#APPLEWEEK: Polish Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon Honey Yogurt

It's late October. We've just gone apple picking. We're Polish. What can we logically expect to follow?

If you guessed "duh, glorious apple pancakes in the tradition of your late Polish grandfather", you guessed right. I don't usually like the term "late" as a reference to those who have passed, but it seems appropriate today. If there was one appointment on planet Earth my grandfather's attendance would have been expected, and he was surely late for, it would have been our breakfast table this morning. After making these pancakes, he used to take leftover apple slices and plunk them right in his hot black tea, for an infused brew. He would have been proud of these.

My mother told me something funny today. Apparently at English class when she was young, they taught the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" as one of the many little tidbits they teach. She said when she was little this was very stupid to her, because of course if you were rich enough to afford an apple every day you wouldn't ever get sick or need a doctor. At the time in Poland (as in many other parts of the world today) all fruit that was to be had was strictly seasonal. Apples only happened in the fall and early winter.

Although we are lucky enough to have apples year round, I try to approach the season when we are able to pick our own with special exuberance. I don't shy away from taking home 60 pounds of apples from the orchard, because it's a challenge and a joy to incorporate them into absolutely everything for a short while--and subsequently, become entirely sick of apples until a nostalgic moment in May when you dip into a mason jar of chunky homemade applesauce; totally pumped for next fall when you can eat apple cake until you throw up again. Lovely!

But honestly, there is nothing quite like frying up a batch of these for a Sunday morning on a crisp autumn day, with memories hanging in the air as dense as the smoky fragrance of cinnamon apples. The traditional pancake recipe is a 1-1-1 type of deal, so it's incredibly easy to make larger or smaller batches. The key to this is slicing the apples up reaaaaaal thin. You could keep them as large thin discs of apple and lay them on top of clean batter, or slice them in half as we did and incorporate them right in. It's all fair game, except never dice them. That's just blasphemy. It's just sick. It's not allowed. Same goes for maple syrup! There better not be a drop of that (delicious) stuff on these. It's just not the European way. All manners of jams, butters, and honey are otherwise permitted.

Mmmm!

To quote The Pioneer Woman: enjoy these, folks.

Polish Apple Pancakes (serves 3)

4 eggs
4 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 large Winesap apple (or any other sweetly tart apple) (peeled or unpeeled)
vegetable oil for frying

Using a standing mixer or electric hand mixer (no lumps allowed), whisk the eggs, flour, milk, and spices until smooth. Slice the apple veeerrrrry thinly, and incorporate the slices into the batter by hand. Pour oil onto the pan and heat on high. Drop ladle-fuls of batter onto the bubbling oil, flipping when firm underneath. Cook until golden. Serve with greek yogurt mixed with additional cinnamon and honey, and other condiments.

Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake

When your grandmother has a summer birthday, and doesn't like frosting, what do you do? Turning on the oven is a pain. Heavy flavors would make everyone wilt away on the summery spot. It has to be bright and light, like sunshine. Because that's what your grandma is like too, you know?

I was on the hunt for the lightest and brightest layer cake. What says "bright" more than happiness-in-a-jar lemon curd? What says "light" more than whipped cream? What says "meow"? What says "woof"? You have all the answers today, don't you?

Anyway, you may not know this, but hunting for the perfect lemon blueberry layer cake is like, super hard. People want you to choose between filling the layers with blueberry preserves or lemon curd, topping it with fresh blueberries or candied lemon slices, and lemon cake or blueberry cake. As we know, I don't like it when people make me choose between two good things. So, here we have it.
 A blueberry marbled lemon yogurt cake:

 filled with blueberry preserves and lemon curd,

 and topped with lemon whipped cream.

The best of every world. A world of equality. A world of delicious justice.

We'll get back to the cake. But first, a word about my grandmother.

The greatest part of baking is baking for another. My absolute favorite thing is making a cake for someone's birthday, because I aspire to make it encapsulate their personality--a reflection of the season, the harmony of flavors, whether they be sweet simplicity or adventurously complex. To me, this particular grandmother is her sunny disposition well-marbled with the forgiving blend of blueberry, a kick of tangy greek yogurt smoothed over with sweet, zesty cream. Happy Birthday, Grandma Rosemarie! To many more years.

(The cake ended up being a bit too dense for my taste. This may be because I am also very dense and completely forgot the oil--although its crumb was tight enough for me to assume that even with the oil it wouldn't be a very tender cake. All other elements were spot on perfect! In the future I will attempt the marbling technique with a different cake recipe, hopefully without sacrificing the yogurt.)

Blueberry Marbled Lemon Yogurt Cake (adapted from JustPutzing)

1-1/2 cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 tbsp. blueberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two round cake pans. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Fold vegetable oil gently into batter. Set aside 1 cup of the batter and blend the blueberry preserves in well. Divide the lemon batter evenly between the two cake pans. Drop teaspoons of the blueberry batter on top, using a skewer to swirl it throughout in short strokes without mixing it in. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until knife in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for cooling.
Filling: Once cooled, spread lemon curd on top of one of the cakes. Drop dollops of blueberry preserves around the rim, placing the remaining cake on top.

Lemon Whipped Cream

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat to soft peaks. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk before using.)

Mixed Berry Flag Pie

Now, I realize how incredibly belated this is. Which is why it will serve as a double post! That makes it okay, right? If we're being honest, what makes it okay is the fact that there is virtually no one, except for a few wayward googlers, who frequents this blog who is not also FB friends with me. This pie was posted on Independence Day itself in my mobile uploads, so you all already know about it, and there are no surprises for you here. Including the fact that I was late in posting this.

Just in case you were wondering, holidays are a huge deal to my baker self. Think of all the festive possibilities! For the 4th, the list is practically endless. Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and fresh blueberries, a yellow cake with a whipped cream and fresh berry flag on top, cakes with flags INSIDE THEM, blueberry cheesecake with strawberry sauce, etc. you get the idea.

I decided there was nothing more classic than an American pie. Especially after reading this wonderful article I learned that American butter is actually the optimal pie-crust butter! Who knew, that after all of this time of feeling unsurmountable shame for not opening that boastfully gold wrapped Kerrygold (the color of the bougie-foodie medal) butter and instead miserably unfolding the clear Costco butter waxpaper, I was in the right all along! No longer shall I endure countless food blogs telling me "the Irish grass-fed butter is what makes it" and I will stand by my ultra-pasteurized mostly-water American butter. Because it's the American way. Amen.

I then asked myself, why must I be forced to forgo the pinnacle of July 4th baked goods: the berry flag? I then decided that nobody can tell me what I can't have. This is also the American way. Amen.

In the perfect fashion of American-dream-onized good ol' capitalist greed, I proudly cut my shabby butter into bleached flour and made a lumpy crust flag atop my mixed berry flag. To represent diversity, of course.

The result was perfectly delicious--flaky, golden crust that was neither too crumbly or too gooey, and a perfectly gelled but retainfully (new word) robust berry filling. I should add that in my experience with pie crusts (a long, pain-filled history) an all-butter crust is the way to go. Your two main choices when it comes to making a pie is flour vs. cornstarch for the filling, and butter vs. shortening for the crust. My only complaint would be that the filling was a bit too sweet for my taste. Unless you don't enjoy the slight tartness of blackberries against the creamy sweetness of vanilla ice cream as I do, adhere to reduced-sugar adaptation I've kindly implemented for you below. If not, an extra half-cup of sugar should do that cavity trick right up for you. Happy 4th! Or 13th! Whatever!

Mixed Berry Pie

One double-crust all-butter pie crust (I used this recipe.)
2 bags frozen mixed berries, thawed (or 6 cups of mixed berries)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar (more if you feel like it)
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl. Add the thawed berries and toss the coat thoroughly. Turn into pastry-lined pie dish and dot with butter. Cover with top crust (or flag cutouts), seal and flute. Bake for 35-45 minutes until juice bubbles out of the slits and the crust is a golden brown. If the crust begins to brown prematurely, cover with tin foil. Serve with ice cream.

Brown Butter Banana Yogurt Chocolate Chip Blondies

I took a poetry workshop this semester. I did it because I've been writing poetry since, like, 4th grade. Really terrible poetry, obviously. But since my mom believes in me and all that gushy stuff, she really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and do it for real. And let me tell you, it has been an amazing experience. Every Tuesday morning has been completely anxiety-ridden (because I have to read aloud to the class!) but it's been absolutely worth it. I have grown so much as a writer and person.

We had an end of the year little party for our last class, so I decided to bake, obviously.

I know what you're thinking. What the heck is 'yogurt' doing in that title? Yogurt doesn't go in blondies! It doesn't go with brown butter! Well, maybe conventionally not. And maybe I won't intentionally do it again. But I promise it worked, was gooey and well-liked by all. So there. (Also I may or may not have come up with this recipe solely because I didn't have eggs and needed to bake something.)

Anyway, it's the end of the year! That's right, I'm (almost) officially done with my freshman year. It's our version of finals week right now, also known as 'conference week' because we have super long research papers instead of finals. Except me, because I also have a final exam in Human Rights Law. Wooooo.

(Have you noticed I always do recipes with bananas when I'm stressed? Or maybe it's just because bananas are easy to acquire at college and college is a place of stress. Mash mash mash it out.)

Brown Butter Banana Yogurt Chocolate Chip Blondies
8 tbs. unsalted butter, melted and browned
1 banana
1 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
6 oz. full-fat yogurt (I used coconut)
1/2 tsp. oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup, plus 2 tbs. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
⅔ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 8-by-8-inch square brownie pan. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the unsalted butter. Simmer until brown and nutty, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly before using. In a large bowl, mash the banana. Whisk in the brown sugar and oil until smooth. Add the slightly cooled brown butter, whisk to combine. Whisk in yogurt and vanilla extract until incorporated. Stir in flour and salt until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Transfer the mixture to the prepared brownie pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Apple Cinnamon Banana Oat Breakfast Bread (non-fat, low-sugar, vegan)

My don (academic advisor) had a heart attack over winter break. Don't worry, he's fine now. We had a substitute during that time, and she was very intelligent and well-versed, albeit a very dry lecturer and lacking that certain quality my don has that just brings every class and conference over the top. Really, he's brilliant. I can't even express how excited I was for his return after spring break. Then, tragedy struck, and I was actually in the hospital for a bad case of extremely painful gastroenteritis. I will spare you the details and just say that I missed my first conference and class, so I was EXTRA pumped. So excited that I decided to bake him something, knowing that he probably is eating only boring and tasteless things in whatever post-cardiac arrest regimen he's on. It had to be very low-cholesterol and with things I had on hand. So I decided to make this breakfast bread. I call it "breakfast" bread because that excuses its low-sweetness.

 Additionally, I made that Healthy Subs/Adds post and I figured I should, I don't know, act on it. So I baked this bread, wrapped it up all cute, and headed out to my conference. I even endured the blistering sun as I trekked across the non-shaded parking lot that might as well be the Sahara. I stepped into my oven-for-my-feet velvet flats, ignoring the bite in my heel, because I was finally going to have conference with my don!

And then, tragedy struck. I had forgotten that we had changed the time for my conference from 2:30 to 12. I now sat, frizzed out and with blistered heels, on the stoop outside of his office, holding this bread.

I'll just give it to him tomorrow. But hey, enjoy this recipe! It's super healthy and super fast. Not sweet or light or anything, but very dense and moist and absolutely perfect heated up in the microwave and drizzled with honey for breakfast.

Apple Cinnamon Banana Oat Bread (adapted from Taste of Home)

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 oz. applesauce

1 tbsp. milk (almond milk for vegan)

1/2 cup chopped peeled tart apple

1 mashed ripe banana

Honey for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375. In a bowl, combine all the wet ingredients (banana, apple, applesauce, vanilla extract, milk) and in another bowl sift flour, and add other dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into a greased loaf pan (decorate with apple slices if desired) and bake for 30-40 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Torta di Ricotta e Ciliegie e Caldarroste: Ricotta Tart with Bing Cherries and Roasted Chestnuts

My mom and her friends have these cooking parties. They're really cute, actually. They take a cookbook (typically one from the "Savoring" Williams-Sonoma series) that centers on a particular region and each volunteer to make 2-3 recipes each. And basically then they all get together and make them at the same time, while getting drunk on the corresponding recommended pairing liquors. It's a great time.

Despite the progressiveness of these empowered cooking women, they are pretty staunch conservatives when it comes to following the recipes. Which isn't really my style, ja feel? Sorry not sorry for that reference. Anyway, the original ricotta tart calls for raisins, but I definitely wanted to top it with roasted chestnuts, and dried cherries complement that much nicer. I think this tart would have been extra special if I had whipped up a simple syrup with grappa and coated the chestnuts in it for a nice, boozy glaze and if I had soaked the cherries in red wine instead of water. However, my friend can't consume anything with alcohol for religious reasons, and since this is a mostly college-based baking blog, I'd assume most don't have grappa. And grain alcohol just wouldn't be classy, now would it?

Some notes about this lovely tart: be sure not to over bake, or else the ricotta will be drier. Take heed of how sticky the pastry dough gets because of the sugar--do not skip the refrigeration step, and be sure to roll out the dough between plastic wrap or else it will seriously stick to the countertop.


Adapted from Williams-Sonoma's Savoring Tuscany "Torta di Ricotta":

PASTRY:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/3 cup sugar

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest

1/8 tsp. salt

1 whole egg, plus 1 egg yolk

FILLING:

1/3 cup dried bing cherries

1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. cake flour

1 tsp. grated lemon zest.

1 tsp. vanilla extract

(optional) red wine

GARNISH:

1 cup roasted chestnuts (chopped or whole, depending on preference)

Sifted cocoa powder

To make the pastry, in a large bowl, mound the flour and make a well in the center. Add the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt to the well. In a small bowl using a fork, beat the whole egg and egg yolk, and then pour into the well. Lightly beat the mixture in the well with the fork, then slowly incorporate the flour in a circular motion until well mixed and a rough dough has formed. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough briefly in the bowl until it forms a large ball.

Flatten the ball into a thick disk, place in a heavy-duty lock-top plastic bag (I wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap), and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat an oven to 375 F. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan, then dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Begin to make the filling by placing the dried cherries in a small bowl with warm water (or red wine) to cover. Let soak for 20 minutes-1 hour, then drain.

In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the ricotta, eggs, and sugar until the mixture is evenly blended.

Sift the flour into the bowl. Add the drained cherries, lemon zest, and vanilla to the bowl. Stir to mix well. Set the filling aside.

Place the refrigerated dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, and roll out the dough into an 11-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Peel off one of the top sheet of plastic wrap, and carry the rolled out dough to the prepared pan, flipping it over so the uncovered side is down. Pressing it into the bottom and sides, peel off the second (now top) layer of plastic wrap.

Pour the ricotta mixture into the lined pan. Trim the edges of the dough, then crimp lightly to form an attractive rim around the filling.

Bake until the top of the cake is a soft yellow and not quite set in the center, 30-45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes.

Release the sides of the pan and use a long metal spatula to transfer the tart to a serving plate. Garnish with chestnuts and sift cocoa powder on top. Serve at room temperature with grappa.

BOOZY VARIATION: Coat the roasted chestnuts in a grappa syrup and soak the cherries in red wine.

Healthy Subs and Adds

In my experience, using healthy ingredients in lieu of their caloric cousins is always appreciated . . . unless you can really taste it. "This tastes healthy" never seems to be a compliment.

As someone who is both well known for being a bougie connoisseur of quality ingredients/taste and relatively health-conscious, I am here to give a list of the things that make my double life easier. You'll never even know. Or, you'll know and others won't know. If you didn't' realize that cooking/baking is the same as being in a spy thriller, it is.

1. Fat Substitutions
Oil and butter are great. Especially butter. Basically, anything you put 2 sticks of butter in is guaranteed to be awesome, but also guaranteed cardiac arrest, and this is actually a huge dilemma in my life I've contemplated for a long time. My priorities are clear (*cough* butter) but I figure there's a way to be a lithe Parisian MPDG baker vs. Paula Deen and this is how it's done.
-Avocado
-Banana
-Greek yogurt
I am certain there are more, but I haven't tested them out yet.
**Some notes about these: avocado is dense and fatty and wonderful, but has a distinctive taste that needs to be masked. It's best used in chocolate cake or the like, because the deep chocolate flavor balances it out. Greek yogurt is absolutely wonderful and less finicky. Keep in mind you can use the different flavors available to complement the flavor of whatever you're baking (Lemon flavored Chobani for lemon muffins, etc.)

2. Moistness
I know, I said it. I know, it's a gross word. Just deal for a second.
Nobody wants dry and crumbly things. While fat substitutions will nip this in the bud usually, these additives won't compensate for oil and butter but when added (even to traditional butter and eggs recipes) will really make it dense and  . . .moist.
-Beets
-Shredded zucchini
-Black beans
-Applesauce (and flavored applesauce!)
 Beets add a wonderful richness to chocolate cake, shredded zucchini will completely shrivel up in baking and just lend moisture to any flavor cake (no taste detectable, ever), and black beans make brownies incredibly fudgy.

3. Creaminess
-Egg whites
-Cauliflower*
-Butternut squash*
-Pumpkin*
-Nutritional yeast*
-Silken tofu
Whip egg whites into oatmeal to make it super creamy, and pureeing silken tofu with melted dark chocolate is protein-packed low-calorie chocolate mousse. Awesome? Awesome.
*For savory dishes (especially pasta! see: Healthy Fettucine Alfredo, Ricotta Gnocchi with Pumpkin Velvet Sauce, and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.)

4. Sweetness
-Stevia
-Agave nectar
-Honey
-Medjool dates
-Bananas
Artificial sweeteners are really shit for you, but stevia and agave are all natural and don't taste like sugar-coated plastic. Honey has tons of health benefits and is less calories than sugar. Medjool dates are seriously the best--pulsed in the food processor and then added to anything as a binder and sweetener (especially great for raw crusts).

5. Starches
-Spaghetti squash*
-Nuts
-Kale*
-Chickpeas(*)
Pulse nuts and Medjool dates in the food processor (instead of graham crackers or Oreos) and press into a baking dish and it's a nutty, sweet crust to any filling. Pureed chickpeas are great in cookies or dips--the flavor becomes a completely blank canvas to whatever you want to impose on it.
*For savory dishes (Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce, Kale Chips, Roasted Chickpeas.)

And there you go. The newest Bond film: This Tastes Good, What's In It?

Daniel Craig is invited to my kitchen.