Lemon Poppyseed Scones

 A few years ago I met two lovely ladies at a library event.  We found we had a shared interest in crafting.  We started getting together to do our art... sewing, painting, stained glass and cooking! After working together on whatever art we had decided on, we stopped and had a bite to eat. Because you can't have friends over and not feed them something. And who doesn't love a tea party, even if you serve coffee!

Radhika and Shirley bring food that they have made and I bake something and it's a lot of fun.  I think we do more chatting than art!  Radhika has served us some fabulous Indian meals.  Shirley brings treats that she has made. But at our last get together we decided to do a baking day, rather than another kind of craft.

Radhika had her granddaughter visiting so Anika was roped into baking with us. Actually she was there mostly to play with the new kitten, but she was a big help with making scones.

Lemon Poppyseed Scones

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (one stick) frozen

1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup cream or milk, you may need a bit more if it is too dry

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

lemon zest from one lemon. But buy and zest two as you'll need it for the frosting

1 Tablespoon poppyseeds

Preheat the oven to 400°. Place a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat on a baking sheet or two if you are making the whole recipe today, and set aside.

If you planned ahead you will have frozen a stick of butter. Grate the butter. If you didn't plan ahead, cut the butter into small pieces.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the grated butter and cut in until all the butter is incorporated and there are no large lumps.  A pastry cutter works well for this.

Mix the cream, lemon and vanilla flavorings. Add it to the flour mixture with the lemon zest. Add in the lemon juice and sprinkle the poppyseeds evenly.  

Mix just until incorporated. if it is very dry you can add a few Tablespoons more of cream, but it should still be a bit dry. Over mixing will make the scones tough. 

Scrape everything onto a lightly floured counter and gently press into a ball. I like to divide the ball into two pieces to make smaller scones, but you can just make a single ball for the bigger scones,  They may need a minute or two longer in the oven. Press the dough into a flat circle about 6 inches round.  A tiny line of flour on the counter is great for flouring a bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 equal pieces 

Once they have been cut, you may freeze some for future use.

Gently lift the scones with the bench scraper to the prepared pan or pans. Leave a few inches between each scone as they will rise while baking.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.  They are done when they start to turn a golden brown.

Let cool for 2 minutes and remove to a cooling rack with wax paper under it to finish cooling. When mostly cool you can frost them.

I'm not a fan of a glaze.  I like a solid, flavored frosting. 

1 Tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tablespoon cream, heavy cream or half and half

1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

I like the intense and bright flavor that lemon zest brings to lemon baked items.  If you zested two lemons before baking you should still have enough for this frosting.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the cream and allow it to start to bubble but not boil.  Add 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and stir to dissolve.  Keep stirring until it starts to pull away from the pan behind the spoon.  If it is too thick or thin, add more milk or powdered sugar.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon flavoring and the zest. If you want, you can add a drop of yellow food coloring, but the zest will add a hint of yellow.

Quickly spoon the frosting over each scone. I like to cover the scone and allow it to drip down the sides of the scone.  

I scrape the remaining frosting in clumps on the wax paper.  Then I put the hardened drops in a small container for a future snack. Waste not, want not!

These scones were a great addition to our little tea party.

 We all liked them.  Even Anika approved!

Strawberry Blueberry Cobbler

 I wanted something with strawberries that was easy. I saw this recipe and made a few minor modifications and this is what I came up with. Rather than putting the cobbler batter on top of the strawberries and then baking, the fruit is placed on top of the batter and it puffs up around it.

Strawberry Blueberry Cobbler

4 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

Zest from one lemon

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup milk

 1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 lb clamshell of strawberries, about 4 cups  

1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen and thawed, optional

You can make this without the blueberries.  The fresh ones I had weren’t the greatest so I set out some frozen on a plate and let them thaw. Then I spooned them up leaving the juice behind so I didn’t color the batter blue.

Preheat the oven to 350°. While it is heating wash and cut the strawberries into quarters.

Place the butter in an 8X8 baking dish and pop in the oven for a few minutes to melt the butter, about 4 minutes.

In a medium bowl mix the sugar and the lemon zest.  Rub with your fingers to release the lemon oils.

Add the flour, salt and baking powder and whisk to mix.  Then add the milk and vanilla and mix until smooth.

By this time the butter should have melted.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and place on a heat proof surface  it will be hot!

Pour the batter into the butter and then add the strawberries.  Remove the thawed blueberries with a slotted spoon, if using frozen, and sprinkle them evenly over the strawberries.  

Bake until the batter is golden and set in the middle, about 45- 50 minutes.

Cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Warm is best!

Serve with whipped cream, or even better, ice cream!

This was a fast and easy cobbler. There is no fussing to plop cobbler batter evenly on top of the fruit. The lemon zest added a brightness to the flavor.

A perfect summer dessert.

Bran Muffins with Prunes

 I'm currently using Tirzepatide to lose weight with the hope that I can get off some of the medications that have slowly creeped up on me.  I have lost weight a whole bunch of times, but I always gain it back eventually.  My Primary Care Practitioner has assured me I can keep it off with microdosing after I get to my desired weight.  I don't really have a number so much as getting off meds, so I guess we will see.

GLP-1's work by slowing down digestion. This gives you the feeling of being full sooner so you stop eating and then it keeps you feeling full so you don't want to snack in between meals.  It's working for me.

But here is the major downside for me, other than most of my new clothes no longer fitting well. Digestion slows down all along the way. I decided to make some bran muffins in aid of better digestion.  

I didn't have a recipe in mind, but I bought some Kellogg's All-Bran and a package of prunes.

I took a tour around the recipes online and didn't see what I had I mind.  I took a little from Column A and some from Column B and came up with this recipe.

    

Bran Muffins with Prunes

2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/2 cup prunes, chopped

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon Mapleine, or 2 teaspoons maple flavoring

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Put paper muffin cups in a muffin tin.  Spray with Pam.  Set aside.

Place the 2 cups of All-Bran in a large bowl. Pour the milk over the it and stir to combine.  Let it soak while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

In a medium bowl, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Stir to combine.

Chop the prunes and walnuts.  

Add the prunes, egg, oil and Mapleine to the All-Bran mixture and stir it in.

Add the flour mixture to the moist ingredients with the chopped walnuts.  Stir just until combined.  Do not over mix.

Fill the muffin cups.  I used a large ice cream scoop.

Bake for 20. minutes.  Test for doneness with a skewer that comes out clean.

Cool to just warm and serve with butter.

These muffins were tasty and had a just crispy enough top with a moist crumb.  I served them with a smear of butter.  

After they are completely cool put the muffins in an air tight container.  The next day I had one and heated it up in a 350° toaster oven for a few minutes. It was just as good as the first one.  

The digestion aid is yet to be determined.  Whether that is the result or not, it is still a delicious muffin