Honey Balsamic Strawberry Galette

Hello from the month of May!

It seems I blinked and April had come and gone. When I looked up, May was here, and with it came open windows, bright green leaves on all of the trees, honeysuckle scented air, baby sheep & cows in all the pastures, and strawberries in my garden.

I love strawberries because they seem to usher in the warmer seasons. The actual first taste of the bounty to come. There’s just something so good about that. It makes me happy.



The recipe I’m sharing with you today is definitely a grown up dessert.  It’s a little something different than your run of the mill sweet strawberry pie. I macerated strawberries in a balsamic and honey mix, baked it up in a whole wheat crust & topped it off with some freshly ground pepper. It’s hearty, a little bit tart, and really tasty.

Honey Balsamic Strawberry Galette

For the crust:
(adapted from martha stewart)
makes 2

    2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
    1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 freshly ground pepper
    2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small
        1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

For the filling:

1 pint fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons honey


1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon almond flour
(this part is optional, but it helps to soak up excess juices)

1 egg, beaten

    In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and pepper; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender.)

    With machine running, add ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

    Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Slice strawberries, toss in bowl with balsamic vinegar & honey. Let sit for 1 hour or more, up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick. Lay crust flat on cookie sheet or cast iron pan. Strain strawberries, reserving the liquid.

Combine the flour, sugar and almond flour, and sprinkle around the center of the dough, leaving 2 inch border.

Mound strawberries on top of the dough, then fold dough over, overlapping where necessary. Brush dough with egg. Bake until golden brown & bubbling, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, place remaining balsamic & honey in a small saucepan, adding 2 more tablespoons of balsamic and 3 more tablespoons of honey, boil until thickened.

Remove galette from oven & top with freshly ground pepper. Serve warm with balsamic honey sauce.


PS, check out my feature on Oh Joy!

Raspberry & White Chocolate Honey Almond Meal Muffins

Raspberries. White Chocolate. Honey. Almonds. I’m not sure it gets much better than that. I’ve been craving raspberries for a few weeks, I finally caved & bought a most definitely not in season basket full at the grocery store. I don’t regret it one bit.

I've had a string of kitchen misses lately. I’ve made dry cookies, cupcakes with much too heavy frosting, and cornmeal muffins I spat out after one bite (which never happens! they were bad enough to justify my gross actions.). As soon as these came out of the oven, I picked at a corner of one and popped it into my mouth while it was still piping hot. I knew instantly I had a hit on my hands, even as I did a little "this is too hot, why I'd do that!" dance while fanning frantically at my mouth.

These are best if you use good quality white chocolate, not that candy-making kind you find in the baking section at the store. The white chocolate is what sweetens these up, as there’s no sugar & only a little bit of honey in the batter. I like to mix most of the raspberries in but leave a few to press into the tops before I bake them. Enjoy. :)





Raspberry & White Chocolate Honey Almond Meal Muffins
adapted from Roost
Makes 8 muffins

        2 cups finely ground almond flour*
       1/2 tsp salt
   1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs
    1/4 cup melted butter
    1/4 cup honey
1/2 chopped white chocolate
3/4 cup fresh raspberries


Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet and dry until well incorporated. Gently mix in white chocolate & raspberries Pour into lined muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F (or until golden brown).

*you can buy pre-ground almonds or make your own.

Lemon Cake with Black Tea Frosting

This past Saturday, I spent most of the morning baking & photographing this cake. Hours spent in the kitchen, singing along with Daisy May, measuring out flour, standing over bubbling pots, peeking through oven windows. It’s been too long since I’d done that. It felt good.

You see, life has been a little more stressful than usual lately. Mostly, it’s the normal every day sort of stress, with a few real humdingers (trips to the hospital (everyone is fine!), etc) thrown in. Whenever things get like this, I feel creatively drained & unmotivated. I don’t want to pick up the camera, get in the kitchen or blog. Then, when I do, it’s like a revelation. “Oh THIS. This is where I’m happy.”. I feel so silly for having spent so much time away.



Let me tell you about this revelatory cake. Oh, my friends, it is good. It’s base is one of my favorite cake recipes by Dorie Greenspan, made extra lemony by a glaze poured over while it’s still warm. The frosting is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I was trying to figure out how to make tea frosting happen using the leaves (I’ve done that, and while it tastes good, the texture can be a bit off-putting). Seven minute style frosting seemed the perfect solution - I made the simple syrup with tea instead of water, and added just a little bit of super strong tea straight into the frosting. I had no idea if it would work, but it did! It came out the perfect consistency and flavor - you can definitely tell it’s tea, but it’s not overwhelming. This is easily one of my favorite things I've ever made.

Perfect Party Cake
from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

 Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

While still warm, poke each layer all over with a fork, and pour over lemon glaze (recipe follows). When cool, frost cake with black tea frosting & garnish with candied lemon slices.

Lemon Glaze

1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice, stir with a fork.


Black Tea Frosting

2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup strongly brewed black tea
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup strongly brewed black tea

Beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until foamy & thick, they should mound, but not peak.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cream of tartar, black tea & salt. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes, or until a candy thermometer reads 242 degrees F and all sugar is dissolved. 
Begin beating the egg whites again and slowly pour in boiling sugar syrup in a slow steam. Continue to beat on high for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Add 1/4 black tea by the tablespoon, beating after each addition.

Continue beating until frosting reaches desired consistency, about 2 minutes. Use immediately.


Candied Lemon Slices
From Martha Stewart

1 large lemon

1 cup sugar

    Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut lemon into 12 paper-thin slices; discard seeds and ends of rind.

    Bring a medium saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and add lemon slices; stir until softened, about 1 minute. Drain, and immediately plunge slices into ice-water bath. Drain.

    Bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium skillet, swirling to dissolve sugar. When liquid is clear and bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low. Add lemon slices, arranging them in one layer with tongs. Simmer (do not let boil) until rinds are translucent, about 1 hour.

Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Let stand until ready to serve.

Things I'm loving

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday. I’m going to share a few things I’ve been loving lately. Stay tuned for a new recipe post first of the week!


This print from Keep Calm Gallery.

These blogs:
dash and bella
vk rees
la buena vida
happyolks

My dream home on Garden and Gun.




And on that note, Garden and Gun magazine has become a favorite lately. I particularly like this article on southern women.



Winter colors.



Great cards from Sugarboo Designs.



Clementines. Winter sunshine.



This honey jar from Merchant No.4.



Douglas Fir Tea.

For more of my favorites, check out my pinterest account.


Tell me, what have you been loving lately?