Midweek Ruminations: 2 (or maybe 3) Things

Thing 1--I said I was going to make Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins next. And I did. I just neglected to take any pictures as documentary proof. So, you'll have to trust me that they were amazingly delicious. Mostly because of these tasty little morsels:


And, that link may be your best way to find them. We visited several different grocery stores looking for them, found them on maybe the 5th or 6th. Were they worth the hunt? OH YES. And now I'm trying to think of other ways I could use them. In pancakes? Yes. In Snickerdoodles? Why not?! And now that I know where to find them, I'm set!

Thing 2--Remember these sweet little babyangels from my Wine Cake post?


I have, for a while now, been occasionally checking ebay and Etsy to see if anyone was selling a set, and SUCCESS! A complete set, in perfect condition, still in their original box.

I think they're a little smaller in scale than The Pie Queen's, and will therefore require skinnier candles, but still! Aren't they the cutest things you ever saw?!

I can't wait for an opportunity to use them.

Thing 3--Sometimes I am a cupcake whore. Somebody gave me one of these at work yesterday:


(from Mrs. Backer's Bakery in Salt Lake City) and it made my day in ways you can't even imagine. They're not the best cupcakes on the planet. But they're certainly not the worst. And it was JUST what I needed. So my message to you is this: if you have a cupcake to spare, give it to someone who looks like they need a cupcake, you have no idea how happy you might make them.

Who am I kidding? Is there any such things as a SPARE cupcake? No. Except in my office, apparently. Weird.


Next up: I had a magical summer doing this. The only problem is that nightly rehearsals leave little time for summer evening campfires or...more specifically...s'mores. So. Before Labor Day comes and shuts the door on summer, I'm making a s'mor-ish dessert. Nothing complicated or fancy. But it looks so yummy to me, I have to try it.

Fresh Blaspberry Pie

I intended to bake a rhubarb pie this week. All rhubarb, no strawberries, no cherries. Just rhubarb. Because my friend Dan issued the challenge. And it was his birthday. But, silly me, having never worked with rhubarb before AT ALL, I didn't realize it's out of season right now. And when rhubarb is out of season it is apparently not available ANYWHERE. So. I made this instead. Partially because a stylish birdie told me Dan likes berry pies. And partially because he's my favorite BLASPhemer. And I could make a clever pie name for him--BLASPberry. It works for me even if it doesn't for you.

And to tell you the truth, I didn't taste this pie. I tasted a little bit of the filling as I made the pie, but that was about it. I liked what I tasted. I liked the way the lemon zest sort of accentuates the other flavors. Not too sweet, just right in the "glaze" department. I heard reports that the pie was good, but I can't confirm that first hand. You'll have to make it and tell me what you think. Because I'm not making it again anytime soon. But only because I've had enough heat-induced pie crust trauma this summer to last me a couple of years. So I vow to make no more pies until Autumn comes. For real. Not that fake Autumn that we sometimes get in September only to return to over-90-degree weather. Real Autumn that comes in October and brings crunchy, smoky, brownish, spicy things with it.

Anyway, here's the recipe:


Fresh Blaspberry Pie *click here for printable version*

1 baked 9 inch crust, cooled
1 c. sugar
16 oz fresh blueberries
18 oz fresh raspberries
2/3 c. water
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 c. water
½ tsp lemon zest
Whipped cream

Crush 4 oz of the blueberries and 6 oz of the raspberries together. They don’t have to be crushed too finely, some chunks are fine. Mix the sugar and crushed berries together with the ⅔ cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.

Mix cornstarch and ⅓ cup water to make a slurry. Add to the sugar and berry mixture and cook over medium low heat until thickened, stirring almost constantly. Stir in lemon zest. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Mix remaining berries together and place in cooled pie crust. Pour sauce over fresh berries. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Top with whipped cream.


From what I can tell...

TGIP Rating--Fresh Blaspberry Pie--KEEPER. Although, I have to admit, I'm partial to the regular, old Fresh Raspberry Pie. When rhubarb is back in season, I WILL make a pure rhubarb pie for Dan. Somebody set an alarm for me, or something.

Next up: Cinnamon Zucchini Muffins. You know you're about to have 25 pounds more zucchini than you know what to do with.

TGIP Field Trip: So Cupcake

Looks pretty. Brightly colored, etc. Tastes like crap. Seriously. Overly sweet. I couldn't taste anything but sugar. The key lime cupcake tasted exactly like the red velvet, WHA?! The shop was dark and dingy. I was decidedly unimpressed. Note to cupcake shops: The Sweet Tooth Fairy's in town, you need to step up your game.

TGIP Rating--So Cupcake--NEVER AGAIN. I had to go to The Sweet Tooth Fairy 2 days later to wash the taste and memory out of my mouth.

Coconut Cream Pie

This is a work in progress. Which may require several more tries to reach perfection. I don't think anyone in my house is going to complain about that. Once perfection is reached, I'll post the recipe. In the meantime, know this: liquor does, in fact, make an already flaky pie crust even more flaky and doesn't change the taste. So, that's good to know. Enjoy some pretty.

Birthday Prezzies

My people take such good care of me. Seriously. Beautiful cookbooks with all sort of new recipes for me to try!


Look at these pies and tarts. So gorgeous and delicious looking.

Pie contest in a box! Who will take me on?


Marble rolling pin! Put it in the fridge for a 1/2 hour before rolling pie dough and the chill makes rolling easier (especially in these ridiculously hot summer months).


And this teeny tiny pie necklace! Have you ever seen anything so adorable?


Birthdays are awesome!

French Apple Tart

It's my birthday. Shh. I don't actually usually tell people that. Not because I'm one of those women with an "age thing". The number of my age doesn't bother me. The wrinkle and sag of my age does, but that's something I can't hide. So. I'm telling you it's my birthday because you'll need to know that I'm not, as it turns out, making my own birthday cake. Time...is not on my side these days. But, I do have a fantastic husband who promised me a selection of cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. That'll do.

I was going to make a Coconut Cream Pie this week. Truth is, I was going to make a French Silk Pie, a French Apple Tart, and a Coconut Cream Pie. But I succeeded only in the first two. My stomach/brain had other plans for me on Sunday. Coconut Cream Pie next time.

Here's the recipe I used for the French Apple Tart (you already have my recipe for French Silk Pie). It's from Baking with Julia, a series I loved watching and a book I love to use for recipes. This recipe is by Leslie Mackie. I used my own pie crust recipe, but tried to make it vegetarian, since I was taking the dessert to a party.


Bad idea. Lard is my friend. Lard is your friend. Embrace it, even if you're a veg. Seriously, even if you eat as many pies as I do each year (which you don't), you'd end up eating over the course of the year probably less than 1 cup of lard. That will not kill you! I promise. I might never make a vegetarian pie crust again. It's just so hard to work with. Blugh. It all turned out okay, but caused me no end of grief.

Anyway, I like this tart. It's not earth-moving, but it's yummy. I used quite a bit of lemon juice in it because I really dislike how apple desserts can so easily be overly sweet.


I think I found a good balance with this. It's pretty. It's yummy. With an easier to manage crust, it would be a super simple tart. Except for this one small (and weird) thing: I had to bake the tart at least twice (probably closer to 3 times) as long as the recipe says in order for my apples to turn dark brown.


Trust, I checked my oven temperature. It was just getting nowhere. And I had sliced my apples thin enough that I really thought they'd brown in no time. Maybe that was the problem? Maybe they were too thin? Next time, I might try a hotter oven. Or maybe not place the tart pan on another pan--I didn't experience any dripping anyway, so I don't really understand the point of that.

TGIP Rating--French Apple Tart--Yummy but had some mysterious baking problems. Still trying to decide whether or not I like this better than a good, old-fashioned apple pie...

Next up: Coconut Cream Pie. For real this time. Still planning to try a little something different with my pie crust. Still using lard. Let's not get too crazy now.

TGIP Field Trip: The Copper Onion

You might notice that I like to go to brunch. I DO! It's one of my favorite things to do. Especially Sunday brunch. Especially here in Salt Lake, where only the SOTE (inside joke that will stay inside, thanks) venture forth to spend money on the sabbath. My people.

And now I have a new favorite place to engage in this brunching activity: The Copper Onion. Everything there was delicious. And the best thing IMO? The toast. What? Yes. They grill it or do some other magical thing to it and it is the most delicious bready thing ever. Don't take my word for it. Just go get it.

In addition to toast I had some fantastic scrambled egg thing with duck. I don't even know what was in it. The waitress said "duck" and it was mine. And then...then...we overdid it on desserts. We ordered one for each person. Overdoing. But, it gave us the opportunity to try 4 different things!

I ordered the Fried Apple Pies. For research. I still plan on making hand pies one of these days. Had to see how they did theirs. They were yummy. Not how I want to do mine, but yummy all the same.


The Tiramisu was also yummy, but *whisper* not as good as mine.


Lemon Tart? Delicious. The kicker, though...the Flourless Chocolate Torte. Holy mother of brunch. Rich, complex, with caramel sauce to put it right over the edge. We all spent so much time mooning over it I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it. I guess I'll have to go back. And while I'm there I'll also have to try the Almond Brown Butter Cake (zoinks!) and the Homemade Cheesecake (just to see how good their bakers really are...).

TGIP Rating--The Copper Onion--Highly Recommended. And for more than just their baked goods. Next time I'm going to find out if they do all their own baking or if they outsource. Also for research. Who's joining me?