Food for the Gods

Y'all. I don't know if I can accurately describe how amazing this torte is. It's basically a meringue with graham cracker crumbs, raisins, and walnuts. And it is DIVINE!!!!!

White of 3 large eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (60g) fine graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup (75g) chopped, dried apricot (any dried fruit may be used: dates, figs, currants)

1/2 cup (60g) chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 325F (165C)

2. Line the bottom of a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan or pie pan with a circle of parchment paper. Lightly grease both the parchment and sides of the pan.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or in a large bowl with which an electric hand mixer is to be used, beat the egg whites and salt to stiff peaks.

4. Gradually beat in the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until stiff and glossy.

5. Gradually fold in the graham cracker crumbs, then fold in the dried fruit and walnuts.

6. Turn into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The top should be a pale gold colour when done.

7. With the pan remaining in the oven, turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for 30 minutes to dry the meringue. After which, transfer to a wire rack and cool in the pan for 20 minutes.

8. Once completely cool, free the sides of the pan with a sharp knife and invert onto a serving dish or cutting board. Remove the parchment paper before serving.

Tip from Yesteryear: Use a springform pan if you have one, as it will allow the dessert to come out more easily, without breaking.

Oh my goodness. I'm not one that enjoys a walnut dessert that much, but daaaaang this one really hits that good spot! It came out PERFECT, and it was a beautiful nutty treat with surprisingly nice mouth feel. It was a pretty easy dessert to make too, fairly quick to get it in the oven. I would absolutely make this again, maybe trying different dried fruits and nuts. I do have another recipe to try that needs pecans, and the bag I'll be getting will be plenty more than I need, so perhaps I'll try this out with pecans and dates. Mmmmmmm.......

Cinnamon Buns

 2 tbsp white sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

2 pkg (14g) dry active yeast

Let stand 10 minutes.

1 cup milk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, room temperature

6 cups flour

Boil milk; add sugar, butter, and salt. Add yeast. Add eggs. Beat with mixer. Add 3 cups flour, then cup by cup for last 3 cups. Mix should be sticky. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Roll out on well-floured surface, spread with lots of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Roll, then cut into 12 even rolls.

Butter 9x13 pans lots. Add brown sugar. Arrange rolls 3x4. Cover and let stand 1 hour.

Bake 375F for 10 minutes, then turn down to 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Take another pan, put on top, and flip.

For 9x9 pan:

1.5 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup warm water

10.5g yeast

3/4 cup milk

3/8 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter

3/4 tsp salt

1.5 eggs

4.5 cups flour

Arrange 3x3

Baking Yesteryear - Pie Crust

I got the cookbook "Baking Yesteryear" by B. Dylan Hollis. I have loved his TikToks - well, YouTube vids I suppose lol but they were brought over from TikTok. I am very excited to try all of the recipes lol.

The other day, Z came grocery shopping with me. Peaches were on sale, so she asked if we could make a peach pie. Heck yes kiddo, I'm down!

So today we got to it! Instead of using my usual crust recipe, I decided to try the one in Baking Yesteryear. Here is what Dylan says about it: 

"There will be pies in this book (I sure hope so) that call for a prepared pastry as part of their recipe. And while I feel that this buttery, flaky pastry deserves the right to be featured multiple times alongside them, its recipe will instead wait for you here with eagerness."

So here is the recipe. 

Single crust for 9-inch pie

1 1/3 cups (185g) all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (115g) butter or vegetable shortening, cold and cubed

4-6 tbsp cold water

Double crust for 9-inch pie

2 1/3 cups (325g) all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup (225g) butter or vegetable shortening, cold and cubed

6-8 tbsp cold water

There is a whole method of doing this in the book, but I only half followed it. So here's what I did:

Measure flour and salt into a food processor. Add half the butter, and process until uniform texture. Add the rest of the butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the lower amount of water, and pulse to help bring the dough together. Dough should come together and be sticky, but don't over pulse it. If it's not coming together, add another tbsp of the water. Mine needed 5 tbsp.

Take out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least half an hour. Mine sat for a couple hours while Z and I went to play at the park lol.

Once chilled, roll out dough on floured surface to fit into your pie pan, with enough to slightly hang over the edge. Trim if needed, and crimp the edges with a fork.

If you need to blind bake the shell, preheat the oven to 375°F. Use a fork to poke holes all around the sides and bottom of the crust, so that trapped air doesn't make it bubble up and bake out of shape. Crumple up some parchment paper, then line your pie crust with it and fill with pie weights (or dried beans, which is what I use lol). Bake for 15 minutes, then take out parchment and weights to bake for another 15-20 minutes, until the bottom of the crust is golden brown. Mine took about 20.

That's it! It's pretty easy and quick with a food processor, and this crust is so flaky and delicious! Adrielle loved it even more than my usual crust I make ☺️

Pizza Dough

 This is from the same place as my favourite caesar dressing ;)

Makes 4

250ml warm water

6g yeast

8g sugar

20ml honey

35ml EVOO

5g salt

450g flour

Mix water, yeast, and sugar; let sit 10 minutes.

Mix honey and oil; set aside

Mix salt and flour in stand mixer bowl. Add all other ingredients.

Mix for 10 minutes on low, 5 minutes on medium.

Proof on greased tray, covered, for 15 minutes.

Portion, roll balls, keep covered in fridge on greased tray.

Caesar Dressing

I shouldn't say where this recipe is from, but rest assured, this is my favourite caesar dressing I've ever had! The recipe has been quartered, so sorry for the half yolk that's called for lol.

2.5 egg yolks

2 anchovies

1 tbsp garlic puree

1/4 tbsp salt

1/4 tbsp coarse black pepper

1/4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp dijon

37.5g parmesan

4 lemons, juiced

1 c. canola oil

1 c. EVOO

Blend all but the oils in the food processor. Very slowly, add the oils to emulsify.