Asian Pear Tart and a Giveaway
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The folks at Crave! at Work offered to send me a 10 pound bag of fruit to share with my coworkers and use for their recipe challenge, and I obviously couldn’t say no. When the bag arrived (filled with a few different kinds of pears, mini bananas, and chestnuts), everyone at the office kept saying how cute the mini bananas were, and one colleague couldn’t wait to swipe the chestnuts to roast at home. For some reason, I gravitated toward pears, a fruit I have never baked with nor liked. Call me crazy.
I was super excited when I found this recipe for an Asian Pear Tart in the LA Times, but found myself extremely disappointed when the end result was a very soggy tart. I tweeted to someone at the LA Times test kitchen and she said she will try the recipe and get back to me because she was curious about the method involved. Has anyone tried the recipe?
So, I ended up finding this “healthier” Asian pear tart recipe, and while it looks pretty, the dough was incredibly difficult to work with. I couldn’t get it to roll out and the amount of dough would never have even rolled to a 10 inch circle, so I ended up doubling the recipe and pressing it into a tart pan. I did however taste the pears, and what do you know–I actually like Asian pears, go figure!
While this recipe won’t win any ribbons, there is a prize for one of you! Crave! at Work is giving away a 10 pound bag of fruit to one of Nosh’s LA area readers. Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite dessert made with fruit and you will be entered in the giveaway to have fruit delivered to your office!
Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 5, 2011. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this contest is only open to Los Angeles area residents.
Ingredients
1 large ripe but firm pear, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided, plus additional for dusting
2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons walnut oil, or canola oil
1-2 tablespoons cold water
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Toss pear slices, 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl.
Whisk 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle oil over the mixture and stir with a fork until evenly combined. Add 1 tablespoon water and stir until the dough just stays together when pressed with a fork; add up to 1 additional tablespoon of water if the dough seems too dry.
Line a work surface with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, generously dust with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Form the dough into a small patty, dust the top with flour and roll into a rustic 10-inch circle, adding more flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat in place.
Lay the pear slices in decorative, overlapping circles on top of the crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Spoon any remaining pear juice over the slices. Pick up the edges of the crust using a spatula and fold over the pears. The crust will not meet in the center.
Bake the tart until lightly browned and bubbling, about 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe from Eating Well.
Malted Milk Cookie Tart
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As soon as I saw this recipe I ripped it out of the magazine and stuck it on my fridge. I knew I would love it, and not only because it has a tart shell, chocolate, and malted milk balls, but also because it can be made using only one 1/2-cup measuring cup. I hate doing dishes and love recipes that are simple like that. And yes, I am a dork.
I should also mention that I had a really hard time finding malted milk powder in Los Angeles. After calling all of the major grocery store chains in the city, I finally found the Carnation brand at Gelsons, a more upscale chain. Weird and annoying.
Fortunately, this tart was well worth the time it took to find the malted milk powder. It was super easy to pull together (in fact, I made a second one which I baked in a disposable pie tin), and it tastes amazing. The shell is chewy, not overly sweet, and has a hint of salt, and is the perfect match to the chocolate and malted milk balls on top.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup malted milk powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon (scant) coarse kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (about 3 ounces; do not exceed 61% cacao)*
1/2 cup malted milk balls, coarsely chopped
Photos of the process.
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. In processor, pulse flour, malted milk powder, sugar, and coarse salt. Add butter; pulse until moist clumps form. Transfer dough to work surface; gather into ball. Press evenly onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom.
Bake crust until evenly golden brown, about 45 minutes. (Mine was done somewhere around 35-40 minutes. Set the timer for a shorter time and check it regularly.) Scatter chocolate chips over; let stand 5 minutes to soften, then spread melted chocolate over hot crust in well that forms as center sinks. Sprinkle malted milk balls over. Cool completely. Remove tart from pan; cut into wedges.
*Don’t tell anyone, but I didn’t have enough bittersweet so I used some semi-sweet. Shhh.
Recipe from page 50 of July 2010 issue of Bon Appetit.
Crack Pie
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DISCLAIMER: 1. This pie does not contain actual crack. 2. This picture does not do it justice.
A few weeks ago my friend Carly asked if I had ever tasted Crack Pie. Crack Pie? Huh? She then explained it’s some crazy addictive pie she’d heard about, and that you can buy it online from Momofuku Milk Bar for $44. Yes, $44. As fate would have it, the LA Times ran an article about the pie the very next day, and included in the article was the recipe. I promised Carly I would make it.
So when I got invited to a friend’s Oscar party, I figured hey, why not try out the Crack Pie? Since the recipe yields two pies, I had grand plans of tasting one pie then freezing the rest of it so Carly could try it, and bringing the other pie to the party. Of course, my oven had other plans and I burned the first pie beyond repair (totally my fault, I set the oven incorrectly). This meant I only had one pie to work with and I would be bringing something I had never tasted to the party.
To make matters worse, I read tons of reviews and everyone said their pies were jiggily and oozing and undercooked so I cooked mine about 10 minutes longer, and when I took it out of the oven the top was cracked which made me fairly certain I had over-baked it. However, the final step of the recipe calls for a light (I have a heavy hand apparently) dusting of powdered sugar which covered the ugly exterior and no one was ever the wiser.
Fortunately, it was a huge hit. As in, OMG WHAT IS THIS PIE? IT IS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! and I CAN SEE WHY IT’S CALLED CRACK PIE, IT’S BETTER THAN CRACK (if you say so). The pie is crazy rich with a caramel flavor and gooey interior. A slice held its shape for about .23 seconds before becoming an oozy mess on a plate, but no one cared. It was that good. In fact, it’s a “I’d eat this straight from the fridge with a spoon my fingers kind of good. Although, I have to admit, I don’t think I’d pay $44 for it.
Some notes: 1. I hate “scant” measurements and used the weight measurements whenever possible. 2. My pies felt super jiggily after taking them out of the oven at the lower temp, so I baked them for an additional 10 minutes, which I’m still not sure they needed.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients for Cookie for Crust
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
- With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.
- Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.
Ingredients for Crust
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preparation
Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.
Ingredients for Filling
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar, garnish
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
- Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
- Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
- Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.
- Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Recipe from the LA Times.
Apple Brown Sugar Tart
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Every now and then someone tries something I’ve baked and finds it so good that they ask me to make it and they’ll pay me for it. This is one of those recipes.
Earlier today we had a huge Thanksgiving lunch at work, and when the sign up sheet went around last week, I of course knew I had to make a dessert. (Trust me, you don’t want me cooking for you.) I hate anything pumpkin related, so when I saw this recipe for an apple brown sugar tart, I was smitten. As you know by now, I love anything with brown sugar. This did not disappointment.
The crust was buttery and held its shape well, and the orange marmalade was a nice touch with the apples. I’m still on the fence about the addition of the tapioca, mainly because it looks weird, but I think it works as a thickening agent. (Can anyone back me up on that one?)
Photos of the process here.
Shell Ingredients
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet cream butter
1 large egg
Filling Ingredients
3 apples, approx. 1½ lb., choose between Gala or Pink Lady
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp. orange juice
1 tbsp. instant tapioca
3 tbsp. orange marmalade
Shell Preparation
- In a cake or pie pan, toast ½ cup (2 oz.) slivered almonds in a 350° oven until golden, shaking often, about 10 minutes.
- In a food processor or bowl, combine almonds, 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, and ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar. Add ½ cup (¼ lb.) butter, cut into pieces; whirl or rub with your fingers until fine crumbs form.
- Add 1 egg yolk; whirl or mix with a fork until dough sticks together. Pat into a ball.
- Press dough over bottom and up sides, flush with rim, of a 9- or 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable rim.
Filling Preparation
- Rinse apples and peel or leave skin on as desired. Core apples and cut into ¼-inch thick slices. In a bowl, gently mix apple slices with 2 tbsp. of the brown sugar, orange juice, and tapioca. Let rest 10 minutes to soften tapioca, then overlap slices neatly in unbaked tart shell.
- In a glass-measuring cup, combine remaining ¼ cup of the brown sugar and marmalade. Heat in a microwave at full power in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until marmalade is melted. Evenly spread over apple slices.
- Bake in a 350° oven until crust is well browned and apples are tender when pierced, about 45 minutes (mine was done in about 40). Let tart cool on a rack at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool, cut into wedges, with ice cream if desired.
Recipe adapted from Safeway.
Apple Pie
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My dad is a huge fan of Costco’s apple pie. (Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.) He mentioned that recently they changed their recipe, because the pies just don’t taste the same anymore. So, I decided I would find a recipe that had all of the characteristics of the pie he likes (not too tart, not too sweet, double crust, and a gooey inside), and make it myself. While this specific recipe calls for Granny Smith apples, I added some Fujis to cut down on the tartness.
I scoured the Internet and came across a recipe with over 1800 reviews and a five-star rating and knew I had to give it a go. And it is now safe to say this is my family’s new favorite apple pie recipe. The difference between this pie and others I’ve made is in the preparation–the filling ingredients are boiled which creates a gooey goodness that I could easily eat by the spoonful. The filling is then poured onto the pie, over the lattice crust, and the gooey goodness seeps in the cracks and covers the apples. Sounds weird, but trust me, it works.
For the crust, I found a simple shortening recipe (I know some of you are butter purists, sorry) that was easy to work with and baked up flaky. As you can see from my pictures, I lack the technical skill and patience it takes to make a proper lattice crust, but it still tastes good, ugly strips and all. Also, those of you paying close attention to the pictures may have noticed I used a cake pan. I am ashamed to admit I do not own a pie dish, but the 8″ cake pan worked out just fine.
Photos of the process here.
Crust Ingredients (I doubled it so I could make a top and bottom crust.)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled (I used butter flavor Crisco)
3 tablespoons ice water
Crust Preparation
- Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour.
- Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.
- Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
- Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.
Filling Ingredients
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and sliced
Cinnamon (the recipe doesn’t call for it, but I like it in my pies)
Filling Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
- Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
- Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.
Crust recipe from All Recipes. Filling recipe from All Recipes.
