Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Baked goods’ Category

I’m taking a class at The Muse, a local writer’s center that offers writing and photography workshops. This is my third class there. This time, I’m taking “Expressions in Food” taught by Patrick Evans-Hylton, food and wine editor of Hampton Roads Magazine and a well-known local food writer and TV and radio personality.

Cooking, gardening and photography are some of my passions, along with writing, which is why I started this food blog years ago. But I haven’t been as consistent with it as I would like, so I signed up for this class, hoping for inspiration and feedback.

I also really enjoy the people and the atmosphere at The Muse, so this keeps me coming back there, as well

So, for the first class on Oct. 16, Patrick, my classmates and I all brought a dish to share, as well as cameras to record the yummies and paper and pen to record the aromas and flavors.

Classmates photographing yummies during class

Becky brought cinnamon bread, caraway bread and stewed apples. The stewed apples in particular stirred fun memories for me. Whenever I have homemade stewed apples or applesauce, I think of visiting my great-grandmother Frances on the farm in Monroe, Mich., when I was growing up. She was famous (to me as a child, at least) for peeling apples, freshly picked from the tree out front, with one long peel. I’ve never been able to accomplish this.

Cinnamon bread, caraway bread and stewed apples

My offering was a tasty treat I’ve made a few times now – Honey-Rosemary Scones with Goat Cheese. This recipe is from a book I won in an online contest a few years ago. I love the unusual combination of the sweet honey, a gift from our friend and Portsmouth beekeeper Paul, and the savory rosemary, from our garden.

Honey-Rosemary-Goat Cheese Scones

Patrick also encouraged us to purchase a few books to use as resources in the class; I picked these:

• The Describer’s Dictionary
• The New Food Lover’s Companion
• Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More

The first class was a lot of fun, and I’ve blogged more in the last two weeks than I did in the last month. And I have more food-related reading materials (as if I need more, but hey …). I think I’m gonna like this class.

Have I told you I’m on the board of the League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads? Yesterday was our annual program planning/general membership/holiday party meeting, and traditionally, board members, and sometimes others, bring brunch-type goodies to have during the meeting.

I got up early to make scones and realized I was out of whipping cream. So I used what I had – I substituted a few tbsp. of low-fat cream cheese and a half cup of skim milk for the whipping cream. I’ve made these scones for this event for several years now, and I got more compliments than ever, so I guess low-fat is the way to go.

Cranberry-Orange Scones

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) firm unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. orange extract

Optional: Instead of whipping cream, cut 3 tbsp. low-fat cream cheese into flour with the butter and add 1/2 cup skim milk with the liquid ingredients.

Optional: Sprinkle with candy sprinkles – I used fall colors with leaves.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or spray with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix butter, and optional cream cheese, into dry ingredients until mixture is the size of small peas. Add remaining ingredients, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moist.

Using a small spoon, scoop out golf-ball size pieces of dough, put on the baking sheet, and pat down lightly, or you can turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a circle 3/4-inch thick, then cut dough into 8 to 10 wedges. I like a more rustic look, so I spoon it out.

Place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and optional candy sprinkles. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 20 scones.