Winter is a Grand Time to Bake!

Sunday morning I awoke to 6 degrees F. Although it did warm up some later in the day, I knew from the time I got up that today would be a good day to bake. 

I am self-isolating till Omicron calms down and that includes from Rick for a few days. But I thought I could bake a few things I could leave on his doorstep!

I started out with Victoria Scones from Marie's ("The English Kitchen") "Best of British Baking" book. (I love this book!) 

I would like to tell you that I made the recipe just as Marie wrote. But poor planning on my part doesn't make for following a recipe. When I realized my milk was a lumpy, curdled mess, I substituted buttermilk, and since I didn't have the glace cherries she recommended, I incorporated about a half cup of dried cherries (or so) into the dough. Then when I made the dough rounds on the baking sheet, they were thicker than her 1/2 inch so they took a lot longer to cook.

Details, details! They are delicious, even with the buttermilk. I'm eager to do them "for real" soon. Her recipes are terrific! (When I cook a few more, I'll do a review, but my gut feeling is that it will be a good one -- and the price of this delicious book is very reasonable!)

I hadn't made madeleines in a while so I pulled out my favorite recipe which I'm happy to share with you, below. I did this batch as written, with orange zest, but I usually do them with lemon and both ways are good. On occasion, I will do a lemon glaze, which is great. This time I stuck to powdered sugar. Either way, a winner. 

(The secret? Letting the dough chill the full two hours, not overfilling the pans and after buttering and flouring the pans, chill them in the fridge or freezer. I don't know why it works but they come out like a charm.

Being on a roll, I decided to thaw a puff pastry crust and experiment. I recently did some cinnamon palmiers (which I'll share in another post) but I wanted something savory to leave at Rick's door. So, I checked out the fridge to see what was available.

 I had some gruyere cheese, shredded parmesan, frozen pesto I made last summer and some sliced ham. Hmmm. That sounded good. Ham and cheese with pesto? I could work with that!

So, I made a thin layer of parm on a piece of parchment and rolled it into the bottom of the thawed pastry sheet. On the top, I did a layer of pesto, some very finely diced ham, and then a layer of the gruyere mixed with some thyme. 

I decided to roll it two ways, cutting the dough in half width-wise. Half I rolled as I did the palmiers -- rolling each side in half to the middle and then cutting them. The other half I did as a spiral. Then I baked them about 25 minutes at 400. (I was thinking 20 but I may have cut them a little thick!)

It's a keeper! 

Then it was off to Rick's with my N95 firmly in place and a bag of treats to make his day a little brighter. (Post note: He gave it all a thumbs up!)

Here's the madeleine recipe:

Cream together: 

• 1/2 c. melted butter
• 2/3 c. sugar

Add: 

• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 t. orange zest (I did the whole orange, medium size -- I don't think 1/2 t. is nearly enough for either orange or lemon)

Add:

• 3 eggs, 1 at a time. 

When done, beat the whole thing for about three or four minutes. It will be very pale and appear to increase in volume.

Fold in:

• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 2/3 c. flour

Chill at least two hours and scoop into your madeleine pan. (I use my small cookie scoop but give it a good fill).

Bake about 10 minutes at 375. Cool and either glaze with a powdered sugar/juice glaze or dust with powdered sugar.

Then just enjoy! 

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