Plum Kuchen

I decided to try out a recipe from Cooking Light the other day. I have quite a sweet tooth so any time I see a dessert recipe that while satisfy my sweet tooth but doesn't have as many calories in it-I am willing to give it a try. I think that it turned out pretty taste and looks good too!

Here's a link to the recipe incase your interested in trying it out. I think it would make a great cake for a special occassion. Plum Kuchen recipe from Cooking Light.

Black Raspberry Swirled Muffins

I was going to try out another recipe from my muffin book but then I stumbled onto a recipe for Jam Swirled Muffins. I found it on a lovely blog called Technicolor Kitchen-here's the recipe. They are very tasty and I can't wait to try it again with other types of jam. The recipe calls for lemon juice if you need to thin the jam but I used some apple cider. Next time I will go back to my muffin book unless of course I stumble upon another recipe on the net.

Scallion and Goat Cheese Muffins!

Today I decided to try out another one of the recipes in my muffin book. I decided to try out the Scallion and Goat Cheese Muffins. They aren't bad but I think they need some herbs. I am thinking perhaps some of Penzey's sandwich sprinkle. Or you could use the goat cheese that already has herbs on it. I think I may try a sweet muffin recipe next. Here's the recipe in case you want to try it. *Note: Muffins pictured only have 4 oz of goat cheese in them and a little less scallions than the recipe called for. *

Scallion and Goat Cheese Muffins
adapted from: 1 Mix, 100 Muffins by: Susanna Tee
Makes about a dozen

Ingredients:
oil or melted butter, for greasing (if using on muffin pan)
2 cups of flour
1 tbsp. of baking powder
1/8 of salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper (didn't use)
1 bunch of scallions, finely chopped
5 1/2 oz of goat cheese, finely diced or crumbled
2 large eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
6 tbsp. of oil or melted, cooled butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. (200 degrees Celsius) Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with a dozen paper liners. Sift together the baking powder, flour, salt, and pepper to taste into a large bowl. Stir in the goat cheese and scallions.

Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl or pitcher, then beat in the oil and buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined, be careful not to over mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake in a preheated oven for about twenty minutes, until well risen, golden brown, and firm to the touch.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for approximately 5 minutes. Then serve them warm.

Frazzini/Fracini

Last week we decided to make Fracini(just guessing at the spelling here) - I had been asking Mom to make it for a while now and we finally got around to it. We had to order the anise seeds from Penzeys because none of the stores in the area had any, how weird is that? I suppose you must be asking yourself what the heck is Fracini? Fracini is an Italian twice baked, really hard piece of bread made with anise seeds that you dip in your coffee or tea. When it is done it looks like a really stale donut. This is the only thing I will eat with anise seed in it. I eat them with margarine instead of dipping them in coffee as I don't drink coffee. Here are some pictures of the process followed by the recipe. :)

Fracini

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of flour (about 12 cups)(or maybe more...)

6 eggs

2 yeast packs (dry or fresh)

1/2 cup of shortening (or oil)

2 Tbsp. of salt

3 Tbsp. of sugar

1 quart milk or water (2 cups scalded milk/2 cups water)

1 to 2 Tbsp crushed anise seed(I went with 2, could even use more if you like)

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs; add the sugar, salt, and shortening. Add the 2 cups of hot milk; stir until the shortening is disolved. Then, add the remainder 2 cups of water. If it feels lukewarm to the touch add the flour a little at a time, then the yeast. Continue adding the flour until the dough doesn't stick to your hands. Put in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth and set aside, away from drafts for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. Form dough in the shape of buns, some with holes and place on a cookie sheet for about 1 hr to raise. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, split with a fork and re-bake the halves for about 15 minutes till toasted at 375 degrees.

Baking

So I received the latest issue of Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious in the mail the other day. I decided to bake the carrot and raisin muffins from the section on muffins last night. I enjoy trying out different muffins recipes and this one sounded good. They are pretty good but they didn't rise as much as I thought they would. I think I might try the banana muffin recipe next.

My mom also seems to have been bitten by the baking bug, this morning she decided to make a sweet potato pound cake. She has been meaning to try this recipe for a while. I believe she found it on a blog but she cant recall exactly where.

That is all for now!

~Chelsea :)