OLIVE OIL ZUCCHINI BREAD

I put the above words into the computer box and a bunch of recipes later, this is what I ended up with.
Divine.





2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
crushed walnuts
I mixed dry and gave em a nice sift. I mixed wet, added nuts and incorporated to the dry ingredients in three additions. Mix well.
Bake at 350 for an hour checking halfway. I baked mine in a deep 10 wedding cake, cake pan which is a fussy pan and it took longer, plus my oven suffers a temperature identity crises. The olive oil addition to this old stand by is really magnificent.
There was some mention of a sugar glaze but really, the bread needs no adornment.

Sorbete de limon al mar de cava

My contribution to DOTMC last year was inspired by this dessert, Sorbete de limon al mar de cava, which I first had in January 2008 at Cal Boter in Barcelona. I was lucky enough to be able to return yesterday and couldn't resist ordering it again, even though the menu has other tremendously delicious and classic Catalan desserts. There is something about this perfectly smooth sweet and sour sorbet floating in an equally sour but very strong liqueur that just gets my goat. The other thing that makes me crazy is the liqueur is basically impossible to find, even here in Barcelona, so I guess I'll just take what I can get and enjoy the special chances I have every few years.

APPLE CARAMEL WALNUT TART

For Molly and Allison's 20th Friendship Anniversary I made this tart. My idea was to have a layered apple bottom and an almost pecan pie like top. It sort of worked. I did not get a pic of the pie cut but I have one more slice in the fridge so maybe I can add it here later. I used Nick Malgieri's recipe for Pate Brisse and it worked nicely. I used my mandoline to get seriously thin apple slices which I layered atop the crust. Then I made a caramel sauce and mixed it with about a cup to a cup and a half of toasted walnuts and poured it on top.
It came out nicely but was in the oven FOREVER. Next time I will use my head and BLIND BAKE the crust some before filling! Part of success in baking is using everything you know about the craft. I have a tendency to ignore the things I know and plow along pig-headed and stubborn. A deeper tart pan also may have helped and less apples. The finished product was ok, but I know I can do better.

Pate Brisee
1 lb butter
1 lb flour
1/2 lb cake flour ( I used all AP)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
6 oz COLD water

cut butter into pieces combine dry ingredients, rub in butter with hands or a paddle. leaving pea size pieces.
stir in water until dough holds together shape into a disc wrap in plastic chill until firm

Peach Pear Pie With Cornmeal Crust

Trying to get back into the pie making game and with the results on this one, I'm happy I did! I used the crust recipe from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" replacing 1/4 of the flour with cornmeal which gave it a nice texture, but wasn't overwhelming at all. Since I had peaches and pears from my fruit share at the sweet pea CSA I decided to try a peach pear pie and it worked great. Here's the recipe, I hope you dig it.

Peach Pear Pie in Cornmeal Crust

FILLING:

* 2-1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches
* 2-1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh pears
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1/3 cup maple crystals
* 1/4 cup honey
* 3 tablespoons arrowroot
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground Chinese 5 Spice
* 1 unbaked cornmeal crust (9 inches)

TOPPING:

* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup ground maple crystals
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 cup cold butter
* 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
In a bowl, sprinkle the peaches and pears with lemon juice. Combine the sugar and honey, arrowroot, cinnamon and allspice. Add to fruit, toss gently to coat. Pour into crust.

For topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle over filling.

Cover edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

MOLLY'S BIRTHDAY CAKE

Ms.Schnick had a birthday and this is the cake I made for her. Chocolate cake with layers of caramel and salt, frosted with a caramel chocolate ganache. I used the recipe from Baked.
It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, though the caramel recipe needs to be tweaked a bit, methinks.