Pluot Lambic Sorbet

I've heard great things about Jeni's sour beer sorbets, but I never thought I'd make it myself if only because I didn't ever think I would come into possession of any lambic beer.  But then my roommate decided to break out her growler of Night Shift Brewing's Art #5, which happens to be an "experimental Berliner Weisse style sour ale aged on fresh raspberries [with] mint leaves added."  After one sip I realized it would be perfect for a sorbet!

For the fruit I used a couple of pluots from a recent Boston Organics delivery, but you can use any stone fruit:  peaches, apricots, cherries, etc.

Pluot Lambic Sorbet (adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)
makes a generous quart

1 pound pluots
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup lambic beer, chilled

Remove the stones from the pluots and puree in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Combine the pureed fruit, sugar, and corn syrup in a 3-quart saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from the heat immediately and put in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

Strain through a sieve into a bowl.  Add the beer and chill thoroughly.

Pour the sorbet base into the frozen canister and spin just until it is the consistency of very softly whipped cream.

Pack the sorbet into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.  Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

I was really surprised at how much I liked this sorbet considering I'm not a big fan of beer.  The sweetness and sourness were perfectly balanced, and there was a nice malty finish to each bite.  Oh Jeni, once again you have made a believer out of me.

Next:  Bahian Style Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew)
Previously:  Apple Cider Donuts
One year ago:  Magical Cold Brew Coffee

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Apple Cider Donuts

Cider donuts from Honeypot Hill

One of my favorite things about fall is apple cider donuts.  They have to come fresh from an apple orchard from New England, though, preferably on a brisk, sunny day.  I've tried the ones they sell at super markets and even the state fair, but they're just not the same.

If you've never had one before, you might be disappointed to hear that they don't really taste like apple cider.  That said, they're still incredibly delicious and pair perfectly with a nice, cold glass of cider.  I like my cider donuts on the small side, coated with cinnamon and sugar, and, most importantly, fresh from the fryer so that they're still warm and crispy.  The interior should be cakey, but not dry, and never, ever greasy.

Luckily, even if you don't live in New England, you can make your own as long as you can get your hands on some real apple cider:  the cloudy, unfiltered kind that burns just a little bit on the way down your throat, not the weak, see through stuff they sell off-season.

Apple Cider Donuts (from Food52)
makes 10-12 donuts

1 cup apple cider
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup buttermilk
canola oil, for frying
1/2 cup sugar, for topping
2 teaspoons cinnamon, for topping

Bring the apple cider to a boil over high heat and cook it until it has reduced to 1/3 cup, 7-10 minutes. Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the donuts.

   
Sift the cake flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

   
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the shortening and sugar together on medium speed until sandy. Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix on high until light and thickened, about 5 minutes.
  
Mix the reduced apple cider and buttermilk together. Then add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk mixture to the mixer in three additions mixing until just combined. The dough will be soft and sticky much like cookie dough.

  
Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour or overnight.
   
When you are ready to roll and fry the donuts, heat a large pot or dutch oven with at least 2 inches of oil over medium heat until the oil reaches 370ºF on a candy thermometer.

Gently roll the chilled dough out onto a generously floured board or piece of parchment paper into a circle about 1/2'' thick and about 8'' wide.

Cut as many donuts as possible, making sure to flour the cutters before each cut.  If at any time the dough becomes too soft to handle, just put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. Place the cut donuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes until they are slightly firm and easier to handle. While the donuts are chilling, stir together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping in a shallow, wide bowl.

   
Brush off any excess flour and fry the donuts for about 1 minute per side, being careful not to crowd the pan.  When the donuts are deep golden brown on each side, remove them from the oil, gently blot off excess oil and toss immediately in the cinnamon sugar.

I had a couple of issues with this version:  the finished product was a little too dense for my liking, the outside was only barely crispy, even fresh out of the fryer, and I had a hard time getting the cinnamon and sugar to stick to the donut.  My friends who got to try them liked them enough, though, so I probably just have really high standards when it comes to cider donuts.  Next time I might try Smitten Kitchen's version, which are fried in Crisco.

Next:  Pluot Lambic Sorbet
Previously:  Salted Butter Caramel Apple Pie with Vodka Pie Crust
Last year:  Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche

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Salted Butter Caramel Apple Pie with Vodka Pie Crust

My church went apple picking last weekend, and I went with the express purpose of picking apples to make this pie.  Or more precisely, so I could make this pie crust from America's Test Kitchen.  I first made the vodka pie crust three years ago with Tammy.  It made the flakiest, most flavorful pie crust I had ever eaten, but it uses shortening, an ingredient I don't usually have on hand.  Luckily, my new roommate had some from when she made this same pie crust (it's her favorite, too!).

*photo by Tammy Hui

According to America's Test Kitchen, the addition of the vodka helps to keep the pie dough tender because it inhibits the formation of gluten while still acting like a binder for the dry ingredients.  The shortening also helps to prevent gluten from forming because unlike butter, it doesn't contain any water.  Yay, science! 

*Pro-tip:  If you don't have a rolling pin, the vodka bottle works!

I adapted the filling and salted caramel sauce from Sally's Baking Addiction.  Sadly, I took my sugar off the heat too soon, and my sauce is more of a blond sweet butter sauce than a caramel, but it still tastes uber delicious!

If you can, try to use a variety of apples for the pie so you have some sweet and some tart, some softer and some firmer.  I picked Macintosh, Golden Supreme, and Honeycrisp apples for this pie.

Salted Butter Caramel Apple Pie with Vodka Pie Crust
makes 1 pie

For the pie crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
8 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces and chilled
1/4 cup vodka, chilled
1/4 cup ice water

Process 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt together in food processor until combined.  Scatter butter and shortening over top and continue to process until incorporated and mixture begins to form uneven clumps with no remaining floury bits.  Sprinkle remaining 1 cup flour over dough and pulse until mixture has broken up into pieces and is evenly distributed around the bowl.

Transfer mixture to a large bowl.  Sprinkle vodka and ice water over mixture.  Stir and press dough together, using stiff rubber spatula, until dough sticks together.

Divide dough into 2 even pieces.  Turn each piece of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten each into a 4-inch disk.  Wrap each piece tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the caramel sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup room temperature water
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Combine the granulated sugar, salt, and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook without stirring, until the syrup becomes a medium dark amber caramel, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and immediately stir in the room temperature butter and cold heavy cream. Do not worry if the butter starts to separate; it will come together as the caramel cools. Transfer the caramel to a medium bowl and whisk until the caramel begins to come together.  Set aside.

For the apple pie:
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 large apples, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (use a variety for better flavor, such as Macintosh, Golden Supreme, and Honey Crisp)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

Put the lemon zest and lemon juice into a very large bowl. Add the apples and toss gently. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar. Pour over the apples and gently toss to combine. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

On a floured work surface, roll out one of the balls of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle about 12" in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9"x2" pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth.

Fill the pie crust with the apples. There are a lot of apples, but pile them tightly and very high. Drizzle with 1/2 cup of the salted caramel, reserving the rest for topping.

Roll out the other ball of dough to a 10" circle.  Carefully place on top of the pie.  Fold over any excess dough and crimp all the way around.  Cut a few slits into the top with a sharp knife.

Make an egg wash by beating the egg yolk with the milk.  Brush the top with a very thin coating.

Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350°F and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes. If the top of your pie is getting too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil. The pie will be done when the caramel begins to bubble up. A small knife inserted inside should come out relatively clean.

Allow the pie to cool for 4 hours before serving. Drizzle the pie with the extra caramel sauce to serve.

Previously:   Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Black Raspberry Swirl
Next:  Apple Cider Donuts

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Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream with Matcha Mochi Bits

Since I had some extra matcha powder and glutinous rice flour from making the matcha mochi cupcakes, I decided to try making matcha green tea ice cream with matcha mochi bits.  I was still traumatized by the time I tried to make mochi wrapped ice cream so I decided to just cut up the mochi and swirl it into the ice cream this time.  Of course, I (once again) underestimated the stickiness of fresh cooked mochi and ended up stretching and hacking it into bits instead of properly cutting it.  If there's anything I learned from this process it's that you can never use enough cornstarch!

For the ice cream I adapted the ice cream base from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by adding matcha powder.

After making a batch of the matcha green tea ice cream, I noticed that the matcha powder wasn't really dissolving into the ice cream base and was clumping up instead.  I thought it would go away in the churning process but you can still see bits of matcha powder in the picture above.  Compare that with the picture below of the second batch I made.  Can you guess what simple ingredient made the matcha powder dissolve more easily?

Alcohol!  Or in this particular case, vodka.  I think it has something to do with it being more non-polar than water (yay masters degree in chemistry from an Ivy League school!).  By mixing the matcha powder in some vodka first and then mixing it with the rest of the ice cream base you get a nice, smooth result.

Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream with Matcha Mochi Bits
makes about 1 quart

For the matcha mochi bits: (adapted from Come On, Ilene!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water, divided
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1 teaspoon matcha powder
Cornstarch

Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with wax paper or a Silpat and coating it generously with cornstarch. 

Dissolve the sugar into 3/4 cup of water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat to make a simple syrup.

In a medium microwaveable mixing bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup water with the glutinous rice flour and matcha powder until smooth.

Cover the bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  Remove the bowl from the microwave (be careful, it will be very hot!) and stir again.

Pour in the simple syrup and keep stirring.

At first it will look kind of gross and lumpy but eventually it was all even out and you'll get a nice, thick goo.

Pour the mochi batter onto the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle more cornstarch on top.  Let the mochi cool.  You can put the sheet in the fridge or freezer to hurry this process along.

Once the mochi is firm, distribute the top layer of cornstarch evenly with your fingers to coat any shiny areas. Flip it over on a cutting board and make sure the back side is evenly coated as well.

When the mochi is completely cool, cut into small bits and pieces and continue to coat with extra cornstarch while cutting to avoid letting the pieces stick together.

Freeze the mochi bits until the ice cream is ready to pack.

For the matcha green tea ice cream: (adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home)
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
1 tablespoon vodka
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.  Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Mix the matcha powder with the vodka and stir until smooth.

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Remove from heat and add some of the hot ice cream base to the matcha vodka mixture.  Stir until smooth and then add back to the rest of the ice cream base.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, adding the matcha mochi bits in between layers of ice cream.  Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid.  Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Just like with mochi-wrapped ice cream, the mochi bits stay nice and pillowy soft even after frozen.  It makes an interesting contrast to the usual hard and crunchy mix-ins for ice creams.  And the amount of vodka used to dissolve the matcha powder was so minimal I can't even taste it in the ice cream.

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