Coconut Custard with Coconut Crisps

This recipe is adapted from the book,Eat Fat, Lose Fat by the authors of the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon.  In this recipe I'm using coconut milk and coconut sugar, which explains the brown color of the custard.  I've also accompanied the custard with a coconut crisp and fresh Mango.

 Ingredients

makes 4 servings

for the custard...

1 cup real coconut milk, be sure to whisk the liquid and the cream together

   before measuring

1/2 cup coconut sugar

5 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the coconut crisps...

1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

optional...

1 fresh mango cut into 1/2 inch bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

To make the custard, combine the coconut milk and the coconut sugar in a medium sauce pan and whisk together until combined.  Heat over medium flame only until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until well combined and add to the coconut milk mixture, stir to combine. 

Butter 4 custard cups and divide the mixture evenly in each cup.  Place the cups in a baking pan and fill with hot water, about 1/2 way up the sides of the cups and bake for 30-35 minutes or until custard is set.

Remove from the oven and carefully place on a wire rack to cool. 

To make the coconut crisps (or Coconut Sprinkles as in the Eat Fat, Lose Fat book) set the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix together the desiccated coconut and the maple syrup.  Pour onto a parchment lined baking sheet and with a spoon spread evenly, patting down to form a thin 10 or 12 inch round sheet of coconut.  

Bake 45 minutes to an hour or until coconut is dried.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack.  Break apart with your hands and save aside some nice pieces to garnish your custard with and adding mangoes if you like .  The remaining crisps will store nicely in a glass jar to be used for crushing over yogurt or ice cream or just plane snacking. Enjoy!

 

 

Perfect Brownies

  Fudgy, cakey everyone has their own idea of what a brownie should be.  My idea of a perfect brownie is a little of both.  The perfect brownie must be rich with chocolate, this recipe uses unsweetened and bittersweet chocolates as well as cocoa, after all, it really needs to pack a chocolate punch.  Butter and eggs to give it a moistness, not quite fudge like but not cake like either and espresso powder to add a little sophistication.  What you end up with is fudgy cakey perfection!

We've had a bit of a set back in the weather pattern in Maine these last couple days.  Cold, rainy and gray. 

 I didn't think I'd be lighting the fire in June but here I go again.  

 I was going to do another rhubarb recipe today but because of the sudden cold change in the weather, I've decided chocolate was in order.  This Perfect Brownie recipe will have me feeling warm and right again, before the sun finally makes it's appearance.

Ingredients

From Standard Baking Co. Pastries

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/3 cups (2 2/3 sticks) butter

7 squares (7 ounces) of unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup bittersweet (dark, not semi-sweet) chocolate chips

5 large eggs, room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F  grease a 9X13 pan with butter

Makes 15 squares

1.  In a medium bowl sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder and sea salt.

2.  In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, on low heat, melt the unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and the butter, stir to combine set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs.  Add the sugar and vanilla stirring with a whisk just to combine.  Do not over mix.

4.  Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and combine with a spatula, now add the flour mixture and fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined, again, do not over mix.

5.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spread with a spatula and place in the middle of the preheated oven to bake for 35-40 minutes.  After 20 minutes, rotate pan and bake until brownies are set.  When tested, toothpick will have moist crumbs.

6.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely, before cutting.  Enjoy!

 

Little Rhubarb Custard Tarts

My rhubarb is finely up and ready to be picked.  I've had something in mind to make with it but couldn't find a recipe to satisfy my vision.  I came up with this recipe using a combination of two fillings from two different recipes.  I'd hoped for a layered effect inside the crust but alas, what I ended up with was a fusion of vanilla custard and sweetened rhubarb uncased in a tender flaky crust.  The result, not the layered look I was going for but the taste, is truly divine!  The recipe makes 12  3 inch tarts using a medium sized muffin pan.  I cut the recipe in 1/2 to bake for my husband and myself...now I wish I hadn't.

 Ingredients

Makes 12 3 inch tarts

For the Rhubarb filling...
1 cup of diced fresh rhubarb
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted

For the custard filling...
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 large egg yolk, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the dough...
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cold cut into 1/2 inch dice
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup milk

Egg wash...
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk

Rhubarb filling...
1.  Combine the rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Set aside for 30 minutes to allow juices to emerge. 

 2.  On medium heat, cook the rhubarb, stirring with a wooden spoon until it begins to soften.  Add the cornstarch and quickly stir it into the rhubarb.  Continue to stir and cook until thickened.  Remove from heat and pour in a small bowl, set aside to cool.

Custard filling...
1.  In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan, whisk together cornstarch and sugar.  Gradually whisk in milk.  Add the butter.  Place on medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened.  Temper the beaten egg yolk with a little of the hot custard stirring as you pour.  Combine the remaining custard to the tempered egg and stir well.  Add the vanilla.  Set aside and allow to cool.

The dough...
1.  In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar baking powder, salt, lemon zest and butter bits.  With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles course crumbs.

2.  Add the milk to the flour mixture and mix together with a fork until the dough starts to come together.  With your hands gather together the dough and form it into a ball, flatten it into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To assemble and bake the tarts...
1.  Divide the dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured work surface, into an 11 inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick.  Using a 3 inch fluted cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and press them centered into the bottoms and up the sides of the muffin pan, rolling the scraps and cutting and filling all 12 sections.

2.  Spoon a small amount of rhubarb filling in the bottom of each shell, just covering the bottom, then with a clean spoon, spoon the custard filling over the top of the rhubarb being careful to fill just below the rim of the shell.

3.  Roll the second half of dough out as before and cut 12 pieces of dough with the 3 inch cutter.  Using a pastry brush, one circle at a time, brush egg wash on the back side of of the edge of the circle and place the egg wash side down onto the tart and press the edges together carefully.  Egg wash the tops of each tart.  Refrigerate the tarts for 30 minutes.

4.  10 minutes before the tarts are ready to come out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 425° F.  When the oven is ready, transfer the tarts to the oven and bake for 6 minutes.  Turn the pan and bake another 6 minutes or until a golden brown.  Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack to cool completely.  When completely cooled, run a small sharp knife around the tart shell between the shell and the pan to loosen the tarts.  Enjoy!  

 

Butterscotch Meringue Pie

This old fashioned Butterscotch Meringue Pie is made with a meringue topping and filled with a delicious homemade brown sugar and butter pudding.  It sits on top of a flaky spicy crust.  This easy to make pie will easily become a favorite with your family.

Ingredients

For the crust...

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) very cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch butter bits

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

4-6 tablespoons ice water

For the filling...

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg yolks slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the meringue topping...

4 egg whites

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.  To make the crust, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Mix to combine.  Add the butter bits and with a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

2.  Add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix with a fork until dough comes together when pressed into a ball.  Flatten the dough ball into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap then refrigerate for 20 minutes.

3.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Remove dough from refrigerator and unwrap.  Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a 12 inch circle.

Center the dough over a 9 inch pie plate.  Turn under the edges and crimp as desired.

Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork.  Place a piece of parchment paper over the crust and fill with pie weights.  If you don't have pie weights you can use dried beans, filling the bottom and up the sides.  You can also use a second pie plate that nestles inside the pie shell over the parchment paper.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and carefully remove the weights and parchment paper.  Continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown. 

4.  To make the filling, in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, blend together the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  Stir the milk and heavy cream into the egg yolks and add to the dry ingredients whisking until smooth.  Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.  As the mixture thickens it will get lumpy, just continue to stir until smooth.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla.  Stir well to combine.  Cool slightly, then turn out into your baked pie crust.

5.  To make the meringue, combine meringue ingredients in a mixing bowl and with a whisk attachment whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Gently spread meringue over filling right to the crust edge, sealing in the filling.  Feel free to swirl and make meringue points with your spatula.   Bake in the oven for about 15 minute until meringue is golden brown.   Allow pie to cool completely on a wire rack until filling has set before serving.  Refrigerate leftovers.  Enjoy!

 

 

Rustic Apple Tart

I put this together today for my husband, he's been hinting for a pie and I've been wanting to make a tart, so I compromised... he's getting a tart.  This is a lovely tart, very simple to make, it consists of a Pasta Frolla, a basic pastry dough of Italian baking.  The dough is lightly sweet and has a tang of lemon.  The filling is simple, thinly sliced apples with a touch of sugar and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Serve it with a dollop of whipped sweet cream or serve warm with a little vanilla ice cream.  Of course, this beauty will naturally stand well enough on it's own!

 

 Ingredients 

Makes 1- 10 inch tart

For the pastry crust...

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

5 ounces (1 stick plus 2 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut in cubes

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 egg, beaten for brushing on top of crust

For the filling...

2 large apples, I used Cameo apples 

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

a few gratings of nutmeg, or a pinch of ground nutmeg

a few slivers of cold butter

apricot preserves for glazing

1.  To make the pastry crust, in the bowl of a food processor, add flour, cold butter, lemon peel, sugar and salt.  Process by pulsing until flour looks like course meal.

 2.  Add the egg and lemon juice and pulse until dough comes together.

3.  Gather together the dough and form into a disk, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

4.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap.  Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work table.  Roll the dough to approximately an 11 inch round circle.  Using a 10 inch removable tart pan disk, center the disk over the pastry round, and cut away the excess dough.  Carefully place the dough on top of the disk and place on a parchment lined baking pan.  Brush beaten egg over the entire top of the crust.  Set aside.

 5.  Cut the unpeeled apples into quarters and cut out the core.  Slice each quarter into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.  

6.  Place apple slices around the outer edge of the pastry, about a 1/4 inch in from the edge, overlapping the slices slightly.  Fill in the center in a circle, overlapping slices until center is filled.  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of lemon juice over the apples.  Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over apples.  Fresh grate nutmeg over top to taste, or sprinkle a pinch of ground nutmeg over the top.  Place slivers of butter here and there over the top.

7.  Bake for 20 minutes, turn the pan and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are dark golden brown.  Heat 3 tablespoons of apricot jam in the microwave for 20 seconds, just to soften and brush over the entire top of the tart, covering all the apple slices, to give it a nice glisten. Let tart cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan, then with the help of a spatula, slide onto a serving dish.  Enjoy!
 

 


 

 

Apple and Oatmeal Cake for St. Patricks Day

Growing up in a French/Italian family, St. Patrick's day was never really celebrated as a big feast day for us, however my Mom did put together a pretty decent boiled dinner for the occasion.  While raising my own family, that corned beef and cabbage tradition continued.  As I became more adept at cooking and trying new dishes, finding traditional meals to cook for my family from different parts of the world was really fun!  Our St. Patrick's day meal really needed an update, so for the past several years finding really good and interesting dishes such as this Apple and Oatmeal cake, was a very happy find indeed.  This is a very moist cake made with layers of cooked apples and oatmeal.  Very little sugar is used and a hint of lemon peel and cinnamon is added.  It's a pretty little cake, that I baked in a 6 inch X 3 inch pan, it gives this cake a nice height.  It can be served alone with a light dusting of powdered sugar on top or with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.  Either way, a fine cake deserving of a wonderful ending to a St. Patrick's day meal or any meal for that matter!

Ingredients

 

Recipe from Theodora Fitzgibbons "Irish Traditional Food"

1 lb. cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped coarsley

2 rounded tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 rounded tablespoon of raisins

1 stick (4 oz.) butter

1 rounded tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon golden syrup or honey

10 oz. old fashioned oatmeal

finely grated peel of 1/2 a lemon

2 large eggs, beaten

powdered sugar, optional  

6 inch spring form pan or a 6X3 inch cake pan, lined bottom and sides with parchment paper and sprayed with pan spray.

preheat oven to 375° F.

1.  Combine apple chunks with the sugar and cinnamon and cook on medium heat until soft and all water is evaporated.  You may have to mash cooked apples with a fork depending on what kind of apples you use.  A dry slightly chunky puree is what you want.  Add the raisins to the cooked apples and allow to cool.

 

2.  Melt the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup or honey in a saucepan.  Remove from heat.

3.  Combine the oatmeal and lemon peel in a bowl.  Add the melted butter mixture and the beaten eggs, combine well with a spoon.  Divide this mixture up evenly in three separate bowls.

4.  Press 1/3 of the oatmeal mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Spoon 1/2 the apple mixture over the oatmeal layer and spread evenly.  Cover the next 1/3 of oatmeal over the apple layer and press evenly and repeat with the rest of the apple then oatmeal.  Pressing the final layer of oatmeal gently but evenly over the top.

5.  Bake in preheated 375° oven for 30 minutes or until a light golden color on top.  Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack.  Flip cake out on a plate, remove parchment paper and place your serving plate over the top and carefully flip again.  Center cake on your plate and sift a little powdered sugar over the top if desired.  Enjoy!