White Chocolate Lemon Scones

I always schedule doctor appointments on Tuesdays. Even if I could work half a day, I enjoy the opportunity of lounging around my house and pretending it’s a weekend. So, when I had a late, Tuesday afternoon eye appointment, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to pretend like it was a Saturday. I woke up early enough to indulge in coffee and the joy of baking with fresh lemon juice and zest.

Side note: since living in Laramie and attending the Farmer’s Market there every late spring and summer, I grew a strong affinity for the combination of Lemon and White Chocolate, particularly in bread (if I can throw in a bit of mint, all the better!). One of my favorite indulgences of the Farmer's Market and an eating experience that made my heart do a double heel click was an Artisan Loaf of bread studded with white chocolate chunks, lemon zest and fresh mint. Bread, to me, is the body of Jesus, and White Chocolate Mint bread is nothing short of heavenly.

Thus, when the opportunity to combine these flavors presents itself, I answer with enthusiasm and anticipate the joy that will soon be mine and that of my tastebuds.

My only regret in putting these scones together was the lack of fresh mint I had on hand (I’d recently trimmed off some dead leaves and was awaiting regrowth from my window sill “garden”) Thus, I shall have to schedule yet another doctor's appointment so that I can pack these already delicious morsels with even more delicious goodness.

Recipe adapted from: Ashlee Marie

Ingredients:

4 ½ C. Flour

⅔ C. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

Finely grated zest of 2 Lemons (I LOVE using my Pampered Chef Microplane for this!)

6 Tbsp cold Butter, cut into ¼ inch pieces

1 ½ C. Heavy Cream

1 Egg Yolk, beaten slightly

10 Tbsp freshly squeezed Lemon Juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400* F. Sift/Mix together Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder and Salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the Lemon Zest and mix again. Cut in the Butter until mix resembles fine crumbs. Pour in cream, yolk and lemon juice; blend together until the dough holds together. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, knead gently three-to-four times. Create four equal sized balls. Flatten each ball into a disk about ¾ inches thick, then cut into 6 wedges (24 scones in total). Bake in the center of the oven until golden brown, fluffy and delicious, about 16-18 minutes. Enjoy!

 

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White Fudge with Lemon and Pecans

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons

Being back in the land of Holiday snacking and gaining a few pounds in time for New Years Resolutions had me feeling a strong desire and deep urge to try my hand at some holiday candy-making. I've never done much in terms of fudge and I actually tried a few different recipes this Christmas, but high-altitude laughed in my face and my chocolate fudge was re-created into fudgy, no-bake cookies (which are always a win, so I laughed back, even harder, in the face of high altitude).

However, in the process of making candy at high altitude, I discovered this recipe for Easy White Fudge in one of my all-time favorite cookbooks: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Because we'd had an abundance of lemons at our door (aka, from the dumpster) in October, I'd learned a few tricks in regards to preserving lemons, and had a jar full of zest begging to be included with this fudge experiment, so I tweaked and altered, and what do you know? I came up with a fantastic, easy-to-make-regardless-of-altitude: White Lemon Fudge.

Ingredients/Directions:

Line a square baking dish with foil, butter or grease, set aside.

In a 2 quart saucepan cook and stir 3 cups White Chocolate Chips and 1 14oz. can of Sweetened Condensed Milk over low heat. When chocolate has melted, remove saucepan from heat and stir in 1/2 cup chopped Pecans, 2 tsp. Lemon Zest and 1 tsp. Vanilla. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Carefully remove foil from square pan, cut fudge into squares, store tightly covered for 1 week...if they'll last that long!

Pie-Inspired Tortes

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons and Squash

First of all, being in the states during the holidays and partaking in holiday baking brings me so much joy!

Second of all, I've recently discovered the most amazing, fantastic use of my torte pan set and feel like I was truly 'inspired' over the holidays to make some new, delicious desserts, inspired of course by pies.

Since it was Thanksgiving, and I had recently acquired some happy little squash and pumpkins I went for a pumpkin-pie inspired torte. Additionally, since we were going to spend the holiday with my fantastic parents, and I knew that my mother loved lemon meringue, I decided to let that be the inspiration for the second torte.

Next up was making cakes in my torte pan, a pumpkin-cream cheese filling, lemon curd, purchasing whipped cream and marshmallows and hitting the kitchen!

First, you'll need a cake...

Ingredients/Directions:

Set 3/4 cups butter and 3 eggs out for 30 minutes until they reach room temperature.

Grease and flour two torte pans. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 flour, 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt, set aside.

Beat butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Gradually add 1 3/4 cups sugar and continue to beat for 2 additional minutes. Add eggs, one at a time followed by 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Alternately add 1 1/4 cup milk and flour mixture until combined, split between pans.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans. Fill as desired.  

Note: If you are making the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte, I recommend adding spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the batter. On the other hand, if you're preparing the Lemon 'almost' Meringue Pie Torte, I recommend adding a teaspoon or so of lemon zest to the batter, for added depth and flavor.

For the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte...

Ingredients/Directions:

I simply mixed about 1 or 2 cups of Pumpkin/Squash Puree with soft cream cheese, added some brown sugar and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. However, I recommend looking for a more precise pumpkin cheesecake dip/filling to ensure the best, fullest flavor. For some good ideas on where to start, scroll through this page I created on Squidoo, you'll find some of the best pumpkin cheesecake dips on the web!

To assemble the Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte simply plop the filling into your torte cake, spread some whipped topping on top and sprinkle with nutmeg, you're good to go!

For the Lemon Almost-Meringue Torte...

Ingredients/Directions:

Buy or prepare Lemon Curd.

Fill torte cake with lemon curd, arrange mini-marshmallows over the top in any design or amount you want to, turn on the broiler and place your marshmallow covered dish under the broiler for 3-5 minutes (they'll burn quickly...which we actually think tastes quite nice, but for presentation, golden is better). The marshmallows will get toasty and melty and you'll have an extremely delicious and tart dessert to share with all your favorite people!

Lemon Soup and Lemon Roasted Cauliflower

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons and Cauliflower

Ingredients/Directions: 
Lemon Soup recipe from Rachel Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8 Cookbook

Bring 6 cups stock to boil with lemon peel. Turn off heat and cover, allow stock and lemon peels to steep for 5 minutes, remove peel (unless you used zest). In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks with 5 tbsp. Lemon Juice and Hot Sauce. Add to egg mixture 1/2 cup of the hot stock to temper the eggs. Whisk this egg mixture into the stock, then turn the heat to low and whisk until soup thickens slightly, should take about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and fresh parsley if available. Enjoy as an appetizer or side dish.

Roasted Vegetable recipe inspired and assisted by the Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook

Toss 1 head of Cauliflower, broken into florets, with 2 tsp. Olive Oil, 1 tsp. Lemon Juice, Salt, Pepper and Cayenne Pepper to taste. Roast in an oven heated to 450 F until tender (this factor always takes me a lot longer than I expect, so don't intend on having roasted veggies as a quick dinner).

Repeat: Strawberry Freezer Jam

In my early salvaging days I threw a batch of this together. It's quite possibly the most delicious jam I've ever had and it's SO simple to make. Just do it!

 Ingredients:

4 cups hulled Strawberries
4 cups Sugar
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 7.5 oz. package of regular powdered fruit pectin
3/4 cups water

Directions:
Use a potato masher to crush the berries until there is about 2 cups of pulp. Add sugar and lemon peel, let stand for 10 minutes. Prepare fruit pectin in pan by boiling for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add to berry mixture; stir for three minutes when mixture is no longer grainy. Ladle into half pint freezer containers, let stand for 24 hours before placing in the freezer for up to a year.

Lemon Marmalade

Extended Shelf Life for: Lemons!

I think lemons are the most joyful fruit available in the supermarket and hanging from trees today.

When the man a CouchSurfer came home with multiple bags filled with lemons, I was quite thrilled and being as it was 'canning' season, I went ahead and sought out a way to use up these joyful little gems in a way that they would just keep on giving.

I debated doing Lemon Curd in bulk, but with the addition of eggs, it seemed to difficult of a task and I opted rather for Lemon Marmalade. A choice I far from regret!

It was a bit tricky and time consuming and I'm not 100% certain that it is a recipe which is easily undertaken at high altitude, BUT it's still delicious and worth a shot.

Unfortunately, I can't recall exactly where I found my recipe so...just be thankful I wrote it down in my little recipe notebook!

Ingredients/Directions:

Combine 4 cups, thinly-sliced-unpeeled lemons and 3 quarts water in a large kettle or stock pot. Bring to a boil, boil for 20 minutes or until lemon peels are tender. Strain off lemon peels and re-measure water, making sure there is still a total of three quarts. Combine water, fruit peels and 8 cups of sugar in the kettle or stockpot and bring to a boil til it sheets or reaches 221 F, pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Enjoy or give as gifts.

Lemon Curd

For Easter, I had made an Orange Curd which received rave reviews from our two 'family' members that joined us for the Easter Meal. One of the two recently began preparations for our 4th of July in South Korea celebration and requested another batch of curd. Unfortunately, oranges are out of season and unavailable at my local market, however, I was able to pick up a few lemons and used up some fake lemon juice as well to make this more tart and more sour than orange, Lemon Curd.

Ingredients/Directions:

In a small sauce pan heat 1 cup Sugar with 1 Tbsp Lemon Peel, grated and 1 cup Lemon Juice. Whisk well. Once heated, add 3 Tbsp. Butter and 3 Lg. Eggs, slightly beaten. Stir constantly until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon - about 8 minutes. Pour into glass jar or other container with cover and chill. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 months.

Lemon Almond Pie with White Chocolate Drizzle

First of all, if I were a fruit, I'd like to a lemon. They are gorgeous and bright and beautiful and full of all things joyful, just look at them!

Second of all, I'm still going strong with my pie making-skills and am looking forward to one day doing so with actual pie plates as opposed to round cake pans - all in good time.

For now, directions and ingredients for a deliciously tart and sweet pie!

Ingredients/Directions:
From The Everything Potluck Cookbook by Linda Larsen

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup chopped almonds, 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar and 1 Tbsp. Soft Butter, mix well and press into the bottom of one pierced pie crust. Bake for 5 minutes and cool on wire wrack. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine 1 cup Sugar, 2 Tbsp. soft Butter. Stir in 3 egg yolks and beat well. Add 2 Tbsp. Flour and a Pinch of Salt, mix again. Stir in 1 cup Milk, 1/2 cup Lemon Juice and 2 tsps. Lemon Zest. In a seperate bowl, beat 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form, fold into egg yolk mixture and spoon into prepared pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 325 F and bake 30-40 minutes until top is a deep golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. On the stovetop, prepare white chocolate drizzle by melting together 1 cup White Chocolate Chips, 3 Tbsp. Heavy Cream and 2 tsps. Corn Syrup. Drizzle over pie, let cool completely and store in the refridgerator. Absolutely DELICIOUS!

Fresh Mint (Fake Lemon) Lemonade

Has it come up yet that I received an AeroGarden for Christmas? Well, if not, just know that it's fabulous! And being able to add fresh mint, to my lemonade concoction is 100% fabulous!

Lemonade requires 3 things: Lemons, Water, Sugar.
Making a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar is also recommended so that your lemonade is evenly sweetened. Add a few fresh leaves of Mint and you're sure to enjoy a great touch of refreshment. If you're using 'fake lemon' maybe start out with less than the recommended amount and up the anty until you have a lemonade that suits your taste...obviously, fresh lemon would make the drink that much more enjoyable.

For more exact directions and the source of my personal inspiration, head on over here to Martha Stewart's website.

Shredded Chicken: For a Month-ish

I'm quite certain this bit of chicken isn't meant to last a month because I opted for the slow-cooker once again. However, should I do this one or two more times I will in fact have plenty of chicken and chicken broth for the month!

The chicken entered the slow-cooker with a sprinkling of salt and pepper a touch of water for the pot and a few squeezes of lemon juice. At the end of the day, the chicken meat was eager to come of the bones and be shredded and store in the freezer, 1 cup at a time. Next day, the chicken bones happily entered the slow-cooker with a quartered carrot and onion and a bay leaf simply to be covered in water and made into a fabulous broth.

I love the slow-cooker. That's all.

Pulled Pork: For a Month

Rachel Ray does this massive dish in the oven. My oven is small. And...I prefer the slow cooker. You need a TON of pork roast - I'm sayin' like 8-10 lbs which is a lot. For the slow cooker, just cut it into chunks that fit into the slow-cooker, season with salt, lemon zest, minced garlic and pepper then cook on low 8-10 hours. Let cool slightly and shred it with two forks. Freeze in 1 cup portions should be between 10-15 cups of pork to be used with a number of dishes at a later date.

(If you aren't familiar with once-a-month-cooking, the concept is simple. Prepare food in large portions, freeze and use at a later date. Most once-a-month-cooking sites/recipes have you prepare quite a few dishes, Rachel Ray gives you five --in a recent magazine that is -- which you prepare, freeze and then use her simple recipes to jazz up one to three of the ingredients which are happily stored in the freezer. It'll make more sense as I begin my overlapped coursework with the Master's and start pulling foods out of the freezer for some uber-convenience cooking that's still 'fresh' and home-made. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing).

Lemon Thyme Spread and Home-made Bread

Pinterest is the place for inspiration. I recently 'pinned' a Thyme-Lemon Bruchetta from the Kitchn that lead to this spread that we fantastic on a couple loaves of home-made bread.

It's also super easy! Too one container of cream cheese add the zest of 1 lemon, a dash of pepper, salt and Thyme. Let the flavors meld and spread onto crackers or bread and enjoy with pasta and friends.

White Chocolate-Lemon Artisan Bread

This is a work in progress. But when all is said and done...it will be a magical experience.

For now, I'll just say: Bread + White Chocolate + Lemon = A little bit of Heaven. Amen.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Unfortunately, I cannot take any credit for this recipe but rather, must tip my hat to TheJoyofBaking for this Lemon Blueberry Bread which we recently enjoyed while watching a bit of internet TV.

The following recipe comes straight from the website and I take no credit for any part of it, other than preparing the dish and serving it in my home.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inch) (23 x 13 x 8 cm).
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the 1/4 cup (50 grams) of sugar and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with the hot lemon glaze. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. This bread is best served on the day it is made.

Makes 1 loaf.
Sources:
Beranbaum, Rose Levy. 'The Cake Bible'. William Morrow & Company, Inc. New York: 1988.
Bon Appetit Magazine, August 1991 Issue.
Read more:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/LemonBlueberryBread.html#ixzz1HV22LMh4