Pillsbury….mmmm….brownies

A while back, quite a while actually, Pillsbury sent me a goodie box.  They had contacted me and said that they “saw that I like sweet things” (tee hee) and would I enjoy some of their treats.  Yes, please.  I had no idea what they were sending me, and that was part of the fun of it.  I was happily surprised when the package arrived.  I seriously love getting mail – it’s kind of obsessive for me.  Not bills, but packages and letters….make me happy.

Now, understand that I usually like to make all my desserts and treats for my boys from scratch, but there will always be times when I need a little help. I may cut corners on a pie crust, crescent rolls for a meal, or pick up a bag of treats for my boys when I know I am going to be super duper busy.  So when I opened the box to find two bags of their new Sweet Moments Brownie Bites….I realized that they do know that I like sweet things.  I decided that night that dessert was on Pillsbury!  I hate to admit that we almost ate a whole bag in one sitting…the boys liked them.  Jason liked them.  Even I liked them…and I am a tough one to win over with bought desserts.  These were good.  A good substitute for homemade for those days when I just can’t get in the kitchen.  (I would like to point out here that we do NOT eat brownies, cake, or pie for dessert every night…that would be ridiculous)

Have you tried these?

(Image from Pillsbury.com)

You should….trust me.

A Big Thank You to Pillsbury for thinking of us, and for sharing your delicious Sweet Moments with us.

Salted Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce

 

Yes, it is as wonderful as it sounds….check out my guest post over at She’s Becoming Doughmesstic and show Susan and I some LOVE!

Sunday Supper and a National FOOD holiday!

 

Happy National Pie Day!!  I know, holidays for food.  But did you know that each day of the year is a holiday for a different kind of food?  Check out my friend Susan’s blog for a daily round up for each special food’s holiday.  Incredible, right?

Pie Day!  I have many favourite kinds of pie.  I love a great lemon meringue, chocolate cream, strawberry, cherry….etc.  But nothing beats a really great APPLE pie.  It has to be really great.  This past Thanksgiving the Stenzel’s were invited over to the household of Team Wallace for dinner.  It was an honour to be included in their family celebrations.  And of course I wanted to contribute, I begged to be able to contribute.  To show up empty handed would have been awful for me.  Nikki was kind enough to oblige my desire to cook or bake and asked me to bring an apple pie. Just one??  Yup, just one.  So I was on the quest to make the BEST apple pie I could find.  And it would have to be tested before Turkey Day.  Poor Jason.  He a lot of pie that month (though didn’t complain once).  After several different crust and pie fillings, it was decided that The Pioneer Woman’s Dreamy Apple Pie would be what was served at Casa Wallace.  It is perfect.  It isn’t easy to describe this pie.  Just perfect.  I love a single crust apple pie. Don’t get me wrong, I love a flaky pie crust…but this pie doesn’t need that double crust. It has a crunchy nutty topping that is heaven….probably why she called it a Dreamy Apple Pie.

For National Pie Day, I decided to make mini versions of this pie.  I cut the recipe into thirds and baked them in these really cute mini pie plates I picked up at World Market (did you know I collect pie plates??).  A third fit perfectly….baked them for 45 minutes and they were done.  As all apple pie should be served, I scooped a perfect scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. And then Jason suggested some caramel sauce….a decadent finish, but not necessary.  For Thanksgiving I made The Pioneer Woman’s Maple Whiskey Sauce, which later was named Pie Crack by a certain Wallace.

I recommend pie.  For any occasion. A simple Sunday Supper, a birthday, a more traditional holiday, but definitely for today….National Pie Day!

Did you make a pie today??  What kind?  Have a recipe to share?  Share a link!!

A Lazy TWD….

 

I think the Tarte Fine is a perfect Lazy TWD dessert.  It is so simple to put together, quick to bake, and tastes really good.  And if it wasn’t easy enough….I got lazy with it.  Which I shouldn’t have, because now I have chunks of apricot jam in my glaze that you can see in pictures….and undercooked puff pastry.  And there is nothing worse than undercooked puff pastry, it’s chewy and a little gross.  I got lazy.  I wanted to glaze it and eat it.  So when I saw the edges of this simple, easy tarte getting browned I pulled it!  I should have foiled the edges like Dorie told me too and let it bake longer.

So even though my pictures are spotted with bits of apricot, and my puff pastry is a little chewy, I think it looks good, and the edges are really good!!

I, of course, added a little caramel sauce!  I think it really goes with everything! 

Enjoy!

And be sure to go and check out all the other TWD creations of the Tarte Fine!

Sundae Sunday

Chocolate is my favourite food in the whole wide world. I would take chocolate to any deserted island any time! But after chocolate, when it comes to ice cream comes CARAMEL. I love it....the luscious richness of it and that sweetness gets me every time.

Oh - did I mention that today is National Ice Cream day? So I made some ice cream to go with the salted caramel sauce I made. I still don't have an ice cream maker so I made it the old fashioned way like I did here....

Today I made David Lebovitz's Philly Style Vanilla Ice Cream. I had heard good things about it via Twitter....so I gave it a whirl. It is delicious. I love all the little specks of vanilla running through it....it's awesome. A great way to use a vanilla bean! Can you see those specks?

Salted Caramel Sauce

I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe and added some fleur de sel....

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

3/4 heavy cream

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 - 2 tbsp fleur de sel

Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir just to combine. Heat over medium-high heat, without stirring, until the caramel turns deep amber, 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the size of your saucepan and the intensity of the heat. As the sugar is caramelizing, wipe down any splatters on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. To test the colour of the caramel, drop a bit on a white plate. Don't be timid about the colour - if it's too pale, it won't have much taste.

Lower the heat, stand back from the saucepan - because the caramel will bubble and spatter - and add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to smooth and calm down the caramel. Remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the caramel into a heatproof jar and cool until it is slightly warm and still pourable before using, about 1 hour.

I added the salt after the cream and butter....I should have let it dissolve a little more...as I was pouring it out I had some salt sitting at the bottom of the pan.

This caramel sauce will keep in a covered container for about a week...if it lasts that long. The recipe says that it makes 1 cup - I ended up with more than 1 cup!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer....and eating lots of ice cream...especially today!

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

No slacking here this week!

I apologize for the lack of blogging. Have had my head in a funk and am trying really hard to pull myself together. So you will understand when I say that I was very thankful that this weeks Tuesday with Dorie's recipe had so few ingredients and was so simple to put together. These Parisian Apple Tarts were so easy to make. Once I made my own puff pastry that is!! I had checked out the P&Q and the recipe and saw that a full butter puff pastry was recommended, and that the brand of puff pastry that Dorie recommended was hard to find and expensive. So I checked the recipe in "Art & Soul of Baking" and saw that their puff pastry recipe was fairly easy....even if I was intimidated by it! So I jumped in with two feet and made a 1/2 batch of pastry. It was pretty easy....lots of steps...and totally worth it!

And with Dorie's recipe basically cutting up an apple, cutting a circle of pastry, put apple on pastry, sprinkle with butter and brown sugar and bake, how could I go wrong?? And I didn't. It turned out great. My homemade pastry puffed like it was suppose to! They are so simple, and so delicious. I really wanted to make some caramel sauce to put on top of them, but I didn't have any heavy cream in the fridge to make some. :( Next time for sure!

Look at them....they are so yummy looking....and look at that puff!

Be sure to check out the other wonderful bakers on the TWD Blogroll, here!

I am looking forward to posting all the goodies I have been busy baking as I hibernate in my AC - it is so freakin' hot here already!!

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often