Thursday, April 8, 2010

Orange Buttermilk Scones


 These buttery scones are tender and light with a sweet orange flavor. The sugar topping lends a nice crispy crunch. They are best eaten fresh out of the oven and are perfect as they are, no butter or jam necessary.

To get a head start for the morning I need them, I mix the flour/sugar mixture with the butter the night before and let it chill over night in the refrigerator. In the morning all I have to do is add the orange zest, the buttermilk and bake.
The simple orange zest recipe is our family favorite, but you could add a handful of dried cherries or cranberries, some chopped nuts, or any zest or extract to make these scones any flavor you desire.


Orange Buttermilk Scones
Adapted from Baking with Julia
3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
6 oz butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons orange zest.
For baking:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar



Preheat oven to 425F.
Mix together  flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add cold butter and mix with a pastry blender or fork. The mixture should resemble coarse corn meal; you should have some small (size of peas) chunks of butter (this is where I cover it with plastic wrap and leave it over night in the refrigerator). Mix in orange zest and buttermilk to form a soft dough. Gather the dough into a ball pressing it gently to make sure it holds together. Place dough on floured board; knead about 6-8 turns, divide the dough in half.  Roll each half of dough into a 1/2inch thick circle. Cut into six (or eight) wedges. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 425F for 10-12 minutes

Enjoy!
This was my entry for  Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.  Stop by and check out all of the tasty recipes.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Coconut Tea Cake


This week we had the choice of making Mocha -Walnut Marbled Bundt cake selected by Erin of When in Doubt Leave It At 350 or Coconut Tea Cake, chosen by Carmen of Carmen Cooks. For the coming Easter holiday we chose the Coconut Tea Cake.

We made the lime version and used mini bundt pans. Theses easy cakes were moist and tender, but despite doubling the amount of lime zest, the lime flavor was very faint and you wouldn't even know there was coconut in the recipe. Next time I would add citrus oil and/or coconut extract. This is a good basic recipe, and you could really add any number of extracts or oils to make it your own.
 
Coconut Tea Cakes
Baking: from my home to yours Dorie Greenspan
 
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons dark rum
3/4 cup shredded coconut
Pre heat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour  a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan or mini bundts.(I used 1/2 recipe for 6 mini bundts) Don't place on a baking sheet you want the heat to circulate through the inner tube.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Pour coconut milk into a small sauce pan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from heat, but keep warm.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick. and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum.  Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears..
Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a spatula just to make certain that all the ingredients are fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 60-65 minutes for regular bundt 20-25 for mini bunts or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Cool on. A wire rack for 10 minutes before unmolding cool to room temperature



This was really perfect served with just a dusting of confectioner's sugar. If you would like the recipe for the fabulous tea cake stop on over at Carmen's and  if you want to see what the other TWD bakers thought just visit our blogroll.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easter Hat Cookies


Easter bonnets are quintessentially Easter.  When I was a small girl, getting a new Easter hat was a big part of Easter for my mom, my sisters and me. Some how though, through the years we changed from wearing Easter hats to eating them.

  Many, many  years ago  in the William Sonoma catalog I saw Easter bonnet cookies, a round sugar cookies decorated as an Easter bonnet. I admired those cookies and I thought they were pretty expensive, so I decided to make my own.  The hat brim is a crispy lemon sugar cookie and the crown is a piece of  marzipan covered in  poured fondant and decorated with icing ribbons and flowers. Both the fondant and marzipan recipes are from the Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  These cute little hats  have become an Easter tradition for our family and friends.

I won't lie and tell you they are easy to make. It is difficult to work with poured fondant. Keeping it thin enough to flow around the cookies before it cools and hardens can be tricky. But the end result is well worth the time spent. 

Hat Cookies
 ¾ cup butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated lemon find
3 cups AP flour
¼ teaspoon salt.

Beat butter until soft. Gradually and the sugar and blend until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon rind.
Sift flour and salt together. Stir the flour gradually into the butter mixture until well blended. The last of the flour may have to be kneaded in by hand. Chill the dough for several hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll the dough very thin and cut cookies using the 3 in round scalloped edge cutter. I use a sleeve on my rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking Place on silpat covered sheet and bake about 8 minutes.

Poured fondant
Cake Bible
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup corn syrup
optional 1 tsp.vanilla or 1/4 tsp. almond extract

Food Processor
In a medium heavy saucepan combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Stop stirring and allow the syrup to cook to the soft -ball stage (238F).  Immediately pour syrup into the food processor.
Allow the syrup to cool to exactly 140F. About 25 to 35 minutes.Set a timer  Add the optional flavoring and process for 2 to 3 minutes or until the fondant becomes opaque.  Pour the fondant into a heatproof container, such as a 2cup glass measuring cup lined with a small heavy-duty plastic freezer bag. Close bag without sealing.  When completely cool and firm, expel the air, seal bag, remove from container. Store at room temperature for at least 24hours.





Marzipan
Cake Bible
7 ounces almond paste
3.5 ounces poured fondant flavored with almond extract (1/3 cup)
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process for a few seconds until blended. The marzipan will be in pieces  dump it onto a counter and knead until smooth.Wrap air tight and allow to rest 1 hour.


Royal Icing

2 tablespoons mergaine powder
4 tablespoon water
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar.
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of stand mixer. Beat until light and fluffy about 6 to 8 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary.




To assemble cookies:
Make a simple syrup : bring to a boil 1 cup of suagr with 1/2 cup water. As soon a the mixture boils remove form heat, pour into a heat proof cup.
Roll marzipan in to a log, with a diameter slightly smaller than size of a quarter.  Slice long into 3/8 inch slices. flatted slightly and round edges so the fondant slides over them.
Place each  marzipan crown  in the center of a cookie.
In a double boiler melt a small amount of the fondant with about 1 tablespoon of simple syrup. Once melted remove the double boiler  from  the heat but keep the fondant over the hot water. Color with gel colors to the desired color.  Add simple syrup a little at a time until fondant is thin enough to pour over cookies. If the fondant gets to cool and thick return pan to the heat for a minute or two.
Working quickly, spoon fondant over the cookie, starting in the center and working your way around the cookie. It takes practice to get a smooth even layer.
Allow the fondant to cool and harden for several hours or over night.
Decorate with royal icing.
printable recipe







Happy Easter!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers Orange Tian

Orange Tian

 The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. A tian is simple elegant layered dessert. A delicate  shortbread crust covered with marmalade, a fruity stabilized whipped cream,  and fruit pieces topped with a  caramel sauce.

The mandatory steps were: tart dough, caramel sauce, marmalade, stabilized whipped cream with marmalade folded in we also added a dash of triple sec to the cream to boost the citrus flavor,  and fruit pieces. Each step by itself was not difficult and the end result was greater than the sum of the parts. The secret to this recipe is that it is assembled upside down. The tart dough is cut  and baked into individual cookies the size of your mold. The fruit is marinated in caramel sauce than placed in the mold and covered with the whipped cream layer.   Marmalade is spread on ones side of cookie crust, than placed in the mold marmalade side to the cream. Place in the freezer to set. Serve with a drizzle of caramel sauce.


The result is a luscious light, creamy and refreshing dessert.  Perfect for summertime when you want something cool and fruity.  Of course you don't have to limit your fruit to citrus. Almost any fruit would be a winner.  I not sure that marinating the fruit in the caramel sauce did anything to enhance the flavor and I would probably omit this step in the future, except for fruits that oxidize (bananas, peaches and apples) with air contact. One other important step is to leave your tian in the freezer long enough to set the dessert so you can unmold it cleanly. Once unmolded store in the refrigerator, so the fruit doesn't freeze to hard chunks.
 
Orange Tian
Pate Sablee
2 egg yolks
2.8 oz (6TB) Sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4c plus 3 tbs.(3.5oz) butter
7oz (1 1/2c+2tbs) AP flour
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
 1. Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
2. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
3. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogeneous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
5. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.
6. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.
 Orange Marmalade
3.5oz (1/4c.+3TBS) orange juice
1 large orange cut into slices
Cold water enough to orange slice
5 grams pectin
Sugar  same weight as oranges after they are cooked
8 large oranges for segments
1. Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
2. Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.
3. Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
4. Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
5. Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don‘t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
6. In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
7. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
For the Orange Segments
1. For this step you will need 8 oranges.
2. Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.
Caramel
1 cup sugar
14oz orange juice(1.5 cups +2Tbs)
 Directions:
1. Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.
2. Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.
3. Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.
Cream
 1 cup heavy cream
3 tbs hot water
1 tsp gelatin
1 tbs confectioner’s sugar
1 tbs orange marmalade
 
1. In a small bowl, add the gelatin and hot water, stirring well until the gelatin dissolves. Let the gelatin cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream.
2- Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute.
3- Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatin slowly while beating continuously.
4- Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
Assembling the Dessert:
1. Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.
2. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
3. Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
4. Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
5. Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.
6. Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
7. Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.
8. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
9. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
10. Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.
To see what the other Daring Bakers did visit our blogroll at The Daring Kitchen

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos



TWD:  Jodie of  Beansy Loves Cake decided on Dulce de Leche Duos. A soft cakey cookies sandwiched together with a dulce de leche. I made my own dulce de leche using Alton Brown's recipe. It was the best dulce de leche that I've ever had.  So easy to make that I probably won't buy the canned variety again.

These rich and soft chewy cookies had a delicious brown sugar/caramel flavor. Although we liked the dulce de leche in the center the cookies were too big to be a sandwich cookie.  If they were smaller, a two bite cookie, that might be better. They were nice as a single cookie with a drizzle of dulce de leche, but storage became a problem since they were to sticky to stack.  Next time I would try adding toasted and chopped pecans to the batter or maybe just sprinkled on top before baking.


Thank You  Jodie for picking this cookie, I really loved the chewy texture and flavor of theses cookies, but I just feel that they are missing something, and I can't quite put my finger on it.  If you what to see what the other TWD bakers thought visit our blog roll.

Homemade Dulce de Leche
adapted from Alton Brown

1 quart whole milk
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the whole milk, sugar and vanilla  in a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat. When the sugar melts and the mixture starts to boil, add the baking soda and lower the heat to low until the mixture is barely simmering. Cook for an hour, stirring occasionally (don't try to incorporate the foam that forms on the top of the milk). Remove the vanilla bean and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is a deep caramel color and has reduced to about 1 cup, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Whirl in the blender and than pour through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup or clean container, cover and refrigerate for up to one month.
Printable Recipe

Dulce de leche duos
by Dorie Greenspan from Baking From My Home to Yours

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups store-bought dulce de leche, plus more for filling
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add the 3/4 cup of dulce de leche and both sugars and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks a little curdled- it will smooth out when the flour mixture goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets, using a heaping teaspoon of dough for each cookie and leaving 2 inches between them. Bake the cookies 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front the back at the midway point. The cookies should be honey brown with a light sugar crust, but they will still be soft, so remove the sheets from the oven but don’t touch the cookies for another minute or two. Then, using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure you cool the baking sheets before spooning the dough onto them. When the cookies are completely cool, spread the flat bottoms of half the cookies with a small amount of dulce de leche, and sandwich with the flat sides of the remaining cookies.
Makes about 30 sandwich cookies

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tangerine Frozen Yogurt


Hot days call for a refreshing treat. Since  I had a few tangerines still lingering on my tree and I  have that new ice cream machine I made tangerine frozen yogurt. It's really doesn't get any easier than this.  You could use any fruit juice or puree you like. 

Tangerine Frozen Yogurt

1 1/2 cup Tangerine juice
1 cup yogurt ( I used Greek)
1 cup  milk( I used non fat)
1/2 to 1 cup sugar - to taste

Mix all together . If needed add a splash of lemon juice to your fruit to perk up the flavor. With fruits that oxidize such as peaches use lemon to prevent color change.
Freeze in you ice cream machine according manufacturer's instructions.
printable recipe





Sunday, March 14, 2010

Guinness Chocolate Mousse

A salute to the Irish

When my children were small we celebrated every special day from Ground Hog's Day to Veteran's day  with a special meal or treat.  The idea was that we would be groundhogs, veterans or Irish for the day. On Ground Hog's Day, we had  trail mix of nuts and dried fruit, something a groundhog  might store in his burrow. On Veteran's day we had chipped beef on toast, something my father, a veteran of World War II, remembered eating while in the Navy. On St Patrick's Day  we had colcannon, boxty,  Irish stew and Irish soda bread.  But what could be more Irish than a mug of Guinness? 

A shot of Guinness Chocolate Mousse

Guinness is definitely an acquired taste one that, as a beverage, has eluded both Mr. Mimi and myself.  The recipe for the Guinness Chocolate Mousse appeared in our local news paper several years ago.  Smooth, creamy and slightly bitter chocolate mousse topped with a  sweet white chocolate mousse .  It is the perfect way to have your Guinness and be Irish for the day.

Black and White Chocolate Mousse
adapted from San Diego Union Tribune

Black Chocolate Mousse
8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped
4 oz unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup Guinness stout
3 large eggs separated
1 cup heavy cream

White Chocolate Mouse
6 oz white chocolate chopped
1 cup heavy cream

Black Chocolate Mousse:
In top of double boiler heat chocolate, butter salt and sugar.  Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the Guinness and then whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Continue stirring over heat for 2 minutes.
Remove chocolate mixture from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. I put mine in an ice water bath to speed up the cooling.
In a small bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form.  Fold  whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. With clean beater beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fill individual serving dishes 3/4 full with the chocolate mousse and refrigerate.

White Chocolate Mousse
Melt white chocolate and 1/2 cup cream, in a small sauce pan or in the microwave. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool to room temperature about 30 minutes.  Beat reaming cream until stiff peaks form and fold into the white chocolate mixture.  spoon mixture over the top of the chocolate mousse and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or over night.



Thursday, March 11, 2010

Tres Leches Cake


Where I live in Southern California  we are lucky to be 20 minutes from the beach, an hour or so from the mountains and about 2 hours from the desert. If we want mountains with enough snow to ski on we do need to travel a bit farther.
 Last weekend we took a short camping trip to the  desert. After weeks of rainy weather the desert was green and the plants were just beginning to blossom. Hard to believe but on our on trip home, we had to drive through  snow flurries.


 Late winter and early spring shows the desert at it's finest,  the Ocotillos  on the left are starting to bloom.

Ocotillo blossom
On this  trip I was assigned dessert for Saturday night's dinner.  I needed a dessert that would travel well and stay moist in the dry desert air. I had been wanting to make a tres leches cake for sometime, but the  traditional whipped cream topping wasn't going to make it on a camping trip. Teanna at  Spork or Foon,  posted a tres leches cake which she topped with dulce de leche.  This seemed like the perfect choice. I shopped around for a recipe that would work for me and found one at the Food Network.  I have made some changes to the original  recipe and my version appears below.

Tres Leches Cake
adapted from Food Network
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
6 large eggs, separated
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 can Dulce de Leche

Directions

  1.  Position rack in bottom 1/3 of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with the shortening. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour to the greased pan and shake it around to coat the entire pan with the flour. Shake out excess flour. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sugar with the mixer running, beating until stiff peaks form.
  4. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg is added.
  5. In a small mixing bowl, sift together the 2 cups flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the batter in stages, alternating with the whole milk, beginning and ending with the flour. (Do this quickly so that the batter does not lose its volume.) Add 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven.
  6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Combine the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and 2/3 cups of the heavy cream.
  8.  Pour 1/2 of the  milk mixture over the warm cake.
  9. When the cake has soaked up most of the liquid, pour the remaining half of the milk mixture over the cake, and cool to room temperature.
  10. Mix remaining cream with dulce de leche. Spread over milk soak cake, cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.



This cake was moist without being soggy. When served cold, the texture was firm, but at room temperature it softened up and became creamy.  This is a cake that you could easily change the flavor of by adding citrus zest to both the cake batter and the soaking milk  or by replacing some of the milk with  fruit juice, Kahlua, Framboise or Grand Marnier.