Archive Recipe: Easy Cream Cheese Pastry

Recently, I’ve been kind of throwing together some rustic but luscious berry galettes (more on that later). They seem to taste best when I find some succulent berries on a grocery-getting mission and can have a pie in the oven during suppertime that can serve as immediate dessert. This only works if I have a pie crust ready to go, either a homemade one that I made ahead and froze (not likely), a store-bought pastry (an extremely easy last-minute fix, but not quite as good), or something reliable that I can make very quickly without much fuss. Toward this final choice is where I’ve been leaning and a practically fool-proof Easy Cream Cheese Pastry seems to be the way to go.

 

I first came across this pie crust in a recipe for this savory Morel Mushroom Galette. I found it so easy and so satisfying to use that I’ve been falling back on it for all kinds of sweet and savory pies. It’s made by simply beating together its 4 basic ingredients (3 if you want to replace the whole wheat pastry flour with more all-purpose flour) in a heavy-duty stand mixer, pulling them all together, chilling the dough, and then rolling it out. It’s sturdier, much less delicate and more forgiving than traditional pastries, although, I’ll admit, less flaky and a little less tender.

 

I like the trade-off, though, since it can make the difference between having pie today, or having pie in some indeterminate future (and at the rate I’ve been following through with things lately, that pretty much means never). If you’re new to baking and pie crust is holding you back from your summer fruit dessert dreams, try this one. It’s easy to make in the mixer, and may even be workable in the food processor (I had hoped to try that before posting this but…). It rolls out on a floured surface easily, too, especially if it’s not too cold. It is subject to some of the other problems that pie crusts can have, however, such as shrinking in the pan, so handling it carefully is still in order.

And so, if your kitchen is like mine and it seems like there’s always pie yesterday and pie tomorrow, let this easy pie crust put you one step closer to pie today!

Easy Cream Cheese Pastry

Adapted from Midwest Living magazine

This makes enough for two single-crust pies or galettes, or 1 double crust pie. The recipe is easily halved.

You could replace the whole wheat pastry flour with additional all-purpose flour

8 ounces cream cheese (low-fat is fine), at room temperature

8 ounces butter, at room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

1. Combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Beat at medium speed until smooth and fluffy.

2. Add the all-purpose flour and the whole wheat pastry flour. Beat on low speed until all the flour is incorporated and the mixture comes together into a moist ball.

3. Form the dough into two equal disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour (and up to a few days) before using. Roll out into desired shape and use as you would any pie pastry.

Makes two 8-10 inch pie crusts.

Other recipes like this one: Basic Pie Crust, Whole Wheat Pastry

One year ago: Green Pea Hummus

List of Loving

In case you hadn't noticed, the Internet is a wonderful platform for vicarious living. I'm always finding a million things I wish I could be doing....and, of course, a million recipes I'd like to be trying out. Yes, I yearn to taste each and every one of them, but, alas, lurking takes less time. And is calorie free!

Here are a few sweets and treats from around the web that are currently making my mouth water:
 

First of all, Helloooooooo ice cream: Cherry Crisp Ice Cream at Annie's Eats and Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream at Tutti Dolci

And then there's:
Rhubarb and White Chocolate Blondies at Hummingbird High
Rhubarb Curd at Hummingbird High
Rhubarb Panna Cotta Tart at Hummingbird High
Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting at Cooking Classy
Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake at sally's baking addiction

And in case chocolate is at risk of being neglected:
Salty and Malty Brown Butter Treats at Joy the Baker
Black Forest Cookie Bars at Tutti Dolci


I just made myself hungry. Happy loving!

Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

I love barbecue sauce. When I shifted my diet to include more plant-based and fewer animal-based entrees, I realized that I wasn’t all that attached to chicken breasts. I was attached to the barbecue sauce I would put on them. I wanted to make my own special recipe, or, more likely, recipes in the plural, since just one probably wouldn’t do. I collected barbecue sauce recipes of all kinds. I’m still collecting them, no matter how similar they probably are to those I already have.

I didn’t imagine I would begin my experimental quest with a barbecue sauce containing rhubarb.

Well, rhubarb it is, then. I’ve got rhubarb plants growing up against the shed in the back yard and they’ve been particularly generous with their thick, juicy, super-sour stems this year. I’ve given some away, made Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce, and Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam, and since I’m also using the grill between rain storms, it was barbecue sauce that fell to me next. And if it is a bit unusual for a barbecue sauce, it’s a mighty delicious one!

 

This sauce is very simple to put together and cooks quickly. In flavor and texture, it may remind you more of a sweet and tart chutney than something zesty and smoky to slather on a rack of ribs. But it’s really good in that sweet-and-tart-ness. I added a bit of zing to the original recipe with crushed red pepper flakes and something a bit deeper and darker with a splash of molasses.

I served my Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce with grilled chicken breasts (despite the lack of attachment to them to which I attested above), only spooning some on at the end of cooking. The sauce is chunky and I didn’t think it would stick well to a piece of protein that I was flipping on the grill. I suppose I’ve been treating it as more of a condiment than a cooking sauce, especially when I dolloped it on a cold chicken sandwich. It was mighty delicious there, too.

Slightly sweet and fruity, tart and tangy and a tiny bit spicy: Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce was an admittedly unusual place to begin my personal barbecue sauce journey, but I’ll never regret it. It’s too delicious for that!

Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

Adapted from EatingWell magazine, May/June 2014

2 tablespoons canola oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups rhubarb, sliced

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 tablespoons molasses

1. In a medium-size saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook about 30 seconds more.

2. Add the rhubarb, ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar and molasses. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to keep the sugars from burning. Reduce the heat and boil gently until the rhubarb is soft enough to break apart when stirred, about 15-20 minutes. Serve as you would any barbecue sauce (although it will be chunkier.)

Makes about 1 ½ cups. Refrigerate leftovers for up to two weeks.

Another recipe like this one: Chinese Style Barbecue Sauce and Marinade

One year ago: Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I’ve wanted to post more often this month. Really I have. But there was a flopped quiche and another quiche-like tart that wasn’t quite right and a berry galette that was better than I thought it would be, so I probably should have taken some photos and some blurry pictures of the banana-nut yeast bread I baked. In the end I had nothing to show for this month’s cooking.

Then I felt really silly as I remembered that I had some absolutely delicious ice cream in the freezer that I hadn’t told you about yet. Now, this, even more than the obstacles to blogging I mentioned above, is a true testament to how much I’ve been off my game when it comes to getting butt in chair and fingers to keyboard. I can’t believe I’ve been so busy or so tired or so lazy that I haven’t been cheering and ranting and hooray-ing about this ice cream ad nauseum!

Well, no more delay. Here it is! Delicious, delicious Peanut Butter Ice Cream! Can you believe it? Peanut butter in ice cream. As if peanut butter wasn’t wonderful enough. As if chilled and churned butterfat needed additional richness. But this isn’t about “need” or “enough.” This is about a velvety rich, sweet, and creamy dessert. This is about going beyond what is necessary.

Speaking of going beyond, I also added chopped peanut butter cups to this ice cream. You could add something different, like chocolate chunks, peanuts, honey roasted peanuts, whatever. Or you could add nothing at all. But really. What would you be trying to do? Save calories? This might not be the place to fool yourself at that level. This is the place to indulge in a smooth summer treat with a fabulous flavor combination. Hooray!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Based on a recipe in Ben and Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

2 large eggs

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

¾ cup chopped peanut butter cups (optional, or substitute with a mix-in of your choice)

1. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Continue beating until the mixture is pale and no longer grainy. Whisk in the milk.

2. Pour the mixture into a medium-size saucepan. Heat over low to medium-low heat, stirring often until the mixture reaches 160 F (about 72 C). (Use an instant-read or candy thermometer.)

3. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl. Whisk in the peanut butter until completely smooth. Stir in the heavy cream. Cover and chill at least 2 hours, or until very cold.

4. Pour the chilled mixture into the freezing canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is nearly finished, add to peanut butter cups and continue churning until well distributed. Transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until firm. (You could eat it right out of the ice cream maker, but it will be quite soft. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

Makes a generous quart (about 1 liter).

Other recipes like this one: Rich Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Mint Ice Cream with Andes Mints, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Revel Bars, Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups