TWD:Cranberry Lime Galette

 Whitney, April, and Elizabeth of Celestial Confections chose Cranberry Lime Galette to make this week. When I first read the recipe, I thought that there were a lot of individually assertive ingredients. Ginger, lime, and cranberry can all be pretty strong on their own, so I wasn't too sure how they would be when combined. We were pleasantly suprised at how beautifully everything came together. The hint of lime in the background was a nice contrast to the slightly spicy ginger and sweet/tart cranberries.  

Since I had some pie dough in the fridge, and it only rolled out to a 10 inch circle, I used 1/2 the filling ingredients and the galette was the perfect size for the four of us.

Dorie says to use her "good for just about everything" pie crust. I have made this several times and it is good, however I have found a better pie crust- Cooks Illustrated Foolproof Pie dough. It's much the same as Dorie's but you replace some of the water with vodka. The alcohol cooks out and leaves no flavor, and the result is the best pie crust I have made. This dough is so forgiving, even the scraps which I rolled together came out light and flaky. 

If you are not familiar with Cooks Illustrated, pick up their Holiday Baking issue and enjoy. I have had success with all the recipes from there, and can't wait to pick something to try from the holiday issue!

Cranberry Lime Galette
Baking- from my house to your- Dori Greenspan

Pie Dough for a single crust , chilled
3 TBSP ground nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans or skinned hazelnuts)
3 TBSP dry bread crumbs (unseasoned, store bought)
2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (let thaw and pat dry)
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 cup moist, plump dried cranberries (optional)
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
a 1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped*

grated zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tbsp raspberry jam or jelly
decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar, for dusting
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (see below) or a silicone mat.

To make it easier to move the pie dough onto the baking sheet, roll it between sheets of parchment (in which case, you can use one of the rolling sheets to line the baking sheet) or wax paper or plastic wrap. Alternatively, work on a well-floured surface, taking care to keep the dough moving by turning it and flouring the surface often.

Roll the dough into a large 1/8-inch circle. Using a pastry wheel or a paring knife, trim the dough to a 13-inch diameter. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and keep it covered in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Mix together the nuts and bread crumbs.

Toss together the remaining ingredients (except the decorating and confectioners' sugars for dusting) in a bowl, stirring just to mix.

Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Using a cake pan or pot lid as a template and the tip of a blunt kitchen knife as a marker, gently trace a 9-inch circle in center of the dough--this is the area for the filling. Sprinkle the center circle with the nut and crumb mixture and top with the filling. Now gently lift the unfilled border of dough up and onto the filling: as you lift the dough and place it on the filing, it will pleat. Brush the dough very lightly with a little water, then sprinkle it with a teaspoon or two of decorating or granulated sugar.

Bake the galette for 35-40 minutes, or until the crust is brown, the cranberries have popped and the filling is bubbling. Place the baking sheet on a rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Very carefully slide a small baking sheet or a cake lifter under the galette and slip the galette onto a rack to cool. Serve the galette with it is just warm or when it has reached room temperature, lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar.

* We used a micro-plane and grated the ginger, it seemed much stronger than when we chopped it so we did not use the entire amount. Use your own judgement on how much to add.


Foolproof Pie Dough via Cooks Illustrated
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

1.Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, sugar until combined.  Add butter and shortening and process until dough just starts to clump (it will look like cottage cheese curds with no visible flour) scrape bowl of processor. Add remaining flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around the bowl and the mass of dough has been broken up.  Empty mixture into a medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture.  With a rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide into 2 even balls, flatten into a 4 inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes.
*Note this pie dough is very wet and need a bit of flour when rolling it out.

foolproof pie dough printable recipe

If you want the recipe for the galette, visit Celestial Confections.  To see what the other TWD bakers made
visit our blog roll.

Cranberry Lime Galette printable recipe

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Coconut Tea Cake

This week we had the choice of making Mocha -Walnut Marbled Bundt cake selected by Erin of When in Doubt Leave It At 350 or Coconut Tea Cake, chosen by Carmen of Carmen Cooks. For the coming Easter holiday we chose the Coconut Tea Cake.

We made the lime version and used mini bundt pans. Theses easy cakes were moist and tender, but despite doubling the amount of lime zest, the lime flavor was very faint and you wouldn't even know there was coconut in the recipe. Next time I would add citrus oil and/or coconut extract. This is a good basic recipe, and you could really add any number of extracts or oils to make it your own.

 

Coconut Tea Cakes

Baking: from my home to yours Dorie Greenspan

 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons dark rum
3/4 cup shredded coconut

Pre heat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour  a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan or mini bundts.(I used 1/2 recipe for 6 mini bundts) Don't place on a baking sheet you want the heat to circulate through the inner tube.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Pour coconut milk into a small sauce pan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from heat, but keep warm.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick. and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum.  Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears..

Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a spatula just to make certain that all the ingredients are fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 60-65 minutes for regular bundt 20-25 for mini bunts or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Cool on. A wire rack for 10 minutes before unmolding cool to room temperature

This was really perfect served with just a dusting of confectioner's sugar. If you would like the recipe for the fabulous tea cake stop on over at Carmen's and  if you want to see what the other TWD bakers thought just visit our blogroll.

Key Lime Pie

Mr. Mimi went to Costco with me and as usual that was a mistake. While shopping he happened to see a key lime pie, which he pointed out, saying that was a pretty big pie for only $10.00. Later that evening he started in on how he should have bought that pie, after all, key lime pie is his favorite; news to me after 24 years of marriage.

A few days later I happen to be visiting GET OFF YOU BUTT and BAKE and Jonna had this recipe for Mar-A-Lago Key Lime Pie. It was about 98 degrees in our area so who wouldn’t want a cool, creamy, tangy pie, with a crisp graham cracker crust?

Key Lime Pie

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 ½ pack of graham crackers, crushed about 2 cups

3 TBS sugar
5 TBS melted butter

Filling:

4 egg yolks
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
grated zest of one lime

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBS confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Pre Heat the oven to 325F.

Crust:

Mix all ingredients together and press into the bottom and sides of an nine inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes and allow the crust to cool.

Filling:

Whip egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice until incorporated. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, and then refrigerate until cold

Topping: whip cream, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla until nearly stiff, spread evenly over the top of pie and place in freezer 20 minutes prior to serving.