Lemon And Yogurt Scones And Unexpected Finds

Marcela is finally here, safe and radiant from her stay in Seattle and New York, ready to chill under the Southern sun. After many late night chats on Yahoo with Lisa over the past year or so, it is a blast to finally laugh in person instead of in front of the computer and discover the many facets of Argentina through her experiences and her eyes. As the nerds that we are, we spent most of the evening of her arrival Tuesday on Google earth checking out the country with the perfect guide. Today was spent downtown Charleston with us showing her some of our favorite places, streets, parks, etc... but I will get to that a little bit later.

After my post admitting that I was a clafoutis fanatic, going as far as eating it everyday, I stumbled on a great looking scone post by Julie of A Mingling Of Tastes. Her blog is one of my regular reads where I get my fix of yummy breakfast ideas, and after many weeks of thinking I ought to make scones again, because after all we do like them, she timely tempted me with these Lemon Buttermilk Scones with Currants. With Marce coming in town I figured it was high time I baked scones again and changed the clafoutis routine a bit. I liked her recipe a great deal but I had to adapt given the raisin hater I have in the house (B. who is by the way loving having two women cooking up a storm in the kitchen right now!!) and use the supplies I accumulate and only get around to use like Goji berries and pearl sugar (regular and brown, also found as rock candy or rock sugar). He still won't go for the Goji berries as they look too similar to raisins but the scones sprinkled with sugar are already disappearing 3 at a time. If I catch him in the jar of dulce the leche that Marcela brought me....arghhhh!

For the scones I used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour and replaced the buttermilk with yogurt, same tang and creamier texture. I like to pat, roll and cut dough a lot so I went for round scones instead of wedges, plus there is more space for jam to be spread (or my dulce de leche). We fell in love with these and I may not need to attend a 12 step program for my clafoutis habit after all, although I feel it won't be long before we can have a plum or a peach one for breakfast soon.

Lemon And Yogurt Scones, various toppings and add-ins:

Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 Tb granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 large egg

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1/3 cup goji berries (optional, use raisins if desired)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to blend. Add the chilled butter, cut in small chunks and pulse until the mixture resembles pea size crumbs. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients and the goji berries to the egg mixture and stir just until moistened. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Pat or roll the dough out to about 1 to 1 1/4-inch thick. With a 3 inch cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut the dough into 10 and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Brush with a little milk and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. If you use pearl or rock sugar, sprinkle that on top of the scones after the brushing of milk so they adhere to the top better.

Unexpected sightings in Charleston or when to look high and when to look low: I guess I walk the streets downtown with a purpose and never the one to just look and breathe in the scenery. Well not after today when Marcela and I found dozens of Loquat trees downtown. We met a nice English gentleman who threw his hat up on the tree and made a couple fall in our hands. We almost knock on somebody's door to see if we could harvest theirs since they seemed to be left to rot on the tree. What a shame! Loquats are the perfect balance of sweet and sour in one bite. I have to check with a couple of people if they have one of those trees close by otherwise I am coming back at night with my ladder and basket....

The second unexpected find of the day was bushes after bushes of wild blackberries in the woods in front of our house. I gathered a few at different ripening stage just to compare and was stunned to hear B. say "Oh yeah, the twins have been gathering them like crazy and I mowed a whole row on the side of the yard"....

"You what?!!!! Malheureux (crazy fool)...do you know what blackberries cost and here they grow wild?!!"

Last but not least, above is what my eye catches when I am leisurely walking the streets downtown. Missing shutters on a house where only the hook testifies of its previous existence. Circles in the middle of intricate wrought iron gates. It is just a circle...but to me it was a circle with a day off in the company of a friend.

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Cardamom Tapioca Pudding, Roasted Rhubarb And Strawberry Syrup

I know my mom is going to say "Ah! Finalement" (Ah! Finally) when she reads this post. You see it is not uncommon during our phone conversations for me to say "Oh, by the way, I saw this really cool ingredient, gadget, linen, etc...on a French site and I am having it come to your house so you can bring it next time you come visit or pop it in the mail with the next care package. Hope it's not too much trouble!" There is usually a pause, sometimes a sigh, followed by "where the heck did you find this? What don't you sleep at night for a change?"

The explanation is easy: B's muscles unwind when he falls asleep by severely twitching which provokes him to jerks and send his knee(s) in my ribs or his arm across my face. One black eye and a many bruises later we both agreed that it was safer for me if I let him fall asleep first and then sneak in the bed half an hour later. Most of the time, I turn the computer on and start browsing....and find things I "need" for baking. You've been there, "surfing" the Internet...How long is your baking wishlist now that you're blogging?!! That's how I found a bunch of cool syrups one night that I "wanted" for baking. Flavors like cotton candy, pain d'epices, candy apple, lavender, and this strawberry syrup I used with the Tapioca Puddings. A few clicks and a phone call to the parents and they were on their way.

Now that Sprig is in full swing, I can't get enough rhubarb. Every trip to the store and a couple of pounds end up in my cart, it's like I am on auto pilot. My preferred method of cooking is to cut it large cubes and cook it down over the stove and stop the heat when I can still get some chunks. I can't describe the feeling of biting into it when it is cooked that way. The mellow bite of flesh that gives out on your tongue, while your taste buds are tickled by the sourness of the fruit quickly followed by a hint of sugar. I like sour tastes so I have a tendency to go light on the sugar when I cook the rhubarb down. I also took opportunity of the oven being on one night I was cooking the cheesecake for the Daring Barker challenge to cut large cubes of it and roast it with a sprinkle of sugar at 325F. The end result was allright, a little bit too "stewed" down for my taste...but who cares? It's rhubarb!!

I like rice puddings a great deal but there was this little container of small bead tapioca left to be used and in an effort to organize the pantry (and I hate to throw away) I used it instead for the puddings adding a touch of cardamom to the milk while it was cooking. Some tapioca or rice pudding recipes call for an egg custard but that always seem a little too rich for me so I skipped that one. Once cooled down, I spooned into glasses, topped it with the rhubarb and added a splash of the strawberry pie syrup my parents sent me. I understand you may not have the same syrup I sued available but you can substitute you favorite syrup with these like grenadine, reduce pomegranate juice, blueberry, etc...Seemed like the perfect pairing, strawberries and rhubarb. We've been feasting on these for the last couple of days feeling pretty happy and virtuous after an insane amount of cheesecake chocolate pops!!


Cardamom Tapioca Puddings With Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberry Syrup:

For the puddings:

1/3 cup tapioca

2 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)

1/4 cup sugar

6 cardamom pods, crushed with the back of a knife

1/4 cup fruit syrup

In a heavy saucepan combine the milk, and cardamom pods. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, let steep for 20 minutes. Strain the pods. Return the milk to the saucepan and add the tapioca, and 1/4 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens up, about 10 minutes, stirring every so often. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.

Roasted Rhubarb:

2 cups diced rhubarb, large chunks (1 inch)

1/2 cup sugar

Put the chunks of rhubarb in a large roasting pan and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake at 325F until the fruit barely starts to give when you press your fingers in one piece, 30-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Divide the pudding among 4 glasses or dishes and top with the rhubarb. Drizzle one tablespoon of syrup over each glass. Serve at room temperature.

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Cheesecake Pops - Dunking With The Daring Bakers

I get excited every month about posting the Daring Bakers challenges. Actually it is more like an act in three part. On reveal day, I check our site in my pajamas like a kid waiting to open her Christmas present. I give myself a week or so to think about how I want to go about the challenge, baking, cutting, plating and photographing. Then, I usually get them done the second week and then I tend to lose the mood until posting day. That's when it hits me, why I love it so much: it's the sense of community, knowing that there is a bunch of us out there loving the same thing...baking and sharing the fruits of our labor. It may be more or less challenging for some of us each time but it gives me the opportunity to share my love of baking and eating with you all. I just realized my first challenge was on December 2006 with Biscotti, right after Lisa and Ivonne introduced the concept of a group baking session. Time flies when you are having fun!!

Since I have been in the States for over 10 years, I can't say that cheesecake is new to me, having churned about 2-3 a day at work back in the days and a few here on this site However turning a cheesecake into a lollipop was something I had never done before but always wanted to try, ever since I had watched a show on a restaurant dunking big slices of cheesecake in chocolate and serving them as ice cream pops. But you know...so many recipes, so little time! That's until Deborah from Taste and Tell and Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms chose these Cheesecake Pops from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor. Thank you ladies I don't know when I would have gotten around to making these bites but thanks to the Daring Bakers, now it was... (I know, not grammatically correct but you get it).

I made the pops for our weekly gathering with the neighbors and decided to make half the recipe. This turned out to be a little mistake since one of the couples present was celebrating their anniversary yesterday and he asked me if I could make some as party favors and a small box with heart sprinkles on them especially for her. I forgot about it until yesterday morning and I was still duking pops a few hours before the party a la Bridget Jones....read with curlers in my hair and a party dress on. I also almost walked into the reception room with one curler still on my head but that is another story!

Anyways....each half batch took about 40-45 minutes to bake which makes me think that the 55 minutes indicated for the full batch is very very conservative, and from what other Daring Bakers have reported throughout the month, it was more like over an hour of baking time. I went for the queen of flavors (just my opinion) for the cake, vanilla, scraping a whole bean into the batter and the cake tasted like vanilla ice cream. I thought about adding a blueberry or a raspberry into each pop but in the end I kept relatively simple. The result? Decadent pleasure...
I used good old store bought chocolate chips for the coating and it worked perfectly. The only problem with a recipe that calls for variance in temperatures like dunking the frozen pops into hot chocolate coating where I live is that within 20 minutes with the humidity and the heat around make the chocolate sweat. I notice that this morning when I was dunking the remaining bites and taking extra pictures. It was humid and hot in the room where I was and it made my pops go into thermal shock!! No big deal, they did not suffer long... Will I make them again? Probably but this time I want to cut bigger slices and put them on ice cream sticks, ahahaha!!!

Cheesecake Pops, (full recipe) adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Makes 30 – 40 Pops (or more if you make them small like I did)
Printable Recipe

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs (I used 3 eggs when I baked half the recipe without a problem)
2 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, seeded
¼ cup heavy cream

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, chopped or in chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) I also used cut chocolate transfer sheets.

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.
In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.
Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.
Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 to 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.
Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paperlined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Don't forget to check out the other Daring Bakers' creations here and again thanks Lisa and Ivonne for your hard work this month setting us up with a brand new forum!!

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Choux Beignets And Apricot Curd

I don't really like to start a post with a conversation but after trying different ways to write it up, I found that the accurate was to relate the conversation that took place between B. and myself last night before falling asleep. If you were to eavesdrop on the following conversation you'd think we lead the grand life:
B: what time is the cocktail party tomorrow?
Me: starts at 7pm. What time is the band playing?
Him: starts at 9pm.

If you know us a little better, then the rest of the conversation about our friends' party for their anniversary makes much more sense:
Me: I need to have the 300 cream puffs done by 10am at the latest, they are picking them up and the cake by noon.
Him: I've got to be at the party site by 6pm to hook up the PA system and practice some tunes with the guys. Well, at least we can have breakfast together. Anything special (with that look of "please, no more clafoutis")?
Me: what about some "choux beignets" with some of the leftover cream puff dough I am bound to have?
Him: I'll fry!
Me: deal! (meaning I can shower, cook down some rhubarb and write a post all at once, the usual!)

What a breakfast! We were perched on our chairs like little kids enjoying their latest pranks! It has been a while since we had any sort of fried dough for breakfast, keeping it relatively healthy during the week while buttering some brioche on Sundays. I don' eat a lot for breakfast but I love baking breakfast items. The choux are what we call "Pets de Nonne" (Nuns' Farts) which always made me giggle as a kid, not so much as an adult about to eat them for breakfast. I paired the choux beignets with an apricot curd I had made the day before just because I was tired of starring at a lonely bottle of apricot nectar in the pantry. Worked perfectly for dunking! The choux are really fun to watch when you fry them as they puff like crazy and wobble in the oil and shrivel like little old ladies when you let them sit for a while. Bonus, these are a breeze to make: mix, scoop and fry...and eat!

I am sorry if I have to leave you on this short post but I have got to finish some stuff for the party favors and there is a wild baking weekend coming up. I want to get some stuff done ( not to mention cleaning up a bit and organizing) before Marce from Pip In The City comes on Tuesday. She is staying for 5 days and beside her request to have me teach her macarons, I plan on the two of us having a fun time on the town! I have got the camera ready!!

Choux Beignets and Apricot Curd:

For the choux:
85 gr all purpose flour
75ml water
75 ml milk
65 gr butter
3 eggs
1 Tb sugar
1/8 tsp salt
canola oil for frying

Sift the flour and set aside. Heat the water, milk, butter and salt to a full rolling boil, so that the fat is not just floating on the top but is dispersed throughout the liquid. Stir the flour into the liquid with a heavy wooden spoon, adding it as fast as it can be absorbed. Avoid adding it all at once or it will form clumps. Cook, stirring constantly and breaking up the lumps if necessary, by pressing them against the side of the pan with the back of the spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the dough to a mixer bowl. Let the paste cool slightly so that the eggs will not cook when they are added. You can add and stir the eggs by hand but it requires some elbow grease. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, using the paddle attachment on low or medium speed. The dough should have the consistency of thick mayonnaise.
Heat the oil to 360F in a medium pan (I use a 8 inch cast iron) and scoop small rounds of dough that you drop into the oil. Fry until golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towel, serve with the apricot curd if desired.

For the Apricot Curd:
1 cup apricot nectar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp lime zest

Combine the zest, sugar, nectar in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light. Beat some of the apricot mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temp and use to fill the cake.Strain and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.

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Macarons 101 In Desserts Magazine

Desserts Magazine #2 - Macarons 101 (click)

To say that I love Vera, the editor for the digital Desserts Magazine is a small word! She asked me a while back if I wanted to contribute a picture and recipe for their first digital magazine (The Creme Au Nutella) and we have been chatting almost daily via emails. When she asked me if I wanted to write a macarons tutorial for their second edition with step by step pictures, I immediately jumped on it given the numbers of emails and questions I kept getting from readers...and you know that nothing makes me happier than to give back the love and support you all show me day in and day out.

Voila! It's out! A whole 8 pages (36-43) full of guidelines, tips and pictures to help you on your macaron quest! I am laughing at the way I am holding the pastry bag....ehehe but between the making and taking the pictures on timer my brain lost track!! For the article I focused on the French meringue based macarons but my French buddy Mercotte wrote a wonderful tutorial on the Italian meringue method a few weeks ago. Now, you can't say we don't have you covered, can you?


Now, go look at that magazine and get inspired by all the wonderful recipes and pictures that favorite bloggers of mine have contributed, starting with my favorite painter Carol who did the cover and also JenJen, David, Peabody, Molly just to name a few!

I am looking forward to upcoming issues where I will be contributing a few more things and not only recipes! I am looking forward to talking shop with Vera every day as they share the same love for good food, good styling and professionalism. Great job guys!
Now, if you'll excuse me I have got some reading to do...and I think she knows I get a giggle when I hear that "swish" sound whenever I flip the digital page!

P.S: I am passing along to Vera all your comments about zooming and Firefox and others. Thank you for the feedback!
Update: zoom feature is working!

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Chocolate Mocha Cake

Because we both work odd hours and often during the weekend, some Mondays offer the luxury of a quieter day. A day I like to spend outside or in my favorite room in the house, the guest bedroom. When we built the house, we designed the entire upper floor ourselves and B. did an amazing job at it, it really feels like a separate apartment complete with a reading/library space, office and large bathroom. We like it so much that we sometimes sleep upstairs and it does feel like a mini break. I set up a little photo studio up there and with views of the trees and the water ahead, it s very soothing for the soul and the spirit. Last Monday, we decided to shut away from the world for a little while and recharge our human batteries by taking a nap upstairs. He woke up before I did and when I opened my eyes, he was sitting at the desk, reading old books, savouring the warmth of the three o'clock sun entering the room. I went downstairs, made us a pot of coffee (we both at gigs that night) and cut a few slices of the Chocolate Mocha Cake I had made on Sunday night. I set both in front of him, sat on the bed with my book and we both smiled.

We had managed to shut the world away for a few hours and take a mini vacation, complete with reading, cake and coffee. Moments like these are truly a blessing, don't you think? We are in full speed again as the week goes on and weekend draws near but all week long I knew we both thought about those couple hours stolen away from the hustle and bustle whenever we felt a moment of stress and anxiety. Spring in the South is truly a moment to be savoured and taken advantage of because it won't be long before you feel the wrath of heat and humidity that makes you feel all sticky and slow all day long. I know, I know, with the bounty of fresh strawberries, watermelons and other produce out there right now, I could have gone a lighter route, but there is nothing like chocolate cake to enhance a feeling of comfort and well being.

The making of the cake started kind of backward, with the buttercream actually. In one of our many French tutoring Sunday mornings, Veronica and I were discussing the many different kinds and virtues of buttercream (I told her my theory that Ina Garten's perfect camera glow comes from buttercream). I told her I was addicted to Rose Levy Beranbaum's Mousseline Buttercream and she told me she was addicted to her egg yolk buttercream. As often, our phone conversation ended with an email swap of recipes, and I filed the buttercream recipe away...until Sunday night. I made it without a precise dessert in mind, thinking I would find something during the week to use it with, and I realised after tasting it that it'd better be sooner than later or there would not be a whole lot left given the way we were digging our spoons in it! I agree with Veronica that the addition of a good dose of vanilla bean paste really makes it taste like soft vanilla ice cream.

So I had the buttercream, I needed cake right? It was now, Sunday night past 11pm and B. had already retreated to the bedroom, so no option to use a mixer at that point. I fixed my easiest one bowl, no mixer cake recipe and proceeded to make a Swiss roll type cake. Once baked and cooled, I filled it with the buttercream flavored with coffee, covered it with a milk chocolate glaze and showered it with chocolate sprinkles. After a night's rest in the fridge, the cake was ready for our little break at home Monday afternoon. The buttercream is not cloyingly sweet and the cake batter makes a very light spongy cake, perfect for a snack or to feel somewhat virtuous about a little coffee break!

Chocolate Mocha Cake:
Serves 8-10 (Makes 2 medium or one long)
Printable Recipe

For the cake:

1 stick butter

2 tsp instant coffee

3/4 cup water

100 gr. chocolate

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tb cocoa powder

In a large saucepan set over low heat, stir together the butter, instant coffee, water, chocolate and sugar until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool 10 minutes.

Whisk in the egg, flour, baking powder and cocoa powder until incorporated.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly coat with cooking spray. Pour the chocolate cake batter in the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375F. Do not overbake or it will crack when you roll it. Check after 12-15 minutes, if it springs back when you touch it, it's done.

Remove from the heat, cover with a towel and let cool a few minutes.

Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and unmold on the kitchen counter. Peel the bottom parchment layer that is now your top, roll the cake without filling with the parchment paper from the long side to give it some form and elasticity for when you fill it with the buttercream. Let cool completely.

Mocha Buttercream:

6 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

4 sticks of butter (don't roll your eyes, you won't feel it:))

Butter should be soft but nor mushy (65F)

1 Tb vanilla bean paste

2 Tb instant coffee dissolved in 1 Tb hot water

In a stand mixer or with a hand held one, whip the egg yolks for a minute.

Boil water and sugar until the temperature reaches 238F on a candy thermometer.

Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup over the egg yolks on a steady stream, continue beating the yolks until pale in color and cooled. Beat in the softened butter until the buttercream is smooth a

and together. Add the vanilla bean paste and the coffee, beat a few extra seconds until incorporated.

For the ganache:

300 gr milk chocolate

3/4 cup heavy cream

Bring the cream to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour over the chocolate. Let stand a couple of minutes and then stir carefully until it is incorporated and smooth.

To assemble:

Unroll the cake from the parchment paper, fill with the buttercream (you won't use it all). Reroll the cake, cut it in half (so it does not seem like a Yule log, but more like a Swiss roll). Set each half on a wire rack set over a piece of parchment paper. Cover with the ganache and douse with chocolate sprinkles. Refrigerate to set.

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