Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake, from Mark Bittman
11 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small pan over medium heat; add the maple syrup and brown sugar and let it cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes until it begins to caramelize; remove from the heat and set aside.

When the caramel mixture has cooled a bit, pour it into a 9-inch baking pan and arrange the pear slices in an overlapping circle on top. Don’t get too worried about making the pears look perfect because the cake is quite rustic and forgiving for a less than perfect arrangement.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and the sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, and continue to mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not overmix. Carefully spread the batter over the pears, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes. You will know when it is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cake cool for 5 minutes, and then run a knife around edge of pan. Put a plate on top of cake and carefully flip it so the plate is on the bottom and pan is on top. Remove the pie dish to reveal your upside-down cake and serve warm or at room temperature.

Other Recession Recipes Desserts:
Plum and Walnut Crisp
Lemon Curdy Pudding
Back to Basics: Crepes
Plum Clafoutis

However, it is a good thing that the plums were so ripe and sweet that the crisp didn’t need much help and could be served plain with just a dollop of fresh cream. This crisp recipe makes enough for 6 desserts at $1.30 per serving.

Plum and Walnut Crisp, from Bon Appetit, July 2003
Fruit Filling:
2 1/2 pounds plums, pitted, quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crisp Topping:
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat your oven to 400¬?F. Toss the cut plums, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla together in bowl. Let the mixture stand until the sugar dissolves, tossing occasionally.

While the plums are standing, mix all of the dry ingredients of the crisp topping together in a large bowl. Then add the chilled butter and rub the butter into the dry mixture with your hands until small moist clumps form. Cover the crisp topping and stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

After the topping has properly chilled, put the fruit into a large baking dish and then sprinkle the topping over the plums. Bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up through the topping, about 40 minutes. Remove the crisp from the oven and let it cool for around 30 minutes before serving.

Serve the warm crisp with either a nice scoop of ice cream or whipped fresh cream, and enjoy.

The opportunity came a couple of weekends ago when we had some friends over to watch the Texas football game. After dreaming about what these ice cream sandwiches would taste like for a couple of months, they did not disappoint. The brownie sandwich layer was nice and chewy, but the star of the dessert was the tangy lemon ice cream cut by the sweetness of the blueberry swirl. Hands down the best ice cream sandwich that I’ve ever eaten and for the wow factor, they were fairly easy to make. The Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches with Blueberry Swirl easily make enough for 10 slices at 97 cents per serving.

Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches with Blueberry Swirl
Lemon Ice Cream:
2 pints premium vanilla ice cream
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or more to taste

Blueberry Compote:
1 cup blueberries
1/8 cup sugar
1 (3-by 2 1/2-inch) strip lemon zest
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoons cornstarch

Brownie Sandwich Layers:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Unfortunately, I had yet to receive my ice cream maker from my brother-in-law for my birthday, so instead of making the lemon ice cream from scratch, I doctored some store bought vanilla ice cream.

To make the lemon ice cream, let the pints sit out on the counter for a bit until they have softened. If you don’t have time to do that, put the ice cream in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it up on the lowest microwave level in 10-second intervals until it is soft.

Stir the lemon zest and juice into the vanilla ice cream. I kept on adding extra lemon juice until I got a real lemony flavour. Thinly spread the ice cream in a large baking dish and let it freeze while you continue making the compote and brownie sandwich layers.

The blueberry compote is really easy to make: just cook the blueberries, sugar, and lemon zest in a small saucepan over a medium-high heat. Crush the blueberries with a potato masher until all the juices are released and the sugar has dissolved into the mixture, around 2 or so minutes.

Mix the lemon juice and cornstarch together, then add it to the blueberries. Let everything boil for a minute until the compote thickens. Let the compote chill until it is cool and then discard the lemon zest.

Preheat the oven to 375¬?F with the rack set in the middle. Butter 2 8×8-inch baking pans and line them with foil leaving a 1-inch overhang on each side. Finish up by thoroughly buttering the foil.

To make the brownie sandwich layers, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in another bowl until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then whisk in the egg and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture in 2 batches and mix everything until it is just combined.

Divide the brownie batter between the baking pans and spread it into thin, even layers. Bake the brownies until they are golden-brown but still tender, around 20 minutes. Let them cool completely in the pans, about 30 minutes or so.

Remove the lemon ice cream from the freezer and dot a few tablespoons of blueberry compote over it. Gently swirl the compote into the ice cream.

Spoon all of the ice cream over 1 of the brownie layers that is still in the pan and spread it to create a nice and even layer. Invert the second sandwich layer over the ice cream and press down gently to form an even sandwich.

Tightly wrap the ice cream sandwich in plastic wrap, including the bottom pan. For best results, freeze the sandwich overnight. You can keep the ice cream sandwich in the freezer for up to a week if it is very tightly wrapped.

To serve, remove the ice cream sandwich brick from the freezer and let it warm up a little bit on the counter so it isn’t rock solid. Remove the plastic wrap and then slice it up as thick as you want.

Grilled Peaches with Manchego and Balsamic Glaze
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
4 firm ripe peaches, halved and pitted
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 ounce Manchego cheese, shaved

I used some delicious donut peaches from the Farmers’ Market, but there are still lots of white and yellow peaches on sale on the West Coast for you to get your fill of peaches until next year. You can also substitute the peaches for other good looking stone fruit if peach season has already ended in your area.

Preheat a clean bbq grill or a grill pan to medium-high heat.

Mix together the balsamic vinegar and the brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then gently let it simmer for 25-30 minutes or until everything is reduced to about 3 tablespoons to make a thick glaze.

Lightly brush the peach halves with a little bit of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Grill the fruit by placing the cut side down first for 1 minute and then switching sides for another 1 minute.

Serve the grilled peach halves with a drizzle of balsamic glaze, and then top each serving with some Manchego cheese.

As much as I devour each Top Chef season, one of my pet peeves about many of the contestants is how they always say that they “don’t do dessert.” How many times have you seen contestants lose because they had to make a dessert? If I was going on Top Chef, I would memorize a few basic dessert recipes that I could whip out in a challenge without freaking out. In fact, I think any chef who doesn’t do this before becoming a contestant on the show is dumb. Hopefully the chefs this season have done their homework.

Outside of the Top Chef arena, I hear lots of people who say that they can’t bake, or they can only bake things out of a box. I don’t buy that assumption either. I never really used to bake, but now really enjoy baking desserts, even if my thighs don’t. All it takes is a bit of practice and more importantly closely following recipes. You can’t be as casual with baking recipes as you can with other recipes, but it isn’t that hard to follow a recipe. Plus even if your dessert doesn’t come out exactly like it should, it is still dessert and most people will still eat it. Plus anything homemade from scratch tastes way better than stuff from a box any day.

This Blueberry Streusel Cake was pretty easy to make and was a nice way to use up all of those gorgeous blueberries in the store right now. Sure my streusel topping could have been a bit firmer, but that did not stop us and a friend from hoovering down a huge slice each topped with whipped cream and more fresh blueberries. This Blueberry Streusel makes enough for 6 desserts at 61 cents per serving.

Blueberry Streusel Cake
For the Streusel Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

For the Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 pound blueberries (3 1/4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 350¬?F with a rack in the middle. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan with heavy-duty foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Butter the bottom and sides of the pan, then dust with flour, knocking out any excess flour. Be sure that the foil is pushed down all the way in the corners.

To make the streusel topping, mix together the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Then add the butter and mix with your fingers until the topping forms large clumps.

The cake batter is just as easy as the topping: mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir the sour cream and vanilla together in a separate small bowl.

Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is pale and fluffy, around 5 minutes. Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture until everything is really mixed together. Slowly add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream mixture and whisk until everything is combined. Lastly gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter into the pan, smoothing the top with a spatula so it is even and flat. Crumble half of the streusel topping evenly over batter.

Bake the cake for 25 minutes, then remove it from the oven and crumble the remaining streusel topping evenly over the cake. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes more. My cake took a bit longer to cook, but I just kept on checking back every 5 minutes until my toothpick came out clean and had no problems.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Then lift out the cake using the foil and let it cool completely on cake rack.

I served the streusel with whipped fresh cream and a few extra blueberries. It was light and not too sweet, which is my favourite kind of dessert.

You can make the cake a day ahead of when you need it. Tightly wrap the cake in clingfilm once it has cooled and store it at room temperature.

Another word he thinks that I made up is clafoutis, and when I ordered one for desert at DB Brasserie a couple of years ago, he finally believed that it was a real word. Clafoutis is just as fun to eat as it is to say: Basically it is a French sweet omelet that is quite custard-y and filled with baked fruit.

Clafoutis are so easy to make and look quite spectacular when you serve them to guests. You can either bake one for dessert or for breakfast, with either occasion making for a delicious treat. This recipe for Plum Clafoutis makes enough for 6 people at 80 cents per serving.

Plum Clafoutis
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
7 ounces milk
2 ounces cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
just over 1 pound plums
3.5 ounces heavy cream
4 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

I bought these beautiful prune plums from the farmer’s market. They are smaller than red plums and have a yellow flesh that turns pink once they are cooked.

Preheat your oven to 410 degrees F. Wash the plums and slice them open to remove the stones.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan. Once the butter is melted, add the plums and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the Gran Marnier. You can be super flashy and light the dish to burn off the alcohol, or you can just cook the plums for a few more minutes until the alcohol is cooked off.

Butter a large pie dish and sprinkle the inside with sugar.

In a small bowl, mix the cold milk together with the cornstarch. In a larger bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolk, and then add the sugar and mix. Next add the cream and mix further. Lastly add the milk and cornstarch mixture and beat everything together.

Place the cooked plums in the pie dish, face up. Pour the batter over the plums and cook in the oven for about 30 min, until the top of the clafoutis is golden.

Remove the clafoutis from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle with a little sugar and eat the clafoutis lukewarm with a touch of fresh whipped cream.

Even though the three of us each had a large serving after dinner and we gave our friend a to go container of crisp, we were still able to eke out 3 more nights of crisp enjoyment! So much for the diet, but it was thoroughly relished each time. This Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp can easily feed 8 people at $1.64 per serving.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
Filling:
2 pounds rhubarb stalks, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Crisp:
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt

Start off by preheating the oven to 375¬? F. To make the filling, put the rhubarb in a bowl with 3/4 cup of sugar and let it sit for around 15 minutes. Stir it occasionally to make sure all of the pieces of fruit get covered by the sugar. You will notice that the sugar draws out some liquid from the rhubarb, which helps make the fruit less tart.

In another bowl, mix the strawberries with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and let it stand for around 10 minutes. Stir this mixture occasionally too. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the rhubarb pieces to the strawberries. Be sure to toss out any of the rhubarb liquid at the bottom of the bowl since it doesn’t taste very good.

Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract to the rhubarb and strawberries. Mix it together well and then put the filling into a large baking dish.

The crisp topping is very easy: Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and use your fingers to mix them together until you make large crumbs. I was a little hesitant about using canola oil in the topping, but you couldn’t taste it in the end and it really helped to crisp up the topping.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit filling and bake it for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are up, reduce the oven temperature to 325¬? F and let the crisp bake for a further 30 minutes. Take out the crisp when the fruit filling is bubbling up through the nicely browned topping. Let the crisp cool off for around 10-20 minutes before tucking in and topping off each serving with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Since we had the blackberries, I decided that I needed to bake a berry pie to celebrate our fun day and share our goods with the rest of the family. I decided on a Mixed Berry Pie with Ginger, Orange, and Almond Streusel. We had to use some store bought raspberries and blueberries to round out the filling, but I like to think that the pie tasted extra good because of our freshly picked blackberries.

In fact, my family enjoyed the pie so much that my mum suggested we make it again when we had some friends over for dinner a few days later. The combination of the fresh berries with the spicy granulated ginger streusel topping were to die for! I encourage everyone to make this pie for their loved ones this summer while all of the berries are still in season.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and stir with a fork until the mixture is evenly moistened, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather the dough into ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.

Position a rack in the center of oven and preheat to 400¬?F. Place a rimmed baking sheet in the bottom of the oven to catch any possible spills from the pie. Roll out the dough on lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Turn the pie crust edge under, forming a high-standing rim extending 1/4 inch above sides of pie dish; crimp edge decoratively. Freeze the crust while making the berry filling.

Since I’m still a little afraid of rolling out dough, I had my brother Andrew roll out the dough since he has turned into a budding pastry chef from making chicken pot pie a few times. Check out his killer pie crust:

Berry Filling:
3 cups fresh blueberries (17 ounces)
2 cups fresh raspberries (9 to 10 ounces)
1 cup fresh blackberries (5 to 6 ounces)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Gently toss the blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Mix the cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. Add to berry mixture and toss gently to coat. Transfer the berry mixture to the pie crust, mounding slightly in center. Bake the crust and filling for 30 minutes.

Streusel Topping:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 cup sliced almonds

Blend the flour, sugar, crystallized ginger, orange peel, and salt in a processor, or with your hands. Add the butter; using on/off turns, blend the mixture until coarse crumbs form. Blend in the milk, so the mixture resembles moist coarse crumbs. Transfer the streusel to a medium bowl, and stir in the almonds.

Remove the pie and filling from the oven after it has cooked for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375¬?F. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the berry pie filling. Return the pie to the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown and the berry juices are bubbling thickly, about 40 minutes. Transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool completely.

Enjoy your slice of pie with some vanilla ice cream.

I like plain strawberries, but sometimes you want to do something to jazz them up. Even though it might sound weird to some people, marinating strawberries in balsamic vinegar is incredible and really brings out the flavours of the fruit. This Balsamic Strawberries recipe is a great end to a summer night’s meal, and feeds 6 people at $1.66 per serving.

Summer strawberries are at their peak right now at the Farmers’ Market, and are so much better than the crappy ones that you can get year round in the grocery store.

The balsamic syrup is very simple to make: Stir together balsamic vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Stir the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, and then let it boil until the syrup reduces to around 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes or so. Let the syrup cool completely before mixing it with the strawberries.

Halve the strawberries, and pour the syrup over them and toss well. You can also add some sugar here if you want, to taste. To top off this summer treat, I whipped up some fresh heavy cream with a dash of vanilla extract. Perfection!

As with most recipes, you need to start with great produce. Pick the juiciest and ripest peaches that you can find because these roast a lot easier than hard peaches, and taste better too.

Halve the peaches and remove the stones. Mix together the sugar with cinammon in a small bowl. In another bowl, toss the peaches with vanilla extract and Grand Marnier until they are thoroughly coated. Add the sugar and cinammon mixture to the peaches and toss.

Put the peaches in a roasting pan skin side down and pour the mixture over the top of peaches. Place the roasting pan into a pre-heated oven of 450 degrees. Peaches take a bit longer to roast than apricots, so expect your peaches to be in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until they fork tender.

Once the peaches are roasted, put them in a bowl and I poured some heavy whipping cream over them (or you could make the dulce de luche that the recipe calls for. I just didn’t have any condensed milk on hand to make some). The juices at the bottom of the roasting pan turn into a delicious caramel which I scraped up and poured over the roasted peaches and cream.