Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Today I am made Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I adapted a recipe I found on allrecipes.com to fit the suggestions of other bakers. I used whole wheat flour, but I bet these muffins are even better with all purpose white flour. Enjoy my updated recipe!

LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINS

Oven: 400 Grease muffin tin (12-16)

Combine:

2 cups whole wheat or all purpose white flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup poppy seeds

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt.

Blend in a separate bowl:

2 eggs

2 cups lemon yogurt

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Mix liquid into dry until just combined.

Bake 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile:

Mix 3 tablespoons of sugar into 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice.

Once out of the oven, prick muffins with a fork

and gently pour (or brush on) 1 tablespoon of lemon sugar over the top.

Cool 10 minutes before removing muffins from tin.

Year-Old Cake

It's tradition, right? You have to eat your wedding cake a year later! But, imagine our surprise when it was actually good! It was actually moist and yummy!

My husband was the brave one, trying the cake first. Then he fed me, without saying a word.

Happy Anniversary, Ben!

The Ultimate Pie Crust

This is my absolute favorite pie crust. I'm not saying its easy, but it is the best. (If you want easy, go make friends with Pillsbury. I do on occasion; it's OK.)

Here we go:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/3 cup cold butter until pieces are pea-size.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 beaten egg yolk, 1 tablespoon water and 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel. Gradually stir into flour mixture. (Dough will not be completely moistened.) Gently knead dough just until a ball forms. If necessary, cover dough with plastic wrap and chill 30-60 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.

3. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll dough from center to edge into a 12-inch circle. To transfer pastry, wrap it around a rolling pin. Unroll pastry into 9-inch pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry.

If you only need the bottom and are filling pie with a no-bake filling, follow directions below. If you need a pie crust for the top, repeat steps above and bake as recipe directs.

4. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry in pie plate with a fork. Prick all around where bottom and side meet. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil.

5. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5 to 6 minutes more or until golden, covering edges of pastry with foil, if necessary, to prevent over-browning. Cool on wire rack.

That's it! The Ultimate Pie Crust!

See you next week! Monday is lemon poppy seed muffins! Yum!

Blueberry Pie!

After the Fourth of July, watery pie crusts debacle, I wanted to prove to myself that I was indeed capable of making a stand out stellar pie. This time, BLUEBERRY! 

I used a recipe out of The Joy of Cooking and adapted it slightly for myself.

Blueberry Pie

Line a 9-inch pan with 1 pre-made dough circle. 

Position rack in lower third of oven

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

Combine in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes:

6 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

Pour mixture into bottom crust and dot with

1 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small pieces.

Cover with a pricked/vented top crust.

Bake for 30 minutes at 425.

Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 30 minutes or 

until the juices from the pie start to bubble through vents in crust.

Sensational! This pie was splendid and well formed. 

I was very pleased with this recipe. Try it for yourself!!!

Notes on the Fourth of July Debacle:

I believe I may not have added enough cornstarch to my previous pies, and I may not have allowed the crust enough time to brown at the higher temperature. Additionally, when creating the vents, I removed so much of the crust, that I think I should have followed directions for a lattice top. 

Grandma's Chocolate Cake

It is SO much fun to have a girls afternoon. And, it is even more fun when it is a surprise birthday party. Of course I claimed responsibility for the cake. My grandmother's chocolate cake recipe is pretty hard to beat and pretty easy to make. Who doesn't love a cake recipe that only requires one bowl?

GRANDMA’S CHOCOLATE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 13x9 in pan. (Or 2 9-inch cake pans.)

Combine:

1 3/4 C un-sifted flour

2 C sugar

3/4 C cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Add:

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Stir in:

1 C BOILING water

Pour into floured pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Oh, I love Grandma's chocolate cake! It is so moist it doesn't need a topping. Traditionally I serve it with a bit of whipped cream and strawberries. But, because it was for a birthday, I made chocolate butter cream. I don't have patience to do it the long way, so I reach for confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) and follow the recipe on the back! So easy! Ha!

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

1 lb box of powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 stick butter (softened)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat first 4 ingredients for 2 minutes with an electric mixer. 

Add more milk for a thinner consistency. 

Beat in the cocoa for an extra minute. 

Look at these smiling faces. Can you tell it was a hit?

Cannoli

Well if you're from Boston, you know that there are two bakeries in the Italian North End to seek out for a classic Sicilian cannoli. While Mike's Pastry is constantly packed and often with a line out the door, Modern Pastry, at 257 Hanover Street, will fill your cannoli in front of you as you choose the shell and any extras. Which would you choose? Exactly. 

When I found out that Modern Pastry actually attempts to ship their cannoli, I thought, "Hmm, what special event is coming up?" Sadly, since its summer, they caution not to ship their chocolates or cannoli. But, then I did some more research and found that Mike's Pastry also ships their cannoli... as a kit! A Do It Yourself kit is way more exciting then just getting cannoli in the mail, right? And, they ship anywhere in the US, regardless of hot weather! 

So, if you find yourself in Boston, choose Modern Pastry for a good cannoli. However, if you live in Orange County, where a good cannoli is hard to find, you can DIY some cannoli

in the comfort of your own home with a kit from Mike's Pastry. What an option!

(If you need a cannoli quick when in Orange County, Roma D' Italia in Tustin is a fine choice.)

Banana Bread - A tribute to over-ripe bananas

Oh there are many Banana Bread recipes! Oh so, so very many. In fact if you google "banana bread" you'll see that there is even a http://www.banana-bread.biz/ website. After looking through the 5 featured recipes, I decided that today was the day to make Brown Sugar and Oatmeal Banana Nut Bread.  Now, doesn't that sound marvellous? I think my friends at the pool tomorrow will just love it! Off I go! I'll report back tomorrow.