Blueberry Jelly

Blueberry lovers rejoice!

This jelly turned out great with a subtle blueberry flavor that blends well with butter and biscuits.

4 cups prepared blueberry juice
2 pouches [easyazon-link asin=”B004SQUNR2″ locale=”us”]Certo Fruit Pectin[/easyazon-link]
7 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 cup bottled lemon juice

Add juices and sugar to an [easyazon-link asin=”B000FNLT8E” locale=”us”]8 – 10 quart, heavy-bottomed kettle[/easyazon-link].

Bring to a full, roiling boil, over high heat, stirring constantly.  Add pectin and return to a roiling boil.

Boil one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim any foam (if desired; I don’t bother).

Process according to USDA recommendations for jams and jellies for a shelf-stable product:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can7_jam_jelly.html

Totally Decadent Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

Totally Decadent Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

Totally creamy. Totally smooth. Totally peanut-buttery. Totally decadent peanut butter cream cheese pie!

9″ Graham cracker pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 T butter, softened
1 t vanilla
1 c whipping cream

Beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth.

Whip cream and fold into peanut butter mixture.

Pour into crust and chill.


Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Pie

Cranberry-Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing

Berries, butter and lemon . . .

Back around Thanksgiving, I made this cake and fell in love. It starts out moist and continues to marinate over the next couple days until it is absolutely decadent.

This time ‘round I’m trying it with orange instead of lemon.

I imagine a blueberry-lemon combo would be great as well. You could get away with any berry combined with your favorite citrus.

For Cake:

1½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup sour cream
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter, softened
1¼ cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1½ cups fresh cranberries

For Glaze:

¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

To prepare cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray a [easyazon-link asin=”B00008W70I” locale=”us”]9×5-inch loaf pan[/easyazon-link] (note, the pan I used is actually a [easyazon-link asin=”B0034BFKVQ” locale=”us”]hotel or steam table pan[/easyazon-link] that is slightly larger than my 9×5 inch loaf pan…my standard 9×5 inch loaf pan is too small for this recipe and resulted in me having to clean the oven), or line with [easyazon-link asin=”B006JCWGIC” locale=”us”]parchment paper[/easyazon-link].

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, zest, juice, and vanilla. Set aside.

In the large bowl of a [easyazon-link asin=”B006LLZ83G” locale=”us”]standing mixer[/easyazon-link], beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. I used the [easyazon-link asin=”B002KAPN9Q” locale=”us”]BeaterBlade[/easyazon-link] for my [easyazon-link asin=”B00005UP2P” locale=”us”]Kitchen Aid Mixer[/easyazon-link]. It nearly eliminates scraping of the bowl.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

Reduce mixer speed and alternatively beat in ⅓ of flour mixture, followed by ½ of sour cream mixture, and repeat, ending with the last ⅓ of the flour mixture. Be sure to pause the mixer occasionally to scrape down sides of the bowl. Use a [easyazon-link asin=”B000ILNHGU” locale=”us”]spatula[/easyazon-link] to gently fold in cranberries.

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 60 minutes, until top springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a [easyazon-link asin=”B002ECFH32″ locale=”us”]stainless cooling rack[/easyazon-link].

Cool completely before icing.

To prepare glaze:

To make glaze, whisk together lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar until there are no lumps.

Final assembly:

Drizzle over cooled cake.

 

Mise en Place
Mise en Place for Lemon Cranberry Cake

 

Softened butter ready to be beaten into submission by a [easyazon-link asin=”B002KAPN9Q” locale=”us”]BeaterBlade[/easyazon-link]
Softened Butter with a BeaterBlade

 

Butter after its initial mix
Butter After Initial Mix

 

Butter after just having the sugar mixed in
First Mix of Sugar with Butter

 

Butter and sugar after having been creamed together for 3 full minutes
Properly Creamed Butter and Sugar

 

The completed batter, waiting for the cranberries
The Completed Batter ready for the cranberries

 

The cranberry cake waiting for the oven
The Cranberry Cake waiting for the oven

 

The cake fresh from the oven waiting to be plated and iced
The Cranberry Cake fresh from the oven

Lemon Cheesecake with Blueberry Glaze

Lemon Cheesecake

Crust:

1 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1/2 c. butter
1 slightly beaten egg yolk
1/4 tsp. [easyazon-link asin=”B000GAWH4G” locale=”us”]vanilla[/easyazon-link]

Filling:

5 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. [easyazon-link asin=”B001GE8N4Y” locale=”us”]vanilla[/easyazon-link]
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
juice of one lemon
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 or 5 eggs (1 cup)
2 egg yolks
1/4 c. whipping cream

Make Crust:

Combine first three ingredients. Cut in butter till mixture is crumbly. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Pat 1/3 of dough on bottom of 9 in. [easyazon-link asin=”B0091QS41G” locale=”us”]spring-form pan[/easyazon-link] (sides removed). Bake in hot oven (400 F.) for about 5 minutes or until golden; cool. Attach sides to bottom, butter, and pat remaining dough on sides to height of 1 3/4″. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Make Filling:

Beat cream cheese until creamy. Add vanilla, lemon peel and juice. Mix next 3 ingredients, gradually blend into cheese. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating after each just to blend. Gently sir in whipping cream.

Turn into crust-lined pan. Bake at 450 F. for 12 minutes; reduce heat to 300 and continue baking 55 minutes. Remove from oven; cool. Loosen sides with [easyazon-link asin=”B0000VM5AM” locale=”us”]flat spatula[/easyazon-link] after 1/2 hour. Remove sides at end of 1 hour. Allow to cool 2 hours longer.

Blueberry Glaze

2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
4 cups fresh blueberries, divided

Make Blueberry Glaze:

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan; blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in water.

Crush 1 cup blueberries; add to sugar mixture.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil.

Continue to boil about 2 minutes or until mixture is clear.

Strain through [easyazon-link asin=”B000HVBES4″ locale=”us”]fine mesh strainer[/easyazon-link] or [easyazon-link asin=”B00069ZUXW” locale=”us”]chinois[/easyazon-link]. Cool.

Final Assembly

Arrange remaining blueberries over top of chilled cheesecake.

Pour cooled glaze over berries.

Challah

I’ve finally found a bread recipe I like. I thought I’d share.

I’ve always been intrigued by the thought of baking my own bread. I’ve tried multiple recipes and techniques multiple times, without finding something that I would be willing to eat on a regular basis.

I took a bread-baking class at the University of Tennessee Culinary Institute that featured the basis of this recipe. I’ve tweaked it and resized it and make it in my [easyazon-link keywords=”Bosch Universal mixer” locale=”us”]Bosch Universal mixer[/easyazon-link] rather than by hand.

In class we had access to a high-gluten flour which I cannot find in any grocery store, so I have changed my recipe to use vital wheat gluten with regular bread flour. This produces a product that is close enough to the original for me.

You can make a slightly leaner dough by eliminating the butter. Or you can add a bit more butter, honey and water and come up with a softer dough more suitable for cinnamon rolls.

Substituting 1/3 whole wheat flour for an equal amount of bread flour works wonderfully also.

1 loaf 2 loaves
24 oz 48 oz
Honey 38 grams 76 grams
Salt, Kosher 6 grams 12 grams
Bread Flour 338 grams 676 grams
[easyazon-link keywords=”Vital Wheat Gluten” locale=”us”]Vital Wheat Gluten[/easyazon-link] 21 grams 42 grams
[easyazon-link keywords=”Instant Yeast” locale=”us”]Instant Yeast[/easyazon-link] 10 grams 20 grams
Water 112 grams 224 grams
Eggs 2 4
Unsalted butter, melted 49 grams 98 grams

I throw all the ingredients into my Bosch Universal (or Bosch Compact, or DLX Assistent) and, after everything has come together, allow the dough to knead for about 8 minutes or so.

I then lightly oil the dough and cover it and allow it to proof (raise or ferment) until it has about doubled in size. I will then punch it down and roll it into a tight log the length of my [easyazon-link keywords=”loaf pan” locale=”us”]loaf pan[/easyazon-link]. It then gets loosely covered and allowed to proof again until it is about an inch to inch and a half above the rim of the pan.

Then I bake it for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove from the pan immediately and allow to cool an an elevated cooling rack.

After 20 minutes, you should have a nicely browned loaf that will sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. For rich doughs like this you would be looking for a temperature somewhere around 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping it below the traditionally-quoted temperature of 195-200 degrees will prevent the bread from being too dry.

My challah loaves as they come out of the pan:Loaf of Challah

Loaf of Challah

challah-loaves

 

The following two pictures show braided challah that I did in class at the UT Culinary Institute:

Large Braided Challah

Small Braided Challah