KAREN FISCHER'S COCONUT MACAROONS

FROM KARENFISCHER, PRESIDENT, PASIFIKA ARTISTS NETWORK

“Because sometimes you just need a cookie.”

— Karen Fischer

SERVES:
9

PREP TIME:
20 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
40 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 C sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 C sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (or you can substitute almond flour)
1/8 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, at room temp
½ tsp vanilla
Optional chocolate-dipped: 2 oz bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, or 1/3 C chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine coconut, sugar, flour, and salt.

2. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form.

3. Mix egg whites and vanilla into the coconut mixture, and mix well.

4. Drop by teaspoonful onto parchment-covered cookie sheet; or grease well (coconut mixture is sticky). Makes about 18-20 cookies.

5. Bake at 325° for 19-20 min, till cookies are golden brown.

6. Remove carefully from baking sheet and cool on wax-paper covered wire rack.

For chocolate-dipped:

1. While macaroons are cooling, melt chocolate in a double-boiler (or nest a small saucepan into a larger saucepan of boiling water). Stir occasionally till smooth.

2. Once the chocolate is melted, use a knife to spread the bottom of each cookie with a thin layer of chocolate and place it back on wax paper to cool completely. You can also refrigerate till chocolate is set and cookie peels easily off of the wax paper.

Date Nut Bread

FROM AUDREY ROSS, FORMER DANCER, NOW DIRECTOR OF NYC-BASEDAUDREY ROSS PUBLICITY, SPECIALIZING IN DANCE EVENTS

“An Hawai’i-centric recipe!”

— Karen Fischer

SERVES:
4-6

PREP TIME:
40 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 50 MIN, plus cooling

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INGREDIENTS

1 stick butter, plus a little for greasing the pan
1 c. pitted diced dates
3/4 c. dark seedless raisinsr
1/4 c. golden seedless raisins
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. boiling water
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
3/4 c. walnuts broken into small pieces

DIRECTIONS

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. butter a standard loaf pan ( 9 1/2 by 5 1/2 by 2 3/4 inches). Line the bottom with wax paper. Butter and sprinkle with flour. Shake out the excess flour.

3 . Put the dates and raisins into a mixing bowl.

4. Dissolve the baking soda with the boiling water and pour over the date mix.

5. Cream together the sugar and stick of butter. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Add the flour and mix well. Add the date mix, including the liquid. Add the walnuts, Please note that this will be a quite liquid batter.

6. Pour mix into pan and smooth over the top. Bake from 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until the top of the cake is dark brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool a few minutes and unmold.

It's a bit of work, but so worth it!

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

FROM KARENFISCHER, PRESIDENT, PASIFIKA ARTISTS NETWORK

“An Hawai’i-centric recipe!”

— Karen Fischer

SERVES:
8

PREP TIME:
30 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 15 MIN

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING

½ fresh pineapple, peeled*
½ to ¾ stick butter
½ to ¾ brown sugar
**use butter and brown sugar amount according to taste, balancing ratio of butter and brown sugar

DIRECTIONS FOR THE TOPPING

1. Cut pineapple in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4 in-3/8 in thick slices; remove core.

2. Melt butter in a skillet. Stir in brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat till well-combined, about 4 min. Remove from heat and spread mixture evenly over bottom of skillet.

3. Layer pineapple on top of sugar mixture, overlapping pieces in concentric circles. If you are using thinner slices, use greater overlap.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE BATTER

1½ C all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ stick butter, softened
¾ C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp dark rum or ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ C pineapple juice or orange juice
Need a 10-inch enameled cast-iron skillet (my preference) or well-seasoned cast iron skillet.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CAKE BATTER

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Sift together flour, spices, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. 

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Beat in vanilla and rum or balsamic vinegar.

6. Gradually add in half the flour mixture, and beat at low speed until just blended.

7. Beat in juice, then mix in remaining flour mixture, beating until just blended.

8. Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. 

9. Bake until golden and the tester comes out clean, about 45 min.

10. Let stand in skillet for 5 min. Then invert a plate over the skillet – make sure its diameter is bigger than the skillet diameter – hold skillet and plate together tightly, and invert cake onto the plate. Replace any sugar or pineapple left in the skillet.

11. Serve at room temperature. Can be served a la mode.

**Preparing fresh pineapple. Slice off top and bottom with a sharp knife. Stand pineapple vertically, and slice off peel (2-3 inch width at a time), turning till completely peeled. For this recipe, slice in half vertically, place flat side down, then slice crosswise to desired thickness. Once each crosswise pineapple slice is cut, remove the semi-circle core with a paring knife.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH HONEY-ROASTED ALMONDS AND CHILE

FROM ANDREA SNYDER, CO-FOUNDER/CO-DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN DANCE ABROAD

Original recipe from Laurie Ellen Pellicano, The New York Times

Mix until it is all pea size, then add water and mix until a little sticky, but can be rolled out on flour surface with out falling apart. Put into pie shell and bake for about 20 minutes or until brown.

SERVES:
8

PREP TIME:
30 MIN, plus chilling

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 15 MIN

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH

1 ¾ cups/225 grams all-purpose flour
¼ cup/30 grams whole-wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1 ⅔ cups/365 grams light brown sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
⅓ cup/80 grams unsalted creamy almond butter
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup/170 grams milk chocolate chips (or roughly chopped milk chocolate bar, disc or fèves)
1 cup/140 grams honey-roasted almonds, roughly chopped

INGREDIENTS FOR THE COATING
¼ cup/50 grams natural or organic cane sugar (or regular granulated sugar)
¼ teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red-chile flakes) or similar mild flaky chile, such as Aleppo or silk chile
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Flaky sea salt

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, light brown sugar and fine sea salt. Using the paddle attachment, cream for 3 minutes on medium until light and fluffy, scraping the mixer and bowl as needed to ensure the butter is well incorporated.

Add the almond butter and beat for 1 minute until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed.

In a small bowl with a fork, whisk the egg and egg yolk to combine. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, stream the egg into the creamed butter until fully incorporated, followed by the honey. Stop and scrape, return to medium speed and beat for another minute.

Add the milk chocolate and almonds to the mixer and set to low speed just to combine. Turn off the mixer. Add the reserved flour mixture, then blend on low just until incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a spatula, fold the dough over in the bowl a few times.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, scoop rounded tablespoons or 1-ounce scoops of cookie dough. (You’ll finish shaping them later.) Chill the scooped dough in the fridge for 1 hour until firm. (If baking later, freeze scooped dough on baking sheets, then transfer to a resealable freezer bag or container. When ready to bake, remove as many cookies as you intend to bake, let warm slightly, then proceed.)

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange two racks in upper and lower middle positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Prepare the coating: In a small bowl, stir together cane sugar, gochugaru and cinnamon.

Remove chilled dough from the fridge and form each ball into a 1-inch-thick puck, rounding the edges and flattening the top and bottom. Drop each puck in the sugar mix as you go, flipping until fully coated.

Place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart (about 15 cookies per sheet). Sprinkle each with a pinch of flaky sea salt, crushing between your fingertips as you distribute it.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, rotate each sheet tray and lightly rap it to force the cookies to settle. (You should see craggy eruptions on the surface.) Bake the cookies for 2 to 3 more minutes, until the cookies are just golden at the edges but still slightly gooey in the center.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

MOM'S SOUR CREAM APPLE PIE

FROM TONY WAAG, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN TAP DANCE FOUNDATION

“I am truly someone you would call a pie guy! I LOVE pie! My mom always made me a pie for my birthday. Not a cake. A pie! Actually, she would often bake TWO, one for me and then one for the rest of the family. Coconut Cream, Banana Cream, Chocolate Cream, Apple, Peach, Cherry, Lemon Meringue, Rhubarb, Pecan, Pumpkin, Peanut Butter, even Mincemeat. But my absolute favorite pie to this day is a Sour Cream Apple. In 1980 my mom (Norma Jean Dinkelman) sent me this recipe. (See original index cards for the crust AND the pie)

I have made dozens of these over the years, for birthdays, holidays, even for a pie ‘off’ once, which I won of course.”

— Tony Waag

SERVES:
8

PREP TIME:
30 MIN, plus refrigerating

TOTAL TIME:
1 HR 45 MIN

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING

2 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 unbeaten egg
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg

DIRECTIONS FOR THE FILLING

Beat all filling ingredients to thin batter.

Blend in 2 cups of diced apples, pour into the unbaked shell (see best pie crust below). Preheat oven to 400 degrees, for 15 minutes. 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven.
Note: I actually use 1/2 butter & 1/2 Crisco!
Note: And that’s 1/2 tsp of salt NOT 1 tsp!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup of butter (don’t melt, use cold butter)

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING

Mix and sprinkle over pie. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PIE CRUST
2 cups of sifted flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup of Crisco
1/4 cup of Water

DIRECTIONS FOR THE PIE CRUST

Mix until it is all pea size, then add water and mix until a little sticky, but can be rolled out on flour surface with out falling apart. Put into pie shell and bake for about 20 minutes or until brown.

Tony Waag’s mom’s original index card recipe

Sas Selfjord, Director of the Vancouver International Tap Dance Festival & Tony Waag at a “Pie-Off” in 2014

LINZERTORTE

FROM JEANNE BRESCIANI, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ISADORA DUNCAN INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE

ADAPTED FROM CRAIG CLAIBORNE’S THE NEW YORK TIMES COOKBOOK TO BE GLUTEN AND SUGAR-FREE

“The torte does not need refrigeration and makes a good breakfast food, tea time delight, or dessert, and is particularly nutritious with all organic ingredients. I have served this to our dancers during rehearsal breaks at Tempio di Danza in High Falls, New York for decades. So after a recent annual Carnevale di Venezia tour, some of the company and I stopped on the way home in Bavaria to see some gorgeous art, visit some fairytale castles and scout out Linzertorte in its original habitat. We expected it everywhere and discovered it nowhere, making our home wrought version more precious to us than ever. Taste and enjoy!”

— Jeanne Bresciani

SERVES:
4+

PREP TIME:
45 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
2 HRS

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INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sifted barley and/or brown rice flour
1½ cups unpeeled whole almonds
½ cup pure maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 egg yolks
1 jar sugarless fruit juice sweetened raspberry jam
1 egg white, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325 degree F oven.

2. Grate the almonds in a food processor until well crumbled but not fine.

3. Add the butter and flour and process to a thick, well combined mixture.

4. In a small bowl mix the maple syrup with the cloves, cinnamon, and egg yolks and add to the flour mixture in the food processor, and mix until well blended.

5. Remove the doughy batter to wax paper and chill for one hour or freeze for future use well covered.

6. Turn 2/3 of the dough into a 9-inch ungreased springform pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough over the bottom and halfway up the sides.  Spread the bottom with jam.

7. Roll the remaining dough into 4-inch logs and flatten with your fingers lattice style over the jam around the torte from the center to circumference like spokes of a wheel.  Fasten to the dough around the rim of the pan by pressing lightly.

8. Brush with the egg white and bake on a lower rack of the oven with a cookie sheet placed on a rung one inch below the torte to catch any buttery drippings.

9. Bake for up to one hour and 15 minutes or for as little as 35-40 minutes, if in a convection oven.  Set the pan on a cooling rack before removing the rim of the pan.

PEAR WALNUT CAKE

FROM STEPHEN MILLS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, BALLET AUSTIN

SERVES:
4+

PREP TIME:
45 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
4 HR 15 MIN

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
3 ripe but firm Bosc pears (about 8 ounces each)

DIRECTIONS FOR THE TOPPING

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Pour melted butter over the bottom of the pan and swirl to evenly coat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over melted butter.

Peel, halve, and core pears. Set aside 1 pear half and reserve for other use. Cut the remaining 5 pear halves into 4 wedges each. Arrange pears in a circular pattern around the cake pan with tapered ends pointing inward. Arrange two smallest pear wedges in the center.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE

1 cup walnuts, toasted
½ cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CAKE

Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a food processor until walnuts are finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer walnut mixture to a bowl.

Process eggs and sugar in now-empty processor until very pale yellow, about 2 minutes. With the processor running, add melted butter and oil in a steady stream until incorporated. Add walnut mixture and pulse to combine, 4 to 5 pulses. Pour batter evenly over pears (some pear may show through; cake will bake up over fruit).

Bake until the center of the cake is set and bounces back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes - 1 hour 15 minutes, rotating the pan after 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully run paring knife or offset spatula around sides of the pan. Invert cake onto a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet; discard parchment. Let the cake cool for about 2 hours. Transfer to a serving platter, cut into wedges, and serve.

RUM BALLS

FROM PAT TAYLOR, FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, JAZZANTIQUA DANCE & MUSIC ENSEMBLE

“A favorite no-bake treat!”

— Pat Taylor

SERVES:
15+

PREP TIME:
15 MIN

TOTAL TIME:
45 MIN

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INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs - crush or grind (about 50 cookies)
1/4 cup dark rum (the cheaper, the better)
1/4 cup honey
8 oz (2 cups) ground pecans (can use walnuts instead)
2 tbs (or to taste) Cocoa Powder
Powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients, except sugar; blend thoroughly. Shape into small balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll in sugar. Store in a covered tin or another tightly covered container. Makes about 2-1/2 dozen.

Tip: If possible, make several days in advance.