[2] Gala apples (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

Looking for a weekend baking project?

This easy dessert is as popular as apple pie, and easier to make. It is called a crisp because the topping, which contains oats (oatmeal), gets crispy when baked.

In the U.K., the same dish is called a crumble. Take a look at similar fruit dishes with different toppings: the betty, cobbler, grunt, pandowdy and others.
 
RECIPE: CLASSIC APPLE CRISP

For the apples, select Braeburn, Empire or Gala.

Prep time is 15 minutes, cook time is 35 minutes.

Ingredients

 
For a fancy topping, you can make meringue and brown it with a culinary/kitchen torch.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°F.

2. MAKE the topping. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Cut the butter into the flour, using a pastry blender or two knives, until mixture is the texture of coarse meal. Add the oats; use your hands to toss and squeeze the mixture until large, moist clumps form. Transfer to the freezer to chill.

3. TOSS the apples in a clean large bowl with the lemon juice, cinnamon and the remaining granulated sugar. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart baking dish, and sprinkle with topping mixture. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until golden and bubbling, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

What’s a soup napoleon? It’s a name we gave to this recipe concept from Vaucluse restaurant in New York City.

It sounds more appealing than “stack” or “cylinder” and more accurate than “tower.” A pastry napoleon is a stack of layered pastry, custard, and optionally, fruit.

The mechanics are simple: A stack of four or five layers of contrasting ingredients are set in a ring mold in the dish. The ring mold is removed, and the soup is poured (ideally from a pitcher) around the cylinder/stack/tower.

It’s a dramatic presentation when done at the table (photo #1). From the kitchen, bring the dishes of cylinders and place them in front of the diners; then pour the soup around the cylinder.

It’s a substantial first course; and can be made in a larger portion as a vegetarian main course.

While it may look complicated, it doesn’t take any great skill. Beyond preparing (or buying) the soup, the only time-consuming part is chopping, slicing, and forming the stacks.

You can also serve the napoleon without the soup (photo #2): on a plate with a drizzle or dots of sauce or balsamic glaze around it, or on a bed of greens.
 
 
WHAT’S IN THE NAPOLEON?

The stack can include whatever you like. But first, pick a direction:

 
In photo #1, the napoleon with five layers: lobster, sautéed squash cubes, cucumber julienne, croutons and salmon caviar. It’s topped off with a nasturtium leaf, but a basil leaf or no leaf is just fine.

After the napoleon is built, squash soup is added, almost to the top of the lobster layer, or whatever your first layer is.

You don’t need to serve a lot of soup: an inch of it is fine. Just make your bottom layer at least an inch deep. The other layers can be as deep or narrow as you like.

To choose your ingredients, use layers of different colors and textures. Examples:

 
Whatever you choose, it will be delicious, artistic and fun. Tamp down each layer as you build it, so they hold together. When you’ve added all the layers, tamp the stack lightly. Then twist the ring slightly to remove it.

The only special item you need is a ring mold (photo #3).

[2] You can serve the napoleon as an appetizer on its own, plain with a drizzle of sauce or on a bed of greens (here’s the recipe for this spicy shrimp and avocado stack from SkinnyTaste).

[3] Ring mold set from Ateco, available on Amazon and elsewhere.

There’s no right or wrong: It’s how you want to present the dish.

Ring molds are inexpensive, but if you want to experiment without buying one, just remove the top and bottom from shorter cans of food.
 
 
USES FOR RING MOLDS

Ring molds are cylinders with open ends that are used for food styling and presentations (photo #3). They are made in a variety of diameters and heights.

They are primarily used to form food(s) into towers/cylinders/stacks: forming appetizers and crab cakes, molding salads and steak tartare, vegetable timbales, and desserts.

You can also use them to cook food in a perfectly round shape: eggs and pancakes, for example. You can also use them to cut perfectly round burgers or sliders; biscuits, gelatin, pastry and polenta.

The rings are made from stainless steel. We prefer those that come with a tamping device, which helps to pack the food in tightly.
 
 
FOOD TRIVIA

The napoleon, known best as a layered custard pastry, was not named after Emperor Napoleon. It isn’t even French.

It was created in Naples, Italy, where it was known as a napolitano. The name translated to napoleon in French and English.

October 11th is World Dulce De Leche Day.

An overview of dulce de leche is followed by an impressive Bananas Foster Dulce de Leche Crêpe Cake recipe, by Sarah Fennel of Broma Bakery. Her recipe website is a compilation of everything sweet you’d like to eat.
 
 
DULCE DE LECHE & CARAMEL: THE DIFFERENCE

Dulce de leche and caramel are both made by boiling sugar with a milk product. In desserts, they can be used the same way; but the products do have differences.

Dulce de leche is a caramel spread and sauce* made by boiling heavy cream or milk with sugar, sometimes with a dash of cinnamon. Cajeta is a version of dulce de leche made with goat’s milk.

Caramel adds butter to the cream and sugar, and thus tastes buttery. It’s also lighter in color, while dulce de leche has a deeper flavor.

Here are more differences:

 
If you want a treatise on dulce de leche, we highly recommend this article from The Heart Of Food blog. We were wowed by the author’s experiments to develop eight different “strengths” of dulce de leche.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF DULCE DE LECHE

Dulce de leche originated in Argentina. The first historical reference is as a dessert served at a 1829 peace meeting between two military leaders, Juan Manuel de Rosas and his political rival, Juan Lavalle.

According to legend, dulce de leche was created by accident when Manuel de Rosa’s maid was cooking milk and sugar, and was unexpectedly called away from the stove. Upon her return, the mixture had transformed into a thick, brown consistency. And it was delicious!

From that point forward, the new dessert was referred to as dulce de leche: literally, sweet from milk (in actually, the recipe makes caramelized sweetened milk).

Simple to make, dulce de leche became a traditional Argentinian dessert that spread to other Latin American countries and to sweet tooths worldwide.

While it is called by other names depending on country, before the term became well-known in English it was called milk jam (confiture de lait in French) or milk candy.

When it first entered the American consciousness some 20 years ago, dulce de leche became the “it” flavor for cake and pastry fillings, dessert flavors (ice cream, cheesecake) and as spoon candy. (If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s what many of us do naturally: Eat something sweet straight from the jar.)

It’s used as a cake filling and topping, as well as a batter mix-in. It’s one of the three “leches” in a tres leches cake. You’ll find DDL bar cookies, banana bread, panna cotta, thumbprint cookies, churros, and on and on to DDL infinity.

People with a really sweet tooth spread dulce de leche on toast and other breads, not to mention pancakes and waffles.

For the latter, for ice cream or as a general dessert sauce, heat the dulce de leche to a syrup stage and drizzle it.
 

RECIPE #1: HOMEMADE DULCE DE LECHE

A small jar of dulce de leche is pricey. You can make your own at home simply with a can of sweetened condensed milk. The can acts as the top half of a double boiler.

 
See photo #7.

Here’s the oven technique for making dulce de leche:

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F with the rack in middle. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Set the pie plate in a roasting pan and add enough hot water to reach halfway up the side.

2. BAKE for 45 minutes, then check the water level. Add additional water as necessary, and bake another 45 minutes, or until the milk is thickened and brown. Remove the plate from the water bath and cool, uncovered.

3. REFRIGERATE, tightly covered, until ready to use. It will keep for up to 2 weeks (then it may start to lose flavor).
 
 
RECIPE #2: BANANAS FOSTER DULCE DE LECHE CREPE CAKE

This recipe is not for beginners, but if you must have it (as we did), it’s worth inviting the best cake baker you know to make it with you. (Or actually, make it as you watch. Thank you, R.G.)

Otherwise, here’s an easy naked layer cake recipe with bananas and cream cheese dulce de leche frosting.

For The Salted Dulce De Leche

 
For The Crêpes

 
For The Topping

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the dulce de leche. Bring a pot of water to a boil and place the can of sweetened condensed milk, unopened, on its side. The water must cover the top of the can at all times, so be prepared to pour in more boiling water from time to time. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 hours. As the label floats off, remove it from the pot. After 3 hours, remove the can from the water, allow to cool slightly, then open and stir in the salt. Set aside.

2. MAKE the crêpes. Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pulse all crêpe ingredients in a food processor until homogenous (do not overmix—it toughens the final product).

3. POUR the mixture ¼ cup at a time into the skillet. As soon as the batter hits the center of the pan, lift the pan from the stove entirely and roll in a circular motion so the batter moves evenly around the skillet and forms a circle. Cook for about 30 seconds, or until the crêpe begins to bubble all around and goes from a glossy batter to a matte surface.

4. FLIP the crêpe over with a spatula. Cook the second side for about 30 seconds more. Set aside on a large work surface to cool. Repeat the with remaining batter. You should have 25-30 crêpes.

5. ASSEMBLE the cake. Lay two crêpes on top of each other in the middle of a cake stand, making a sturdy base. Scoop a rounded tablespoon of dulce de leche onto the top crêpe and spread to the edges of the crêpe using a cake spatula or butter knife. It will be thin but there are many layers to go!

Continue stacking layer after layer of crêpe, dulce de leche, crêpe, dulce de leche. About every 5 layers, stack 2 crepes together in order to keep your cake sturdy. Soon you will have a crepe cake!

[1] A can of homemade dulce de leche. The recipe is below (photo © The Tough Cookie).

[2] The recipe for this amazing dulce de leche cake from Broma Bakery is below (photo © Broma Bakery).

[3] Want a dessert sauce? These blondies are served with dulce de leche sauce (photo © Valrhona).

[4] Or, layer the dulce de leche inside the brownie, blondie, cake, etc. (photo © Brown Eyed Baker).

[5] Dulce de leche as a cheese condiment, here with Bonne Bouche goat cheese from Vermont Creamery (photo © Vermont Creamery).

[6] Dulce de leche layer cake. Here’s the recipe from Winnish (photo © Winnish).

[7] Homemade dulce de leche, boiling sweetened condensed milk on the stove top (photo © The Heart Of Food).

[8] Are you inspired? Here’s the result when you make the recipe (photo © Broma Bakery).

[9] How about a dulce de leche molten lava cake? Here’s the recipe from Honest Cooking (photo © Honest Cooking).

7. WHIP the cream in a standing mixer until stiff peaks form. Scoop the whipped cream on top of cake, then scoop the Bananas Foster on top. Finish with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. If you’re not going to serve the cake in the short term, make stabilized whipped cream, which won’t deflate.
 
________________

*Depending on recipe proportions and cooking time, you can have caramel sauce or caramel candy. The sauce is firm at room temperature but liquifies when heated. The candy, cut into bite-size pieces, is chewy. Some people call it soft caramel or chewy caramel.
  

Are waffle cakes the next cake trend, following cake pops, ombre cakes, mug cakes and unicorn cakes?

We don’t know, because we’ve only come across them in an article published 18 months ago. No recipes have come over the transom; no waffle cake book has been published.

Instead of baking cake layers, you make waffles. It’s faster, and an easy option to make when you’re jonesing for a piece of cake.

So: Trend, who knows? Dessert, yes! Brunch, why not? Fun, definitely!

And you can add a candle to them for a birthday waffle cake.

This article from Pure Wow has photo links to these waffle cake recipes:

 
You don’t need a special occasion to make a waffle cake. You can even devise a “healthy” version with:

[2] Pumpkin pecan waffles: pumpkin waffles, maple buttercream and pecan-bourbon sauce. Here’s the recipe from Cookie Dough And Oven Mitt

 
What are you waiting for? Get out the waffle iron!
 
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WAFFLES.

[2] You can stuff the squash with grains (photo of grain bowl with sliced squash courtesy Good Eggs | SF).

[3] Another options: slices of roast delicata squash in a green salad (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

[4] Delicata squash (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

We get some of our favorite inspirational ideas from fine chefs. Today’s inspiration is from Michael White of Vaucluse in New York City.

Delicata squash is typically baked, but can also be sautéed or steamed. The flesh is known for its creamy flavor and texture, and you can eat the cooked rind.

The squash can be stuffed with meat, grains, vegetables or mixtures. The seeds of can be toasted and eaten, like pumpkin seeds, or used to garnish the dish.

In photo #1, Chef White baked the squash, filled it with a poached egg and surrounded it with sautéed chanterelles, baby beets and lardons in a red wine jus. Easy, peasy, just right for fall and winter.

We created a copycat version.
 
 
RECIPE: STUFFED DELICATA SQUASH CYLINDERS

You can stuff the squash with whatever you like. Most popular are grains and poached eggs, but you can also fill the cylinder with green salad.

We made the recipe in photo, #1 with mushrooms and baby beets, but you can use whatever vegetables you like, including brussels sprouts and pearl onions. We added canned chestnuts.

Among mushrooms, the yellow hue of chanterelles adds more to the plate than white mushrooms.

You can substitute another type of bacon for the lardons, or omit the meat entirely.

Make a larger quantity of vegetables if you want to serve more with the dish—a luncheon dish or main dinner course, for example (or if you want leftovers).

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
For The Sautéed Vegetables

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Place the lardons in a single layer on a baking pan and roast for 30 minutes until the bacon is crisp, tossing halfway through. Remove and drain.

2. LOWER the oven temperature to 400°F. Coat the bottom of a baking pan with a brush of olive oil (or, use the same pan as the lardons, for more bacon flavor.

3. CUT the squash as desired: in halves, cylinders (photo #1) or slices (photos # 2 and #3). Remove the seeds and pith, season with salt and pepper, and arrange on the pan (place halves flesh side down). Bake until a fork easily pierces the skin and flesh, about 25 minutes. Slices will cook more quickly.

3. FLIP the squash halfway through. If roasting halved squash, cook for 25 minutes, flip and and roast 5 minutes more. If you want grill marks, as in photo #1, you can take the extra step. It’s easy for a restaurant, which has the grill going as well as the stove and the oven. While the squash is cooking…

5. MAKE the jus. We made a faux jus: Instead of reducing stock, we added a tablespoon of red wine to the butter in the pan. Keep warm.

6. POACH the eggs.

7. ASSEMBLE. Assemble, garnish and serve. We warmed everything but the just-cooked-eggs in the microwave, 30 seconds, while the eggs were poaching.
 
 
HERE’S ANOTHER RECIPE FOR STUFFED DELICATA SQUASH, turning the cylinder into a “vase” of ingredients.
 
 
WHAT IS DELICATA SQUASH?
 
Delicata squash is a variety of winter squash that is cylindrical, with a creamy colored base and green or orange stripes. Unlike other winter squash varieties, its rind is thin (delicate), hence its name.

The entire squash family is indigenous to Central and North America. It was introduced to early European settlers by Native Americans.

In the context of thousands of years of squash cultivation, the delicata variety is quite new. It was first introduced by a seed developer in 1894. However, attractive and easy to cook as it is, it wasn’t widely grown due to susceptibility to mildew.

And it almost disappeared some 40 years after its introduction, following the Great Depression!

The reason there’s delicata today is thanks to Cornell University’s Department of Plant Breeding. In the early 2000s, a team bred a delicata that grew on bushes rather than vines, and was resistant to most known squash diseases. It is now the primary commercial cultivar.

Seed developers also have bred varieties with more sweetness, such as Sugar Loaf and Honey Boat.

Although consumed mature, like other winter squash, delicata actually belongs to the same species (Cucurbita pepo) as most types of summer squash. The species includes pattypan squash, yellow crookneck squash, yellow squash and zucchini. (The species also includes Jack-o’-lantern pumpkins.)