Apple Cider Bundt Cake

 This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

There has been a recent surge in the popularity of bundt cakes. I think it's because they look impressive, but they're incredibly easy to whip up on a whim. Unlike a standard layered cake, bundt cakes come out of the pan in a pretty design, so they don't need a lot of extra pizazz and embellishments.

What exactly is a bundt cake? A bundt cake refers more to the cake pan it is baked in rather than the actual cake itself. But traditionally it's a firm, moist cake halfway between a pound cake and a high-ratio cake.

This apple cider bundt cake incorporates cider 3 separate times: in the batter, in the cake soak, and in the icing. So it's really bursting with apple flavor!

Room temperature ingredients

• About an hour before you start baking the cake, bring the butter and the eggs to room temperature. Room temperature ingredients mix together more uniformly and ensures the cake will bake more evenly. 
• It is imperative that you use high quality ingredients in this recipe. That’s why I only use Challenge Unsalted Butter. Challenge uses real cream and only natural ingredients for superior flavor and an ultra smooth finish

Make apple cider concentrate

• In order to get the strongest apple cider flavor in this cake, I made apple cider concentrate. 
• Here’s how to make: Look at the recipe, double the amount of apple cider you need, pour it in a pot, bring it to a boil and reduce it to a simmer, continue to simmer until it reduces by half.

When baking the bundt cake

• Before you pour the batter in the pan, make sure you’ve sprayed it heavily with nonstick spray. You can also coat the inside of the pan with sugar, and that helps too.
• The easiest way to tell a cake is baked all the way through is by touching it. It should be firm but still spring back.
• If you really want to make sure it’s cooked, stick a thermometer in it. It should register around 210 degrees.

Getting your bundt cake out of the pan

• I recommend waiting about 20 - 25 minutes before inverting your bundt cake. It’s still warm enough to slide out, but it should be fully set by then.
• If you flip it and it doesn’t come out, you can try one of these two tricks. The first trick: Heat the pan with a kitchen torch. You should be able to feel it start to slide out. The second trick: Dampen a kitchen towel and place it over the bottom of the bundt cake. The heat from the cake should create steam with the towel, and after about 15 minutes the cake should slide right out.

Infusing cake with flavor via simple syrup

• Brushing a hot cake with simple syrup is a great way to keep cakes moist and infuse them with flavor. Simple syrup is equal parts liquid and sugar. In this recipe, the liquid I used was the apple cider concentrate for extra apple flavor.
• Brush the cake with this simple syrup as soon as you remove it from the pan.

Icing the cake

• Once the cake is completely cool, finish it by drizzling icing over the top.
• The icing is just apple cider and powdered sugar. I like to make the icing really thick, but if you prefer more of a glaze, you can thin it out with more apple cider.

Apple Cider Bundt Cake

Yield: 20 servings

Ingredients

For the cake

• 3 sticks (339 grams) Challenge Unsalted Butter 
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) brown sugar 
• 4 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (12 grams) baking powder
• 2 teaspoons (5 grams) cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 grams) nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 grams) cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 grams) ground ginger
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) apple cider, concentrated
• 1/2 cup (123 grams) applesauce

For the cake soak

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) apple cider, concentrated

For the icing

• 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) apple cider concentrate

Directions

For the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and add eggs one at a time. Wait to add the next egg until the previous egg is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, and ground ginger. In another separate bowl, mix together the apple cider concentrate and the apple sauce.
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer, and mix on low until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the liquid mixture and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl. Repeat until all the flour and the liquid ingredients are incorporated.
6. Heavily grease a bundt pan and coat the inside with a thin layer of granulated sugar to prevent sticking. Pour the cake batter evenly into the bundt pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for about 25 minutes inside the pan before inverting the bundt cake onto a wire cooling rack.

For the cake soak

1. Mix the sugar and apple cider concentrate in a small bowl. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Brush the cake all over with the simple syrup. Continue to allow the cake to cool.

For the icing

1. Whisk together the powdered sugar and the apple cider concentrate. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.

Squash harvest salad

Pumpkin is obviously the most popular squash, and this time of year we see pumpkin spice everything. But there are dozens of other squash varieties!

The skin on delicata squash is very delicate (hence the name), meaning it’s thin and edible so you don’t have to peel it! Just cut in half to scoop out the seeds and slice into half moons. The ridges on the squash contribute to its attractiveness, and it looks really beautiful by itself or in a salad.

My preferred method of cooking squash is roasting at a high temperature. And don’t flip it! That’s how you get beautiful caramelization and browning. Also, don’t overcrowd your roasting pan or the squash will produce too much steam and never get crisp. In the salad recipe I’m sharing today, I paired the squash with brussels sprouts, which also come into season in the fall.

Squash harvest salad

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 delicata squash, seeds removed and sliced into 1/2-inch thick moons
• 12 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 Tablespoon stone ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 5 cups kale
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup feta, crumbled
• 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
• 2 Tablespoons roasted pepitas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Divide delicata squash between 2 baking sheets and evenly spread brussels sprouts on third baking sheet.
3. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Roast vegetables for 20 minutes. Do not flip vegetables to allow for caramelization.
5. Remove from oven.
6. Combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, salt, and pepper in mason jar and shake until combined.
7. Add kale to large bowl. Drizzle a little dressing on kale and massage leaves for about 1 minute.
8. Add squash, brussels sprouts, shallot, feta, pomegranate arils, and pepitas.
9. Drizzle dressing on top and mix.

Amaretto Apple Crisp Ice Cream Bars

This is a sponsored post by Hudsonville Ice Cream, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I grew up down the street from an apple orchard, and during the fall season, my mom and I frequently visited the orchard after school to grab a few apples for dessert. Apple crisp was one of the first dishes I learned how to make. It’s an unfussy dessert that uses very basic ingredients. I used the same recipe for years, except I always doubled the crisp part of the recipe because the buttery, brown sugar oat pieces are my favorite. 

Last year I experimented with a new flavor pairing: apple and amaretto. I added a little amaretto to the crisp topping and to the apple mixture. Wow! The almond liqueur is the difference between tasty apple crisp and incredible apple crisp. It really makes the flavors pop!

Of course, the dessert isn’t complete without a big scoop of ice cream. Hudsonville recently released Limited Edition Baked Apple Crisp ice cream, and it truly tastes exactly like the dessert. The ice cream is packed with apple pieces and crispy oat crumbles. It made me think—why do I even bother peeling and dicing apples for apple crisp when I could just serve this Hudsonville Ice Cream?

That’s when I decided to make bars using Baked Apple Crisp ice cream and my favorite amaretto crisp topping as the base. I baked the buttery oat crumbles in a baking pan, and then I pressed half of it into a baking dish. I made an easy stovetop amaretto caramel sauce to help the pieces adhere together, and I poured it over the oat crumbles before adding 4 cups of ice cream on top. I finished off the bars with more caramel sauce and the other half of the crisp topping.

I guarantee everyone will love the apple-amaretto flavor combo, and you’ll want this tasty treat stocked in your freezer all season long! Use the Scoop Locator tool to find Limited Edition Baked Apple Crisp ice cream at a store near you.

Amaretto Apple Crisp Ice Cream Bars

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients

For the amaretto caramel sauce

• 1/2 cup butter (110 grams)
• 1 cup brown sugar (200 grams)
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup amaretto (60 milliliters)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (1 gram)

For the crisp topping

• 1 1/3 cup brown sugar (266 grams)
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (180 grams)
• 2/3 cup old fashioned oats (54 grams)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (110 grams)
• 3 Tablespoons amaretto (45 milliliters)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon (6 grams)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (2 grams)

For assembly

• 4 cups Hudsonville Limited Edition Baked Apple Crisp ice cream

Directions

For the amaretto caramel sauce

1. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring until smooth.
2. Add heavy whipping cream, amaretto, and salt to saucepan, and stir. Bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes. Make sure to stir regularly.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you make crisp topping.

For the crisp topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil and set aside.
2. Mix together brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, amaretto, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Spread mixture in even layer on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, making sure to stir the mixture at the halfway mark.
4. Remove from oven.

For assembly

1. Line 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving 2-inch overhang on two sides. 
2. Transfer half of crisp mixture to prepared pan and press down into even layer on bottom.
3. Drizzle about 1/3 of amaretto caramel sauce over bottom layer.
4. Spread ice cream evenly over sauce.
5. Drizzle another 1/3 of amaretto caramel sauce over ice cream and top with rest of crisp mixture.
6. Freeze until ice cream hardens, at least 1 hour.
7. When ready to serve, use parchment overhang to transfer bar to cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.
8. Serve with remaining amaretto caramel sauce and whipped cream, if desired.

Butternut squash and goat cheese tart

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Butternut squash is a squash variety that has definitely increased in popularity, but I still don’t think people know entirely what to do with it. I like to roast the butternut squash so it’s a little crispy and caramelized. The resulting flavor is slightly sweet with a nutty flavor. It’s important to not overcrowd your roasting pan or the squash will produce too much steam and never get crisp.

I thought the squash would look beautiful in a puff pastry tart! First, I scored a 1/2-inch border around the puff pastry and docked the center with a fork so it doesn’t puff up too much.

Then I mixed equal amounts honey and butter, and I spread it all over the center. My favorite product to use when making honey butter is Challenge Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt. First, it mixes so well and beautifully with honey. You don’t have to worry about bringing it to room temperature first. And it’s made with real Challenge Butter, which is churned from the freshest, purest cream. 

I then scattered the squash across the tart and paired it with tangy goat cheese and tart pomegranate arils. The flavors all complement each other so well, and the colors look so beautiful together!

Butternut squash and goat cheese tart

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 12 ounces butternut squash, diced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Challenge Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 3 Tablespoons walnuts (or pecans)
• 1 Tablespoon sage, chopped
• Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water)
• Optional: Pomegranate arils, pomegranate molasses, honey, dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add butternut squash to baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
3. Roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. While butternut squash is roasting, mix butter and honey.
5. Roll out puff pastry on baking sheet. Score a 1/2-inch border around the edges (don’t cut all the way through) and prick the center all over with a fork.
6. Spread honey butter in center and top with goat cheese.
7. Scatter butternut squash, nuts, and sage over goat cheese.
8. Brush egg wash on puff pastry border.
9. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
10. Top with pomegranate arils and pomegranate molasses or dried cranberries and more honey if desired.

Chai-poached pear tarte tatin

 

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Obviously, apples dominate the fall baking scene, but pears are also in season. And one of the easiest and tastiest things you can do with pears is poach them.

Traditionally, you want to use Bosc pears because they are firm enough to maintain their shape.

You can use any type of liquid-sugar mixture when poaching pears, but I wanted to amplify the warm fall spices that we all love during the fall season. So I brewed a strong pot of chai tea, and poached the pears in that.

You can either poach the pears whole or halved. I chose to poach them whole because I think it makes for a prettier presentation. If you also choose to poach the pears whole, you need to core them from the bottom before peeling them. Just take a melon baller and scoop out the core several times or until you don’t see any seeds.

If you choose to poach the pears as halves, you should peel first and then scoop out the core.

After sticking the pears in the simmering water, you’ll want to ensure the pears stay submerged in the liquid. The best way to do this is with a cartouche. A cartouche is simply a parchment paper lid made by cutting a piece of parchment paper the same size as the circumference of your pot. Not only does it keep the fruit submerged in the liquid, it also promotes even heating.

You want to simmer your pears until they’re fork tender. This took me about 20 minutes. Then remove them from the pot and place them in the refrigerator so they don’t continue to cook. Then you want to reduce the simmering liquid until it’s the consistency of syrup. Do this by bringing the liquid to a boil and letting it continue to boil until it’s about 1/3 the original amount. It should be the consistency of syrup.

Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the butter. The butter will help to thicken the syrup. I use Challenge Salted Butter because it’s made from the freshest, purest cream, and they only use 100% natural products.

At this point, you can serve the pears as is with the syrup drizzled over the top, and that would make for a really elegant, delicious dessert. Or you can turn the pears into a tarte tatin. The classic French dessert is traditionally made with caramelized apples, however, it is absolutely divine with these poached pears.

You’ll want to slice up 5 to 7 pears (depending on size) into quarters, but make sure to keep one pear half as is to use as the center. Then take a 9-inch pie dish (make sure to grease well) and pour 1/2 cup of the syrup in it. Then place the pear half in the center (cut side up) and fan out the pear quarters around the center. All that’s left is to cover the pears with a sheet of puff pastry and bake!

Part of the magic of tarte tatin is that it’s flipped upside down, so the saucy pears on the bottom are flipped to the top. A lot of people say you need to do this while it’s still warm so the pastry doesn’t stick to the pie dish, but I’ve never had issues with it sticking so I wait until it has cooled. You can invert the tarte tatin into another pie dish, or if you plan on serving it right away, you can invert it onto a cake stand.

I think it tastes delicious both warm and cold!

Chai-poached pear tarte tatin

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 6 chai tea bags
• 4 cloves
• 3 cardamom pods (don’t use ground cardamom, omit if you don’t have)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 5 bosc pears (you may need 6 if small)
• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons or half a stick) Challenge salted butter
• 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)

Directions

1. Bring water, tea bags, cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks to boil in large pot. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and steep 30 minutes.
2. Remove tea bags, cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks and add sugar and vanilla paste to pot and bring mixture to simmer. 
3. While waiting for it to simmer, core pears with melon baller from bottom of fruit and peel the pears. Place in pot once it comes to simmer and cover with circle of parchment paper (this is called a cartouche). Allow pears to simmer for 20 minutes. 
4. Remove pears from pot. Bring liquid in pot to boil and continue boiling until it reduces by half and is the consistency of maple syrup (this could take upwards of 30 minutes). 
5. Whisk in butter and salt.
6. Cut pears into quarters, but make sure to keep one half in tact for the center.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Butter pie plate. Pour 1/2 cup of the reduced chair syrup into pan.
9. Place pear half in center, cut side up, and arrange remaining pear quarters around the outside edge with the skinny part pointing toward center.
10. Drape puff pastry over pie pan and tuck the edges under the pears.
11. Baked for about 25 to 30 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown.
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
13. Invert tart onto serving dish or into another pie pan.

Human-approved peanut butter banana dog treats

It's National Dog Month and Thursday is National Dog Day. My puppy, Dill Pickle, is the light of my life, so I wanted to do something special to celebrate. Peanut butter is definitely her favorite food, and coincidentally, it's also one of my favorite foods. So I developed a cookie recipe we can BOTH enjoy. 

There are two recipes below, but it's actually the same recipe with different directions. One recipe is for a cut-out cookie, and the other recipe is for a thumbprint cookie. I did that because I thought some people may be hesitant to eat a cookie in the shape of a bone.

It was important to me that this recipe didn't contain dairy, added sugar, added salt, gluten, or leavening agents because those ingredients may upset dogs' stomachs. Even though the recipe only contains oats, peanut butter, and banana, it comes together into a dough surprisingly well, and it rolls out beautifully. If those three ingredients just aren't doing it for you, you can try adding any or all of the following ingredients: 1 Tablespoon molasses, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

A couple of other things I want to point out: make sure there is no xylitol in your peanut butter. Use the peanut butter that is just peanuts—nothing else. Also, it is very important that the sugar-free jam you use for the thumbprint cookies doesn't have artificial sweeteners. Sweeteners like Splenda are toxic to dogs. I couldn't find any sugar-free, unsweetened jam, so I made my own. The recipe is below the cookie recipes.

I am not a veterinarian, so if you have concerns, I suggest speaking with your vet before intorducing new foods into your dog's diet.

Peanut butter and banana dog treats

Yield: Makes about 2 dozen treats (depending on size of cookie cutter)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup (100 grams) gluten-free oats (rolled oats or quick oats)
• 1 ripe banana (140 grams)
• 3/4 cup (198 grams) peanut butter (sugar free, no xylitol)
• Optional ingredients: 1 Tablespoon molasses, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Place oats in food processor and blend until it resembles coarse flour
3. Add banana and peanut butter to food processor and blend until it forms a cohesive dough
4. Roll dough out to 0.25-inch thickness
5. Use bone cookie cutter (or any other cookie cutter) to cut shapes into dough
6. Place shapes on lined cookie sheet and bake 18-20 minutes, or until cookies turn golden brown
7. Allow to cool completely before serving to your dog

Peanut butter and banana thumbprint cookies

Yield: Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup (100 grams) gluten-free oats (rolled oats or quick oats)
• 1 ripe banana (140 grams)
• 3/4 cup (198 grams) peanut butter (sugar free, no xylitol)
• 1/2 cup sugar-free, no xylitol strawberry jam
• Optional ingredients: 1 Tablespoon molasses, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Place oats in food processor and blend until it resembles coarse flour
3. Add banana and peanut butter to food processor and blend until it forms a cohesive dough
4. Roll dough into Tablespoon-sized balls and place on lined cookie sheet
5. Create an indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb
6. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon jam into center of each cookie
7. Bake about 15 minutes, or until cookies turn golden brown
8. Remove from oven and let cool before eating

Sugar-free strawberry jam

Yield: 1 cup strawberry jam

Ingredients

• 1 pound strawberries
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chia seeds

Directions

1. Hull strawberries and place in saucepan with water, cover with lid.
2. Bring to simmer and heat on medium-low for about 30 minutes, checking periodically to make sure it isn't heating too fast and nothing is burning. The strawberries should start breaking down.
3. Remove lid from pan and continue to simmer strawberries on medium-low for another 30 minutes, or until strawberries are completely brown down and it resembles jam.
4. Remove pan from heat and stir in chia seeds.
5. Store jam in jar and cool in refrigerator before using.

Peach, brie & caramelized shallot galette

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I’ll admit, I’m a lazy baker. I normally choose to bake with berries over any other fruit just because I don’t have to peel or slice them. But lately, there have been so many good-looking peaches on sale, and I couldn’t resist buying a few pounds. After eating a few with the skin on, I wondered why I ever bothered peeling them. I don’t even notice the skin.

I wanted to create an easy (read lazy) peach recipe in which I didn’t need to peel or slice the peaches because there are some days when I just can’t be bothered to do things like that.

Pie was out of the question, but not a galette. A galette is a rustic, free-form pie. “Rustic” is a word we like to use in culinary school when something isn’t necessarily considered “fine dining,” but it’s still delicious and beautiful. Galettes are baked on a baking sheet, not a pie dish, and you really can’t mess them up.

In traditional galettes, you make pie dough and roll it out to a circle. But I used a sheet of store-bought puff pastry instead. You could also use store-bought pie dough, but I really don’t like store-bought pie dough, whereas I don’t mind store-bought puff pastry.

The recipe starts by caramelizing shallots. It takes time to properly caramelize shallots. One chef at school told me it took several hours. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time for that. Around 20 minutes is plenty of time for me. I always start by melting a big chunk of Challenge unsalted butter in my sauté pan first. I only use Challenge butter because it is 100% real cream butter made with with pure pasteurized sweet cream. Also, right after adding the shallots to the pan, make sure to salt the shallots. WHY? Because the salt helps to break the shallots down so they can properly caramelize.

Once you have the shallots made, all you need to do is layer the ingredients on top of the puff pastry. So unroll your puff pastry and prick the center of it with a fork. This will prevent that area from puffing up too much. Don’t prick the edges though because we want those to puff up.

Then layer all the ingredients in the center of the puff pastry where you just pricked it.

A couple of things I want to point out:

• If you don’t like brie, substitute goat cheese, white cheddar, or parmesan.
• I kept the peaches as halves because 1) I liked the way they looked 2) I didn’t want to cut them 3) I was afraid my slightly overripe peaches would get mushy when I baked them.
• But you can do whatever you want! If it makes you feel better to cut them, by all means cut them. If you like peeling peaches, peel them. I didn’t and it was just was easy to cut into when I sliced it up.
• If you want this to be vegetarian, don’t use prosciutto. Just omit it.
• Don’t have basil? Use fresh thyme or rosemary instead.
• Thanks to TikTok, I learned this week I’ve been pronouncing balsamic wrong my whole life. From now on, I read it as baal-saa-muhk.
• Is this a main course or a dessert? It's appropriate to eat at whatever time you decide to eat it!

Balsamic peach, brie & shallot galette

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the caramelized shallots

• 2 Tablespoons Challenge unsalted butter
• 4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

For the galette

• 1 sheet puff pastry, or sub pie dough
• 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
• 6 ounces brie, thinly sliced
• 3 yellow peaches, halved and pit removed
• 2 ounces prosciutto
• Egg wash (1 egg beat with 2 Tablespoons water)
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons fresh basil
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic glaze

Directions

For the caramelized shallots

1. Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots and season with salt.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are soft and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
3. Add balsamic vinegar and cook about 2-3 more minutes until shallots soak up vinegar.
4. Remove from pan and allow to cool while preparing rest of galette.

For the galette

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Unroll puff pastry on parchment paper. Use a fork to prick the center of the parchment paper.
3. Spread dijon mustard over the center of the puff pastry sheet (the area you just pricked)
4. Layer caramelized shallots over dijon mustard. 
5. Top with brie and arrange peaches cut side down over brie. 
6. Fill in any gaps with prosciutto.
7. Gather edges of puff pastry and roll up the dough until it's slightly over the edges of the filling,
8. Use pastry brush to brush edges of galette with egg wash.
9. Drizzle honey on top and sprinkle cracked pepper over filling.
10. Place in oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
11. Remove from oven and add fresh basil and balsamic glaze before slicing and serving.