dessert recipes

Delicious honey in spoons.... yum!

Below are some fantastic recipes from the National Honey Board that call for two of my all-time favorite flavors in the world: Honey and Apples. Yum! One of the reasons I think I love apples so much is they taste like Autumn to me. Since it’s my favorite time of the year, I’m good with that. As for honey, I know why I’m so in love with it – it’s a little thing we call a sweet tooth and my head is full of them. When these two flavors team up, Joi is one happy, happy Kentuckian.

Apple Gem Jelly Recipe
Makes 24 servings

1 cup apple juice
1 1/2 cups honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 red apples, grated with peel on
3 ounces liquid pectin

In a 5-quart saucepan, combine apple juice, honey, lemon juice and grated apples. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in liquid pectin. Skim off foam. Ladle into hot sterilized jars. Seal according to manufacturers instructions. Makes three 1/2-pint jars.

Recipe for Candied Honey Apples
Makes 6 servings

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 small apples
6 wooden sticks
1/3 cup nuts, chopped

Combine all ingredients except apples, sticks and nuts in 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat to 265°F; stir constantly. Remove from heat. Cool 5 minutes. Insert stick into top of apple. Holding apple by stick, roll in hot honey mixture to coat; roll bottom of apple in nuts if desired. Place on waxed paper squares to cool. Repeat with remaining apples. Makes 6 apples.

Honey Yogurt Dumplings with Apples Recipe
Makes 8 servings

Dumpling Batter:
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
6 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon orange peel, grated

Apple Mixture:
4 cups apple slices
2 cups cranberry juice
1/2 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Mix together egg, yogurt, 1 tablespoon honey, milk and orange peel in separate large bowl; stir into flour mixture to form moist batter.

Combine apples, juice, remaining 1/2 cup honey, cinnamon stick and nutmeg in heavy large skillet; mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low.

Drop tablespoonfuls of batter over hot apple mixture. Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through and wooden pick inserted near dumpling center comes out clean.

Harvest Honey Spice Cake Recipe
Makes 12 servings

1 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup strong brewed coffee
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups tart apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Powdered sugar
Additional toasted sliced almonds, for garnish

Using electric mixer beat together honey, oil and coffee. Beat in eggs. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to honey-egg mixture, mixing until well blended. Stir in apples, almonds and cranberries. Pour into lightly greased and floured Bundt or tube pan. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar; garnish with sliced almonds, if desired.

***** This is a little off-topic, but if you or anyone you love happens to get whatever it is going around (the coughing, sore throat, chest congestion, sneezing nightmare) – put honey in tea and drinketh a lot! The honey soothes the throat like nothing else can or will and the natural sweetness makes you feel as though you just may live. If your throat is sore and inflamed, drink your honey-sweetened tea cold – it’ll put out the fire and make the inflamation go down. If your throat isn’t sore, but you have a lot of chest congestion, drink your honey-tea warm.. it’ll open you up and you’ll re-discover a little something we call breathing.

Granny Smith Apples

Tom's Cheery Cherry Pie

CRUST:
1-1/2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup Crisco shortening

Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed swiftly until crust appears “pea like.” Carefully sprinkle ice cold water in crust mix until it just starts to be fully moistened and gathers together. Pat into disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least one half hour. Roll out on floured surface and make and crimp piecrust. Freeze until ready to use.

FILLING:
4-1/2 cups Montmorency tart cherries –frozen
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp real almond extract
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
½ cup dried Michigan cherries
1-1/2 cups of frozen blueberries

Combine frozen cherries, dried cherries, sugar, cornstarch. Stir constantly on med-hi heat until boiling. Add blueberries. Boil for one minute or until thickened. Add almond extract, lemon juice and zest. Pour blueberries in bottom of pie shell and pour cherry mixture over them.

CRUMB TOPPING:
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter softened

Mix together all crumb topping ingredients by hand or a pastry blender until crumbly.

Cover filling with crumb topping. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to one hour or until filling is bubbling over crust.

Wow! How remarkable does this pie recipe sound? I have a couple of people in my family who aren’t fond of cherries, so you know what that means, right? More for the rest of us! Actually, in all honesty, I think this pie would be just the thing to make them come to their senses and realize that cherries are tart little miracles.

So there.

The amazing cherry pie recipe above is the winning Professional Best of Show recipe from the American Pie Council’s recent National Pie Championship. The national event was held in Celebration, Fl., was covered by the Food Network and the Today Show and featured participants from around the US and even Canada.

The winner was a bakery café owner from DeWitt, Michigan, Linda Hundt. It was a very bittersweet victory, however. Her prize-winning pie, which topped nearly 130 other entries, was named in honor of her brother-in-law who passed away just one week before the competition.

She suspects that she may have had Heavenly pull during the competition, but I wouldn’t count out the beauty of the recipe entirely.

From The American Pie Council:

The owner of the Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe, a vintage-style bakery in downtown DeWitt, Linda Hundt is known for her 50s-style dresses and aprons, her pearl necklaces and her pearls of “pie wisdom” including her mantra, “Eat Pie and Love Life.” After leaving her career in politics, Hundt started her pie business in 2002, selling pies to high-end restaurants and at farmer’s markets. Coming from a long line of pie bakers, Hundt names her award-winning pies in honor of the family members who have inspired her over the years. In her bakery and on her website, she tells the heartfelt and sometimes humorous stories behind each of her pies. Her brother-in-law Tom earned his pie, the Best of Show-winning “Tom’s Cheery Cherry Cherry Berry Pie,” by being a great supporter of Hundt’s dreams and a friend to everyone he met. Her “Mommy’s Pumpkin Pie” earned its name after a fire swept through Hundt’s mother’s home just before the holidays. Having to cook Christmas dinner at her daughter’s house in an unfamiliar oven, the normally wonderful cook burned the entire meal, except for the pumpkin pie. That fool-proof recipe earned the name “Mommy’s Pumpkin Pie.”

The APC/Crisco National Pie Championships were held April 24-26, 2009 at the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort and Convention Center in Celebration, Fla., in conjunction with the Great American Pie Festival. At the annual event, bakers of all skill levels, all ages, and all degrees of training, from all over the United States and Canada, compete in a bake-off to determine North America’s best Professional, Amateur and Commercial bakers as well as budding Junior Chefs.

As the winner of the Professional Division of the APC/Crisco National Pie Championships, Hundt took home the prestigious Best of Show title as well as $5,000, a Crisco gift basket and a new Sears Kenmore range. Professional bakers entered pies in eight categories: Apple, Citrus, Crisco Classic Chocolate, Crisco Classic Cherry, Fruit/Berry, Cream, Nut and Open. The Best of Show winner was chosen from among the eight first place winners.

“This was an amazing year at the National Pie Championships with more bakers and more pie entries than ever before,” said Linda Hoskins, APC’s Executive Director. “In these lean times, people are getting back to basics and looking for economical home-based meals and activities. Fortunately, making and eating pie fits both desires perfectly.”

This year, the competition attracted 138 bakers who baked 465 pies in the Commercial division, 130 pies in the Professional division and 266 pies in the Amateur division. Talented pie makers came from 28 states, from as far away as Washington, California and parts of Canada.

The event drew more than 170 judges, including Kim Montello, Johnson and Wales University, Jim Whaples, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and professional chefs such as Robert Paulk, Certified Master Baker and David Ramirez, Executive Pastry Chef at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando and 2009 captain of Team USA in the Coupe du Monde (World Pastry Cup), as well as many food writers and editors. Judges also included everyday pie lovers who were selected through an application process. Talented pie makers came from 28 states, from as far away as Washington, California and parts of Canada.

A complete list of winners is available at www.piecouncil.org.

Crisco is a registered trademark of The J. M. Smucker Company. For more information, visit www.crisco.com.

The American Pie Council offers individual membership for amateurs as well as professionals and commercial bakers. Pie lovers receive multiple benefits including the “Pie Times” e-newsletter, membership directory and member-only online “pie talk” access for idea exchange, pie recipes, coupons and discounted entry into the annual APC/Crisco National Pie Championships.

The American Pie Council is the only organization committed to maintaining America’s pie heritage, passing on the tradition of pie-making and promoting America’s love affair with pie.

For more details, to become a member of the APC or to register for the National Pie Championships, visit www.piecouncil.org