Tarts, Tests, and Tantrums

Ah finals. Hate them!

Reasons why I hate finals:

Stress.

Long weekends that only serve to make you stress more.

Knowing that you really don't have anything to worry about but you do anyway

A professor who thinks his study guide is a gift, but really just confuses you more

Buses that don't seem to care about being on time

Scantrons that should never have been invented

Teachers who don't seem to remember why you can't use Scantrons.

An overwhelming desire to scarf down every sweet thing in site in hopes of relieving your stress.

Oh yes, finals. Three times per year is three times too many.

But the one thing that might make finals a little better is knowing that a nice long breaks lies just 24 hours in the future. And even better, this break involves one great holiday- Thanksgiving.

So, in honor of Thanksgiving, and in need of emptying out the refrigerator of all my farmers' market finds, I decided to combine a few classic fall flavors into one great holiday pie. Of course, it's not even seven days away yet and, three days after making this delicious dessert, it's nearly gone. That's stress and a lack of breakfast eats for you!

Now go get ready and make this pie / tart / dessert / whatever you want to call it!

Pickin’ Pie

Note: I think next time I will caramelize or partially cook the apples before putting them on top of the squash filling (and will bake the filling for 30-40 minutes instead of 20 so that it doens't over-bake). The way I did it this first time, the apples came out kinda chewy.

Crust

132 g. sugar

18 g. molasses

120 g. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

60 g. rolled oats

76 g. Earth Balance stick margarine, cut into cubes

2-4 tbsp. apple cider

1. Combine sugar, molasses, flour, baking soda, slat, vanilla and oats. 
2. Cut in margarine with your hands, rubbing it until you get small, pea-like pieces of fat.
3. Add enough cider to bring the dough together into a workable dough.
4. Form dough into a disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9” pie plate with high sides or a 9” cake pan.
6. Roll dough out to about a 10” disk (easiest way is between plastic wrap). Transfer to the greased pie plate. Dough should come about 1/2 to 1” up sides.
7. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until browned and firm to the touch. Meanwhile, prepare squash filling.

Squash Filling

2 cups butternut squash puree (from about half a small, roasted squash)

2 cups apple cider, cooked over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup

1 tbsp. molasses

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

5 tbsp. tapioca starch

1 tbsp. coconut oil or shortening

8 . Combine all filling ingredients in a blender, pureeing until completely smooth and evenly distributed.

9.Pour into baked crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile prepare apples.

Apples

3 medium, semi-tart, firm apples (ex. Empire), peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced

3 tbsp. brown sugar

the juice of half a lemon

3 tbsp. tapioca starch

1 tsp. fresh grated ginger

10. Toss apples with all other ingredients. Let sit for at least 10 minutes (can do ahead of time and keep in fridge)

11. When filling is starting to set, remove pan from oven and arrange apples in a single layer on top. I arranged mine in sort of a rose pattern, overlapping apples slightly in rings, but you can do it however you like it best.


12. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until apples have begun to brown.


13. Remove from oven and cool completely. Serve immediately or store in the fridge.

Great with banana "ice cream" (especially pumpkin-flavored)! Get the basic recipe here! Also great for breakfast!!!!

Oh and by the way: If you like all the great, creative treats I've shared on my blog, please check out my Etsy page! Thank you!

Bread Withdrawls

Today I'd like to talk about bread. And snowstorms. And power outages.

How are these all related? Well, if you are one of the unlucky people (i.e. me) who live in the Northeast Connecticut, you know that we had a freak Halloween snow storm last weekend. As in 10 days ago. As in still in October (not that it would have been any better in November or December or January of February or ever)! And if you are further still one of the unlucky people who lives in Farmington Connecticut, you'd know that we are mostly still without power.

Yes, 10 days without power.

Though I must say I am lucky in that respect; I'm not a high-school student anymore, so I don't have to be sitting home without power while my April vacation days get used up because we have no school. Instead I get to be in a nice college apartment, feeling rather weird as I talk to my parents on my cell phones since cable and phone services are also still out.

So I have power here at school. And power... well.. gives me power. The power to do so many things. Delicious things. Like baking bread. And then scarfing down the whole loaf of said bread in a matter of... 4 days?

Yeah, it's that good.

Actually, that makes the second great thing that came out of a power outage. Because there was a previous loaf of said bread, which started last Saturday morning, as the first flakes of winter snow were falling, along with a few precious branches of our new pear tree. Of course, me being me could not decide what to bake, except that I knew I needed to bake something for breakfast. Fast. Like before I couldn't any more.

The recipe I chose, called Amanda Bread (from America's Test Kitchen Baking book), needed to rise for a total of 3 hours. Add to that the time it was going to take me to veganize (and just generally Carinaize) it, and the 10 minutes of mixing, 40 minutes of baking... you get the point... kind of a risk under a time crunch.

So the power went off at minute 20 during baking.

Thanks to the bread goddesses, I kept the door closed on my bread and the oven finished its baking magic, creating a not-quite-brown but still delicious bread.

Fast forward 24 hours, the power still out, the loaf half gone, and my mom decides we should try getting me back to school. So we hurriedly get all my books and food together and head off. One thing we left behind- my delicious bread!

Withdrawals!!!! So much for the delicious toast I was looking forward to starting my week with!

Five long days later, I finally had some time to make more bread. And so my weekend started off with a great breakfast once again. Not quite as delicious as the first one (maybe the power outage is the secret to great bread after all? Or maybe it's just that I like cranberries and hazelnuts together better than almond and ginger? Idk). Now all that's left is 1" chunk; just enough for breakfast. Hence the bad picture. Trust me, it's delicious you won't be able to wait long enough for a proper photo!

Crazy Amanda Bread
(based off a recipe from America's Test Kitchen)

227 g. almond milk (or any other non-dairy milk, but almond provides the best flavor)
57 g. oil
78 g. coarse cornmeal
425 g. whole wheat flour (hey if you're going to eat so much of it, might as well get some fiber in!)
33 g. vital wheat gluten
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (optional)
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
76 g. lukewarm water
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 tbsp molasses
4 tbsp honey (or 2 tbsp. each agave and brown rice syrup to make it completely vegan)
1 heaping cup total add-ins (my favorite is equal parts toasted, chopped hazelnuts and plumped, dried cranberries)

1. Microwave milk and oil until simmering. Stir in cornmeal, then microwave 15 more seconds, or until the cornmeal has absorbed the milk. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Combine flour, vital wheat gluten, salt and spices in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
3. Combine water yeast, honey and molasses in a measuring cup.
4. Add cooled cornmeal mixture to the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 1 minute, or until combined.
5. Still on low speed, slowly add the liquid mixture.
6. Once all liquid is Incorporated, increase to medium speed and mix for 5 minutes.
7. Add plumped fruit and/or nuts. Mix for an additional 6 minutes.
8. Form the dough into a ball, then place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in a slightly warm oven and let rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled.
9. Remove dough form bowl onto a very lightly floured surface. Flatten slightly into a rough rectangle. Fold the top edge of the rectangle towards you, gently pressing into the center. Press the other side in as well so you have one, fat loaf.
10. Place loaf in a greased loaf pan. Cover and proof for another 1 1/2 hours.
11. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a pan of water in the oven to simmering.
12. Once proofed, you can brush the bread with more oil and sprinkle with cornmeal or nuts, if desired. Bake, with steam bath in place, for 40-45 minutes, or until the top of the bread is lightly browned.
13. Let cool in pan until cool enough to handle, then remove form pan to cool completely (you can keep it in the pan, but the bottom gets a bit soggy- but not enough to really bother me! Yum!!!