Apple Pie Roses

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Alisa

So I saw this really fun video circulating on Facebook a few weeks ago and like everyone else, it gave me the confidence to try it out myself! These little roses are so much fun to make and they are so beautiful! I thought they’d make an excellent special occasion type dessert. I did the recipe exactly like the video said and I was pleased with the process but not really the results. I mean, they’re okay, but they are definitely prettier than they are tasty. And I honestly think that’s the point. It was a super fun and easy “cooking craft” to do with Olive and so I’ll give it points for that because not every baking recipe is truly kid-accessible. But I decided to alter the recipe to be as delicious as it is beautiful. Here’s a couple problems the original recipe has:

1. The bake time is long and the thin apple slices burn on top, so we cover them during part of baking.
2.They stick like dadgum superglue to the muffin pan and get ripped apart when you take them out, therefore…
3. I fixed that by removing them from the pan while they were still super hot, but…
4. There’s the problem with eating super-baked tiny shreds of apple peel. It gives it that rose look, however…
5. The apple peel feels like tough strings in your mouth. Not really two adjectives you want for your baked goods.
6. The apples snap in half from the original recipe, so I fixed that by soaking them in hot lemon water instead of cold.
7. They just fall flat, taste-wise, so I added a bit of scrumptiousness into the filling along with the apple slices by adding cinnamon roll type flavors.
8. Also, I’m a pie crust junkie, so I switched to pie crust instead of puff pastry and it was indeed more delicious, but…
9. The falling apartness was magnified with the pie crust, so you fix that once and for all by…
10. Using greased muffin liners to bake these babies in. Voila. Most of the problems solved.

So my suggestion for the final round of 100% deliciousness is to peel the apples. How to fix the “but they don’t look like a rose, anymore!” problem? Add a couple drops of red food coloring to the warm water while the apples soak, OR pomegranate or cranberry juice and BOOM! Red roses. I didn’t do this for my final pics because everyone in my house was getting rather sick of eating these tiny apple roses, BUT I did color some apple slices in pomegranate juice and they were BEAUTIFUL. So I’ll try them like that again and make a special Christmas rose wreath edition of this recipe for those who care. Which I think might be 5 people, total. In any case, I present to you:

Apple Pie Roses

Servings: 6-8
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Ingredients:
1 box frozen pie crust, softened in the fridge (Yeah, yeah, I always make pie crust, but these don’t need that extra effort. It’s effort enough as it is and the store-bought crust tasted just great.)
1 apple, peeled (or not – up to you), and sliced into VERY THIN half moons
Hot water and the juice from 1/2 a lemon

For the filling:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
squeeze of the other half of the lemon
2 TBS melted butter
1/2 cup chopped golden raisins, softened for a few minutes in boiling water
melted butter for brushing the tops

Cut and soak your apple slices in boiling water and lemon while you do everything else. I let mine soak for nearly an hour but I don’t think that’s necessary.

Preheat your oven to 375F. Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Roll out your pie crust and cut into 2.5″ x 6″ strips. Mine were NOT perfectly cut. It doesn’t matter. Spoon about a teaspoon of the filling on the strips of dough and spread it around. Drain and layer the apple slices, slightly overlapping, along the top half of the dough. Fold the other half up over the apples and pinch at the ends to secure, and then roll up into a rose. Refer to the lovely video if you need help!

Place the roses into greased muffin cups (this is important). Brush the tops of the roses with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 20-30 minutes, watching to make sure the edges don’t burn.

Christmas Cookies: Cranberry Rosemary and White Chocolate

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Alisa

Every year since who knows when, I’ve been making these lovely little biscotti that have a wonderful marriage of sweet, tangy and savory all packed into one crumbly bite. This year I decided to turn my biscotti into a soft sugar cookie and I absolutely loved the results. I took the batch to my knitting group and it got rave reviews – and those ladies are hard to please! I just love this combination – it’s so Christmassy in color and taste. A bit of pine essence from the rosemary and the in-season cranberries with a little snow-capped action from the white chocolate. If you wanted a more festive presentation you could skip adding the white chocolate chips and drizzle the tops with melted white chocolate! These are easy and bake up beautifully – perfect for your Christmas cookie exchange and more unique!

Christmas Cookies*
makes 2 dozen give or take

2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 TBS light brown sugar
1 large egg
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary in a medium bowl.

Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. Add the cranberries and white chocolate chips and fold in until just combined. Scoop out onto baking sheets into about a 2 tablespoon sized ball and lightly press down with your fingers to flatten out the top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake 15 to 18 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cool the cookies for a few minutes after they come out of the oven and then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve with coffee and enjoy!

*base sugar cookie recipe from The New Best Recipe

Candied Apple Pie – a family recipe

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Alisa

My brother in law, Justin, is pretty amazing with a pie plate. He’s been known to ship his cherry pies across the country just because someone requested it. I tasted one the first year he was married to my sister in law, Julie, because he mailed one to us in Tulsa for Thanksgiving since he and Julie couldn’t come and were stuck working in Atlanta. It was amazing and it made me doubly glad he married into the family. 🙂 He is a man of many talents and you’d never expect this hunter/carpenter/plumber/electrician type guy to be a whiz with baking, but he is! And he loves it and you can tell. There’s a pride in what he bakes that can literally be tasted. Matt and I feel so fortunate that we have two more enthusiastic hands in the kitchen around the holidays in Justin and Julie. We’re a family centered around the table with forks in hand!

This recipes was one he made over the Christmas break. He first made a candied cherry pie and followed that up with this candied apple pie, which was so beautiful and rustic, I had to take pics and then, I had to have the recipe after I tasted it – amazing. I know pie season is over and New Years Resolutions are done, but if you have room in your heart for one more pie this winter, make it this one.

Candied Apple Pie
makes one, 10″ pie

For the crust:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks of butter, very cold and in small cubes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup ice water, more or less as needed

In a stand mixer, add the first cup and a half of flour, the salt and sugar, and gradually beat in the butter by small handfuls until each addition is pretty well incorporated. When all the butter has been added, add the last cup of flour and mix slowly to combine. Add tablespoons of water until the dough just comes together when pressed between your fingers. Wrap the dough in a plastic bag (I use a bread bag) and flatten out into a disc and let chill for at least 30 minutes. When ready for the pie, take it out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit on a lightly floured counter space for about ten minutes, and then divide the dough, not exactly in half, but let one half be a bit bigger than the other. You’ll use the slightly smaller half for the top of the pie.

For the Filling and Assembly:
3-5 lbs Granny Smith apples (or any firm, tart apple), cored, peeled, halved and sliced thin
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter (8 tbs)
1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 egg white

In a 10″ cast iron skillet melt the butter and add the brown sugar. Stir until brown sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Peel and slice the apples (this little gadget is worth buying!). In a large mixing bowl, stir 1 cup granulated sugar with the cinnamon and mix in the apples. Set aside.

Roll out the bigger of the two pie crusts and lay into the skillet, on top of your brown sugar/butter mixture. Fill crust with apple mixture. Roll out the smaller crust over the top and crimp edges and and trim any excess. Cut several single blade-width vent slots. Baste top with lightly whipped egg white then sprinkle with white sugar. Cook at 350 degrees for one hour.

Serve right out of the pan with ice cream or wait a bit for it to cool and the caramel in the bottom will be extra gooey. It’s up to you. If the bottom seems to be sticking and won’t come out, simply warm the skillet on a burner over low heat until the caramel melts and you can remove a slice.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Espresso Brownies

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Alisa

I was paid $25 to make this recipe. Well, technically, I was paid about $12.50, because Matt was paid the other half to make a loaf of his awesome bread. Why? Because an old co worker from his previous job had a Christmas party to go to and a twenty-five dollar limit to spend on a gift. So he contacted us and said, “Make a couple things.” The fun thing about these office party gift-exchanges is that the person whose gift got the most steals, or trades in the game, wins $100.

Gary won. 🙂 So I guess you could say these are $75 brownies. Or $37.50. Or probably less, because as I well know, it was most certainly Matt’s bread that won the contest. Hey, Matt – guess what? You won 1st place for your bread. Only this time, instead of a $6 check like at the fair, some other guy got $100. That’s better, right? 😉

The brownies were indeed, great. I followed a recipe from Fat Witch Brownies (a most awesome brownie book) for an espresso brownie, and then I thought, “What could make this more show-worthy for a gift exchange?” Covering it in a rich chocolate ganache! Then, with some sprinkles of cocoa nibs, these brownies become a huge version of a chocolate-covered espresso bean, which in my opinion, is the ultimate adult candy. They’re like one big “congratulations” for getting older.

And so are these brownies! Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Espresso Brownies*
worth $37.50

7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon hot water
1 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 recipe dark chocolate ganache (see below)
cocoa nibs or crushed up coffee beans for sprinkling

Grease a 9×9″ baking dish with butter. Dust with flour. Or use that awesome flour spray. Preheat oven to 350F.

Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second increments, stirring with a rubber spatula after each time, until smooth and melted.

Cream the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth, then add the cooled chocolate mixture and continue beating until incorporated.

In a small dish, mix the espresso powder with the hot water until dissolved. Add it to the chocolate mixture and continue to beat until well combined.

Measure the flour and salt and then sift together directly into the batter. Mix the batter gently until well combined.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 1 hour. Make your ganache while the brownies cool. After they cool, cut them into 16 squares and gently remove and place on a drying rack, or on sheets of waxed or parchment paper.

Dark Chocolate Ganache*
makes 1 cup of goodness from the heavens

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Over medium heat, place the heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat immediately after it has just started to boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let them sit for a minute. Then, with a rubber spatula, gently begin mixing the chocolate in tiny circles in the center of the bowl. You will think it will never incorporate. Keep mixing. You will think your cream wasn’t hot enough. Keep mixing. Chocolate demands patience. Then, just like magic, the chocolate will deepen its color instantly and you will only have a few more stirs, incorporating the sides and scooping down to the bottom of the bowl, to end up with one, big, glossy, gorgeous bowl of thick, dark chocolate ganache. Take this and spread over the tops and sides of your cut brownies and sprinkle the tops of your brownies with the nibs or crushed beans and let it cool till the ganache firms up.

*both recipes adapted only very slightly from Fat Witch Brownies. Go buy this book for someone for Christmas.

EAT! ENJOY!

Lemon Cream Crepe Cake with Pomegranate Seeds

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Alisa

Crepe Cake with fuilltine and lemon buttercream

So yesterday, I got myself all in a fluster about crepe cakes – talked too much about it and had to go make one. Tough plight. I had some pomegranate seeds from a spectacular sale at the grocery store this week – two HUGE ones for $3, and thought they’d be so pretty on top of a cake. I sweetened up Alton Brown’s crepe batter and made a lemon zest butter cream that went perfectly with the delicate crepes and tart pomegranate seeds. I think this would be such a wonderful addition to a Christmas party spread – it’s so bright and happy! Those flecks of brown in the butter cream are a baker’s pantry staple called feuilletine, a ginger-snappy flavored crisp that is used for crunch in various confections at Momofuku Milk Bar. I remember it being a huge mess to make, and we had about 4 cups of it, just sitting there, unused, so I decided to add it in the cake for crunch and I really loved the addition! This step can be left out OR you could crumble up actual ginger snaps and I think that would be fabulous!

This cake is for a frosting lover. The buttercream makes a lot and I used all of it. Think: very slender, ladylike slices and you won’t be overwhelmed. Plus some black coffee or tea and you’ll have yourself an amazing bridal brunch/wedding shower/baby shower show stopper!

Vanilla Crepe Cake with Lemon Butter cream and Pomegranate Seeds
makes about a 20 layer cake

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 tbs sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter, for coating the pan

1 cup ginger snaps, crushed fine
1 cup pomegranate seeds from one large pomegranate

In a large cup, place all ingredients except the butter and blend with an immersion blender for a full minute, making sure all the flour is incorporated. Then drizzle in the melted butter. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Heat a small non-stick pan over medium high. Add butter to coat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. This takes a bit of practice and your crepes might look like mine and have tiny fingers coming off the sides. They’ll taste the same, promise. Cook the first side for about a minute until edges brown and you can run your spatula around the edges to loosen. Slide your spatula under the crepe and flip over. Cook for another 10 seconds and set aside in a stack to cool for assembly.

For the Butter cream:

1 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 lemon – zest and juice
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup butter, softened
3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest of
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat till well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minutes.

Assemble!
Place a crepe on a cake stand on top of a dot of buttercream to hold it in place. Spread about an 1/8th of a cup of frosting on the crepe, evenly spreading. If using, sprinkle with crumbled cookies and top with another crepe and repeat the process until you’re left with one crepe. Top with remaining buttercream and coat the top of the buttercream evenly with pomegranate seeds. Freeze, uncovered, for about 30 minutes for ease of slicing! Wrap before storing in the fridge, but the buttercream will keep the cake quite moist. ENJOY!

The Family Meal

we eat together

Tag Archives: Christmas desserts

Apple Pie Roses

Apple Pie Roses

Christmas Cookies: Cranberry Rosemary and White Chocolate

Candied Apple Pie – a family recipe

Chocolate Covered Espresso Brownies

Lemon Cream Crepe Cake with Pomegranate Seeds

Apple Pie Roses

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