Orange Biscuits

 From Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin

You can also make these by rolling the dough 3/4 inch thick and spoon the marmalade into a little dip pressed into the center of the biscuit. 

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 butter or shortening, chilled and cut into pieces

2/3 C heavy whipping cream

2 tsp grated orange zest

2 tsp fresh orange juice

1/2 C orange marmalade (I used canned apricot pie filling)

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly butter a 9 inch baking pan (or pie plate). 

2. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening. 

3. In a small bowl, combine the cream, orange zest, and orange juice. Using a form gradually blend three quarters of the cream-juice mixture into the flour mixture, stirring gently. Stir in enough of the remaining cream-juice mixture to make a slightly sticky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 8-10 times until the dough comes together and is smooth. 

5. Roll or pat the dough into a rectangle 12 in long, 1/4 in thick. Spoon the marmalade over the dough and spread it out. Roll up the dough and cut into 1 inch slices. Place the biscuits in your pan, leaving no space between. Brush with melted butter.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 375F and bake another 10 min until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.

Caramel-Almond Torte with Spiced Mango Compote (for Passover)

Disclaimer: I haven't actually made this yet. Occasionally a recipe shows up on this blog before I've made it because someone sends it to me in hard copy or e-copy and I've nowhere else to store it and I feel compelled to keep it rather than throw it away. This is what my family ate for Passover dessert last year and my mother copied out the recipe on the back of some study materials and mailed it to me, and it looks delicious. Perhaps I'll make it for Passover this spring, if we get the chance to celebrate it (e.g. I am not on the night float.)

From Bon Appetit April 2002 by Jayne Cohen. 

Ingredients:

For the compote:

1 1/4 C. sugar

1 1/4 C. water

1 1/2 T. chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 T. orange zest

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

3 1-pound mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

For the torte:

2 1/4 C. slivered almonds (approx. 9 oz.), toasted, cooled

8 T. sugar

1 T. potato starch

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 large eggs, separated

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C. pareve kosher-for-Passover margarine

1/4 C. packed golden brown sugar

Directions:

1. Make the compote: Combine the first six compote ingredients in a medium heavy saucepan. Bring the syrup to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil syrup five minutes then pour into a medium bowl and cool for 30 minutes. Stir in mangoes. Cover and chill at least two hours and up to four days.

2. Make the torte: Preheat the oven to 375F. Blend 1 3/4 C. almonds, 2 T. sugar, starch, and cinnamon in a processor until nuts are finely chopped, about 45 seconds. 

3. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks, 2 T. sugar, and almond extract in a large bowl until very thick and pale in color, about three minutes. Fold almond mixture into yolk mixture.

4. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 4 T. sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold large spoonful of whites into yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites.

5. Transfer batter to 9" springform pan. Bake torte until puffed and golden brown and tester inserted into smooth and thick, about three minutes. Mix in remaining 1/2 C. almonds. Spoon topping over torte. Cool one hour. (Can be made six hours ahead, let stand at room temperature).

6. Cut around pan sides to loosen torte; release pan sides. Place torte on platter and serve alongside compote. 

Dimply Plum Cake

Just when you thought we couldn't possibly have more plums-- we did. The plum ginger crumble didn't quite use up all my mom's plums, so we turned to this recipe to finish them out. (There is another plum cake recipe on this site worth trying out also, the crunchy topped whole wheat plum cake.) Weirdly enough, when I took my first bite I was ho-hum and then the Robber-- that same Robber who is always trying to convince me to make old things he likes not new things-- took his first bite and LOVED it. And then proceeded to eat most of it quickly and to say again and again how much he liked it. So ok. I guess we'll be making this again. The flavor of the cake is quite pleasing, but I found it a bit dry so how to work around that? Also, the plums need to be quite small (I put in some larger store plums too and they didn't work as well as my mother's small plums). I made mine in a 9" cake pan which worked quite well. Smitten Kitchen says you can use apricots or other stone fruits also and mix up the zest and the spices and whatever so maybe I will try making a pear or a cherry cake some time just for kicks. Also the Robber wants me to make it without any fruit at all. Hrrrmmm. We'll see.

Originally from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours, by way of Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/dimply-plum-cake/

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (the original calls for 1/4 tsp.)

5 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 C. (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower

Grated zest of 1 orange (I used 1 tsp. dried valencia orange peel)

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums (or even Italian prune plums, when they are in season), halved and pitted

Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.

3. Working with a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute after each egg goes in. Still working on medium speed, beat in the oil, zest and vanilla; the batter will look smooth and creamy, almost satiny.

4. Removing the mixer, add the dry ingredients in thirds, mixing in by hand until they are incorporated.

5. Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots, then scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange the plums cut side up in the batter–Dorie says she usually makes four rows of four plum halves each–jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter.

6. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes during which time the plums juices will seep back into the cake then run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.

7. Optional: Dust the top with powdered sugar. (It soaks into the plums, but keeps the cake a speckly white.)

Note: You can wrap the cake and keep it at room temperature for up to 2 days, during which time it will get softer and moister.

Spiced Plum Pie

Voila the spiced plum pie! I had wanted to make this pie for a long time, but the Robber likes so many other pies it is hard to get around to new ones sometimes. He left town and I wanted to make him a peach pie for his return out of my great love for him, but the peaches at the store were nowhere near ripe so shoot, shoot I just had to buy plums. And then I had to make plum pie. And my, oh my, was it so delicious! This is one of those pies that is going to be a strong favorite of mine forever, whether the Robber ever overcomes his preference for pecans or not.

A must. From Epicurious (with a few adjustments):

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Plum-Pie-232397

Ingredients:

Unbaked pie crust of choice (used Tender Pie Crust)

3 T. plus 1 C. granulated sugar

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided

4 T. cornstarch

2 tsp. (packed) finely grated orange peel

3/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt (I used a dash)

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (optional)

2 1/2 - 3 lbs. plums, haved, pitted, each half cut into 6-8 wedges.

2 T. whipping cream (or egg white, or egg yolk) for brushing crust

Directions:

1. Roll out 1 pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

2. Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Place foil-lined baking sheet in bottom of oven to catch any spills. 

3. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. 

4. Whisk 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Add plums and toss to coat. (This is where I recommend macerating for at least two hours then draining off the excess liquid before pouring into the crust. That way your pie will be way way less goopy and it has worked consistently for me to do it like this, even though you end up wasting spices that way. You could always just macerate in sugar and then add less spices to the macerated fruit. Whatevs. But if you don't macerate, expect a goopy pie no matter how much cornstarch.) Spoon filling into crust, mounding slightly in center.

5. Roll out second pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Drape crust over filling; trim overhang to 1 inch. Press top and bottom crust edges together. Fold edges under; crimp. Using sharp knife, cut four 2-inch-long slits in center of top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust (but not edges) with cream. Sprinkle reserved cinnamon sugar over crust. (I actually used turbinado sugar, not the cinnamon sugar, on my pie crust and it was excellent.)

6. Bake pie 30-45 minutes. Tent pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Continue to bake until filling bubbles thickly through slits, about 1 hour longer. Cool completely on rack.

Cranberry Nut Bread

I made this bread as part of our family graduation party and the Robber liked it so much that he insisted we get the recipe. So my mom photocopied it from her recipe book and sent it to us and the Robber cannot believe his luck. . . well he won't believe it when I make it again. The recipe strongly recommends pecans but gives the ok to walnuts and advises against slicing too soon out the oven, good advice given the crumbly nature of this bread when it is hot.

From American Classics, possibly from Good Housekeeping.

Ingredients:

1 T. grated orange zest

1/3 C. fresh orange juice

2/3 C. buttermilk

6 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg, beaten slightly

2 C. all-purpose flour

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 C. cranberries (about 6 oz.), chopped coarsely

1/2 C. pecans, chopped coarsely and toasted

Directions:

1. Toast the pecans by placing a skillet over medium heat, adding chopped pecans and toasting, shaking the pan frequently until nuts are fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan; set aside.

3. Stir together the orange zest, orange juice, buttermilk, butter, and egg in a small bowl. 

4. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just moistened.

5. Gently stir in the cranberries and pecans. Do not overmix.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smoother the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F; continue to bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a wife rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving. Once cooled, the bread can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for a couple of days.

Raspberry, Almond, and Goat Cheese Empanadas

This was another recipe where I told the Robber what I made and he made a face at me and I wanted to say well then, you can't have any, but then he ate one and decided it was the best thing ever and I am a sucker when the Robber likes what I make and I get all happy, but maybe I would be happier if I hadn't told him and then I could just eat these all myself! So good!

I didn't have the time or energy to make 20 small empanadas, so I made 8 big ones which threw the filling-to-dough ratio quite off, with not enough filling, so I threw in some Ghiradelli chocolate chips and almonds into my leftover dough and it was delicous! I might just use this dough and put anything into it, but trust me if you have the goat cheese, go that route. So good.

Note: I also did not put the almonds in the filling but rather opted just sprinkle the tops generously with almonds (after brushing them with egg so the almonds would stick), which allowed the filling to remain creamy and smooth on the inside. I mixed the raspberries into the filling directly also instead of adding them separately to each empanada.

Note: If you make 8 empanadas, use about 1/4 cup of filling per empanada.

From a Hint of Honey:

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2009/05/raspberry-almond-and-goat-cheese.html

Ingredients:

For the basic sweet pastry dough:

3 C. all purpose flour (I used half white whole wheat)

1/4 C. sugar

Pinch of salt

2 sticks butter (16 T.), cut into 16 pieces

2 eggs

2-4 T. cold water

For the raspberry goat cheese filling:

12 oz. raspberries (fresh or frozen)

11 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature

½ C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T. orange zest

½ cup sliced almonds

1 egg, yolk and white separated and lightly whisked

¼ cup demerara or Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions:

1. Prepare basic pastry crust dough as follows:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.

2. Add the butter, eggs and water until a clumpy dough forms.

3. Knead the dough for a few minutes.

4. Form dough into 2 balls, flatten into thick discs, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

5. Divide dough and roll out into as many thin disks as desired.

2. Combine the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange zest in a bowl, mix well.

3. To assemble the empanadas place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture, a couple of raspberries and a few almond slices on the center of the empanada disc.

4. Brush the edges of the empanada disc with the egg whites.

5. Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges, use a fork to help seal the empanadas.

6. Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the egg yolk; this will give them a nice golden glow when baked.

7. Sprinkle the almond slices on the top of the empanadas, do this immediately after you brush them with the egg yolk, it will help the almond slices stick to the empanada.

8. Sprinkle each empanada with a little bit of the demerara sugar.

9. Chill the empanadas for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake, this will help them seal better.

10. Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven at 375 F for 15-20 minutes (longer if making bigger empanadas) or until golden. Serve warm.

Yield: 8-20 empanadas.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

Not being 100% happy with my Annie's cranberry scone recipe (although it is delicious!) and still having frozen cranberries left over I chose to use the rest of my berries by making 1 1/2 of this recipe. I didn't make any major changes except using frozen vs. dried cranberries, but did add a few more cranberries than it recommended just to use them all and because I always want more than the recipes writers. The reviewers love this recipe and don't mess with the base much, but do add whatever they want in it. The dough by itself had a lovely texture and a good flavor and I'm excited to try one of these sometime soon.

Here's the link, originally from Bon Appetit 1998:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Orange-Scones-15682

Ingredients:

3 C. all purpose flour

1/3 C. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 T. grated orange peel

3/4 C. chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3/4 C. dried cranberries

1 C. chilled buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Mix in orange peel. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in dried cranberries. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until moist clumps form.

3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly to bind dough, about 4 turns. Form dough into 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 8 wedges. Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart.

4. Bake until tops of scones are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet 10 minutes. Serve scones warm or at room temperature.

Strawberry Scones

My third recipe in the scone series and second from Annie's Eats overall (where most of the remainder of the scone recipes will come from). Just making this recipe made me so hungry! After I had already cooked two other scone recipes. All those fresh strawberries. This recipe I followed as is, except I used tangerine zest instead of orange or lemon.

Here's the link to the recipe from Annie's, who gets the recipe originally from The Way the Cookie Crumbles, originally from Good Things Catered:

http://annies-eats.net/2010/05/26/strawberry-scones/

Ingredients:

1 large egg

¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt

½ cup milk

1 tsp. orange or lemon zest

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 heaping cup diced fresh strawberries

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and citrus zest until blended; set aside. In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse briefly to blend. Add the butter pieces to the bowl with the dry ingredients and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour, until the largest butter pieces are the size of small peas. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can just as easily mix up the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives or forks.) Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a fork or spatula until a sticky dough has formed. Knead just a few times to ensure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is cohesive. (Only if absolutely necessary, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to hydrate the remaining dry ingredients.)

3. Transfer the dough to a well floured work surface and pat into a disc about 7-8 inches in diameter. Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar. Slice the disc into 8 wedges.

4. To bake the scones, preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Place the shaped scones on the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on top, about 15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Note: To freeze, transfer the baking sheet with the shaped scones to the freezer and let them chill until they are firm, 30-60 minutes. Wrap the scones individually and store in a freezer-safe bag until ready to bake. Bake as originally indicated, adding a few minutes to the baking time (usually about 18-20 minutes for me.)

Chocolate Orange Scones

The next little run of recipes will be different because I am going to try an experiment. In three days I start my medicine rotation, and I will have a lot less time to while away cooking, and I will be wanting for quick and accessible breakfasts. Enter Annie's Eats, my new food blog obsession. Annie makes all these scones and swears every time she posts a scone recipe that you can freeze rolled out, unbaked scones, for like forever and then just bake them the day you want to eat them, like fresh, like new! So I am going to take her up on it. This weekend I am going to try and make-- and freeze-- 56 scones. That way I will have breakfast all ready decided upon and ready to go for my whole medicine rotation. I really. hope. this. works.

Because I won't have tasted all of my scones when I blog the recipes, I will have to go back and comment as to how good they are a) after they have been frozen and b) after I write the post. Thus I won't be able to share my opinion until later. Via comment or re-post or something.

The first recipe in this little run is also a little step off the beaten path... from the LATimes instead of the NYTimes!!! I know. Really out there. But it tempted me during a perusal of the LATimes when I was bored during class one day and hence, it is my first frozen-scone attempt. The recipe is originally from Alice Medrich's "Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales From a Life in Chocolate" and here is the link:

http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-easterrec19amar19,0,6877913.story

Notes: I didn't have oat flour or a Whole Foods to buy oat flour, so I used wheat flour instead. I used another 3.5 oz. Lindt intense orange chocolate bar and supplemented with 0.5 oz. regular 60% cacao chocolate. I used tangerine instead of orange zest, and lastly used 1/2 heavy whipping cream and 1/2 half-and-half. You know. To cut down on calories, or something. And then I wrapped them all up in plastic wrap and a heavy-duty freezer bag and froze them. I will bake the first one tomorrow, before I get too caught up in all this scone mess.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup oat flour

1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Zest from 2 oranges

4 ounces coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate (65% to 70% cacao)

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, plus extra for brushing

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the orange zest and the chocolate.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the cream. Using a spatula, mix the ingredients until just moistened; the dough should look rough and shaggy. Gather the dough into a lump with your hands and knead it together five or six times, until it holds together and the sides of the bowl are clean.

4. On a lightly floured board, pat the dough into an 8 1/2 -inch round. Using a knife or a dough cutter, cut the round into 12 wedges. Place the wedges about an inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle them lightly with sugar.

5. Bake the scones until they begin to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Allow the scones to cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Each scone: 225 calories; 3 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 15 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 34 mg. cholesterol; 208 mg. sodium.