Yummy Desserts

 

It is one of my favorite pies. Juicy apple slices surrounded by a thickened sweet and spiced sauce baked perfectly inside a flaky pie crust!!!

Makes 6 to 8 serving.

APPLE PIE CRUST

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 tsp. Granulated Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

1 Cup of Unsalted Butter, (cut into small cubes, 2 sticks of butter make 1 cup or 225g)

1/2 Cup Sour Cream, (115ml) full fat, not light sour cream

FOR THE EGG WASH

1 Egg

4 tbsp. Liquid Milk

MAKING THE PIE CRUST

Cut butter into cubes and let sit for a couple of minutes out of the fridge to take the chill off, no need to soften the butter.

In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar.

Add the cubed butter into the flour using a pastry cutter, until the mixture forms large coarse crumbs.

Gradually add the sour cream into the dry ingredients, until the dough is evenly moist. Use your hands to bring the ingredients together to the bottom of the bowl. The dough should not be very sticky. If the dough seems very dry, you can always add little more sour cream to have a good consistency of a dough.

Divide dough in half, form each half into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 ball of dough and ease the pastry into a 9-inch pie pan. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent the puffiness of the dough while baking.

Bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees C), for 15 minutes without the filling.

Roll out the second half of the dough into a 9-inch circle and cut to 12 equal strips using a pizza cutter. Cheque the picture of how to assemble the strips.

APPLE PIE FILLING

INGREDIENTS

8 – 9 Large Apples

2 tbsp. Butter

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon, plus more if desired

1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg, plus more if desired

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/2 Squeezed Fresh Lemon Juice

Zest of 1 Lemon

2 tbsp. Cornstarch

MAKING THE APPLE PIE FILLING

In a large cooking pot, slice the apples the same size for even cooking. Then combine the sliced apples with the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and cook on low heat.

Taste and adjust the sweetness.

Let it cool to room temperature.

Precooking the filling will get rid of extra moisture and ensure that the filling is perfectly thickened before going to the oven.

Spoon the filling over the bottom of the pre-cooked pie crust. Fill the pie until apples are mounded at the same height as the edge of the pie crust.

Place the 2^nd pie dough strips at the top, assemble as in the picture.

Whisk the egg and milk, then use it as an egg wash by lightly brushing the top of the crust strips.

Place the prepared pie in the preheated oven and bake at (180 degrees C), for 10 to 15 minutes until the top of the pie become a golden color.

Be sure to cool the pie, without slicing into it for at least 1-hour, longer is also better.

 

It all began far away from here, in a time and place where baking was almost always done at home, and recipes were cherished and guarded like gold.

Once upon a time, I shared and learned from my beloved Mother Amy all the delicacies she used to cook and bake with warmth and love, and ready to set on the wooden dining table with her mouthwatering delicious food, cakes deserts….and a lot more!!

This was the world in which we grew up!

This recipe is a homemade cake with few tablespoons of love in everything, and I decided to share this delicacy with the world!!!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Flour

4 Eggs, separated

3/4 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

1/4 tsp. Tartar powder

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

3 tbsp. powdered Milk

1 Lemon Zest

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Burnt Sugar liquid, find a recipe for Burnt Sugar at “sauces and pastes”  

3 to 5 tbsp. Rum, Whisky, or Brandy

1 teacup of Walnuts, cut into small pieces

1/2 teacup Raisins

1/2 teacup red Candied Cherries, cut in halves

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease cake pan with softened butter and dust it with flour.
• Separate the egg yolks from egg whites.
• Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites with the tartar powder until very fluffy. Set aside in the fridge.
• In another bowl, cream together egg yolks, sugar, and vegetable oil for 3 minutes until fluffy and light yellow.
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to egg yolks mixture on medium speed, flour, baking powder, milk powder, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, and brandy, whisky or rum. Speed up the mixer to a higher speed while adding the burnt sugar water, the batter should be smooth and completely combined but avoid over mixing.
• Add the walnuts, cherries, and raisins, to the cake mixture and mix with a wooden spoon.
• Add the egg whites to the cake mixture folding carefully with a spatula to bring together.
• Spoon the cake batter in the prepared cake pan.
• Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven temperature.
• Allow cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting or decorating.

MAKING THE CREAM

4 cups liquid Milk

1/2 cup Sugar

50g unsalted Butter

4 tbsp. Cacao powder

50g Plain Dark Chocolate bar

Red food coloring

1 cup & 1/2 walnuts, half crushed

Bring the milk to boil, add the sugar and butter, separate the mixture into two cooking pans.

Add the cacao and chocolate bar to one pan and add red food coloring to the other pan.

Keep stirring until it becomes creamy.

Let it cool, then add the crushed walnuts to both pans.

Decorate the cake by spreading layers of chocolate and red-colored cream, sprinkle with colored vermicelli and some candied cherries

 

Bananas Flambé is a dessert prepared tableside, over a live flame, as well as a source of dining-room performance play — and with potential danger. The fire that rises off the pan can be seen tables away, stoking anticipation even in diners who have just started on their appetizers!!

“The challenge with bananas Flambé is to keep the flame low”

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

2 tsp. Dark Brown Sugar

1 Banana, peeled and halved lengthwise

squeeze Orange Juice + Orange Zest

Dash of Cinnamon

1 tsp. Banana Liquor

2 tbsp. Light Rum

Vanilla Ice Cream, for serving

METHOD

Assemble all ingredients, as this recipe cooks quickly. Remove orange zest with a vegetable peeler. Peel bananas and cut in half.

You'll be dealing with a flame, so take precautions in case something doesn't go as planned! If you have long hair, tie it back. Have a lid for your skillet or a box of baking soda ready by the stove to extinguish a flame if you need to.

Over LOW to MEDIUM heat, melt butter with the brown sugar, orange zest, and vanilla, cook stirring until the sugar caramelizes, remove from heat and stir in the liquor, and the orange juice with a pinch of salt, and a dash of cinnamon. Stir to combine.

When smooth and beginning to bubble, add the halved banana. Cook on one side for 1 minute, then turn carefully with tongs and cook on the other side for 1 minute.

Remove the pan from the heat. Carefully pour in the measured rum. (NOT from the bottle, as the flame may travel from the rum in the pan up into the bottle and explode, preserve the rum in a tiny shot glass). Immediately light the rum with a flame from an extra-long match for candles or long barbecue lighter.  If it doesn't light, return it to the heat for a moment.

Allow the flame to burn down, then divide the bananas into a serving dish, top with ice cream, and drizzle with the liquid from the pan. Serve!

NOTE

“The challenge with bananas Flambé is to keep the flame low.