Rêves Francophones, Part One: Raspberry Browned-Butter Tart

I've only been back in the states for a week, and I'm already having serious French food withdrawals. If you had lived five glorious weeks in the land of the world's best cheese and pastries and then been violently removed back to the land of burgers and enchiladas, you would understand.

My nostalgia led me to do some baking of my own. This tart is a hybrid of a popular French fruit tart and the popular Southern browned-butter pie. I think it's a winner. The sweet, nutty browned-butter perfectly compliments the tart flavor of the fresh raspberries. And a homemade crust is always a winner in my book.

Hello, beautiful.

Raspberry Browned-Butter Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

7 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

pinch of salt

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup diced unsalted butter

12 oz fresh raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the melted butter, sugar and vanilla for the crust in a medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt until incorporated. Refrigerate dough for roughly 5 minutes.

2. Transfer dough to 9-inch pie or tart pan. Press dough evenly into sides and bottom of pan.

3. Bake crust until just golden, about 15 minutes. Crust will puff slightly while baking. Allow crust to cool while preparing filling.

4. Whisk sugar, eggs and salt for the filling in a medium bowl. Slowly add in flour and vanilla; whisk until smooth.

5. Brown butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter should slowly turn medium brown and begin to smell nutty. Make sure you don't burn it, though! This is the trickiest part.

6. Transfer butter to its own (preferably glass) cup and let it rest and cool for several minutes.

7. Arrange raspberries side-up in concentric circles inside the cooled pie crust. (Or dump them in... as you like.)

8. Mix browned butter slowly in three stages into the egg and sugar mixture. Whisk until incorporated.

9. Carefully pour filling over arranged raspberries in crust.

10. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until puffy and golden.

The concentric circles idea becomes more of a loose idea in practice....

Viola! A beautiful piece of raspberry tart.

Happy summer, y'all.

--Alyssa

Crêpe Time

I've been on a crêpe-making spree since I've been home from college. Perhaps it's the anticipation of our upcoming month-long sojourn in Grenoble, France that is driving me to French cuisine; perhaps it is the sudden, glorious absence of a grocery bill (living at home, suckas). In any case, I'm happy to be home and to be back in my Tennessee kitchen, where there are things like free Whole Foods blueberries and Gruyère cheese just sitting around, y'all. Ready for me to turn them into deliciousness.

There's nothing wrong with a good, basic lemon-sugar (or just piled powdered sugar...) crêpe, but this summer I've been experimenting with fresh, delicious filler ingredients. So far my favorites are strawberry & Nutella crêpes and caramelized apples & cream crêpes. (If you're sensing a "cream" theme, you have intuited correctly. My whipped cream fetish is renowned.)

Take a look at these beauties:

You may be living the Southern cultural idiom if you have a white front porch that looks over the Tennessee River. Yes, that is a red gazing ball in the front yard. Welcome to the South.

You may be culturally displaced if you're reading Judith Butler's Gender Trouble and eating fresh crêpes on said porch. Enter me.

In my strawberries & Nutella pancakes, I fill each crepe with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped cream before slathering each with Nutella spread and powdered sugar. Mmmm. Breakfast of champions, y'all.

Basic Crêpe Recipe (makes six crêpes; feeds two hungry individuals)

Ingredients

1cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Whisk milk and egg until combined. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined.
2. After coating a non-stick pan with butter or cooking spray, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto the pan over medium heat. Swirl the pan to create a very thin, even layer of batter. I like to spread the batter out while pouring so that it does not clump in the middle and create a volcanic middle-heavy pancake-crêpe.
3. Cook until the underside begins to brown and flip with a large pancake spatula. Both sides should be slightly browned.

An unfortunate lack of strawberries this morning made me abandon my plans to make these babies for the second day in a row. We did, however, have some beautiful crisp red apples, so I decided to get clever and crêpe those up too.

In my caramelized apples & cream crêpes, I use the following recipe for caramelized apples. I fill each crêpe with the caramelized apples and whipped cream and, after drizzling the top with honey and powdered sugar, pour the reduction from the caramelized apples over the crêpes.

Caramelized Apples

Ingredients

 2 crisp apples (I used Red Lady) cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Melt butter and brown sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Whisk until sugar is dissolved in butter and the mixture is combined and bubbly.

2. Whisk in honey and cinnamon. Reduce heat to low.

3. Add in cubed apple pieces. Coat the apple pieces thoroughly with the mixture. Allow apples to cook for roughly 8 minutes.

Yum.

What is your favorite crêpe filling? Do you prefer sweet fruity breakfast crêpes or the more substantial meaty lunch variety?

Enjoy!

Alyssa

The Christmas Crack

This rainy March Sunday seems like the perfect day to introduce y'all to The Christmas Crack.

Ok, ok, we're a good three months out from the Nativity, but the stormy days of early spring often need a pick-me-up involving chocolate and ambrosia. Today is definitely one of those days.

What makes The Christmas Crack so special? Maybe it's the image of my Great Aunt Vera Kate in her housecoat and hairnet boiling the butter and brown sugar on winter afternoons, the smell of ambrosia punctuated by "whoa there, stovetop" and "hot damn, y'all, this smells good."

Or maybe this stuff is just freaking awesome.

You start by layering some buttery Club crackers on the bottom of a pan:

And then add some freshly made ambrosia and chocolate baking chips, like so:

Then, after freezing and cracking the concoction, you get something like this little bundle of delicious:

Ohhhhh yum.

Ingredients:
8x8 inch baking pan
1 sleeve Club crackers
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 8x8 pan with butter and layer two layers of club crackers on the bottom.
3. Bring brown sugar and butter to a boil on the stovetop. Once they are at a boil, reduce heat and stir three to four minutes or until the sugar is dissolved in the butter and a fragrant ambrosia is formed.
4. Pour the ambrosia evenly over the club crackers.
5. Bake the ambrosia-covered crackers for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot mixture and spread until melted and even.
7. Freeze for one hour. Crack the "Christmas Crack" apart and devour.

Happy spring, y'all!

--Alyssa

Gâteau aux fraises

The average Friday and Saturday of a college student probably doesn't involve baking away in the dorm, but my weekend was just that. I spent my Friday evening baking and my Saturday afternoon frosting away. The smell of fresh strawberries was a sweet welcome every time I stepped back in the room from my sojourn to the dorm kitchen. Dorm baking is always an adventure, but this cake was well worth the effort. Strawberry cake and cream cheese frosting topped with fresh strawberries can make any day better. Yet again, Amy Lucas came to my rescue and took these beautiful pictures of the cake!

Ingredients

Photo by Amy Lucas

• 1 cup of strawberry purée (made from approximately 16-24 oz of fresh strawberries and 2 tsp of sugar)
• 1/4 cup of whole milk
• 6 large egg whites at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup cake flour (all purpose works as well)
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine (softened)
• red food coloring

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350. Prepare 3 6-inch round pans or 2 8 or 9-inch round pans. (I used 3 6-inch pans. I didn't use the third layer for the cake in the picture because I wanted to make a smaller, separate one.)
2. Make the strawberry purée first. Dice and blend strawberries until you have approximately 1 cup of purée. Stir in 2 tsp of sugar.
3. Add milk, vanilla extract, and eggs. Mix with a fork until all ingredients are well blended.
4. Slowly incorporate the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use a mixer to be certain that everything is well incorporated. Add the softened butter and continue to mix. 
5. Slowly add the food coloring a couple of drops at a time until you have the perfect color of pink.
6. If using the 6-inch pans, bake for approximately 30 minutes. If using the larger, bake for 25 minutes. Check using a toothpick. Be careful not to over-bake. You want the cake to be deliciously moist.

Icing Ingredients

Photo by Amy Lucas

• 11 oz. cream cheese (softened for 1-2 hours)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter or margarine
• 1 tsp of vanilla

Directions

1. Use a mixer to loosen the cream cheese.
2. Add the butter and vanilla.
3. Incorporate the powdered sugar slowly while continuing to mix. Mix until the cream cheese is a creamy consistency.

Cake Assembly

• Gently place the first layer on a plate. Spoon a generous amount of frosting on the top. Using an angled spatula, spread the frosting evenly on the top. Let it drip down the sides and spread.
• Place the 2nd layer on top and repeat.

The cakes made the perfect decoration for the dorm.

Bon Appétit!
--Cara

Chocolate Crinkles

These cookies are long gone and so is fall break. October seems like a lifetime away. These cookies are a chocolatey reminder of the beginnings of fall and 5 full days of R&R on the farm with one of my very best friends. We took a couple of cat naps while basking in the sun on the porch with our furry friends. She's also the very talented photographer who snapped the pictures for the blog! Enjoy these treats and try not to choke on all of the powdered sugar!

Photo by Amy Lucas

Ingredients

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• powdered sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. Let the cream cheese soften (or microwave it for about 20 seconds). Using a mixer, combine with the butter.
3. Add the egg and vanilla. Continue to mix.
4. Slowly add the chocolate cake mix while mixing.
5. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
6. Roll the dough into small balls. Roll the cookie dough in powdered sugar and place on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.

Bon appétit! 

--Cara

Tea Party Shortbread Cookies

These shortbread cookies are positively delectable with a cup of earl grey. I couldn't think of a better combination for afternoon tea. Grab a book and a tea tray for a perfect English afternoon on the porch swing.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
a dash of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
1/4 cup of sprinkles (I used pink ones!)

Directions
1. Whip butter until creamy. Stir in the sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt. Mix until well incorporated.
2. Add the sprinkles.
3. Refrigerate the dough for an hour or two. Or for us impatient ones, put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. I used pretty flower cookie cutters and placed them on 2 large baking sheets.
5. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Take them out before the edges begin to brown.

Et voilà! Bon appétit mes amis!

Be sure to share!

-Cara

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry cake is a favorite on the Wilson farm. I grew up devouring its sweetness at every family gathering, on holidays, and the summer days in between. This particular recipe isn't the famous Wilson recipe. I wanted to experiment with a different one and use it for my mother's birthday. Her birthday was in June, so if you're doing the math...this blog post is about 7 months overdue. This was one of my first attempts to properly ice and decorate a cake. Let's just say that I still need some practice, but the cheery pink color makes up for any imperfections!

Ingredients (for cake)

1 and 3/4 cups of granulated sugar

1 package of strawberry Jello-O

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs (room temperature)

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup strawberry purée (can use frozen or fresh)

Frosting

3 sticks of butter

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 1/2 teaspoon pur vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon of salt

4 tablespoons strawberry purée (or to taste)

1. Purée the strawberries. Mix until smooth (and not icy if using frozen strawberries).

2. Preheat oven to 350. Butter or grease three round 8 inch pans.

3. Mix milk, vanilla, and strawberry purée until smooth. Set aside.

4. Sift and whisk dry ingredients together. Set aside.

5. Cream gelatin, sugar, and butter together for about 5 minutes with a mixer. 

6. Add the eggs one by one to the creamed mixture. Be sure they are room temperature. It makes the cake fluffier. 

7. Add the wet and dry ingredients to the creamed mixture slowly. Alternate and mix well.

8. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes. Be sure not to overcook, you want it to be moist. Take out and let the cakes cool before icing.

9. For the frosting, whip the butter for about 8 minutes or until light and creamy.

10. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix on low speed for one minute and then on medium-high for about 6 minutes. Add the strawberry purée last and mix until well incorporated.

Between each layer of cake layer icing evenly. Then spread icing thickly on top. Use the excess on top to ice the sides. Add some fresh strawberries on top to decorate and you are finished!

Bon Appétit! 

-Cara