Phyllo redux

I just removed an apple tart from the oven, something quite improvised that satisfies on a number of levels. I downloaded a recipe for a low-fat apple tart that uses phyllo dough, plus a homemade syrup to replace the usual butter and sugar.
I had the apples sliced and ready to go, but the phyllo dough I had removed from the freezer to thaw slightly was obviously over the hill. It refused to unroll in sheets, instead tearing into parchment fragments.
Undeterred, I placed the shards in the bottom of the glass pie plate to cover the surface and poured part of my already prepared syrup over it. The syrup contained:
1/3 cup Da Vinci sugar-free pumpkin pie syrup with Splenda
1/3 cup sugar-free maple syrup with Splenda
1/4 cup agave syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dried lemon zest
1/3 cup white wine
I placed 4 cored and sliced apples as the medium layer, then managed to cover the top with 3-4 semi-intact pieces of phyllo that had thawed after they still remained sealed in a waxed paper cylinder in the badly outdated phyllo box.
I tucked them in over the apples slices and poured the remaining syrup over them, tucking in the edges and adding a few squiggles of Smart Squeeze, which I refer to as "faux butter."
Into the oven it went at 350 for about 25 minutes. I checked it, and cranked up the temperature the last 10 minutes to 375.
It had browned, and the ingredients had melded with the other ingredients to form a delightfully rich cohesion. A spoonful of Umpqua low-fat vanilla ice cream with Splenda was added while still warm. Ersatz sin.
I tried something similar with phyllo last Thanksgiving using home-canned green tomato mincemeat. However, the syrup component was not yet in play, and it was a bit dry and pasty.
Now I have a magic combination to try. While there are not enough green tomatoes this year to attempt another batch of green tomato mincemeat, I have two remaining pints lurking on the shelf. They will be sacrificed.

A tale of three gingers

Having gone through most of the Thanksgiving leftovers, I had a hankering for something that could be enjoyed right out of the oven. An e-mail link to a recipe for three-ginger gingerbread had me wondering if I could create something similar that Mom and I could enjoy.
The online recipe called for beer, so I substituted white wine. With eight inches of snow blanketing everything and a sheen of icy silver thaw building, plus a furnace on the fritz, there was no way I was getting out of the driveway. And so, with nothing better to do, I improvised on the online riff and came up with:

Three-Gingerbread
(Low-fat, Sugar-free)
Set oven at 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together:

1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup low-fat Bisquick
3/4 cup erythritol (I suppose another sugar substitute would also work)
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ginger
Finely chop small piece (1" by 1/2") sugared ginger

After thoroughly stirring together the above ingredients and fluffing them a bit, add:
1/2 cup blackstrap or dark molasses
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup Eggbeaters (or two eggs)
2 T. canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup white wine or good beer
2 tsp. grated fresh (I use frozen) ginger root

Stir together until ingredients are incorporated. Do not overmix. Spray two cake pans and distribute batter equally. Bake about 30 minutes. Check center for springiness before removing from the oven.
Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Alas, we were out of anything cool and white to throw on top, but it was quite good served warm out of the oven. I woke up in the middle of the night tasting a bit of ginger at the back of my throat, although I had brushed my teeth. That was not necessarily a bad thing, particularly with the furnace out.

While I was the baker at Kantishna, I often made my grandmother's recipe for gingerbread. It was especially good topped with whipped cream spiked with some of my vanilla bean brandy, kept hidden on a back shelf from the chefs, who would have snagged it in a heartbeat.

Grandma Smith's Gingerbread

Pour one cup boiling water over 1 cup shortening. Add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup sorghum molasses, 2 well-beaten eggs and beat well.
Add 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1-1/2 tsp. ginger, 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Beat smooth, and bake in greased rectangular cake pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Serve warm with whipped cream.

These day, shortening is verboten. I don't think it would be the same with butter; I suppose canola would work. The recipe card for this is properly stained and spotted, so it has made the rounds.