Honey Bee Cake

The March choice for the Cake Slice Bakers is the Honey Bee Cake from Vintage Cakes.  I was looking forward to making this cake because it sounded so ....'old-fashion' to me.  Timing happened to line up with my Aunt Lynn's birthday party so I offered up this simple yet tasty treat for her dessert.

I decided to make the cake in a springform pan for ease of serving.  The recipe calls for a standard cake pan that you have to do a double turn to get the cake onto a serving platter.  The springform just sounded so much easier to me.

In my book honey = sticky so I buttered the pan all over just to play it safe.

Nothing fancy on the making of this cake.  Cream together the butter, sugar, honey then add the eggs and vanilla.  

Next mix in the dry ingredients and buttermilk; alternating between the two until everything is incorporated but don't over mix this batter.

Spread the batter into your prepared pan.  Tap it flatly on the counter a couple of times to release any large air pockets.

While the cake is baking you want to make your honey glaze.  I found that making it too soon meant I turned it off and the butter separated a bit as it cooled.  When it came time to pour onto the cake I had to reheat the mixture.  Next time I would wait until the cake was almost ready to make the glaze.

Once the cake is just shy of being done pull it out of the oven.  Poke holes all over with a skewer, pour half of the honey glaze over the top.  Do this slowly so that you don't end up with puddles on the edges.  Distribute your nuts all over the top and pour the rest of the glaze onto the nuts.  The recipe called for a heaping 1/2 cup but I used closer to a cup of nuts.

Put the cake back into the oven for about 5 more minutes.  Cool for about an hour... this cake is served best slightly warm.

The Honey Bee Cake recipe can be found in the cookbook Vintage Cakes.

The group really liked this cake.  I was told that it had a comfy 'old fashion' taste. ;)

I will enjoy trying this with different nuts and honey flavors.

Happy Birthday Aunt Lynn!

Enjoy!

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:)

Gluten what?

I have to admit that the gluten-free "thing" is a complete mystery to me.  But since my sister has asked that we have some gluten-free options on the menu I figured it was time to solve the mystery.  

I have never made a galette aka a free form pie.  This may not be exactly what others know a galette to be but it is what I know it to be so bear with me.  First thing to do is find a well rated recipe for a g-f pastry crust.  For that I hopped over to King Arthur Flour, which kind of made sense because I had their g-f flour sitting on my shelf.  Now peruse some recipes for galettes and yep I think I got what to do in my brain.

First make the crust.  This is pretty straight forward - just like making a regular crust except the KA recipe has an egg in it.  You can find the recipe I am using here.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Then using a pastry cutter blend in the butter.  You want to have small pea sized bit of butter through your crust mixture.

Mix together the egg and vinegar then incorporate it into your dry ingredients.  Mixing only enough to get the crust to hold together.  Squish it together and place it in plastic wrap.  Let it chill for an hour in the fridge.

Roll out your dough between two pieces of plastic wrap.  You use less flour and it is easy to move around.  I rolled it out to about 8 inches in diameter, maybe a bit bigger than that.

At this point I should have put the crust back into the fridge to chill while I worked on preparing my apples but I didn't and it will be a slight issue later... lesson learned.

Peel, core and slice your apples nice and thin.  I used my mandolin set at 1/8" and am happy with the end result.  You want your slices thin so that they will bake rather quickly.  Placed the slices in a bowl then tossed them with the cinnamon and sugar.

Transfer your crust to a piece of parchment paper.  Lay out your apples in the center of your crust leaving about an inch to an inch and a half of crust all the way around.  You can lay out your apples how ever you like - try different patterns to see what you like but don't take too long because the butter in your crust is softening minute by minute.  Yes another lesson learned. 

You want even layers so that the apples will bake evenly.

Break up your butter and put small pieces all over the top of the apples.

Now using the parchment fold the edge up and over the apples.  Do a small section at a time.

This is where I got into trouble with the time my pastry sat out - the butter had softened too much and the dough was rather sticky and very stuck to the parchment.  This made folding it over rather difficult.  I think had I put it in the fridge while working on the apples it would have been easier to work with.

Don't worry about the folds being perfect - this is a rustic dessert.  Free form is great tasting!

Sprinkled the top of the crust with a bit more of the cinnamon sugar.  Moved it to a sheet pan and popped it into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Turned the oven down to 375 degrees, loosely covered it with foil and baked for 25 minutes more. I like a bit of a texture to my apples so next time I would probably only cook it for about 15 to 20 minutes at the turned down temperature.  It really does depend on how you like your apples to be done.

Took it out of the oven and cooled it on a rack for about 15 minutes.  Then sliced and served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We all thought it quite tasty!  But the crust did seem a bit grainy compared to a typical pastry crust.  I have read that this usual (or if too much, a problem).  I realized I have nothing to compare it to!  Since I have never had a gluten-free pastry crust before.  I also realized that I had no one to test it.  The only person I know that eats gluten-free lives four states away ha!  Guess I only surround myself with a bunch of gluteneaters!

I will be trying more items with gluten-free in mind to find some good things to offer on the menu.  If you give this a try let me know what you think.

Apple Galette
by My Sister's Table

Ingredients

1 pie crust, ready to roll ~ I used KA's gluten-free recipe found here.
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar mix*
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Roll out your pie crust to about 8 -9 inches round.  Lay the rolled out dough onto parchment paper.
Toss your sliced apples with the cinnamon sugar.  Arrange the slices in the center of the dough leaving about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of dough around the edge.  Try to layer the apples evenly.  Break up the butter into small pieces and place the all over the apples.
Fold the edge of the dough up and over the apples.  Fold up small sections to get a nice pleated look.  Don't worry about it being perfect - this is a rustic dessert.  Free form is great tasting!  Once all the edges are folded up you will still have an open center showing off your apple slices.  If you wish, sprinkle a bit more cinnamon sugar on top of the crust.
Move the galette on the parchment to a baking sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 375 degrees.  Cover the galette loosely with foil and continue baking for 15 to 25 minutes depending on how done you like your apples.
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 large servings.
*A good cinnamon sugar mixture is 1 teaspoon cinnamon to each tablespoon sugar.  If you like it cinnamonier add a bit more to the mixture.

Printable recipe here.

Enjoy!

:)

Chicken Pot Pie

We all have this recipe, don't we? Yet when I wanted to make - actually Nick wanted me to make it - I couldn't find my recipe.  Ok fine I know what goes in it just wing it!  So I did and when we finished eating that evening we all decided that it was yummy enough to have again.  Just in case you don't have a tried and true recipe you are welcome to give mine a go.

But one thing I think made the difference - the temperature outside.  It has to be on the chilly side and a bit of wind and/or mistiness really does enhance the flavor of a chickenbeefturkey pot pie.

Unfortunately this is not a mix together and pop it into the oven pot pie. You have to saute, boil, whisk, roll, then mix and pop into the oven.

I must confess I used *whispering* store bought unroll pie crusts.  But I did have to roll them out a bit!  I hope that counts for a wee bit!

When baking any sort of closed crust 'pie' be sure that you have some sort of vent - the steam will find its way out one way or another and it may not be pretty.

No egg wash and it came out just fine - crispy and brown.

Tasty. Warm. Homey.

Chicken Pot Pie

by My Sisters Table

3 or 4 chicken breasts, cubed

2 tablespoons butter

6 ounces baby carrots, cut in half

3 new (red or white) potatoes, cubed

8 ounces (1/2 bag) frozen peas

8 ounces (1/2 bag) frozen corn

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

5 tablespoons butter*

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour*

1 1/2 cups milk*

White wine - enough to make 1 cup with chicken broth

Salt & pepper to taste.

2 unbaked pie crusts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

Start 2 pots of water to boil. Put a pinch or two of salt into the water.

Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a fry pan and cook the chicken over medium heat until just done. You should get a lot of broth out of the chicken during this cooking. With a slotted spoon take the chicken pieces out of the pan and put into a large mixing bowl. Many of the ingredients that will be going into this bowl will be quite hot so choose a heat proof bowl. Pour off the juice into a heat proof measuring cup. I got about 1/2 cup but your measurement may be different.

When the pots of water come to a boil add your carrots to one and the potatoes to the other. Cook both until just tender - you may want to stop at al dente depending on how you like your vegetables. They will cook for a bit longer in the oven so keep that in mind. Once the potatoes are done drain them them add them to the bowl with the chicken. When the carrots are just tender add the corn and peas. Bring back to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes then drain and add the carrots, peas and corn to the bowl.

Top off your chicken broth with white wine so that you have 1 cup together.

Your fry pan probably has a bunch of bits all over the bottom and that is a good thing this will add yumminess to your sauce! Add the butter, onion and garlic to the pan and over medium heat cook until the onions start to get soft. Using a whisk, add the flour and whisk and cook for about 1 minute. Add the broth/wine and the milk slowly while whisking continuously. Bring this to a boil still whisking until it has become thick and sauce-ay! Salt and pepper the sauce to your taste.

Pour the sauce into the bowl and mix all of your pie filling together.

Roll out your pie crusts to fit a 9''x13'' pan. If you use the pre-made crusts they will roll out rather thin for this size but work just fine. Put in your bottom crust and and let any excess just hang over the edge. Put your filling into the crust and moisten the edge of the crust with your finger dipped into water. Top with your second crust and crimp the edges together by pinching with your fingers or using a fork. With a sharp knife cut a few vent holes in the top crust.

Bake in the 350 degree oven for 40 minutes until the top crust is golden brown. If you used a glass pan the bottom and side crust should be light brown but not too dark. Let set for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

*If you want your filling to be saucier use:

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

(wine/broth amount is the same as above)

Follow the above directions.

Printable recipe here.

Enjoy!

: )