Pear Upside-Down Cake

The peaches, plums, and nectarines of summer are almost gone,  but the pears, apples and figs of fall are already showing up in stores and farm stands in our area. My neighbor Mrs. M found this Martha Stewart recipe for Pear upside-down cake, and knowing how much we like pear desserts, she passed this along to me.

 The cake is soft and moist with a fine texture, that is not to dense or to airy, but just perfect for soaking up all the caramelized sugars and juices from the pears when the cake is flipped over. This cake is simple to make and has very few ingredients, so the pear flavor really shines. To top it all off, we added a drizzle of butterscotch sauce, which complemented the warm sweet flavors of the fruit and brown sugar, but this cake is equally delicious all on its own. As the days start to get shorter and cooler, we will be making plenty more pear desserts, and I know this one will be making several more appearances. 

Pear Upside -Down Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart

Topping

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 3 ripe pears, such as Bartlett or Anjou, peeled and cored      

Cake Batter:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1.  Make the topping: Melt butter in the bottom of a 10 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until dissolved. Swirl to coat the bottom; remove from heat, and cool. Cut pears into 1/4-inch-thick wedges, and arrange them in a circular pattern over the brown-sugar mixture to cover completely; set aside.

2. Make the batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating to combine

4. Alternating with the milk, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix, on low speed, just until the flour is incorporated.

5. In a large bowl, beat reserved egg whites and the cream of tartar with a hand mixer until stiff but not dry. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into the batter. Transfer to skillet. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly, being careful not to disturb the pears.

6. Bake until well browned on top and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan, and immediately invert the cake onto a serving dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Foodie Friday

Apple Pie Ice Cream

It continues to be pretty hot here in Southern California, but that doesn't diminish our desire for Fall treats. We had some friends over for dinner in the middle of October, but instead of a bowl of soup or a cozy fall meal, we ended up grilling outside because it still felt like summer. For dessert I decided to combine the best of both summer and fall in an apple pie ice cream. This ice cream is cool and creamy, but filled with chunks of warmly spiced apples and topped with a crunchy pie crust crumble. If you want to go all out, a nice drizzle of homemade caramel sauce is pretty good on here too.

Even though we are in November, if it continues to stay so warm, we are going to have to experiment with transforming many of our favorite  fall flavors into frozen desserts!

Apple Pie Ice Cream

Apples:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
4 medium apples, peeled core and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the all the ingredient in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat until apples are soft and liquid has evaporated. remove from heat and cool. Pour into a food processor and plus a few times to chop apples. Remove 1/2 of apples and reserve. Plus remaing apples to a smooth puree.

Ice Cream Base
5 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon corn syrup

 In a medium bowl whisk egg yolks, cornstarch and 1/2 the sugar.

In a sauce pan heat the cream, milk, salt, corn syrup and remaining sugar to a simmer. Carefully add 1 cup of the hot liquid into the egg yolk, whisking the eggs constantly. With a wooden spoon stir the hot egg mixture back into the sauce pan with the remaining cream/milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly unit the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Cool for at least 2 hours.

Add custard to the pureed apples in the food processor, puree until smooth.

Process in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

When your ice cream is churned swril in the reserved apple chunks in big streaks. Freeze until firm.

Pie Crust Crumble
Momofuku Milk Bar

1 1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick butter melted
1 1/2 tablespoons water

Heat oven to 350 F.

Combine flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until well mixed.  Add the butter and water and paddle on low speed until mixture starts to come together in small clumps.

Spread the clumps on a parchment/silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking up the clumps occasionally.  The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch at that point; they will dry and harden as they cool.

Let crumbs cool completely before using .

When serving ice cream sprinkle each bowl with the pie crust crumble.

printable recipe

Link:Foodie Friday

TWD: Tarte Fine

 Apple Tart

 Leslie of Lethally Delicious decided on Tarte Fine for us to bake this week. If you don't know Leslie, drop on over, she belongs to a few baking groups and always has something great to eat. I'd really like to be one of her co-workers since she is so generous in sharing her goodies with them.

This tart is simplicity at its best. A crispy puff pastry crust is topped with fresh apples and a sprinkling of sugar and baked until the apples are soft and beginning to caramelize. We timed it just right and this was done right as we finished dinner, and it was a tasty way to get ready for fall and all the apple baking to come. I did enjoy making my own puff pastry just for fun, but you could throw this together in no time with the frozen packages, and have a delicious dessert with little effort.

TWD: Apple Tart

Dorie Greenspan Baking: from my home to yours

Dorie's Note: Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets are available in every supermarket across the country. However, I can't encourage you enough to search out an all-butter puff pastry at a local specialty store. If the store doesn't carry frozen all-butter puff pastry, perhaps it will order it for you. The pastry I buy--which is so good I stopped making puff pastry at home--is made by Dufour pastry.

Ingredients:

3 medium-size firm sweet apples, preferably Golden Delicious

Squirt of fresh lemon juice

1 sheet (about 8 ounces) frozen puff pastry, preferably all butter (see above), thawed

2 teaspoons milk or heavy cream

1 large egg, beaten with about 1/2 teaspoon water, for egg wash

3-4 teaspoons sugar

1/3 cup apricot jam, for glazing

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the apples, slice them in half lengthwise and core them. Cut the apples halves in half again and cut about 7 lengthwise slices from each quarter. Put the slices into a bowl and toss them with the lemon juice.

On a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, roll the sheet of puff pastry out into a rectangle that is about 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches. If the dough is warm, cover it with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 20 minutes. If it's still cool, just lift the paper or mat and place it on a baking sheet. Arrange the apple slices in slightly overlapping rows on the pastry, making sure to leave a border of 1/4 to 1/2 inch bare. Brush the borders lightly with the milk or cream, then brush the egg wash over the apple slices. Sprinkle the apples and the borders with the sugar.

Bake the tart for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden around the edges and the apples are soft and brown at the borders. Remove from the oven. If you want the edges of the apples to be even darker, you can run the tart under the broiler; be very careful not to overbake the pastry border. (To avoid burning the edges, you can cover the perimeter of the tart with aluminum foil.)

Boil the jam with a smidgen of water until it liquifies, then brush the glaze over the apples (if the jam has any chunks of apricot in it, avoid them).

Serve the tart hot or warm.

Playing Around:

If you'd like a sweeter tart, before you arrange the apple layer, scatter 2 tablespoons butter, cut into bits, over the pastry rectangle and sprinkle over 2 tablespoons sugar. Omit the egg wash, and once the apples are in place, brush them with 3-4 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with about 3 tablespoons sugar. Bake and glaze the tart as directed.

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To see what the other bakers made visit the TWD blogroll.

Apple Streusel Pie Bars

Apple Streusel Pie Bars

     I am one lucky mom.  My children all enjoy creating in the kitchen.  My son is more of a cook than a baker .  While he has had success baking he doesn't chose to do it often (only when he needs a chocolate chip cookie). Both of my daughters  have developed into very accomplished bakers. They are well on their way to being able to adapt recipes  to suite their own style and taste. 
   Mini Me, my second daughter, made these fruity apple pie bars. Moist and cinnamony they are loaded with apples and have a crisp streusel topping. Served on a plate they would be delicious with ice cream, but the beauty of these bars is that they can be eaten out of hand.  Apple pie with out a fork! The original recipe comes from  Brandy at  Nutmeg Nanny,  Mini  Me  made a few changes of her own to make this tasty treat for party we were having.   I think they were a hit, people were eating them by the handful ( stacking one or two on the left hand while eating one with the right).

Apple Streusel  Pie Bars

adapted from Nutmeg Nanny

2 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1 1/2C. packed brown sugar – divided
1/2 C. granulated sugar
2 t. cinnamon - divided
1 C. butter – melted
6 cups chopped apples (cored and peeled)
Zest of one lemon
Nutmeg
Glaze

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spay a half sheet pan baking spray (PAM) or lightly grease.
Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, 1 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and melted butter in large bowl until well blended. Reserve two cups of this mixtures and set aside. Press remaining crumb mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

After preparing apples put in glass bowl , cover with waxed paper and micro wave  on high a few minutes (depending on your micro wave) to soften. This gives the apples a head start in baking, you can omit this step if you want. 
Add remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar to apples along with the lemon zest, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a grind of fresh nutmeg, stir  gently to dissolve sugar. Arrange apples over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender and the crust is golden brown.  Remove pan to wire rack to cool completely. Glaze and serve.
 
Glaze:
1 tablespoon Butter
1 cup. powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk (+/-)
Small splash vanilla
Smidgen of cinnamon

Combine butter, powdered sugar and cinnamon  in a small bowl  mix with a fork for spoon until  crumbly. Add vanilla and milk and stir until a smooth paste is formed.  Add more milk a drop at a time until glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over top of apple bars. Cut and serve.
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Tart Tartan

TWD: Tarte Tatin

This week is  the 2nd Anniversary of TWD.    This week's  host and founder Laurie, of slush , chose Tarte Tatin, and/or Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake.  The choice was ours and  I have to say  for me it was a difficult decision but  I had to choose. I was not going to make them both, even though I wanted to.   I 'm sure I'm not the only one who has gained some extra poundage since starting a blog.  As a blogger you feel a responsibility to keep your blog updated so of course that means more baking and eating.  After all you can't blog about something you haven't tasted can you? So in an attempt to shed some of those extra pounds I chose the Tarte Tatin, apples always seem so healthy, right?

This was a delightful tart.  Easy to make and because it is rustic  there are no imperfections.  I used puff pastry that I had in the freezer, it was crisp and buttery just the right balance for the sweet caramel apples. If you want the recipe for this amazing tart visit  Laurie at slush or you can find it in Dorie's book. A big Thank You to Laurie for getting, and keeping, Tuesdays with Dorie going.

The tarte looked a little lonely and I have that new ice cream machine and a little homemade creme fraiche. So, I added some honey and lemon zest to the creme fraiche and Honey-Lemon ice cream was born.  A nice finishing touch to an extraordinary tart.

Trifle with Roasted Apples, Pears and Caramel Sauce

      What Tiramisu is to the Italians, Trifle is to the English. Layers of soft sherry soaked cake alternate with silky, cinnamon flavored pastry cream and intensely flavored roasted apples and pears. Finished with a rich caramel sauce and sweetened whipped cream, whats not to like? Trifles are great for entertaining since they can be mostly assembled a day ahead of time, with minimal finishing touches. 

     I usually make trifle with pound cake, but ladyfingers looked like they would be a nice change, and a time saver since at this time of year you can usually get decent ones at Trader Joe's. However, my Trader Joe's didn't have them, so no time saved, and I had to make my own, which was ok because I have made them many times and they are pretty easy. The results are so worth the little bit of effort- soft, creamy and delicious. I will save that recipe for another time (maybe closer to Christmas, when we always make our traditional Christmas Eve Tiramisu). With ladyfingers or poundcake, this trifle has a great flavor and was a beautiful, tasty addition to our Thanksgiving table.

Trifle with Roasted Apples, Pears and Caramel Sauce
adapted from BonAppetit  November 2003- I made several changes to the original recipe and my version appears below.

3 ½ doz. Soft Ladyfingers
Cinnamon Pastry Cream
Caramel Sauce
Roasted Fruit
1/3 cup dry sherry
2 cup chilled whipping cream
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Pastry Cream
6 egg yolks
2 cups milk
¾ cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Whisk egg yolks and ½ cup milk in large bowl. Add sugar, flour vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk until sugar dissolves. Bring remaining 1 ½ cups of milk to simmer in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk milk into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook until custard thickens and boils, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Add butter, stir until melted. Transfer to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, press directly onto surface of custard. Chill until cold.

Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup cream
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Blend the sugar and water in a 1 ½ qt sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and swirl the pan by the handle to make sure all of the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is perfectly clear. Return pan to moderately high heat; cover and boil for several minutes. After a minute or so peek at syrup, when the bubbles are thick uncover the pan.
Continue boiling, swirling the pan by the handle until the syrup begins to color. When it is a light caramel color remove from the heat and continue swirling and the color will darken more. To stop cooking place bottom of the pan in cool water.
Slowly add the cream, which will congeal the caramel. Return pan to low heat and simmer, stirring until the caramel dissolves. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Use warm or cool. Refrigerated in a covered jar, the sauce will keep for weeks.


Roasted fruit
3 large Fuji Apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch cubes (about 4 cups)
3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, cut into ½ inch cubes, (about 3 cups)
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In bowl toss fruit, lemon juice and butter. Spread on a rimmed cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the oven, roast until fruit is soft and golden, turning with metal spatula every 15 minutes, for about 1 hour. Cool fruit sheet.

 

Assembly: Pour sherry in a small bowl. Dip top side of lady finger in sherry. Line the bottom of a 2-3 quart glass trifle dish with a single layer of lady fingers, sherry side up. Line the edge with one row of ladyfingers, sherry side in. Spoon half of pastry cream over ladyfingers, smooth top. Cover with half of the fruit. Drizzle ½ cup of caramel sauce over fruit. Line edge of dish with a second row of ladyfingers, sherry side in. Cover fruit with a single layer of ladyfingers. Spoon remaining pastry cream over ladyfingers followed by remaining fruit drizzled with ½ cup of caramel sauce. Line the side of the dish with a third layer of ladyfingers, sherry side in. Cover and chill at least 6 hours or over night.

In a bowl, whip cream, sugar and vanilla until it hold cream holds a peak. Spoon or pipe cream over trifle, drizzle with caramel sauce. Serve with remaining caramel sauce.

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Cran-Apple Crisps

TWD: Cran-Apple Crisps

 Em of The Repressed Pastry chef selected Cran-Apple Crisps for one of the November recipes. This was the perfect autumn dessert- sweet juicy apples paired with tart and tangy cranberries, covered in a crispy brown sugar oatmeal topping. You can add black berries, pears, dates, or invent your own yummy combination. Use your imagination with this one since apples lend themselves to pairing well with so many different things. As an added bonus, your house will smell terrific as this is baking, making it even harder to resist digging in!

Cran-Apple Crisps

Baking From My Home To Yours – Dorie Greenspan

For the topping

¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

For the filling
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, don’t thaw)
½ cup moist, plump dried cranberries or raisins (dark or golden)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter eight ovenproof cups or bowls, each with a capacity of about one cup. Pu the cups on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

To make the topping:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms big curds, about 1 minute. (You can make the topping up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight bag.)

To make the filling:
Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide the fruit evenly among the cups then spoon an equal amount of topping over each portion of fruit. Bake the crisps for 40-45 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit juices are bubbling up around it. Transfer the cups to a rack and let them rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

This would be a perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table, or for any time you want a fast and delicious dessert. Thanks Em for picking this easy and great tasting crisp.