Once you have mastered the art of making pie crust, galette is the next thing to try! It’s SO SIMPLE. All you need is fresh sliced fruit (with the peel left on, after all that’s where the nutrition is), some apricot preserves, egg wash, a sprinkle of sugar, and your done! It looks very impressive, and you don’t need to tell anyone how much easier it is than pie!

For the dough, I always use smitten kitchen’s “all butter, really flaky pie dough”. For this application I scaled the recipe down using….

1.5 cups plus a heaping 1/4 cup of white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1.5sticks (6 ounces, 12 tablespoons or 3/4 cup) butter, very cold

The pear galette recipe came from here: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pear-galette/

I used four kinds of pears… some soft and some crunchy, to add some texture. I also added a sprinkling of cinnamon to enhance the flavor.

Overall, it was a hit across the board! I made it twice and it’s definitely one of those yummy treats that you can’t get enough of. Not too sweet, light, simple, but somehow much better than the sum of it’s parts. A great winter dessert that is pretty much guaranteed to please even the pickiest palate.

Pear Galette!!

For me, whoopie pies were one of those things I never ate growing up, and it wasn’t until recently I found out that many people have very fond memories of these fantastic cookie/cake treats. Here in Utah, people call them homemade Oreo’s (so whatever floats your boat).

In any case, they are pretty simple to make, just use parchment paper, or a silpat to ease removal of the cookie from your pan. Using a scooper helps to keep shape and size uniform, but you can make it work with a spoon. Also, feel free to make them as big or small as you like! If your a special baker like me, half of your cookies will be round and the other half a bit more flat… more on that later.

Chocolate Cookie/Cake (adapted for 6500ft from Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and others)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk (mine needed more milk, so use those judgment skills!)

1. Set oven to 375 degrees and line your baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper (NOT WAX PAPER!!)
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl or in a stand mixer beat butter, shortening and sugar on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes.
4. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat for two more minutes.
5. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
6. Using a scooper or spoon drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.
7. Remove from oven and cool, meanwhile, make the filling!

The cakes on the bottom of my oven turned out perfectly rounded, while the ones on the top ended up a bit more flat. If you have the time to bake in two batches, I would recommend doing that, for consistency in the rise.

Classic White Filling (adpated from Vonieta Stogner)

1 egg white
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup shortening (non-hydrogenated)
1/4 cup butter
pinch of salt

1. Beat egg white to soft peaks
2. Add in the milk, vanilla and 1 cup confectioners sugar and mix well
   
3. Add in the shortening, butter, and the remaining cup of confectioners sugar
   
4. Beat until light and fluffy

To assemble, you can use a pastry bag to pipe filling into the center, and then press down to make the cookie, or you can use a knife to spread the filling on. Either way, you’ll end up with a treat that impresses people and is hard to resist!!

Apple Pie Cupcakes!!! These all started last fall when I found a recipe here: http://annies-eats.net/2008/09/26/apple-pie-cupcakes/ and decided I wanted to vegan-ize it!! Making them this fall proved to be well worth it: everyone loves these!!

Vegan Apple Pie Cupcakes!!

cakes (makes 12) from Chef Chloe

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda (for high altitude, use more if at sea level)

½ heaping teaspoon salt

1 cup non-dairy milk (coconut, rice, soy) or water

½ cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
 
Fill cupcake liners about two-thirds full with batter. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes at 350, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely before filling and frosting.

apples – over low-medium heat, cook all ingredients together until apples are tender. Let cool before trying to fill the cakes

2 tbsp. coconut oil

2 tsp. cinnamon, I like to add ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves as well

2 tbsp. sugar

2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced small

frosting - Beat coconut oil and sugar (and spices) until crumbly. With the mixer running on low, add vanilla, and 1tablespoon non-dairy milk at a time, as needed, until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. You may not need to use all, or may need more of the nondairy milk. Beat on high for 2 more minutes until fluffy.

1/4 cup refined coconut oil  (or unrefined but it MUST be solid at room temp.)

2-3 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract [I like to add a pinch of salt & spices (same used for apples)]

2-5 tbsp. non-dairy milk (this varies depending on the weather)

Assembly:

When the cakes are cool, cut small cone shaped holes in the top. You could throw them away, or save them to eat later. The choice is obvious to me. Fill the holes with the apples, and then cover them with frosting. The best way to this is with a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off. Spreading the frosting with a knife over the apples is possible, but a little trickier… and you’re done!

If you ever get your hands on some fresh unconventional strawberries, do yourself a favor and buy them! Small, bright red, and so full of that strawberry flavor. They are in a whole other league when compared with the white behemoths that grocery store strawberries are these days.

This is Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Summer Cake. Simple. Easy. Better than the sum of it’s parts. For my first try, instead of using barley flour, I used almond flour (aka almond meal). Ultimately, I used 1.25 cups all purpose flour (high altitude alteration) and .5 cup of almond flour. It came out ultra fluffy with a subtle nutty sweetness that was just divine with the luscious gems that the strawberries are. I’ve already had two pieces for dessert and I can’t wait to eat more for breakfast!!

Three Berry Pie: Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry

An original recipe! 

Start with 2 unbaked pie crusts- I make my own thanks to smitten kitchen, though store-bought works great too

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Combine the berries with a 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and let stand over a sieve for a half hour to drain some of the liquid.
   
2. Combine the sugar and berries with the remaining ingredients minus the crust. Stir to evenly mix. Using an 11 inch pie plate, arrange your pie dough on the plate and spoon in the filling.
3. Place the second crust over and crimp edges. Make sure to cut a vent into the dough or use a pie bird. You can also do a lattice-top pie (pictured).
   
4. Feel free to brush the top of the pie with a mix of one egg yolk and a teaspoon of water, which makes for a lovely golden brown crust (I didn’t do that for these photos, but have in the past).
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 and then bake at 350 for another 40-50 minutes. Remove when crust is golden brown.

SPRING! I realize it is nearly summer, but this time of year is more like spring for plants in Park City. I was ECSTATIC to find my first baby tomato! I’ll be honest: my gardening methods are part method and part me making up the method. So we’ll see how that goes…

The asparagus used was not home grown, but this soup is divine! It was the second time I made it… and both times I thought it would be a light springtime soup, but watch out!! It packs a fullness PUNCH. I think it’s the egg and all that fiber….click here to try it! I garnished it with spicy globe basil but that is certainly not necessary- a drizzle of olive oil would work too.

YAY for warm weather!!

Vanilla-Orange Cake filled with Fresh Strawberry Sauce and topped with Salted Chocolate-Orange Frosting = Elegant Vegan Deliciousness

Goat Cheese and Leek Tart

This is an absolutely amazing dish. I think this is perhaps the 100th time I’ve made it… yes it’s THAT good. It’s amazing. It’s perfect. It’s….. just MAKE IT!! It’s worth your time and effort, I promise. You can eat it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or as a snack! The confit leeks are irresistible, so don’t try them unless you want to start eating them by the spoonful.

I normally make this with the dough listed in the recipe or use my go-to all-butter pie crust recipe, but tonight I decided to try David Lebovitz’s French Tart Dough from Paule Caillat omitting the sugar for this savory application (a grocery store refrigerated pie dough would work too, so use that if that’s what you need to make this absolutely seductive tart).

Tart Shell (adapted from David Lebovitz and Paule Caillat)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 slightly-rounded cup of flour

Preheat oven to 410 F

In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, and salt

Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges

Remove the bowl from oven and add the flour, stirring quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl

Transfer to a 9-inch tart mold and let it cool off for a sec (I used an 11” - it was awesome!)

When you can touch the dough, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough for patching any cracks after it bakes.

Prick the dough all over with a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven for 15 minutes until golden

Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved dough to fill them in. Set it aside to cool and begin the filling

When I baked it before filling, it looked very questionable. It had tons of cracks and looked as though it would crumble to pieces as soon as I might try to take it out of the tart pan. After filling and baking though… it turned out to be a lovely crust!! Flaky and not tough, buttery, salty… delish. Lebovitz recommends trying it if your wary of tart shells, and I do too.

Filling (adapted from Bon Appetit)

1 cup half and half

2 large eggs 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder, thyme, and parsley

3.5 oz crumbled goat cheese   

1 1/2 cups Leek Confit *

Go here for leek confit recipe

Preheat oven to 375

Whisk half and half, eggs, salt, and spices in medium bowl to blend

Sprinkle half of the cheese on the bottom of the crust

Spread leek confit over and sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese

Pour egg mixture over and bake until filling has puffed, is golden in spots, and center looks set, 35 to 40 minutes

Cool slightly and remove the tart from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature

*Make the leek confit and serve it with crostini if you want to try it without going all in with the tart… seriously. I’m pretty sure it has healing powers