This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

Baked apples aren’t typically a “wow” of the dessert world. But I’d like to help you change your opinion on that with some baked Honeycrisp apples. These baked apples are perfectly cooked (not mushy!) still retain a slight al dente feel to them, but have all the taste and goodness of hot apple pie. And they’re super easy to make! Not a lot of prep, no crust to toil over and roll out — what’s not to like?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love pie. Like LOVE. And I love making a traditional pie with a homemade crust. But sometimes you just want something quick, easy, satisfying and ultra cozy. (And maybe slightly healthier. ) That’s where baked apples come in.

I honestly don’t usually think of Honeycrisp apples as a variety you’d want to bake. But, I think for this recipe, you’ll find that they’re the perfect apple — they’re sweet, they don’t fall apart when baking, and they’re pretty easy to find.

Speaking of which, I shopped at Albertsons in my local area to pick up these apples, but you can also look for similar products at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Safeway, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

The virus is still running rampant in Missoula, so I opted to stay out of the store and use Albertsons DriveUp & Go for a convenient way to shop, which I really appreciate. (Also, the folks who bring out my groceries are always so nice! And yep, masks are always in place — both on them and on me.)

After picking up my apples and ingredients for this recipe, it was a pretty quick make!

Just wash your apples (always wash your produce!), cut off the tops, and remove the core (plus just a little extra) from the inside of each apple. (Those little extra bits are tasty!) I found it easiest to do this with a melon baller tool, but you could also use an apple corer or a paring knife. Just make that that you don’t pierce through the bottom of the apple. Retaining that base will help the apple keep its shape and prevent it from becoming waterlogged.

After you’ve got your apples ready, mix the apple “stuffing,” and pack it in to each apple when it’s all set to go.

At this point you’re almost done!

The last step is to top each apple with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of the sugar mixture, admire your handiwork and then pop those beauties into the oven for about a hour.

Truly — this is an easy and delicious recipe. Side bonus: your house will smell soooo good.

Once the apples are tender, remove them from the oven and serve warm in a small dish (you’ll want to be able to scoop up the caramelized goodness). You may even want to throw some ice cream into the mix. And enjoy!

Baked Honeycrisp Apples

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Baked Honeycrisp apples are an easy, delicious dessert!

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Makes: 4

Ingredients

• 4 Honeycrisp apples, washed
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• Dash of salt
• 4 Tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Slice the top portion off the apples and scoop out the core with an apple-corer or melon-baller tool, leaving a well in the center. Be sure not to cut through the bottom of the apples.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, cranberries, walnuts (or pecans), and salt until blended.
4. Reserve about a teaspoon and half of the brown sugar mixture, and stuff each apple with ¼ of the remaining mixture. It's ok to pack it in if you need to and mound the top a little.
5. Place the apples in a deep baking dish (an 8"x8" baking dish works well). Top each apple with 1 Tablespoon of butter and a sprinkle of the reserved brown sugar mixture.
6. Pour about ½" to 1" of water into the baking pan around the apples, and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until apples are tender.
7. Serve the apples warm. If you'd like, top them with whipped cream, a caramel sauce, or serve with a scoop of ice cream.

Notes

After baking, cover and refrigerate the apples for up to 4 days, then warm at 325° before serving.
You can also reheat Individual apples at 50% power in a microwave.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now that autumn is here and the temperatures are rapidly dropping, is there anything that screams fall more than pumpkin pie from scratch? Pumpkin pie is such a simple, satisfying dessert to make, and in this recipe, we take it up a notch by using our own pumpkin puree from a sweet pie pumpkin!

I shopped at Albertsons in my local area for my pumpkin pie ingredients, but you can also look for similar products at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

Currently, Albertsons has small pie pumpkins for sale in their Pumpkin Patch display. When I visited, there were also a variety of other baked goods to choose from, like pumpkin spice cupcakes and macaroons. So if you need a whole dessert smorgasbord to complement your pumpkin pie from scratch (think Thanksgiving or a Halloween party), there are plenty of additional options to choose from, too!

To make your pie from scratch you can prep several of the ingredients ahead of time to make things a bit easier. For your pumpkin puree, you’ll need 3 cups for your filling. You can typically get 3 cups from a small-t0-medium sized pie pumpkin. Be sure to choose a pie pumpkin instead of a jack-o-lantern, as pie pumpkins are sweeter. They’re also smaller.

If you have a pressure cooker, place the pumpkin inside with some water and pressure cook until the pumpkin is soft. If your pumpkin is too large, you can cut it in half. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can boil your pumpkin or roast its halves face down on a baking sheet to soften the flesh.

Be sure to scoop out the seeds and discard (or save if you like to eat them). Then, scrape the flesh from the skin, place it in a bowl and puree to a smooth consistency. The flesh might be a little watery – that’s ok, as long as it’s not too thin. (See the above photo, third from the top row, for an image of the consistency of the puree.)

Measure out the puree until you have 3 cups. You can either use this immediately in your pie filling or bag and freeze it so you can have from-scratch pumpkin pie whenever you’d like!

In my pies, I prefer to make my crust from scratch, too. However, if you’d like to save time by purchasing a store bought pie crust, that’s perfectly fine too. Basically, choose your favorite crust or crust recipe and line a 9-inch pie dish with it.

Mix your pie filling ingredients and pour the filling into your prepared pie shell. Instead of using evaporated milk in this pie recipe (like many pumpkin pie recipes to), I like to keep it simple and use half and half instead.

Bake following the recipe instructions found below.

Let the pie cool to set. Enjoy warm or chilled, and treat yourself to a little whipped cream topping, too!

Don’t forget to tell your friends that this pumpkin pie is made with real pumpkin! Did you know that lots of canned pumpkin is actually a mixture of winter squashes like butternut, hubbard, and golden delicious?

And, don’t forget – Albertsons and Safeway also offer Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go for convenient ways to shop if you don’t want to have to spend time shopping for your pie ingredients!

Pumpkin Pie from Scratch

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

From-scratch pumpkin pie is absolutely delicious!

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Makes: 12 slices

Ingredients

Pumpkin Puree

• 1 small to medium sized pie pumpkin

Pie crust of your choice

Pie Filling

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups pumpkin puree from a cooked pumpkin
• 1½ cups half and half

Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extrat

Instructions

Pumpkin Puree

1. Make your pumpkin puree, either in a pressure cooker, by boiling the pumpkin, or by roasting it. The goal is to soften the pumpkin flesh until it's easy to scoop away from the skin and puree into a smooth consistency. Don't forget to remove the seeds. The easiest way to puree the pumpkin is with an immersion blender, but a standard blender will work, too.
2. Make enough puree to equal 3 cups.

Pie Crust

1. Roll out your pie dough until it is slightly larger than your pie dish. Place into your pie dish with about an inch overhang all around the edge of the dish. Flute the edges of the dough.

Pie Filling

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Mix all filling ingredients well using a hand whisk or electric mixer. The mixture may appear very runny, but it will thicken up in the oven.
3. Pour the filling into your pie crust.
4. Place the filled pie into your preheated oven and bake at 425 degrees F for the first 15 minutes. (Prior to placing the pie into the oven I like to put a pie shield around the crust to prevent it from over-baking and getting too dark. If you don't have a dedicated pie shield, you can simply cover the edges of your crust with a loosely-draped layer of tinfoil. I leave my pie shield on the crust for the entire duration of the bake time.)
5. After you have baked the pie at 425 degrees F for the first 15 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F. Bake for another 45 to 60 minutes (I usually end up at about 60 minutes), until a clean knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.
6. Cool the pie.
7. While it cools, get your whipping cream ready.

Whipped Cream

1. Place all whipping cream ingredients into a bowl. Whip at high speed for about 3-4 minutes until stiff peaks form. (Be careful not to over-whip, though.)
2. Top your pie slices with the whipped cream and sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon.

Notes

If you have more filling than your pie dish will hold, you can use this extra to make a few smaller crustless pies. Simply grease some smaller baking dishes, pour the extra filling in to a depth of about 2 inches and bake along with your regular pie. You'll likely need a shorter baking time for these smaller dishes, so keep an eye on the consistency of the filling and regularly test the mini pies for doneness.

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Another year has passed and I’ve yet again neglected this blog. However, I figured I can share at least one recipe here in 2018. (Nothing like waiting ’til the last minute, right?) But this Raspberry Almond Star Bread has got to be one of my most favorite recipes I’ve made this year. And it’s bread. And dessert. All rolled into one. Basically my two most favorite things ever.

In general, I think bread is about one of the prettiest things a person can make. But if you add almond cream and raspberries to that bread and then twist it up all pretty-like to resemble a beautiful star? Just watch me swoon in 3…2…1.

I originally posted a variation of this recipe on my instagram account as a brioche raspberry and almond braid, which resulted in folks asking if I’d share the recipe. So voila, here it is! Just with a slightly different look.

While there are a fair number of steps to this recipe, let me assure you, it’s most certainly not at all difficult, and it’s well worth each little step to make this luscious, beautiful thing a reality.

You’ll want to first start with your favorite brioche dough recipe (or any other favorite recipe you’ve got for enriched dough) and make sure to make 2 pounds of it. Also, whip up a batch of almond cream that you’ll be using as part of your filling. (Try not to scarf all of it down because, yes, it tastes amazing. And if you’re like me and go weak in the knees for marzipan, also known as almond paste, then this will be right up your alley.)

To get things going, divide your 2-pound piece of dough into four equal pieces and shape them into balls (you’ll likely want to dust them with a little flour to prevent stickiness).

Roll the dough balls into four rounds about 10 inches wide, and again, add more flour as you roll them out to prevent sticking.

Carefully place one of these dough rounds onto a piece of parchment paper. (You may need to re-roll the dough again once you transfer it to the parchment so it retains its 10-inch shape.) Top with one-third of your almond cream, raspberry jam, and fresh raspberries. As you add your fresh raspberries, flatten them and smoosh them out a bit so they blend into the dough a bit more and don’t stick up as giant bumps. Repeat with the next two layers of dough, almond cream, raspberry jam and raspberries. Top with the final layer of dough.

Place a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter (or any round object that size) in the center of the dough (no need to press it down – it’s just being used as a guide here). Use a knife or bench scraper to slice the circle into 16 equal sections, leaving that biscuit cutter in place so you don’t cut entirely into the center of the dough.

Now comes the most fun part about this! Time to make the star take shape! Twist two of the sections away from each other with two rotations, then pinch those sections together at their ends to form a point. Repeat with the remainder of the sections until you have eight points.

Let your newly-created star rest for 90 minutes at room temperature under a loose cover of plastic wrap. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.

Transfer the star (along with the parchment paper beneath it) onto a baking sheet. Brush the exposed dough with egg wash and sprinkle with decorating sugar in the center of the loaf. (You can also sprinkle with raw cane sugar if you don’t have decorating sugar.)

Get a little giddy because your house is going to smell amazing and you’re about to create the most beautiful piece of edible art. Pop that star into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and set, and the filling is bubbly and hot.

Be very patient and allow your star to cool on a rack before serving. (It’s tempting to bite into this while it’s still hot from the oven, but you will burn your mouth on that hot filling! Patience, grasshoppers!)

Once cooled, indulge a little yourself, and be sure to share with others! This bread is best eaten right away as it loses a bit of its magic past baking day. (It’s still good, but not quite as incredible.)

Raspberry Almond Star Bread Recipe

Raspberry Almond Star Bread

 

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Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Bread

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of your favorite brioche bread or enriched dough recipe
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 1 container fresh raspberries
• Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp water), for brushing the dough
• Decorating sugar, for sprinkling on loaf (can use raw cane sugar)
  
  

½ cup almond cream

• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup almond paste/marzipan (you can purchase this or make it yourself - see note below)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  

Instructions

1. Make the almond cream: cream together all the almond cream ingredients in a food processor until smooth and well combined. Set aside.
2. Take your dough and divide into 4 equal pieces. Dust with flour and quickly shape the pieces into balls.
3. Roll the dough balls into 4, 10-inch rounds. Add more flour as you roll to prevent sticking.
4. Place one of the dough rounds on a piece of parchment paper. Top with one-third of the almond cream, one-third of the raspberry jam, and one-third of the fresh raspberries. Repeat with next two layers of dough and filling ingredients. Top with the final layer of dough.
5. Place a 2½-inch biscuit cutter (or anything that size and round) in the center of the dough (no need to push down as it's being used as a guide). Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the circle into 16 equal sections, leaving the biscuit cutter in place so you don't slice all the way through to the center.
6. Twist 2 sections away from each other in two rotations, then pinch the two sections together to form a point. Repeat with remaining sections until you have 8 points.
7. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 90 minutes.
8. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.
9. Transfer the star and its parchment paper to a baking sheet. Brush the exposed dough with egg wash and sprinkle the center of the star with the sugar.
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and set, and the filling is bubbly and hot.
11. Allow to cool on a rack before serving.

Notes

Almond paste (otherwise known as marzipan) can be purchased; however, it's also incredibly easy to make. Simply combine 1½ cups very finely ground blanched almond meal/flour, 1½ cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons pure almond extract, 1 teaspoon quality food grade rose water and 1 egg white in a food processor and blend until a thick dough is formed. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead a few times. Form into a log, wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate. It will keep a least a month in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before using in any recipe. Makes about 12 ounces.

Adapted slightly from Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day

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Oh dearie me – it’s been a while since this blog has seen some love. Suffice it to say, I’ve been busy running the photography business, and that’s never a bad thing of course. But as the season slows down a bit, and as I get back into baking mode and sharing those baked goods with friends and neighbors, I’ve got a little more time to dedicate to sharing some of my favorite recipes here too. These easy peppermint meringue cookies are actually new to me – but they’re so quick to whip up, and so pretty, that they’ll definitely remain in my holiday season cookie arsenal.

I think my favorite thing about these is the happy little stripes, though. I mean, just look at how cute they are! The nice thing about this effect is that it’s as simple as striping the inside of your piping bag with some red gel food coloring. The first few meringues you pipe will likely not have these stripes showing, but after the first few, the stripe effect really begins to appear. To stripe my large piping bag, I just dipped a long, bamboo skewer into some red gel food coloring and then dragged the skewer up four sides of the piping bag (you could also use a clean paintbrush for this, but I was sans brush). The thicker the stripes are, the thicker they’ll be on your meringues. (Mine were pretty thin stripes.)

I made my meringue cookies about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter and piped them onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. I used a large, open star piping tip (also known as a “pastry tube”) to help create the ridge effect on the cookies.

It’s important to note that to infuse these with peppermint flavor, you’ll want to use peppermint extract, NOT peppermint oil. Any oils or residual grease in your mixing bowl when whipping up the egg whites will have a detrimental effect on your desired outcome (i.e. you’ll likely not be able to get any sort of “fluff” to your whites at all). I know some folks who wipe both their mixing bowl and wire whisk with lemon juice prior to making meringue to make absolutely sure all oils have been removed (not a bad idea).

To increase the ease in successfully whipping your egg whites, it’s also helpful to have the whites at room temperature before starting the process, though it’s not absolutely necessary. (I was impatient with these and used pretty cold whites, and things still whipped up just fine.)

Once these darling little cookies come out of the oven (make sure you don’t let them brown), they’ll cool quickly, and will give you the most delightful, airy crunch. These meringues can be stored in an airtight container for a week or two, but I’m willing to bet they’ll be devoured way before the two week mark.

Last, but not least, this recipe requires three egg whites, which means you’ll have three egg yolks leftover. What to do with those? Save them for my Creme Brulee for Two recipe coming your way soon!

Easy Peppermint Meringue Cookies

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Holiday

Makes: 36

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites (ideally at room temperature)
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract (do NOT use peppermint oil!)
• a dash of salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F. Line one or two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside (I used two). Prep your large piping bag with red stripes by painting vertical stripes up the inside of the bag with red gel food coloring.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, a dash of salt, and ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract until soft peaks form. Slowly add ¾ cup sugar, and keep beating at high speed until stiff peaks form.
3. Fill your large pastry bag with the meringue mixture and pipe 1-inch rounds onto the parchment paper.
4. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes (mine were done at 75 and probably could have been taken out sooner than that), but watch the cookies so as to not let them brown. Remove the cookies and allow to cool completely. Meringues will be crunchy. Store the cookies in an airtight container, and use before two weeks.

Notes

Recipe from Skip To My Lou

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It’s currently a sweltering 99 degrees in Missoula at the moment (with 102 degrees predicted for tomorrow – go home, June – you’re drunk!), and I find myself craving sweet desserts (as per usual), but nothing heavy, over-involved, or anything that requires much in the way heating up the house with too much oven time. Enter this little star of a summertime dessert: the delightfully light summer strawberry almond cream tart.

It’s everything a summertime dessert should be – low on fuss, low on bake time, high on natural summer flavors, and really darn pretty.

The other nice thing about this tart is that while you can bake it in a pretty tart pan, you don’t have to! I am currently tart pan-less, so I always make this in a standard 9″ springform pan. Easy peasy.

This particular recipe calls for a glaze, which you see in these photos, but you can also serve it without if you’d like and it’ll still be just as tasty.

Heck, if you want to Fourth-of-July it up, you could even throw some fresh blueberries in betwixt the strawberries as well. So, make this sweet little dessert for your next get together, stay cool and wow people with your dessert panache. All good in my book!

Summer Strawberry Almond Cream Tart

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 10

Ingredients

Crust

• 9 sheets of honey graham crackers (that's usually one package)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 teaspoons water
• Coconut oil (or cooking spray) to grease your pan

Filling

• ⅔ cup light cream cheese, room temperature
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Topping

• 6 cups fresh strawberries, divided
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat your 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan or springform pan with coconut oil or cooking spray.
2. For the crust, place crackers in food processor and process until fine and crumbly. Add sugar, butter and water and pulse until just moist. Place mixture in pan, pressing into the bottom and up the sides of pan approximately ¾ inch. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
3. For filling, combine filling ingredients and stir or mix until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of cooled tart shell.
4. Combine 4 cups strawberries and juice and toss to coat. Arrange berries, bottoms up, in a circular pattern over the filling. Serve as-is after covering and chilling for 3 hours, or follow the next set of instructions to prepare the glaze.
5. For the optional glaze, place 2 cups of strawberries in food processor and process until pureed. Combine the puree, ⅔ cup sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook 1 minute. Remove glaze from heat and cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, spoon half of the glaze evenly over the berries. For more finessed coverage, use a silicone pastry brush to brush the tips of the berries with the glaze. Reserve remaining glaze for another use (or eat it all up!). Cover and chill for 3 hours.

Notes

Slightly adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.

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Have I mentioned I love cake? If I haven’t – I seriously ADORE it (a fact about which all my friends tease me). But I think I’m coming to the point in my life where I actually enjoy making cake more than I do eating it. (Oh goodness! Have I now scandalized my sweet tooth?!) It’s just so fun to put together a sweet treat completely from scratch and dress it up to make it all pretty. And then give it away or share it of course. And this vanilla cake with lilacs and buttercream is the perfect recipe to accomplish just that.

This recipe is tasty, but to me, it’s really more about the simple and elegant presentation. I have a soft spot for lilacs – they remind me of those long, warm days at the end of each of my college years in the humid Midwest, the fragrance following as you brushed past them, their little flowers scattering like nature’s confetti, celebrating the new things coming your way. So I knew when they bloomed again I wanted to be at the ready with a cake to show them off and let them take center stage.

Lilac blooms are, unfortunately, not that long lasting (but their fleeting nature makes us love and appreciate them that much more, right?), so make sure to plan ahead if you know you’d like to use lilacs in your presentation as well.

This particular cake recipe uses only egg whites in the batter to keep the cake from turning too yellow, which can happen if you use yolks It’s a pretty easy cake recipe to put together, but if you are baking it in three thick layers as I did with this recipe, just be mindful of not OVERbaking, since you don’t want to end up with dry cake. (I use these great little cake pans for my small, 6″ cakes.)

After making your cakes, you have the option to either get to layering and frosting right away, or you can refrigerate the layers for a bit until you’re ready to frost and decorate.

Also, if you’d prefer to keep the inside of your cake looking pristine and white when you slice into it, you can cut off the golden crust around the edges of the cake. I left mine on as I prefer more of an organic feel, and also that caramelization on the outside is tasty. :)

The buttercream used on this cake is a show-stopper, for sure. It’s silky, has a beautiful sheen and tastes delicious, with a light, sweet flavor, as opposed to a more sugary frosting. It also doesn’t taste “greasy,” which I find is key to a good buttercream. I’ve made some versions that are just far too heavy on the butter ratio, and I swear, I may as well have taken a giant bite out of a stick of butter and added a little cake to it. Yeah – that’s a terrible visual. But those recipes were traumatizing. Not so with this one – perfectly balanced and tasty.

Swiss meringue buttercream makes use of egg whites that are heated gently, and then whisked together with sugar to get a really sexy looking meringue that may tempt you to taste-test a few times (you know, for that ever-important quality control aspect of cake-making). You’ll want to get it to the “stiff peak” stage, which is shown in the above image.

You’ll then add in your butter chunks, but please be aware. You don’t want your butter too warm or the mixture will “curdle” and take on a somewhat lumpy texture. However, you don’t want your butter too cold either. (Traditional buttercreams are a little golidlocks-esque, aren’t they?)

The good news is that this can usually be easily fixed. My buttercream that is pictured in these images in this post actually curdled on me because the butter was too warm when I added it, but I just stuck the entire bowl of curdled buttercream into my fridge for about 20 minutes, pulled it out once it had cooled down, and then remixed. It might take a little time, but it all eventually ended up coming together perfectly. So don’t fret if this happens to you!

Upon completing your buttercream, have fun adding a little bit between each of your torted layers. (Prior to torting, remove any domed tops, too. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, torting means that I just sliced my three cakes in half to make six layers. I’ve found that this sweet knife makes torting an absolute breeze – it’s so important to have good knives! If you’d rather not split your cake into the mini layers, that’s totally fine, too, and will use less frosting. Keep in mind you will likely use every last bit of the buttercream in this recipe, so try to go sparingly. I probably put too much frosting in between my layers for this cake, which made the final frosting layers a little tricky to accomplish.

Once your cake is assembled, you’ll want to add a crumb coat to seal in any crumbs and keep them from showing in your final “show” layer. Try to go sparingly here, too. Afterwards, refrigerate your cake to really get that frosting layer nice and hard and easier to apply your final frosting layer to.

Now’s the fun part! Tint your frosting the color of your choice and frost away! I wanted mine to be a pale spring green to really show off the contrast between the lilacs, their bright green leaves, and the pale color of the frosting.

Gently wash your lilacs under lukewarm water to ensure you don’t have any added visitors joining you for cake. Gently blot the blooms dry with a paper towel or clean dish towel.

Top your room-temperature cake with the lilacs and serve! Make sure to top it right before serving so the blooms don’t wilt.

Enjoy your beautiful creation!

Vanilla Cake with Lilacs and Buttercream

 

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Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 3 thick cake layers, or 6 torted layers

Ingredients

White Cake

• 3¼ cups (375 g) cake flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2¼ cups (450 g) superfine sugar
• ¾ cup (170 g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1½ cups milk, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 7 large egg whites, room temperature

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting (makes 6 cups)

• 7 large egg whites (fresh eggs, not pasteurized whites from carton)
• 1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
• 2 cups (455 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, or the seeds of ½ vanilla bean
• A pinch or two of salt, to taste

Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms of three 6x3-inch round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment cut to size.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add sugar. With mixer on low speed, add cold butter one piece at a time and beat until all butter is incorporated, about 3 minutes. The mixture should have a fairly fine texture.
3. In a medium measuring cup with a pouring spout, combine half the milk, the vanilla, and lemon juice. In a separate measuring cup, whisk egg whites and remaining milk.
4. Increase mixer speed to medium-low and slowly add the vanilla milk mixture and beat for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the egg white mixture. Beat for 2 minutes, occasionally stopping to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
5. Fold the batter once or twice with a rubber spatula to ensure everything has been properly combined. Divide your batter evenly among your pans. (Use a kitchen scale to divide as evenly as possible.)
6. Bake the three layers in the center of the oven until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 24 to 30 minutes. Try not to overbake.
7. Let the layers cool in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Using a knife or small offset palette knife, loosen the sides of the cakes and carefully turn them out onto the wire racks. Peel off the parchment liners and let layers cool completely.
8. If not using cake layers immediately, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature or refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Buttercream

1. Wipe a stainless steel bowl, whisk, and whisk and paddle attachments of an electric mixer with a paper towel dampened with a bit of lemon juice to make sure all traces of grease have been removed. Add egg whites and sugar to the bowl, and place bowl over a pot of simmering water. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly but gently, until the temperature reaches 130 degrees F.
2. Upon reaching temperature, return bowl to mixer and fit with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture reaches the stiff peak stage (it will be very thick and glossy). Decrease the speed to medium and beat until the bottom of the bowl is cool to touch, which will be about 10 minutes or longer.
3. Switch to the paddle attachment, and with the mixer running on low speed, add the butter in one piece at a time. (Be sure your butter is not TOO warm or your mixture will curdle. If your mixture appears curdled, place entire bowl in fridge for 15-20 minutes. Remove and beat mixture again.) Beat until the mixture is silky smooth. (This may take a while if your mixture has curdled.)
4. Add vanilla and salt, and beat on low speed for another two minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl and beat again for another minute or two.

Notes

Cut off golden crust on cakes for a truly "white cake" presentation when sliced.
Store buttercream in fridge if not using right away. Re-beat upon removal to bring back to spreading consistency.
This is a very scant amount of buttercream for a 6-layer cake. Try to use it sparingly, or make more if you'd like to not have to scrimp on frosting.
Decorate with lilacs right before serving to ensure lilac flowers do not wilt.
Serve cake at room temperature.
Recipes barely, barely adapted from the awesome Sweetapolita Bakebook.

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There’s something about bread that will always be magical to me. Taking just a few ingredients, letting some yeast do its thing, and then baking it to create something so delicious, so flavorful, so beautiful, so perfectly fragrant and homey – it’s magic, I swear.

Baking bread and its associated fragrance that wafts through my little kitchen will always remind me of the smell of home. Growing up my mom seemed to always be baking bread. I fondly remember moments when she’d let us know that the bread was done, still warm, and offer us a thick slab, topped with rich melted butter, the crust crackly and the inside tender and tasty. Is there anything better?

Why yes – there just might be…and it’s called homemade bread for really busy people. Well, maybe it’s not quite called that – this title, Easy Rustic Dutch Oven No-Knead Crusty Bread – might be more apt. But it’s SO ridiculously easy and quick I sometimes can’t get over my excitement when I put it all together and then reap its amazing rewards, without really having to put forth much effort. That’s just beyond great for someone who doesn’t particularly have a lot of extra time on their hands. (Don’t tell your friends about that, though.)

Part of the magic is that it takes just a few minutes to get all the ingredients together. (I like to do this late at night since I will forever be a night owl.) Then just wait overnight while all the yeast hang out, have a happy little party, and lift that dough up. (Try not to let it sit TOO long though, as the dough will deflate a little and not be quite as easy to work with.)

Wake up in the morning, get your dutch oven prepped and piping hot (I use my Le Creuset, which I consider one of THE best investments I’ve made in my kitchen gear – plus it’s so pretty!), toss the bread inside and bake! It’s really that incredible and that easy.

I prefer to place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper that I then transfer to the dutch oven and bake everything inside. The parchment will get little brown and brittle, but it’s so nice to not get your dutch oven overly dirty if you don’t have to. Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t  try to adjust the dough after you place it on the parchment or you might inadvertently incorporate the parchment into the dough, which just isn’t fun to deal with after everything’s baked. Just let the dough be once it’s on the parchment and you’ll be ok.

At this point let the bread bake in that hot, hot oven. Be prepared for the inevitable rumbling of your stomach as you inhale the glorious aroma.

Remove the lid after having baked a while (squeal a little bit at this magic you’re seeing), and allow the bread to finish baking and get nice and golden brown for another 15 minutes.

Remove the entire dutch oven from the oven, remove your beautiful bread, place on a rack, and admire your creation. Also, listen as the crust crackles – it’s a pretty cool sound.

And, if you’re like me, dive into that warm bread, cut yourself a slab, be liberal with the butter, and be sure to share this awesomeness with others. (This makes a great gift, wrapped in a pretty tea towel, and delivered piping hot.) You can also add some extra ingredients for a little additional flavor, too – think cranberries and orange zest, cheeses and herbs, etc. Have fun experimenting!

Easy Rustic Dutch Oven No-Knead Crusty Bread

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen
Recipe originally from Simply So Good

Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
• 1¾ teaspoons Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon Instant or Rapid-rise yeast
• 1½ cups water

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Add water to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until a shaggy mixture forms and any dry flour streaks no longer show.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or with a reusable silicone cover and set aside for 12 to 18 hours at room temperature. Overnight on a countertop is perfect.
3. When ready to bake, heat your oven to 450 degrees. When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot and lid for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, pour the dough onto a heavily floured surface and gently shape into a ball by tucking in edges of the dough under and towards the center of the ball. You can either do this with your fingers or a spatula.
5. Transfer the dough to some parchment paper. Do not adjust the dough on the parchment after placing it. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.
6. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough and parchment. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.
7. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Notes

Simply So Good has a helpful and beautiful video illustrating the entire process - check it out!

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