Not a berry tart

Strawberries are now out of season in the heartland. "Why? It's still June", you ask. Well tomorrow the heat index will be close to 110 degrees F. in Kansas and we will have over 20 mph winds. All things tender and succulent, like the spring-loving strawberry, tend to hunker down and just try to survive. Peaches love the heat though. And raspberries/blackberries get busy in the summer sun. So I decided to make a fresh peach and blackberry (picked from a friend's community garden) compliment for the shortbread crust posted for June's recipe.

The shortbread was delicious (what wouldn't be with a lb. of butter in it) and so easy to put together. I pressed the dough into my tart pan and it held up sturdily without being overly tough when cut. I served it unchilled with optional fresh whipped cream. My ten guests for the evening left 1 piece out of the two tarts I served. I made 3 crusts from the posted recipe and froze one for later. Thanks for the recipe Sarah and Eric!

Musings of a former botanist...did you know that "berries" are actually things like tomatoes and grapes? Strawberries are clusters of "drupes"--a single seed surrounded by a bony covering. And the peach is just a large drupe! So this is a drupe (pleural) tart, which really doesn't sound as appetizing as a berry tart so I will dispense with botanical musings. Happy summer.

June Recipe!

Our Dynamic Baking duo chose the recipe this month, and here is what they (well, one more than the other) had to say:


"I was thinking something with berries and a sugar dough, because:
1.  It's strawberry season in Virginia, which means all the you-pick fields are open for business and the June berries are at their best.
2.  I've been having friends over to watch Glee every week so am on the hunt for delicious, quick recipes.  I made a strawberry shortcake the other week that was delicious and oh so easy.
3.  We ate at our favorite restaurant the other night (Stove), and had what my mom called "the best cobbler I've ever had."  That's high praise from a Townsend.  It was delicious.

So I'm submitting the sugar dough recipe from our favorite restaurant, Stove.  It is really simple, but makes a delicious base for just about anything.  Folks could make cobbler, shortcakes, pies, whatever with it. The cobbler we had was constructed like tiny pots and filled with peaches and berries, lemon slurry, and had a whipped whiskey cream and caramel sauce on top."

Stove’s Sugar Dough

Restaurant - Portsmouth VA

This is not a dough for rolling, you have to pat this dough out into the pan your using for dessert. It’s rich and wonderful and can also be made into a short bread as well. I have even used it for bottoms of pans mixed with pecans and then a cake batter over that for a crunch factor. Just don’t over mix it or you will have some good rubber dough

1 cup white sugar, baker’s sugar if you can find it
1# unsalted double A butter
6 cups of all purpose flour,
(unbleached and without chemicals if possible, King Arthur is good stuff and easy to find)

In the bowl of a 4 to 6qt. mixer cream the sugar and butter until light and somewhat fluffy

Stop the machine, scrape down sides and add all at once 6 cups of flour, raise the bowl and on the lowest speed blend the dough until it pulls
together. if it’s winter and your environment isn’t warm you may need to spray from a mister water a little at a time till the dough starts to combine.

pinch a bit of dough to see if it will hold together, if so it’s ready for use.

this dough stores in the refrigerator for a week or so

To help inspire you, here are a few resources for recipes to try:
Betty Crocker's Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Summer Cake


or if you want something with a little more wow factor:
I am Mommy's Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake
and the link to her amazing frosting tutorial




Thanks Sarah & Eric for this month's recipe. As always, try and post before the end of the month! I hope you are as excited as I am... with summer berries in full swing you can't go wrong this month. 


Happy Baking
The Lovely Lady Baker

Lemon Cheesecake!

I made cheesecake this month too! It seems to be a big hit as you can see from Dana and Matt's previous posts. The cheesecake turned out well. Philadelphia knows cheesecake! Thanks again Dana for sharing one of this months recipes! Feel free to stop by the Lovely Lady Baker blog to see the rest of my post, and don't forget to check out everyone's entries this month.

It was a glorious day in the heartland. Cool breeze, sunny and the smell of the garden soil and fresh mowed grass. But, the kitchen beckoned, since I needed to throw together a chocolate marble cheesecake for next weeks festivities. I am convinced that cheesecakes really are an easy accomplishment as long as you don't overcook them. This one turned out to be not very marbled though because I took too long setting up for the photographs. The chocolate dollops cooled too much to be pulled into ribbons when I cut the knife through the batter. But, the chocolate sour cream frosting covered all imperfections. Another bonus in making cheesecakes for special occasions is that you can just pop them back into the springform pan, cover with foil and refrigerate...they will hold perfectly for at least a week. I will be making two more later this week since we are expecting ~ 100 people. Will serve with a tart cherry sauce on the side.

Sun-Sational Cheesecake

I decided that since it has been ages since I have had a chance to bake, and not much was planned for the weekend, I just had to bake a cheesecake. I decided on the more traditional Sun-Sational Cheesecake. The recipe was easy to follow, though I had to find an Australian substitute for Graham Crackers: I used Arnotts Marie Biscuits - they are a plain sweet biscuit, often used for tart/cake bases.


I confess that I added more lemon rind than suggested - I find with citrus recipes that more of the rind/juice makes it taste even better!

I was a bit concerned when I was making the topping, as it seemed flavourless and glutinous as I was preparing it. I was also worried that I had overcooked the cake as the edges were a bit brown when I removed the springform, but then the centre was still quite a bit softer than the edges, so may be not!









Instead of the thin slices of lemon on top as in the recipe, I just put some lemon zest on top: it looked good!


Anyway, the cheesecake was delicious! And my partner loved it too!

Chocolate Cookies: a variation on a theme

Last month, I chose to make the homemade oreo cookies, because, well, as stated earlier in this month's recipe post, I love making cookies! In fact, I've had an "oreo" cookie recipe bookmarked in my phone for several months, but I just hadn't had the time to bake them. Ironically, making these cookies aren't nearly as time consuming as I thought they'd be.

Long story short, the cookies were a success, but I overflattened and overbaked the first batch, resulting in big, thin, crispy cookies. The second batch turned out much better; I didn't really flatten the balls of dough and then baked them for only 8 minutes. Perfect.

Next time, I might try minting the cream filling...

Speaking of mint... (nice segue, eh?)

This month, I submitted the Mint Chocolate Cookie recipe. I did so because I had all of the necessary ingredients on hand. At least, I did until my husband decided to make the oreo cookies again last night for a bake sale at work today. So, I was left with a paltry 1/4 c of cocoa. So I went ahead and made a 1/4 recipe. And I'm glad that I did. These were pretty yummy. Here are my 1/4 recipe measurements with alterations:

4T butter

7/8 c sugar

1/2 egg

1 t peppermint extract

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 t b soda

1/4 t b powder

1/8 t salt

1/4 c dark chocolate chips, chopped

I used my AWESOME (new) cookie scoop that makes 1 1/4 t balls of dough--love this gadget-- and didn't flatten said balls (mostly because I forgot to do so). And I baked them on a silpatted cookie sheet for 10 minutes, cooled them on the sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack. They were bitty cookies that could be eaten in two quick bites. And that's all you need. The flavor is pretty big and sticks with you. They really do taste like the cookie form of an Andes Candy. I think next time I would do one or some of the following:

• increase the amount of chocolate chips (a 1/4 cup was all I had on hand)
• dip them in chocolate
• sub brown sugar for the white sugar to make a chewier cookie

April Recipes!

For your baking enjoyment this month, Dana picked Cheesecakes (two of her favorites) and Emily picked Mint Chocolate Cookies. Check out their recipes and descriptions below. As always, try to post by the end of the month and share a picture if you can! 
Happy Baking!
The Lovely Lady Baker

Cheesecakes from Dana: Here is what she had to say, "For some reason cheesecake evokes oooos and ahhhs  that seem out of proportion to the time spent making them. They also seem to confer “advanced cook” status to the baker without mastery of some technique other than mixing, and baking without peeking.  They do require a “springform pan”.  They do require that you don’t overbake them as they are a custard mixture.

They are gorgeous and when placed on a pedestaled cake server, are elegant and worthy fare for any special event.  Two of my favorites follow.  If you offered these two and a classic cheesecake with fresh berries you would have variety for any taste.  I plan to bake these for an upcoming pre-wedding celebration for a special couple."


Sun-Sational Cheesecake 
(from the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cookbook)  
Translucent, lemon-sauced  
1 ½ C graham cracker crumbs
4 T sugar
4 ½ T melted butter

Combine; press onto bottom of 9” springform pan. Bake 325˚F for 10 min.


(3) 8-oz. packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 C sugar
3 T flour
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T grated lemon rind
½ tsp vanilla
4 eggs (1 separated; make sure there is no white in the yolk)

Combined softened cream cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice, rind and vanilla until well blended.  Blend in 3 eggs and 1 egg white; reserve yolk. Pour over crust.  Bake 450˚F, 10 min. Reduce to 250˚F, continue baking 30min. Loosen cake from rim on pan. Cool; remove rim.

¾ C sugar
2 T cornstarch
½ C water
¼ C lemon juice


Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Gradually add water and lemon juice.  Cook, stirring constantly, until clear and thickened. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into reserved egg yolk; return to hot mixture.  Cook 1 min. stirring constantly.  Spoon over cheesecake; chill. Garnish with thin lemon slices.

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake
(from an old friend; one I have made often)
Rich, chocolate taste but not overwhelming


1 ½ C graham cracker crumbs
2 T sugar
1 T cocoa
¼ C melted butter
Combine; press onto bottom of 9-in springform pan.
(3) 8-oz. pkgs Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
1 C sugar
1 ½ t vanilla
5 eggs
2 squares semisweet chocolate

Combined softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.  Set aside 1 C of the mixture.  Pour remaining over unbaked crust.  Folded melted chocolate into the 1 C mixture.  Spoon in dollops on top of regular mixture in pan.  Cut through batter in a spiral motion and then again after turning the pan ¼.  Bake 1 hr. at 300 or until just set.  Cool. Refridgerate.  Frost.


Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate pieces
½ C sour cream
Dash of salt.
Melt chocolate pieces.  Add sour cream and salt.  Beat with a wooden spoon until creamy and of spreading consistency.  Frost top only of cheesecake.

Mint Chocolate Cookies from Emily: Here is what she had to say, "Common knowledge to anyone who knows me: I have a love affair with cookies. More specifically, I love making them; eating them is a secondary pleasure. Cookies are like little rounds of love. A secret little dream of mine is to bake and sell cookies for a living. To that end, I have amassed a pretty good collection of cookie recipes; there are definitely some favorites that I've developed over the years. So for the blog, cookies were a no-brainer. After all, we hadn't really had a lot of them in the last year.

So what kind of cookie? Sitting at home on a Thursday evening, baby asleep for the night, I took stock of what was in my kitchen. Butter, check; eggs, check; sugars, flour, and baking soda, check, check, and check. The basics were covered. So what else did I have to make a cookie with personality? I have a soft spot for chocolate... and I had cocoa in my pantry. I had mint extract. Bingo: Mint Chocolate Cookies."




Mint Chocolate Cookies 

from Epicurious
Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs and peppermint extract. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt and beat until well blended. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten balls slightly to 1 1/2-inch rounds.
Bake cookies until edges begin to firm but center still appears soft, about 13 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Cookies can be prepared up to 5 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)



I read the reviews, and it was suggested:

• to cut the flour back to 1 1/2 c.
• to up the mint extract to 2 t.
• to add semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• to reduce baking time to as little as 8 minutes.

I think everyone should make alterations that they feel are necessary. I mean, what else are we going to talk about? Right?