Desserts

I do enjoy a jaffa cake or two (although it's been a while since I bought any) and the chocolate orange flavour combo is generally a successful one. I decided to combine the flavours by using a chocolate cupcake base, marmalade to add orange, chocolate buttercream flavoured with orange extract and then topped with a mini jaffa cake. The cupcake recipe is my adaptation of the Hummingbird

[New for 2013] Ok, I know everyone and their uncle seems to have found today's flavor before I did, but that doesn't mean I'm still not excited. Peanut Butter is one of my favorite things. It's right up their with chocolate, and ice cream, and pie, and, well, you get the idea. If only someone could mix up all of my favorite things into one easy to hold package.... Behold! I've got my grubby

On my book tour's first leg (don't worry, there are more dates), I found myself in Portland, OR--a delightful city for foodies if ever there was one. There were plenty of delicious new spots, both brick and mortar and of the food truck variety, that I wanted to try. With limited time and obligations filling my time, it was tough to make it to many, but--and I was assured by more than one person--you've gotta go to Blue Star Donuts. Well, as it happened my first evening in Portland, my better half dinnered on a delicious Little Big Burger, a small burger joint with low prices but plenty of style. Tasty burgers, too. Guess what? Blue Star Donuts is owned by the same people! So even before going, I knew that they were probably going to be well made and served in a stylish setting (but then again, everyone in Portland is either a chef or graphic designer, so it's sort of a given). Well, once I got there, I knew I was going to like it from the moment I saw this sign: I was also amused by this: As you walk in, they have the donuts displayed prettily so you can see what each style looks like. And when you order, they take your name. Why? Because they glaze each donut to ORDER, so it might take a minute or two! We got an old fashioned cake glazed, a yeast glazed, and a yeast donut topped with dulce de leche and hazelnut. Here I am with a donut. If I look a little windblown, it's because I don't always let things like brushing my hair slow me down, preferring to head directly to the donut shop upon waking. Wow! Let's start by talking about the yeast doughnuts. They're so light and airy...almost briochelike in their lightness. They have a very good flavor. They have a very good texture. You'll never want to eat a Krispy Kreme again! That brioche-like thing, btw, was in fact confirmed when I looked at their facebook page, which says this: Our donuts are made from a classic brioche recipe that originated in the south of France. The dough is made from scratch every day: we start with a certified sustainable bread flour from Shepherds Grain, add Cage Free eggs from Stiebrs Farms, mix in whole milk from Sunshine Dairy, and then fold in a European-style butter from Larsen’s Creamery. All the fruits that go into our fillings and glazes are organic, and we only cook our donuts in rice oil. Our donuts are made fresh through out the day - selections change daily and sell out quickly! The dulce de leche hazelnut was VERY sticky, owing to the fact that it was so freshly glazed. This was a bit distracting, and perhaps it would have benefitted by waiting a few minutes before consumption, you know, to let it "set". But who does that? Who can wait with something like this within arm's reach? On to the old fashioneds. Both regular (yeast) and cake. Once again, that dazzling briochelike dough. What a fine donut! and the old-fashioned cake for last. A dense dough, sort of like that of a sour cream coffee cake or something. A crisp edge. Very good--but not as dazzling as the other two. But nonetheless a pure pleasure to eat. Blue Star Donuts--just donut! You won't regret it. Blue Star Donuts, 1237 SW Washington Street, Portland OR; online here.

Irish people love sweet things, and butterscotch is up there with most everybody’s favourites. It’s an easy flavour to make and a nice alternative to caramel. Don’t expect it to be around very long. It’s a bit unclear whether the name derives from Scotland, where it probably originated, or whether it’s a derivative of “scotched” or “scorched” butter. Either way, butterscotch makes a nice topping for ice cream and brings a deep earthy flavour to ice cream. I’ve found it makes little difference to flavour whether the butter and brown sugar is caramelised, so don’t worry about that part. We’ll simply be making a sweet, buttery ice cream! Murphys Butterscotch Ice Cream Ingredients: 110g brown sugar 5 egg yolks 220 ml cream 300 ml milk 30 g butter 1 tsp. vanilla essence 1/2 tsp salt What to do: Beat the sugar, salt and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. Bring the milk and butter to a low simmer, stirring until butter is melted. Beat the milk & butter into the eggs and sugar in a slow stream. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs! Immediately remove from the heat. Refrigerate overnight. Stir in the vanilla. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip). Fold the cream (gently stir) into the custard. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer, stirring every few hours to break up the ice crystals. Yield: 8 servings Note: To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool. Bookmark to (click here): Hide Sites

It’s a weekend morning and the coffee is brewing. You’ve got plenty of reading material and there’s a relaxing quiet that surrounds the morning sunlight. There’s also an incredibly intoxicating aroma wafting from the oven. It’s freshly baked rolls and it’s enough to bring anyone out of their slumber to join you at the table. For something different and a bit more on the wholesome end of the spectrum for your brunch table, consider these rolls fresh from the oven. They have a good ratio of whole wheat flour, some oatmeal and they’re just slightly sweetened with honey and a touch of molasses. Serve them with butter and honey or your favorite jam or fruit compote to add another element of bliss to your weekend. On another note, I’m going to include metric weights in my recipes going forward for those who use scales and for my overseas readers. I hope you find this useful. Bench notes: - I use old-fashioned oats rather than “quick” oats in this recipe. - Ideal rise temperature for yeast dough is between 80° F - 90° F. - This dough doesn’t exactly double in size during the first rise, so use the finger test to determine if it’s ready for the next process. Just press your index finger about 1 1/2 " into the dough. If the indentation stays, the dough has completed the first rise. - After the first rise, the dough is “punched down” to release the carbon dioxide and even out the temperature. But rather than punching, gently press the air out with your fingers. - To form a roll, take the portion of dough and tuck the ends under the smooth side. Place seam side down in the pan. - Whole wheat flour contains bran, which inhibits elasticity of the dough, so I like to mix it with a good portion of all-purpose flour to produce a lighter pastry. Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Rolls Makes 12 rolls 1 pkg (1/4 oz; 7 g) active dry yeast 1/4 cup (2 oz; 57 g) lukewarm water 2 oz (4 tablespoons; 57 g) butter 1 cup (8 oz; 227 g) buttermilk 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (3 oz; 85 g) honey 2 tablespoons (1 1/8 oz; 32 g) molasses 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 large egg @ room temperature 3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz; 66 g) old-fashioned oats 1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz; 177 g) whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cups + 3 T (8 1/2 oz; 240 g) all-purpose flour 1 oz (2 tablespoons; 28 g) butter 2 teaspoons (10 g) honey 2 tablespoons (10g) oats Sprinkle yeast into lukewarm water, whisk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Melt the butter and whisk in the buttermilk, honey, molasses, salt, cinnamon and the egg. Whisk in the yeast mixture. Using a fork, sitr in the oats. Add the whole wheat flour and stir to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. Keep adding flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough on the work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 – 8 minutes. Smooth the dough into a round ball and place it in a bowl lightly greased with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free area for 1 – 1 1/2 hours. To test if it’s ready, press your finger about 1 1/2" into the dough. If it holds the indentation, it's ready. Grease a 9” x 3” cake pan. Gently press down the dough and place it on a work surface. Using a bench scraper or a knife, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Take each piece and form a ball. Place 9 rolls around the perimeter of the pan and 3 rolls in the center. Set in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F. Melt 1 oz of butter with 2 teaspoons of honey. Brush half of it over the tops of the rolls and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of oats. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake until rolls are golden brown, about 25

Do you hate coconut? Olives? Ginger? Hard Candies? Then read on!

I’ve been meaning to review this bar for a while. In fact, this is the third bar I’ve had. The previous two bars simply didn’t last long enough for me to write about. Why? To put it simply, this is the best milk chocolate in the world. Bar none. Duffy’s Venezuela Ocumare Milk Chocolate won a gold medal in this year’s Academy of Chocolate awards in the milk chocolate bean-to-bar category. It won a silver and a gold medal for the chocolate maker in this year’s International Chocolate Awards. Seventy% described it as “the best milk chocolate that has ever been produced”. I could go on, but really, the chocolate speaks for itself. At 55% cocoa solids, it has an intensely chocolatey flavour. There are notes of banana and red fruit in there with some nutty notes toward the end, but this isn’t a complicated chocolate, it’s just perfectly balanced and faultlessly executed. But don’t go thinking this is a chocolate bar just for awards judges and chocolate reviewers. This is a bar that everyone can enjoy. Every day milk chocolate fans will love the creamy, chocolatey flavour as much as anyone. I’m not going to go into too much depth here, because it really is something you need to try for yourself. I have a small 30g bar here which comes with this very attractive moulding pattern, but you can buy the larger 80g bars on Duffy’s website for a very reasonable £5.80. You couldn’t buy a half decent bottle of wine for that, let alone the best bottle of wine in the world. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it before I do. Information Buy it online from: RedStarChocolate.co.uk Contains milk chocolate (55% cocoa solids). Cacao Origin: Venezuela Filed under red star chocolate, uk. Tweet This The post Duffy’s Venezuela Ocumare 55% Milk Chocolate appeared first on Chocablog.

Sally's Baking Addiction is a food blog we love and strawberry shortcake cupcakes is one of my favorites. Check out her post with her recipe. Of note, she uses yogurt in the cupcake recipe.

On a hot day, there’s nothing more refreshing than an ice cold lemonade, right? With that lemony refreshment in mind, we’re proud to announce our May Limited Edition Ice Cream flavor, Southern Lemon Pie. The flavor is described as tangy lemon ice cream swirled with whipped marshmallow... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Wow! These root beer marshmallow cupcakes made by IrishMomLuvs2Bake are drool-worthy! Great photography, too.