Pear, Apple, Cranberry with Gingersnap Crumble

Sweet Melissa from Start Baking and Sweet Melissa' Patisserie in NYC makes a crumble pie with pear, cranberry and a gingersnap crumble on top. This is an adaptation that also adds apple to the mix. This is a very easy and forgiving recipe that you can substitute fruit easily in.

All I can tell you is that my guests would have been happy starting with dessert and moving to the rest of the meal only when the crisp was entirely finished. It's a keeper.

Crumble

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

3 tablespoons (37 grams) packed dark or light brown sugar

1 cup gingersnap crumbs (4 ounces or 113 grams or about 16 storebought cookies)

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling

3 large ripe pears, peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 large apples, peeled, halved, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces or 170 grams) fresh cranberries

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, gingersnap crumbs, ginger and salt. Stir in the melted butter until large crumbs form.

In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish, mix the pears,apples, cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.

In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together then toss it with the fruit mixture in the pan.

Sprinkle the gingersnap crumble over the fruit. Set the crumble on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, until the crumble is a shade darker and you see juices bubbling through the crumbs.

Fresh out of the oven..

Spoon out individual servings or I promise you won't have enough for everyone

Serve warm with ice cream.

Notes:

Use fresh and gingery cookies for the crumble.

I used bosc pears for this but anjou would also be good.

Tres Leches Cake

I seem to be catching up on my South American influences these days. If you've been following, you'll remember my collaborating with Karenis from Venequela in making Arepas . The same day we decided that the arepas were so quick to put together that we wold tackle making a Tres Leche Cake.

This cake is incredibly delicious but not very figure friendly. It's definitely a special occasion cake. The special occasion for me was making it with Karenis and having one of the best laughs of my life as the afternoon unfolded as a whole comedy of errors beginning with spills and ending with a cake so saturated with deliciousness dripping down a very long carpeted hallway. But....as far as we were concerned - NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!

5 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 cups whole milk

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2.Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

3.Cream butter and 1 cup of sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract . Karenis is doing a terrific job :).

4. Add the flour and milk alternately mixing well after each addition.

5. In a large bowl, beat egg whites with remaining cup of sugar until stiff peaks are formed. Gently fold in the egg whites to the batter. Spread into prepared pan.

6. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool.

7. In a medium bowl, mix together the whole milk, condensed and evaporated milk and the almond extract.

8. Poke holes all over the cake with a fork and spread the milk combination over the cake (slowly) and keep adding until the cake cannot absorb anymore.

Be careful - this step can get very messy.

9. Beat the whipping cream and vanilla to form peaks. Cover the top of the cake with the whipped cream.

Total YUM-a-LICIOUS!!!!

Empanadas

This past weekend I was invited for brunch and a bonus. The bonus was that a friend, Carlos, was going to be making empanadas three ways. Count me in! I'd made sweet empanadas before so I admit, that's what I was expecting. Wrong. Carlos brought 3 different fillings with him; beef, black bean and feta cheese. I watched carefully as he shared some of his tips.

Although Carlos did share the recipe, I didn't get a chance to write the recipes down so I'll share a couple that look very similar at the end of this post. I'm not remembering where I found them so I'll apologize for not referring the sources.

We started with premade empanada discs available in any latin grocery stores.




Then came the fillings; beef, black beans and feta cheese.






The first combination was black bean and feta;
I asked about the amount of beans and how it affects the system. A great tip was to cook the beans in water with a teaspoon of baking soda to remove the gaseous effect.

Then beef;







Tip: If you want to make sure your empanada doesn't open up when baking, do a double pinch method;




The finished product should look like this.





Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.






Beef Filling

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 pound ground beef chuck

2 tablespoons raisins (optional)

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped pimiento-stuffed olives

1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice, and chopped

1 package frozen empanada pastry disks, thawed

Black Bean Filling

200 grams dried black beans

Pinch of bicarbonate of soda

Pancetta or bacon rashers

1 onion

1 green pepper

2 cloves of garlic

Fresh coriander

Olive oil

SaltBlack pepper

Oregano

Cumin

Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Inglesa)

Preparation
Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl. Cover with tap water leaving at least an inch of water above the beans as they will swell. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Leave overnight.Before cooking, drain and rinse beans under the tap. Place in saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Add no salt.Reduce heat and simmer until soft - 60 minutes (minimum) in saucepan, 45 minutes in pressure cooker.To make the sofrito used to flavour the beans finely chop onions and peppers.Dice pork into small cubes.Crush garlic cloves in mortar or garlic crusher.Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions and when they start to brown add pork and peppers and garlic.Season with salt, pepper, oregano, a small pinch of cumin and Worcestershire sauce and when all ingredients are cooked remove from heat.When beans are cooked place some of the water and beans in a blender, add the cooked sofrito and blend until creamy. Pour back into beans and simmer to reduce and allow flavours to combine.Finely chop coriandor and add to beans just before serving, stir through.

Links:
Black Bean recipe
Culinary History