Cherry Almond Smoothie

It doesn't matter how many Texas summers I live through, I just can't get used to the heat.  I have English skin, it wasn't meant to see sunlight!  This summer I have been really enjoying smoothies in the mornings, because when you wake up to almost 90 degree temps a hot bowl of oatmeal just does not appeal.  I have made many smoothie variations but my favourite and the one I always want is this cherry almond smoothie.

1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

In a blender add the milk, yogurt, sugar, extracts and cherries.  Blend well and serve immediately. 

Honey Bun Coffee Cake

Today I ended up having a very rare and unexpected day off from daycare, because it was so unexpected I hadn't planned on baking a cake today, but I was wasting some time on pinterest and this coffee cake ended up on my screen.  As I have mentioned a few times I am loving all things cinnamon lately, so I saw that cinnamon sugar layer in this cake, checked the ingredients and realised I had everything I needed, and practically ran to the kitchen to throw it together.

This cake is made with a few simple ingredients, comes together very quickly, actually the most difficult part was waiting for it to cool down enough so I could try it!

1 yellow cake mix
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

glaze:
2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, sour cream, eggs and oil.

Spread half of the cake batter into the baking dish.   Cover with the cinnamon sugar.  Top with the remaining cake batter.  Bake for 40 minutes.

When the cake is baked, make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar, milk and vanilla together.  Pour over the warm cake and leave to cool.

Cinnamon Bun Pie

I think I have a little obsession with the recipes in the Momofuku Milk Bar book.  The best cake I have ever made is their chocolate malt cake, and the liquid cheesecake is amazing, not to mention the cereal milk or the cornflake crunch. 

Lately I have been loving all things cinnamon, so this seemed like the perfect time to try the cinnamon pie.  The original cinnamon bun pie was created using dough leftover from making cinnamon rolls, but I made the dough specifically for this pie. I am quickly finding out that I love any Momofuku recipe that has liquid cheesecake in it!

Dough:
3 1/2 cups bread flour  
1 tbsp salt
3.5 g active dried yeast
1 3/4 cups) room temperature water
grapeseed oil

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add in the flour, salt, yeast and water.  Mix with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, until smooth.  Brush a large bowl with oil, transfer the dough to the greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 45 minutes, until doubled.

Liquid cheesecake:
8 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1 egg

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese and beat for 2 minutes, until smooth.  Add in the sugar and beat to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk.  Add in the cornstarch and salt and stir together.  Pour into the cream cheese mixture and beat for a few minutes.

Grease a 6 inch round cake pan, pour in the liquid cheesecake and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are set but the middle still jiggles.

Cinnamon streusel:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, sugar and salt.  Pour in the melted butter and vanilla and mix until small clusters form.

Cinnamon bun pie:
1/2 recipe of dough
3 tbsp flour
1/4 cup brown butter
1 recipe liquid cheesecake
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 recipe cinnamon streusel

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to around 11 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick.  

Place the dough into a pie pan.  Pour half the brown butter over the dough, spread on half the liquid cheesecake, followed by the remaining brown butter.  Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Carefully spread the remaining liquid cheesecake over the pie, then top with the streusel.

Bake for 40 minutes, until the dough is baked through but the center still jiggles slightly.

Mini Chicken and Waffles

As I already had made a lot of these chicken strips  for another appetizer for our valentines dinner, I decided to just make these mini chicken and waffle bites with the remaining strips.  This barely qualifies as a recipe but they were cute and tasted good so I am posting these along with all the other appetizers I made.

Chicken strips
Frozen mini waffles
Maple syrup

I made my own chicken strips, the recipe is linked above, however to make these even easier you of course could use frozen chicken strips that you bake.

Toast the mini waffles and cut the chicken to fit and sandwich between 2 mini waffle, and hold together with a toothpick.  Drizzle with maple syrup.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I had a container of blueberries that the daycare kids didn't eat last week, and as neither Randal or I will eat blueberries by themselves I decided to make some muffins.  I found this lemon blueberry muffin recipe at  I Heart Eating and I was so happy with the results, loved the lemon with the blueberries and the sugary top was probably Randal's favourite part!

Lemon Sugar Topping:

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

 

Muffins:

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 oz. fresh blueberries 

1 tbsp lemon zest 

 

To make the topping, combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl, set aside.

 

Preheat oven to 425 and line a muffin pan with liners.

 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Make a well in the middle of the flour and add in the eggs, butter, yogurt, milk and vanilla, stir until combined.

Fold in the blueberries and lemon zest, fill the muffin liners with the batter and top with the lemon sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Lemon Curd

I made this lemon curd for a raspberry lemon cake I was baking. I love lemon curd, it definitely reminds me of England and this recipe from Sarabeth's Bakery is really easy to make and the end result was a great lemon curd.

4 lemons
10 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Zest the lemons, set aside the zest then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  There should be around 2/3 cup of lemon juice.

In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Place over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the curd and stir often until it thickens and reaches 185 degrees, will take about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time.  Press a piece of cling film directly over the curd, pierce a few holes in it to allow steam to escape and leave to cool.  Once the curd has cooled transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate.

Amish Cinnamon Bread

I know that this is a bread recipe that I made in a bundt pan, but the reason for that is even though I have at least 2 bread pans, I can't find them. We moved into our house 2 years ago this month and we still have a closet full of unpacked boxes. Pretty sure my missing bread pans are somewhere in that closet.

Anyway, I found this recipe over at Redfly Creations and knew immediately that Randal would love this, and as I had some buttermilk in the fridge I needed to use up I gave it a go, bundt pan and all.

This is a really simple recipe to make, and we both enjoyed the end result, and a few days later we used the last of it to make french toast, which Randal loved but as I am not a fan of sweet french toast (I much prefer mine with baked beans and ketchup!) I left that for Randal.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon 

In a small bowl mix together the 2/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the 2 cups of sugar.  Add in the eggs.  Add the milk, flour, and baking soda and mix until combined.  Put half of the batter into a greased pan (be it bundt or bread) and top with 3/4 of the cinnamon mixture. Add the remaining batter and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, remove from pan and top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.

Vanilla Bean Belgian Waffles with Whipped Cream and Strawberries

I bought Randal a waffle maker for Christmas last year, and this was one of the first waffles I tried making. I obviously need more practice because they are not pretty waffles, but they did taste good!

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean

2 pints strawberries, stemmed, cored and sliced

7 tbsp sugar

3 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

 

In a small pan heat the milk over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat, split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the vanilla into the milk, add the pod and let stand for 1 hour.

 

In a medium bowl mix together the sliced strawberries and 4 tablespoons of the sugar, leave for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

 

Preheat a Belgian waffle maker.

 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks.

 

Remove the vanilla pod from the milk, and place the milk into a medium bowl, slowly whisk in the egg yolks and butter.

 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, pour in the milk mixture and gently fold in the egg whites.

 

Ladle the batter into the waffle maker, 3/4 cup per waffle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.  Top with the strawberries and whipped cream.

 

Biscuit Donuts

I have seen donuts made out of biscuits so many times, but I never made them because I could not imagine that they tasted good or anything like a donut at all. I can admit though that I was wrong, they are incredibly quick and easy to make and they are so good.

1 can refrigerated biscuits (anything but flaky layers)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted

Vegetable oil for frying

Pour half an inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan, and heat on medium-high heat

Melt the butter in a small bowl.

In a seperate bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar.

Cut out the center of each biscuit, drop each donut into the oil and turn over once golden brown.  Remove from oil when browned on both sides.  Dip each donut into the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar.

Jalapeno Popper Quiche

Randal loves jalapeno poppers, especially the ones from Arby's that come with that bronco berry sauce that contains no berries.  Usually though, quiche and Randal do not mix, but when I saw this jalapeno popper version from Closet Cooking I thought he might actually eat this one. 

We both really liked this quiche, although I will say that it is quite spicy so if you prefer a milder quiche clean out the seeds from the jalapenos.  I left the seeds in one of the jalapenos even though the recipe says to leave them in both, but I knew that would be too spicy for me, and even with one it was still hot!

1 frozen pie crust, defrosted

1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature

2 jalapenos, diced

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

5 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno, sliced

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Place the pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan until barely simmering.

When the pie crust has baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and lower the oven to 350.  Spread the softened cream cheese over the bottom of the crust, and top with the diced jalapenos.

In a bowl lightly beat the 5 eggs, and slowly add the warm milk and cream.  Stir in the spices.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with 8 jalapeno slices, bake for 10 minutes.  Then top with the grated cheese and bake for 5 minutes.

 Linked to: Simple Living, Kitchen Fun, House of Hepworths, Tutus & Tea Parties, Six Sisiters Stuff, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Addicted to Recipes, Couponing & Cooking, The Southern Institute, Serendipity and Spice, Making the World Cuter, Skip To My Lou, Sweet and Savory, Cozy Home Scenes, It's a Blog Party, Jaqs Studio, Newlyweds 

Fruit Danish Pastries

When Randal gave me SaraBeth's Bakery Cookbook for Christmas, the very first thing I wanted to make from it was these danish pastries. I love making pastries, and my go to recipe for the past few years has always been Nigella Lawson's processor danishes. I love Nigella's recipe, but the only trouble I have with it is that the dough doesn't hold its shape when baking, which is why I so wanted to try making these twisted danishes. I had hope that these would hold together better, and I am so thrilled that they did.

I have to say though, that while I did love these danishes, I still think my favourite pastry is Nigella's. These were great straight out of the oven but they did seem to dry out very quickly and as these were made for Randal to take to the office the next morning that wasn't so good. I have never had that trouble with Nigella's recipe, so I think in the next few weeks I am going to make Nigella's dough recipe but use Sarabeth's technique... I think it might just make for the perfect danish pastry!


Detrempe
2 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg plus 4 large egg yolks
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
2 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

Beurrage
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour




Sprinkle the yeast over 1/3 cup warm milk and leave for 5 minutes


Place in the mixer bowl, add the sugar and the remaining 1/3 cup of cold milk along with the 2 cups of flour, salt and butter.


Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, knead for a minute to smooth out the surface and shape into a ball


Dust a half sheet pan with flour, place the dough onto the pan and cut an X about 1 inch deep in the top of the ball. Sprinkle with flour and refrigerate


Clean the mixer bowl and add the 2 sticks of butter to the bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the 2 tablespoons of flour and continue beating for another 30 seconds


Shape into a 4 inch square, place on the sheet pan along with the detrempe and refrigerate for 15 minutes


Place the dough on the work surface with the ends of the X at 2, 4, 7 and 10 o'clock. Dust the top of the dough with flour and using the heel of your hand, flatten and stretch each quadrant to make a cloverleaf shape


Using a rolling pin roll each leaf into a flap about 6 inches long and 5 inches wide, leaving a raised square in the middle


Place the butter square (beurrage) in the center of the dough


Gently stretch and pull the north facing flap of dough down to cover the top and sides of the butter square


Then stretch the south facing flap of dough up to cover the top and sides of the butter square. Turn the dough so that the open ends of the square face north and south, repeat folding the flaps of dough over the butter square


Turn the dough over so that the folded flaps are face down with the open seam facing you. Using a rolling pin lightly pound the top of the dough to widen it slightly and help distribute the butter


Roll the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle


Fold into thirds and transfer to a sheet pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes


Roll out the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle, fold the right side over 2 inches to the left


Fold the left side over to meet the right side


Fold the dough in half vertically from left to right, return to the sheet pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes


Repeat rolling the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle, folding into thirds and cut the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and freeze for 2-4 days


The night before using the dough, transfer to the refrigerator and let thaw overnight. Roll out dough to a 12x16 inch rectangle, fold the dough into thirds and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Return dough to work surface and unroll back into the 12x16 rectangle. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, sprinkle over the surface of the dough


Fold in half horizontally and cut the dough vertically into 1 inch strips


Twist one strip at a time into a 12 inch long spiral, wrap the strip in a counterclockwise motion into a snail shape, tuck the loose end under the pastry


Place onto sheet pan spacing them about an inch apart


Choose a warm place in the kitchen for proofing. Slip the pan into a tallkitchen sized bag and place a tall glass of very hot water near the center of the pan. Wave the opening of the bag to trap the air and inflate it like a baloon, twist the bag closed and leave until pastries look puffy, about 2 hours


Lightly moisten your finger with tepid water and gently depress the center of each pastry. Place a rounded teaspoon of peserves in each center. Lightly brush the pastries with the beaten egg, bake until danishes are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Brush with apricot glaze. I also added an icing sugar drizzle to the pastries, although not part of Sarabath's original recipe.



Detrempe
2 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg plus 4 large egg yolks
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
2 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

Beurrage
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour

1. To make the detrempe, sprinkle the yeast over 1/3 cup warm milk and leave for 5 minutes. Whisk well and add to the mixer bowl, add the sugar and the remaining 1/3 cup of cold milk.

2. Add the egg, yolks and vanilla seeds to the yeast mixture, mix with the paddle attachment on low speed, add 2 cups of flour and salt to the bowl. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft, sticky dough. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, knead for a minute to smooth out the surface and shape into a ball.

3. Dust a half sheet pan with flour, place the dough onto the pan and cut an X about 1 inch deep in the top of the ball. Sprinkle with flour and refrigerate.

4. Immediately make the beurrage. Clean the mixer bowl and paddle attachment. Add the butter to the bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the flour and continue beating for another 30 seconds. Transfer to the work surface, and shape into a 4 inch square. Place on the sheet pan along with the detrempe and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

5. Flour the work surface, place the dough on the work surface with the ends of the X at 2, 4, 7 and 10 o'clock. Dust the top of the dough with flour and using the heel of your hand, flatten and stretch each quadrant to make a cloverleaf shape. Using a rolling pin roll each leaf into a flap about 6 inches long and 5 inches wide, leaving a raised square in the middle.

6. Place the butter square in the center. Gently stretch and pull the north facing flap of dough down to cover the top and sides of the butter square. Then stretch the south facing flap of dough up to cover the top and sides of the butter square. Turn the dough so that the open ends of the square face north and south, repeat folding the flaps of dough over the butter square, making a butter filled packet of dough about 6 inches square.

7. Turn the dough over so that the folded flaps are face down with the open seam facing you. Using a rolling pin lightly pound the top of the dough to widen it slightly and help distribute the butter. Roll the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle, fold into thirds and transfer to a sheet pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

8. Place the dough back on the work surface with the long open seam of dough facing you. Roll out the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle, fold the right side over 2 inches to the left and fold the left side over to meet the right side. Fold the dough in half vertically from left to right, return to the sheet pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

9. Repeat rolling the dough into a 17 by 9 inch rectangle, folding into thirds and cut the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and freeze for 2-4 days.

10. The night before using the dough, transfer to the refrigerator and let thaw overnight.

To make the fruit danish:
1/2 recipe danish dough
1 tbsp superfine sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup jam (I used raspberry, morello cherry and peach mango)
1 large egg
1/3 cup apricot preserves
2 tbsp water

1. Dust the work surface with flour, place dough on work surface with open seam facing you. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to a 12x16 inch rectangle, fold the dough into thirds and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, return dough to work surface and unroll back into the 12x16 rectangle. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, sprinkle over the surface of the dough, fold in half horizontally and cut the dough vertically into 1 inch strips.

3. Twist one strip at a time into a 12 inch long spiral, wrap the strip in a counterclockwise motion into a snail shape, tuck the loose end under the pastry, place onto sheet pan spacing them about an inch apart.

4. Choose a warm place in the kitchen for proofing. Slip the pan into a tall kitchen sized bag and place a tall glass of very hot water near the center of the pan. Wave the opening of the bag to trap the air and inflate it like a baloon, twist the bag closed and leave until pastries look puffy, about 2 hours.

5. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly moisten your finger with tepid water and gently depress the center of each pastry. Place a rounded teaspoon of peserves in each center.

6. Lightly brush the pastries with the beaten egg, bake until danishes are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

7. Make apricot glaze by combining the apricot preserves and water in a small pan, bring to the boil then simmer for a minute. Strain glaze into a small bowl and brush the hot danishes with the hot apricot glaze.

Linked to: Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Rattlebridge Farm, Something Swanky, Stuff and Nonsense, What's Cooking, Love?, WhipperBerry, Flour Me With Love, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Create With Joy, Homemaker on a Dime, The Girl Creative, Skip To My Lou