TWD: A Tourtley Apple Tart

For this week's TWD assignment, Jeannette of The Whimsical Cupcake chose the Tourtely Apple Tart from pages 306-307 of Baking from my Home to Yours.

I was really excited to make this one--it was one that I had actually considered for my choice last week.

This was a bit more involved than I had originally thought when I glanced at it, what with the multiple chilling times, but it was worth it!

I made this between appointments and served it at Bible study tonight and the girls really liked it!  I always enjoy the desserts that aren't too sweet.

Thanks so much to Jeannette for the pick, be sure to check out her blog for the recipe and the TWD LYL post to see who baked along this week!

TWD: double apple bundt cake

 For this week's TWD challenge, Lynne of Honey Muffin chose the Double Apple Bundt Cake from pp. 184-184 of BFMHTY. 

With shredded apples and apple butter in the mix, this really is a perfect (and perfectly moist!) cake to celebrate actual fall weather!

I left out the nuts & raisins this time b/c some of the girls in the Bible study aren't huge fans, plus it means that I actually have a chance that hubs will try it!

I also didn't make the glaze...a lemon glaze w/this doesn't sound appetizing to me, but I'm contemplating adding a caramel glaze before Bible study tonight.

 Dorie says that the grated apples melt into the batter and it is so true!  You don't get the texture from them, just a pure fresh apple flavor as well as the lovely spices and moistness from the apple butter.  Fabulous!

Thanks so much to Lynne for this pick, and be sure to check out her blog for the recipe and the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along this week!

TWD: Tarte Fine

After a few weeks of skipping out on the TWD posts I'm back!  and what a fabulous and easy recipe to come back with!  Seriously, it took about 5 minutes to put together, much thanks to my handy-dandy apple peeler and corer:

 

I don't know if you've ever seen or used one of these things before, but it is fabulous!  It cuts all the apple peel off in one long curly string,  removes the core, and also spiral slices it!  That made this recipe super easy b/c instead of having to slice the apple I just had to do one quick swipe of the knife down the center of the apple and voila!  Perfectly even half slices!

 

going into the oven

the finished tart--so delicious!

 

Hubs & I each had a slice out of the oven and he loved it!  I offered to send some to his best friend who he was going to see that evening and suggested sending half the tart but he wanted to keep more for himself!  It is VERY rare that he gets so excited about anything I make so I happily obliged.  

 

The only change I made to the recipe was to use apple jelly for the glaze rather than apricot jam--We're not big apricot fans and I just felt that it would complement the tart better :)

Much thanks to Leslie of Lethally Delicious for this awesome pick! (and be sure to check her blog or p. 315 of Baking from my Home to Yours for the recipe).  Also be sure to check out the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along this week!

TWD: apple apple bread pudding

For this week's assignment, Elizabeth of Cake or Death? (who i adore by the way) chose the Apple-Apple Bread pudding from pages 408-409 of BFMHTY.

I also adore bread pudding!  I wasn't a huge fan as a child, but I always remember my dearest mommy getting it at restaurants and talking about it.  The first recipe that I ever formulated myself was my eggnog bread pudding which I always love during the holidays, despite the fact that I don't like eggnog!  There is just something comforting about it.  Not too sweet, warms you from the inside...I often eat it for breakfast when I have some sitting in the house (I mean, it's basically the same as baked french toast!) 

I was super excited about baking this recipe.  Also, b/c I have had 5 lonely little granny smith apples hanging out in my crisper for way to long.  I finally got to use them up!

This recipe is fairly involved...toasting, "apple-buttering" and slicing the bread; caramelizing the butter and sugar and cooking the apples; boiling the milk and cream and seperating the eggs (thankfully i had a bunch of yolks in the fridge from a recent white cake).  It just takes time and dishes, but oh is it worth it!  I burnt my first bit of sugar b/c I hadn't finished chopping the apples and was trying to add and chop, but thankfully I still had the time and ingredients to try that again (only used a tiny bit of apple to see if it was ruined).  Everything else came together pretty easily. 

The best part of the night is that my mommy came to visit me!  We had such a special time together.  While I was finishing up the pudding she came and sat on the stool in my kitchen, and ate one of my leftover tres leches cupcakes.  It's funny b/c it was like when I was a kid sitting on the stool in her kitchen while she was cooking :)  Then we watched the Duggars  (my parents remind me so much of Jim Bob and Michelle) while waiting for it to bake and had a wonderful time talking and laughing and looking at things on Etsy.  When it was time for her to leave I loaded her up with cupcakes, a fourth of the bread pudding, and cookie dough to feed my brother and sister who have recently moved back in after college.  I like to take care of her after all the years of her taking care of me :)

After she left I broke my "no eating after 8 pm" rule and had a little ramekin full of the bread pudding...and then another...it is so delicious!  I am debating on taking it to work or saving the rest for myself this weekend...I think the pudding will be a nice soft treat/breakfast after I get one of my wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday...so I guess it's staying here.  sorry guys!

Thanks so much to Elizabeth for picking this fabulous recipe, and check out the TWD leave-your-link post to see who baked along this week!

Apple Crisp for boys who like to bet

So my husband...the dear man that I married and who promised to love and honor me no matter what...apparently he has a gambling problem.

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit.  Really there have been only a few times that he has bet on any things and most of them have been in his "money league" for fantasy football which is just a fee to play that is later divided up to the winners.

But last week he decided that he had a different safer way to bet with his friends.  Some kind of game, I don't really know what, but he bet with his friend Jack on who would win, and the stakes?  Well, since he is not really the kind of guy who likes to risk any money he decided to bet that if he lost I would make Jack whatever dessert he wanted.  If he won, Jack would pay him whatever I would normally charge to make that dessert for an order.  He saw it as a win-win.  Of course he did.  I guess I should be flattered that his friends value my baked goods as highly as money!

Well, needless to say, he lost.  And Jack chose an apple crisp, so here we are. 

Recently Joy the Baker posted a list of her favorite recipes, and it included this one for an apple crisp.  I bookmarked it and decided that it would be a fun one to try.

I made a tiny sample of the crisp in a custard cup as well so I could try it before sending it off for his friend and it really was wonderful!  I would have liked it better with whipped cream or ice cream, but I didn't want to whip any up for my tiny bit of crisp.  I meant to take pictures of that too so you could see what it looks like, but it was gone too fast!  (I did NOT, however, save any for hubs.  hmmph. )

I also used my handy-dandy apple peeler/corer and had forgotten how fun it is!  Lovely ribbons of apple peel all over...

sorry the picture is awful but it is 10:00 at night and hubs is taking it to his friend tomorrow morning!

Sit and Stay Awhile Apple Crisp
 from Joy the Baker
 
bake in an 8x8 baking dish or double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 dish

Filling:
5 to 6 medium-size apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices. (About 7.5 cups)
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1.5 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup quick oats

Preheat the oven to 350. Generously grease an 8x8 baking pan with butter.

Place a layer of apple slices in the bottom of the pan and dust with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Continue layering apples and dusting with cinnamon/sugar until done. Toss the apple mixture until evenly coated in cinnamon sugar. The apples should be just about to the top of the pan (they will cook down).

For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take one full handful of the topping and toss it into the sugared apple mixture. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the apples. (I usually end up with a dough-like topping that I just lay on top of the apples).

Bake the crisp in the dish on a baking sheet on the center oven rack until the topping is crunchy and the apples are bubbling, 55-60 minutes.

Serve hot; it's excellent with vanilla ice cream.

TWD: flaky apple turnovers

This week for TWD Julie, of Someone's in the Kitchen chose Flaky Apple Turnovers from pages 316-317 of BFMHTY. Since I was already making cupcakes, and had been ridiculously lazy over the weekend, I cut the recipe into 1/4 since Dorie noted that these are best the night of, and it would only be me and the hubs. I still got like 10 little turnovers, and cut shapes out of the remaining dough and baked it sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and dotted with butter--YUM!!

I am very proud to say, that with all the baking challenges that I have done in the past month, these are the only things that hubs has actually tried, and he LOVED them.

Butchy wanted to eat some too, but I did not share (she did lick the cream cheese icing bowl for the cupcakes later though...)

Thanks for the challenge Julie!

TWD: Applesauce spice bars

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Karen of Something Sweet by Karen chose the Applesauce spice bars from pages 117 & 118 of Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

For a lady like me who is desperately wishing for autumn, this week's recipe was a welcome reminder of things to come! I seriously love all things cool-weather related. There is nothing more comforting than smells of cinnamon & spices--you would not believe how many fall scented candles I have! (and yes...candles have been another of my compulsive shopping fazes.)

Well, this is a lot better than a candle, and this recipe is very very easy! So moist, full of spices, apple chunks, plump raisins, and pecans, these bars could work for breakfast...and I think I'm going to try them in muffin form! I think the name is a bit of a misnomer though...I called them "caramel apple spice bars" when I took them into work b/c applesauce is not nearly the predominant ingredient. The glaze is really good, but I think they would also be great (again as muffins) w/a streusel topping. yum...

These bars went a lot better for me than the brownies from last week, and they reminded me of my favorite season which is right around the corner! (my fingers also smelled like cinnamon & allspice all the next day which is WONDERFUL!)

Be sure to check out Karen's blog (or buy the awesome book!) for the recipe, and also check out the TWD site for the blog real to see how other bakers did!

*sorry for the bad pictures...the lighting in my kitchen is AWFUL