I was really contemplating not mentioning that the date of my last post and this one are rather far apart in time… let’s go with about 7 months… but the mere fact that I haven’t written a blog post since September, of well, now last year, makes me feel rather pathetic. Almost 7 months have gone by and I’ve neglected QFGE – I feel like a bad mother. Thankfully though, I’ve managed to find a chunk of time to sit down and write a post for all you who have been at the edge of your seat waiting for this day (I’m truly hoping everyone can sense the sarcasm in that statement).

I guess I should start off by wishing everyone a Happy Easter! And may your Easters be filled with friends, family, delicious food, and the knowing that your sins has forever been forgiven. We traditionally do brunch for Easter, and this year I knew exactly what I wanted to bring to the table. I’ve been dying to make blueberry scones, you know, the ones that are crumbly and moist, but hold up just enough to dunk into your coffee? Yeah, those kind. So that’s what I made, crossing my fingers the entire time they baked that they wouldn’t be an epic fail. And they weren’t! They were actually, if I may say so myself, quite delicious. Not too sweet, not too dry, and perfect for dunking. These will be bookmarked and probably be made more often than my skinny jeans would like!

Blueberry Lemon Scones
recipe adapted from La Petite Brioche

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, grated
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh (I think I’d add a handful more next time I make these)
• extra heavy cream for brushing the tops
• raw sugar for sprinkling the tops

Grate butter and keep in fridge until ready to use. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup sugar, the baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed. Lightly whisk together the egg, vanilla, and heavy cream in separate bowl and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy. Add the blueberries to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn’t stick.

Shape the dough into a square. Cut the square into quarters then cut again into eighths, diagonally, making triangles.

Brush the tops of the scones with heavy creme, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch.

Serve warm, with butter or preservatives. Enjoy!

Growing up, one recipe I always remember my mother making was what we like to call Championship Bars. The recipe is a Hershey’s original, straight from the back of a bag of chocolate chips. Simple, but oh so good. I’ve heard people call them Magic Bars, or layer bars, or something of that nature, but Championship Bars has always been the title my family called them.

These cookie bars are a delicious combination of shortbread, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk, which pulls everything together in a gooey layer of goodness. Although this recipe is delicious as is, I decided to thicken it up a bit by adding 8 ounces of cream cheese to the sweetened condensed milk step. Honestly, I’ll probably never make them without the addition of the cream cheese again.

I think one of the best features of this recipe is that it’s made in a 9×13″ pan, so cutting these up and feeding a room full of hungry people is a sinch. With football season in full effect now, these are a perfect treat to bring to the table!… Or to the office. Considering the 50+ mouths in the sales department alone that want a piece of whatever it is that I’m bringing in, making something that yields a dozen doesn’t exactly work out very well.

Championship Bars
adapted from Hershey’s

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, divided
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut, divided

Directions
In a food processor, combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Press firmly into a greased 13×9 in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese on medium until smooth, about 4 minutes. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Hand mix in half of the walnuts, 1 cup of chocolate chips, and half of the coconut. Spread evenly over hot crust. Top with remaining nuts, chips, and coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. 

Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen.

Summer is almost over my friends, so not only is it time to get to the beach once more to get that golden-bronze tan you’ve been working toward before the winter comes and sucks all the pigment from your skin, leaving you pale and ghostly (just saying’) – it’s also time to get to your local farmers market and take advantage of the delicious produce that summer gives us! Jersey peaches, plump, sweet blueberries, figs, cherries, watermelon, raspberries, and the list goes on. Whether you mix them in with your favorite yogurt, eat them plain, or bake them into a light, moist, crumbly-topped cake (like this one), I highly suggest you eat as much of summer’s goodness as you can before the season ends.

One of my favorite fruits to bake with are blueberries. First favorite, apples, no questions asked. But blueberries baked into a bread, cake, pie, muffin, or tart give a burst of sweet but slightly tart flavor. Plus, they’re fruit, which are good for you, meaning this cake is like, kind of healthy, right? I like to think so considering I ate it for breakfast for 3 days straight.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite bake-books of all time – Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. I’ve made several of her recipes, including these, these, these, these, these, and this. Whenever I’m about to make a recipe from Dorie, I always consult with the TWD Group. TWD is short for Tuesdays With Dorie, which is a group formed by bloggers across the web who bake the same recipe two Tuesdays a month, and write about what they thought. I’ve been kicking myself for not getting involved with this awesome web-gettogether, but perhaps I will in the near future. As for this recipe, the verdict was A+ across the board. As many other bloggers said, the topping is to die for, don’t miss the step where you rub the lemon zest into the sugar, and be sure not to let this over bake.

Blueberry Crumb Cake
from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours

Ingredients:
For the crumbs:

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 
For the cake:

• 1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed)
• 2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2/3 cup sugar
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange
• 3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and place the rack at the middle position in the oven. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. (Covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 tsp of the flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries; set aside. Whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) You will have a thick, creamy batter. With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.

Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. There’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. Scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.

I hope the title of this post lured you in as much as it did me. Sangria in ice pop form, yes please! And with temperatures nearing 100 degrees here in the North East, anything referring to the word ice probably sounds quite enticing to those outside in this brutal heat. So if you’re lucky enough to be lounging by a body of water this weekend, I highly suggest freezing up a few of these.

I recently bought myself this ice pop mold on Amazon which I’ve been wanting for quite some time now. I’ve been a fan of People’s Pops ever since I went to Smorgasburg last year and indulged in one of their homemade, fruity ice pops which was packed with chunks of fresh fruit. (PS: If you haven’t been to Smorgasburg, I recommend making the trip to Brooklyn to do so!)

With People’s Pops in mind, or as some like to call them paletas, I was eager to try out a fun, fruity recipe with my new ice pop mold. So here’s what I’ve created. I followed the recipe below, but after not watching my wine mixture on the stovetop very carefully, it somewhat overflowed, leaving me with much less than I had intended. I filled as many as I could with the mixture, and filled the empty ones with red wine straight from the bottle and lemonade I had in the fridge. It was fun to have a mix of colors in the mold and a variety of flavors. Feel free to mix and match flavors, wines, fruits, and juices in these molds – your result will be a colorful arrangement of fruity pops!

Sangria Ice Pops
adapted from Pass the Sushi

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 small mango, seeded, peeled, and chopped
• 2 kiwifruits, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• handful of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or any other berry of your choice!
• 1/4 cup ginger ale
• 1 tbs lime juice

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the honey and water an bring to a boil. Add wine and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, add strawberries, mango, and berries. Simmer for 2 minutes. Keep an eye on this mixture for it tends to boil easily. Remove from heat. With a slotted spoon, remove fruit from mixture, reserving the liquid. Set aside.

In a small bowl, toss fruit with cooked fruit. Divide the fruit mixture evenly into pop molds or paper cups.

Combine the ginger ale and lime juice with the reserved wine mixture and divide evenly among pop mold. Freeze for 1 hour and insert wooden craft stick and continue to freeze for 6 to 24 hours.

Let pops stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before removing from molds to serve.

I have a thing for goat cheese. Especially on pizza. Combined with sweet caramelized onions, fresh basil pesto, and arugula – my stomach yelled at me for thinking such delicious thoughts when a kitchen was nowhere in sight. I had been craving this combo of flavors on a pizza all weekend. Well, maybe not all weekend because I did have some insanely tasty food at the Beef Lollipop party I attended yesterday. How can you go wrong when the name of the party is Beef Lollipop? Exactly – you can’t.

The truth is, I recently invested in a 10-inch cast iron skillet, and by invested, I mean spent a whole $16 on it. I’ve always wanted a cast iron skillet and for a price like that, I couldn’t resist. I’ve always wanted to make a giant deep dish chocolate chip cookie in a cast iron skillet. Right out of the oven topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge – welp, I know what my plans are tomorrow night.

So tonight, on my way home from work, I decided I’d pick up some pizza dough, whip up some pesto with the basil from my sister’s garden, and make myself (yes, myself) a deep dish, cast iron, pesto, goat cheese, onion, arugula pizza. Best idea I’ve had in a while.

This pizza was not only seriously delicious, but it was super easy to make and was done in no time! You can use pre made pesto, but I decided to make some myself tonight. I’ve never made my own pesto before but it couldn’t have been easier. For money saving purposes, I used walnuts instead of pine nuts and picked the basil right from the garden. In a food processor, pulse together about 15 basil leaves, a handful of walnuts, about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, a teaspoon of garlic salt, and just enough olive oil to make a smooth, spreadable pesto. For the onions, I roughly chopped up about a half of a small red onion and caramelized it in a pan with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft.

I didn’t follow a specific recipe for this pizza, I just threw together the flavors I was craving. So I cheated a bit and picked up some pizza dough from the store, rolled it out on a floured surface so that it fit in my (lightly greased) 10-inch skillet, spread around some pesto, tossed on my caramelized onions, and sprinkled on (with a heavy hand) some goat cheese crumbles. I read somewhere that when using a cast iron skillet you should heat it before putting it right into the oven, so I put the skillet on the stove over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes before letting it cook in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Personally, I’ve a huge fan of avocado and balsamic glaze on just about everything. So when the pizza came out of the oven, I slid it onto a giant cutting board, drizzled on some balsamic, added a handful of arugula, and sliced a few pieces of avocado. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

What do you like making in your cast iron skillet? I’m always looking for new ideas!

I’ve recently had the honor of baking for a wedding! When a friend from high school asked me to supply the baked goods for a dessert bar she wanted at her wedding, I was super excited to get into the kitchen and whip up some wedding-worthy treats. I met with the bride-to-be months before the actual date to discuss colors, flavors, and what types of desserts she wanted, and I’ve spent the past few months brainstorming ideas and bookmarking recipes online. Here are a few pictures I quickly snagged of the cupcakes I made before I delivered them to the bride. Recipes to come!

For this cupcake, I wanted something elegant but simple, and because the colors of the wedding were cream, black, and silver, I decided on a vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean frosting. My sister had bought me vanilla beans a few months ago, so I used pure vanilla seeds in both components, giving this cupcake a strong vanilla flavor. Some may think that’s too much vanilla for one cupcake, but as a chocolate lover, I must say, this cupcake was pretty darn tasty.

The first cupcake of this post and this one are the same flavors, only frosted and decorated slightly different. Personally, I’m not a cupcake lover, so buttercream frosting doesn’t really do much for me. I absolutely love to make it and pipe it, but indulging in it just isn’t my cup of tea. However, I am a sucker for anything coffee flavored, and mocha falls right into that category. With strong black coffee as a main ingredient in this frosting, this mocha buttercream is heavenly – piped on top of devil’s food cake, I think the combo might have made me a cupcake lover after all!

My true passion is food; baking it, cooking it, writing about it, photographing it. I feel fortunate to have a hobby that I find so satisfying. Unfortunately, these past few months have been so non-stop for me, that I have been forced to put my cooking/baking/blogging on hold. Between work, being a full-time student, preparing to graduate college, running a half marathon, taking a trip to London, and now starting a new job, I had been left with little time for myself. However, now that life has slowed down just a tad, I’m thrilled to say, I’m back, and with this amazingly delicious blueberry treat no less!

It almost officially summer here in North Jersey (June 20th to be exact) and farm stands are sure to be popping up in every town. Among the fresh, ripe, juicy fruits that you can find at farm stands are blueberries, and if I were you, I’d pick up a pint of these bad boys and make this loaf today. I dare you to make it last a week, because it surely didn’t in my house!

The recipe comes from Ina Garden, but I’ve adapted it a bit to my own liking. She calls it a ‘lemon yogurt cake’ but because I’ve excluded the lemon and used only half the yogurt she calls for, I’m going to call it a Blueberry Cake-Loaf. And this will be the very best blueberry cake-loaf you’ll ever have. It’s beyond moist, just sweet enough, and packed with bursts of fresh berries. I’ve been eating it for breakfast, snacks, and dessert because I just can’t get enough. If you’re in search of a great way to use up some blueberries that the whole family can enjoy, I think you’ve found your recipe.

Blueberry Cake-Loaf
adapted from Ina Garden

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 pint blueberries, fresh

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sour cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. Cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Easter brunch has become a tradition for my family over the past few years. My sister (check her out over at A BitterSweet Wife) and I took on the role of preparing it this year, with lots of yummy courses on the menu. I wish I had been able to document every course with my lens, but I let my taste buds do all the documenting this time around.

On the menu were these avocado deviled eggs. I’ve seen recipes for them floating around the web and knew I had to try them out – and what better time than Easter! These deviled eggs substitute avocado for mayonnaise which provides the creamy factor in deviled eggs (even though there are still a few tablespoons in this recipe). They were super to easy to make and nutritious, too.

It was difficult for me not to eat the filling by the spoonfuls right out of the mixer bowl – this stuff was yummy! I will give you a little tip though – try to eat these the day you make them. Avocado is always freshest the day you cut into it. But if you need to make them a day ahead, be sure to keep them tightly covered in the fridge. The main reason for this: your entire fridge will smell like eggs. Not a pleasant smell every time you reach in to grab something.

Avocado Deviled Eggs
adapted from Mother Thyme

Makes 12 deviled eggs

• 6 peeled hard boiled eggs
• 1 ripe avocado peeled and pit removed
• 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise (light or regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon dijon honey mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• paprika for garnishing

Cut eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine egg yolks, avocado, mayonnaise, parsley, mustard, and garlic powder and mash using a potato masher or two forks until nice and creamy. Alternatively you can add all the ingredients in a food processor and blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add mixture into egg whites with a spoon or pastry bag and garnish with a chopped parsley.

I never have been a big cupcake fan. For my birthdays when I was a kid, my mom would always make a large chocolate chip cookie with whipped cream and sprinkles. Poke in a few candles, and vuala, I was a happy camper. I never could get over that thick and sweet frosting that was pipped high on cakes and cupcakes. Nowadays, I’m a much bigger fan of cupcakes. Maybe it’s because I’m the one making them and I can adjust the sweetness of the frosting to my liking, or maybe it’s because I’ve finally discovered whipped cream frosting.

Originally, I pictured making angel food cupcakes, topped with a light and airy whipped cream frosting, drizzled with fresh raspberry sauce. Sounds delicious, right? Well, if you must know, my angel food cupcakes were an utter fail, leaving me with little deflated, pancake-like sponges, crispy at the top and squishy at the bottom. I fed them to my garbage.

Which brings me to these cupcakes. I guess I had breakfast on my mind, or maybe next week’s Easter brunch, because after I gave up attempting angel food again, I decided to make french toast cupcakes. These cupcakes were just how I like my french toast, moist with maple syrup, dolloped with whipped cream, and finished off with fresh berries. The cake had warm spices and a hint of maple syrup and the whipped cream frosting was cool and not too sweet. I drizzled a few with some maple syrup for an added maple flavor and topped each cupcake off with a fresh raspberry. These would be a great addition to any Easter brunch table, or even just a fun dessert for the family!

French Toast Cupcakes
adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. Prepare the cupcakes: Combine the flours, baking powder, potato starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until combined, 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually mix in the vanilla and egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl; continue mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the maple syrup and half-and-half, mixing after each addition and ending with flour. Mix until the ingredients are just combined; do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters of the way. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

My Favorite Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Using a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese for 5 minutes until smooth. Slowly add the heavy cream and beat on medium until it starts to thicken. Add the granulated sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Lower the speed to low as you slowly add the powered sugar (it makes a bit of a mess so help incorporate it with a spatula if needed). Continue to beat on medium for 5 minutes.

I haven’t done a Wordless Wednesday post in a very long time, and recently snapped a few photos of this delicious yogurt and fruit parfait I’ve been making quite often. As berries and other fruits become more in-season, they become juicier and sweeter – a perfect addition to tart Greek yogurt and crunchy pumpkin flax granola (my favorite granola in the whole wide world).

I simply can’t resist this addicting combination of flavors – and colors! Happy Spring!