Apple jellies (pate de fruit)

This beautiful season continues with more of the gorgeous apples of fall.

And as we enjoy our sweet bounty, we continue to find new ways to use our apples.

Today's recipe for "apple fruit paste" comes via Alice Waters

" The Art of Simple Food", though I had to adjust the recipe a bit to make it work for me. (I did make it 3 times...!)

Jellies, also known as fruit paste or pate de fruit are beautiful bite size sweet fruit treats.

Fruits such as apples, plums, and berries are slowly cooked in sugar to a concentrated puree and then cooled in a pan until set and firm. These jellies can then be cut into all sorts of shapes, rolled in sugar and served as candies or as a sweet dessert treat.

If you would like to make these you will need about

8 medium apples.

Wash, quarter and core them and leave the peels on.

Place them in a pot with one cup of water and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and take the apples out (without the water) and pass the mixture through a food mill with as much as the peels as you can. It will give the mixture a redish color depending on what type of apples you are using.

Lightly rub a bit of vegetable oil on a pan (mine was 6" x 8") and place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Lightly oil the parchment paper too.

After you have passed the apple mixture through a food mill, return the puree to the pot and stir in 1 cup of sugar and the juice of a small lemon. Simmer this mixture on low heat stirring constantly so as to not let it stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. This will take about 1 hour so find something fun to do near the stove because you will be there for a while :). After the hour, I noticed that my mixture was taking a while to thicken... so i added 2 tablespoons of powdered pectin to help with the gelling process and continued to stir and cook for another 20 minutes.

I removed the mixture from the pot and poured it into my prepared lightly oiled pan and smoothed it with a spatula.

I let the puree sit on my counter and cool for several hours. When it was cooled I inverted the puree into another parchment lined plate and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day I cut the square into bite size pieces and coated them with sugar... but you can leave that step out... they are sweet as they are!

Enjoy!

Ma's apple fritters

We have been enjoying the beautiful Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This series we found is adapted a bit for younger children and is under the title "A little house chapter book, the Laura years", illustrated by Renee Graef and adapted by Heather Henson. They are still chapter books but shorter and each book focuses on only one topic like all about Laura and Jack, all about ma, all about friends etc. The one we have just finished is "Laura's Ma".
After reading it honeypie said to me , "you take care of me like laura's ma but you've never made apple fritters! ... Do you know how?". 

I told her that I actually had never made them but would be willing to try. 

So we found a recipe on the net and we gave them a try!

They were delicious! 

I'll share the recipe.  The key is to have the oil at about 360-370* but not hotter since it will burn the fritters too quickly and leave the inside raw.

Ma's apple fritters

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/4 of a cup of sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/3 of a cup of milk

1 egg

1 cup of diced apple (small cubes) 

canola oil for frying (the oil should be about 3 " deep in the pot)

and powder sugar for sprinkling after frying

Blend together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder.

Add the milk and egg and whisk together until smooth.

Add the apples and whisk again.

Drop them into the hot oil (about 360-370*) by the small spoonful and fry for about 2-3 minutes.  This is a bit tricky since if the oil too hot it will darker the outside and leave the inside raw.  So after making one cut it in half and check... if it is still raw lower the oil temperature a bit and that will allow you to fry the fritters longer.

After frying them sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

~enjoy!

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^_^ birdycake on the go!

Nobel peace prize

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step .

~ Confucius

We have hope and wish you luck.

(These were done last year during election time.   The cookies were made by honeypie and I and the Obama doll was needle felted by me.)

-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Latest ...

I probably should not be this excited...

But I am!!!

Here are my latest acquisitions!!!

This gorgeous acorn cakelet pan from Williams-Sonoma,

as well as these beautiful pie crust cutters .

And A food mill.

My mind is reeling and mouth watering...

Let the fall baking begin!

-- Post From My iPhone
^_^ birdycake on the go!

Embroidering

Last weekend I taught Honeypie how to embroider. She loves to try anything I am currently working on and though I did not have a plastic needle in hand I gave it a go anyhow. It is amazing to me what kids can do if they not only have the interest but if they believe in themselves! She was eager and I decided to begin with some burlap and a wide enough needle that is a bit blunt on the tip. Embroidery thread, a hoop and scissors.

I let her practice freely at first. (pretend the needle is a rocketship . It needs to "blast off" up and then it comes back down to earth, and go through the earth core! Then Up again... Take little hops with the needle and notice where the thread goes through.)

I then drew and image with a sharpie marker on the front and drew it "again" on the other side (back) of the burlap so that Honeypie knew how to follow the image with the needle on "both" sides of the embroidery.

Then we were off to start "the real thing" on nice linen fabric. I traced her hand with a sewing pen that wipes clean with a little water. And she began to embroider!

Here is her finished first project. Her hand print.

And mama's finished project!

for baby charlie...

French apple tart

This weekend's baking adventure comes to you via "Baking with Julia" by Julia Child.

This was my first time making a french apple tart and I thought...

who better to teach me than julia herself!

I must admit I was a bit shocked to find her recipe called for vegetable shortening...

( REALLY JULIA????) I thought the french were all about the butter??!!.

But I am NOT one to argue with a MASTER, so off I went to bake.

My findings?

The filling was delicious!!!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that her use of breadcrumbs inside the apple mixture was wonderful and flavorful.

As for the tart shell...

I was not impressed. It was a bit salty and slightly "lardy" tasting . Honeypie did not like it. I think I am going to try it again using a "pate brisse" which makes a more sweeter only butter dough.

No on the shortening for me. :)

Pretty presentation though!

With left over dough I made pie pockets (use a cookie cutter and seal seams with egg wash)

And a delicious brie and caramelized onion galette... thought the photo is not too good!

For julia child's apple tart recipe (click here)

Hello, fall

Fall is pretty much here!

Here are some yummy cupcakes we made to celebrate!

We are off to do some apple picking and to try making an apple tart thanks to julia child!

^_^