Recipe: Upside-Down Apple Tart

 

A little anemic looking, but not bad!

Now you already know about my pineapple upside-down cake, but what about an upside-down apple tart? Steve found this recipe from Well Plated by Erin on Instagram after watching a video (see below). He suggested I make this for the Yom Kippur break fast, so I thought I'd try it.

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 tablespoons honey
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter sliced into 6 even pieces
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ to 1 teaspoon flakey sea salt or kosher salt
• 2 medium Crisp apples, sliced 1/8 inch thick (I used 1 Honeycrisp, 1 Granny Smith, and just a portion of a Gala apple)
• 1 sheet puff pastry thawed according to package directions (I used the Jus-Rol kind.)
• 1 large egg beaten to create an egg wash
• Powdered sugar optional for serving

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (make sure it’s rimmed because the juices will flow!).
2. Drizzle the honey onto the parchment in 6 evenly spaced “squiggles” creating 2 rows of 3. For each, draw a straight line with the honey that is about 2 inches long, then swirl the honey back and forth over the line in an “S” shape (see video). Set a pat of butter in the center of each. Your goal is to create a “grid” to lay the pastry on.
3. Sprinkle each pat of butter with a pinch each of brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt (exact measurements aren’t necessary; just eyeball it).
4. Fan the apple slices over the pats of butter to create 3 long columns placed side by side. Start with the right or left side, running the apples evenly over the 3 pats of butter. Tuck the apples snugly against each other so no parchment peeks through (they will go up and over the pats of butter). Arrange the apples so they are fanning either directly towards or directly away from you.
5. Once you’ve finished the first column, complete the middle column, nestling the apples between the 2 columns of butter so they are directly on the parchment. For this column, lay the apples in short rows with the fans pointing left, then right (it will be slightly narrower than the other 2 columns)
6. Then, do the final column, arranging it over the remaining pats. You’re aiming for a rectangle roughly 8×10 inches.
7. Unfold the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a rectangle that’s about 2 inches longer than the apples on each side. Drape the pastry over the apples like a blanket. With the tines of a fork, press all the way around the edges of the pastry to create a border.
8. Brush the pastry lightly and evenly with the egg wash. Dab up any pools with a paper towel.
9. Bake for 30 minutes on the center rack, until the pastry is deeply golden and puffed.
10. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes (some juices will have escaped and browned; simply scoop them away with a spoon and discard). Set a large cutting board over the pan and with one big, confident motion, flip it over. Lift away the pan and peel off the parchment. Dust with powdered sugar as desired and slice into squares.

This recipe was marketed as "easy," but I do NOT think it was easy. Here were a few of my hiccups:

• I did not understand AT ALL about the honey squiggles. I read those directions multiple times and still could not figure out what I was supposed to do. In the video, it just looks like she made small puddles of honey, so that's what I did.
• A pat of butter is an inch thick, and apple slices do not simply drape over them nicely. So my rows of apples weren't nearly as neat and tidy as they are expected to be. And I don't know if this was because of the way my apples were laying down, but when I first put them down, you could see how I alternated between red and green apples; when I flipped them over, you couldn't even see the apple peel, just the insides.
• Maybe it was the size of the pan, the puff pastry, my fork, who knows, but there was no way to press down the edges with the tines. I kept hitting the edge of the pan, and the puff pastry kept sticking to the fork anyway. In the end, I just kinda pressed the edges down with my fingers and hoped for the best. 
• Again, with the edges of the pan, there was no way I was going to scoop the excess juices out. After I flipped the tart onto a new pan, all the juices just stuck to the parchment paper and the original pan. A little messy, I'll be honest. 

I made this recipe the day before so that I wasn't actually baking on Yom Kippur. This is probably a recipe that is best right then and there. While it reheated okay (I just stuck the whole pan in the oven), the apples were already a little too mushy. I didn't bother with the powdered sugar. If anything, I would have added vanilla ice cream!

This was before I flipped it over. I left it a little too long in the oven...oops!

Not a total waste, but probably not worth the hassle, especially when I've made other apple desserts that really ARE easy, like these:

• Apple Fritter Loaf Cake
• Caramel Apple Cookies
• Apple Peanut Butter Cookies*
• Easy Apple Dump Cake*
• Apple-Honey Bundt Cake
• Impossibly Easy French Apple Dessert Squares
• Apple Pie from Betty Crocker
• Apple Bread
• Apple Crumb Pie

*These are ESPECIALLY delicious!!! Like, some of the best desserts I've ever made!

Recipe: Banana Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

So I just made banana "ice cream" a few days ago, but we still had more very ripe bananas, and I needed to do something with them. I didn't want to make banana bread,* but since we had some cottage cheese in the house, I figured I would try making another "healthy" ice cream alternative. I found this recipe on the Recipes Green blog, and since I already had all the ingredients, I got to work.

Ingredients

For the basic recipe (Serves 4):

• 2 large ripe bananas (frozen for best texture)
• 1 cup full-fat cottage cheese (or low-fat for lighter version)
• 2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup or honey (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt
• 2-3 tablespoons milk of choice (if needed for consistency)

Optional add-ins:

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (for chocolate version)
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts or seeds
• 1 tablespoon almond butter or peanut butter
• Fresh berries for swirling

Dietary substitutions:

• Vegan: Use cashew-based cottage cheese or silken tofu
• Keto-friendly: Replace maple syrup with stevia or monk fruit sweetener
• Dairy-free: Substitute with coconut cream-based cottage cheese alternative
• Lower sugar: Use only banana sweetness and skip added sweeteners

Directions

1. Prepare the bananas: Slice ripe bananas and freeze them for at least 2 hours or overnight. Tip: The riper the bananas, the sweeter your ice cream will be – don’t be afraid of those brown spots!
2. Blend the base: In a high-speed blender or food processor, combine frozen banana slices and cottage cheese. Pulse initially to break up the bananas, then blend continuously until smooth and creamy.
3. Add flavor elements: Pour in maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Blend again until fully incorporated. Common mistake to avoid: Don’t over-blend at this stage, or you’ll melt the frozen bananas too much.
4. Adjust consistency: If the mixture is too thick, add milk one tablespoon at a time until you've reach your desired consistency. For a firmer ice cream, keep it thicker.
5. Final touch: Taste and adjust sweetness if needed. For immediate soft-serve consistency, serve right away. For firmer scoops, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for 1-2 hours.

I think I added too much milk. When I made the previous recipe, the mixture was really hard to blend, so I thought I should add more liquid. I may have also over-stirred the recipe. Maybe heavy cream would have been better. Whatever I did wrong, this ice cream was icy/crunchy and not creamy like the first one. It also didn't help that I microwaved it too long (once frozen, this is VERY hard to scoop), so then I was eating ice cream soup. But I will say that I think this could be a good milkshake as opposed to an ice cream. So not a total failure, but the first recipe definitely came out better.

*I have made SO many banana breads! Here are some of those recipes:

• Double Chocolate Banana Bread
• One-banana Banana Bread
• Eggless Banana Bread
• Cream Cheese Banana Bread
• Easy Banana Bread
• Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
• Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
• Banana Peanut Butter Bread
• Strawberry-Banana Bread

Recipe: Banana "Ice Cream"

Years ago, my friend Amanda told me about making "ice cream" that is banana-based, so it's a healthy alternative. I've tried different frozen banana desserts before (like this banana cottage cheese frozen mousse), but I had never actually made this before. So I found this recipe from the Wholesome Farmhouse Recipes blog, and since it touts only using three ingredients, I was definitely IN.

Ingredients

• 3 Large Bananas peeled, sliced, and frozen
• ½ Cup Whole Milk or heavy cream, coconut milk, almond milk (your choice)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Slice the ripe bananas into small pieces. Arrange the banana slices in a single layer on parchment paper and freeze for a couple of hours until solid.
2. Add the frozen bananas, milk of choice, and vanilla extract to a high-powered blender, blender jar, or mini food processor. Blend the banana mixture until smooth, pausing the blending process to scrape down the sides as needed. A good whirl will help achieve the perfect creamy texture.
3. Freeze for scoops or serve soft. For soft-serve consistency, enjoy immediately. For traditional scoops, transfer the ice cream base to a freezer-safe container or airtight container and freeze for 4-6 hours.

This was VERY easy to make, and I added peanut butter to mine (obvi). The Ninja was having a hard time with the frozen banana slices (which surprised me, because you'd think those are softer than ice cubes). So a couple of times I had to stop the machine and mix things around. But the time I could smell metal (like the metal is having a hard time moving), I just stopped the whole process and let some of the banana chunks remain. I made the ice cream while I was making dinner, so I froze it and tried it the next day as "scoops."

I really liked it! Now it helps that bananas are my favorite fruit. But I thought the creamy texture did mimic that of ice cream pretty well. I also had some Hershey's syrup on top, so that definitely made the whole dessert taste like ice cream! I appreciate having a healthier alternative, and it's simple! And certainly cheaper than investing in a Ninja Creami.

Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to bake cookies for a friend, and then I had a team retreat coming up, so I figured I had multiple ways to hand out these cookies (so that I don't eat them all!). This recipe was from the Family Cookie Recipes blog, and it looked easy enough.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter softened (1 stick)
• 1 egg
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 box 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp mint extract
• 3 drops blue coloring + 10-15 drops green coloring
• 1½ cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
2. Begin by creaming together the sugar and butter, in a large bowl, until nice and fluffy. Then add in the egg, sour cream and dry pudding mix, stir well to combine.
3. Next, in a separate small bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. After that, incorporate the flour mixture into the butter and pudding mixture and stir until well combined. 
4. Now, add the mint extract and food coloring until desired color is achieved. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop the cookie dough by the rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. When done baking, transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Serve fresh and warm, enjoy! 

I didn't have any food coloring, hence why my mint cookies aren't green. But I figure it's probably better for you anyway not to have those chemicals. I used mint chocolate chunks as my "chips," so I did get a little bit of green in there. I only had a family-size pack of pudding, so I used about a third of the powder and then just made pudding with the remainder. 

These cookies are easy to make, and while the dough started to turn into one big clump towards the end, I was easily able to scoop the dough with the tablespoon scoop. They were a big hit, so I might need to make them again. You could easily turn this recipe into many different flavors: vanilla or lemon with white chocolate chips, hazelnut extract with crushed up peanuts... so many combos!