Raspberry Almond Financiers

I am a hopeless romantic. I can’t help it. I may be met by opposition, but if I bake enough pink, sugary things, I may just win one of them over.

I have had this recipe hanging around forever. I printed it out from a Martha Stewart magazine – which I cannot remember - years ago. It might be the boredom of winter. It might just be some sort of strange weekend baking jones – seems to be happening a lot lately! Whatever it was, these needed to finally be made.

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 cups sliced blanched almonds (6 1/2 ounces), lightly toasted and finely ground
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 large egg whites
• 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen), pureed and strained (1/2 cup)

NOTE: I used red foil mini muffin papers. Very cute for Valentine’s Day, but not so easy to take off!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

NOTE: I skipped the spraying since I was using the foil cups.

Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Add honey, and whisk until combined. Remove from heat.

Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine almonds, sugars, flour, and salt on low speed. Raise speed to medium-high, and add egg whites, one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined. Scrape down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low, and add warm butter-honey mixture in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to high, and beat for 45 seconds.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each halfway.

Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon raspberry puree near one edge of each cup. Draw a skewer or the tip of a paring knife through puree toward opposite edge of cup to form a heart shape.

Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly in tins on wire racks. Using a small offset spatula, carefully unmold financiers, and transfer to rack. Financiers are best served warm or the same day they are baked, but they can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days. If desired, serve or package financiers in decorative paper liners.

NOTE: The puree was not thick enough to hold it’s shape while baking. Next time I’ll cook it down a bit to get thicker. Also, I would bake them directly in the pan and then put them in the foil cups. The batter gets sticky once baked from the honey. All in all a good experience and yummy result!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

I love Valentine’s Day. I live in testosterone central. I respect the male thought that Valentine’s Day is purely a Hallmark holiday, but I am hard pressed to get them to realize that I love Valentine’s Day.

Is it the pinkness? Is it the promise of love and promises? Is it the recognizing and appreciating those in our lives that we often take for granted? Could be the chocolate! The Cookies! The cupcakes!

So, I, now,  sadly, do not buy cards or candy for the men in my house. I anticipate the same from them – as sad and under appreciated as that makes me feel.

I will not, however, give up hope that something pink will make them remember, perhaps smile, and know that they’re loved.

I made these sugar cookies for my son - they may even be gone as I am typing. I love to see the smile that breaks across his face when he bites into a warm cookie that he knows I baked just for him, the sugary kiss that gets planted on my cheek as he grabs 5 or 6 and runs out the door. It renews my faith in love, family, and hope that one of these days they will REMEMBER that I love Valentine’s Day.

I adapted this recipe from Martha’s Stewarts recipe in Cookies.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened
• 2 large eggs
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

Put white and brown sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly.

NOTE: I used the bottom of a glass to flatten. 

Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar.

NOTE: I used a white, coarse sanding sugar first.

Lightly brush with a wet pastry brush.

Then sprinkle with more sanding sugar.

NOTE: PINK! It’s Valentine’s Day and pink for some reason is one of my favorite colors, so it had to be PINK! THe two different colored sugars gave the cookies a nice shimmer.

Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS! Enjoy, with love from my kitchen to yours!

Blackberry-Swirl Pound Cake

Walking through the supermarket, wanting to bake something, waiting for inspiration, I came across these glorious blackberries.

Could you resist these? I know I couldn’t. And then from the recesses of my memory, I remembered a recipe in Everyday Food magazine for a Blackberry-Swirl Pound Cake. There was my answer!

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 6 ounces blackberries
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Lightly butter a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; butter parchment.

 

NOTE: I forgot to butter the parchment, and it made no difference.

 

In a food processor, puree blackberries with 2 tablespoons sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed.

With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Transfer half the batter to pan and dot with 1/2 cup blackberry puree.

NOTE: As you can see the inky black-purple of the black berries is very hard to capture.  And this is where I ran into my troubles. Yes, trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for BLACKBERRIES. My puree wasn’t thick enough. So there was no DOTTING the puree – not for a lack of trying!

Repeat with remaining batter and puree.

NOTE: Again, same problem.  I did something wrong, but I have NO clue what it was! All I could hope for was an oven miracle.

With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl batter and puree together. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours.

Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Lift cake out of pan and place on a serving plate; let cool completely before slicing. (Store cooled cake, wrapped tightly in plastic, at room temperature, up to 3 days.)

NOTE: This cake was really very good, though I didn’t have the swirl inside that you see in the magazine photo. This is definitely a do again cake. I just need to figure out where I went wrong with the puree!  Any thoughts?