deep dish sour cherry pie

this one goes out to my daddy, for whom cherry pie is the be-all and end-all.

picked fresh at homestead farms by yours truly, these cherries went from tree to pie (to tummy) in less than 12 hours.

(there were strawberries, too, but since they were a day or two past perfect, they got washed and halved and put in the freezer for easy smoothie making.)

first i made a wholewheat pie crust, which i thought would pair nicely with the tartness of the cherries.

half a batch of crust, since i was going to bake it in my mini-deep dish pie plate.

then i prepped the cherries by halving them, pitting them and adding a little sugar, kirschwasser, salt, vanilla and tapioca.

i also made a crumble topping, with two tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar and about a 1/3 cup oats.

my mum makes it differently, but i cream the butter and brown sugar together, then mix in the oats and put it back in the fridge to harden up. when i’m ready to top my pie/crisp, i crumble the mixture over it.

after my pie crust chilled for a couple hours, i rolled it out, put it in the dish and added the cherries

and topping

and baked it in a 400 degree oven.

aaaand served!

(look, mom, bottom crust!)

fresh blueberry tart with lemon curd

this is an easy, super tasty and very springy dessert that is sure to impress your friends.

besides, just saying “lemon curd” generally impresses people – but it’s really not as hard as all that.

first i made the crust, which was inspired by my cranberry tart crust. but instead of ginger snaps, i used butter biscuits because i wanted a more delicate, almost neutral flavor that wouldn’t get in the way of the lemon.

so i put almost the whole pack (although i should have actually used the whole pack) of biscuits in the food processor and ground them up very fine.

then i drizzled in six tablespoons of melted butter and mixed until it got sandy.

press the crust into a glass or ceramic pie plate with the back of a measuring cup or your fingers until it forms an even crust.

into a 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

let the crust cool completely before filling it.

meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, mix 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the juice and grated zest of 3 lemons, the yolks of 4 large eggs, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

whisk the mixture well, and keep whisking while it heats up and thickens, about 6 minutes. it will get thick like pudding.

resist the urge to spoon (too much!) directly into your mouth.

you also want to cool your curd before putting it into the tart shell. mama cooks tip: lightly press a piece of plastic wrap down on the top of the curd to keep it from forming a “skin” as it cools.

once everything is at room temp, dollop the curd into the shell and spread gently and evenly with an off-set spatula or knife.

top with blueberries (or raspberries, would work too, i imagine.) refrigerate until you need it, but served at room temp, dusted with powdered sugar.

oooh…aahhh…!

chocolate biscuit cake

it was once said that the sun never set on the british empire, and today, that might be true again as a reported two billion people watched the royal wedding of william and catherine.

i mean, there’s not a lot that gets me up at 5 am, but a royal wedding is certainly on the short list. as are fascinators and princes. and people who look so freakin’ darn happy to be spending the rest of their lives under a microscope. i mean, together.

another thing that gets me out of bed? chocolate biscuit cake. it is apparently wills’ favorite and will be served as a groom’s cake at the reception.

with tons of recipes whizzing around the blogosphere, how could i not make one to celebrate?? my version is adapted from againn‘s.

you start by greasing and lining your pan, preferably a spring-form.

then heat 1 cup heavy cream, 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of agave (or honey), and chop 16 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate.

when the cream mixture is hot, pour it over the chocolate and stir until melted.

while i couldn’t find the traditional mcvitie’s biscuits, i think these are a decent substitute.

i crunched them in the package – no mess!

stir the biscuits into the chocolate

and pour into your pan.

chill for at least three hours (or overnight, in my case) and then let it warm up just a couple minutes before taking it out of the pan.

god save the cake!!

buttermilk panna cotta

once, many years ago, he and i had a dessert that we still talk about: pink grapefruit panna cotta. it was so soft and tender that it barely held itself together, and the flavor was tangy and sweet and delicate. frankly, we sort of avoid panna cotta now because that one was just untouchable.

but. i found myself with some leftover buttermilk the other day, and my mum had been talking up a buttermilk panna cotta she’s been making recently. unfortunately i couldn’t find the post-it i wrote her recipe on, so i used this one because it sounded close.

all the others i found had more heavy cream than buttermilk, and that’s not what i wanted. (also, i wasn’t trying to use up heavy cream – i was trying to use up buttermilk!)

anyway, i had no idea panna cotta was this easy.

start by dissolving 1 1/2 teaspoons of gelatin in 1/4 cup of water.

then dissolve 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of milk over medium heat. don’t let it boil, but you do want it to get hot.

take off the heat and mix in the gelatin/water mixture, and 1 1/2 cups buttermilk plus a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. (if you have a fancy paste kind with seeds that would be great and make it look oh-so fancy!)

mix well, then pour into ramekins.

if you don’t have ramekins, champagne flutes or wine glasses would work well, too. of course, you won’t unmold it, but it would still look lovely.

chill for 3-ish hours, or until set. if possible, turn out of mold by running a knife around the edge or setting in hot water briefly.

wow. yum. not pink grapefruit, but yum. if you happen to have leftover buttermilk, you should totally try this. i might even go so far as to recommend you go out and buy some buttermilk. it was that good.

in case you’ve never had buttermilk, it’s tangy, a little like yogurt, so the dessert isn’t too sweet. that’s why a nice berry compote (i just cooked down some leftover frozen blueberries with a little whiskey) or even fresh berries goes so well.

mint brownies, another way

here’s one way to make mint brownies, and here’s another:

make a pan of your favorite brownie recipe. even boxed will do.

i modified a recipe from fannie farmer called parker brownies.

in a glass bowl over a sauce pan with about an inch of water in it, melt 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 cup butter. (doing it this way heats the ingredients gently so they don’t get burned, and it keeps you from having to clean another dish! just let the bowl cool down a little before you add the egg… you don’t want to get a scramble.)

remove from heat and stir in 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, a pinch of salt, 1/2 flour, 1/2 chopped walnuts or chocolate chips! and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

spread batter evenly in a pan that has been buttered and prepared with a wax paper sling (to get the brownies out easier!). make sure you butter the dish below the sling, and the sling itself, as well as the sides.

bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.

then make a rich minty frosting by mixing two tablespoons softened butter, one tablespoon milk, one cup confectioners sugar and a teaspoon of peppermint extract. add green food coloring if you like your mint green. some people like it white. baker’s choice.

when the brownies are really, totally cool (if you rush, you get a melted disaster…), dollop the frosting on and carefully spread it out with a knife or off-set spatula.

put in the fridge to harden for 5 minutes or so.

while it’s chillin, melt a couple ounces of bakers or other unsweetened chocolate and one tablespoon of butter in the microwave. again, dollop on and spread.

this time will be even harder to spread it out without damaging the layer underneath, so be gentle and patient.

back in the fridge to firm up, then cut them into small squares. they are super rich, so small will do.

just look at them…!!

they get rave reviews every time.

vegan fruit tart

i have incredibly talented friends like miss amf who make gorgeous vegan fruit tarts.

mini no-bake oreo cheesecakes

this is a pretty freakin’ brilliant idea. mini no-bake oreo cheesecakes are so much easier than cupcakes and they sure add a little variety to your office bake sale table.

instead of making crust, why not use pre-made crust?

and by that i mean… an oreo!

then i whipped up martha stewart’s no-bake cheesecake filling, substituting crushed oreos and a splash of vanilla extract for the lemon juice.

call me crazy, but i did scoop the (double-stuffed) filling out of the oreos before i crushed them into the filling.

enough fatty white stuff is enough.

mix all together until very smooth, and spoon into your cupcake papers.

top with half an oreo and chill until set.

how cute?!

now, i do have to admit that since these were made for a bake sale for a good cause, i didn’t try one. people bought them though…!

plum torte

there’s something about this recipe that screams old-world glamour to me. especially if you say it the right way – “tort-eh,” like my father does. it is a rich, buttery cake with plum halves sunk into it like jewels. the plums soften and infuse the cake with their flavor and juice.

but honestly, it’s one of the easiest cakes you will ever make, with a totally simple list of ingredients that most people have in their kitchen as we speak. (well, besides the plums, i guess)

i’ve adapted mine from the new york times, although this is a classic cake that my mom has made for years.

start with a dozen or so plums. i used red plums. you want them just shy of ripe – or at least not super ripe – so they hold themselves together when they bake.

cut in half and remove pits.

then mix your batter.

cream 3/4 cup sugar  and 1/2 cup unsalted, room-temp butter. (“cream” means beat them until you can’t tell the difference between the two.) this can be done by hand, of course, but i recommend a stand mixer or a hand beater unless you are looking for a work out as well as a cake.

add two eggs, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla. beat well.

then mix in (mix, don’t beat. makes a difference, i promise) a cup of flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder.

i have been using red mill gluten free flour, but it’s absolutely terrible and i recommend another brand – any other brand. or real flour, of course.

once you have your flour all incorporated, spoon it into a pan. i used a 9-inch spring form, but you could use a different size (or a non-spring form, if you don’t mind serving it in the pan). just use a big enough pan that the batter is less than an inch thick.

place your plums skin-side UP in the pan, close together but not touching. nestle them in a little, but don’t push them down to the bottom. extra points for a pretty design.

sprinkle with a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon (and 1/2 teaspoon ginger if you have it).

bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until golden brown on top.

let cool (and remove from pan, if you’re using a spring form).

see what happens to the plums?? it’s amazing.

and delicious.

broiled peaches with ice cream

these are last-of-the-season peaches that weren’t all that good on their own, so i decided to spice them up a little.

it seemed like you couldn’t swing a cat this past summer without hitting grilled peaches and ice cream. but without access to a grill one night, i had to make do with the broiler.

first i cut my peaches in half and set up cut-side up on my broiler pan. (i sprayed them lightly with a neutral oil – in this case sunflower seed oil – but i’m not sure that was a necessary step.)

then i mixed about two tablespoons of brown sugar with a pinch of salt, a shake of cinnamon and a little ginger.

and added just enough grand marnier to get something between a sauce and a paste. you could use cointreau or whiskey. or orange juice, probably. even water if worse came to worse. whatever you have around to stick the sugar to the peaches.

i spooned this over the peach halves

and put them under the broiler, rotating once, for about 15 minutes

or until the sugar got all caramel-y and the peaches got soft and warm.

when i had seen this dessert before, there were crunchies of some sort on top of the ice cream. instead i used grapenut ice cream – with the crunchies built in!

i spooned whatever sauce was left over on top… and he added berry sauce to his.

grapenut ice cream

one of my favorite vacation treats is a bowl of grapenut ice cream from dockside in wolfeboro, new hampshire. with chocolate sprinkles (although up there they call them “jimmies,” of course).

recently, he and i got a hankering for said grapenut ice cream, and since our vacation is a good 330 or so days away, nothing would do but to try making it ourselves. i mean, how hard could it be? grapenuts plus ice cream.

i threw the pint in the microwave for 10 seconds, and then scooped it into a large bowl.

one cup of cereal per pint (in case you’re making a larger batch…)

mush. mush. mush. mix mix mix.

now, back into the pint and into the freezer!

and then into my tummy.

mmmm…

it was quite a hit all around. the only difference, besides the lack of jimmies, was that the cereal was a little harder than dockside’s. i chalk this up to the cereal being added at the liquid stage in the real ice cream-making process, thus giving it a moment or two to soak up and soften before it gets frozen. in my version, it had nothing to soak up.

however, we both decided that it had softened enough, and that this minor complaint didn’t take away from the delicious creamy, sweet, nuttiness of this truly unique ice cream treat!

[i’d be curious to know if anyone else has ever tried or even heard of grapenut ice cream!?]