Nielsen-Massey is highlighting a few of our favorite chefs and creators who authentically and fearlessly share their diverse backgrounds and experiences through their daily cooking and baking with their followers. This week, we are thrilled to introduce you to Alex Hill, who keeps her followers hungry for more, with drool-worthy recipes inspired by her Puerto Rican roots.
Whether Alex (@justaddhotsauce_) is sharing tips and tricks for grilling the juiciest steak to woo your significant other or sharing a pizza recipe perfect for curing that midnight craving, she delivers real-time content ideal for the everyday cook that may be intimidated by cooking and baking. And yes, she recommends adding hot sauce to everything.
Today on the blog, she shares her copycat recipe of a notable fast-food chain dessert that serves nostalgia and pairs beautifully with a side of ice cream.
1. Please share with us how you began your journey into baking and the culinary arts.
I originally started baking but had to switch to savory cooking because my dyslexia made baking too hard for me (but I still love it, and my sweet tooth is bad!)
I started cooking around 11 or 12 years old as an outlet for me because I was super shy as a child. Cooking and being in the kitchen gave me confidence. Food brings people together, creates community, and spreads love to your loved ones. Simply put, cooking is love.
2. When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
When I was 12, I knew cooking was where I could be myself and create a community around it!
3. Tell us the story of the recipe you chose and what it means to you.
In college, my friends and I always got late-night apple pies from a fast-food chain down the street. I am still obsessed with them and now make my recipe constantly. It’s nostalgic!
4. What’s your favorite way to use vanilla, and why?
I don’t even measure vanilla precisely. It’s always good vibes when I use vanilla because anything with vanilla comes out great regardless!
5. What are you excited about right now? Any new projects?
I’m just really excited about this year! Keep cooking and growing!
6. Who are other culinary professionals you follow that we should all know?
Jenneh Kaikai of Pelah Kitchen (@pelahkitchen) in Brooklyn! She creates the most beautiful cakes using fresh flowers & dried fruits and has the warmest spirit!
Alex serves up more delicious (and fun) recipes on her website and invites her followers into her kitchen on her YouTube series Hot Sauce at Home.
Ingredients
• 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into bite size pieces
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Dash of nutmeg (Nutmeg is strong, so you don’t need a lot!)
• ⅛ tsp cardamom
• ½ lemon juiced
• Dash of kosher salt
• ½ tsp cornstarch and 2 tbsps of water whisked together
• 1 store bought pie crust, thinned out a little bit with a rolling pin or wine glass *wink
• Cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top (I use raw sugar and cinnamon combination)
• Egg wash (1 egg and sprinkle of water whisked together)
Preheat oven to 425°.
Add the apples, brown sugar, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, and lemon juice in a pan. Let the apples cook down for about 10-15 minutes. You still want the apples to be semi-firm and not mushy, so watch them.
When the apples are to your desired texture, add the cornstarch slurry. This adds a thickener, so your apple mixture gets slightly thicker.
Let the apples cool down before you add them to your pie crust.
Roll out the pie crust a tad to thin out the crust, so you get more rectangles. Divide into five or six rectangles. (Note: you will get about three from the original rolled-out crust, combine the scraps, and then get two more rectangles.)
Spoon some of the apple mixture off-center, fold it over, and crimp or seal it shut. Then, with a sharp knife, add three slits on top and brush with some egg wash and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the crust is golden brown!
Serve with vanilla ice cream!
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