Posts made in October, 2021

• Preheat an oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the three topping ingredients. Set aside.
• In another bowl, combined the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Gradually work in the flour mixture until it’s just combined.
• Use a teaspoon scoop to form small bowls of dough. Roll the dough in the topping spices, one at a time, and place spaced out on the baking sheet.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops are crackled and just set, but not browning. Let them cool at the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a rack to fully cool.
• Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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• Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply generous nonstick spray or butter. Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
• Mix together the eggs, white sugar, vegetable oil, and applesauce. Add the cake flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. Follow up with the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
• Pour batter into the pan and level out. Mix together the two topping ingredients and sprinkle over the cake.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the middle passes the toothpick test. Let cool at room temperature, then store in fridge. Cake will keep for at least 3 days in the fridge, but can also be sliced and frozen for later enjoyment.

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Make the crust:

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and chop until it’s pea-sized. Add the egg and pulse until it comes together; if it doesn’t, add tiny drizzles of water until it does–just make sure the dough ends up cohesive, not wet. Turn out the dough onto a big piece of plastic wrap and compress the dough to form a disc. Wrap it up and chill it in fridge for a few hours, minimum, or a few days.

Make the frangipane:

• Use a rubber spatula to combine the almond flour, sugar, flour, butter, egg, apple brandy, vanilla, pie spice and salt, making it smooth. Stash it in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembling the galette:

• Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Prepare a big cookie sheet with a piece of parchment. Bring out the dough to warm for a few minutes, then lightly flour a surface and roll it out to about a 12-inch round. Move it to the parchment paper.
• Spread the frangipane over the dough, leaving a blank 1 1/2-inch border. Set the baking sheet in the fridge while preparing the apples.

Prepare the apples:

• Peel the apples and slice to 1/4-inch thickness. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice, and pie spice. Add this to the apples, and toss them to coat. Bring out the galette dough. Arrange the apples on the frangipane starting from the middle, spiraling them outward while slightly overlapping them. Fold the blank edge over the apples to form a thin, pleated crust. Brush the beaten egg over the crust, then sprinkle it with coarse sugar.
• Bake galette for 35 to 40 minutes. Apples in middle should be fork-tender when done. Cool for about 30 minutes.

Make the glaze:

• In a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, warm the honey and brandy until it is loose and spreadable. Using a clean pastry brush, brush glaze over the apples.
• Let galette cool another 30 minutes, minimum, before cutting it–a pizza slicer is great for this. The galette is best eaten the day it is made, or promptly frozen in slices to be eaten soon after it thaws.

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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by cutting a piece of parchment to fit the base. Apple nonstick spray to the pan, then add the parchment, and spray it as well. In addition, tear a piece of aluminum foil to cup the bottom of the pan to catch any drips.
• Peel the apples and chop into 1-inch pieces. Toss with lemon juice. Set aside.
• In a big bowl, beat eggs until they are pale and foamy. Add the white sugar, apple brandy, and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the big egg-sugar bowl along with the melted butter. Scrape the bowl as needed, stirring everything until just combined. Don’t expect a huge amount of batter–it’s there to act like delicious glue for all of the apple pieces!
• Reserve 1 heaping cup of the apple chunks. Fold the rest of the apples into the batter, coating them. Dump the mix into the prepared pan and even out with an uneven spatula. Arrange the remaining apples on top, pushing them into the batter and smoothing them out as much as possible.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Add sparkling sugar over the top. Bake another 20 minutes and check on the cake. It is done with apples in middle are tender and a digital thermometer plunged into the center reads at least 200-degrees. If needed, cook longer; if it’s browning too much, cover with foil.
• Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Carefully release the springform ring to let it completely cool for at least an hour; place in fridge to speed the chilling process, if desired.
• Slice into wedges. Enjoy cold, at room temperature, or warmed, with confectioners' sugar sprinkled over the top. Pieces can also be individually wrapped and frozen for later.

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