Tag Archives: fruit

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Lime-Basil-Gin Ice Pops

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The weather has been perfectly mild here–warm, sunny days and chilly mornings. As I type this, I’m drinking my first cup of hot tea in days…and it is wonderful.

BUT! Summer is not over, folks, and I have a few more ice pop recipes to share before it’s time to welcome autumn en force with all of it’s apple, pumpkin, and spiced bounty. These  pops are a far cry from the comforting warmth of fall–they are tart and herbal with a hint of booze. Icy and fresh, they are a grown-up version of lime-ade. You may have noticed, I’m a bit of a fan of herbal syrups, and this one is no exception. I love the way the basil plays with the juniper-woodsiness of the gin, while the lime brings some brightness to the party, and sweet sugar softens the edge of the other ingredients and makes these pops a real treat.

Lime-Basil-Gin Ice Pops

These pops are quite lime-y, if they are too tart and strong, reduce the lime juice or add more sugar/water to taste. Feel free to leave out to booze–or replace it with fruit juice–to make these pops friendly for everyone.

3 cups water, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

tiny pinch of salt

1/3 cup gin

In a small saucepan heat 1/2 cup pf the water with the sugar–heat to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil, stir in torn basil leaves and remove from heat. Let steep 10-15 minutes, strain out basil leaves and set syrup aside to cool.

Stir together remaining water, syrup, lime juice, salt, and gin until well combined. Divide between ice pop molds, freeze for 45 minutes, insert sticks, continue to freeze until solid–at least 12 hours (due to the alcohol).

 

 

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Coconut Crumble w/ Summer Fruit & Vanilla Ice Cream

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Even though I complain about the heat and humidity for the entire summer–I’m a fun housemate–there are still times that I HAVE TO turn on the oven. If I didn’t, there wouldn’t be pies and crumbles made with the bounty of summertime fruit that I just can’t resist buying.

While pies take a touch more time and care, and though they are always worth the effort, a crumble is an easy, laid back reminder that summer baking can be done without much fuss and with ingredients that are often already on hand. You can really use any fruit you like for the filling and the topping can take any number of mix-ins, or can be kept simple with just flour, sugar, salt, and butter. I love a crumble topping with lots of texture and this one delivers with chewy oats and toasty coconut. The warm richness of the topping pairs so nicely with the off-tart flavors of plum, raspberries, and blueberries.

Coconut Crumble w/ Summer Fruit

Feel free to use any mixture of fruit, I had about 4 1/2 cups and only sweetened it lightly, as the topping and ice cream are both a sweet compliment to the tartness of the fruit. 

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

6 Tablespoons butter, cubed

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and work butter into the mixture with fingertips until you have coarse crumbs–some sandy bits and some that stick together in chunks. Set in refrigerator while you assemble the filling.

2 plums, seeded and sliced

8 ounces raspberries, rinsed and dried

12 ounces blueberries, rinsed and dried

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 375*F.

Combine all ingredients for the filling in a large bowl. Toss gently to combine. Scrape the fruit mixture into a 8-inch pie dish and top with refrigerated crumble. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is golden and the juices are bubbling.

Vanilla Ice Cream

adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

If you don’t have a vanilla bean, use 2-3 teaspoons of extract. 

2 cups milk

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 Tablespoons (1/5oz) cream cheese, soft

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch, set slurry aside. Set the cream cheese in a large bowl with a mesh strainer over the top. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat remaining milk with the cream and vanilla beans + pod. Heat to a simmer, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk mixture and add sugar, corn syrup, and salt,  reheat to a low boil. Quickly whisk in the cornstarch slurry and continue to boil, whisking, until thickened. Whisk a ladleful of the hot mixture into the cream cheese, before straining the remaining hot mixture into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine. Prepare an ice bath and pour the hot ice cream base into a large plastic bag. Chill bag in ice bath until cooled and process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

 

 

 

 

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Recipe: Blueberry Hand Pies

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It’s been a fickle few days in my kitchen. I just can’t decide what to make/bake and when I finally land on something, I get too crazy with it. There were exploding pies, bits of yolk in custard, and tough crust. Le sigh. But! It ended well, my brain stopped being crazy and I went with a classic, in a smaller, hand-hold-able package.

These pies have a flaky, tender, buttery crust, and a syrupy, lightly spiced, blueberry filling. I opted to make these into little hand pies since I never seem to be able to slice a whole pie with any luck…and, individual pies are fun. You get yours, I get mine, and maybe we split another? Instead of the standard whipped cream, I softened a few ounces of goat cheese, mixed with a little honey, and folded it into unsweetened whipped cream. The goat cheese cream has a delicate flavor–slight tang, lush creaminess, sweet honey–it’s really good and pairs so nicely with the jammy pies.

Blueberry Hand Pies

Makes about 16 round, double crust, hand pies. 

Crust from Martha Stewart

for the crust I used White Lily brand, a soft wheat flour, if you don’t have it in your area All-Purpose is totally fine. I have made many crusts using All-Purpose flour with excellent results. 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 sticks (8ounces) unsalted butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

egg wash and cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Filling:

1 pint blueberries, rinsed

juice of 1/2 lemon

4-6 tablespoons vanilla sugar OR plain sugar plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 scant tablespoon cornstarch

a tiny pinch of cinnamon

Goat Cheese Cream:

2 ounces very soft goat cheese

2 teaspoons honey

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

for the crust:

Cut butter into cubes and freeze while you gather the remaining ingredients.

Fill a glass measurer with a few ice cubes and 1/2 cup water.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fngers or pastry blender, blend cold butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs–leaving some pea-sized chunks of butter in the mix. A few tablespoons at a time, begin incorporating the ice water–how much depends on how humid it is where you live–just until the crumbs begin to come together when pressed. Turn out dough, knead 1 or 2 times just to combine, divide dough, press into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.

for filling and baking:

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Make an egg wash with 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk. Make cinnamon sugar, combining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Set both aside.

In a large bowl, combine blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Toss to combine.

On a clean, smooth surface dusted with flour, roll out 1 disc of dough at a time, keeping the other in the refrigerator, to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut rounds of dough using a biscuit cutter–try to get an even number as each pie will require a top and bottom crust. Spoon a small amount of filling into the center of a crust round, brush the edges with egg wash, top with another round, crimp the edges with a fork, brush the top with more wash, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and cut a vent in the top–repeat with remaining dough and filling and place on baking sheet with about 1 inch of space between each pie. Bake for 20 minutes until the bottoms and tops are golden brown, cool on a wire rack.

**Note: I like to keep one baking sheet of pies in the freezer while the other bakes. This ensures maximum crust-flaking.

for goat cheese cream:

In large bowl, whip cream to medium peaks. In another bowl, mix goat cheese with honey until combined. Mix in about 1/4 of the whipped cream, to lighten the consistency of the cheese. Fold in the remaining cream. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with warm or room temperature pies.

 

 

 

 

 

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Raspberry Cornmeal Crumble Bars

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It really feels like spring has sprung around here. We’re having lots of sun with a little chill in the air, the days are getting longer, flowers are blooming, and it all has me craving berries and dreaming of summer.

Though berries aren’t really at their peak this early, I can’t help but daydream about tart/sweet berries nestled in crisp, textured crumbles. These bars make use of always-at-their-peak frozen berries. The easy crumble acts as both a base and topping, and with the addition of cornmeal and ground almonds, makes for the best sandy texture.

These bars are unassuming at first, but I find myself sneaking a corner here and there, the tartness of the berries next to the pleasant grain of the cornmeal and almonds works some sort of magic that keeps me coming back. I’ve been snacking on these with a cup of tea or coffee, but they are elevated even more served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream–taking these treats from a humble bar into the realm of a real-deal dessert.

Raspberry Cornmeal Crumble Bars

Adapted from Martha Stewart

I added lemon and vanilla to the crumble mixture, these additions aren’t necessary, but play nicely with the tart raspberries. 

3/4 cup natural almonds OR 1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

zest of 1 lemon

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

10 ounces frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on 2 sides.

In a food processor, if using whole almonds, pulse until almonds are finely ground, you should have about 1 cup. In a large bowl rub lemon and vanilla into sugar until fragrant and combined. Whisk in the ground almonds, cornmeal, flour, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and mix until the crumble is evenly moistened. Press about 2/3 of the crumble mixture, evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Scatter raspberries over the top and top with remaining crumble. Bake until the top is golden–about 35-40 minutes. Cool on a rack before cutting.

 

 

 

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Nectarine + Raspberry Hand Pies

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Hey! It’s Pie Party Day!

Through the magics of Twitter, a few bloggers decided we all need not fear pie, that we should all make pies and collectively post them on the internets on July 5th.

Which is today.

Glorious.

Honestly, I L-O-V-E pie. Especially in the summer with all the juicy, fruity, bounty that is available.

I made some hand pies because I love the individual portions and the fact that you can freeze half of the batch for emergency pie needs.

Sometimes a girl has a pie emergency and nothing but a homemade pie will do. Fact.

I like an all butter crust, but I’m certain I’d be okay with a mixture of butter + shortening, or even lard. Some people swear by lard pie crusts and I don’t doubt that they’re probably on to something. It should be said that I almost NEVER feel like my crust is perfect, but in the end it’s always delicious. I have never made an inedible pie crust. Honest. They may come out a little dry, too wet, crumbly, a little overworked, but never inedible. I think you’d be hard pressed to make one that was a complete and utter disaster.

What I am trying to say is that perfect is overrated and you should just get over any pie-fear you may have and make one.

The effort is well worth the reward.

All-Butter Pie Dough

Adapted from Martha Stewart

This recipe makes 1-double crust, 2-single crust, or 10 hand pies.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) COLD butter, cut into cubes

1/2-1/2 cup ice water

Using your food processor, clean fingers, or a pastry blender, cut butter into dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (if you aren’t using a processor), until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Begin to add icy water  a few tablespoons at a time just until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half, pat out into a disc and cover well with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator about 15 minutes before rolling out.

Nectarine + Raspberry Filling

2 ripe nectarines, pitted and sliced

1 1/2 cups raspberries

1/4-1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch or desired thickener

Toss together fruit, sugar, and thickener to coat in a medium bowl. Set aside.

To Assemble:

1 egg

1 tablespoon whole milk

In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. This will be your egg wash for sealing the pies and brushing the tops.

Roll out your dough to about an 1/8 inch thick. Using a round cutter, cut circles of pie dough (or use a knife and make rectangle hand pies), spoon some of the filling into the center of the circle —don’t get too crazy, you still have to fold and crimp here–brush some egg wash around one half of the dough to seal, crimp with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough/filling. Brush tops with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Cut a fe vent into the top of each pie. Place pies on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes while your oven preheats.

In a 375F oven bake pies for about 30 minutes, until golden and juices are bubbling. You may have some leakage from the vent or even the sealed edges. This is okay, it will still be DELICIOUS. Allow pies to cool at least 10 minutes so the bubbling, molten juices don’t burn you and your friends. Devour.

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Heal the Heartland, a Recipe, and a Birthday: American Pie

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The official start of summer is almost here, and I don’t know about you, but I’m  thinking the Northern Hemisphere couldn’t be more ready for that quintessential season of carefree living. This spring the entire world seemed to rock with disaster after disaster. From the earthquake that spurred the devastating tsunami in Japan, to the relentless tornadoes that ripped through the heartland and rising floodwaters that displaced so many.

I recently moved to Michigan and pretty much upon arrival, as I was moving a mattress from our moving van into our new room, tornado sirens sounded. This was my first tornado warning experience and for this West Coast girl, it was a little more than nerve racking. I grew up in California and Nevada, arguably two of the most seismically active states in our nation. Feeling the earth move has been something I am (sort of) accustomed to. A few springs ago in Reno, we had rolling earthquakes, sometimes 10+ a day, every day for the good part of a month. Though it was scary, I knew what to do. It wasn’t new. Watching the sky grow dark and the wind whip into a frenzy, however, was new. It was eerie and I was scared, but the storm ended up passing and aside from some fallen tree limbs in the neighborhood, all was well. Unfortunately, the people in Missouri, Alabama, and all across the heartland could not say the same.

Recently I was contacted by the fine folks at Jedidiah Clothing, a US apparel company with heart. They wanted me to share their mission with you. I said, of course! because really,  their goals are sound:

Jedidiah’s mission is to use apparel sales as a vehicle to provide care, support and financial resources to those in need. Through seasonal partnerships with non-profits, the clothing artistically connects fashion to social causes so everyone can make a measurable difference in the world.

Neat, right? They designed a series of T’s for relief efforts in Japan and have a spring/summer campaign to help the children of Cambodia. When disaster after disaster struck right in our own backyard, they partnered with design firm Bulldog Drummond and the retailer the Buckle, to come up with their “Heal the Heartland” T’s. Each t-shirt costs $20 in their online store with $15 of those dollars going to the American Red Cross. That, I think, is a pretty great contribution.

All this talk of the heartland fills me with nostalgia and a deep sense of Americana. There are few things other than food that really give us a sense of place and home. That being said, there are many foods that strike me as quintessentially American, but I think that pie has got to be my number 1. Pies make me think of summer, small town 4th of July’s, and my family. I remember many a summer day spent picking blackberries so my grandmother would make us a pie. My grandfather adored pie in any incarnation, but didn’t care much for cake or other confections. He found it perfectly acceptable to have pie for any meal of the day, with a heaping scoop of melting vanilla ice cream.

Yesterday I celebrated my 27th birthday. It was quiet and simple. It was the first one without a phone call from my grandfather, the guy who called me “Punkin”, who I adored, and who passed away in December. It was weird and difficult and more than a little devastating. I cried and thought of him. Then, I made a pie and it helped. Cutting butter into flour with my fingertips, adding just enough water, and rolling out a perfectly imperfect disc, cutting fruit, tossing it with sugar and the insides of a vanilla bean, it all helped.

And, later, I had my birthday pie and despite the twinges of sadness, I was happy because I knew he would totally approve…although I think he would tell me to add more sugar :)

Rustic Apricot Pie

This pie is all free form. I didn’t want to bother with a pie plate, so it is what it is. I guess you could call it a galette, or maybe even a crostada, but I’m calling it “rustic.” Whatever you call it, it’s delicious and, well, easy as pie.

I make an all butter crust, a la Martha. Makes 1, generously sized “rustic” pie.

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, chilled

1/4 – 1/2 cup ice water

In a large bowl toss flour, salt, and sugar with cold butter. Using a pastry blender, a food processor, or your clean fingers, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Slowly add water and blend until the dough just comes together. Pat dough into a disc, wrap with plastic, and chill for at least 1 hour.

4-5 cups apricots, pitted and sliced

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup of sugar (or more to taste)

1 vanilla bean, seeded

To make the filling, rub the vanilla bean seeds into the sugar, whisk in starch. You may need more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of your fruit. Toss vanilla sugar with sliced apricots in a large bowl. Allow to sit while the dough continues to chill.

Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

On a flat surface, roll out dough into a large circle. Mound fruit filling in the center and fold up the edges and crimp. At this point, if you’d like, brush the pastry with some heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake pie in the oven for 45-60 minutes. Allow pie to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting, topping with ice cream, and devouring.