Grape Focaccia

I used to be pretty handy with yeast. I would go through phases where I played around with baking breads, breakfast pastries and pizza. There’s nothing like the smell of bread or croissants baking in the oven. In Arlington I lived across the street from a really good pastry shop (the one I eventually worked in), and loved it when the wind blew those aromas onto my balcony.

It’s been a long time since I opened a package of yeast, but a few weeks ago I had the urge to make a whole wheat pizza. I was going to use my mixer to knead the dough because that’s been my habit, it’s how we did it in school and in the shop and it stuck with me, but my KitchenAid attachments were in the storage unit. I’m glad they were. It felt good to knead. A dough is really yours if you knead it. I know that sounds corny, but try it and see if you agree. And really, a mixer saves you what? About six or seven minutes? I rather knead.

The pizza came out great. I used a recipe from Eating Well. A whole wheat pizza dough that you make in a few hours will never be anything close to a regular dough that rises over time, but it was tasty, a different pizza experience, but a really good Friday pizza night dinner.

I saw this recipe in the local paper, a New York Times recipe from Melissa Clark. The same week I saw Giada De Laurentiis make grape focaccia on the Cooking Channel. She added shallots and garlic to hers. I followed Melissa’s recipe with Giada’s additions, but adjusted the topping ingredient amounts a bit. It made a delicious sweet and salty Sunday afternoon snack. And Monday morning breakfast. And Tuesday morning breakfast too.

I know yeasted doughs can be daunting, but if you use fresh yeast and follow all the instructions, you’ll do fine. No matter what happens, the focaccia will be delicious.

Grape Focaccia

You’ll need a small skillet, instant-read thermometer, large bowl, dough scraper (optional), clean dish towel and a 11×17″ sheet pan or cookie sheet.

• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for greasing and drizzling
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped, divided
• 2 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour, more as needed
• 2/3 cup fine cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 large shallot, cut into thinly sliced rounds
• 1 cup seedless black or red grapes, halved
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling.

Warm the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the rosemary leaves. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Place 3/4 cup lukewarm water (105 to 115 degrees) in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over it. Let it stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Stir the olive oil mixture, 1-2/3 cups flour, cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt into the yeast mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, or knead in a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, for about 5 minutes. If using the stand mixer, finish the dough by hand, on a floured surface, for 1 minute. Add more flour if the dough feels sticky. According to the recipe, it could need as much as another 1/4 cup if the dough feels very sticky. You want damp but not unworkable dough.

At this point in the recipe I was wondering if I messed up measuring because the dough was really sticky and soft. It absorbed at least an additional 2/3 cup of flour as I was kneading. Did I forget to add the cornmeal? I’ll never know until I make it again. I used my dough scraper in my right hand as I kneaded so I wouldn’t gunk up two hands. But it all turned out well. The dough doubled in size during its rise and rose again when baked.

Oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat it lightly with the oil. Cover the bowl with a dish towel. Place the bowl in a warm place, and let it rise until the dough has doubled, about 1 hour. Good places for rising dough: gas oven with just the pilot light on, on top of the refrigerator, in a dishwasher a few hours after it’s run  and it’s still a bit warm, near a heat source (but not on or too close to it), or a sunny (but not drafty or too hot) window.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a large cookie sheet or baking pan with some olive oil.

Punch down the dough, then pat it into the pan, stretching it gently into a square or oval about 3/8- to 1/2-inch thick. It should not fill the entire pan. Sprinkle the dough with the garlic and shallot. Scatter the grapes over the dough, pressing them in lightly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon rosemary and flaky sea salt over the grapes. Drizzle all over with oil. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.

Original recipe: Grape Focaccia, News & Observer

Weekend Baking: Cranberry Scones

In my kitchen dreams, I have a large stand-alone freezer. In my kitchen reality, I have a standard freezer drawer. I love buying seasonal items, like cranberries, and freezing them for later use. But my other half doesn’t have that same freezer philosophy, as I was reminded when he pulled out two freezer bags full of cranberries and said,

“Are you really going to use these?”

“Yes, yes I am, as a matter of fact I’m baking cranberry, er, um, scones, yeah, cranberry scones this weekend.”

So that’s how I decided to make cranberry scones last weekend. They turned out great. But. There’s always a but. But, I made too many, thinking they would rise more, and they ended up looking more like cookies than scones. But they tasted like scones! They tasted better than most scones because they weren’t dry at all.

I don’t know whether my baking powder needs to be replaced (probably) or if I just made them too small. I made well over 24 of them so it might be the latter.

If you’re not a freezer hoarder like me, you can use dried cranberries for this recipe. A few of the comments in the original recipe at The Kitchn used dried cranberries and gave suggestions on how to do that.

I topped my scones with vanilla sugar, instead of regular sugar. Vanilla sugar is real easy to make. Fill a saved-from-recycling glass jar with granulated sugar. Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife. Scrape the tiny seeds onto the knife blade. Stick the bean and the seeds into the sugar. Give it a good stir. Seal the jar and let it sit a few weeks. I like to occasionally sweeten and flavor my coffee or tea with vanilla sugar or add it to recipes like this one.

Cranberry Scone Cookies

Fresh Cranberry Scones

Makes about 2 dozen. You’ll need two baking or cookie sheets, food processor (or pastry blender, optional) or fork, large bowl and biscuit cutter or drinking glass.

1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Zest of 1 small orange (or lemon)
2-1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
Extra flour
White sugar, for topping (or vanilla sugar)g

Heat the oven to 350F and prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment or Silpat, or lightly sprayed with oil.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cranberries until lightly chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, chop the cranberries as best you can. This can be tricky as they’ll roll and pop all over the place. One idea is to put them in the juice moat of a carving board and slice them there, hopefully they won’t roll, but this will take longer.

Dump the cranberries into a bowl and toss them with the brown sugar and orange zest. In the food processor, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Cut the chilled butter into small pieces and process with the flour in the processor until fine and crumbly – don’t overdo it. If you don’t have a food processor, use a pastry blender or a fork to cut the butter into the flour. Mix with the sugar and cranberries and stir in the beaten egg and milk.

Sprinkle the counter or a board with flour, and dump the dough out on it. It will be very wet and sticky. Very sticky. Push it with a flour-covered wooden spoon or your flour-covered hands into a slab. Cut out rounds using a biscuit cutter or a glass, dipped in flour, and put on baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with sugar or vanilla sugar.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until just getting golden. Serve warm with plenty of butter.

Original recipe: Fresh Cranberry Scones, The Kitchn

The Sunday Table: April 10, 2011

I hope you don’t mind my penchant for Japan stories. I’m sure you understand. A sake brewery representative went on YouTube this week to ask the Japanese people to support tsunami-affected breweries like his by buying their sake for the annual cherry blossom celebrations. Otherwise “secondary economic damage” could result if people heed the Tokyo municipal government’s depressing request to refrain from celebrations this year. ”Rather than exercising self-restraint, we would be grateful if people hold cherry blossom viewing parties.” I hope they did.

Photo by Sandra Lee Schubert

Asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb. Just writing those words makes me smile. Green and pink spring! Head to the Cheap Healthy Good blog to see 81 of their favorite asparagus recipes. Maybe it’s because I’m getting a bit peckish waiting for my breakfast to bake — cranberry scones! — but CHG’s selection of breakfast recipes is really talking to me, especially the frittatas. Other temptations – Lemon Risotto with Asparagus, and, oh gosh, there are too many.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to buy and cook soba noodles lately thanks to my homage-to-Japan mood, plus I’m sure I’ll love buckwheat pasta. The Sesame Soba Noodles with Asparagus at the What Would Cathy Eat blog will give me the excuse to indulge that whim.

Or if you’re in the Indian mood, try my Indian-Spiced Chicken and Asparagus. I can personally vouch that it’s a five-star recipe.

Photo by Liz West

It’s been years since I’ve made Bernard Clayton’s Glazed Strawberry Pie. I was reminded of this recipe because I read that he died last month. I don’t know much about Mr. Clayton, but his cookbook, The Complete Book of Pastry, Sweet and Savory is one of my more battered, stained and warped ones, meaning, it’s good.

I looked for this recipe online but couldn’t find it, so here it is. I had to paraphrase from different parts of his book and add my own instructions so it’s not exactly how his recipe reads.

Glazed Strawberry Pie

Half-and-Half Pie Crust

The crust is completely baked before it’s filled. You’ll need four hours to chill and one hour to warm the pastry. Watch it while it bakes; there’s a note in my cookbook that says 20 minutes is way too long.

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
• 4 tablespoons shortening, room temp
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups pastry or all-purpose flour
• Pinch baking powder
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice

Beat butter, shortening, sugar and salt in a mixer until creamy. With beater turning, add ½ cup flour and the pinch of baking powder. Add a portion of the milk and all the lemon juice. Continue adding flour and milk alternately. Stop mixing when the dough is smooth. The mixture will be smooth and soft but will stiffen when chilled.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill to relax for at least four hours before shaping. Remove dough from the refrigerator one hour before rolling to make it less difficult to work with.

For detailed instructions on rolling and decorating the pastry, see my Mince Pie recipe. Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour. Flatten dough into a fat disc. Sprinkle with flour. Roll it out into a disc that’s about ½ to 1 inch larger than your pie pan. Carefully transfer dough to pan and do any decorative treatment of the edges. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork.

To prevent the dough from bubbling out of shape or shrinking, cover the dough with foil and fill with dried beans, rice, pie weights or another pie pan for the first 10 minutes of baking. Bake for a total of 15 minutes or until the crust becomes light golden brown. Cover edges with foil if they’re baking too fast. Don’t worry if it’s ugly, the glazed strawberries will command everyone’s attention.

Strawberry Filling

• 1 quart strawberries, hulled
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• Whipped cream for topping

Select 25-30 of the prettiest reddest strawberries, or however many fit into the pan. They’ll be placed later on the crust, large end down. Set them aside. In a food processor, puree the remaining berries, about 1-1/2 cups.

Place the puree in a saucepan and heat slowly to a boil. Add sugar. In a small bowl mix cornstarch and water into a smooth paste. Add it to the strawberry mixture. Cook to the clear stage, bubbling slowly, over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. Stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the pan. Remove from the heat. Stir in butter and set aside.

In the food processor blend the cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of the cooked puree until the mixture is smooth, about two pulses. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the pie crust. Arrange the whole strawberries in a circular design with the largest fruit in the center and the smaller berries radiating out. Spoon the cooked puree (glaze) evenly over the berries.

When the glaze has cooled somewhat, about 15-20 minutes, place the pie in the refrigerator to chill before serving with whipped cream.

Looks a lot like mine! Photo by Brian J. Geiger

Let’s not forget rhubarb. I’m checking out recipes from the She’s Cookin’ blog for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and from Saveur magazine for Rhubarb Ginger Crumble.

Do you have enough poetry in your life? I don’t. I should rephrase that. I encounter poetry in things and thoughts all the time, but I don’t spend enough time with written poetry. My friend Patti Digh is featuring a poem a day this month on her blog, 37 Days. I encourage you to subscribe and enjoy her selections.

Here’s a taste of a sizzling spring poem from Edwin Morgan who was one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century, according to trusty Wikipedia. Please visit his website to read the entire short poem – I don’t want to infringe too much on his copyright.

Strawberries

There were never strawberries

like the ones we had

that sultry afternoon

sitting on the step

of the open french window

facing each other

your knees held in mine

the blue plates in our laps

the strawberries glistening

in the hot sunlight

we dipped them in sugar

looking at each other

not hurrying the feast…..

Irish Soda Bread

Even though St. Patrick’s Day has passed us by, don’t relegate this soda bread recipe to the seasonal file. Keep it handy for those times you want a little something extra for breakfast or a sweet but substantial side for dinner. It takes very little time to put together. I was in the midst of a cooking whirlwind making beef and Guinness stew and colcannon but was still able to get this from the bowl and into the oven while other pots were cooking away.

I learned in The Atlantic magazine that this isn’t a real Irish soda bread because it includes sugar and raisins. The real deal probably isn’t as tasty.

“It was for everyday use, and its distinctive soft, crumbly, dense texture results from the “soft” wheat that grows in the cool climate of Ireland, meaning that it doesn’t have enough protein to form the gluten structure of yeast-raised breads. Hence the use of baking soda, originally potash, as a leavening agent.”

I didn’t get the idea to make Irish soda bread until just before I started cooking dinner. I decided on this recipe from the Three More Big Bites blog because it used only whole wheat flour, plus I already had all the ingredients on hand. I always keep dried buttermilk in the cupboard for just these kinds of last-minute baking whims. You can usually find it in the baking aisle. If you have vanilla sugar in your cupboard, use half granulated and half vanilla sugar for the recipe, and sprinkle the top with vanilla sugar.

Vanilla sugar is real easy to make. Fill a saved-from-recycling glass jar with granulated sugar. Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife. Scrape the tiny seeds onto the knife blade. Stick the bean and the seeds into the sugar. Give it a good stir. Seal the jar and let it sit a few weeks. I like to occasionally sweeten and flavor my coffee or tea with vanilla sugar or add it to recipes like this one.

Photo by The Bitten Word (Flickr)

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 6 tablespoons sugar, or mix of sugar and vanilla sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into cubes
• 1 cup buttermilk, or use dried buttermilk per package instructions
• 3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 7” cake pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, 5 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl to blend. If you’re using dried buttermilk, add it to the dry ingredients. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in the butter until is mixed in. Or, do what I did and blend the dry ingredients in a food processor, add the butter and pulse to mix it in.

Add buttermilk, or water if you’re using dried buttermilk. Stir dry ingredients into milk to blend. Stir in raisins.

Using floured hands, shape dough into ball. Transfer to prepared cake pan and flatten slightly. The dough will not come to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and serve.

Original recipe: Three More Big Bites, Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

Scraping a vanilla bean - photo by Joyosity (Flickr)

Mince Pie

My mum and I are mincemeat pie lovers. Just a thin slice is the perfect dessert, or breakfast, at Christmas time. You can buy mincemeat in the jar, but it’s not that difficult to make your own.

Traditional mincemeat pies are made with beef or venison and suet. Suet is the fat found around the kidneys and loins. I know, that doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it adds richness. Mincemeat pies were first created to preserve meat, or whatever came home from the day’s hunt.

Some day I would like to make it that way, probably following the recipe in The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, but I’ve been using this Modern Mince Pie recipe since I first saw it in Bon Appetit. The only change I’ve made is the addition of walnuts. Instead of using the pie dough recipe they suggest, I make my ‘old faithful’ recipe from Elinor Klivans. It’s very forgiving and you can easily make it in a food processor. You could make a decorative top, like the star top I made a few Christmases ago, or just a plain top. Either way, it will be delicious and make your kitchen smell like Christmas.

Mince pie, Christmas 2007

Mince Pie

• 3 1/2 pounds small pippin apples (about 7), peeled, cored, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted prunes
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured (light) molasses
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 Tbsp dark rum
• 1 Tbsp grated orange peel
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt

• 2 pie crust dough disks (recipe below)
• Flour for dusting
• Milk and sugar, optional

Combine all ingredients (up to the pie crust dough disks) in a heavy large saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook over low heat until apples are very tender and mixture is thick, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. Cool filling completely. This can be prepared up to one week ahead if covered and refrigerated.

Meanwhile make your dough using the recipe below.

Position rack in lowest third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Lightly dust your counter and rolling pin with flour, put your disk on the floured surface, sprinkle the top of the disk with a little flour and roll it out to an 11 or 12 inch diameter round (about 1/8 inch thick). If it’s larger, no problem, you can use any scraps to repair thin areas.

Make sure the top of your dough is dusted with flour, then lightly fold it over in half and then again. Transfer this quarter wedge to a 9 inch diameter glass pie plate, positioning it in the center and then gently unfold and press it into place. Trim edges of crust, leaving 3/4 to 1 inch overhang. Patch any holes and supplement any crust edges where you don’t have quite 1 inch. Spoon filling into crust-lined pan, gently pressing flat.

Repeat the process for your second disk and roll it out to a slightly larger size, about a 12 or 13 inch round. You can either have a solid crust top or make a decorative top crust using a cookie cutter to create stars or whatever shape you’d like.

For a solid top: Fold the crust into quarters, as you did with the bottom crust, but this time make steam vents. With a knife make 3 or 4 angular cuts about ¾ inch long on each folded side. With your fingertips, spread a few drops of water on the rim of the dough in the pan. Place your folded top crust down, centered and gently unfold. Trim the dough all around so you have about 3/4 to 1 inch overhang. Now press the edges of the two crusts together and fold any part hanging over the rim of the pie plate underneath itself all around.

You’ll end up with a sealed ridge that you can decorate. Make a fluted edge by using thumb and first finger on one hand and first finger on other hand in between them to push crust in opposite directions. Hard to describe but you want to make a wavy edge. Or you can press the tines of a fork all around the edge to make little lines, like the photo above. If you’d like a golden top crust, spread or brush milk lightly all over the top and then sprinkle on sugar.

For a decorative crust: Cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. Brush bottom of each shape with milk. Place shape atop the mince, overlapping crust slightly and pressing to adhere to crust. Continue placing shapes atop pie in concentric circles, overlapping edges slightly until top of pie is covered.

Brush milk and sprinkle sugar on the shapes.

Bake until crust is golden brown and mince bubbles, about 40 minutes. Cool completely. Serve pie with ice cream (vanilla or rum raisin).

Original recipe: Modern Mince Pie, Bon Appetit, November 1991

Flaky Pie Crust

Makes only one 9-inch crust, so set aside enough ingredients to double this recipe, but make only one disk at a time in the food processor. Keep the butter, shortening and ice water in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make each disk, you want it as chilled as possible.

For each disk, you will need:

• 1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 Tbsp chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces – I like using the shortening that’s sold in sticks, like butter
• 3 Tbsp (or more) ice water

Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle 3 Tbsp ice water over mixture. Process just until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. The amount of water varies because it depends on the moisture naturally present in the flour and shortening.

Gather dough into a ball, pressing it firmly together with both hands. It should hold together and be soft and velvety to the touch. If it doesn’t, add a few more drops of water where it’s dry and crumbly so you’ll be able to roll it out easily later, but only add just enough.

Flatten the dough into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until dough is firm enough to roll out, about 30 minutes. Repeat the recipe for the second disk.

Can be prepared two days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Original recipe: Flaky Pie Crust, Bon Appétit, November 2000

Pere Noel by Morburre (wikimedia commons)

Peach Cobbler

Carolina peaches, mm mm good. I still have memories of a peach shake I had years ago, maybe decades ago, during a beach stay in the Outer Banks. Every summer we stay a week at Ocean Isle Beach in the southern part of North Carolina. I like to bake when I’m at the beach. Maybe it’s because there are no obligations there, except the standing 6:00pm volleyball game, but even that can be skipped if you’re willing to take the jeers. Maybe it’s the captive audience, many of whom don’t bake so they’re appreciative too. My domestic goddess side emerges, channeling Nigella.

I brought a faithful longtime companion with me to the beach, Fannie Farmer. Well actually I brought Marion Cunningham’s The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. My edition, still with its torn and ragged original dust jacket, was published in 1984. I’m pretty sure it was the first cookbook I really put to work, and it’s one I return to again and again.

Here is Fannie’s, or Marion’s, recipe for Peach Cobbler. Instead of the traditional dropped biscuit pastry, at least I think that’s the traditional method, it calls for a rolled out pastry. I used a pan slightly larger than the 8″ square pan and kept an eye on it while baking. Don’t forget to buy vanilla ice cream!

Flickr photo by cvilletomorrow

Peach Cobbler

Peach filling:

• 7 cups pitted peaches, peeled and cut into sixths, or something close – I used about 5-6 peaches
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter – I used a bit less

Biscuit topping:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 tablespoons butter, chilled
• 6 tablespoons milk

Glaze (optional):

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Place peaches in an 8″ square baking pan and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Drizzle on lemon juice and dot the peaches with butter. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl (or food processor), and stir or whisk together. Cut the chilled butter into bits and drop it into the bowl. Using either a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles fine, tiny and sometimes irregular crumbs. Or, do as I do, and use the food processor to pulse and mix the flour/butter mixture until it crumbs up. It’s much faster.

Slowly add the milk, stirring or pulsing. Gather the dough together and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead several times, until the dough is fairly smooth. Don’t over-knead; you want the pastry to remain tender. Roll or pat the dough into a shape that will fit the baking pan.

Place the biscuit dough over the peaches in the pan, pressing it down into the fruit around the edges, and trimming where necessary. If you want a glazed crust, drizzle or brush the melted butter over the top and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the juices are bubbling, the crust is golden brown and the peaches are tender when pierced. Watch it toward the end; you may need to cover it with foil to prevent it from browning too much. Place on a rack when done. Serve warm or at room temp with vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

In my beach fantasy, I wake up early before the rest of the house, make a pot of coffee and start baking. Everyone wakes up to the aroma of the delicious goodies I whipped up. This idyllic scene is repeated every day in that dreamy world.

In reality, we stay up too late, the bed is too cozy and the coffee is already made by some kind soul by the time I wander downstairs. But despite my sloth, I did throw together a coffee cake for breakfast brunch one morning. I guess croissants will live only in my fantasy world.

My faithful companion, Fannie Farmer (aka Marion Cunningham), accompanied me to the beach and inspired me to make this Blueberry Coffee Cake. It’s quick to make and quick to disappear.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Cake:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (1/2 stick)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk – I used 2%
  
• 1-1/2 cups blueberries

Streusel topping:

• 1/3 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8” square pan. 

Add butter and sugar to a bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture along with the milk. Beat until the batter is smooth. Spread evenly in the prepared pan and sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the top.

For the streusel, add flour, butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to a bowl or food processor — I use a food processor, it’s much quicker. Work them together with your fingertips or a pastry blender, or use the pulse function of the processor, until you have a mixture of light, dry crumbs. Spread over the berries. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Watch the time, I didn’t have a toothpick, was relying on a knife and overcooked it just a bit. This recipe doubles easily. Seriously consider that.

Serve warm from the pan and get a piece while you can.

Blueberry Buckle

Are you like me? Do you have file folders full of recipe clippings from newspapers and magazines? For decades I’ve been thinking about organizing them but it hasn’t happened yet. I know there are treasures in there.

One stained newspaper clipping from the Washington Post is titled Blueberry Bonanza. The Post has always had an excellent Food section. This article with recipes is by Elinor Klivans who wrote frequently about baking for the Post when I lived in the DC area. I’m sure my folders hold other clippings by her. Based on the mention of a cookbook she was launching, I’m guessing this article was published in 2001.

She describes a buckle as “typically a moist, fruit-filled cake, often with a crumb topping.” Pretty accurate. Richard Sax, in his wonderful Classic Home Desserts, defines the various fruit pastries – cobbler, crisp, crumble, pandowdy, buckle, grunt and slump — in his Extended Family of Cobblers and Crisps chapter. There’s a good definition of all these fruit desserts on the From Karen’s Kitchen to Yours blog, thank you Google!

Elinor makes her buckle in a 9×9 pan but I must have left mine somewhere so I used a 7×12, pretty close in volume. I kept an eye on the time just in case it was done early.

Blueberry Buckle

For the crumb topping:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour

For the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup milk – I used 2%
• 2 cups (about 1 pint) blueberries

Preheat oven to 325. Grease your pan (9×9 or 7×12). For the crumb topping, with a mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth and well-blended, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and mix just until the mixture forms crumbs, about 15 seconds. Set aside.

For the cake, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, vanilla and almond extract and beat for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, add half of the reserved flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add the milk, mixing until just incorporated. (She said the mixture may look slightly curdled, mine didn’t). Add remaining flour and mix until just incorporated (sensing a theme?) and the batter is smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. Gently fold the berries into the batter.

Spread the batter evenly into your pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees to ensure even baking and bake 20-30 minutes more, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Serve at room temperature. You can store it covered for up to 2 days. Enjoy!

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

I grew up in Massachusetts — land of Filene’s and Jordan Marsh department stores, both chains now long gone. The Jordan Marsh in Braintree in the South Shore Shopping Plaza had a counter where you could buy their famous blueberry muffins. I’m not sure if the muffins were baked there or at their downtown Boston store, but they were the best blueberry muffins to be found in Massachusetts.

Long ago I cut out a recipe for these muffins from the Boston Globe. That clipping is long gone but the recipe is still on an index card. Now that local blueberries are plentiful, this is my go-to recipe for blueberry muffins — a taste of my childhood.

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups unsifted flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons sugar (for top of muffins)

photo by flickr/stevegarfield

Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a second bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture along with the milk and vanilla.

Mash 1/2 cup of the blueberries, and stir in by hand (this will turn batter a light shade of blue and add a touch of blueberry flavor, but this step may be skipped, if you wish). Add the remaining whole berries and stir in gently by hand.

If you have trouble with blueberries settling to the bottom, toss them in flour before adding to the batter. It may just be that your batter is too thin. Another trick is to fill muffin cups 1/4 full with batter that hasn’t had blueberries added to it yet; then stir the blueberries in and continue to fill the muffin cups.

Spray a 12 muffin baking pan. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle sugar on top of unbaked muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin after several minutes to free it from the pan and cool on wire racks. Muffins may be brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sugar, if desired.