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Katherine's Favorite Scone Recipe

(It first appeared in Issue #12 of The Deryni Archives Magazine)

2 cups flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbs sugar
1 egg
1 cup of milk

Combine dry ingredients. Beat egg into milk and add flour mixture. Stir thoroughly until smooth and creamy. Drop small spoonfuls into 12 well-greased muffin cups. (Do not use cupcake papers; they will stick!) Bake 10-15 minutes at 450°; until well risen and brown. Serve warm with butter and jam.

Steamed Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pudding

(Deryni Rising Pudding)

(This recipe is from the London Sunday Times. Conversions from grams to ounces are approximate, but weight conversions have been checked.)

This is everything you would wish for in a winter Pudding: the glorious puff of steam as it is inverted onto the serving dish, then the satisfyingly firm yet soft texture. And finally, there is chocolate. (Serves six.)

175g (2/3 c.) self-raising flour
2 heaped T. cocoa powder
125g butter
125g (3/4 c.) golden caster sugar(light brown granulated sugar)
2 large eggs
65g (2.3 oz.) dark, 55-65% cocoa solids chocolate, chopped
75g (2.6 oz.) unsalted Macadamia nuts, toasted & chopped into large chunks
3 T. milk
pouring cream, to serve

Sift flour & cocoa powder in a bowl. (Sifting is not really necessary; just get any lumps out of the cocoa.)

In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until pale & fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little of the flour mixture with the second egg. Fold in remaining flour mixture & combine gently but thoroughly.

Fold in chocolate chunks & nuts with milk. (I add ~1/2 t. of vanilla.)

Spoon mixture into a buttered 1 litre (about 1 quart) pudding basin. Cover with double layer of buttered foil, pleated in center to allow for rising. Tie the foil with string, then place in a steamer or a large saucepan so that hot water comes halfway up the sides of the basin. (OR spoon the mixture into a buttered plastic pudding basin with proper snap-on lid. We've also tried it in a straight-sided metal canister with lid, set in a water-bath in a crock pot, and it worked brilliantly: cooks in far less time, with far less monitoring to make sure nothing boils dry. A slow cooker probably would also work well.)

Steam for 11/2 to 2 hours, (note: Pudding may take 3 hours) topping up with hot water as necessary.

Remove foil, loosen edges of pudding with knife or spatula, & carefully invert onto a serving plate. (Or serve from basin.)

Serve with cream.

Shortbread Hearts By Melissa

We've all had those hard, dry "shortbread" cookies that have the consistency and flavor of sweetened dog biscuits. THIS shortbread is tender and crisp and gently sweet. It's the best use for half a pound of butter that I've ever found—just don't serve it to your cardiologist.

Preheat oven to 375º, and lightly grease cookie sheets.
2 sticks softened butter
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 3/4 cup regular flour
1/4 cup rice flour*

  • Note: You can use two full cups of regular flour if rice flour is not easily obtained where you are and the cookies will still be delicious. But rice flour lifts this shortbread from the delicious to the sublime, and is worth trying to find. Look at any store you know of that sells bulk spices and/or unusual grains. The chances are good you can find some there. Failing that, look in the baking supplies aisle of your market, and you may find a bag there hiding among the scone mixes.

With an electric beater, combine softened butter and confectioner’s sugar until thoroughly blended. Gradually sift in the flour until completely incorporated. If dough is sticky, refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes. On a well-floured pastry board with a well-floured rolling pin, roll out half the dough at a time to the desired thickness and cut out the hearts with a medium-sized cookie cutter. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies. Cookies should be delicately brown at the edges and on the bottoms. Let cool on wire racks. Serve the cookies warm or cold with hot tea or coffee. Your guests will be suitably impressed. Variations:
I. Add grated zest from one orange or lemon to dough after the flour has been completely incorporated.
II. Add 1tsp ground ginger to the flour, and a scant cup of coarsely chopped crystallized ginger chunks to the finished dough. (VERY good!)
III Add 1/4 cup ground almonds to the butter and sugar. Be sure to reduce flour by 1/4 cup, or shortbread will be too dry.

IRISH SODA BREAD by Carolyn

A perennial favorite on both sides of the Atlantic, this Raisin bread makes fine, fragrant toast.
4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup yellow raisins and dried cranberries
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 cups buttermilk

Into a large bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, and the baking soda and stir in the raisins and the caraway seeds. Add the buttermilk and stir the mixture until it forms dough. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute. Halve the dough, with floured hands shape each half into a round loaf, and transfer the loaves to a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut an X 1/4 inch deep across the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife and bake The loaves in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the loaves to racks and let them cool. Makes 2 loaves.

Katherine's Peach Cobbler

Place in buttered 6" X 10" (or 8" x 8") dish: 1 large can of peaches, drained. (Pears also work well, and black cherries are supurb.) [I've also been meaning to try putting some finely chopped walnuts into the topping--which I think would be yum!]

Stir together:
1 c. flour
1/2 to 1 c. sugar (can use all or part brown)
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
3/4 t. salt
1 t. baking powder

Mix in 1 unbeaten egg until crumbly, and sprinkle crumbly mixture over peaches.
Melt 1/3 c. of butter or shortening and pour over all. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 30-40 min. @ 350F.

Serve warm, with heavy cream or even a scoop of ice cream


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Page last modified on January 13, 2008, at 06:24 PM