Hellooo…Newman.

Woah. It's mid-October and by looking at this blog you'd think that I've been on permanent summer vacation. I wish! I've just been lazy. And drinking rosé and eating salads. But now that it's nearly Halloween, it's time to see if my oven still works! Once I remove all of the pot and pans that are stored there!

With all of the recent Instagram posts from pumpkin patches and apple orchards, an apple recipe seemed the way to go. Granted this recipe uses one singular apple, but it's the thought that counts. And BT dubs, if you go to an orchard and only want to bring home an apple vs. a bushel, you'll be good to go! 

I randomly have a square muffin tin and it makes these little guys look like cute individual cakes rather than your average muffin. Perhaps along the lines of something that could be sold in an individual package like a Drake's Coffee Cake. The full size, not the junior. (Sometimes I feel like I am living a Seinfeld episode, but I digress…) The point is (what was my point again?) that these are super tasty and my oven still works!

Individual Apple Crumb Cakes

Adapted from Food & Wine

Streusel:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Cakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced

1. Make the streusel: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, or using a pastry blender in a medium bowl, combine the flour with the brown sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Continue mixing the streusel until very small clumps form. Refrigerate until it is well chilled, about 10 minutes.

2. Make the crumb cakes: Line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners, or simply butter the muffin tin. In a large bowl, combine the flour with the granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and beaten egg and mix until the batter is smooth. Add the diced apple and stir just until incorporated.

3. Fill the muffin cups halfway with the crumb cake batter. Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle on top. Bake the crumb cakes in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until risen, golden and springy to the touch. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Let the crumb cakes cool slightly before serving. Makes 12.

Apple Expectations

How is November halfway over?? It's going to be Christmas in one second so...time to start baking!

I've been flipping through magazines trying to get some new ideas for Thanksgiving desserts. I've made all sorts of pies in the past, but the truth is that I have to produce an apple crisp or I will be asked to leave dinner! For realz. (These peeps expect a crisp or a crumble at each and every dinner that I attend. Holiday or not.) I was just thinking that maybe I could jazz it up somehow? Like with cranberries? I like the tartness that they add, but not sure if my dinner crowd will approve. I think that they may be apple crisp purists. Or just happy to get whatever I make? I'll go with that. I made a mini version today, essentially a half batch, and I was totes happy. (Just wish I had some ice cream or whipped cream.) We'll what I can get away with!

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

Topping
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
2 1/2 pounds Fuji or Rome or Granny Smith apples (or a mix - about 6 medium), peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

1. For the topping: Combine brown sugar, oats, flour, and salt in large bowl. Stir to blend. Add the butter and rub in with fingertips until the mixture comes together in clumps. Cover and chill while preparing the filling. (The topping can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

2. For the filling: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Generously butter a 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Combine the cranberries, apples, sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Transfer the filling to the prepared dish. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit mixture.

3. Bake the crisp until the filling bubbles and the topping is crisp and deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Serve with ice cream, if desired. Makes 8 - 10 servings. 

Go Blue!

I'm still feeling March Madness even though it's April. You may be surprised to find out that I will be glued to the TV today, watching the last four teams in the NCAA tournament play this afternoon and evening, paying particular attention to the Wolverines. CBS Sports is predicting Michigan and Louisville in the finals. That would be spectacular. But whatever way the ball bounces, I have enjoyed the tournament and getting to know Coach Beilein a little better through this great read.

I haven't thought specifically about sporty snacks for your game day watching (particularly with the Season 6 Mad Men premiere looming!) so I tried to come up with some inspiration from my existing maize and blue highlight reel below, though I was hard pressed to come up with any blue food! No, not gold and navy or yellow and royal. Maize and blue. Hail!

Fresh Corn Salad

Smoked Garlic Aioli

Blueberry Crumb Pie

Lemon Bars

Lemon Tart

Buttermilk Biscuits

Mixed Berry Crumble

Rustic Berry Tart

Limoncello

Feeling Blue

The end of summer can never come soon enough as far as I'm concerned. Hot, steamy subway platforms and the odiferous people that you encounter there will never convince me of the supposed pleasures of summer. I guess it's fine if you have a pool or a shore house near Karma, but otherwise it sucks. Although tasty summer treats like fresh corn, ice cream, and fruit pies sort-of, kind-of remind me of why it could be nice, it's usually September before I realize that I haven't had a single ear of corn or slice of peach pie. But hey, it's only August and I've made a pie!!



How good does that look? Making a crumble topping saves you from rolling out a second disk of pie dough and...it's crumble topping! Hello! If you're afraid of rolling out even one disk of dough, just buy it premade. Your pie will still taste better than if you bought it. Trust. (Make sure to taste the blueberries first and adjust the sugar that you add to the filling according to their ripeness. If they are a little tart, add 1/2 cup sugar. If they're really ripe, add only a 1/4 cup.) Serve it while it is still warm from the oven with a side of vanilla ice cream and even if you're in your crappy walk-up apartment on a 90+ degree day, you can pretend that you're...not.



Blueberry Crumb Pie

All-purpose flour, for dusting
Basic Pie Dough, store bought or homemade
Crumble Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
Filling:
2 pints (about 6 cups) blueberries, picked over
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disk of dough to a 12-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, dust off any excess flour. Fit the dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate, pressing it lightly into the edges. Trim the dough to a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Fold the edge of dough over or under, and crimp as desired. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. Make the crumble topping: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, light-brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. With a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands, work in the butter until large, moist clumps form. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

3. Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Place the blueberries in a large bowl. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Spoon the mixture into the chilled pie shell, mounding the berries slightly in the center. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the blueberry mixture.

4. Place the pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until the crust edges begin to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F. Continue baking, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the juices are bubbling and have thickened, 40 to 50 minutes more. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool completely.