Forget the store bought pastries!

This weeks creation is a Travis Hargett original. Derived from a French apple tart these individual pastries go great with a cup of coffee, or a simple dollop of whipped cream. The contrast between the sweet pastry, and tart apples enables this recipe to be a dessert, or a morning treat.

Crust
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/8th teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten

Filling
3 Granny Smith apples (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Gloss
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar

Pre Heat oven to 350

To make the dough mix the butter, and sugar together for 4 mins or until creamy. Add the beaten egg, and salt. Mix until the egg is incorporated. Add all the flour at once then mold into ball with your hands. Be sure not to handle the dough to much or your crust will be hard...not flaky. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins.

Peel, and slice your apples into thin slices. In my mothers apple pie she uses a peeler to create ultra thin slices of apple, this makes for a delicious filling. In a bowl mix apples, sugar and cinnamon.

Roll out dough, and cut into 4in by 4in squares. Add a heaping tablespoon of apple filling and fold pastry by pinching together the 2 of the edges. Experiment with the shape of these pastries until you find one you like. Be sure to have and opening in the pastry so that the steam can vent.Before putting in oven brush with a melted butter sugar mixture.

Notes
If you only have salted butter leave out the salt in the recipe.
Also remember to not over sugar your apples you want that contrast of sweet and tart.

A Cupcake's Dream

I must say that the idea for this blog came to me when I started mixing together this recipe. Although the specialty cupcake business has been around for some time with standards like the "Magnolia Bakery" in New York City, and "Vanilla Bake Shop" in Santa Monica recently the business idea has boomed to cities across the nation. With this in mind i decided my first recipe should reflect the current "fad", and so I chose a recipe i found in the New York Times Magazine.

I could have easily chosen a "plain jane" a white on white cupcake, but instead thinking to my childhood i chose a peanut butter cupcake with a milk chocolate frosting. My grandmother who taught me all I know of baking loves peanut butter. Whether it was on ice cream, or sneaked onto a chocolate cake there was always an empty jar in the kitchen. My grandfather use to ask "Joan I thought this was chocolate pudding" she would reply "it is i just added a special touch". I would then look over to pop, and say "at least its not crunchy". Yes eventually we would get sick of the PB cookies and PB pie, but we would never tire from hearing the memories retold.

The recipe for these cakes is as basic as any. A good amount of butter, eggs, and sugar, the one difference though is that instead of all purpose flour we used cake flour. Cake flour is much finer then all-purpose, this allows for a more dense, moist cake. The icing on these cakes was described to me as "intense" so if you want you can only add a half a cup of cocoa powder. Other then that the recipe is perfect, you should end up with moist cakes and superb chocolate butter cream frosting.

For the cupcakes:

3 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

3/4 cup of unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), at room temperature

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy

4 eggs

1 cup whole milk

For the frosting:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

Dash of salt

2/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

whole milk

Chocolate flakes or sprinkles (optional).

1. To make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with baking cups. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on low to combine and then beat on high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in the peanut butter, then add the eggs, one at time. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the batter in three parts. Fill the baking cups with batter. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

3. For the frosting: Sift together the confectioners’ sugar, salt and cocoa powder. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. On low speed, slowly add the chocolate mixture. Pour in the vanilla and the milk, a little at a time, until the frosting reaches a creamy consistency.

4. When the cupcakes are cool, frost them. If you choose, decorate with chocolate flakes or sprinkles. Makes about 24 cupcakes. Adapted from Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica, Calif.

A special thanks always to the NYT Magazine.