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Ermine Frosting (Roux-based)

3/24/2021

In my continuous search for less-sweet frosting options, I stumbled across this roux-based frosting that makes a fantastic base for various flavored versions that lets the flavors shine instead of the sugar!

5 tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk, warm
1.5 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter
chocolate option: 1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

Thickening roux:

Place flour and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.
While whisking constantly, slowly pour the milk in (this ensure it's lump free).
As the milk gets hotter, it will start to thicken - stir constantly so the base doesn't catch.
Cook until the mixture thickens in a thick, dolloping custard - see video for texture. TIP: Thicker texture = thicker frosting texture but won't make the frosting dense, it's still fluffy and spreadable but it just makes it "sturdier" with sharper edges when piped.
Remove from heat and scrape into a bowl. Cover with cling wrap, pressing down onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
Cool completely (I leave on counter for 20 min or so then refrigerate 30 min to speed up but don't let it get chilled, best at room temp to beat into butter). You can leave in fridge overnight but take it out 1 hour prior to using (to dechill - otherwise it won't mix well with softened butter).

Making frosting:

Place butter in a bowl and use either a handheld beater or stand mixer (with whisk attachment) to beat for 3 minutes until it's smooth and changes from yellow to very pale yellow, almost white.
Now start whipping in the Thickening Roux. On speed 5 (medium), start adding the thick roux one heaped tablespoon at a time. Take about 1 minute to add it all.
Once all added, add vanilla and salt, then whip for 2 to 3 minutes until you can see that it is still enough to hold peaks. Then it's ready to use!
For chocolate option: Beat in the cocoa powder at the end, just until mixed through.

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Grain-free Tahini Granola

3/22/2021

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I love baking with tahini, so I jumped at the excuse to use it in a granola. Obviously, one could adjust the ingredients and ratios as one wishes; my one caveat is that I found the original recipe way too salty, even when using the proper kosher salt. So I've reduced it down to my usual ratio for a single baking recipe. Feel free to adjust it back up to your taste.

3 cups mixed raw nuts, such as pistachios, pecans, walnuts, and/or almonds
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup tahini
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground cardamom or cinnamon

Make sure to pre-mix your tahini so that there are no solids settled at the bottom and it is creamy and smooth. If necessary, try heating it up a bit in the microwave to help it re-emulsify.
Preheat oven to 300°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Toss nuts and coconut in a large bowl. Whisk maple syrup, tahini, oil, salt, and cardamom in a medium bowl until combined. Pour tahini syrup over nut mixture and toss with a spatula until evenly coated. Scrape onto prepared sheet. Bake granola, tossing and rotating sheet from front to back every 10–15 minutes, until golden brown, 30–35 minutes total.
Let cool on baking sheet (granola will crisp as it cools), about 20 minutes. Break into pieces before serving.
Do Ahead: Granola can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken soup)

3/21/2021

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I've only been vaguely aware of a staple lemon soup in Greek cuisine but it turns out it's my boyfriend's favorite comfort food. One day his stomach wasn't feeling that great, so I tried my hand at making it using this recipe - and now it's one of my favorites too! I frequently make a big pot of it and then freeze it into blocks for anytime I need a quick something in my stomach. Since I need a high protein/fat-to-carb ratio, I also tend to load up the chicken end of the ingredients list, but really, just like any soup you can feel free to throw in or take out whatever you want in this, just keep the lemon and egg-to-liquid ratio about the same.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ to 1 cup finely chopped carrots
½ to 1 cup finely chopped celery
½ to 1 cup finely chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 cup rice
Salt and pepper
Either cooked boneless, skinless chicken pieces (a store-bought rotisserie chicken shredded works) or un-cooked, skinless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces - 6-8 oz if having soup as appetizer, can be up to 30 oz if you want to have it as a meal
½ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 large eggs
Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-high. Add the carrots, celery and green onions, toss together to saute briefly then stir in the garlic. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves to the pot then raise the heat to high.
Rinse the rice thoroughly and leave to soak in water for about 15 minutes.
Once the broth has come to a rolling boil, add the rice, salt and pepper. If you're using raw chicken, put the chicken pieces in as well. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. If you're using cooked chicken, stir in the cooked chicken now.
To prepare the egg-lemon sauce, in a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and eggs. While whisking, add 2 ladles-full of the broth from the cooking pot to temper the eggs. Once fully combined, add the sauce to the chicken soup and stir. Remove from the heat immediately.
Garnish with fresh parsley, if you like.

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Peach Lavender Cobbler

2/22/2021

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This recipe was an unexpected hit as not just a fruit cobbler, but potentially as a standalone scone - two for the price of one! While I couldn't tell it had lavender in it at all by the time everything was cooked (perhaps if I had made the topping alone as a scone or lived dangerously and upped the amount of lavender in it?), everything about it was scrumptious. My one adjustment? Too much salt in the topping portion. So I've toned that part down quite a bit.

Filling

4_1/2 pounds freestone peaches — peeled, pitted and diced (10 cups)
2_1/2 tbsp instant tapioca or corn starch
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Topping

1 tsp dried lavender blossoms
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons rolled oats
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
5 tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a bowl, mix the peaches, tapioca, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Transfer the filling to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the lavender to a powder. In a bowl, combine the lavender, flour, oats, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the 1/2 cup of cream and the buttermilk; stir until the dough is just moistened.
Using two spoons, form 3-tablespoon mounds of the topping and arrange them evenly over the peaches. Brush with cream and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake the cobbler for 50 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Let cool slightly before serving.

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Shortbread Crust

2/1/2021

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This was originally a part of the super-lemony lemon tart, but I broke it out into its own recipe because I ended up using it for several other things, such as the other tart-tasting sweet, the cranberry tart. This ended up such a simple, reliable recipe that it's now my go-to substitution for quite a lot of things!

8" square pan or 9" round pan
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350F. If the pan does NOT have a removable bottom, line it with foil (it will help you lift the finished dessert out). If the pan DOES have a removable bottom, butter the bottom and sides.
Melt the butter and whisk in sugar and salt. Sift and mix in the flour.
Press into a ¼” thick layer at the bottom of the prepared pan (you can make it curl slightly up the sides to help keep the filling/topping from sticking too much to the sides) and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown (this is a little crispier than normal shortbread cookies). Take out and set on a cooling rack. Prick the surface lightly all over with a fork - only halfway through the shortbread, not all the way through. This will help the filling to “stick”.

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Cranberry Tart

2/1/2021

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If you love tart desserts but are tired of always defaulting to lemon-based sweets, this cranberry tart is perfect. While the original recipe called for a nut-based crust, it seemed too finicky and the reviews seemed to indicate a bit of trouble getting it just right ... so I just subbed in the shortbread crust from the extremely lemony lemon bars which worked absolutely beautifully.

one portion of shortbread crust
12 ounces (340 grams) cranberries
1 cup (225 grams) sugar
Peel (orange part only) and juice of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp corn starch
8 tbsp (113 grams) room temperature butter, cubed
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)

Make the shortbread crust.
While the crust bakes and cools, make the cranberry curd: Put cranberries, sugar and orange juice and peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes (do not let the mixture cook down - you will want enough to cover the entire surface of the crust).
For the most vibrant color, purée the cooked cranberry and orange mixture with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender. Press the resultant puree through a fine-mesh sieve. (This should yield 1 - 1.5 cups of liquid if it wasn't cooked down too much.)
Put eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then combine both and whisk together. Add corn starch and whisk well. Wipe out pot if necessary, return liquid to pot and cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk the butter into the warm liquid one cube at a time, making sure each cube combines completely before adding the next one.
If using immediately, let cool to room temperature. If working ahead, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (press wrap against curd) and refrigerate. (Curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.)
Pour cooled cranberry curd into the cooled prebaked tart shell and smooth top with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to set curd. Cool on a rack. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Notes: It's recommended that you do not pour the curd into the crust until the day of serving. Otherwise, the curd might make the crust soggy. For a 12" tart, you may double the filling amount.

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Homemade Artisan Bread

12/27/2020

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This bread was so popular I ended up making a new batch every single day for nearly a week! It delivered on everything that Sally's Baking Addiction promised. I'm copying the recipe here for my own easy reference when I bake at home, but I suggest checking out her page for all the tips and tricks if you're trying this out for the first time. The recipe really is as easy as it looks, but you may want to know how you can customize and adapt it to your taste - it's incredibly versatile and worth trying all the variations of!

3 and 1/4 cups (460g) bread flour (see notes on substitutions), plus more for hands and pan
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons coarse salt (if only fine table salt available, reduce to 1.5 tsp)
1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cool water
optional: cornmeal for dusting pan

In large un-greased mixing bowl, whisk flour, yeast, and salt together. Pour in cool water and gently mix together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working till all the flour is moistened and becomes sticky. If needed, use your hands. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on counter at room temperature. Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, let covered dough rest in refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. The dough will puff up, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s fine and normal.
Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims and make sure it’s nonstick) with flour and/or cornmeal. Turn cold dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough in half. Place dough halves on prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape into 2 long loaves about 9×3 inches each (doesn’t have to be exact) about 3 inches apart. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C).
When ready to bake, using very sharp knife or bread lame (or even kitchen shears), score bread loaves with 3 slashes, about 1/2 inch deep. If shaped loaves flattened out during the 45 minutes rest, use floured hands to narrow them out along the sides again.
Optional for a slightly crispier crust: After oven is preheated and bread is scored, place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (such as a metal 9×13 baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3-4 cups of boiling water into it. Place the scored dough/baking pan on a higher rack and quickly shut the oven, trapping the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
Place the pan with the shaped and scored dough in preheated oven on center rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Gently tap loaves – if they sound hollow, the bread is done.
Remove bread from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Notes:
Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Dough can sit in refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also bake the bread, allow it to cool, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the dough. Complete the recipe through step 3. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container. To bake, allow dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or for 2-3 hours at room temperature. Continue with step 4 and the rest of the recipe instructions.
Flour: For absolute best flavor and chewy texture, I strongly recommend using bread flour. You can use a 1:1 substitution of all-purpose flour in a pinch with no other changes to the recipe. I recommend avoiding whole wheat flour in this dough. If necessary, use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. The bread will taste a bit dense.
Round Loaf: If you want to shape the dough into a boule (round loaf) simply shape into a round ball instead of 2 loaves in step 4. Baking instructions are the same, but the loaf will take a few extra minutes in the oven.
Using a pizza stone: If you want to bake your bread loaves on a pizza stone, place pizza stone in the preheating oven. Transfer shaped and scored loaves to hot pizza stone and bake as directed.
No Nonstick Pan: If you don’t have a nonstick baking sheet, line it with parchment paper instead. Coat with a dusting of flour and/or cornmeal before placing the dough on top. Parchment paper can burn, so it’s best to check the box to see how much heat yours can tolerate. Lower your oven heat if necessary and bake the bread for longer until golden brown and when gently tapped, sound hollow.
Flavor ideas: Before pouring in the water in step 1, add any of the following ingredients/combination of ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl: 4 cloves minced garlic + 3 Tablespoons chopped rosemary, 3 Tablespoons your favorite fresh herb (chopped), 1 cup your favorite shredded cheese, a diced jalapeño, 3/4 – 1 cup dried cranberries and/or chopped nuts, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, etc.

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Marshmallow

12/23/2020

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Homemade marshmallows! What more needs to be said?! Except that they seem to keep VERY well - longer than the recipe's recommended time. They are beautifully silky and soft and toast up fabulously.

1/4 cup (30 g) cornstarch
1/4 cup (40 g) confectioners' sugar
3 packets (7_1/2 tsp) unflavored powdered gelatin
1 cup (237 ml) cold water, divided
1_1/2 cups (340 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (237 ml) light corn syrup
1/4 tsp fine salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together cornstarch and confectioners' sugar.
Lightly oil a 13"x9"x2" pan and dust with some of the cornstarch mixture, reserving the remainder.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and leave it to soften while you make the syrup.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together remaining 1/2 cup of cold water, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat without stirring and continue cooking undisturbed until syrup registers 240F (115C) on a candy thermometer, about 7-10 minutes.
Fit stand mixer with whisk attachment and turn the machine on to low speed. Slowly add hot syrup to the gelatin mixture, pouring syrup in a thin stream. Beat mixture on medium-high until it is marshmallowy and cool to the touch and has nearly tripled in volume. Add the salt and vanilla, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated.
Use a rubber spatula lightly coated with vegetabl oil or cooking spray to spread the marshmallow evenly in the prepared pan. Dust the top with cornstarch mixture and make sure it's completely coated and doesn't have any sticky spots. (Reserve remaining cornstarch mixture.) Let the marshmallow set overnight before cutting.
Invert pan onto large cutting board. Lift up one corner of the inverted pan and use fingers to ease marshmallow out of pan onto cutting board. Use a large knife to trim marshmallow edges straight and cut into roughly 1" cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter can work too.)
Sift remaining cornstarch mixture into now-empty baking pan and roll marshmallows through it, coating all sides and shaking off excess. Transfer to airtight container and keep at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze for 1 month.

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Lemon Bars

11/27/2020

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This started out as an experiment as I had read a Cook's Illustrated article on how to make an intensely lemon-y lemon bar without the fillers starting to get in the way. It's a tough balance between the liquid - the lemon juice - and the dry ingredients - the flour - because you can't really increase one without increasing the other. Adding more lemon means it becomes a runny mess unless you add more flour, but adding more flour simply cuts into the lemony taste.

Unfortunately, I've since lost the link to the Cook's Illustrated article, but it talked about a secret ingredient - cream of tartar. And from its detailed descriptions, I worked backwards from a standard lemon bar recipe and reconstructed the following for a crisp, crunchy shortbread topped with a truly lemony curd.

one portion of shortbread crust
⅔ cup lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
3 eggs + 3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp zest
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp butter, cut into four 1 tbsp chunks

Make one portion of the shortbread crust.
While the shortbread is cooling, combine all filling ingredients except the butter in a double boiler over medium heat. Continuously whisk while the double boiler is simmering, until the mixture has thickened to about a custard consistency, with faint trails left behind by the whisk.
Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the butter one tbsp at a time, mixing until all the butter has been incorporated. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl.
Pour over the shortbread crust in about a ½” thick layer and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. The filling should have only the slightest wobble to it when you shake it.
Let cool completely, remove from pan, then cut into rectangular pieces.

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Macaron filling: Raspberry Buttercream

11/16/2020

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The raspberry buttercream is one of my favorites as a macaron filling - a little tartness to take off that edge of berry sweetness.

1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 to 1_1/2 cups confectioners sugar, divided
4 tablespoons raspberry jam
1 tablespoon cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add in jam, cream, and vanilla extract.
Gradually continue adding sugar to taste or until the mixture is soft enough to sandwich two macarons gently together.