Long Overdue- "Comfort Me With Apples"

At last! It's been a while, I know, and I apologize. After the killer cold finally sauntered out of my system, it was time for finals. But now the quarter is over, and although I still have work, I now have a bit more free time to dedicate to Petit Chou.

Chronologically speaking, I should put my turkey pictures up. Right now, however, I am interested only in the comforting things in life. Why dig for turkey photos when I can take nice new ones of pretty orchard-fresh apples?



My landlord brought these to me a week or so ago, as his brother in law owns an apple orchard. It was a bag full of these amazingly juicy, tart-yet-sweet apples. They perfectly fit the California winter feel: cold gusts of wind and kisses of sun. It was difficult not to eat them all in my favourite fashion, held in one hand and chomping away. Visions of an apple pie or tart faded as I kept grabbing one on my way out the door to work, or as I studied. On one particular evening however, I wanted my apple to be hot, spicy, and sweet. I wanted to spoon it from the bowl, and let it melt in my mouth. Baked apples can be done a variety of ways, but I stuck to the basics.

Baked Apple

Quarter an apple, and remove the core. Arrange the quarters in a bakeproof dish, and top with butter and brown sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for twenty minutes, or until the apple is soft. Spoon brown sugar-butter liquid over the apple, and turn on the broiler for ten minutes to roast the tops. Top with ice cream, heavy cream, nuts, or eat as is!

Bread Pudding

A couple days ago I made a post referencing a loaf of French bread. It was odd having a deliciously new loaf of crusty bread lying around specifically waiting for it to go stale, but that's exactly what I was doing. In mind I had visions of a custardy bread pudding, replete with raisins, swirled with cinnamon and nutmeg. The day came when I finally had the time to make it, only to find out I was completely shot of raisins! I still had dried cranberries from the quiche I had made, but really didn't want cranberry taste in my bread pudding. Time was tight, the raisins would have to be missed.



I used a recipe found from Simply Recipes, changing a few things around. Instead of allspice I used simply cinnamon and nutmeg, and of course there were the absent raisins. I baked two versions: one in a mini bundt pan that came in a set of 4 that I ad just picked up, and 1 in a cake pan to share with my coworkers. The single loaf I used was more than enough, even with a few pieces taken from the end for the French Toast. I loved how the mini version turned out, and enjoyed it when it was barely cool!

French Bread Pudding

1 loaf French bread torn into pieces
4 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.Soak the bread in milk in a large mixing bowl. Crush with hands until well mixed and all the milk is absorbed. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and spices together. Gently stir into the bread mixture. Gently stir the raisins into the mixture.

Pour butter into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan well with the butter. Pour in the bread mix and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, until set. The pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan.

I topped mine with a little homemade glaze: 1/4 cup sugar with just enough water to give it a thick consistency, then drizzled over the pudding.

In Search of the Perfect Chocolate Cookie

Over the next week or so you will likely see several recipes for chocolate cookies. I'm on a quest, you see, of finding the perfect one. A combination of soft, chewy, fudgy, and gooey- all combined in one sinfully decadent circular dessert.

This batch ended up being a disappointment. Oh they look pretty enough, but the cookie was too thin, too flaky, and crumbled at the drop of a hat. The recipe I used came from an online search, and resembled more of a torte than a cookie. It originally called for a mere 1/4 cup of flour, and yet promised 36 cookies! I had added an additional 1/4 cup to the weak, sauce-like batter, and still only managed to eek out a little over a dozen.


"These will be like mini-torte cookies," I thought hopefully. "Torties. It'll be the start of something new, and innovative!"

Uhuh. Not so much.

The boys at work liked them well enough, which was gratifying since I had promised them chocolate cookies, and then showed up with the sad and sorry 9 or so flat cookies that hadn't crumbled to bits. The rest, by the way, smooshed together into lumps, so that they had to be pried apart in order to resemble any form of traditional cookie.

Unless you really want the recipe I won't bother including it here, as I count it a dismal failure. I have another recipe I'll be trying Thursday, and once again the boys at work will be my guinea pigs. This recipe promises "A molten gooey center", so I will be keeping my fingers crossed, my hopes high, and my chocolate fresh.

SHF #24: Mini Pumpkin Cookies with Crème Fraîche

When I read the rules for Sugar High Friday's entry, I was enchanted. Visions of petit fours, tiny tarts, or little canapés of fruit danced through my head. Should I use chocolate? Something fancy with a raspberry reduction? No, I wanted something simple, earthy. Something reminiscent of back to school days, pencils, and books. Suddenly, I knew what I wanted to make.

I'd been looking for an excuse to make a classic pumpkin cookie. I had been putting it off though, because I plan to bake a batch of pumpkin muffins soon, and didn't want to make everyone around me sick of pumpkin so quickly into autumn. Once decided, however, I firmly resolved to go ahead with my pumpkin plan, and everyone else could just deal with it.

I adapted a pumpkin drop cookie recipe, making small changes to suit the taste I wanted to achieve. I'd be making the crème fraîche by hand too, and didn't want to over spice the cookies. I halved the recipe, and still ended up with quite a bit of extra batter, which was easy to whip into some larger size cookies for the neighbours. Spreading autumn cheer with efficiency!

I couldn't decide if I wanted a thin and crispy cookie, as I planned originally, or mini drop cookies. In the end I made both, and went with the thicker cookie to balance out the flavour of the crème fraîche.

The taste was exactly what I was looking for: nutty, earthy, and home. Not too sweet, and not too rich.

The recipe ended up being alot of fun keeping to a mini amount. A note, I've included the full cookie recipe, it makes great cookies even when not in miniscule form. :) The original pumpkin recipe is adapted from Susan Kosoff's Good Old-Fashioned Cookie Recipes.



Mini Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches with Crème Fraîche


1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1.) Preheat oven to 375.
2.) Cream butter and sugar until light and smooth.
3.) Beat in egg and vanilla. Add pumpkin a few tablespoons at a time until well blended.
4.) In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add in thirds to creamed mixture.
5.) Drop onto cookie sheets, and bake 6-8 minutes until edges begin to brown.*

*for mini-cookies, I used a 1/8 tsp for size consistency. The baking time was closer to 10 minutes, just keep an eye. When the edges turn a dark golden, they're done. Remove and
cool on a baking rack.

Take the mini cookies, and add a small dollop of crème fraîche to each side. Press
together lightly. Serve immediately, or chilled.

Let Them Me Eat Cake

Light and airy, cream and custard adding just the right amount of rich sweetness, and tart little strawberries making their maidenly presence. We are heading full into autumn here in the Bay Area, but there's always time for one last summery cake. Unfortunately, I do not have the recipe for this delectable morsel, but I am tempted to give it a whirl if my taste buds and memory do not play tricks on me. The whipped cream topping wasn't exactly the freshest, and neither were the strawberries- but the custard and cake itself made up for it, a delightful mix that brought to mind green grass and early summer. We've had a bit of a heat wave here in the Valley- the recent autumnal weather a near distant memory as I bit into virginal white cream topping, and blushing berries.

I have to admit, as far as desserts go, I'm a sucker for custard. Anything creamy and rich, I'm there. Flans, creme brulee, creme caramel... the list goes one. There was a book I read at an impressionable age, the details and plot long forgotten. One bit stuck with me, however- a young duckling planting his feet firmly into a custard. Goodness knows why, I'm sure the story led up to it somehow, but I simply remember thinking of the chilled custard surrounding webbed feet, and agreeing that (were you not going to eat it) it might be a nice feeling. Even the word itself is thick and cool, inspiring thoughts of sweet summer shade, and eggy desserts.