Macarons with Apple-Cinnamon Buttercream Filling

Living here in the Boston area, I've been able to enjoy many different types of ethnic foods. Since I love food, this place is right up my alley. Depending on your mood, you can pretty much so find anything to appease your appetite. One place I enjoy visiting is the North End. It's referred to as Little Italy since there are so many Italian restaurants, bakeries, butcher shops, etc. There are two pastry places you can visit while in the North End: Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry. There is always a debate for which pastry shop is better. I like them both.

My first date with my husband, then a guy I went out on a date with, was to the North End. Bob is from an Italian/Irish family so whenever he is in the mood for Italian, he heads to the North End where, as he says, "It's done right." We had a nice lovely sit down dinner at Lucia's and then walked around the North End ending up at Mike's Pastry. Being an Irish Southerner, I never encountered the macaroon. Needless to say that one night over 15 years ago had me falling in love with an Italian cookie: the Almond Macaroon with pine nuts (pignolias) on top. I've made these cookies a few times but to be honest with you, I rather just go into town and purchase some.

4 years ago, I went to Switzerland to visit my best friend, Stacey. Stacey and her husband moved there due to her job and this gave me an opportunity to see her but also to see the country. Upon arrival in Geneva, Stacey had these cookies called macarons for me. Of course I pictured the Italian cookie and was surprised to see these little button cookies that had an airy cookie and a filling inside. I tried them and thought they were ok, just a little too sweet for me. Stacey loves these cookies and I guess they are big over in Europe.

Not to long ago, I got a new recipe book to try out. I wanted to do different types of cookies than the usual ones I did for a Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. The book I picked up was by Cecile Cannone and was entitled Macarons: Authentic French Cookie Recipes from the Macaron Cafe. I decided to try my hand at making these delicate Meringue cookies. I made red shells and filled them with a peppermint buttercream filling and rolled them in crushed peppermints. They were a mess to make but were a hit at the party and I was told by the host that I had to bring these to every cookie swap in the future.

Since I'm enjoying this rainy New England day, I decided to make some macarons and fill them with an apple cinnamon buttercream. If you are up for the challenge, feel free to try these out. They are time consuming, require almond flour (so they are gluten free), and can easily break when putting them together; however, they are very good and worth it.

Ingredients  (cookie shells) 2 3/4 c almond flour, 2 3/4 c powdered sugar, 1 c egg whites*, pinch of salt, 3/4 c superfine granulated sugar, food coloring (optional) (filling) 3 eggs, 1 c sugar, 1 c applesauce, 1 apple*, 1 TBSP cinnamon, 1 c + 2 TBSP chilled unsalted butter

Instructions: For Cookie shells- (1) Line baking sheets with parchment paper. (2) Blend almond flour and powdered sugar in food processor to make a fine power (or sift together). Sift mixture through a strainer until its as fine as you can get. (3) Using a wire whip attachment on an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with salt, starting slowly then increasing with speed as they whites start to rise. Add the sugar and food coloring (if using). Beat until egg whites form stiff peaks and meringue is firm and shiny. (4) Pour egg whites into almond flour mixture and gently fold them in using a rubber spatula. Move spatula from bottom of the bowl to the edges with one hand, and using other hand, rotate the bowl. Continue until you can't see any more crumbs of flour and mixture is shiny and flowing as a wide ribbon off the spatula. (5) Fill pastry bag with #8 tip and squeeze small amount onto prepared sheets to form a 2.5" circle. Leave 1" space between macarons. If you get peaks the batter could have been beaten more, eliminate them by tapping the baking sheet on the countertop; hold parchment paper in place. Let the macarons rest for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 300F (325F if non-convection). Bake for 15 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, open the oven to let out the steam. Let cookies cool completely on a rack before taking them off. Press the bottom of the cooked shell with your finger, it should be soft. IF it is hard, reduce baking time for the rest of the macarons by a minute. For Filling-(1) Beat 3 eggs and sugar with an electric mixer at high speed; you want to double the volume of batter and have it become fluffy. (2) Pour egg-sugar mixture into a saucepan, stir in applesauce and chopped apple, and heat mixture at medium temp., stirring continuously until the mixture forms a compact batter. Pour into a shallow dish, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. (3) When batter is cold, add the cinnamon and butter, which is cut into small pieces. Using a wire whip attachment, beat at high speed until no butter pieces are visible.  (4) Pipe a small amount on to the flattened side of one cookie shell and LIGHTLY twist another shell on top of the filling. If you push too hard, the cookie shell with crumble/crack.

*Egg whites should be at room temperature and all the egg yolks can be saved to make a Creme Brulee.
*Core and chop apple (including peel).
*Cut the butter into small cubes; the smaller the better since it will take awhile for the butter to breakup when in the mixture.

GF Apple Cake

At lunch this week we (fellow teachers) talked about apples. Most of us had just gone apple picking and more were heading out this weekend to go pick some themselves. Basically the conversation can be summed up into this, you have 3 separate and distinct categories of people: those that love apple crisp, those that love apple pie, and those that love apple cake.

I haven't made this apple cake in awhile but decided to try it gluten free to see if it was something I would be able to offer in our GF line. Feel free to try it out.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1.5 sticks of butter, room temperature, 1.5 c + 5 TBSP sugar, 2 eggs*, 1 TBSP vanilla, 2 c gluten free all-purpose flour*, 1 tsp xanthan gum, 1 tsp baking soda, .50 tsp sea salt, 4 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 c sour cream*, 4 granny smith, 5 TBSP brown sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 325 and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper. (2) In a large bowl, cream butter and  1.5 c sugar until fluffy. (4) Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. (5) Add flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, .25 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp cinnamon beating after each addition. Add sour cream and beat batter until it thickens. (6) In a medium bowl, place apples, 5 TBSP sugar, brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, .25 tsp sea salt, and cornstarch. Stir to combine. (7) Layer half the cake batter in the dish and spread evenly then place apple mixture on top. Top apple mixture with remaining cake batter and spread evenly. You might need to use wet hands to spread the remaining batter. (8) Bake the cake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and slice into squares and serve.

*Use extra-large eggs and low-fat sour cream is ok but don't use nonfat. You need the fat to hold things together.
*I usually use Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose Flour but King Arthur has a GF all-purpose  that I've been using lately and love.
*Granny smiths are good, Spencers are even better.

Caramel Applesauce Cobbler

Another apple dish I love to make is a cobbler or a crisp. Just taking a bite into the warm apples bursting with cinnamon makes my mouth go happy. Topping off a crisp or a cobbler with some homemade Vanilla Bean ice cream or a Pecan Bourbon Ice Cream, makes my mouth go into a food coma.

Here's a recipe for a Caramel Applesauce Cobbler. It's a version of a pie I use to have at my grandma's. Enjoy.

Ingredients: 1/2 c butter, 12 large Granny Smiths*, 2 c sugar, 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice, pie crust*, Vanilla Ice Cream*,  1 c pecans, 1/4 c bourbon

Instructions: (1) Toast pecans then chop. Stir softened ice cream, pecans, and bourbon together. Freeze for 4 hours. (2)Preheat oven to 425F. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add apples, sugar and lemon juice. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring often, until apples are a caramel-color. Spoon into a greased 2qrt baking dish. (3) Cut pie crust into 1/2" strips and arrange strips in a lattice design over filling. Place remaining strips on a baking sheet. (4) Bake strips at 425 for 8-10 minutes or until golden.  Bake cobbler for 20-25 or until crust is golden. Server warm with pastry strips and ice cream if desired.


*I substituted Spencer apples for this recipe but usually make it with Granny Smiths.
*I make my own pie crust but you can save time and purchase a refrigerated pie crust from a local grocery store.
*I usually make my own vanilla ice cream but if I'm running behind or totally forget, I'll use Brigham's Vanilla Bean.

Apple Brown Betty

This past Columbus Day we went apple picking with friends at Tougas Family Farm. We get a lot of our fruits from this place. The apples we were excited to get were the Spencers. I personally think they are better than a Honeycrisp apple any day. We picked several bags of Spencers and since we have a lot of apples hanging around the kitchen, I figured I would make a few apple desserts. First dessert is a simple Apple Brown Betty. I'll post the other dessert tomorrow since I haven't decided if I want to do a spice apple cake or scones or cobbler....the list is endless. Enjoy this recipe and if you haven't gone apple picking yet, do so. There are ton of apples out there and it is always fun hanging out with family/friends for the day in an orchard.

Ingredients: 8 white bread slices, 1/3 c butter, melted, 1 c firmly packed brown sugar*, 1 TBSP cinnamon, 4 large Granny Smith Apples*, 1 c apple cider

Instructions:  (1) Preheat oven to 350F, lightly grease an 8" square baking dish and cut bread into 1/4" cubes. (2) Pulse the bread cubes in a processor 8 to 10 times or until mixture resembles fine crumbs. (3) Stir together breadcrumbs and butter in a small bowl. (4) Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Place half of the apple slices in the baking dish; sprinkle evenly with half of the brown sugar mix and half the breadcrumb mixture. Repeat process with remaining apples, brown sugar mixture, and breadcrumb mixture. Pour apple cider evenly over the top. (5) Bake at 350 for 55 minutes and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*I usually use dark brown sugar over light brown sugar.
*I substituted Spencer Apples for the Granny Smiths but Granny Smiths will work.
*I love using fresh apple cider from C.N. Smith Farm.

Pumpkin Soup

Over the weekend, we sponsored and participated in the 2nd annual South Shore Celebration. I brought along a lot of the normal items we do for markets, cookies and sweet breads, but also brought along some pumpkin items. Such items were Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with a Maple Frosting, Pumpkin Cinnamon Ginger Scones, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with a Maple Cream Cheese Filling, Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Cinnamon Frosting, Pumpkin Bread, and Pumpkin Sugar Cookies.

Everything that dealt with Pumpkin was a big hit and I realized that I have been slacking off on getting out some recipes on the blog. I'm cheating tonight and posting a recipe for Pumpkin Soup that I had in our October newsletter. I'll spend some time tomorrow between baking cookies and add a few more fall recipes for you to enjoy.

Ingredients: 3 TBSP olive oil, 1/2 c sliced onion, 6 medium sized scallions (separate bulbs and greens), 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 5 c chicken stock, 2.5 c pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1 c light cream.
Instructions: (1) Heat oil in sauce pan ans saute onions and scallion bulbs over low heat for approximately 8-10 minutes. (2) Add spices and stir well to coat the onions. Cook 3-4 minutes. Add pumpkin, stock and salt and raise temperature to med. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (3) Let soup cool slightly. Puree in a blender or processor then return to pot and add more cayenne if desired. Heat to simmering and stir in most of the cream and heat for another 2-3 minutes. Serve Hot with a swirl of cream and topped with scallion greens.

Pumpkin stuffed with Cranberry-Raisin Bread Pudding

Image from Southern Living.

I made this bread pudding one year but never tried it in individual pumpkins. I think the idea is cute and would be great for when you host Thanksgiving or a fall party with friends. I'll just have to host Thanksgiving this year and try this out or just throw a party for my friends and try it out. One way or another, I'm going to have to try this out.

Ingredients:   Pumpkin*, 2 Tbsp butter, melted, 2 Tbsp sugar, 2 eggs, 1 c sugar, .5 c butter melted, .75 c half-and-half, .75 c chopped pecans*, 1 loaf of raisin bread, .5 c fresh cranberries, 1 vanilla bean, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/8 tsp sea salt, 1 Tbsp butter, 2 Tbsp lemon zest, 1/3 c fresh lemon juice.

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350F. Cut off the top of a 2.5-3.5 lb. pumpkin. Keep the lid with the stem. Scoop out pumpkin seed and pulp and use for another time. Brush inside of pumpkin with 1 Tbsp melted butter and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar. Top with lid and bake for 35 minutes. (2) Brush inside of baked pumpkin with another Tbsp of melted butter and sprinkle with another Tbsp of sugar. (3) Stir eggs, sugar, .5 c melted butter, half-and-half, pecans, cranberries and bread that has been cut into 1" cubes. Spoon mixture into a greased 8" square pan. (4) Bake Pumpkin and bread pudding at 350F for 25 minutes. (5) While pumpkin and pudding are baking, cook the vanilla bean, 1 c water, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan over med heat, stirring until smooth and thickened. Stir in butter, lemon zest and lemon juice and cook until thoroughly heated. Removed vanilla bean. (6) Let pumpkin cool, then spoon pudding into pumpkin and serve with sauce.

*I toast the pecans before using them.
*You can use individual pumpkins (.5lb). Scoop out seeds and pulp. Sprinkle each shell with 1 tsp. butter and 1 tsp sugar and bake with bread pudding. You don't need to pre-bake if you are using smaller, individual pumpkins. You will need about 12 little pumpkins.

Spiced Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

 Apple Picking is one of my favorite this to do in the fall. If I can't have warm sunny weather every day, then a cool crisp day picking apples from a local family farm is where I want to be. Sometimes I get luck and have some warm apple cider donuts while picking apples. I'm not big on warm apple cider for a drink. Last season friends of our went with us to pick apples. At first we were all set on the types of apples we wanted to pick but as soon as we were introduced to the SPENCER, we gave up our other options and just filled with bag with Spencers. If you haven't tried a Spencer apple, you are missing out. They are delicious, sweet, crunchy...kind of puts a Honeycrisp apple to shame; in my opinion.

Here's a recipe for an apple bread pudding. I usually make this with Granny Smith apples but will be trying it out in a few weeks with Spencer apples once I get back from apple picking with friends. Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1 Granny Smith Apple, .5 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 a loaf of Italian bread, cooking spray, 3 eggs, 1.5 c milk*, 1 c apple cider, 1/4 c packed brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, .25 tsp nutmeg, .25 c pecans, .75 c sugar, 1 tsp corn syrup, .5 c evaporated milk, 1.5 tsp butter, 1/3 c water

Instructions:  (1) Peel and chop the apple and saute it and .25 tsp of cinnamon in a lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until tender. Cut bread into bite-size pieces and add bread and mixture to a 11x7" baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. (2) Whisk eggs, milk, cider, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and remaining cinnamon. Pour over bread mixture and cover and chill for 1 hour. (3) While pudding is chilling, preheat oven to 350F and bake chopped pecans on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle sugar in an even layer in a small saucepan and stir together syrup and water, and pour over sugar in saucepan. Cook, WITHOUT stirring, over med-high heat for 12-14 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and mixture is golden. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in milk. Stir in butter and pecans. (4) Preheat oven to 350F, if not already warm from toasting pecans, and bake mixture for 45 minutes or until top is crisp and golden brown. Serve warm with sauce.

*I usually use whole milk but you can use 2% if you want.

Pumpkin Caramel Pecan Bread Pudding

Image from Southern Living.

There are few bread puddings that I like and this is one of them. I got this recipe awhile ago from Southern Living Magazine. It was a hit when I made it one Thanksgiving. I love the caramel pecan sauce. It reminds me of eating pralines. Having individual ramekins, makes this dish more personal but you can cook it in one large dish* if you don't have them.

Enjoy.

Ingredients:  4 large eggs, 2 cans (15 oz) of pumpkin*, 1.5 c milk, 1 c half-and-half, 1 c sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp sea salt, .5 nutmeg, 1.5 tsp vanilla, 1 loaf of French bread, 1 c pecans, 1 c packed light brown sugar, .5 c butter, 1 TBSP corn syrup

Instructions: (1) Whisk eggs, pumpkin, milk, half-and-half, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, .5 tsp vanilla in a large bowl. (2) Cut bread into 1" pieces (about 10 c) and add bread pieces to mixture. Stir to coat thoroughly. Cover with Saran-Wrap and chill for 8-24 hours. (3) Preheat oven to 350F. Spoon mixture into individual 6-oz ramekins that have been lightly buttered*. Place ramekins on a foiled lined baking sheet. Bake for 50 min. and shield with foil after 30 min. (4) While pudding is baking, make sauce by adding pecans to a medium skillet and heat over med-low heat, stirring often for 3-5 minutes. Add brown sugar, butter, corn syrup to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla and pecans. (5) Drizzle sauce on ramekins and bake for 5 minutes more or until sauce is heated through and begins to boil.

*I usually make my own puree from freshly grown sugar pumpkins from a local organic farmer.
*If you are using ramekins, you will need about 12. I use PAM to spray the ramekins.
*If you are baking as one dish, spoon chilled mixture into a 13x9 baking dish that has been lightly buttered. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Add sauce and bake for another 5 minutes.

Salsa Muffins

I love Salsa! Just saying that, has a nice Latino beat playing in my head. But it's true, I love salsa in any type of form and hotness. Personally for me I love really hot salsa. Growing up in Cajun country, you develop a taste for all things hot. My husband and I have one section of a cabinet over our stove that is dedicated to hot sauces. There are a few that just a drop gives whatever you are cooking a KICK!

When the summer season is at it's peak, that's when I'll make some homemade salsa using great local veggies; some from area farmers and some right from our own garden. Depending on the mood I'm in when I'm making the salsa will determine if the salsa is chunky or pureed. When I was in Mexico many moons ago, the owner of La Pasado and his wife made homemade salsa. I got to hang out in the kitchen and see how it was done. The type of salsa they made was more of a pureed salsa but it was very hot and very delicious. Whenever I make a pureed salsa, I use the techniques that Victor and Sonja use to make their salsa.

With family visiting and with a ton of tomatoes from our garden being ready to pick, it is salsa time. Making medium and hot salsa to use with chips, in/on dinner dishes, or in a breakfast omelet, there comes a time when you need to come up with another way to use salsa. I decided to add it to my basic corn muffin recipe. Enjoy this delicious recipe. I might just have to have a Mexican night and make more of these muffins along with tamales, tacos, and other delicious dishes.

Ingredients: 1 c flour, 1 c cornmeal, 1 TBSP baking powder, 1.5 tsp ground cumin, .5 tsp sea salt, 3 TBSP sugar, 1 egg, .5 c milk*, 1/3 c canola oil, 3/4 c chunky salsa*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a 6 or 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or paper liners. (2) In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, and cumin. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk egg, sugar, mil, and oil until well blended. Stir in salsa. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (5) Divide batter evenly amongst prepare muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes on a wire rack before transferring them to the rack and cooling completely.

*Try to use at least 1% milk. Most of the time I'm using fat-free milk but in my corn muffins I always use whole milk or even buttermilk.
*If you don't want to make your own salsa, a bottle of a chunky tomato sauce will do. I love Pace but there are some great chunky salsas out there. Don't be afraid to try a flavored salsa like say Chipotle.

Raspberry Lemon Corn Muffins

Raspberries are currently being found at local farmer's markets along with other delicious fruits like plums, peaches, blueberries, red currants and blackberries. The next several blogs will focus on these particular fruits.

Here's a recipe for Raspberry Lemon Corn Muffins. I like corn muffins, plain, with sour cream added to the batter, jelly put in between layers of batter, jalapenos, etc. I figured I would try adding raspberries and using up the last lemon in the bowl.  The tartness of the berries and the lemons definitely makes you pucker but the color of the raspberries against the corn muffin is pretty. I think if I make these again, I would add a little more sugar so it wasn't so tart but they were still go none the less. Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1 c flour, 1 c yellow cornmeal, 1 TBSP baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, 3/4 c sugar, 2 eggs, .5 c unsalted butter, melted, 3/4 c milk, 2 TBSP grated lemon zest, 1.5 c raspberries, turbinado sugar for topping

Instructions:   Preheat oven to 400 and prepare muffin tin with muffin liners or cooking spray.  1. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and sea salt. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and zest until well blended. 3. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in raspberries. 4. Divide batter evenly amongst prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar. Bake for 16 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes then turn out onto the rack and cool completely.


*I usually invert the muffins while in the pan so the bottoms don't steam while they are cooling in the pan before turning out onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Peach Cobbler

Cobblers, I love cobblers. It doesn't matter what type of cobbler it is, I just love them. Bob makes a pretty mean apple cobbler and he'll let you know it.  Since peaches and blueberries are abundant right now, I have a ton of them just waiting to be incorporated into delicious baked goods for the market. I purchased some peaches from C.N.Smith Fields last week at the Plymouth Farmer's Market located at the Plimouth Plantation. I'm making some peach pie for this weeks market and had a few left for a cobbler.

Here's a recipe for cobbler. You can substitute the peaches for just about any type of fruit. Enjoy.

Ingredients: 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Topping: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, 1/4 cup boiling water.  Mix Together: 3 tablespoons white sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.   2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.  3. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.  4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes. 

* I will sometimes add oats to the topping; depends on what I'm in the mood for.

National Pecan Pie Day

July 12 is National Pecan Pie Day, just in case you didn't know. Pecan Pie is considered a specialty Southern dish. Usually it is served at holiday meals and consists mainly of pecans, corn syrup or molasses. Chocolate or bourbon whiskey are popular additives to the traditional Pecan Pie.

Tradition has it that the French invented the pie soon after settling in New Orleans. Supposedly they were introduced to the Pecan by Native Americans. No early recipes prior to 1897 can be found and popular cookbooks like Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking didn't include a recipe until the 1940s. The Corn Products Refining Company, the makers of Karo syrup, popularized the dish and state that the pie was a "1930s discovery of a new use for Karo syrup by a corporate sales executive's wife."

This pie is very sweet. Us Southerners love our sugar and the only type of pecan we use are Georgia Pecans.

Here's a recipe for Pecan Pie. We use my granddaddy's pie crust and I can't give you that recipe or the family will kill me. Use whatever pie crust recipe you have and if you don't want to waste time making crust from scratch, purchase a prepared pie crust or the boxed pie crust located with the canned biscuits. I hear they taste just as good.

Ingredients:   2/3 c sugar, 1/3 cup butter, melted, 1 c corn syrup, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 3 eggs, 1 c pecan halves/broken

Instructions:  1. Preheat oven to 375F.  Prepare pastry and line pie plate with crust. 2. Beat sugar, butter, syrup, salt and eggs with an electric beater. Stir in pecans and pour into prepared pie plate. 3. Bake until set, usually 40-50 minutes. Chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

*After chilling the pie, you can freeze the pie for 3 hours uncovered then cover it and freeze for up to 1 month.
*Decrease the corn syrup to 3/4 cup and add 1/4 cup brandy to the mix for a Brandy Pecan Pie. You can also use bourbon.
*Melt 2-1 oz squares of unsweetened chocolate with the butter to make a Chocolate Pecan Pie.

All Things Southern

Open Faced and Covered Peach Mini-Pies

Last week I headed home to spend some time with my family before the craziness of the market season took over for the rest of the summer. I love going home for several reasons. One reason is to hang out with my family. Second reason is to ride roller coasters with my dad. Third reason is Chick-fil-a. Fourth reason is peaches. I can go on and on and on.

Living in Louisiana, we always frequent farm stands that were dotted along the backroads and highways. One stand we hit always had Ruston Peaches from Mitcham Farms. Mitcham Farms is the state's largest peach orchard in Louisiana. Biting in to one of these peaches was heavenly. The taste was amazing and the peach was very juicy that you needed several napkins. It was definitely something to savor. 

Peaches are grown in zones 4-8 here in the United States and are usually available mid-June to mid-July. Having a tree-ripened peach is the best and I am always disappointed when I pick up peaches in a local grocery store. They look good, they smell good, but the taste is nasty. For this reason alone, I stopped wasting money on buying peaches here in New England. So you can believe it when I say, I was super happy about bringing back a case of peaches from South Carolina. Before I left South Carolina, I hit a local farmers market held in the Market Common. I picked up some peaches from a farmer and when I got back to the family, we all bit into one and the first words uttered were "Oh my, that is SO good!" My sister stated she needed to hit a stand on the way out of town to get some to take back to Ohio. We stopped along Route 501 with the intention of getting a few more, well I grabbed a case instead along with some plums. (This is another reason why I love going home).

So I ate some peaches and brought some peaches back for my husband and decided to make some peach pies for a local market.  They got rave reviews. Here's a recipe for Peach pie. I recommend using tree-ripened, Southern peaches but if you can't get them, local peaches grown here by a farmer would be the next best option. If you have to, you can use frozen peaches or canned peaches. I would shy away from purchasing peaches at a local grocery store UNLESS you have had them and know that they are good.  Enjoy.

Ingredients: 1 c sugar, 1/4 c flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon*, 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 TBSP butter, pie crust of your choice (we use my granddaddy's pie crust recipe for all our pies), 5 c sliced fresh peaches*

Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 425F.   2. Peel and slice peaches. Make sure not to have any of the pit in your slices. 3. In a bowl, add peaches then add other ingredients except the butter. 4. Pour peach mixture into a prepared pie plate and dot with butter. Cover with an additional second layer of crust or leave open. 5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

*I usually use a tad bit more cinnamon then what is listed above.
*Overripe peaches are best for pies. Mixture will be soupy. You can substitute peaches for apricots.

Strawberry Sorbet

Summertime is my favorite time of the year. I grew up in Louisiana so I enjoy the hot, humid weather. I love the smell of fresh cut grass, the hum of  the insects jumping from one flower to another in the garden, fresh produce at the local farmers markets or out of my garden, the smell of the ocean in the air, the flight of a butterfly, and of course, berries. I love all types of berries. Summertime for me starts with arrival of strawberries and continues on through raspberries, cherries, blackberries, and blueberry seasons.

Living in Louisiana, when it was hot or even if it wasn't, my favorite treat was a Sno-ball or as non-Southerners would call, a Snowcone. We're not talking a Hawaiian Ice or a snowball off an ice cream truck that is so hard it breaks your teeth. We are talking about a New Orleans Style Sno-Ball. Large blocks of ice are shaved on a machine called the Southern New Orleans snow maker and then stuffed in a Styrofoam cup and a funnel is used to make the top of it. The ice is a perfect consistency between chunky ice and very soft ice. The Hansen family from New Orleans invented this machine and if you travel to New Orleans, you can stop in at their shop, Hansen's Sno-Bliz Sweet Shop, located in the 4800 block of Tchoupitoulas. Syrup, not just water and sugar mixed, is then added to the top of the cone. The syrup is boiled and consists of pure cane sugar, water, and flavoring. My favorite Sno-ball combination was Cherry, Coconut, and Blue Raspberry. The sno-ball was a very patriotic creation. Some other choices that are added to sno-balls, besides syrup, are ice cream, cream, or chocolate. I wasn't really big on adding cream to my sno-ball but friends of mine where.  I mentioned to my husband about maybe doing a Sno-ball machine during my summer markets and he, being a Northerner, thinks that it really wouldn't take off. Maybe I'll get the machine just for me so that I can have sno-balls whenever I want instead of when I head south for a visit.

A few posts this month have been centered around Strawberries. Since I can't have a sno-ball, I figured I would go to the next best thing, sorbet. I love sorbet over sherbet. Whole Fruit has some amazing sorbets and I recently tried some sorbets from a company called Ciao Bella. I love the Lemon Zest and the Blood Orange. They have many more flavors and I just hope my local store will start to carry them.  Sometimes I'll make a fruit Sorbet. It can be done using an ice cream machine or not and is fairly simple and easy to do.

Sorbet became very popular in the 19th and 20th centuries as a palate cleaner between meals. It's usually referred to as Intermezzo, which translates into "in between the work." Sorbets  are usually known as ice and have a softer consistency than sherbets, which contain milk and sometimes eggs. Fruit sorbets usually consists of 3 ingredients: water, sugar, and fruit. Other ingredients can be added based on the type of sorbet you want.

Here's a recipe for Strawberry Sorbet. Enjoy.

Ingredients: 1/3 c water, 1/3 cup sugar, 2.5 c or 1 pound of fresh/frozen strawberries*, 1 TBSP lemon juice.

Instructions: (1) Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and over low heat, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil the mixture for one minute then remove from the heat. Pour sugar syrup into a heatproof container and place in fridge until completely chilled.* (2) Process strawberries in a food processor until pureed. Transfer puree to a large bowl and add the lemon juice and place bowl in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. (3) Once syrup and strawberry puree are completely chilled, combine simple syrup with the strawberries. Transfer to a chilled container of an ice cream machine* and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer sorbet to a chilled container and store in the freezer.

*Local strawberries at farmers markets are the best since they have flavor and sweetness. If you can't obtain fresh, local strawberries, use frozen ones. Usually the strawberries at a grocery store lack flavor and sweetness though they look all read and shinny.
*If you taste the sorbet after freezing and the amount of sugar isn't right, adjust the level of sugar syrup. Add some syrup if there is too little sugar in the sorbet or add water if there is too much sugar in the sorbet. Refreeze the sorbet.
*Since it takes time to make the syrup, make a large quantity and store in the fridge so you have it ready to go when you want to make more sorbet.
*If you don't have a machine, pour mixture into a stainless steel pan (8", 9"...). The metal will help the sorbet to freeze faster. You can use a glass pan if you want it will just take longer. Cover the sorbet with plastic wrap and place in freezer. After 3-4 hours, remove sorbet from freezer and let it stand at room temperature until partially thawed. Transfer partially thawed sorbet to a food processor and process to break up large ice crystals. This gives the sorbet a fluffy texture. Place sorbet back in the pan and refreeze for 3 hours or up to several days.

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Popovers

Photo taken from Doughmesstic.com

I love brown sugar and I love cinnamon. I loved the Cinnamon poptarts growing up and could really care less about the other flavors. Since the school year is coming to a close, I will have more time to make different breakfast creations besides cereal or oatmeal; that's my goal and wish anyway. Awhile back I made some sugary popovers and loved them. I decided to try some other popovers and went searching for some recipes. I found a website called Doughmesstic.com and right there on the menu tab was a link for the Popover Project. Susan, the owner/blogger/baker of the site, is making popovers once a week for the entire year. I saw this recipe off her site and just knew I had to try it out.

Have a great week.

Ingredients: 1 c flour, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1.5 TBSP cinnamon, pinch of salt, 3 TBSP sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 3 TBSP butter, 4 oz. cream cheese, 3 eggs, and 1 c milk

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 375F. (2) Divide butter evenly amongst Popover Pan cups. If you don't have a popover pan, you can use either a 6c or 12c muffin tin but you will end up using all the 12 muffin cups. Place pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes while making the batter. (3) In a medium bowl, beat eggs, vanilla, milk, and brown sugar. Whisk in  flour and cinnamon and divide batter amongst prepared cups. (4) Combine cream cheese and sugar and spoon evenly into cups. (4) Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes at 375 then reduce oven to 350 and continue baking for 20 minutes. Serve with syrup, a sprinkle of powder sugar, ice cream...whatever you want.

*It's better to have the cream cheese softened so the sugar incorporates nicely.

Apple Turnovers

One of the items we will be offering at the markets are our turnovers. Since we use seasonally ingredients, we will be offering a variety of turnovers and throughout the summer, these options will change. One of the turnovers we will almost always have will be our Apple Turnovers. These remind me of the old Hostess fruit pies but without the Comstock fruit fillings.

We use our traditional buttery pie crust recipe for all turnovers. My granddad Nestor would also use this recipe for his pies. I have fond memories of him making pies for the holidays or when we visited. We don't use lard like he use to but the taste is still amazing. I usually use this crust for all my items that require a crust: quiche, chicken pot pies, jelly rolls, etc.  The filling uses granny smith apples. I love tart apples and use them in a lot of my apple recipes. I add spices to them for that perfect filling and honestly, can eat just the filling by itself.

Since I can't give you my granddad's crust recipe, I figured I would grab a recipe for turnovers that is fast and easy to make and is also delicious. This recipe is from Food Network.com and is by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, copyrighted 2006.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1 tsp grated orange zest, 3 TBSPs fresh orange juice, 1.25 lb tart apples, 3 TBSPs dried cherries, 3 TBSPs sugar, 1 TBSP flour, .25 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg,  sea salt, 1 package of puff pastry, egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBSP water)

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. (2) Combine zest and juice in a large mixing bowl. Peel and core apples and cut into 3/4" dice pieces. Add to juice then combine cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of sea salt. (3) Flour a surface and roll out defrosted puff pastry sheet into a 12x12" square. Cut into 4 smaller squares and chill until ready to use. (4) Brush egg wash over a pastry square and add 1/3 of the apple mixture on 1/2 of the square. Fold over diagonally and press edges closed with a fork. Add turnovers to prepared sheet,. Bush egg wash over the top of the pastries and sprinkle with sugar. Cut two slices into the tops of each pastry to vent and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and puffy. Serve warm or at room temperature.


* Instead of traditional diagonal turnovers you can make a circles and fold over the circles for a semi-circle shape.
* You can omit the cherries and add other dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, figs, etc. or just have the apples.

Strawberry Glaze

The end of May, beginning of June starts up the strawberry season. I love strawberries especially just picked out of the garden. We purchase local strawberries from several farms to use in our products. Some products we offer that feature strawberries are: Strawberry Bread, Strawberry Muffins, Farmers' Market Muffins, Strawberry Shortcake, Glory cupcakes, Strawberry cupcakes and Strawberry scones. We even offer a seasonal berry tart that uses not only local strawberries but other berries.

One thing I love making is a Strawberry glaze. This is a fast and easy way to fancy up a plain cheesecake, pound cake, or even cupcakes. Since Strawberry season is starting, I figured I would post the recipe I use for my glaze. It's delicious and very fast and easy to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 4 c strawberries, .5 c sugar, 4.5 tsp cornstarch, .25 c water, 1 TBSP butter, 2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions: (1) Dissolve the cornstarch in the quarter cup of water. (2) Crush enough strawberries to make 1 cup of pulp. (3) Add pulp, cornstarch mixture, and sugar to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens and is clear. (4) Remove from heat and add butter and lemon juice and cool to room temperature.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My grandmother always made a rhubarb pie or bread or muffins when the rhubarb in granddad's garden would sprout. One summer, prior to her fixin' the pie, us cousins tried some rhubarb. Needless to say it left a very nasty impression in our mouths. For the longest time, I would never eat anything that had rhubarb in it because of that memory associated with the taste. I decided to make some rhubarb pie one season when a customer asked for it at a market. I used grandma's recipe and even had a slice of pie later in the day. I'm still not a huge fan of rhubarb but at least I know I can stomach it if I had to.

The recipe listed below is the recipe given to me by my grandmother years ago. You will need a pie crust recipe (the flakier the better) or a store-bought pie crust. Pillsbury makes a non-frozen pie crust that you can purchase and my mother-in-law will sometimes use it when she isn't making it from scratch. I use my granddad Nestor's pie crust recipe. This is a very flaky and buttery recipe that he always used when making his pies. Sorry, not sharing this family secret with you.  Enjoy the pie!


Ingredients: 3/4 c  sugar, 1/3 c flour, 1 tsp  ground Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 lb. fresh rhubarb*, 1 pt. strawberries, 2 TBSPs butter


Instructions: (1)Preheat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl. (2) Wash rhubarb and trim off ends. Cut rhubarb into 1" pieces. Wash and hull strawberries; cut in half. (3) Place rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Toss to mix. Let stand about 15 minutes then toss again. (4) Spoon rhubarb-strawberry mixture into a deep dish 9" pie pan or a baking dish that already has pie crust in it. Cut up butter into small cubes and place on top of mixture in the pan/dish.(5) Cover with another pie crust or make a fancy lattice top. Cook for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices bubble up.


*You want about 6 c of cut-up rhubarb. To prevent the edges of the crust from burning, you can line them with aluminum foil and remove it the last 10 minutes.

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

The Original: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

Today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. It's funny to think about how this traditional American snack was actually a mistake by Ruth Wakefield.  One day while at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, MA.,  Mrs. Wakefield decided to add pieces of a chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough. She thought that the chocolate would melt when the cookies baked but to her surprise, the chocolate held its shape. The cookie was a hit and the recipe was published in a Boston paper. Since the recipe was such a success, Nestle began selling bags of chocolate chips to bakers beginning in 1939.

My mom is the one who perfected the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe back in the 1970s. This is the cookie recipe that started it all. We call our oatmeal chocolate chip cookie The Original. This cookie has been baked many times over way before we started the bakery in 2008. My sister and I would bake up batches of these cookies to give away as gifts, to sale for extra spending money, or just to enjoy with a glass of milk with friends.

From this original version, we came up with 15 other varieties. My favorites are the Holiday (oatmeal white chocolate cranberry), the Harvest (oatmeal blueberry, cranberry, cherry), the Southern Comfort (oatmeal chocolate chip pecans) and the Cinnamon Chip (oatmeal cinnamon).  Even though I have other favorites, I still enjoy an original right out of the oven with a glass of milk.

Since I really can't give you our cookie recipe since it is a secret, I'm posting a recipe from Williams-Sonoma's cookbook titled Cookies. The cookbook was first printed in 2002 by Weldon Owen Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. I haven't made this recipe but a few of the others that I did make from this cookbook were delicious.

Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day by whipping up a batch of cookies. Make some friends and share them or eat them all to yourself. Enjoy this sweet day.

Ingredients:  1 1/3 c (220g) flour, .5 tsp  baking powder, .5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp sea salt, .5 c (125g) unsalted butter (room temperature), .5 c sugar, .5 c light brown sugar (firmly packed), 1 egg, 1 tsp pure vanilla, 1 c (185g) chocolate chips

Instructions:  (1) Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. (2) Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. (3) Cream butter until fluffy and add in sugars and continue to beat until mixture isn't gritty when rubbed between a finger and thumb. (4) Add egg and vanilla and beat on low until blended. Scrap down the sides occasionally. (5) Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just blended. Add in chocolate chips until blended. (6) Scoop out cookies with a tablespoon or with dampened hands, shape into 1 inch (2.5cm) balls and drop onto baking sheets. Space cookies a few inches (5 cm) apart. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool briefly on wire racks. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

* I use air-bake cookie sheets and an ice cream scoop to make the cookies uniform in shape.
* Feel free to use different types of chips in your cookies.

Raspberry Shortbread

When I hear the word shortbread, I think of men in kilts, bagpipes, and Walkers Shortbread. Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert that consists of three basic ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter. (Butter, my favorite!) This dessert resulted from medieval biscuit bread, which was a twice-baked, enriched bread roll dusted with sugar and spices and hardened into a hard, dry, sweetened biscuit called a rusk. Shortbread can be found in as a large circle, individual rounds, or cut as fingers.

Either way you slice it, shortbread is delicious. We are trying out a few recipes for shortbread and since I'm enjoying way too much shortbread, I figured I would do a recipe on the subject. This recipe actually comes from Epicurious.com. It's not the recipe we use, but it is still a tasty treat and is fairly easy to make. The only time consuming factor is the freezing of the dough for a few hours or overnight. If you have to make and eat these all in one day, make the dough in the morning and bake in the afternoon/evening. I just made the dough and left if overnight and baked a tray of these the next day. Enjoy.



Ingredients:  1 lb. butter, room temperature, 4 egg yolks, 4 c flour, 2 c sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1 c raspberry jam, room temperature,  1/2 c powdered sugar

Instructions: (1) Cream butter in a mixer then add egg yolks and mix well. (2) In a medium bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, sea salt and whisk. (3) Add sugar mixture to butter mixture and mix until incorporated. (4) Turn dough out onto a floured surface and form 2 balls. Place each ball in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or overnight. (5) Preheat oven to 350F. Take one roll of dough out of the oven and grate it by hand or with a grating disk in a food processor. Evenly cover a 9x13" baking pan or a 10" tart pan with the shreds of dough. (6) Spread jam, using the back of a spoon, to within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around. Grate other ball of dough over the entire surface of jam. (7) Bake for 30-40 minutes until lightly brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar as soon as they come out of the oven and cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares with a serrated knife.

*I use homemade raspberry jam from raspberries we grow in our garden. I particularly like the jam with seeds. The grating of the shortbread doesn't have to be a fine grate, coarse works best. I sprinkle a little more than a dusting of powdered sugar on the finished project. I think that comes from eating beignets when I lived in Louisiana.