Apple Blondies [Falling for Autumn]

 

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the end of the fall season and those wonderful sales. 
I found this recipe awhile back and was quite intrigued by the original recipe name, which was 'Apple Brownies'. I was relieved to find out that they did not contain chocolate in any shape or form. Can you imagine how yucky baked apples in a chocolate brownie would, bleh! So, as not to throw any of you off I changed the name to 'Apple Blondies', even though they don't contain white chocolate I find that it still sounds better than an apple brownie. This recipe is quite simple and easy to make and great for those last minute Thanksgiving desserts. I can guarantee you everyone will love them! Happy gobbling :) 

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Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 2/3 cup granulated  sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. white vanilla extract (for a stronger vanilla flavor) or pure vanilla extract

3 cups granny smith apples (about 2-3), peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnut (optional)

2 cups flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 tsp. nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. table salt

Ready, set, BAKE!

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF ( 170ºC) and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. In large bowl, beat butter until smooth, then add in the sugar, eggs and vanilla; still until combined. Fold in the apple chunks and walnuts if using.

3. In a seperate medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and cinnamon. Fold into apple mixture.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. 

5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. The top will have subtle cracks.

6. Let your blondies cool before cutting them and gobbling (get it? Turkeys gobble) them up!

Apple Cider Donut Holes [Falling for Autumn]

Autumn has officially fallen over France!  So in the spirit of the holidays I decided to finally try my luck at making donuts, or donut holes as my attempt at making the circular shape failed. I am quite proud at how good the came out, I was honestly expecting not even being able to fry them properly but I prevailed! Unfortunately, they didn't last even four days because they were so incredibly delicious, so I will just have to remake them I guess!

Side note: If you are interested in seeing what I have been liking this Autumn check out my Pinterest.

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Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface

1 1/4 tsp. table salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup buttermilk (or you can make your own: 1/2 cup 2% milk + 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, let sit for 5-10mins.)

1/3 cup apple cider or boiled apple cider (if you want a stronger flavor) 

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Canola or safflower oil (for frying)

Cinnamon sugar (1-1/2 cups sugar mixed with 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon) or confectioners' sugar

Ready, set, FRY!

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until mixture is pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating a minute after each. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.

Pour buttermilk, apple cider, and vanilla into butter mixture; mix until combined. Add flour mixture and combine gently just until fully moistened.

Cover the dough and place in the freezer for 10-13 minutes or until it has firmed up just a bit. In the meantime,  in a dutch oven or large pot heat 2-inches of oil to 370° or until you notice bubbles forming. Prepare 3-4 plates: one lightly floured, one with cinnamon-sugar topping and powdered sugar (this is where your 4th plate comes in handy) and one with two paper towels. 

Once your dough has slightly firmed up, begin by lightly dusting your hands with flour. Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball, repeat with remaining dough. Test the oil with a small amount of dough to check if it is at the right temperature for frying, you will know that the oil is ready if it starts to bubble around the dough. 
Fry the donut holes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Take care not to let your oil get too hot, if not the donut holes will burn on the outside and be raw on the inside. Place the fried donut holes onto your plate with the paper towel and allow them to become cool enough to handle, then coat them with the prepared cinnamon/sugar or powdered sugar; repeat with remaining donut holes. Enjoy!

note: I personally prefered mine the second day just because they got softer and more donut like, but they were still amazing on the first day!

Strawberry Stuffed Pain Perdu

It has been way too long since I last posted a recipe! So, as a goodbye recipe to Summer I decided to make these pain perdus, seeing as they involved strawberries, nutmeg and cinnamon; great for the awkward in between Summer and Autumn weather! Enjoy :)

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Ingredients

   filling
1 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
3/4 cups fromage blanc or cream cheese
   toast
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 baguette or soft italian bread cut into 4
butter for the skillet
maple syrup, confectioner's sugar and more strawberries for serving

Ready, set, bake!
In a small-ish bowl toss the sliced strawberries and sugar, set aside for about 15 minutes to allow the strawberries to macerate.
In a shallow baking dish or bowl beat the eggs until yolks are completely mixed into the whites. Beat in the milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract until smooth.
Heat a large skillet on low. Carefully cut alongside the bread, taking care not to cut the other side as well. Place the filling inside the "pocket" and soak the bread in the egg mixture until the bread seems spongy, remove and place on a separate plate. Repeat with remaining bread.
Turn the stove up to medium-high and evenly butter the preheated skillet. Place as many of the french toast as you can on to the skillet and allow for each side of the bread to turn a slightly dark golden brown. Serve with maple syrup, confectioner's sugar and more strawberries. Voila!

Summer Vacation

from left to right

1. Plane ride from Paris to Dublin.

2. Beef stew, tomato and oregano pasta salad, chocolate chip cookie, and frozen bread roll; Dublin to Boston.

3. Our luggage being pushed over on a trolley towards the plane.

4. After many delays, we finally got on to the runway and there was a long line of airplanes behind and in front of us waiting to take off; Boston to Atlanta.

5. My brother deciding to practice his 'brace position' before takeoff.

6. Goodbye Boston!

7. We encountered a huge thunderstorm cloud on the way to Atlanta. After flying 15 minutes parallel to such big lightening bolts I can officially mark 'a close encounter with lightening' off of my bucket list.

8. Airplane magazine humour, "Let's eat Grandma" "Let's eat, Grandma" "Commas save lives".

9. Arrived in Atlanta only to learn that we had missed our connection to Frankfurt, FL and that we would have to spend the night at the airport. So, we settled in on the chairs at the gate and tried to fall asleep. 

10. Nothing like a nice warm sesame bagel and sizzling hot chocolate to bring your spirits after such a long night. 

11. The airport in Atlanta is so large that we had to take a subway to go from one gate to another.

12. "Next stop D gates... D as in Daniel"

13. Our plane driving to the gate.

14. Snowflakes accumulated on the airplane windows while flying over the Caribbean!

15. Puerto Rico at last!

16. "Bienvenidos". After 22 hours of traveling we finally arrived to our final destination!

Vacation Crêpes

Bright and sunny days, clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, beautiful flowers and fruit filled crêpes; what a wonderful way to spend those last days of summer vacation! These crêpes are truly the cherry on top to any vacation. If you're looking to surprise your family with a wonderful refreshing breakfast on the terrace I must say, crêpes is the way to go! Now, I'm not one for waking up early to make complicated breakfasts, but when it came to these crêpes I figured that waking up fifteen minutes earlier to make them was no big deal. The thing I love about these crêpes is that they truly are light and soft, nothing like those crêpes you buy off of the trolleys on the streets of Paris and trust me I have had my fair share of "French crêpes".  These crêpes are also really versatile, you can fill them up with any type of fruit that you encounter on your vacation! I mostly filled mine up with mango slices as it is very easy to buy them on the island. Well, I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you're interested to see pictures from my wonderful vacation to the island then make sure to check back in a few days! P.s the name of the "island" will be revealed soon!

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Ingredients
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 cups milk
4 eggs
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (orange, almond...) extract

Ready, set, bake!

In a blender, mix the flour and sugar until combined. Pour in the milk, then the eggs one by one, beating after each addition until you obtain a smooth consistency. Beat in the melted butter and vanilla extract until combined.

Turn your stove on to medium heat or 4 and preheat a 9-in. nonstick skillet. Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet spreading it evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Flip the crêpe over once the edges have started curl up, cook both sides until golden brown. Serve with fruit, a chocolate-y spread and whipped cream or with  lemon juice and confectioner's sugar!

Pink Greek Piña Colada

In the spirit of my trip to the Caribbean, in exactly a week, I decided to put a twist on the classic Caribbean drink, the piña colada. I used the greek yogurt to make it more silky and a bit more think, and of course the strawberries give it a nice sweetness and pinkness to it. Well I hope you enjoy this amazing drink as much as I did and feel free to dress it up with little cocktail parasols!

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Ingredients about 8 medium cups (cup not used in the picture)

2 cups watermelon, cubed

1 cup canned or fresh pineapple, in chunks

1/4 cup homemade whipped cream

10 strawberries, hulled and halved

2/3 cup greek yogurt

2 cups coconut ice cream

16 watermelon ice cubes

Ready, set, BLEND!

1. Blend watermelon cubes, pineapple and whipped cream until smooth. Add the strawberries, greek yogurt and ice cream and blend until everything is well combined.

2. To make the watermelon ice cubes, cut a few cubes of watermelon and freeze them until completely solid. Serve the smoothie cold. 

Strawberries n' Cream Chiffon Cake

We are now coming to the end of July, which happens to be National Ice Cream Month! Mm, I love me some vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone topped off with a few chunks of deliciously sweet strawberries... This craving to pay homage to one of the most wonderful things ever made by mankind is what led to make this recipe. I like to think of this recipe as a more sophisticated version of ice cream, a waffle cone and strawberries. Now, now I know what you must be thinking, "why would one ever dare to compare a crunchy waffle cone to a chiffon cake and ice cream to whipped cream?" Well let me tell you, I thought the same thing but believe it or not this is by far one of the yummiest cake I have baked.

The only proper way I can think of describing this cake is with this excerpt from the movie Ratatouille (0:14 to 0:35) I hope you enjoy the cake!

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Ingredients

     cake layers

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup cold water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp orange zest

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

5 large egg yolks at room temperature

8 large egg whites at room temperature

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

     filling
2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream
6 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 quarts strawberries, hulled and sliced (I sliced mine pretty thick since I decided to do 2 two layered cakes instead of 1 four layered cake)

Ready, set, BAKE!
1. Cake layers; Preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare two 9-inch round cake pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper and lightly greasing the sides with vegetable oil or butter. 

2. Sift the flour, 1 1/4 sugar, baking powder and salt together twice into a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, beat the yolks, water, oil, zest and vanilla until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture until smooth. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg white and cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. add the remaining 1/4 sugar and beat on high until peaks are stiff but not dry. 

4. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-quarter of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites. Continue gently folding until the egg whites are no longer visible (overdoing it will deflate the egg whites, resulting in a denser and shorter cake).
5. Scrape the batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake them until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 30-50 minutes (mine took about 35 minutes but the original recipes says '40 to 50 minutes' so it really depends on how quickly your oven bakes).
6. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack in the pans for 15 minutes. Gently run a knife around the sides and invert the cakes onto a plate.
7. Whipped cream: Beat heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer until it holds stiff peaks.
8. Cake assembly: Carefully split each cake layer in half, leaving you with four cakes. Now at this point you can either be daring and go for a four-layer cake or you can build two two-layer cakes, which is what I did for transportation reasons. Starting with the bottom layer, scoop one-quarter of the whipped cream onto the top of the cake, arrange the strawberry slices over the whipped cream in one or two layers, place the next cake layer on top; if you wish to make a four-layer cake repeat the process: cake, whipped cream, strawberries, cake.
Note: I recommend refrigerating the cake for about an hour to allow the cake to absorb a bit of the whipped cream and strawberry juices, yum.
slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen 

Pineapple and Raspberry Upside Down Cake

I love summer! Have I mentioned that before? I just can't get enough of all the delicious recipes that come with the summer time: piña coladas, juicy hamburgers, fruity popsicles, s'mores, strawberry cakes... 

Pineapple upside down cake has been one of my favorite cakes for quite sometime now. I just adore the sweet syrup and pineapple chunks together on top of a spongy vanilla cake! Whoever invented this was an absolute genius! Unfortunately, i wasn't able to find pineapple or maraschino cherries anywhere, so here is my slight spin off a classic pineapple upside down cake. I hope you enjoy :)

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Ingredients

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 can of pineapple rings or chunks, drained of the juice (keep the juice)

2 medium handfuls of raspberries (optional)

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp table salt 

1/2 cup pineapple juice (that was strained from the pineapple rings can)

Ready, set, BAKE!

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut the 3 tbsp of butter into small cubes (about 1-cm by 1-cm) and place them on the bottom of your 8 x 8-in  or 11 x 5-in mold. Place the mold in the preheated oven until the butter is completely melted, about 5 minutes. Once out of the oven, immediately pour the packed brown sugar evenly over the melted butter. Take your pineapple rings or chunks and raspberries and place them over the melted butter and brown sugar (in your mold), set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the 6 tbsp softened butter with the granulated sugar until creamy. Mix in the egg and pure vanilla extract.
3. In a smaller bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into the bowl.
4. In the butter and sugar mixture, alternate pouring in the flour mixture and the pineapple juice; starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until the batter is completely combined, no more, no less. Gently pour in the cake batter over the pineapples in the mold. Take a rubber spatula and carefully evenly spread out the batter. Bake for about  30-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Let the cake cool down in the mold for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely. I personally like to put the cake in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes after it has completely chilled to get nice and cold before eating.
Slightly adapted from the 'Cocina Criolla' cookbook

Mushroom and Four Cheese Quiche

I love making quiches! They are really simple to make and you can put just about anything in them and they will come out great! 

So, there are exactly 14 days left until I travel back to the U.S and I am over the moon with joy! I absolutely adore traveling, especially by plane! I like the whole idea of having to pack suitcases, driving to the airport, waiting in line to check-in the luggage. My favorite part though is watching the airplanes outside the huge glass windows while awaiting for my flight to be called. I don't however enjoy the lift off just because I start thinking of all the things that could go wrong, but once I am in the air I'm fine; as long as I don't start thinking that I am miles up in the air and that we could plummet down into the ocean...enjoy the recipe :)

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Ingredients
2 small yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 container of Tartare spread or 2/3 cup garlic and herbes spread
1 200-g tuna can
3 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup gruyere cheese, grated
1/4 cup mozzarella, grated
10 small mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 store bought or homemade quiche crust

Ready, set, COOK!
Fill a small saucepan 2/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil. Once the water has boiled bring it to a low simmer and place the potatoes and onions in the water. Drain the onions and potatoes once the potatoes are a bit soft.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a quiche dish with parchment paper and place the crust inside. Pre-bake the crust until very lightly golden brown.

In a medium bowl beat eggs until yolks are completely broken. Add the rest of the ingredients including the onions and potatoes into the bowl until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the mixture is fully cooked.

Wooden Spoon Wonders original (please linkback to this recipe if used on another website)

Nectarine, Mascarpone and Speculoos Tart

(sorry about the really bad quality of the picture. I couldn't get my camera to zoom 

and as you can tell the lighting was horrible)

Hello to all you foodies out there! So, today is the 4th of July and as I may have mentioned earlier this is when of my favorite holidays because of all the barbecues, picnics, block parties and fried dough! Yes, I said it fried dough with powdered sugar on top mm good!! On a healthier note, this nectarine tart is great for dessert at any type of get together with friends or family and I guarantee it will even be a hit with those picky eaters. I do recommend though using strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or blackberries not only to make it patriotic but I feel like using berries will make the tart more refreshing and summery. I hope you all enjoy your 4th of July and of course this tart! 

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Ingredients

    crust

45 speculoos cookies

100g unsalted butter, melted

    filling

1 8-oz mascarpone cheese container 

6 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

    topping

4-5 small nectarines, halved, pitted and cut into thin slices

1/4 cup peach jam, warmed (optional step)

Ready, set, BAKE!

Preheat the oven to 350°F.In a food processor, finely grind the cookies. Add the melted butter and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the crumbs over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch diameter tart pan. You can use a measuring cup to ensure that the crust is even. Bake the crust until the color darkens, about 8 minutes. Cool completely. (The crust seem undercooked but it will harden as it cools)

Combine all the filling ingredients into a medium bowl and beat until smooth and well combined. Spread the filling in the cooled tart crust. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 1 day. 

Overlap the nectarines on top of the chilled filling in concentric circle. Brush the warm jam over the nectarines for a sweet and natural gloss. 

adapted from Annie's Eats