Sweet Irish Soda Bread

February 17
No comments yet

Sweet Irish Soda Bread
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 Loaf 15 Minutes
Cook Time
45 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 Loaf 15 Minutes
Cook Time
45 Minutes
Sweet Irish Soda Bread
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
1 Loaf 15 Minutes
Cook Time
45 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 Loaf 15 Minutes
Cook Time
45 Minutes
Ingredients
Servings: Loaf
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, sift together first 5 ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry knife until the mix resembles coarse crumbs. Add the nutmeg and stir slightly.
  2. In a small bowl mix the buttermilk, egg and almond extract. Add to the dry mix and stir until just moistened.
  3. You may need to knead the dough in the bowl until it's formed enough to turn out onto a floured surface. It may seem crumbly. Knead again on the surface about 12 times until the dough is elastic enough to stay together nicely.
  4. To make a traditional loaf: Form the dough into a round or oval loaf and place on a greased or parchment lined tray. You can also place it in a large, greased loaf pan. Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden and a pick comes out clean. Remove from oven and brush with the water & sugar mix.
  5. To make a clover: Cut off 1/3 of the dough and shape into a 3" stem. Set aside. Shape the remaining dough into a ball and cut into 3 equal wedges. Make a 1" cut into the rounded side of each wedge and separate it slightly creating a heart shape. Place the three wedges on a parchment lined (or greased) baking sheet with the points pressed together to form a shamrock shape. Press the stem into the base. Bake & brush with sugar mix same as above.
  6. To make biscuits: Pat the dough flat enough to cut with a biscuit cutter. Try not to over work the dough. You can also drop by hand if desired. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden. Brush with sugar mix right from the oven.
  7. Can serve any variety warm or cool!
  8. For more traditional bread add 2 Cups raisins and 2 Tablespoons caraway seeds in place of the almond and nutmeg.

Strawberry Muffins

July 14
No comments yet

Strawberry Muffins
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 muffins 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 muffins 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Strawberry Muffins
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 muffins 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 muffins 15-20 Minutes
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Ingredients
Servings: muffins
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners. Spray liners and pan with non-stick cooking spray to prevent excess batter at the top of muffin from sticking.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. Beat the butter and sugar until well combined, approximately 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each and scraping sides of the bowl. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts.
  4. Add the flour mix in small batches, alternating with the milk and ending with the dry ingredients.
  5. Toss the diced strawberries with 2 T extra flour to keep them from dropping to the bottom of the batter. Set aside 1/2-2/3 cups of the berries. Gently stir in the remaining berries into the batter until they're just incorporated.
  6. Scoop batter into the muffin liners evenly, they will be full. Top the batter with remaining berries and sprinkle with brown sugar.
  7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a pick comes out clean. If any batter sticks to the edges, use a knife to loosen it. Let muffins cool in the pan for another 20-30 minutes. Then place them on a rack to completely cool. Serve while tops are crispy.

Best Sugar Cookie

March 5
No comments yet

Best Sugar Cookie
Print Recipe
a sugar cookie recipe that keeps its shape without chilling
Servings Prep Time
3 dozen 30 minutes
Cook Time
6-8 minutes
Servings Prep Time
3 dozen 30 minutes
Cook Time
6-8 minutes
Best Sugar Cookie
Print Recipe
a sugar cookie recipe that keeps its shape without chilling
Servings Prep Time
3 dozen 30 minutes
Cook Time
6-8 minutes
Servings Prep Time
3 dozen 30 minutes
Cook Time
6-8 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: dozen
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer cream the butter and sugar until smooth, approximately 3 minutes
  2. Beat in the extracts and egg
  3. In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. Do not chill the dough. Divide it into workable batches, roll out on a floured surface to approximately 1/4" thick round. cut with cookie cutters.
  4. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack. Frost and serve or freeze un-frosted cookies.

Lavender Pound Cake

February 6
No comments yet

Lavender Pound Cake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 small cakes 20 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 small cakes 20 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Lavender Pound Cake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
2 small cakes 20 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 small cakes 20 minutes
Cook Time
90 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: small cakes
Instructions
  1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy.
  2. In a separate bowl add the flour and salt and set aside
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, alternating with the flour/salt mixture. mix well with each addition ending with flour. Then add the lemon, vanilla, almond extracts and the apricot nectar-mixing until blended. Fold in the lavender flowers by hand.
  4. Pour batter into two well greased, small pudding molds (similar to a small bundt or angel food pan) or you can use an alternate container such as a ovenproof bowl or clean, new, flour pot. you may need to adjust the bake time if using a container without a hollow center like the molds)
  5. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 315 degrees for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes or until pick comes out clean.
  6. Cool 15-20 minutes. Loosen edges of pan with a knife and turn out from pan and cool completely. This cake freezes wonderfully. You can ice it and serve immediately or wrap well and freeze for up to 6 months.

easy almond-vanilla icing

April 2
No comments yet

easy almond-vanilla icing
Print Recipe
Servings
1 cake
Servings
1 cake
easy almond-vanilla icing
Print Recipe
Servings
1 cake
Servings
1 cake
Ingredients
Servings: cake
Instructions
  1. cream together the cream cheese & butter, add in the liquid flavors.
  2. begin adding powdered sugar a cup at a time and milk if needed until you reach your desired thickness.
Recipe Notes

if you’re not piping cupcakes the icing may not need to be as thick.  i actually used about 3-4 cups for this cake so i could make a thinner coating (and it is easier to spread on a full cake if it’s not too thick!)