November: Jess
December: Khabab
January: Megan
February: Steve
March: Gail
April: Trevor
May: Karen
June: Jess
Friday, October 31, 2008
I failed
I completely did not make this pie yet. Getting married and prepping for getting married ate up a few weekends. I am going to try to do it this weekend though and since we're changing the clocks maybe I can also travel back through time and get it posted by midnight tonight? Okay, fine, by Sunday night!
Also,
I am going to re-do the list of recipe pickers, those people who haven't posted at all are being removed. If they want to rejoin they can email us to get back on the list.
Happy Halloween!
~Mrs. Little Baker :)
Also,
I am going to re-do the list of recipe pickers, those people who haven't posted at all are being removed. If they want to rejoin they can email us to get back on the list.
Happy Halloween!
~Mrs. Little Baker :)
Notes from Gail (and her mom!)
Thanks, Jess, for the post and the perhaps unintended reminder to us all to get our acts together :-) I, too, made the pie awhile back. And then I even made it again when we had guests for dinner the other night! Both times it was absolutely delicious - but I will post more on that later, with pictures...
The reason for this post is because my mom - who has been a follower and "ghost partipant" in the LBTC all along - has asked me to share her experiences. So without further ado:
Hi, this is Gail’s mom, and I just wanted to say that this is a great apple pie recipe! If you read Gail’s earlier note, you know that we went apple picking when we were in Massachusetts visiting her (we live in Pennsylvania), so I, too, had a peck of fresh apples to use up. I used pie crust from scratch (I am blessed to have 2 lovely daughters, and my other one is a pastry chef!), and the only way I differed from the recipe was that I used fresh grated nutmeg and didn’t measure, so I’m sure I used more than the specified amount (but nutmeg is my favorite spice, so that was fine with me). Anyway, I will save this recipe – I’ve already used it twice! Thanks for the web site, and thanks to Gail for posting this for me (I am technology challenged!).
The reason for this post is because my mom - who has been a follower and "ghost partipant" in the LBTC all along - has asked me to share her experiences. So without further ado:
Hi, this is Gail’s mom, and I just wanted to say that this is a great apple pie recipe! If you read Gail’s earlier note, you know that we went apple picking when we were in Massachusetts visiting her (we live in Pennsylvania), so I, too, had a peck of fresh apples to use up. I used pie crust from scratch (I am blessed to have 2 lovely daughters, and my other one is a pastry chef!), and the only way I differed from the recipe was that I used fresh grated nutmeg and didn’t measure, so I’m sure I used more than the specified amount (but nutmeg is my favorite spice, so that was fine with me). Anyway, I will save this recipe – I’ve already used it twice! Thanks for the web site, and thanks to Gail for posting this for me (I am technology challenged!).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Finally! A Post!
Steve and I made the pie a few weeks ago, but I've been lazy with the posting. We had picked cortland apples after running through Davis's Mega Maze for a few hours, so hooray for fresh materials! But boo for not being able to use instant pie crust :( due to allergies. So Steve and I got to try our hand at a GF crust - rice flour, tapioca flour, xanthum gum, and some other stuff. The recipe was on the box of rice flour. We didn't have enough patience or time to make 2 crusts, so we went on my friend's advice to do a Dutch apple pie - it just has a bottom crust and then butter on the top.
The other thing we realized while making the pie was that I did not have any cornstarch. The flour in the filling part is meant to thicken it up, but rice flour doesn't do that. We ended up putting in some tapioca flour, but it was still runny.
Close up for awesome apple goodness!!
It turned out more like an apple crisp than a proper pie, but it was quite good!
The other thing we realized while making the pie was that I did not have any cornstarch. The flour in the filling part is meant to thicken it up, but rice flour doesn't do that. We ended up putting in some tapioca flour, but it was still runny.
Close up for awesome apple goodness!!
It turned out more like an apple crisp than a proper pie, but it was quite good!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Recap of September
Let me start off by saying how excited I am that October's recipe involves apples! When my parents were in town this past weekend, we went apple picking up in Harvard, Mass - and I am now the proud owner of one peck of Cortland, Macoun, and Empire apples that need a home in a nice tasty pastry.
As for September's recipe, I admit I've been delinquent in posting my response, especially since I actually made the cupcakes during the first week of the month! They disappeared quickly when I took them to our friends Aaron and John's BBQ. Instead of Guinness, I ended up using a delicious Rogue Shakespeare Stout. It's supposed to have chocolately-undertones, so it seemed like it would mesh well with the other flavors.
The cake-part of the cupcake was tasty and not overwhelmingly sweet. The only issue I ran into was the icing. I thought I followed the recipe, but it initially came out too runny. Adding more powdered sugar helped, though it definitely made it sweeter. Dave (my official - but peanut butter biased - taste tester) also tried one of Megan's cream soda cupcakes. His verdict? He preferred the cream soda version. Might be fun to try with cherry soda, too. (Or as I would call it, cherry pop!).
Because I chose to ice the cupcakes at the picnic, there aren't any pictures of the finished products. But here are some of the process :-)
Ingredients
Swirly Batter Fun
As for September's recipe, I admit I've been delinquent in posting my response, especially since I actually made the cupcakes during the first week of the month! They disappeared quickly when I took them to our friends Aaron and John's BBQ. Instead of Guinness, I ended up using a delicious Rogue Shakespeare Stout. It's supposed to have chocolately-undertones, so it seemed like it would mesh well with the other flavors.
The cake-part of the cupcake was tasty and not overwhelmingly sweet. The only issue I ran into was the icing. I thought I followed the recipe, but it initially came out too runny. Adding more powdered sugar helped, though it definitely made it sweeter. Dave (my official - but peanut butter biased - taste tester) also tried one of Megan's cream soda cupcakes. His verdict? He preferred the cream soda version. Might be fun to try with cherry soda, too. (Or as I would call it, cherry pop!).
Because I chose to ice the cupcakes at the picnic, there aren't any pictures of the finished products. But here are some of the process :-)
Ingredients
Swirly Batter Fun
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Perfect Apple Pie Recipe and Agnes' Flaky Pie Crust
You will need a 9" pie plate and a rolling pin (I have used a wine bottle in a pinch).
Perfect Apple Pie
6-8 tart apples(a mix is best, mccouns, cortland, macintosh) Peel, core, and thinly slice.(about 6 cups)
1/2 -3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pastry Crust for a 9" pie(recipe to follow but I swear by Pillsbury ready to use crust in the freezer section. Follow the package instructions to thaw)
1-2 tablespoons cold butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, flour,spices and salt. Mix with the apples in a large bowl. Line a 9 inch pie plate with 1 crust. Fill with apple mixture. Place small pieces of butter on top of apples. Adjust top crust by making an upside down 'V' with your thumbs. Then go around the entire outside crust, firmly pressing down to join and seal the top and bottom crusts. Cut 3 slits in the top and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes in the center of oven. Check after 25 minutes and if the top is getting too brown, lay a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the pie(don't tuck it around).
If you are really ambitious, here's the homemade pie crust recipe from Agnes, my great friend. She's very sick so think healthful thoughts for her while you bake.
Agnes' Flaky Pie Crust
Follow this exactly.
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 corn oil (Mazzola)
1/4 cup whole milk
Mix all ingredients together, divide in 2 and you must roll out each crust between 2 sheets of wax paper until it fits your pie plate. Turn the pie plate upside down over the crust to measure it. Take off the top layer of wax paper and adjust the crust over the pie plate then gently peel off the wax paper. The great thing about this crust is it's easy to patch the crust. Just take a small piece and press it firmly to fill in the torn space. Whatever crust is left can be sprinkled with a mixture of 1 tsp sugar, some a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg and baked for a few minutes.
You all know what an apple pie looks like so good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
Perfect Apple Pie
6-8 tart apples(a mix is best, mccouns, cortland, macintosh) Peel, core, and thinly slice.(about 6 cups)
1/2 -3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pastry Crust for a 9" pie(recipe to follow but I swear by Pillsbury ready to use crust in the freezer section. Follow the package instructions to thaw)
1-2 tablespoons cold butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, flour,spices and salt. Mix with the apples in a large bowl. Line a 9 inch pie plate with 1 crust. Fill with apple mixture. Place small pieces of butter on top of apples. Adjust top crust by making an upside down 'V' with your thumbs. Then go around the entire outside crust, firmly pressing down to join and seal the top and bottom crusts. Cut 3 slits in the top and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes in the center of oven. Check after 25 minutes and if the top is getting too brown, lay a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the pie(don't tuck it around).
If you are really ambitious, here's the homemade pie crust recipe from Agnes, my great friend. She's very sick so think healthful thoughts for her while you bake.
Agnes' Flaky Pie Crust
Follow this exactly.
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 corn oil (Mazzola)
1/4 cup whole milk
Mix all ingredients together, divide in 2 and you must roll out each crust between 2 sheets of wax paper until it fits your pie plate. Turn the pie plate upside down over the crust to measure it. Take off the top layer of wax paper and adjust the crust over the pie plate then gently peel off the wax paper. The great thing about this crust is it's easy to patch the crust. Just take a small piece and press it firmly to fill in the torn space. Whatever crust is left can be sprinkled with a mixture of 1 tsp sugar, some a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg and baked for a few minutes.
You all know what an apple pie looks like so good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
October's Recipe is Apple Pie
Just wanted to let you all know of the choice for October. It is Apple Pie, unless you all really want a recipe for wedding cake. I will post the recipe tonight. It's not as hard as you would think and you can even go and pick the apples. It will be good exercise and a great dessert to take to Thanksgiving Dinner. You can work off the calories before you eat the pie.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Gluten Free Cupcakes
Jess and I(Steve) made gluten free cupcakes last weekend. We substituted apple cider for the beer and a mix of 3:1 rice flour to tapioca flour.
We could only make 6 cupcakes because that was our only muffin tin. So then we put the rest of it into a 8" round pan. We totally forgot about the spring form pan we bought last month but in the end it turned out fine if just a little misshapen.
The cake batter:
The finished cupcakes:
The cupcakes were very moist and light and airy. The cream cheese frosting was a nice compliment.
We only made 6 cupcakes the rest of the batter we put into a round to make a cake
The final cake
We could only make 6 cupcakes because that was our only muffin tin. So then we put the rest of it into a 8" round pan. We totally forgot about the spring form pan we bought last month but in the end it turned out fine if just a little misshapen.
The cake batter:
The finished cupcakes:
The cupcakes were very moist and light and airy. The cream cheese frosting was a nice compliment.
We only made 6 cupcakes the rest of the batter we put into a round to make a cake
The final cake
Alcohol Free Cake
Hi All,
I made the recipe last week and use cream soda (diet) instead of beer. I used an eight or nine inch cake pan, and it was a bit too much batter for the pan as some of it dripped over the edge. Luckily, no smoke alarms went off! Once the cake finished cooking, which took a longer time because I did cake instead of cupcakes, it was quite a good cake. It was perfect with ice cream, to soften it up. I served the cake al a mode instead of with the glaze because we ended up having strawberry cream cheese instead of regular :) oops. The ice cream was sooooo good with the cake!
This cake was not great for the diet, but did taste lovely. I would definitely make this cake again, maybe even as a two layer cake with some lighter frosting and ice cream on the side!
Happy Baking!
Megan
ps - pictures to come!
I made the recipe last week and use cream soda (diet) instead of beer. I used an eight or nine inch cake pan, and it was a bit too much batter for the pan as some of it dripped over the edge. Luckily, no smoke alarms went off! Once the cake finished cooking, which took a longer time because I did cake instead of cupcakes, it was quite a good cake. It was perfect with ice cream, to soften it up. I served the cake al a mode instead of with the glaze because we ended up having strawberry cream cheese instead of regular :) oops. The ice cream was sooooo good with the cake!
This cake was not great for the diet, but did taste lovely. I would definitely make this cake again, maybe even as a two layer cake with some lighter frosting and ice cream on the side!
Happy Baking!
Megan
ps - pictures to come!
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