Pumpkin Spice Scones

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To most,I would imagine, the day after Labor Day has no real significance. Yes it means back to school or work and maybe the vague sense of a slight shift in the universe, indicating summers imminent end. Nothing really changes. It was still 90 degrees here in Alabama that day. Still the same summertime weather as the days leading up to the day after Labor Day. Only now it's after Labor Day and we all know what that means... Right? The much anticipated return of Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes!! Of course I had to have one, in spite of the very summer-like temps and humidity. I've been craving that pumpkin spiced drink since it went away last year and it was BACK! Ok so maybe I broke a sweat and had to turn up the air in my car just so I could drink it, but whatever...totally worth it! Anyway as you might have guessed my love for pumpkin and spice runs deep.

While I was getting my PSL from Starbucks, I saw that they also sell pumpkin spice scones. I guess I've been living under a rock or something but I've never had a pumpkin scone. I did not buy one of those but did come home and look to see if I could find a recipe to make them. Apparently I was living under a rock. How had I missed these scones? Eaten along with a cup of hot coffee, it's quite possibly my new Fall obsession! 

I usually change a few things here and there in recipes that I make. I didn't change much on this one with one MAJOR exception: The original recipe said that the spiced glaze frosting was "optional"...umm I had to change that to mandatory!!  

Pumpkin Spice Scones

SOURCE: Tasty Kitchen
YIELD: 8 SCONES

FOR THE SCONES:

2 cups all purpose flour 

1/3 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 

1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 stick unsalted butter, frozen

 ½ cups pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling

 ½ cups heavy cream 

FOR THE ICING: (MANDATORY)

 1 cup powdered sugar 

½ teaspoons cinnamon 

¼ teaspoons ground ginger  

2 teaspoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla 

heavy cream, just enough to thin the icing to a honey like consistency 

½ cups toasted, chopped pecans 

METHOD: 

In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin and cream, keep in the fridge until you use it. In a large bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and  nutmeg. Add the frozen butter by grating it with a cheese grater over the flour mixture. Work quickly so the butter doesn't have time to soften. Quickly mix butter curls into the flour mixture with a fork. Pour the pumpkin and cream into the flour/butter mixture. Fold with a wooden spoon just until flour is moistened well.Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and gently knead over a couple of times. Pat the dough into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut the circle into 8 sections, like you would to slice a pie. Separate scones and place onto a cookie sheet. Put the scones in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Bake at 400ºF for about 25 minutes or until just firm and golden around the edges. Let cool to room temperature. 

While the scones cool; Mix together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, ginger powder, corn syrup, and vanilla. Add heavy cream in small amounts at a time, stirring until icing reaches the consistency of honey. Use a large spoon to drizzle the icing over the cooled scones. Immediately sprinkle the toasted pecans over the tops.Store scones in an air-tight container.

Pimento Cheese

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Believe it or not this was my first time ever making pimento cheese. Pretty incredible considering it's a staple item for almost any Southern gathering, particularly those involving tea sandwiches. From showers to ladies luncheons to church picnics, pimento cheese, usually in sandwich form, is guaranteed to make an appearance. I have to confess though, that I just never really cared for pimento cheese...at all. However, Hubs loves it. He asks for it all the time and I always find a reason not  to make it. Somehow pimento cheese came up recently in conversation (we talk about food a lot!) and once again Hubs said how much he loved the stuff. I just happened to have all the necessary ingredients on hand,so I thought I'd surprise him with some homemade pimento cheese. To find a recipe I thought I'd start right at the top and consult the godfather of Southern foods, Chef Frank Stitt. I'll admit that if my first experience with pimento cheese was this pimento cheese, it wouldn't have taken me so long to make it.

Rustic Tomato and Cheese Tart

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This tart is a twist on the traditional tomato pie.  It's a wonderful combo of two classic southern favorites, biscuits and tomato pie. In place of the traditional pastry crust, buttermilk biscuits make up the crust of this free form tart. It's everything you love about both dishes in one amazing tart! 

Really ripe summer tomatoes are what make this tart so fantastic. Heirloom variety tomatoes are the perfect tomato for this tart but any just picked tomatoes from your local farmers market will do!

This tart is perfect for a brunch or lunch. Just serve it with a green salad for a complete summertime meal!

Hot Cross Buns

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I have had this recipe for hot cross buns stuck in a notebook that I use to save recipes I want to make sometime. It's been in there for several years now, a relic from the days when I'd print off recipes I wanted to make and keep them in a notebook. Thank goodness for Pinterest, now I can save recipes that I may never make and not be haunted by a notebook full of wasted paper! Anyway, I did finally get around to making the hot cross buns. Now only several hundred more recipes to go...plus all my new pins...

This was my first attempt at making hot cross buns. They are lightly sweet, spicy bun, containing dried fruits  such as raisins, and marked on top with a cross. Traditionally these buns where made to be served on Good Friday, The cross was made on them to represent the Crucifiction.

I was pretty satisfied with the results. I did make a few minor changes to the original recipe, mainly replacing the candied lemon and orange peel, with zest of each instead. I'm not a fan of candied peels and also they can be difficult to find in the grocery stores in my area. Which means I would have to make them if I wanted to add them to this recipe and since I don't care for them much, zest was a good sub. If you want to use the candied peels, then by all means go ahead and use them in your buns.

I also used golden raisins that I "plumped". Way back when I first started blogging, I made Sherry Yard's oatmeal cookies, which still the absolute best oatmeal cookie I've ever had. She says the secret to her cookies are "fat raisins". She has you boil the raisins with orange juice, rum, sugar and white wine. The liquid causes them to plump up, hence the name fat raisins. I've been using this idea in lots of recipes ever since I made those cookies. For this recipe I just squeezed the juice of one orange over the raisins and popped them into the microwave for just long enough for the liquid to come up to a boil. I just allow the raisins to cool in the liquid, drain and and use in the recipe. You could use just water if you don't have juice but I wanted to add a little more orange flavor to my buns so I used orange juice. Try these raisins in any of your baked goods calling for raisins, you won't believe how good they are!

For those of you that are wondering, yes, I did sing the Hot Cross Buns song while I made these buns. This recipe makes some big buns, definitely worth two a penny, I would think!
Truly traditional hot cross buns have candied fruit peels and the crosses are made from pastry, not sugar. I guess you can call mine hot cross-ish buns...but that's harder to sing!

Hot Cross Buns
SOURCE: Country Living Magazine (adapted)
PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup milk, warmed to 110°F
1 package dry active yeast
3/4 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup bread flour
1/2 cup raisins, regular or golden, plumped*(optional)
1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest
1 heaping teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs

Egg Wash
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

Glaze

2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

*Plumping raisins, place raisins in a microwave safe bowl, add about a half of cup of liquid, water or orange juice or a mixture. You could also use a couple of tablespoons of rum or brandy, in place of some of the water or juice. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, or until the liquid boils. Allow the raisins to soak in the liquid for about 10 minutes, drain any excess liquid, and use in the recipe.

METHOD:

Coat a large bowl with oil and set aside. Mix together the 1 cup warmed milk, yeast, and the 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl and let stand while you do the next step. Combine the flours, 3/4 cup of sugar, raisins, lemon and orange zest, salt, and spices in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir the dry ingredients together. Add in the butter, eggs, and the milk/yeast mixture. Mix using the dough hook until all the flour is mixed in and a sticky dough is formed, about 3 minutes. **Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand until smooth, about 5 minutes. Dusting your hands with flour or rubbing a little vegetable shortening on them will help keep the dough from sticking to your hands as much. The dough will be sticky, just keep lightly sprinkling it with flour. I used about a tablespoon or less worked it in until the dough stuck to my hands then sprinkled lightly with flour again, just until you get a nice smooth dough. The dough is sticky but don't go crazy with the flour or you'll end up with heavy buns. 

 Form the dough into a ball, put it into the oiled bowl, turning to coat all sides with the oil. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Punch the dough down, transfer to a lightly floured surface, and knead for 3 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces, about 3 1/2 ounces each. If you want small buns, divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. (You will probably need two baking pans for 24 buns) Shape each piece into a ball and place the balls about 1 inch apart in four rows of three (for 12 buns, use two pans for 24) on the prepared pan. Cover and let rise until the buns double in volume and touch one another, about an hour or so.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees about 30 minutes before you plan to bake the buns.

When the buns are done rising,make the egg wash. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the mixture on the top of each bun. Place buns in the lower third of the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 20  minutes (check at 12-15 minutes, if you made smaller buns). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Allow buns to cool slightly, about 10 minutes, drizzle a horizontal line across each row of buns followed by a vertical line to form a cross on the top of each bun.

**I followed the original recipe's instructions for kneading the dough, but next time I think I'll leave them in the mixer to knead because the dough was a bit too sticky for hand kneading, in my opinion.

In English folklore, they believe sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if  you say,"Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" before you eat them...Maybe I'll make up tune to go with that one and mix it up a bit!

You say tomato, I say...

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Long hot days, shorts, flip flops, and juicy red ripe tomatoes; it must be summer! I look forward to eating those first tomatoes of the summer, all year. I love eating them anyway, on a sandwich, in a salad, or even just sliced with a sprinkle of salt. In the July issue of Southern living, they have a whole section dedicated to fresh tomato recipes. This one for tomato pie caught my eye. I had about 6 super ripe tomatoes (from my parents farm) that I needed to use, so I decided to make the tomato pie. It is fabulous! Flaky crust, lots of fresh herbs, and of course tomatoes, all baked together under a little cheese...amazing! This is the perfect recipe for in season, really ripe, tasty tomatoes. I would not recommend making it with your run of the mill grocery store tomatoes.Find a farmers market, farm stand, or farm trail, near you, get some tomatoes and enjoy a true bite of summer.

Tomato Pie
Virginia Willis, Southern Living 
JULY 2012 
Printable Recipe

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 to 4 Tbsp. ice-cold water

For the filling:
2 1/4 pounds  very ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, divided
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup assorted chopped fresh herbs (such as thyme, chives, parsley,and basil)
1/2 cup freshly grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise 

Method:


The crust: 

Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor running, gradually add 3 Tbsp. ice-cold water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and process until dough forms a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding up to 1 Tbsp. more water, if necessary. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°. Unwrap pie crust dough, and place on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle with flour. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.

Place the rolled out dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim dough 1 inch larger than diameter of pie plate; fold overhanging dough under itself along rim of pie plate, crimp a decorative edge, if desired. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
Line piecrust with aluminum foil; fill with pie weights or dried beans. (This will keep the crust from bubbling up.) Place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake at 425° for 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil. Bake 5 minutes or until browned. Cool completely on baking sheet on a wire rack.
For the filling:

Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Place tomatoes in a single layer on paper towels; sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté onion and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper in hot oil in a skillet over medium heat 3 minutes or until tender. Pat tomatoes dry with a paper towel. Layer tomatoes, onion, and herbs in the cooled pie crust, seasoning each layer with pepper (1 tsp. total). Stir together cheeses and mayonnaise; spread over the top of the pie.
 Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. If needed, shield the edges of the crust with foil to prevent excessive browning. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Celebrate Summer!

Lemon Lime Baby Cakes

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 Sing Sing it's Spring!!

Beautiful Spring days like today bring back to mind a song from my childhood. As a young child, I loved playing my records on the family record player. I realize I'm probably dating myself by admitting we had a record player, as I'm sure some of you never had/used a record player. We had a record player even after CD's were readily available. New-fangled technology was not at all important to my parents and the record player worked just fine, so why change? My sisters and I had quite a few records that were recorded books with songs. The books to follow along with, accompanied the records. Each one of these records started with instructions on what sound to listen for to know when to turn the pages of the book. We had all the classics, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc. But my favorite was the Black Beauty record/book and I could probably still sing the songs from that record. Anyway, one of the story records had a song called "Sing Sing it's Spring" on it. That's all I remember from that particular record but this morning when I woke up to the sounds of happy chirping, that old song popped into my head. 

That recollection has absolutely nothing at all to do with these baby cakes, except that the light fresh lemon lime flavor of these cakes will have you singing for Spring too!

Tint the glaze with some food coloring in pastel colors and these little babies are perfect for Easter! 

Lemon Lime Baby Cakes
Printable Recipe

Source: April 10th, 2009 - by Stephanie Younger
Yields: 18-24 mini cakes using a mini muffin tin or 12 cakes using a regular muffin tin
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lime zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt

For the drizzle:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
lemon and lime juice or use several tablespoons of frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate, thawed
Tint with food coloring, if desired

I added some sprinkles too!

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add lemon and lime juice and zests, vanilla and almond extract and yogurt. Add the flour mixture, mix just until combined. Grease the pan of your choice and fill the cups half way. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or baked through and when cooled, transfer to a wire rack. In a small bowl combine the confectioners’ sugar and enough lemon and lime juice or lemon-aid concentrate to make a nice consistency for the drizzle. Drizzle over the cakes.

Are you singing yet??

Chocolate Banana Bread

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Move over plain ole banana bread, you've been replaced! Traditional banana bread is good enough but if you're a chocolate lover like me I'm sure you'll agree, chocolate makes everything better! In this case, I think chocolate makes it much better.

Most of the time when I bake with bananas it's to use up ones that have gotten overly ripe and started turning black. Not so, this time. When I came across this recipe from Savory Sweet Life, I intentionally bought overripe bananas just so I could make this banana bread. I was not disappointed. It reminded me of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, but in bread form.  Moist, chocolaty, not too sweet, this bread will have you hoping you've let your bananas get overripe!

Although it's completely unnecessary, I highly suggest serving this bread topped with a large dollop of Nutella.

Chocolate Banana Bread
source: Alice, Savory Sweet Life June 18, 2009 (adapted)
(printable recipe)
Ingredients:
1 stick of salted butter, softened to room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 large ripened bananas, mashed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. espresso powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbl. cocoa powder
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:
Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan, or 2 mini pans with non-stick baking spray. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Stir in egg, mashed bananas, sour cream, espresso powder, and vanilla until well blended. Add baking soda, cocoa, and flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). 
Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes – 1 hr for the 9x5 loaf pan or 35 to 40 minutes for the mini loaf pans. Insert a tooth pick into the center of the loaf and check to see if it comes out clean.
Remove from heat and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf pans onto a cooling rack. Great served warm, topped with Nutella.

On second thought, I feel the Nutella is a totally necessary part of this bread!

Not your average fruit dip

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I have to say I have never been a fan of fruit dips. You know, that seemingly obligatory, tooth-achingly sweet goop that shows up on fruit trays, salad bars, and at catered events. I'd come to the conclusion that the only reason that the only reason for its existence, was to mask bad, under ripe fruit. To somehow fool us into eating that rock hard cantaloupe or barely pink strawberry . Or perhaps like kids, we needed to be enticed into eating our fruit. Anyway, I've never seem a need for dip with fruit, but having been a caterer, fruit dip is regular request from clients, to be included with the mandatory fruit and veggie tray. I've made several different fruit dips over the years but never had one that appealed to me in the least. I was recently catered an event and needed that requested dip. So I decided to look for something new. This particular recipe caught my eye because it included coffee liqueur. It seemed like such an odd combination of ingredients that I just had to give it a try. The recipe said that the coffee liqueur was optional, so I added a couple of tablespoons to see if I'd like it.  Oh my! It's amazing. It tasted so good I added the rest of the 1/3 cup.  This recipe also called for cool whip, a product I never use, but I did this time. I plan to make it next time with sweetened whipped cream, and see how that works. I'm just glad I found a fruit dip that actually tastes good!!

Brown Sugar Fruit Dip

Source: (Sami Cameron, Corpus Christi, Texas, Southern Living, JULY 2007)

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients: (printable recipe)

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup coffee liqueur
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
assorted fruits

 

Method:
Beat brown sugar and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream, vanilla, and coffee liqueur, beating until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Cover and chill 4 hours. Sprinkle top of the dip with brown sugar garnish, if desired. Serve with fruit. Strawberries, pineapple, and grapes are really good with this dip.

This dip is not too sweet, with just the right amount of tang that it really compliments the fruit, and doesn't just mask it with sugar. The next time you have a party, whip up this dip to go with that fruit tray. You just might be a convert too!

pet peeves

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People that don't use turn signals.
People that read over my shoulder.
People that turn every conversation into one about themselves.
Bad grammar.
People that write checks in the express line at the store.
Wal-mart-pretty much everything about Wal-mart annoys me!
Junk mail.
Slow computers
Telemarketers.
The term semi-homemade??!!??
Sandra Lee- I'm sure she's a wonderful person...she annoys me.(see previous pet peeve)
People that leave their shopping cart in the parking lot rather than walk a few steps to put it where it belongs.
Men in too short shorts.
Know-it-all's.
People with no sense of humor.
We all have them, those little things in life that just make you crazy. These are just a few things that annoy me. I could go on but I wanted to keep this post to a reasonable length.
What brought on this little rant you ask? I made chocolate muffins a couple of days ago and was reminded of one of the things that really gets under my skin. I get really annoyed me when I'm reading through recipes on websites that have reader reviews and someone writes a review of a recipe that they completely changed and then complain about how they didn't like it. I'm all for using a recipe as a guide and changing it up to suit your personal tastes. Writing a review and sharing the things you changed is fine. I find that very useful. However when someone completely changes a recipe by making substitutions, additions, etc.. that don't work out, it's not the recipes fault. You screwed it up! Please don't rate and review a recipe you didn't make.
Then there are those reviewers that start the review with "I don't like ...but I thought I'd make this anyway and I didn't like it." Okay.  If you don't like ginger and make ginger bread, chance are your not going to like it. Is it really  necessary to write a review?  Major pet peeve! Anyway...

In my continuing effort to eat more healthful foods and sneak in fiber where possible, I bought some milled flax seeds. Flax is a great source of fiber, high in Omega 3's and helps lower cholesterol. All great things. Milled flax seeds can be used in baking and I'd seen a recipe for chocolate yogurt muffins. Mmmm chocolate muffins as health food. Perfect! As I was getting ready to make these muffins, I decided to make a few changes and substitutions to the original recipe. I used Hersey's Special Dark cocoa powder in place of regular cocoa. The darker the chocolate the better for you it is, right? That was a good substitution. The recipe called for vanilla yogurt, I used plain yogurt and added 1 tsp. vanilla. A little less sugar, also good. Everything was fine up till this point. Just as I was measuring out the dry ingredients, I saw the bag of King Arthur half white half wheat flour I'd just bought. Oh yeah a little wheat flour and these muffins are officially in the health food category. It can't hurt to add wheat flour...umm yeah, not the best baking decision. The muffins were still okay but the wheat flour made them too heavy and really changed the flavor. The flax already adds a bit of a nutty flavor but combined with the wheat flour it was just too much. I'm not saying they were throw out terrible just less good then they would have been. Totally my fault. I made a substitution that just didn't work well. Actually I made them a couple of days ago and they tasted better a day or so after later than they did straight out of the oven, or they've just grown on me. So here's the recipe as I made it but except for the flour change.  Without that mistake these muffins would be quite good. And that's my review!

Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c milled flax seeds
1/2 c cocoa (I used the Hersey's Special Dark cocoa powder) 
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt 
3/4 c sugar 
1 c yogurt 

1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c vegetable oil 
1/4 c milk 
1/2 c chopped nuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease.

In a large bowl, blend dry ingredients together. In another bowl, blend yogurt, vanilla, oil, and milk. Add nuts and chocolate chips to dry ingredients and pour in liquid stirring until just blended.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 18 - 20 minutes or until done.

Yields 12 muffins using a regular size 12 muffin pan.

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

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I came across this recipe when I was searching for a recipe to use up my sad old bananas. I always buy bananas with the thought that we need more fresh fruit in our diet. Despite these good intentions, we rarely eat them after I bring them home. For whatever reason we'll eat one or two and the rest just sit there. I hate to waste food so I usually try to use them in baking. So these bananas became banana macadamia nut muffins, which pretty much defeats the purpose of buying bananas so that we eat more fresh fruit. It's the thought that counts right??!!

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins
Bon Appetit, June 1991

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease twelve muffin cups or line with muffin papers. Sift first 4 ingredients into large bowl. Combine bananas, both sugars, butter, milk and egg in medium bowl. Mix into dry ingredients. Fold in half of nuts. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining macadamia nuts. Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to rack and cool.
These muffins are very tasty. I love the crunch of the nuts on top. Next time I make these I think I'll throw in a little coconut as well.
(Print Recipe)

What could make these muffins even better? Nutella!!! Now we're talking... I think I'll buying more bananas soon!

Need a bite of Spring? Try these Lemon-Ricotta Fritters with Strawberry Curd

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Okay as promised,I continued on my strawberry curd quest. Here's yet another strawberry curd recipe and I've got to say this one is pretty terrific! I thought the strawberry flavor was more prominent in this curd than in the first one I tried. This curd can be used just like you'd use a lemon curd, but is a nice change from the traditional lemon.
During my search for curd recipes, I came across a recipe from Martha Stewart for lemon-ricotta fritters that she paired with lemon curd. So I decided to make them to go with my strawberry curd. A.MA.ZING! It took all my will power not to snarf down the entire batch. Lemon and strawberry...yum! Really, I mean should I let Martha know how awesome her fritters are with strawberry curd?? Probably not...haha
Anyway the fritters are light and lemony and with the strawberry curd, they're like taking a bite of spring. Perfect for a lazy weekend breakfast or brunch.


STRAWBERRY CURD
1 pint fresh strawberries
finely grated zest of 1 orange
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
8 TBS unsalted butter, cubed
4 eggs

Wash and dry the strawberries,then hull them. Purée the berries in a food processor
Put the strawberry purée in a double boiler, or in a bowl which will sit over a pan of simmering water. Add the orange and lemon zest and juice, the sugar and the butter. Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture.
Cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then continue cooking, stirring often until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and strain the curd through a sieve.
Cover the curd with plastic wrap pressed down on the top to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold at least one hour.

LEMON RICOTTA FRITTERS
source: Martha Stewart Living

4 cups vegetable oil, for deep-frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
4 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pound ricotta cheese, drained
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Heat oil in a medium saucepan to 350 degrees. Sift flours, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl.
Mix together eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until just combined. Add ricotta, lemon zest, and vanilla, and stir until well combined. Add flour mixture, and stir until smooth.
Using an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, carefully drop a few balls of dough into oil. Cook, turning 2 to 3 times, until golden brown on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes total. Adjust heat as necessary to maintain temperature of oil. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough. Place on a plate, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Transfer curd to a serving bowl, and serve with fritters.

Betcha can't eat just one!!