Apple Torte with Breadcrumb-Hazelnut Crust

When I saw the cover of the October edition of BonAppetit magazine, I was so excited to try the recipe for this seemingly delicious apple torte. It's not exactly a pie, it uses breadcrumbs instead of the regular butter / flour / sugar combination, so it might be less dense and less sweet. The recipe could be found here:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/10/apple_torte_with_breadcrumb_hazelnut_crust

I had so much trouble with this that I did not even bother taking a picture.

First of all, after toasting 8 cups of breadcrumbs for a little longer than recommended, they still didn't reduce down to 3 cups. After so much effort, the crust didn't taste that much different from the regular crust.

Cake Decorating Class

I like to learn, a new skills, new sports, anything. So I decided to take a cake decorating class at Jo-ann last month. I was very worried that since I don't have steady hands, my decoration would be such an epic disaster. I have to admit I was terrible, but after some practice, my skills improved steadily!

Week 1: decorating cookies
For the first time, I learned about the frosting/icing consistency, how to hold a bag, the different tips used for different decorations, etc.



Week 2: decorating a cake
For this session, we were supposed to bring a cake. During the class session, we would learn how to torte (split the cake into 2 layers) and fill it with some fillings like jam or more icing. I brought a small 9" cake into the class and my frosting did not set even after 20 minutes. You can tell that I have unsteady hands by looking at the uneven border piping in the picture here.



Week 3: decorating cupcakes
In this session, we learned how to make grass, pompom flowers, mum flowers, and shell borders.




Since I am an A-type who is competitive and does not like being at the bottom of the class, I decided to practice on another cake before going into the last class session. Here is the practice cake I did at home using some of the skills I had learned in the previous sessions.



Week 4: decorating a cake
In this last session, we were supposed to bring a completely frosted/iced cake, so that we could concentrate on the design during the class session. Since I was still pretty slow and I had to mix my frosting to the right consistency, I did not finish the cake during the class session. However, I was determined to finish it at home that day.



Detail view of the rosettes.

Pork Chop with Apple and Caramel Sauce

We went apple picking last weekend at Elegant Farmer at Mukwonago, WI. We picked about ten pounds worth of red delicious and spartan apples. Since my husband and I don't usually eat that much apple, I was thinking of creative, new ideas to incorporate apples in new forms other than apple pies. I have always known that apple goes well with pork, so I searched for a pork chop recipe using some apples. I found a pretty simple recipe at Allrecipes. This is my first attempt at making pork chop, so please be kind. :)

This is the first pork chop recipe I found that does not bread and fry the pork chop, which made me happy. I was eager to try it. Making the caramel sauce was the tricky part, because when the sauce was left a little bit too long on the fire, it crystalized and became hardened. Overall, I am very pleased with the result.

Lime Tart with Blackberries and Blueberries

As a foodie who likes to explore and experiment different food, I have been subscribing to Bon Appetit magazine for over one and a half year now. When I saw this beautiful tart with (again) berries in the June edition of the magazine, I knew I just had to try it. So I did. It was a lot of work to create the lime curd, but it was not too bad and the result was phenomenal. It looks professional. I love the taste and I got a lot of compliments when I brought it to a party. Needless to say, my husband enjoyed it too very much!

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

This is a missing post from this summer. I was so busy that I didn't really have time to post. This is the dessert I wanted to make as the last part of the Mexican fiesta dinner I made for my husband's birthday. When I saw this recipe in Mexican Everyday cookbook by Rick Bayless (my husband's favorite chef), I was thinking to myself, wow, this would be a really awesome dessert, using our favorite summer treat: blueberries! However, since I ran out of time, I made this the weekend after that. It is easy to make and very tasty. The only criticism that I have was that it needs a non-stick skillet that can also be put into the oven at 375 degrees. Enjoy the pictures after the jump.



Up-close and personal.



The big picture.