Homemade Apple Butter for a Winter Breakfast

It's been a cold, cold, winter week here. I've always thought of winter as my favourite season for many reasons. First, there's Christmas and New Years. Then there's Chinese New Year, which has always been exciting, and my birthday. Of course, there is snow, and with snow comes many hours playing in it and the thin sliver of hope that I'd always kept for a "snow day" to happen. The other wonderful thing about winter is the coziness you can achieve by having a pot of something simmering and releasing wafts of warm fragrance for hours on the stove. I enjoyed hours of that yesterday; it was like having a scented candle lit the entire day, with the added benefit of being able to stir the pot and taste the deliciously sweet and rich concoction bubbling inside. I made apple butter.

The Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 10 medium apples (any variety or mix)
• 1/2 cup chopped pineapples (drained from can or fresh)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Wash and peel apples. Save half of the peels, and place in a loose-thread cotton spice bag. Then cut apples into small cubes, and cook in a covered pot on low heat. Add a little water to cover the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. Add apple peels, chopped pineapples, and lemon juice. Continue to cook on low heat, with the lid covered for 20 to 30 minutes to let everything soften. Then prop the lid ajar, and continue to cook over low heat for 3 to 4 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so to make sure the bottom is not burning. After a few hours, the apple pieces should be broken down, and the colour should be darkened. Transfer to your favourite glass jam jar, allow to cool and chill overnight. Then spread on toast and enjoy!

Note: I didn't bother going through the proper canning technique that's normally used for making jams, because this wasn't a very large batch, and I'd planned to keep it in the refrigerator. Besides, something this yummy will be gone before it has a chance to spoil, I'm sure. By adding the apple peels, I was hoping for the natural pectin and rosy red colour to seep into the apple butter. I'm not sure whether the pectin made a difference because this was the only batch I made and I had nothing to compare it to. It did add a touch of rosiness though!

Apples, peels, pineapples – after 20 minutes

Jar of homemade apple butter

Ideal breakfast.
(that's just milk by the way)

Lemon Yogurt Bars

These really taste like cheesecake, but I put more yogurt than cream cheese in it so it would probably be more appropriate to call it "yogurt bars". Besides, it sounds more austere than "cheesecake bars". Instead of the traditional graham crackers crust, I make a hearty buckwheat crust. The yogurt I use is 2% plain greek yogurt, and the cheeses I used were light ricotta and light cream cheese. I know it seems like I'm using light everything, but there's no shortage of flavour. Even my mom, who thinks desserts have to be full fat to taste good, couldn't tell I used light ingredients. Try them for yourselves.

The Recipe:
Crust:

• 1 cup dark buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup soy flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 – 6 tbsp water
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Yogurt layer:

• 1 cup 2% plain greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup light ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup light cream cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• zest and juice of one lemon

Stir together buckwheat flour, soy flour, wheat bran, and salt. Rub in butter until there are no visible chunks of butter left. Don't worry about keeping it cold because we aren't making flaky pastry; we are only trying to distribute the butter evenly, and I find it easier to do it this way rather than melting it. Add water as needed until it forms a crumbly mixture. If you squeeze a handful of dough together, it should stick together like wet sand. Press into a lined 9 inch (22.9 cm) square tin and bake in a 350 F (175 C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. 

For the yogurt layer, simply stir all ingredients together, pour onto the cooled, baked crust, and bake at 325 F (~165 C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the yogurt layer has just set. Cool to room temperature and chill before slicing into bars. 

Note: to prevent the crust from becoming soggy, I poured about 1/4 of the yogurt mixture over the crust, spread it in a thin, even layer, and baked it for about 5 minutes before pouring the rest over the crust. 

Lemon yogurt filling

Buckwheat crust, before baking

Buckwheat crust, after baking

Baked and cooled lemon square – no cracks! :D

We sliced it into smaller pieces this time to serve as finger food

New Year's Breakfast

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd share my first breakfast of 2013 here. Quinoa porridge instead of oatmeal, with cubes of toasted apple and leftover cake on top. I used light coconut milk to cook the quinoa, which makes the porridge vegan. Add a few dried cranberries and some sliced fruit on the side, and we have a hearty, healthy, and tasty breakfast to start the year off.

Hope all of you have a happy, healthy, and fulfilling year. I look forward to sharing more kitchen creations with you!