Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Fall Back Position

Daylight Savings time is wreaking havoc around here. While I get decent light in my house, there are only a few areas that work for food photography. I spent most of last winter repeating "I need a light box" over and over but of course then we sprung forward and I forgot all about it. Now that we've fallen back again, and I'm working 2 jobs, daytime photo ops have grown scarce Luckily this weekend I had a free afternoon to sneak in a November TWD, Cran-Apple Crisp.
I've never met a fruit crisp or crumble I didn't like and this one was no exception. This recipe is short on work (and dirty dishes), big on deliciousness and halved perfectly to yield 4 small servings in my ramekins. I omitted the dried fruit, reduced the sugar and substituted whole wheat flour for AP because I would be topping them with a scoop of David Lebovitz's outrageously good Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Cran-Apple Crisp is so good it's a serious contender for Thanksgiving. Or Veteran's Day, Sunday night dessert, perhaps tomorrow's breakfast...don't judge.

Cinnamon Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop
1 cup 2% or low fat milk
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks

Warm milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks and salt in a medium saucepan then remove from heat, cover and steep one hour.
Pour cream into a large bowl and set aside. Warm up milk again then strain out cinnamon sticks. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs together and slowly pour warm milk into eggs whisking constantly, then pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan. Stir constantly with a spatula over medium heat until it is thickened and coats the back of the spatula. Strain the custard into the bowl of cream and stir until cool over an ice bath. Refrigerate.
When custard is thoroughly chilled, freeze it in your ice cream maker.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Trick or Treat

Run out of candy? How about chocolate cupcakes with pumpkin buttercream?
Happy Halloween!
Recipe found here and here.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Duncan Who?


Having recently realized the relative ease and super awesomeness of homemade brownies over boxed, I figured I had fancy brownies down pat. Then this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte, tapped me on the shoulder. Hello, what's this? Dense dark chocolate brownie, with chunks of chocolate, and tart dried cherries flambe-ed in booze, topped off with a silky mascarpone mousse...yeah I'd be lying if I said that little red box wasn't looking pretty good right about then. But hey, I've come too far to be afeared of a little hoity toity brownie recipe.
Admittedly, I did not flambe- don't think I'm ready for open flame just yet. I did cook down some tart cherries with Kirsch and cherry preserves, briskly yet gently fold dry ingredients into wet, and mixed up a darn smooth mousse. I even tried my hand at some chevrons.


My verdict on the Cherry Fudge Brownie Torte? Nailed it!
Sorry Mr. Hines, your services are no longer required.
Thanks April for this week's great pick. For more on this and other TWD fun, check out the blogroll.