It’s Like Buttah

Some friends graciously invited us over for brunch at their house tomorrow morning. I offered to contribute some scones and I knew just the type I wanted to make: cherry almond. I’m a pretty big fan of all kinds of scones, but cherry almond seems to have that extra special something. I think it might be the pairing of the sweet almond with the slight tart of the cherry.

Since my best scone recipe relies on eggnog, I turned to the all-knowing Internet to find a recipe. I came across this great-looking one by Anne Burrell, and that’s where things got a little wild. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/dried-cherry-almond-scones-recipe/index.html

As you can see, her recipe comes with an added bonus recipe for “honey butter.” As in “butter made from whipping cream and flavored with honey.” Well, I couldn’t think of a better way to burn up the afternoon, so I got the ingredients and gave it a whirl. Or rather, I gave it many, many whirls in the stand mixer. I followed Anne’s instructions carefully and beat that cream, honey, and orange rind until it curdled and gave off the buttermilk liquid. However, you will note that the recipe tells you that the solids will separate from the liquids and to continue beating until the butter comes together in one large clump. What she doesn’t tell you is to drain off the buttermilk and that’s pretty much a key point. If you don’t get rid of the liquid, it just keeps sloshing around and mixing the liquid through your butter solids and continues to look disgusting. After I realized this omission and drained the buttermilk off, I also added more honey to taste and beat it all until I liked the texture and form. Here’s the finished product.

We will see how it goes over tomorrow. I think it will be wonderful on the cherry almond scones.

Here are my two butter Pro Tips for anyone else who wants to attempt this perfect Saturday afternoon project.

1.)  Use a kitchen towel to cover the mixer so that you don’t get heavy cream and the inevitable buttermilk all over you, your mixer, and your kitchen.

2.)  For the love of Pete, drain off that buttermilk!

- Jenn

Marsh Madness

As Jenny already explained, cooking and baking have long been creative outlets for both of us, but they have become especially meaningful during this period of extended unemployment. When we pour our time and energy into a batch of persnickety cookies or an obscene amount of pickled jalapeno peppers, we can step back to check out our results and declare, “We kicked these cookies’ asses,” or, “My throat is still burning, but these peppers are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!” We delight in these culinary accomplishments—whether they are simply delicious or delicious simply, or even first-time failures yielding useful lessons for future endeavors.

It’s the perfect time of the year to use holiday gifts as an excuse for cooking and baking everything that strikes our fancy. I am already looking forward to my next project day with Jenny, and I am sure we will have to deal with our usual problem: not enough hours in the day to make all the things we would like. 

Last week was a busy one. In addition to our pickling project, we had a large marshmallow project to tackle for a baby shower. Jenny has become a bit of a marshmallow-making expert since her first experiments with them last winter. I had committed myself (and Jenny!) to making enough marshmallows to bag up and give to fifty baby shower attendees as favors. The marshmallows were to accompany packets of hot cocoa, so they didn’t constitute the entire favor, but there were still a lot of marshmallows needed.  Jenny showed up at my house with her trusty saucier pan, some extra casserole pans, and an impressively large bottle of red food coloring. We made four pans of speckled vanilla bean marshmallows and three pans of swirled red and white peppermint marshmallows.  Jenny ended up doing most of the work on these marshmallows because she was in the zone and I had some family drop by for lunch.

Now they have to set up overnight

I owe her big time, but look how cute they turned out! They taste even better than they look.

Still life with vanilla bean marshmallows

Peppermint swirls

The Final product

- Jenn