Baked Apples

This recipe was requested by my grandma. She really wanted to learn how to make Apple Dumplings so I went ahead and made them one weekend. It was pretty easy and super delicious. Try them, you won't be sorry.


Apple Dumplings
Yields 4

For the Dough:
1/2# All Purpose Flour
1/3# Butter, cubed, chilled
3 oz Water, cold
Pinch of Salt

For the Filling:
1/2c Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/8 # Butter, cubed
2 ea Apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters

For the Syrup:
1c Brown Sugar
1 c Butter
2 Tbsp Cinnamon

1. Mix the flour and salt with the cubed butter until the butter is broken down into pea sized globs.
2. Add the chilled water until the dough just comes together. Form into a disc shape and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 4 hours.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Reserve.
4. Grease a 8x8 baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to an 1/8" square. Cut into 4 even pieces.

6. Place 2 apple slices, a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar on each portion. Top with a square of butter.

7. Fold the dough up and around the apples. pinch all of the seams together. Place in the baking dish. Repeat for all of the dough.

8. Pour the syrup from step 3 into the bottom of the baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden.
9. Allow the dumplings to rest for at least 10 minutes before trying to serve these little purses.

Pear Eight Ways

This was probably one of the most difficult class projects I have ever had to do. We were paired up and told that we had to create a dessert with the main ingredient being poached pears.

Of all the fruit. Pears. Seriously. Ugh. I am not a pastry person, why couldn't I get a nice fruit like cherries, or berries.

We had a week to create the recipes, complete a costing, and compose a drawing of what our finished desseert would look like.

A week, it sound like a ample amount of time. Not at The CIA. Everyday here is the fastest day of my life, and with a job, there is absolutely no down time. So a week here is like three days elsewhere.

Chris and I figured it out, finally. We were to make a Cinnamon Panna Cotta with a Poached Pear Disc inside, Vanilla Creme Anglaise, a Port Wine Pear Sauce and a Petit Tuille Cookie.

We had one full day of prep plus two hours on the second day to create this dish that summed up all we had learned in class.

On day one, we made the vanilla sauce, poached the pears, assembled the panna cotta, and created a spiced shortbread as the stand for the dessert.

On day two the pear port wine sauce was finished and the tuille cookies made. Then came plate up.

Everyone served their creation at three thirty on the dot. And the dishes were tasted by everyone, includung Chef Englinski. Then came the critique.

Everyone was able to contribute to this discussion. My dessert was second to last and man, was my stomach turning.

Everyone loved it. The only critique was some vanilla bean in the sauce (who would waste a vanilla bean on 2oz of sauce) and to push the dessrt back an inch on the plate.

Overall -- Great success! 

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