Maple Apple Pie

Some weeks ago, in a pleasant Monday morning, my husband and I went to the Patterson Fruit Farm to pick up some apples. Honey crisp, Macintosh, Golden Delicious and Gala. These are some of the varieties that we found there. There were more kinds of apple there too, but most of them were new to me and I could just remember those. Among all those options we gathered beautiful apples avid to make our first apple pie. In my imagination when I think of this iconic American dessert, I always see a warm pie even with a fragrant swirling steam cooling on the kitchen counter like in the old cartoons I watched when I was a child.

Making my own apple pie was very exciting! First I prepared the dough. To obtain a perfect pie crust I left it resting overnight on the fridge, and then I make the apple filling with maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. During the baking, when the top crust starts to became golden I brushed the entire crust with milk and sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon. The flavors of the juicy compote filling covered by the sugary crust were sensational. How wonderful was enjoy this traditional dessert on a typical autumn evening!

Maple Apple Pie

(adapted from here)

For the pastry:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. sugar

10 Tbs. (1 1/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter,
  cut into pieces

10 Tbs. cold vegetable shortening, cut into
  pieces

7 Tbs. ice water

1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the filling:

2 1/2 lb. baking apples, peeled, cored,
  quartered and cut lengthwise into slices 1/2
  inch thick

1/2 cup sugar, plus more as needed

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup maple syrup

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Tbs. milk

Sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Directions:

To make the pastry, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center, add the butter and shortening and, using your fingertips, rub them into the flour mixture until small, flat pieces form. In a cup or small bowl, combine the water and vinegar. Using a fork, gently mix just enough of the liquid into the flour mixture so it comes together in a rough ball; do not overwork. Discard the remaining liquid. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

To make the filling, in a bowl, toss together the apples, the 1/2 cup sugar (adding more to taste if the apples are tart), cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup.

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough (leave the other half refrigerated) into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and then into quarters and transfer it to a 9-inch pie dish. Unfold and gently press into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges even with the rim. Roll out the remaining dough into a 10-inch round about 1/8 inch thick.

Turn the apples into the pastry-lined pan, mounding them slightly in the center. Dot evenly with the butter. Brush the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough round into quarters and unfold over the apples. Press together the top and bottom crusts to seal, then trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish and crimp to form an attractive edge. Make a few slits near the center to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 25 minutes. Brush with milk and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake until the apples are tender (insert a knife blade through a slit) and the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer the dish to a wire rack and let the pie cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Makes one 9-inch pie; serves 8.

A Cake to Celebrate Fall - Cinnamon Layers with Sweet Potato Cream

Fall brings me fond remembrances of the beginning of my marriage. One year ago I started to live in US. I was newlywed and I embraced all the changes to hone the life with my beloved husband. The excitement to enjoy the pristine home and to learn a new culture was grand and comforting, although the longing for my family and friends still remained. Fortunately, the breathtakingly beauty of the colorful fall enhanced even more the happiness of this great moment of my life.

So, a cake that unites some of the best ingredients of this season is certainly a befitting way to celebrate its beginning and the good thoughts that it has brought me: cinnamon layer cake with sweet potato cream.  I saw this cake recipe with cinnamon and sour cream from baker Matt Lewis of Brooklyn's Baked bakery and I thought it would be a good pair with sweet potato cream. I was inspired by the purple sweet potatoes candies that my mom used to prepare. This cream basically consists of one medium sweet potato, sweetened condensed milk, nutmeg and milk. It was a perfect combination with the cinnamon flavor from the cake.

I’m developing quite a liking for making flowers and decorating cake with fondant. It has been delightful and such a surprise. I created these flowers without using a blossom cutter. I just used a knife to cut small pieces of gum paste to model in triangle shapes. My goal now is to learn how to make a rose using wired petals.

I would like to thank all you for your adorable comments on the last post. I’m glad that my first cake decorated had pleased you.

Cinnamon Cake with Sweet Potato Filling

(adapted from here)

Makes one 8-inch round layer cake

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for pans

All-purpose flour, for pans

1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans; line with parchment-paper rounds. Butter parchment paper and lightly dust pans with all-purpose flour, shaking out excess.

In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until just incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before loosening sides of cake from pan and inverting onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper and reinvert; let cool completely.

Sweet Potato Cream

1 medium sweet potato

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

fresh ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon corn starch

Cook the sweet potato in water and puree until smooth. Pour the condensed milk into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.

Add the sweet potato puree, nutmeg, evaporated milk and corn starch. Stir the mixture until it starts to show the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with a spoon. As you scrape the bottom of pan with the spoon, the mixture should be thick enough to show you the bottom the pan for a couple of seconds before the mixture levels out again.

Pour the mixture in a bowl and leave aside to cool. Place it in the fridge until decoration.

Honey Cake with White Brigadeiro Filling Covered with Chocolate Ganache - Bolo Pão de Mel

Honey cake (pão de mel, in Portuguese) is a very typical treat in Brazil. The pleasure provided from this cake started early on the oven, when the smell of sweet and spices swirl around the kitchen and coming to you. This pleasure is completed after a very moist cake slice, with lots of honey and clove savor. 

This recipe is from the notebook that my dear friend Hugo gave to me. It was one of the first recipes that I tried and immediately it became one of my specialties. You can fill it with custards, brigadeiros, caramel creams, nuts or dried fruits. Today I used a white brigadeiro filling that harmonized perfectly with the chocolate and spices flavors. It is perfect for parties when prepared as cupcakes and mini discs.

Honey Cake

1 cup honey

1 Tb whole cloves, 1 cinnamon sticks, 1 Tb fennel seeds and 1 cup water to make an infusion.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup cold whole milk

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt        

1 teaspoon baking soda

Grated nutmeg 

For the cake, preheat oven 350 F.
Make the spices infusion: in a small saucepan, combine the water, cloves, fennel seeds and cinnamon stick. Bring the mixture to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes until the mixture is fragrant. Pour into a cup through a fine mesh sieve and discard the spices. Place honey, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until well combine. Dissolve baking soda in milk. Then add the spices infusion, milk and flour and mix until well combined. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth.  Pour the batter in a greased and floured pan and bake for approx. 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean.

White Brigadeiro Filling

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

1 can table cream or 8 fl oz/ 240ml heavy cream

Pour the condensed milk into a medium saucepan and place over low heat.

Add the eggs. Stir the mixture until it starts to show the bottom of the pan while you scrape it with a spoon. The mixture should be thick enough to show the bottom of the pan for a few seconds before the mixture back again. Transfer to a greased bowl. When the Brigadeiro mixture is at room temperature, add the cream and mix until combine. Place it in the fridge until decoration.

Chocolate Ganache

400g milk chocolate, chopped

200g dark chocolate, chopped

1 can table cream or 8 fl oz/240ml heavy cream

Melt the chocolate in the cream in a bain marie. Lower-fat crean like light cream, half-and-half, and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the cream over low or medium heat in a bain marie before add the chocolate. Don't let the cream boil.  Whisk until you have a thick cream consistency. Pour over the cake. 


This recipe was featured on Foodbuzz Top 9 : June 10, 2011