Weekends in the Kitchen: Raspberry and cheese danishes

Well i've been trying to challenge myself when it comes to baking lately so I went to the library this weekend and checked out several books. One of them was this one Better Homes and Gardens Old-Fashioned Home Baking. It looked like there were a lot of good recipes in there so I went through it and decided on the Quick-method danish pastry (I might want to challenge myself, but i'm not completely crazy, lol). I figured if the quick method turned out ok then I would eventually try out the classic method when I had a little more time. The directions seemed pretty straight forward and I followed the directions to the T (which is unusual for me). I'm telling you these turned out AWESOME!!! This probably isn't a recipe for a beginning baker, but if you have a little knowledge of baking, i'd say give it a try.

Quick-Method Danish Pastry

Better Homes and Gardens
Old-Fashioned Home Baking

1 1/2 cups cold butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups light cream or milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 to 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Cut butter into 1/2 inch slices (important). In a bowl stir butter slices into 3cups flour till coated and separated. chill.


For dough, in a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast. Heat and stir the cream, sugar, and salt just till warm (120/130F). Add to flour mixture. Add the egg. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chilled flour-butter mixture till the flour is well moistened (butter will remain in large pieces).


Sprinkle a pastry cloth or work surface with a 1/4 cup of flour. Turn dough out onto the floured surface. With floured hands, gently knead dough for 8 strokes only. With a well-floured rolling pin, roll into a 21x 12 inch rectangle. fold crosswise into thirds to form a 12x7 inch rectangle. loosely wrap; chill 1 to 1 1/2 hours in refridgerator or for 20 to 30 minutes in the freezer or till dough is firm but not excessively stiff.


On a well-floured surface, roll dough into a 21 x 12 in rectangle. Fold dough crosswise into thirds; give a quarter turn. Then roll out, fold into rectangle, and turn, twice more. Flouring surface as needed (it's not necessary to chill dough between rollings). Place in plastic bag. Seal bag, leaving room for expansion. Chill 4 to 24 hours. Fill, shape, and bake as directed in recipes.


I decided on the classic danish shape and just a seedless raspberry jam right out of a jar and a cream cheese filling.


For the cream cheese filling:

4oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 an egg yolk (i know kind of tricky, but i halved a recipe and you don't want to add too much or it gets eggy)
1/4 tsp vanilla

combine all ingredients until smooth and set aside until ready for filling.

To shape, on a lightly floured surface, roll chilled pastry dough into a 21 x 12 inch rectangle. Cut dough crosswise into 21-12x1 inch strips. Take a strip, one end in each hand, and twist ends into opposite directions 3 or 4 times. Form into a snail shape and tuck end underneath. Transfer to parchment lined cookie sheet (don't put more than 9 per cookie sheet).



Using your thumbs or 2 fingers, make a 2-inch indentation in the center of each pastry. Spoon 1 rounded Tablespoon of filling into each pastry. i did combination of each raspberry jam, cheese, and raspberry/cheese. Cover and let rise in a warm place (I used my oven with the light on, but remember to take them out before preheating the oven!!) until nearly doubled (45 to 60 minutes).

Bake in a 375F oven for 18-20 minutes or till golden. drizzle with powdered sugar icing.

These made A LOT of danishes so i'm going to freeze some of them and i'll let you know how that goes once I take them out and try them.

Weekends in the kitchen: Cinnamon Scones

Cinnamon Scones, originally uploaded by jewelsb78(thefrostedcakencookie).

What a way to enjoy a Sunday morning. Coffee, newspaper, and a cinnamon scone. I made these last night as a treat for the family for breakfast this morning from a recipe i've been trying to perfect. I'm sad to say it still eludes me. They are still quite tasty, but not yet what i am looking for. So i'm afraid this post will be without a recipe, but I will tease you with a picture of what i'm hoping will soon be the perfect cinnamon scone.

Weekends in the Kitchen: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I've been in the kitchen testing out recipes for lemon cupcakes recently and think I have come up with a winner. All I can say is mmmmmmmmm these are yummy. They are a lemon cupcake with homemade lemon curd filling and a fluffy meringue style icing. It's like eating a lemon meringue pie without the crust.

Lemon Curd Recipe

Fluffy Meringue Frosting Recipe
The only alteration I made on this one was I only added about 1/4 tsp of vanilla because I didn't want too strong of a vanilla taste.

Now for the cupcakes themselves, this is the recipe i've been working on and it is still a work in progress. so if you'd like to take a stab at it and send me your feedback all comments are welcome!

Lovely Lemon Cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cups sugar
zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Combine lemon juice and milk and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until butter turns lighter in color, approx. 4 minutes. Add in lemon zest, sour cream, and eggs and mix until combined. Scrape down bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix until combined, then a 1/3 of the milk/lemon mixture and mix until combined. Continue to add a third of the dry and 1/3 of the wet until everything is incorporated.

Spoon into approx. 16 cupcake liners. Bake at 325F for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Valentines heart apple tart

To keep up with my week long homage to Valentines day, I made a free-form apple tart that would be the perfect way to show your sweetheart just how much you love them! It is a little time consuming placing the apples, but aren't they worth it =)?

Crust
1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 c. shortening, chilled
1/4 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3 tbsp ice cold water

Apples
4-5 apples (i used mcintosh and they were on the small side)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
3 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of clove
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced into small pieces

For pie crust: In bowl put flour, salt, and sugar and mix together. Add in shortening and butter, cut in until butter/shortening resembles the size of peas. Add in cold water and mix just until it comes together. Do not over mix! Wrap in plastic wrap and refridgerate for 1-2 hours.

For apples: Place lemon juice and water into bowl and set aside. Mix together sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove and set aside. Cut, peel, and thinly slice apples and place in lemon juice and water and gently toss. Add in cinnamon mixture and gently toss again.


I used my favorite crust recipe, but any pie crust (including store bought) would work out perfectly.


I rolled out the crust and cut it into a general heart shape.

Then I placed the apples making sure to leave about an 1 1/2" all the way around.



Next I rolled the edge over all the way around.



and then cripped



Cube 2 tbsp butter into small pieces and scatter on top.



Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.

This is best enjoyed with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream!

Happy Valentine's Day!

sour cream coffee cake

I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while now and i figured today was as good a day as any. Let me tell you this coffee cake is fabulous!! It's so moist and flavorful! A definite keeper! The only changes I made where that I used large eggs instead of extra large and I didn't use the walnuts. I think next time I would double the streusel too.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten (food network)

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature (i used large and it came out just fine)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the streusel:

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners' sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.