Cheddar waffles

After stumbling across this appetite-inducing instagram account I was on an immediate mission to make waffles. He pretty much waffles everything and is thus winning at life.

Starting off simple, I went for this cheddar waffle recipe (minus the bacon), mostly just because I had all the ingredients on hand. The recipe worked out a-okay, but I think I’ll try to plan ahead next time and give this recipe and sandwich from Joy the Baker a whirl next time. Who doesn’t love BLTs?

This batch was topped with bacon, egg, and a little bit of maple syrup – aka a perfect start to the morning.

 

Cheddar + hot pepper scones

This is only my third time making scones. They seem to be some of the most finicky baked goods to make, at least for me, so I generally tend to avoid them. Having way too much cheese in my fridge, however, meant that I had to take action. Cheddar scone action.

Thankfully I found a simple recipe from one of my favourite blogs: smitten kitchen

Here’s what you’ll need: 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 tbs cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup cream (I used 18% table cream)
3 eggs
1 cup old cheddar, cubed
1+ hot pepper, minced

Directions

Check out the instructions on smitten kitchen. I followed them to a T, and cooked the scones for ~20 minutes. I also used a glass to make round scones, because I find the triangle ones don’t cook quite as evenly.

They turned out quite well. I’d definitely try the recipe again, definitely adding more hot pepper (only used one), and maybe adding basil and / or green onion.

Enjoy ❤

 

Coffee cake + strawberry rhubarb

I’ve made coffee cake muffins before, adding a tasty layer of wild berry jam between the cake and the streusel – delicious, easy to share, super delicious! This time I really just wanted an excuse to use my bundt pan and make a more classic-looking “cake”.

Since it’s that time of year, I figured adding some strawberry + rhubarb would be a good idea, though wasn’t entirely convinced the flavours would match up. Well, they certainly do! I think you could probably get away with adding any kind of berry combo to this cake.

I was also concerned (just because I had never made this kind of cake before) that the filling would cause the streusel and cake to separate and that they wouldn’t hold together when removed from the pan. This was definitely not the case, as you can see from the photo, and a quick flip of the pan released the entire cake intact.

It ended up being so quick to make that I made it twice in one week for two different events – a hit both times!

Here’s what you need and how it’s done…

Streusel:
¾ cup white flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup butter, melted

Filling: 
1½ cups sliced strawberries
1 cup chopped rhubarb

Cake:
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1⅓ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
Several dashes of cinnamon

Prepare the filling by cooking the strawberry and rhubarb on the stove, on low. Drain a bit of the water that comes out of the fruit. Cook until the berries and rhubarb can be mushed together (sounds delightful, eh?). It should look like a jam.

For the topping, mix the dry ingredients, then stir in the melted butter. Mix until well blended.

For the cake, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the egg and egg yolk, mix. Add the sour cream and vanilla, mix. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add them to the wet ingredients. Stir until just blended.

Add the streusel to the bottom of the bundt pan. Pour the filling evenly on top. Add the cake batter and make sure it’s evenly distributed and covering the filling layer below.

Bake at 350°F for ~50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Homemade English muffins

English muffins are something I’ve always wanted to try to make, but was mildly too terrified to do so. After finding this recipe from Foodess, I was much less intimidated and just happen to have all the ingredients.

I definitely haven’t mastered it yet to get just the right the amount of bubbles and fluffiness, but I’m getting close. It’s a recipe that’s easy enough to try on a whim, so I’m going to keep at it until I’ve mastered it.

When I tried it for the first time, I dusted the pan with a bit too much cornmeal. The cornmeal cooks and browns really quickly, so I’d try to just dust the pan in little rounds where you’ll place the muffins to cook. The first time I also had the heat on a bit too high and couldn’t cook the muffins in the pan long enough for them to sufficiently puff up. This time, I lowered the heat to 4-5 on a dial of 10 and cooked for three minutes on each side. I also accidentally let the muffins rise too long for the second time, which meant that they were touching, hard to get apart to move into the pan, and started to deflate with when moved. A minor oversight on my part. Definitely only let them rise for 20 minutes on the baking sheet before baking them in the pan, and make sure they’re well spaced.

Ingredients:

1½ cup skim milk
¼ cup butter
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup plain yogurt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 ¼ tsp  yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
Cornmeal, for dusting skillet

Instructions:

1. Microwave the milk until it begins to simmer. Stir in butter until melted. Once mixture has cooled, add beaten egg and yogurt.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. With mixer speed on low, slowly add milk mixture. Beat until just thoroughly combined. Dough will be very wet. Cover with saran wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for one hour or until doubled in bulk.
3. Turn out dough onto a floured surface. Lightly flour the top of dough, and pat down until it is about ½ inch thick. Use a floured 3” biscuit cutter (or a upside-down drinking glass) to make rounds. Gather up scraps of dough and repeat. Use a floured spatula to pick up the English muffins as you go, and set them aside to rise for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400F and heat a skillet (or two) over low-medium heat (may a 5/10 on the temperature dial). Dust skillet where you will place each muffin. Place English muffins 1 inch apart in skillet and cook 3-4 minutes, until golden brown on bottom. Flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on other side. Transfer to baking sheet as they’re done. Once all English muffins have been browned, bake for 7-10 minutes, until they sound hollow when you tap their tops.