Tag Archives: buttermilk

Bakery Miscellaneous

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

I was SO excited to find raspberries at my local market because I had almost given up on the idea of making this delicious coffee cake for Easter, and when I spotted those raspberries yesterday, my arms went up in a victory sign and i danced a jig right there in the produce section! I have made this coffee cake for many years now and especially love enjoying it for Easter morning when we are visiting my sister and her family in Illinois.  Everybody likes this moist cake, from great-granny to the little kids, and because it is so beautiful to behold that is our  Added Bonus for this dish!

It might seem a good deal of work for only a small one-layer cake, but it bakes tall and small wedges make it a perfect breakfast offering. Although the recipe in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook says you can use frozen raspberries also in this cake, I never do; fresh berries are definitely worth the wait. The tart berries contrast with the sugar, flour, and eggs in a dense batter flavored with fresh lemon zest. Do press the raspberries gently into the half-baked batter so they aren’t merely decorating the top of the cake (save that happiness for just a sprinkle of powdered sugar).

Because this cake usually travels, I bake it the day before, and it is even more delicious on the second day. Every bite is moist and sweet, and every berry, perfection! This is, of course, just made for coffee, but I know that our little kids like it with milk. Whatever works for you, you will be glad the cake is on the table. Wishing you and yours a Happy and Blessed Easter morning as well!

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel (zest)
1 egg
1 cup fresh raspberries (or frozen if you must)
Powdered sugar

Directions Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease bottom of 9×1-1/2” round cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour bottom of parchment; set aside. For cake, in a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In separate large bowl, beat 1 cup of the sugar and the softened butter with mixer on medium until combined. Add 1 egg and the vanilla. Beat on low for 1 minute. Alternately add flour mixture and the 3/4 cup buttermilk, beating just until combined after each addition; set aside.

For cheesecake filling, in a small bowl beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with mixer on medium until combined. Add lemon zest and 1 egg. Beat well until combined.

Spoon half the cake batter into prepared pan, spreading to edges. Spoon cream cheese mixture on cake batter, spreading carefully to edges (so the two layers don’t combine). Dollop remaining cake batter on top of cream cheese layer, carefully spreading to edges of pan.

Bake 20 minutes or until puffed then take out of oven and gently press raspberries into cake. Bake another 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen edges of cake from the pan then turn out to a plate then turn out again on serving plate so cake is right side up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired; so pretty!

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Recipes - Desserts

Buttermilk Pie

There didn’t seem any better day to bake a Buttermilk Pie than April 1st (and no April Fool’s indeed!).  A spanking new calendar page, spring daffodils already in bloom, and the sweet tang of buttermilk are a perfect way to greet this beautiful month!

This pie will remind you of a southern Chess Pie with the same creamy texture.  Today I used a heaping 3 T. of flour to be sure that there was enough flour to thicken the liquids in the batter.  The buttermilk is the most distinctive taste in this pie; just a hint of tartness with the sugar complementing the buttermilk tang.

You really must make your own crust for this pie; using a store-bought crust will not give you anywhere close to the results you will get rolling out a homemade crust, flaky but sturdy enough to provide texture to the creaminess of the pie.  As always, I used 4-5 T. of ice water for my crust and worked the shortening in quickly to the flour-salt mixture using just my fingers to cut the shortening in until the dough resembled small peas.

Once your crust is ready and in your pie plate, you need only to mix up the filling.  Sprinkle the top of the pie lightly with nutmeg, and dessert is in the oven in no time.  Hello April!

Ingredients

½ cup buttermilk
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 T. flour
Pinch of salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 unbaked 9” pastry shell

Directions: Preheat oven to 400°. Set pastry shell aside. In large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the nutmeg and the pastry shell and stir well with a wooden spoon to blend then use a wire whisk to incorporate the liquid ingredients more thoroughly. Pour batter in the unbaked pie shell; sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg. Bake 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake another 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Cool well, allowing the filling to set well before cutting into wedges.

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

Sour Cream Cranberry Biscuits

These biscuits have been food whispering to me since I saw the post on my sister’s Facebook page months ago, and this afternoon, waiting on the snow fall, seemed a perfect day for biscuit baking. Nothing seems as comforting as mixing up a batch of biscuits and inhaling that warming aroma when it’s freezing outside; to me that spells winter baking at its best.

With crunchy tops and edges and a soft inside these are great “as is” or they would make fine appetizers using a smaller biscuit cutter.  I used my 2-1/2″ cutter today as I plan to slice them for supper for stuffing with pieces of fried country ham.  Sour cream and honey give them their softness and orange zest and cranberries a fruity tang.  Fresh cranberries weren’t an option today so I used dried and found they added just enough chewiness to balance the otherwise soft texture.  Do brush their tops with melted butter when they are still warm from the oven.

The dough is soft and sticky so flour your counter, your hands, and your rolling pin.  I cut the butter in with my fingers until it was well incorporated with the dry ingredients.  The dough doesn’t require much kneading before rolling out but you will have to dust it with flour several times until it becomes smooth and elastic.  18 minutes at 425 was just right for browned tops and bottoms. Still no snow fall but we DO have biscuits!

Sour Cream & Cranberry Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons orange zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Directions Preheat oven to 425. In medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add orange zest, buttermilk, honey and sour cream. Sir well with wooden spoon to blend. Fold in the cranberries. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and add enough flour to enable kneading the dough then roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with 2” biscuit cutter and place on sprayed baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until nicely browned. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Yield: 14 biscuits.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Betty’s Molasses Cookies


Day 3 Cookie Bake! My heart beats faster when I run across a recipe that is obviously well-used and treasured. This recipe came to me from mama’s recipe box and it to her from her close friend Betty Hopkins. Miss Betty’s Molasses Cookies made for a satisfying and wholesome end to cookie baking time today and I definitely see why mama insisted these cookies be included in my cookbook.  These proved to be a perfect cold weather stay-at-home-with-a book treat.

The buttermilk is in the dough, they aren’t glazed, and they have a soft, yet chewy, texture.  They bake round and tall and fill your kitchen with the aroma of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  I love the dark raisins and the walnuts I used as they make  the cookies dense and satisfying; these are definitely cookies to sink your teeth into, and, needless to say, so perfect with a glass of cold milk (yes, for lunch). The molasses sweetly softens them but also makes for a sticky dough and these benefit from just a bit of shaping once they are on the cookie sheets. The spices layer with the molasses throughout and I have to say there really isn’t a thing that needs changing here, proving once again that old recipes are, like old friendships,  treasures indeed.

Betty’s Molasses Cookies

1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions  Preheat oven to 400. In large mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar, and the molasses with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add the egg and buttermilk and beat briefly with electric mixer. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl and stir with a fork to sift. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture gradually, blending well with a large rubber spatula after each addition. Fold in the raisins and the nuts. Bake on lightly-greased cookie sheets for 10 minutes. Store airtight. Yields 5 dozen.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Lemon Sunshine Bursts


Day 2 of “use-up-the-buttermilk” cookie baking plan led straight to preparing these fabulous shortbread-type cookies on Wednesday. I added the “burst” to their name because the lemon zest in the cookie dough bursts through with every bite, and there is  NO gloomy winter day that isn’t brightened by taking the time to bake these flavorful morsels.

These are not at all sweet but they are buttery and crumbly and tangy all in one bite! Like all shortbread batters, the ingredients are simple: butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Set your butter out early to soften and don’t skip chilling the dough for 30 minutes once mixed; once chilled you can slice the logs easily before baking them resulting in pretty and uniform pieces to enjoy with a cup of tea and your book.  Allow the powdered sugar-fresh lemon juice glaze to dry before storing the cookies in an airtight container. The glaze does ‘sink in’ to the cookies and while you can’t see it, when you taste a cookie, you definitely will enjoy a pop of lemon.  If you love sunshine, lemons, and rich buttery flavor, this is the cookie for you!

Lemon Sunshine Bursts

Ingredients

6 T. unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 T. buttermilk
1-1/2 tsps. finely grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T. lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add flour and beat until dough begins to form. Add buttermilk and beat well.  Add lemon  zest and salt, fold well, and stir until dough comes together. Divide dough into two parts. Roll each part into a log that is about 1.5″ wide. Wrap each log in plastic wrap. and chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take dough out of refrigerator and cut into 1/4 inch” slices. Arrange cookies on baking sheets and bake until dry and turning golden at the edges, about 14 minutes.

Cool cookies completely. In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar and lemon juice. When cookies are cool enough to handle, dip the top of each cookie in the glaze. Let dry for 10 minutes before storing, airtight.  Yields 2 dozen cookies.

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