Barefoot Bloggers: Peach & Blueberry Crumbles

It looks like it has been almost a month since I have posted here - I guess I have been slacking. It is sometimes hard to make time to cook in the summer. I do have to apologize to Kat of Delta Whiskey for not making the last recipe - Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad. I know I would have liked it but I would have been the only one. I almost missed making this recipe in time as well. Today is Victor's Birthday and we were busy all weekend with family stuff. I ended up making it at 8:30 last night.

The recipe is real easy - just a little more sophisticated version of a crumble or crisp that I would normally make. I don't think I have every made one with peaches - I don't know why since I LOVE peaches. The only comment I would make on the recipe is make sure you follow the directions to line the baking sheet since this makes a mess while cooking.

I am glad I did take the time to make this recipe - it was delicious. The peaches and blueberries were a nice combo (I am sure it would be good with cherries or raspberries as well). I think the lemon added a lot too. There is something about adding a little lemon zest that brightens up any recipe.

Thanks to Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen for this months recipe. It looks like Aggie is a very active blogger (over 80 posts so far this year) with a lot of healthy recipes with fresh ingredients. I am going to have to take the time to go through it better.

Peach and Blueberry Crumbles

(Source: Barefoot Contessa at Home, page 197-198)

Serves 5-6

Ingredients

For the fruit

• 2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the Crumble

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.
3. For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner.

My first "real" cake

This past Sunday was Father's day and we took the opportunity to also celebrate my wife's brother's (Mark) birthday. I decided to practice some of my new cake knowledge on the family and give me a little practice before I have to make my son Victor's birthday cake in July.

I didn't know what Mark's favorite Disney character was so I had to come up with something else. Mark is a union pipe fitter. I didn't know exactly what a pipe fitter looked like on the job but you can see what I came up with. The grey/black border to the cake is supposed to be pipe. The little guy has a welding mask and is holding a candle as a makeshift welding torch.

The cake was a yellow cake and it turned out a lot better than the past few cakes I had made. I was almost ready to turn to a box cake after the past two scratch cakes I made. I filled the cake with a fresh strawberry french cream. The frosting is all the Wilton buttercream recipe only with a lot less Crisco and a lot more butter ( not as pure white but it taste better). The welder and tank were made from a fondant/gum paste mix. Doesn't look like an Ace of Cakes cake but I was very happy with how it came out. I think it looked pretty good and it tasted good as well - especially the strawberry cream.

Barefoot Bloggers: Gazpacho

As I said in my last post Gazpacho is not something my wife would go for. She is not a tomato person and she doesn't like peppers at all. I did kind of want to try this though and not just skip the recipe. I decided to make it on father's day when we had other people over that could try it.

The recipe was very easy - you just throw everything in the food processor (one at a time) and give it a few pulses.

I should have thought about it a little because the recipe makes a lot - a least if you are not serving it as a main course. I wasn't really making it one of my main dishes on father's day since I knew a lot of people would not like it. I just figured I would let those that wanted to try it have it as a little appetizer. Well I totally forgot about it. While I was cleaning things off the table I noticed the bowl in the fridge so it was a little bit of an after thought. I tried it along with my Mom and my sister. I don't think anyone really loved it. I thought it was OK but it wasn't anything that I would just gobble up because it was sooo good. My sister thought it would have been better as a dip than as a soup. I think I agree with that - add a few hot peppers and it would be a good salsa.

I did still have a lot left over and my wife thought it might go over at her work. Well apparently it did. Everyone finished it off and we even got a few requests for the recipe. I guess she got the dip comment there as well. It won't go on my list to make in the future but I am glad other people liked it.

Thanks to Meryl from My Bit of Earth for this months recipe. I will be watching to see what she thinks of the recipe.

Gazpacho

(Source: Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, page 79)

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!
2. After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Wilton Fondant Class: Final Cake

Well here it is - the final cake for my Wilton Fondant class. As a lot of people know fondant is not the most delicious frosting. It looks better than it tastes. In the class we were told to buy the pre-made Wilton fondant. For my final cake I thought I would try to do something different to see if I could make a fondant cake that I liked. If you look there are a lot of different fondants you can buy or make. The class instructor said making fondant was a lot of work but I found a recipe online that didn't seem too difficult. You just melt marshmallows and knead in a lot of confectioners sugar.

You can see the final outcome in the cake above. The homemade fondant was probably a little harder to work with - a little "stretchier" than the store bought Wilton fondant - but it was still pretty easy to use. I can't say it was easy to make. If you have ever mixed rice crispy squares by hand you know how messy it can get kneading melted marshmallows. I would have to say it

was worth it though. The fondant tasted a little better in my opinion, basically straight sugar taste so still not as good as some other frostings. It was a lot more tender than the store bought so you didn't feel like you needed to chew your frosting as much.

I've also got some photos of different gum paste items we made in class. I kind of doubt most of these will come in handy making

birthday cakes for my son but maybe I will get to use them someday. For anyone thinking they would like to get a little better at cake decorating I would highly recommend these classes. There are four separate classes (I have only taken two) and they are offered at Michaels and Joann stores here. I think you can find local classes at the wilton.com site.

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