dessert

Coconut Tart with Spicy Gingersnap Crust

July 13, 2018 by Erin Leave a Comment

I needed a break from pie. Isn’t that awful? Who says that?

Every year for Father’s Day I make my dad a fruit pie. This year, I couldn’t get motivated to do it. I didn’t feel driven or inspired by any of my usual fruit pie variations. And actually, I hadn’t felt really inspired to bake much since we moved into our new house.

Did I mention that we bought a new house?

We’ve spent the last year unpacking, discussing color options, designing our gardens and sitting by our woodstove. A friend wisely said we would be nesting for a while, but didn’t expect settling into our new space to pull energy away from our other interests too. I guess it did.

Meanwhile, this all started to worry me. Was I giving up on baking? Who am I? What am I interested in now? What do I do next? Should I get rid of my cookbook collection? Is it my interests that define me or something more complicated? The internal angst was intense and I was having crazy thoughts! Get rid of my cookbook collection? What?

Never fear dear reader, I got my groove back. I was buying fresh local strawberries planning on slogging through a double crust strawberry something-something and then all of a sudden I had my plan. My plan! Inspiration was back! I had had a mini tart a week or so ago at another bakery. It had a cookie crust, vanilla pastry cream and away strawberries doused in powdered sugar. I wanted to make a version of that tart but make it better. And incorporate some of my dad’s favorite flavors.

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Apple Pie with Cheddar Buttermilk Crust

November 16, 2016 by Erin Leave a Comment

*Many of us need a little extra comfort in our lives right now. I know I do. I wrote this post before the election. Before most of us woke up to confusion and extreme disappointment.

I believe in the healing powers of making something good for the people you love. It is important that we all keep our spirits up so we can continue to fight for what is right. For me, making a pie for the ones I love is just the right medicine. The best thing we can do right now is to be the antithesis to hate. Share a meal with your neighbors. Reach out. Help someone. We have so much work to do, but first, let’s share a slice of pie.

So, we went apple picking. When I say apple picking, I mean APPLE PICKING. Between Evan, I and our two bags, we picked 90 pounds of apples! And it was awesome! It was a perfect afternoon. We went for a quick hike, stopped for BBQ and on the way home visited a pick-your-own orchard. We romped with our dog to the farthest end of the orchard and picked our way back to the farmstand. It didn’t take very long until we were both gleeful and tired hauling our bags. We left feeling strong (I carried a 46-pound bag of apples uphill!) and dreaming of all the things we could make.

Did I temporarily forget I work for a produce company? Yes. Does this amount of apples we picked for the two of us make is prepsteaders? Possibly? It is now four weeks later I still have a lot of apples.

There have been many apple projects happening at our house. Our kitchen smells pleasantly of apples all the time. I have chipped away at our supply with pies and crisps. Honestly, we are not complaining….

Vermont Rhubarb Tart

August 27, 2016 by Erin Leave a Comment

Visiting our friends in Vermont always includes an unusual and surprising adventure. I don’t know if it is something about the Green Mountains or the high cow-to-person ratio, but all of my Vermont friends are crazy in only the best ways. We have visited abandoned ski mountains to swing on ski lifts in the summer, slid down snowy ski jumps on our rear-ends in the dark on New Year’s Eve, checked out many secret swimming spots, visited cool farmers, farms, breweries, and bakeries. Most recently we dug random rhubarb plants from the ground with our bare hands. I can’t tell you how happy this last adventure made me!

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Buttermilk Pie Dough

April 16, 2016 by Erin 1 Comment

I love making pie, I really do. I would make pies more often at home if Evan and I didn’t eat every last crumb. Savory or sweet, there is little we can do to resist pie at every meal.

Making pie is easy as well, you know, pie. If you have a good recipe and a little experience in the kitchen you won’t have any problems. Pie baking experience is something I have in droves! I have been making pies for a really long time both at home and at work. I have learned a ton in the years I have spent mixing, rolling and baking thousands of golden buttery pies. Last Thanksgiving we made over 700 pies at the bakery. When we were finished making everyone else’s pies, I came home to try five new recipes to bring to our family celebrations. Yup. I get a little pie crazy around the holidays.

The most perfect pie crusts are both flaky and tender. Doughs made with butter, if handled well, will be flaky. And doughs made with shortening will be tender. Personally, I feel the flavor of butter outshines the flavor of shortening any day. Up until developing this recipe I sacrificed guaranteed tenderness for a flaky crust with lots of rich buttery flavor. So, how do we get a buttery crust that is both flaky and tender without using shortening?

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Chocolate Chai Crème Brûlée

March 21, 2016 by Erin Leave a Comment

A few summers ago I spent a glorious weekend hanging out with my girlfriends. We all brought something to eat or drink. I was asked to bring dessert – something chocolaty. I spent a good deal of time agonizing over what to bring. My friends are pretty amazing, and I couldn’t bring just any dessert. The best of the best was the only option, and Chocolate Chai Crème Brûlée fit the bill marvelously.

The texture of this crème brûlée is my idea of heaven. It is richly thick and silken. My friends enjoyed this crème brûlée so much. We nearly couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day. These pots of custard were just as good with morning coffee as with red wine the night before.

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Cranberry Apple Frangipane Galette

March 20, 2016 by Erin Leave a Comment

This fall our neighborhood newspaper requested a recipe for their December issue. I figured a simple tart would be perfect for the upcoming busy holiday season. And bonus! This season’s apple crop was off the hook! I was already putting apples in everything. A simple apple galette would be tasty and easy.

Fruit galettes are one of my favorite quick desserts. Galettes, crostatas and free-form tarts are essentially the same. Not quite a pie and not as fussy as a full-fledged tart. They are the dress-pant/yoga-pant of the dessert world. Totally comfortable, yet still appropriate to be seen in public. I wanted my tart to have a little something extra. Imagine soft, lightly sweetened, almond frangipane offset by apples and tart cranberries cradled in buttery flaky pastry. Sounds dreamy, right? You can totally make this!

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