Raspberry & Meyer Lemon Madeleines for #theleftoversclub

What are Meyer Lemons still doing in the grocery stores? I'm not sure, but when I saw them in the produce section while I was grocery shopping the other day, I snatched some right up!

 

As you probably already know by this post and this one and this one, Meyer Lemons are one of my all-time favorite citrus fruits to bake with. I actually prefer them over regular lemons.

 

 

Finding these Meyer Lemons in the store was perfect timing for me because the theme of this month's Leftover Club exchange is citrus! The zest and juice of any citrus fruit adds so much flavor to your food whether you are cooking or baking.

 

I decided to use the Meyer Lemons in one of my all-time favorite cookies, French madeleines. French pastries hold a very special place in my heart. What's not to love about a good French pastry? I could eat flaky croissants, kouign amann and macarons every day! 

I hope my partner Kathia from Basic n Delicious enjoys them!


If you'd like to exchange yummy baked goods with fellow food bloggers from around the country and receive a special package in the mail each month, sign up over at Alwayz Bakin'! We'd love to have you in the group!

 

Raspberry & Meyer Lemon Madeleines
Makes 2 1/2 dozen madeleines

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest from one meyer lemon
3 large eggs, room temp
1/4 cup milk
juice of one meyer lemon
13 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
fresh raspberries
powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Butter and flour a madeleine pan. Set aside.

Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

In another small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, milk and cooled butter. Set aside.

Place the sugar in a small bowl with the lemon zest and crush the zest with the sugar using your finger tips. This process will release the oils from the lemon zest into the sugar and create a lemon scented sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using your electric hand mixer), beat the eggs and lemon scented sugar together at medium speed until pale (approx.   min).

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until combined. Add half of the butter/milk mixture and mix just until combined. Repeat this process ending with the flour mixture making sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl as needed.

Scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough into each cup of the madeleine pan and press a raspberry into the center of each mound of dough.

Bake at 375f for approx. 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown at the edges.

Cool in the pan for 1 minute then gently remove to a wire cooling rack. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Madeleines are best eaten the day they are baked.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cookie Butter and Raspberry Jam Heart-print Cookies

Who doesn't love Valentine's Day? I'm a sucker for anything heart shaped (as you can tell from the blog logo). This month's Creative Cookie Exchange theme was Hearts/Love....totally up my alley.

I had a total baking fail with my Raspberry Palmiers so I went with these Cookie Butter and Raspberry Jam "Heartprint" Cookies. The heart shape makes them perfect for Valentine's Day, but really they would be cute for any occasion especially if you're a cookie butter fan like I am!

Cookie Butter & Raspberry Jam Heart-print Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

Note: This recipe requires a total of 30 minutes of chilling time

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup Trader Joe's Cookie Butter (or Speculoos Cookie Butter)
1 large egg, room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

Place the raspberry jam in a small bowl and stir to loosen. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place the butter and both sugars in the bowl of your electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use your electric hand mixer). Cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (approx. 1 minute). Scrape down the beater and the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the cookie butter and mix on low speed until combined.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape down the paddle and bottom & sides of the bowl again.

Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Refrigerate the dough for 10 miunutes to make it easier to handle.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll into 1 1/2" balls.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place 12 balls approx. 2" apart on each cookie sheet. With the palm of your hand (or bottom of a glass), flatten each ball into disk approx. 1 3/4" in diameter.

Using your finger, or the bottom of a wooden spoon, make a heart pattern into the top of each cookie. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350f

After 20 minutes, place the baking sheets in the oven and bake approx. 10 minutes. The cookies should look slightly set but should not be all the way done.

Remove from oven. At this point, the heart pattern will probably have faded quite a bit. Using your finger, or bottom of a wooden spoon, reshape the heart pattern. Fill each heart with raspberry jam and return to the oven to bake for another 2 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Cool on the cookie sheets for 30 seconds then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

These cookies are best the same day they are made/. Store leftovers tightly covered in an air tight container for up to 1 day.

4th of July Blueberry and Raspberry Pop Tarts for The Leftover's Club

Who doesn't want to eat pie for breakfast, right? And these homemade pop tarts (aka hand pies) are a good excuse!

 

 

 

This month's Leftovers Club swap was a 4th of July theme so I knew I wanted to make something with berries since we're at the height of berry season. For the "blue" in my Red, White & Blue treat, Blueberries was pretty much a no brainer, but for the "red" I decided to go with raspberries for a more tart option.

 

The dough is a little unique in that it is made using sour cream which gives the flavor a slight tang.

 

To further embrace the patriotic theme, I tried to cut cute little stars into the top by hand, but I will be the first to admit that I am not the most artistic person in the world, so my stars came out a bit distorted and I quit after 3 tries. Sorry for the deformed stars, Hetal!

 

 

I opted to leave the glaze off of the tarts since I was shipping them in the mail and didn't want them to get soggy. I highly recommend that you make a simple powdered sugar glaze and drizzle it over the top for a little added sweetness. After all, what's a pop tart without the glaze?

 

So let me tell you a little bit about my partner for this month's swap. Her name is Hetal, and her blog Pretty Polymath, has a lot of amazing recipes (including these cute little meringue cookies she sent to me). Plus she is a contestant on this season of Master Chef! How exciting is that? Go Hetal! I'm rooting for you, girl! I have always wanted to compete on Master Chef so you're my inspiration...

 

I hope Hetal enjoys my 4th of July inspired Pop Tarts as much as I enjoyed making them for her!

 

If you'd like to join in the of the fun of The Leftovers Club, sign up here! New members are always welcome!!

 

 

Blueberry and Raspberry Hand Pies
Makes 8 pies

Note:
If you decide to make both fillings, you will have some leftover. Either make more crust or just make one of the fillings.

Plan ahead, the dough should be refrigerated overnight if possible or at least for a few hours so it is well chilled.


Ingredients

Crust Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup of very cold unsalted butter cut into tablespoon size pieces
1/2 cup very cold sour cream

Filling Ingredients

Blueberry Filling
1 cup fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 tsp fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Raspberry Filling
6 oz fresh raspberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Make the pie crust

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

Add the butter and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until most of the butter is the size of peas. Stir in the sour cream with a rubber spatula just until combined. There may be some residual flour left at the bottom but that will get mixed in when you form the ball of dough.

Using your hands, quickly form the dough into a ball then turn out onto a lightly floured surface, then roll into an 8"x10" rectangle. Fold the long ends over like a letter, then repeat the rolling and folding process one more time. During this process you make need to use a bench scraper to scrape the dough from the surface and add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Once you have done the folding and rolling process twice. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Overnight preferred.

Make the fillings

Place all of the Blueberry Filling ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan and cook over medium low heat until thickened. This happens pretty quickly, but be sure to allow some time for some of the blueberries to break down. Your filling should be pretty thick (like the consistency of thick jam). If it seems too thick before the berries start to break down, add a little more water and cook just a little longer. Place the mixture in a bowl and allow to cool.

Clean out the sauce pan and make the raspberry filling. Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Place the raspberries and sugar in the saucepan, then add the cornstarch water mixture and cook over low heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stir a few times then remove from heat and place the mixture in a bowl to cool.

After the dough has chilled several hours (or overnight) and your fillings have cooled, assemble the hand pies.

Preheat oven to 425F

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14"x14" square. Cut into 16 squares. Place on a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and get chilled again.

After 20 minutes, remove from fridge and brush the edges of 8 of the squares with egg wash, then place a tablespoon or more of filling in the center of 8 of the squares. Top with the remaining 8 squares of dough then crimp the edges with a fork. Brush with egg wash then sprinkle with turbinado sugar and cut a few small slits into the top. If you are using a small cookie cutter to cut a design in the tops, do this before you place the dough on top and do not cut any vent holes.

Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, cool on baking sheet for about a minute then remove to a cooling rack.

Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze before serving if desired.

Enjoy!

Adapted from King Arthur Flour and My San Francisco Kitchen

An InLinkz Link-up

Friendship cupcakes:Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon frosting

Baking as a form of expression is one of my favorite ways to say thank you. Recently, I want thank two special women who have been very helpful so I went to the kitchen to see what I would come up with. After searching the ingredients I had to work with, I came up with this combination - lemons from my parent's tree and raspberries from the local farmers market, a perfect combination for these Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon frosting! I found this recipe for Raspberry Cupcakes and the frosting was an adaptation from my Banana Boat Cupcake frosting recipe.  This recipe came out exactly the way I wanted, fresh, sweet and tart.  The cake is perfect, not too dense. And the frosting is light with bright lemon flavor.  

 

I hope you give this recipe a try.

Happy Cooking everyone!

Friendship Cupcakes: Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:
2 1/3  cup Flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cup whole milk
1/3 cup pureed fresh raspberries

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup of unsalted butter (softened)
1 vanilla bean (scraped)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-7 oz jar Marshmallow Cream
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup half and half milk or whole milk
12 raspberries for decorating

Prep Work:
1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. Line cupcake pan with 12 liners. (I prefer the ones that have the aluminum interior)
3. Take about ½ cup of fresh raspberries and puree them using a fork and small bowl.  Set aside

Recipe
1.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a mixer, slowly add oil until the mixture looks crumbly. 
2. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and pureed raspberries to flour mixture. Beat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Fill each cupcake liner with raspberry batter till its about ¾ filled.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

FROSTING:
1. Beat butter until it is smooth.
2. Add vanilla ,lemon zest, lemon juice and marshmallow cream and mix until combined.
3. Gradually add powdered sugar at low speed.
4. Add half and half milk or milk and beat at high speed till nice and fluffy.
5. Place frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorating tip or in a plastic storage bag with the corner cut off. Frost as desired.
F. Garnish each cupcake with a fresh Raspberry.

Enjoy!

Easy Blackberry/Raspberry Cobbler

What to make,what to make...That is the question 

I was asking myself last week. A friend recently asked me to bake  a dessert for a dinner her and her husband were attending. Originally I had apples in mind, but as soon as I went to the store and saw the beautiful in season berries, my whole idea changed! This is one of the great things about going grocery shopping... it's filled with endless ideas.  So with my basket filled with blackberries and raspberries I headed home. I looked around for a good recipe and finally settled on one by the Pioneer Woman.  I have changed the recipe up quite a bit, but the foundation is the same - to really focus on the seasonal fruit.  I did a test run on the recipe the day before, just to make sure all my flavors were working the way I pictured they would.  All I can say is this Easy Blackberry/ Raspberry Cobbler is DELICIOUS!  I rely on Earl for the final seal of approval when I do my taste testing.  He had two helpings, so yes, it passed the test! The blackberries and raspberries work wonderfully with the vanilla and orange zest. This dessert is fruity and fragrant, sweet and tart; the perfect combination. Top it off with some vanilla ice cream and you have nothing but perfection! Easy and Delicious, my type of recipe.

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients
1 stick Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
1 cup Whole Milk
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup Raspberries (rinsed and patted dry)
1 cup Blackberries(rinsed and patted dry)
1/4 cup Turbindo Sugar (raw sugar works good too)


Prep work:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter a 2 quart casserole dish, set aside
Scrape vanilla bean and put seeds into 1 cup of milk, set aside.

Zest orange, 1/2 tablespoon is about one medium orange
In a small bowl, Melt butter (about 30 seconds in Microwave)

Directions:
In a medium size bowl pour white sugar  and flour. Mix using a whisk.

Add vanilla milk and whisk together.

Add melted butter,  Then add orange zest.

Mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated
Pour mixture into casserole dish. Spread evenly.

Taking the raspberries and blackberries, place them over the batter, 
pressing down lightly until the majority of the batter is covered.

Sprinkle Turbindo Sugar on top

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Top will be a light golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!!!