apples and stir to combine.
• Cook until mixture begins to bubble, then turn heat to low and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Transfer filling to a bowl and let cool while you make the crust.
  

Make the crust:

• Line a 9 by 13 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough to hang over the edge and act as handles to remove bars after baking.
• Grease foil.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
• In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and mix to combine.
• Add flour mixture and mix to combine.
• Pour the dough into the prepared pan and gently press into the bottom of the pan and about 1/4” up the sides, making sure it is level.
• Set pan aside while you make the streusel.
  

Make the streusel:

• In a stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, and salt and mix to combine.
• Add butter and mix until crumbly and the butter pieces are very small.
• Add pecans and mix just to combine.
  

Assembling the crumble:

• Spread cooled apple filling evenly over the crust, leaving about 3/4” between the pan sides and the filling.
• Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the filling.
• Bake for about 35 minutes until the top layer is golden.
• Cool completely on wire rack before removing.
  
  Enjoy!
  

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnovers

I'm a slacker, what can I say?? Lots of stuff on my mind and things I need to decide, mostly job-orientated..... All the ingredients are ready to go, I just have to get myself together and start making the dough.... These will follow!

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlet (updated)

Just woke up on the other side of the world, feeling perfect despite the time difference!! Yes my friends, I'm in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and loving it!! I can't say I'm loving the Parisian Apple Tartlet as I haven't gotten around to making it yet. The Parisian Apple Tart was picked by Jessica of My Baking Heart, go here for the recipe!!

After returning from my weekend at Disneyland Paris my last days at work were quite hectic, I was recovering from that terrible sick day in Paris and had to visit some birthdays and do some packing: so no time to make today's Parisian Apple Tartlet for Tuesdays with Dorie.

Maybe I'll get around to making it today as we have nog plans apart from planning my stay....

So go on and check out what my fellow TWD-ers thought of the Parisian Apple Tartlet here!

Update: Lisa and I had a friend over for dinner, Kim.

The three of us loved the Parisian Apple Tarlets. I actually made 6: 3 with a Golden Delicious apple and 3 with a Red Delicious apple. I added some cinnamon to the apples, 'cause I simply couldn't resist.... Me being the cinnamon-lover that I am!

What's there not to love about these tartlets? They are easy to prepare, you only need 4 ingredients! Okay, so I used 5 ingredients because I added cinnamon, but still....
And it just needs assembling, so no hard work of any kind!!

One tiny detail: my tartlets needed about 8 minutes longer than the 25 minutes stated in the recipe...
I paired the warm tartlets with next weeks Honey-Peach Ice Cream.
So here's a little teaser.... Doesn't that ice cream look nice and creamy?

Brown Sugar Apple and Cinnamon Tiramisu and my new signature

Guess what this is........

It's cinnamon-mascarponecream!!! Yum! There was some mascarpone leftover in the fridge from this weeks TWD, the Tiramisu Cake that I turned into cupcakes. I had no idea what to do with them. Then I received a phone call from Susann, one of my German friends. She is in Belgium today and tomorrow for business and wanted to come by tomorrow evening, what a nice surprise!! We haven't seen each other since August 2007, so I'm really looking forward to het visit, even if it's only for one evening!

Ofcourse now I had to turn the mascarpone into a tiramisu, but I didn't feel like making the regular tiramisu after making all those cupcakes. Since the supermarket was already closed for the day I went on to check my pantry and found some double cream, cinnamon, two apples and cinnamon liquor.



Brown Sugar Apple and Cinnamon Tiramisu
4 servings
2 apples (I used one Golden Delicious and one Pink Lady)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
200 gram mascarpone
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
200 gram double cream (I used light, that's what I had in the fridge)
1/2 tbsp sugar
10 lady fingers, broken into thirds
cinnamon liquor

Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into thin slices, about 8 slices per 1/4 apple. Heat the butter in a pan and add the apples. Cook untill the apples are soft and then add the sugar, mix well. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Cream the mascarpone in a bowl, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and mix this really good. In another bowl whisk the double cream wiht 1/2 tablespoon of sugar untill the cream is stiff. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone.

Layer the tiramisu, I used individual glass cups, as followed: place 3 thirds of ladyfingers in the cup, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of cinnamonliquor on it, top with the soft apples and then cover with the mascarponecream. Repeat this one more time and put into the fridge to meld, preferably overnight.

When ready to serve: dust some cinnamon on top of the tiramisu. Enjoy!!


My goal today was to figure out how to put a personalized signature under each post. It was relatively easy: quite a lot less dificult than I though it would be! My next step is to add tabs to the header of my blog....

Apple Cranberry Phyllo Turnovers

This week I had some apples leftover, despite my baking frenzy during Easter weekend. Or maybe I should say because of my chocolate inspired baking frenzy..... A while ago I bookmarked this lovely recipe from Foodnetwork for Apple Cranberry Phyllo Turnovers. The recipe was by Elly Krieger, so I knew it would be a healthy choice and I actually had all the ingredients at hand, so on I went to make it.



These were absolutely delicious, they are a bit healthier than your normal turnovers because the are made with phyllo pastry instead of puff pastry which contains lots more butter. I really liked the combination of the tartness of the cranberries with the sweetness of the apples (I used Golden Delicious instead of the Granny Smith). These are best on the day they are made, the next day the phyllo pastries had lost a bit of its crunch....




I guess the phyllo pastry is sold a bit smaller here that in USA, because I only managed to make 3 turnovers out of 3 sheets. In totall I made 9 turnovers (3 WW Points per turnover) and had some leftover filling. No worries: I didn't throw out the remaining filling. I actually folded two tablespoons of leftover mascarpone in the leftover filling and had a delicious sinfull dessert while the tunrovers where in the oven. Yum!!! Ow, one last reminder: today is the last day to enter my giveaway!!



Apple Cranberry Phyllo Turnovers

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
3 tablespoons canola oil
4 ladyfinger cookies, crushed, divided
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large nonstick pan cook the apples, cranberries, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg over medium heat stirring occasionally until the fruit is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the juices in the pan thicken. Set aside to cool.

Lay a sheet of phyllo onto a large cutting board and brush the dough with oil. Top with a second sheet and brush with oil. Sprinkle half the crushed cookies on top. Add another sheet of phyllo and brush with oil. Cut the phyllo into 4 long pieces.

Put a small mound of the apple mixture about 1-inch from the bottom of 1 section and fold the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle-shaped pocket. Continue to fold to maintain the triangle shape so a turnover is formed. Repeat with the other 3 sections. Repeat the whole process again with 3 more sheets of phyllo so that you wind up with 8 turnovers. Be sure to reserve a little oil to brush the top of each turnover.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, place the turnovers on the sheet, brush the tops with the remaining oil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve warm.

TWD: No Berry Surprise Cake for me this week...

The 'assignment' for this weeks TWD was Berry Surprise Cake, picked by Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen. Although this recipe sounded alright to me, I had to decide against it since I'm on a small budget this week..... Zero on my bankaccount and still some days of the month left.... Last time I experienced that was when I was still in school..... Because berries are sooooo expensive at the moment this recipe was simply a no-no. And after reading the P&Q I was even terrifeid of failing misserably... ;) But please go and have a look at all the wonderfull Berry Surprise Cakes (some even without berries, why didn't I think of that???) my fellow TWD-ers made!!

Last Sunday however my mom and I were invited to my dear friend Ingrid to join her and her mom for a lovely cheese fondue. Ofcourse I couldn't knock on her door empty handed, so I looked through my cupboards and fridge to see what ingredients were lurking behind closed doors and flipped through Dorie's Baking from My Home to Yours to see which list of ingredients of the recipes I had missed matched the stuff I had at hands.

With no further ado I present to you..... Dorie's Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake:

This cheesecake was made way back when TWD was still a tiny group of bakers, on the 12th of February 2008. Judy of Good Eats 'N' Sweet Treats picked this recipe. The recipe can be found here. I actually only made half the recipe, since I only had half the ingredients at hand and made two miniature cheesecakes. Also I swapped the applecider for Apfelkorn.

We all loved it and shared one mini!! My mom preferred the Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, she loves her cheesecake 'au naturel'. Me, being the cinnamonlover that I am, thought that this one was dreamy!! Somehow the other mini-cheesecake disappeared throughout the next day......

Apple Cup Pie - inspired by Pushing Daisies

Here in Holland we have just started the first season of Pushing Daisies, a couple of weeks ago I saw the episode where Chuck made cup pies and thought: now, that's a good idea. Then last week I stumbled upon this recipe at Cave Cibum and I knew I had to recreate it!!

Apple Cup Pies

Dough
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
14 Tbsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into small cubes
about 3 ounces Gruyere cheese, finely grated (I used Cheddar, because it was prized down)
1/2 cup (or more) very cold water

Filling
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp flour

1 egg, beaten
sugar for dusting

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Using the tips of your fingers, blend the butter into the flour until pea-size clumps begin to form. Add cheese and mix in. Add water and knead until the dough just pulls together (add a little extra water if there is a lot of extra flour in the bowl). Divide dough in half and pat each half into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to 2 days.In a medium bowl, combine chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Mix to ensure that the apples are fully covered in the mixture.

Using a 12-cup cupcake pan, grease alternating cups (so that any overflow or overhang from the cup pies does not get in the way of other cup pies) - the outside cups in one row, the inner cup in the next row, etc.On a floured surface, roll out one of the dough disks until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Using a large cup or biscuit cutter (about 4 1/2 inch), cut 6 circles and fit into the greased cups. Make sure to push them in so they fit into the bottoms and sides of the cups. Fill each pie with apple mixture, heaped up over the top of the pan.

Roll out the second half of the dough and use a smaller cup or biscuit cutter (about 3 1/2 inch) to cut 6 circles. Top each pie with the smaller circles and press the edges together to seal. Brush the top of each pie with beaten egg and dust with sugar, then cut some small steam holes in the tops.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425°, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake an another 15 minutes, until the dough is golden and the filling begins to bubble out (in fact, if your cupcake pan doesn't have edges, you may want to set a sheet pan underneath to catch any drippings).Serve warm with ice cream, or at room temperature any time (especially handy for adding to a lunch).

These were very yummie, although I might add some raisins to the filling next time. The cheese was very subtle, I could hardly taste it...

By the way, this was dinner I mentioned in my last post: Stewed beed with red cabbage, apple sauce and mashed potatoes