Fresh Fruit Jam

On a recent visit with my family to Ad Hoc we were served, as the third course, a platter with nut-studded crisp crackers, various semi-firm cheeses and fresh fig jam.  The jam was simple and delicious and paired so beautifully with the cheeses that I was inspired to try fruit preserving when I got home. 

I was looking for an easy recipe because, let's face it, I have by bouts of laziness like anyone else.  It had to be a recipe that didn't call for huge quantities of fruit, sugar and a complicated canning and sealing process.  Who has time for that anyway?  

Naturally I turned to my friends at Cook's Illustrated who had a recipe for Easy Fresh Fruit Jam.  Three ingredients was all that was required: fruit, sugar and lemon juice.   Fifteen minutes later and I had an amazing preserve that could possibly even rival Ad Hoc's.

P.S. You can find the recipe for Cat Head Biscuits (in the picture above) from Cook's Country.  They taste amazing and are excellent with the fruit jam!

P.S.S. I love how the jam looks in these Weck mini mold canning jars.  I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma. 

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

If you're not familiar with them, pavlovas are a renowned dessert from New Zealand and Australia named in honor of a celebrated Russian ballerina.  Amongst all of the numerous cakes and treats  served at PG's 70th birthday bash this summer it was the Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova that was devoured first.   The combination of crispy, crunchy chocolate meringue topped with billowy whipped cream and fresh raspberries proved irresistible for the guests.   Ironically enough, the maker of said dessert (otherwise known as me) didn't have a chance to taste it for herself. 

Can you guess what I wanted to make as soon as I got home?  Yep, you got it!  With my first bite of its lusciousness I was in heaven.   Now I see what all the fuss was about.  I'll definitely be making it again!

Special tusen takk to Anne Marie for introducing me to this recipe.

Morning Buns

When it comes to baking you could say I've been around the block a few times, several laps in fact.  With decades of experience you'd think I had the right to be so arrogant.   Hardly!   It's the things I don't know that are humbling and continue to keep me coming back for more.   There's nothing better than discovering something I've never heard of or made before.

That was the case when I saw this recipe for Morning Buns on an episode of Cook's Country.   Perhaps sub-consciously I was familiar with them, but they never registered before.  Learning that they were a hybrid of a croissant and cinnamon roll definitely brought them top of mind.  

In place of laminated dough this recipe uses quick puff pastry, definitely a lot easier to make yet still achieving flaky layers.   There is some advanced preparation required but it's mainly from chilling the rolled and cut dough in the fridge.  

The buns were very easy to make by hand and baked up quite nicely.  To be honest though, quick puff pastry is not my favorite.  While the buns were buttery and flaky I still prefer a traditional croissant dough.  So the next time I make my favorite croissant dough I'll save a portion of the dough to make morning buns. 

NPR Lemon-Lime Pie

An email a while back from my sister, "Heard this lemon pie story on NPR and it sounds delicious and easy."  For those of you who may not be fluent in "big sister", allow me to translate:  "Can you make this pie for me - because I'm lazy and besides, you love to bake anyways." Luckily for her she's right, on both counts.

I was definitely intrigued by the recipe for Atlantic Beach Pie.  The filling is similar to one for key lime pie and requires basically only three ingredients: condensed milk, egg yolks and fresh lemon or lime juice.  The twist is the crust that's made with saltine crackers.  Hmmmm...salty and sweet - definitely promising.  

Could a pie this easy to make with so few ingredients be the real deal?  I had my reservations, but when I brought it to a recent family BBQ it was unanimously given the thumbs up.  Almost unheard of from such a large group of self-appointed food critics.

The tart filling wasn't as sweet as I had thought and the salty cracker crust was the perfect counter balance to it.  I think it's an ideal dessert after a heavy meal.   I'll definitely be making it again and again!  Could this be a case of "sister knows best"?  I shudder to think...lol!