Chocolate Salted Caramel Tartlets

 
I have a touch of the writer's block tonight.

Maybe there are just too many things going on.

Some bright holiday things to keep me busy.

But not all fun things.

Making money and spectacularly losing it (details withheld, but this recently happened in a very disappointing way).

People being mean that I thought were nice.

Me being mean when I thought I was nice.

I might even have stepped out with my skirt tucked into my tights tonight.  I'm an adult, y'all.

Feeling a bit heavy here at the end of the year, actually.

A bit dark.

Have I mentioned I have to turn the lights on at 3:00 pm here?

Well. 

Let's eat dessert, eh? 

And cheer up by, oh, let's say Saturday.

We'll meet then and discuss whether we followed through on this resolution.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Tartlets (inspired by David Lebovitz)

The original recipe called for a layer of ganache to go over the caramel layer and seal it in.  I felt like that might stifle the delicate shortbread and sweet caramel flavor.  Be a bit too strong, you know?  If you want to go that direction, however, the complete recipe is linked above.  You hardcore, man.  Also, the recipe calls for a bit of rice flour to add lightness and crispness.  But using regular flour all through is just fine too.
 
For the pastry:
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour (or use 1 cup all-purpose flour, total)
6 tablespoons cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process 

For the Salted Caramel Filling:
4 ounces soft, salted butter caramels
3 tablespoons heavy cream

flaky sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

To make the pastry, beat the butter and the sugar just until smooth in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or by hand. Add the egg, salt, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, rice flour, and cocoa powder, then mix it into the creamed butter.

Butter the indentations of two mini-muffin tins with 12 places in each, or one mini-muffin tin with 24 places. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll each into a 3/4-inch ball. As you work, put the dough balls in the indentations of the muffin tins. Take your thumb and press the dough down in the center of each indentation, then use your thumb to press the dough up the sides. Freeze the pans of dough for 20 minutes.

Bake the tartlet shells in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough appears dry and cooked.

Remove from oven and use the handle of a wooden spoon to widen and smooth the inside of the little tartlet shells, pressing the dough that’s puffed up somewhat firmly against the sides. Let cool completely, then remove the tartlet shells from the muffin tins – the tip of a paring knife might be needed to help aid them out – and set them on a wire cooling rack.

Make the caramel filling by warming the cream with the caramels in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth. Divide the caramel into each of the tartlet shells.

Sprinkle each tartlet with a few grains of sea salt.

Quince Biscuit Pie

 
Hark ye ladies and gentle hommes!

'Tis the saison of the quynce.

Ay, the quynce is a wily fruite.  It smells of the fleurs of Paradys, yet the flesh taystes of Saytan himselfe and gives one the gripe of the bowels.

But list!  I have discover-ed a method of cooking them in pasty, so the flesh turns rosy as a summer's morne.

Stew'd with the bean of Vanille and the syrup of yonder bewitch'ed tree.

It becometh sweet and fragrant as the bee's honeye in the monath of June.

The pasty top of maize flour crumbleth upon the tongue.

Be no longer afrayed of the rascally quynce!

For it hath been conquer'ed.

Quince Biscuit Pie  (adapted from Martha Stewart)

5 cups water
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 quinces, peeled, cored, and quartere
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, pod reserved (or add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract after poaching)
2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the topping:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream

Make the filling: Bring water, maple syrup, granulated sugar , quinces, and vanilla seeds and pod to a simmer in a large pot over medium heat. Cover and cook until quinces are soft and rosy pink, about 2 hours. Discard vanilla pod.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the topping: Sift together flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar , baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt, and then sift again. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with some large pieces remaining. Make a well in the center. Pour in cream; stir until combined.

Transfer quinces to a medium bowl using a slotted spoon. Add 1 cup poaching liquid and the cornstarch, and toss to combine. Pour quinces with juices into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Arrange large spoonfuls of topping mixture around outer edge of pie, leaving a space in the center. Bake until liquid is bubbling and topping is golden, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely.

Martha suggests serving with maple whipped cream, in which case you'll want to whip some maple into some cream.  But I thought it was just fine as it was.

Sweet Potato Pie

 
Sorry for the disappeared, you guys.

I went to Pirateland!  Er, Portland.

Whatever, it's the same thing.

I met Deb!

I got totally lost in Beaverton (curse your name, Beaverton)!

I got this fancy book!

I got home too tuckered to blog.

But I'm back, and I brought pie.

If that doesn't make it better, I just don't know what you people want.

Sweet potatoes!  Sort of an interesting variation on yams, which are an interesting variation on pumpkins.

Mine came out brown, though.  It seems like in all the pictures I see of things made from sweet potatoes, they come out orange.

Am I confusing them with yams?  Are you? 

 Are they the same thing?  Maybe no one wants to eat "Yam Pie".

Sweet potatoes = brown.  Yams = orange.

Both = delicious.

Are you gearing up for Thanksgiving?  I know I am.  What are your pie plans?  Tell me.  I need some.

Sweet Potato Pie (borrowed from Joy and, I believe, her dad)

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (or yams, it don't matta)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2- 5oz cans evaporated milk (1 1/4 cups evaporated milk)
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 recipe for 9 inch pie crust

Boil two medium sweet potatoes in their jackets in a covered pot over moderate flame, until sweet potatoes are very soft and tender.

Test with a thin sharp knife. If there is any resistence, boil longer. Knife should penetrate the sweet potatoes fast and smoothly. Remove potatoes from the water and allow to cool on a plate or wire rack.

When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes, cut into chunks and place in a large bowl. Mash potatoes thoroughly with a potato masher. There should be NO lumps.

Measure 2 cups and put in a medium sized pot with the packed brown sugar, all of the spices, salt,  the 1/2 stick butter, and one 5 oz can of evaporated milk. Cook on low flame for about 5 minutes, whipping with a wire whisk until butter and brown sugar are melted down and mixture is well blended, smooth and starts to bubble. Remove from fire and let cool in pot.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the three eggs with a fork. Add the second 5oz can of evaporated milk, granulated sugar and vanilla to the eggs and continue beating until creamy. Pour the cooled sweet potato mixture from pot into a large bowl. Stir  in the egg mixture. Blend thoroughly with a whisk and refrigerate mixture overnight or use immediately.

Preheat the oven to 450, and roll out your pie crust.  Place in pie plate and fill with sweet potato mixture.  Bake at 450 for ten minutes, then reduce heat to 325 and bake for one hour or more, until the center only jiggles slightly and everything else is set.

Remove from oven, let cool before serving.  The longer the better, as it will set up more as it cools.

Ingredient of the Week: Pie*

There are two old ladies that live in my head.

They wear aprons, dispense wisdom, and cluck at me when I'm going out drenched in perfume like a streetwalker.

They are helpful ladies.  When my son was young and I had no idea what was going on, they reassured me that he was normal and I was normal and everything was normal, and women have been having babies since the dawn of time, so what makes you so special? 

Followed up by some affectionate hand pats.

But they also disapprove of my housekeeping, think I go too easy on my kid, and definitely frown on my pie.

Why?

Well, I don't make pretty pies.

Have you ever seen a pretty pie?  One those old ladies used to do?  Making a pie to these ladies was like making a sandwich.  And damned if their crust wasn't perfectly crimped.  Uncrimped crust would not do.

Like letting your husband go to work with a dark stain around his collar.  Slatternly.

Well, I don't make very pretty pies.  No cute cut-outs, no latticing.  Hardly even any crimping.

But I'll tell you this, bloggy friends and imaginary old ladies:  I make a tasty pie.

And it is that time of year.  Blueberry.  Raspberry.  Plum.  Apple.

Pick 'em while they're ripe and full of sun, and stuff them in a crust.  Quick!

Soon it'll be all hazelnuts and sweet potatoes, and where will we be then?

I have a feeling the old ladies will help me through it.

They always do.

Here is my favorite crust.

What pies are you making this year?  Do you make pretty pies?  

*Okay so pie isn't necessarily an ingredient.  Or is it? 

Hazelnut Maple Pie and a Foolproof Pie Crust

Great news, everyone! Just in time for the biggest pie holiday in the whole year, I have discovered the best pie. Ever. In the world. It is the best. It wasn't even on purpose. But holy shoot.



Do you like hazelnuts?



Do you like maple syrup and brown sugar?



Do you like the gooey, buttery layer in a pecan pie? How would you like it with a touch of maple?



Do you like flakey pie crust that tastes like a buttery cookie, and holds together and falls apart just right?



Do you like pie?



Then you will like this pie.

Because it is the best pie. Ever.



Note: even if you don't like nuts or perhaps don't care for gooey, buttery, maple-touched layers under crunchy hazelnuts (if you don't I don't know why we're friends)...if this is you, then make another pie, but use this crust.

Because it is the best crust.



And I am no expert at making pie crusts, but I made this pie crust, and it tastes like an expert did it.

My husband told me to cut a slice from this pie and run it over to the next door bakery who tells me they aren't hiring right now. He says if they taste this pie, they will fire someone else and hire me.



Please. Just make this pie.

Thank you.

P.S. sorry some of the photos are unfocused. The pie was steamy. Plus I took them in a state of trembling pie lust.

Basically this whole recipe came from Dinner with Julie, who got the pie part from Bon Appetit.

Grandma Woodall’s “Never-fail” Pastry

This will give you enough pastry to line a 9” pie plate; double it to make enough for two pies or a double crust.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/4 cup lard or shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
2-4 Tbsp. ice-cold water
1 tsp. vinegar (optional, stir it into the water)

In a large bowl or the bowl of a food processor, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and shortening and use a fork, pastry blender, wire whisk or the “pulse” motion of the food processor to blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal, with lumps of fat no bigger than a pea.

Drizzle the minimum amount of water over the mixture and stir until the dough comes together, adding a little more a bit at a time if you need it. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc, wrap it in plastic and chill it for at least half an hour. If you are making a double crust pie, divide the dough in half, making one half slightly larger than the other. (Your pastry can be prepared up to this point and frozen for up to 4 months; let it thaw on the countertop when you need it.

Maple Hazelnut Pie

1 unbaked single pie crust
3/4 cup pure maple syrup (pure is [much] better, but fake will do)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. bourbon (I didn't have this so I skipped it, although I bet it would have been fantastic)
1/4 cup butter, cut into bits
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine maple syrup, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling for a minute, reducing heat if it looks like it might boil over. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon, then the butter; whisk until butter melts. Let cool to lukewarm, whisking occasionally, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush crust with the beaten egg white, and scatter with hazelnuts. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla; whisk in the cooled maple-sugar mixture. Pour into the crust, over the hazelnuts. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until filling is set and slightly puffed. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Apple Pie Verrines and a Leek Tart

Well, we are finally in Oregon, and all I can say is PHEEEW! My my. What a move. We packed all our stuff in our little Honda and trekked up from the dessert to the forest. The last couple weeks have been spent in the usual way. Getting furniture (a coffee table! yes!), cleaning other people's dirt out of our new apartment, and finding a job. Still working on that last one, actually.

Thus the very small ad now on my page. Mama needs a new cookie sheet. 75 extra cents a month, here I come!



So we are off, out of the nest, and flapping our little, inexperienced wings. On the upside, I do a lot more cooking here. I know, right? Let me rephrase that. I do a lot more NECESSARY cooking here. At home, I cooked for fun, but if I didn't want to, there was a good 25 year's worth of built up canned supplies, boxed dinners, pizza guys, etc. Love my mom's house. But here, if I don't cook, we don't eat, turns out. It's a new dynamic.

The pizza guy is still available, but please see the above discussion of joblessness.

Feature flavors this week were apple, cinnamon, and leek. I just love fall. Let's start with the leek and goat cheese tart.



It was very, very satisfying. The mildness of the leeks and the salty goatcheese, held together with a warm, buttery crust? It didn't even feel like dinner. It felt like dessert.





It uh, it didn't last. I meant to do one of those fun photo series where the pie shaped food is diminishing like a clock. But I only had time to take this one picture. I didn't feel a photo of an empty pie plate would be all that interesting.



Now for dessert! I am proud of these verrines since I basically invented them. They are a franken-verrine of three other recipes, each of which had only three layers in a different order than I have them here. But why would you take three layers when you can have six?



Bottom to top description: an earthy cinnamon gelee topped with a fresh ginger yogurt gelee.



Next a layer of thick apple compote, topped with a whipped cream layer warmed with nutmeg and cinnamon.



And finally a crumbly, oven-baked streusel to top it all off. It is like apple pie in a cup.




Pate brisee (from Lucy's Kitchen Notebook):

160 grams of flour
3 grams fleur-de-sel or lightly crushed sea salt
70 grams butter or duck fat, depending on what you need to use up.
1 egg yolk
1 T. thick crème fraiche or a few drops of poultry stock, depending on what you have on hand and what you plan to fill it with.

1. Mix the flour and salt and make a well in the center.
2. Work the fat into the flour with a fork until it looks like crumbs. Add the yolk, and work it in. - Incorporate the crème fraîche or stock into the dough by teaspoon, stopping once it holds together.

This is your pate brisée for savory tartes.

3. Place this in the fridge and find something to occupy your time for at least 1/2 hour before using it. When you're ready to use it, roll out the dough into a circle, keeping in mind that for a home made tarte, you have the choice to make it as thick as you like. What you want to do is roll it out to be just a bit bigger than a small pie shell, so that you can set it inside and have the edges fold over a bit. If you don't have a small shell, you can just as easily roll the crust flat and simply turn up the edges by pinching all around before pre-baking it.

Leek and Goat Cheese Tart (from Burghilicious):

1 recipe pâte brisée
2 mega-leeks (about 1 pound), white and light green parts only, halved, washed and sliced to 1/4 inch
8 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Olive oil for brushing

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Roll out your crust to a 12 circle, then transfer to a 9.5 tart pan or 9 pie plate. Press into crevices, then trim the edges.Prick liberally with a fork. Bake empty (a.k.a. parbake) for 8 minutes.

2. While the crust bakes all by its lonesome, prepare the filling. Whisk goat cheese until smooth, then beat in the two eggs. Whisk together until mixture is smooth and uniform, with a custardy consistency. Add the thyme and season with salt and pepper.

3. Gently deflate any poofy spots in the parbaked crust, which should be a light and buttery gold after 8 minutes in the oven. Fill the crust with the goat cheese mixture and spread it smooth with a spatula. Top with fresh leek slices, separated, mounding pieces slightly higher in the center. Brush the leeks with a small bit of olive oil.

4. Bake at 350º F for 35-45 minutes, or until crust is golden-brown and goat cheese mixture is almost cooked through but still a bit underdone in the center.** Leeks will be slightly browned around the edges and quite tender. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Excellent with a green salad and fruit.

Apple Pie Verrines (adapted from Jasmine Cuisine, Tartelette, and Bed and Breakfast Online):

Cinnamon Tea Gelee:

2 cinnamon sticks
2 t lemon juice
3/4 c water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp powdered gelatine
4 tsp cold water
1 tsp lemon zest

Bloom gelatine in cold water and set aside. Boil water and add cinnamon sticks and 2 t lemon juice. Mix in sugar until it's dissolved. Let steep about 10mins, then stir in the blossomed gelatine paste and stir until dissolve. Heat it up over the stove over the lowest heat setting possible if necessary. When it's all dissolved, stir in the lemon zest and cool it for a bit. When cooled, pour into 2 or 3 tall glasses and chill them in the refrigerator for 3 hours or so.

For the Honey & Ginger Yogurt Gelee:

1 tsp powdered gelatine
2 tsp water
2/3 cup Greek-style yogurt
4 tsp clear honey
1/4 tsp ginger powder

Bloom the gelatine in cold water. Microwave 1/3 cup of the yogurt in a microwave safe bowl until just heated through but not curdled nor hot. Mix the two microwaved gelatine paste and yogurt together, slowly whisking the gelatine into the yogurt until well combined.

Add in remaining ingredients, i.e., the remaining yogurt, honey and the ginger powder. Whisk into submission and pour into the verrines filled with honey and lemon tea gelee.

Let it chill overnight, covered with plastic wrap.

Apple Compote Layer:

2 medium tart apples, diced
1/4 cup sugar
3/4-1 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of salt

1. Place apples in a saucepan. Add all the other ingredients and stir over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
2. Lower heat, and simmer until the mixture becomes thick and the apples are soft.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg Cream Layer:

1 c whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1/2 t cinnamon (or to taste)
1/2 t nutmeg (or to taste)

1. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Add sugar and spices. Whip until it forms stiff peaks.

Streusel Layer:

2/3 cup flour
3 T brown sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup cold butter

Preheat the oven to 350 with the rack in the center. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Mix the flour, salt, and brown sugar together in a bowl. Add the butter and mix together with fingertips or pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Spread the crumbs on the cookie sheet, and bake for around 10 minutes. Remove from oven and move the streusel around, stirring and chopping it a bit, then bake about 7 minutes more, until golden brown.

Assembly:

Make cinnamon gelee, pour into glasses and leave to set. When it is set make yogurt gelee, pour into glasses and leave to set. The next day make apple compote, whipped cream, and streusel. Add to glasses in that order. Enjoy warm or cold.

Peach and Blackberry Vegan Tart

Hi all! Well, I'm between places now. Fresh back from Mexico and packing up for the move to Oregon. But still baking!

I hope no one is tired of vegan recipes yet. I know they have been sporadic. My plans to be a "seasonalitarian" with my consuming of animal products got DRASTICALLY interrupted in Mexico (can you say CHORIQUESO?) and I've been trying to make it up since. Success? Varied.

Still though, it IS late August, and finding fresh fruit to make delicious vegan desserts is not exactly a challenge. And this one was a lot of fun.

The crust came out especially good - it is really a vegan oatmeal cookie recipe. And I experimented a bit, substituting buckwheat flour for regular (I am moving and trying to get rid of old jars of half used goods!) and throwing in a handful of golden raisins. It was sort of...muffin-y? Really yummy with the fresh fruit.

Anyways, I hope you like it!









Sorry no recipe included this time, fellas. I was just about to write it, and then remembered I JUST packed my big book yesterday! It is at the bottom of a box. But if you are interested in making it, just find a vegan oatmeal cookie recipe for the crust (shape and bake it first) and then fill it with pureed peaches (I used 3) with orange juice (2/3 c) and some sugar (1/3 c), and top with fresh berries and sliced peaches!