THE HOME BAKERS COLLECTIVE: MARCH PROJECT

Posted in Desserts, Desserts, Sweets, Home Bakers Collective by sallybr

If you don’t know what the Home Bakers Collective is all about, please read my post about it with a click here. This month’s challenge was… surprise surprise…. conceived by yours truly! In case you did not notice, we are following the painful path of elimination through the Great American Baking Show that aired in December. Seems like ages ago, as we face difficult, truly stressful times. At some point I did not know if we could even meet this challenge. Things degenerated too quickly, nobody could find flour and many other baking ingredients were scarce (and still are), but my baking buddies stood up to the task and here we are. The brief is: bake a pie to say goodbye to winter, dedicated or inspired by someone you miss. Mine is a Blueberry Pie, and I dedicate it to my stepson Alex. More about it on comments after the recipe.

Note added after publication: our next challenge, designed by Tanya, will be…. DONUTS! Any shape, any kind… If you’d like to join, bake some and we’ll soon figure out a way to share them all…

BLUEBERRY-BERGAMOT PIE
(from the Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by several sources)

for pie crust:
200 g cold, unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
85 g ice-cold water
350 g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
egg wash (1 egg beaten with a teaspoon of water)

for the filling:
3 pints fresh blueberries.
Finely grated zest of 1 orange, plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice.
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons cornstarch.
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
1 drop food-grade bergamot essential oil (optional)

Make the pie crust. Mix the water, egg and vinegar in a bowl, reserve in the fridge. Add the flour, salt and sugar to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few seconds to mix, but just a few seconds, you do not want to heat up the ingredients.

Add the very cold butter in pieces and pulse briefly to form clumps of butter the size of peas. Turn the processor on and add the cold water/egg mixture through the opening of the lid. Process until the dough starts to come together, then stop immediately. Grab the dough and press it as a disk over plastic wrap. Reserve in the fridge for one hour.

Divide the dough in two parts, one slightly bigger than the other (to form the bottom crust). Roll the bigger portion as a round with about 3mm in thickness. Drape it over the pan and reserve in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Roll the second portion in the same thickness to cover the top. Using small cookie cutters make a design on the top if desired, and cut decorations from the same piece of dough. Place them in the freezer.

Heat the oven to 350F.

Make the filling. In a medium bowl, gently toss together blueberries, orange zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and bergamot oil. Pour the mixture over the bottom crust, dot with butter and cover with the frozen disk. Brush the surface with egg wash.

Bake until the filling begins to bubble out of the vents and the top crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 1 to 2 hours to let the filling set before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I had a lot of fun making this pie, even if compared to the fancy designs made by serious pie artists, mine was pretty amateurish. I dedicated this pie to my stepson Alex. There are two food items that I will always associate with him, because he loves them so much. Blueberries and crab. No, not together, he is a man of fine taste… 😉 When he lived with us as a young teenager and blueberries were in season, we always kept many little containers in the fridge, so that he could have his blueberry fix with every meal. Steamed crab legs were another favorite of his, our dinners would take a long time, as the three of us went through an impressive number of crab legs. Unfortunately, we don’t see him as often as we would like. He is a physician in New York, a resident in Interventional Radiology working right in the center of the coronavirus pandemic. We wish we lived closer and that he could have enjoyed this pie, sitting right at our table with his adorable partner Courtnie…

Please make sure to stop by The Bakers Collective to see what my fellow tent-bakers did for this challenge. Not everyone could join, for obvious reasons. Life has been stressful for the whole human population. It is a strange way to feel connected to the whole world, and I hope that this nightmare will have a happy ending soon. Be well, be safe, be healthy and STAY HOME.

ONE YEAR AGO: Another Twisted Sister of the Shepherd’s Pie

TWO YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken, My Way

THREE YEARS AGO: Two Deliciously Simple Salads

FOUR YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, April 2016

FIVE YEARS AGO: Spring has Sprung with Suzanne Goin

SIX YEARS AGO: Chai Brownies

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Pomegranate-Molasses Glazed Carrots

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Braised Brisket with Bourbon-Peach Glaze

NINE YEARS AGO: The Real Vodka Sauce

TEN YEARS AGO: Spring Rolls on a Spring Day

27Aug2012

THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB: BLUEBERRY GALETTE

Posted in Desserts, Sweets, Secret Recipe Club by sallybr

The Secret Recipe Club is a fun monthly event in which bloggers are assigned in secret to make a recipe from another blog, and then post about it at exactly the same time on reveal day. The group is now so popular that new members must wait in a long line for a chance to join. This popularity also explains one of the rules: if you mess up and don’t post on reveal day, you are out of the game, leaving an opening for someone else to take your place. It’s only fair, after all: it’s very disappointing to have your blog “orphaned” on reveal day.

This month was a bit of a stretch to participate, but I’m sure glad I did. My assigned blog was Baking and Creating with Avril. Did you notice the “Baking” in the title? I have a slight suspicion that the SRC organizers like to have a little fun at my expense… How else could it be that I’ve been matched with serious bakers for months in a row? 😉 Still, I love a challenge, and as soon as I got the assignment I jumped into Avril’s cool site, in full “blog stalking mode”. After narrowing a long list of tasty options, I could not decide between the blueberry galette or the white chocolate cranberry bars. You see, she’s got some seriously delicious stuff posted. Phil, the blueberry-addict, made the choice for me. Blueberry galette it would be.

RUSTIC BLUEBERRY GALETTE
(from Baking and Creating with Avril)

for the crust
1 + 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 + 1/2 sticks unsalted butter {ice cold}
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons apricot preserves, warmed

for the filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
a pinch of salt

Make the crust: In a bowl of a food processor add the flour, sugar and salt, process to combine. Drop the cold butter pieces and pulse until small pea size crumbles appear. In a small bowl combine egg yolk and milk. Pour into food processor and pulse just until combined. Take dough mixture out of food processor and put onto a piece of parchment paper. Form dough into a large disk, wrap parchment paper around it and place in refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Make the filling by mixing in a large bowl the blueberries, flour, brown sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll out the chilled pie crust to about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to a parchment lined large baking sheet. Place the filling in the center of the pie crust, then fold up the sides pleating every now and then. Brush with warmed apricot preserves. Place in preheated oven to bake for 50-60 minutes. Rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: As far as taste goes, I hit the nail in the head. I could eat the filling of the galette by the spoonful over some nice, thick yogurt. But, let’s be honest: my product wouldn’t make the finals of the 2012 Galette Beauty Pageant. In my defense, I made this recipe in one of the busiest weekends ever, preceded by a full day flying back to OK and a lab move that began the next morning (Friday) at 5am! That weekend found me like a zombie trying to finish countless tasks at the same time.

But, I won’t sugar-coat the pill: frantic times or not, pie crust is always tricky for me. Usually Phil comes to the rescue, but the poor guy had enough on his plate. My pie dough was not as smooth as I hoped for, so I couldn’t make the beautiful pleats, trademarks of a nice galette. Oh, well… It gives me the opportunity to improve my baking skills, right? Alternatively, I can stand by the title and profess my galette as the most rustic ever! 😉

Don’t let my boo-boos prevent you from making it. Avril is right, the galette is incredibly tasty, and you should also consider making the original recipe (link is in Avril’s blog), that includes a mixture of fresh peaches and blueberries. Oh, my….

Avril, it was nice to “meet” you through The Secret Recipe Club! I hope you had a lot of fun finding your assigned blog and cooking from it!

ONE YEAR AGO: In My Kitchen, August 2011

TWO YEARS AGO: Journey to a New Home

THREE YEARS AGO: Friday Night Dinner (very tasty pork medallions)

2Jul2009

A PIE FOR YOUR 4th OF JULY

Posted in Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

This year is very special for me, as it will be my first 4th of July as an American Citizen! I went through the Naturalization Ceremony on May 29th, a day I will never forget. Of course, I am looking forward to this weekend…

To share with you our favorite recipe for a very American pie, I introduce a guest blogger: my beloved hubby, who is much MUCH better with sweets and desserts in general than me.

Mom’s cherry pie. I grew up watching the women of the family make all kinds of fantastic sweets in the kitchen, including apple dumplings (mom), fudge (sisters), taffy (grandma), and a whole lot of cakes and pies (mom, grandma, aunt Mildred). I wasn’t a participant or apprentice in the creation of these delicacies, except for stirring the fudge, pulling the taffy or (happily) cleaning the beaters. Nevertheless, the memories gave me the interest to make a few sweet things on my own. Here’s a 4th of July pie that you and your kids will never forget…

4thofJulyPie

The Joy of Cooking is my kitchen bible, and here’s the Rombauer-Becker recipe for a fruit pie
(p. 650 of 2nd ed):

BERRY OR CHERRY PIE WITH FRESH FRUIT

1. Line a pan with pie dough (see below), or buy a frozen crust

2. Prepare, by picking over and washing, 4 cups of berries or fresh sour cherries – let them drain thoroughly or even spread them on a towel to dry. For the 4th of July pie we made two pies, and prepared 4 cups of fresh blueberry filling and 4 cups of fresh cherry filling, then appropriately divided them between the two pies.

3. For each 4 cups of fresh berries or sour cherries, combine 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of flour, 1/12 T lemon juice, ½ t cinnamon, and 2T quick cooking tapioca. Mix and then mix with the berries by gently stirring. If don’t have a source of fresh sour cherries, as we did while living in Michigan (the Traverse City Cherry Festival is Jul. 3-11 this year), then buy a couple of cans and use 3 (drained) cups instead of 4. If the canned cherries are sweetened, then reduce the sugar in the cherry filling to 2/3 cup.

4. Let the fruit mixture(s) sit for 15 min or more while you preheat the oven to 450 F.

5. Fill the pie shell(s) with the berries or cherries. For the 4th of July pie, use a couple of pieces of heavy paper or cardboard to confine the blueberries to one quarter of the pie shell, then take the paper/cardboard out. Cut 2 T butter into pieces and distribute it over the berries.

6. Roll out some dough (see below) and cut lattice strips or the stars and stripes; assemble on the pie

7. Bake at 450 F for 10 min, and then reduce the heat to 350 F for an additional 40 min, until the pie is golden brown.

In case you are tempted to buy a frozen pie crust, please read this article (you can also read it for inspiration). To make the pie dough use your favorite recipe, but if you don’t have one, Sally recommends you use this.