Sunday, August 7, 2011
Cinnamon Peach Preserves - SMS
As SMS draws to a close and I reflect on all of the recipes we've made, I contemplate which one's were my favorites. These preserves are in my top five. One of the reasons it's my favorite is because preserves have always been one of those recipes I wanted to make but thought it was too difficult. This recipe has shown me making preserves easy and fun. The flavor combinations are endless.
Summer brings beautiful, juicy peaches to the Midwest, making this the perfect August recipe. One of the unique things about Melissa's recipe is she uses Granny Smith apples instead of pectin. I added a bit of vanilla bean paste to this mixture, right before spooning it into the jars. The vanilla blends nicely with the cinnamon and peach flavors.
Our host for this week is Tessa of The Cooking Chemist. Tessa was the first blogger I "met" who lived in my town. I immediately became a follower and enjoy her blog. She's since graduated from pharmacy school and moved to Phoenix but I still follow her blog. You'll find this delicious jam recipe on her blog and you can check out the other SMS bloggers here!
I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - Revisited - SMS
I made this week's SMS recipe last Fall. I've given several jars to friends and everyone raves about it! Funny how I always thought jam was so hard to make. If you've never made jam, give this recipe a try. It's easy and the flavor is amazing!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Irish Soda Bread & A Celebrity Cook-Along!!!
The instructions in Melissa's recipe are to knead the dough lightly, adding a little more flour if necessary. I found this dough to be VERY sticky, so I chose to add a little more flour and use the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid. Much as I've tried, I've never mastered the art of kneading by hand. After kneading for a minute or two and adding a few tablespoons of flour, I still found the dough to be sticky. Rather than make this bread in round loaves on a cookie sheet, as Melissa suggests, I used a loaf pan. As I turned the dough into the pan, I was really hoping the bread was going to turn out. After all I was hosting and I didn't want to be posting about one of my flops!
I checked the bread after 30 minutes and it wasn't done. I continued baking in 5 minute increments until at 45 minutes the wooden skewer came out clean. After the bread cooled, I made a cup of Chai Tea and tried a slice. It's a delicious, hearty bread that would pair perfectly with soup, stew or even Corned Beef and Cabbage.
This is our SMS recipe for March 20th. Yes, I am posting a little early. You'll find the other SMS baker's results here on the 20th. I am also linking this to the St. Patrick's Day Blog crawl at Cuisine Kathleen's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday's, Tuesday's at the Table.
Irish Soda Bread
From: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book
Yield: One 3-pound LoafIngredients:
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup black currants
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional)
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilkDirections:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
In a medium bowl, combine the raisins and currents. Pour boiling water over to cover and set aside to reconstitute. In a bowl of of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cloves. Add the cold butter pieces and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the caraway seeds, if using, and mix to blend. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl to combine thoroughly. Do not over mix. Drain the raisins and currants thoroughly. Add them to the dough and mix on low speed for 20 seconds.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Kneed the dough gently, until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Using a little flour, if needed, form the dough into one large round - or divide it in half to form two small rounds.
Place the round (rounds) on the prepared baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, cut the traditional "X" cutting about 1 1/2 inches deep into the top. Bake for 20 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes for the large loaf, or 10 minutes for the smaller loaves. The loaves will be golden, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center wil come out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Irish soda bread is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for two days. For longer storage, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to five days, or freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to three weeks. Defrost still wrapped at room temperature.
Last by not least, I am joining Lynn at Happier Than A Pig in Mud for her Celebrity Cook-along. Her cook-along is featuring the recipes of Ina Garten. I enjoy Ina's recipes and had a hoped to find the time to make a new one for this event but out of town guests and daylight savings time got the best of me. I'm linking to an earlier recipe I made, Ina's Granola Bars. If you haven't made them, give them a try. They're delicious!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Chocolate Pudding - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
I love dessert! It's my favorite food group! I make a lot of desserts from scratch. Pudding, however, I don't think I have ever made from scratch. When I saw this weeks SMS recipe was Chocolate Pudding, I knew I wanted to participate. I also realized pudding is on my Top 50 list, so apparently this isn't the first time it occurred to me I'd never made pudding from scratch.
I made 1/4 recipe and ended up with 2 five ounce ramekins. The recipe called for checking pudding after 45 minutes. To be safe, I checked after 40. Was it done? It didn't appear soupy but didn't really look done. Melissa suggests using an instant read thermometer and if it reads between 150 - 155, it's done. Okay, 152! Interesting though the top of my pudding doesn't appear smooth like I would expect it to look. I wonder if I cooked it too long.
The pudding is denser and thicker than I expect a pudding to be. The flavor is nice, with just the right amount of chocolate. I liked it but I didn't love it!
Thanks to Leslie of Lethally Delicious for choosing this week's recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog. If you want to see the other SMS baker's pudding, you can find the links to their blogs here!
I'm hosting SMS in two weeks, Irish Soda Bread!!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Rum Truffles - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
All of the truffle recipes I am familiar with contain cream. Melissa's recipe calls for egg yolks. Egg yolks, seriously? Concerned that if I left the egg yolk out, the truffles wouldn't turn out properly, I decided to go for it. I quartered the recipe and ended up with seven truffles. These have a rich chocolate flavor with just a hint of rum. The egg yolk? I couldn't tell it was in the truffles. If you like truffles, give these a try. They're easy to make and are a beautiful treat! You can find the recipe at Nina's Cupcakes. Thanks for a great pick this week, Nina! Check out the other SMS bakers truffles here!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Speakeasy - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
I did some searching to try and figure out why this is called a Speakeasy Cake. I didn't find anything, so I guess it's because the cake has brandy it in. I made a half recipe and baked it in large muffin tins. I'd hoped to be able to use half of the cakes for our Sacher Torte, a version of this recipe, on February 6th. Notice I said I'd hoped to be able use half of them. I think where I went wrong was probably somewhere around the mixing or folding of the egg whites. My cakes didn't rise very much and then sunk in the middle. Melissa's instructions say if you open the oven too soon, the cake will fall. The baking time for the full size recipe is 70 minutes. Unsure of just how long to bake them in this size pan, I checked them at 35 minutes and they were overdone! So much for cutting them in half and using them for the Sacher Torte. Not sure they were tall enough anyway to cut in half but for sure they were too crunchy. :)
Deciding to make the best of it, I made the ganache and frosted the cakes. Seriously chocolate ganache makes even the most overdone cakes taste great!!
You can find this week's recipe and Jeannette's beautiful cake at The Whimsical Cupcake. If you want to check out some of the other SMS baker's cakes, you can find the links here.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sweet Melissa Sunday's & A New Mac
I wanted to find a computer that was really portable, light and easy to take along on vacation or wherever I go. The Apple MacBook Air seemed to fit the bill, perfectly! My concern was could I make the switch from a PC to a Mac? I called my son and asked his opinion since he'd been a PC user until a few years ago and he knows his mom. He was confident I could do it! I asked Tim to be honest and let me know what he thought. After all, he was going to have to deal with the fallout from my decision. He too said he thought I could do it and was willing to help me. I decided to take the plunge!!
So I bet you want to know two things, how am I doing and what does this have to do with my SMS post? First, how am I doing? Well..it's been a bit of a struggle, learning a new way to navigate. Thanks Justin for letting me know how to right click on the Mac. No Internet Explorer, where I've read all of your blog posts for two years? After a painful few hours, I think we've (really Tim) figured out how to set up the RSS Feeds in Firefox so they're similar to how I had them in IE.
I was looking so forward to this week's SMS. The SMS bakers took December off and I've missed baking with my SMS friends. I bought all of the ingredients. The Hazelnut Raspberry Layer Cake looks delicious and it's my favorite color, pink! I just don't have the energy to bake! Candy Girl is our host this month, you can find the recipe and her beautiful cake here! The links to the other talented SMS bakers can be found here!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
SMS - Strawberry Lemon Rosemary Muffins & A Winner
The first time I made these I learned the batter was very thick and the muffins tend to be on the dry side. With each subsequent baking, I've been adding a little more milk or cream and depending on the moisture in the fruit or vegetables, about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of sour cream.
Lemon and rosemary are two of my favorite flavors. I couldn't wait to taste these muffins. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. There was only a hint of the rosemary flavor and I could hardly taste the lemon. Rosemary can be such a strong flavor, I am always hesitant to add more but this is one recipe where more is necessary. With the price of strawberries right now, I decided to use frozen. I was a little concerned they might be too wet but I should have known better. Even with the addition of sour cream, these were still a little dry.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Ginger Custard Pumpkin Crustless Pie
The recipe calls for scalding the cream. I am sure I've made recipes before where scalding is required? I was curious, though, what is scalding? "To heat a liquid, generally referring to milk or cream, to just below the boiling point. It should be heated just until tiny bubbles begin to form at the very edges. "
I whisked the eggs for this recipe by hand. Are you watching Top Chef, Just Desserts? In the relay race two weeks ago, the contestants were challenged to whip 6 six egg whites to hold upside down for 10 seconds. That's amazing!!
I baked these in a water bath for about 25 minutes. I think they could have baked a few minutes longer. While I thought these were delicious, I was hoping the cinnamon and ginger flavors would be stronger. I could barely taste them. Maybe steeping longer would have helped? This recipe is a nice change from my standard pumpkin pie recipe.
Thanks to Debbie of Everday Blessings of Five Dees for hosting this week. You can find the recipe on her blog. If you'd like to see what the other SMS bakers created this week, go here!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Peanut Brittle - SMS
I gathered all of the ingredients in advance, read the recipe a couple of times and began cooking the caramel. I've read about how challenging caramel can be. I was a little nevous about this recipe. I think that was my problem! The recipe is like an animal, it smells my fear. I've made caramel before without any problems. Not so lucky this time. This recipe calls for cooking the sugar and corn syrup on medium high. I wondered if that was too hot but did it anyway. The caramel mixture hadn't been on the stove very long and I noticed it was starting to smoke. Panic! Our smoke detector is wired into our alarm and I didn't want it to go off. I opened the kitchen windows and the backdoor. It started smoking even more. I grabbed the pan and wanted to run to take it outside to the deck. Knowing how my luck was going that particular day, I decided running wasn't a good plan. I walked as quickly as I could and let it smoke away outside. Time to start over but I used all of the corn syrup, so I will be starting over another night.
Never having made peanut brittle before, I didn't really know what to expect. I went to the internet and began reading recipes for peanut brittle. After reading a number of recipes, I decided two things. One, this recipe uses way too high of a temperature to cook the caramel. Second, most of the other recipes used a little water along with the sugar and corn syrup. When I made the second batch, I followed Melissa's recipe except I added 1/4 cup of water and cooked the caramel on medium. This time went much more smoothly, until the final step. One stick of butter is way too much butter. I couldn't get it to incorporate smoothly. As a result, my peanut brittle is a big greasy.
I've never been a big peanut brittle fan. Give me chocolate anything instead. :) I thought this tasted just okay. Tim said it was pretty good. I am anxious to read what the other SMS bakers thought of this recipe.
This week's recipe was chosen by JoVonn of the Givens Chronicles, you can find the recipe on her blog. If you'd like to check out the other SMS baker's peanut brittle, you can find them here.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars
Have you met my blogging pal, Gnee of Singing With Birds? If you haven't, stop by her place and introduce yourself. Gnee shares the best recipes and takes amazing photographs.
What are your favorite desserts? For me it's anything chocolate, cheesecake and creme brulee. I am not a fan of fruit desserts. Why is that? I think it's because as my father said last weekend, I was raised on donuts and ice cream. When I saw Gnee's Creme Brulee Cheesecake bars, I knew I would be making them soon!
If you're watching what you eat, close this post now!! I can't even imagine the number of calories and fat grams in these bars. I'm sure that's why they are so decadent. It's a good thing I shared these with friends and co workers. Otherwise, I'd have eaten way too many.
Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars from Betty Crocker
Recipe Courtesy of Singing With Birds
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) French vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup toffee bits, finely crushed
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 whole egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan.
2. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining whole egg, 3 egg yolks and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over crust in pan.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set in center. Immediately sprinkle top with crushed toffee bits. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes 36 bars
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - SMS
If you’ve never made jam, I would recommend trying this recipe. It’s easy and fun. I love that this recipe uses Granny Smith Apples as a natural source of pectin. This recipe was a great example of something being so much easier than I expected. The most challenging part determining when the jam had cooked long enough.
This week's SMS recipe is Plum Raspberry Preserves. Thanks to Margot of Effort To Deliciousness for choosing this week's recipe. Margot has a feature on her blog, she gives every recipe an Effort to Delicousness ratio. You can see all of the other SMS gals preserves here.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Carmelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins - SMS
Today's SMS recipe is actually Pear, Blue Cheese and Walnut Muffins. You can find the recipe over at Andrea's Nummy Kitchen. One of the other versions for these savory muffins is Carmelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar. I must have passed on these when the SMS group made these a year or so ago. As it so happens, I planted a sage plant this year and have been searching for recipes using the beautiful sage.
Quite a few of the bakers commented these muffins were dry and suggested substituting sour cream for the cream and milk, to increase their moistness. As I combined the wet and dry ingredients, my batter was so dry I had trouble getting it to combine. I quickly grabbed some cream and added about 1/4 cup. I think next time I make these, I might just add some sour cream to the milk and cream. Concerned these weren't going to be any good, I tried one pretty much right out of the oven. These are delicious, I love the hint of sage along with the onions. Savory muffins are such a nice change!
Thanks Andrea for hosting this week. You can find all of the other SMS baker's muffin creations here!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Pancakes - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
Do you have houseguests this holiday weekend? If so, this recipe would be an awesome treat for your guests. Years ago there was a restaurant in Kansas City called the Magic Pan. They served crepes. I loved eating there. You could have savory crepes for dinner and sweet crepes for dessert. I was inspired to learn how to make crepes. I found the right pan and used a recipe for blintzes. It's all in the swirl and I had it down!! I haven't made crepes in years and I mean years. I bet it's been 30 years. Do I still have what it takes for the swirl?
I made one fourth of this recipe, figuring I would get 5 pancakes. My skillet must have been larger, I only ended up with enough for two pancakes. Swirling was a breeze...flipping, not so much. One of the pancakes ripped when I removed it from the skillet. I filled my one pancake with homemade chunky applesauce. These pancakes are light and delicious. I can't wait to make them again. There's so many possibilities for fillings, sweet and savory!
This week's recipe was chosen by Jaime of Good Eats and Sweet Treats. You can find the recipe on her blog! Jaime, thanks for choosing one that brought back great memories for me! Check out the creations of the other SMS bakers here!
Monday, August 30, 2010
A Little Late Plum Clafoutis
Clafoutis...don't you just love the name? It's interesting you find this recipe in the breakfast section of Melissa's cookbook. When I made this clafoutis last year, I remember thinking it would make a wonderful addition to a brunch.
I baked one fourth of the recipe in two ramekins. Other than omitting the almonds (because there were none in the freezer), I prepared the recipe as written. The plums are cooked in a cinnamon sugar syrup. The syrup adds a wonderful sweetness to the egg base of the clafoutis. This recipe is a keeper!! I can see changing the fruits, using different nuts and even making this savory instead of sweet.
You can find the recipe over on Michelle of Flourchild's blog. Thanks Michelle for choosing such a fabulous recipe. If you want to see the other SMS baker's clafouti's, go here!
Since I am posting Sunday's recipe on Monday, I decided I might as well really mix it up and link to Tuesday's at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday's.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte - SMS
This recipe is fairly simple to prepare. It doesn't have a lot of ingredients or a long preparation time. I had a hard time deciding when my eggs had reached soft peaks. I think I stopped before they had reached that point. As I folded in the first half, they seemed really runny. At that point, I decided to continue. As I combined the eggs with the chocolate mixture, the texture was strange. Almost lumpy but not actually lumps. Did some of my eggs cook when combining with the chocolate? I had one of those "Oh No" momemts where I thought this was going to be a flop. I used a 9" pan, which was too big. My torte was thin with raspberries poking throught. As well I think I should have cooked it for a shorter time. The texture was almost crumbly. Despite the texture and how thin it was, the dessert was delicious. I would have liked it with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Toasted Almond Lemon Bars - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
Although I don't make them often, Lemon Bars are one of my favorite desserts. I love anything made with lemon.
The crust for this recipe goes together easily. I did feel like the crust was pretty sticky and soft. Maybe that was because it was hot and humid? Concerned about the crust being so soft it would spread, I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking. It turned out perfectly. This crust is delicious. As I scraped out the inside of the food processor, I tasted the batter. I could have eaten this by the spoonful. I made a 1/2 recipe. It worked beautifully in a 9" square pan. The filling is really runny but it sets up nicely.
I try to share the sweet treats I make. My taste tester, Tim ate one, make that two bars. I said "How about taking these to work tomorrow?" "Can't we keep them here? Michael and I will eat them this weekend." My guess if you make these you won't want to share them either. These are delicious! The almond crust gives them a nice hint of nutty flavor, a great contrast with the lemon.
You can find the recipe on Rebecca of the Indecisive Baker's blog. Rebecca, thanks for choosing a fabulous recipe! The links to all of the other SMS baker's are here!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Brownies & Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches
The recipe calls for 45 to 50 minutes of baking time. Since my oven tends to run a little hot, I set it for 40 minutes. I didn't check it before the 40 minutes were up. I should have. 40 minutes was too long. Not that these are overdone, they're just not that "ooey gooey" brownie that I love. The flavor was pretty good but I like my "ooey gooey" brownies to be really chocolatey. These didn't have enough chocolate for me. They also tasted a little salty. I think that means when I didn't think I'd put the salt in, I already had :).
In honor of National Ice Cream Day, Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet is having an Ice Cream Social. All week, I've been contemplating what to make. Since these brownies came out a little dry, how about using the not so "ooey gooey" brownies for Ice Cream Sandwiches?
Recently, I've seen a couple of recipes on the blogsphere for Key Lime Pie Ice Cream.
After some searching, I found this Food Network Recipe. As luck would have it, I had all of the ingredients on hand. No trip to the store required, that's a good thing. I omitted the lime zest. My experience with zest in ice cream, is it all seems to gum up in one spot. Also, no graham crackers needed since, I was using this for ice cream sandwiches.
I wish I had planned in advance to make these brownies for ice cream sandwiches. I'd have used a different pan, one where they would have been thinner. I decided to take a chance and cut them in half. I had some casualties, so I have multiple sizes of Ice Cream Sandwiches.
If you like the flavor of key limes, this ice cream is for you. It's very tart but the chocolate sandwiches help balance it out. I can't wait to try Ice Cream Sandwiches again and this time I will plan in advance.
Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
Courtesy of Food Network
1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
4 to 6 graham crackers, for garnish
Directions
Mix ingredients together and refrigerate until cold. Pour into ice cream maker and mix for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to another container and place plastic wrap on ice cream and cover container tightly with a lid. Place in freezer for several hours.
When ready to serve, garnish with graham crackers.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sour Cherry (Cranberry) & Almond Biscotti - SMS
After cutting these for their second bake, I decided to taste one of the ends. Yum! I also thought they seemed done at that point. Based on this, I decided to shorten the second baking time for a less crunchy cookie. The recipe called for baking them an additional 60 minutes. I shortened the time to 30 minutes.
I love this recipe. I can't wait to experiment with the flavors on this one. These are going on my list for this year's holiday treats.
Thanks to Tracey of Made by Tray Tray for choosing this week's awesome recipe. Stop by here to check out all of the other SMS gals biscotti.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Gingersnaps - Sweet Melissa Sunday's
Do you like your cookies chewy or crispy? I like mine soft and chewy! I think that's why I am not a Gingersnap fan. Since I am going to miss next week's SMS, I decided to bake these despite my feelings about Gingersnaps.
As with most SMS recipes, I cut the recipe in half. These were easy to make and use ingredients most of us have in our kitchens. Having read a few of the comments, I set the timer to pull these out a few minutes early. Not sure what happened but I missed hearing the timer. Don't you just love it when you do that? So my cookies were extra crispy. I tried one and they do have a traditional Gingersnap flavor. Since none of us are big Gingersnap fans, I may freeze these for a possible future cheesecake crust.
How about this? Our SMS recipe this week was chosen by The Ginger Snap Girl. You can find the links to the other SMS gals here.
Does anyone have a recipe for Sour Cream Raisin Pie? It's my brother in law's favorite and I want to suprise him with one when we visit next week.