Tag: fresh

Apple Honey Cake

IMG_2976

Fall has arrived and I’ve neglected my blog :(. Though I do post often on instagram so you can catch me there. The summer was pretty busy and I got to visit really great places and I’ll share that in another post.

In Houston, one day it’s 100 degrees and humid and the next it’s 84 with clear skies, hello fall! Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long but we do get to take advantage of comforting recipes. Especially for Rosh Hashana where we celebrate a sweet new year with apples and honey. This apple and honey cake is the perfect, almost coffee cake like end to a filling meal.

My mom distributed recipes to most guests to help her prepare for this meal. I got the apple honey cake though I assume it’s because I’m the only one who went to pastry school and I enjoy a good challenge. It’s surprisingly easy to make and it looks gorgeous once you’ve cascaded the apples around the raw dough.

To me, quality ingredients are key. I opted for organic honeycrisp apples and they held their crispness and didn’t get soggy- the best baking apple. I will definitely make this recipe again but I may add a bit more ginger or even cardamom for a kick.

Print Recipe
 Apple Honey Cake
adapted from The New York Times recipe
Servings
Ingredients
For the Cake
For the Glaze
Servings
Ingredients
For the Cake
For the Glaze
Instructions
Make the Cake
  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan, preferably a springform pan.
  2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar, then add honey and whip for 1 minute, until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, until well incorporated, then whip for 2 minutes. Stir in grated ginger, candied ginger, and lemon zest.
  3. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and add to bowl, mixing briefly to make a stiff batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  4. With a paring knife, cut slits in each of the apple quarters on the rounded, outer part of the wedge, slicing partway through at 1/8-inch intervals. Arrange apple quarters slit-side-up over the batter. Sprinkle surface with 1 tablespoon sugar.
  5. Place cake pan on a baking sheet and put on middle rack of oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until an inserted skewer emerges dry. (It took about 52 minutes for me) If cake is browning too rapidly, tent with foil until done. Cool on a rack, then carefully unmold.
Make the Glaze
  1. Put sugar, honey and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and mixture bubbles, about 2 minutes. Paint surface of cake and apples with warm glaze. Cake will keep for several days, tightly wrapped, at room temperature.

 

Cooking Class in Bologna, Italy

Cooking Class Apartmen

After a year long engagement, my fiance and I finally tied the knot! It was a magical evening and everything we could have asked for surrounded by family and friends. A few days later, we embarked on our Italian honeymoon, #jankcation as we call it.

Our first stop was in Venice, the most romantic place possible. Unfortunately, George Clooney was getting married at that time and it was oh so busy in Venice. It was uncomfortably packed in this city 🙁 We made the best of it and wandered through the town peering out on canals.

Next, we rented a car and drove to Monte San Pietro, Emilia-Romagna which is about 15-20 minutes outside of Bologna. This was was absolutely breathetaking! The area was filled with Fattoria’s (agrotourismo) and unpretentious vineyards. We stayed at an airbnb that was decorated 70’s style named Cool Cat that looked out to other hill towns.

We arranged a market tour and cooking class for beginners (husband) and experienced (me). We started out by finding the teacher at a specific coffee shop. It was interesting finding it in a city we had never been to nor do we speak the language. After asking a few people and staring at our map, we found her!

She then took us to this amazing market that’s only held on weekends. Everything is grown locally and looked so fresh and beautiful. The market was surrounded by bakeries, meat stores, small grocery shops, convenience stores, and specialty stores. I was in heaven. After we gathered all of our ingredients and got all of my questions answered, we went to the teachers apartment to start cooking!

fresh produce Fresh produce

We started out making fresh pasta. The eggs that we used had bright fresh orange yolks.  If only I raised chickens in my backyard… I learned in school to make it by hand then roll it through a pasta machine. This time, we did it all by hand which took a bit of time but was worth it.

pasta we made M&Z with pasta

We then stuffed squash blossoms with ricotta and parsley.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Now it was time to get all of the sauces together: Bolognese, porcini marsala, and butter. Everything we made was very simple with simple ingredients but all were very fresh. The tomatoes, tasted like actual sweet and delicate tomatoes!  I feel like the tomatoes we get here in US are bland, picked before ripe and just have no taste.  This is really unfortunate.

We cooked up our pumpkin tortellini then sauteed it in butter then it got a fab drizzle of 25 year aged balsamic vinegar. Next, our over an hour simmering bolognese sauce was topped on our freshly made tagliatelle. Then of course we grated fresh parmesan from Parma.

pumpkin tortellini Bolognese

I’m pretty sure my husband and I agree on this, our cooking class in Bologna was by far the best meal we shared together in Italy. It’s no joke that Bologna is the food capital of Italy, it is the real deal.