Tag Archives: cream

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Coconut + Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

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Guys, these scones!

Oh man, what a dream! I mean, toasty coconut and chocolate chips are always a fine pair, but in these scones they are even better.

These are cream scones, which means the main liquid is rich and buttery cream. The cream gives these scones the dreamiest crumb that is at once light and decidedly rich. They are super tender with the help of a soft, low protein flour–like White Lily or even a pastry or cake flour. The soft flour has less protein, meaning less gluten, meaning less elasticity, plus more tenderness. While yeasted doughs benefit from some chew, supple scones definitely do not. The chocolate and toasty coconut make these already special scones a bit more decadent. They would be perfect in a brunch spread or even an easy weekend breakfast. They also make the perfect afternoon treat alongside a cup of something warm and caffeinated.

Coconut + Chocolate Chip Scones

Adapted from Take a Megabite and Smitten Kitchen

Makes 12, 3-inch round, scones.

These scones are still good as leftovers the next day, but are at their very best still warm from the oven. For super fresh scones, I like to freeze the cut and unbaked scones in a single layer on a sheet pan for several hours, then I transfer the frozen scones to a zip top bag and return the the freezer. The scones can then be baked, as needed, from frozen. Just bake an additional 1-2 minutes. 

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

2 cups low-protein flour (like White Lily brand, pastry or cake flour)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted, plus more for sprinkling

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1 egg + 1 Tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 425*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone baking mat.

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut stirring and watching so as not to burn.  Once the coconut is golden and toasty, scrape it into a bowl and set aside to cool completely.

In a measuring cup mix together the cream and vanilla. Set aside.

Whisk together the egg and tablespoon of milk. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Work in the chilled butter quickly with your fingertips, rubbing the butter into the flour until the bits of butter are no larger than peas. Toss the coconut and chips into the mixture to distribute. Add the cream mixture and bring the dough together by folding gently with a spatula. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead–the goal is to bring the dough together in under 12 turns of kneading. Once the dough has just come together, pat it out into desired thickness (go for a rough circle to cut triangles, makes about 8), cut with a biscuit cutter and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of each scone with egg wash and sprinkle with coconut. Bake in the center of the oven for 10-13 minutes or until tops and bottoms are just golden and scones are baked through.

 

 

 

 

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Cranberry Semifreddo Cups

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Are you tired of pumpkin yet?

I’m totes not…but, maybe we need a teensy break. Besides, fall has other stars! Pink ones even, like the tart and native-North-American-beauty, the cranberry. In my head I’m saying “cran-brerry,” in case you wanted to know. Anyway, cranberries shouldn’t just be relegated to side dish status. They are tart, a little bitter, and have the prettiest jewel-toned hue.

I’m a big fan of semifreddo, it’s a lot like ice cream–but it isn’t. It’s a little less fussy, since you don’t have to bust out a machine to churn it, but still manages to maintain a light-yet-rich character.  The deep fuchsia cranberry puree turns the best shade of pink when folded into the semifreddo base–no dyes up in here. A little vanilla and some bourbon bring warmth to the bittersweet tang of the cranberry, while whipped cream and egg yolks bring creamy lushness. Even though it’s a pretty easy recipe, this dessert certainly feels fancy and would be a perfect make-a-head treat to round out a fall or holiday gathering.

Cranberry Semifreddo Cups

Adapted from this recipe. 

You could use another fruit puree if you aren’t feeling, or can’t find, cranberries. Any tart, red fruit would be a nice substitute. You can also serve this semifreddo in scoops or smooth it into a loaf pan before freezing and slice once frozen (like this). I garnished these cups with lightly sweetened whipped cream and some chocolate vermicelli sprinkles. I happen to like tart cranberry with chocolate, but if you aren’t a fan, these are lovely unadorned as well. The recipe below produces more cranberry puree than needed–use it to serve these semifreddo cups or save for another use. 

12 ounces cranberries

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons mild honey

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons bourbon (optional)

In a medium saucepan combine cranberries, 2/3 cup sugar, and water. Cook over medium heat until cranberries burst and release their juices and the mixture starts to thicken. Press the cranberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve, discard skins and seeds. You will have around 2 cups of cranberry puree. Set aside to cool.

Create an ice bath and set aside.

Fashion a double boiler out of a bowl and a pot with a bit of simmering water in it–place a dampened paper towel on the underside of the bowl, making sure it is just larger than the pot below, to avoid slipping while whisking. This way you are able to whisk without steadying the bowl with your other hand.

Place the honey, remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and egg yolks in the bowl. Whisk over the simmering pan of water until the yolk mixture gains some volume, becomes pale in color, and the whisk is just beginning to leave tracks in the mixture. Slowly drizzle in the vanilla and bourbon–whisking the whole time. Continue to whisk the yolk mixture over the simmering water until thickened and the whisk leaves clear, visible tracks in the yolk mixture. Remove the bowl from over the pot of water and whisk over an ice bath until cooled. Gently fold about 1-1 1/3 cups of the cranberry puree into the yolk mixture.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream until it holds medium peaks. Fold in 1/3 of the cream mixture into the cooled yolk and cranberry mixture. Once combined, repeat with the remaining whipped cream. Spoon the semifreddo mix into cups, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for several hours until very firm. Serve cold with desired garnishes.

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Coconut Crumble w/ Summer Fruit & Vanilla Ice Cream

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Even though I complain about the heat and humidity for the entire summer–I’m a fun housemate–there are still times that I HAVE TO turn on the oven. If I didn’t, there wouldn’t be pies and crumbles made with the bounty of summertime fruit that I just can’t resist buying.

While pies take a touch more time and care, and though they are always worth the effort, a crumble is an easy, laid back reminder that summer baking can be done without much fuss and with ingredients that are often already on hand. You can really use any fruit you like for the filling and the topping can take any number of mix-ins, or can be kept simple with just flour, sugar, salt, and butter. I love a crumble topping with lots of texture and this one delivers with chewy oats and toasty coconut. The warm richness of the topping pairs so nicely with the off-tart flavors of plum, raspberries, and blueberries.

Coconut Crumble w/ Summer Fruit

Feel free to use any mixture of fruit, I had about 4 1/2 cups and only sweetened it lightly, as the topping and ice cream are both a sweet compliment to the tartness of the fruit. 

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

6 Tablespoons butter, cubed

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and work butter into the mixture with fingertips until you have coarse crumbs–some sandy bits and some that stick together in chunks. Set in refrigerator while you assemble the filling.

2 plums, seeded and sliced

8 ounces raspberries, rinsed and dried

12 ounces blueberries, rinsed and dried

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 375*F.

Combine all ingredients for the filling in a large bowl. Toss gently to combine. Scrape the fruit mixture into a 8-inch pie dish and top with refrigerated crumble. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is golden and the juices are bubbling.

Vanilla Ice Cream

adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home

If you don’t have a vanilla bean, use 2-3 teaspoons of extract. 

2 cups milk

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 Tablespoons (1/5oz) cream cheese, soft

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of milk with the cornstarch, set slurry aside. Set the cream cheese in a large bowl with a mesh strainer over the top. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat remaining milk with the cream and vanilla beans + pod. Heat to a simmer, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk mixture and add sugar, corn syrup, and salt,  reheat to a low boil. Quickly whisk in the cornstarch slurry and continue to boil, whisking, until thickened. Whisk a ladleful of the hot mixture into the cream cheese, before straining the remaining hot mixture into the cream cheese mixture and whisk to combine. Prepare an ice bath and pour the hot ice cream base into a large plastic bag. Chill bag in ice bath until cooled and process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

 

 

 

 

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Recipe: Espresso + Toasted Almond Semifreddo

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I really love coffee.

When I was a small child, I would relish visits to my grandparents house…not only for the blackberry picking expeditions and days tromping through the woods surrounding their Sierra foothills home, but, because for breakfast there were often waffles with strawberries and cream AND a mug of sugary milk with a splash of coffee.

That creamy-sweet, slightly coffee flavored mug of goodness was a serious treat. My mom never made it a practice to allow us to have soda, let alone coffee as kids. The only exception (besides trips to grandma and grandpa’s) was when we would go to Baskin Robbins for a scoop–or if we were really lucky, a double–my brother always got a classic kid-friendly flavor, like bubble gum, but I ALWAYS got jamoca almond fudge. Coffee, almonds, and a fudge swirl. So good.

This semifreddo is reminiscent of those childhood days, when coffee-flavored treats felt so mature to my kid-palate. The texture of the semifreddo is somewhere between an ice cream and a mousse–all without the need for a machine to churn it all. It’s flavored with instant espresso, sweet cream, toasty almonds, and creamy almond butter. It’s great on it’s own, but, serving scoops in a puddle of chocolate sauce makes this dessert a touch fancier… Definitely something my young-self would have been into.

Espresso + Toasted Almond Semifreddo

adapted from Pumpkin Semifreddo

I use instant espresso powder in this recipe for ease and because I really like it in desserts.   If you’re feeling fancy, you could definitely brew a few shots, cool, and fold those into the mixture before folding in the almonds and freezing. 

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder–divided

3 Tablespoons honey

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons water

3 large egg yolks

2 Tablespoons almond butter

1/2 cup coarsely chopped, toasted almonds

Sprinkle the 1 Tablespoon of espresso powder over the cream in a large bowl to dissolve. Once dissolved, whip the cream to medium peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Make an ice bath in a clean sink basin or a large bowl. In a large, heatproof bowl whisk together the remaining 1 teaspoon espresso powder, honey, sugar, water, and egg yolks. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and the whisk leaves visible tracks. Remove from heat and continue to whisk over the ice bath until cooled. Fold in the almond butter. Stir in about 1/3 of the prepared whipped cream, then fold in the remaining whipped cream, and lastly fold in the chopped almonds. Scrape the mixture into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 4 hours to set.

Spiced Chocolate Sauce

adapted from The Perfect Scoop

I only made a small quantity of sauce, this is 1/4 of the original recipe. 

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup good quality cocoa powder

1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped or chips

1/16-1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan combine water, honey, and cocoa powder, bring to a low boil, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate, spices, and vanilla. Can be used warm or room temperature.

 

 

 

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Recipes + Feature on Hey Gorgeous

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Okay, so here is the little DIY desserts table I have been mentioning and hiding from you all for the last week. I contacted the lovely and all too sweet Rhiannon a few weeks ago asking her if she would like me to do a feature for her lovely wedding inspiration blog Hey Gorgeous. All she wanted was something pretty and pink…I can totally do pretty + pink. So, I came up with the little DIY, pink and white inspired table you see here. I hope you like!

Recipes are below and lots more photos can be found over at Hey Gorgeous.

 

Strawberry Milk Panna Cotta

Strawberry Syrup

This makes extra syrup. It’s great on ice cream, great yogurt, or stirred into milk for an old-school treat!

adapted from the Kitchn

1 lb strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Place berries, sugar, and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened. Using an immersion blender or regular blender, pulse until mixture is smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a large jar and cool before covering and refrigerating.

 

Panna Cotta

I find this ratio of gelatin to liquid to be favorable, just firm enough to hold everything together. Makes 8-10 individual ramekin portions (I think mine hold about 4 oz).

2 cups half and half

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup strawberry syrup

2 teaspoons gelatin

2 tablespoons water

Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Set aside to soften, about 5 minutes.

Place half and half, vanilla, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat until sugar has dissolved and just before mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in softened gelatin until completely dissolved. Stir in strawberry syrup.

To assemble, I spooned about 2 tablespoons of syrup into the bottom of glass ramekins and placed the vessels in the freezer to create the layered look. Freezing the syrup just allowed for me to keep the layers separate and pretty. Once the syrup was frozen, I was free to pour in the panna cotta mixture. Allow to set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, covered well for up to 4 days.

 

Strawberry Cream Cake

Vanilla Cake

Adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes

This is a halved version of my favorite vanilla cake. This recipe makes 2, 6-inch round cakes.

In this recipe you will beat the flour with the other ingredients until light and fluffy. This may seem counterintuitive to a lot of bakers, but it works for this cake. The texture is still light with a wonderfully tender crumb.

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1/2 vanilla bean–seeded

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted  butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottoms of two 6×2 inch round cakes pans with parchment, butter pans and parchment well.

Place eggs and yolk small bowl. Add vanilla and mix well.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk well to combine. Add butter and buttermilk to dry ingredients and blend well with mixer on low. Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, scraping the bowl well after each addition. Divide batter among the prepared pans.

Bake cakes for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cakes comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes (the cakes should pull away from the sides of the pan as it cools), then carefully invert onto wire racks to cool completely.

Once cooled completely, cut each cake in half, into layers using a sharp serrated knife. NOTE: I only used 3 of the 4 layers. I saved the 4th, in the freezer, for another use.

Strawberry Filling

1 cup strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup strawberry jam, melted in the microwave for about 30 seconds

Mix together jam and berries in a medium bowl to coat.

Strawberry Whipped Buttercream

Adapted from Organic and Chic

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup of strawberry syrup (reserved from panna cottas) or strawberry jam

pinch of salt

Prepare an ice bath in a medium to large mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk with the vanilla, salt, and flour. Whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly whisk in the rest of the milk until smooth, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a low boil. Reduce heat and continue to whisk until mixture thickens.

Immediately remove from heat and keep stirring. Place the pan in prepared ice bath and stir until cooled to about room temperature. Set aside.

Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer for 2-5 minutes. Add sugar and beat until fluffily, scraping down sides as needed, 5-7 minutes. Add strawberry syrup or jam and mix to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly add the milk mixture. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffily, 3-5 minutes.

To Assemble cake, place one layer on cake stand or board and spread a thin layer of frosting over the top. Pipe a ring of frosting around the outer edge of the layer, creating a dam. Spoon filling into the center of the piped ring and spread evenly. Place the next layer over the top and repeat, leaving the final layer unfrosted and unfilled.

Scoop about 1/4 of the frosting on the top of the cake and spread it down thinly toward the edge and over the sides until the whole cake is coated in a very thin, crumby looking layer. This is the crumb coat and will ensure that the cake will have a lovely, crumb-free coating of frosting.

Next, pile nearly all of the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake (save some for piping the star-tip decoration), and spread the frosting from the center and down the sides, covering the cake with a thick, even layer of frosting. I use a bench scraper and a turntable to get the sides of the cake smooth. I have done this with out the turn table, just on a cake stand, turning it as I went, but I do think the bench scraper is useful…plus they cost less than a dollar at a restaurant supply.

Using a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip (I used a Wilton #21), pipe small stars along the base of the cake and in rings around the top of the cake.

For a great tutorial on cake frosting, see this :http://whisk-kid.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-frost-cake.html

Pavlovas

This recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes

I like to serve these with unsweetened whipped cream, as the berries and meringues are plenty sweet.

Makes about 1 dozen, individual meringues.

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons white vinegar (I used champagne)

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups  sugar

6 room temperature egg whites

pinch of salt

sanding sugar for sprinkling

For Cream and Berries

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 lb. strawberries and raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

 

Preheat oven to 250F. Line 2 sheet pans with silicone baking mats or parchment.

Place egg whites in a large stainless steel bowl, along with vinegar and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on slow/medium until foamy.

In a medium bowl whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Increase speed to medium/high and add sugar in a gradual stream until completely incorporated. Add vanilla and beat until whites are glossy and firm, but not dry.

Pipe or spoon meringue onto baking sheets, creating a well in the center of each and sprinkle edges with sanding sugar. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The meringues are done when they are still pale, but dry the the touch. The interiors should be chewy, like a marshmallow.

Place berries (whole raspberries and quartered strawberries) in a bowl and toss with sugar. Allow to rest for at least 3o minutes so the sugar can leach out some of the berries juices.

Place cream in the bowl of a food processor and process until desired thickness is reached.

Top meringues with macerated berries and whipped cream.