Pear Custard Pie

Meet dessert #2.

It was a great balance to dessert #1.

This pear custard pie was incredibly simple to make. The pears are peeled, cored and placed in the bottom of a buttered pie plate and then custard is poured over top and the whole thing is baked for about 40 minutes. How easy is that? 

It's super versatile, too.

Add some cinnamon and apples for a brunch or sweetened whip cream for an after dinner treat.

It has a very light texture and pretty mellow flavour. I'd pair it with a heavier main course like a roast beef or something that you wouldn't want to slap a big piece of cheesecake on to finish.

(I know that's a stretch, thinking of a meal you wouldn't want cheesecake with!?! Change that to a meal you don't have a lot of time to spend on making a dessert.)

Make this effortless pie while pears are in abundance.

You won't regret it!

Pear Custard Pie

Source: Everyday Food Holiday Baking 2007

Serves: 6

3 firm pears

4 tbsp unsalted butter

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup flour

2 tsps vanilla extract

3 large eggs

¼ cup milk

¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9'' pie plate. Peel, core and slice pears into ¼'' pieces. Arrange slices, overlapping slightly.

2. In a blender process butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, eggs, milk and salt until smooth.

3. Pout batter over pears and bake until golden and firm to touch about 40 - 45 mins. Serve warm or at room temperature dusted with icing sugar.

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

This is part 1 of the 3 desserts I made for Thanksgiving dinner.

3 desserts? Seems a little excessive, I know.

But if you know my family you know that we like to eat.

And one option for dessert?

Well, that simply wouldn't do.

I was a little apprehensive about this pie because the comments on the Martha Stewart website ranged from outstanding to terrible.

But in the great spirit of thanksgiving, I decided, "What the heck! At least if it doesn't turn out I won't get stuck eating it all by myself."

Lucky for me, it did turn out!

The first bite was odd with the mix of pumpkin, chocolate and spices. All the flavours seemed to overwhelm my tongue.

The second bite redeemed the first. It was a harmonious blend of sweet and spice.

I only ate a small sliver of pie because, like I said, there were 3 desserts.

Not to worry though, my sister helped with the leftover pie. 

She was probably just being kind eating 3 pieces but..... she's not really that nice.... so....... it must of been a hit in her books.

(P.S. I forgot to drizzle the melted chocolate on at the end so my pie was only a double chocolate pumpkin pie.)

Triple Chocolate Pie
Serves: 8
Source: Martha Stewart Living

For the crust:

2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about 16 crackers)

3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 61 percent cacao), finely chopped

For the filling:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (preferably 55 percent cacao), chopped

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Ground cloves

1 ounce milk chocolate, melted

Directions:

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugars, salt, and cinnamon in bowl. Firmly press mixture into bottom and up sides of a deep, 9 1/2-inch pie dish. Bake until firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over bottom of crust. Return to oven to melt chocolate, about 1 minute. Spread chocolate in a thin layer on bottom and up sides. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Make the filling: In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt semisweet chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.

Mix pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves in a medium bowl. Whisk 1/3 pumpkin mixture into chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining pumpkin mixture until completely incorporated.

Transfer pie dish to a rimmed baking sheet, and pour pumpkin mixture into crust. Bake until center is set but still a bit wobbly, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pie dish on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours (preferably overnight). Before serving, drizzle melted milk chocolate on top. Serve immediately.

Apple Cranberry Fruit Leather

I'm starting to get tired of apples.

Apple chips, apple donuts, apple juice.... not to mention apple eating.

It's a good thing I got 4 boxes of healthy, blood cholesterol reducing, fibre rich apples. I can't imagine what I would've done with 4 boxes of bacon fat or pickled herring.

Bacon fat chips anyone?

What about some delicious, salty, herring pickle juice?

Just had a flash back to my candy store days.

We used to sell Bertie Bott's Beans. They were/are jelly beans with flavours like toe nails, dirt, earthworm, soap, bacon.

Sounds scrumptious, eh? (Yes, I AM CANADIAN!)

You would not believe the amount of them we sold.

Tons!

And! We sold most of them to adults to give to their unsuspecting children.

How cruel is that?

Be real, could you give this face an ear wax flavoured jelly bean?

Not even on my worst day, in my worst moment would I give her that.

(Actually, come to think of it , yesterday I found her eating dirt out of one of my plant pots so maybe she wouldn't mind it so much.)

Regardless, I am thankful (add it to my other reasons of things I'm thankful for) that I have apples and now some dried apple fruit leather to feed her rather than dried herring leather.

So what was I going to say about the fruit leather?

Oh right.

Cranberries + Apples = Good

Cranberries +Apples + Lemon Juice + Honey = Great

(Cranberries + Apples + Lemon Juice + Honey) ÷ (Dried in an oven or dehydrator)   = AMAZING!

                               

Apple Cranberry Fruit Leather

Makes: 2 9x13 sheets

Adapted from: Eat and Talk originally from Martha Stewart

3lbs assorted apples (for best results mix tart and sweet)

1 cup thawed cranberries

⅓ cup apple juice

2 tbsps lemon juice

3 tbsps honey or agave nectar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Generously spray two 9''x13'' rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray.

2. Core the apples (you can leave the peel on). In a food processor or blender purée the apples, cranberries, apple and lemon juices and honey. You may need to do this in 2 batches if your blender or food processor isn't big enough.

3. Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 pans. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula. It should be about ¼'' thick.

4. Bake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 3 -3½hrs or until dry to the touch. It will dry up a bit more as it cools so you don't want to over cook it or it'll turn to 'fruit brittle'. Check the fruit leather every hour or so to make sure the edges aren't browning and rotate the pans. Remove from the oven and let it sit for about an hour until easy to handle.

5. After the leather is removed from the oven cut off any dry or uneven edges and cut and roll up into desired sizes. Keep wrapped in plastic. (I like to refrigerate mine but it's not necessary.) 

Cinnamon Pumpkin Hummus

Happy almost Thanksgiving Canada!

Here's what I'm thankful for:

1. I am thankful to be a Canadian. I wouldn't do well in a third world country.
I don't even like to go camping!

2. I'm thankful that I'm a Christian. Again why I don't camp, I hate smelling like smoke.

3. I'm thankful for my family.

Most of the time.

(Jury's still out on a particular brother who never calls me.)

4. I'm thankful for breastfeeding. Seriously, how many times in my life will calories be sucked out of my body. For free!

(Sorry, that was borderline inappropriate, wasn't it?)

5. I'm thankful for relatives with vast DVD collections. It really saves me money. Thanks you guys!

6. I'm thankful for people who are addicted to Jus Juiced coffee.

You all hold a very special place in my wallet heart. 

7. I'm thankful that babies are easily amused. Give the baby a spoon and a face cloth and she's amused for half an hour. Toys are so over rated! 

8. I'm thankful that my family is full of adventurous eaters that'll eat anything.

And I mean anything.
(Except that one time with the baking soda biscuits.....)

Even the baby liked it.

8. I'm thankful that I have another can of chick peas in the cupboard to make this delicious fall snack for the family that eats anything and everything.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Hummus 
Makes about 2 cups 
Adapted from:  Naturally Ella

1 can chick peas (rinsed and drained)
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tsps cinnamon (add more or less according to your taste)
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup pumpkin cooking water or just water (add more if you like a thinner hummus)
salt

Directions:
1. Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and purée until smooth.
2. Add salt to taste. To serve, drizzle with olive oil and freshly ground pepper. Serve with pita wedges or rice crackers.

Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies

I saw these and I wanted them. 

So I made them.

And then, when I remembered, I took a really bad picture of them.

I wanted to make these cookies so badly that I didn't even use the right ingredients!

The recipe (originally from Alton Brown) says specifically not to use blackstrap molasses.

But all I had was blackstrap molasses and I really, really wanted to make these cookies so I used it anyway.

The recipe also calls for bread flour but did I have bread flour? No.

So what did I use?

All purpose.

Kosher Salt?

Didn't have it.

Used regular old table salt.

You'd think with all these shoddy substitutions these cookies would've turned out terribly: flat, over salted and crazy molassesy.

But they didn't.

They were quite good, in fact.

Everything I wanted and needed them to be.

Dark, chewy, caramely, and chocolatey. 

(My apologies for the bad photos. 

I was way to concentrated on eating them to document them.)

Chewy Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen
Source: Joy the Baker

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups plus 2 tbsp bread flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
¼cup plus 1 tsp dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups dark chocolate chips
sea salt for sprinkling on cookies

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the granulated sugar and molasses until no large molasses clumps remain.
3. Pour the melted butter in the mixer’s work bowl. Add the homemade brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Chill the dough for about 20 minutes, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Lightly sprinkle each dough ball with a few flecks of sea salt.  It really brings out the chocolate flavor.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. I like these cookies to be just a bit under-done. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Baked Apple Caramel Donuts

The only reason I made these donuts (doughnuts?) is because my mom just bought a donut pan. 

I think it was an impulse buy. 

Why else would anyone buy a donut pan?

Muffin pans I can get behind. They're multifunctional. You can use them for  popovers, cupcakes, toast cups, something else and I'm sure something else. 

Donut pans though......
I can't think of another thing to use a donut pan for.
Maybe a bagel?

I don't understand the purpose of this pan. Why would you ever bake a donut when donuts are meant to be fried?

Deep fried. 

In oil.

Lots of it.

Not baked.

Period.

I might of just given you a clue to what I thought about these donuts. 

They were good. They just weren't great.

That's what happens when you mess with the natural order of things.

You get food that is sub par.

They tasted more like a muffin than a donut. I knew they were baked but I still kept expecting them to have a crunchy fried outside.

The caramel, on the other hand, was anything but sub par.

It was delicious, super easy and the perfect consistency.

I'll definitely be making it again.... just not on these donuts.

Keep to the natural order of things and fry your donuts.

Baked Caramel Apple Donuts

Makes about 48 mini donuts

Source: Shutter Bean

1 ¼ cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 eggs at room temperature

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 medium apples peeled and shredded

1 ½ cups chewy caramel candies

3 tbsp whole milk or cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray donut pans really well and set aside. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and both sugars until smooth. Whisk in oil and vanilla. Stir liquid mixture into flour until just combined. Stir in apples. Carefully spoon the batter into the prepared donut pans until almost full. Bake until golden. (About 15 - 20 minutes.)

3. In a small, microwaveable bowl, combine the caramel and milk. Microwave until smooth, stirring at 1 minute intervals. For small donuts dip them into the caramel. For large donuts spoon the caramel on top.