Carrot-Banana Cake

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, heated until just melted
• 1/2 cup dried dates, seeded and finely chopped into a paste
• 3 ripe bananas (1 1/4 cups), mashed well
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 medium)
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% or lowfat is ok)
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9x5x3 / 8-cup loaf pan (or 8x8 cake pan) and line it with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the walnuts and set aside.

Stir the dates into the melted butter, breaking up the dates a bit.

In a separate bowl combine the bananas and carrots. Stir in the date-butter mixture, breaking up any date clumps as you go. Whisk in the yogurt and the eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir until everything just comes together. Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean in the center of the cake - it'll be less if you are using a standard cake pan. Remove from oven and let cool.

While the cake is baking whip together the cream cheese and agave nectar. Taste. If you like your frosting sweeter adjust to your liking. When the cake has completely cooled frost the top of the cake with an offset spatula.

Makes one carrot cake.

from 101 Cookbooks

Polish Easter Cheesecake

The traditional Polish Easter cheesecake is always baked in an oblong pan. It is not too sweet, very lemony, and, I think, absolutely delicious. This is my preferred version.

Yield: Makes 12 to 15 servings.

CRUST

• ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts

FILLING

• 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 pound farmer’s or skim ricotta cheese
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 2 lemons
• ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup light cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 13 × 9 inch glass baking dish.

2. Prepare the crust: Place the flour, baking powder, salt, both sugars, and the butter in a food processor and process just until the mixture begins to hold together. Add the walnuts and pulse to combine. Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

3. Prepare the filling: In a large mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese and farmer’s cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Finely grate or chop the zest of the lemons. Squeeze the juice from the lemons and strain. Add the zest and juice to the cheese mixture. Add the flour, vanilla, and light cream and beat until smooth. Pour the filling over the baked crust.

5. Bake the cheesecake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool, then cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours. Cut into squares to serve.

from Cold Weather Cooking

Apple-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

CRUST

• 3 cups rolled (old fashioned) oats
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp (rounded measure) salt
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup + 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted

FILLING

• 7 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground allspice (or ground cloves)
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg (fresh is best!)
• ½ tsp grated lemon rind
• 3 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
• ½ cup sour cream

1. Prepare crust: Combine all crust ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, and mix well. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9 or 10-inch pie pan, forming a thick crust. Reserve about a cup of the crust mix for the topping.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F.

3. Place sliced apples and cranberries in a large bowl. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with spices; toss until well coated. Add rind. Sprinkle in flour and mix again. Gradually add brown sugar and sour cream as you mix. Don't worry if the apple slices break a little while being mixed and tossed.

4. Distribute the filling into the unbaked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust crumbs over the top and pat neatly into place.

5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the apples are soft and the crust is nicely browned on the edges. Note: If the top appears to be browning too quickly during baking, cover loosely with foil (check after about 30 minutes).

6. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. This is doubly good with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.

from Recipe Girl

Light Wheat Biscuit Mix

• 5 cups unbleached white flour
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/2 tablespoons salt
• 4 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 cups solid vegetable shortening

You need a very large bowl to make this mix, and also a clean container to put it in when it's done. I usually use a large, clean coffee can.

So, measure your flours into your large bowl. Add the salt and baking powder. Mix it all up with your fingers and hands. Be sure you wash them before you dig in. After the salt and baking powder are evenly distributed throughout the flour, add the shortening. Firmly pack solid shortening into a cup-size measure. Make sure there aren't any air pockets, as you pack it full. Level off the top with your finger so you have exactly one cupful. Scrape the shortening out of the cup into a big blob on top of the flour. Use your fingers to get out as much of the shortening as you can without being unduly obsessive about it. Now, measure another cupful of shortening and plop it on next to the first blob in the bowl of flour.

Using your hands, mash the flour and fat together until the entire mixture is light and crumbly. Try not to overmix. You will want small lumps to remain, about the size of peas or dried beans. When the mixture is evenly mashed together, and it actually resembles biscuit mix (only darker because of the whole wheat flour) you can stop. Transfer the biscuit mix to a clean coffee can, or other resealable container. Label and seal the can. You should have about 10-1/2 cups of biscuit mix.

This recipe can be used in any recipe calling for biscuit mix or Bisquick baking mix. This mix is better for you because of the whole grain flour, and reduced amounts of salt. Also, you can use trans-fatty-acid-free shortening in your own mix, to make it as healthy as possible. Spectrum is a brand name available in my neck of the woods.

I have tried a lot of whole wheat biscuit mixes to find the best one. All of the others turned out heavy and dense baked products. This one though, is perfect. Biscuits made with it are light and flaky the way biscuits are supposed to be, and impossible pies taste like they were made with store-bought biscuit mix, only they weren't. They were made with good, hearty, whole grains instead.

from Hillbilly Housewife

Prebaked Pie Shell

Once the pan is in the oven, leave the foil lining and weights in place until the dough loses its wet look, turns an off-white from its original pale yellow, and the edges just start to take on a very light brown color. Carefully (the dough is hot) touch the side of the shell to make sure that the crust is set: firm and able to hold itself up. If you remove the weights too soon, the dough sides will slip down, ruining the pie shell. Bake the shell partially (another nine minutes)—until just golden brown—if the pie is to be baked again with an uncooked filling such as pumpkin or pecan pie or quiches. Bake the shell fully (another fifteen minutes from the point the foil is removed)—to a deep, golden brown—when no additional baking is required as with fruit tarts and cream, chiffon, or lemon meringue pies.

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour , plus more for rolling out the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
• 4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

See instructions below: Fitting Pastry into Pie Dishes

1. Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat with flour. Cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, using folding motion to mix. Press down on mixture with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if it will not come together. Shape dough into ball, squeezing two or three times with hands until cohesive, then flatten into 4-inch-wide disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

3. Remove dough from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly, about 10 minutes if dough has chilled for 30 minutes or 20 minutes if it has chilled overnight. (The dough should be pliable. Use your hands to squeeze the dough; if you can squeeze it without applying too much pressure, it is ready to roll.) Roll dough on lightly floured work surface or between two sheets plastic wrap to a 12-inch disk about 1/8-inch thick. Fold dough in quarters, then place dough point in center of pie pan. Unfold dough. Alternatively, roll dough in 2-gallon zipper-lock bag to a 12-inch disk about 1/8-inch thick. Cut away top of bag. Grasping bottom, flip dough into pie pan and peel off bag bottom.

4. Working around circumference of pan, press dough carefully into pan corners by gently lifting dough edges with one hand while pressing around pan bottom with other hand . Trim edge to 1/2-inch beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that folded edge is about 1/4-inch beyond pan lip; flute dough in your own fashion. For quiche or tart pans, lift the edge of the dough, allowing the extra dough to flop over the sides. Then run the rolling pin over the top of the pan to remove excess dough. Next use your forefinger and thumb, press the dough evenly up the sides from the bottom to increase the height of the rim. Refrigerate pie shell for 40 minutes and then freeze for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Press doubled 12-inch square of aluminum foil inside dough shell; evenly distribute 1 cup or 12 ounces ceramic or metal pie weights over foil. Bake, leaving foil and weights in place, until dough dries out, about 17 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights by gathering sides of foil and pulling up and out. For partially baked crust, continue baking until lightly golden brown, about 9 minutes more; for fully baked crust, continue baking until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

STEP BY STEP: Fitting Pastry into Pie Dishes

Use kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the lip all the way around. Tuck the overhanging dough back under itself so the folded edge extends 1/4 inch beyond the pan lip. Press it to seal.

Run the rolling pin over the top of the pan to remove excess dough.

Using your forefinger and thumb, press the dough evenly up the sides from the bottom to increase the height of the rim.

Flute the edges all around; an exaggerated flute is helpful for obtaining maximum holding capacity.

FOR QUICHE OR TART PANS: Lift the edge of the dough to ease it into the dish, allowing the extra dough to flop over the sides.

FOR STANDARD PIE PAN: Lift the edge of the pie dough with one hand and ease the pastry along the bottom into the corners with the other hand; repeat around the circumference of the pan. Do not stretch the dough.

from Cook's Illustrated