Its really hot this summer. Technically its not as hot as it was last summer, but somehow it seems worse this year or I’m becoming a bigger and bigger wimp. You’d think that being born & raised in Texas would mean that I have some sort of tolerance from the heat but no! One of the best ways to cool down is a bit of ice cream. I’ve mentioned before that sherbet is my new summer go-to. Not as bad for you as ice cream but fruity with some fabulous creaminess. One of my priorities for this summer was to find/create a perfect orange cream sherbet. This is it. We love love love this recipe. You can use grocery store orange juice. Its still good but fresh squeezed is worth the effort Enjoy!

Orange Cream Sherbet

1 Tbsp grated orange zest from 1 to 2 oranges
1/2 – 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
2 cups fresh-squeezed orange juice, ~ 2 to 3 pounds oranges
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk

In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, combine all of the ingredients except the milk, and process until the sugar is dissolved, approximately 1 minute. Transfer this mixture to a mixing bowl, and whisk in the milk. Cover the bowl, and place in the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40°F or below, approximately 1 hour.

When mixture is thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to storage container; press plastic wrap against surface of sherbet & freeze until firm. To serve, let stand at room temperature until softly softened.

Source: Adapted from Alton Brown

I’ve been bad lately in terms of my eating habits. I’ve been eating everything in sight and not particularly in moderation. Ice cream? Scones? Cookies? Yes please! Have you noticed?? Lots of baking recipes lately! With all the guilt that’s come along with all that bad eating… I decided to make something healthy! Cookies! ha! Ok, I decided to bake something to make me feel a little less guilty. Wheat flour? Check. Fruit? Check. Equation for healthy right?

These are great cookies! Half scone/half cookie, buttery but not too sweet with a bit of peachy goodness. Summer perfection! And if you’re not sick of peaches already, stay tuned cause there are even more peach recipes coming your way! But for today, I’m gonna take a moment to participate in a little Getting to Know You exercise. Branny recently tagged me recently and I decided to actually participate!  I spend a lot of time talking about food and food related things and not that much time talking about myself so here are some tidbits for you:

1. What was on your To-Do list today? Since I’m actually writing this post Tuesday night, I’ll tell you what’s on my to do list for tomorrow: Buy frames for new office prints, Order photo mats for new prints, Laundry, Bible Study.
2. Five Snacks you enjoy: (1) Goldfish, (2) Strawberries with Vanilla Sugar, (3) Butter Popcorn, (4) Chocolate anything, (5) Chips & Salsa.
3. Five Places you have lived: (1) My parents’ home in Austin, Texas (2) College Dorms at Texas A&M University (3) My first apartment living alone in Austin, Texas (4) Singapore, kinda. I was there for 9 months but that was broken up among 4 trips but we had an apartment (5) Our first home!
4. What were you doing 5 years ago: I was graduating from college (WHOOP!), starting my first job, moving into an apartment by myself (first time living alone), getting a proposal from my wonderful sweetheart and starting wedding planning (which was a whirlwind since we got engaged Sept 17 and got married Jan 6! Not much time to plan!)
5.  Five things you would do if you were a billionaire: (1) Travel. A lot. (2) Build my dream house complete with my fabulous gourmet kitchen (3) Give to charity/Start a non-profit (4) Take care of friends/family (5) Have a big family.

I’d love to know a little more about you, my wonderful loyal reader, take a stab at a question or two or all of them if you’re ambitious!

Wheat Peach Shortcake Cookies

2 cups pitted & roughly chopped, ripe peaches
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup half-and-half

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Toss the peaches with 1 tablespoons of sugar and set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it between your fingers (or mix with a pastry blender) until it looks like coarse crumbs. Gently stir in the half-and-half, followed by the peaches.

Scoop up about 2 tablespoons of dough and drop onto prepared baking sheet(s). Repeat with remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 2″ apart. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until beginning to brown on the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Best served immediately, but can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart as seen on Cate’s World Kitchen

Project Pastry Queen has officially commenced with week two of recipe posting! This recipe was my first pick for our little project; I’ve had my eye on this recipe forever. I’d love to make actual fried pies but I’ve never fried anything at home so I opted for the baked version. Not such a bad “alternative” since pies are traditionally baked anyway

Rebecca Rather calls these 4th of July pies since the original recipe calls for blueberry, white peach and cherry fillings (catch that? red, white & blue). I contemplated making red, white & blue fillings but finally decided on peach (since its still peach season) and a a brown sugar & pecan fillings since pecan pie is my favorite and hubby has this thing against cooked fruit, I knew he probably wouldn’t touch the peach pies. (Although, I did get him to taste them and he declared them not bad).

I’m sure the fried variety are better than the baked, after all there are probably very few things that aren’t better fried But having not attempted the fried version personally, we thought these were rather good especially topped with some homemade vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

4th of July Fried Pies
Yields: ~ 12 pies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup ice water
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 egg (optional, if baking)

Peach Filling:
2 large peaches, pitted & chopped into 1/2-inch dice
2-3 Tbsp peach preserves

Pecan Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F if baking the pies. Heat 3 inches of oil in a frying pan or dutch oven if frying pies.

Prepare fillings: Combine chopped peaches & preserves in a small bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, chopped pecans, melted butter and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Make the dough: Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the ice water and gently form the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into two halves. Lightly flour a smooth surface, and roll out each half to 1/16-inch thick (just thicker than a tortilla) and cut into ~5-inch rounds. Re-roll the scraps and cut additional rounds. Fill each round with 1 heaping Tablespoon of filling. Fold the dough into a half-circle; wet your fingers and press to seal the edges with water. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal the pies.

To bake the pies: Brush tops of prepared pies with an egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water). Bake on parchment lined baking sheets in the top 1/3 of the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Best served warmed and eaten the same day, but can be reheated at 325°F for 5-10 minutes.

To fry the pies: Gently fry the pies in the hot oil, 2-3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Drain fried pies on paper towels.

For the glaze: Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together and brush over the warm pies. Serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from The Pastry Queen

I’m a chocolate fiend. I’ve said it time and time again. I’ll choose chocolate anything over all other desserts although my fondness of non-chocolate desserts is constantly growing. But sometimes you really need some vanilla ice cream; its perfect for things like chocolate cake, pies & ice cream sandwiches. So everyone needs a go-to vanilla recipe and this one is ours. Vanilla bean and pure vanilla extract makes this super fabulously vanillay.

There are two kinds of ice cream — French style ice cream which has an egg custard base or American style ice cream which doesn’t have eggs. You won’t find any of the French variety on my blog since I can’t eat eggs which is beneficial for me since its easier & faster to make than the french style. However, the french-style ice cream has a richer, creamier taste & consistency so it definitely has its place.

Next time you need some ice cream to along side that cake or pie, whip this one up!

Serious Vanilla Ice Cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Combine 1 cup of cream with sugar and pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into saucepan and add the pod. Warm over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add remaining cream (or milk) and the vanilla extract.

Chill thoroughly in refrigerator. Remove vanilla bean, rinsing & reserving for another use. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Source: Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

I recently posted a quick poll on our Facebook fan page to see what kind of ice cream recipes y’all wanted to see on the blog. Chocolate Peanut Butter won but Strawberry Cheesecake didn’t fall far behind. Cheesecake also happens to be hubby’s favorite dessert so this ice cream was a natural choice in our house. The first time I made it, I was impatient. The ice cream and strawberry sauce weren’t chilled enough so the strawberry sauce didn’t make a pretty swirl; instead I got pink strawberry cheesecake ice cream. It tasted fine but it wasn’t pretty! I also thought that the recipe as written was too cream cheesy and I wanted it to have a stronger milky, creamy flavor so I did a bit more tweaking. The result was perfection. All you cheesecake lovers, give this a try!

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
Zest of one lemon
1 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cup half and half*
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Strawberry Sauce (Yields 1 cup):
3/4 pounds strawberries, rinsed and hulled (~ 2 cups roughly chopped)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Zest the lemon directly into a blender or food processor, then add the cream cheese, sour cream, half and half, sugar and salt and puree until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Make Strawberry Sauce: Puree the strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth. Press the puree through a strainer to remove the seeds. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Once ice cream mixture and strawberry sauce have chilled thoroughly, freeze the ice cream mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

To finish the ice cream: Put one third of finished ice cream in a container. Top with some strawberry sauce and gently swirl with a sharp knife. Repeat layers. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.

Source: Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

I really don’t know when I started liking lemon. I used to say I only liked things that were mildly lemony but I hardly think that’s the case anymore. It all started with Ina’s fabulously Lemon Yogurt Cake. These cookies actually remind me of that cake a lot. These are lemony delicious. The ricotta makes a very moist, almost cakey cookie. It also means that if you store these in an airtight container, they get really soft and gooey so I recommend just loosely covering them so they get a bit of air.

Not gonna lie, I ate these like 4 at a time (ok maybe more than 4 but they’re small-ish so its not too bad??). I even ate them for breakfast. More than once. They are so good. Seriously, go make these. These are up there among my favorite cookies ever.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze
Yields: ~ 7 dozen 1.5″ cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
zest of one lemon

For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. lemon juice
zest of one lemon

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a fork to combine and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to incorporate, scraping down the bowl between additions. Add the ricotta cheese, the lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix to combine. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets (about 1 tablespoons per cookie). Bake for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, in a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk until smooth. Spoon a small amount of glaze onto each cookie and spread gently using the back of the spoon. Let the cookies sit to allow the glaze to harden, about 2 hours. Store loosely covered.

Source: Giada’s Kitchen by Giada De Laurentiis

I recently took a quickie poll on Facebook to see what kind of ice cream y’all would most be interested in me making and Chocolate Peanut Butter won out, followed by Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. That recipe/post will come another day. For now, lets talk chocolate peanut buttery goodness.

I love chocolate. Love, love, love. But I’ve never been a huge peanut butter fan until recently. I’m actually still not a huge peanut butter fan but the Chocolate Peanut Butter combo has grown on me in recent years.I’ve particular become very fond of Reese’s pieces straight from the fridge — nice and icy cold. Yum. I was pretty surprised that I liked this ice cream as much as I did. It was much more peanut buttery than I expected but it was fabulous. This is made for you peanut butter lovers.

Want to amp up this ice cream?? Make sundaes by topping it off with marshmallow fluff & graham cracker crumbs. Its absolutely delish!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Yields about 1 quart

2 cups half and half
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

In a large pan, whisk to combine the half and half, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.  Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil.  You’ll know you’re there when the mixture starts to foam up.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter, whisking to blend thoroughly.

Refrigerate the mixture to chill thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

I’ve been doing some baking recently with butter! I know, strange way to start a post but this really is exciting for me. The last year has been so full of whole wheat, low fat baking goodies that its nice to be baking occassionally with the good stuff. Weight watchers has been good to me. I haven’t counted points in 9 months and have managed to maintain my weight (without working out. shame on me). So, I figure its time to learn to bring a little bit of yummy baked goodness back into our lives. I keep giving away massive quantities of baked goods so I don’t eat too much of it though. Hubby is not a fan of my solution cause it disappears so quickly but that is the point after all! And its nice to get other opinions on recipes beyond our little household (p.s. this one has been described as amazing).

It only took one bite of this cake for it fly up the charts to land amongst my favorite baked goods ever. The grated zucchini helps produce a very moist and airy cake. Its packed with delicious cinnamon chocolate flavor that really hits home. Its not overly sweet which I love. If you want something a little sweeter, definitely double the glaze but for my tastes its just perfect as posted below.

Definitely give this one a try the next time you have a pile of zucchini from the garden that you don’t know what to do with or go out and buy some just for this cake cause its worth it! Oh and if you are using large garden grown zucchini, scoop out the seeds if its particularly large before grating. And don’t worry about squeezing out any moisture from the zucchini — you want all that goodness in the cake! Enjoy!

Mini Chocolate Zucchini Cakes

Cake:
2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour, unsifted
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups finely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk

Glaze (Double if you really like icing):
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special Equipment Needed:
Mini Bundt Pans

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla and zucchini. Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture.

Pour the batter into 10 greased and flour-dusted mini bundt pans (alternatively use a 10-inch bundt pan). Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean (bake 45-50 minutes for a 10-inch bundt). Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.

Mix together 1 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake while still warm.

Source: Adapted from Simply Recipes

I forgot how much I loved butter until I made this pound cake. haha. But really, I haven’t made anything with this much butter in probably well over a year. I’m constantly cutting fat in recipes and I never bake anything that requires much more than one stick of butter, simply because I worked too hard last year to lose 20 pounds and I don’t want it piling back on. But once every year or so its okay to go to town with a little butter right? Original pound cake recipes called for a full pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour each; thus the name Pound cake. Can you image all that delicious buttery cake??

This pound cake recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours. I’ve made Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake multiple times and its a sure winner so when I decided to make a pound cake recently, I had to turn to Dorie’s Perfection Pound Cake. While the flavor of this pound cake was as buttery and delicious as they come, its a bit on the dry side for my taste. But topped with some strawberries, its perfect. Dorie actually suggests toasting it and slathering with jam but I’m not big on jam so didn’t have any around to give it a try, but I hope you will!

Perfection Pound Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 2-1/4 cups cake flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan or an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 to 2 minutes after each egg goes in. As you’re working, scrape down the bowl and beater often. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated – don’t overmix. In fact, you might want to fold in the last of the flour, or even all of it, by hand with a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top.

Put the cake into the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. If it’s browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. If you’re using a 9×5 pan, you’ll need to bake the cake for 70 to 75 minutes; the smaller pan needs about 90 minutes. The cake is properly baked when a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes. Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.Wrapped well, the cake will keep for 5 to 7 days at room temperature (stale cake is great toasted) or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

I’m not sure how May snuck up on me; time really does go faster as you get older. Speaking of getting older, May means birthdays for both hubby and I  Which means I need to start experimenting with some cake recipes! I rarely make cake but our birthdays give me a good excuse to experiment and have a little fun! (Any recipes you love that you want to throw my way?)

I’ve already been experimenting and having a little fun with my ice cream maker since the weather has warmed up (yup, we’re in the 90′s already). Sigh. The only good thing about warmer weather is lots of frozen treats. I love experimenting with my ice cream maker! And sherbet is definitely me new favorite treat. I can enjoy dessert without feeling too guilty cause its fruit, right? But its better than sorbet cause the milk adds some fabulous creaminess that gives you that indulgent feeling. Perfect middle ground, right? We think so.

Pineapple Sherbet

16 oz. frozen pineapple chunks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole milk

Combine all ingredients in large food processor. Puree until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Best when served immediately. Can be stored in freezer; leave out for approximately 10 minutes to soften before scooping and serving.