Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cranberry Apple Butter (Flying Biscuit Recipe)





Ingredients:

* 2 cups of dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar and it worked well)
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
* 2 cups cranberries
* 10 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Place sugar, spices, and orange juice in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add the cranberries. Cook over medium heat until cranberries begin to pop.

Add the apples and cook over low heat, stirring frequently. Cook until apples are tender and falling apart. Puree contents of saucepan in a food processor or mash with a potato masher until smooth and thick. Cool and serve with hot biscuits.

Cranberry Apple Butter will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Yields: 4 ½ Cups (When I made it I used larger apples and it is more like 8 cups)

http://www.pba.org/programming/programs/atlanta_cooking/flyingbiscuit/



Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour (*Note: a soft winter wheat flour, such as White Lily, works best)
1 tablespoon plus 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (it should be consistency of shortening)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup half an half
1 tablespoon half and half for brushing on top of biscuits
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling on biscuits
________________________________________
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. Place flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into 1/2 tablespoon-sized bits and add to the flour. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in all the heavy cream and half and half. Stir the dry ingredients into the cream and mix with a wooden spoon until dough just begins to come together into ball.

4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times to form a cohesive mass. Do not overwork the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a 1-inch thickness. The correct thickness is the key to obtaining a stately biscuit. Dip a 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter in flour, then cut the dough. Repeat until all the dough has been cut. Scraps can be gathered together and rerolled one more time. Place the biscuits on the prepared sheet pan, leaving about 1/4 inch between them. Brush the tops of the biscuits with 1 tablespoon of half and half and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Biscuits will be lightly browned on top and flaky in the center when done.

Makes 8 to 12 biscuits, depending on the size of the cutter.

Honey Cakes



The catalog from the people that sold me the cookie mold used for these cookies (House on the Hill) said that cookie molds were originally used primarily for gingerbread or honey cakes. Not finding any honey cake recipes (aside from the Jewish New Year variety) anywhere, I emailed the cookie mold gurus who said to make their gingerbread recipe substituting honey for all of the molasses. So, I made a half batch of the following recipe with only honey.

Mix together:
1 cup molasses
1 cup honey
1 cup butter, softened

6-1/4 cups unbleached white flour
3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

Mix both bowls together and knead well. Don't refrigerate - mold after mixing. Follow general directions for molding. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. If desired, glaze the gingerbread cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and before you remove them to a cooling rack.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Quiche, Roasted Pecans, pumpkin pie

I've not been posting much because, well, I bought a house. So....here's to make up for the long silence.



Follow the recipe on the pumpkin



•1c sugar
•1tsp salt
•2tsp cinnamon
•1 egg white
•3c pecan or walnut halves
•4Tbs butter,melted

Directions
1.Heat oven to 300. Line a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick foil;set aside
2.In a small bowl,stir together sugar,salt and cinnamon;set aside
3.In med size bowl,whisk egg white and 1 Tbs water until foamy. Add pecans or walnuts to bowl and stir till coated. Pour in sugar mixture and melted butter,stir to combine.
4.Spread pecan mixture in an even layer on prepared baking sheet and bake at 300 for 25 mins,stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and cool completely


12 inch pan
1 packaged crust (or homemade)
12 eggs
1 cup spinach
2 tbsp chopped basil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 red onion
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
onion cheese (from Smicksburg, PA)

Brown the crust in the oven for 10 minutes at 400*, combine onion, garlic, basil, spinach and eggs. pour egg mixture into the crust and top with the cheese. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Baby Shower Cake



Three layers of yellow cake, raspberry filling, crusting buttercream and red marshmallow fondant. The animals are made from candy melts. More pictures here.