Apple Galette with Toffee Sauce

A galette in French cuisine means flat, round or freeform crusty cakes. This simple, but effective dessert, utilizes that marvelous stuff known as puff pastry, that can make many a dessert or savoury treat look special.

If you are feeling particularly creative then go ahead and make your own puff pastry. I however, decided to use the ready made stuff. It really does make this dessert much simpler. You can compensate by making your own toffee sauce, like I did, or again you can pick up some ready made sauce.

You can use any dessert apple but I used Pink Lady, because it is firm, sweet and juicy. I chose to leave the skin on as the beautiful pink red skin looked pretty, but you can peel your apples too if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 225g ready made puff pastry
• 2-3 firm apples, halved and cored.
• 1 egg, beaten
• 40g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6
2. Draw yourself an apple template, slightly larger than the apples you are using, on some greaseproof paper and cut out.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut around the template until you have all the apple shapes cut out. You should be able to make at least 8
4. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside
5. Take a half an apple, and slice if very thinly.
6. Starting at the outsides, lay the slices moving inwards.
7. Use smaller slices or trim some down for the centre.
8. Brush with egg, then sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar.
9. Bake for 11-12 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and top is crunchy and golden brown

Serve with toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.

 For the toffee sauce:

1. Put 50g of caster sugar in a pan with 1 tablespoon of water.
2. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves
3. Turn the heat up and boil until it goes golden and begins to caramelise. Swirl the pan to prevent burning but do not stir - this will form sugar crystals and make your sauce gritty.
4. Once it starts to caramelise, take it off the heat and whisk in a 140ml double cream until smooth.

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

These decadent little treats involve a bit of effort, but believe me, it is totally worth it.

Not only is it a delicious chocolate chip cookie bar, but the addition of sweet sticky caramel with a hint of saltiness, makes this everything you could crave from a sweet treat.

They are rich, and gooey, and that hint of salt gets me every time. The cookie dough is made extra delicious with the use of brown butter. If you have read any of my previous posts, you will have heard me banging on about the delights of brown butter.

Ingredients:

• 300g Plain flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 200g cooled brown butter 
• 180g light brown sugar
• 110g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250g choc chips
• 280g caramels (if you can get Tootsie rolls, these are perfect for this)
• 3 tablespoons double cream
• sea salt

 Method:

1.  Melt the butter in a thick pan over low heat. Once melted, turn up heat slightly and stir constantly until butter turns rich chestnut brown. Take off heat immediately, add to mixing bowl and allow to cool.
2. Preheat over to 325 F / 163 C / Gas Mark 4
3. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate bowl and set to one side.
4. Whisk the egg, yolk and vanilla extract together.
5. Once butter has cooled, add in both sugars and mix thoroughly.
6. Beat in the egg mixture a little at a time, fully combining between each addition.
7. Slowly add in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips.
8. Press half the cookie dough into the bottom of a small deep tray
9. Over a very low heat, melt the caramels in a pan, stirring to prevent burning. Once fully melted and soft, take off the heat and carefully mix in the double cream. 
10. Pour the hot caramel over the cookie dough in the pan.
11. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
12. Using the palms of your hands, press small balls of the remaining dough and layer over the caramel. Use the last of the dough plug any gaps.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges are starting to colour
14. Allow to cool in tray before turning out and cutting into squares

Makes about 24-30 bars depending how big you cut them.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Back in February 2011, Maine lawmakers were poised to make the "whoopie pie" the official state dessert - even though some claim the chocolate cake/cookie sandwich filled with white fluffy filling was actually invented in Pennsylvania.

In the end, they plumped for the far healthier option of the Wild Blueberry Pie as the state dessert, as blueberries represent a major industry there. Instead, the Whoopie Pie was awarded the booby prize of state snack.

Whatever its provenance, it certainly is a tasty treat. A delicious mixture of cookie and cake, sandwiched together with creamy vanilla filling, and it is growing in popularity. It's the new cupcake.

Ingredients:

• 230g Plain flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 170g butter,softened
• 150g sugar
• 1 egg, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60ml buttermilk
• 120ml coffee or lukewarm water

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C / Gas mark 4
2. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy
3. Sift the flour and cocoa together in a separate bowl and put to one side
4. Beat the egg and vanilla extract together, then add to the butter & sugar a little at a time, blending well in between each addition
5. Mix the coffee/water and buttermilk together
6. Beat the a third of the buttermilk/water mixture into the butter/sugar 
7. Now beat in a third of the flour/cocoa mix
8. Repeat this alternating between the buttermilk and flour until all are fully combined.
9. Spoon small teaspoon sized dollops of the mixture onto lined baking sheet, and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.
10. Once fully cooled, sandwich together with a vanilla cream, or for a more authentic filling, use Fluff, the marshmallow crème that can be bought online or from many department stores.

Makes about 12 sandwiched cookies.