Inspiration: what is it? For me it is an ingredient I have had bumming around my pantry for a while. This week's inspired ingredient was dried fig.
This recipe just came to me while I was pondering how to use these whole, beautiful figs in a baked good. I wanted to use other flavours that would pair well with the figs, were reminiscent of the Mediterranean and were already on my shelf.
I made a simple pie crust, sweetened slightly, to wrap the figs in. Then I took some coconut butter, mixed it with brown sugar, lime juice and ground ginger, and spread it out on little rounds of dough. I topped the filling off with a single fig and wrapped them up.
I don't know if it was the dough itself or the size of my pockets, but the majority of them fell apart as soon as they hit the heat. The ratio in the filling between coconut butter and sugar was too low as well; I had oil dripping out of these and filling the pan.
The above was one of the successful ones. When I placed them on the sheet I had pictured them staying fully pinched shut, hiding the fig completely, but I quite liked the way the pastry just gently fell away, revealing the fig underneath.
These tasted much better the day after I made them. The filling lost some of the oiliness and the sugar became slightly chewy. I would really like to work with this recipe some more, especially perfecting the pie dough. There is at least one flavour element missing and I would like to find a way to add a little more color, even if it is as an embellishment.
-Bizzle
Another day, another scone recipe. This is the second time I have tried out this combination in scone form, and I hardly doubt it will be the last. The inspiration behind this scone lies in some random snack food The Weng and I picked up in Oxford one day. Ever since then this idea has been floating around my head as an interesting and different flavour combination.
Like I noted in my last post, it is easier to make true scone texture when you cube the butter beforehand. Here are my prepped butter cubes and mango pieces, sitting pretty in my new mise en place bowls.
I used dried sliced mango from Trader Joe's. I just snipped them up with my herb shears while I ate breakfast and voila! Prepped main ingredient. I haven't ever tried cooking with fresh mango, but I just don't think it would work as well. Too much liquid, perhaps too much acidity- if you want to try it however, let me know how it goes.
The other two star ingredients of this recipe: lime and cayenne. I don't know all the ins and outs of the 'chili' debate, but I use cayenne because it has a distinct heat without adding too much pungency.
I love colour! Anyways, I used a little bit less sugar than normal, mostly because the dried mango is cured with sugar and I wanted the other flavors to have a solid place in the overall taste. I think I could have used more zest (I used 1 lime's worth) or perhaps a drop or two of lime oil.
I used the drop-method this time because...well, because I felt like it. I just like the way haphazard food looks and feels in my hand. Plus, this is fun in a sneak- broken-bits-off sort of way.
Yum. Understated with a lingering bloom of cayenne. Eating them right out of the oven really highlights the cayenne, so if you're weary of the combo, make them anyway and just wait until they're cool to nosh.
-Bizzle
I love scones. I love eating scones and I love making scones. So it's about time they made their appearance on this blog.
The main ingredient in these scones is that alien creature pictured above. It's a dried hibiscus flower my friend and I picked up on a whim at Trader Joe's. Now, they may look totally foreign, but they taste quite normal. Rather like a less tart version of a dried cranberry.
Kitchen shears are a culinary tool I currently covet, especially when it comes to things like dried hibiscus. The knife eventually did the job but it took way more time than it should have.
The second main ingredient in these scones is an ample amount of orange zest. I was hoping to use the candied orange peels from a couple of posts ago, but nature worked a little dark magic on those and they were no longer fit for consumption. Hence, the punch of citrus had to be brought in by something else.
Another tool I wish I had was a pastry cutter. Normally I use my hands to cut the butter into the flour; one time this resulted in butter melted more than I desired and little cakes rather than little scones. This time I used hands and a pair of forks and I think it worked alright. The scones came out with the right texture at least.
The majority of the time I make scones I tend to use the drop method, resulting in lumpy, irregular and crumbly scones. This time I chose to go with the wedge style, mostly because I thought it would fit on my Silpat better.
The hibiscus didn't add much flavour to the scones but the little bit of chewy texture adds a lot to the overall feel of the scones. The downside of the hibiscus is that they are pretty expensive. I recommend that if you're going to spring for them at all, find a recipe that capitalizes on their shape when whole. Otherwise, use some other dried fruit.
The best way to eat scones, and the world standard, I believe, is with tea. Add some milk and sugar to that tea and you will have an authentically British afternoon.
-Bizzle
Yes, you really do. And it makes your house smell wonderful. This is one of the strangest cakes I've ever made, but also one of the most delicious. I got the recipe from Orangette, and as it's the most recent thing she's posted, I feel rather presumptuous posting about it myself, but I figured that since I'd made a few changes to the recipe, I could allow myself to do it.
The fun thing about this cake, besides boiling an orange and a lemon for half an hour and filling your house with the most amazing smell, is that it's lactose-free. Olive oil is the fat, and you have to beat the eggs a LOT. I didn't beat them enough, and, while the cake still tasted amazing, it had a dip in the middle. Aim for a very pale yellow and you should be good. I also didn't have almonds on hand, but a ton of pecan meal, which I used instead. The color was darker, of course, but just as tasty. And it got me thinking about other substitutions one could make in this recipe--bergamot and macademia nuts, anyone?
Or some of these and roasted pine nuts...
My brother was pleased with the cake. So was everyone else.
~The Weng
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