Poppy seed Cake

Recipe originally from here, found in an issue of Farm Journal
This cake is delicious—moist, not too rich, with a delicate flavor. I baked it in a 13x9” pyrex pan, but it could also be baked in regular cake pans, I think.
I have made it with a traditional buttercream frosting, but the frosting flavor somehow covered up the flavor of the cake itself, we thought. The sour cream-cream cheese frosting below is better with this cake, but it really could just go with a dusting of powdered sugar or a simple powdered sugar glaze.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 cup milk
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups (480 grams.) sifted cake flour (If you only have AP flour, mix 2 1/2 cups and 2 Tablespoons (336 grams) of AP flour with 1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons (41.25 grams) of cornstarch)
1 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Directions:
1) Add poppy seeds to milk and let stand for at least 1 hour (I usually soak them overnight or all day.)
2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan. Set aside.
3) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4) Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in another bowl.
5) Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
6) Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. (NOTE: Whip the egg whites right before putting them in. If you let them sit for too long, then they'll probably separate. I've done it. Not pretty. See this place for the science behind it, and for tips about how to make sure your egg whites don't separate--things like adding acid in the form of lemon juice or cream of tartar work nicely).
7) Fold in egg whites, half at a time. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in several areas comes out clean. Let sit in pan for 10 to 15 minutes before removing to a rack to complete cooling.

Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Frosting (from here)
adapted from Bunny's Warm Oven where she got it from Epicurious

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
Optional: Walnuts

Beat sour cream, confectioner's sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl until well blended. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. If desired, sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Lemon-Thyme Shortbread Cookies with Earl Grey Glaze

Recipe from here

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest (The zest of two lemons)
1 teaspoon lemon extract (Or the juice of one lemon. Taste the batter and see what you think after you’ve added the flour—depending on the size of your lemon, you might want to juice the second lemon as well.)
2 cups flour (Depending on the size of the lemon, again. I ended up using about ten ounces of all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons dried thyme (I used about ten sprigs of fresh thyme. Take the leaves off of the sprigs, then chop finely with a very sharp chef’s knife. It could probably do with even fifteen sprigs of thyme.)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons brewed Earl Grey

Directions:
Cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon extract. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, thyme, and salt. Mix the flour into the butter until thoroughly combined.
Split the dough into two equal-sized balls. Form into logs (Mine were about 2.5 inches in diameter) and roll in parchment. Refrigerate for at least one hour until the dough is chilled and firm.

Preheat the oven to 300º F. When the oven has preheated and you’re ready to bake, line baking sheets with parchment. Slice 1/4″ slices off the logs and place on the baking sheets about 1″ apart. Bake for 20-25 minutes, just until the edges start to turn golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

For Icing:
In a small bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of tea until a thick glaze is formed. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies. Allow to set.

New York Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Notice: This dough must be refrigerated for 24 hours before you can cook it up. Otherwise, you can just eat raw cookie dough. Which is still an option. :)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8½ ounces) cake flour (If you have no cake flour, you can make your own: 1.7 ounces of cornstarch plus 6.8 ounces of all-purpose of flour. Or, by volume, it would be 1.5 cups all-purpose flour plus a quarter cup cornstarch.)
1 & 2/3 cups (8½ ounces) bread flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1¼ cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 & 1/3 cups (20 ounces) dark chocolate chips, at least 60% cacao content
Sea salt, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

4. Scoop 3 1/2-ounces of dough, roll into a rough ball (it should be the size of a large golf ball) and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until you have six mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the parchment or silicone sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto another cooling rack to cool a bit more, until just warm or at room temperature. Repeat with remaining dough (or keep some of the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days, and bake cookies at a later time). Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They also freeze nicely.

Scones

Hello folks! Hey, guess what…it’s sunny! Such a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Aaaaahhh…
Which means that it’s a perfect day for a walk! Right after whipping together the batter for scones, that is…
I was sent this wonderful recipe for scones several weeks ago, and have found it to be my favorite scone recipe so far!
If you make the batter, roll it out, cut them into triangles, and put them on the baking sheet ahead of time, you can either refrigerate or freeze them until later. If you freeze them, take them out while you preheat the oven, and then pop them in the oven! Just make sure to brush with butter or cream before you stick them in. The cold before baking gets the butter to be really cold again, which is what gives the scones their wonderful texture.
One more note: I’ve tried this recipe with milk, half and half, and cream, and discovered that if you make it with anything other than cream, you’ll have to take out a few tablespoons of the liquid. Or add flour, which is undesirable since it has not had butter rubbed into it.
Here ya go!

The best scones ever!!
2 cups (9 oz) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 1/4 cup (9 fl oz) heavy cream (plus a little more for brushing)—If you’re using half-and-half, I would recommend only using 1 1/8 cups half-and-half. If you’re using milk, try just using a cup of milk.
1 cup blackberries (or you can substitute for chocolate chips, blueberries, apples, etc.)
[If you're using fresh berries, I would recommend putting them in the freezer a little bit before you start baking so they are easier to work with.]
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together. Using a fork and a knife (or your hands or a pastry knife) cut the butter into the dry ingredients until your mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Then form a well in the center of your ingredients and add the heavy cream. Fold everything together and add the berries. You might want to use your hands (rub them in flour if it gets too sticky) so you can fold lightly; try not to press too hard on the berries. Once everything is incorporated, shape your dough into a circle that is about 1 1/4 inch thick (sometimes shaping it in a floured pie tin helps). Then cut the dough into quarters and cut each quarter in half (you should have 8 triangle wedges). Place each piece on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush some cream on top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (or until the top and edges start to look golden brown)!
For a very quick glaze, take 3/4 of a cup of confectioner’s sugar and keep adding 1 teaspoon of whole milk at a time until you achieve a thick icing-like consistency. (You can add more milk if the glaze is too thick for you but add it very slowly because it takes less milk than you think!) Spoon the glaze into one corner of a ziplock bag. Using scissors, cut the corner of the bag (only a very small part) and pipe the glaze onto the cooled scones. Enjoy!
You can do lots of different things with this base recipe! I’ve tried putting homemade cinnamon chips in them, tried them with blueberries, and tried them most recently with apples and cinnamon (I cut up a small apple into small pieces…tho I think a bigger apple would have been better!), and I want to try them with apples and homemade cinnamon chips!

Syrian Flatbread

This bread dough can be made in the bread machine and then rolled out and baked by hand, or you can do the whole thing by hand!

Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions:
1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press start.
If you don’t have a bread machine, add the yeast to the water, then the oil and sugar. Sift together the salt and flour, then mix in. Knead the dough until smooth, put into a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough round, and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place.
2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces and form into rounds. Cover the rounds with a damp cloth and let rest.
4. Roll dough into thin flat circles, about 8 inches in diameter. Cook two at a time on preheated baking sheets or a baking stone until puffed up and golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, then flip and bake for another minute or two. Repeat for remaining loaves.
(Note: if you prick them with a fork they will not rise to such a great extent. It depends on what you want them for. Also, you may have to play with the baking time—if you want really soft ones, don’t cook them too long, and if you want really nice golden brown ones, then cook them longer, etc.)

Swedish Nutmeg Slices

Thanks to a certain world-traveling family…

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine or butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Beat butter, sugar, and spices until light and fluffy
Add flour, kneading lightly. (Be careful, the dough is sensitive. Don’t hurt its feelings)
Divide into 4 pieces. Form each into a 16” log. Place on parchment-paper or greased baking sheets.
Press down lightly with a fork to make lines in the dough (Stripes can be not straight too…)
Bake on center oven rack for 20 minutes.
Cut each log into 10 diagonal pieces while still warm

Nom nom nom
With a Swedish accent.

Sandwich Bread!

I have used this bread recipe for…a while now. It’s yummy. You’ll like it.

Better Homes and Gardens
Sandwich Bread recipe

1/2 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons shortening
6-7 cups flour (I use half whole-wheat and half white)

Dissolve yeast and 1/2 cup water in a medium sized bowl and let sit. Stir in the rest of the water, the sugar, and shortening. Whisk in 2 cups of flour, then mix in the salt to a third cup of flour and add that to the dough. Gradually work in the rest of the flour. Knead for 10 minutes. Spray a clean bowl with cooking spray and put the dough in it. Cover with a damp dishcloth (best if you warm the towel up in the microwave for about 30 seconds before) and let rise 1 hour. Punch down, Divide into two balls. Roll each ball out into 18x9” rectangle. Fold three ways lengthwise, like an envelope, then roll up, starting on the short side. Let rise for an hour in greased loaf pans, then bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes.