Cranberry scones

It looks like autumn is passing away. The leaves are gone, the beautiful colours outside are gone, it's getting really cold.. But we still like to make something that gives us the flavours and feelings which suits this time of year.

We have been so busy with school and things in other cities, that we haven't spent much time together in the kitchen here. I miss it, but during the weekends we try to make something delicious and enjoy it so much the more. This weekend we had a cold, stormy saturday. We were thinking what to do with our lunch. Something warm, something sweet, something with fruit: we only had some cranberries left, so we ended up with these delicious scones! 

They are so easy to make; in under half an hour you will have warm, delicious smelling scones on your table! So let's get started!

Scones with cranberries.

yield: 8 big scones.

Ingredients:

250 gr all purpose flour

1 tbs regular sugar

3 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

100 gr cold, unsalted butter

2 eggs, beaten

1,25 dl whipping cream

85 gr cranberries

1 egg, to brush

some raw sugar, to top

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 185 degrees C.

Combine the flour, sugar, bakingpowder and salt together. Cut your cold butter into cubes and combine these with your hands into your mixture, just until crumbly.

Combine the eggs and cream together and add this to your crumb-mixture. The best way to mix this is to start with two knives and continue with your hands when it starts to come together. 

Now sprinkle your cranberries with some flour and gently fold these into your dough. Work your dough out to a 15 x 15 cm square. Cut this square into quarters and halve each quarter. Place the pieces together on a baking sheet and brush them with your egg. The last step is to sprinkle them with some raw sugar to give them a crispy top!

Bake the scones for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Serve them warm together with some clotted cream, whipped cream or butter.

(For the clotted cream, our favorite!, you can combine 125 ml whipping cream togehter with 250 gr mascarpone.)

Enjoy!

Raspberry muffins

Imagine...A cozy evening, everybody is at home, craving to something sweet.. There are some raspberries and you start to think about it.. Cake? Muffins? Cookies? Raspberry muffins can be so good. These in the oven will fill the home with warmth and delicious fragrances.


This recipe gives you some muffins that are:
fresh - because of the raspberry and lemon zest.
airy - the muffins will be so fluffy and moist, just perfect!
rich - the creme fraîche in the batter, and the butter-crumb on top!
crunchy - the top will give this muffin a bite.
just delicious - this combination! mjum. Please try this at home!

On the couch when having a talk, around the table when drinking tea, during the pause when we need to study.. These are all moments when we enjoy being together and eating something delicious home made.

Raspberry muffins
yield : 12 muffins

Ingredients:
for the cake
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (+ some extra for the raspberries)
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the crumb
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
4 tsp unsalted soft butter

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 180 C.
Line up your muffin tin and spray it with non-sticking spray.
First we're going to make the topping. Combine the flour, sugar and lemon zest and whisk this together. Add the soft butter and mix this with two knives until the mixture becomes crumbly.

For the cake. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In an other bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract until you create a smooth mixture.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add your wet ingredients. Fold this together, be careful not to over mix. Mix your raspberries with a tablespoon flour and add these to your batter. Pay attention to whisk as less as possible. Take your big icecream scooper and fill up your muffin tin. Sprinkle over the crumb.

Bake these muffins for about 15-20 minutes or until dry on the inside and golden brown on the outside. (Take a tooth pick to test if the inside is ready). Let them cool a bit and they are ready to eat!
Enjoy!

Sablés à la confiture

These little cookies are Sablés à la confiture. A typical french cookie, made from very little ingredients with some jam between them. According to the letters of the Marquise de Sévigné, these biscuits were created for the first time in Sablé-sur-Sarthe in 1670. Sable means sand, which can refer to the soft, crumbly texture of the biscuits and their golden colour.

These cookies are perfect to give to someone for his/her birthday (like I did!)/a special occasion, or for yourself as a small treat. They look very cute, taste delicious and make you want to take an other one.

This recipe will take you some time, but, believe me: it's worth it!

Petits sablés à la confiture
yield: 25 cookies (50 individuals)

Ingredients:
250 gr all-purpose flour (+extra)
70 gr regular sugar
pinch of salt
200 gr cold, unsalted butter
1 egg
vanille extract
1/2 zest of an orange
strawberry jam

Directions:
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a big bowl. Cut your butter into little cubes and add these to your mixture. Try to combine all of this with two knives just until crumbly.
Add your egg, zest of the orange and vanilla extract and mix this together with your hands until well combined. Your dough should come together by now.
Flatten your dough with a rolling pin and flour to a 5 cm disk. Cut out shapes (make sure your cut out 2 individuals from 1 shape). Keep repeating until done.
Place your dough shapes for one hour in the refrigerator.
Now preheat your oven to 170 C. Bake your cookies for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool completely.
Spread some jam on one individual cookie and place the other half on top of it. Repeat until all cookies are done. You can serve them with some icing sugar on top.
These cookies will keep for a week in an airfree box.

Enjoy!

Peach galettes

As we said in our previous post, we were looking forward to autumn food. We had some lovely peaches and then the idea came up for a lovely dessert: peach galetes with spices and wipped cream.

We both love fruit! Apples, peaches, nectarines, all kinds of berries, mango, melon.. you name it! We also cook a lot with it. Most of the time we use raspberries. They have a good texture for all kind of cakes, muffins/cupcakes or desserts. They are also easy to get, even when it's winter. Not even spoken about the taste.. Delicious and a good combination with cream or chocolate. Or both.

We also like peaches or nectarines to cook with (an offcourse to eat them just raw) and you can get them everywhere now. The perfect time to do something with these lovely flavour bombs. Together with the spices they create a smell and flavour that represents this season; the stormy weather outside and the warmth inside. The rain outside, heat on in your home and comfortable on the couch, these will warm you up and make it cozy.

Peach galettes
yield: 8 individual galettes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (228 gr) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup ice water

4 peaches
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 lemon (juice)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tbs cream

sugar to sprinkle on the dough
whipped cream to serve with

Directions:
The first thing you want to do is preheat your oven to 180 C.
To make the dough:
Combine the flour and salt. Add you butter in small cubes and try to mix this in with a fork until you create crumbs. Slowly add the ice water. You could need a bit more or less, so don't add it al in one time. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together. If it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water. Now put it in a piece of cling film and leave it to rest in your refrigerator.

Mix your dry ingredients together. Peel and slice your peaches. In a large mixing bowl combine these with your lemon juice and vanilla extract. Now mix in your dry ingredients and stir gently.

Remove your dough from the refrigerator. Make thin circels with a diameter of 15 cm. Place your peach mixture in the middle of the circle, leaving a few centimeters on the side. Fold your edges in over the peaches. Brush the edges of the dough with cream and sprinkle these with some sugar.
Bake the galettes for about 40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling. Let them cool for a few minutes. Serve them warm with some whipped cream (or ice cream).

Enjoy this autumn moment!