Apple, Pear & Sour-Cherry Pie

This was the Thanksgiving pie this year. An attempt to stay seasonal and local. Possibly the yummiest pie I have made. A good mixture of sweet, tart and spice. I thought the addition of so many flavors in the filling (e.g. lemon zest, ground ginger, mixed berry jam etc.) may backfire but they all blended to make a really tasty combination).

I must mke mention that the only exact measurements related to the crust. Everything else was to taste and measurements here are what I approximately added.


Crust : 1 1/4 cups AP flour; 1 stick of super cold butter; 1/2 tsp of salt; 1/2 tsp of sugar; 2-3 Tbsp of ice water.

Filling: 2 large granny smith apples; 1-2 Comice pears; 3/4 cup of dried sour cherries; 1/2 cup packed brown sugar; 2 tsp of cinnamon; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 1/4 tsp ground ginger; 2 Tbsp of mixed berry jam; juice of half a lemon; zest of a small lemon.

Topping: 3/4 cup of AP flour; 1/4 cup rolled oats; 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 stick of cold butter in cubes.

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Pre Heat oven to 425F
1) Make Crust: Add dry ingredients and butter and pulse in a food processor until crumbly; Add 1 Tbsp of ice water until dough begins to clump together. Empty out onto plastic wrap and form into a disk (it's a good thing to see little blobs of butter in your dough :) Put in the fridge for an hour or up to a day.
2) Roll out dough with a bit of four; Place in 9" pie plate and crimp edges. Place crust in fridge to set while you make the filling and the topping.
3) Make Filling: Cut apples and pears into wedges (about 8-10 per piece) and toss with other ingredients.
4) Make Topping: Mix dry ingredients together and then work butter in with your finger tips until it is all crumbly.
5) Place filling into pie crust and cover with crumble topping
6) Bake until apples are tender (about 45-50 minutes). If the crust gets too brown just cover it in Aluminium foil and continue baking.

Enjoy with good quality vanilla ice-cream.

Mum brings Macadamia Nuts!

So my mum brought a massive vacuum packed bag of Macadamia nuts from Australia and I had to use them (also because they are delicious). So I altered a Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti recipe from the Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook to use up some of the Macadamias.

The result were a huge hit at a BBQ I took them to. Best served with coffee after consuming various meats :)

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup macadamia nuts coarsely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F and have your Silpat ready.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (KitchenAids are helpful at this point). Add eggs; beat until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add flour mixture, and stir to form a stiff dough. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
2. Transfer dough to silpat/baking sheet; form into a slightly flattened log, about 12 by 4 inches. Bake until slightly firm, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.
   
3. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
4. On a cutting board, using a sharp serrated knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet, and bake until crisp but still slightly soft in the center, about 8 minutes.
5. Endulge your chocolate craving until horrible guilty feelings take over...

So many plums, so little time...

An excess of plums and imminent cold weather make me want to make a plum and apple crumble. Crumble = Crisp for all those the non-Australian types.

Crunchy yummy Top:
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of cold cubed butter (accept NO substitutes)

Juicy sweet filling:
about 2 lbs of plums
1-2 large apples
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F. Then mix all the filling ingredients and pour into a buttered oven proof dish. Mix the butter into the other topping ingredients and scatter on top of fruit. Bake for 40-45 minutes until your whole house smells like heaven. Then walk to store while crumble cools to buy essential accompaniment (Ice Cream)

Elvis was fat...for a reason

This little (I use the word very loosely) baby is called "Elvis Presley's favorite pound cake". I got the recipe from www.epicurious.com and tweaked it by adding the zest of one (preferably organic) lemon. It is the all time most requested from my old secretary Sherice.

How can you go wrong with that much butter, sugar and heavy cream??

Chocolate raspberry cake

I made this double layer chocolate fudge cake with raspberry filling and chocolate butter cream frosting for a chocoholic...YUM. The extra chocolate adorning the top was a special treat for the Birthday girl.