Dec 12 2011

Scottish Oat Cakes

Posted by georgiapellegrini in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

This is my second recipe post here inspired by someone’s grandmother. I just love it, I could cook this way all day long. Before I realized these Scottish Oat Cakes were from Movita’s grammie, I thought to myself, “These remind me so much of my great-aunt’s cookies.” It is simple rolled oats combined with that very simple texture and crunch—the pure, understated oat cookie of that generation. I was so excited to make these.

To make these yourself, you’ll need: flour, rolled oats, baking soda, salt, white sugar, brown sugar, and cold butter (or lard! Mmm).

Start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, everything but the butter.

Mix it thoroughly with a whisk, or my favorite tool: your hands!

Add the butter and incorporate that as well.

This is where your hands are especially useful because you want to mix this butter in quickly and create a sandy texture.

Once that is nice and sandy, pour in water a little at a time, about 1/2 cup.

You just want to moisten it enough until it gathers together and there isn’t any dry matter on the bottom of the bowl straggling behind.

Grease a baking sheet with spray or be like me—smear around a big stick of butter. I’m very precise that way.

Then on a clean, lightly floured surface, separate the dough into smaller batches.

Roll out the dough.

Use a ring cutter or the rim of a glass to cut ¼ inch thick circles.

Lay them in rows on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven!

What is interesting about these is that they don’t change their shape much. They just simply firm up a bit. It’s a fun combination between a true cookie and a scone.

In fact, they seemed very British to me … or Scottish. They would be so perfect for a traditional afternoon tea. And they made me want to have a tea party instantly. Thank you to Movita for this wonderful recipe and for making me want to have a tea party! Be sure to check out her website Movita Beaucoup for more inspiration.

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Elsa’s Scottish Oat Cakes

by movita beaucoup on October 5, 2011 in Biscuits and Scones, Breads

See post on movita beaucoup’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s) 1 vote, average: 5.00 out of 5

Description

A yummy family favourite.

Ingredients

2 cups Flour, All Purpose
3 cups Rolled Oats
¼ cups Brown Sugar
¼ cups White Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Baking Soda
½ cups Lard Or Butter
½ cups Ice Cold Water

Preparation Instructions

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Cut in butter with a knife or pastry cutter until coarse, mealy crumbs form. Add the ice cold water and stir vigorously with a fork until dough comes together. (The process is very similar to making biscuits, shortcakes and the like—don’t overwork the dough.) Transfer to a lightly floured surface, and shape dough into a ball. Take about a quarter of the dough from the ball, and roll it out to be 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. (Grammie emphasized that you don’t want to over-handle the dough, thus she only rolled and cut a quarter of the dough at a time.) Cut into circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter or inverted drinking glass, or cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets for baking. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake at 350°F until golden (check at 8 minutes). Makes about 2 dozen.

Adapted from a family recipe handed down to me by Elsa and Christy Hodder.

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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

Dec 9 2011

Sweet Potato Fudge

Posted by cookincanuck in Step-by-Step Recipes

When I hear “fudge,” I immediately think of the holidays. When cut into bite-sized pieces, it makes the perfect gift to hand out to neighbors or a lovely welcome hostess gift when you arrive at a cocktail or dinner party. It also makes for an addictive little treat that you want to pop into your mouth whenever you pass by the fridge. As much as I try to convince myself that it is calorie-free, the seams on my jeans tell a different story. Ah well, that’s what the holiday are all about—those treats that we get to indulge in once a year.

This recipe for Sweet Potato Fudge is brought to us by Tasty Kitchen member, Lauren’s Latest. The sweet potatoes are mashed and mixed with white chocolate and toasted pecans for a seasonal treat that not only comes together quickly, but will make your family very happy.

Now, let’s get started.

First, line an 8- by 8-inch square baking pan with waxed or parchment paper. Use extra paper so that there are 2 to 3 extra inches on each side. These “handles” will make it easier to lift the fudge out of the pan later. I like to coat the pan with cooking spray first so the parchment paper lies flat against the pan. It’s not necessary, but it satisfies my need for order in my baking pan. Don’t judge.

The first thing you will need to do is to boil or steam some sweet potato chunks (peeled) until soft and then mash them with the back of a fork. Set aside to cool.

While the sweet potato is cooking, place the pecans pieces into a medium frying pan set over medium heat and toast the pecans. Be sure to watch them. Those little suckers like to burn as soon as you turn your back.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and butter. Now that sounds like a perfect holiday baking list.

Place the bowl in the microwave and, in 15-second increments, heat the mixture until melted and smooth when stirred. When I am using the microwave to heat chocolate mixtures, I typically use 50% power so that the chocolate doesn’t seize.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and salt. As per Lauren’s suggestion under her Recipe Notes, I also added ½ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg because it screams “holidays” to me.

Add half of the powdered sugar to the mixer bowl and mix until combined. Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula and mix again.

With the mixer running, add the remaining powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, until fully incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Pour in the toasted pecan pieces and mix by hand with a rubber spatula.

Transfer the fudge mixture to the prepared baking pan, press down until even and smooth the top.

Refrigerate until the fudge has hardened. The recipe calls for the fudge to be chilled for 2 hours, but I left it in my refrigerator overnight to make sure it was fully set.

Using the waxed or parchment paper “handles” lift the fudge out of the pan and peel off the paper. Use a sharp knife to cut into squares and serve. Store extra pieces in the refrigerator.

In the recipe, Lauren mentioned that this fudge can also be made using a 9- by 13-inch baking pan to achieve thinner pieces. Next time I make this recipe (and I can assure that there will definitely be a next time), I plan to do this so the fudge pieces are a little smaller.

I am sending a huge “thank you” to Lauren for a recipe that is sure to become a holiday favorite for my family. Be sure to check out Lauren’s large selection of fantastic recipes at her blog, Lauren’s Latest.

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