Scones and Lemon Curd

Our little group of home school moms got together last week to kick off our school year.
We hosted things here with a lovely tea party for the moms and hot chocolate and play for the kiddos.

Each mom brought some goodies for our tea table or some treats for the kiddos – or both!

We had a huge selection of teas to choose from – everything from Earl Grey to green tea and herbal choices. And you should have seen our spread of goodies! Wow!

Dagmar was recently given a wonderful book with tea party recipes (thank you Faith!) – so she was in charge of our contributions – one of which was scones with whipped cream and lemon curd.

What a perfect – and very British – combination!

Scones

1-3/4 cup flour
2-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream

Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is the size of small peas.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs. Add the cream and combine.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into it. Combine with a few swift strokes. Do not over mix.

Place the dough on a floured board and pat until 3/4 inches thick. Cut with a knife into triangle shapes or use a biscuit cutter for circles.

Sprinkle the top with sugar and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Yummy for breakfast, lunch or tea time and absolutely perfect for lemon curd!

Lemon Curd

3 lemons (both the zest and enough for juice for 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt

Using a carrot peeler or lemon zester, remove the zest from 3 lemons, but be careful to not get any white pith.

Put the zest in a food processor with the sugar. Process until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Juice the lemons to get 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the lemon juice and salt. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened – which will be about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, pour into a fancy serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Serve on the scones with fresh whipped cream, or just eat it by the spoonfuls like some moms did!

Enjoy!

Creamy Mocha Fudge Cake

Creamy Mocha Fudge Cake While my parents were here over the weekend – Dagmar and my Mom enjoyed some kitchen time together.We all like it when they bond there – some very yummy things result! 🙂

Since Dagmar really loves coffee and doesn’t get it very often, she picked a chocolate cake recipe that includes a mocha whipped cream frosting.

Can you say “rich and decadent”?

You really don’t want to know the calorie count on this one. No – you really don’t.

But it’s very worth the buzz – both sugar and caffeine – that one slice will bring. I went to such a happy place… 😉

Disclaimer : Do not feed this cake to a 10 year old before bed time. He will bounce off the walls while singing all 67 verses to the Arkie Arkie song. If there weren’t 67 verses before – there are now. Trust me on this one – you have been warned.

Creamy Mocha Fudge Cake

1-1/4 cups of butter (yes – that is 2-1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup baking cocoa
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts – we used walnuts

Creamy Coffee Filling

1-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream – cold
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of 2 – 9 inch cake pans. Line with waxed paper and butter the paper.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and add cocoa, stirring until well-blended. Cool slightly.

Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy. Add salt and vanilla. Gradually add the sugar, beating well.

Add cooled chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in nuts. Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 prepared pans.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees (or until toothpick come s out clean). Do not over bake!

Cool 5 minutes and remove from the cake pans, carefully peeling off the waxed paper. Cool completely on wire racks.

When cooled, combine whipping cream, brown sugar, and instant coffee in a chilled bowl. Stir until combined, then beat into stiff peaks.

(Note – you should really sample this often as it beats so that you have the proper buzz going to frost the cake!)

To assemble, place one layer of the cake on a serving platter, spread with the Creamy Coffee Filling, place the second layer on top and use the rest of the filling to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Then – sit back and contently lick the bowl – making appropriate smacking noises to show your appreciation for such delicious calories!

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed With Grace, Tasty Tuesday over at Beauty and Bedlam, and Chocolate Friday over at Knit1Kids4.

Chocolate Chess Pie

Knowing my continuing effort to find the recipe for that perfect chocolate pie I enjoyed this summer at the farmer’s market – my sister sent me this recipe.

At first glance, I was pretty sure that it would not be the recipe I was drooling for – but since it was chocolate, we made it anyway.

Whoa baby! Was I wrong! This was a fabulous recipe! It’s thick chocolate filling was rich and creamy!

Is this the allusive chocolate pie recipe I’m seeking? It just might be. But why end the search so soon – there are still so many recipes to try!

Chocolate Chess Pie

Beat 2 eggs slightly

Mix in:

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. melted oleo
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour in unbaked 9 inch crust. Bake 30 minutes or more at 325 degrees.

Serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Snow Cake

Improvisation in the kitchen once again saved the day!

Every year we celebrate the first snow by making and enjoying a snow cake.

Traditionally we have made my favorite chocolate brownie recipe and then sprinkled powdered sugar on the top to look like new fallen snow.

This year however, the first snow came right after the “big move”. It was a time when my pantry was empty and my day was full.

When I heard the excited cries of “It’s snowing!”, my first thought was “Good!”. We had hoped to be in the new house by the first snowfall.

My second thought was one of panic as I frantically tried to remember if I had the ingredients I needed for snow cake, and more importantly, could I find them?!

Thank goodness for Dagmar! She found a brownie recipe and even made it for us. But when it came time to sprinkle the powdered sugar, we realized we were out.

It was time to improvise!

We had just unpacked all my pretty plates and china dishes to fill Grandma’s China hutch. So I pulled out my beautiful star plates. We put a brownie in each one and covered it with a big dollop of whipped cream (the snow).

Arranged together, the snow cake made a pretty presentation and received rave reviews from my children.

This is one special snow cake, it was an old tradition carried to our new home.