Apple Crumble

I made this without using any recipe, as it is fairly easy to whip up an apple crumble without one. It turned out fantastic and was a huge hit with the family. The apples keep a bit of solidity so there is something to bite into and the crumble topping is phenomenal. The recipe I am providing is an estimate at how much I used of each thing. I do know the apples, butter, and cinnamon amounts are the same though. So just play around with the brown sugar and oats to get it how you want it. Or add something else like nutmeg or cardamom if you like. Perhaps some pecans, or toffee bits!

INGREDIENTS
8 crispin apples
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cold (or frozen) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup of oats
2 tsp of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
peel and core the apples and cut into fairly large chunks. Toss them in the lemon juice. Take about 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1 tsp of the cinnamon and toss with the apples to coat. In a bowl, mix the oats and the rest of the brown sugar and the cinnamon. Grate, yes GRATE the butter into the mixture and smoosh it around with your hands until it comes together in small pea-sized lumps. Don’t play with it too much or you’ll melt the butter with the heat of your hands. With the apples in an oven-safe dish, top with the crumbly topping, pressing down a little bit to secure it in place. Place uncovered in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes to an hour, until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender. Serve it with vanilla ice cream, hot from the oven or room temperature. Great both ways!

♥ Tara
(*once again, not my photo. It was eaten so quickly I didn’t get a chance to take a picture. I will update as soon as I get pictures!)

Lemon Coconut Chiffon

This is an awesome cake to make. I have made it for my sister’s birthday for the last 3 years in a row because she loves it so much. The cake is so light and fluffy and the lemon curd is tart but sweet at the same time. And the coconut cream icing is so good and brings it all together.

Ingredients:

CAKE LAYERS
2 1/4 cup pastry flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of toasted coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
7 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
3 egg whites
1 tbsp cream of tartar

LEMON CURD
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1 tsp of lemon zest

COCONUT CREAM ICING
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1 cup sweet flaked coconut
toasted coconut for garnish

TO ASSEMBLE:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl combine the flour, all but 2 tbsp of sugar, coconut, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the centre and all the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and coconut extract. Beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the 10 eggwhites until frothy and add the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in a third of the egg white mixture to the batter, then fold in the remaining two thirds. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to burst any air bubbles and bake for 1 hour. Make sure you don’t open the open door until at least 50 minutes have passed. Invert the pan and cool.

FOR LEMON CURD
Whis together the lemon juice, eggs, yolk, sugar and zest in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Whisk in the butter and whisk until the curd becomes thick pale and creamy. That should take about 10-15 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and cover with plastic wrap, laying it directly over the curd so that a skin doesn’t form on top. Chill the curd in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

FOR COCONUT CREAM
Combine the icing sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and gradually stir in 1/4 of the whipping cream. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly for a few seconds. Scrape that into a small bowl and let it come to room temperature. Be careful not the burn it. Add the vanilla and coconut extract. Whisk the remaining cream to soft peaks. Add the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until stiff peaks form. Fold in the coconut.

To assemble the cake, but the cake into three equal layers. Spread 1/2 of the lemon curd on the bottom layer and the other half on the middle layer. Using an offset spatula, spread the coconut cream over the cake and garnish it with a sprinkle of the toasted coconut. So good!

♥ Tara

The Beginning: Salted Chocolate Cookies

I love to bake, I am an aspiring pastry chef and I have loads of recipes that are just laying around. So I decided to keep them all up to date and organized on the computer. And what better way to do that than to share them with the world at the same time?

This first recipe is one of my favourite cookie recipes. If you love the combination of salt and chocolate, these cookies are for you. They are packed with chocolate intensity and are soft! And they STAY soft! Enjoy : )

Ingredients:

1 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup of brown sugar, packed
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 tsp of good vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup of good unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined. Add the cocoa powder and mix. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and add to the chocolate mixture. If you are using a stand mixer, only let it go for a few seconds, then turn it off and switch to either a wooden spoon or a spatula. Do not over mix this batter or else your cookies will turn out semi-hard and cakey. Drop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat. I like to use a tool specifically for cookie dough, but an ice cream scoop works well too to assure you get even sized cookies. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 13 minutes. (The original recipe says 15 and no more, the cookies will seem underdone. I find 15 is too long in my oven and the cookies end up more like a flat hard cake. So just keep an eye on the cookies. They WILL seem underdone. When they come out of the oven and are still kinda hot I like to flatten them slightly with my full length of my (clean) fingers, I like the texture better this way and they end up more fudgey, and plus they get a fun little pattern on them.

These cookies are great to use for ice cream sandwiches, or to crumble over a sundae, or to just enjoy on their own with a cold glass of milk. Enjoy!

♥ Tara
(*the picture used is not mine, it’s just temporary until I make these later today and get to take a picture of them. The ones in the picture have white chocolate chunks in them. I’ve tried it and it’s yummy!)