Easy Italian plum tart

Italian plums are less common in US than in Europe. However, they make for a great, simple,  juicy tart in the fall. Using store-bought pie crust, this tart takes about 10 min to make (+ 30 min baking). Delicious!
Plum tart:

• 9 1/2 inch tart pan (best with removable bottom)
• store-bought (or home-made) bake-ready pie crust
• 1 pound Italian plums, washed, stone removed, quartered
• 3-4 tablespoon of ground hazelnuts or almonds
• 2 eggs
• 150ml millk
• 1/4 cup fine sugar
• 1/2 ts vanilla extract

Preheat the oven for 375 F degrees. Lay the tart pan with a layer of pie crust and press it into the corners and rim of the tart pan. Cut off excess dough. Sprinkle the base slightly with ground hazelnuts or almond meal. Cover it with quartered plums. Sprinkle a 1 TB of sugar over the plums. Mix the eggs with the milk, the sugar and vanilla. Pour the mix over the plum tart and bake for 30 minutes. Let it set for about 30 min for the custard to set and firm before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
 

Fig pizza

Fresh California mission figs have not much of a shelf life to speak of. I was in a hurry to try out what I actually bought them for: fig pizza. The real deal  of this pizza is with pizza dough made from scratch, proscuitto, gorgonzola, walnuts, sliced figs, baked and then topped with arugula salad with a balsamic reduction drizzle. Since I had made an apple tart from scratch I was in no mood for all the fuzz. So, shortcut to the rescue. I used a frozen small Trader Joes pizza, removed much of the toppings, and added gorgonzola and goat cheese crumbles instead and topped it with fresh figs before baking. 15 min later, warm, baked and smelling heavenly I added thinly sliced radicchio, pecans and balsamic vinaigrette. Elegance with a shortcut.
 

Apple Olive Oil Cake

It is apple picking time again! Maybe not today since it rains, so it is more apple cake baking time. This is one of my favorite apple cake recipe from La tartine gourmande. It is not only elegant and tasty, but also glutenfree.

Apple Olive Oil Cake a la Tartine Gourmande (makes 2 small cakes or 1 large):

• 1/2 TB butter
• 5 smaller apples, peeled, cored and finely diced
• 1/2 cup blond organic cane sugar + 1 TB for the apples
• 1/2 TB vanilla extract
• 1 ts finely chopped lemon thyme
• 4 organic free-range eggs
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 100 g millet flour & 100g brown rice flours*
• 65 g almond meal*
• 40 g quinoa flour*
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

  *Or 200 g (gluten-free) all-purpose flour replacing all the other flours and almond meal combined

In a sautee pan, heat 1/2 TB butter over medium heat. When warm, add the diced apples with 1 Tb cane sugar, and cook for 5 minutes, or until the apples are softer. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 2 smaller or 1 larger (i.e.10-inch) mold with baking spray (with butter and flour) and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flours and baking powder and lemon thyme. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and a pinch of salt and the vanilla extract. Add the olive oil and mix well. Add the wet mixture to the flours. Fold the apples in the cake batter. Transfer the batter to the molds and bake the cake for 40 minutes for a very small mold and 50 min for a small, but higher mold, or until a sharp knife inserted in the middle comes out dry. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes before unmolding.

Simple 1lb wholewheat sandwich bread

I love to make sourdough bread in my Zojiurushi Mini Breadmaker, but due to negligence my sourdough bit the dust in the spring. This is a simple yeast wholewheat bread without a lot of fuss. Great for sandwiches and paninis!

• 3/4 cup +2 TB  lukewarm water
• 2 1/4 cups  wholewheat flour
• 1 TB organic cane sugar
• 1/2 ts salt
• 1 TB active yeast
• 1 TB Baker’s dry milk powder (helps to make sure the bread rises)
• Optional: 1 TB olive oil

Place water in bottom of breadmaker, then add the flour, mix in the salt, add the sugar, yeast and milk powder, and slightly mix the dry ingredients. Turn on the breadmaker; regular bread with light crust. It takes about 3 1/2 h.

  

Blueberry Cheesecake (with Greek yogurt)

Here is a new way to indulge in fabulous Greek yogurt: making cheesecake!  I could have made a graham cracker crust, but I did not have any crackers on hand, so it is a crustless cheesecake with fresh blueberries. It is easy to whip up with just a few ingredients, mainly featuring non-fat Greek yogurt.

• 1 cup non-flavored Greek yogurt
• 1 eggwhite
• a few drops of liquid stevia
• 1/4 ts vanilla extract
• 1 TB all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup fresh Maine blueberries (the small ones)
• almond slivers

In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt with the eggwhite until smooth, and add the liquid sweetener and vanilla. Sift in the flour and whisk until smooth. Gently fold in the blueberries and distribute into 2 small ramekins. Arrange a few blueberries and almond slivers on top.

Bake (in toaster oven) at 400F for 25min. Let cool, and serve.

Tomato Basil Feta Muffins

I love savory muffins, and these take advantage of the summer harvest: tomatoes and fresh basil! (there is a fall version with butternut squash feta and spinach). They are a great snack with a glass of white wine on those longer summer evenings, or a side to a salad for lunch, or go well to the picnic on the beach.

• 1 TB butter for 12-hole muffin pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 4 ts baking powder
• 1/2 ts seasalt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 ts grainy mustard
• fresh ground black pepper
• 100 g feta, cut into small dice
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
• handful basil leaves, chiffonade
• about 12 springs of thyme, chopped
• 4-6 kale leaves, chopped

Preheat oven to 405F / 200C, with rack in the top third. Use the butter to grease a 12-hole muffin pan and set aside.

Quarter the cherry tomatoes, and arrange on a foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and some salt and pepper, and bake for 15 minutes until slightly wilted and caramelized, but not completely cooked. Set aside to cool.

Transfer the baked cherry tomatoes to a large mixing bowl along with the sliced basil, chopped thyme, chopped kale, toasted pine nuts, and the feta. Gently fold together. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, milk and mustard together and add to the tomato mix. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, and sift onto the tomato mix, top with a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper and fold together just until the batter comes together, be careful not to over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden, and the muffins have set up completely. Let cool for a couple minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Vegan chocolate cupcakes

Today, the trip to the farmer market brought sweet treats. I am not really big on sweets, but decided I want to support the newly opened vegan and gluten-free bakery stand with the adorable name Irish Daisy on the farmers market, which popped up this spring. First of all the cupcakes look just adorable, second they are VEGAN and third, the samples say “incredible baking”. Currently, I am a bit at a loss as of what to buy at the farmers market, because eggs, fish and chicken as well as goat cheese are kind of out of the question, and there is not much green stuff beside seedlings and radishes yet. So, I arrived to the FM with the purpose of finally buying a vegan cupcake. Of course, I had to sample the vegan whoopie pies. So good!