pumpkin scones

it’s not fall in my house until we start making pumpkin scones. these perfect little munchies aren’t the usual dried-out scone texture. maybe it’s the pumpkin in them, but they are moist and chewy and delicious – almost like free-form muffins. with a valencia orange, perfect for fall breakfasts.

pumpkin scones

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 stick cold butter
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 milk (i had to use soy because it was the only thing i had in the house. didn’t seem to be a problem.)
1 cup mix-ins – any combination of nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, etc

mix all dry ingredients together

cut in cold butter until it resembles peas. remember our pastry cutter? now would be the time to whip it out, but if you don’t have one, try a fork.

mix pumpkin and milk in a separate bowl.

add wet ingredients to dry, and stir in mix-ins. here my mother cautions to mix until the batter just comes together. if you over-mix, the scones will be tough! boo!

using a third cup measure, drop batter on a parchment-lined (or well-greased) baking sheet.

bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown. recipe makes about 10 scones… and halves well.

currant pound cake

lately i had been jonesing for pound cake – don’t ask me why.

what you may not know is that the name “pound cake” comes from hannah glasse’s original eighteenth century recipe: one pound of flour, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of currants. but since i don’t burn nearly as many calories each day as my foremothers did, and i didn’t know how to convert all those pounds into cups that i could half or quarter, instead i went with my good old standby, the fannie farmer cookbook.

(the currants were my own addition to stay true to the original pound cake recipe.)

fannie farmer’s pound cake

1/2 pound butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups flour (calls for cake flour, i used regular)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (or more!) currants

preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter and flour a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan (i used a bundt pan and several smaller ones). dump a tablespoon or so of flour in the pan and shake it around until it coats the butter, then tap the excess out.

cream the butter, slowly add the sugar and beat until light.

add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one. it’s always safer to crack your eggs into a separate little bowl (or measuring cup!) before adding them to the mixer so you make sure not to get shells or a bad egg.

stir in the flour, salt and vanilla, and combine well. when i’m doing serious baking like this, i generally take the time to shift my dry ingredients together, which also helps you get an accurate measure.

spoon batter into pan(s) and bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean (without batter sticking to it). cool in the pan before turning out onto a rack.

as you see, i baked one large and three small cakes with this recipe, so next time i may halve it. (although she kind of looks like a mama with her chicks…! aaww)

this is really much easier than it sounds, and i encourage you to be brave and give it a try! it was a huge hit with my coworkers (although they were under extreme stress when they ate it, so maybe they just needed sugar…), but then, who doesn’t like pound cake? fannie suggests you serve it in “very thin slices,” but i dare you to try.

chocolate banana cake

this recipe, from nigella lawson (the queen of kitchen cleavage), is a one-bowl wonder and was a huge hit with my coworkers. in fact, it’s almost as easy as a cake mix, so why not bake from scratch?!

chocolate banana cake

3/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cocoa
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 4 whole bananas. easiest if you use ones that have gone brown)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
pinch of salt

preheat oven to 325 degrees. oil or spray a 9-inch spring form cake pan (see note).

in a large sauce pan over low heat, melt butter and olive oil. remove from heat.

add flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar, mixing well. add sour cream and mashed bananas, stir to combine.

in a smaller bowl, whisk together vanilla extract, eggs and salt. add to sauce pan and whisk until smooth. or… as smooth as you can get it with chunks of banana in there…

pour into cake pan and bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the comes out clean, without any gooey batter on it. let cool completely before icing.

chocolate icing

1/2 heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (it’s clear…)

in a medium sauce pan over low heat, combine cream, chocolate and syrup, stirring gently until mixture is very smooth. spread over cooled cake!

note: a spring form pan (as seen below) has a buckle-like piece and a removable bottom (see picture above) to let you get the cake out of the pan without flipping it. most commonly used for cheesecakes.

however, last time i made this recipe, i doubled it, and since i only have one spring form pan, i made the second cake in a regular cake pan and it worked out just fine. don’t let equipment stop you from making this tasty cake.

german potato salad

my name may be hungarian, but there is plenty of german blood in my veins. perhaps that’s why i can’t get enough of my grandmother’s warm german potato salad. it’s tangy and sweet and fresh and earthy all at the same time. perfect served with chicken sausages, browned onions and salad.

grandma’s warm german potato salad

4 medium potatoes
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

cook potatoes in jackets (her words!) and cut into bite-sized/potato-salad-sized pieces.

heat butter in a frying pan, add onion and cook until soft but not brown. mix in flour, sugar, salt and pepper. then add water and vinegar. cook, stirring until thick.

pour sauce over potatoes and serve warm. (the original recipe calls for crumbled bacon over the top, but i substitute fresh parsley. up to you!)

thanks, g’ma!

bachelorette brunch: part 3

to go with the bacon (clearly the star of the show), i decided to make strawberry-banana muffins. muffins can easily be made a day in advance and kept in an airtight container. since i knew i didn’t want to have too much to do on the morning-of, this seemed like a smart choice.

because of the scientific nature of baking, improvisation is almost out of the question, but i did adapt a very basic banana muffin recipe to include the strawberries. it’s such a traditional flavor combination, but how often do you see it in muffins?

ta da!

i thought the fruity pinkness was very bride-y, don’t you?

strawbana muffins
2 cups white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 large overripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, plus a spoonful
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

preheat oven to 375 degrees. mix the chopped berries with a spoonful of sugar and set aside.

in a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

in a larger bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients, then add the strawberries (although be careful not to add any of the juice that they may produce) and combine. add the dry ingredients and mix well.

fill muffin cups (either with paper liners or without) 2/3 full.

bake about 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin (and not directly into a strawberry!) comes out barely dry. makes about 18.

there’s more. stay tuned…

pie crust (gasp!)

the idea of homemade pie crust scares the begeezus out of most people. but in fact, it’s very impressive and low-effort if you remember two simple rules: KEEP IT COLD and BE GENTLE.

COLD: everything should be cold – your kitchen, your tools, your hands, your heart (j/k!), your ingredients… the idea is not to let the butter melt one tiny little bit. that way, when it does melt in the oven, it makes the crust super flaky and delicious.

GENTLE: you want to work the dough as little as possible. if you overwork it, it will become tough. in fact, the less you do to it, the better.

there are many recipes for pie crust, but this particular one is the simplest i’ve found and turns out a great result. i generally use it as a “rustic” crust, which means that instead of putting it in a pie plate, i lay it out on a baking sheet (lined with parchment), pile the fruit in the middle, and fold the sides up a little. perfect for sliced-fruit pies (like pluot!), probably not your blueberry or strawberry-rhubarbs.

rustic pie crust
1 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp COLD butter, cut into smallish chunks
1 cup ice water

mix your flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. then add the cold butter chunks and “cut in” using a pastry cutter (you’ve seen this tool… handle on one side, parallel cutting blades on the other. don’t be scared!) or a large fork.

working quickly, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is throughout the mixture and about the size of small peas.

now add your water SLOWLY by the tablespoonful, mixing gently with a fork each time until the dough is just wet enough to stick together. (you won’t use the full cup of water.) this is where you need to be especially careful about overworking your dough.

using your hands, pat the dough into a flat round, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to several days. you should be able to see chunks of butter throughout.

when you’re ready to use it, make sure everything’s cold again and roll it out. fill as desired. bake at 400 degrees until the crust is brown and oh so tasty looking!