upside down apricot tart

i've been wanting to bake this tart for a while, but with thanksgiving and all the leftovers i've just been up to my eyelids in food. i'm not complaining. i loved every second of it, every one of the five thanksgiving dinners i was invited to in a week and a half span. i'm very thankful for thanksgiving. anyways, i cooked tacos for a late lunch/early dinner today, and this upside down apricot tart. it's very yummy. it reminds me of a mix between a thin upside down cake and a cobbler.

3½oz butter

12 apricots, halved and pitted, or 2lb 4oz tinned apricots in juice

3oz soft light-brown sugar

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

4½oz plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4oz sugar

40z soured cream

crème fraîche or whipped cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Cut 75g (2¾oz) of the butter into small pieces and set aside. If you are using tinned apricots, drain them well and pat dry with kitchen paper.

In a 24cm (9½in) ovenproof frying-pan, melt the rest of the butter with the brown sugar and vanilla. Cook for one minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and arrange the apricots, cut-side down, in the pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a bowl and stir in the caster sugar. Add the butter pieces and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the soured cream, stirring to combine. Spoon the mixture over the apricots and bake for 30 minutes until golden.

Remove the tart from the oven and immediately invert it carefully on to a serving platter. Cut into slices and serve topped with a dollop of crème fraîche or whipped cream.

now that i'm looking through this recipe, i realized i forgot to put the 4 oz of sugar in the flour mixture. i didn't even notice by the taste of it because it still taste sweet from the carmelized brown sugar on the apricots. there is also a whole stick of butter in this tart and it taste so good.

also i apologize for my constant horrible photos because i only have a cell phone camera.

what to do with all that leftover sweet potatoes?

make sweet potato pie, estupido! i had sooooo much leftover sweet potatoes from my mom's thanksgiving dinner. i have a like/hate relationship with sweet potatoes. i mostly hate them. i think it's the flavor with the potato consistency. i like them mashed with marshmallows on top. i don't mind thin cut sweet potato fries. i do like them in pie. so i took all the sweet potatoes my mom left, she cooks them in this sweet yummy syrupy sauce, threw 'em in a blender and threw some other shit in there to make it into a pie. came out bangin'. nice, creamy and sweet.

i also took all the leftover heavy cream that i used to make fresh whipped cream and for adding to coffee and churned some butter (it takes less than 10 minutes). i started doin this a while back because it's such a waste when heavy cream goes bad. just take a mason jar, throw the cream and a lil bit of salt and shake it up until it turns into butter. after it turns, separate it from the leftover milk and throw it in the fridge so it can harden up a bit. they say to add a marble into the jar with the cream so it'll churn faster but i've never tried it that way.

sweet potato pie

*2 cups mashed sweet potato

*2 tbsp butter, softened

*2 eggs, beaten

*1 cup sugar

*1 tbsp flour

*1/2 tsp salt

*1/2 cup buttermilk

*1/4 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix ingredients together in blender. Pour into 9" unbaked pie shell. Bake for 70 minutes.

*i only added 1/4 cup sugar instead of 1 cup because my leftover sweet potatoes were already sweetened.

oat and wheat waffles

i haven't been posting much on this blog lately, but it's not because i haven't been cooking. i've definitely been cooking a lot but i haven't been baking as much as i usually do.

my mom is in town this week visiting for a pre thanksgiving holiday. we're going to be cooking a lot this week and i'm gonna be sooooo full. today i baked a couple of chess pies for a thanksgiving potluck. i also made waffles this morning. i found a recipe for nut pancakes but i took that recipe, omitted the nuts and made the batter into waffles. i served them with maple syrup, my homemade buttermilk syrup, and raspberry syrup. YUMS! i made whole wheat buttermilk waffles a couple of weeks ago and those were fluffier but i think i enjoyed these more.

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine. In a large bowl, combine ground oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, oil, egg, and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix wet ingredients into dry with a few swift strokes. Stir in nuts, if desired.

griddle into pancakes or use a waffle iron.