Sweets

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

By in Fruit, Pastries, Sweets, Thanksgiving 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

Thanksgiving just wouldn”t be the same without pies and tarts. Especially pumpkin pie. But, not everyone”s a huge fan of pumpkin pie so it”s always good to have another option to share. Apple pie is a favourite in our house. If we”ve got an abundance of apples, Apple Pie or Apple Crisp must be made!

This pie is a little different from the norm for several reasons. It”s baked on a sheet pan instead of in a pie plate, it”s got a delicious crumble topping, featuring pecans, and it feeds a crowd without the work of making several pies at once. I think it would be the perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table. It”s like an apple pie, tart and crisp all in one. And, it can easily be eaten out of hand, which means less dirty dishes – bonus!

If you”re not feeding a crowd you can always freeze the extras between parchment paper and just take out as many as you need at a time, to thaw. I prefer to heat them up in the microwave or oven for a bit, because nothing beats warm apple pie.

I would venture to say this recipe is even easier to make then a regular apple pie because of the crumb topping and since the effort of one pie makes so many servings. And, it”s just so extremely delicious that I know I”ll be making it often over the coming months.

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

Pie Crust

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 2/3 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes

  • 8 – 10 tablespoons cold water

Apple Filling

  • 2/3 cup sugar

  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 3 1/2 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (or 10 cups sliced)

Crumb Topping

  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats

  • 1 cup packed brown sugar

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes

  • 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

To Make Pie Crust: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Toss in the butter cubes and, using your fingers, quickly break up the clumps, rubbing together with flour, until the butter is in pea sized amounts and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or cut in with a pastry blender). Sprinkle water over flour mixture 1 tablespoons at a time; gently toss with a fork, until all of the flour mixture is moistened. Gently knead the dough just until a ball forms.

Roll out the dough to approximately a 17×12 inch rectangle, on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Transfer to a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Patch any corners that don”t reach the edges of the pan, with any overhanging dough. Roll edges under and press down onto the rim of the baking sheet. Trim off excess parchment paper. Refrigerate while you make filling.

To Make Filling:  Toss together all ingredient, in a large bowl, until apples are evenly coated. Pour into dough-lined pan, spreading evenly. Refrigerate while you make the crumb topping.

To Make Crumb Topping: Stir together oats, brown sugar, and flour until well combined. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over apple filling.

To Bake: Bake at 375ºF for 45-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly near the centre and crust is browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

To store: Once completely cool, cover and keep at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to 3 days (bring up to room temperature to serve). Freeze for longer storage.

Makes: 20-25 servings

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.

Blueberry Cheesecake Coffee Cake

By in Breakfast, Cakes, Sweets 5 Comments Tags: , , , ,

blueberry cream cheese coffee cake

The air is getting cooler. We’re waking up to the furnace coming on in the mornings. The kids are getting snuggled up in their pj’s before bedtime, instead of sleeping in their undies and diapers with the windows wide open. We’re donning sweaters in the cool of the morning and at the setting of the sun. But, I still refuse to say the f word (starts with “f”, ends with “all”). It’s still summer and I’m going to enjoy every last ounce of it while I can. So, no mentioning the f word around here, ok? I’ve seen it thrown around too much lately. Let’s enjoy the season that’s here, while it’s still here. Even if it does lack the intense heat and crazy awesome thunder storms.

One thing I appreciate about a bit of cooler summer weather is that I don’t have to dread turning my oven on. Baking with summer berries is one of the best things ever! And this blueberry cheesecake coffee cake is about as good as it gets. Think dense, lightly sweet, coffee cake topped with a thin layer of rich cheesecake, fresh blueberries and crisp streusel topping. I don’t really think it needs much of a description, besides yum! We’ve been enjoying our’s with iced coffee and I’ve saved a few slices in the freezer just in case another heat wave decides to hit and I’m avoiding the oven again. But, even if that never happens it will most definitely not be going to waste!

Blueberry Cheesecake Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
Cheesecake Topping
  • 8 oz. (250g) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups blueberries
Streusel Topping
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the Coffee Cake: Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, starting and ending with flour. Mix just until incorporated. Spread evenly into a greased 9 inch cake pan (a springform pan works best for easy removal).

For the  Cheesecake Topping: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until incorporated. Add vanilla and egg. Beat just until blended. Spread on top of coffee cake layer. Sprinkle with blueberries.

For the Streusel Topping: Mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon. Using your hands, incorporate the butter until the mixture clumps together easily (the butter should be mixed in with no visible lumps). Sprinkle on top of blueberries.

Bake at 350ºF for 45-55 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Adapted from Sugar.

(Sweet Cherries!) Black Forest Ice Cream

By in Cool, Sweets 1 Comment Tags: , , , ,

black forest ice cream

This post is part of a July series on sweet cherries. To see the other posts head here.

This post is a week late but I promise you it’s worth the delay. They always say to save the best for last and I think I may have succeeded with this one.

This ice cream starts with a rich chocolate ice cream which gets a good dousing of melted chocolate mixed in, creating chocolate shards reminiscent of the outside of a Black Forest Cake. All that chocolately goodness gets layered with candied cherries, to create a black forest lovers dream.

I’ve tried incorporating fresh cherries into my ice cream before. The problem is that when you put uncooked cherries into frozen things, they freeze solid and you get an unwelcome frozen chunk of cherry, that is basically un-chewable, in the middle of your ice cream. That’s why, for this recipe, I decided to candy them, this way they remain soft and chewy, even after freezing.

If you love chocolate and cherries together you must give this recipe a go before cherry season is over!

Black Forest Ice Cream

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, no fear, David Lebovitz has a great tutorial on making it by hand.

Chocolate Ice Cream
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 5 oz. semi-sweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • pinch salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 cup cream and the cocoa powder over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it comes to a boil. Lower heat and let it boil gently for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Stir in remaining 1 cup of cream. Pour mixture into a large bowl, set a fine mesh sieve over top.

In the same saucepan, combine milk, sugar and salt. Heat the mixture just until steaming. In a medium-sized bowl whisk the eggs together. In a small stream, pour warm milk into eggs, whisking constantly. Once combined together pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon or spatula (you should be able to draw a visible line with your finger). Remove from heat and pour through the sieve into the chocolate mixture. Add vanilla and stir everything to combine. Allow to cool completely (this is best done over an ice bath, if possible). Once cool, refrigerate, covered, for at least 8 hours (or overnight).

Make sure all components of the ice cream are ready and then freeze the prepared custard in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Chocolate Shards
  • 5 oz. semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Pour slowly, in batches, into the freshly churned ice cream, stirring to break it up into shards as it freezes.

Candied Cherries
  • 1 pound sweet cherries, halved and pitted
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 drop pure almond extract

To make candied cherries: Place cherries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and boil gently for 25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid is a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Allow cherries to cool in syrup. Remove to a storage container and refrigerate until read to use. (This can be kept up to 2 weeks in the fridge.)

To add to ice cream: Drain cherries of their syrup (over a bowl so you can reserve syrup for something else*). Let cherries drain for one hour, to dry. Layer into storage container between scoops of freshly churned ice cream, cover and freeze until ice cream is firm.

* I mixed some of the leftover cherry syrup equally with maple syrup and served it with crepes.

Makes approximately: 1 litre of ice cream.

All recipes adapted from The Perfect Scoop, compilation is my own.

Blueberry Pie

By in Fruit, Pastries, Sweets 7 Comments Tags: , ,

Thanks so much to all of you who offered your condolences over the loss of my grandma through comments, emails and messages. I”m truly thankful for your words of comfort and encouragement.

I wanted to share something special today in honour of my grandma. One of her favourite hobbies was baking pies of all kinds, so I decided to make and share one of her favourites - Blueberry Pie. It happens to be the perfect time of year to enjoy blueberry pie since blueberries are at their prime in both price and flavour.

This pie is classic. A crisp, flaky crust housing a sunshine-y filling of blueberries with a hint of lemon. Make this for someone you love and savour the memories while you enjoy it together. xo

Blueberry Pie

  • pie dough for a two crust pie*

  • 4 cups blueberries

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 3/4 cup sugar

  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch

  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

  • egg wash (1 egg white + 1 teaspoon water, whisked together)

  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar

Roll one half of the pie dough into a 12 inch circle to fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Transfer to the pie plate and refrigerate while making filling.

To make filling: mix together blueberries and lemon juice. In a separate bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon. Toss together gently with blueberries. Pour immediately into pie shell. refrigerate while rolling out top crust.

Roll remaining pie dough to fit the top of the pie. Place on top, fold edges under bottom crust and crimp the edges to seal. Using a paring knife or scissors, slice cuts in the top for steam to escape while baking. Refrigerate 10 minutes, or until pie dough has firmed up.

Brush prepared pie with a bit of egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes, lower heat to 375ºF and bake an additional 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Let cool completely, to set (1-2 hours), before serving.

Serves: 8

* I used a new pie crust recipe but wasn”t completely happy with it. If you”re needing a recipe, this has been my go-to pie crust for years, except I make it with butter instead of shortening.

Adapted from Williams Sonoma.

Chocolate Cheesecake Mousse

By in Chocolate, Creamy, Sweets 6 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

I”ve been camping this week, which also means I”ve been out of touch this week. And, I”m ok with that. Having a break from real life, enjoying family and nature without any distractions, is one of my favourite things to do. I”m sure we”ll come back tired and smokey but hopefully also refreshed and ready to settle back into some sort of routine (yeah, probably not). ;)

This mousse has been a long time favourite of ours, ever since I created it for Smithfield many moons ago. The recipe is no longer available on their site and since I”m gone this week, and this is still one of my favourite preparations for mousse, I thought I”d share the recipe on here and make it available to you once again.

Mousse is a great dessert to make during the summer because it creates no heat in the house and is cool yet comforting to eat. And with this chocolate version it”s just made that much better with a sprinkling of fresh berries.

This mousse literally take 10 minutes to make and then all you have to do is wait for it to chill and set in the fridge. It”s so luscious, smooth and rich, and yet so easy. I”ve never had the desire to look for another mousse recipe since making this one. For me, it”s perfect.

Chocolate Cheesecake Mousse

  • 1 (8 ounce) tub spreadable cream cheese, room temperature

  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

  • 1/2 cup icing sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1 cup cold whipping cream

Cream together cream cheese and melted chocolate chips. Add icing sugar and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Pour in cream and beat with electric mixer just until peaks form and hold their shape when beaters are lifted. Spoon into serving dishes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves: 6-8

(Sweet Cherries!) Rustic Cherry Tart

By in Fruit, Pastries, Sweets 4 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

rustic cherry tart

This post is part of a July series on sweet cherries. To see the other posts head here.

Sweet Cherry Pie. There’s nothing quite like it. Except maybe a sweet cherry tart that’s half the work with just as much flavour. This tart is so easy to put together. The dough gets mixed and rolled out immediately, then it’s filled with raw cherries that are tossed in sugar and a few other ingredients (no pre-cooking necessary!) and then all that’s left is to pop it in the oven. The whole tart is freeform so there are no special pans needed. It’s a perfect quick and summery pastry dessert that gets you out of the kitchen in a jiffy. The longest part of the prep is the pitting of the cherries, but that’s kind of a fun activity to do while you sit out on the deck enjoying the sunshine anyways. At least for me!

This uses my favourite pastry dough for tarts of this kind. It’s sweet, buttery and flakey. And, it’s a breeze to work with and roll out. If you’re new to baking pastries this is a great place to start. It turns out perfect every time.

Rustic Cherry Tart

Pastry Dough
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
  • 3-6 tablespoons ice cold water
Cherry Filling
  • 1 pound (3 cups) sweet cherries, halved and pitted
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
To Finish
  • egg wash (1 egg white + 1 teaspoon water, whisked together)
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar

For the Pastry Dough: Combine flour, sugar and salt. Using your fingers, quickly break up the butter, tossing it in the flour mixture, until the butter is roughly the size of peas.  Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing together with a fork, until the dough sticks together to form a ball. (The amount of water needed depends on the humidity in your area. Just make sure it sticks together easily without being sticky to the touch.) Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, into a 14 inch circle. Transfer the parchment and dough onto a baking sheet.

Mix together filling ingredients until evenly coated. Pour onto the centre of the tart and spread out to within 2 inches of the edge. Fold up the edges to keep the filling snuggly inside.

Brush the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375ºF for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

Makes: 8 servings

Crust adapted from Taste of Home.

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