HSCS Muffins

Recipe #2 from the left over buttermilk. Horseradish Scallion Chive & Sage Muffins. These smelled delicious and were awesome served warm. I wish I had more Horseradish to add to them. I used this Horseradish called Nasal Napalm. Bob and I got in from a place called the Pepper Palace while we were in Myrtle Beach, SC one summer.  This stuff is great on ham, in garlic smashed potatoes, or by itself. It definitely cleans out the sinuses so you can even use it if you have a cold! It's better than Chinese Hot Mustard.

Enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, .25 tsp sea salt, .25 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 egg, 1/4 c butter (melted), 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish, 1.25 c buttermilk,  fresh scallions, chives & sage*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 and prepare either a 12-c or a 6-c muffin pan with liners or cooking spray. (2) Whisk flour, baking powder, sea salt and pepper in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk egg, butter, horseradish and buttermilk until blended. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (5) Fold in scallions, chives, and sage. (6) Divide evenly amongst muffin cups and bake for 16-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes and serve warm or cool completely on a wire rack.

*I didn't measure out an amount for the herbs. I used maybe 6-8 leaves of sage, maybe 1/4 c of chopped chives, and maybe 3/4 cup of scallions (greens and some of the whites).

Buttermilk Muffins

I don't have many pet peeves but there is one that I have that involves buttermilk. Why can't you purchase a small pint of buttermilk instead of a quart? This drives me crazy. For those recipes I use that call for buttermilk, they are almost always in small amounts like say a cup. Because I have to purchase a quart of buttermilk, there is ALWAYS buttermilk left over. So what do you do with the extra buttermilk? You can make pancakes, biscuits, muffins, coffee cakes, Red velvet cakes, pralines, and the list goes on.  I used buttermilk in my German Chocolate cake this past week and  find myself now having to use up the rest of the buttermilk before it goes bad.  I decided to make two different muffin recipes.  I made Basic Buttermilk muffins but added a little sweetness to them and made Horseradish, Scallion, Chive & Sage Muffins. The buttermilk recipe is listed below and the HSCS recipe in another post.

Both recipes are good and the muffins are quick and easy to make. They can go with almost anything you are serving for dinner. The HSCS muffins are being paired with some garlic-based Mahi, roasted green beans, and sweet potatoes. The Buttermilk muffins are so good and might just be eaten for breakfast or taken for lunch with a field greens salad.  

Enjoy this muffin recipe and check out the HSCS recipe later this week.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, .5 tsp baking soda, 2 eggs, .5 c butter (melted), 2 Tbsp liquid honey*, 1 c buttermilk

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 375 and prep either a 12-c or a 6-c muffin pan with liners or with cooking spray. (2) Whisk flour, baking powder, sea salt and baking soda in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, butter and honey until well blended. Whisk in buttermilk until blended. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (5) Divide evenly amongst prepared muffins cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and serve while still warm or cool completely on a wire rack.

*The honey we use in all our products comes from Queen Bee's Honey. Paul and Stephanie Camello are beekeepers from Pembroke, MA.

Scallion Dill Muffins

Another dinner muffin to try. These muffins are filled with flavor and are teamed up with an unexpected ingredient, cottage cheese. Why cottage cheese you ask? Since I had a tub of it in the fridge and because cottage cheese gives these muffins almost a souffle'-like texture, very light and tender; that's why!

These muffins are being paired with a simple field greens salad with red onions, grape tomatoes, sliced carrots, and yellow bell peppers along with a grilled chicken breast. Regular butter is great on these muffins but I sometimes make herb butter (softening butter and adding a variety of herbs, followed by rolling the doctored butter up and putting it in the fridge to harden) to go along with these or any other muffins being made. Just to make a dinner of a salad and muffin a little more fancy.  Enjoy!

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 2.5 tsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp dillweed, .5 tsp sea salt, .5 fresh ground pepper, 2 tsp sugar, 1 egg, 1 c cottage cheese (small curd), .5 c milk, .25 c butter (melted), .2 c chopped scallions

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 and prep a 12-c muffin pan or a 6-c muffin pan with liners or with Pam. (2) In a mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, dill, salt and pepper. (3) In another bowl, whisk sugar, egg, cottage cheese, milk and butter until well blended. Stir in scallions. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (5) Evenly divide batter amongst muffin cups and bake for 16 to 20 minutes (for a 12-c pan) or until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before serving or cool completely on a wire rack.

Southwestern Corn Muffins

A rainy day in New England. For me that usually means (1) curling up on the couch and watching a movie or reading a book or (2) baking. Today, I decided to bake some dinner muffins. What's left over can be eaten for breakfast this weekend.  Tonight's muffins are filled with spicy and flavor that reminds me of the Southwest. These muffins go very well with a bowl of chili.  Sometimes,  I make these muffins using blue corn meal instead of yellow but since I was out of blue corn meal, yellow it is.

If you don't like things too spicy you can omit or half what is mentioned below. I like things HOT so I usually add more than what this recipe calls for. Those of you that know us, know we have a cabinet of hot sauces and those of you that don't, well now you do. Certain hot sauces are used for certain things and some of them are so hot that only a little drop is needed to turn a huge vat of chili hot.

Enjoy this dinner muffin recipe.

Ingredients: 1.5 c flour, .5 c yellow cornmeal, 2.5 tsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp ground cumin, .5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp sea salt, 2 TBSP sugar, 1 egg, .75 c buttermilk, jalapeno pepper (seeded/chopped), 1/3 c chopped red peppers, 1/3 c chopped scallions, 1/4 c fresh cilantro chopped, 6 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 375 and prep either a 12-cup muffin pan or a 6-cup muffin pan with paper liners or sprayed with Pam. (2) In mixing bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, cumin, and baking soda. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, egg, and buttermilk until well blended. Stir peppers, scallions, cilantro. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and blend until just blended. Gradually fold in cheese. (5) Divide batter evenly in prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes* (12-cup pan) until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Let cool in pan for a few minutes then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely.


*I will sometimes add hot sauce to the batter and sprinkle extra cheese on the tops of the muffins before baking them.
*6-cup pan takes longer, roughly 35-40 minutes.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

 I figured I would take a break from bundt cake recipes and try some muffin recipes. Muffins are great anytime, morning, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. During the summer, when the berries were in season, we made a lot of berry muffins. One muffin we did this past summer was the Farmer's Market muffin. This muffin was chalked full of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, all obtained from local vendors. They were very moist and delicious. Muffins became a weekly offering at the farmer's markets for us.

Since we try to cater to everyone's needs, we started making some Vegan and Gluten-Free muffins. Experimenting on the right combinations for things was always fun and sometimes the results would work and other times, you knew just by looking at the muffin that it WASN'T going to be a good muffin. Since I'm a visual type of person, it was hard for me to try muffins that just look gross. Our friend, who has Celiac's disease, was only too happy to be our taste-tester for anything gluten-free. As she said, "Free Food! I'm game." 

Some recipes I've tried for gluten-free call for a wide variety of gluten-free flours and starches. A health store or the organic section of a grocery store will have a selection that can be used in gluten-free baking for you to choose from. I usually use either Uncle Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour or a Brown Rice Flour Blend (see below for recipe) for those things I make gluten-free. Every once in awhile I'll use Buckwheat, Sorghum, or Almond flour for a recipe. 

Enjoy this Cinnamon Sugar recipe. The gluten-free version is just as good as the regular version.

Ingredients: (topping) 2Tbsp sugar, .5 tsp cinnamon* (muffins) 1.75 c gluten-free flour or brown rice blend, 1 Tbsp gluten-free baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp sea salt, .5 tsp xanthan gum, .5 c sugar, .25 c butter, softened, 1 egg, .75 milk, 1 tsp pure vanilla

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prep either a 12-cup muffin pan or a 6-cup with liners. (2) In a small bowl, combine ingredients for topping. (3) In bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and xanthan gum; set aside. (4) In mixing bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat egg until incorporated then add milk and extract and beat until blended. (5) Add flour mixture to egg mixture and using a wooden spoon, stir until just blended. (6) Divide batter evenly in prepared pan and sprinkle with topping. Bake for 15-20 minutes* (12-cup pan) until tops are golden and cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove and cool on a wire rack.


*Brown Rice Flour Blend: 2 c finely ground brown rice flour, 2/3 c potato starch, 1/3 c tapioca starch. Whisk ingredients together. Makes 3 cups. Store in fridge or freezer if not using up right away.

*I love cinnamon so I usually go heavy on the cinnamon.
*Cooking time for 6-c muffin pan is longer and depends on oven. Usually 30-40 minutes.

Almond Pound Cake

The other day while grocery shopping, I passed the bakery section and saw a loaf of Almond Pound Cake and started salivating, you know, the whole Pavlov's dog thing. I haven't had baked goods since the week before Christmas; well, actually, I did break and have a cookie on Christmas day, but still. Lately, I'm starting to crave things like hot fudge sundae's or hot pretzels or a slice of pound cake with a nice lemon icing on top because of the certain foods I'm eating and those I can't eat. I haven't totally caved, but the cravings are still there. So to help overcome this carving for a slice of pound cake, I figured I would bake one. Hopefully just the smell of it baking and maybe, just maybe, a SMALL taste of leftover batter will put the beast to rest. I'm not totally confident that I won't have a piece so this pound cake will be taken to a gathering tonight so I'm not tempted to have a slice with my tea later this evening!

I'm trying out a new recipe I found for Almond Pound Cake. I usually use my Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe and add things like pure almond extract, almond flour, and almond paste. I wanted to find something similar but doesn't use the sour cream.  I just did an internet search for Almond Pound Cake and read through several before finding one that has ingredients I was looking for. So this is a first time cake and my guinea pigs, I mean, taste testers will have to let me know what they think, since I WON'T be having a slice!

Ingredients: 1.5 c butter, 3 c sugar, 5 eggs*, 2.5 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder, .5 c almond meal*, .25 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp pure almond extract, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 2 c milk, .33 c almond slivered

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prepare pan* with either a cooking spray that has flour in it (Baking Joy) or grease and flour the pan. (2) Beat butter until cream them slowly add in sugar. Beat until fluffy. (3) Add eggs to the batter, one at a time. Beat mixture another 2 minutes. (4) In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt and almond meal. (5) Add extracts to milk, set aside. (6) On low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until incorporated. Add half of the milk mixture to the mixing bowl and incorporate. Continue adding flour then milk then flour until all the flour and milk are incorporated into the mixing bowl. (7) Sprinkle slivered almonds on the bottom of the prepared pan (optional) and then pour batter into the pan. (8) Bake until done, about 55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. (9) Cool slightly then invert on cooling rack or pan and cool completely. Frost/glaze after cake is completely cooled.


*Eggs are better at room temperature.
*Bob's Red Mill has an almond meal that can be used. We use it when we make our macarons. If you don't want to pay the price for the almond meal (can be around $11 per bag at a grocery store), you can ground up almonds in a food grinder.
*You can use a bundt pan, a loaf pan, a tube pan, or any pan you want.
*I might top this cake with a almond glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar or serve it plain. All depends on what I feel like doing after the cake cools.

Coconut Banana Bundt Cake

Just a marble cake; not a picture of this recipe.

Sometimes when making a recipe, whether from a book or a 'secret' recipe, there is always some batter leftover. What do you do? Make a mini-cake, mini-bundt, mini-loaf, cupcake or throw out the batter. Usually I would just make a mini-something and give it away, send it in to work, or eat it for breakfast the next morning.

I've never made a marble cake. I've always wanted to just never got around to doing it. Having leftover batter makes making a marble cake easy. Most batter will keep up to 4 days, so instead of cooking a mini-something or throwing away the batter make a Marble Cake.

I've halved some recipes that I use for normal cakes and decided to make a tropical bundt cake since the winter has finally arrived her in MA.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  (Banana) 1.25 tsp baking powder, .25 sea salt, 1.25 c flour, 3 oz. butter, .75 c + 3 TBSP sugar, 2 eggs*, .5 c milk, .75 tsp pure vanilla, .50 mashed banana, 1 tsp pure banana extract (Coconut) 1.25 c flour, 1.25 tsp baking powder, .25 sea salt, 3 oz. butter, .75 c + 3 TBSP sugar, 2 eggs*, .75 tsp pure vanilla, .5 c coconut milk, 1 tsp pure coconut oil (extract)

Instructions: (1)Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour your pan. (2) Repeat steps 2-5 for each cake separately. Sift flour, powder, sea salt for each cake separately and set aside. (3) Cream butter then add sugar slowly. (4) Add eggs one at a time and mix well. (4) Mix milk and extracts. (5) Beginning and ending with flour mixture, add a-third of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture then add half of the milk mixture and repeat until all flour and milk are incorporated. (6) Banana cake: add the mashed banana to the mixture and blend. (7) Take one of the batters and spoon half of it into the prepared pan. (8) Top with half of the second batter and using a butter knife, make a zig-zag or circular pattern in the batter. (9) Top with first batter and then again with second batter followed by making the zig-zag/circular pattern. (10) Bake cake for roughly 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes or so and then invert and cool completely.

*Use room temperature eggs.
*Top the cake with a cream cheese frosting. I would make a coconut cream cheese frosting for that little bit of a tropical feel. I would also maybe decorate it with some flakes of coconut and banana chips.

Lemon Crumb Coffee Cake

Bundt #3: Lemon Crumb Coffee Cake. I'm still on a citrus kick, if you haven't figured it out. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...Seriously, a while ago, I picked up a bargain book at Borders that had a variety of ideas for baking. I loved shopping Borders and the bargain sections for good finds, whether it be for pleasure reading, for my classroom, or for trying out new ideas. I picked up this great chocolate book and made this elaborate chocolate box with a caramel mousse filling. Fresh fruit and caramel shards were then added to the top. It was DELICIOUS. But anyway, I tried this recipe for a lemon crumb cake. Of course, I didn't check to see what I had in the fridge before starting the process of making the cake and had to substitute some things but the cake turned out moist with a rich, lemony flavor and the crumb topping just made it perfect. So enjoy this recipe. This isn't the one I original tried but the one I ended up making.

Ingredients: (topping) 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/4 c flour, grated zest of 1 lemon, 3 TBSP cold butter, cut into small pieces. (cake) 2 c flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp baking soda, .25 tsp sea salt, 1/4 c chopped lemon-peel*, 1 stick butter, .25 c sugar, 1 c buttermilk (or yogurt), 2 eggs beaten, grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 tsp pure vanilla and pure lemon extract

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan (or a pan of your choice)*. Combine crumb toppings in a small bowl and rub until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside. (2) Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a large bowl. Stir in lemon peel and make a well in the center of the bowl. (3) Put butter in a saucepan and set on low until melted. Remove and add sugar, buttermilk, eggs, lemon zest, and extracts. Whisk. Pour mixture from saucepan into well and stir until just blended. (4) Spoon half of batter into pant and sprinkle half of crumb topping over batter. Spread, evenly, the remaining batter over the crumb topping and top with remaining half of topping left in bowl. (5) Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, approximately 1 hour. Remove and cool on wire rack before loosening it from the pan.

*I some times use a loaf pan or a buckle pan or a cake pan or a spring pan when making coffee cakes. It just depends on how I feel and what the cake is for.
*I used candied lemon peels. To make, dissolved sugar in water in a saucepan. Boil mixture, then dredge lemon peels in mixture and roll in sugar and place on a wire rack to drip dry. Some grocery stores or specialty stores might have candied lemon peels.

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake

Bundt cake #2 of the week: Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake. A different version of our Sour Cream Coffee Cake but with a lot more cinnamon and with pecans instead of walnuts.  Our original coffee cake recipe is from my in-laws side of the family. Since it is one of our 'secret' recipes, I can't post it but I did hunt up a recipe that is similar to the one we use and produces a tasty cake that you would enjoy.

Kiss My Bundt is a bakery in California and is the brain child of a southerner by the name of Chrysta Wilson. Chrysta started her bakery original as a web-based company and then opened her own shop. Maybe one day we will be able to open our own little shop.  Enjoy this recipe. It's a really good one.


Ingredients: 2 tsp pure vanilla, .25 c whole milk, 1.75 c sour cream, 3 c flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, .75 tsp salt, .75 c butter, 1 c sugar, .5 c brown sugar, 3 eggs (room temp), 1 c pecans (finely chopped), 1.5c brown sugar, 3 TBSP cinnmon

Instructions: (1) Preheat to 350. Prep pan with either Baking Joy spray or grease and flour it. (2) In a small bowl, add vanilla, milk, and sour cream. (3) In another bowl, add pecans, 1.5 c brown sugar and 3 TBSP cinnamon. (4) Sift flour, soda, powder, and salt. (5) Cream butter and then add sugars in slowly; mix until fluffy. (6) Add eggs, one at a time and beat on medium speed after each addition. (7) Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then 1/2 of the milk mixture. Repeat until you end with the flour mixture. (8) Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the pecan-brown sugar mixture on top of the batter, then add another 1/3 of the batter on top. Sprinkle the remaining pecan-brown sugar mixture on top and add the last of the batter. (9) Bake until cake tester comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool cake for about 10 minutes and then invert cake on a cooling rack. Cool completely.

*You can add a glaze to the cooled cake or leave it plain; totally up to you.

Cappuccino Bundt cake

While looking for something entirely different last weekend, I noticed several bundt pans in the corner of the cabinet. I decided to try out some different bundt cake recipes using these forgotten pans.

Recently when my grandparents moved from their hometown to a town closer to my aunt, my grandma gave me her bundt pan. You can definitely tell that this pan was well-loved. I had a favorite bundt pan but now I always use grandma's. When I don't feel like making a Big bundt cake, I sometimes make baby or mini bundt cakes. With the baby or mini cakes, I can freeze some or give some away as gifts. We are thinking about offering mini-bundt cakes at the farmers market this upcoming season.

I took a basic vanilla bundt cake recipe and decided to add coffee to it to make a Cappuccino cake for those friends of mine who are coffee lovers. I really don't like coffee; I'm more of a tea drinker. So when I make anything with coffee, I have to have my taster testers tell me what needs to be added or changed. They stated that maybe a little more coffee next time but otherwise, it was a good bundt cake.

Sometimes I leave a bundt cake plain or frost it with a cream cheese frosting, Buttercream frosting, a glaze, or a ganache. If I make this bundt cake again, I might try either a cream cheese frosting or a chocolate/vanilla/coffee Buttercream frosting on top and use maybe chocolate covered coffee beans as garnish.

Ingredients: 2.5 c flour, 2.5 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp salt, .75 c butter, 1.75 c sugar, 3 eggs (room temp), 1.5 tsp pure vanilla, 1.25 c whole milk, 2 tsp coffee extract, 4 TBSP instant coffee granules.

Instructions: (1) Heat oven to 350. Prep bundt pan (spray with Baking Joy or greased and floured). Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. (2) Beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Slowly add sugar and continue beating until fluffy. (3) Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. (4) Add vanilla and coffee extract and coffee granules to milk. (5) Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with milk mixture. Begin and end with flour mixture. (6) Transfer batter to cake and fill pan to about 3/4 full. Bake until cake tester comes out clean, about 40 minutes for a big bundt pan or less for baby or mini pans.

*We get a majority of our extracts from Cook's Vanilla. They have a great selection of Pure and Organic extracts from nut, coffee, citrus, berry, liqueur flavors to even gluten-free flavors.
*I usually will add extracts and coffee granules to the milk first so they have a longer time seep.

Next bundt recipe I'll try, later on this week, and post will be a version of our Sour Cream Coffee cake but with Cinnamon and Pecans. 

Pralines

LSU is playing 'Bama in the BCS champion ship game tomorrow night. Let's Geaux Tigers!!!!
Since I've posted a King's Cake recipe early this morning and made a shrimp-chicken-sausage gumbo this afternoon, I figured I would post a recipe of one of my favorite cookies, Pralines.

The recipe posted below is one from a lady from Louisiana named Marie. She was one of the custodians that worked at the school my mom taught at. To earn extra money, Marie made and sold her Pralines. My mom had her son in class and Marie gave my mom her recipe for Pralines. Marie was known for NOT giving out her recipes so my mom was honored. Little did Marie know, my mom really doesn't do any experimental baking/cooking. I spied this recipe in one of my mom's old cookbooks that was filled with recipes given to her from people from church, school, and other locations.

The history of the praline dates back to 17th century France when the chef of the sugar industrialist, du Plessis-Praslin, individually coated whole almonds with caramelized sugar. Praline refers to an confection that is made of nuts and sugar syrup or any chocolate confection containing  ground powder or whole nuts. Belgium, France, and America all make pralines different. The American praline came into being in the 19th century when chefs would substitute pecans for the almonds and use cream to thicken the confection. American pralines have a consistency like fudge and can be very sweet.

My first time making Pralines was for a cookie swap one Christmas. It really didn't take me long to make the pralines but I did learn a very valuable lesson. While the mixture is cooking on the stove to get to that soft ball stage, make sure to be wearing oven mits because if the mixture bubbles and lands on any exposed skin, IT will burn. I loved the pralines but my Yankee husband didn't like them. To him they were too sweet and had pecans in them. I didn't mind because that meant extras for me.

Enjoy Marie's Praline recipe. If you ever travel to New Orleans, you will see these sugary treats almost everywhere you go. You will see a lot of Aunt Sally pralines but you can also find pralines made by a local baker. You should at least try them once. If they are too sugary for you, just means more for me!

Ingredients: 12oz can of evaporated milk, 2 c sugar, 1/2 stick butter, Pecans, vanilla

Instructions:  Mix milk, sugar, and butter in a pan and cook until thick like fudge. Drop a small amount of the mixture into cold water and see if a soft ball forms. If it does, remove from heat and add pecans and vanilla. Drop mixture on a buttered cookie sheet or butter Al foil. Cool completely.

King's Cake and Epiphany

King's Cake is a cake that is associated with Epiphany in several countries during the Christmas season. In the south, it is associated with the Carnival/Mardi Gras season. King's Cakes usually start showing up in the south after Christmas and can be found all the way up until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the day before lent. This year, Epiphany was January 6 and so started the Mardi Gras season.

The name of the cake is taken from the biblical three kings that brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The cake has a small trinket (once was a bean but now is a small plastic baby) and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations. In the south, the tradition is that whomever gets the plastic baby is responsible for providing the next King's cake or hosting the next Mardi Gras party. Mention of the king's cake and the traditions surrounding the trinket go back to 1659 and can also been seen in paintings done by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1774).

Different countries have different versions and styles of king's cake. In the south, the king's cake is a ring of twisted bread that is topped with icing or sugar in the traditional Mardi Gras colors (green, purple, yellow). Usually a cinnamon sugar filling is between the bread but fillings like Cream Cheese, Praline, Strawberry can be found. The "Zulu King Cake" has a chocolate icing and coconut filling. This cake is based upon the Krewe of Zulu parade and the most sought-after coconut that is thrown during parades.

Making a King's cake takes time, patience, and a sense of humor. My first attempt wasn't the greatest and needless to say I ordered a cake from Haydel's.  The recipe I'm posting is a recipe given to my mom while we lived in Louisiana from a fellow co-worker from Audubon Elementary.  As I stated, it takes time and a HUGE sense of humor to do this recipe. If you really want a King's cake, you might want to order one and save yourself the frustration. It's your call.

Ingredients:  Cake- 3.5 c sifted flour, 1/4 c sugar, 1 pkg. active dry yeast, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 c water, 1/2 c milk, 1/4 c butter, 1 egg  Filling- 1.5 c brown sugar, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 c butter, softened  Icing-1 c powdered sugar, 1 tsp pure vanilla, 2 TBSP milk, 1 tsp. oil

Instructions: (1)Sift and measure flour. In a large mixing bowl, mix 1 c of sugar, yeast, and salt.  Place water, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and heat on low until liquids are warm and butter is melted. Gradually add liquid to dry ingredients and beat with a mixer for 2 min. on medium speed. Add egg and 1 c flour or enough to make a thick batter. Beat at high speed for 2 min. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto a heavily floured board and need 5 to 10 min. or until dough is smooth. Add flour to board as needed to prevent sticking. Place ball of dough in a greased bowl. Turn the dough once to bring greased side up. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place, until it doubles in bulk (about 1.5 hours). (2) Punch down and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 times. Divide dough in half. Roll one-half of the dough into a 25x15" oblong. Spread with 1/4 c of softened butter. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread 1/2 of this mixture on top of the butter. Roll the dough lightly, starting with the wide side. Pinch the edges. Repeat with remaining dough. (3) Twist the two rolls and attach the end. Place ring on a greased pan. Cover with greased wax paper and a towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1.5 hours until doubled. (4) Place ring in an oven set at 375. Bake for 20 to 25 min. until golden. After cake has cooled, spread icing on top and decorate with gold, purple, and green sugars.

*Icing: In a bowl combine sugar, vanilla, and milk. Beat about 1 min. Add oil and beat until creamy consistency. If too thick, add a few drops of milk and beat to correct consistency.
*If adding a plastic baby, place it in a section of the cake prior to baking, or you can add it to the cake after baking.

**As I stated, this takes time and a sense of humor. This recipe was a favorite of Ms. Eden's but she even stated to my mom, .."when I can get it to work." Once again, a sense of humor.

Orange Pecan Spice Pound Cake

Orange Pecan Spice Pound Cake

Pound Cake is a British creation dating back to the early 1700s. It was an easy recipe to remember because there was a pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. No leavening agents were used, just air whipped into the batter. This recipe would feed multiple families. During the 1800s, the recipe was tweaked to produce a lighter cake and by the 1900s, leavening agents were used.

Pound Cake is one of those dessert cakes that can be found in a bundt (mini and big) shape, loaf shape, or a tube shape. There are many varieties of pound cake depending on what you are looking for in a recipe. A friend of mine from Georgia makes a killer Pound cake recipe. One year she baked up some for us to take on a research trip to Belize and Guatemala. As she stated, "You can eat some during your flights and save some to throw at the jaguars if they are chasing you!" I was happy when she gave me the recipe before moving to Switzerland. My step-grandfather made a killer Cream Cheese Pound Cake. He was born and bred in Kentucky and this was a recipe he was known for making. He gave my mom the recipe along with the specialized pan he made it in. Not long after getting the recipe, Preston died. In remembering him, my grandmother overheard that he had given my mom the recipe. Gran stated that "not even his daughters have that recipe". This is the recipe we use and sell at the farmer's market in a loaf form but it can also be purchased in big form using the pan Preston used to make it.

I'm on a citrus kick so I decided to make a pound cake with orange in it along with some pecans and some additional spices that I wouldn't use if I was making a normal pound cake. I used a bundt cake pan because this cake is going to a friend's house for a potluck dinner and the bundt pan adds a little decorative touch to the cake. The finished product will be plated, brushed with an orange syrup and garnished with orange and pecan halves around the edge of the cake.

Ingredients: 2 cups finely chopped pecans, 1 lb. butter, softened, 3 c sugar, 6 large eggs, 4 c flour, 1/8 tsp. salt, 3/4 c milk, 2 TBSP. orange zest, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1 tsp. each of pure vanilla, pure lemon, and pure orange extract, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves.

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350. Arrange pecans in a shallow pan and bake 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stir after 5 minutes. (BE CARE THEY BURN QUICKLY). Reduce oven temp to 300. (2) Grease and flour pan or you can grease the pan and use about 1 1/4 c of pecans to coat the bottom and the sides of the pan evenly. This will add a crisp coating to the pound cake. Make sure the pecans are evenly distributed along the bottom of the pan. (3) Beat butter on medium speed until creamy and gradually add in sugar, mixing well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. (4) Combine flour and salt and add to butter mixture alternatively with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in orange zest, spices, extracts, and remaining pecans. Spoon into prepared pan. (5) Bake at 300 for 1.5 hours or until skewer  comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for 20 min. Remove cake from pan and invert it so the pecan crust side is up. If you didn't add the pecans during step 2, just invert the cake. Brush orange syrup* along tops and sides and cool for an hour. Plate and garnish and serve.

*Orange Syrup can be brushed along the top and sides of the pound cake several times. To make the syrup you need 1 orange and 1 c sugar. Zest the orange for 2 TBSP and squeeze the orange for 1/2 c of juice. Stir zest, juice and sugar in small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to med-high and bring mixture to boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 3 min. Use immediately on cake. (DON'T POUR SYRUP OVER CAKE!)

**I added more zest because I love that citrus flavor. While making the cake, I don't level off the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) but use heaping teaspoons.  If I dress up the cake fancy, I'll make crystallized orange peels and glazed pecans. If I don't feel like doing the extra work, I just use raw pecan halves and orange slices.

Chicken Piccata

We don't really go out to eat a lot and if we do, we don't do Italian unless we head towards our favorite place in the North End. One evening we met up with my in-laws and friends of theirs at a local place called Peppercorns. Peppercorns isn't in the North End but is located in Weymouth on Route 18. I ordered their Chicken Piccata dish and found a new dish to try for dinner. 

Bob and I eat a lot of chicken so we are always looking for new recipes. I made this dish for a first time sticking to the recipe I got from Bob's uncle John. I fell in love with the recipe because it was fast and easy to make and was delicious. At one time, I was making this dish once a week because it was so easy to do even after working all day and getting home late.  I've changed the original recipe a little but decided to type up the information given to me by Uncle John. I've added a few suggestions at the end, if you want to try them. Enjoy!

Ingredients: skinless, boneless chicken breast, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, flour, unsalted butter, Sauvignon blanc or another tart white wine, chicken broth, fresh lemon juice, capers

Instructions: (1) Pound chicken breast between parchment paper or plastic wrap until 1/4" thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (both sides) and lightly dredge in flour; shake off excess flour. (2) Melt butter in large skillet over med-high heat. Add cutlets to pan and saute for 5 minutes. Remove and repeat with remaining cutlets. (3) Place cutlets on plate to drip before adding wine to the pan. Scrap up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan and cook down. Add broth and simmer until mixture is reduced. Stir in lemon juice and capers and place chicken back in pan mixture. Cook for a few minutes. (4) Sprinkle broth mixture over the top of the chicken. Garnish with tarragon or parsley or thyme.

* Serve over wheat pasta, with veggies or a mixed green salad, or with garlic mashed potatoes.
* I use some olive oil with the butter during step 2.
* I usually add more white wine, a little chicken broth, and more lemon juice during step 3.

Almond Lemon Souffle

I love making souffles when it is cold out. I can make them for dinner or for dessert and since you want to serve and eat these creations immediately after they come out of the oven, it's a great way to have a warm meal on a cold winter's night. 

I  have definitely had some failures but once I got the technique down and started doing a few different things, the souffles have been turning out almost perfect. I can't say perfect because nothing is ever PERFECT.

This recipe I got from the Cooking Light Magazine. I like finding delicious recipes that aren't so bad for me if I eat them. I tried this recipe out during the weekend and enjoyed it. I would definitely do a few things different next time I make this recipe, but, as my husband says sometimes, this is a keeper! I'm planning on using other citrus flavors like tangerine or even grapefruit to see how they come out. The lemon flavor is nice but I would add more lemon rind for a more lemony flavor. The almonds make this different from a traditional souffle that usually has powered sugar sprinkled on top. However you decide to make it, enjoy.







Ingredients: cooking spray, 1/2 cup + 2 TBSPs of sugar, divided, 2 large egg yolks, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 TBSP grated lemon rind, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 2 TBSPs butter, melted, 1/4 cup of flour, 6 large egg whites, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 1/4 cup sliced almonds


Instructions: (1) Place a baking sheet with sides in the oven and preheat to 425. (2) Lightly coat 6 ramekins with cooking spray and evenly sprinkle with 2 TBSP sugar, titling to coat sides completely. (3) Combine 1/4 c sugar and egg yolks in large bowl and beat at high speed until thick and pale. Add 3/4 c buttermilk, lemon rind, lemon juice, melted butter, and flour; beat at medium speed until just blended. (4) Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and let stand for 15 min. at room temperature. Using clean, dry beaters, beat at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 c of sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, beating until medium peaks form. (5) Gently stir 1/4 of egg whites into lemon mixture; gently fold in remaining egg whites. Spoon mixture into ramekins. Sharply tap dishes 2 to 3 times on the counter to level. Sprinkle with almonds. (6) Place ramekins on preheated sheet and return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 20 minutes or until puffy and lightly brown. Serve Immediately.

*Recipe obtained from Cooking Light Magazine, June 2011.

Busy, Busy Busy!

The fall started out beautiful with an Indian summer and then it appeared that winter would be approaching much sooner than planned with October getting extremely cold. This made Saturdays at the Hingham market a fun time. Nothing like a hot cup of tea or coffee from Redeye Roasters,  a bag of popcorn from Margie's Sweet Surrender, and fellowship with other vendors to pass a cold, windy Saturday. The market ended the weekend before Thanksgiving, which gave us time to catch a breather before baking tons of pumpkin and apple pies along with pumpkin breads and other delicious sweets for Thanksgiving feasts.

My favorite time of the year is Christmas. I love the music, the food, the smells, the lights, etc. We decided to take a portion of all orders placed between 11/25 and 1/1/12 and donate the proceeds to St. Jude Children's Hospital. When we first started the business, Bob had the idea of doing "Cookies for Kids".  Donations would be given to different charities and non-profit organizations that helped children. We were blessed this season with your generous support and were able to donate $300 to St. Jude's. We are hoping to give donations to worthy causes in the year to come.

 We developed several different types of Christmas cookies for platters this season. One cookie that became a sudden hit was the Peppermint Macarons. These are french style cookies that have a filling that can be buttercream or frosting or jelly surrounded by two light dyed-red meringue-like wafers. We decided to roll the macaron edges in crushed peppermints to give it that holiday feel. I was told that these cookies need to be offered every Christmas. We also made some Almond Scandinavian bars which were absolutely delicious.  We had a call for mini-cakes. Instead of one cake to serve guests, the mini-cakes allow for guests to have options. A few mini-cakes we did this season were the Chocolate Peppermint cake and the Eggnog Cake. Both cakes were a hit with our taste testers and added to our product line. Red Velvet, Peppermint, and Eggnog cupcakes were also added to our product line. The Holiday season kept us pretty busy up until New Years Eve.

The second half of 2011 sure did go by fast. January is usually a slow time for us because people are sticking to their new year's resolutions or are cutting out sweets. This time of the year allows for us to experiment with different kinds of recipes, change a few recipes that didn't work before, and just have fun baking in the kitchen. I'm going to try to post a few recipes a week during January; that's try to post. Between a full-time job and experimenting, it might only be a recipe a week.