(not so) wordless wednesday

"A proper tea is much nicer than a very nearly tea, which is one you forget about afterwards."
- A.A. Milne

Sweet as a Georgia Peach Pie

I think about food a lot. Sometimes I even dream about food. I dream about cakes and tarts, all sorts of fresh fruit and lately, I’ve been dreaming about peaches. Which is excellent timing, since they are in season in my corner of the world, one of the perks of living in the south.

When I dream about peaches, they always taste like summer. Smell like it too. The kind of peaches you can’t find in the grocery store. The kind of peaches that are straight off the tree. I’m lucky enough to live close to a fantastic orchard, where they grow these kind of peaches, along with lots of other scrumptious fruit. You walk into the back room of the orchard store, past all the little knicknacks for the tourist, t-shirts with my towns name emblazoned on the front, to the fruit room. This room always smells seasonal - a foodies dream. In the fall its apples, and in the summer it’s peaches. It’s intoxicating, that smell of the season.



I carefully picked out my bag of fruit, sniffing and squeezing them, along with several other borderline inappropriate actions. I couldn’t help myself, I was picking the peaches of my dreams.

I got them home and could only think about one thing, peach pie. It’s risky anytime I decide to make pie - I’ve always considered myself a pretty lousy pie maker. I tried to talk myself out of it, considering peach muffins or maybe cupcakes. But by golly, all I wanted was delicious, gooey pie. I wanted the peaches to be center stage.

With that determination, I started the crust. The scary, terrifying crust. While peaches occupy my dreams, pie crust gives me nightmares. It just seems so fussy, so difficult. But you know what? It was as easy as pie, as they say. I used Martha Stewart’s Pate Brisee recipe, and simply added all the ingredients to the food processor. Done! As for the filling, I wanted those peaches to shine. I couldn’t find a recipe basic enough, so I made up my own.



When I pulled it out of the oven, I was a little disappointed. It was homely. Ugly, even. It certainly didn’t look like the pie of my dreams. When I tried to cut it for pictures, it only got worse. I couldn’t get a clean slice to save my life. I walked away for a few minutes, then I realized I hadn’t even tasted it yet.

When I did, my disappointment vanished. I had made a totally successful pie! The best one I had ever made. My crust was perfectly flakey and tender, and the peaches were sweet and lovely. So I shot a few pictures of the mess then took it to the kitchen, where my family stood around it, eating it straight from the pie plate, enjoying all the summer fruit had to offer.





Sweet as a Georgia Peach Pie

Pie Crust:
From Martha Stewart

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.

Filling:
5 pounds fresh peaches, sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
juice of 1/2 lemon

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough into a 12-inch round, 1/8-inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside in the refrigerator.

In a large bowl, combine peaches, sugar, flour, and lemon juice, toss to combine. Pour into pie plate, mounding in the center. Roll second disc of dough into a 12-inch round, 1/8 inch thick. Wet edges of the crust in the plate, then lay dough on top, pressing at edges to seal. Cut vents into top crust. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.


Remove pie from refrigerator. Brush crust with egg wash, then sprinkle with sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, until crust is browned at edges. Turn oven down to 350, bake for another 40-50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Homemade Black Tea Lemonade

Happy first day of summer, everyone! To celebrate, I’m bringing you a recipe for my favorite summer drink. I was first introduced to this delicious concoction through Starbucks - their black tea lemonade. It’s also known as an Arnold Palmer.

No matter what you call it, it’s delicious. I don’t know about you, but I find lemonade a little strong on it’s own. It’s yummy, of course, but not exactly thirst-quenching. This totally is. The tea mellows out the lemonade, it’s so perfect for these hot summer days.

I couldn’t find a recipe I liked, so I made up my own. It’s pretty easy, all your doing is making tea and lemonade and combining the two. I hope you enjoy!

Homemade Black Tea Lemonade

Tea:
4 large black tea bags (or 6ish regular sized tea bags)
6 cups of water

Lemonade:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice (from 4-6 lemons)


Bring 6 cups of water to boil, remove from heat, add tea bags and allow to steep for 10 minutes.

While the tea steeps, make your simple syrup: heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Meanwhile, juice your lemons.

Combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, and steeped tea in a pitcher. Stir! Refrigerate for about an hour.

If it’s too strong for you, just add some cold water!

Serve over ice, with stripey straws, if at all possible. :)

Wordless Wednesday: I love cows edition

Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

I’m a big believer in baking cakes just because you want to. I made this one because it’s Thursday, and Thursdays definitely need some joy injected into them. What is it with Tuesdays and Thursdays? They are always so dull.

I understand the other side though - the people who only bake cakes for special occasions. I suppose they seem more special that way, if you don’t have them all of the time. Heck, this cake is called the perfect party cake. But cake baking is fun! And delicious! And life can always use a little extra sweetness.

So what about you? Are you a celebration cake kind of person? An any ol’ time you feel like it cake baker? Or do you hate cake and wish to never see one again? (if that’s the case, bake this one asap. Your mind will be blown.) I want to know!



This cake is perfection, Dorie Greenspan never lets me down. I only made a few of changes, I left the vanilla extract out of the frosting, added some cherry juice to dye it pink, I used my homemade cherry jam as filling, and didn’t cover it with coconut.

It’s delightful, not too sweet (I say that alot, I know! I just really like not-so-sweet baked goods.) and both the cake and the buttercream (which is the best buttercream I have ever had in my life) are slightly lemony. And I love lemon. If you happen to not care for lemon, I’m sure you could just leave it out, use vanilla extract instead. Or almond! I bet almond extract would be delicious. Then cover it in almonds! I may have to try that one out...



Perfect Party Cake
from Baking: From My Home To Yours

For the Cake:

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

For the Buttercream:

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing:

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready: 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.

To Make The Cake: 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.
Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. 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. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

To Make the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it set for a couple of hours in a cool room.
Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.

Things I'm loving...

make believe picnics, and being inspired by creativity boot camp.

Beautiful and oh so inspiring, new to me food blogs, Trotski and Ash and What Katie Ate.


late spring days.


prints from jacqui's lovely etsy shop.

this and this and this and oh goodness, this.



adorable, wish-i-owned-a-pair moccasins from Darlingtonia Moccasin Co.




eat your greens from keep calm gallery.


have a good week, everyone!

Sour Cherry Jam

Yesterday, my dad brought me 3 or 4 big freezer bags full of sour cherries from my grandpas cherry trees. That’s a lot of cherries, folks. My mind was racing with possibilities, cherry pie, cherry tarts, oh so much tastiness to be had. I really wanted to make them last though, be able to enjoy them for a while. When my mom mentioned jam, I knew that was the answer.



Before today, I had never tried my hand at making jam. I’ve wanted to for ages, but I’ve always put it on the back burner, one of those “I’ll get to it eventually” kind of things. I don’t know why I put it off - this recipe is so easy, no matter your experience level, you can do it.



Things you need to make this jam:
cherries
lemons
sugar
canning jars

Things you don’t need:
hot water canner
pectin

We’re already off to a good start, huh? I’m not going to lie to you, this takes some time. You have to wash the cherries, pit them, stand over them while they cook, and then stir and stir and stir while the jam does it’s thing. It’s so worth it though, the end result is so much better than anything you can by at the store. It's sweet, with just a hint of tartness. It even beats my very favorite, Bonne Maman.



The greatest part of this recipe is that you don’t have to go out and purchase a hot water canner. Just sterilize your jars, screw them tight, let them cool and stick in the fridge. We ended up with about 8 half pint jars, so I’m going to put some in the freezer too.

This would be a great weekend project! You get sticky up to your elbows, and your hands seem to be permanently stained red, but it’s tons of fun. Try it out!


Like my adorable canning labels? They’re from Eat Drink Chic!

No-Recipe Cherry Jam
From David Lebovitz

A couple of tips: If you are making a lot, step 6 is going to take a while. We had 8 cups of cherry/sugar mix, and to get to the gelling point, it took about 45 minutes. Be SURE to stir constantly, you don’t want cherry carmel. Stay by that pot and watch it like a hawk. The plate and the freezer never worked for me. When it reached the point of sheeting off the spoon, that’s when I turned the pot off.


1. Buy as many cherries as you feel like pitting. Whatever variety you’d like. Mine were sour cherries.


2. Rinse the cherries and remove the stems. Pit the cherries. Chop about ¾ of them into smaller pieces, but not too small. Leave some cherries whole so people can see later on how hard you worked pitting real cherries. If you leave too many whole ones, they'll tumble off your toast.

3. Cook the cherries in a large non-reactive stockpot. It should be pretty big since the juices bubble up. Add the zest and juice of one or two fresh lemons. Lemon juice adds pectin as well as acidity, and will help the jam gel later on.


4. Cook the cherries, stirring once in a while with a heatproof spatula, until they're wilted and completely soft, which may take about 20 minutes, depending on how much heat you give them. Aren't they beautiful, all juicy and red?

5. Once they're cooked, measure out how many cherries you have (including the juice.) Use 3/4 of the amount of sugar. For example if you have 4 cups of cooked cherry matter, add 3 cups of sugar. It may seem like a lot, but that amount of sugar is necessary to keep the jam from spoilage.


6. Stir the sugar and the cherries in the pot and cook over moderate-to-high heat. The best jam is cooked quickly. While it's cooking, put a small white plate in the freezer. Remain vigilant and stir the fruit often with a heatproof utensil. Scrape the bottom of the pot as you stir as well.


7. Once the bubbles subside and the jam appears a bit thick and looks like it is beginning to gel, (it will coat the spatula in a clear, thick-ish, jelly-like layer, but not too thick) turn off the heat and put a small amount of jam on the frozen plate and return to the freezer. After a few minutes, when you nudge it if it wrinkles, it's done.

If not, cook it some more, turn off the heat, and test it again. If you overcook your jam, the sugar will caramelize and it won't taste good and there's nothing you can do. Better to undercook it, test it, then cook it some more. Ladle the warm jam into clean jars and cover. Cool at room temperature, then put in the refrigerator where it will keep for several months.