Check out the gorgeous bunch of treats the group cooked up this week!
a sweet journey through baked: frontiers | explorations | elements | occasions
by Sheri
Check out the gorgeous bunch of treats the group cooked up this week!
How did everyone like these? Leave your links and comments here to be included in the round-up!
by Sheri
Up next for January 15 are Pecan Tassies – little pecan pie bits, a treat by way of Matt’s Aunt Judy, who insists they aren’t Southern, but are a local regional sweet.
Pecan Tassies
Yield: about 40 tassies
For the tassie shell:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tbl sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until well combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the flour until completely combined and a dough forms. Pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough and roll into balls (shoot for about 40 balls). Place each ball into a mini cupcake tin, and use your fingers to press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the cups. Refrigerate. If you’re like me you don’t have 40 mini muffin tins, and you’ll end up doing this in batches. Proceed to make the tassie filling.
For the tassie filling:
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tbl pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt until completely combined. Add 1/2 cup of the pecans and stir. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts between the 40 tassie shells. Fill each one 3/4 of the way with filling. Bake for about 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 250 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes or until the filling is set. Allow the tassies to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Tassies will keep at room temperature for about 2 days.
Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
by Sheri
by Sheri
From the original Baked Sunday Mornings, by Seattle Pastry Girl.
Hi Everyone! Thanks for setting up the Facebook Page – I didn’t expect to be away from blogging for so long but you all know how complicated life can be. I apologize for missing the July 3rd Blackberry Pie Leave Your Link-I’ll blame it on the bronchitis and icky icky virus! Health is good now,still on my personal blog break but will continue to post the leave your link here for my favorite Baked Bakers!
Sunday’s Pie is Peaches and Dream based on the Matt’s revision of a recipe that had been floating around Florida in his early years!
Ingredients
1 ball Classic Pie Dough (page 58 yields enough for 2 single crust 9″ pies or one double crust)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour,sugar and salt together. In a measuring cup,stir 3/4 cup water with several ice cubes until it is very cold
Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss them in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the butter pieces are the size of hazelnuts.
Pulsing in 4 second bursts, slowly drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube.
As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, stop adding water. Remove the dough from the food processor and divide it in half. Flatten each piece into a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator before proceeding with your recipe).
For the Peaches and Dream Filling
10 canned peach halves, or about 2 1/2 cups fresh diced,peeled peaches
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
For the Pie Topping
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter,cut into 1/2 inch pieces
Make the Crust
Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Roll the dough ball out into a 12 inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into place, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Cover the crust in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Make the Peaches and Dream Filling
Arrange the peach halves cut side up on the bottom of the pie shell or spread the diced fresh peaches in the pie shell. In a medium bowl,whisk together the eggs, sour cream, and honey until they just come together. Sprinkle the mixture with the salt, brown sugar, and flour, and whisk until just combined. Pour the mixture over the peaches.
Make the Pie Topping
Place the sugar, flour, and butter in a bowl. Use your hand to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mix looks like coarse sand. Assemble the pie. Sprinkle the pie topping across the filling, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly (place a sheet pan on the oven rack directly below the pie to catch any filling that bubbles over ). Let the pie cool overnight before serving.
Baked Notes: At least 90 percent of the peaches and cream recipes that crossed Matt and Renato’s path specified the use of canned peaches. Perhaps they were written in an era when fresh peaches were difficult to locate, or perhaps the sugar content of a canned peach was an added plus, but they tested fresh peaches in place of their canned counterparts in several recipes without any problems.
So support your local farmer and but fresh!
PS If I missed adding you to the blog roll send me a reminder and I will take care of it-again thanks to all of you for your patience and support and the fabulous job you all do !
Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
by Sheri
by Sheri
Blackberry Pie
Yield: 1 9-inch pie
2 balls Classic Pie Dough (recipe below)
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 tablespoon butter; cut into 8 tiny pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons raw cane sugar
Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Roll out one of the balls of dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate and gently work it into place, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Wrap and refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl or cup, stir together the lemon juice and zest. In a large bowl, stir together the sugars, flour, and salt. Add the blackberries and gently toss everything together with your hands. Sprinkle the lemon juice mixture over the top of the berries and toss again. Pour the blackberry mixture into the prepared pie shell and scatter the pieces of butter over the top.
Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Roll the remaining ball of chilled dough into a 12-inch round and place it over the pie filling. Trim the dough, leaving about a 12-inch overhang. Crimp the edges together, brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with the raw sugar. Cut six long steam vents into the top crust. Bake the pie until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden, about 1 hour. Cool the pie on a rack for at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.
Bring it to room temperature or reheat it in a warm oven before serving.
Baked note: Blackberries arc sometimes labeled “Marion berries” or “Marion blackberries” as this is the most prolific commercial type of blackberry (especially in the western half of the United States).
It is, essentially. a crossbred berry notable for both its taste and its production.
Classic Pie Dough
Yields 2 balls of dough. Enough for two single-crust 9-inch pies or one double-crust pie.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. In a measuring cup, stir 3/4 cup water with several ice cubes until it is very cold.
Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss them in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the butter pieces are the size of hazelnuts.
Pulsing in 4-second bursts, slowly drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube.
As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, stop adding water. Remove the dough from the food processor and divide it in half. Flatten each piece into a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator before proceeding with your recipe.)
Baked note: The dough will feel and look sticky. or at least stickier than you might be used to. Don’t fret. Once it firms up in the fridge. it will be perfect.
Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.