Toffee and Tea

Something about DC in January when it still feels so cold and dark and wintry and all the lights are coming down and all the vacation is used up is a downer.  My siblings are back in their respective states, David is back to school and we're all trying to lose weight, exercise more and stick to a budget.   On the bright side, the vortex has moved on, all the post Christmas sales are amazing and I have loads and loads of free time.  This week (while wearing PINS) I decided it was time to revisit my favourite cookie, one that didn't get made this Christmas in the hustle and bustle of gingerbread and chocolate thumbprints.  The toffee-shortbread cookie.  It hails from my mother's childhood in Scotland and if you have a weekend full of pins to make or badgers to stitch nothing will keep you happier than an enormous pot of tea and a pan of toffee short bread.  The crunchy shortbread and the gooey toffee and chocolate, sweet heaven the chocolate.  

Shortbread
8 oz Flour
8 oz butter
2 oz caster sugar

Mix all the ingredients together until it resembles bread crumbs or wet sand and press it into a cake tin.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and let it cool.

Toffee
4 oz caster sugar
4 oz butter
2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup
14 oz tin of sweetened condensed milk
6 oz of semi-sweet chocolate 

Mix all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil,  boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly.  Take the toffee off the heat and let it cool.  Once its cool, spread it over the shortbread.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and pour it over the toffee.  Let it cool and slice.  

Crostata, Apple

Washington, DC got off lightly compared to what the Polar Vortex did to the Midwest but it's still pretty chilly here.  The only acceptable attire for the commute was coats that look like sleeping bags and duckboots with goretex AND thinsulate AND those Lithuanian wool socks you stole from your mother (am I the only one stealing Lithuanian socks from their mother?).  After bundling myself into work and back again it seemed like the sort of day for potatoes.  Potatoes and roast carrots and maybe brussel sprouts and definitely, definitely apple crustada and caramel sauce.

My baby brother has descended once again for a round of job interviews in DC and so we roasted a chicken, mashed some potatoes, and ate dessert.   Apple crostata, vanilla ice cream and cardamom caramel sauce.  Give it a go, it's so easy and perfect for this week.  Warming and lovely.

Apple Crostata with Walnuts

For crust: 
1.5 cups flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into wee pieces
5ish tablespoons of ice water

For filling:
4 apples (I used a variety, whatever you have on hand), peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmug
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 egg yoke
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Combine the flour sugar and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse to blend.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.  Add a bit of water at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture starts to hold together.  Turn out the mixture on to a clean surface and form it into a 1 inch round, wrap it in parchment paper and pop it in the fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Combine all the filling ingredients except the egg and cream. 

Roll the dough out to a 13 inch round, about 1/4 inch thickness (you really don't want to roll it too thin, it has a tendancy to leak delicious juices out the bottom).  Move the dough to a cookie sheet.  Load all the lovely filling in the middle of the crust and bring the dough up around the filling.   Mix the egg yoke and cream and brush it all over the crust.

Bake until it's all lovely and brown and delicious, about 40 minutes.

Cardamom Caramel Sauce
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Place the sugar and water in a sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, it takes about five minutes, swirling occasionally.   Once you can't see anymore sugar, increase the heat to high and cook without stirring until the mixture turns a medium brown.  Don't walk away. Seriously,  don't.  It will magically burn as soon as you turn away.   Once it turns brown, pull it from the heat and stir in the cream.  It will foam and bubble all over but just whisk until it looks all smooth and yummy.  Then add your cardamom and vanilla and whisk until incorporated.  YUM.

Almonds and Bears

With Thanksgiving on Thursday and the temperature dropping, it's beginning to feel well and truly wintry in DC.  I spent much of the weekend cuddled up on the couch with old episodes of Martha Stewart on Hulu and the schnauzer on my feet.  I made a few new animals and listed them.  My favourite is Mary Bear, named after one of my best friends--I wish I could make myself a yellow coat like that.  Have a look at the new animals in the shop.

In preparation for travel to be with family on Wednesday I spent the weekend making almond crackers.  They are gluten free and with some goat cheese and tomato jam they are unreasonably delicious.  I'm trying to consume less flour but there is something so festive and nice about the crunch of crackers with cheese and, with a bit of rosemary and salt, these are just the thing.

Almond Flour Rosemary Crackers

1 3/4 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg

* Combine almond flour, salt and rosemary in a large bowl.
* Whisk together oil and egg in a medium bowl.
* Stir wet ingredients into almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
* Roll the dough into a ball and press/roll between two sheets of parchment/greaseproof paper to 1/8" thickness.

* Remove top piece of paper.
* Transfer bottom piece with rolled-out dough onto a baking sheet.
* Cut dough into 2" squares with a knife or pizza cutter.

* Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden.
* Let crackers cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes before eating.  They keep really well in an air tight container. 

Chocolate Cake with Raspberries

My father-in-law turned 61 on Saturday and Dave and I went off to Western Maryland to wish him Happy Birthday.  With us, we brought a cake--a big, chocolatey, gorgeousy cake.  I won't bore you with my cake recipe but here's my secret:  after your cake is ready to be poured into the pan, fold in a cup of sour cream.  It's amazing.

After baking the cake, I melted down some homemade raspberry jam and some fresh raspberries in a pot until they were all jammy and lovely.  I spread the raspberries between the layers of cake and then frosted with chocolate icing.

Since getting a stand mixer, frosting is my favourite thing to make.  It's so easy to look impressive when the mixer mixes it to bits for 8 minutes and the result is light, fluffy and gorgeous. 

2 1/2 sticks of butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
5 ounces of dark chocolate chips
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of instant espresso
1/4 cup of heavy cream
pinch of salt

I started by beating the butter, cocoa power and sugar in the mixer for about a minute.  While it was beating, I started to melt down the chocolate chips, vanilla, espresso and cream in a double boiler just until the chocolate was all melted (and tried very hard not to eat all of the chocolate mix).  I added the melted chocolate mix slowly to the butter and sugar mix while the mixer was going and then set a timer for 8 minutes and walked away.  I came back and it was soft and light and whipped and lovely.  I topped my cake with raspberries and off we went.  Delicious.

On occasion, if I feel like depriving everyone of chocolate icing in favor of gorgeous colours I'll do one of these, but in November, with the wind and threats of snow all week long, I think that chocolate is best.  With a bit of coffee and a wool scarf.  

Happy Birthday!