Lady O's Blueberry Buckle

Hello World!

I was wandering through a Borders when I scored "The Oprah Magazine Cookbook" for $4.  I had a huge clamshell of blueberries in the refrigerator so I decided to make the Blueberry Buckle recipe from chefs Melissa Kelly and Price Kushner.  This is definitely a tasty dessert that made me feel like less of a fatty because of the fresh berries.  It suggests baking this dish in ramekins and alternatively in a Pyrex pie pan. Since I need another shopping trip for supplies I didn't have ramekins on hand so decided to use the Pyrex.  That didn't work out too well for me. I pulled the pie out of the oven too soon the first time and didn't realize that it was raw in the middle until I cut into it...yikes. So I put it back in the oven for another hour, which caused the outside of the pie to be a little over done. Nonetheless it was still very good, especially since I love the middle of cakes, pies and cookies the best anyway. Oh yeah, I also only used 3 cups of blueberries because I knew there was no way I would fit 4 cups in my pie dish.

Crumble                                    Batter                               Filling
1/4 cup granulated sugar           4 tbs butter                       4 cups blueberries
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed    5 tbs granulated sugar      1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour           1 egg                                1 tbs flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon          1 cup flour                        2 to 4 tbs granulated sugar
4 tbs butter, cold                       1 tsp baking soda
                                                 1/2 cup buttermilk

1. To prepare crumble: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and break apart with fingers. Refrigerate.
2. To prepare batter: In a medium-size bowl, cream butter and sugar, then mix in egg.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Add half the dry ingredients to the creamed butter; mix, then add buttermilk; mix, then add remaining dry ingredients; mix just to combine.  Refrigerate batter 30 minutes.
3. To prepare filling: Combine all ingredients in a bowl; stir.
4. Grease eight 6-ounce ramekins or souffle dishes (or one large Pyrex pie pan).  Add 1/4 cup batter to each mold, smoothing mixture with a plastic spatula.  Add 1/2 cup blueberries, then top each with 1/4 cup crumble.  Bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes, until top is browned and filling just starts to bubble.  Remove from oven and allow to cool 20 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Smooches,


Keli
What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Whatever Martha

Hello World,

I spent a good part of this week with one of my favorite moguls, Martha Stewart, or two of her books at least.  Since I want to get my house in order I decided to borrow Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook from the library. I learned tons of great stuff and think it's a great book to have on hand when you are trying to figure out things like how to unclog a drain or get a stain out of something. I also realized that there is no way in the world I could do half of the things in her book and actually have a life. This book seems to be geared toward people who manage people's homes for a living. That being said I really liked a lot of the information in it and would recommend that anyone should flip through the book and learn something new.

I also borrowed and renewed her Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook to see if I like it before I buy it. I enjoyed reading through the general baking tips and techniques. I'm the type of person that really likes to know the what ingredients bring to a recipe like why room temperature butter is important. Martha's book does a good job at this, but Bon Appetit Desserts does a great job. In December I made her cranberry-almond biscotti for Christmas gifts and they were a hit. So much so that I had to bring more to the in-laws the following week.  I made some with just cranberries for the baby and she loved them. A few weeks ago I made her Chocolate Chunk cookies and they came out good as well. I'm embarrassed to say that my favorite cookie of all time is Pillsbury Chocolate chip cookies.  Maybe in a previous life I was a cookie taster...anyway it was definitely a good cookie, but I prefer a chewier cookie.

This weeks pick were her scones. I looooove scones and couldn't not make these. My husband couldn't find any dried currants on his grocery run so I decided to split the recipe in half and make half chocolate chip and half cranberry. They came out great. They were soft and tender and the cream/egg wash made the top a little flaky.  The great thing is that you can freeze them and then pop them in the oven for 30 minutes for breakfast in the morning. Surprisingly they are sweet enough with the add ins considering there is only 2 tablespoons of sugar in the mixture.  I did sprinkle the top with sanding sugar to add some crunch. I definitely recommend you try this recipe.

Currant Scone (Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

4/1/2 cups all- purpose flour                     1 cup dried currants
2 tbs granulated sugar                               2 1/4 heavy cream, plus more if needed
2 tbs baking powder                                 1 large egg yolk
1 tsp baking soda                                      Sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold
   cut into small pieces

Line two baking sheets with parchment pater;set  aside. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Fold in the currants.  Make a well in the center.

Pour 2 cups cream into the flour mixture. Using your hands, draw the dry ingredients over the cream, gradually gathering and combing the dough until it just comes together.  If it is too dry, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  With lightly floured hands, gently press and pat the dought into an 11- by -7-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick.  Using a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut the rectangle into 16 triangles.  Place the triangles on the prepared baking sheets; cover with plastic wrap and freeze until the dough is very firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.  (At this point, you can freeze the unbaked scones in a resealable plastic bag until ready to bake, up to 3 weeks.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolk with the remaining 1/4 cup cream; brush over the tops of the scones and sprinkle generously wit sanding sugar, if using.  Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the tops are golden and flecked with brown spots, 30 to 35 minutes.  You can also lift one scone with a spatula to check that the bottom is golden.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  They are best eaten the day they are baked.


Smooches,

Keli
What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Last Day of Decorating Class

Hello world. Yesterday was my last class in decorating basics and it was bitter sweet. We had a nice group of ladies in our class that were helpful (crap where is my spatula) and supportive (that really does look like a flower). Our instructor, Barbara, is a doll. Think of your third grade elementary school teacher (she really is a teacher) encouraging, patient and willing to go the extra mile. And did I mention patient? I was a mess yesterday.  I was running late because of the rain, I needed to sign up for the next class before all of the spaces were filled; I forgot that I needed dye and just a complete mess! Sometimes you have those days even when you think that you were totally prepared.

So for this class we learned how to make ribbon roses, which turned out to be extra difficult with the humidity yesterday.  The first one didn’t turn out that well, but with Barbara’s help I got the technique and a great compliment! “You turn that flower nail like a pro!” I probably grinned like a Cheshire cat. After the third flower between the humidity and the heat from my hand my icing started to melt.  I kept trying just so that I could work on the technique.

We spent a lot of time on flowers and also practiced handwriting on cakes. Now anyone that has seen my handwriting knows that y’all need to pray for me. My handwriting looks like I scribbled something down with my toes. So needless to say I had to work pretty hard to get it to look decent. I probably broke a sweat. I will definitely be using letter impressions if I ever need to write on a cake to help a sistah out.

After all of that we only had about a half hour to work on our final pieces.  I think it came out okay although I didn’t get to use all the techniques we’ve been learning. That would have been a bit too much on an 8 inch cake. Anyway, let me know what you think…yes you can judge now. Check out the inscription…I’m talking to you.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Smooches,

Keli

Wilton Decorating Basics Class - 3rd Class

Boy, has it been a while since I've posted. Sorry people, life was happening. I wanted to share with you what I learned in my third decorating class.  Flowers people!  We learned drop flowers, pom pom flowers, leaves, how to ice a cupcake so that it looks like a rose. I have a couple of examples below, I'm getting better eh?

Next week is our last class. We have to bring an iced cake and we will practice everything that we learned so far plus a few new things. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm also going to sign up for the next class fondant and gum paste. I'll be able to do all kinds of fancy stuff after that class.

On another note I participated in an online open house for the French Culinary Institute for Pastry Arts in NYC. It sounds wonderful; I think that I'll go for a tour this fall and see it up close and personal. If I fall in love I still wouldn't be able to go for at least year, but hopefully it will help me figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Smooches,

Keli