Blubarb Snack Cake

I seem to have a theme going. Loaf cakes with lemon. Probably because I love them so much, and they seem perfect in the spring. I’d eyed this particular recipe before and decided to make it yesterday, a dreary and rainy Sunday. It literally rained all day with hardly any breaks. That rarely happens. I think my newly planted garden loved it, but I hope it doesn’t just keep going and flood out the plants!

I got the recipe off of Food52, but it’s originally from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi. My neighbor had dropped off a few stalks of rhubarb that I wanted to do something with so I cooked it down into a quick tart rhubarb and. blueberry (aka “blubarb”) jam and swirled it into the cake. (my “jam” was 4-5 stalks of rhubarb, 4 handfuls of frozen blueberries, and 1/4 cup of sugar. Not super sweet at all. I wanted it just sweet enough to be tasty but still nice and tart and not overwhelmingly sweet. This worked out well,) This jam replaced the poppyseeds and a lot of the lemon zest, although I still used zest from probably 1/2 a lemon or so.

Other little tweaks: It called for sour cream which I don’t usually have so I substituted with my homemade Greek yogurt which is nice and thick and rich. I cut back slightly on the sugar and used 200 grams (1 cup) instead of the 225 called for. Also, my lemon wasn’t super juicy so I made 3/4 of the glaze which worked out fine.

As I transferred the cake to the pan I dropped in spoonfuls of the blubarb jam and swirled it in with a toothpick. Into the oven it went. The recipe specifically states to not open the door of the oven for the first 45 minutes which is killer for me but I did it! Mine ended up baking for exactly 55 minutes which seemed just right.

Overall I think it’s a pretty cake, but I was hoping it would baked up taller and more domed. The crumb of my cake also looked nothing like the picture on the website. It was much spongier and wet looking, not fluffy and cake-like. Now, I know sometimes cakes made with yogurt can look like this so that may be my problem since I basically replaced cream with milk (sour cream vs yogurt) which are very different things. I may have to attempt this recipe again the next time I happen to have some sour cream just to see how big of a different it makes. I do love the lemon glaze on top and will do that for other cakes too.

The flavor is very nice. A good amount of lemon, obvious but not overwhelming. I like the swirl of jam but would do more next time. I like to eat mine with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. The combination of sweet cake with tart and creamy yogurt is the best!

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Blubarb Jam Snack Cake
Adapted from Food52
Ingredients

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) granulated sugar [I only used 1 cup/200 grams]

• 1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream [I substituted with Greek yogurt, same weight]

• 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing

• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (1 tablespoon) [I omitted the poppy seeds and used less lemon zest]

• 1 1/3 cups (170 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioners' sugar, sifted

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions
Heat the oven to 325° F. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper, then set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat melt the butter. Stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest and set aside to cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl, set aside.

Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place and whisk on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale and frothy. Add the sour cream and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the mixture has combined.

Use a rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until mostly combined. Then fold in the butter mixture until everything is just combined, don’t overmix. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean [Mine took 55 minutes and seemed perfectly cooked]. Do not open the oven door to check the cake during the first 45 minutes of baking.

While the cake bakes make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice in a bowl. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, spreading it over the top so that it sinks in and creates a nice coating. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Leave to come to room temperature before serving.

Greek Yogurt Pita Bread

I love soft, tender flatbreads, still warm from cooking. There’s almost nothing better! I’ve made pita and tortillas occasionally over the years, but I’ve been wanting to try Molly Yeh’s Greek yogurt pita bread for a while now. I just hadn’t gotten around to it until this weekend.

I love baking with yogurt, it tenderizes and adds a slight tangy flavor to whatever it is you bake and this recipe was no exception. I’ve posted the original recipe (with a few tweaks to the instructions) below, and I also posted my adaptation which used my leftover sourdough starter. Since I’ve been making a lot of sourdough bread recently I’m always on the lookout for ways to use up my discarded starter. This pita was a great option!

The dough was soft, tender, and easy to roll out. I made half a batch of the sourdough version and ended up making 8 pita (the original recipe called for you to make 12 for the full recipe, so this would be 6 for a half batch) and I thought they were a nice size. Not too big and not too small.

The original recipe calls for you to bake these in the oven. I decided to grill them instead which I find fun to do. They only took 1.5-2 minutes on the grill at around medium heat. I’m sure baking them as instructed turns out a good pita as well but at this point I can’t say for sure.

I served these with some lamb meatballs that I also grilled. No recipe for those, I kind of just threw them together. I added a nice amount of allspice, some cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika to the ground lamb as well as minced green onion, ramps, garlic and a few breadcrumbs for good measure.

Finally, I whipped up a delicious yogurt sauce that also had some of the garlic, ramps and green onion as well as olive oil and a lot of sumac. Fantastic!

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Greek Yogurt Pita Bread
Recipe from Molly Yeh via Joy the Baker
Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

• 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 3 3/4 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl

• 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)

• 3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt

Directions
In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment combine the flour, salt, sugar, yeast. Add the oil, water and yogurt and mix to combine. Stir the mixture with a spatula to lightly bring it together then knead with the dough hood on medium speed into a slightly sticky and soft ball. Add more flour or water as needed.

Remove the dough from the bowl. Add a splash of olive oil and return the dough to the greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm place until doubled in size - about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. While the oven preheats, turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide into 12 equal balls. Roll the balls out into circles that are 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. Place the pita on the prepared baking sheets an inch apart. Bake until they're puffy and lightly browned on top. Check their doneness after 5 minutes. They cook fast. Somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes should do the trick. Remove from the oven and clean kitchen towel, cover and let cool.

Sourdough Variation

Sourdough Greek Yogurt Pita Bread
Ingredients

• 140 grams bread flour

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon instant yeast

• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3/8 cup (90 grams) Greek yogurt

• 170 grams discarded sourdough starter

Directions
In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment combine the flour, salt and yeast. Add the honey, oil, water, yogurt and starter. Mix to combine. Follow the remainder of instructions as above.

Lemon-Blueberry Drizzle Cake

I’ve gotten into the habit of having some kind of cake on hand at all times. While I try to eat very healthy the vast majority of the time, I like a little piece of cake at night before bed. It’s generally not huge, and I try to pick things that aren’t over-the-top decadent and rich (although from time to time this is okay!). This is one of my recent recipes. A fairly standard loaf cake. Some flour, a stick of butter, some sugar, eggs and milk, etc. The lemon blueberry combination is always a winner so this recipe sounded nice.

So, Lara actually made this twice within a week because the first round did not turn out well. It was under baked even though it went longer than the stated time and looked like it was done when it came out of the oven. It sunk shortly after coming out of the oven which is always sad. Also, she used an older loaf pan the first time and it just didn’t seem to bake up well in this pan. The resulting cake was somewhat disappointing visually, but don’t worry, it didn’t go to waste!

We decided to try it again because I hate failing at something, especially something that should be delicious! The second round went much better! A better pan, and more close monitoring of the “done-ness”. It ended up taking an additional 11 minutes or so, a total of 61 minutes which was perfect. This second successful loaf was perfectly cooked. The edges were beautifully browned and crispy. I typically like the softer interior of cakes, but for this one the crispy outside edges are probably the best part!

Interestingly when I was looking back at this recipe to document it below I noticed something that likely explained why the original bread didn’t turn out. Lara had been looking at this recipe on William Sonoma’s Blog (found here) where it was labeled as “cake”. I found it on the Williams Sonoma’s website (found here) where it was labeled as bread. They are the same exact ingredients, BUT, on the blog it states to bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, and on the website it says to bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes. A HUGE discrepancy! Lara had baked them both and did 350 degrees, and she started checking around 50 minutes. So if it’s actually supposed to be baked at 375 for 55 minutes, no wonder it was under baked the first time! Kind of an interesting accidental experiment. But thankfully baking it for 61 minutes at 350 degrees turned out to be perfect the second time around!

We like this cake, and many like it, with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on the side. The combination of the cool tart yogurt pairs well with the creamy sweet cake.

Below are a few pictures of the original “failed cake”. As you can see, we didn’t end up getting to the final lemon glaze above, so at least you can see how it's supposed to look on this version, although without the sunken middle! :)

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Lemon Blueberry Drizzle Cake
From Williams Sonoma
Ingredients
For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz./235 g) plus 1 tsp. all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) (4 oz./125 g) unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup (6 oz./185 g) granulated sugar

• 1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml) whole milk

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup (4 oz./125 g) blueberries

For the syrup

• 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

• 3 Tbs. granulated sugar

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup (2 oz./60 g) confectioners’ sugar

• 3 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat an oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Sift the flour, the baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium-high speed until lightened. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and stir until blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the 1 tsp. flour. Gently fold into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes (mine took 61 minutes when baked at 350 degrees, see above). Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool while you make the syrup.

To make the syrup, in a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the lemon juice and granulated sugar until syrupy, about 2 minutes. Using a long wooden skewer, pierce the sides and bottom of the warm cake at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep all over. Brush the cake generously with the syrup.

To make the glaze, in a small bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. When the cake is completely cool, turn it right side up and drizzle the glaze over the top.

Chicken and Orzo Soup with Garlic and Paprika

There’s a local butcher shop that’s been in Grand Rapids for several years now (EA Brady’s), but last fall they closed up shop to move to a new location. Where is their new space? Less than a quarter mile from my house! I could not be more pleased. It will be so convenient in the months and years to come! I had never actually been to their old location, it just wasn’t as convenient and I already have a great local butcher (I love Matt at Louise Earl), but they opened their doors in the new space today (a very soft opening in the midst of COVID quarantine) and I was there within a few hours of their opening. Had to welcome them to the new neighborhood!

I decided that on this cold and dreary day soup sounded like a good dinner plan. I had bookmarked this very simple soup so decided to try it tonight, all I needed were a few chicken thighs which the butcher fixed me up with right away.

This recipe looks very simple, and it was so quick and easy, but don’t let the short ingredient list fool you, this soup was full of flavor and super satisfying. It only took about 20-30 minuter to make and it was so good. The combination of garlic, plenty of tomato paste, and chicken thighs packs a lot of flavor into just a few ingredients. A little paprika and mint (I had to substitute a little basil in the form of homemade pesto which was quite a nice sub) along with some pasta finish it all off.

There are many ways you could adapt this, different spices, different protein, different starch, but I know this is something I will come back to in the future again and again! This would be a great option for a weeknight meal with friends if you need something quick, simple and delicious after work!

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Chicken and Orzo Soup with Garlic and Paprika
From 177 Milk Street
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

• 1/3 cup tomato paste

• 4 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

• 2 teaspoons dried mint

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

• 1 cup orzo pasta

Directions
In a large saucepan, combine the oil, tomato paste and garlic. Cook, stirring, until several shades darker. Add the paprika and mint, then cook, stirring, just until fragrant. Add the chicken, 7 cups water and 2½ teaspoons salt. Simmer, uncovered, until a skewer inserted into the chicken meets no resistance. Transfer the chicken to a bowl. Add the orzo to the pot and cook until al dente. Shred the chicken. When the orzo is done, add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil.

Optional garnishes: A dollop of yogurt OR squeeze of lemon OR torn fresh mint OR a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper

White Cake Testing

A friend of mine recently got engaged and she has asked if Lara and I would make a cake for her wedding! We’ve done a few weddings together in the past (cupcakes, cake pops and a small cake for the bride and groom to cut) and are excited to get to do it again!

Although we don’t have the details finalized, it will most likely be a white cake base so I decided that I needed to test out a few white cakes prior to this since I don’t really have a go-to white cake.

After some online searching and research I decided to start by testing 3 separate recipes to see what my thoughts were, and go from there, either testing a few more recipes or making a decision based on the three initial tests.

The Competition:

The three cakes we ended up testing were:

1. White Mountain Layer Cake from Bravetart by Stella Parks

2. Classic White Cake from The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen

3. Martha Stewart’s White Cake from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

I first made the White Mountain Cake and the ATK white cake on the same day. About a week later I got around to making Martha Stewart’s. I scaled down all the recipes because I didn’t really need 3 full cakes in my house all at once! I know that scaling back can sometimes be tricky, and recipes don’t always do as well when you make them smaller but I went for it anyway. (They all baked up ok, but the ATK cake did end up being the smallest amount of batter volume-wise, and of the three it was my least favorite and it is possible that my alteration of the recipe had something to do with it.)

I wanted to try the White Mountain Cake because it sounded interesting because she calls for coconut oil and butter, and describes the cake as:

Rich and velvety to the point of creaminess, heady with vanilla, and almost as fluffy as angel food cake. The secret is virgin coconut oil, which amplifies the aroma of butter and vanilla while creaming up lighter (and whiter) than butter alone.

This description sounded amazing so I had to try it.

I went for the ATK cake because I’ve had good success with many of their recipes and this one seemed straightforward and a good standard white cake.

Finally Martha' Stewart. I had actually made the Martha Stewart recipe before, as cupcakes for my cousins wedding! But I had never made it into a layer cake, and it’s been years since I have made it so I couldn’t remember what it was like exactly, but I do remember thinking it made some lovely cupcakes. I didn’t really want to make this one because of the three, it’s the one recipe that calls for beating the egg whites separate and folding them into the batter. I try to avoid this step in any recipe if I can, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

The Results:

White Mountain Cake

America’s Test Kitchen

Martha Stewart

Here is the White Mountain Cake on the left with the ATK cake on the right

White Mountain Cake on the top, ATK on the bottom

This is Martha Stewart’s White Cake

Conclusion:

There was a clear winner and loser in this cake testing competition. Lara and I agreed right away. Martha Stewart was the clear favorite. The White Mountain Layer Cake was a very close second, but it was not quite as light as Martha’s cake, and not quite as rich. The Martha Stewart cake baked up beautifully with a nice tight crumb and was airy and super light, yet very rich and buttery tasting. In my opinion the perfect wedding cake base.

The White Mountain Layer Cake was fantastic, but just slightly denser in texture and mouthfeel. It is a great recipe that I am sure to make again, but it didn’t seem quite right for a wedding cake. I loved the little hint of almond from the almond extract. And while I couldn’t taste the coconut oil in this (so if you’re worried about that, don’t be), there was a slightly different flavor that was very nice.

The ATK cake was super not impressive and not really all that good to be honest. The flavor was the most uninteresting, just flat and boring, and the texture wasn’t very nice. It was kind of gummy and a bit courser than the other two cakes. All in all I didn’t care for it at all. I do have to say, as I already mentioned above, when I scaled this recipe down it did end up being the smallest volume of batter and it is possible that if I made the original recipe as written it would have turned out better. However, with two other wonderful options I don’t feel the need to test it again.

The Recipes:

Note: the original recipes are listed below with my scaled down ingredient lists in italics

Martha Stewart’s White Cake
From Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
Ingredients

• 3 cups cake flour | 1 cup, 120 grams

• 2 teaspoons baking powder | 2/3 teaspoon

• 1 teaspoon salt | 1/3 teaspoon

• 3 sticks butter, at room temperature | 1 stick, 8 tablespoons

• 2 1/4 cups sugar, divided | 3/4 cup, 150 grams

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract | 1/4 teaspoon

• 1 cup milk | 1/3 cup, 2 2/3 ounces

• 8 large egg whites | 2 2/3 egg whites, 93 grams

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Dust with flour, tapping out the excess. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.

In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high until stiff, flossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in the remaining whites.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out with just a few moist crumbs. 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.

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White Mountain Layer Cake
From Bravetart by Stella Parks
Ingredients

• 4 cups (16 oz) bleached cake flour | 4 ounces

• 2 sticks butter | 1/2 stick

• 2/3 cup (4 oz) virgin coconut oil, solid but creamy | 1 ounce

• 2 1/4 cups (16 oz) sugar | 4 ounces

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder | 5/8 teaspoon

• 1 teaspoon baking soda | 1/4 teaspoon

• 3/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (half as much if iodized) | 3/16 teaspoon

• 1 cup (8 1/2 oz) egg whites, from about 8 eggs | 2 1/8 ounces

• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract | 1 1/2 teaspoons

• 1 teaspoon almond extract | 1/4 teaspoon

• 2 cups (16 oz) cultured low-fat buttermilk | 1/2 cup (4 ounces)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line three 8-by-3-inch aluminum cake pans with parchment and grease with pan spray.

Combine butter, coconut oil, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and cream until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes, pausing to scrap the bowl and beater halfway through. With the mixer running, add the egg white one at a time, follow by vanilla and almond extracts.

Reduce speed to low and sprinkle in one-third of the flour, followed by one-third of the buttermilk. Alternate between the two, allowing each addition to be roughly incorporated before adding the next. Once smooth, fold with a flexible spatula to ensure it’s well mixed from the bottom up. Divide among the prepared caked pans, about 22 ounces each.

Bake until the cakes are firm but pale, browned only around the very edges, about 40 minutes (My small cake took about 35.5 minutes at 350 degrees —> I did accidentally bake at the incorrect temperature but it didn’t seem to do any harm!). A toothpick inserted into the center will emerge with a few crumbs still attached, and your fingertip will leave a slight indentation in the puffy crust.

Cool until no trace of warmth remains, about 90 minutes. Loosen the cakes from their pans with a knife. Invert onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, and re-invert.

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Classic White Layer Cake
From The Perfect Cake by America’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk | 1/4 cup

• 6 large egg whites | 1.5 egg whites

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 1/4 teaspoon

• 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour | 2.25 ounces

• 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) sugar | 3 ounces

• 4 teaspoons baking powder | 1 teaspoon

• 1 teaspoon salt | 1/4 teaspoon

• 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened | 3 tablespoons

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pans. Whisk milk, egg whites, and vanilla together in a bowl.

Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add all but 1/2 cup milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter a final stir by hand.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and smooth tops with a rubber spatula. Gently tap pans on counter to settle batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few crumbs attached, 23 to 25 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cakes cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and let cool completely on rack, about 2 hours.

Chocolate Chunk Buttermilk Scones (with variations)

I absolutely love scones. Most scone recipes out there can be put into a few general categories; they can be made with just cream, with just butter, with cream AND butter, with butter and buttermilk, with an egg or without an egg. I personally don’t think something should be considered a true scone unless it has butter, cream, or both. But within this group I don’t discriminate, they’re all good if made well!

I had tried this recipe a few months back and wasn’t blown away, but thought that with a few tweaks they could be really good so I decided to try them again this week. I’m glad I did as they turned out really well. The instructions in the original recipe was a little finicky in my opinion, calling for you cut the butter into only half of the dry ingredients, and then transferring to a new bowl and adding the remaining dry ingredients followed by the buttermilk. I didn’t find that this seemed to help at all, and I prefer to dump everything into the food processor at the beginning, cut in the butter, and then add the buttermilk before transferring to the counter to finish up the mixing and shaping.

I also made some changes to the recipe itself. I did only make half a batch of the original recipe so that is reflected below. I increased the sugar by about 50% because I like a sweeter scone, and also decreased the salt. The original recipe called for 2.5 teaspoons of kosher salt which is way to much my opinion. I ended up only using 1/2 teaspoon for the half batch (so 1 teaspoon in the full batch) which is significantly less than called for but I much preferred this amount of salt. I want to state that I am NOT afraid of salt, I love salt, I typically like a little more salt than is called for in a lot of recipes but not in this one. I think the decreased amount of salt is much better, but do as you will.

The original recipe is for a triple ginger scone with chocolate chunks and included ginger (ground, fresh grated, and crystalized), nutmeg, orange zest and black pepper along with the chocolate. I decided to skip the ginger and spices and just included chocolate chunks and a little cinnamon. In the end it doesn’t really matter what put in the scones. When you start with a good base you can customize however you would like and it should turn out just fine!

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Chocolate Chunk Buttermilk Scones
Adapted from 177 Milk Street
Ingredients
Scone Base:

• 227 grams/8 ounces (1.75 cups plus 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour

• 50-67 grams (1/4 -1/3 cup) sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used Mortin)

• 128 grams/4.5 ounces (9 tablespoons) butter

• 142 grams/5 ounces (5/8 cup) buttermilk

Additions:

• 3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (added with the dry ingredients)

• 80 grams/2.8 ounces (about 1/2 cup) chocolate chunks

Topping:

• 1 egg, lightly beaten and thinned with about 1 tablespoon water, for brushing on top

• Sparkling sugar, for topping

Directions
Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with kitchen parchment. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until it is in large pea-sized pieces, 10-12 pulses.

Add the buttermilk and run only until everything is evenly moistened and an even sandy texture. It won’t completely come together into a cohesive dough but will still be quite crumbly, this is okay. Transfer the loose dough to the counter and scatter the chocolate chunks on top. Knead a few times to bring everything together and evenly distribute the chocolate.

Shape the dough into a circle (approximately 5 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches thick). Cut into 6 even wedges with a pastry scraper. Transfer scones to the baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Cover each scone with a nice sprinkling of sanding sugar.

Bake until the scones are deep golden brown, 27 to 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cool on the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer directly to a rack and cool for at least another 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Variations:

Lemon Lavender Buttermilk Scones
I personally found this a little too lemony which is saying something for me. I do love lemon. But I added the zest of an entire lemon which was too much for me. It wasn’t bad in the least, I just would have preferred less. It really reminded me of a lemon poppyseed muffin so if you like those then you will love these! So add as much lemon zest as you’d like!

The tablespoon of lavender was subtle but perceptible. Maybe with a little less lemon you’d taste more lavender. I thought it was a nice subtle lavender flavor. A little more wouldn’t be bad though. To the base add:

• Zest of up to 1 lemon (see note above)

• 1 tablespoon dried lavender

Date Walnut Buttermilk Scones
This one turned out great! The buttery and nutty walnuts melt into the scone and give it such a nice rich flavor. The dates are just tiny pockets of sweetness that you almost don’t notice! I would have added more dates but I only had about 8-10 Deglet Noor dates in the pantry. I plan on making these again with Medjool dates and adding even more. I’d add more walnuts too. I didn’t measure either of these, but probably no more than 1/2 cup total. I want MORE! :)

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• Pinch of cardamom

• Chopped Dates, to taste

• Chopped walnuts, to taste

Lilac Almond Scones
I went foraging in my neighborhood and came home with a bag full of lilac blooms. They smell soooo good, but don’t last long. I’ll be honest, the flavor is so so mild that I actually didn’t taste it a whole lot in these finished scones, but they were still delicious and beautiful! It can be a little tedious to pull the lilac flowers off the blooms but it’s also relaxing and methodical. For a glaze, I mixed powdered sugar and water. No specific measurements, you just want it to be very thick so add water VERY SLOWLY! Drizzle and spread the first layer of glaze on the scones right after they come out of the oven and are still hot. This will help the thick glaze spread a little. You do have to play with it a little to spread out and cover the top. Then repeat the glazing a few more times as the scones slowly cool until you have the amount of glaze you desire. There’s no right or wrong. For these scones, add the following to the scones base:

• 1 cup fresh lilac flowers

• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

• Powdered sugar and water (to glaze)

Lavender Honey Scones
I had this combination at a local coffee shop a year or two back and loved it! They unfortunately no longer make it, so I’ll just have to make it for myself! One tablespoon of the lavender was perfect for me. A strong lavender flavor, but not overpowering or “soapy”. If you’re not so sure about lavender then add a little less. If you want to see how far you can push it then add a little more (at your own risk!). I topped these with a simple glaze that contained a little honey. I don’t have exact measurements because for glazes I just go by feel and looks. You want this glaze to be very thick to start as it will melt and spread on top of the hot scones. I add the glaze on top of the scones immediately after they come out of the oven. It’s easiest to do this in layers. The first couple of layers will melt a little more and spread out over the top as the glaze heats up. As the scones cool, the next layers will stay thicker and more opaque. It’s completely up to you how much you add, and how thick the glaze is.

• 1 tablespoon dried lavender

• 2 tablespoons honey, powdered sugar and water to glaze (just eyeball it, and make it THICK!)

Lahmajoun (or Lahmacun)

I got a new Milk Street magazine this week. This is the second Milk Street magazine I’ve gotten. Lara and I decided that for the coming year, whenever we get one of the magazines we have to make at least 2 or 3 recipes. I starred several recipes for the future, but not surprisingly this recipe for Lahmajoun is the first thing we ended up making! It’s basically a twist on a pizza. From my quick online search, lahmajoun (also spelled lahmacun) is a Turkish or Armenian flatbread typically topped with a minced meat mixture. Another take on pizza? Yes please!

You start with making a yogurt flatbread dough in a food processor. I did change up this recipe a little in order to use up some leftover sourdough starter. (if interested, I used 185 grams of flour, 112 grams of leftover sourdough starter, 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast, 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt, 21 grams honey, and NO additional water since it’s in the sourdough starter).

Let the dough do it’s thing while you make the topping which is a minced meat mixture with roasted red peppers, ground lamb, a little tomato paste and then some smoked paprika and cumin. Easy to blitz up in the food processor. Once everything is ready to go you shape the dough and top with the raw meat mixture. Into a 500 degree oven for 10-12 minutes and it’s done.

The recipe calls for you to drizzle with a little thinned out Greek yogurt which I thought needed a little jazzing up so I added a nice squeeze of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest as well as a hefty dose of sumac, a little salt and a drizzle of olive oil. I highly recommend these additions! I didn’t have any arugula for topping but think that would be a great way to finish it off.

I only made half of the recipe (one of two flatbreads) the first night. The second night I changed it up a bit and topping it with a mix of za-atar and olive oil with a little salt. I did not hold back on the spices and it was great! Then added a bit of goat cheese at the end. A very simple and delicious option!

I think any variation on this recipe would be fun to make for a get-together or party as an appetizer or a little snack. It would be just as good hot, warm, or room temperature. If you want to serve it fresh from the oven it would be easy to have everything ready to go and finish putting it together in just a few minutes whenever you’re ready.

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Lahmajoun (or Lahmacun)
From 177 Milk Street
Ingredients
For the flatbreads:

• 241 grams (1¾ cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting

• 1½ teaspoons instant yeast

• 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt

• ¾ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (my homemade Greek yogurt weighed in at 180 grams)

• 1 tablespoon (21 grams) honey

• ¼ cup (57 grams) water

For the topping:

• 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped

• ¼ cup chopped drained roasted red peppers

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1½ teaspoons ground cumin

• ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

• 8 ounces ground beef or ground lamb

• ¼ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

• Semolina flour, for dusting the pizza peel

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

• 2 cups (1 ounce) lightly packed baby arugula

Directions
To make the dough, in a food processor, combine the flour, yeast and salt; process until combined, about 5 seconds. Add the yogurt, honey and ¼ cup water. Process until the mixture forms a ball, about 30 seconds; the dough should be tacky to the touch and should stick slightly to the sides of the bowl. If it feels too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process until incorporated. Continue to process until the dough is shiny and elastic, about 1 minute.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter. Flour your hands and knead a few times to form a smooth ball. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a taut ball by rolling it against the counter in a circular motion under a cupped hand. Space the balls about 6 inches apart on a lightly floured counter, then cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume, 1 to 1½ hours.

Meanwhile, to make the topping, in a food processor, pulse the onion until finely chopped, about 5 pulses. Add the roasted peppers, tomato paste, paprika, cumin, pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the beef and pulse just until incorporated, 3 or 4 pulses. Transfer to a medium bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and 1 tablespoon water, adding more water as needed to thin to drizzling consistency. Cover both bowls and refrigerate until needed.

About 1 hour before shaping the dough, heat the oven to 500°F with a baking steel or stone on the upper-middle rack. Working one at a time, gently stretch each dough ball on a lightly floured counter to an oval approximately 6 inches wide and 12 inches long.

Dust a baking peel, inverted baking sheet or rimless cookie sheet with semolina. Transfer one shaped dough to the peel and, if needed, reshape into an oval. Brush the entire surface with 1 tablespoon of oil. Using a spatula, spread half the meat mixture on the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edge. Slide the dough onto the the baking steel and bake until well browned, 9 to 12 minutes.

Using the peel, transfer the flatbread to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough, oil and meat mixture. After the second flatbread has cooled on the rack for a couple minutes, top both with the arugula. Drizzle with yogurt, then serve.

Simple Carrot Cake

A weird Easter this year. No church to go to (although thankfully live streaming is going well - but it’s just NOT the same as being in community with your fellow believers) and no family to get together with. It’s just been such a strange few weeks, and more to come. Lara and I wanted to at least do something festive to celebrate the most exciting day for Christians around the world. We decided to make something a little special for lunch, and finish it off with some cake!

Lara found a carrot cake recipe that seemed perfect so she got up early this morning to bake it. I also got up early to make my favorite yogurt galette dough to have ready for lunch. After some quiet time in the kitchen we took an Easter morning walk. We had wanted it to be a sunrise walk, but it was way to cloudy. Still a beautiful morning full of bird sounds. The heaven’s were sure declaring the glory of God!

We then live-streamed church followed by lunch of a beautiful leek and bacon galette with pecorino which was just lovely. Since the weather is going to get crummy again starting tonight we then went off on a nice afternoon walk at Millenium Park. Grey and cool, but beautiful in it’s own way.

When we got home it was coffee time! Which also meant cake time! The carrot cake was a definite winner, and perfect with a hot cup of coffee! The cake itself is not that sweet, but it was perfectly cooked, moist and tender with a hint of cinnamon. While it would be a nice cake to eat plain, or with some powdered sugar or a simple glaze, cream cheese frosting is definitely the way to really jazz it up! The cake recipe also had an accompanying frosting, but since I had some cream cheese frosting in the freezer (from my work Christmas party cupcakes) I just used that.

Lara halved the original recipe (I have the halved recipe written out below, see the link for the original full recipe) and baked it in a 9-inch round cake pan. It baked for 36 minutes which seemed perfect. It was cooked through yet not dry at all. I wouldn’t be opposed to adding some walnuts to the batter itself, but whatever you prefer. This is definitely a winner of a recipe. Simple enough to not be intimidating, but special enough to feel celebratory. Highly recommended.

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Simple Carrot Cake
From The Kitchn
Ingredients
For the Cake

• 1 (120 grams) cups all-purpose flour (or a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flours)

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

• 3/8 cup (75 grams) canola oil

• 2 cups grated carrot

For the frosting:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Pinch salt

Directions
Make the cake: Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray; set aside.

Place the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Place the eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to combine; set both bowls aside.

Place the sugar and oil in a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer or whisk and large bowl.) With the mixer on low (or by hand), beat 1/3 of the flour into the sugar mixture. Beat in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Continue adding the flour and eggs in alternating additions. Stop mixing when the last of the flour is just barely incorporated. Add the carrots and fold them in by hand with a rubber spatula, working slowly and gently until the carrots are distributed and no more dry flour remains.

Pour the batter into the baking dish and gently tap the dish a few times against the counter to work out the air bubbles. Bake for 34-38 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the cake is slightly puffed in the middle and browned on the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Place the cake on a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer and large bowl.) Beat on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until the frosting starts to come together into lumps. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat until fluffy and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Dollop the frosting over the cake and spread into an even layer.