Oatmeal Pie with Strawberries, Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

I usually make it without strawberries, just raisins and/or dried cranberries, nuts and cinnamon. But now...

The appearance of my pie surprised me this time: strawberry, large enough, has decreased during the baking, carrying granola to the bottom, so the cake turned out not with rough caramelised crust, but with a pretty hollow in the middle, where all this stuff fell down ))))))) Pie surface is usualy covered with flat caramelised oat flakes evenly, so I  was amazed by this brand-new view )))

Batter:

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 tsp of baking powder
1 / 4 tsp of baking soda
1.5 cups oatmeal (flour)
1 / 3 cup of vegetable oil (I used unflavored sunflower)

For the granola:
5-6 walnuts
1 tbs of butter
2 tablespoons of oats (not quick, they flat enough and look nicer)
1 / 2 tsp cinnamon

butter for greasing the form + spoonful of sugar for dusting form

options:
strawberries (6 large berries)
chocolate drops

 (next morning strawberry filling become more flat as you can see on the photos below)

In a large bowl mix eggs, sugar and oil. Then add flour mixed with baking soda and baking powder. Mix well and set aside. 

Now lets make granola.

Heat the pan, add butter, when melted toss with sugar evenly, wait until golden and add oats. Stir and add crashed walnuts. Stir completely, turn off the oven and set aside.

Preheat the oven (375F/180C). Crease the form with butter and dust with sugar. (I used paper baking form). Pour 1/3 of batter into the form, then add strawberries and chocolate chips, pour the rest part of the batter. Toss with granola evenly, dust with cinnamon and put into the oven. Bake 35-45 minutes, use wodden stick to test if it is dry enough inside.

Caramelized Sweet Cherry Upside-Down Pie

Dough:

3 eggs
0,5-0,7 cup sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour (or AP flour)
1,5 tsp cinnamon
0,5 tsp baking powder
0,3 cup of vegetable oil (optionally)  (I used sunflower oil)

pinch of salt

Filling:

0,5-0,7 kg of sweet cherries

0,5 cup of sugar
40-60 g of butter
2-3 tbs of water

Melt and caramelize sugar: put sugar with water into the pan/baking pan and simmer until brown (be careful with melted sugar, it VERY HOT). Add butter, stir and add cherries, halved and boned. Stir qweekly, set aside.

In a large bowl mix together eggs, sugar, oil. Add flour with baking powder and salt. Stir well and pour over cherry caramel. Put to prehited for 375F oven. Bake for approximate 40 min until light brown. Prick with a wooden stick in the center, it should be dry, then pie is ready.

Then turn down to a plate.

Now it's ready and you can serve it warm or cold. Always goes well with ice-cream or cream fraiche.


Have you ever seen such double-cherries?

Mulberry Baby-Tarts

Nothing special, just mulberry, strawberry and your favorite french dough, i.e. with cheese )))  Bake dough before, then add berries, powder with sugar and bake a bit more  )) Nice with ice-cream )))

Rosemary and Strawberry Tart

My first Seasonal Strawberry Tart. And direct hit. )))  All my expectation were justified )) I like rosmary, I adore strawberry and I love tarts ))  Whant to follow?  

For dough:

1 cup AP flour

1 stick butter
3 oz sugar
1 eggzest from 1 lemon
3 drops of vanilla extraite
pinch of salt

Mix butter, sugar, salt, zest and vanilla. Pour egg and stir until smooth. Add flour and knead the dough quickly. Make a ball, wrap into a film and fridge at least 1 hour. 

Roll out the dough, put onto the pan, layed with greased parchment paper. Put over another sheet of paper and beans in order daogh not the increase and put into preheated for 375F oven for 20 minutes or until golden. 

I used only 2/3 of this dough and the rest part went to the Strawberry Meringue Tart.

Filling:
1/2 l milk
3 egg yolk
100 g sugar
35 g AP flour
25 g corn stark
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary  (or dry)

Stir corn stark with 2 tbs of milk. Bring to a boil the rest part of milk with rosemary,  let to infuse, discard rosmary. 

Stir yolks with sugar, add flour and stark, stir again.  Pour hot milk with a thin stream, stirring constantly.

Cook on low heat with constant stirring until thick. Pour into a baked base and cool.

Coverage:
500 grams of strawberries
juice of 1 / 2 lemon
2 tablespoons honey
7 grams of gelatin
1 sprig of fresh rosemary (I came around, decorated my tart with sprigs of chickpea)

Strawberries (entire or halved) put on the tart. Mix lemon juice with honey and 1/2 cup of water, add gelatin and heat to dissolve it. Cover berries with jelly using brush, garnish with rosemary herbs. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours.

Russian version here.
Thanks to karaidel and mama-fenix for sharing.

Strawberry Meringue Tart

Those drops you could see at meringues are called Angels tears. There is a different recipe of cake, which is usually made with quark and I didn't want to follow it. They appeard surprisingly on the meringue surface after night staying in the fridge. Like a bonus )))  

This tart was made like a second session with dough and egg whites left from my first annual Strawberry Tart ))) And it still was good ))) So if you want to repeat, please follow the steps listed  below. ))

For dough:

1 cup AP flour

1 stick butter
3 oz sugar 1 egg

zest from 1 lemon
3 drops of vanilla extraite
pinch of salt

Mix butter, sugar, salt, zest and vanilla. Pour egg and stir until smooth. Add flour and knead the dough quickly. Make a ball, wrap into a film and fridge at least 1 hour. 

Roll out the dough, put onto the pan, layed with greased parchment paper. Put over another sheet of paper and beans in order daogh not the increase and put into preheated for 375F oven for 20 minutes or until golden. 

For filling:

 0,5-0,7 kg of strawberries 

2 eggs and 2 egg yolks

3/4 cups of milk

1 cup of sugar

Smash strawberries in the blender, add milk, eggs, yolks and sugar and pour over the baked dough. You can wrap tart edges with two layers of foil in order to avoid overbaking. 

Bake tart for 20 minutes or until filling will harden like a souflee.  

For meringue:

6 egg whites

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

Whisk whites with salt, then add sugar and continue to whisk until firm peaks. Put over baked tart using pastry bag or just with a spoon. Bake for another 10 minutes or until start to golden. Turn oven off and let tart stay into for 40 minutes.

Decor with strawberries and mint )))))

For dough I used this recipe
For filling and meringue I used this recipe
Special thanks to karaidel, mama-fenix and mari-de-boshir .

Filo, Milk, Cardamom. And Raspberry.

I had half package of filo pastry after I had made spinach and leek pie. That was my first attempt with filo and I did not know what would be the next one. So I desided to go through the usual way and made milk pie, something on manner ructic gateau with my favorite custard from Gascony Culinary School. I made this Cream Patissière several times and each of my cakes was meet with applause from my guests. Apparently those applause should be addressed to Bernard Corbière who share this lovely recipe between everyone  attending his school. Belive me, it's perfect, I've only add cardamom this time ... cause this was recuired by my imagination ))) 

So for Cream Patissière we need:

1l milk

1/2 cup of sugar or a bit less (100 g)

1/2 stick of butter (50-70 g)

3 eggs

1/3 cup of All Purpose Flour (approx.50g)

1 vanilla bean or 3-5 drops of vanilla extraite 

6-8 cardamom shells with seeds

In a heavy bottom pan mix milk, sugar and butter. Put on a low heat. Add vanilla bean and ground into powder cardamom seeds without shells. Stir, continue to heat but do not let it boil.

Meanwhile mix eggs and flour in a bowl, pour hot milk blend. Put to the medium fire and boil for 2 minutes stirring continuosly.  Set aside.

For rustic gateau:

6-8 filo sheets

40g butter

2-3 tbs of olive oil

raspberry (optionally)

I used silicon pan which was layered with greased parchment paper. Then I spread it with filo sheet, oil it with butter and oil mix, repeat several times trying to set filo sheets crosswise.
Then I poured Cream Patissière over filo, folded the edges up and put it to the preheated to 375F oven for 20 minutes (or untill filo become tanned on it's edges). That is all )))
You can add raspberry before serve this pie, I used frosen, you can use fresh ) Bon appeti )))

Spinach & Leeks Pie

Ingredients:

2 bunches of spinach

1 leek

1 egg

3 tbs of butter

5 tbs of olive oil

2-3 tbs of sour cream

100 g cheese

salt, pepper

pinch of grated nutmeg

250 g filo pastry 

Put 1 tbs of olive oil and 1 tbs of butter into the large pan, add trimmed and chopped leeks and cook a few minutes. 

Add washed, drained, trimmed and chopped spinach and cook 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile mix in a bowl egg, sour cream, grated cheese and pour into the pan. Add nutmeg, salt and freshly ground  black pepper, stir and set aside. 

Brush baking pan with mix of melted butter and olive oil.
Then repeat this with one filo sheet and spread it over the pan. Do the same with another 3 sheets.

Spread leeks and spinach filling over the pastry (put off excess liquid). Fold in overhanging pastry, brush with oil&butter mix and put into the preheated oven (375F). Bake untill golden.

Then brush 4-5 more layers of filo and try to corrugate each of them. Put each accordion way folded sheet of pastry over the pie next to each other in order to get ruffled top layer. Bake until golden. 

Serve hot or cold with dry wine or soup.

Plum Brownie

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of wholle wheat flour

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of baking powder

7 oz. (200g) black chocolate 78% 

1/2 cup (120ml) of melted butter 

pinch of cinnamon

2-3 tbs of Nesquik or any sweetened cocoa

In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar, melted chocolate and melted butter. 

Add flour with baking soda and baking butter and mix well. Preheat oven to 356F.

Pour batter into the silicon pan (or any. If your pan is now unstickable, than grease it with butter and powder with flour. You can also use parchment paper insteed).

Layer with halved plums, sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 40-60 minutes, do not overbake. Try if it completely ready with wooden stick (it should be dry). 

Powder with sweetened cocoa.

Butternut Squash Cheese-Cake

Low fat cream-cheese - 25 oz
canned or boiled butternut squash puree - approx. 3 cups
sweet condenced milk - 1 can (14 oz)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of baking soda

Sweetened cocoa-powder (Nesquik)
cinnamon powder (optionally)

Mix well all ingredients from first block using blender, then pour into silicon baking pan and put into the oven for approx. 2 hours ( temperature 266 F).

Sprinkl with cocoa powder and/or cinnamon.