AmyAs reported on Saturday Bites yesterday, I saved back some Champagne and Berries green tea for my baked item. I made a real simple cobbler. Berry Granola Cobbler to be exact. I had both fresh cranberries and freeze dried blueberries. I soaked the blueberries in the green tea for about 20 minutes then drained them. I used a couple of lightly oiled ramekins but for more people a 9-inch pie plate works. Toss the berries with about 2 cups of your favorite granola and a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar. Dump it into the pie pan and sprinkle on granulated sugar. I went with a dash of cinnamon myself. Cover tightly with foil and bake in a preheated 425°F oven for about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes. All lightly brown and bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt or ready-whipped cream. I myself just poured some heavy cream into the ramekins. This works as a dessert or slightly indulgent breakfast. I enjoyed it as a tea time treat for Boxing Day. GeorgiaThe hubs and I went to Campo at Los Poblanos for our anniversary. For dessert we had this amazing honey cake for dessert.
For Christmas dinner Randy made a request for the honey cake. So the search was on for the recipe. Sadly I was never able to find a recipe the used a batter and not a dough. This one was no different. I made it in great hopes it would come close. It did not. But.. It was still pretty tasty. Oh and if you add enough frosting to anything you can make it good. The hunt is still on to find a honey cake recipe that uses a batter and not a dough. Wising everyone a blessed New Year! Amy and Georgia Georgia I made these cut cupcakes for our Christmas gathering at work. Hot cocoa cupcakes sounded like they should be pretty amazing. I was wrong. Actually when I read this recipe I felt something was not right about it. Should've gone with my gut on this. Cupcakes were pretty tasteless and dry. Thank goodness for the frosting.. It was really the only thing that saved it. Note to self.. Walk away from any bake that says you can use oil or butter.. Amy A few months ago I happened upon a story about a pie I'd never heard of before. Or if I did, I forgot! Muslim Bean Pie aka Bean Pie or Navy Bean Pie. The genesis of this dandy of a pie goes back decades and it's associated with the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad to be specific. Due to dietary restrictions people of the Muslim faith conformed to Muhammad's daughter revamped a very old Navy Bean Pie recipe which has origins in the south. It's similar to pumpkin pie but uses beans for its custard. I googled "bean pie recipe" and there are recipes aplenty. I leave that up to the curious mind. It did not disappoint. It has the same wonderful Autumn/Winter spices as a pumpkin pie and it was a denser consistency but still somewhat light. If you can't stand pumpkin or sweet potato pie then give this Muslim Bean Pie a go. Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!!
Amy and Georgia GeorgiaI have been baking so much lately. And sadly by the time it's gone I realize I never took a pic of it. Unlike these lovely muffins. The husband has joined a mens group and they take turns with who brings in breakfast. Last weekend was Randy's week. So I made a breakfast casserole and since I had some leftover cranberries I made these cranberry orange muffins. I'm guessing they were good because he came home empty handed. AmyI made a banana cake and for the life of me I am unable to find the original recipe. I will say that I found myself researching, incorporating and replacing ingredients. I found myself delighted with the results. I'll just share what I remember. There's all-purpose flour Baking powder Dash of salt Butter Sugar or brown sugar(I used Splenda and Splenda based brown sugar) A couple of mushed up bananas Eggs I think I used coconut oil to substitute half of the butter and eggs Vanilla extract Penzeys Cake Spice You know, 2 bowls one for dry ingredients the other for the rest blah blah blah. I purchased yogurt powder on a whim. Turns out that yogurt powder has multiple purposes. Oddly enough it can't be reconstituted to make yogurt. But if you mix together a couple of tablespoons of yogurt powder with a cup of heavy cream you have a surprisingly convincing substitute for mascarpone cheese. Add some vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and you have yourself a mascarpone frosting. I chose to make it thinner for icing. And since Splenda is finer than granulated sugar I used that. My cake turned out moist and light so the mascarpone replacement kept with that. I believe with some fresh fruit as decoration this little cake would please the taste buds of anyone who fears eating healthyish. Word. Nothing like sharing some home-baked goodness,
Amy and Georgia GeorgiaThis past Monday would've been pop's 80th birthday and just like in years past we celebrated with hotdogs and pie. Since dad passed away it has become a tradition with my siblings and I. This year however I actually made pie. Instead of using a cherry pie filling I made my own. It was very easy. Frozen cherries and a little bit of sugar over medium heat until the juices have reduced and thickened. I used about half the cherries the recipe called for which made for more of a tart consistency. The husband ended up just picking it up and eating it. NikitaWe celebrated a birthday at work this week and I volunteered to make some Peach Cobbler Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. The center of the cupcake was scooped out and filled with a peach, rum, cinnamon, & brown sugar compote. The original recipe suggested a cream cheese buttercream topping, but I was really feeling a cinnamon buttercream. I heard statements and received emails that read "best cupcake I have ever had!" Christopher even said the filling put the cupcake over the top. I think I'll explore more filled cupcakes in the future. Tip: Use a 1 Tbsp Cookie scoop to scoop out cupcake and fill with cobbler filling. Super Easy! I just love celebrations and remembrances.
Happy birthday in heaven old man!! Until next week, Georgia, Nikita and Amy I baked a pie! Since Dad will have turned 80 on December 3, I simply had to bake a pie. I also had to use the pie cookbook that Pat had given to me. Tradition, you know. I spent quite some time going through the book deciding on just what kind of pie to make. There are a plethora of choices. Then it dawned on me that I haven't made a pecan pie as far I could recall. The pie cookbook is older, so I often rework the recipes to suit my palate and health. The recipes for the shells are a little too bland to me so I went with Snoop Dogg's recipe for a his homemade pie crust. I made his Sweet Potato pie for Thanksgiving and it did not disappoint. It was freakin' good! So here's the piecrust recipe: (I doubled the recipe as the pecan pie requires a 10" pie shell. This was nice and flakey) From Crook to Cook by Snoop Dogg 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface 1 Tbsp granulated sugar(I used Splenda and added 1 tsp of Penzeys Pie Spice) 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled To make the piecrust: 1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Process briefly to combine. 2. Cut the butter and shortening into cubes and add to the food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Dump the mixture into a large bowl. 3. A little at a time, add about 3 Tbsp of water- you may not need it all- and mix with a wooden spoon, or your hands, until a bit of the dough can be pinched together between two fingers and hold its shape. Using your hands, knead the dough in the bowl as best you can to incorporate all the crumbly bits. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight. Now we segue into the next cookbook: USDA Pecan Pie From Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook Once again I took some liberties with the recipe. Unbaked 10" pie shell 4 eggs 1 Cup sugar (Again I used Splenda 1/2 cup) 1/8 tsp salt 1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup (I used brown rice syrup. Honey, agave and maple syrup can also be used as a substitute for corn syrup) 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp melted butter 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup pecan halves Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat eggs just until blended, but not frothy. Add sugar, salt and corn syrup. Add cooled melted butter and vanilla, mixing just enough to blend. Spread nuts in bottom of pie shell. Pour in filling.. Place pie in oven. Reduce heat to 325°F., at once. Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Makes 8 to 10 servings. I was most pleased with my first effort with pecan pie. Happy December folks! Thanks to Amy for holding up Sunday Bakery this week
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