Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

03 November 2014

A Christmas Post: Holiday Recipe: Fig and Toasted Almond Scones

Photo: King Arthur Flour

A Christmas Post: Holiday Recipe: Fig and Toasted Almond Scones: From Denny: Autumn is here - and so is daylight savings time this Sunday when we "fall backward" one hour - so don't forget to set your clocks back one hour!

For some reason I've been enjoying the vegan scones over at Whole Foods the past couple of weeks now that the weather has cooled. So, that sent me on The Scone Recipe Chase to see what is out there in recipe database land. Found these little autumnal gems over at King Arthur Flour.

Figs are quite popular here in Louisiana where many a backyard grows a fig tree. Almonds are popular in California where they supply the nation! This is the time of year when the nation's nut orchards are releasing their bountiful harvest of pecans (Louisiana and Texas), almonds, walnuts and macadamias so we are all tempted to start our holiday baking early! At least I believe that's their marketing strategy to sell more nuts. :)

Scones are an easy way to try out some fruit and nut combinations to see how the family and friends enjoy the idea. While I love my blueberry and lemon scones of the summer it's time for something different for the fall season so we wanted to try these fig and almond scones at our house. Of course, if figs or almonds are not your preference, know that you can always try figs and walnuts or cranberries and almonds or whatever grabs your fancy this baking season.

Don't feel like the extra effort and time of slicing the scone dough into proper triangles? Try the method the King Arthur Flour bakers suggest: bake them into rounds just using 1/4 cup of dough for each scone, leaving 2 inches between them. That amounts to the idea of a drop scone, much like a drop biscuit...

Holiday Message Potholder

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Holiday Message Dinner Placemats - design also available in cloth napkins, teapots, mugs, coffee travel mugs, aprons, serving trays, wine chillers, cocktail shakers, cocktail plates, cutting boards, cookie jars, flour and sugar canisters, dog food bowls, dog t-shirts, dog hoodies and much more! Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!

Holiday Message Large Serving Tray

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15 October 2014

Thanksgiving: Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

From Denny: This is the perfect holiday table dessert! It's so showy it's sure to impress. Three layers of tasty goodness are the gingersnap cookie crust as it's sturdy foundation to hold the spiced pumpkin cheese layer that is marbled with a vanilla layer.

Like most big cheesecakes, this one should be baked in a springform pan, where the cake cools in the pan for several hours before you remove the sides of the pan. If you have never used a springform pan, it's so easy it will make you laugh, definitely nothing to be intimidated about at all.

Like any tasty cheesecake, this one is rich in calories too, so a small serving would be welcomed by most. At a dinner party I like to cut a normal to small sized slice, placing it on one plate and then encourage couples to share so people don't have to feel guilty about busting their diet plan. After all, the whole point of entertaining is for people to enjoy their tasty treats!...

Floral Blush Woven Blanket

Floral Blush: Enjoy wrapping up in Spring's first blush of azalea blooms to chase away the winter blues!

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! Currently giving proceeds to Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

Fall Recipe: Breakfast Or Dessert Enjoy Spiced Golden Apples

Advocate staff photo by HEATHER MCCLELLAND -- For an extra-special breakfast or dessert, offer Golden Spiced Apples warm from the oven.

Photo: Heather McClelland/2TheAdvocate.com

From Denny: It's Autumn and time to enjoy cooking apple dishes! What smells better than apples baking in the oven? Talk about making the house smell good. This is an easy dish to make for your family, one they will request often. Our house prefers dark brown sugar in place of the usual white sugar, your choice, because both taste good. Saigon cinnamon is quite an awesome choice too. Found that at Whole Foods locally but I'm sure it's available at other stores in your area. Just take the time to check. Saigon cinnamon has more of the "cinnamon" taste and smell we all love, better than the generic cinnamon offered by most spice companies. You will be familiar with it if you frequent coffee houses.

How much do you know about all the new varieties of apples? Have you tried any of them? Seems like there is always something new to explore at the grocery store. Many of the new apples are crosses between two really outstanding varieties. Hey, more is better, so why not! Try picking up two new varieties on each grocery visit and then compare them for taste and texture. While there are over 100 apple varieties in the United States, we only see the best sellers at our grocery stores...

Geaux Wear Pink! Women's All Over Print T-Shirt

Help support breast cancer awareness and hope for the cure!

Also, please remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, keeping these women in your thoughts and prayers. Here's my latest Denny Lyon Gifts design (at Cafe Press) to honor all the fabulous women and their supporters fighting this disease.

This design first started off as one of my photos of those favorite hot pink azalea blooms, in addition to many other filters, employing a kaleidoscope filter to create this abstract medallion effect. This design reminds me of how our beauty is always there, no matter what form it takes. Of course, here in Louisiana, we take creative "French" license with English spellings. :) The thought bubble is to remind others to support these women on their journey to wellness. Lots of other styles of t-shirts and other products to enjoy too. The link takes you to the page of all the products featuring this design. Thanks for visiting!

Romancing The Chocolate: Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Photo provided by King Arthur Flour -- No one will ever guess there's zucchni in this Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

Photo: King Arthur Flour

Romancing The Chocolate: Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread: From Denny: Summer time and the zucchini are multiplying like rabbits in our gardens! Zucchini bread is always welcome just plain but how about "gilding the lily"? Add some cocoa, chocolate chips and espresso powder to put it over the top.

Quick breads like this recipe are always welcome for the holidays or when you want something special - but not complicated or too demanding of your time and effort. Like most quick breads this one is an easy recipe to make. While this delicious bread bakes just sit down, relax and tour through your favorite collected old cookbooks or breeze through some interesting online recipe databases. Works for me!

Celebrate Chocolate King Duvet

Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday!

Design available in 3 color palettes: additional bedding sizes, t-shirts, blankets,

pillows, jewelry, stuffed animals, mugs, ornaments, 3 sizes of laptop sleeves, shower curtains

From Louisiana artist Denny Lyon

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!

16 August 2013

Apple Cobbler Cinnamon Roll Style

From Denny: This is an interesting twist to the old-fashioned apple cobbler. The dough is rolled out into a rectangle like for a jelly roll sheet cake, then the apple-cinnamon filling is spread on top. You roll up the rectangle lengthwise and then slice into rounds. After placing the slices into the baking dish - they look like spirals - a sugar syrup is poured over the entire pan.

This recipe is based off of the idea of how to make a Swedish tea ring. The beauty of it is that you don't work with yeast dough or have to wait for it to rise before baking!

The sugar syrup is absorbed by the dough while baking. Fair warning: this is a sweet dish! :) It's definitely eye candy to match the sweet taste and would make a special dish for a holiday brunch or breakfast for the Christmas season or just when family and friends visit. For the holidays you could be really decadent and offer up a small dollop of some fresh whipped cream to top it at the table or on the side for individual servings...

Celebrate Chocolate Rectangular Canvas Pillow

Celebrate Chocolate every day as a holiday! Many more products available in this fun design!

Caramel Frosted Apple Sheet Cake

From Denny: You know me; I just have to rummage through a favorite product's recipe database to root out some interesting items to share. Journalists like to research. Martha White flour is a favorite at our house, more so than Gold Medal (which we also buy) when it comes to making tasty breakfast items like biscuits and scones. Though Martha White really could use some help in the naming of their recipes so they made more sense to a reader and a search engine. (The original name is below with the recipe.)

No, I don't represent Martha White or any of these companies. Oh, that they would pay me! :) But no, all my 24 blogs are done for the love of sharing and the love of writing as I can squeeze in the time. Google AdSense ads are the only piddly income. It pays for snail mail stamps and keeps me in copy paper...

Mod Blue Swirl iPhone 5 Case

Mod Blue Swirl: Get your retro mod fashion going on quick with this wow design! Design available for more phones and also as bedding, blanket, clocks, area rugs, pillows and curtains!

* * * Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home. Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new!

Romancing The Chocolate: Chef Cookies: Cinnnamon-Espresso Chocolate Chip Vegan Style

Romancing The Chocolate: Chef Cookies: Cinnnamon-Espresso Chocolate Chip Vegan Style: From Denny: Raise your hand if you love the combination of coffee, chocolate and cinnamon. Yeah, I thought so; me too. This easy recipe is from Chef Chloe Coscarelli, a winner of the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars."

10 March 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Almond Nuggets with Chocolate Drizzle

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Almond Nuggets with Chocolate Drizzle: From Denny: Chocolate and almonds are the ideal combination for a cookie. This is basically a sugar cookie with sliced almonds that makes for a stiff dough.

It is a simple exercise of dropping the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet - so that makes it easy even for beginner bakers. The chocolate comes in when you ice the cookie with bittersweet chocolate that has been melted together with real butter and almond extract.

What's amusing is how the recipe creator actually thinks these mere 24 cookies will last long enough to make it into a covered container. Bring your friends! :)

14 February 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Valentines Day Cookies: Reverse Chocolate Chip

PHOTO: Beth Leonard's reverse chocolate chip cookies are shown here.

Romancing The Chocolate: Valentines Day Cookies: Reverse Chocolate Chip: From Denny: In the mood for a chocolate batter cookie with white chocolate chips? This version also sports an unusual ingredient: the heady spice coriander. Add in the exotic flavorful macadamia nuts and this cookie is a huge hit. You can always substitute your favorite nut like almonds or walnuts.

When I found this recipe on the ABC Recipe site, they referenced it to "Stew Leonard's." Of course, I asked the obvious question, "Who is that?"

I live in south Louisiana so had never heard of the Connecticut grocery store chain. So, I googled them and found a wonderful site worth the visit. They started out as a dairy farm in Norwalk, Connecticut and branched out from there over the decades into a full blown grocery chain. Check out this wonderful chocolate recipe.

11 February 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Unusual Tabasco Chocolate Cherry

The Bing cherry owes its development to the Ch...

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Unusual Tabasco Chocolate Cherry: From Denny: Enjoy a little pepper heat with your chocolate? Then these unusual cookies from the Tabasco hot sauce company are for you.

Chocolate and cherries are another winning combination enjoyed during the Valentine's Day celebration season. Tabasco just decided to kick it up a notch.

This recipe calls for making huge cookies that are shaped into football ovals and then decorated with icing to resemble the pigskin laces. Instead you can shape them into hearts, piping icing with a heart inside a heart for decoration.

09 February 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Chefs Recipe 4 Valentines Day: Warm Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate cheesecake with strawberry sauce and...

Image via Wikipedia

Romancing The Chocolate: Chefs Recipe 4 Valentines Day: Warm Chocolate Cheesecake: From Denny: Looking for an easy to make chocolate cheesecake? Chef Sara Moulton is always coming up with great ideas that are simple to make.

Usually, we serve cheesecake chilled. Have you ever thought of eating your cheesecake while still warm from the oven? Sara likes this recipe to enjoy that warm creamy chocolate delight.

Sara bakes these chocolate cheesecakes in small ramekins. She didn't offer up a photo but check out the awesome one I found of another version of chocolate cheesecake at flickr, decked out in blackberries.

29 January 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Spiced Chocolate Macaroons

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Spiced Chocolate Macaroons: From Denny: Do you like spice cookies but crave the addition of chocolate? This cinnamon and chocolate pairing also happens to improve as the cookie ages. What could be better than that? A stale cookie that tastes great! :)

The cookie also contains the background dark note from a hint of cloves like I like to use in my morning stovetop cooked oatmeal. There is nothing like the pairing of cinnamon and cloves to add richness to a dish whether sweet or savory.

28 January 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Chocolate Crackled

Image via Wikipedia

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Chocolate Crackled: From Denny: These chocolate chunk cookies are delightfully decadent as they also include ancho chile pepper that provides some smokey heat. Cinnamon and extra vanilla extract balance the chile heat and intense semi-sweet chocolate.
A variation of this cookie is provided that enjoys using roasted ginger spice in place of the cinnamon.

Check out the interesting variations of your favorite chocolate chunk cookie!

25 January 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Triple Chocolate Pistachio Mint

Image via Wikipedia

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Triple Chocolate Pistachio Mint: From Denny: These rich cookies are perfect for the holidays from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Valentine's Day to Mardi Gras. Any celebration will do when it comes to chocolate!

Chocolate and peppermint are a great pairing, each complementing the other. What I like about this chocolate recipe is it uses bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate too. The contrast of the very dark and the light white is awesome, balanced by the roasted pistachio nuts. Can it get any better?

24 January 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip: From Denny: This is basically your standard chocolate chip recipe but with the difference of lots of extra vanilla extract to punch up the intensity. They should probably rename these cookies to Intense Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This recipe is from McCormick, the company we usually think of for spices. Turns out they have quite an extensive recipe collection!

These cookies use light brown sugar along with white sugar. We like dark brown sugar at our house and reduce the white sugar by half. But hey, we are living in Louisiana where we like the molasses taste of dark brown sugar.

We bake and cook a lot with the cane syrup produced here. Steen's cane syrup is a lot like black strap molasses in that it is an intense taste but much sweeter, just perfect for baking or making an awesome barbecue sauce. I find it a bit too strong to pour onto pancakes. Of course, my Cajun husband thinks it's awesome on pancakes and waffles. :)

23 January 2012

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Double Chocolate Chunk Mint

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Double Chocolate Chunk Mint: From Denny: Looking for a chocolate cookie with a deep, rich flavor? This recipe combines cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate.

Chunks of tasty walnuts are perfect with intense chocolate. And remember that peppermint extract you bought for the Christmas holidays and haven't managed to use up yet? This is a winner of a recipe to make good use of it. Yeah, had some peppermint extract languishing in the back of my pantry too. I'm just saying... :)

This recipe reminded me of those delicious Hershey's mint miniatures that are almost completely disappeared from the holiday season. And I was craving a chocolate-mint combination and then I happened upon this little gem of a recipe. Enjoy!

01 December 2011

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Mini-Chocolate Chip Dipped Shortbread Sticks

Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Mini-Chocolate Chip Dipped Shortbread Sticks: From Denny: Do you like to bake shortbread cookies for the holidays? Here is a new twist - literally - on the idea. When you cut the dough into rectangles you twist them before baking, then dip in chocolate. How pretty is that for a holiday gathering?!

30 November 2011

Romancing The Chocolate: From Silver Palate Restaurant Sheila Lukins: Sticky Toffee Date Cake

Romancing The Chocolate: From Silver Palate Restaurant Sheila Lukins: Sticky Toffee Date Cake: From Denny: Dates are loved around the world. In the Middle East they are a traditional part of the culture, offered as a sign of hospitality. Dates are served with strong black coffee and sometimes yogurt to balance the intense sweetness.

We love them in America too, especially here in Louisiana, and we never miss a chance to check out a cake recipe featuring them. One beautiful characteristic of dates is that cakes like this freeze well and can be enjoyed months later.

This recipe is from a long time famous food writer, Sheila Lukins. Read on to find out about her many cookbooks she has authored as she has worked for Parade Magazine and co-founded the restaurant takeout shop at the Silver Palate Restaurant.

25 November 2011

Romancing The Chocolate: Black Raspberry Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Romancing The Chocolate: Black Raspberry Chocolate Macadamia Cookies: From Denny: Who doesn't love raspberries for the holidays? This cookie is dripping with butter, chocolate goodness, black raspberry liqueur and chock full of macadamia nuts. Not a lot of sugar and flour either to make them.

It's a rich cookie - but easy to make - to impress your family and friends. Of course, that's if they ever get a chance to taste them! Beware of the kitchen cookie gremlins. They lurk in the most unexpected places. :)

08 August 2011

Easy Dessert: Blueberry Yum Yum Cake

From Denny: What could better describe a trip to Heaven than fresh blueberries, sugar, real butter and a creamy whipped filling for this delectable cake? A simple recipe that is as easy to make as it is to eat!

We love pecans at our house so you might enjoy sprinkling a few more chopped pecans on top of the blueberries for more crunch. There is nothing like the flavor of a toasted pecan.

After you put this cake together it goes into the fridge for chilling time, about an hour. Make it before you start dinner and it should be properly cool by the time everyone finishes dinner. Try not to cheat and choose the dessert as the first course!

Welcome!

Enjoy a wide range of food from the newest beverage trends to pasta to all things chocolate to Louisiana food and more.

Reporting on food news, trends and new delights with lots of demonstration food videos along with the recipes. Merging my three food blogs into one: Romancing The Chocolate, Comfort Food From Louisiana and Unusual 2 Tasty!

Awesome blog photo from one of my fav Louisiana restaurants - Bittersweet Plantation by Chef Folse.

Email me: warriorspearl@gmail.com.

Enjoy a cup of coffee with me and let's talk like all good foodies love to do! And please join me on Google Friend Connect and Google Plus. - Denny Lyon

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