Lady Cakes

I went outside at daybreak and heard birds singing! Music to my ears after the seemingly endless run of cold and snowy (and silent) weather this winter. A respite is forecast for the weekend with relatively balmy temperatures, maybe even 50 degrees, and plenty of sunshine. Should feel like heaven.

Here are some little cakes I made to have with a cup of tea or coffee. I made these because I wanted an excuse to use my square muffin pan. They are super easy to make and clean up is a breeze--no mixer or food processor needed. They are not too sweet and have a texture somewhere between a scone and a cupcake.

Lady Cakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. butter, sliced into pieces, and allowed to come to room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place oven rack in upper third of oven. Butter and flour muffin pan or use cupcake liners, if desired.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix and cut in the butter until the mixture becomes moist crumbs. Add egg yolk, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk. Beat together, with a wooden spoon or spatula, until well combined.

Crumb Topping
3/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. butter, melted

Combine the flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon. Pour the melted butter over the flour mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until all the dry ingredients are moistened but still crumbly.

Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups and top each with some of the crumb mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until the cakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving, if desired.

Found List #3

(front and back)

Pear Blue Chicken Salad

About a year ago I decided I really like the taste of fruit with roasted chicken. Therefore, I enjoy making chicken salad with leftover roasted chicken and seasonal fresh fruit. For my most recent version, I used pears and blue cheese, which is a classic flavor combination.

I loved the pears in this! Their fresh, juicy mildness was the perfect contrast to the strong cheese and the heartiness of the chicken. I think pears are a little underrated and I often forget how delicious they are.

Pear Blue Chicken Salad
5 cups (approx.) roasted chicken, torn into bite-size pieces
3 bosc pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 oz. blue cheese, cubed or crumbled
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup pecans, toasted, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey

Toss together the chicken, pears, blue cheese, shallot, and pecans. For the dressing, whisk the vinegar and honey into the mayo, until very smooth. Pour over the chicken mixture and stir gently until well coated.

Note: The dressing tastes best if made the day before and refrigerated overnight.

Irish Soda Bread

I had made a big pot of soup and decided I wanted a bread to serve with it. It was too late in the day to start a yeast bread, and ordinarily I would have turned to cornbread, or even biscuits. But I wanted a loaf of bread, partly because I was already planning ahead for sandwiches the following day.

There are many variations on Irish Soda Bread and some question whether the Irish even invented it. Some recipes call for raisins but I opted not to include them. I did however, add some sugar for a little sweetness. The traditional bread is shaped into a round with an X cut into it to prevent the crust from cracking. I used a well buttered loaf pan and let 'er crack.

The bread was moist, dense, slightly sweet, buttery, and delicious with our soup. It was great for sandwiches the next day and excellent toasted and spread with apple butter, the day after that, for breakfast.

Irish Soda Bread
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine all dry ingredients well. Stir egg into buttermilk, then pour this mixture, all at once, into the dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Stir in the butter. Pour into a buttered loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Croissant Bread Puddings with Chocolate

Sometimes food seems to fly out of my kitchen. At other times, a food will take on a seemingly mysterious ability to last forever. The latter usually happens when I've been on a kick of indulging on an item until we are tired of it. Several years ago it happened with portobello mushrooms and I still can't look at one of those the same. More recently, I did it to myself with feta cheese--probably won't want any of that for a while. If I don't slow down on chickpeas, they will be next.

Of late, I have been on a mild croissant bender. Until I had to stop replenishing my croissant inventory and noticed that I had a few on hand that would need to be used or tossed in a day or two. (You know your bread has some age on it when you start checking for moldy spots.) I decided to use them for a bread pudding. I also spotted some Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao) leftover from my Christmas baking and decided to use them too. The pudding was delicious, when puffy and still warm from the oven.

Croissant Bread Pudding with Chocolate
7 - 8 cups leftover croissants or other bread, cut up or torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup chocolate chips
Butter
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 quart milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Heavily butter a 3 quart shallow baking dish. Place the bread in the dish. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs then add the sugar. Whisk until well blended, then add the milk. Continue to whisk until evenly colored; stir in the vanilla. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and press down any bread that floats to completely saturate it. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 - 60 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.


The next day I was looking at the pudding. It was no longer puffed, but rather sunken, and very unattractive. I thought I'd cut it into squares to help the aesthetics, because the taste was great. Then I thought no, I'll take a biscuit cutter and cut it into rounds. Then, Hey, it's Valentine's Day, I'll cut it into hearts.


A little dusting of confectioner's sugar, and now it is pretty.