Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies made an appearance in a number of food magazines (and online) a couple years ago. I noticed...but never picked up on the trend. They recently showed up again in Better Homes & Gardens. If you grew up eating them and have nostalgic, comfort-food associations, that may increase the appeal. For me...meh.

I made the chocolate version of the cookie; then I mixed up a batch of the cream filling and split it: 1/2 chocolate -- following the BH&G recipe, and I stirred peanut butter into the other half. I have a sweet tooth, for sure! But even for me, the all chocolate was good but just too 'one note'...chocolately, yes, but plain sweet on sweet. The peanut butter at least added some balance.

Recipe @ BH&G

Rhubarb Jam

I love the tangy zest of rhubarb! But I don't want preserves too sour. Depending on how tart or how sweet you'd like your jam, you may want to adjust the amount of sugar (or rhubarb). This ratio seems to hit it about right for me.

Ingredients
1 lb rubarb, chopped
¾ C sugar
1 tsp orange zest
3 T orange juice
3 T water

Directions
Combine everything in a saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for 30-50 minutes to achieve desired consistency (it will thicken as it cools). Scoop into sterile canning jars for long term storage, or into any sealable container to refrigerate for use within 2 weeks.

Popovers (...Yorkshire Puddings?)

This is Ina Garten's recipe, though I've reduced it to 1/3 so that instead of a dozen, this makes 4 (ideal for my student groups in culinary classes at school). A true popover pan will make wonderfully tall -- puffed-UP -- popovers! But since I'm not into buying and storing(!) specialized pans or equipment of any kind that serves only ONE purpose, I use a muffin tin...works FINE.

Ingredients
½ C milk, room temperature
1 egg
1½ tsp melted butter
     + softened butter to grease pans
½ C flour
¼ tsp salt


Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Generously grease popover pan cups (or muffin tins) with softened butter. Preheat buttered pan 2 minutes (enough to heat the pan and melt the butter, but not burn the butter). While it's heating...

Whisk egg into the milk; beat in melted butter and salt. Whisk in flour--a little at a time to avoid lumps.

Pour the batter into popover cups. Do NOT fill more than  full - they will puff up as they bake.
Bake 30 minutes - without opening the oven.

Traditionally, popovers would be served with jam at tea time. But they're also good in place of a roll or bread anytime...even, since they are so similar, in place of Yorkshire pudding with a pot roast.

(I tried out Jamie Oliver's Yorkshire Puddings; in my opinion, they were too 'eggy' and used way too much oil. Might be better if roasted meat-drippings were used instead of oil (less of it; and less/fewer eggs!). But the pop-over recipe would work just the same...maybe using meat-drippings instead of butter to grease the pans.)

"Cheater" Ice Cream -- no ice cream maker needed!

Aside from making single servings of vanilla ice cream in double-bagged zip lock plastic bags (which my students do in Food Science class), I've never found a recipe for making ice cream -- more than a single serving at a time! -- without an ice cream maker that really had the right texture. Good flavor is not hard to achieve, but it always had the texture of ice cream that had melted and then been refrozen; it was just kind of...flat. This version is SUPER SIMPLE (and high fat content), but it definitely has the creamy lightness of churned ice cream. That may or may not be visually evident in the photo at right. The ice cream was melting/softening very quickly as it was a very warm day (which I will NOT complain about at all! Bring on summer!!), and my photo goal wasn't actually the ice cream, but the sandwich cookies...

There are lots of options for flavorings, though you might have to adjust the ratios a bit if the flavoring is very thin liquid.  My first version of this was a lavender ice cream, since I have it growing prolifically in my yard right now and was anxious to use up the last of my dried supply from last summer. I steeped the lavender in the cream in advance (could have done it with the sweetened condensed milk instead). Re-chilled the cream to whip it, then folded in the sweetened condensed milk...

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1-2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
flavoring(s) or other stir-ins:

     ...fruit chunks, cooking crumbles, chopped candy bars, etc. Chocolate could be melted and mixed with the condensed milk ahead, or cocoa powdered added to the whipped cream; caramel sauce could be swirled throughout just before freezing; lavender, mint or any other herbs and spices could be steeped in either the cream or the condensed milk ahead of mixing. Other extracts could be used in place of vanilla.


Directions
If desired, steep any herbs or spices into the cream or condensed milk in advance. Cool completely (chill the cream; it'll whip better).

Whip the heavy cream, vanilla and salt to barely stiff peaks.

Fold about a third of the whipped cream into the condensed milk. Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Finally, fold in any other stir-in flavorings; (or, layer them in as you...) transfer the mixture into containers for freezing. Freeze until firm.

Chocolate Cookie for Ice Cream Sandwiches

Original recipe from Food & Wine. It's not a magazine I subscribe to -- maybe a 'free sample issue' along with one I do? This was definitely worth a try. And the cookie was a good texture for ice cream bars. I worked a smaller batch (halving the recipe) to test it out, and cut rounds rather than preparing a sheet to cut into bars...

Ingredients
1¼ C flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t salt
¾ t baking powder
½ C butter
¾ C sugar
1 T instant espresso*
1 egg
2 t vanilla

1 quart ice cream

* I used less; I like the way the bitter coffee brings out the chocolatey-ness over the sweetness -- using it this way is THE reason (the ONLY reason) I keep instant coffee/espresso in the house; but I do NOT like coffee and don't want to taste it. AT ALL. If you LIKE coffee--and depending on the flavor if ice cream you plan to sandwich--use the full tablespoon...or more.

Directions
Sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder; set aside.

Beat butter, sugar and espresso until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until well combined. On low speed, gradually add dry ingredients until just combined.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill (2 hours or up to 3 days).

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Roll dough on parchment paper, flouring the top as needed to prevent sticking, into a 1/8" thick 10x13" rectangle (mine was a bit thicker than that, but less than ¼", and I used a flour and cocoa powder mix to dust the top). Slide onto large baking sheet; chill until firm (about 30 minutes).

Dock the surface using the blunt end of a wooden skewer. You could simply do this with a fork, but using a skewer gives it the look of traditional ice cream sandwiches. Bake 9-11 minutes, until set in the middle but still soft. Cool completely before removing from baking sheet.

Cut in half. Invert 1 half; top with ice cream. Place remaining cookie half on top. Cover with aluminum foil; freeze until FIRM (at least 2 hours). Cut into bars; serve immediately.

Lavender Honey Scones

I think this recipe was in Better Homes & Gardens -- I ripped it from a magazine (possible years ago...it's been in my recipe file) but there's nothing identifiable on the part of the page I have. But it feels like a page from BH&G (rather thin paper). Wherever it's from...they were good -- moist, enough lavendar without being TOO floral, just the right amount of sweetness.

Ingredients

¾ C heavy cream, plus 2 T for brushing tops

2 T honey
1 T dried lavender
2½ C flour
1 T baking powder
 t salt
6 T cold butter, diced
1 egg
optional: coarse sugar

Directions
Heat heavy cream, honey and lavender in a small saucepan just to barely simmering. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter, Make a well in the center.

Beat egg slightly and add to cooled lavender cream. Pour into well in center of dry ingredients; Mix gently until mixture begins to come together. Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead dough gently just until all flour is incorporated.

Pat or roll dough into a 10x6 inch rectangle; cut into 10 2x3 inch scones. Place scones on ungreased baking sheet. Brush with additional cream. If desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake 16-18 minutes until golden brown.

Serve drizzled with additional honey...

Balsamic Caramelized Onion & Asiago Focaccia

This was actually quite sweet, even for my tastes!

Ingredients
4 tsp olive oil, divided
½ C choped onion
1 T honey, divided
½ t fresh thyme (or pinch dried)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t salt, divided
1 t yeast
½ C warm water (~105)
1¾ C flour
1½ oz grated fresh Asiago cheese

Directions
Heat 2 tsp oil in a skillet (medium heat). Add oinion nad thyme, cooking until onions are translucent and browned. Remove from heat, stir in half the honey (1½ tsp), balsamic vinegar, ½ tsp salt. Set aside to let cool.

Dissolve yeast with remaining honey in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes until yeast begins to bloom.

Add half the flour, remaining 2 tsp oil, remaining ½ tsp salt, and onion mixture; mix until soft dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading and adding additional flour as needed until dough is smooth and elastic and barely sticks to your hands (7-8 minutes)

Place dough in large bowl coated with oil (or non-stick cooking spray), turning dough to coat. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).

Punch dough down; let rest 5 minutes.

Gently press dough into a ¼ sheet jelly roll pan (or 9x13 pan) lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray and/or lines with parchment. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled in thickness (about 25 minutes).

Preheat oven to 400°. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Lavender Cookies

I have so much lavender growing at my house, I'm always looking for ways to use it! These cookies were great -- enough to taste the lavendar, but NOT so much you feel like you're eating soap or perfume...great balance with the sweet, buttery flavor of the cookies.

Ingredients
1½ T dried lavender
½ C granulated sugar
½ C butter, softened
½ t salt
½ t vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 C flour

Directions
Combine lavender and sugar in spice grinder (mini-blender works great, or coffee grinder -- IF it's WELL cleaned so everything doesn't just end up tasting like coffee); pulse to finely grind lavender and blend with sugar.

Cream butter with lavendar sugar until light and fluffy. Incorporate vanilla, salt and egg yolk, blending until smooth and fluffy.

Reduce speed to low; add flower and blend until just combined.
With floured hands, on a floured surface, roll dough into a 1½" diameter log (about 10" long). Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour).

Unwrap and slice dough log into discs ¼" thick (or a little thicker), placing cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, spaced at least an inch apart.

Bake 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Glaze, if desired, with drizzles of white chocolate and lavender sprinkles.