Pie # 5: In which I learn there are Blue laws in Chicago

I'm teaching myself to make pie. This one is the first one that is really done from my own recipe.

I thought I had port. Nope. So I thought, oh I'll just hop into the car and get some. Nope. You can't buy liquor in Chicago between 4 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday. Silly me. I thought laws based on religious practices were contrary to the Constitution in America. Sharia lives!

Port cherry pie with raisins and pecans
Crust:
1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup shortening (yes, I use lard)
1/2 teaspoon salr
4-6 T apple cider

Filling:
2 pints pitted cherries
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup crushed pecans
1/4 c port wine
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (packed) light-brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated raw sugar (or  an evaporated crystal sugar)
1/4 cup wheat pastry flour
1 T corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces


Preheat oven to 425

Crust:
Toss the oats, flour and salt, cut in the shortening until crumbly. Add the cider one tablespoon at a time, and work it in with a fork, using only enough to wet the dough until it sticks together. Divide into two equal pieces and chill. (You can roll them into thick disks first if you like.)

Butter or spray a 9-inch pie plate. Remove half the dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a disc, 1/8-inch thick and 2 inches larger than the pie plate. If it's a weird shape, as mine always is, trim it and puzzle-piece it into a disc, lightly rolling again to make the extra pieces stick.  Use a spatula to help lift the dough and transfer it to the pie plate. Press it lightly in the plate to fit.  Trim, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold. You'll use the rest of the dough to create a lattice top. Note: the oat crust is not quite as elastic as a traditional flour crust, so you have to handle it very gently.

For the filling, place the fruit, raisins and nuts in a large bowl. Toss with the port. Add vanilla, sugars, cornstarch and flour; mix thoroughly.

Lightly brush the bottom crust all over with the lightly whipped egg white; spoon in the filling and dot with butter.

Roll out the remaining dough and cut nto strips 3/4-inch wide to make a lattice cover over the filling. Trim the overhang to 1 inch. Moisten the edges of the crusts where they meet with a little water, then press them together lightly and turn them under. Crimp the edges.

Brush the lattice crust and the rim with the cream. Optional: sprinkle the surface with 2 tablespoons of turbinato sugar.

Pro tip from my pastry-chef friend Lindsay: On a baking sheet, lay some foil at least 6" large than the pie plate. Place the pie in the middle, then create a loose baffle to protect the edges of the crust from burning. Be careful not to let the foil touch the crust.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until it is golden and the juices are bubbling, about 50 to 60 minutes.  Let the pie cool on a wire rack before serving.

I stopped eating candy

Which means I'm going through a chocolate withdrawal.

Cocoa powder scones
adapted from Eden East Everything

1/2 cup coconut flour (or other oddball flour, I used rice)
1 cup ground oatmeal (aka, oat flour)
1/4 cup  Cocoa Powder
1/8 teaspoon fine Sea Salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
5 T butter
Optional: 1/2 cup dried fruit

1/2 c sour cream thinned w 1/3 cup mint or other liqueur
1/4 cup brown sugar or sweetener of choice
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

Pre heat oven to 350˚. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Mix in the fruit. Whisk sour cream, liqueur, vanilla, egg, and sugar. Add wet to the dry ingredients and form a dough. This will form a wet dough, a little wetter than drop cookies. And in fact, they're drop scones. Line a baking sheet with parchment and drop in large tablespoons; should fit about 16 on the sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes (may vary depending on you altitude and oven). Let the scones cool. Drizzle with optional chocolate glaze.

Chocolate glaze
1 1/2 T light brown sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 T butter
2 T cocoa powder
2T liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
no more than 1/4 cup powder sugar

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, add the vinegar and bring to a boil stirring constantly (the vinegar will keep the sugar from crystalizing). Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and mix well. Add the liqueur and whisk until blended. Remove from heat and  add enough powdered sugar to form a thick drizzle. If it gets to think, add more booze. Lick the pan. hic!

Skating and scones

Made these during the ice cut and the warm up before the Cup of Russia Free Dance event:

Pumpkin spice scones

 2 cups flour 

2 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt 

 4 T cold butter 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 egg, beaten 

3 Tbsp brown sugar 

3 T sour cream 

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the liquid ingredients until well mixed and fold into dry ingredients. You may need to knead it lightly to moisten it entirely. 

 Roll out the dough to about 3/8" thickness, cut into discs. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then drizzle with the glaze.

Glaze

1 1/2 T light brown sugar

1/2  teaspoon white vinegar

1T butter

1T heavy cream

2 teaspoons maple syrup 

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan, add the vinegar and bring to a boil stirring constantly (the vinegar will keep the sugar from crystalizing). Ad the milk and maple syrup and whisk until blended.

  

Cut into 8 equal wedges (a pizza cutter works brilliantly for this). 

Bake for approximately 15 minutes 

Last strawberries of the season

Don't really have enough to make even a jar-ful of preserves, so I turned them into sweetener for this pretty-in-pink scone.

Strawberry drop scones

2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 pint whole strawberries
½ cup honey
1 large egg
½ cup sour cream or yogurt + ½ cup milk, whisked

Optional-dried strawberries or other dried fruit

Pre-heat over to 400F/200C

Put the strawberries, 1 T of the honey, and 2-3 tablespoons of water in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries break down. Beat them lightly with a fork to create a jam-like consistency. Allow to cool in the saucepan.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the dried fruit, if any, into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the egg, honey, and dairy into the jam (using the same cooled saucepan--why add to the dishes), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined, combining the last loose flour by hand.

Remove from the mixing bowl and knead lightly. Dough should be spongy but not sticky. Divide into two equal sections. Roll each out to 10" circle (about ½ inch thick) and cut into 8 equal wedges.

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Testing for the holidays

Pie #3. Getting crazy, now I'm messing with the pastry. Where will it end.

Pastry:
1 1/4 cup pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup + 2T shortening
1 ½ T dried orange zest
₁⁄₈ teaspoon orange-seasoned black pepper
3-4 T orange juice or liqueur

Whisk dry ingredients; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or knife until shortening is the size of peas. Add OJ a tablespoon at a time, blending with a fork until liquid is absorbed. Roll out into a disc about 1/8" thick, and lay in a pie plate. Fold and crimp crusts. Put in fridge to chill.




Filling:

1 ½ to 2 cups pumpkin or pumpkin+squash puree
3 large eggs +2 yolks
1 cup heavy cream
2 T liqueur or brandy (I used honey liqueur)
spices:
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 T finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
₁⁄₈ teaspoon ground cloves
₁⁄₈ nutmeg, grated
salt

Mix the spices together. Whisk together the wet ingredients then fold in the spices. Pour into the chilled pie shell and bake at 325 for at least 20 minutes or until it starts to set. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Do not turn the oven off. While it is baking, make:

Caramelized pears
2 medium Anjou (or other firm) pears
2 T butter
splash of liqueur
2 T sugar

Melt the butter in a medium skillet, then lay the pears in a single layer. Splash with liqueur and bring to a simmer; sprinkle with sugar. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar starts to carmelize. Gently turn pears so both sides have some caramelization. Allow to cool.

Take the cooled pie and very gently lay the pears in a nice pattern (or randomly, I don't care) on the surface. Return to the hot oven and finish baking, about 10 minutes.

Pie

Not a pretty pie, but tasty!

Apple-strawberry pie
Pastry:
I'm gonna make you find your own recipe. I used the one in my mother's old Woman's Home Companion Cook Book. Yes, with lard.

Filling:
4-6 cups of apples (depending on the size of your pie tin), peeled, cored and roughly cut
1 pint of strawberries, halved
juice of 1/2 lemon

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

If you use whole coriander, grind the spices with a mortar and pestle.

Put the fruit in a large bowl and mix in the seasonings and lemon juice until thoroughly coated. Line a pie tin with one pastry sheet. Fill with the seasoned fruit and dot with butter. Lay the second sheet over the top and crimp the edges. Do not ask me how to crimp or otherwise decorate pies, because this is only the second one I ever made and it's not a pretty sight. Working on it.

Bake in a 425 oven for 30-40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Because the fruit is not pre-cooked, it retains a degree of crispness and an amazing fresh-picked taste.

Plain scones

Well, technically I guess they're raisin scones.

Plain scones (with raisins)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon orange zest

optional:
1/4 to 1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 to 1/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup half and half
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or one vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheets with parchment.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt into large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a knife, pastry blender or your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal. Plump the raisins in a half cup of water (1 minutes in the microwave). Drain and stir into flour mixture.

Whisk cream, egg, vanilla, and honey in a small bowl until thoroughly blended. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Gather dough into ball and knead lightly. Roll out dough on floured surface to 3/4-inch thickness. Using 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out scones. Gather scraps; reroll and cut out additional scones. Place scones on prepared baking sheet, about an inch apart. (Or, divide dough into two, roll out into discs and cut into wedges.)

Bake scones until golden, about 20 minutes. Makes about 16 to 20 small scones. Serve warm with butter and honey.

I've been baking them! I've just been using old recipes! Here's an new one:

Cherry-vanilla scones
based on almond-glazed cherry scones from Loving My Domestic Life

2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold butter

1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp brown sugar syrup* (more if you like your scones sweeter, but not more than 4 1/2 T)
3 T plain yogurt
2 tsp vanilla or seeds from 2-3 fresh vanilla beans, (depending on how much you want to increase your mortgage so you can afford the beans)

3/4- 1 cup fresh cherries; stemmed, pitted, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the liquid ingredients until well mixed and fold into dry ingredients. You may need to knead it lightly to moisten it entirely.

Divide the dough into two equal portions, and form them into discs, about 8" x 1/2". Press the cherries onto one disc, and then lay the other on top, gently pressing them together with your fingers. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll this "sandwich" into a 10-12 inch disc, turning once, and being careful not to push the cherries through the dough.

Cut into 8 equal wedges (a pizza cutter works brilliantly for this).

Bake for approximately 15 minutes

* to make the sugar syrup, put 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of brown or evaporated cane sugar, plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar (to keep it from recrystalizing) in a small sauce pan. Bring to a light boil then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. You may need to put it on intermittent heat, or on a burner ring to keep it from burning. Do NOT walk away from it. Boil it down to 1/2 cup. Will keep in a closed jar for months, as it is essentially molasses.

Not that crazy about baking with peanut butter, but what the heck

This made me think of trying scones with all sorts of tropical flavors-- coconut, coffee, passionfruit, mango. Hmmm.

Peanut butter scones

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup butter, cold

1/2 cup peanut butter, softened

1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons yogurt

1 egg

5-6 pieces crystalized ginger, chopped fine

small handful salted peanuts, crushed

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment

In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the nuts and ginger pieces.

In a separate bowl, combine the peanut butter, yogurt and egg until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture until just blended. Do not overwork. Transfer to a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, flatten dough to 1/2-inch disc. Cut the dough into 3-inch triangles and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly. Serve warm.

Oh yeah. These are good.

Of COURSE there's already a recipe

This rule must have a number: "if you can think of it, it's already on line." Found this first time I looked. Since I don't like to use refined sugar, I tried this recipe with honey, but it really needs the intensity of sweetness that sugar offers. (The honey version was nasty.)

This is not a "sweet." It really is a breakfast-like cornbread. I had some with aronia jam; yum.

Chocolate cornbread
Adapted from a recipe on the Just a pinch website

1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup fine cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 T baking powder

1 large egg
1/3 cup nut oil
2/3 cup yogurt
1/3 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl (I use a pyrex measuring pitcher) mix all wet ingredients together. Combine wet and dry until just mixed, and pour into a greased 8x8 inch baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes or til center of bread springs back when light pressed.

Experimental baking

For someone who just started baking a year ago, I don't have a lot of respect.

Not following recipes is the reason I never baked much in the first place. I'm one of those cooks who puts in "about this much" of any given ingredient, and knows that it's ready when it for heaven's sake looks ready.

Pulled out my favorite 1943 Woman's Home Companion Cook Book, and didn't really think the muffins looked that interesting, plus I had some cream cheese, orange zest and maple syrup, so what the hell. Call them

Stone soup muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cake flour
1 T baking powder
3/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
2 T dried orange zest

3 T cream cheese
2 T butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 egg
±1/2 cup milk (enough to bring liquid ingredients up to 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins, plumped

Heat oven to 400F/200C

Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate container (I use a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup), melt the butter and cream cheese (less than 1 minute in the microwave on default setting). Add the maple syrup and whisk smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then beat in the egg. Add enough milk to increase liquid to 1 1/2 cups total. Mix into the dry ingredients. Do no beat. Plump the raisins by heating them in enough water to just cover, again, a minute or two in the microwave. Drain and mix into the batter.

Fill greased muffin pan 2/3 full and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Made 11 muffins.

Earth Day Scone

It's a semi-traditional holiday, so I made semi-traditional scones

Semi-traditional scones
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup yogurt
1/3 cup milk or half-and-half
1/3 cup honey

Optional: fresh or dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 450F/230C. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
Sift the dry ingredients, then cut the butter into it until it resembles a coarse corn meal. If you are adding dried fruit or nuts, mix them into the flour mixture now. Whisk the liquid ingredients together, than add them to the flour mixture. Dough should be malleable and slightly wet. Knead the dough on a floured board. Shape it into a disk or a rectangle about 3/4" thick and cut into desired shape (wedges, squares or rounds).

If you are adding a soft fruit like berries or diced peaches, roll it out slightly thinner, place the fruit on half of it; fold it over then reshape it before cutting it into the final shape. Soft fruits are easier to handle if they are frozen. They'll defrost just fine during the baking process.

Place the scones onto the cookie sheet and bake them for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Yields 12. When cooled, store in an airtight container.

This is not a sweet scone, especially if you haven't added fruit, so serve hot with butter and honey!

Apricot carrot scones

The uncle from Hungary was back, this time with apricot compote. My husband says they are so flavorless that sometimes you have to eat 3 or 4 of them to get the full impact.

Apricot-carrot scones
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup corn meal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large carrot, grated

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup fresh orange juice, with zest
1/4 cup apricot compote
2T honey
1/4 cup sour cream, or plain or vanilla yogurt

Heat oven to 425F/218C

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or by rubbing between your fingers until it has the consistency of corn meal. Mix in the grated carrot. Whisk together honey, juice, and sour cream in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop batter by generous spoonfuls. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown.

Princess scones

Because they're pink, of course

Cranberry scones
2 cups unbleached wheat or whole wheat flour
1 cup oats, ground
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 T brown sugar (optional, for sweeter scone)
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (or grate frozen butter. Make sure the grater is also frozen)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, plumped

3 T honey
1 large egg
1 cup cranberry jelly
1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

Preheat oven to 400F (375 if you have a baking stone in your oven) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.

Plump the cranberries by placing in a cup of water and microwaving on high about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Beat together the liquid ingredients and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the cranberries into the flour mixture. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.

For drop scones, place in tablespoon scoops onto a parchment-covered baking sheet about 1 inch apart on and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden-pink. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Leftover lemon curd

I made lemon curd last week for lemon thumbprint cookies, and had a lot left over, so I made a plain scone to go with it.

Cornmeal scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Lightly beat the honey, egg, yolk, milk and sourcream together in a bowl (use the same one you used for the strawberries ), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.

Using soup spoons (for large scones) or teaspoons (for small scones) spoon out 1 1/2" or 2" mounds onto the cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Serve with butter and lemon curd

For the Master Gardeners

I made these for my Master Gardener class this week.

Orange scones with dried cranberries
Heat oven to 400F/200C

Mix together:
1 cup flour (white or wheat, or mixed)
1 cup ground whole oats
4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt

Cut in, until mixture resembles coarse meal:
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" chunks

Then add:
1/2+ cup plumped dried cranberries (to plump, immerse in water and microwave on high for 2 mintues)
Zest of 1 orange

Whisk together:
1/3c honey
juice of one orange
1/3 c sour cream
1 egg

Add the liquid into the dried mixture until thoroughly mixed. This is a very wet dough, for drop scones. (Add a little flour if it's too sticky.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in a hot oven until lightly brown, about 12 minutes.

Maiden attempt

Stuck at home today, so I decided to attempt a yeast cinnamon roll. From my favorite cookbook (many of the recipes also available on line).

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
from the Chicago Tribune, with adaptations (namely, didn't have any buttermilk)

Prep: 25 minutes Rise: 2 hours, 15 minutes Cook: 20 minutes Makes: 12 rolls

1 cup plain buttermilk plus 2 T milk (I used yogurt plus 2 tablespoons sourcream), at room temperature
Zest of 1 orange
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) softened butter, cut into cubes, plus 6 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 cup milk

Whisk together the buttermilk, orange zest and eggs in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the wheat flour, 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, yeast, baking soda, 3/8 teaspoon of the cinnamon, 1 1/4 teaspoons of the salt and the softened butter. Add buttermilk mixture; mix over low speed until the mixture comes together, about 1 minute. Place a towel over the top of the mixture; let rest 15 minutes.

Mix on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes, adding up to 1/4 cup more flour if the dough is too wet. Scrape the dough from the bowl; form into a ball. Place the dough in a large buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, for the filling, sift together the brown sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of the all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a small bowl. Transfer risen dough to a well-floured work surface. Roll into a rectangle 1/4-inch thick and about 17-by-12-inches wide. Brush the dough with 4 tablespoons of the melted butter; sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over, keeping 1 inch clear along one of the long edges.

Loosely roll the dough into a long tube, pressing the clear edge along the length of the dough to seal the tube. Place the tube, seam-side down, on the work surface. Cut the tube crosswise into 12 evenly sized rolls. Place the rolls, spiral side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1/2-inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. Half an hour into the rise, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls until puffed and golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Remove from the tray; cool on the parchment paper.

Verdict: delicious, but takes too damned long.

Haven't done a savory one for a while

Cheddar cheese scones
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (reserve the extra white)
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Mix dry ingredients; add butter and mix until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in grated cheese. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture and honey into dry mixture until dough forms (will be somewhat sticky). Roll out into a disc about 12" across, and slice into 8 wedges. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush the tops lightly with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with grated cheese and sea salt.

Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Oh dear g*d these are so good.

Invented scone today

This is a delicious, crumbly scone. Unfortunately, my batch wasn't pretty enough to photograph. Your job is to make some pretty ones and send me the pictures.

Cinnamon marble oat scones

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats, ground fine
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup honey
6 T butter, melted
1/3 cup sour cream, thinned with a little milk

1/2 cup brown sugar (or 1/3 cup cane sugar mixed w 2 teaspoons molasses)
1 T ground cinnamon
4-5 T softened butter
1/3 cup plumped raisins and 1/3 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl, beat egg until frothy, and stir in melted butter, honey, and milk. Pour into the well, and mix to create a soft dough. Roll the dough into a 1/2" thick slab. Dough will be malleable but slightly crumbly.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, plumped raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, softened margarine.

Spread the butter mixture over the scone dough. Carefully fold the dough over 5- 6 times until you have a "rolled" loaf about 6x10". Using a sharp knife, slice it in half, so you have two 3" loaves, then cut each loaf into about 6 pieces. Gently pat the pieces to shape them slightly (so that the layers don't fall apart when baking).

Using a baking sheet with edges (important, because the butter mixture will leak), line with parchment, place the slices wide side down with 2" between, and bake for 15 minutes, until risen and lightly browned. Allow to cool slightly.

Imbolc

Traditionally, for Imbolc (Tuanmas, Candlemas, Groundhog Day), I should be baking with milk products-- goat cheese, ewe's milk, cow's milk-- but I'm not a big fan of ewe's milk, and I have these candied winter melons I've been dying to try. Since it's also nearly Chinese New Year, and winter melon is an Asian fruit, I'll try this for a snowy day.

Winter melon is not a sweet fruit. It looks like a cucumber with a pituitary problem, and has a mild, almost smoky flavor more similar to zucchini in taste and texture than anything else. It's not actually a melon, but lives in a genera all its own, Benincasa. They grow beautifully in Illinois, in fact a little too beautifully. I ended up with several melons totaling nearly 50 pounds. Guess what kind of preserves everyone got for Christmas.

This one's an experiment, my notes on flavor below. If someone wants to mess with the ingredients, get back to me and let me know how it goes.

Winter melon scones
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (reduce to 2 cups, increase oats)
1/2 cup oats, ground (post-taste notes: I'd try maybe increasing this to 1 cup, with half of it unground)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 cup diced candied winter melon (conserve the liquid)
1/2 cup wintermelon preserves, plus the liquid from the candied fruit
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk (maybe reduce, don't put in the extra yolk)
2/3 cup sour cream (try 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup sour cream instead)
crushed almonds, no more than 1 cup

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.

Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the candied melon into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the preserves, candied liquid, egg, yolk, and sour cream together in a bowl, then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

On a well-floured surface with floured hands, pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter). Using a 2-inch round cutter or rim of a glass dipped in flour, cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling scraps as necessary. Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack and let them cool slightly before serving.

Post taste: flavor was light, a little bland, but nice with butter and honey. Very springy, but slightly gummy texture, my notes on possible fixes in small type in the recipe. I like the white color of these--no wheat flour--but whole wheat flour might improve the texture.

Seed sorting and scones

I'm sitting here with my 2011 seeds. Over the winter I sort them by type, but come spring I like to arrange them by planting date-indoors and outdoors- so that when it comes time to plant I just grab the section labeled by date.

Sorting time is 3 scones.

Blueberry scones with oat flour

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oats, ground
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 pint blueberries
½ cup honey
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Adjust a baking rack to the middle position.
To make oat flour, grind whole oats in a small food processor for about 1-2 minutes, or until it becomes a fine powder. Mix the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, knife or your hands until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir the rhubarb into the flour mixture. Lightly beat the honey, egg, yolk, and sourcream together in a bowl (use the same one you used for the rhubarb), then add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined.
Drop in generous spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Nuts

This morning I took my basic scones recipe-- 2:2:1 white:wheat:oatmeal, a stick of butter, 2 cups liquid-- and adapted it for nut meal. This worked really nicely with hazelnut but walnuts were too bitter. I think if you use walnuts, you might want to amp up the sweet and cut the walnut meal down to only 1/2 cup.

These are delicious. Somebody try this with almonds and report back!

Orange hazelnut scones
an original Sconeday recipe

Dry ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour plus 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup hazelnut meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T (more or less) orange zest (zest from 2-3 oranges)
6T (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces (the hazelnuts have a high oil content, so this recipe uses less butter than a typical scone recipe)

Wet ingredients:
1 large egg
1/3 cup sourcream
1/4 cup honey
1/3 c orange juice with pulp
optional: 1/4 teaspoon orange extract

½ cup dried fruit, chopped fine (mango, papaya, golden raisins, etc.)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Zest and juice 2-3 oranges. To make orange zest, grate the outer colored rind with a microplane, a standard grater (use the smallest holes) or a zesting tool. Take off just the very outer rind, don't go into the white "pith," which is bitter. I actually dry and keep any unused zest. It's an incredibly handy thing to have around, and costs a fortune to buy in the spice aisle.

To make hazelnut meal: If you have whole hazelnuts, you'll need to crack the shells and remove the meat. Just gently smash them with a jar or a meat mallet, the shell will crack and the nut will pop out. Heat oven to 350F/175C. Spread about 1/1/4 cups of hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. Wrap the nuts in a small kitchen towel for 2 minutes while they are still warm, then rub the nuts together so that any burnt skins come off (the skins are bitter, so you need to peel them). Put the peeled nuts in a blender or food processor and pulse into a coarse powder. There is oil in nuts, of course, so this will not be dry like flour. 1 1/4 cups shelled hazelnuts or 1 pound unshelled nuts will yield about 1 cup of meal. This is kind of a pain in the @$$; I say just by shelled hazelnuts.

Plump the dried fruit- put in a pot or microwave container in water (fruit should be completely submerged) and bring to a boil, let it sit in the hot water for a few minutes, then drain thoroughly.

Mix together first 5 ingredients. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, then mix in fruit until blended. Add dried fruit. Whisk together egg and liquid ingredients in a separate bowl; add to flour /fruit mixture, and mix just until blended. Dough will be sticky.

Spoon in large tablespoonsful onto a lightly greased baking sheet (or line a sheet with parchment paper). Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden. Made 14 scones, about 3" across each.