This is the perfect recipe for when you run out of a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

¾ cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teasponn baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

½ cup milk

1 cup raspberries

12 teaspoons raspberry jam

3 tablespoons melted browned butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tin.

Combine all dry ingredients into a small bowl. Whisk together the egg, sour cream, and milk. Add flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in melted browned butter. Do not overmix. Folks in raspberries.

Use a small ice cream scoop and put one scoop in each muffin tin. Add a teaspoon of jam on top of each one and then cover with another scoop of muffin batter. Take for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

When you bake for people at work they bring you ingredients. This week, Sara brought me lemons from her garden and vanilla bean from Tahiti. So guess what I made?

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature preferred

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

zest + fresh juice of two medium lemons

 

BUTTERCREAM

1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3-4 cups (360-480g) confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream2

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste

additional lemon zest for decoration, if desired3

 

 

INGREDIENTS

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 12-count muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.

 

Make the cupcakes: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed. About 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until everything is combined, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, beating on low speed after each addition. Batter will be thick. Beat in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix this batter at any point.

Spoon batter evenly into 12 cupcake liners. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check at 18 minutes, then again at 20. A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean when done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: Beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3-4 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if mixture is too thick. Add more salt if frosting is too sweet. Frost cooled cupcakes. If topping with lemon zest, do so right before serving. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.

 

I worked with this recipe.

 

 

 

My son always orders these types of cookies at the bakery so I thought I would make them for him. One bite and you will feel like a kid again.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup yogurt

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking large sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk to blend. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat yogurt, butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and extracts and blend again. Add flour mixture and beat just until flour disappears. In some cases, this dough will feel too soft to roll into balls in your hands; if so, let it chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or so before using.

Use a small ice cream scoop to make balls of dough and roll them briefly in the palms of your hands before dropping them in a bowl of rainbow sprinkles and gently rolling to coat them evenly.

Transfer balls of sprinkle-coated dough to baking sheets at least two inches apart. Use the palm of your hand to press down on the cookies until they are about 1/4 to 1/2-inch tall. If you see any bare spots in the sprinkles that bother you, you can sprinkle a few more on top. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until they look underbaked but lightly golden underneath. [If they’re not quite soft in the center, they will be fully crisped through the next day. Let set on the baking sheet on a rack for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool the rest of the way. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

Fudge Butter is back!

INGREDIENTS

4 cups flour

4 tablespoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

Approx. 2 cups water

1/2 cup chopped chocolate

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix dry ingredients together and then add water slowly until dough is a little sticky.  Fold in chocolate and walnuts.  Cover and leave overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 475 degrees and put dutch oven (any oven safe covered pot will work) in oven to heat.  You need a really hot oven and dutch oven.  Remove dutch oven from oven.  Flour hands and a top of bread.  Carefully plop dough into pot and sprinkle wheat germ over the top.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove lid and let bread brown for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove from oven, tip bread from dutch oven and let cool on counter.

Sara is a new mom but an old soul–and a dear friend. She sent me this recipe during the week so I had to make them. It is from Alton Brown. I need to work on my biscuits so I took this opportunity to do just that. 

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening 

1 cup buttermilk chilled

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don’t want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that’s life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Cinco de Mayo is the perfect time to attempt this amazing cake.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

6 3/4 ounces cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces sugar

5 whole eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze:

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup half-and-half

Topping:

2 cups heavy cream

8 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

Glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

 

I got the recipe here.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies. May the 4th and all.

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring between each, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I got the recipe here.

If there was a word that meant “better than sublime”, I would use it to describe these cookies.

INGREDIENTS

¾ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut

Raspberry and/or apricot jam

DIRECTIONS

Cream together the butter and sugar and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.

I got the recipe here.

It’s like an orange creamsicle.

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup butter, room temperature

1 ½ cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

2 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 seedless tangerines

Icing

1 cup of confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Mix in vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Pour flour mixture into batter alternately with the sour cream, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in segments of tangerines.

Pour into pan. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Let cool and then make icing by mixing together sugar and juice until smooth and pour over cake.

“Who cares about the cake, just give me the frosting.” This is the first time in my life I have ever said that.  I actually deleted the cake recipe and just posted the frosting.  Put it on anything. Thank you Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 24 tablespoons (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.
2. Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature – this is extremely important! If it is even slightly warm, the frosting won’t beat up properly. Refrigerate overnight if necessary but make sure you give it time to get to room temperature before adding butter.
3. Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temperature (it should have no hint of warmth at all!), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined, about 30 seconds (a stand mixer will work best for this). Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work it’s magic. Beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour.

I got the recipe here.