demerara sugar

This winter in Paris, my husband went out every morning, walked to Circus bakery and returned home with an apple pie, a really good one. The rustic pie — a cross between an American open-face pie and a French galette — is made with a sturdy, rather wet dough. Chill the dough overnight and it will be a dream to work with. The filling is a generous mound of unpeeled, thinly sliced, lightly sweetened apples, flavored with an abundance of lemon juice and zest and, so surprisingly, not a speck of spice. At Circus, the palm-size pies are pentagonal. The dough is lifted up around the apples, pinched and pressed into shape. To learn to make the pastry at home, I watched Circus’s bakers at work. I loved how each had a particular way of forming the pies. But, most of all, I loved that no matter how they shaped them, in the end, they all looked beautiful. My pie looks beautiful and yours will, too.

Apple Pie, Circus-Style

bread flour

whole-wheat flour

sugar

fine sea salt

unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into small chunks

120 milliliters ice water

apple cider vinegar

lemon, zested, then juiced

unsalted butter, melted

sweet apples (1 to 1 1/2 pounds; 450 to 680 grams),

egg,

Demerara sugar,

Make the dough: Put the bread flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and whir to combine. Drop in the chunks of butter, then process in 8 to 10 long pulses, scraping the bowl often, until the ingredients look like coarse crumbs and hold together when pressed.

Stir together the ice water and vinegar in a measuring cup, then pour the liquid over the dough as you pulse the machine, forming a moist dough. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, shape into a log and divide into thirds. Press each piece into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, working between sheets of parchment, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch circle that’s a scant 1/4-inch thick. Cut each piece into a 7-inch circle, cover with the parchment and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (Leftover dough can be used to make a smaller pie or to make cookies.)

Make the filling: Stir the sugar, flour and zest together in a large bowl, then stir in the butter and lemon juice. Quarter and core the apples, leaving the peel on, and slice them very thinly; a food processor or mandoline works best here. (You want about 5 loosely packed cups.) Add apples to the large bowl, and use your hands to toss until they’re coated with the sugar mixture.

Assemble the pies: Working with 1 circle of dough at a time, peel away the top sheet of paper, and lightly score a 4-inch circle in the center of the dough. Pile apples inside the circle, pressing to make a compact mound about 1 1/2 inches high and leaving a bare border of about 1 1/2 inches.

The final pie should have five sides, and all the corners should point in the same direction. For this effect, lift a piece of the dough up, and hold it against the apples. Lift a piece of dough next to it, press it against the apples and grab the triangle of dough that forms where the two layers meet. Holding the point of the triangle, pull it down so that the tip of the triangle is at the base of the pie. With your index finger, firmly press the point of the triangle into the base to seal it in place. Continue until you’ve got a pentagonal pie.

Repeat with the remaining circles of dough and apples. (You may have some apples leftover.) Refrigerate the pies while you heat the oven. (You can cover and refrigerate the pies for up to 1 day.)

Center a rack in the oven, and heat it to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and transfer the pies to the sheet.

Stir a splash of water into the egg, and brush a little on the sides of the pies, avoiding the top rim of the pie dough. Sprinkle the sides with Demerara sugar.

Bake the pies until the crust is beautifully golden and a knife inserted into the apples meets little resistance, about 45 minutes. Transfer the sheet to a rack, and allow the pies to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

These cookies were the result of a happy accident. (The best things always are, aren’t they?) When the peanut butter ran out, similarly creamy white miso stepped in. The other ingredients were tweaked to offset the miso’s savory character, and what came out of the oven was salty and sweet, crunchy and chewy. A brief stint in the fridge helps mellow the miso’s bracing brackishness, and a roll in Demerara sugar adds a subtle crunch that pairs well with the tender cookie.

Peanut Butter-Miso Cookies

all-purpose flour

baking soda

baking powder

unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature

220 grams light brown sugar

granulated sugar

80 milliliters white miso paste

60 milliliters chunky peanut butter

vanilla extract

Demerara sugar, plus more as needed

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder, and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add miso and peanut butter to the mixing bowl, and continue to mix at medium speed, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated, and mix a bit more if needed. Add egg and vanilla extract, and mix until just combined.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, and mix on low speed until flour mixture is incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour mixture in two batches until all of it is incorporated.

Place 1/2 cup Demerara sugar into a small bowl. Working with one piece at a time, scoop out about 2 heaping tablespoons of dough (about 50 grams per cookie), and roll each portion between your hands until it is nice and round. (If the dough is too soft to roll, you can pop the mixing bowl in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes to firm the dough up slightly.) Drop the piece of dough into the bowl of Demerara sugar and turn to coat. Transfer each ball to a parchment-lined baking sheet, arranging them about 3 inches apart. Repeat with all of the dough.

Refrigerate for 2 hours and up to overnight. (Even 15 minutes of refrigerator time will help the dough firm up, and the flavors meld. The longer the dough is refrigerated, the more mellow the flavors will be.)

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, until crisp at the edges and slightly puffed in the middle. They should still be a bit underdone in the center. Pull out the baking sheet and hit it against a counter. Place back into the oven to finish for about 3 to 4 minutes. When cookies are firm at the edges and slightly puffed in the center, pull them out and again hit the baking sheet against the counter. The cookies should appear flat and crinkly at the center.

Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store fully cooled cookies in an airtight container; they should retain their chewy texture for a few days.

This fluorescent tiki cocktail from NYC&#039;s Slowly Shirley is packed with rum and vodka for a refreshingly tropical icy beverage to drink all summer long.

Blue Cura&#xE7;ao Tiki Cocktail

ice, divided

pineapple juice

club soda

Plantation 3 Stars rum

Aylesbury Duck vodka

Galliano L'Autentico

blue curaçao

lemon juice

lime juice

demerara syrup

Coco Lopez

Pineapple wedge,

Pineapple leaves,

Orchid,

This Vibrant Blue Tiki Cocktail Is a Summer Party Necessity

Flecked with sea salt on the outside, buttery and supremely crunchy within, this pretzel shortbread leans to the savory side, both salty and sweet. This version, created by Lost Bread Company in Philadelphia, mixes crumbs from the bakery’s own sourdough pretzels into the dough. But any pretzels will give the shortbread the necessary tang. The bakery also dips the shortbread into a lye solution before baking to give them that characteristic glossy surface. This simplified version calls for either using baking soda or an egg white. The slightly bitter baking soda mixture adds some of the complex flavor of the lye, but using an egg white is simpler, and the cookies are nearly as delicious.

Pretzel Shortbread

pretzel crumbs (see Note)

Demerara sugar

baking soda, egg white

salt salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pretzel crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and bake them, stirring once, until they smell toasty (they may not darken, and that's OK), about 5 to 10 minutes.

Pour crumbs into the bowl of an electric stand mixer to cool. Whisk in flour, sugar and salt. Place the butter cubes on top of the flour mixture and chill until everything is very cold, at least 30 minutes.

Using the paddle attachment, beat flour and butter mixture on low speed until it comes together into a dry, crumbly dough that just holds together when you squeeze it, 10 to 15 minutes. If the dough isn’t coming together in the mixer, use your hands to knead it. It will be difficult to work with.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out and press dough into an 8-by-10-inch rectangle about 3/8-inch thick. (Alternatively, you can press the dough into a quarter sheet pan with your fingers instead of rolling). Cut into rectangles approximately 3 inches by 2 inches. Transfer rectangles to the lined baking sheet. Using the tip of a slim chopstick or a fork, poke holes all over the dough, going halfway but not all the way through. Place baking sheet in freezer until dough is frozen, at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 500 degrees. If using baking soda for the coating, combine it in a small pot with 2 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve. Let cool completely. Dip each cookie into the solution, letting the excess drip off, then place it back on the baking sheet. If using an egg white, whisk it with 1 tablespoon water until frothy, then brush it on top of cookies. Sprinkle the coated cookies evenly with flaky sea salt.

Transfer baking pan to oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 23 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cookies, then store them in an airtight container.

A shower of heavy cream and plenty of caramelized Demerara sugar may make these Irish oats seem more like dessert than something you’d serve first thing in the morning, but that’s all the more reason to bake them up for a special occasion breakfast or brunch. Cardamom and cinnamon give them an especially earthy, perfumed aroma, and toasting the oats in butter before baking them lends nuttiness and depth. They’re also extremely easy, and you can assemble the dish the night before, then bake them in the morning. Just add about 10 minutes to the baking time if you’re starting them cold from the fridge.

Spiced Irish Oatmeal With Cream and Crunchy Sugar

unsalted butter,

steel-cut oats

cardamom

cinnamon

water

heavy cream,

salt

Flaky sea salt,

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart shallow gratin or baking dish.

Cut 2 tablespoons butter into small cubes, and put them in the refrigerator until needed.

In a large skillet, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Add the oats and sauté until they smell nutty and toasted, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the cardamom and cinnamon, and sauté for another minute, until fragrant. Scrape oats into the buttered baking pan and stir in the boiling water, cream and salt.

Bake oats for 40 minutes, then give them a stir. Sprinkle sugar all over the oats, and scatter reserved cubed butter on top. Continue to bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer, until the top is glazed and bubbling.

Sprinkle oatmeal with flaky sea salt, if you like. Serve oats with more cream and sugar on the side.

This moist cake with a crunchy nut topping is sure to become a teatime favourite

Caramelised apple cake with streusel topping

light brown muscovado sugar, plus 1 tbsp

dessert apples,

eggs

tsp vanilla extract

plain flour

tsp baking powder

milk

flour

demerara sugar, plus 1 tbsp

cold butter

tbsp toasted, chopped hazelnuts

Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp sugar in a large frying pan over medium heat until the sugar starts to melt. Add apples, then cook for about 5 mins, until nicely browned and the sauce is a rich caramel. Leave to cool.

While the apples cool, make the topping. In a food processor or using the tips of your fingers, rub together flour, 85g sugar, cinnamon and cold butter until the mixture is crumbly and only pea-size pieces of butter remain. Stir in 2 tbsp of hazelnuts. Set aside in a cool place.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. To make the cake, place the remaining butter and sugar in a bowl or food mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and milk in two goes, alternating between dry and wet ingredients. When the mixture is well combined, stir through the apples.

Grease a 20cm cake tin with removable base and line the base with a circle of baking paper. Spoon in the cake mixture, smooth over the top with a spoon, then sprinkle over the streusel topping. Scatter with the remaining 1 tbsp demerara sugar and hazelnuts. Cook in the oven for 50 mins-1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a baking rack, remove paper and cool.

Try these delicious, fruity French treats

Nectarine & raspberry gratin

nectarines,

punnet raspberries

double cream

cocoa powder

Heat the grill to medium. Place the nectarines cut-side up in 4 individual gratin dishes and pile the raspberries in the centre of each half. Drizzle cream over the fruit, sprinkle with sugar, then grill for 8-10 mins until bubbling and golden. Dust with cocoa and serve.

Topped with coarse Demerara sugar and chopped pecans, this might just be the crunchiest coffee cake you’ve ever made. It’s also one of the easiest, as it’s quickly whisked together in just one bowl. Soft, juicy blueberries dot the cinnamon-scented batter, making jammy pockets in the tender crumb. It will keep at room temperature for up to three days, though the topping does lose a little texture the longer it sits. But this cake is so good, its keeping qualities may be beside the point.

Blueberry Pecan Crunch Cake

sour cream

unsalted butter (1 1/2 stick), melted and cooled

blueberries

chopped pecans (or walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9-by-9-inch metal pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, butter, eggs, vanilla and salt until everything is well combined. Whisk in sugar. Add the dry ingredients in this order: baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, whisking well in between additions. Then, whisk in the flour until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Using a spatula, scrape the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the nuts and Demerara sugar. Bake until the top is golden and puffed, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack, and let it cool in the pan.

Apricots and raspberries are really good partners, and are especially good baked into this soft vanilla cake with cinnamon crumble

Apricot & raspberry buckle

self-raising flour

softened butter

tbsp demerara sugar

caster sugar

apricots

raspberry

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a 23cm square tin. For the crumble mix, put 2 tbsp flour and 25g of the butter with the demerara sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Rub between your fingers until it resembles damp breadcrumbs.

Tip the remaining flour and butter and the caster sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl, then beat until well combined. Lightly fold in half the apricots and raspberries, then spread over the prepared tin.

Scatter over the remaining fruit, then sprinkle with the crumble mix. Bake for 45-50 mins until light golden, then cool for 10 mins and remove from the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm with cream or ice cream for dessert, or cold for tea.

One of our most requested recipes – puddings don't get any better than this

Ultimate sticky toffee pudding

whole medjool dates

self-raising flour, plus extra for greasing

tsp bicarbonate of soda

butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

tbsp black treacle

cream (optional)

light muscovado sugar

butter,

Stone and chop 225g medjool dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour over 175ml boiling water.

Leave for about 30 mins until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Butter and flour seven mini pudding tins (each about 200ml/7fl oz) and sit them on a baking sheet. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix 175g self-raising flour and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda together and beat the 2 eggs in a separate bowl.

Beat 85g softened butter and 140g demerara sugar together in a large bowl for a few mins until slightly creamy (the mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between additions.

Beat in 2 tbsp black treacle then, using a large metal spoon, gently fold in one-third of the flour and bicarbonate of soda mix, then half of the 100ml milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour mix and all the milk is used.

Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter.

Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 mins, until risen and firm.

Meanwhile, put the 175g light muscovado sugar and 50g butter pieces for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the 225ml double cream.

Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Stir in 1 tbsp black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 mins until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the double cream.

Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out.

You can serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce. To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.

Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them. Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).

When ready to serve, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling. Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Elena Duggan is mad about rosewater, whether in a Turkish delight, or this Persian love cake. Be sure to get in quick; it will disappear before you know it!

Pumpkin Persian love cake

peeled, chopped butternut pumpkin

nutmeg

olive oil

thick Greek-style yoghurt

unsalted butter, softened

almond meal

tbs rosewater (from selected grocers)

vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

eggs, lightly beaten

pistachios, finely chopped

pure icing sugar, sifted

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5348771529001-5978822513001

These delicious fruit pastries are a must for your next brunch

Apple & blueberry Danishes

tbsp butter

apples

allspice and cinnamon

blueberry

pack puff pastry

First make the filling: melt the butter and 3 tbsp of the sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir in the apples and spices and cook for 5 mins, until the fruit is slightly softened but not cooked. Remove from the heat and stir in the blueberries.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to £1 coin thickness. Cut out 8 x 11cm squares. Prick the squares all over with a fork and transfer to a baking tray.

Divide the filling between the pastry squares, spooning it into the centre of each square. Bring the four corners into the centre of each square and pinch together edges using a little of the egg to help stick. Brush all over the danishes with the rest of the egg. They can be covered and chilled for a few hours now.

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Dust with the remaining demerara and cook for 20 mins until the pastry is golden. Don’t worry if they pop open while cooking – they look even prettier.

Top 12 demerara sugar recipes from across the web

The most viewed demerara sugar recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Apple Pie, Circus-Style

Peanut Butter-Miso Cookies

Blue Curaçao Tiki Cocktail

Pretzel Shortbread

Spiced Irish Oatmeal With Cream and...

Caramelised apple cake with streuse...

Nectarine & raspberry gratin

Blueberry Pecan Crunch Cake

Apricot & raspberry buckle

Ultimate sticky toffee pudding

Pumpkin Persian love cake

Apple & blueberry Danishes

Top 12 demerara sugar recipes from across the web

The most viewed demerara sugar recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Apple Pie, Circus-Style

Peanut Butter-Miso Cookies

Blue Cura&#xE7;ao Tiki Cocktail

Pretzel Shortbread

Spiced Irish Oatmeal With Cream and...

Caramelised apple cake with streuse...

Nectarine & raspberry gratin

Blueberry Pecan Crunch Cake

Apricot & raspberry buckle

Ultimate sticky toffee pudding

Pumpkin Persian love cake

Apple & blueberry Danishes

The most viewed demerara sugar recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Blue Curaçao Tiki Cocktail