A skinny French Apple Tart for heavy consuming

A totally rad-tastic apple tart, this will make you look like you actually know what the heck you're doing in the kitchen! Cause let's face it, you and I don't have the culinary degree that would sooo impress people at the mere mention of it. Instead we have to tantalize, if you will, dessert table loiterers any way we can. We're praise-whores and totally love the attention, right!?

This one is gorgeeeous!

Are you really gonna tell me you're not shocked and impressed at my mad pastry and baking skills with this tart? I mean com' on! It's French inspired, it's thin, it's light and majorly guilt-free, it looks like a pretty spirally flower, and it's so simple to make.

But guess what?! Instead of making my pastry dough from scratch (quick & easy remember?), I bought a box of pre-packaged pastry dough mix, added the necessary water, patted, rolled, and voila! I saved about 30 minutes of pastry prep time. I'm a time-bandit. I use what little of it I have as efficiently as possible, and without compromising on quality. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly. My only note - the vanilla extract can be omitted, but if you have it, use it! Using vanilla extract is a necessary in your baking repertoire! Spend the extra buck on a quality bottle of pure extract, and none of that imitation stuff! Short cuts and substitutions can be made in some places at some times. But there's no excuse for being a cheapo all the time! So enjoy the pleasures of baking and let me know how your tart turns out!

Au revoir!

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light

Mint Creme Brownies

Ok, so this one is just a tad more labor intensive than the PB brownies, but what awesomeness isn't worth the bit of effort? I thoroughly enjoy minty things - mint mojitos, mint chip ice cream, mint mocha lattes, mint toothpaste, and mint-colored anything.  So guess what I made??...
For this recipe, I used my trusty Trader Joe's Belgian Truffle mix.  It never does me wrong, and it has Belgian truffle chips mixed in for added in-your-face chocolatiness! But I will soon be testing the waters of brownies made from scratch.  Maybe even healthier variations of the buttery brownie using greek yogurt or fruit purees. Oh the fun ensues!

Mint Creme Brownies-the quick & easy way

Thanks to Kim over at Scrumptious Photography for the inspiration!

Brownie:

1 box Pre-package brownie mix

Mint Creme:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar (sifted for lumpage removal. yup lumpage.)

2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1-2 Tbsp creme de menthe

Green food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:

3 oz semisweet chocolate

1 Tbsp unsalted butter(I consciously omitted this for a crispier glaze but wish I hadn't)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie mix per box instructions. Pour mix into pan and spread evenly. 

2.  Bake until edges of brownie have pulled slightly from the pan and a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Let brownie cool in pan, inside the fridge for 20-30.    

Mint Creme & Chocolate Glaze Layer:

1.  With an electric mixer, beat butter for 1-2 minutes, or until smooth. Add sugar; mix till incorporated. Add cream, peppermint extract or creme de menthe, and food coloring and mix till smooth and all food coloring is thoroughly incorporated. (Add more cream in increments of 1/2 tablespoon till desired consistency is achieved)

2.  Spread evenly over cooled brownie. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes, or until mint layer is firm.

3.  In a microwave-safe dish, heat your chocolate for 1 minute 30 seconds on Medium power. Stir and heat in increments of 30 seconds until chocolate appears glossy. Let cool briefly.

4.  Gently spread chocolate evenly over mint creme layer. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm.

*To neatly cut your brownies squares, hold your knife under hot running water for a few seconds after each slice. 

I usually underbake my brownies by 3-5 minutes for a moist and chewy texture. The brownies will also keep longer and resist drying out when slightly underbaked. 

If you accidently over bake your brownies and incur the wrath of it's crispy and hard edges, simply cut 1/2 inch off all sides.  I recommend doing this whether you have burnt brownies or not. Pretty pretty is what we want!

Peanut Butter & Belgian Truffle Brownie Bites

I've been getting a healthy dose of brownies lately.  But the run of the mill plain brownies haven't sparked the interest of my chocoholic tastebuds. They scream out and say, "Spice up those bad boys!" Thus, an easy and quite resourceful solution to the slightly boring chocolate brownie: a top layer of peanut butter!    
Since I was just so eager to get those brownies into mah belly, I took a shortcut (I shan't say cheat) and used a pre-packaged brownie mix.  I have good reason to use this mix rather than create one from scratch - Trader Joe's Belgian Truffle Brownie mix is insanely delicious!!!  It's only $3 and requires just 2 large eggs and 2 Tbsp of butter (I use unsalted).  If you're lucky to have a Trader Joe's where you live, then keep a few of these in your pantry for emergency dinner parties or lonely nights at home watching stupid chic flicks (like me).  

Peanut Butter & Belgian Truffle Brownie Bites - the quick & easy way

Servings 8-24 depending on cut size

Tools you'll need

8" x 8" or 9" x 9" square baking pan

Ingredients

Pre-boxed brownie mix 

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

Get it Ready

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, or temperature box instructions indicate

Start making it

(1) Prepare brownie mix per box instructions

(2) Pour prepared brownie mix into pan and spread evenly

(3) In a microwave safe bowl, heat the peanut butter for 1 minute or until runny and soupy

(4) Pour peanut butter over brownie mix and spread evenly

(5) Using a toothpick or knife, drag your utensil along the top of the peanut butter and brownie mix in S-shapes from one side of the pan to the other.  Turn your pan so that the S's are vertical, and do the same across the mix.  This should create a marbleized effect.  It's not necessary for the baking process, but it looks pretty!  And isn't that the point here??

(6) Bake & cool brownies per box instructions

(7) Before cutting, I recommend refrigerating the brownies for a couple hours till they've chilled.  This makes cutting into the peanut butter easier and results in less flaking off of the pb.  But if you're like me and want your damn brownies now, then at least let the suckers cool a bit then start cutting into 1" squares.  Or cut brownies to the size of your liking.  I just find the smaller the pieces, the more there is to go 'round!

 

Refrigerated brownies will keep longer, so if you like a warm brownie, just pop a couple pieces in the microwave before yummy consuming!

Tequila in my Lime Tart!

It was M's birthday yesterday and I knew I was either making him a rhubarb pie or some sort of lemon/lime tart masterpiece. Since this isn't the season rhubarb is at its abundance (late spring is more like it) , I wasn't willing to pay $12 a pound for the pinkish root. So a Lime pie it was! And to add to the birthday festivities I felt some proper booze in the pie was a must. Epicurious has a pretty yummy recipe for a Tequila Lime Tart, and I needed to modify the ingredients only slightly. I'm pretty fond of Tequila, so the flavor wasn't at all overpowering, in fact there was barely a hint to be noticed. No subsequent drunkenness came from our consumption of the tart since all alcohol was burned off during the baking process. Darn!

Tequila Lime Tart

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

10 or 11-inch tart pan, serves 6 to 8

Crust:

aprox. 16 graham crackers (the ones that come pre-perforated in rectangles of 4)

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)

To make filling:

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (5-7 limes)

1 tspn lime zest

1/4 cup gold label tequila

2 large egg whites

1 Tbsp sugar

Toppings & Garnishments: (optional but yummy!) Whipped cream. Fresh lime slices.

Get it Ready

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Start making it

The crust:

(1) In your food processor crumble graham crackers till finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and mix in melted butter using a fork or your hands. With your hands (don't fear the messiness! It's fun!) press graham cracker crumbs against the side of the tart pan before pressing crumbs against the bottom of the pan. It's best to work over a cookie sheet so you can pour the straggler crumbs that fell out of the pan back into the crust for pressing.

(2) Bake prepared crust on your cookie sheet for 8 minutes. This bakes the butter into the crumbs and sets the crust. Let crust cool before pouring the filling in.

The filling:

(1) Zest those gorgeous green limes.

(2) Firmly roll your limes against the counter or a hard surface to loosen the juice from the pulp. Squeeze enough juice to measure 1/2 cup.

(3) In a large bowl hand whisk the lime juice and lime zest with the condensed milk, egg yolks, and tequila. The tequila can be omitted :( , but what's the fun in that?

(4) In another bowl using your electric mixer beat the egg whites and sugar until they hold soft peaks, about 3-4 minutes on the highest setting.

(5) Stir in only a quarter of the meringue into your tequila-lime mixture to lighten, then fold in the remaining three-quarters of the meringue thoroughly till the meringue lumps have dissolved.

(6) Spoon the filling into the crust. The filling will look as if it will overflow, but don't worry, it won't.

(7) Bake the tart on top of the cookie sheet for 25 to 30 minutes. The filling will look puffy and pillowy and seems set when jiggled. The puffiness will subside as the tart cools. After cooled, chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until cold.

Garnish with lime slice or wedges.

Serve with whipped cream.

Keep refrigerated.

Just the beginning

My little Homefries, Welcome!

So, my intention for this blog is, as a novice baker with limited funds, to create sumptuous baked goods and confectionary delights, and spend as little $$ as possible. Not by cutting corners or skipping key ingredients, rather by utilizing more affordable alternatives. Essentially, make the stuff taste awesome and make it look like I paid too much for it at some swanky LA bakery. Oh, and of course share my trials and horrors of it all with the worldwideweb-ers.  

A skilled pastry chef from the elite Le Cordon Bleu Academy? If only I had $40k. I have however spent less than a year as an assistant to the head pastry chef at an LA Boutique Bakeshop.  Loved it!  It was my crash course on basic baking skills. Now I employ baking as my stress reliever. I also like drinking liquor. That's a good stress reliever too. 

Don't be surprised if you see postings about topics or items completely unrelated to baking, you know, like shoes or how I learned to fill my car tires with air for the first time.  I'll try my best to refrain from such tangents, but like I said, we'll see.

And my blog name... It fell to the brilliance of my boyfriend "M". A silly evolution from Scootin' Baker to Scootish Baker, and then to the playfulness of its current state.  

Oh yeah, I buzz around my Hollyhood in a deliciously yellow Vespa LX 150. 

So, till...well, sometime real soon!