It's a Pumpkin Scone Showdown

As with pretty much everyone in the northeast, pumpkin fever has taken hold of me. I've not yet had a pumpkin spice latte, mainly because I finally broke down and looked at the calories and sugar and it is basically equal to five years of my life. Sigh. But eventually.

For now, I've settled on an excuse to bake a lot of scones. I mean...how ELSE would I decide between two pumpkin spice scone recipes? Muah ha ha!

I first went to my girl Joy the Baker and her recipe. I omitted the pecans, but followed everything else. The dough stayed pretty wet, as it had a considerable amount of pumpkin puree in it, in addition to browned butter. It was so wet, in fact, that the directions said to scoop out the scones with an ice cream scoop (the finished product for this recipe is up there on the left).

It starts in the usual way. This recipe actually had no egg--all the moisture came from pumpkin puree and butter, plus a splash of buttermilk.

Here's the buttermilk, pumpkin, and some vanilla. Looks like a crazy flan, right?

 Even after adding the dry ingredients the dough stayed loose. Normally, this is where I'd panic. But if Joy tells you to scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop, then you do it. Thankfully they held their shape when plopped onto the baking sheets. Since this was a scoopable dough, my hands stayed nice and clean: no kneading!

Of course I stood by my usual ritual of sitting on the floor in front of the oven while they baked to make sure nothing went horribly awry. As the kitchen started to smell incredible, I settled in and felt confident they'd be good. While the scones were cooling off I made the glaze, which was mainly browned butter and confectioner's sugar. It whisked up nice and thick, not quite like Royal icing, but not too far from that consistency.

It was torture not to just inhale them on the spot!

With recipe one completed, it was time to turn to the second recipe. I happened upon this one thanks to simply Googling around for "pumpkin spice scone recipe." After reading through a few, I landed on this one, which claims to replicate the pumpkin scones at Starbucks (well, before La Boulange took over as the bakery suppliers for the coffee chain).

From the get-go, I had a hunch this recipe might eek out over Joy's. I've learned from making a few scones from Joy's website that she prefers cakeier and fluffier scones, whereas I prefer the variety that are drier and almost biscuity. This dough had a smaller wet team (still using pumpkin, butter, and buttermilk, but in smaller proportions). This was going places.

Kneading the dough in flour helped absorb any lingering moisture so it could be rolled out and cut.

I got a pretty intense case of club hand, so John had to come to my rescue to add a bit more flour to knead the dough. I could have pressed it out and used a round cutter like I typically do, but since the recipe said to cut it into triangles, I figured I'd give that a whirl.

I was a little worried at this point--the instructions said to roll it to an inch depth in about a 10X17 rectangle. But there was no way that amount of dough would stretch to that size and stay that thick. So I said, "Well, time to improvise." So I rolled it out to a rectangle big enough to let me cut out 8 triangles. They were pretty thin, so I was just hoping they'd rise up nicely in the oven!

Thank goodness they did! These guys got a double shot of glaze, too.

And now...which scone reigned supreme? After testing amongst myself and John as well as a handful of my coworkers...








Triangle scone won! It got points for texture, glaze, and flavor. Though supporters of Joy's liked the soft texture, lack of crumbs, and better spices. John prefers the rounds, I prefer the triangles. A house divided. But everyone still wins. Yum yum.

Cooooooooooooooookies

I have made Joy the Baker's best brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Much like Ree's knock you naked brownies, the recipe title does not lie. Honestly, all other chocolate chip cookies are ruined for me. I've now made this recipe twice, and the second time wasn't as good as the first, but I know exactly why, so the next time I make them I should be right back on course. Let me be clear--the second batch was still good. Just not swoon/call-911 good. The first batch...? I needed to be resuscitated.

I made a few tweaks to the recipe, partially due to what was in my baking cabinet, partially due to what was available at the grocery store, and lastly due to personal preference.

Here are the willing volunteers for greatness. The recipe calls for light brown sugar, but I only had dark brown sugar and was too lazy to buy another variety, so I just rolled with it (tweak 1). The dough starts with a twist on the usual--one stick of butter will be beaten with sugars (brown and white), but the other. The other is browned on the stovetop, and left to cool its delicious nutty jets before being added to the batter as well.

Pardon the blue bowl, but here's the brown butter--you can see the caramelized bits doing their thing.

Once the butter and sugars are creamed, some flour is dumped into the mix, finished by folding with a spatula to avoid over-working and to incorporate all the chocolate once it's added. This recipe uses more salt than a typical cookie recipe because the point is to taste the salt, not just have it enhance the other flavors. Even without the salt sprinkled on top (tweak 3), the cookies left an extraordinarily pleasing salty taste after the sweetness of each bite quiets down.

The other tweak (2) I made was using semi-sweet chocolate chunks instead of the called-for bittersweet. I was worried that it would be too sweet, but actually, the balance was pretty nice. I'd definitely try this with bittersweet, but our grocery store is heavy on semisweet varieties. I'd like to try adding some coffee to see what depth that adds, but for now I'm happy with keeping it simple. Maybe as prime holiday baking season comes, I'll experiment a little. I'll keep you posted.

A key to these is also to let the dough chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. Much like a shortbread recipe, the dough needs time to let the flavors marinate and for the butter to relax into the floury bits. It also makes it easier to scoop the dough into nice little portions. I just used my regular old ice cream scoop, which is about 2Tbsp, and allowed for about 36 cookies--perfectly in line with JtB's estimation.

I found what worked best for scooping was to flatten the dough into a disk (like shortbread) and let is chill. Then, just at the end I rolled it into a brick sort of thing. haha I dunno...it felt scientific at the time.

When I made the cookies the second time, I didn't let the dough chill quite long enough (I tried rolling the dough into a log first, but it didn't chill enough because it didn't have the benefit of surface area). What I learned from not-cold-enough dough is that it will result in a flatter cookie that is crispy throughout. When the dough gets nice and cold and is then baked, you get lovely cookies that are crisp around the edges, and then chewy gooey centers, thanks to the bit of rise they get. Perfection. Absolute and irrefutable perfection.

GOALS

Our first year as homeowners has been especially challenging. Would the speed bumps we've hit have felt as treacherous had we still been merely renting our adorable Bordentown apartment? Probably not. But here we are, and we are muddling through it all.

Wasn't that delightfully vague? If we regularly interact in the real world, that likely made sense to you. Anyway. I'm very eager to put our struggles behind me, and as such, I am setting some personal goals to get me through to 1/1/15.

This fall, I will conquer pie in anticipation of peak holiday baking season. The more I read about baking them, the less intimidating they sound. Will I make a perfect lattice-work crust? No. But I can manage a double-crusted pie where I just cut out a few venting slits. (Plus, I can buy a few pretty, plain and simple Pyrex pie plates--new toys are always good incentive to face my fears!) I mean, I've already done homemade rainbow cookies and macarons, so...bring it on, pie! Bring. It. On.

This fall, I will complete a 10-mile race at the second annual Women's Perfect 10. The following week I will run a 10K as part of the Trenton Double Cross Half Marathon weekend. The 10-miler has been enticing me since I ran the 5K event in the race last year. Then I saw the Trenton Marathon Weekend enticed me mainly because I get to run across the Trenton Makes, the World Takes bridge as well as some pretty farmland over in PA. Am I nuts? Yup.

These are the big goals I have in mind at the moment. I'm sure I'll be adding more, and then I can start working on resolutions and larger-picture goals to sprinkle about in 2015. But for now, I'm looking for ways to challenge myself, but also for specific challenges that are juuust out of reach so when I accomplish them I'll feel like I totally crushed it.

Here's to hoping. And to hope.

Quick Summer Vignette

There are fewer things that scream "Summer!" more than beach shots. One of the few things, however, are farm portraits right here in the Garden State. I swear, for the state that boasts both Camden and Trenton, there are locales scattered around that remind you where our moniker came from.

John and I visited Cherry Grove Farm today. We admire (and consume!) their cheeses at the Bordentown Farmers Market every week, and finally made the trip over to their working farm right in Lawrenceville.

And now, I release you back to your summer as I continue mine...

A Brief Flirtation with Vegan Baking: Toasting Two Dear Friends' Engagement

You guys, I love dairy. In fact, I probably blow the FDA's recommended daily intake of dairy out of the water. Probably worse than a dairy farmer does. I can't help myself. It's a sickness. A delicious sickness.

But there is a dear friend in my life for whom the joys of dairy cause pain and suffering. Lactose intolerance is a bitch, y'all. While dairy baked into cakes, breakfast eggs, and butter don't usually present a problem, when posed with the prospect of baking cupcakes to toast her engagement, I decided not to take any chances. Engagement cupcakes are best when eaten in mass quantity, so definitely better safe than sorry.

Initially, another friend and I were going to buy a dairy-free cake, but we then realized that the local options were small, and often unreliable in edibleness. So I said, "Between all the baking blogs I follow, surely someone must have at least one recipe that looks promising." Enter Joy the Baker and her vegan chocolate cake.

In looking it over, there were no weird or scary or "typical" vegan ingredients. I've made vegan pumpkin muffins before, and they required xanthan gum...yeh, screw that. FYI, my spellcheck doesn't even know "xanthan" is a word...just sayin. The only "strange" ingredient here was...the delicious, buttery...avocado! All other ingredients were the usual stuff you'd toss around during cake-baking: flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, cocoa powder, some canola oil and the like. In place of butter and eggs, however, I just had to sub in some avocado and white vinegar. The recipe promised no trace flavors of the green machine, and Joy has never steered me wrong before, so I crossed my heart and placed my trust in the other ingredients to do their thing and become chocolate cake.

The somewhat usual suspects.

L-R: creamed avocado bowl; wet team bowl; completed batter--wet and dry teams together.

It felt mildly offputting to be baking a cake without cracking open eggs or creaming butter,  but the result was SO GOOD. The cake was decadent and chocolatey, and it baked up so moist! Apparently a lot of not-exclusively-vegan bakeries that offer vegan goods tend to stray on the dry side. This cake was probably moister than a "regular" chocolate cake, and I would hands-down use this recipe again and again, even when not making a conscious decision to avoid dairy. It's that good. Pinky swear.

Oh, hai...we totally look like regular, old chocolate cake and we are delicious!

The frosting, well, that was a bit different. Joy's recipe makes use of Alton Brown's avocado buttercream frosting. Alton is one of my food heroes, and he has never steered me wrong in kitchen advice or practice, so again, I trusted. I wasn't disappointed, either! While the consistency was a bit runny and more along the lines of a glaze, it was certainly yummy. Maybe because I knew just how much avocado was in the recipe, or maybe because I had ingested so much avocado by the time it came down to the frosting, I was very aware of the slightly vegetabley-flavor of the glaze. John promised he couldn't taste it, and no one at the party at which the cupcakes were served had any idea there was anything non-dairy about them. So I'm calling it a total success.

Frosting cast list.

Creaming the avocado with powdered sugar (there's lemon juice and vanilla in there, too!).

John's and My QC-cupcake. A very scientific bite. It's all market research, baby.

In fact, only 3 cupcakes made it home with me from the 24 I brought to the party! John and I finished the last 2 with breakfast this morning. (What! Omega 3s!)

Next, I cannot believe I have never once made chocolate chip cookies in my adult semi-professional baking life, so that is to what I next turn my attention. I'm thinking browned butter in the dough...chunks of bittersweet chocolate, and maybe even a little coffee powder to kick it all up...we'll see!

Summertime

Well, we hosted our very first backyard BBQ over 4th of July weekend, and it was wonderful. The weather cooperated and our yard was filled with a handful of close friends, which was pretty perfect.We've finally finished off the last of the food leftovers, but our fridge is still stocked to the gills with beer. Note to self: next time, under-buy assuming everyone will bring at least one six pack with them! Whew!

Here are a few scenics from before guests arrived:

A welcoming walkway with a view of our veggie garden.

The lawn lounge area.

A few snipped daylillies in a wine bottle festive up the deck dining area.

I also recently did a few more very small upgrades as far as decor. A new lamp for my nightstand. A triptych of mirrors in the upstairs hallway to throw some more light and make it less cavernous (though the jury is still out on if this is actually a success...). Finally replaced the falling-apart welcome mat on our deck that we inherited from the sellers. Slowly, slowly things are coming together.

A beach-glass style lamp with a hollow base is a perfect nook for some shells.

A charming threshold between our deck and laundry room entrance.

Attempting to shed some light.

Still feels like the wall is missing some accents, but it's a start.

We have picked paint colors for the kitchen/laundry room and guest room, as they are the final places left for us to paint. Now just to acquire the colors and find the motivation to cut in around every goddamn cabinet in the kitchen...oy. But I have to remember it'll be worth it for a fresh look. And I'm just dying to finish off the guest room--paint on the walls, curtains over the windows, maybe spruce up the walls a bit with a better art arrangement, etc. So more on that as they develop.

In the meantime, here's how I've improved my view while doing dishes and when looking toward the sliding glass doors in the laundry room area. Very tiny tweaks, but they are more than enough to make me happy every time I glance in those directions.

Because our gardens are still bare, these are from the Bordentown weekly farmer's market.

This hutch has been here since moving day because we had nowhere else to put it.

We will eventually give it back to my parents, but for now it's safely in our (dry!) basement. My gosh, look how open and bright it is now! Instant improvement. But now I'm aware of how stark the walls are in the laundry room...oh, projects for post-painting!

Ciao, bellas, and stay cool in this July heat--it seems summer has indeed finally arrived.

Slight Intermission

John is at home today with our Eagle Scout friend installing (well, re-installing) the ceiling fans the sellers left us. Our air conditioned passed its inspection and test by AJ Perri with flying colors, but we are learning that our ductwork is just not up to the task of moving air upstairs. It was a good 10 degrees colder up there all winter (you could feel the change in climate about halfway up the stairs!), and it's definitely warmer and stuffier up there in this warmer summer(ish) weather we've been having.

The sellers had to remove the three ceiling fans in the bedrooms upstairs because they failed the inspection--apparently they were all at the ideal chopping height for children jumping on beds. Even after pointing out we are two adults with no children, they had to go. So the sellers removed them and installed a few simple stock flush-mounted lights, but they did leave us the fans. Which will now hopefully help to control the climate up there a bit better.

Only 2 have light kits, though, so one room will now need a floor lamp and some task lighting. We're thinking that since guests won't have muscle memory enough to walk through the darkened guest room and make it to the bedside lamp, it's pretty important to have overhead lighting controlled by a switch at the door. Likewise, I like having garish overhead lighting in the master bedroom cuz it's easier when putting away laundry (matching socks!), or test-driving outfits after the sun goes down (which is rather early in the colder months). This probably means the office will get the light-less fan, and we'll have to pick up a floor lamp and a desk lamp for me (John has one). Which is fine. It's very bright in there thanks to the window (which we can't open cuz the crank handle is missing...been on the we-should-fix-that list since move-in...sigh), and with all the extended daylight hours in the summer, lamps can definitely wait.

So in addition to the fans, I've picked up a few very small items I've swapped out around the house, namely a new lamp shade in the living room, a new bedside lamp for me, and a trio or small mirrors in the upstairs hallway that I hope will bounce around light and make it seem a bit brighter up there. Oh, and a sweet new outside doormat for the deck. So all in all small spruces, but big improvements. I'll throw together some photos and do a post later on including the fans.

Larger projects coming soon will be painting the kitchen and laundry room and maybe the upstairs hallway, once we figure out how to tackle the enormous vault over the stairs. My dad is 6'8"...I'm thinking we'll have to call him in for reinforcements. Then I am DYING to finish off the guest room. It functions, but sort of feels hyper-neglected since the rest of the house has come together. I think we've finally settled on a paint color, and that has helped me figure out what direction to take with some of the decorative accents. It's feeling pretty stark in there now, and is kind of the wah-wah on the house tour. haha

BUT I've rambled on. The real intermission I wanted to take was to say I am now officially 4 months away from my 10-miler race, and I am 40% excited and 60% terrified. I am beginning to amp up my mileage and work on new pacing and endurance goals. I've got to add in some energy gels on training runs in a few weeks when I eek up from 5 miles as my long run to 7 miles, and then so on and so on.

I'm getting to the point where 5 miles feels like a comfortable challenge. I have worked out a good walk-run pattern so I can sustain the miles without feeling like death after the 5K mark. This means I can translate that into longer distances. I'm also pretty happy with my timing--covering 5 miles in just about 55 minutes, meaning I'm basically at exactly the halfway point: I'm running half the race distance in just about half of my goal race time. Sometimes when I'm out there, I feel awesome and empowered. Others I'm like, "What the hell was I thinking? I hate myself." But I just keep on running, and even after a total shit run, I'm glad I did it. Cuz a crappy run is better than none at all. Most of the time