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Showing posts sorted by date for query Scones. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I thought that there was no better way to begin the month of August than to share a delicious blueberry recipe. And you cannot get more delicious than an old fashioned blueberry muffins!
Whenever I think of August, I think of blueberries and corn, and when I think of wild blueberries, I immediately think of blueberry pie and blueberry muffins! It doesn't get much better than that!
Today's delicious Blueberry Muffin recipe comes from none other than the baking doyenne herself, Mary Berry. This is a gracious lady who has been around the kitchen more than a few times.
I love LOVED her on the Great British Bakeoff show. Somehow it was just not the same after she left. She brought a sense of class to the show.
This recipe comes from her book, Mary Berry's Baking Bible, which contains over 250 classic recipes. I, quite simply, love this book, almost as much as I love her!
You know muffins you buy at the shops? They are always far too big, far too sweet and far too expensive for what you are getting.
More cake than muffin, more often than not, they truly are disappointing. When I want a muffin, I want a muffin, and when I want cake I want cake.
These muffins are muffins, pure and simple. Not too sweet. Not too large. Beautifully textured. But then again, I would expect nothing less from Mary Berry.
I was very intrigued by the manner in which these were put together. You whisk together self rising flour and baking powder and then you drop in butter, which you rub into the flour with your fingertips.
Just until the mixture resembles fine dry breadcrumbs. I have done this often for making cakes, but never for muffins. Usually muffins use melted butter or oil.
Once you have the butter rubbed in you add lemon zest and sugar. I was tempted to use Dorie Greenspan's method of rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar, but for this first time baking these muffins I thought I would go with Mary's method.
She uses caster sugar which is a finely granulated sugar. In the UK their granulated sugar is much more coarser than ours in North America. It is perfectly fine to just use granulated sugar in these in North America.
It is pretty much the same in texture as caster sugar.
Its funny how things like something as simple as sugar, or flour for that matter, can differ greatly from one country to the next. In the UK, they mostly recommend caster sugar for baking.
That is because their granulated sugar is so coarse that it doesn't melt properly in recipes. If you have ever had a cake come out of the oven with a speckled top, that's because your sugar was too coarse and not creamed in well enough.
The purpose of creaming is to almost melt the sugar into the butter so that doesn't happen. For these, it didn't seem to matter.
In fact, in the UK, more often than not, the sugar is just stirred into the dry ingredients, like in scones for instance. I thought that totally odd, but it also totally works, especially if you are using caster sugar.
As with any muffin recipe, the wet ingredients are stirred into the dry ingredients, just until they are combined. That is what gives them their beautiful texture.
In a cake, you want a finer texture and crumb. Muffins are meant to be much more rustic. They are classified as a quick bread not a cake, and should eat as such.
Oh how I wish I had had some wild blueberries to use in these muffins. I can only think how lovely they would be with wild berries.
Alas, my blueberry picking days are over. When I was a child we spent many a hot day in August picking blueberries for my mother. It was hot, back breaking work.
Unlike high bush berries, wild blueberries grown close to the ground. You need to crouch when you are picking them. I cannot crouch these days due to arthritis.
But I have many fond memories of having picked them in the past. Most people here in Nova Scotia have their favorite blueberry picking territories, and are loath to share them with someone else. They do grow wild just about everywhere.
But are much more abundant in some areas than in others. When you find a prime spot you tend to stick to it and keep it to yourself. We once owned a house in Nictaux, close to the falls.
There was a gravel pit up back of us. The soil was dry and sandy and we had tons of berries, ripe for the picking. You could go out and pick every day and would have your bucket filled in next to no time.
The only problem with blueberries and the month of August is that the bears are out there picking them also. I can remember always being bear aware when picking berries as a child.
The bears are out scavenging and filling up their bellies in August for the Winter's hibernation they know lies ahead, and so you are as likely to come across a bear in the bush as you are berries. So you do need to be careful.
I am terrified of bears. Absolutely terrified.
In any case, I did not have to fight the bears for these berries I used today. They were highbush berries, not quite as sweet as the wild, but delicious nonetheless.
I took half of these over to my next door neighbor. I thought she would enjoy them.
These are a lovely muffin. Light and beautifully textured. Not too sweet, and stuffed with plenty of berries. I highly recommend!! If they are good enough for Mary, they are plenty good enough for me!
Mary Berry's Blueberry Muffins
Yield: 8
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min
Moist and delicious and stuffed with sweet berries!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup plus 1 TBS (250g) self rising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 1/2 TBS (50g) butter, at room temperature
- 6 1/2 TBS (75g) caster sugar (fine granulated sugar)
- 3/4 cup (175g) blueberries
- the finely grated zest of one lemon
- 2 large free range eggs, beaten
- 9 fluid ounces (250ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Butter a muffin tin really well, or line with paper liners. (I used a six cup muffin tin and 2 ramekins.)
- Measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl and give it a good stir. Drop in the butter and then rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest, sugar and blueberries.
- Mix the eggs and milk together and then add to the dry ingredients, stirring all together just until the mixture is combined. Its okay if the batter is a bit lumpy. In fact, this is desirable.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them almost to the top.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean and they should spring back when lightly touched.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes, then tip out onto a wire rack to cool for a bit longer.
- Beautiful served warm with a nice hot cuppa!
My brother-in-law had a birthday this week. He turned 51. When asked what he wanted for his birthday meal he had two requests, a homemade beef lasagna (with ricotta cheese) and a double chocolate cake!
I said to my sister, let me make the cake! I have the perfect recipe for it and I think he will love it. Ironically she had picked out the same recipe, so we were really on the same wave length!
One of my favorite cookbooks has always been Dish Entertains, by Trish Magwood. It is a book that was popular with my boss when I worked at the Manor, and one which I loved to cook from when she had luncheons, etc.
The recipes in it range from everyday simple to special occasions. It even won a James Beard Foundation Award, a silver Gourmand World Cookbook Award, and a Silver Cuisine Canada Culinary Book Award.
If a birthday isn't a special occasion, I don't know what is, and I knew there was an excellent chocolate cake recipe in the book. I had given my sister a copy of the book and she had ear-marked it as well. The decision was made!
According to Trish, this is a four generations old recipe. A fabulously old fashioned one-bowl chocolate cake, and perfect for family celebrations!
If turning 51 isn't a special occasion I don't know what is! This is a delicious chocolate cake filled to overflowing with fabulous chocolate flavor.
But you don't need anything special to make it, unless you count buttermilk as being special. I love anything baked with buttermilk. It has the ability to render any baked good incredibly moist, and is great for marinating chicken in prior to cooking it.
It makes great biscuits and pancakes, waffles, scones, etc. And it makes for one very fabulous chocolate cake!
This recipe doesn't require fancy chocolate either, no chocolate chips, etc. or pudding mixes, etc. Just plain old cocoa powder.
Just make sure you use cocoa powder and not chocolate drinking powder or hot cocoa mix. Plain old baking cocoa powder. I use Fry's cocoa powder. Its the only cocoa powder that I have ever used in North America. Its the best as far as I am concerned.
One year my sister and I both entered baked whoopie pies, using my whoopie pie recipe into our respective county fairs. She was in a different county to I. We both won the Fry's Cocoa Powder blue ribbon of excellence for them!
What fun that was for both of us to come first! We got a cash prize, a ribbon and a set of oven mitts and an apron! Those were the days!
This lovely cake uses the one bowl method. What that means is that all of the dry and wet ingredients are mixed together in one bowl. There is no separating of the eggs and beating them separately. No creaming of the fats and sugars, etc.
Just look at how lovely and moist it is. (No, I did not take the cake over there with a piece missing, lol I took it over whole and then brought a piece home to take a photo of the slice!)
You can tell that this cake is not only moist but is filled with a rich and chocolatey flavor! It makes either a nine or an 8 inch double layer cake. But don't worry if you don't have a lot of people to feed.
This chocolate cake recipe can also very easily be halved to make only one layer, which makes it perfect for the smaller family as well. You can also bake it as cupcakes!
Not only is it the perfect celebration cake, but it is a fast and easy, reliable cake to bake as a last minute dessert when you need one!
Included also is a fabulous chocolate frosting recipe, which fills and covers the cake quite generously! It, too, only needs simple ingredients. Melted butter, cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar and some strong brewed coffee.
No worries however, if you are not a coffee drinker like I am not, or if you are making the cake for children. You can substitute buttermilk in its place.
I found I needed a bit more liquid with the icing than she suggested. So just play with it and if you think the icing is not fluffy or creamy enough, beat in extra liquid by the TBS. My icing was a bit like play dough until I did this.
I was quite concerned because I didn't have any more icing sugar to make another icing, so just persevere and add more liquid a small amount at a time until you get the right consistency.
She also seemed to think it made an extra large amount of icing and that there would be some leftover. I found this to be exactly the right amount needed for both filling and coating the cake.
All in all, everyone really enjoyed this fabulously tasty and moist chocolate cake, especially Dan! I decorated it with sprinkles that reminded us of the stars, planets and moons. He is a sci-fi buff!!
If you are looking for an excellent chocolate cake for whatever reason, look no further. This one fits the bill perfectly on all counts! I am even betting that you will have everything you need to make it in your cupboard right now! Let the baking begin!
Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Prep time: 12 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 52 Min
This old fashioned one-bowl chocolate cake is meant to be shared and is the perfect way to celebrate any occasion. Delicious and moist. You can cut the recipe in half and bake in one pan for a single layer cake.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 large free range eggs
- 2 cups (480ml (approximately, see instructions) buttermilk
- 2 cups (280g) all purpose plain flour
- 2 cups (390g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (55g) cocoa powder, sifted (not chocolate drinking mix)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
For the icing:
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (55g) cocoa powder, sifted (not chocolate drinking mix)
- 4 cups (520g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/4 cup (60ml) strong brewed coffee (or buttermilk if making for children)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Generously butter 2 nine or eight-inch round cake tins and line the bottoms with some parchment paper. Set aside.
- Measure the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Give them a quick whisk together.
- Place the eggs into a measuring cup and add buttermilk only to make 2 cups (480ml) in total. Add the oil and vanilla. Slowly beat this into the dry ingredients on low speed to combine. Once combined, increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
- Divide the batter between both prepared layer tins.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer the tins to a wire rack and cool completely in the pans.
- Once cold, run a sharp knife around the edge, unmold and remove the paper from the bottoms of the cakes.
- To make the icing, measure all of the ingredients into a large bowl and beat together until creamy. You may need a bit more liquid to get the proper consistency.
- Place one layer of cake on a plate. Spread a portion of frosting over top. Place the other layer on top of that and then proceed to ice the whole cake.
- Decorate or not as desired. Cut into wedges to serve.
These easy Lemon Bars are a delightful recipe taken from the pages of my Big Blue Binder. For those of you who don't know this is a big blue vinyl binder filled with recipes, handwritten and clipped, that I have been saving since I was about 9 years old.
It has travelled around the world with me and is filled with all of my tried and trues. Many are family recipes, having been handed down through the generations.
Others are gifts from friends. Something I ate and enjoyed in their homes, and that they were kind enough to share the recipe with me. Shared recipes are the best recipes of all!
This is a pretty classic lemon bar recipe. They are the perfect combination of tart and sweet! Everything a good lemon bar should be.
There is something about lemon flavoured baked goodies that sings the song of my heart. I can't get enough of them. When push comes to shove and I had to choose between something lemon or something chocolate . . . well, lemon would win every time.
Actually I do have a recipe for Lemon and Chocolate Slices on here that is pretty darned good. With those you get the vanilla shortbread crust, topped with a layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate.
Onto this goes the lemon curd filling and the rest is history. Deliciously different. You can get that recipe here. Its pretty lush.
I also have a recipe for Raspberry Lemon Bars, which you can find here. Along with a lot of other delicious lemon recipes.
Recipes such as Homemade Lemon Curd, Little Lemon Ginger Cakes, Raspberry Lemon Bars, Blueberry Gingerbread. (You split that cake and put lemon curd in the middle.)
Then there is a luxurious Lemon Tart, sweet Lemon Cupcakes, Lemon and Poppyseed Bundt Cake, Lemon & Blueberry Drop Scones, and even a few more recipes for lemon delights.
All on that same page. If you like lemon, its the mother-lode of lemon tastiness.
Classic Lemon Bars however are hands down my absolute favorite bar. With their simple shortbread-like crust and tart sweet lemon filling, they always delight.
And they are such a simple bake. I don't know why people think they must be complicated. They aren't in the least. Nothing could be easier.
The crust contains only three ingredients. Plain or all purpose flour as it is also called. Salted Butter. Sifted icing sugar.
I always sift my icing sugar to get out any lumps. It doesn't take long and you get a much nicer finish in your baked goods rather than trying to use it without sifting it.
These three ingredients are rubbed together in a bowl until they are well combined. They make a rather crumbly mixture. Don't worry, its supposed to look that way.
This crumbly mixture gets put and pressed into either an 8 inch square baking dish or a 9 inch square baking dish. If you use the 8 inch square dish you get deeper layers. I like them better in the 8 inch square dish.
You just put the crumbly mixture in and then press it compact. I find using the flat bottom of a metal measuring cup does a really great job of this.
This crust gets baked for 20 minutes. It will be nicely set at the end of that time.
While the crust is baking you can get busy with the business of whisking the filling ingredients all together. There is nothing out of the ordinary there either.
The filling is simply lemon juice, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, baking powder and salt. Just whisk everything together on high until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Always, ALWAYS, use fresh lemon juice and add the zest. Fresh juice blows the one from concentrate out of the water and the zest really does add to the lemon flavor of the bars!
This mixture gets poured over the hot baked base and then the pan is popped back into the oven to bake the filling. It takes about half an hour.
At the end of that time the filling should be completely set. A finger pressed in the center should meet with some resistance and not make a dimple. At that point you know they are perfect.
The most difficult part of making these lush bars is waiting for them to cool enough so that you can cut them into bars to enjoy. Seriously. Nothing could be easier.
You do need to leave them set for about an hour prior to cutting them. I know, its hard . . . I always want to dig in right away, but believe me, it is well worth the wait.
Its a tough job but someone has to do it!!
I like to dust them with icing sugar prior to serving them. There is no point in doing that too early because the bars will absorb the sugar. I always do it just before serving.
Like a girl who is getting dressed up to go to a party, a dusting of icing sugar prettifies these up beautifully. Its not necessary, but it is nice.
If I am being really fancy, I will also pop a tiny bit of fresh lemon on top to further decorate them. But trust me when I say these are delicious even without the icing sugar topping and lemon bits.
These are just full on TASTY TASTY! A family favorite treat for sure!
Lush Lemon Bars
Yield: Makes one 8 or 9 inch square pan
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 48 Mininactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 58 M
Perfect in every way. Lemon bars with a sweet shortbread cookie crust and a lush sweet/tart lemon topping.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup (140g) plain all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (35g) icing sugar, sifted
For the filling:
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (195g) granulated sugar (in the UK use caster sugar)
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 2 TBS lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Optional but nice:
- Sifted icing sugar to dust
- small bits of lemon to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Have ready an 8 or a 9 inch baking dish. Note that an 8-inch dish will give you a much thicker filling.
- Measure all the ingredients for the crust into a bowl and blend together until evenly blended. It will be crumbly. Press this mixture into the bottom of your baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- For the filling, beat the remaining ingredients using an electric whisk for 3 minutes on high speed, until light and fluffy. Pour this mixture over the hot crust.
- Bake for for 25 to 30 minutes, or until totally set and the top is firm when lightly touched in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least an hour in the pan.
- To serve cut into squares and dust with icing sugar. Decorate with bits of fresh lemon if desired. Delicious!
I thought the plate went very well with the squares and also with my tea towel. I never know what colors I am going to use. I just sit down and start to embroider. This one is one of my favourites, but then again I say that about them all n'est ce pas!!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
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