Playing catch-up - Classic Apple Crisp

A couple weeks ago, I was in the mood for apple crisp, and thought I'd try something new.  I found this recipe at King Arthur Flour.   I love anything with streusel, and this one is quite tasty.  I also like the addition of both boiled cider and regular apple cider to the filling.  We originally ate the crisp for dessert, but it also makes a great breakfast.

Weekend wind-down 9.16.2012

Welcome to another episode of Di's stream of consciousness week in review. =)  My big accomplishment for this weekend?  Rediscovering how much I love baking bread.  I spent a couple years baking almost all of the bready things that we ate, but then for some reason stopped doing it.  I don't know that I'll go back to doing everything, but I do want to get back in the habit of baking bread on a weekly basis.  Yesterday I made my favorite sandwich loaf recipe, Dan Lepard's Milk Loaf.  You can find the recipe on my friend Nancy's bread blog.  I actually don't use it much for sandwiches for me, but the girls like it, and it makes fantastic toast.  Since I plan to use it mostly for kids' lunches, I made two smaller loaves, in these pans.  I increased the original recipe by one third, and it was just the right amount of dough.  

Once I got started, I was asking myself why I don't make this dough more often.  It's a great method, and such a nice dough to work with.  It's the getting started that's the challenge.  Once I get going, I'm fine.  I did the same thing this evening with another dough.  I meant to make the dough much earlier in the day, but kept putting it off, thinking it would take too much time.  I finally just told myself to get in the kitchen and do it.  The amount of active time I spent?  Maybe 10 minutes.  Now I just have to hold on to that and remember it the next time I'm procrastinating.  

I also made applesauce this weekend, and muffins for Sunday breakfast.  The applesauce was because we're starting to get some good fall apples, and homemade applesauce is the best.  I found some very large Paula Red apples at Central Market, and bought a whole bunch.  Gillian isn't a big fan of the applesauce, but Brianna likes it, so that's one more thing ready for the lunchbox this week.  The muffins were pretty good as well.  Muffins are good for grab & go breakfasts during the week, so that seemed like a good thing to make today.  I've been wanting to make crumb cake, but couldn't settle on a recipe, so I decided to make a basic muffin and add some crumbs on top.  For the base, I made the batter for these doughnut muffins from KAF.  I know from past experience that the muffins end up very domed on top, so I made 16 muffins instead of the usual 12.  I topped each one with some streusel that I modified from a crumb cake recipe.  It worked pretty well, but isn't exactly what I was after.  I plan to play around with it a bit more, so when I get it the way I want it, I'll have to do a full post.

I also did some baking to take to work last week.  I may not always have something to make for dinner, but I always have the stuff to make some sort of cake. =)  In this case, I was looking for something else to make with apples.  I wanted to make this cake that my friend Tracey posted, but actually didn't have everything I needed.  (Now you know another reason why I made applesauce this weekend.)  So I went looking, and found this Apple-Ginger Streusel Coffee Cake.  (I didn't have applesauce, but did have both fresh and crystallized ginger. Go figure.)  I used pecans instead of walnuts, but otherwise made the recipe as written.  I was happy that the recipe called for a 10-cup bundt pan, because it gave me a reason to get out my Heritage Bundt pan.  I got lots of compliments on the cake, and it did look really pretty.  It was very moist, but next time I think I'll add just a bit more salt.  

And for non-baking stuff?  Well, Gillian was under the weather for a good part of the week (still that annoying cold from last week), but finally seemed to be doing better today.  We had an interesting trip to Costco in the rain this morning.  I'm thrilled to have the rain, though, and the cooler temperatures that have come along with it.  It actually feels like we really might be approaching fall.  I also survived a trip to the outlet mall with Brianna last night for some new clothes.  We managed to find some stuff with a minimum of drama, so I can't really complain.  And Jamie had an interesting day on Friday; hopefully this week will be less eventful.  

I think that's about it for tonight.  

Move to the music

I know I survived just fine before I had an iPod and iPhone, but I've recently really started to appreciate the benefits of portable music.  I can listen to music while I'm getting ready in the morning, either from songs on my phone or through streaming my favorite local radio station.  I've also been using the music options to get Brianna & Gillian moving when they're in the shower.  It's like a timer--it's a race to see who can get done in fewer songs.  Sometimes they just dance while they're drying off.  This past week, I found a new use, once I remembered that I had headphones for my phone, too.  Listening to music while I was in the kitchen baking was a great way to avoid listening to whatever Disney Channel show the girls were watching.  I can only take so much of that most days (yet they never seem to tire of it).  And hey, I figure I burned some extra calories as I was dancing around the kitchen.  Fortunately B&G weren't paying any attention to me, so there wasn't any critique of my dance style. =)

I'm thinking that I may have to start using music as a way to get the girls moving a little better in the morning, too.  Way too much time is spent arguing about clothing choices, or just lying on the floor complaining about how tired they are.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish packing lunches or figuring out something portable for them to take for breakfast in the car.  Some weeks I don't to a very good job of planning, and by Thursday or Friday I'm scrambling to find them something to eat.  That would be why my girls end up eating cheese sticks (aka string cheese) and dried fruit (cherries for G, apricots or prunes for B) for breakfast. 

We all really like it when we have scones or muffins or bagels available.  (Which reminds me, I meant to make bagels this week, but didn't get to it.  Coming soon!)  If I bake on the weekend, I make enough that we're able to get through 2 or 3 days during the week as well.  Occasionally I manage to bake in the morning before work on the other days.  The secret to being able to have just-baked muffins for breakfast?  Doing most of the prep the night before.  A recent favorite for that treatment has been some great Apple Cinnamon Crumb Muffins that I found over at Two Peas and Their Pod.  The streusel topping uses melted butter, and is quick to mix up.  I store it in a container in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, I just have to break it up into small clumps before putting it on top of the batter--and the crumbs hold their shape nicely in the oven, since the butter has had a chance to firm back up.  I mix the dry ingredients together in the large bowl that I plan to use for the final batter, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  (I use white whole wheat flour, btw.)  I even get out the muffin pan and fill the cups with paper liners.  Then the first thing I do in the morning is turn the oven on to preheat while I'm doing other stuff (showering or packing lunches).  I quickly dice up the apples, whisk together the wet ingredients (I've used plain yogurt instead of buttermilk with good results), and stir everything together. I use my #16 disher (which holds 1/4 cup of batter) to fill the muffin cups.  In the 20 minutes or so that it takes for the muffins to bake, I take care of some more of my morning tasks. 

The verdict?  The girls liked these muffins quite a bit.  I also shared a bunch of them with my co-workers, and they were a huge hit with everyone.  It's always a good sign when baked goods are completely gone before lunch time.  Everyone loved the fact that they're a little healthier than the average muffin, but still taste really good.  I highly recommend that you try them for yourself--you can find the recipe here at Two Peas and Their Pod.  

An apple cake for fall

I didn't want the whole month to pass by without at least one Tuesdays with Dorie post.  I don't have the fig cake that was on the agenda for this week.  (Head over to Cookie Rookie for this week's recipe.)  I also passed on last week's Ginger-Jazzed Brownies.  You may have seen why I had some trouble with the biscuits the week before that.  (I made them, but they weren't great, and I didn't take any pictures.  I'm still hoping to make them again.)  The cake I have for you today is actually the first recipe for October, the Apple Nut Muffin Cake picked by Katrina of Baking and Boys.  

In the hopes that my girls would eat the cake, I skipped the nuts and raisins.  Afraid that the cake would be a little plain after that, I added a crumb topping.  This was also a good chance to break out my bottle of King Arthur boiled cider, since I didn't have any regular cider on hand.  I used about 3 tablespoons of the boiled cider, then added milk to make a full 8 ounces of liquid.  I thought about using some white whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose, but didn't this time.  I fully intend to make this cake again, so I'll see how that works out next time.

The verdict?  The cake was well-received both at home and at work.  I really liked it with the crumb topping, but that's not really a surprise. =)  I know Dorie originally made the cake because she was too rushed for muffins, but I want to try the muffin version next time, keeping the crumbs.  

If you'd like to play around with the recipe yourself, you can find the original on Katrina's blog.  For more about the muffin cake, check out the Links for that week.  For the fig cake, check here.  I promise to do better with posting next month, especially since I get to host again! =)

Wordless Wednesday - Brioche Crumb Cake

Apple of my eye

I had the following conversation with Gillian last night as she and Brianna were finishing up dinner:

Gillian: "May I please have some ice cream for dessert?"
Me: "No, because we don't have any."
Gillian: "Well, make some!!"
Me: *laughing so hard I can't respond*


In just about any other house, the kids would be asking their mom to buy more ice cream.  But not here, no.  My kids just naturally assume that I can and will make just about anything they want.  I suppose that's a good thing. =)  But I wasn't about to start making ice cream, so I offered her a piece of this wonderful homemade apple pie instead.  She was happy. =)

Pie is one of those things that I definitely prefer to make myself.  Especially with fruit pies, I just don't like the ones you can buy in the grocery store--too much crust, not enough fruit, and way too much gloppy goo around what little fruit there is.  With homemade, you can customize things to be the way you like, and it tastes so much better as well.  The only downside to homemade pie is that I like it way too much, and am likely to eat most of the pie myself.  That's why it seldom makes an appearance outside of Thanksgiving.  But for Tuesdays with Dorie, I'll make an exception.  I missed last week's pie (though it will probably show up here the week of Thanksgiving, I think), but there was no way I was going to skip the All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie that Emily picked.  

Apple pie is my favorite.  Without question.  I love apples, so I've been happy with all of the apple desserts we've been making for the past month or so.  What made me really happy was having my favorite apple show up at Central Market a couple weeks ago.  I love tart apples, and will happily eat pretty much anything related to a Macintosh apple.  But my favorite of these is definitely the Macoun apple.  (Thanks to Nancy for recommending them to me a couple years ago.)  And they arrived just in time for me to use them in this pie!  

Do any of the rest of you try to get the apple peel off all in one long strip?  I used 5 apples for this pie, and wasn't being that careful, so I only managed it with one apple. =)  My girls think it's cool that I can do that.  Nice that they like something that I do once in a while...

For pie, I like to slice my apples thin and pile lots of them into the pie shell.  I somewhat followed Dorie's recipe for the filling--I used the sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg as listed.  (I love freshly grated nutmeg--I use my microplane to grate it.)  I used flour instead of tapioca for the thickener, since I can't stand tapioca.  (I stood in front of it in the grocery store, but just couldn't bring myself to buy it.)  I also left out the lemon zest--I used it in the apple torte a couple weeks ago, and thought it overpowered the other flavors too much.

I skipped the crumbs to put in the bottom of the pie shell, too.  I have another method for avoiding soggy apple pie--dried fruit.  When I was growing up, my mom always put raisins in apple pie.  I love raisins, so that was fine with me.  It wasn't until I was baking on my own and tried making apple pie without them that I realized that they actually suck up a lot of the extra juice, keeping the pie filling from being too runny.  Cool.  I mostly use raisins, but dried cranberries are also tasty, and I'm sure dried cherries would be good if you like cherries.

I was already deviating a lot from the original recipe, so I did use Dorie's pie crust recipe.  I was only going to make a single crust, but started measuring out the ingredients for the double crust recipe (since it's listed first on the page).  I figured I'd go ahead and make the double version since I was getting out the food processor anyway, and freeze half for later.  Yes, the recipe does call for a double crust.  But besides adding raisins, the other thing my mom always did was put crumbs on top of the pie.  I thought about trying crust on top, but since I make pie so seldom, I wanted to go with my favorite. =)  I've tried different toppings over time, but my current favorite can be found in this recipe from Bon Appetit.  

Once last thing that I do that wasn't in the recipe...  To bake the pie, I first put it on a parchment lined baking sheet (to catch the juices that will inevitably bubble over).  Then I put the sheet directly on the baking stone in the bottom of my oven.  Baking on the stone ensures a nice browned bottom crust.  If you do this, you should make sure that the oven and stone are preheated for quite a while.  (I had good timing--I had the oven on for dinner before baking the pie, so the stone was already pretty hot. I just had to turn the oven up to 425ºF.)  I'm not used to turning the oven down partway through, and ended up baking my pie for 50 minutes at 425ºF.  That isn't a problem with my usual pie crust, which doesn't have any sugar in it.  For Dorie's, which does, I'll make sure to lower the temperature next time, since the edges of the crust got a little dark.  It was late when the pie finished, and I prefer to let it cool to just warm before serving, so I didn't get to try any until the next morning.

The verdict?  Well, if you don't already know, pie for breakfast is the best. =)  I'd much rather eat it for breakfast than for dessert, really.  (My husband thinks I'm a bit crazy. No, not just for that, either.)  As expected, I loved this pie.  I'm still a bit undecided on the crust.  Dorie's crust is definitely more tender than my usual, but mine is more flaky, I think.  Both are good.  And hers makes better pie crust "cookies."  Everyone else here loved the pie, too, even Brianna.  She loves crust, and was even willing to eat some of the raisins.  

For the original recipe, head over to Emily's blog.  And be sure to check out this week's Links to see what everyone else did with their apple pies.  As for me, I'm going to go eat another piece of pie for today's breakfast. =)