Category Archives: Recipes (Sweet)

An Autumn Apple Treat

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A crust to bring tears to your eyes. And a filling with a secret ingredient.

We all know it’s what’s on the inside that really counts.

But boy, what’s on the outside sure can titillate, thrill and work us into a frenzy, too.

Oh, come on. You know I’m right.

Take this “Open-Faced Apple Galette with Quince Paste.”

What attracted me in the first place to this recipe from Flo Braker’s “Baking for All Occasions” (Chronicle Books) was what was inside. After the rectangular galette emerges from the oven with its filling of sliced apples, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and allspice, it cools just until you won’t burn your fingertips. Then, you carefully slip tiny pieces of sweet, deep, rose-colored quince paste between the apple slices.

The quince paste, which you can pick up in the cheese section of any well-stocked grocery store, not only adds color, but a brighter, more complex autumn flavor to this wonderful rustic dessert. I loved the interplay between the sweet-tangy, tender apples (I used Pink Lady ones) and the sticky, gooey sugary quince with its subtle acidic note.

The recipe calls for Golden Delicious, but I used Pink Lady apples.

Yes, I loved the inside. But boy, let me tell you about the outside, too.

It’s a beaut.

Braker, who lives in Palo Alto and has been teaching baking for 35 years, sure knows how to put together a crust.

If there ever was such a thing as a perfect crust, this could be it. It’s very buttery, so crisp it shatters when a fork cuts through it, and so multi-layered flaky that my husband thought it nearly bordered being puff pastry’s more svelte cousin.

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You Won’t Believe How Much Ginger Is In This Scone

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Tender, cakey ginger scones to start your day with.

You all know by now that I have a thing for ginger.

Big time.

So when I spied this recipe for “Ginger Scones” in the Los Angeles Times’ food section last year, it was only a matter of time before I made these lovelies.

They tempted me with their 1 cup of diced crystallized ginger, and their 1/2 pound — yes, you read that correctly — of fresh ginger.

Just how much fresh ginger is that exactly? See that pile below? All of that — yes, indeedie — went into making a mere 10 scones.

A whole lotta lovely ginger.

Don’t let that scare you. It may seem like a lot of ginger, but I promise that your throat will not be ablaze. This is no four-alarm bowl of chili. This is far more nuanced and measured. It’s subtle heat that merely tickles.

The recipe comes from Chef Hans Rockenwagner, who bakes these scones at his Rockenwagner Bakery in Los Angeles and 3 Square Cafe + Bakery in Venice.

The scones bake up crisp on the outside. The interiors are not crumbly like traditional scones, but more tender, moist and cakey in texture. Bite into one, and you get the sugary-tingling hits of candied ginger immediately, followed by a warm, soothing, noticeable yet surprisingly moderated burn of fresh ginger at the every end.

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The Verdict on Mark Bittman’s Faux Ice Cream

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Will this turn into ice cream?

Is it possible to make satisfying ice cream without an ice cream maker, by just using a food processor?

I was curious about that when I spotted the recipe for Ginger Lemon “Ice Cream” in the new cookbook, “Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express” (Simon & Schuster).

If you’re unfamiliar with this new book by the prolific New York Times food writer, it’s quite unusual. Each recipe amounts to just one paragraph total for ingredients and directions. And a lot of times, the exact amounts for the ingredients is not specified. So you have to guess. It’s his way of showing you how to cook faster, easier, and with more flexibility. But how well does this actually work for most home cooks?

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PB&J Cupcakes That Can’t Help But Make You Smile

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A cute little cupcake full of peanut-y goodness.

I’d gladly submit to homework, home-room, cramming for tests, and sweating over finals again if it meant getting to eat my fill of peanut butter and jelly like a kid back in school.

Especially if it meant PB&J in this scrumptious form.

Yes, creamy peanut butter, roasted peanuts, and a smear of sweet, fruity jam all together in one deliriously good cupcake.

“Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting” is from the new “Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes” book (Clarkson Potter) that’s packed with classic and modern takes on these palm-size, individual treats that nobody can resist.

The recipe recommends using natural peanut butter, but I used the huge, econo-size jar of  creamy Jiff from Costco that I already had at home, and the little cakes came out more than fine.

The batter, full of butter, sugar, sour cream, and peanut butter, bakes up with the hidden surprise of chopped, salty peanuts inside.

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All that Jazz (Apples)

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Have a slice. Go on. You can.

Delicate, vibrant berries and juicy, plump stone fruit steal the thunder in summer.

So much so that we almost forget how delightful biting into a crisp, wine-y apple can be.

I was reminded of that when a 40-pound box of Jazz apples arrived with a big clunk on my doorstep as a sample.

Who needs to go to the gym, when wrestling this heavy crate into the house was exercise enough for the ol’ biceps? My neighbors loved me for sharing the wealth. After all, who can resist a sweet-tart apple that squirts juice from the first snappy bite?

Jazz apples are available year-round. A cross between the tart Braeburn and sweet Royal Gala varieties, Jazz apples are grown in New Zealand during our spring and summer, and in Washington state during fall and winter. You can find them in both organic and non-organic versions at Safeway, Whole Foods, Mollie Stone’s, and many other grocery stores.

Jazz apples that make your appetite sing.

I enjoyed many a Jazz apple just out of hand. But I also set some aside to make a most wonderful apple cake. The recipe, “Babette Friedman’s Apple Cake,” was published last year in the New York Times.

It was my friend, Marvin, who first brought this recipe to my attention. As a food writer at the San Jose Mercury News, I used to fondly refer to Marvin as my “Number One Fan in Southern California,” because each and every week, he would go online to read the food section diligently. Invariably, he’d send me an email afterward to let me know how much he enjoyed a particular story. He’d also send me links to other recipes he had tried and loved. A movie buff, who is retired from that Tinsel Town industry, he would send me recommendations for obscure, interesting foreign flicks, as well. And when my parents passed away, it was Marvin who sent me some of the most thoughtful and touching words of comfort.

So when Marvin sent me this apple cake recipe, I knew it as worth trying. Marvin doesn’t like baked goods that are too sweet, especially ones with fruit. Instead, he likes the true flavor of the fruit to shine through.

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