Kinda awesome, like America.

INGREDIENTS

Pastry

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Zest of half a lemon

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup ricotta

3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Filling

2 cups berries

3 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of salt

Glaze

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

1 heaped teaspoon turbinado or coarse sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

Make dough: Whisk the flour, salt, sugar and zest together in the bottom of a large bowl. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Stir ricotta and 3 tablespoons water together in a small dish and pour into butter-flour mixture. Stir together with a flexible spatula as best as you can, then use your hands to knead the mixture into a rough ball. Wrap in plastic and flatten into a disc. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Assemble galette: Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a large round-ish shape, about 14 to 15 inches across. Cut out a pentagon shape.

Transfer round or pentagon-shaped dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fold dough gently, without creasing, in quarters then unfold it onto the baking pan.

Stir together all of the filling ingredients and spread them in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the border over the filling, pleating the edge to make it fit. Pinch the edges.

Whisk egg yolk and water together and brush over exposed crust. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake galette: For 30 minutes, or golden all over. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

I got the recipe here.

 

INGREDIENTS 

3 oz egg whites (about 3 large eggs)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

red and blue food coloring gel

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Line bake sheet with parchment.

Place egg whites in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk and whip until stiff peaks hold and meringue does not slide out when bowl is turned upside.. Gradually add in sugar and then vanilla and vinegar. Increase speed and whip until mixture is free of sugar grit when rubbed between two fingers and the meringue holds stiff and glossy peaks.

Turn pasty bag inside out and paint stripes with food coloring onto bag, then turn pastry bag right side in and fit with a large round tip and fill with meringue. Pipe meringue 1-inch apart. Bake meringue cookies for about 90-120 minutes or until meringue easily peels away from parchment paper. Cool on a wire rack.  Add gold leaf flakes onto meringue. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I worked with this recipe.

A delicious, adaptable, fragrant, and perfect strawberry cake that I made for my nephews. It won’t last past breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

1 stick butter melted and cooled, plus more to grease the skillet

1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

zest of 1 lemon + 2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

6 strawberries, sliced

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a seasoned cast iron skillet.

Pour sugar into a mixing bowl and add the lemon zest. Rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers, until sugar mixture becomes fragrant.

Wisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add salt and vanilla.  Stir in the flour and then fold in the butter and strawberry slices.

Pour the batter into the skillet and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and drizzle with lemon juice.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Serve warm.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup melted butter

1 egg

 Topping:

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter and let cool. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place melted butter (room temp) in a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Everyone talks about “Date Night” and “Afternoon Delight”.  Doesn’t anyone care about the morning anymore?

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces dried pitted dates, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups firmly packed coarsely chopped dates)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup (240 ml) boiling water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced

1 egg at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl mix the chopped dates with the baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Pour 1 cup (240 ml) of boiling water over the dates, stir, and leave to cool to room temperature (this takes about 30 minutes).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Then line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper.

Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly brown and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

In your food processor place the flour, sugar, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and ground cinnamon. Process to combine and then add the butter. Process until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Transfer the flour mixture to a large bowl and stir in the chopped walnuts.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the vanilla extract.

Then add the beaten egg mixture and the cooled dates (along with the water) to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Place the batter into your prepared pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon. Bake about 55 to 65 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out just clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. This bread will keep for several days at room temperature. It can also be frozen.

I worked with this recipe.

These are by no means decadent but they taste pretty damn good for something with no sugar added.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/3 cup oat flour 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped  pitted dates

1 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2/3 fresh blueberries 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cases.

Put oat flour, while wheat flour, almond milk, dates, egg, baking powder, and cinnamon and in food processor and blitz together to give a fairly smooth and sloppy mixture.

Transfer mixture into a large bowl and stir in the blueberries. Divide the mixture into muffin tin. Sprinkle oatmeal on top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins are cooked through.

INGREDIENTS

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coffee Cake:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter or spray a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Line bottom with parchment paper.

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

Stir brown sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

Coffee Cake:

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In mixer, beat butter until softened.  Add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after one. Scrape down bowl. Beat in vanilla.  With the mixer on low, mix in flour alternated with buttermilk starting and ending with flour mixture.

Spoon  half batter into a prepared pan and smooth the top.  Sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Cover with remaining batter and then sprinkle remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture. Take a wooden skewer and swirl the batter. Bake for about 55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool 10 minutes before taking out of pan.

I worked with this recipe.

 

 

Stupid easy and delicious.

INGREDIENTS

3 large peaches 3 large nectarines, cut into thin wedges

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

For biscuit topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup boiling water

PREPARATION

Cook peaches:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes.

Make peach topping while baking:

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)

I got the recipe here.

Because sometimes you are out of eggs and butter.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking poweder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 ¼ cups dark chocolate chips 60% or higher

½ cup (100 grams) sugar

½ cup (110 grams) packed brown sugar

½ cup + 1 tablespoon canola, or neutral oil

¼ cup + 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture and toss to coat.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugars briskly with the canola oil and water until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes. Note: Use fresh, soft light brown sugar. If there are clumps, break them up with the back of a spoon or your hand before whisking.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, and then stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until just combined and no flour is visible. Do not overmix.

Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Do not skip this step.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Remove dough from the refrigerator and use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to portion dough into 2-inch mounds. It’s a good idea to freeze the balls of dough for 10 minutes before baking as the cookies will retain their shape better while baking.

Sprinkle the balls of dough with coarse-grained sea salt (if freezing, remove balls of dough from the freezer first), and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are just golden. Do not overbake.

I got the recipe here.

 

I love everything Nigella Lawson does.

INGREDIENTS

For the jam layer:

8 ounces fresh raspberries

3 tablespoons raspberry jam

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons vanilla

In a blender, combine the raspberries and jam and process until combined. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and vanilla extract, add to blender, and blend until smooth. Set aside for later.

For the cake and crumb topping:

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons cold salted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup sour cream

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 teaspoons turbinado sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375° F and grease a 9-inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Sprinkle in butter cubes and use your fingers to rub them in—as if you were making pie dough—until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs with pea- and walnut-sized butter pieces.

Remove 1/2 cup and set it aside for the topping in a medium bowl.

To the large bowl, add sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Mix well.

Dollop a little over half of this batter into pan. With slightly damp hands, pat the batter across bottom of pan and about 1 inch up sides; the mixture will be very sticky and somewhat uneven.

Pour over the raspberry purée in an even layer over the batter, leaving a rim of dough around it. Cover with blobs of remaining cake mixture, trying to spread them as evenly as possible and using damp hands to thin them out. Don’t stress about it! (Trust me.)

Add the Demerara sugar to the reserved 1/2 cup dough and stir with a fork to mix. Sprinkle evenly over cake.

Bake cake until lightly golden, about 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Thanks to Nigella for this wonderful recipe.