Apple Rose Tart

Sometimes when I post things, I think, “who is actually going to make this?” This Apple Rose Tart is one of those things. It took a few hours to create this beauty. It is my take on Julie Jones’ incredible Apple Rose Tart. I have been obsessed with baking it for a while now. I finally decided to tackle it last week.

I was listening to Sprout podcast last week, on the subject of Creating a Space for Judaism in the Lifestyle World. Rebekah Lowin was being interviewed and something she said resonated strongly with me. “Things don’t have to be fast and easy. They can be a little bit challenging. Sometimes giving yourself a challenge is beautiful and a more interesting way to live your life.”

My girlfriend Sandy and I were chatting last week, about how we want to spend our time, at this point in our lives. We are both empty nesters. She said she is looking to pare down her time in the kitchen. She only wants fast, easy recipes. I had to laugh, because at this point in my life, I only want to create and photograph beautiful food. If it takes a bit longer, I’m ok with that. I have always had a very strong sense of aesthetics. It drives my husband crazy that I insist on labelling jars with my label maker, in a specific font and not just masking tape and a marker.

So, even f you don’t plan to create this tart, I hope that you can enjoy my journey and still appreciate the beauty. If you do plan to make it, I have included a very detailed recipe and a video showing how to create these beautiful apple roses.

Julie’s version of the tart uses a basic shortcrust pie dough. I decided to use a pâté sucrée instead, which uses more sugar and some eggs. It has the crumbly melt in the mouth texture of a shortbread cookie and I thought it would pair perfectly with tart apples.

I used a rectangular tart pan (11×7 inches) but a 9 inch round pan would work perfectly. The pan should have a removable bottom. The tart is first filled with an almond frangipane (ground almonds, eggs, butter and sugar).

The apples need to be sliced quite thin (1mm or 1/16 inch). A mandolin is best for this job. Core apples and cut in half, vertically. Once sliced, they go into a bowl of cool water with lemon juice to help prevent browning. Then, they are microwaved until pliable and don’t crack when you bend them. This takes about 5-8 minutes, depending on your microwave. Then the fun part begins. It’s not actually difficult, it just takes time. I found the process quite meditative.

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Apple Caramel Cake

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I’m passionate about apple cake, so when my Instagram friend Dee, boasted that her apple cake was the BEST ever, you can bet that got my attention. Of course, I had to go over to her blog and check it out. I had a sneaky feeling I knew exactly which recipe she used, and I was right. The recipe came from her mother-in-law, who got it from the Second Helpings Please! Cookbook. Every Jewish mother, worth her salt, cooked from this book in the 1970’s. I don’t recall my mom using this book though. We ate mostly frozen foods in the 70’s.

I first learned about this apple cake at one of my very first professional cooking jobs. I was working in an upscale take-out food shop in Toronto’s Yorkville area called Dinah’s Cupboard. I learned so much from Dinah Koo, the shop’s owner. She demanded perfection and precision. She cooked with big flavours and was a master at presentation. I am forever grateful to her for teaching me so much. It was my job to make 4 of these cakes every day. We baked them in 9×13 inch rectangular cake pans and cut the cakes into large squares to sell in the shop.

Dinah’s twist on the Second Helpings classic was to soak the just baked cake in a caramel sauce. How bad could that be? As soon as it comes out of the oven, poke holes all over the cake and pour on caramel sauce so it has an opportunity to soak in. This is a moist, dense, intensely flavourful cake. Because I’m fancy, I baked mine in a Bundt pan with 2 layers of apples sandwiched between 3 layers of batter. Watch how it all comes together.

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Ombre Tomato Galette with Everything Seasoning

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It’s impossible to leave the Farmers Market at this time of year with anything less than several kilos of tomatoes. The array of varieties in September is dizzying. Of course I always buy way more than I can possibly eat.

Whenever I buy too much of any fruit, the answer is always a galette. (free form tart). Why not a savoury galette with tomatoes? I start with my favourite galette dough. It has a bit of cornmeal in it for a touch of crunch and some sour cream to add richness and tenderness.

Feel free to use whatever tomatoes you have on hand. I made some larger galettes with regular sized tomatoes and a few smaller ones with cherry and grape tomatoes.

The galettes come together quite quickly. Basil pesto, grated pecorino romano cheese and some milky ricotta form the base. Tomatoes go next. The rim of the galette is brushed in egg wash and sprinkled with Everything Bagel Seasoning. (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dehydrated onion, garlic and salt.)

I like to lightly salt the tomatoes after slicing them and lay them on some paper towels for a few minutes. This helps to release their juices so the galette isn’t too juicy. About 50 minutes in a hot oven and they are done. I love them best just warm or at room temperature, which makes them a great make ahead meal.

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Homemade French Fries

Blueberry Maple Pie

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There are many reasons to bake a pie.

To use up the extra fruit you so greedily bought at the farmer’s market.
To carry on family traditions.
To make your pie loving husband happy.
To fulfill your daily requirement of fruit. (And leftovers are perfect for breakfast)

But none of those reasons are why I baked this Blueberry Maple Pie. I’ll be honest, because we’re amongst friends here, right? I just wanted an excuse to buy a multi-wheel pastry cutter. They are the coolest kitchen tool ever!

The crust for this pie is buttery and supremely flaky. The recipe was created by Paul Arguin, winner of the 2017 National Pie Championship. Lots of butter, as you would expect, but just a small amount of shortening to aid in flakiness. There is also a minute amount of baking powder, contributing to the flaky texture. A few teaspoons of cider vinegar prevent excess gluten formation, assisting in preventing a tough crust. Finally, Paul added a hint of cinnamon and a spoonful of maple sugar to the crust for flavour. I can see why he was the 2017 champion.

The filling is sweetened entirely with maple syrup, no sugar. Lemon juice and zest add balance. If you can find wild blueberries, they would make an exceptional pie. I used frozen wild blueberries. No need to thaw them first.

I learned a great tip from blogger Rebecca Blackwell. She uses a combination of tapioca and cornstarch to thicken the filling. She says that, “Too much cornstarch can make fruit pie filling cloudy and give it a slightly chalky taste. Tapioca creates a berry filling that is bright and clear, but can sometimes result in a gluey consistency. Combining smaller amounts of both cornstarch and tapioca is a great solution, creating a glossy, luxuriously silky filling that holds its shape when sliced.”

If you don’t have the inclination or time to make a lattice crust and braided rim, just top the pie with a plain crust. It will still be delicious. If you want to get all fancy, you’ll need to make a double recipe of the pie crust. For the lattice, I did a combo of wide (2 inch) and narrow (3/4 inch) strips. The braid was made using 1/2 inch wide strips. For braiding, it’s important that your dough not be too cold or it will crack. I slice it while cold and then let it soften up a bit before braiding.

Here’s a video showing you how to form the lattice and beautiful braid.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar before baking. Start with a hot (400°F) oven for the first 30 minutes. Then cover the rim with foil and turn down the heat to 375°F for the last 30 minutes.

Do not slice the pie for at least 4-6 hours! It needs time to set up so that you will have slices that look picture perfect! Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is always a good idea. Any leftovers will keep for several days in the fridge. You can also wrap individual slices in plastic wrap and freeze for later. It reheats perfectly.

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Grilled Peach and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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There are a few short weeks each summer when peaches are at their peak. You know, like when you take a bite and the fragrant flesh yields to sweet juice that dribbles down your chin. If you are in possession of peaches like this, you don’t need me or this recipe to tell you what to do. When peaches are like that, don’t fu@k with perfection. Eat as many as you can, right out of hand and enjoy.

If your peaches are less than optimal, or you’re tired of eating plain peaches, give this salad a whirl. It is eminently customizable. I love the look of it presented on a big wooden board. Dress your greens and spread them out on the board. I used arugula, but you do you.

The dressing is a basil vinaigrette. It takes about 5 minutes to make your own basil oil for this dressing. Totally worth the time and effort. But, feel free to use plain olive oil and just garnish salad with fresh basil leaves if you don’t want to make your own basil oil.

The peach halves are brushed with a little bit of olive oil and placed on the grill cut side down. This softens them slightly and sweetens any less than optimal peaches.

For the cheese component, you can use fresh mozzarella, bocconcini, or Buffalo mozzarella. I have also made it with halloumi cheese and it was fantastic.

Finish with a crunchy element. Toasted hazelnuts or almonds, or even some croutons. This is summer on a plate.

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Brown Butter Salted Caramel Crunch Cake 2.0

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I first baked and posted about this cake in 2016, for my own birthday. It was probably one of the most delicious things I have ever baked. However, my photos from that post (see below) do not do it justice.

The lighting is awful, the white balance is off and the angle I shot the cake at is just wrong. It does nothing to showcase the majestic height of this beauty. I have learned a thing or two about lighting and composition since then. It’s always a very satisfying thing to look back and see your own progress, no matter what you have chosen as your life’s work.

This cake was inspired by Bobbette and Belle’s Salted Caramel Toffee Cake.

This was my starting point, but I made a few changes. I browned the butter for the cake. Brown butter adds a layer of toasty, nutty deliciousness. Making it couldn’t be simpler. Butter is composed of butterfat, milk protein and water. When you brown butter, you are essentially toasting the milk protein. As you heat the butter, and it begins to bubble and sputter away, the water evaporates and the hot butterfat begins to cook the milk solids, turning them from creamy yellow to a splendid speckled brown colour and your whole kitchen smells like toasted hazelnuts. It’s insanely gorgeous!

In addition to the salted caramel buttercream between each layer, I decided to slip in an extra layer of almond meringue. The textural difference of pillowy soft cake layers is fantastic with the chewy crunchy meringue.

The cake is topped with a crown of English toffee. I made my own, because I could not find any in Ottawa this week. Laura Secord used to make an excellent version, but they are closed now. Purdy’s Chocolates normally carries it, but they were out of stock. If you live near a Trader Joes, they make an excellent English Toffee.

I made the cake again this weekend for my daughter’s 29th birthday. One of the pitfalls of having a mother who is a food blogger, is that your birthday cake is usually presented with a few slices removed and looking a bit rough around the edges from being photographed for a few hours. I always felt slightly guilty about this, so this year I made 2 smaller 6 inch cakes. One for me, to slice and shoot and the other just for the birthday celebration. Everyone loved this idea. More cake for all and no mom yelling, “don’t touch the cake yet. I need just a few more shots.”

This cake is a labour of love. Split the work over a few days and enjoy the journey. It’s worth it.

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Blackberry Meringue Tarts

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If you are looking for a baking project, and take great pleasure in creating beauty, these tarts are for you. If you just want a quick sugar rush, this is not the recipe for you. These blackberry meringue tarts were inspired by Anna Olsen. She created something similar on her show Bake with Anna.

There are three component parts of the recipe. The blackberry jam, the pastry and the meringue. Feel free to split the work over two days if you like, making the jam and tart shells on day one and filling and topping with meringue on day two.

The tart shells are totally baked before filling with the jam. Make sure they are golden brown and the bottom crust is not too blonde. Once the shells are cooled, brush them with a little melted white chocolate. This provides a barrier so that the jam does not make the pastry soggy. Plus, the sweet white chocolate is a fantastic flavour partner for the tart blackberry jam. I add a bit of rice wine vinegar to my jam to prevent it from becoming too sweet, a tip I learned from Jake Cohen.

The meringue I suggest for this recipe is a Swiss meringue. While a French meringue is simpler to make (see this article for a detailed description on the different kinds of meringue), it is not as stable as a Swiss meringue and you won’t be able to achieve the fine definition of those gorgeous piped stars.

Feel free to leave the meringue snowy white, or use a mini culinary torch, if you have one, to burnish the meringue. You could also just pop it under the broiler for a minute or two.

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Mocha Almond Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

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One of my strongest childhood memories, is spending Sundays with my dad. He would take me and my sisters out for the day to give my mom a break. In the summer it would be swimming and then dinner and ice cream. In the winter, it was usually a movie, dinner and ice cream. I recall seeing Mary Poppins 7 1/2 times. The 1/2 was because my little sister threw up and we had to leave.

Dinner was usually at the Copper Kettle. We’d always have fried chicken in a basket. I fondly remember the little packets of honey that we’d open with our teeth, and drizzle all over the chicken and fries. After dinner, we’d go to Bresslers Ice Cream at Bayview Village. That was when Bayview Village was a strip mall, and not the fancy place it is now.

Everyone had their favourite flavour of ice cream. My sisters ordered strawberry (Jody), bubblegum, (Lynne), and maple walnut (Faith). My baby sister (Bo) was too little to come and my baby brother (Jay) wasn’t even born yet! I always got two scoops, chocolate on the bottom and pistachio on top. My dad always got pistachio. He loved all nuts.

When I was a teenager, I discovered Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream at Baskin and Robbins. I adored the deep, slightly bitter coffee flavour, balanced by ripples of chocolate fudge sauce. And the little pop of crunch when you’d bite into a nugget of almond was easily the best part for me.

Thanks to my friend Brigitte, I have recreated this iconic flavour at home. The base coffee recipe is hers. I added swirls of hot fudge sauce and toasted salted almonds. It comes together really quickly. Store-bought fudge sauce will totally work, but it only takes a few minutes to make your own. My favourite recipe is from Deb.

Extra hot fudge sauce and almonds are totally optional, but highly recommended!

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Brown Butter Apricot Almond Tart

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Of all the summer drupes, apricots are my least favourite. (Had to sneak in my new word of the day). They are extremely fragile, and the window when they are perfectly ripe, is very tiny. Too soon and they are hard and sour. Too late, they are dry and mealy. Since apricots are a climacteric fruit (another new word for me! That’s two today. I’m on a roll), it’s best to buy them firm and let them ripen on the counter. When ripe, they will be bright orange with a rosy blush.

Mini tarts are a bit more work, but there is no denying the cuteness factor.

For eating out of hand, I’d always choose a peach, plum or nectarine before an apricot. But something happens to the flavour and texture when they are cooked. The heat of the oven coaxes out their sweetness, but not to the point of cloying. They still keep a hint of their tart nature.

Start with a brown butter crust. I have used this crust before here. It adds such a wonderful nutty flavour. You will need to blind-bake the crust, to give it a head start. No one likes a soggy bottom. An almond filling is spread over the partially baked shell and then down go the apricots. It’s worth taking the time to be precise in arranging them. Or not. You do you.

A brushing of warmed and strained apricot jam on top is a nice finishing touch to make your tart shimmer. A few toasted sliced almonds and a bit of icing sugar are optional but really dress up the tart.

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Salt and Serenity

Tales from my kitchen