When I took a cooking class in Italy, we made an Italian apple cake. It’s very simple, made with melted butter and slices of apples. This is the Pear version using mostly almond flour with a little bit of added cardamom for that Christmas flavor profile. 

2020 has been one of our most stressful times in many decades. 2021 isn’t looking very bright either. Thanks heavens for cake!

Now it’s 2021 and it’s not much better, as the news about Afghanistan is quite distressing.

One of the hardest things for me has been a diminishing social life. I live in a county that is more free than most. Our gyms and restaurants are open. Yet, it still feels odd when everything is at low capacity or everyone is wearing a mask, making conversation, connection stilted. 

It was sad at Christmas, as many people were unable to carry on their yearly traditions, the fun, the travel, the parties, the things that make short days and the dark cold of December palatable. 

I’m happy we can still bake. It’s not just therapy, it turns the kitchen into amazing heartwarming smells.

I don’t usually bake with too many pears because pears have a lot of sugar. But with one big pear in the cake, it’s still only 5 net carbs.  

I rely on my wonderful recipe that makes 12 muffins. You can bake muffins or a 10 inch cake. If you only have a 9 inch pan, just make a few extra muffins. 

What are the ingredients for a low carb Italian pear Cake?

Almond flour, coconut flour, sour cream, eggs, almond milk,  baking powder, pears, fresh cranberries, cardamom, salt and xanthan gum.  You can switch out the cardamom for more vanilla extract. 

Is this cake gluten free?

Yes, the only flours used are almond and coconut flour. 

Is this cake sugar free?

Pears have a high sugar count at 27 carbs each. However,  one slice of cake is one slice of pear. The sweetener used is Swerve, a powdered erythritol, which does not spike blood sugar. Read more about why I use Swerve here.  

What fat is best for this cake?

I used melted unsalted butter and it was incredible. The cake is moist, tasty and flavorful However, I have formerly used avocado oil in a similar recipe and that works so well too. 

How to know when an almond flour cake is done?

Baking with almond flour and coconut flour is different than baking with wheat flour. It’s not as easy to tell when a cake is done. Your tester can come out clean and the cake is not done. To remedy this I always take the cake’s temperature. It should measure 210 degrees F. in the middle of the cake. I’ll take it out once it reaches 207. 

Tips for Baking

• Use Parchment Paper.
• Don’t over-mix, once you put dry ingredients in.
• Use spices you love. I used cardamom, but you could flavor this cake with cinnamon or maple extract.
• Cut pears with skins on. Use fresh cranberries.
• Cake is done when inside is 210 degrees F. 98 C.

Play Around with this Recipe: Use Apples instead of pears. Use cinnamon instead of cardamom. Use berries instead of cranberries or skip the berries altogether. 

If you like this recipe, you’ll love these from Spinach Tiger:

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Low Carb Pear Cake

Low Carb Pear Cake, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Keto Friendly

Course Low Carb Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword low carb cake, pear cake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 202kcal

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Dry Cake Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup granulated swerve

Wet Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pear
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 C., Gas 4)
• Line 9 or 10 inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray.

Dry Ingredients

• Mix all dry ingredients together including Swerve. Set aside.
• Slice pear thinly. I didn't bother to peel.

Wet Ingredients

• Mix eggs on high for about 3 minutes until very well blended.
• While mixer is still running. stream in oil slowly.
• Mix sour cream, vanilla and almond milk together in separate bowl. Stream into mix.
• Add dry mix on low just until mixed. Over-mixing makes cake tough.

Assemble

• Add cake batter to cake pan. Smooth out top with offset spatula.
• Arrange pears on top. Add cranberries in between the pears.
• Bake in lower rack of the oven for about 35 minutes. Cake will be able to bounce when touched. Inside middle should be at 210 degrees F. It will depend if you use a 9 inch pan or ten inch pan.
• Allow to cool completely before removing cake. Use a knife to go around the sides.
• Cake can be kept in refrigerator up to one week, can be frozen.

Notes

You can use fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries. Put them in the cake frozen.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 12 | Calories: 202kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g

The post Low Carb Italian Pear Cake appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Even though this is a keto friendly dessert at only 4 net carbs, guests were very surprised this was a low-carb, grain free, sugar free dessert.

Spiced Pear Cream Cheese Tart strikes the right balance.

The pears are spiced with cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and nutmeg. The tart crust is extra dreamy and is keto friendly, gluten free and grain free. It’s very similar to a shortbread crust and stands on its own, as a true tart crust should. The cream cheese filling is light, fluffy and flavored with some orange and some of the spiced pear. The textures come together for a perfect bite.

Kitchen Tested Three Times

I have made these grain free, spiced pear cheesecake bars three times in the last seven days. The first time it was for Thanksgiving. The second time I wanted pictures and the third time was for the neighbors I invited over. The good news for you is that it’s hard to mess this up. It came out perfect each and every time. It can stay in the fridge for four days and still taste amazing.

There are Three Parts to this Keto Spiced Pear Cheesecake Tart

• Tart Crust
• Cheesecake Filling
• Spiced Pears
• Garnish: Almonds and Pomegranate Arils (both are options)

The Keto Tart Crust

I think my keto tart crust is magic. A few years ago I struggled with getting this right, especially because the edges of a tart crust can easily burn. The mistake I used to make was over-baking the tart crust.

• Almond Flour – I only use almond flour, no addition of coconut flour.
• Butter – Thanks to a reader I use a minimal amount of 3 tablespoons to 2 cups almond flour.
• Egg – I use the whole egg, where in the past I only used the yolk.
• Baking Powder – This may seem odd, but I add 1 teaspoon and it makes a difference.
• Flavoring – I like to add some lemon or orange zest when appropriate.
• Sweetener – For dessert tarts I like to add 1/4 cup Granulated Swerve to the mix.
• Refrigerate before rolling. Roll on parchment paper that the tart will bake on.
• Freeze the rolled-out tart crust before baking.
• Pre-bake – at 350 degrees F. for 8 minutes just until the crust turns golden.
• Use foil to cover the crust once you have filled the tart crust with cheesecake filling and are ready for final bake.
• Make sure you remove the tart after it has cooled but before you refrigerate it.

The Cheesecake Filling

This is the fun part. Cream cheese, Swerve Confectioner’s Sweetener, sour cream, egg. For flavor, I added a small amount of the caramelized pears and some orange zest.

The Spiced Pears for Keto Spiced Cheesecake Tart

Sautè sliced pears in butter with some black strap molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. You can use any type of pear, and keep the skin on.

Variation: You can use apples instead of pears. You can add peaches in summer and fresh strawberries in the Spring. .

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Keto Spiced Pear Cheesecake Bars

Keto Delicious Spiced Pear Cheese Bars with Almond Flour Crust

Course Dessert Keto

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesecake, keto dessert, pears

Prep Time 19 minutes minutes

Crust Pre-Bake Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Tart Crust

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 ciup granulated Swerve Sweetener
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Cheesecake Filling

• 8 ounces full fat cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup Swerve Confectioner's Sweetener
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 orange zest and juice

Spiced Pears

• 1 pear
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon black strap molasses see notes for subs
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 dashes freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger see notes

Garnish

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate arils

Instructions

Tart Crust

• Mix all dry ingredients together.
• Melt butter. Cool. Add Beaten egg to butter.
• Add egg butter mixture and mix together until you have a dough.
• Refrigerate for twenty minutes.
• Once chilled, roll out on parchment paper (place the parchment on top of the bottom of the pan). Put a piece of plastic on top to roll out. You can use your hands to put pieces together that might break off.
• Fork the bottom of crust and pre-bake at 325 F, 160 C for 8 minutes.

Cream Cheese Filling

• Mix all ingredients together in blender.

Spiced Pears

• Slice pears thinly, leaving skin on.
• Melt butter in frying pan.
• Add black strap molasses, and spices.
• Add pears. Sautè on low just until pears are nearly softened.

Assembly

• Pour cheese cake mixture into tart.
• Arrange pears.
• Arrange almonds on top of pears.
• Place a pice of foil on baking sheet. Place tart on top of that and bring the foil up to cover the crust.
• Bake at 325 degrees F. for twenty minutes.
• Cool. Garnish with pomegranate arils.
• Remove from tart pan before you refrigerate. Use a knife to go around the edges before you remove It
• Refrigerate for several hours to overnight before serving.

The post Keto Spiced Pear Cheesecake Tart appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

You can absolutely trust my culinary view and opinion, as I only collaborate with brands and products I love, and I’m happy to share these products with you. I made this salad last year for Spectrum Foods and am republishing because it’s so beautiful for the holidays.

I have made this colorful, vibrant Festive Kale Salad most recently for a dinner party. Everyone loved it, but I especially received compliments on the vinaigrette made with Spectrum® Rosemary Olive Oil, honey and apple cider vinegar.

Spectrum® has been producing high quality olive oils for thirty years and has recently come up with a culinary line of infused olive oils such as rosemary, cayenne, garlic and chili sesame and more.  These can be used for dressings, sauces, a light sauté and as finishing oils.

I’ve enjoyed many Spectrum® products while developing recipes, as they make oils for various cooking needs, including more than 30 varieties of seed, nut and plant oils, including coconut oil, apple cider vinegar (which I used here), and avocado oil. I also use the Spectrum® olive oil baking spray.

The extra virgin olive oils come from Spain and Tunisia, each estate grown and produced in small batches, using no chemicals and expeller pressed to ensure the highest quality.

I hope you know by now that Spinach Tiger strives to bring you the freshest food using ingredients that are better for you and this is why I stand by the Spectrum® brand. I use organic ingredients as much as possible, so naturally want to use an organic olive oil.

I can feel confident that this gorgeous salad is getting adorned with an olive oil I can trust.

Festive Kale Salad with Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette Screams Merry, Happy, Joyful Food

There is so much beauty in this festive kale salad which is packed with various textures, sweet, salty and holiday flavors. It is the one salad you can take to a gathering to wow the guests or make a splash at your next dinner party.

There are a lot of components to this salad, such as apples, figs, oranges, and pomegranates, because these come to mind during the holidays and are readily available. This can be the “fruit you have on hand salad” but don’t leave out the butternut squash, which we’ve made the star of the show. You can switch apples for pears or use both. You can also add in dried cranberries for pomegranates.

Roasting Butternut Squash for the Festive Kale Salad

Butternut Squash often perplexes cooks, because it’s difficult to cut into. I suggest microwaving for two to three minutes to slightly soften, and peel with a potato peeler. Once peeled, slicing into discs is fairly easy. The smaller end will have the most seeds, but you should be able to get a good amount of discs without seeds. Roast these for twenty minutes, brushing lightly with oil. Once cooled, you can use a cookie cutter to cut them into stars.

Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette with Spectrum® Organic Rosemary Olive Oil

Just as Spectrum® tests their oils with their own internal quality team to meet high standards for any and all type of cooking, I tested this dressing at least three times to get the right oil with the right vinegar to make sure your salad will taste its best.

We all agreed that for this Festive Kale salad, the Organic Rosemary Olive Oil won hands down for bringing a winter holiday flavor profile, and it pairs perfectly with Spectrum’s apple cider vinegar.  The rosemary flavor is well balanced and does not overpower the greens, yet delivers a nice herbal lift.

I will be making a second recipe, a Spicy Italian Soup with Sausage using Spectrum^® Extra Virgin Cayenne Olive Oil. You will want to come back for that one. Do please follow me on Instagram as many of my process pictures end on stories.

Much love during the upcoming happiest time of the year.

This Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette would be a great choice for any of these additional kale salads from Spinach Tiger.

Tuscan Kale Salad

Autumn Potluck Kale Salad

Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Almonds

More Butternut Squash Recipes

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash with Brussels Sprouts

Butternut Squash Risotto

Butternut Squash Stacks with Crispy Quinoa Pancake

Butternut Squash Cocktail

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Festive Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette

Festive Kale sale with Butternut Squash, Figs, Prosciutto, Pomegranate, Nut with a Rosemary Olive Oil Vinaigrette.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 bunches lacinato kale see notes
• 1 to 2 cups or handfuls arugula
• 1/2 navel orange peeled
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 4 figs cut in halves or quarters
• 6 slices proscuitto sliced thinly, torn into pieces
• 1 medium sized butternut squash
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 to 2 gala apples or mix of apple and pear
• Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette
• 3 to 6 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 6 tablespoons Spectrum® Rosemary Olive Oil

Instructions

• Microwave butternut squash for 2 to 3 minutes to slightly soften.
• Peel butternut squash with a potato peeler. Cut into 1/2 inch discs crosswise and remove seeds.
• Brush lightly with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees F. for 20 to 30 minutes until softened.Turn over at 15 minutes.
• Roast walnuts for 4 to 5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• Cool Squash. Then cut into stars with cookie cutter. There will be some left over you can use for another recipe or add into the salad.
• Roast
• Peel orange, cut into bite sized pieces, making sure to remove pith.
• Slice apple and or pears with skin on, thinly or if you prefer, you can dice.
• Remove arils from pomegranate.
• Chop kale into small bite sized pieces, less an inch.
• Toss kale with vinaigrette, just enough to wet leaves.
• You can add more later if needed. (recipe below). Let kale sit in vinaigrette for 20 minutes if you have time.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Add arugula to the kale.
• Arrange on large platter or large bowl.
• Add, oranges, sliced apples. Toss until combined. You may leave some sliced fruit on side if serving at party. You can choose to keep figs and prosciutto on side of platter, instead of in the salad.
• When ready to serve, add prosciutto and figs.
• Top with walnuts, pomegranate seeds.
• Top with butternut squash.
• Season again with sea salt and black pepper.
• Taste to see if you need to add more vinaigrette.
• Instructions for Vinaigrette
• Mix vinegar with honey until well incorporated. I do this in a jar.
• Add olive oll. Mix well.
• Taste for acid. You may need to add more vinegar if not acidic enough or more olive oil. This will depend on your own taste. We like kale salad with a lot of acid. Add salt and pepper before you add more vinegar, as that affects flavor.

Notes

Lacinato kale also known as dinosaur kale or Tuscan kale is the long leaves with thick ribs. Remove the ribs before chopping. You can use a curly kale, but I always prefer this kale as a better option for salads.

The post Festive Kale Salad, Butternut Squash, Honey Rosemary Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Why am I’m telling you how to arrange a beautiful cheese plate?

It’s not because everywhere I turned in France, I was blown away by the cheese. I was and it seems that the French never tire of it either. I remember one night at a party in Grenoble, after several courses of food, the cheese came out and it nearly caused a riot as people elbowed their way to the cheese table.

My decision to write about a cheese board actually started this past summer with a conversation at a cocktail party. I was having a conversation with an amazing home designer who said she wouldn’t know where to start in arranging a cheese plate. She can arrange furniture at magazine level, so I got to work to make this easy and no fail.

How to Build a Beautiful Cheese Plate

Do not be intimidated by the hundreds of cheeses available. If you follow my simple rules, you can put together a fantastic cheese plate. The key is BALANCE, and I’ll make that easy for you.

Establish a Budget 

Cheese can be pricey, as high as $30 a pound, so decide a budget first for the cheese and for the accompaniments.

You can build a cheese plate by shopping at a gourmet cheese department or going to a places like Costco. The advantages of shopping in a gourmet cheese department such as Whole Foods or your local cheese shop is that they will let you taste anything.

They are well versed with how to make selections, and they will offer lots of variety.  They will even cut you smaller pieces of cheese, something you cannot do at the warehouse stores. Nashville has a very nice cheese shop in East Nashville, the Bloomy Rind and they will be happy to help.

More on shopping tips at the bottom of this post.

Balance Your Cheese Board with an Assortment of Cheeses and Complimentary Accompaniments.

A balanced cheese board will contain, cheese, crackers and bread, jam and honey, nuts, fruit and something perhaps something savory such as prosciutto or salami, although that’s not necessary.

Use only Four or Five Cheese Selections, and Vary the Type.

Cheese can be broken down into 4 categories. Bloomy, Hard, Semi-Soft, and Fresh.  (Fresh means not aged and spreadable, such as goat cheese ).

Choose one or two hard or medium hard cheeses, a soft bloomy cheese such as brie, and either a goat cheese or a blue cheese. Not all bloomy or blue cheeses are alike, and I highly recommend you taste the cheese in advance.

Taste Your Cheese Before You Buy. Your cheese monger may recommend a cheese you hate. Cheese is subjective. Don’t feel obligated to like their pick of the day. Tell them it’s not for you and your guests and select another sample.

Bloomy Cheese. Soft Ripened Cream Cheese.  Saint Angel is a triple-crème cheese that is very mild in flavor. I like my cheese a little tangier, but this is a good selection for a well rounded cheese plate. We purchased a very pungent bloomy cheese in a French Market for the train to Italy, and we fell in love with Saint-Felicien’s mushroom tang and it’s heaven when served with crusty bread. We also love  Cowboy Creamery from California.

Medium and Hard Cheese. I have a propensity for sheep’s milk cheese and will always include one on my cheese tray. Sheep’s cheese is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is often a good choice for those who are lactose intolerant. I love the nutty sheep’s milk cheeses like P’tit Basque from France, and Manchego from Spain. If I can find a good Toscana Pecorino, I’ll consider myself lucky. Unlike Romano Pecorino (which is very sharp and salty), this is more approachable as an appetizer, and is especially nice with honey.

A mild cheese that is very festive is Wensleydale with Cranberries. Made with cow’s milk and some sheep’s milk from the United Kingdom, originally made by Monks and passed to farmer’s wives, most people like this.

Fresh Cheese which is not aged. We have a local goat’s milk cheese here from Noble Springs Dairy that is of the highest quality chèvre and my favorite, a little soft-ripened crottin called Harpeth Fleur, a perfectly elegant cheese. I’m also quite fond of award winning Humboldt Fog from California.

A small amount of blue cheese is wonderful to add depth and saltiness. Here, I served pears with Roquefort, and this would be a great addition to a cheese table. You could choose a blue such as Maytag Blue, a french blue sheep’s milk, Roquefort, or an Italian Blue, Gorgonzola. Blue cheeses vary greatly in tartness and creaminess, and you might be surprised that you think you hate blue cheese until you find that right one, or you love blue cheese and find one you cannot tolerate. Keep tasting.

Serve Cheese at Room Temperature – Be sure to take the cheese out an hour before your party. Cold cheese is tasteless and dreadful. Even a bland cheese will come a little bit to life once it warms up.

Choose a Few Accompaniments, Fruit, Nuts, Jams etc. to Build Your Beautiful Cheese Plate

Jams, Honey, Chutney – After you have decided upon your cheese, select one or  two sweet accompaniments, such as one fig jam, preserves, or honey. Some people like pepper jellies, but unless they are quite special, I tend to stay away from them. I would not pour anything over the cheese, but allow guests to help themselves. Serve these in little bowls.

Bread – You can make a delicious loaf of bread like this no-knead artisan bread. 

Here is an awesome gluten free French Bread recipe that would be a wonderful addition.

Crackers – Water or pita crackers are best. You might also include a gluten free cracker. Avoid textures like saltines and Ritz. I also included a chocolate fig cake that is dense and amazing when paired with a hard cheese. Trader Joe’s has a gluten-free seeded cracker we love.

Fruit – Grapes, sliced apples, pears, or nectarines already sliced bring sweetness, texture and color to the board. In this picture, I drizzled syrupy raspberry balsamic over nectarines. Apples, pears, and grapes pair well with every kind of cheese except semi-softs like Mozzarella. Strawberries and apricots go best with soft ripened cheese and goat’s cheese.

Salty Savory Meat – I wrapped melon with prosciutto to add a dairy free element, and because it’s so good. You could add in slices of salami as an alternative. You could also serve this bacon jam.

Nuts or Olives –  Marcona almonds are the perfect accompaniment to any cheese board. In the winter near Christmas, these roasted rosemary walnuts are wonderful. Or, you could add some rosemary to the Marcona almonds. Olives are a nice way to add some salty, briny notes. Add some orange or lemon zest to the olives.

Serve a Sweet with Your Cheese Platter

You might add a tray of dark chocolate, which will go well with red wine for a nice finish. You could also include a light tart such as this pear almond tart, which I tend to serve when the only thing I”m serving is a cheese tray.

Step out and be Different with a Savory Cheesecake

Here is a Savory Cheesecake with a Potato Chip Crust. Recipe Here.

Serving Wine or Beer with a Beautiful Cheese Plate

I am not a wine expert, and I want to keep this simple for you. If you have such an assortment of cheese from mild to hard and strong, include some white wine such as chardonnay (Louis Jadot Macon-Villages Chardonnay is lovely)  or sparkling white which will pair well with the bloomy and softly ripened cheeses. Pinot Noir is a mild red that will also work, even with bloomy cheeses.

Do serve some full-bodied red wine for the stronger cheeses, (I like a deep, fruity Zinfindel) and Doug likes smoky reds like Malbec. Consider serving one sweet wine which will go well with salty blue cheese. Feel free to serve beer with a cheese platter too. Here is a good article on how to pair cheese with beer.

Arrange Your Cheese for Your Beautiful Cheese Plate

You can use your imagination to make the board attractive. Use cake plates, tile slabs, traditional cheese boards, platters, and pretty little dishes for the accompaniments.

Slice some of the cheese ahead, but put out cheese knives for each cheese. You might also want to put name tags at each cheese. Do not slice all the cheese at once. 

Have fun. I have these little mice that always make into on the cheeseboard. After all, a cheeseboard is part entertainment, part delicious.

Shopping Tips for Cheese Buying

• Buy your cheese at least a few days in advance of your event, so that you can shop with leisure, not settling for the local grocery that doesn’t carry much.
• Costco has some really great cheese. It’s where I buy my Manchego and Gouda. They also have Brie and Speciality Cheeses. The only issue might be the larger pieces.
• Trader Joe’s has the cheese, the crackers, the nuts and jams. You could also buy a pre-made tart or cookies as the sweet part. I love the Burrata and the Basque.
• Aldi’s sells cheese, which you can check out, but there have been times I couldn’t get what I wanted.
• Whole Foods will be pricier but you can taste and get assistance. You can ask them for a soft, a hard, a bloomy and a fresh and they should know what you mean. They also have several sheep’s milk cheese choices aside from Manchego and they carry Cowgirl Creamery.
• Some Kroger’s carry Murray’s Cheese, which is very good, but don’t expect to taste or get much assistance unless you run into a demonstration.
• If you have a local cheese shop, take the time to visit and make it an enjoyable experience.

So tell me, what is your favorite cheese?

The post How to Pick an Assortment of Cheese for a Cheese Board appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I often get asked to review cookbooks. Sometimes I decline because it’s not my thing, but when I was asked to review Making Dough by Russell Van Kraayenburg, I said yes on two counts.

I love to make pie crust.

I love to make biscuits as demonstrated by my 25 different recipes.

I already know in hearing from you that “dough” is intimidating and often misunderstood in why “the biscuits get tough” or the “pie crust doesn’t roll out and is chewy.”

The book, Making Dough, will help you understand the balance of the flour, fat and liquid, because it’s all about ratios. The first 24 pages are an illustrated tutorial which will help you  understand how these simple ingredients create different pastry depending on the ratios.

Each chapter will guide you through a different type of dough…biscuit dough, tart dough, phyllo dough, scones dough, puff pastry and more. Once you grasp ratios, you can play around on your own. I’m going to use this book to teach me about the doughs I haven’t yet mastered.

The ratio for pie dough is 8 flour: 7 fat: 2 liquid. 

If you want to make biscuits, the ration is 8 flour: 3 fat: 5 liquid. This is so cool to know, and gives you some freedom to make up your own recipes.

I promised to make pie crust from the book and create a recipe. I already am very successful with pie crust, but I had to try Russell’s recipe. He has two variations. He makes his pie dough with a combination of bread flour and cake flour, but you could also substitute all purpose flour, or you could use all bread flour. (I didn’t try that, but I will).

The ratio for bread flour to cake flour is 3:1.

Doesn’t this sound intriguing. These ratios have my attention, because I like to play around and I always make more pie dough than what a recipe needs.

BAKING TIP:  Make a little extra, and freeze the scraps. The scraps can be used for a future cobbler or mini-hand pies.

I made both, and both were successful. The all purpose flour pie dough is very similar to what I do, although I add sugar and one more tablespoon of butter. After making his recipe, I realize I could cut out that tablespoon. There was no difference.

He weighs his flour, which is truly the right way to bake.

The book provides several techniques, and I stuck with my food processor technique.

Now here’s the comical part. I prepared these gorgeous pear cranberry pie cookies, and then  as I went to put them into the oven, most of them slid off of the baking sheet. They were too messy to put back together, but I never throw food out if I can help it. I was able to salvage three little hand pies. You can find out how to make them here. 

Then I took the mess and made cobbler!

A kitchen mistake became a glorious Southern Pear Cranberry Cobbler.

This is truly a delicious cobbler, only slightly tart because the pears and cooked cranberries were refrigerated together several hours before using, which helped to ferment sweetness, and the cobbler pie crust is addicting.

In the South, when we break up pie dough with fruit,  we call it cobbler. We eat it with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. We eat it often, and this is going to grace my holiday table.

I took the broken dough and put some on the bottom of a cast iron pan. I added the fruit and then topped it again.

I made a second one where I just used all scraps of pie dough and threw it into the fruit and baked it. This pie crust tasted great no matter what I did with it.

The pie crust was tender and balanced. It’s all butter, which I believe creates the best flavor.

There are a few recipes in the book that I’ve already bought the ingredients for, so stay tuned. This is the season of desserts, and I’ll be making blueberry mascarpone hand pies and chocolate hazelnut hand pies.

So tell me, do you like pie crust as much as I do? What’s your favorite pie?

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Pear Cranberry Cobbler

Pear Cranberry Cobbler, perfect Fall Holiday Dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Pie Dough

• 7 ounces all purpose flour see notes
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup iced cold water

Pear Cranberry Filling

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant tapioca
• orange zest from half orange
• juice of half orange
• tablespoon triple sec optional
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 large pears about 3 pounds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• Prepare Pie Dough and Cobbler Filling. Both should be made in advanced and chilled first. This is perfect to prepare the day before, and then bake the next day. If you want a double crust cobbler, double the pie dough recipe.

Pie Dough Instructions

• Pulse flours and salt in the bowl of a food processor 2 or 3 times to combine. Chop butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add to flour mixture.
• Pulse for 1 second about 8 times, until butter is in pieces about the size of large peas.
• and pulse 3 to 4 times, until dough begins to come together. It may remain in a few large chunks.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and push chunks together. Knead 4 to 5 times, until it holds its shape. Flatten dough into a disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap tightly in parchment paper and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Cobbler Filling (which can also be used for a pie or hand pies)

• Put cranberries, sugar, water, tapioca, cinnamon into a sauce pan with orange juice and zest.
• Let sit for about 15 minutes.
• Turn on heat and bring to boil.
• Cook for about 5 minutes until the cranberries just begin to burst.
• In the meantime, peel and chop pears.
• Combine the pears with hot cranberries.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour until chilled, preferably longer.

Assembly

• At this point you can make a pie, a tart, hand pies, or a cobbler using these ingredients.
• To make a cobbler, roll out the dough and using a cookie cutter, cut into large rounds about 4-6 inches in diameter.
• Place some rounds on bottom of pan. Every inch of bottom does not have to be covered. If you are using a large baking dish, don't put any pie dough on bottom, just put it all on the top.
• Pour fruit over pie dough.
• Top with more rounds. You can use a lattice pattern or use a biscuit cutter as I did.
• Bake at 400 degrees F for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.
• For hand pies, follow these directions.
• For a large lattice topped cobbler, follow these directions.
• For cobbler in a jar, follow these directions.

Notes

Storage
Because pie dough contains no chemical leavener, it stores well wrapped tightly in parchment paper. You can easily double, triple, or even quadruple this dough recipe and store enough for a month’s worth of pies. If you know the shape of the dough you plan to roll later, form it into that shape, about 1 inch thick, before storing to make rolling it later easier. Refrigerator: 4 days. Freezer: 4 months.

Qualities of Good Pie Dough
THE DOUGH: Pie dough should be fairly dry and tough to manipulate. You should see dots of butter throughout the dough. When rolling, the dough should hold together well and not tear or break.

THE PASTRY: Once baked, pie crust should be very flaky. Crust that isn’t in contact with filling should crumble and flake easily. Portions touching filling will be slightly less flaky but should still be dry and crisp.

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The post Pear Cranberry Cobbler appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

It has been way too long since I’ve talked about pizza, but now I just may overload you.

I recently got out Marcella Hazan’s Pizza Dough recipe and then got a little pizza crazy. We’ve been making pizza every day. I love playing the the dough and we even made a video making dough and will be embedding a video of this pizza here as soon as we clear the music copyright.

I’m always giving Retro Rose a lecture about eating too much pizza, trying to get her to cut down on the grains, but ask me how I’m doing with that. You know she was the first to arrive at my most recent pizza party, but while she sticks to the traditional, I like unusual toppings, and I tend to play around with fruit a lot.

Pears and prosciutto are a natural together, and last year I made prosciutto pear amuse bouche. That same combination with cheese and honey on a crispy, chewy pizza crust is even better.

Now this a pizza of two lives. It could almost be a dessert pizza because of the honey and the pears. However, it could just as easily be a main course pizza or an appetizer pizza. That’s up to you.

More Pizza Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Pizza Dough

Pear and Fig Jam Pizza on the grill

Broccoli Rabe Pancetta Pizza

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Pear Prosciutto Goat Cheese Pizza

Pizza that is good for dessert, appetizer or main event, sweet, salty, chewy, crispy.

Course Pizza

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• Pizza Dough Recipe found here
• 2 Bosc Pear thinly sliced
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 8 thinly sliced pieces prosciutto
• 4 Tablespoons goat cheese
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Roll out pizza dough
• Arrange mozzarella cheese almost to the ends of dough
• Cover with pears
• Tear prosciutto and place intermittently
• Add in some goat cheese in small amounts, intermittenly
• Put pizza on heavy cast iron griddle or stone that has been preheated.
• Place on bottom rack of the oven.
• Bake at 450 or 500 degrees F for 6-10 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper out of the oven.

The post Pear Prosciutto Goat Cheese Pizza with Honey Drizzle appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The other day I demonstrated this cranberry sauce and got to talk a little turkey. If you’re not familiar with Periscope, it’s a free app that allows you to broadcast live videos. Maybe you’re not a blogger, but feel like you have something to say or show the camera. Periscope could be for you.

I was inspired to make a pear cranberry sauce for this year’s Thanksgiving from the cranberry pear cobbler I made here. This puts a bit of a sweeter spin, still strolling nicely with the tartness of the cranberries. Now some people don’t like cranberry sauce, like my husband. He liked this. This is not the first time I’ve added fruit. One year I made this blackberry cranberry sauce.

We’ll be serving this today alongside a cheesecloth roasted turkey and this array of sides.

Retro Rose Candied Sweet Potatoes

No Lump Mashed Potatoes

Brussels Sprouts Apple Salad with Corn Bread Croutons

Candied Sweet Potato BiscuitsSausage Sage Stuffing

Turkey Gravy

Apple Hand Pies

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Tart

How about you?  Is there something you HAVE to have? I have to have cranberry sauce.

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Pear Cranberry Sauce

Pears add sweetness and texture to this cranberry sauce.

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries
• 1 large pear peeled, cubed
• 1 cup water
• juice of 1/2 orange
• orange zest
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon grand marnier optional

Instructions

• Put everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and continue to cook until the cranberries have burst, about 10 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Refrigerate.
• The sauce will continue to gel as it cools.

The post Pear Cranberry Sauce appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

If you love shortbread, (who doesn’t) and if you love just a little dessert at the end of a meal, not too sweet and just enough to end the meal, this is the dessert for you. This easy almond pear tart with a shortbread crust is also is the perfect dessert for a wine and cheese party.

It’s more than a cookie, but not quite a big dessert that will weigh you down. The crust is sweet, but not too sweet and the cream is just enough to hold together ripened pears flavored with vanilla and bourbon, and textured with crunchy, slivered almonds.

Some neighbors came over the other day to see the pictures of our trip to France and Italy. We set the pictures up on the TV monitor and served a lovely wine and cheese spread, complete with melon, prosciutto, and a delicious fig cake that had bits of chocolate in it.

I took this almond tart (from Chez Panisse) that I’ve made more times than I can count and rearranged it to include the sweetness of ripe pears. I also changed the shortbread crust recipe, which is now finally perfected.

This would be lovely served with a sweet wine or even a glass of port.

A wine and cheese party is perfect way to invite people when there is no time (or desire) to actually cook. Everyone can serve themselves, take a nibble here and there, and enjoy the conversation. This is an explosion of flavors and textures. Sweet, salty, juicy, creamy, tart, crusty coming together and I’ll talk about that in a separate post. The texture of this easy almond pear tart was crumbly, sweet, tangy, salty and crunchy, just that last perfect bite of food.

If you like the idea of pears and almonds, you might also love this pear almond clafoutis, a lovely brunch recipe.

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Easy Almond Pear Tart with Shortbread Crust, the Perfect Dessert for a Wine and Cheese Party

A perfect easy to make almond pear tart on a shortbread crust, served at a wine and cheese party. Just sweet enough to end the meal.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons of frozen butter cubed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon iced cold water

Pear Almond Tart

• shortbread crust as above
• 2 pears ripened, peeled, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract go lightly
• 1 cup slivered almonds

Instructions

Mix flour, sugar, salt and zest.

• Add in the frozen butter and mix in food processor for 10 seconds. Add egg. Add in cold water and mix in processor until a dough is formed.
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Take out, allow to warm up for 10 minutes.
• Put into a tart pan. You will probably use your fingers to press into pan.
• Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Use fork to put holes into dough.
• Bake for 8 minutes 425. Reduce to 400 and bake for 12 minutes.

Tart

• Heat cream, pears, bourbon, sugar until cream becomes translucent.
• Add almonds. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
• Pour into prepared pan with removable bottom. You may have some left over.
• Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. Put another pan below as it may bubble over.
• Serve at room temperature. Allow to cool or the shortbread crust will fall apart

The post Easy Almond Pear Tart with Shortbread Crust appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Retro Rose believes that the time you invite people should be the exact time you eat. If you happen to be coming to my house on Thanksgiving, it’s a different story. We argue over this every week, when she walks in the door on Sunday at 6:00 and dinner isn’t on the table. It must be something of her generation (she’s 78). I like a warming up period with guests, starting with a cocktail or glass of wine, and a nibble to get things started. One hour takes care of late comers and is still enough time to get some extra help, and as long as there is a bite of food, everyone seems willing.

Thanksgiving is a tough one, because it’s a feast, and an amuse-bouche, just a bite of food to amuse the mouth, seems appropriate. I know this might be considered very non-Thanksgiving of me to serve prosciutto, so I gave the pears a bit of a Thanksgiving pear spin, adding in cinnamon, nutmeg and browned sage butter.

I saw Prosciutto pear cups here on the blog, Cookaholic Wife. The Secret Recipe Club is an on-line blogging event in which we are assigned another food blog. The Cookaholic Wife is written by Nicole, who has a similar philosophy about cooking as I do if you read my tag line. She transformed her husband from a fast food bachelor to a happily married man eating home-cooked meals six nights a week. She has lots of slow cooker recipes that look wonderful, but this little nibble of prosciutto and pear stole my heart. This is not the first time I chose prosciutto for the SRC. Earlier this year I made, prosciutto wrapped broccolini.

I’m sort of cheating by doing two challenges in one post, but I did give the cups a creative spin by cooking the pears first, something that can be done the night before. You can take the easy way out and use raw pears, which is still a very nice bite. This should certainly amuse the mouth of hungry guests with that combination of sweet and salty and will pair nicely with a e this Butternut Squash Vodka Cocktail.

This is a super easy recipe, one in which the parts can be made hours in advance. Tell me, when you are a guest at a dinner party when do you expect to eat? Right away or within an hour or so?

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Prosciutto Fruit Cups, a Thanksgiving Amuse Bouche

An amuse bouche before dinner. Proscuitto cups filled with spicy pears.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 12 thin slices of prosciutto cut in half
• 1 large pears cubed
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 6 sage leaves
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

• Place each half slice procuitto into mini muffin pans.
• Bake at 400 for approximately 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, melt butter in saute pan. Add sage leaves. Toss cubed pears with ginger and quickly saute in the pan for about 3-4 minutes. The pears will still have a bit of a crunch but all the flavor from the ginger and sage.
• When proscuitto cups are done, place on serving platter. Fill each cup with cubed pears.
• Makes 24. Serving is 2 each

The Creative Cooking Group will post a round-up November 22 at Foodalogue, hosted by Joan

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The post Prosciutto Fruit Cups, a Thanksgiving Amuse Bouche appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Are you a stress eater or a stress baker/cook?  I tend to be a stress baker. When something falls out from under me and it’s really bad, I tend to run into the kitchen to get some control back. Last Saturday morning was one such morning.

I went to bed miserable and woke up to find nothing had righted itself. When I realized there was nothing I could do, I ran into the kitchen and start breaking eggs, slicing pears and getting out the brandy.

I discovered this pear almond clafoutis over at one of my favorite blogs, Taste Food. Everything that Lynda prepares,  I could eat and I’m a bit picky. I feel like she cooks the food I would want my personal chef to cook.

The Pear Almond Clafoutis is Rustic French Food with Sophistication.

It’s a bit elegant, a bit rustic, and a whole lot beautiful. I’ve made peach clafoutis which I won a cooking contest for and cherry clafoutis, but her presentation swept me and I tried her recipe and loved it.

As I slid the pear and almond clafoutis into the oven,  I told my husband to take it out when the timer goes off, because I needed to go on a run. When I came back, it was ready to photograph. It smelled heavenly and I needed that piece of heaven to help with my disappointment.

It was a site crash and I won’t bore you with why it was just the wrong day for that to happen.

Life is fragile. We can be let seriously let down by technology companies, or attacked by a virus we didn’t see coming.   I try to make the very best of every day, not losing patience, not complaining, trying to be a force for good, moving with gratitude and trying to stay a bit in awe of the wonderment of life, and the good God provides.

Finding beautiful blogs lets me know there  are other people in the world that put their heart into food and the time to make it pretty. Life has rough edges and needs those willing to soften it, give it ruffles.

Lynda doesn’t know how much her recipe helped to brighten my day and make it a better place, and I hope I can return the favor sometime.

I left the pear skins on and generously buttered the pan.

Pear and almonds are a beautiful match together. Add heavy cream and eggs to the mix and it’s a lovely french dessert. Pear and almond clafoutis can also be served at brunch or breakfast. In fact, this would wonderful to serve at Christmas breakfast.  It’s almost like a sweet fruit quiche.  It passes the easy to make, yet elegant to look at, delicious to bite into test.

Make a Low Carb Version: Change sugar to Swerve. Change the flour to Almond Flour

So tell me, do you run to the kitchen to eat when you stress, or do you start banging pans and turning on the oven?

Recipes You’ll Love from Spinach Tiger

Apple Dutch Baby

Peach Clafoutis

Pear Almond Tart with Shortbread Crust

Cherry Clafoutis

Low Carb Italian Pear Cake

Low Carb Apple Upside Down Cake

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Pear Almond Clafoutis

Adapted from Taste Food, this is an easy, elegant french dessert that is perfectly okay served for breakfast too.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword clafoutis

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 3 to 4 ripe but firm Bartlett pears peeled, cored, thinly sliced
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter your baking dish. Slice pears, thinly. I left skins on as the pears were very ripe.
• I mixed everything in my vitamix, but you can mix in a kitchen aid or beat with electric mixer. Beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes.
• Add flour, cream, milk, vanilla and almond extracts, salt and brandy. Blend on low to thoroughly mix.
• Arrange the pear slices, slightly overlapping. Pour the custard mixture over the pears. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds. Bake until the top is golden and the custard is set, 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
• Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

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