Tuesdays with Dorie: Flaky Apple Turnovers

This week Jules of Someone's in the Kitchen chose Dorie's Flaky Apple Turnovers and boy was I worried. Pastry and I are very rarely on speaking terms. Don't get me wrong, I love eating it, it's just making it that drives me crazy. In fact whenever there is pastry to be made, N conveniently makes himself scarce! But ...

This was without doubt, the best pastry I have ever made. EVER!

I had the same issue as a lot of others with my mix being quite dry and crumbly but after its rest it came together beautifully. And it was even delicious raw, I kept snagging pieces as I worked.

We were in the midst of moving furniture the day I made these so while I made a full batch of dough, I only rolled 4 turnovers plus a mini apple pie and froze the rest. I got a little impatient with the rolling out (ie. my arms got sore). So I cut out 3" rounds from the dough and rolled each one out to 4 1/2" individually. Much easier!

The taste test ...

Fantastic! This was the pastry so many recipes had promised but none had ever delivered. Crisp, flaky and delicious. I used a mixture of fuji apples, slivered almonds and raisins to fill these but you really could use anything you liked. The perfect afternoon or anytime treat. I think this will be my go-to pastry from now on. Thanks Jules!

Daring Cooks September - Indian Dosas

Our host this month is Debyi from the Healthy Vegan Kitchen. She has chosen Indian Dosas from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal.

I love Indian food but have never made or even eaten dosas before so this was a great challenge. It was made more challenging by also being a vegan recipe. While I think I could go vegetarian quite easily, I do love my eggs and cheese a bit too much to go vegan for any length of time!

A dosa is essentially an indian pancake, and very similar to a French crepe in many respects. I used atta (chickpea) flour for the dosas and also subbed garam masala for the curry powder. For the filling I went with curried potatoes from our fave Indian cookbook, A Taste of India. This was a heady mixture of potatoes with onions, garlic, chili and mustard seeds. I think the mustard seeds must pack a lot of heat because even my chilli loving husband thought it was a bit too spicy!

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp curry powder
½ cup (125ml) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml) water
cooking spray, if needed

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed (I found the spray prevented the dosa mix from spreading around the pan). Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

The taste test ...

The dosas themselves were fantastic. If you like pancakes you'll love these! I probably wouldn't make the potato filling again without major changes to the recipe. It was just too spicy and I felt it needed a fuller flavour. I would have added in some coconut milk to cut through the heat but unfortunately we'd run out. I would love to experiment with different vegan fillings and I also think the dosas would be the perfect accompaniment to a curry just on their own.

Thanks for a great challenge Debyi! Looking forward to next month!

Jaffa Cheesecake for Father's Day

My very savvy grandfather purchased a unit at Burleigh on the Gold Coast back in the 70s, before the Gold Coast had really become the place to be. Since then that unit has become the gathering point for our whole family and I can remember many happy christmases with aunts and uncles and my 4 cousins. Now we are all grown up and between us my cousins and I have 6 kids of our own.

This past father's day we all (18 of us) gathered again at the park over the road from our grandparent's unit (and right next to the beach). It was N's first father's day and a really special day all round.

Being the cheesecake queen I of course made a cheesecake to share. N wanted a jaffa cheesecake (choc-orange) and I was happy to oblige. I started with Dorie's Tall and Creamy Cheesecake and added the zest and juice of 1 orange to the filling, a chocolate biscuit base and decorated with whipped cream and jaffas. I totally forgot to take any pics on the day so I dressed up the mini I made with the leftovers. Yum!

I am such a fan of this particular recipe. Despite loads of cream cheese (4 packs!) it makes a soft, fluffy and somehow light cheesecake that doesn't weigh you down.

And for the all-important father's day pressie ...

Oscar and I had a fun afternoon at Inky Feet where we ended up with some lovely keepsakes including mugs, wall tiles and a clock. Lucky we didn't leave it any later than 3 months because his feet would have been too big. They only just made it as it was! Grandpa got a mug with red feet and they were each filled to the brim with homemade Espresso Chocolate Truffles.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Souffle

Is it just me or is it really hard to photograph a souffle?? Nevermind, this was my first time making one and I'm more excited by the fact that it actually worked!

Souffles have always seemed really daunting and the sort of thing you would only ever order in a restaurant. I made a half recipe and that gave us 4 good servings. It puffed up beautifully but I think it would have looked more souffle-ish if I had collared the dish. Next time.

The taste test ...

Yum! Light, sweet, intensely chocolatey and definitely moreish. Next time I will try individual souffles and now that I have mastered the technique I would love to try a savoury version as well. Watch this space!

Thanks to Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic for a great pick this week. I probably wouldn't have made it on my own. You can find the recipe on her blog.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

Being on a bit of a brownie bender at the moment I was happy to see another brownie pick this week. And the fact that these were cheesecake brownies was just another reason to smile! I seem to be leaving TWD to the very last minute these days. I whipped them up about 2pm today and got my photo out on the verandah in the last few moments of daylight.

The taste test ...

Boy, these were rich! A big thumbs up from my number one taste tester but he's right, you definitely can't have more than 1 piece at a time. I did make the sour cream topping intending to serve it on the side but to be honest they don't need anything else.

Thanks to Melissa of Life in a Peanutshell for this week's pick. Make sure you vist her blog for the recipe and some gorgeous pics!