Two at a Time Baking

Entries in Fruit (11)

Monday

28Sep2009

Persimmons

Monday, September 28, 2009 at 4:27PM

We have a persimmon tree in our front yard and for the past couple of years it has produced tons of beautiful persimmons. I have been intrigued by these little yellow-orange-red tomato look-a-likes but I have never known exactly what to do with them. Today I did some research in the hopes of finding some good recipes for persimmon baked goods. The first thing I learned is that we have Fuyu persimmons (the other popular variety is Hachiya). Fuyu persimmons are short, squat and heavier than you'd think given their size. Here is a good photo of one. Much to my disappointment, the Fuyu variety seems to be used most frequently in salads (here are some interesting sounding ones here, here, here and here) while the Hachiya is the preferred variety for baking. I'm not sure why - seems like a super ripe Fuyu has such a unique consistency that seems like it would work well in some type of baking (I will keep looking and experimenting). After much online research and a taste test of different levels of ripeness, here is what I've learned:

Unlike the Hachiya persimmon, the Fuyu persimmon can be eaten when it is firm (which has a crisp texture like an apple but tastes a bit astringent like a green banana) or when it is soft (when it has a sweeter taste)
We didn't like them as much when firm and preferred them when they were softer
The softest one we ate felt like a water balloon and I liked it (the consistency was almost like marmalade when you cut into it) but Erik didn't care for it
It sounds like it's best to pick them when they are orange or red (not yellow) and they will ripen over time if left on your counter
Don't refrigerate them
It is OK to eat the skin
Remove any black seeds that you find

I hope you enjoy some persimmons soon. Let me know if you have any luck baking with the Fuyus.

Christine Mazzone |

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Sunday

26Apr2009

Strawberry Streusel Bakewreck

Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 9:01PM

The strawberries from the farmers market yesterday were screaming out to be baked into a treat and I also wanted to do something nice for my in-laws this weekend as a thank you for helping us out a lot this month. So I decided to surprise them with some freshly baked Strawberry Streusel Muffins (using this recipe). I decided to make 12 regular-sized muffins instead of the large ones I made last time. Even though my blog post from the first time I made them specifically mentioned that I used Baker's Joy, for some reason I thought it would be better to grease the tins with butter (warning sign #1). As I was mixing it up, the batter seemed a bit wetter than it was last time (warning sign #2) even before I put in the super sweet, super juicy strawberries in. Undeterred by those pesky warnings, I plodded forward.

I had a little leftover batter which I put into mini muffin tins. I took the mini muffins out of the oven after about 10 minutes, let them sit for a few minutes and they popped right out of the tins (and were pretty darn tasty). I let the rest of the muffins cook for about 20 minutes. They didn't seem to be dark enough but I obsessed about the fact that it seemed like they should be in the oven for less time than when I made the extra large sized muffins last time (warning sign #3). So I dutifully tested them with a toothpick, which came out clean and so out they came from the oven. After letting them sit for about 5 minutes in the tin, I turned them over onto a wire rack. When I lifted the pan, nothing happened. Nothing. Not a single muffin came out (warning signs #4-16). I figured they just needed a little help leaving the nest so I banged them lightly onto the wire rack. The result was quite disappointing and I must say rather ugly:

I tend to get pretty frustrated when something I've spent time on in the kitchen doesn't turn out well. Erik encouraged me to try to keep track of what went wrong and make the most of it. As I sat there deciding whether I wanted to start all over, buy some muffins at the store or go back to bed and pull the covers over my head, I thought about the fact that, of all the people in my life, my in-laws would be genuinely thrilled to have some freshly baked muffins no matter how ugly or messy they were. So, Erik helped me pack them up in a basket with some fresh strawberries as garnish. I certainly wouldn't enter them into a contest or anything but I was quite pleased with the result:

On the drive over to my in-laws, I talked to Erik about the fact that I wanted to blog about my little mis-hap and he coined the perfect phrase for it: Bakewreck. Somewhat in the vein of Cake Wrecks and reminiscent of a recent post on one of my favorite Baking Blogs (Cream Puffs in Venice), Bakewrecks will be my attempt to learn from and share my mistakes with others. I love the new phrase - and I'm sure I will have many opportunities to use it in the future!

Christine Mazzone |

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Sunday

08Jun2008

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 3:29PM

Erik and I had a fabulous time visiting some friends in Charlottesville over Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday morning, I made some blueberry muffins (using this recipe). As I looked for a place to take some photos of the muffins to add to the blog, I was surprised to find a blueberry plant sitting on their dining room table that they had not yet planted. What a perfect backdrop for some photos of blueberry muffins! I'm trying to improve my picture taking abilities, especially when it comes to food. I'm still pretty bad (Erik took this one which I really like) but I'm hoping over time I'll get better. I followed the recipe as listed and this time I actually remembered to sprinkle Sugar in the Raw on top of the muffins before baking them. Although there was disagreement about whether there was too much or too little sugar, we all seemed to like having at least some sugar on top of the muffins.

Christine Mazzone |

Strawberry Streusel Muffins

Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 6:13PM

A new farmers' market opened up about a mile from our house. Erik and I went on Sat. morning (the weather was just perfect - sunny and in the low 70s) and bought some delicious strawberries. This morning, I decided to make some Strawberry Streusel Muffins (from my current favorite muffin cookbook). As usual, I made 6 large muffins and we had some with coffee. I was quite happy with them - next time I would try adding a little bit more streusel. It was the first time I had ever made muffins with streusel and I'm excited to try it again. I didn't want them to be too sweet so I went a little light on the streusel and would have liked a little more. After I added the milk, eggs and vanilla (I followed the recipe which instructed to add those ingredients all at once), the batter didn't really ever get smooth again. After I added the flour, it turned into the muffin batter consistency that I'm used to seeing and the muffins were no worse for the wear but next time, I might add the milk, eggs and vanilla separately and mix after each addition to incorporate better.

Strawberry Streusel Muffins
Makes 6 large (or 12 regular) muffins
Adapted from Totally Muffins Cookbook

Streusel Topping
0.5 stick butter
0.5 cup brown sugar, packed
0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Muffins
1 stick butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
0.75 cup milk
1.75 cup all-purpose flour
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
0.25 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped

1. To make stresusel topping, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add cinnamon and salt. Mix until blended. Add flour and mix with fingertips just until crumbly. Can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to a week.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins (I like to use Baker's Joy)
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and smooth.
4. Add eggs, vanilla and milk (next time, I would try adding these ingredients one at a time and beating in between each addition and add the milk slowly while lightly beating). Lightly beat until smooth.
5. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
6. Add to liquid ingredients and stir by hand just until flour disappears.
7. Gently stir in strawberries.
8. Scoop into muffin tins. Sprinkle streusel on top of batter.
9. Bake for about 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
10. Enjoy!

Christine Mazzone |

Strawberry Orange Scones

Monday, April 21, 2008 at 9:56PM

Since I didn't use up all the farmer's market strawberries in the Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes, I decided to make these scones, which I found over at Baking Bites. I had such good luck with the Cranberry Clementine Scones (which were based on a recipe from Baking Bites as well), that I gave these a whirl. They didn't turn out as well as I hoped but I have lots of ideas about how I would change them for next time. Nicole used frozen strawberries and I used fresh strawberries. I added the strawberries to the food processor right after I washed them and I think that made the batter way too liquid-y. After mixing in the strawberries, the batter turned pink and there weren't as many chunks of strawberries as I had hoped for. The batter was also too moist to really work with. Next time, I will stir in the chopped strawberries by hand and I will probably use the drop method from the Cranberry Clementine Scone recipe. They had a good flavor and I really liked the glaze which is unusual for me - I don't generally like super sweet frostings or glazes but the small amount on these scones was just right. With a few adjustments, I think these will be fantastic next time.

Strawberry Orange Scones
Makes 8 scones
Adapted from Baking Bites

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
0.5 teaspoon salt
0.25 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, cold
6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen and coarsely chopped
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse for 5 seconds to combine.
3. Cut butter into 4 or 5 pieces and add to food processor with flour mixture. Process for 10-15 seconds until no large pieces of butter remain.
4. If using fresh strawberries, add yogurt and orange zest to food processor. Pulse for 10-15 seconds until mixture comes together into a ball. Stir in strawberries by hand.
5. If using frozen strawberries, add yogurt, orange zest and frozen strawberries to food processor. Pulse for 10-15 seconds until mixture comes together into a ball.
6. Divide dough into eight pieces and place on baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until scones are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the scones cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.
8. While scones cool, prepare the glaze. Combine powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. When scones are cool enough to touch (it’s ok if they’re still a little warm), drizzle glaze onto scones with a fork.
9. Enjoy!

Christine Mazzone |