fruit Archives - Just J.Faye

Pear Gorgonzola Tart

August 4, 2015 by Jenna

I have a quick and easy dessert for you: Pear Gorgonzola Tart.

On Friday my friend Katie and I had a going away party.

PAUSE.

Did I mention I’m moving to Denver with one of my best friends? Because I am. On Saturday. I’m a little stressed about packing and saying goodbye to too many amazing people. I’m also overwhelmed with excitement. It’s weird. I don’t know what to feel, but at this point I don’t have enough time to think about feeling anything other than stress and excitement. Plus, I’m bad with feelings and being emotional, so….

Ignoring.

Then there is the fact that I need to sell my condo (here’s the listing!!) and find a job. I’m sure that will all work out though?

UNPAUSE.

I originally made this tart to pair with a bottle of sauternes and a couple of girlfriends pre-party, but the plan didn’t go as planned. Not a problem. This was gobbled up along with a variety of other tasty treats at the party -> watermelon salsa, mint spinach dip, chicken enchilada dip, ricotta arugula prosciutto bruschetta. Obviously, Katie knows how to put together a spread.

Then there was wine, beer, cocktails, and a room full of some of my favorite people. Magical.

Ok, but this tart. It’s easy! Seriously, so super simple. All you need to do is put fruit and cheese on a puff pastry and place it in the oven.

I mean, there are more steps (see below), but that is the basic idea.

There is something about the combination of cheese and fruit that screams politely exclaims with a loud voice, sophistication. Don’t you think?

Look:

So fancy.

As you can see from the picture I used both green and red pears. I cut up four (two red, two green), but probably only used the equivalent of 3. I ate the leftover slices while the tart was baking in the oven.

You could use all the same type of pears and/or only cut up three, but then what would you snack on while this is baking??

The tart was hanging out for a few hours before it got to the party and it still tasted good; however, fresh out of the oven is best. Just give it a few minutes, because: hot.

And be careful, those pear juices can leak.

My original plan was to use Roquefort cheese, but I couldn’t find it at the grocery store and the regular cheese lady wasn’t there to help me. Apparently cheese isn’t a hot selling item at 7:45am on a Friday. Go figure.

It’s ok though, because the Gorgonzola tasted wonderful. I think blue cheese would be good too and I strongly recommend giving Roquefort a try. You could even go all out and do a little bit of each, but that may be excessive.

Grab a bottle of sauternes and share this quick, easy, delicious dessert with some people that you love. While you do that, I’m going to go pack some more boxes.

Pear Gorgonzola Tart

Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

1 hour

This puff pastry tart is an impressive and delicious dessert that is so easy to pull together.

Serves: 10 slices

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry
3-4 pears
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 teaspoon water beaten)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces gorgonzola, crumbled

Instructions

Set the frozen puff pastry out in room temperature for 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
Slice the pears.
Place the puff pastry sheet on the baking pan and roll out into a rectangle.
Using a paring knife draw a rectangle about 1-inch in from the edge. Be careful not to cut all the way through the pastry, just about half-way. It should look like a picture frame. Then use a fork to score the inside of the rectangle.
Brush the egg wash on the entire puff pastry then sprinkle with the tablespoon of sugar.
Line the sliced pears on the inside rectangle of the puff pastry, flat side on the pastry, curved side up. I did mine in two rows alternating between green and red slices.
Drizzle with honey then sprinkle on the Gorgonzola.
Bake for 20 minutes until the edges are nicely browned.
Let cool slightly, then cut and serve. It’s best when served immediately.

Share this:

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

May 30, 2015 by Jenna

These triple berry almond oat bars, I love them.

The tasty little things are like eating fruit crisp in bar form.

And they are healthy!

And vegan!

And so, so delicious!

Earlier this week I was paging through the ole Duesterhoeft Café cookbook and came across the recipe for fudgy oatmeal bars. My mom would make them for potlucks and other such things, because they make such a large pan and are super tasty. I decided that I needed to make them.

But then I decided to try to make them just a leeetle bit healthier. And then I accidentally completely transformed them into something else.

Something amazing.

Something that you can eat two of and not feel guilty about afterwards.

Something that looks like this:

I swapped:

All purpose flour for oat flour and almond meal
Butter for coconut oil
Chocolate fudge for tripe berry chia seed jam
An egg for a flax egg
Brown sugar for less brown sugar
Deliciousness for guilt-free deliciousness

So yeah, not quite the same. But that’s ok, because I’m pretty obsessed with how they turned out.

On the bottom there is a crust made with coconut oil, brown sugar, almond meal, oat flour, oats, a flax egg, and almond extract. This stuff alone is pretty amazing. Try not to eat it all (you gotta taste test a little!) before getting it into the pan.

There are a lot of substitutions you can make here – gluten-free, non-vegan, etc – so make sure to check out the note section in the recipe.

In the middle there is a fruit layer made with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and chia seeds. AKA triple berry chia seed jam. This stuff alone is also pretty amazing. Truth be told I don’t eat a lot of jam. I never buy it and this was my first experience making chia seed jam (or any type of jam) and now I’m in love. It’s super easy to make, tastes delicious, and is healthy! I’m sure you could easily swap out the sugar for some honey or maple syrup. I made some more again yesterday to use for oatmeal, yogurt, spoonfuls into my mouth, etc.

The two layers are topped off with some crumbled oat mixture, then placed it in the oven until baked to perfection (20-25 minutes).

As you can see these triple berry almond oat bars are made with a bunch of wholesome, healthy ingredients. Yes, they have some sugar, but I’d say it’s a forgivable amount. They are healthy enough to eat for breakfast and delicious enough to eat for dessert.

I ate these chilled in the fridge. I ate them heated up. Both were pretty dern good.

Now I’m going to go run 22 miles (pray for me) and when I come home I’ll probably polish off the rest of the pan. But to be honest, there really aren’t many left.

Triple Berry Almond Oat Bars

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

These bars are full of oats, nuts, and berries - almost like eating fruit crisp in bar form! They are vegan, can easily be made gluten-free, and are super healthy and delicious.

Serves: 16 bars

Ingredients

For the chia seed jam filling:

½ cup strawberries, diced
½ cup raspberries
½ cup blueberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon chia seeds
¾ cup chopped almonds

For the crust and crumble:

¾ cup oat flour
½ cup almond meal
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup coconut oil, solid state
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 2.5 tablespoons water)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the bars can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil spray.

For the chia seed jam filling:

Add the berries, lemon juice, and sugar to a saucepan and stir on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until it begins to bubble. The fruit should break apart and release liquid. Use the back of your spoon to press down on the blueberries and raspberries a little bit. Turn to medium-low, add the chia seeds, and continue to stir for an additional 10 minutes. It will thicken as you stir.
Add the chopped almonds then set aside and allow to cool slightly.

For the crust and crumble:

In a medium bowl, combine the oat flour, almond meal, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the coconut oil and brown sugar until they are fully combined. Stir in the almond extract and flax egg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.

To assemble:

Press ¾ of the oat crust into the baking pan. Spread the chia seed jam over the crust then sprinkle the remaining oat mixture on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving. These taste awesome both warm and cold.

Notes

Use any berries you want for the jam. You can also just buy fruit preserves at the store.
You can sub all-purpose flour for both the oat flour and almond meal (1 ¼ cups total).
Make your own oat flour by processing oats in a food processor or blender until it reaches flour consistency. Almond meal can be made the same way (by using almonds).
Use gluten-free oats to make this recipe gluten free.
To make a flax egg mix 1 tablespoon flax meal with 2 ½ tablespoons water and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Use a real egg in place of a flax egg if you aren’t vegan.

PS – Have you made chia seed jam before? What’s your favorite jam flavor?

Share this:

Blueberry-Mint Brownies (sugar-free & dairy-free)

August 2, 2014 by Jenna

Would you still eat a brownie if I told you it was sugar-free?

I would. In fact, I made a whole pan of sugar-free brownies and almost ate the whole thing.

No joke. It was a small pan though. And I said “almost”. I still have some to share.

Earlier this week I was dead set on trying bake up some fudgy, sugar-free, healthy-ish brownies. Then after reading Minimalist Baker’s recipe for simple berry compote I knew I wanted to somehow combine a version of it with my brownies. After all, who doesn’t love fruit and chocolate together?

That is not a rhetorical question. Who doesn’t love that combo?! Let me know.

Anywho, I had blueberries on hand and some basil. Thus, blueberry-basil compote was born.

Now it was time for the brownies. I baked some up and they were… a total fail. I wanted something fudgy and delicious and these were dense, cake-like, and had little flavor. I baked them in muffin tins and topped them with the compote. They were still edible, just not what I wanted.

I gave them to my co-workers. This is basically how it went:

Me: “Hey! Want a brownie?”
Coworker: “Sure!”
Me: “Great! They are sugar and dairy free!”
Coworker: “Nevermind. I don’t want one. (2 second pause) Ok. I’ll still have one.”
Me: “Here you go! These were an experiment and not the best… but hey, brownie!”

It is so easy to give away free food. Bless their hearts.

They did give me some great feedback though. I went home, re-worked the recipe a little bit, annnddddddd……… SUCCESS!

The result was exactly what I was looking for.

I used a mixture of cocoa powder and melted chocolate instead of all cocoa powder. I reduced the amount of flour (I knew I added too much the first time around! Lesson learned.) I baked them in an 8×8” pan rather than muffin tins. I then swirled the compote in with the brownie batter so that the fruit was baked right into the brownies rather than just sitting on top. Also, I was out of basil, so I used mint instead.

Since starting this blog I have been doing a lot of baking experiments. Sometimes things work. Sometimes they don’t, which can be disappointing. But failure can lead to a lot of learning and then to success. I like learning and I like success. I also like eating delicious things. So basically, it all works out.

Oh, and as I mentioned before these are both sugar-free and dairy-free. I used honey instead of sugar and coconut oil instead of butter. So you don’t have to feel super guilty when you eat almost the whole pan. And by “you” I mean “I”. But you are welcome to make these and then eat half of the pan and then go share the other half with people who you like. Or keep them all to yourself. No judgement!

So there you go. Delicious, chocolatey brownies with burst of blueberries and mint. Indulgent, yet healthy-ish. Does it get any better than that?!

Yes. Yes, it does. Today is Saturday and it’s beautiful outside. Enjoy your weekend!

Blueberry-Mint Brownies (sugar-free & dairy-free)

These are delicious, fudge-y brownies with bursts of blueberries and mint. Since they are sugar-free and dairy-free, they are also a bit guilt-free too.

Author: Jenna Duesterhoeft

Serves: 16

Ingredients

For the blueberry compote:

1 pint blueberries
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons chopped mint

For the brownies:

¾ cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
½ cup coconut oil
¾ cup honey
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the blueberry compote:

In a saucepan, add the blueberries and honey. Heat on medium-high until it begins to bubble.
Turn heat to medium-low. Stir and smash berries every few minutes for about 10-12 minutes.
Stir in the chopped mint. Transfer to a mason jar and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

For the brownies:

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x8” baking pan, line with parchment paper, and grease again.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.
In a saucepan on low heat, melt the unsweetened chocolate and coconut oil.
Whisk in the honey. Let it cool for a few minutes and transfer to a medium bowl.
Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Fold in the dry ingredients until combined.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Add spoonfuls of the blueberry-mint compote. Run a knife or toothpick through the batter to create a marbled effect.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Notes

The first time around I used basil and the second time I used mint. I loved the outcome of both, so feel free to swap out the mint!
The blueberry-mint compote was inspired by Minimalist Baker's Simple Fruit Compote!

Share this:

Browned Butter Ginger Peach Blondies

July 2, 2014 by Jenna

Browned butter. It’s nutty, flavorful, and adds a completely different dimension to baked goods.

Have you ever cooked or baked with it before? If not, you should go change that right now. Get out a stick of butter and start melting it! Or maybe wait until after you are done reading this. Sometimes multi-tasking is hard and you really don’t want to burn it.

Browned butter is exactly what it sounds like: butter than has been browned. Go figure.

You essentially melt butter in a saucepan and whisk it until the milk solids are cooked and toasted. This is what makes the butter brown and gives off that nice, nutty aroma. It’s amazing. But for how amazing browned butter is, blackened butter is not. So watch it carefully and do not burn it, hence my previous warning about multi-tasking.

I am going to add this browned butter into blondies.

Now let’s think about this: dishwater blonde is a hair color that is blondish-brownish. So if I use browned butter in blondies should I call them “dishwater blondies”?

That’s a hypothetical question. I am not going to call them that.

Plus, along with the browned butter we are also going to add in some ginger and peaches. And what would you call that? These ingredients just throw an entirely different dimension into this hair color analogy, so I’m just going to stop. After all, this isn’t a salon. It’s a kitchen.

Oh, and pecans. I can’t forget about the toasted pecans!

So we’re just going to stick with this: browned butter ginger peach blondies.

The name is a bit long, but the product is a lot delicious.

Browned Butter Ginger Peach Blondies

Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

1 hour

Browned butter give these blondies a whole new flavor dimension, but then adding ginger, pecans, and peaches turn them into one extremely delicious bar. They are packed with flavor, soft, and incredibly satisfying.

Author: Jenna Duesterhoeft

Serves: 24

Ingredients

1 cup pecans
15 tbsp unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled
1 ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 ½ cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 firm peaches, one diced and one sliced

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of foil and place them perpendicularly in a 13x9” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease foil with butter or oil.
To toast the nuts: spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Stir them around occasionally (every 5 minutes or so) to ensure they are not burning. Once toasted, chop roughly and set aside.
To brown the butter: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk the melted butter until brown specks appear at the bottom, it will froth and foam a bit. Watch closely and be careful not to burn. It should be a light brown color and have a nutty aroma. Place browned butter (should yield about ¾ cup) into a heatproof bowl and let cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Toss in the diced peaches. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter and brown sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the nuts (feel free to save some to sprinkle on top).
Spread batter into the prepared pan, place the sliced peaches on top, sprinkle with the remaining pecans and a few dashes of ginger. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Cool completely before removing bars from the pan.

Notes

The peaches make these bars super soft and moist, so a good, firm peach is ideal for this recipe. Pat the sliced and diced peaches with a paper towel before incorporating into the recipe to draw out some of the additional moisture.

I know you are probably prepping for a huge 4^th of July picnic right now. I apologize for not bringing you something in the red, white, and blue color scheme. But at the same time, I don’t apologize at all. These are so, so good.

Oh, and Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Share this:

PS – Have you made chia seed jam before? What’s your favorite jam flavor?

jenna.faye.ivey