Summer Fruits Pie

I was supposed to make a double crusted blueberry pie (doesn't that sound so good?) for this past week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe. The issue was, I still had rhubarb, and a big bag of frozen huckleberries, so this AMAZING pie became a huckeberry-blueberry-rhubarb pie. I know the huckleberries were frozen, and I didn't have to use them, but I wanted to. I really wanted to. Our huckleberry picking season starts in about a month and I have plans to pick gallons and gallons this year. There are no huckleberry farms. These small, purple berries only grow in the wild and sometimes they are a bear to pick (you can run into bears too while you pick them which is not my idea of a good time). I did choose to add fresh blueberries as well and the combination of the 3 was sublime.

The fact that the pie was absolutely delicious made up for the fact that it was not the prettiest. It was hot here the day I made it. Too hot to be dealing with buttery crust. I made an amateur move and put the pie in the oven, with the soft, melty dough, when what I really should have done is popped it into the freezer to firm it up; the crust drooped and looked awful, but it tasted so good. So good in fact that a friend and I may begin to sell these at a farmer's market in town.

I used Dorie's exact recipe for the crust. It calls for both butter and shortening and thankfully the butter ratio outweighs the shortening. Butter will give it a delicous flavor and the bit of shortening gives it a flakiness that can't be beat. I don't usually cook or bake with shortening, but when I do, I make sure to use the organic shortening by Spectrum from the health food store. Pick some up and try it- it's not as smooth and creamy as that disgusting Crisco, but the tradeoff is way better. Dorie's crust was perfect. Flaky and buttery and light- exactly how it should be.

To see the full recipe for this week's Double Crusted Blueberry Pie, check out Amy's blog, South in your Mouth.

Fruit Cobbler-No, Fruit Crisp- Yes!

Okay, so I tweaked this week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe so much that I turned it into a different recipe, which essentially is breaking the rules and I hate to do that. The thing is, Dorie's recipe said no strawberries and that's what I had, strawberries- beautiful, sweet, organic strawberries that were calling out to be used. I also had been given a garbage sized bag of rhubarb. So, strawberry and rhubarb- what's a girl to do? We were taking the dessert to a friends house for dinner- this was our first invitation over and I did not want my dessert to flop. After reading the many posts about the cobbler topping being a little lackluster, I had to make the switch- you understand right? It was the pressure of the dinner party and the strawberries and rhubarb calling out to me- I just couldn't say no. Once I made the decision, I felt completely relieved as I like crisp better than cobbler anyway. Lucky me, I also had a huge bag of frozen huckleberries in my freezer. We're entering this year's huckleberry season, so it's time to use the old ones up. They made the crisp a beautiful, vibrant purple and the dessert vanished quickly. Blueberries would also work for this, fresh or frozen. Served warm, with a scoop of ice cream, this was the perfect dessert to share with friends while sitting in a log cabin in the woods during a huge thunderstorm.

This week's actual Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was Mixed Berry Cobbler, chosen by Beth. You can view the recipe for the cobbler on her site Our Sweet Life

Strawberry-Rhubarb-Huckleberry Crisp
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours

This fruit-cobbler-turned-fruit-crisp came out amazingly good!

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
zest of 1 lemon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:
1 pound (4-5 medium stalks) rhubarb, trimmed and peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup huckleberries (use more strawberries or rhubarb if you don't have hucks)
1 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
pinch salt

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Put a nonreactive 9-inch square baking pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicon mat. Alternatively, you can use individual ramekins. These are great to serve at a dinner party.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, lemon zest, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and sift the ingredients through your fingers to blend them, be on the lookout for lumps in the brown sugar. Mix in the nuts and then pour over the melted butter. Using a fork, stir the ingredients until they are thoroughly moistened. Spoon half the mixture into the pan and pat it down lightly to form a thick crust. Set the remainder aside for the topping.

For the filling:


Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water; set aside.
Put the strawberries,rhubarb, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and, with a fork, pastry blender, or potato masher, crush the berries. Place the pan over medium heat and, stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to a full boil. Pour the dissolved cornstarch into the pan and, stirring with a whisk, bring everything back to a boil. Now add the huckleberries. Keep cooking and stirring until the fruit filling is thick and no longer cloudy, about 3 minutes. Pull the pan from the heat, and pour the filling in the prepared dish. Scatter the remaining crisp mix over the filling.

Slide the crisp into the oven and bake for 60 minutes for the large crisp, or about 35 for the individual ramekins, or until the topping is golden and the strawberry jam is bubbling up all around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool until only just warm or at room temperature. Serve with freshly whipped cream or your favorite ice cream.

Cupcakes for a Good Cause

I attended our local Relay For Life walk tonight. If you aren't familiar with Relay, it's a cancer walk that happens all over the country and lasts the whole night. Its extremely moving. The weather was perfect and the spirits were high; we couldn't have asked for a better night.

I work for a bank and we host a cake walk every year at the Relay event. It gives the kids something fun to do, and we all know that sugar can sometimes turn a frown upside down. Since the cupcakes were for kids, I opted to go for a bright rainbow look and frosted them red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. They came out looking good and the kids snatched them right up.

I used a simple white cake recipe and an easy American buttercream. The fun part was dyeing the frosting and choosing the sprinkles for the top!

Peppermint Cream Puffs! Hooray!

This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was a fun one.

I love cream puffs. Always have. Eclairs too, of course. Lucky for me, I visited an old friend over the weekend to explore her beautiful gardens in town and to dig up some of her mint. I came home with close to a square foot of mint, roots and all, which I promptly put in one of my whiskey barrel planters. There will be no flowers in that planter this year, if the mint decides to live! Fresh mint is one of my favorite herbs to have on hand. I live in Montana, and our growing season is short; those adorable window herb gardens that many of you have just don't make it through the winters here. I also came home with a bag of salad greens, a square foot of oregano (filling another whiskey barrel)and some radishes. What a wonderful gift on a Sunday morning.

So, the cream puff ring, although beautiful, wasn't practical for me to make this week. I converted them to puffs and packed them up to share today. One container will go to my coworkers and the other container will go to a board meeting I have to attend. I sit on the board for our region's Head Start school- what an important organization Head Start is! Our board meetings tend to be long and occur during prime lunch time. These should help us all get through the meeting as there's nothing like a sugar high to keep you going.

I followed this recipe really closely. The only changes I made were:
1. I left one yolk out
2. I beat the eggs together beforehand in a measuring cup
3. I allowed the paste to cool for a bit before adding the eggs
4. I slowly streamed the egg mixture in while the mixer was running
5. I used Agave Nectar to sweeten the chocolate glaze

They came out crisp and wonderful. Some prettier than others, of course, but that's the beauty of the puff!

I've been too busy frolicking in the sunshine to post lately. Finally, summer has arrived here in Montana. Just last week, we had a FREAK snow storm. Yes, that's right, snow. While you guys on the east coast were burning up in the heat, and the poor midwesterners were/are dealing with the terrible floods, we were dealing with snow. In June. What a winter it has been.

My husband and I picked up our permit to go Morel mushroom picking this week. I can't wait. Morel's are so delicious and they are going off like crazy right now. These tend to show up in areas that burned the year before and last year we dealt with a big forest fire nearby. So, it's off to the woods we go to forage. Hopefully, I'll take some photos of the pasta I plan on making before we devour it.

Thanks Dorie Greenspan, for another wonderful, homey, inspiring dessert. I have a feeling I'll be buying some extra love today with them! Thanks also to Caroline of A Consuming Passion- you can view the entire recipe on her site.

Ooh La La! French Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook. Thank's Di!

Mmm mmm. These French Brownies were good. Admittedly, I didn't completely follow Dorie's recipe, but I think she'll understand. I elected to amp up mine by omitting the raisins and adding extra cinnamon, toasted hazelnuts and Nutella to my batter. They are truly delicous.

I don't drink coffee very often anymore, and when I do it has to be decaf and unsweetened, but back in my days as a barista, one of the latte flavors I liked best was hazelnut cinnamon. If you're a sweet latte drinker (a dying breed, which is a good thing really) you must try yours like this. Make sure to top your milk foam with cinnamon sprinkles as well. Oh, and tip your barista if they are nice and make you a good drink!

Some of you likened the original recipe with flambed raisins to Raisinettes. I LOVE Raisinettes (people only eat these at the movies, right?), but I didn't have the rum and I have a husband who is not a raisin fan. I don't like to bake anything that he won't eat because I end up making up for his abstinence by eating more and this is not the season to be fooling around with extra, extra calories. One serving of rich, hazelnut brownies are just enough.

I know I'll make this recipe again-it was so easy and produced a delicious brownie. After the "photo shoot" I left 3 out, then I wrapped the rest of these up and threw them in the freezer. They've joined cupcakes, flourless chocolate cake, and chocolate lava cakes. I like having a freezer full of this stuff as they are perfect mix ins for ice cream when you have that burning need on any given night for a treat. Plus, brownies defrost wonderfully. In fact, as an update, after seeing Sex and the City on Sunday, and proceeding to drink too much wine back at my house with my girl friends, these already came and went. Au Revoir French Brownies!!Thanks for being there waiting for us when we really needed you after too much wine on a work night.

So, go ahead and splurge. If you're like me and you have a big Costco bottle of Nutella or any other chocolate hazelnut spread sitting in your pantry, I recommend you try the recipe my way. The Nutella added a delicous boost in chocolate flavor as well as extra richness.


French Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
6 ounces good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Scharffen Berger 60%)
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 Cup Nutella
2 Tablespoons Frangelico (optional)
3/4 Cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
powdered sugar for dusting


Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter and flour the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, Frangelico and Nutella, stirring until it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment. Alternatively, you may choose to melt the chocolate in the microwave on half power, stirring regularly.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the hazelnuts.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Halfway through the baking time, rotate the pan in the oven.

Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil. Dust with powdered sugar if you'd like.

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns, Tuesdays With Dorie

Tuesdays With Dorie you've done it again. Another deadline which means another sweet treat to concoct in record time because of course, these Tuesdays sure do sneak up on me. The Tuesday after a Memorial Day weekend spent away from home sneaks up even faster.

I have to give this recipe another shot. The thing with delicious, nutty, gooey treats like these is that they CANNOT BE RUSHED.

Check back for this recipe redo. Dont' worry sticky buns, I'll be back-just not after a 12 hour drive in the car from Portland Oregon to NW Montana with my husband and 2 dogs. Next time I'll be more coherent and less road weary and I will then master you.

The recipe, from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours is below. I did cut and paste it, so I apologize for the lack of pretty formatting.

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns
Makes 15 buns

For the Glaze:
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces1/4 cup honey1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:
1/4 cup sugar3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar1 tablespoon ground cinnamon3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:
1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).

To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissovle the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out asbest you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinle over the pecans.

To make the filling: Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

To shape the buns: On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the
glae recipe accordingly).
With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.
Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns ahve doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

Getting ready to bake: When the buns have almost fully risen , center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven.
The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mate or buttered foil. Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.

What You'll Need for the Golden Brioche Dough (this recipe makes enough for two brioche loaves. If you divide the dough in half, you would use half for the sticky buns, and you can freeze the other half for a later date, or make a brioche loaf out of it!):
2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

What You'll Need for the Glaze (you would brush this on brioche loaves, but not on the sticky buns):
1 large egg1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can proceed with the recipe to make the brioche loaves, or make the sticky buns instead, or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.
Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)
Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.

Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.

Kauai

Oh Kauai, oh vacation. How I miss you both together. I'm now left with some photos and many great memories of thoses 10 days in paradise-the beautiful flowers, delicious fruits, perfect ocean water, rain showers at night, laughing harder with my husband than we had in months and finally the evil know as jet lag. The time difference is only 4 hours, but it does a number on this girl. I'm finally returning to my right self after 4 days home. I can't deny that I spent my first few days back at work doing a very good form of sleep walking. The worst thing about vacation is when it ends.

BUT-what a fabulous time we had! Paul's aunt who has a heart of gold had rented a private home in the hills of Kilauea on the island of Kauai. The home sat on about 5 acres; 5 acres that were brimming with avocado, mango, meyer lemon, lime, grapfruit and pommello trees. Of course there were also plumeria, gardenia, hibiscus and an amazing view of the ocean below us. It was pure paradise. Oh, and I have to mention the salt water pool, which initially I didn't think I would care for; I thought who needs a pool when you have an ocean- that is until I slinked in there one evening and realized how spectacular that pool would be treating us for the rest of the stay.

We spent 10 days at our favorite beaches-Hanalei, Tunnels, Kee, swimming, snorkeling and surfing in the ocean. Yes, I finally learned how to surf and that means I got up on that board and road waves in! It was so fun- I loved knowing that when I fell off, and I did fall off, I was only dropping into 75 degree water and not onto an icy or snow packed mountain like with skiiing or snowboarding.



We also took short breaks from the beach to visit the "sunshine markets". Fresh pineapple, cold coconuts (I simply can't pass those up), papayas, lychees, jackfruit, cacao pods and passionfruit awaited us. I love those markets. Everything is so bright and flavorful and fresh. The farmers are usually very willing to let you try fruits that you've never had before and we found some wonderful ones. One was brown and small and round and had firm flesh that tasted like molasses and cinnamon.

Island life I like you, I really really like you. I have a feeling I would fit right in-just like this beautiful Honu, who lives the dream.