Fig Bars

Figs, again, yes again. With the weather being so warm (or so I'm told, I've still been cold...) we have still been picking more and more ripe figs. We've been eating them fresh but not fast enough for them not to start going bad. So mummy wanted me to bake something. With a little bribing and begging, I consented (okay, to be honest I was the one begging to bake something with the figs). But as I got started I ran into one small problem, it is very hard to find recipes for fresh figs. They all call for dried figs. And well, my figs were very much fresh. So doing the typical thing that I feel like i do almost every time I bake I just changed the recipe. Yeah, the recipe calls for dried figs but fresh will be fine, right? I'm always right. (okay, that's not true...) 

The recipe said to cook the figs for about 15 minutes. So I thought with fresh figs maybe double the time. So after 30 minutes when the figs still weren't cooked I just left. I just ditched it and went and read. I was in the middle of a good book I wanted to read. Don't judge me. 

After about an hour-ish (I think I really don't know though I was reading and when I read I completely lose track of time) I came to the end of my book and I smelled something...oops. With my typical forgetful mind I had completely forgotten the cooking figs. I jumped off the couch and sprinted to the kitchen expecting to find a blackened mess. But to my surprise there was no black. Just a nice, thickened fig paste. Perfectly done and ready to be used. Either my instincts are getting better or my book was just conveniently the right length. I don't know which, but I'm glad it worked.

I decided to make a gluten free crust cause my mum wanted to be able to eat it without guilt. Now i normally don't do gluten free cooking. It scares me and just doesn't turn out as well. Well, the crust looked a little odd when I cooked it. I was kind of worried. But than I smelled it. Nothing to worry about. Smelled like shortbread, Shortbread is amazing. So buttery... ahhhh!

The Fig stuff got spread over the crust. I really did have hard time not just eating it all right than. I really, really didn't want to wait. It smelled that good.

The crumble over the top was pretty good too. Just a nice buttery crumble with oats.

Well, when I finally got to taste it I was in heaven. Like seriously SO good. I actually didn't get any nice pictures of it because we all ate it so quickly I didn't have time. So, I guess the moral of my story it always mess with recipes cause they'll turn out amazingly. So I was right! Hah! I am always right! 

~Alyssa <3

Chia seeds?

As I'm sure most of you know I'm kinda of a health freak. Healthful food just makes me really, really happy. Sorry not sorry. ;)
So when I saw a recipe for chia seed pudding I freaked out "ohhhhh myyyyyy goshhhhh! I neeeeed toooo makeeee thissss! Mummmyyyy, Muuuummmmmmmyyyyyyy!! I neeeeeeed toooo makeeee thisssss!"
It said it was a lot like tapioca pudding, but a low sugar breakfast alternative. That sounded great. I love pudding and I'm always looking for new breakfast foods.

So I got the ingredients and got down to business. I whipped it up last night and than let it chill overnight.

Chia seeds

All mixed together

When I dragged myself out of bed this morning the first thought on my mind was "yummmmyyyyy breakfast!!!" I quickly jumped out of bed (okay to be honest I slowly rolled out of my bed and fell on the floor where I proceeded to sleep for another ten minutes), ran downstairs (e.i. half fell, half walked slowly down the stairs) and bounced into the kitchen (slept walked). I pulled the pudding out of the fridge and dished up a bowl with a smile on my face (might have been a weird half smile...)

 Finally the first bite, so full of expectations, how amazing would it be? I was guessing it would be about a 8.5 on a scale of 1-10. I slowly took the first bite, I closed my eyes, I savored it, I almost puked. It was probably about a -3 on the scale. Yes, that bad. The aftertaste was the most disgusting thing ever. Eww.

I didn't want to give up though! I wanted to succeed! I thought to myself "What can I put in this...thing...to make it slightly more edible?" So I went to the cabinet pulled out a few ingredients and started mixing them in. A little cocoa powder, a little sugar, a little almond flavoring. It made it...better... I could at least eat it now. Sort of...

I would have continued dumping more ingredients in but at this point my stomach was having quite the loud conversation with itself. I didn't feel like I could put off feeding it any longer without the possibility of a revolt. So I sat down, eyed the "pudding" and quickly ate some. It was...well...not quite as bad. The other flavors covered up the chia seeds a little but not nearly enough. By the time I had finished my small bowl of it I was ready to gag. It was sickening. The chia seeds have a very strong aftertaste that is just quite disgusting honestly. I don't know who's idea it is to eat all these weird seeds. But there is a reason they are not a part of a human's normal diet. They aren't edible. Don't eat them! It's a trap! Some horrible creature wanted to torture humans and so he was like "haha, I'll tell them that chia seeds are to eat, this is going to be so funny!" Ya, it might be funny for him. But I can tell you this: it is not funny for the consumer.
Don't fall into this evil creatures trap. Do not consume chia seeds, they are from the devil himself.

~Alyssa <3

Caramel Apple Scones

It's fall, that wonderful magical time of year when it's so cold I seriously consider moving to a tropical location. That time of year I spend wearing oversize sweaters, thick leggings, cozy socks, fluffy house shoes, and cuddled under 10 warm blankets while drinking hot tea. But to bake I have to come out from under my blankets and suffer through the cold for a bit. There is one reward though. After the baked good comes out of the oven, there is still heat in the oven. I can huddle over the oven absorbing the heat. I'm sure you can all picture me worshiping the heat coming out of the oven wishing that I could just crawl inside the oven and cuddle up.

A friend and I needed to provide snacks for our youth group meeting and we wanted a fall theme. She was going to make pumpkin cupcakes and so I needed to make something with apples. But what? Apple cake? Boring.  Apple bread? Even more boring. Apple muffins? The most boring of all.I needed something new. I really don't like baking boring things. It's not worth the time and effort it takes. So I went to the internet and searched around for recipes for a while. I found nothing. No good apple recipes were coming up quickly enough. I finally gave up and messaged my friend who was helping with snacks. She had the perfect idea. (So thank you Grace!) Caramel apple scones. I must admit the idea sounded perfect to me. What is more fall themed than apple and caramel? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I hand chopped all the apples. Why? I don't know. I very easily could have pulled out the food processor and had them done in a minute. But me, being confusing me decided to chop them all by hand. And let me tell you that that is actually very time consuming. But kind of worth it because I got them all to be these nice little uniform cubes instead of awkward weird chinks. My OCD side very much appreciated this. ;)

After whipping all the ingredients together and rolling them out I cut them into small triangles. I wanted mini-scones so I would have plenty to go around. I do want to make them again in full size though. Breakfast?

I completely and totally fell in love with the caramel frosting. Though it really tasted more like a butterscotch frosting to me. I don't think you can get a caramel frosting without chemicals or something. 

I really did like the end product. The scone wasn't too sweet so it was complimented by the sweet frosting. I'm quite a fan of combinations like that. Sweet pastry with sweet frosting is just too much sweet. The not too sweet and sweet just balance each other nicely.

~Alyssa <3

Fig and Almond Crostata

My mouth is watering just typing this.

So this year we had an abundance of figs. A few years ago my dad planted a fig tree and we've gotten some every summer. But this was the first year we had figs in such abundance that we didn't even know what to do with them all. Last summer I had found the recipe for Crostata and made it. It was heavenly. I spent a bit this year trying to find a new recipe. Not because I didn't like the crostata but just because I don't like making the same recipe twice and I know there are so many amazing recipes out there. But I really didn't find anything better. In fact nothing came close to the crostata recipe. And so with mixed feelings I decided to stick with a tried but true recipe. And so ladies and gentleman I present to you Fig and Almond Crostata! 

The figs get soaked in lemon juice (I'm assuming it's to keep them fresh but I really don't know) I just did it cause the recipe said to and I didn't want to ignore it without a reason (with a reason I would have been glad too, of course) 

The wonderful amazing almond paste. It's so good I could have just stopped right there sat down and eaten it all by itself. This was definitely a very important "taste test" moment. Didn't want to poison anyone you know... But ya, seriously amazing tasting.

The dough was just normal pie crust type stuff... (wow, I am so descriptive and specific...) I decided to use white flour and broke my rule (It's more what you'd call "a guideline" than an actual rule) of using only pastry flour when I bake. I did not regret it. Pastry flour just doesn't work for pie crusts.  

All put together. The figs I ended up with were rather ripe so I didn't get perfect round slices. But that's okay! I've been told taste is more important than looks. I still don't quite believe that but for this time I'll just go with it. 

Mmmmmmmmm! Finally finished. Beautiful, mouthwatering pastry. Baked to perfection. The whiffs of sweet almond and fig floating from it were almost too much to bear. Would I be able to restrain myself? Or would I consume the whole thing immediately?!

It was hard to resist it's voice calling to me "Alyssa, I'm all yours. Yours alone. I'm not to be shared. We should be exclusive. Just you and me in this relationship. No one else to bother us. Just us, us alone." But I had to resist the temptation! I had to be strong! I mean isn't that what every girl wants to hear? 

But I can proudly say I resisted the temptation. I resisted it's little voice in my ear trying to drag me down the path of evil and vice. Thank you. thank you. Yes, t must have been God's intervention because I know something outside of myself saved this pastry from it's immediate demise.

Haha, but to be serious. It really is an amazing recipe. My mum even broke from her gluten-free diet to have some. For days afterwords she would tell me just how amazing it was and how perfect. My daddy was immensely pleased with the use of his figs. And I was pleased with how it turned out as well. And oh but that almond paste...

~Alyssa <3