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come meet your favorite dc food bloggers at the bake sale for haiti this weekend!

are you going to be in the dc area this weekend? do you love dc food bloggers? do you love baked goods? chances are you answered yes to at least one of those questions, so now you have no excuse not to come out and support doctors without borders in dupont circle on sunday! i’ll be there with a whole slew of other bloggers selling cookies, cakes, pies, muffins and any other delicious thing you can think of – and you know it’s going to be good. 100% of the proceeds go to charity and it only lasts 2 hours, so come out early!

hope to see you there!

Categories
cookies

ice cream sandwiches

ice cream sandwiches

so remember the cinnamon ice cream from last week? it was so good i had to make a bit more this past weekend. except instead of celebrating the strangely fall weather we had, this time we celebrated the downright summerish weather that graced dc on saturday and sunday.  it was so nice the girl and i had a bbq, and the first grilling day of the year was a delicious success topped off by these amazing ice cream sandwiches shared with good friends (and also some good cold beer).

ice cream sandwiches

the girl took this picture while she was out on saturday. it really is blowing our minds that it’s suddenly spring, especially after all of the endless snowfall that’s thankfully finally melted. we’re looking forward to getting back to the farmer’s market and doing a lot more relaxing on the front porch – you know, the important things in life.

ice cream sandwiches

when i was in high school, i really really loved chipwiches. i mean, ate one at least once a week, all year round, loved chipwiches. while these aren’t quite the same – they’re actually better (if you can believe it). i wish i could go back in time to tell 16 year old me that in the future, i could make my own chipwiches whenever i wanted. just to see my own reaction.

ice cream sandwiches

Categories
pie

caramel apple tart with cinnamon ice cream

apple tart

i know this looks like a fall or winter dessert, but after the cold, rainy weekend we just had here, we’re not making any excuses for cooking up tons of apples in brown sugar and cinnamon. besides, sunday was pi day, and the culinary calendar demanded that we make a pie of some kind. the ice cream was just a bonus. now with that out of the way, i’m going to make a bold statement: this apple tart may be the greatest thing i’ve ever baked.

apple tart

it’s a dessert you’ll dream about, waiting impatiently to bake a new one before devouring it in mere hours. a bite of the tart combined with a spoonful of the ice cream…there were literally no words exchanged while we ate.

apple tart

there’s not much the girl and i don’t have in the kitchen since we moved in together, but when i received a few gift certificates, i got myself a shiny new tart pan. bon appétit magazine has probably 2 tart recipes per issue, so i didn’t have to look far for inspiration. although the recipe may look a bit daunting, it’s actually pretty simple when you get down to it, which is what makes it so delicious in the first place.

apple tart

take 2 lbs granny smith apples, cored, peeled and diced…

apple tart

…and cook down with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. you could stop right here and just eat, but i promise it gets even better.

apple tart

there is a quick caramel sauce that we almost considered omitting in fear that the tart would be sweet enough without it, but we were so glad we kept it in – not only does it give a great base to which the apples can adhere, it also bubbles over during baking, adding extra (duh) gooey caramelization to the crust.

apple tart

so once you have your apples piled in the tart, just top with a simple crumb mixture (not pictured here) made of butter, brown sugar and flour (and nuts if you like). you end up with a beautiful golden crispy crust.

apple tart

and let’s not forget about the ice cream. it only takes a few hours to make, but it’s best if you do it ahead of time and serve it with the tart hot from the oven. if you have guests over, the smell will drive them crazy until it’s time to eat. but just wait until they actually take a bite. i’m not saying this tart will make you some new best friends for life, but it can’t hurt.

apple tart