Spiced Seckel Pears In Party Dresses For An Elegant Thanksgiving Dessert

This is relatively easy dessert to make. I like to make this particular dessert over and over again with slightly different version, because It will easily impress your guess and family as it looks pretty presented in an individual dessert plate, especially when you add ice cream, or  creme anglais. The poaching liquid is also very simple, made of water and sugar, spiced with whole spices that fairly easy to find in most grocery store. You can always fancy this up by using some liqueur that will work well with this spices too if you like. Or just simply white, or red wine, sugar, and vanilla will work as well. 

This recipe came from Christine Ferber's book, Mes Tarte, which I use a lot each time I want to make sweet or savory tarts. As usual, I adapted the recipe according to my own taste, change couple of things that I feel, or sound a little odd. For instance, I don't like the the sound of adding garlic clove in my sweet pastry. I can not even imagine how it will taste, not that I don't like garlic, I do! But not for my sweet treat or dessert though. So, if you really want to make her original version, the spices she uses are: cinnamon, vanilla bean, garlic, star anise, and cardamom. She aslo listed lemon juice in the recipe. 

Spice Pears In Party Dresses
Recipe adapted from Christine Ferber's Spiced Pear In Party Dress
Serve 8

600 g puff pastry, store bought or homemade - thaw if frozen
8 small ripe but still firm Williams, or Barlett pears (I used Seckel pears)
500 g (2  1/3 cups) sugar
500 g (2 cups) water
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamoms
1 star anise
1 slice of lemon rind
1 egg yolk
2 tsp milk

In a  pan (large enough to accomodate all pears) place sugar, water, cinnamon, cardamoms, star anise, and lemon rind. Bring to a gentle boil. Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the steam on. Add them to the pan. Bring to a simmer for 20 - 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool completely in the pan. You can do this step a day ahead, and refrigerate pears with its liquid.

On a lightly floured kitchen counter top, roll out the pastry to about 1/16 inch thick. To prevent pastry from shrinking when it's cut, roll it around rolling pin. Lightly flour your counter top again, then unroll the pastry. Cut 8 (eight) - 6 inch squares.

To warp the pear, place pear in the center of pastry square, lift the point of pastry square one by one and bring them up to the stem of the pear. Now using the palm of your hand, press the pastry against the pear to mold itself to the shape of the pear. Arrange on a baking sheet line with parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the pears. Cover the baking sheets with plastic, refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the egg wash. Place egg yolk and milk in small bowl. Mix to combine.

Brush each pear with egg wash. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the pastry is nicely brown. Meanwhile, bring the poaching liquid back to the stove set over medium heat. Simmer until it is become thick and sirupy. Remove from the heat to cool. When pear pastry is done, glaze lightly with the poaching syrup if desire. Serve in individual dessert plate with creme anglais, vanilla ice cream, or chocolate sauce if desire.

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

TETU (Clove-Scented Sicilian Chocolate Cookies)

As the weather  getting colder each day, I forced to stuck inside the house. I suppose I can just sit down and do nothing, but  I always prefer to be busy in the kitchen. In fact, I use this weather to excuse my self for a good self indulgence. I thought I'd make some cookies,  not just any cookie, but something unique and I never eaten or made before. I thought of something Italian, or that part of the world. So, I grabbed "Sweet Sicily" book by Victoria Granof, that my husband gave me as a gift.  Apparently I bookmarked quite a few recipes that I wanted to try. Since my mind was already set for cookie, I tried to really focus and not letting myself to easily distracted for other recipes (read, cakes). I found TETU, that was it!. The name alone already sounded intriguing. I also like how to say it, pretending that I really know how to pronounce it. I like the fact that it's only 4 letters to name a cookie, T ... E ... T ... U.... And then,  the ingredients, which has chocolate and cloves, how unique, right? According to Victoria Granof, Tetu are traditional cookies for All Souls' Day called, I Morti, or Day of the Dead which fall in the first week of November. And it is  much celebrated especially in the Western part of Sicily. Well, it's rather confusing, because while I was  searching on the internet to get more info about this cookies (which aren't too many), I also found out that some people also bake it for Christmas, some even call it Sicilian Christmas cookies.

Granof's recipe only use chocolate glaze for this cookies, but I wanted to have a bit of variation, so I glazed some of them  with simple lemon glaze made of confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. I also glazed my cookies with simple chocolate ganache (just chocolate and heavy cream) instead of using her chocolat glaze recipe.

TETU

Recipe adapted from Sweet Sicily, The Story of an Island and Her Pastries by Victoria Granof

makes about 3 dozens

1 cup whole roasted almonds, grind to a powder

4 cups unbleached all-purposed flour

8 tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup milk

1  1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, lightly beaten

Chocolate Glaze

2 cups sugar

1  1/2 cup water

12 oz unsweetened chocolate - roughly chopped

2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

In a large bowl add ground almond, and flour. Mix - set aside

Place milk, butter, and chocolate in a sauce pan. Set the pan over medium heat, whisk until butter is melted. Add sugar, whisk to blend. Remove from the heat, cool to luke warm. Once the mixture is lukewarm, whisk in ground cloves, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and egg. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients, and mix just to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least an hour, or until it is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take a pinch of cookie dough (about a tablespoon), roll in between your palm into a ball. Arrange  on a baking sheet about 2 inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes, or until puff but still slightly soft in the center.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a medium sauce pan, bring sugar and water to a boil, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, whisk in chocolate until melted. Add confectioners' sugar, continue to whisk until smooth.

While the cookies are warm, immerse them in a warm glaze, a few at a time. Transfer to cooling rack set over baking sheet to catch the drips.  Let cool before serving.

Apfelkücherl

I never actually met anybody who would say no to any kind of fritter. Let it be sweet or savory, we seem to like them. I wouldn't argue that some people will reject this for a personal reason, perhaps health reason, hips issues :) Anyway, this fritter is meant to be a treat, something special, something you don't eat on a daily basis. So enjoy while you can.

Apfelkücherl

Recipe adapted from Alfons Schuhbeck's My Bavarian Cookbook

Makes about 18 fritters

3 large Granny Smith apples, or any other sour apples

170 ml milk

3 tbs butter

100 gr flour

3 eggs

oil for frying

For Coating :

sugar

cinnamon powder, optional

In a sauce pan add 70 ml milk, 70 ml water, butter, and pinch of salt. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir and slowly add flour, keep stirring while you do this until the batter is separate from the bottom of the pan. Take it out from the heat, transfer to a clean mixing bowl, add eggs and the remaining milk, using a hand whisk, stir the batter vigorously until thick.

Heat the oil to 350 F

Peel and core the apples, cut into round slices about half inch thick. Dip each apple into the batter, and fry until golden. Remove to a wire rack to drain the excess oil. Roll the fritter into the sugar cinnamon mix to coat. Serve immediately.