Category Archives: Baking

Stuffed Mushrooms for Last Minute Appetizer

Posted on October 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

Stuffed Mushrooms are the kind of appetizer that takes no time to make, you’re likely to have all of the ingredients in your refrigerator and pantry, and they are delightful bite full of flavor.

Stuffed Mushrooms Ingredients:
15 medium Baby Bella Mushrooms (a whole container)
2 tbsps of Olive Oil
1/3 cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
1 tbsp of Skim Ricotta Cheese
2 tbsps grated parmesean
2 tsps of italian seasoning
Dash of Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Add chopped basil, or parsley, chopped garlic
First rinse and rub all of the mushrooms and let them dry.  Remove all of the stems and reserve.  Take the stems and chop them to a small chop.  

In a small bowl add all of the seasonings, cheese, bread crumbs and olive oil.  Add to that the chopped mushrooms.

With a fork mix all of the ingredients.  This recipe is sort of the exact opposite of baking; you can swap out other ingredients, you can change the seasoning, want more spice, less spice, no cheese, more veggies, this is a great clean out the pantry in a flash recipe.


Prepare the oven to 400 degrees and put parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Turn the mushrooms cavity down and lightly oil the outside of the mushrooms, and sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper.  With a small spoon, or of course your fingers, stuff the mushrooms to the top.


Bake for twenty minutes.  Allow to cool, just long enough so that when you pop an entire mushroom in your mouth and it’s not so hot that you have to do that “it’s too hot” dance.  Enjoy!

Leave a comment

Posted in Appetizer, Baking, Christmas, dinner, entertaining, Her Kitchen, Holiday Food, New Year's Eve, Snacks

Tagged , , , , , , ,

First taste of Fall: Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies

Posted on October 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Not too long ago I listed my favorite things about fall, and somehow this got left off the list – very tragic!  I found this recipe last year and made it for my office, and it was a big, big hit.   Pumpkin is a fall mainstay and one that I very much enjoy.  Growing up a favorite smell and surprise was the aroma of a freshly baked pumpkin bread in my mom’s kitchen, which I really should get the recipe for.  

In the meantime, we’ll have some cookies, Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients, adapted from Big Fat Cookies by Elinor Klivans
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp of nutmeg
¼ tsp of pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
½ cup of canola oil
1 cup of pure pumpkin, pureed
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of dark chocolate chips (or not, totally up to you)
Set Oven to 325 degrees

In one bowl lightly beat the sugar and eggs for a light golden color and slightly frothy texture.  Add to the eggs and sugar the oil, vanilla and pumpkin puree. 

Add to the wet ingredients the white flour and whole wheat flour, baking soda and powder and all of your spices and seasonings.  It will smell like fall, right there in the bowl.  Remember the uncooked eggs?  Don’t try the batter yet.


Did you notice that there is more baking powder that is normally required for most cookie recipes?  This makes the batter extra airy and fluffy.  You’ll notice this difference in texture as soon as you mix it up.


Orange, pumpkin scented, and delicious…  What is missing?  Chocolate!  Pumpkin is a must for fall, but in our house chocolate chips are a year round staple.  I make no apologies for this confession, besides it is dark chocolate – that has to count as being on the healthy side of the aisle.  I suppose if chocolate isn’t your thing, which is shocking in and of itself, you could swap in nuts, or a blend of raisins, or dates?  

I use a large spoon to scoop these out and bake them in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.  As I mentioned, these cookies bake up extra fluffy and high as opposed to baking and spreading on the pan, so no need to worry about crowding the pan. 
When the cookies are out of the oven, these are the critical next steps: find a sweater (to my Florida readers, maybe a light cardigan?), find a cool breeze, a cup of cider/tea/coffee/chai and share with someone you love.  Cookies and cake are delicious, but when you eat them with someone you love, wow, the flavor is x 1000.

Happy Fall!

Leave a comment

Posted in Baking, Dessert, fall, Her Kitchen, Seasonal

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Tastes like Home

Posted on September 30, 2010 | 2 comments

Shortly after I graduated college my mom compiled a binder filled with recipes that were the sort of things you would always love to eat at a mom’s house and should always know how to make; apple pie, quiche, perfect salad dressing, cakes for holidays, and banana bread.

Banana bread feels like home.  It is warm, it’s comforting, it’s not so bad for you that you can’t eat it all day long – which I ultimately did.   After a whirlwind week of doctors appointments and hospital stays, more on that at another time, I just wanted to be back in our home.  All I could think to do was clean, do laundry and bake.  I’ll spare you the pictures of me sweeping and folding towels.

I took my  mom’s already really terrific banana bread recipe and upped the ante in the “good for you” category, without losing points in the “good tasting” category.


Healthy and Fluffy Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of turbinado sugar, or regular white sugar
1 apple sauce snack cup (4 oz.)
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
4 mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup of fat free Greek Yogurt
Bake at 350 for 1 hour

As a tip the banana shown above are not the ones I used. For a really good banana bread you want the bananas that look really bad: covered in spots, mushy and overly ripe.  If you want to fastforward the ripening process you can keep the bananas in the freezer, and then take them out about an hour before baking time to defrost, like so.

First melt the butter and let it cool and then add the sugar, eggs, vanilla and apple sauce. When you mix it up it will look like nothing very exciting.  Don’t lose hope.

Then add in those super ripe, but full of flavor bananas and the yogurt.  I know, now it just looks like banana baby food.  Believe in the banana bread!  I promise!


Time to add the dry ingredients.  A bunch of scoopfuls.


Here’s a secret, whenever I make a bread or cake I pour a little extra batter in some muffin tins also.  Maybe this is to taste test to make sure the recipe worked, but maybe it’s also to have a great treat in less time then in takes to bake a whole cake, you be the judge.


After an hour in the oven, always test with a toothpick, your banana bread should be done.  Let it cool, if you can, before removing it from the pan.  If the temptation is too great, that’s what those little muffins were for!   I loved this banana bread, it would be great with nuts or chocolate chips added in or smeared with some peanut butter or cream cheese.  But in this case, it tasted like home and that is all I was craving.

2 Comments

Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Comfort Food, Dessert, healthy, Her Kitchen

Tagged , , , , ,

Everybody’s Favorite, with a Holiday Twist

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

And, I’m back!  Sorry for the absence of postings last week, Mark and I were India – more on that soon, with a travel journal and lots of pictures.  In the meantime, let’s get back into the swing of things with an easy, and perfectly delicious recipe.

Like apples and honey, pomegranate seeds are also a symbolic treat for the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Tradition dictates that you try a new/exotic fruit, which for many a pomegranate qualifies, and also the abundance of tiny pomegranate seeds is symbolically linked to an abundance of goodness in the New Year.  
Image via Vos Iz Neias?
 While working on the whole wheat apple muffins, I thought this would be a fun way to incorporate some extra goodness into the holidays.

Pomegranate Cookies, adapted from Nestle Tollhouse

Ingredients 
1 and 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, softened
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3/8 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup of fresh Pomegranate Seeds
1/2 cup of Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds
Set the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for about 8 minutes or until browned.

Just like you were making regular chocolate chip cookies, cream the butter and sugars, add the egg and vanilla.  Then add the dry ingredients of flour, baking soda and salt.  


Then add the fresh pomegranate seeds.  You could also you dried seeds, but I found the fresh ones kept the cookies unbelievably moist.  You could stop with the fresh seeds for a healthy, sweet treat, but come on, how could I resist not adding in dark chocolate covered seeds as well?  Dark chocolate is rich with antioxidants, so that counts too!

I found the fresh seeds and the chocolate covered seeds at Trader Joe’s, but if you’re not so lucky to have a Trader Joe’s nearby, you could just use regular chocolate chips and remove the seeds yourself.  To avoid a mess you can open up the pomegranate and pull out the seeds with your hands and the fruit submerged in a bowl of water.

For these cookies I used a teaspoon sized scoop.  The cookies came out to be size of an Entenmann’s cookie, which is pretty much the perfect 2-bite size. 

Eat and enjoy, and share with a friend.  Wishing you all great things for fall and the start of the New Year!

Leave a comment

Posted in Baking, Comfort Food, Dessert, fall, healthy, Her Kitchen, Holiday Food, Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, Seasonal

Tagged , , , , , ,

Sweetness for the New Year

Posted on September 3, 2010 | 1 comment

Growing up there were certain food pairings that always went together: peanut butter and jelly, Oreo cookies and milk, apples and honey.  As the Jewish High Holiday season approaches, my mind and my appetite starts to shift away from blueberries and peaches and to autumn’s bounty of apples.  

On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it is traditional to dip apples into honey for it signifies the wish for sweetness in the coming year – but really any reason is a good reason to mix apples with sweetness.  The holiday season is always filled with multiple meals, treats and often overindulging, this healthier take on a traditional apple cake will set the year off on a healthier and sweet note, and that’s what I always wish for good health and sweetness.  
Whole Wheat Apple Muffins, adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients: 
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsps dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 cup non-fat greek yogurt
2 large apples, coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
I have to start off by saying that I played with the ingredients for this recipe to create something lighter, and more sponge cake like than a traditional dense muffin – although I do love a good muffin.  

Let’s get started, all of the dry ingredients are in one bowl.  Because I subbed out half of the butter, I halved the amount of all-purpose flour and added half a cup of cake flour to help keep the fluffiness.  I also used less sugar than the original recipe called for because of the natural and added sugars in apple sauce.  As a side note, we just got fresh cinnamon, and the aroma is amazing.

In a separate bowl mix the butter, apple sauce, and sugars.  When the butter is broken up enough – it won’t look like normal creamed butter and sugar because the liquid content of the apple sauce, don’t worry.  Now blend in the egg.  It still is not going to be pretty, don’t worry.  Now add in the yogurt.  I use non-fat, sugar free Greek yogurt, because I don’t want to add extra sugars that are hidden in most yogurts.


After you blend the yogurt it will resemble what you probably expected the mixture to look like all along – phew!  Slowly add the dry ingredients to to the wet mixture.


Time to get to the apples.  I am partial to granny smith apples.  I use them for my apple pies or just for snack.  I love their tart flavor and crisp bite.  I am sure you could use your favorite variety.  Make sure to eat some apples a long the way, that’s what I did.


With a large spoon mix in the apples.  I have to warn you at this point the batter is sticky, and not at all like a traditional cake dough.  It more closely resembles a cookie dough.  Don’t worry about it.  Seriously, apples and sugar and yogurt and flour is not something to worry about.


Plop large spoonfuls of the batter into muffin cups or if you run out of papers as I did eventually just make small balls on a cookie tray.  For extra sweetness you can sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on top of the muffins.


Pop these into a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, and then lower the oven temperature to 400 degree for another 5 minutes.  That is it.  It is a fast, fast baking recipe.  Kind of perfect for the holiday season when you are cooking/basting/baking all day and don’t have time to slave over dessert – and probably even better to save for yourself for a treat the next day.

Wishing you good baked goods, health and happiness.

1 Comment

Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Comfort Food, Dessert, fall, healthy, Her Kitchen, Holiday Food, Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, Seasonal

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Less Sweet Sweet Stuff

Posted on August 23, 2010 | 2 comments

To work in my office is to experience a constant parade of sweets.  They come in all shapes, store bought treats from a coworker’s vacation, classic baked goods from a family baking adventure, ice cream parties to celebrate jobs well-done, and everyone’s favorite, snack on Friday.

On one particular day my office had an extra large Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Bombe cake (that was nearly a foot tall), and Ben and Jerry’s Make Your Own Sundae in the lobby.  After partaking and indulging that afternoon I decided to start skipping the sugar, or at least be more selective.  I’ve since realized that having it less often really does make it more of a treat.  Have no fear, sugar isn’t banned – I have enjoyed a few s’mores since our fiesta – I had to make sure their deliciousness wasn’t a fluke.  It wasn’t!

Cutting back on traditional sugar though didn’t mean I was cutting back on baking.  Looking in my refrigerator for inspiration I found these carrots.  They were too soft to dip, it’s still too hot to consider roasting root vegetables, so obviously there was no better place for them that in a cookie!

Sugar Free Carrot Cookies
Ingredients:
¾ Cup of Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup of Cake Flour
1 Cup of Whole Oatmeal (dry)
1 tsp of baking powder
A dash of sea salt

1 Cup Shredded Carrots
½ Cup of Olive Oil
½ Cup of Maple Syrup
Spring of fresh grated ginger

First mix all of the dry ingredients (flours, oatmeal, baking powder, and salt) and then pour in the shredded/grated carrots.  (You can decide how finely grated you want your carrots to be, but keep an eye on them, you do not want carrot juice.)  You can mix these all with a fork, or have one less thing to wash and mix it with your fingers (that’s what I did).


Then pour in the wet ingredients (oil and syrup).  We’re you going to plug in your mixer?  You can skip that to.  I used a soup spoon to mix this together – a soup spoon!  Nothing is easier than that.

Then just roll them out into little balls, about the size of a tablespoon.  I used a Silpat mat on one sheet and a piece of tin foil on the other.  The tin foil cookies’ bottoms were darker, some might say a bit on the burnt side, but they still got rave reviews – I think the extra color caramelized that sugars in the syrup.  Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong.


When they are out of the oven you are going to want to eat them all.  We did do that, so I speak from experience.  They are delightful plain, but they are decadent with a little swipe of cream cheese. These made a terrific guilt-free mid-week dessert, and I can foresee them making an appearance at future brunches and snacks.

2 Comments

Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Dessert, healthy, Her Kitchen, Seasonal, Spring, summer

Tagged , , , ,

Plum and Peach Crumble

Posted on August 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

When I woke up this morning (late) it was as though I was back in Florida for a hurricane!  At 7:30 the sky was dark, the trees were blowing and lightning was striking all around the house, and I wish I had this for breakfast…

 

A week or so ago I had lots of peaches from the farmer’s market, and a LOT of plums from Costco and they were just shouting out to me, “mix us with the good stuff!” and so I did. 
Plum and Peach Crumble:
Ingredients:
5 peaches, peeled
6 plums, peeled
1/2 tsp of corn starch
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp of white sugar (I grabbed the flour bag by mistake in the picture)
3/4 cup plain oatmeal
5 tbsps of butter
A sprinkle of slivered almonds
A dash of cinnamon

First bring a saucepan to boil and dip the plums and peaches in the hot water for about 20 seconds and then plunge them into their ice cold water bowl.

Then peel the skins right off.  See the white flecks on the plum?  That’s a vegetable wax that was applied to the fruit – removing the skin means no weird white spots.  You can do this with your fingers, but do it gently, especially with the softer fruits.

Then cut the fruit into large chunks.  This is really based on preference but I like to have big fruit bites.  Because I am really into cinnamon I sprinkled a bit on, but you could easily skip it.  This is also when I pore in the corn starch, which magically (not really, this is what it is supposed to do) firms up the juices from the fruits to make a more solid crumble/pie/tart.
In a separate bowl I mixed by hand the sugars, the whole wheat flour, oatmeal and butter.  The butter adds just the right amount of moisture, so a still fairly light crumble topping.  If you’re looking for a more traditional, or more solid crumble I’d add more flour and an egg.  But since I was going for a lighter dessert, I kept it simple and poured it over the fruit in the pie pan.


Then I baked it at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the top was nice and browned and the juices were bubbly.  Tip: if you want it to be browner, but not burnt take another tablespoon of butter and break up small chunks for on top. 
 The toughest part was waiting for it to cool…  So we waited, and waited, and then stopped waiting.  
This was delicious warm, and would have been great on top of vanilla ice cream, or with whipped cream but then I guess that whole healthy dessert concept would be out the window.  I would also serve it room temperature at a brunch, or having it for breakfast with some Greek yogurt.

Fruit this summer has been delicious on their own, but sometimes it’s fun, if you’re going to spend time washing and slicing to throw them into a pie pan too!

Leave a comment

Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Comfort Food, Dessert, healthy, Her Kitchen, Seasonal, summer

Tagged , , , ,

Just want Chocolate

Posted on August 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

For the past few baking posts I’ve shared recipes that starred peaches and blueberries, the bounty of our Farmer’s market.  But, you know what is always in season?  Chocolate.  Sometimes chocolate like to be eaten straight from the wrapper, but sometimes it wants to get dressed up and be a star and this cake lets it be the star.

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients for Cake:
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 
1 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Hot Chocolate Powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, 0%
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a standard bundt pan.
Combine in a medium sized bowl the chocolate chips and softened butter, and stir in the boiling hot water.
Blend together until the chocolate, butter and hot water make a silky chocolate soup.
In a separate bowl combine flour, hot chocolate powder, baking soda and salt and gradually blend in the chocolate soup.  

Then add the eggs, yogurt and vanilla and continue to blend, and pour into the prepared bundt pan.
I retained a little bit of the batter for 4 cupcake sized portion since we had friends over, and I wanted to taste test the new recipe, so I only baked it for around 40 minutes, even though the recipe calls for 55 to 60.  I would recommend checking at 40 minutes with the toothpick trick and then extending for five minutes and checking again.
After baking, let the cake cool in the pan for at least ten minutes, and then invert on a plate and if time allows continue to let cool.  I made my cake the night before a family party and made the glaze the morning of, but I am sure they could all be done the night before and would stay beautiful and delicious.

Ingredients for Glaze:
1/2 stick of butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 – 3 tablespoons of hot water

This might be the most simple, most delicious frosting.  I think  you could be creative and add food color, or other flavor extracts (almond, mint, liquor, lemon, etc), but I kept it simple.

Melt the butter and gradually stir in the powdered sugar, water and vanilla.  
 Beat by hand with a whisk until smooth, adding more water a teaspoon at a time if you’re finding it too thick, or lumpy.   This makes more than enough glaze – so maybe you’ll lick the whisk, or share with a friend!


Pour a generous amount all around the cake, in any free form design.  I think with a cake this classic it doesn’t need to look “too perfect”.   I added some plain slivered almonds for fun – and crunch.  

Cut a big slice and enjoy!  This cake is sweetened with the sugar and chocolate chips, but not too sweet with the balance of the yogurt.  I think you could tweak this recipe with nearly anything you had on hand.  It’s so moist you don’t need anything else, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t love it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Leave a comment

Posted in Baking, Christmas, Dessert, Her Kitchen, Holiday Food

Tagged , , , , ,

The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake

Posted on July 29, 2010 | 1 comment

Blueberry Harvest Cake
Part of the joy of getting a pedicure is reading the magazines.  And I was extra joyful when I stumbled upon the August issue of Food & Wine Magazine.  With tributes to Tuscan Farm to Fork cooking and a feature on Greek Chef/Philosopher Michael Psilakis I was hooked.  

On Sunday, a few days after the pedicure, we were having Mark’s family over for lunch to wish his mom a “buon viaggio” before her trip to Italy.  This was our first time entertaining in our new house, and we toiled on the menu, prepared on Saturday, shopped our Farmer’s Market Sunday morning and cooked and cleaned just until showtime.  On a hot day, and a full menu the big debate was dessert, and then I remembered the magazine.

The Cake that Stole the Show, or Blueberry Harvest Cake 
adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, August 2010

All the ingredients ready to be delicious
Ingredients:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup of milk
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 – 1.5 cups of blueberries, fresh
Confectioners Sugar for dusting
Use a 9″ springform pan
Oven at 350 degrees

Whisk the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl whisk, by hand, the eggs with granulated sugar until fully combined and a smooth yellow color.  

Then pour in the vanilla, milk, and olive oil and continue whisking by hand.  Slowly and while whisking continuously, pour in the melted butter.  It’s a good idea to let the melted butter cool for a few moments as this cake would not taste good with scrambled olive oil eggs.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, again by hand, it will be a beautiful golden yellow color.  Try to resist “taste-testing”, I usually cannot, but I know that I should.

Pick your favorite fruit.  The Food & Wine recipe calls for seedless red grapes, but since I live in DC and not Napa, and since blueberries are delicious right now, I adapted.

Fold the blueberries into the batter with a whisk and a gentle hand, being careful to not crush them along the way.


Pour into springform pan and bake for 15 minutes.  At fifteen minutes remove the cake from the oven and pop on a few more blueberries on the surface, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.  Check to ensure it is fully baked with a toothpick – clean toothpick means it’s done!

After the cake has cooled sprinkled on some confectioner’s sugar and you could serve it with more fresh berries, like I did, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, a blueberry sauce or just plain, because it is just that moist and delicious!

Oh, so why the name?  Why the “Cake that Stole the Show”? because after a delicious Caprese salad, Aged Cheddar and Bacon Macaroni, perfectly seasoned baked chicken breast and a salad that would make any farmer proud – this cake was devoured.  And Mark very proudly boasted, this was the best cake ever, it “stole the show”.

1 Comment

Posted in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Dessert, healthy, Her Kitchen, summer

Tagged , , , , , ,

Everything is sweeter when small

Posted on July 19, 2010 | 4 comments

These are cutie pies. Pies are pretty much my favorite thing. Small things also rank pretty high on the list of favorites.

I’ll share some Joey Tribiani logic with you,
Pie = butter + flour + sugar = delicious
Small = handheld + portable + more fun – plates = cute

Small + pies = cutie pies = good

I didn’t always get in “A” in Math class, but I am pretty confident with that equation.

So the key to any good pie is good dough.  I told you I preferred to make my own dough, so I am glad I was able to share this with you on such a cute, summer, recipe.  I learned this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.
Pie Dough – makes two doughs or approximately 10 cutie pies with lattice tops.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
*With a naturally sweet filling like peaches I might add just a touch more salt.


So, you could make this dough with a food processor, but then you can’t really control the texture, or with a pastry cutter, but I can’t find mine, or with two butter knives, or forks…

Then I put my hands in there and really work it through.  If I remember I take my rings off first – I rarely remember – that’s a good thing.  I shaped it into a nice, big, buttery ball.

The magic with pie dough is all in keeping the butter cold so that when it’s rolled and then baked the crust is rich, flaky and amazing.  Now that the dough is a pretty smooth ball I divided it and wrapped in plastic (or parchment/wax paper) and stored it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

For the filling I followed my intuition – that often seems to work.  
Peach Filling for 6 Cutie Pies:
5 Peaches
1.5 tbsps granulated sugar
2 – 3 shakes of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of corn starch
**I probably ate a peaches worth of cut up peaches after making the pies…

To remove the fuzzy skin – I boiled a small pot of water and dunked the peaches in the boiling water on the stove for about 15 seconds.  After their spa experience they all get dunked in a bowl of ice cold water so that they don’t continue cooking.  At this point the skin peels right off.

For Cutie Pies I like the fruit pieces to be a bit on the smaller side, since the container is smaller too. Once everything is chopped I sprinkled in the sugar/cinnamon/corn starch and just let it hang out for a little while.  The fruit loves the sugar – it doesn’t need much but, when they’re together they make some really delicious things happen. 


Time to get rolling…
So, you caught me.  I don’t own a rolling pin.  I love pie and I don’t own a rolling pin.  We used to live in a considerably smaller home, with a significantly smaller kitchen and therefore I have grown accustomed to using a Chopan Vodka Martini mixing bottle as a rolling pin.   It’s a bit silly, but it works.

Anyway, throw down some flour on the work surface and keep some handy for the bottle/can/rolling pin/whatever.

I use a muffin tin as the pie pan and a juice glass to cut out the circles.  The pan doesn’t need any additional grease as the dough is already pretty deliciously buttery. 

I put in generous servings of fruit – it makes it more fun to get a sweet bite of peach in every, single, juicy bite.

With the excess dough I cut out little strips and made a mini lattice for the tops.  With my fingers I rubbed a bit of skim milk, but you could use an egg wash or water in a pinch, and sprinkled some raw sugar on top. 

I forgot to mention… you’ll want to bake these at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Due to the small size, and the sensitivity of different ovens – keep an eye on these babies.  Also, if you’re not into cleaning ovens, (and really who is?) try layering the muffin tin on a cookie sheet so that any extra bubbly juices land on the sheet and not the oven or racks.


And then it’s time to eat.  And eat we did! 

4 Comments

Posted in Baking, Dessert, Her Kitchen, summer

Tagged , , , , ,