These scones are just the right texture, flaky and light with a small crumb. I find that store-bought scone are often too heavy and lack flavour. I filled them with apples, oats, raisins, and cinnamon. They are delicious for breakfast with butter and jam but would also make a great afternoon snack with a cup of Earl Grey tea.
It is a real treat to have a Lemon Poppyseed Muffin for breakfast with a cup of coffee. The recipe starts with creaming the butter and sugar so that the end product is more like a cake and not like a traditional muffin. The batter also contains sour cream which adds moisture and richness. When creaming the butter and sugar be careful to make sure it is light and fluffy before you add the eggs, this step helps to create a muffin that is tender and light. The final step when making this muffin is to top it with a glaze made out of lemon juice and vanilla sugar, this adds extra sweetness and a little tartness.
This recipe comes from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread. I absolutely love this book and also the author’s bakery Amy’s Bread located in NYC. I often purchased her breads and baked goods when I lived in the city; everyday on my walk home from school I would pick up one her Challah Chocolate Twists as my afternoon snack.
This is my idea of the perfect double chocolate chip muffin. Not only do you get the intense chocolate flavour from the cocoa powder but you also have little shards of fudgy chocolate chips in every bite. Instead of just using all-purpose flour, I also added whole wheat flour to make these muffins healthier and so that I wouldn’t feel guilty eating one for breakfast. The chocolate really helps to hide the whole wheat and you probably wouldn’t even know it was there if I didn’t tell you. These are easy to make and they put the most amazing aroma throughout the house as they bake.
I learned this recipe for focaccia at the bread course I took at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. This was one of the easiest types of bread that we made during the course; it would be great to try out if you are new to bread baking.
Focaccia is popular with kids and adults because like pizza you can top it with cheese, vegetables, cured meats, ham, olive oil, or sea salt. Focaccia bread has been eaten since Ancient Rome; in Roman times it was baked in the ashes of the hearth. Since the olive oil is such a prodominent flavour in the focaccia make sure that you use the best oil you can find.
At the beginning of December my mom and I flew to New York City to close down my apartment and to take a week long Artisanal Bread Course at the French Culinary Institute. During the week we learned how to properly mix, ferment, shape, proof, score, and bake breads. We also learned the critical importance of dough temperatures and techniques for accurate calculation. We made a variety of breads during the week, including baguettes, bagels and flatbread, brioche and challah, viennoiseries and croissants, traditional loaf breads, pizza, focaccia, and ciabatta.
This past week for Chanukah I wanted to recreate one of my favourite breads that I learned in the class, “Challah.” It is rich, slightly sweet, and looks beautiful because of the braids that it is baked in. The braids symbolize the interviewing of the heaven, earth, and mankind with God. It is the perfect bread to serve at a holiday meal and would even be great to eat with honey or jam in the morning.
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All photos by Virginia Drader unless otherwise stated. ©Virginia Drader. Please include a credit if used on a blog. Contact me to inquire about purchasing work for commercial purposes.
