Snack Series: Chocolate Granola Parfait

Presenting for your visual enjoyment: the Snack Series! These posts will be less along the lines of full-fledged recipes and more along the lines of flavor combinations I’ve been enjoying, links to other people’s recipes, and potentially disjointed rambling about life. If that doesn’t whet your appetite, then maybe this will!

This picture is my endorsement of any and all breakfasts that include yogurt, fruit butter (or jam or preserves), fresh fruit, and homemade granola. I especially recommend using:

•         Homemade Blueberry Butter, as found in this book
•         Chocolate Coconut Granola, as found on this beauty of a site
•         Liberal amounts of the aforementioned ingredients

April is now almost half over, and I have learned two important things this month. The first is that nature is just as keen on April Fool’s pranks as some people are.  On April 1, after a week of relatively balmy spring weather, I walked out to find ice on my windshield. This is the view from the inside: rather pretty, but still unwelcome.

 The second thing I learned is that if you’re going to pan-fry tofu, don’t do it in an iron skillet unless that skillet is really well seasoned (or in other words, non-stick). You know, unless you want your dinner to end up looking like crumbled dry wall. If you do, well, now you know how to achieve it.

Pear Butter

I generally have a hard time with summer ending. The fruit aisle at the grocery store transitions from stands bursting with cherries, berries, and peaches to a pathetic selection of approximately three fruits that are actually good in winter plus a bunch of pale, anemic fruits that are coaxed to survive through the dead of January. The plus side is that the few good winter fruits are very good and very versatile. Pears are one such fruit, and I think they are underappreciated. If you disagree, perhaps this pear butter can persuade you otherwise.

In case you’re new to fruit “butter,” it’s simply fruit that has been cooked and pureed to a thick spread and sweetened. It often has spices added. I like it because it’s more full-bodied and less overwhelmingly sweet than jams and jellies. Also, it’s really easy to make (no pectin required). For this recipe, you pretty much just chop pears into a crockpot, stir it now and then, and then add sugar and a few spices.

This pear butter has just the right amount of sweet and spice. It makes a great addition to morning toast and is fancy enough to give as a gift. If you can bear to part with it, that is.

Fun Fact: Fruits in general are a good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Potassium is a mineral with many vital functions in the human body, including nerve transmission and muscle contraction. Minerals can be lost in cooking water, but they are not destroyed by heat.

Pear Butter

Adapted from Food in Jars by Marisa McClellan
5 cups chopped pears, cored but unpeeled (I used Bosc pears and was very happy with the result, but the recipe doesn’t specify a variety)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

juice of ½ lemon

1 cup sugar, can add more to taste

Place the chopped pears in a crockpot, and cook on low, covered, for 1 hour.

Stir the pears, and prop the lid slightly open by a wooden spoon or other utensil. Continue to cook for about 5-7 hours, stirring the pears every hour. After 4 hours, mash and or blend the pears to the desired consistency. Stir in the spices.

During the last hour of cooking, add lemon juice and sugar to taste. Continue to cook until the mixture is thick and spreadable, and then store in a jar in the refrigerator. Enjoy on toast, fruit, yogurt, etc. Makes about 2½ - 3 cups, depending on how thick you make it.

Caramel Apple Cake

If you like the idea of caramel apples but get overwhelmed by the apples, this is the cake for you. If you like desserts with plenty of butter, sugar, and happiness, this is the cake for you. If you like desserts that typify everything that is good about autumn and life itself, this is the cake for you.

Apple Carnage

This seasonal beauty comes from the King Arthur Flour website, which has yet to lead me astray. There are a few steps involved in the assembly, but none are difficult, and each is well worth it. This cake is moist, intensely apple-flavored, and pleasantly spiced. It’s warm and autumnal and crowd-pleasing.

Deceptively Unattractive

From Drab to Fab 

I must warn you that should you decide to disregard the recipe’s advice to use a deep cake pan, you will have batter and caramel ooze out and burn on your oven floor. I saved myself the second time around by putting a sheet of tin foil underneath the cake while it was baking. To be honest, though, I rather like that it overflows a bit. I’m always left with deeply browned, extra-caramelized bits that I have to cut off to get the cake out of the pan. I took a plate of these crispy-licious bites around my apartment, and my roommates and I devoured them greedily. They make a nice appetizer while you’re waiting for the cake to cool.

Fun Fact: Cake is good for the soul. Also, it increases your levels of friendship, which is definitely health promoting.

Caramel Apple Cake

Not really adapted at all from kingarthurflour.com

Topping:

2 small apples, peeled and sliced between 1/8-1/4 inch thick*

4 Tablespoons butter

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

2 Tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup light corn syrup

Cake:

¾ cup canola oil

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 Tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour**

1 medium apple, peeled and finely chopped

(The original recipe includes ¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, which would definitely cut the sweetness. However, I have a childlike palate and don’t want to cut the sweetness.)

Preheat the oven to 325-350 degrees F. (I have only baked this in Utah, and 350 seemed excessive for my particular oven. I usually preheat to 350 and then turn down to 325 or even a little lower once I put the cake in. Peek at the cake after about 10 minutes to see how quickly it’s browning.) Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan that is at least 2-inches deep (see commentary above). Cut a circle of parchment to line the bottom of the pan, and grease that as well.

To make the topping:

Place the butter through corn syrup in a saucepan, and heat over medium flame, stirring occasionally until the brown sugar is dissolved. It’s okay if it reaches a gentle simmer.

Place the sliced apples in a ring around the bottom of the pan, overlapping each other. Place a few extra slices in the center so it isn’t lonely.

Pour ½ cup of the caramel over the sliced apples, and set the remaining caramel aside.

To make the cake:

Beat the oil, brown sugar, juice concentrate, spices, and salt at medium speed for about 2 minutes. (You can do this by hand easily enough too.) Mix the flour and baking soda together separately, and then stir into the batter a bit at a time. Finally, stir the chopped apples into the cake batter.

Drop the batter in large spoonfuls over the apple topping, and spread smooth. Bake for 50-55 minutes until a fork or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for five minutes in the pan. Then, run a knife around the edge, and invert onto a plate.

Reheat the reserved caramel sauce, and boil for 30-60 seconds to thicken, if desired. Keep in mind that it will thicken as it cools. Pour desired amount of caramel over the cake, letting it drizzle down the sides. I usually have extra caramel, but you could definitely use all if wanted.

*You can really use any variety that you like. I’ve tried both Red Delicious and Fuji.

**I may or may not have accidentally left out ½ cup flour the last time I made this. I admit nothing, except that this cake has been delicious every time. Good thing it’s hard to mess up.

Blueberry Pie

The line “I’m as normal as blueberry pie” in the South Pacific song always struck me as odd because for my first 18 years, I had never even seen blueberry pie let alone tasted it.  I figured since my encounters were so limited, it couldn’t be that normal of a dessert.  And since I don’t generally go out of my way for just “normal” desserts anyway, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.

In the past few months, however, I have been developing a love for pie where once there was only lukewarm appreciation.  So at the height of summer, when blueberries were beautifully abundant, I decided it was time to try this apparent classic.

Now that I have cast off my ignorance and tried the pie, I understand the line of that song completely differently.  It isn’t that blueberry pie is boringly normal, but rather, it should be a normal part of everyday life because it’s too good not to eat regularly.  I have vowed to make the necessary lifestyle changes to make this possible.

I have made this pie with both fresh and frozen blueberries.  The texture of fresh blueberries is a bit more tender and enjoyable, but the flavor of both is phenomenal – sweet and intensely blueberry-ish either way.  This pie has a small amount of cinnamon to add some depth without overwhelming the blueberries, and I like to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to make the flavor brighter.  (It doesn’t make the pie taste like lemon at all, though, in case you’re worried about offending lemon dessert-hating palates.)

The other nice thing about this pie is that it will get eaten so fast that no one will have time to judge your sloppy, asymmetrical lattice top crust….unless you take a picture of it and post it on the internet….

Fun Fact: Blueberries get their blue color from a class of pigments in their skin called anthocyanins. Not only do anthocyanins make pretty colors, but they also have antioxidant effects, meaning they destroy oxidizing agents in the body that can lead to heart disease and cancer. Maybe this will help with all of the butter you’re about to eat in the pie crust.

Blueberry Pie

Crust adapted from smittenkitchen.com

2 sticks (8 oz.) butter, frozen for 15-30 minutes

2½ cups flour, chilled

1 tablespoon sugar

¾ cup ice-cold water

Mix flour and sugar together in mixing bowl.  Using a coarse grater, and working from square side of the stick of butter (you don’t want really long curls), grate both the sticks of butter into the flour/sugar mixture.  Avoid getting large piles of butter by occasionally moving the grater to different spots of the bowl and lightly tossing the already grated butter with the flour from time to time.  Make sure the butter is pretty evenly distributed through the flour – you’re aiming for pieces of butter the size of peas spread throughout. (You can always go with the pastry blender or food processor method if you prefer.)

Pour ½ cup of the cold water into the mixing bowl, and stir to combine.  Add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is moist enough to clump together.  Divide the dough into two balls, then flatten lightly into discs, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.  Makes enough for one double-crust pie.

Blueberry Filling adapted from allrecipes.com

¾ cup granulated sugar

5 tablespoons cornstarch*

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (the cinnamon is more pronounced with ¼ teaspoon, but neither amount is overwhelming)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (frozen weight is about 20 oz.)

1 tablespoon butter, diced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl.  Toss in the blueberries and lemon juice, and stir to combine.  Roll out one of the pie crusts until it is large enough to drape over the sides of a standard 9-inch pie plate.  Roll out the second pie crust, and cut into strips for a lattice, fun shapes to dot the top of the pie, or no shape if you want a standard double-crust pie (just be sure to cut steam vents).  Place the blueberry filling in the first crust, then dot the top with the diced butter.  Place the second crust, however it’s shaped, over the top, and crimp the edges.  Cut away the excess crust – you can bake it separately with cinnamon sugar.

Line the edges of the pie with foil, and bake for about 50 minutes**, until crust is golden brown.  Let the pie cool thoroughly before cutting into it or you’ll have a runny mess like I did.  I like this pie better the second day, after it has chilled in the fridge, but I can never wait that long.

* I have used 4.5 tablespoons both times I made it, and it has been slightly too runny both times.  I like the juiciness of it, though. I’d rather err on the side of juicy than gummy, but feel free to try 6 tablespoons.

** It may take a bit longer with frozen blueberries.

Fresh Ginger Applesauce

If you have never made applesauce before, I highly recommend it.  It’s one of those foods that is exponentially tastier when homemade and isn’t difficult to boot.  I have made applesauce with several varieties of apples, and all were good – if you choose your favorite, you won’t go wrong.

Now that I’ve (hopefully) convinced you to make applesauce, I want to convince you to add fresh ginger.  I no longer remember what inspired the idea (probably leftover ginger languishing in my refrigerator), but it adds depth and interest to what can be an otherwise humdrum food.  It doesn’t smack you over the head with ginger but combines with the cinnamon in a way that makes the applesauce just taste warm even when eaten cold.  I could probably come up with other descriptive words to persuade you, but suffice it to say: it’s delicious – you should eat it.  Have a picture.

Fresh Ginger Applesauce

3½ cups peeled, cored apples cut into ½-inch chunks (3-4 apples, depending on size)

3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger

6 tablespoons water (it's better to start with a small amount because the apples release juice while cooking; you can always thin with more water later, if desired)

Stir all ingredients together in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then stir again.  Reduce heat slightly, cover, and simmer until apples are fork tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes.  Puree mixture with immersion blender or food processor until it reaches desired consistency.  (I like mine mostly pureed but still slightly chunky.)  Serve warm or chilled.  It’s very good with homemade granola.