Cake con Pere e Cioccolato

Today  I was looking for this recipe and realized I had never put it on the blog.  I got this recipe out of an Italian cooking magazine. The chocolate-pear combination is tasty and it isn't super sweet.

Chocolate Pear Cake
Pears, 500g (about 2.5 pears--I usually use red pears)
Chocolate, 150g (about 5.25 ounces)
Flour, 200g (about 1.75 cups)
sugar, 150g (3/4 cup)
butter, 150g (1/2 stick + 4 Tbl)
5 eggs
salt
butter and flour for the pan

0. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour bundt pan.
1. Chop the chocolate and melt in a double boiler (or microwave)
2.  Peel, core, and dice pears. Toss the diced pears with 1 Tbl. flour.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Add chocolate, flour, sugar, and five egg yolks--reserve 2 egg whites.
5. Beat 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm.
6. Fold beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture.
7. Fold coated pear pieces into cake mixture.
8. Put cake into bundt pan.
9. Bake cake for one hour.

Dr. Pepper Brisket

So I'm going to write about how I turned this:

Into this:

I started with the smallest brisket they had at Fiesta: 11.13 pounds. I trimmed off the fat, and out of curiosity I weighed it: 2. 34 pounds.
I coated the brisket with salt, pepper, and some smoked pepper then seared both sides of the brisket. At first the brisket didn't fit into my huge roasting pan, but it shrank a little when I seared it and I was able to wiggle it in. I then coated the brisket (fattier side up) with a bbq sauce mixture.

Sauce
Stubbs Sweet Heat BBQ sauce (2/3 of the bottle?)
12 oz. can of tomato paste
whole grain mustard
Worcestershire sauce
brown sugar
honey
smoked pepper

Dr. Pepper

You know me, I don't measure. I just threw the sauce together. This is based on a root beer brisket slow cooker recipe. Well, no slow cooker could have held this brisket, and I don't do slow cookers anyway. I wanted to make a Texan brisket, so I used Dr. Pepper instead of root beer.

After coating the brisket with the BBQ sauce mixture I poured Dr. Pepper into the bottom of the pan. I cooked the brisket at 350 degrees F for 3 hours, then flipped it over. I cooked it another two hours then coated it in Dr. Pepper glaze. For the glaze I simply simmered Dr. Pepper in a small pot until it reduced down to almost nothing. When it cooled, it was basically Dr. Pepper syrup, which I brushed onto the meat. I cooked the brisket for another 30 minutes without the lid. When I pulled it out of the oven the meat was falling apart and had a kind of candy coating on the top.

The Dr. Pepper brisket was a hit at Seder last night. I will definitely make this again. Ross and I both love the sauce.

Valentine's Day Lemon Biscuits

Because I had been craving Ginger Lemon Cremes and had trouble finding them I bought some lemons at HEB, thinking I could make some lemon cake or lemon cupcakes. Luckily I found my cookies at Spec's, and didn't have to try and make some lemon-ginger cupcakes that wouldn't quite satisfy my craving.

Yesterday I decided I wanted to make biscuits, and I thought I'd use the lemons I bought to make some lemon biscuits. I modified the Better Homes and Gardens Biscuits Supreme recipe my parents always used and came up with some tasty lemon biscuits. They are definitely lemony, but not tart or bitter. It dawned on me that I could use my heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the biscuits: voila, Valentine's Day biscuits. These paired perfectly with cherry jam--and butter of course.

Lemony Biscuits
2 c sifted flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 Tbl sugar
grated lemon zest from 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c butter
1/2 c milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together.
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients--add milk all at once.
5. Stir in milk until just combined.
6. Knead dough until smooth.
7. Pat or roll out dough onto floured surface until 1/2 inch thick.
8. Cut out biscuits.
9. Bake 10-12 minutes.

This recipe supposedly makes 16 medium biscuits. I think I got 14. When grating the lemon zest try not to grate the white pith--that's the bitter stuff.

Ross said the biscuits were better with the cherry jam. Gotta love Bonne Maman.

Rod's Mexican Sheet Cake

I went to a little pot luck get together last night.  I didn't want to go to the store and buy things to make a main dish (I had originally thought of making gnocchi del Cassentino), so I decided to bake a cake. I mean, if there's anything I am in the cooking department, it's a cake baker. I figured I had everything to make Dad's Mexican Sheet cake. I measured, and I only had 4 Tbl. of cocoa. Oops. I had to go to the store anyway to buy cocoa powder. Still, this cake is easier than gnocchi.  The cake was a real hit last night and I promised to post the recipe. So--full credit to my dad, Rod Burton, who perfected this recipe (and of course I still mess with it).

Rod's Mexican Sheet Cake
Ingredients:
1 c. butter (2 sticks)
1 c. water
6 Tbl. cocoa powder
2 c. sugar (I skimp a little)
2 c. flour
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla (preferably Mexican)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. pasilla chile
1/2. tsp. chile arbol
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I omit this sometimes and just throw in some other kind of chile powder)
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan with nonstick spray.
3. Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil.
4. Add sugar and flour and mix to combine.
5. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
6. Mix in vanilla and spices.
7. Stir baking soda into buttermilk and to chocolate mixture.
8. Mix thoroughly.
9. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
10. Nom. Nom. Nom.

For the fancy lace top: use either a paper lace or lace fabric and lay it on the cake. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the cake/lace--I use a fine mesh thingy and tap it to sprinkle the sugar.  Then carefully remove the lace. Don't put too much sugar, or it will go everywhere when you try to remove the lace. I use a lace shirt that I have to do the design. Last night I was really tempted to add black pepper to the cake, but I decided not to. Maybe next time.

If you like this cake you might like my Chocolate Pink Peppercorn Honey Cake. I used my dad's sheet cake recipe as a base--along with a ginger cake that I've made before. I guess I really like pepper.

Mexican Rockets

I came across a recipe for Mexican chocolate fudge pops. It sounded easy enough, so I tried it out. Of course I have to tweak every recipe I try.

Mexican Chocolate Fudge Pops
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup (the recipe called for agave nectar, but I'm out)
1 teaspoon vanilla (preferably Mexican vanilla)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
Pasilla chile powder
Ancho chile powder
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1. Bring all ingredients except for semisweet chocolate to a simmer over medium heat, whisking to blend it all together. Give it a taste to see if it needs more heat or sugar.
2. After milk mixture is well blended add chopped semisweet chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted.
3. Pour fudge mixture into pop molds.  The recipe says it makes 9. I made 9, but they were skimpy.
4. Freeze pops for a few hours before nom, nom, nomming them.

I have Pasilla and Ancho chile powder because that's what I make Dad's Mexican Sheet Cake with. You can just use any kind of chile powder. I probably put about a total of 3/4 teaspoon--you know I don't measure.

Honey Cake

For Rosh Hashanah I decided to make a honey cake.  A chocolate, pink peppercorn, and honey cake. I developed this recipe for a contest--then I read the rules--the recipe could only have 5 ingredients--so I didn't enter the recipe, but I came up with a pretty tasty cake.

Pink Peppercorn Chocolate Cake

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 tsp ground pink peppercorns
3.5 oz 70% cocoa chocolate
1 c water
3 Tbl cocoa powder
1 c butter
1 c honey (12 oz bear)
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 325 F.
2. Line 9 inch sprinform pan with parchment paper and butter pan and paper.
3. Sift together baking soda, salt, flour and pepper.
4. Melt chocolate.
5. Bring water, cocoa powder, and butter to a boil, whisking occasionally.
6. Pour water mixture into a large bowl.
7. Add melted chocolate, honey, and sugar to hot liquid.
8. Mix until well combined.
9. Add eggs one at at time.
10. Gradually mix in dry ingredients.
11. Pour into prepared pan.
12. Cook for 50 minutes. If cake isn't done cook for up to 10 more minutes.  Watch closely--top may burn.

This cake goes great with whipped cream, ice cream (especially Amy's), and apparently White Russians.

Pizza Burgers

This week I decided to make pizza burgers. I wasn't sure Ross would like the idea or think it was wrong.  He liked the idea.  The burgers ended up being open-faced.  I tried to make them as pizza as possible.

Pizza Burgers
ground turkey (20 oz.)
turkey pepperoni
shredded cheese
oregano
basil
black pepper
pizza seasoning
mushrooms
pizza sauce
provolone cheese
pizza dough

For the actual burger I mixed 85/15 ground turkey, shredded pizza blend cheese, julienned pepperoni slices, pizza seasoning, oregano, and basil.  I made the mixture into 6 patties and cooked them on the stove.  I sliced and sauteed the mushrooms.  I made a full batch of pizza dough.  I added oregano, basil, black pepper, and pizza seasoning to the dough.  It smelled really good.  I was able to make 5 mini pizza crusts out of 1/3 of the dough.  I probably could have made 6 though.  I think I cooked them--with the pizza sauce on--for about 15 minutes.  I assembled the burgers and served them with oven fries.

Thinking back I could have made the mini pizza crusts without the sauce on top, then sliced them in half so the burger would have a top and a bottom. But I kind of like the open face burger.  It's more like a pizza.

Fried Blueberry Cake

This recipe is my modification of a Blueberry Cobbler recipe.  Super easy, but more cakey than pie-ey the way cobblers usually are.

Fried Blueberry Cake
4 Tbl. (1/2 stick) butter
1 c flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
nutmeg
cinnamon
pinch of cardamom
3/4 c sugar
1 c milk
vanilla
2 c blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt butter in 8 or 9 inch square brownie pan.
3. Mix dry ingredients together then add in milk and vanilla.
4. Stir batter until ingredients are combined.
5. Pour batter into pan.
6. Don't stir the butter and batter, but spread out the butter if it has pooled in one area.
7. Sprinkle blueberries over batter.  I used an entire pint last night--it was a lot of blueberries and they kind of crowded out the cake.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until cake part starts to brown.

Strawberry Lime Cupcakes

I've been wanting to make something for dessert, and needing something to get me out of a bit of a funk I've been in---and cake seemed to be a solution to both things.  I had some limes left over from garlic-lime marinade so I did a search for lime cupcakes. I found a recipe for strawberry lime cupcakes, which sounded perfect because I had strawberries in the fridge too.  I never met a recipe I didn't fix.  So here is my version:

Lime Cupcakes with Strawberry-Lime Frosting

Cupcakes (makes 12)
4 Tbl. butter, room temperature (1/2 stick)
1/2c + 6 Tbl. sugar
grated zest of 2 limes
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c + 2 Tbl. all purpose flour
1/2 c cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 c milk
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line muffin tin with paper cups.
3. Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.
4. Add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla to butter and beat to blend.
5. Whisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
6. In another small bowl whisk together sour cream, milk, and egg.
7. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream mixture to butter, beating in between additions.
8. Pour batter into paper cups in muffin tin, dividing over 12 cupcakes.
9. Bake for 17 minutes or until tester comes out dry.

Strawberry-Lime Frosting

1 c butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

juice of 1 lime

5 Tbl. pureed strawberries (I think I used 5 large strawberries)

1. Beat butter until fluffy.
2. Add powdered sugar and beat until well blended and fluffy.
3. Beat in vanilla, lime and strawberries.
4. Frost cooled cupcakes.
5. Nom. Nom. Nom.

I really liked the texture of the cake and the frosting was yummy too. I will definitely make these again.

Zabaglione

Ross and I don't disagree on much, but we disagree on the right way to make zab.  I got a recipe for zab off the internets when the internets was just beginning.  Ross likes it with the egg whites, I like it without. Wanna know what love is?  Whenever Ross makes it he sets aside some for me before he adds the egg whites.

Zabaglione 

4 Tbl. sugar

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1/2 c. Marsala wine (sweet)

6 egg yolks, beaten until thick

1 c. whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

4 egg whites

2 Tbl. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

Fresh berries

1. Combine 4 Tbl. sugar, gelatin, Marsala, and egg yolks.
2. Cook over low heat until mixture thickens--stirring constantly.
3. Chill mixture until fully cooled.
4. In a chilled medium bowl whip vanilla and cream until still.
5. Add egg yolk mixture to cream and beat until smooth.
6. In a separate bowl beat egg whites until foamy.
7. Add sugar and salt to egg whites and beat until stiff peaks form
8. Fold egg whites into cream mixture.
9. Chill at least 2 hours.
10. Serve with berries

This is zab Ross's way.  I don't like the texture.  I served the zab with strawberries Navan.  I soaked sliced fresh strawberries in Navan for 24 hours.  Tasty.  Unfortunately I don't think Navan is available anymore.

This is zab my way.  It tastes better and looks prettier too.

Lavender Shortbread

I bought some lavender sugar in Napa and didn't really know what to do with it, then I decided I'd make some kind of cookies and put the lavender sugar on top.  I ended up making lavender shortbread as the cookie.

Lavender Shortbread

1/2 c unsalted butter-cut into small pieces
1c all purpose flour
1/3 c brown rice flour
1/4 c sugar
1 Tbl. lavender--ground
1 Tbl. water
lavender sugar for top

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Line bottom of cake pan with parchment paper.
3. Mix the dry ingredients together.
4. Work butter into flour mixture with your hands until you have a fine crumbly mess.
5. Add 1 Tbl. water to mixture and work it in to form a ball of dough.  Add more water a little at a time if dough won't hold together.
6. Press ball of dough out into cake pan.
7. Sprinkle lavender sugar on top of dough.
8. Put pan in refrigerator or freezer so dough can cool.
9. Once dough is cold prick it all over with a fork and score dough into wedges with sharp knife.
10. Sprinkle more sugar on if you want to.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
12. Let shortbread cool.  The big cookie should come out of the pan easily and break along the scored marks.

I never met a recipe I didn't change.  This one didn't call for water, but there was no way I could make the dough stick together.  Note: I measured out 1 Tbl. of lavender before I ground it in the spice grinder.  I wish I had scored the cookie a little deeper--essentially pre-cutting the cookie--it didn't break along the lines, but I was able to cut along the lines with a dinner knife.

I think this counts as trying a new recipe.  I had never made shortbread before.  I'm going to have to make it again--I took it to Richard's house for the game last night and there really wasn't any left over.  I think it will be good with tea.

Gnocchi Del Casentino

I have Tuscany the Beautiful Cookbook and Gnocchi Del Casentino is one of the recipes from the book that I have made many times. We call them spinach balls. We went to Costco yesterday and bought the super big bag of spinach and I got some ricotta cheese today so that we could have some tonight. They turned out great. They always do.

Gnocchi Del Casentino
slightly less than 1kg spinach
300g (1.25 c.) ricotta cheese
1 egg
150g (5 oz.) Parmesan cheese
nutmeg
salt
pepper
flour
butter
sage

1. In a large pot cook the spinach in a little boiling water until tender.
2. Drain the spinach, wrap it in a cloth, and squeeze out all the water. Be careful not to burn yourself!

This is the drained and squeeze dried spinach.

3. Finely chop the wrung-out spinach and put it in a bowl.
4. Add the ricotta, half the Parmesan cheese, egg, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Mix thoroughly.

Kinda looks like spinach dip.

6. Dump some flour onto a flat surface and roll small amounts of the spinach mixture in the flour to form a ball.
7. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
8. Roll each spinach ball in the flour again to fully coat it and keep it from breaking apart in the water.

The flour forms a clear coat on the gnocchi kind of like rice wrapping on a spring roll.

9. Add the spinach balls to the water in small batches and boil until they begin to float.
10. Remove gnocchi from water and place into warm bowl.
11. Cook the remaining gnocchi in the same way.
12. In the meantime melt some butter with the sage over low heat.
13. When all the gnocchi are cooked drizzle the sage butter and remaining Parmesan cheese over them.
14. Nom nom nom.

They might not look appetizing, but they are.

Pizzoccheri

I had pizzoccheri when we were in Bellagio on Lake Como and completely fell in love. It was basically buckwheat pasta with local veggies and cheeses--whatever they had around. I think I've tried to make it once since. I can't even remember. Anyway, on Sunday night I made up a batch of buckwheat pasta and assembled a crazy pizzoccheri.

Pasta
250g buckwheat flour
150g brown rice flour
enough water to form a smooth dough

The recipe I found in one of my books said to use fine wheat flour, but I decided to try something different. You know me. I can't follow a recipe. Using the rice flour makes it gluten free in case you're into that.

Other ingredients
swiss chard--boiled, drained, and chopped
fontina cheese
goat cheese
turkey bacon--cooked till crispy and finely sliced
olive oil
whatever other veggies you want to throw in

1. Combine the flours with water until a smooth dough forms. Knead gently for a couple of minutes.

This is what my dough ball looked like.

2. Roll out the dough. I took small batches of the dough, pressed them out flat, then ran them through the pasta roller on the thickest setting. Then I laid them on a lightly floured board.

My pasta roller, which hadn't seen the light of day in years.

3. Cut the pasta into thick strips. I think I cut mine a little too wide.

My pastry board with cut pasta.

4. Boil the pasta for about 3 minutes then drain. I did it in about 3 batches because I didn't want them all to stick to each other.

5. Assemble the pizzoccheri. I kind of just layered things. One layer of noodles, a drizzling of olive oil, some chard, some turkey bacon, and lots of cheese. Then I did a couple more layers.

The assembled dish.

6. Bake the dish at 350 for about 10 minutes--just until the cheese starts to melt and everything is hot.  I skipped this step and just heated my serving up in the micro. Ross thought it was warm enough and just ate it.

The leftovers we had last night were awesome, and we will be having more tonight. Traditionally this is made with chard, fontina, and potatoes, but when we had it in Bellagio the man who made it said that you just use whatever you have around. It's almost like hiding leftovers in pasta. Oh, and I forgot--I also put mushrooms and garlic in there. Can't forget the garlic!

I have some high hopes for making gnocchi this coming weekend.

Ginger Pumpkin Muffins

Of course---I jazzed up the recipe I found on epicurious.com.

Ginger Pumpkin Muffins
1/4 c. minced candied ginger
1/4 c. golden raisins
2 Tbl. whiskey

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 Tbl. ground ginger
nutmeg
ground cloves
cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. flax meal
2/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 egg whites
3/4 c. brown sugar
6 Tbl. dark agave nectar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Line 19 (yeah, I know, I can never get the number just right) muffin tins with paper liners.
3. Mix ginger, raisins, and whiskey in a small bowl.
4. Microwave ginger mix for one minute.
5. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.
6. Whisk pumpkin, milk, flax meal, and vanilla in another bowl.
7. Beat egg whites and egg with electric mixer until foamy.
8. Add 3/4 brown sugar to egg mixture and beat for about 2 minutes.
9. Beat in agave nectar to egg and sugar mixture.
10. Alternatively add dry ingredients and pumpkin mixture--blending well after each addition.
11. Stir in ginger and raisin mixture.
12. Divide batter among muffin cups.
13. Bake muffins until tester comes out clean--about 15 minutes.

Divided over 19 muffins each muffin has 120 calories, 1.1g fat, 24.4g carbs, and 3g protein.

I couldn't taste the pumpkin in these--even though I doubled the amount in the original recipe. I did like the candied ginger and I'll add some to the flax muffins I'm going to make today--along with the leftover pumpkin puree.

Pineapple Stuffed French Toast

The girls at work keep talking about pumpkin stuffed French toast. I decided to make pineapple stuffed French toast this morning for Ross's birthday. He liked it.

Pineapple Stuffed French Toast

French Toast (I used some funky bread that we got at Costco)

Pineapple Filling

Crushed pineapple

Light agave nectar

Cream cheese (I used one package of the lower fat kind)

Vanilla

Powdered sugar

Yoghurt (I used pineapple Chobani)

Whipped cream

1. Whip together filling ingredients with hand mixer. I probably used 1/4 cup pineapple.

2. Put stuffing into freezer to help it firm up.

3. Make French toast.

4. Make a sandwich with the French toast and the filling.

5. Cut the sandwich in half.

6. Put a dollop of yoghurt on the toast.

7. Top off with some whipped cream.

8. Nom. Nom. Nom.

Pumpkin Smoothie

Yesterday I decided to have a pumpkin smoothie for lunch. It was yummy, and it made the kitchen smell like a pumpkin pie. Then I wanted pie, but there was none.

Pumpkin Smoothie

1/1 cup pumpkin puree (from a can)

milk

vanilla

whey powder

cinnamon

nutmeg

dark agave nectar

Add all ingredients to blender and mix well. Enjoy.

Cinnamon Rolls

I recently decided I wanted to make cinnamon rolls. I finally found a recipe that I thought would work. I didn't put any frosting on them, and I think they turned out awesome. Of course they were best when they first came out of the oven. I've been eating them as dessert--heated up and a la mode. I cut these thinner than the recipe directed. That was a lame attempt to shrink the serving size. Amazingly enough, there are still some in the house (I cooked them on Sunday.) I think these are worth the effort and I think next time I'll make them thick just to see how they turn out.

My First Go at Risotto

I'm not sure why I had not made risotto before. Probably because it takes constant attention. Last week I decided to finally give it a go.  I was going to use all vegetable broth, but the broth was very strong, so I used about half broth and half water. I liked the end result, it just came out salty.

Bacon and Cheese Risotto

1 diced onion
oil
3 slices bacon, cooked until crispy and finely chopped (I used low salt Turkey bacon)
3/4 c. arborio rice
2 1/2 c. liquid (very hot) -- Liquid can be broth or water or combination
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1. Saute the onion in oil until soft.
2. Add rice and toast for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add bacon and stir.
4. Add liquid a little at a time, stirring constantly and cooking off water before adding more.
5. When all liquid has been absorbed mixture is creamy stir in cheese and remove from heat.

I made this again last night--without the broth and without the bacon. I added lots of rosemary and basil from the garden. It definitely wasn't salty last night, and it had a very different flavor without the bacon.

Fried Berry Cobbler

I've made this cobbler with blueberries several times. It is super easy. I recently made it with fresh cherries, and that turned out well too.

Fried Berry Cobbler

4 Tbl. butter

1 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

nutmeg

cinnamon

2/3 c. milk

2 c. berries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Melt butter in 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan.

3. In a separate bowl mix together dry ingredients. I added cardamom when using blueberries (just a pinch, and almond extract when I made it with cherries.

4. Add milk to dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

5. Dump batter into pan. Spread out with the back of a spoon, but do not stir.

6. Spread berries out over the batter. Do not stir.

7. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake part starts to brown.

This is good with milk, ice cream, or whipped cream.

Lime Basil Tea Cookies

I found this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Apetit. I decided to try it because I actually have sweet basil growing in my mini garden. Of course I altered it.

Lime Basil Tea Cookies

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 Tbl. minced fresh basil leaves

1 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1 Tbl. lime juice

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place all ingredients into food processor. (Put the blade in first....I forgot and had to dump it all out....)

3. Pulse food processor until large moist clumps form.

4. Measure level tablespoonfuls of dough, roll into balls, and place on baking sheet.

5. Dust the bottom of a measuring cup with powdered sugar and press cookies into 2 inch rounds. Thicker is better.

6. Bake until edges are brown. Mine were done at 17 minutes.

This made 16 cookies.

For a sweeter treat sprinkle with large sugar crystals before baking.

This recipe was perfect for my small food processor. It was easy and the cookies turned out well. I think I'm going to make some digesta-biscuits next.