Strawberry Shortcake

I had some strawberries in the fridge that were calling out to me to make them into a nice dessert.  I saw this nice little recipe for Strawberry Shortcake and it serves 2.  Perfect!  

I am trying to cut back on sugar so I substituted a little bit of Truvia for the sugar called for in the recipe.  I used 2 packs in the scone recipe, 1 pack in the strawberries and 1/2 pack in the whipping cream.  It tasted great!  The scones turned out light and fluffy.  A nice dessert...not too sweet and a perfect ending to a perfect summer day!

Strawberry Shortcake
Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 
  BISCUITS:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 7 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

• In a small bowl, mash the strawberries; stir in sugar. Cover and refrigerate until serving
• For biscuits, in a large bowl, combine the flour, 4-1/2 teaspoons sugar, baking powder, salt, cream of tarter and baking soda. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla until moistened.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Shape into two 4-in. circles. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
• To assemble, split shortcakes in half. Place cake bottoms on dessert plates. Top each with half of the strawberry mixture. Replace shortcake tops.
• In a small bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add remaining sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Dollop onto shortcakes.

 Yield: 2 servings.

Happy Summer!



Cowboy Cookies: Baked Sunday Mornings

 Howdy Partner! 
Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit.....

this Sunday Mornings grub is good eatin!  I really liked the addition of the espresso powder in these hearty cookies.  And the pretzels instead of nuts!!!  Whoa Nellie!  That is crunchy goodness!

So rustle up a batch of these darlins real soon....ya hear?!

Be sure to gander at what the other cooks did and git the recipe here

Reckon I'll just mosey on then.....

Pane Alla Cioccolata

When I saw this recipe on Country Living I was intrigued....chocolate yeast bread???   Who would have thought?!  Being the chocoholic I am, of course I had to give this a try. 

Cocoa is added to a yeast bread recipe.  The dough was very sticky and hard to work with...through the kneading process I had to add quite a bit more flour to keep it from sticking to my hands.    The bread was not overly sweet and had a really nice chocolate flavor.   The topping was a little bit too much for me.  If I would make it again, I would perhaps not do the chocolate drizzle or maybe a lot less of it.  But I think it would be lovely without it. 

This would be a great bread served warm, spread with butter and enjoyed with a cold glass of milk or nice hot cup of coffee. 




Pane Alla Cioccolata
Country Living
(Italian Chocolate Yeast Bread)
Serves 10, Yields one loaf

• 2 1/2 cup(s) bread flour
• 1/3 cup(s) sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) Dutch-processed cocoa
• 2 tablespoon(s) Dutch-processed cocoa
• 2 1/4 teaspoon(s) instant active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 1/3 cup(s) spring water, warmed to 100 degrees F
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon(s) vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup(s) coarsely chopped high-quality semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl or food processor fitted with metal blade, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, yeast, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the water and egg yolk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and stir or process to form a soft dough. By hand, on a lightly floured surface, knead butter into the dough and continue to knead until dough is smooth and supple -- about 10 minutes -- or in food processor, mix for 45 more seconds.
2. Proof the dough: Coat a large bowl with vegetable oil and add dough ball, turning to coat all sides of dough. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size -- about 1 hour.
3. Form the loaf: Punch dough down. Turn out on a lightly floured surface, knead by hand a few moments, and divide dough into three equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a tight 8-inch ball. Cover with the damp towel and let rest for 15 minutes. Roll each of the three balls into a 12-inch-long rope. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the three ropes and form into a braid. Cover with the damp towel and let rise until doubled in size.
4. Bake the bread: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Dust the braided loaf with remaining cocoa. Bake in the center of the oven to a deep mahogany color -- about 40 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle chopped chocolate over the hot loaf, and place on a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container.

Tomato Soup Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting: Baked Sunday Mornings

Sprinkle baking soda over tomato soup let sit

Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and baking powder

Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, add eggs then alternately add flour and tomato soup mixtures.

fill prepared muffin tins

cool

frost

eat

happy tummy....yummmmmmmmmmm














I loved this cupcake!  A spice cake topped with mascarpone cheese....what could be better????    This was a definite winner with me!

See what the other Sunday Morning Bakers did here

ABC: Overnight Cinnamon Buns

Another winner from Baking for All Occassions by Flo Braker.  These cinnamon rolls were more involved than I wanted but worth the effort.  They are wonderful!  I didn't add the macadamia nuts because I didn't have them so I used finely chopped almonds instead.  I also didn't have any oranges so there was no orange peel added to the dough.  They were tasty without but I imagine they

 would be very tasty with.

take a look at what the other wonderfully talented bakers did here.

Until next time...

Rosemary and Olive Oil Chiffon Cake

I wanted to bake something light today...I have lots of Weight Watcher magazines laying around the house and found this nice little cake in the March issue.  I have been wanting to make a chiffon cake for sometime now and I like the tuscan twist on this one.  It was light, flavorful and moist...

just what I wanted!! 

Rosemary and Olive Oil Chiffon Cake

Weight Watchers Magazine, March 2011

1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 c granulated sugar

fresh rosemary

7 large eggs, separated, at room tempurature

1/2 c tepid water

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

• Place oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 325 degrees
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.  Whisk granulated sugar and rosemary in large bowl until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Whisk in water and vanilla until blended.  Slowly add oil in thin steady stream, whisking constantly, until well blended.  Add flour mixture, folding it in with rubber spatula until blended.
• With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy.  Increase speed to high.  Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form, 1-1 1/2 minutes.  Add beaten whites to yolk mixture, gently folding it in with rubber spatula until blended.
• Scrape batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan; spread evenly.  Bake until golden brown and cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 55 minutes, rotating pan front to back halfway through baking time.  Invert pan onto its legs or neck or bottle and let cool completely.  To serve, run thin knife around edge of cake and loosen it from side and center of tube pan.  Remove cake from pan and put on serving plate; dust with confectioners' sugar.  Cut into 16 slices.

Per serving (1 slice) 174 cal, 6 g total fat, 1 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 93 mg chol, 147 mg sod, 27 g total carb, 17 g total sugar, 0 g fiber, 4 g protein, 39 mg calcium.  PointsPlus value: 5

FYI  Because extra-virgin olive oil is the primary ingredient that gives this cake it's subtle, rich flavor, we recommend using the best-quality oil you can find.

Enjoy!

Mangiare bene...