Simple Apple Tart with a Hazelnut Crust

It's feeling more and more like fall. The temperatures are dropping, the air is feeling a little more crisp and the leaves are just beginning to change. The perfect time for a simple apple tart. I had more than fall as reason to bake this because it was my bf's birthday recently. To celebrate I not only made him dessert but a dinner as well, of slowly braised lamb shanks and creamy mashed potatoes. Of course we gobbled dinner up pretty quick and I didn't want to make him wait while I took pictures and his dinner got cold. It was truly delicious though and something I'd definitely like make again. Next time though... there will be pictures! 

For dessert I wanted to keep it simple. I'd received some beautiful Ontario apples in my Mama Earth basket this week and, given the change in weather, I thought an apple tart would be perfect. I think with something as classic as an apple pie or tart, keeping it simple is the way to go. You really want to highlight those deliciously sweet apples and flaky pastry. However I've been making a lot of pastry lately so I wanted to switch it up a bit by adding in some ground hazelnuts. Still keeping it simple with the same classic flavours, this slight variation was a nice nutty touch. It worked out pretty well, the crust was still flakey and buttery with just a hint of toasty hazelnuts. I also found it kept the sweetness from the apples and brown sugar in balance. 

I think the next time I make this I will try pan frying the apples before throwing it all in the oven. Although it still tasted great,  I didn't get that caramel sauciness I was hoping for. Pan frying works wonders for an easy caramel sauce. 

I also need to invest in a pastry brush. I mean really... how do I not have one of these yet?! These photos are missing that shimmery gleam that I light brushing of butter would add I think. 

Simple Apple Tart with Hazelnut Crust

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup ground hazelnuts
1 cup butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 shortening, chilled and cubed
6-9 tbsp ice water

Filling:
5 small apples, halved and sliced thinly
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1/4 brown sugar
a few knobs butter

For the crust you'll want to make sure that all of your ingredients are as cold as possible while still being workable. Some people even throw their flour in the fridge for a bit when working with pastry. Start off by measuring out your flour and hazelnuts into a large mixing bowl. Add in your cold butter and shortening and combine with the dry ingredients. You want to rub the fats into the flour, breaking the cubes up into smaller pea sized pieces. Once this is achieved I'd recommend putting your dough in the fridge for at least 10 minutes for the fats to firm up again. You can throw it in the freezer too if you're short on time. I wouldn't leave it for more than 5 minutes as you don't want it to freeze on you.

Once your dough is cooled you can proceed by adding in your ice water, one tablespoon at a time. Bringing everything together with your hands. You want to add just enough water that your dough comes together to form a ball but not so much that it gets sticky. It takes a bit of practice to find the right texture but even if it does get a little sticky you can always add a little but of extra flour when rolling it out. Throw the dough back in the fridge.

Cut up your apples and toss them in a bowl with the cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Let them sit while you preheat the oven to 425 F and roll out your dough.

After letting your dough chill for about 10-20 minutes again, lightly flour the surface you intent to roll it out on, as well as your rolling pin and hands. Gently work from the middle out, rolling out the dough into a circular form. You want it to be bigger than the pie pan you're working with so you have enough room for the crust to go up the edges. When you're done rolling the dough out lay it over your rolling pin and transfer it to the pie pan. Press the dough into all the edges and cut off any remaining bits.

You can chill your dough again here if it's gotten a bit warm again. Once your dough is ready fill it with your apples and a few dots of butter on top.

Place your uncooked pie in the oven for about 20 -30 minutes. Until the apples are soft and browned.

Let cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice-cream.

As always, enjoy!

Peanut Butter, Pretzel, and Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Who doesn't love a giant peanut butter cookie? Add in some chocolate chunks and a bit of salty pretzel and you've got yourself a winner! Seriously, all I want to eat right now is cookies. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I want cookies! 

I nabbed this recipe from The Sugar Hit, (one of my favourite blogs to follow) and added in some pretzel for a bit of saltiness. Sea salt would be good too. 

Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 sticks butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

8 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup chopped pretzel

Start of by browning the butter in a saucepan. Heat is for about 5-7 minutes or until it starts to smell nutty and look caramel in colour. It will foam up a bit so use a deeper set pan. Set this aside to completely cool. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to speed this up if needed. 

When the butter is cool, place the eggs and white sugar into a mixing bowl (or stand mixer, fitted with a whisk) and whisk until the mixture is light and pale in colour. 

Add the cooled butter, brown sugar and peanut butter to the egg mixture and mix until incorporated. (switch to a paddle attachment if using a mixer.)

Continue to add the salt and baking powder. Then slowly mix in the flour, making sure not to let it fly everywhere. Once the flour is almost completely mixed in, add your chocolate chips for a final mix, until everything is well incorporated. 

Once your dough is finished you can either bake your cookies right away or let the dough chill for a a few hours/ overnight. Once you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Scoop out your dough out and evenly distribute them onto your baking sheet, making sure to leave plenty of room for them to spread out. You can flatten each cookie out as well, making sure they're just under an inch thick. Then bake for 15-17 minutes or until they're golden along the edges and just cooked through in the middle. 

Try not to eat them all in one go :)

Panna Cotta and The Great Outdoors

In lieu of my recent camping trip to Alqonquin Park I wanted to make something with blueberries. Why? Because they were everywhere! We were lucky enough to have a campsite by the water where they grow so for breakfast it was such a treat to sit by the the very peaceful lake and munch away on fresh wild blueberries. Does it get any better? 

So as an ode to those lovely Ontario berries I've put together a simple panna cotta with fresh blueberries and a spicy, sweet ginger syrup. Topped off with a little bit of crushed graham cracker. 

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberries and Spicy, Sweet Ginger Syrup

(serves about 3)

Panna Cotta:

1 cup milk (any milk but whole is best)

1 cup cream

2 tsp powdered gelatin, unflavoured*

1/4 cup sugar (I used brown for extra flavour)

Half a vanilla bean

Spicy, Sweet Ginger Syrup:

3 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

1-2 inches ginger, roughly chopped

pinch of salt

Prepare your ramekins by lightly oiling them with cooking spray or a little bit of butter on a piece of parchment paper. 

Pour the milk into a small pot but don't turn the burner on. Sprinkle your gelatin evenly over the milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until you can see it starting to dissolve. 

Turn the heat on medium-low and whisk the mixture often, making sure that the milk doesn't boil. You just want to heat the milk up to dissolve the gelatin completely. Keep whisking until the milk is hot but not too hot that you can't keep your finger submerged for a few second. You will be able to tell when the gelatin is completely dissolved by dipping a spoon in and seeing if there are any bits on the back of the spoon when you take it out. 

Once the mixture is hot and gelatin dissolved, whisk in the cream, sugar and the vanilla pod. Make sure to scrape the caviar from the inside of your vanilla pod and add that too. 

Whisk for another minute or so, until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Take the mixture off the heat and remove your vanilla beans. Pour into prepared ramekins.

Cover with a bit of plastic wrap and store in fridge for at least 6 hours if you're going to unmold them. About 2 hours if you're not.

For the syrup simply boil all ingredients together until the mixture reduces by about a third. You can start this before the panna cotta and let it reduce while you're doing everything else. It's very simple and you can switch up the ingredients as you like. If you don't want it to be very spicy use less ginger. 

This is a really nice recipe for summer because it's very light and simple. It's great too because you can do so much with it. Espresso is a wonderful flavour to add or something more citrusy for a brighter, more refreshing dessert. Play around with it, the possibilities are endless!

**Tips:

• You can up the amounts for this recipe easily. Use 1 tsp of gelatin per cup of liquid.
• Also, make sure you bloom the gelatin before using it (letting it sit in cold liquid for at least five minutes). This ensures that it will dissolve properly and mix evenly into the liquids. 

That Moment...

When after a day or maybe even a week of feeling terrible and completely unaccomplished you come home and make something that blows your mind.

This recipe may be simple but O M G was it what I needed. Not only did it hit the spot but everything just went so swimmingly. It turned out exactly as I wanted it to and that just doesn't happen often.

Also, those peonies! Just lovely.

For the custard I followed this recipe from Smitten Kitchen almost to a tee. Go check it out. Her blog is wonderful.

Grapefruit Scented Stewed Rhubarb:

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's recipe here

1 1/4 cup rhubarb cut into half inch pieces

2 tsp grapefruit zest

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp white sugar

3/4 cup water

Put all ingredients into a small pot.

Bring to boil over high heat then reduce and let simmer until the rhubarb is tender and begins to fall apart.

Take off heat and let cool.

Pour over your cooled custards and top with fresh strawberries.

Had I had the time I would have liked to make little meringues with the left over egg whites. I think this would have been a nice crunchy element. Let me know if you try it.

Banana Bread + Disaster

Let me just start of by saying that I am no professional. An amateur at best. With that said I've had my fair share of cooking and baking disasters and I'm sure the fun will never end. I've got a long way to got before I can comfortably say "I know what I'm doing" when it comes to being in the kitchen.

Fail of the day: adding an extra banana to an already great banana bread recipe. 

That sucker would not bake. Although it looked and smelled great coming out of the oven. Slicing into it was another story. MUSH. No matter how long I left it in, it just would not cook. 

Oh well, lesson learned. 

I do actually have a great recipe that I've used multiple times with no issues. Here it is:

Banana Bread 

4 ripe mushed up bananas (1 1/2 - 2 cups)

1 egg

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup almond milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350

Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the egg, bananas and oil in a large bowl.

Stir in milk.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Then add it to the banana mixture and combine. 

Pour final mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until the top springs back when touched and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean. 

Earl Grey Poached Pears

Poached pears are a very easy and rather humble dessert but what I like most about them is that they can be jazzed up very simply with just a slight change in your recipe and the addition of a little something extra on your plate. You can get so creative with the flavours, "the possibilities are endless" as Michael Smith loves to say! 

Earl Grey is one of my favourite flavours and it works really well not only in the poaching liquid for these pears but even more so in that delicious hazelnut crumble. I really enjoyed this combination of these flavours which truly elevated this simple dessert to something just a little more decadent. 

What you'll need:

(serves 2)

2 pears, peeled

3 cups water

3 bags of earl grey tea 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

Toasted Hazelnut Crumble

Place hazelnuts in a single layer in a flat pan. 

Toast on medium - high until they turn a darker colour and the skins begin to blister and crack (you’ll be able to smell the difference). Once they’ve changed in colour and smell nice and toasty take off the heat and bundle inside a clean kitchen towel to cool. 

Once cooled, gently massage the closed bundle, forcing the nuts to rub against one another and the skins to flake off. (Not all of the skin will come off and this is okay} 

Set the skinned hazelnuts aside and start on your caramel.  

Carefully melt sugar and honey in a separate pot on a low setting and watch as it changes colour. 

Once it’s reached a dark mahogany and smells almost like burnt sugar turn off the heat and add in the toasted hazelnuts and sprinkle in a pinch of loose tea leaves (optional). 

Pour onto a greased non stick surface and place in the fridge to cool. 

This caramel is VERY hot so be careful not to touch it before it's cooled completely. 

Poached Pears

Bring water, sugar and tea bags to a boil. Add in the peeled pears, making sure they are completely submerged in the water. lower the temperature and let simmer for about 30 - 40min or until a knife can be easily poked through the bottom, thick part of the pear. (This may take longer depending on the size of your pears. Cut them in half to help reduce the cooking time.)

Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the poaching liquid. The longer they sit in this liquid the more flavour they will absorb which makes these great for a make ahead dessert or even breakfast. 

You can further make a sauce to serve your pears with, by reducing the poaching liquid. Simply pour your tea infused liquid back into a saucepan and allow to simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until it reduces by at least half. 

Let cool, pour over that yummy fruit and enjoy.

There are so many ways you can switch up this recipe. Get creative! Try out different teas or throw in some vanilla and cinnamon. Serve with ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Go more savoury with red wine and mulling spices. The options are truly endless!