Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Apples Topped with Bourbon Whipped Cream

By Jennifer Farley

While this dessert comes together quickly, serving requires a bit of patience because the whipped cream will quickly melt if you top the apples while they’re too hot (not the worst thing, but still). Use crisp apples with a sweet and tart flavor balance, such as Honeycrisp or Cortlands. Granny Smith apples will also work and pack more of a tart flavor punch, so you might want to amp up the sugar in the whipped cream for balance. I like to use clarified butter or ghee on the apples before grilling because it adds a wonderful, buttery richness, but any neutral, high-heat oil will work. And, if you don’t have access to a grill, try roasting the apples at high temperature to get carmelization. 

Prep Time: 20 minutes   

Cook Time: 5 minutes   

Total Time: 25 minutes   

Yield: 4–8 servings

• Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 4 apples  
• 2 tablespoons clarified butter, softened (a neutral-flavored oil such as grapeseed may be substituted) 
• 1 cup cold heavy cream 
• 2 tablespoons bourbon

Directions:

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat (approximately 500° F).  

In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon sugar with the cinnamon and set aside.  

Slice the apples in half from root to stem, and use a melon baller or small spoon to core the center and remove any seeds. Brush clarified butter liberally onto the flat sides of each apple. Carefully place the apples on the grill, flat side down. Close the lid and grill for approximately 4–5 minutes, until nicely charred and soft. Remove and sprinkle the grilled sides liberally with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Allow to cool until they’re warm or room temperature. Placing the apples in the refrigerator will speed up this process. 

While the apples are cooling, prepare the whipped cream. In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, remaining tablespoon of sugar and bourbon, until they reach a stiff peak. To serve, top each apple with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 

The Gourmet Kitchen will be released by Simon & Schuster on October 25, 2016. The book is a compilation of over 100 recipes covering breakfast through dessert, showcasing Jennifer Farley’s favorites. Some have been in her family for generations, like her grandmother’s crab cakes. Farley finds inspiration everywhere, from culinary school to her travels around the world. Most of the recipes evolved through experimenting with the techniques she learned while training at L’Academie de Cuisine. The recipes are geared toward casual dinner parties, a leisurely weekend meal or a romantic dinner for two. They are everyday gourmet recipes for the home cook.  

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Cinnamon Vanilla Cream

by Raisa Aziz, special to EdibleDC

With the holidays around the corner and the market filled with all manner of gourds, it’s time to pull out those pie pans and fill the house with the sweet, warming scents of the season. We’ve partnered with Whisked! to share a pumpkin pie recipe exclusive to Edible DC so you can put those market finds to good use.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Cinnamon Vanilla Cream

Jenna Huntsberger, originally from Oregon, has always had a passion for baking. She started Whisked! in 2011, making old-fashioned American favorites, filling every cookie and pie with real ingredients and baked with the same love and attention you would give to home-baked treats. Although the company has grown considerably since 2011, the menu still changes seasonally and every pie and cookie is baked by hand. She shares a recipe for a pumpkin chiffon pie with cinnamon vanilla cream below, using either market pumpkins or offering a canned substitution. And if you’re in the mood for pie but not the baking, head over to the Whisked! website to order your Thanksgiving favorites by November 16th (available for pickup in DC and for delivery to other states)!

For the Crust:

• 2 cups (9 oz) gingersnap crumbs
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine gingersnap crumbs with light brown sugar, and salt. Gradually pour in the melted butter until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand. Press evenly into a 9 inch pie pan.

Place pie shell on a sheet pan and bake for 7 minutes, until crust is lightly toasted. Set aside.

For the Pumpkin Chiffon Filling

• 1 5 lb pie pumpkin (or, 1 ½ cups or 13 oz of pumpkin puree, if you want to skip the fresh pumpkin)
• 4 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
• ½ (3.5 oz) + ¼ cup (1.75 oz) sugar, divided
• 1 tbs cornstarch (.25 oz)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• ¼ tsp cloves
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ½ cup heavy cream

Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.

To prep the pumpkin, cut the stem off the top of pumpkin, place the pumpkin stem side down on a cutting board, and cut in half. Clean the seeds out of the middle of the pumpkin. Cover a baking sheet with foil and rub lightly with vegetable or another neutral oil. Place pumpkin halves, cut side down, on the baking sheet and roast until soft when pierced with a knife - 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Pull skin off of the pumpkin halves, cut off any burnt or overly brown bits, and puree in a food processor until smooth.

Set aside 1 1/2 cups of puree - about 13 ounces, for the pie filling.

Lower oven temperature to 325.

Combine pumpkin puree with egg yolks, ½ cup of the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, kosher salt, and heavy cream.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add a sprinkle of the remaining ¼ cup of bsugar and beat until glossy. Continue to beat the egg whites, gradually adding the sugar a sprinkle at a time, until medium peaks form.

Using a whisk, fold ⅓ of the egg whites into the pumpkin filling to lighten it. Then pour the mixture into the egg whites and fold until just combined.

Pour the filling into pie shell and bake until the filling is set - 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If crust browns too much on the edge, cover loosely with strips of foil. Let cool completely before serving.

For The Cinnamon Vanilla Pouring Cream

• 1 ¾ cups heavy cream
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla bean, split down the middle to expose the seeds
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs (2.6 oz) sugar
• 4 egg yolks

In a medium saucepan, combine cream, salt, cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean. Bring cream to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour. Remove cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean.

Reheat the cream until boiling. In a separate bowl, beat sugar with egg yolks until glossy. Pour ¼ of the hot cream into the egg yolks and rapidly combine with a whisk. Pour the tempered egg yolks back into the cream and heat over medium heat, stirring gently, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain into a bowl and chill.

Serve pie with chilled cream.

Heirloom Summer Popsicles

By Whitney Pipkin, Photography by Hannah Hudson. From our Summer 2016 Issue: The Last Bite.

Popcicles

They say cherry tomatoes are summer’s best candy, so why shouldn’t they—and their heirloom cousins—be dessert, too? Tomatoes are a fruit, after all, and heirloom varieties like Brandywine and Aunt Ruby’s German Green, prized for their uniqueness, come in as many shapes, sizes and flavors as, well, a popsicle. Add a splash of watermelon and you have yet another way to savor the orbs that are the essence of the season.

And, while you’re at it, why not make a popsicle out of another quintessential summer ingredient that rarely gets star billing for its sweet side? We asked the folks at Pleasant Pops to fork over this recipe for their version of sweet creamed corn on a stick. And why wait for dessert to serve these on a sultry night? Serve them as starters with a glass of chilled fino sherry for a cool twist on a first course.

Because your summer could use a little extra produce—and dessert.

Tomato Watermelon Pops

Recipe by Hannah Hudson

3 pounds heirloom tomatoes, chopped 2 pounds watermelon, cubed 2 limes, juiced 1 tablespoon sugar Thinly sliced jalapeños (to taste) 1 pinch sea salt

Blend tomatoes in a food processor or blender; let drain through a sieve until completely drained. Reserve the strained juice. Repeat with the watermelon.

Combine the tomato, watermelon and lime juice. Wearing gloves, seed the jalapeños and thinly slice them. Add as much jalepeño as desired for spice and let steep in the combined juice for an hour. For extra spice, leave sliced jalapeño inside the popsicles. Freeze overnight. Makes about 12 6-ounce pops.

Pleasant Pops Sweet Cream and Corn

Pleasant Pops, a frozen pops maker and retailer, was founded by friends Roger Horowitz and Brian Sykora, while in college. They started selling their frozen pops, made with the freshest ingredients from local farmers when ever seasonal and possible, and premiered their pops at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market. They now have two retail locations in Adams Morgan and downtown DC, where they serve up craft coffee, a menu of pop flavors and café food including soup and sandwiches. They also sell locally made food products, and strongly support local producers in the DC area and love working with other small food startups that have similar stories to theirs. They shared this recipe with us, and much of the sweet corn found at area farm markets now are heirloom or varieties that grow uniquely well in the DMV farm area. For more information, go to http://www.pleasantpops.com/

4 ears corn (Use the sweetest corn from your local farmers market.) ½ gallon milk (We use Trickling Spring Whole milk, available from our shop or many other purveyors.) 2 cups organic cane sugar (Or substitute honey, agave or maple syrup.)

Shuck the corn and, using a knife, take off all of the kernels. Save the cobs! Add the 4 corn cobs, all of the kernels, all of the milk and sugar to stockpot and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat (be careful that it doesn’t boil or reach a scalding temp (180°).

Remove cobs and make sure that all of the other ingredients are completely mixed together. Cool your mixture in an ice bath in your sink or in a bigger pot or bowl. Once cool, pour your pops in any ice pop molds or even little paper cups in a pinch. Remember to put your sticks in the middle (this can be done an hour after the pops have been in a freezer so the mixture is beginning to harden.)

Pops should be frozen in 2 or 3 hours in your freezer, as long as they have been cooled down before going in.

Yield about 12 (6-ounce) pops. www.pleasantpops.com