Wild Yeast

See this week’s yeast spottings…

Bon Appétit has invited food bloggers (including me, wow!) to participate in their Blog Envy Bake-Off, which features a lineup of holiday treats, mostly gorgeous and mostly from people who know how to bake dessert. Now, we know I don’t do a lot in the way of desserts, but an invitation from Bon Appétit cannot be taken lightly. There are, however, certain requirements to consider.

Bon Appétit’s requirement:

• Must be a holiday dessert.

My requirements:

• Must have yeast (either that or change my name to Wild Chemical Leavening).
• Must have fruit (hello, is it dessert without fruit?).
• Must be a dough I love (so when I screw up the first pass on the tart — did I mention I don’t do desserts? — I don’t mind mixing the dough again).
• Must be rustic (the culinary equivalent of “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature”).

This tart, made with a soft spiced pumpkin brioche crust, pumpkin seed (pepita) cream, and sweet-tart fall apples, fits the requirements, but is it worthy? I’ll leave that up to you. If you think so, I’d love it if you would vote for it here.

Note that the pumpkin brioche dough and pepita cream recipes make more than what you need for the tart. I used the extra of both to make cinnamon rolls — coming soon!

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See this week’s yeast spottings…

I don’t usually bake on request — I’m just curmudgeonly that way — but there are exceptions to everything.

Last weekend I visited North Carolina for a family meeting and was treated to fall leaf color and some wonderful Southern hospitality from my cousin P and her husband J. Grits, creamed home-grown corn, and barbecue complete with Southern-style cole slaw were just a few reasons why my palate was very happy I made that cross-country trip. When P mentioned that they were looking for a good focaccia recipe, I thought it was the least I could do.

I think I got the better end of that deal — thank you, thank you! — but the focaccia is still pretty good.

Focaccia can be crisp or soft, plain or topped, or even sweet. This one is soft, and delicious with a sprinkling of salt and fresh herbs.

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