I love to bake but we rarely have dessert at home. Only dinner parties will find us enjoying sweets after a meal. Still, when it is your perfect match’s Birthday, it is nice to close the meal with some sweetness. We wanted something light, no heavy laminated dough, no cake, no pie. I stumbled on this recipe by accident, simplified it quite a bit and we absolutely loved it! At the end of the post, I will give you a suggestion to turn it into a verrine, in case you do not want to go through the trouble of slicing the apples so thin.
APPLE CARPACCIO (from the Bewitching Kitchen)
1 apple (I used honey crisp) 1/3 cup pistachios, toasted 1/2 cup full-fat yogurt honey to taste 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds lemon juice
Cut the pistachios in small pieces, mix half with the yogurt, add honey to taste. Reserve the remaining pistachios.
Quarter the apple, core it, but do not peel it. Slice it super thin, ideally using a mandolin. Spread the slices over a plate, squirt lemon juice all over.
Place a dollop of yogurt in the center of the slices, top with pomegranate seeds and reserved pistachios. Drizzle with a little bit of honey and serve.
Comments: This was delicious, refreshing and light. I highly recommend it if you want to serve dessert but keep it on the light side. If you don’t own a mandolin and don’t want to go through the effort of cutting the apples by hand, dice the fruit and layer on a little glass. A layer of apple, some lemon juice, yogurt-pistachio layer, more apple, and top with the yogurt mix, finishing with pistachios, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of honey. It will be a different serving style, but equally delicious.
Hard to believe another year is gone, I blinked twice and here we are… In My Kitchen posts are hosted by Sherry, from Sherry’s Pickings. Please visit her site to see whateverybody else is sharing this month. I join four times each year, on the first day of January, April, July and October. If you are a food blogger, considering taking part of this fun event. It is chance to share those little things you bought or received as gifts and that make your life in the kitchen easier.
Starting with gifts…
From my friend Caro, all the way from the UK this rolling pin to make phyllo dough from scratch arrived at my doorstep… Can you imagine my excitement? I have not been able to indulge in the adventure yet, but will do so very very soon. Stay tuned.
From our friend Dave, all the way from Oklahoma, very delicious pears, bursting with flavor and oh so juicy!
From my beloved husband, a coffee mug from our favorite artist (Mary Rose Young). He’s found this cup on eBay, as usual. It is my favorite now, she painted this one in 1995 if you can believe it. No idea how she paints the inside… it is just absolutely beautiful!
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From our friend Ines and her family all the way from New York, a double pleasure: Panforte from Siena, and a wonderful book!
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From our friends Pat and Bill, all the way from Michigan, a beautiful platter that shall be part of many cookie and dessert productions for years to come!
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AND NOW, LET ME SHOW YOU THE RECENT ACQUISITIONS IN THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN
In our kitchen…
I got the heads up about this product from my dear friend Elaine, her husband loves it. I decided to get some and wow, it is very very good! If you love chipotle flavor, go search for it and bring a bottle home.
In our kitchen…
I rarely buy prepared food in the supermarket but something about this product caught my attention. Maybe because it is cooked sous-vide. They have many different kinds, and this one really hit the jackpot with me. The sauce is hot but not overly so. The texture of the meat quite pleasant, so if you need a quick lunch, ready in less than 10 minutes, this line of product is a good option. No, we don’t use it for dinners, Phil is not fond of it, so it is my little dirty secret…
In our kitchen…
For those who live in our town, Manhattan, KS – this place is amazing. Right near Wal-Mart, they sell high-quality beef farmed from a place in Northern Kansas. We were super impressed by their store, it had the feel of the fancy butcher places from Paris. Everything beautifully packed, the store is clean, neat. And the meat absolutely wonderful. Click here for their website, or stop by for a visit.
In our kitchen…
A very special kind of brown sugar from Belgium, the one used to make authentic speculoos cookies. I had one experience with it using a recipe for springerle-type cookies but was not happy with it, so it is back to the drawing board on that. It is not always easy to find, even online, but you can take a look at amazon with a click here.
In our kitchen…
Speaking of springerle cookies, I got two new molds this year, but this one I have not yet used. Isn’t that gorgeous? My favorite animal shall be turned soon into a cookie entity… The mold was from Gingerhaus but is currently unavailable.
And the second new kid on the block? Cheeky Santa, available here….
In our kitchen…
These are great for cookies! I used to get exclusively PME spray but it is quite a bit more expensive. Thanks to Marlyn’s advice, I tried them. Excellent coverage, no after taste, although PME smells a little more like vanilla once it dries. I used these three in many different cookies over the holidays. They are usually available at stores such as Jo-Ann and sometimes even in grocery stores.
In our kitchen…
Hazelnut Bakery Emulsion from LorAnn. It has a strong smell that I did not care for, but it was recommended by a very reputable cookie baker, so I decided to go for it and use it in my sugar cookies. It is actually super nice, I love to pair it with I am pairing it with orange zest and orange extract, and find that combination particularly lovely. I have also used it to make buttercream for macaron fillings.
and now… it is time for the Dynamic Trio to bark their piece…
Prince, the Puppy, turned 6 months old and we cannot quite believe how big that little puppy got, in such a short period of time!
It seems like just the other day he was barely able to peek over the countertop…
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Whereas now……….
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Our home had turned into a very quiet, silent spot since BogeyQT left us, but Prince brought new energy to the whole pack…
He loves to play with Buck, all mornings start with several rounds of play. Of course, Oscar takes no part of it… (sigh)
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Here you have a short video of the Two Stooges in action… I absolutely love the way he always ends up rolling on the floor at some point….
Oscar all of a sudden shows a lot more interest in playing with whatever toy Prince fancies….
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Prince has a lot of respect for Oscar and will never challenge him.
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Prince just observes from a safe distance when Grumpy gets his Christmas gift….
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and all of a sudden two pups enjoy a game of tug of war, although NOT with each other!
. Prince adjusted to our routine as if he was born here… he is a fun pup to have around, super loyal, super affectionate and superbly naughty…. .
He is the Destroyer of Earrings…
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The Armageddon of Furniture
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The Chewer of Scrunchies
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The Stealer of Shoes
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But no one can resist his eyes inviting you to play….
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Or begging for a little sample from your plate….
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Or his incredibly cute head tilts…
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The video below on the day he turned 5 months (November 12th)
We feel so lucky to have him as part of our pack! And we hope we can help him explore the world and grow up to be the happiest pup in the known universe!
You can choose any filling you like, this post focuses on their shape or decoration. .
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DESIGN #1 TWO-TONE FLOWER
Basic French macaron recipe (click here to retrieve it), one small portion to be dyed red, the rest dyed green). Pipe shells in green, add a few dots of red to form a full or partial flower, then pull with the needle to give the petal shape. Once the shells are baked, I sprinkled gold luster in a random pattern for added bling. Filling was peppermint buttercream (recipe here).
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DESIGN #2 LEAF BORDER
Same basic recipe, dyed with Dusty Rose pink. Once the shells are baked and cooled, a very fine black pen is used to draw a simple pattern of leaves, and they are then painted with luster powder (I used gold and bronze). Filling was hazelnut buttercream.
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DESIGN #3 SHELLS
I have used the same French meringue basic recipe, but stopped the macaronage before it was fully smooth. I divided the batter in half, left some plain and dyed some pink. Then I marbled slightly the two colors together to pipe the shells. Using a small round piping tip, I piped shells like shown below. Filling was lemon buttercream. If you have a nice sprinkle that can work as a pearl, it could be a nice finishing touch. Mine was not the right size, so I skipped it.
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DESIGN #4 AIR-BRUSHING
Basic recipe dyed orange, and air-brushed with luster gold using a stencil. It is such a nice and easy way to decorate macarons very quickly. Filling was pumpkin ganache (recipe available here). I hope you can find inspiration for your next batch of macarons, these could very well help you celebrate the New Year, using any filling you love…
I love it when a friend shares a baking idea with me, and in this case I am talking about Alex, my tent-baker partner of three years ago (time flies!). I gilded the lily by coupling some air-brushing with the basic scoring pattern, and I must say I’m pretty smitten by this little loaf of sourdough, perfumed with a touch of za’atar.
ZA’ATAR CHRISTMAS SOURDOUGH (from the Bewitching Kitchen)
385g white bread flour 20g whole-wheat flour 65g sourdough starter at 100% hydration 280g water 8g salt 1 tsp za’atar
Make the levain mixture about 6 hours before you plan to mix the dough. It should be very bubbly and active.
When you are ready to make the final dough, place the water in the bowl of a KitchenAid type mixer and dissolve the starter in it, mixing with a spatula briefly, then add the two types of flour, the baharat and the salt. Turn the mixer on with the hook attachment and knead the dough for 4 minutes at low-speed all the time. If the dough is too sticky, add 1/4 cup flour, you want the dough to start clearing the sides of the bowl, but still be sticky at the bottom.
Remove from the machine, and transfer to a container lightly coated with oil, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 4 hours, folding every 45 minutes or so. After four hours bulk fermentation, shape the dough as a ball, and place, seam side up, in a lightly floured banetton. Leave at room temperature one hour, and then place in the fridge overnight, from 8 to 12 hours.
Next morning, heat the oven to 450F. Invert the dough over parchment paper, rub gently white flour on the surface. Score with a pine tree pattern (see picture below) and paint them with air-brush in green, then go over the center lines with gold luster powder.
Bake at 450F for 45 minutes, preferably covered for the first 30 minutes to retain steam. Cool completely over a rack before slicing.
Comments: Alex brought to my attention this post from Instagram, so you can check how it is scored by watching the reel. I used the air-brush to add some green to the trees after scoring. It worked great because it goes fast, but of course there is little precision on the edges. I then used gold to hide the green that sprayed in between the tree pattern. Just like the Instagram post, my central star also bursted in the oven, but such is the price you pay for good oven spring. The green faded a little bit during baking so next time I will use a heavier hand with the air-brush. Now that I know the colors of air-brush dyes work well, I will be playing with other patterns and bringing stencils to play too. Stay tuned!
Time to spread some food blog love around… Today I share nine bakes that are perfect for the season and come from sites I closely follow. All recipes can be retrieved with a visit to the original post, which you will find below the pictures.
I know I repeat myself, but you simply cannot go wrong with Helen’s recipes. This one goes to my Personal Hall of Fame. Taste and texture could not be better. Her detailed instructions make it a breeze to make. I assume it is still ok to post pumpkin recipes, after all – according to the calendar – it is still Fall (cough, cough). Donuts get a streusel topping and need nothing but a dusting with powdered sugar to shine!
Celia used to be a very active food blogger, but although she is not posting often, her recipes are still on the site and each one is a gem. If you like to learn about chocolate tempering, make sure to visit her blog and read one of her posts on the subject. These brownies received two thumbs up from the Resident Brownie Critic. Need I say more? Make them!
Amazing recipe, it is almost like having a little bite-size brownie with jam on top. Simple to make, they will make your holiday table shine, and your guests very happy!
Aren’t those super elegant? I fell in love when Caro first shared the recipe, and could not wait to bake a batch. Cardamon and chocolate go surprisingly well together, so consider making them too… Sprinkles added just because…. sprinkles make life better!
BAKE #5 CARO’S RASPBERRY JAM AND COCONUT SPONGE SQUARES
These are delicious, you cannot beat the texture of the cake… and the jam plus coconut topping is perfection. I know that some people don’t care for shredded coconut, but if your group of guests is ok with it, make sure to feature it in your holiday get-together.
Super festive, the list of ingredients is long, but it is a reasonably simple recipe to put together. It has all the flavors I adore, including a light hint of rose, that goes well with all the other flavors. You can use ruby chocolate or add pink fat soluble dye to regular white chocolate for the marbling. Check out her blog post, the instructions are very detailed. Gold leaf is optional, but if you happen to have some, it is the perfect concoction to make them shine. Literally.
These are simply amazing! I made them three times, they were originally all going for my weekly donation box, but one batch made it to my beloved husband’s golfing buddies, and they got a lot of praise… Once you bite into the cookie, the soft almond crumb gives room to the sharp cherry inside, and you are forced to close your eyes and dream. Seriously good.
Another recipe from Lindsay’s blog, Love and Olive Oil. When it comes to “veganizing” a baking recipe, nothing beats macarons and amaretti type cookies, as all you need is remove the egg whites and use aquafaba instead. That is the magical ingredient, that works exactly the same, no loss of flavor, no unpleasant changes in texture. Of course, you could stick a cherry inside those too if you feel like it!
Aren’t those the most adorable little bites of heaven? If you are a lover of peanut butter, these are for you! I love Heather’s cookbooks, and her blog is always a source of inspiration, so make sure to bookmark and visit. I had to change the recipe a bit because our grocery store did not have peanut butter chips, so I used candy melts for the drizzle instead. Other than that, I followed her recipe to a T.
So there you have it, nine recipes from sites I love, as this is the season to spread love and gratitude around… I hope you can find something that inspire you to grab that bag of flour, those eggs, pull the mixer out to play, and get busy baking!
Bewitching Kitchen 