French Fridays With Dorie: Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

 I'm ashamed to say that I've really fallen behind in my attempt to cook along with my fellow French Fridays With Dorie friends (wow, that's a lot of Fs). I remember being so proud of myself having baked this Apple Cake (which is delicious, by the by) a full two weeks in advance of its date on the schedule -- and then I failed to post an entry.

Then I let November slip by with nary a recipe made -- and there were some good ones, too! Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans, Potato Gratin, Caramel-Topped Semolina Cake....uh, yum!! Anyway, I plan to make all of these at some point, and in the meantime December is a new month, and hopefully I can get myself back in the game -- it's looking like the four recipes for the month will be Sweet and Spicy Cocktail Nuts, Beef Daube, Leek and Potato Soup, and Speculoos. Holiday-appropriate, no?

Back to Marie-Helene's Apple Cake -- as you can see by the photo it is rammed with apples. I used a variety, as I'd been apple picking not long before and had no less than six different kinds in my fridge. This cake is lovely in that it's not overly sweet, and it stayed moist for several days. The dark rum added a deeper flavour and richness that I liked. I would add cinnamon next time, as I can't get enough of the apple-cinnamon combination.

Apples, Apples, Apples!

Is there anything more 'fall' than an afternoon of apple-picking? This is my favourite time of year, bar none, and having lived in the city for half my life, I appreciate the chance to escape to the country more and more, particularly in late September, early October when the leaves are changing.

So on this chilly first weekend of October, my sister and I bundled up and headed out to an orchard in Waterdown, Ont. Despite its unfortunate name and slightly maniacal looking mascot, Frootogo Orchards offers a great variety of fruit for the picking as well as a cute store packed with homemade preserves and baked goods (the apple turnovers and hot spiced cider make a great post-picking treat), a pumpkin patch, and a big kids' play area. But we were there for the apples, so we plunked two empty baskets in a wagon and headed out.

Fudgy Brownies

I've been cooking and baking so much in the last couple of weeks, I haven't had time to keep up with the blog! Can't say what's got me so inspired lately, except maybe the promise of fall. Fresh starts, and all that jazz. That and I want to make the most of the farmers' markets before they're done for the year. Although the only thing in this recipe that I bought at the market was the eggs. Oh well! As much as I love fruity desserts that feature the bounty of the season, nothing beats a brownie. Especially a fudgy brownie, still warm from the oven, with a tall glass of milk.

I used top quality chocolate for these, and I think it's a necessity -- you always hear that a dish is only as good as its ingredients and I wholeheartedly concur. This recipe calls for a mixture of bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate, which intensifies the flavour. If you can splurge on Callebaut or Valhrona, please do.

Plum Cake

When I saw the baskets full of perfectly ripe plums at Brick Works farmers' market this weekend, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them -- bake them into Dorie Greenspan's Dimply Plum Cake, from her tome Baking: From My Home To Yours.

Let me count the ways in which I love this cake: 1) It's way easy to prepare; 2) It bakes up beautifully, the batter rising up around the plum halves and transforming into a deep golden brown; and 3) It's delicious.

I also saw this recipe not too long ago on the excellent Smitten Kitchen, and took a cue from it in subbing cinnamon for cardamom. It's not that I don't enjoy cardamom -- in the right recipe (savoury or sweet) it can be wonderful. But cinnamon and plums is, quite simply, a divine combination.

Rhubarb Cardamom Crisp

I love the tartness of baked rhubarb, which is why even though it's early in the season I had to pick some up at the farmer's market last weekend. I figured that even though what I was getting was almost certainly hothouse rhubarb, baked into a crisp it would still be delicious. And it was, although my adapted recipe needs tweaking.

I'd had a package of Amaretti cookies in my cupboard for months, can't even remember what I originally bought them for. So rather than the typical oatmeal topping I usually employ for fruit crisps, I thought crumbled up Amaretti would be just as good -- maybe even better! With only a few cups' worth of rhubarb on hand, I chopped up three good-sized Ida Red apples to fill my nine-inch-square baking pan. I mixed the rhubarb and apple with some lemon juice and sugar, then poured it into the pan. I sprinkled the roughly crushed cookies over top and then dotted butter over that. Then into the oven for 45 minutes.

It smelled good almost immediately, but here's where I went wrong. After only 20 minutes the cookie topping was already a deep brown. I knew the fruit still had a long way to go so I put foil overtop to prevent it from browning any more. It succeeded in that regard, but the moisture from the fruit softened the topping somewhat. Next time, I'd put the foil on for the first half hour, then remove it for the last 15-20 minutes to ensure a crisp topping.

Rhubarb Cardamom Crisp
Adapted from David Lebovitz's Peach and Amaretti Crisp on Epicurious

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb, chopped
3 cups apple, chopped (I used Ida Red but feel free to use your favourite baking apple)
1/4 cup white sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp ground cardamom

Topping:

1 cup Amaretti cookies, crushed (about 20 cookies)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
8 tbsp butter (1 stick), chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together filling ingredients. Pour into 9-inch-square pan.

Mix together topping ingredients and sprinkle over fruit filling. I like a rustic topping with bits of different sizes, but if you want it to look more uniform pulse together the ingredients in a food processor.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. If the top starts to look too brown, cover it with foil. Just make sure you leave enough room at the end of the baking process to uncover it and crisp it up again (you don't want a soggy topping).

Note: Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. I had to settle for pistachio kulfi (all I had in my freezer), which was good, but vanilla would've been better.

plumtartblog@gmail.com

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm all about trying new and exotic recipes, especially when it comes to sweets. Sometimes, though, there's nothing more satisfying than the classic chocolate chip cookie. I've been baking one version or another -- most commonly the one found on the back of the Chipits bag -- for years, and they're the ultimate in instant gratification. Virtually no time to whip up, 12 minutes in the oven, another five and they're in your hand, the chocolate gooey and melting.

Tonight I did a few things differently, the main thing being my choice of recipe. I went with the one from Michael Smith's Chef At Home (the 2005 edition), as it seemed straightforward and didn't muck about with extra ingredients such as nuts, coconut, etc. Also, I realized as I was about to start that I only had about 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour left in the canister, so I decided to try cake and pastry flour instead. For all of you bakers wondering if there's a difference, there definitely is! The cookies baked up higher than a butter-based cookie usually does, and they definitely seemed more cake-like, less chewy. At least that was the consistency five minutes after they came out of the oven. Not sure what they'll be like when they cool down.

Smith recommends starting with cold butter, which is harder to cream with the sugar. I used a technique I learned when making pie pastry in cooking class last year, which is to grate the butter into your mixing bowl. That way it's easier to blend with the sugar.

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to make this my 'ultimate' chocolate chip cookie, whether I'll go back to the Chipits recipe, or whether I need to try more iterations. I think I like the latter option, as it means more cookies for me! Mwah ha ha!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A heaping cupful of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick of cold salted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
Spoonful of corn syrup
1 egg
Splash of pure vanilla extract
Cupful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together. Set aside.

Cream the cold butter and sugars together, beating them until they're smooth in a countertop mixer. If you don't have a countertop mixer, beat vigorously by hand in a large mixing bowl, or combine them in a food processor. Add the corn syrup, egg and vanilla, and continue beating until well combined. Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon.

Using a spoon, scoop out a ball of the dough and drop it onto a lightly greased cookie tray. Flatten slightly. Repeat, leaving lots of room between the balls for the cookies to expand. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove and cool on a rack.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Source: Chef At Home, Michael Smith, Whitecap Books, 2005

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Raspberry White Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Hi all, I'm back blogging again after more than three months! Rather than make excuses as to why the extended hiatus, let's just get back to the food, shall we?

I've actually been pretty active in the kitchen in recent weeks, thanks to the wonderful selection of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and meats at my favourite farmers' market, the St. Lawrence Market. We're well into summer now and I've tried recipes with fresh Ontario rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, apples, basil, parsley, zucchini, peas in the pod, and more.


My latest passion has been making preserves -- jams, chutneys and pestos, mainly -- but that's worthy of a separate entry so stay tuned.

In an effort to use up some leftover raspberries, I decided to try a recipe for Raspberry White Chocolate Chunk Muffins from Donna Hay's Modern Classics 2 cookbook. Where Modern Classics 1 is devoted more to classic recipes one might serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner, Modern Classics 2 focuses on desserts, from cookies and cakes to pies and squares (or slices as the Aussie calls them).

Aside from the fact that the muffins took quite a bit longer than the suggesting baking time -- unless Ms Hay has a convection oven, 12 minutes seems rather short for muffins to cook all the way through, no? -- they were extraordinarily easy to whip up.

One note: because I used fresh, ripe raspberries they broke apart a bit when I stirred them into the dough. While I don't mind the dough stained with raspberry juice in spots, you might, so one way to avoid it is to partially freeze the berries before stirring them into the batter. That should help them stay whole.


I'm not sure if you can call this a muffin -- with the addition of white chocolate it seems too decadent for breakfast somehow -- but whatever, it's delicious!

Raspberry White Chocolate Chunk Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
3/4 cup chopped white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Place the sour cream, eggs, and oil into a separate bowl and whisk until smooth. Stir the sour cream mixture through the flour and sugar mixture until just combined.

Sprinkle over the white chocolate and stir just until incorporated. Gently fold the raspberries through the mixture.

Spoon into 12 x 1/2 cup capacity non-stick muffin tins until two-thirds full. To help prevent sticking use paper muffin cups. Bake for 12 minutes or until tested with a skewer.*

*When I made these they were in the oven for closer to 22 minutes. Ovens vary, so keep an eye on them. I allowed mine to get nicely golden brown on top.

Courtesy Modern Classics 2, Donna Hay, HarperCollins, 2003

Could these desserts be any more decadent?

Last week my colleague Erin was kind enough to bring some of the peanut butter chocolate cake she'd baked to the office to share. A sour cream chocolate cake to start, covered in peanut butter frosting, and then glazed with peanut butter-chocolate ganache. My God, was it good, and sinfully rich (recipe here, if I've piqued your interest).

Courtesy Editor at Large

It got me thinking about some of the amazing desserts I've tried over the years -- some made my friends and/or family, others made by yours truly. My friend Olga is an incredible baker, and her baklava is to die for. Perhaps I will see if she'd be willing to share her secret recipe in an upcoming post. She also once made a lemon mascarpone cheesecake that was published in the LCBO's Food and Drink magazine. That recipe is available here and if you have company coming over it not only tastes delicious but it looks impressive. The trick, I recall Olga telling me at the time as I swooned over the silky texture of the cake, is to beat the cream cheese for a long time. Patience is most definitely rewarded in this case.

I think my love of baking comes from my mom, who was always baking when my sister and I were kids. From apple pies to pecan pies, squares of all varieties (my favourites were the turtle bars and mint chocolate squares), cookies, homemade sheet cakes for our birthdays (chocolate cake and chocolate icing more often than not, although she switched to mocha icing at one point, which was also delish). But my favourite 'Mom' dessert is also probably one of the simplest -- fruit crumble. A base of mixed berries, or apples, sometimes peaches in the height of summer, covered with a layer of butter oats and flour, spiked with cinnamon and nutmeg, baked in the over until the fruit is bubbling and the topping crisp and golden. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side it's the most comforting of comfort foods. Rustic, and uncomplicated.

I've made some interesting desserts over the years -- last year I made a Marsala wine-spiked mocha semifreddo that was quite delicious and surprisingly light-feeling, given the amount of cream involved. I also made a chocolate amaretti cake that had a crust ever so light and crisp, giving way to a moist, dense filling. Part cookie, part cake, and entirely scrumptious.

With friends coming over for dinner on Saturday I'm thinking it's time to attempt another challenging dessert. But what? A few recipes have caught my eye, including:

1) Chocolate Caramel Tart (from the latest edition of Saveur) - this is Saveur's cover recipe this month and it looks mouth-wateringly good. It's taken from the menu of Brooklyn's Marlow & Sons, one of the restaurants featured in the issue.

2) Coffee-Chocolate Layer Cake with Mascarpone Frosting (from Bon Appetit) - I see two problems with making this spectacularly rich-looking cake. 1) My friends aren't coffee drinkers. 2) There's no way the frosting would survive long enough to end up on the cake. Me. A spoon. End of story.

3) Tropical Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (also from Bon Appetit) - I admit it, I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting. Was there ever a time that carrot cake was eaten without it? I don't even want to imagine it.

4) Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Port Glaze (from Gourmet) - Are you sensing a cream cheese theme here? Yes, I think I'm leaning in that direction. Although spring is here and part of me is looking for light options, I can have fruit salad any day of the week. That said, there's fruit in this dish, so it's not all bad, right?

At this point I'm still undecided - make one of these lovelies, or go another direction entirely. What are your thoughts? Do you have an out-of-this-world dessert recipe you'd like to share? If so comment below or drop me a note at suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com.

Salut!

Suzanne

Banana Oat Muffins

Muffins are one of those indulgences I couldn't give up if I tried. My morning coffee just isn't the same without one, and I love all kinds: blueberry, raisin bran, carrot (my all-time favourite), cranberry, morning glory, zucchini, pumpkin (threatening to unseat carrot at the top of my list).


Probably the best muffin I ever ate was in Lake Placid, New York of all places. It was from a little hole-in-the-wall bakery, and the flavour was lemon-raspberry. There was a dusting of superfine sugar on top that contrasted the tartness of the lemon and raspberry perfectly, and also served to give the surface a slight crunch. It was fresh out of the oven, and to die for. And one day, I'll recreate it (or attempt to).

Most recently I baked a batch of banana oat muffins from Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite cookbook. They were a snap to whip up -- especially since I had four over-ripe bananas sitting on the counter. These aren't as moist and dense a muffin as some I've had, but they're also healthier than most, with oats and walnuts included in the ingredients. I added a pinch of cinnamon because banana and cinnamon is such a wonderful combination. If you're in the mood to bake muffins but don't want to feel guilty when you eat the whole batch yourself, try this recipe out.

Banana oat muffins

1 1/3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 large ripe bananas
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350F. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.

In a large bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well and make a well in the center.

Mash bananas in another bowl with a fork. Stir in beaten egg and butter. Add to the dry mixture along with the walnuts and fold through until just combined. Don't overmix.

Spoon mixture into paper cases and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite, Key Porter Books, 2008

If you find that after a couple of days the muffins start to get stale, I heat them up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds just to get them warm and soft again. I've also heard brushing the tops with milk and popping them back into a warm oven (200F?) works.

I like to serve these slathered with peanut butter and honey, although that ups the fat and sugar content a bit!

Salut!

Suzanne

Email comments to suzannekathrynellis@gmail.com