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pumpkin spice scone -a recipe from a friend

i am still on a baking rampage...

last night dad requested that i make these, and post them here. so i am.

this is a long time favorite of mine (ok, as of a year), i got it off a friend's blog, she is amazing and these scones testify to that.

these really welcome fall in properly.

[i use a pastry blender to make the dough]

makes 6 scones

-2 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 6 tablespoons cold butter
-1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 3 tablespoons half-and-half
- 1 large egg

Powered Sugar Glaze

* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze

* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons whole milk
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 pinch ginger
* 1 pinch ground cloves

Directions

1.TO MAKE THE SCONES:
2.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
3.Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
4.In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
5.Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.
6.Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
7.TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:.
8.Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
9.When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
10.AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.
11.Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

walnut cinnamonn slices

I have been really into baking things as of late so I tried these because they looked like they matched the coolness in the air that's creeping into our late summer.

From one of my favorite cookbooks, Tartine, is a cookie/bar that is moist in the middle and flaky, crumbly on the edges. Just enough cinnamon to make it feel like a cookie that should be eaten on a cool fall evening.

Just trust me, you'll love them.

p.s. guess what? I followed the recipe 100%!



[It says to bake for about 7 minutes, I ended up baking them for closer to 15 minutes to get the edges golden.]

1 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
11 Tablespoons butter at a cool room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Sugar Coating

2 large egg yolks
2 Tablespoons cream
1 cup sugar

Sift the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda together into a mixing bowl, and set aside. In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar, until just combine. In a small bowl beat the egg and sugar together until blended. Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter mixture, beating at medium speed until well mixed. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, beat on low speed just until a dough forms. Mix in the walnuts.
Turn the dough out onto a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap. Form a rectangle about 1inch thick. Wrap tightly, and chill until firm, about 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 325. Butter a baking sheet, or line with parchment paper.

Unwrap the dough, using a sharp knife, slice the rectangle lengthwise into 2-inch-wide rectangular logs. To make the sugar coating, in a small bowl whisk together the egg yolk and cream to make a a egg wash. Spread the sugar onto a baking sheet. Brush the rectangular logs well, but sparingly with the egg wash. One at a a time dredge the logs in the sugar, coating evenly on all sides. Cut lengthwise and into 2 inch bars (creating 2x1inch bars).arrange on baking sheet.
Bake until cookies are golden on the edges, but still pale in the middle, about 7 minutes (see note).



(Original recipe Tartine Bakery)
(Photographs copyright of madey edlin)

blueberry cupcakes

From Bon Appetite comes the cupcake of a lifetime. Picture a really good blueberry muffin topped with a buttercream maple frosting. Yeah, like a blueberry pancake with maple syrup but 10x more awesome.

Want to make it better? Serve with a double espresso.

Notes: I omitted the lemon peel in the cupcakes. I used maple syrup in the frosting, omitted the milk, and added a little extra powdered sugar.

Cupcakes:

• 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk or low-fat yogurt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, frozen for 4 hours

Frosting

• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons (or more) whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Sift flour and next 4 ingredients into large bowl. Whisk melted butter and oil in medium bowl. Add eggs; whisk to blend. Whisk in buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, and peel. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients; whisk just to blend. Stir in frozen blueberries. Divide batter among liners.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks.

Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add 4 teaspoons milk. Using electric mixer, beat until well blended and fluffy, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls if dry (small granules of maple sugar will still remain), about 4 minutes. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes.
Garnish cupcakes with chilled berries, and mint sprigs, if desired. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

(Original recipe Bon Appetite)

(Original Photography by, madey edlin madeyedlinblog.com)

Pesto Pasta Salad

I feel like I should be groveling to my readers. It's been over a month since I last posted. Trust me, I would have liked to be doing nothing but posting here. But life got in the way. But we are back on track and I hope to continue posting every week. 

This is me throwing all my favorite things together in a bowl and mixing. Here we came up with a Mediterranean pasta salad, and if you remember, I could have a slight obsession with pasta; but we're not going to go into detail. 

Like potato salad, pasta salad has a bad rep. Containing  mostly mayo, and other things that will make you puke it you eat more than one bite. But here, well I think, the pasta salad could be re-invented into something good, even great. 

So here we go: a pretty unoriginal pasta salad recipe (but oh, so good):: 

• 2 cups cooked pasta
• 1 cup blanched peas
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 2 Tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes, packed in olive oil
• Feta cheese
• Salt

Combine everything in a large bowl. Mix. Add salt and cheese to taste. That's what I'm talkin about! 

(Original recipe by Madey Edlin)

(Photography  by Madey Edlin ::  madey-kay.blogspot.com) 

peppery, sweet potato salad. with lemon, honey, basil, dressing

I love sweet potatoes, and they are so good for you; so I am always looking for new ways of incorporating them into my diet.

The roasted potatoes, paired with the sweet and sour dressing, the bite from the pepper, and the freshness of the basil, all tossed together to a ultimate potato salad. And unlike most potato salads, this one won't stop your heart just by looking at it.

[Notes: Use lots of salt, and lots, and lots of pepper.]

4 sweet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small onion, sliced
6 oz drained chickpeas
2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup minced basil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil + extra
salt
pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425.
Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl, coat well with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread into a sheet pan, so that they lay in one layer. Roast for 30 minutes.
While the potatoes are roasting, give the onion slices the same olive oil treatment as the potatoes. Place in the oven with the potatoes, and roast for a further 10 minutes.
Make the dressing by mixing the, lemon juice, basil, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and honey, until completely combine.
Once the vegetables are done, place in a large bowl, add the chick peas, and dressing toss to combine. Serve warm, and garnish with chopped basil.

(Original recipe my madey edlin)
(Original photography madey edlin)

(I couldn't decide which one I like better, so you got both)

bread pudding

I left my heart in London, that's about how my trip went, I loved it so much it hurts. I was thinking I would do a blog post on Irish cuisine after returning from Ireland, and England. But unless I get hundreds of emails begging me to get into Shepherd's pie, soda bread, or Irish stew, we are going to focus more on the British food. After all I ended up spending more time there since the explosion of the volcano in Iceland grounded us in England for a extra week. Not that I was complaining.

The day after I got back, I had to see how my croissants compared with those that you could get on every street corner in Europe. I started in on the 24+ hours of messing around with butter and flour mess AKA croissant, and in the end was very pleased with the result. It's like Christmas, all the anticipation, then you pull out beautiful, flaky, golden bread that is to die for. But not everyone is worthy of them, so I end up eating most of them. Occasionally sharing the gold with a few of my favorite family members. But as a result there are usually a few extra hanging around the house a few days after their prime. So I decided to do something about that:

Confession #186: I have never had, made or tried bread pudding. Yes, it's true. I was talking to a friend about that and she said that needed to be remedied asap. So I did I used a few older, plain croissant to make some bread pudding, and was very happy with the results. The custard surrounding the buttery croissant, for the perfect indulging treat. 

I used a recipe from [yet another] favorite cookbook of mine; Tartine. A bakery located in San Francisco, and owner’s wrote a cookbook about their baked goods. I used their recipe for croissants (as I always do), and their recipe for Brioche Bread Pudding. 

[Makes 1 5x9 inch loaf]

Notes: I used croissant slices, the original recipe uses brioche. Really, any good-quality bread of the buttery family would work well here. 

Fill the dish with the bread, but do not let it go over the edge. You might need more or less slices of bread.

I served mine with peach slices, and stewed rhubarb

6, 1 inch croissant slices 

8 eggs

3/4 + 2 tablespoons sugar

4 cups whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Arrange the croissant slices on a baking a sheet, place in the oven until lightly toasted, 4 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven allow to cool.

To make the custard, crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Add the sugar and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour the custard into a fine mesh sieve held over a measuring cup with a spout.

Place the toasted croissant in the prepared loaf dish, cutting to fit as needed. Pour the custard evenly over the bread, filling the dish to the top, if you can’t fit it all in, wait 10 minutes and pour the remaining custard into the dish. 

Cover the dish with aluminum foil, place in the oven, and bake the pudding for about 1 hour. To test for doneness, uncover the dish, slip a knife into the centre, and push the bread aside. If the custard is still very liquid, re-cover the dish and return to the over to bake for about a further 10 minutes. If only a little liquid remains then the pudding is ready to come out of the oven. It will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven. 

Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving. 

(Original recipe by Tartine Bakery)

(Original photography by madey edlin)