A Foraging We Will Go, Mushroom Hunting in Oregon 82

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are lucky to have such lovely forests, as I mentioned in an early post, I found a mushroom hunter from Eugene, OR - who was interested in guest posting here on Renaissance Culinaire. Please note the orange icons with skull & cross bones, these reference poisonous or un-edible species of mushroom. Here is his post:

Hello, chanterelle hunters! The problem with yellow footed Chanterelles (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca^W) is that when they are plentiful, the price falls.

Everyone with a vehicle is suddenly a Chanterelle hunter. Get 'em while you can, because soon you will not see a chanterelle until next fall. I love hunting chanterelles, but making money with them is hard. When Chanterelles are abundant, more people go picking and the price drops.

For me, mushrooming is not about money. It is about finding those perfect beautiful patches in the forest. Hunting is about finding one chanterelle and then looking around and seeing a hundred more chanterelles. It is a beautiful sight. Hunting is about getting our side in the rain and being active. There are easier pickings in the mushroom patch than chanterelles, but this takes more knowledge.
　

 In the fall, what  I go after is the Common Meadow Mushroom (Agaricus campestris ^W -) that grow on lawns and fields. Meadow mushrooms are abundant between rains when the soil humus takes off.

(photo right - credit Lee Norris)

The Meadow Mushroom is listed as choice by the National Autobahn Field manual. The manual says that they grow in late August and September, but I have found meadow mushrooms much later in the season in late September throughout October.

The National Autobahn manual does not say anything about meadow mushrooms growing in rings, but I have seen them growing that way.

                                                       
Do not confuse the Meadow Mushroom with California Agaricus (Agaricus californicus). Both are similar in appearance but California Agaricus will make you sick.

 (On  left Photo by Lee Norris; Right, Photo  Credit © Fred Stevens)


As you look at the two pictures, the left has older  California Agaricus mushrooms and the picture on the right features a  younger version of California Agaricus - this species  has a very noticible identifier - a ring (looks kind of like a skirt) higher on the stalk (which may appear broken or ragged as the mushroom matures), this is the best indication as to what variety they are. The Meadow Mushroom has a half ring, faint ring or even no ring, where the California Agaricus' ring is much fuller.

The Felt Ring Agaricus (Agaricus hondensis Murr),Yellow-foot Agaricus(Agaricus xanthodermus^W)and Western Flat-topped Agaricus(Agaricus meleagris) are other species confusable with the Meadow Mushroom that are poisonous.

Sometimes mushrooms can be identified by the odor, feel and even the mass. Some grow on in fields and lawns and others only in wooded areas. If you go out and identify, you will get to know what they are.

(photo credit Wikipedia)

I like Waxy Caps. (see: Hygrophorus Agaricales ^W, Hygrocybe coccinea, Hygrophorus chrysodon, Hygrophorus occidentalis). Waxy caps favor colder weather and grow much later in the season. Waxy caps have a slimy cap to the touch and there is no other species confusable with the same cap. Waxy caps are not too tasty, but waxy caps kill my appetite and are good for weight loss. I like to cut up a few waxy caps and put them in scrambled eggs in the morning. I can go until supper without feeling hungry.

(photo credit Wikipedia)

Slippery Jacks (Suillus luteus^W) are edible, but their appearance in the field is unappetizing. Slippery Jacks grow mainly later in the season when it is cold and wet. I always think that I will build a dryer and dry a lot of them because they are so abundant. The manual says that you can get diarrhea from eating the slime on the cap, so it is best to peel the skin off after they are dried. I have put dried Slippery Jacks in meatloaf, and they have a sweet taste.

Bon appetite, But do not believe anything I say about wild mushrooms. This article is not meant as a field guide and do not trust anyone else’s word for identification. Years ago, a knowledgeable mushroom hunter died in Eugene. He did so because he trusted the identification ability of one of his students. The student was a knowledgeable hunter who got a   Destroying Angel, a.k.a Death Cap (Amanitaceae Agaricales see: Amanita phalloides , Amanita virosa ) ,a very poisonous species, confused with a Western Lawn Puffball, which is edible. He did not check out what he was eating.

“Know thy mushrooms for thyself!” There are people that know what they are doing with mushrooms but there are also many that think they do. Research your wild mushrooms for yourself, and leave alone what you do not know.

This brings me to the second axiom of mushroom hunting. You can generally trust field manual like the Autobahn Society, for what mushrooms are edible. I say generally but not always. For example, many people really like the Yellow Footed Chanterelle. I am a person that can not eat Chanterelles. If I eat Chanterelles, they will likely come right back up. Go slow with any wild food that you do not know.

By Lee Norris^*

Lee Norris can be found contributing on http://www.stimulusbike.com/ and on Helium. His personal website - Sadlebutts Corner is a cycling website.

For More Info On Forgaging - Check Out These Great Guides:

• Part 1 - Publications on Truffles
• Part 2 - Publications on Mushrooms
• Part 3 - Publications on Foraging Edible Plants 
  
  
  

^*This article has been edited, formatted and embelished with links & additional pictures by Renaissance Culinaire's Owner. All text & photos, copyright stays with the respective author(s) .

Recipe: Fresh Fruit Napoleons with Blackberry Curd 40

I did these blackberry curd & fresh fruit napoleons a while back for restaurant baking. I wished I would've had time to get better pictures.

This recipe is more suited for summer, but when winter rolls around, and the holidays have past - it is refreshing to see desserts that awaken memories of summers past - and that reminds you summer is right around the corner.

Fresh Fruit Napoleons
This recipe yields 20 servings.

16 sheets of frozen phyllo dough
1 cup butter (melted) [you can substitute "butter flavored" baking spray or earth balance sticks]
1/2 cup crystal sugar
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
4 1/2 cups mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blue berries)

Whipped topping,
or hand whipped cream,
or sweetened whipped marscapone cheese

Pastry Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Now as stated in my former post (Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons) you need to work fast and follow certain guidelines when working with phyllo {Tip: When you are working with phyllo dough it is best to have a tray to lay out the sheets, then keep totally covered, under a damp kitchen towel. If exposed to air, the moisture from the phyllo dough will be wicked out and it will become dry and brittle - which means non workable for you. So work quickly.]

You will need 2 half sheet pans (jelly roll) lined with parchment, to bake 10 sheets on each pan.

Place a sheet of phyllo onto a jelly roll pan, brush with melted butter. Sprinkle crystal sugar. Top with another phyllo sheet and repeat these steps until 10 sheets are used. Make sure to repeat butter & sugar on the last (top piece). Repeat with second sheet pan.

Using a ruler - score each pastry stack with a pastry wheel or sharp paring knife into squares or rectangles of equal measurements. Bake in the preheated oven 10-12 minutes (pastry should be golden and crisp). Allow the baked pastry to cool. Do not handle the pastry until building your napoleons or the baked phyllo squares may crack.

Blackberry Curd Procedure:

In a sauce pan combine the blackberries, 1/2 cup of water and orange zest. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes more. Scrape berry contents into a food processor and pulse until smooth. (if you don't have a food processor, you can place the berry contents in a sieve over a bowl and using a ladle , gently push and rub the contents against the mesh, repeat this until most of the contents have been filtered through the sieve into the bowl. This will leave behind seeds and a few skins from the berries).

Return the berry contents back into the sauce pan (on medium heat) - stir in 1 cup of sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter.

Combine the cornstarch & cold water in a small bowl stirring briskly. With a wire whisk add the cornstarch mixture to the berry contents in the saucepan . Stir until thick and bubbling. Stir for 3 minutes more. Remove from heat , scrape into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap - allow to cool for 2 hours or over night.

Napoleon Assembly:

Place a small dallop of blackberry curd onto the center of your serving plate.
Place a baked phyllo square (sugar side down), add 1 tablespoon of curd onto the center of the pastry square. Add (by pressing) enough of the mixed berries to cover the blackberry curd.

Finish by piping or adding rounded dollops of your favorite topping (Whipped topping,
or hand whipped cream, or sweetened whipped marscapone cheese) then add another pastry squared (sugar side up) to top.

There are many ways to finish this dessert , you could make it much fancier than this- drizzling berry syrup onto it, or around the base, using pastry cream on top of the blackberry curd - the combinations are endless.

Related Posts:

• Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons
• Recipes for Muffins, Scones & Pastries featured on this blog
• Dessert Costing : Banana Strawberry Torte

Recipes for Seafood 15

Here is a listing of recipes for seafood that have been featured on Renaissance Culinaire. This page will continue to be updated as new recipes are added.

Mango-Crab Spring rolls

Orange marinated Fish Fillets w/ Carrots

Recipes for Souffles 4

Here is a list of recipes for souffles featured on Renaissance Culinaire. As time goes on this page will be updated as recipes are added.

Gruyere and Asparagus Souffle

Chocolate Souffles w/ orange white chocolate sauce

Recipes for Muffins Scones and Pastries 7

Here is a list of muffin and pastry formulas that have been featured on Renaissance Culinaire. Some of these formulas are commercial baking formulas that can be reduced for home use. This page will continue to be updated as more recipes are added.

Thanks Darwin Bell For Use of his Photo.

Fresh Fruit Napoleons with Blackberry Curd

Banana - Rum Napoleons

Croissant with a starter

Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter

Gulab Jamun | Indian Sweets

Pate A Choux , Éclairs & Cream Puffs revisited

Callebaut Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Scones

Crispies (Italian puff pastry based, similar tasting as American Elephant Ear)

Scratch Italian Puff Pastry

Recipes for Frostings, Fillings and Icings 3

Here are variety of formulas for frostings, fillings or icings that have been featured on Renaissance Culinaire. This page will continue to be updated as recipes are added.

• Mocha Icing
• Vegan Mocha Icing
• Vegan Chocolate Ganache
• Banana Scented Marscapone
• Praline Paste
• orange white chocolate sauce
• Kirsch Scented Whipped Cream
• Spiced Brandy Caramel and Brandy Simple Syrup
• Vegan Spiced Brandy Caramel and Brandy Simple Syrup
• Meringue Mousseline buttercream.
• Heirloom Lemon curd
• Orange-Maple Butter

Product Review: Scrubbing Bubbles' Action Scrubber 5

Recently My Mom sent me this really cool vintage counter top metal cabinet. It has 4 deep drawers on the top for storage of dry goods, and a bread box on the bottom. I had decided to position it right below my cabinet on the largest counter , which happened to be near a sink.

I really didn't think this would be a problem, forgetting that if water over flows from the sink - it tends to collect on the counter (in the area right below my new cabinet). Needless to say water did just that - and caused my beloved cabinet to rust around the bottom edges.

When I moved the cabinet - I could see the tell tale signs of a rusted mess, a deep orange rectangular outline had stained my counter top.

Needless to say, I have tried using any kind of cleaner I could get my hands on to remove this stain - nothing seemed to work, not even my beloved S.O.S scrubbing pads. This surprised me because SOS is great at removing most everything (including that baked on blackened residue on the bottom of pans, and on electric stove burner drip pans).

When I was given the chance to review Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubbers, I secretly laughed at myself - I would put these pads to the test - a trial by fire, my stained counter.

Clean Machine


Scrubbing Bubbles Action
Scrubber
Click Here
Get your $2.75 off coupon...

I received the package from Mom Central
and SC Johnson.

Contents:

The product comes with a molded heavy
foam handle

and a resealable plastic tub
with 4 scrubbing pads that are filled with
cleanser.

There were 4 really nice coupons for this
product and other scrubbing bubbles products,
also.

Directions:

Not only were
there directions on the outside packaging,
But a large font printed insert with a
reminder. Then on the plastic storage tub.
The directions are very easy to follow,
and detailed.

Product Assembly:
This product could not be any easier to use. The Assembly
consists of:

1. removing the cleanser filled pad from
   a plastic sleeve
2. applying the molded foam handle to the
   printed side of the pad and gently
   rubbing until the Velcro like strips have hooked
   into the pad.

Product Use & Performance:
Once the Action Pad has been assembled these steps are taken to use the product:

Adding a small amount of water to the pad to activate the cleanser.

Using a circular motion to scrub surface

Rinsing the cleaned surface

Discarding used pad into trash

I followed the above directions, and started to firmly apply pressure and scrub my rust stained counter top. At first I was not impressed, but then the cleanser started to activate, and fizzing bubbles were alive - moving and spanning the surface where I was scrubbing. Then slowly but surely the Action Pad was working - I could not believe this product was removing a stain that my best cleaning products couldn't. But sure enough it did!

This product isn't recommended for surfaces that can easily scratch. I would not use this pad on wood surfaces , or a natural stone counter top (such as marble or slate) due to the high likeliness of marring the protective finish that is applied to the counter top.

Product Storage:

The molded handle rests at the top of the plastic storage tub, there is a recessed area so that it fits partially inside. The scrubber pad refills are stored within the tub.

I would highly recommend if you have kids or pets to store this out of their reach. It's a fun color that might attract kids and dogs would love to chew on this handle - guaranteed.

Overall Summary:
The so called "trail by fire" that I had thought this product would most likely fail, had indeed been no match for Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber. This product is easy to assemble, use - yet gets the job done. Even though it's disposable - it has the scrubbing power of a heavy duty scouring pad. I am an eczema suffer, mainly on my hands, and this cleanser did not irritate my eczema with the small amount of contact it had with my skin.

I would highly recommend this product.

Guest Post With Kate Jacobs : On Food Memories From Childhood 4

I got a chance to ask Kate Jacobs, author of The Friday Night Knitting Club; And her most recent foodie geared novel Comfort Food , a very personal question.

RC: How do you feel food memories from childhood shape us into adults?

Image © Kate Jacobs.

KJ: We all have wonderful memories of meals shared with families, sitting around the table with the Thanksgiving turkey and summer barbecues eating corn on the cob.

I love birthday cake,

just like the main character Gus in my new novel Comfort Food, and I remember my sister decorating a cake that looked like a pizza with all the toppings for my fifth grade sleepover party. That was the birthday I got a puppy, Pepsi, who was my first Springer Spaniel and one of my dearest friends ever.

It’s all connected for me: the cake, the friends, the puppy. That was one of the best days of my life!

And I love to recall having fresh fruit pie at my grandmother’s house

Made with cherries that my brothers and sisters had just picked off the trees in her yard. Amazing. Those are the meals you wish you could fly back in a time machine and savor again and again, and also enjoy the company of family who aren’t here anymore.


But sometimes food isn’t just about family. Sometimes it’s about culture and identity.

I remember how, growing up in Canada, I always thought of S’mores as being particularly American, and as such I was fascinated by them. Now, I was never a Girl Guide (that’s Canadian for a Girl Scout) and so I didn’t go camping and so on. Instead, I saw Archie & Betty talking about them in the comics: It was just this American cultural go-to that seemed so different to me. Well, this was something I had to get in on, you know?

I recall trying to make some in the microwave on July 4: I was always a very pro-American Canadian. (And now I’m American and Canadian, so it’s really worked out for me.) But, anyway, back to my little experiment, which even involved a trip biking to the corner store to use some allowance money to invest in some very American Hershey chocolate. I took some graham crackers from the cupboard, put on several squares of chocolate, little mini marshmallows because that’s what we had at home, and topped it off with another graham cracker. I wrapped up the whole thing tightly in waxed paper and cooked the hell out of it the microwave. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. Definitely gooey, definitely sweet. Though a S’more lacks a certain something something when it doesn’t have the roasting from the open fire.

I must say my early culinary tastes were quite influenced by comic books

I read a lot of and all types of comic books as a kid. I also saw a Dennis the Menace that had an activity page that included a tip on pickling carrots. The whole gist was that if you put carrots in a jar of pickles and let them soak overnight, the carrots would taste pickled. Well, duh: That’s what my 34-year-old self says. My 8-year-old self was utterly entranced as though Julia Child herself had made the suggestion. I would get very upset if my mother did not save the juice when we finished a jar of pickles. After all, I needed that for my Dennis-the-Menace carrots! Making those pickles felt like a sign of independence and worldliness: I had my own special “thing.”

Food is so much more than just calories and nutrition.
It’s also captures a moment, an emotion, with taste and aroma. And feel. Think of the sensation of a melting Popsicle running down your fingers on a hot summer day and try not to smile. Food can be good times, you know? And that’s what I wanted to capture in Comfort Food. This feeling of laughter and celebration and happiness.










Related Posts From Renaissance Culinaire:

• Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter
• Blurb on Big Small Plates : Recipe for Tomatillo - Avocado Salsa
• Recipe: Italian Turdilli
• The things that shape us - Grade school incidents
• Bread or Dead
• Tommorow is my birthday...At 4:10 A.M Feb. 8 th

And The Winners Are - Drum Roll Please... 0

The Publisher has been notified. All 5 of
the winners of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book Challenge were notified by email.
For the first contest conducted on Renaissance Culinaire, it went very
well. I will do this again soon when I have the opportunity.

I really appreciate everyone who took the time to follow the contest rules and that had kind comments to make. Thanks to everyone who featured a link on their site also.








The contest is over and the random drawing, thanks to random.org has come and gone.

Now to officially announce the winners:

1. Dan, of MN
2. Mark ,of IL
3. Curtis, of TX
4. Karin, of MN
5. Amy, of OH

CONGRATULATIONS!!


The publisher was forwarded the winners info, including email - in case she wants to verify your shipping address. You will then be shipped your brand new copy of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. Happy Baking!


I have created a little graphic if any of the winners would like to display a link in their blog post about winning the contest.



This is what it will look like on your site:















Copy & paste this code into your site template:


<a href="http://abstract2collective.blogspot.com/2008/05/and-winners-are-drum-roll-please.html" title="I won the Sweet Melissa Cookbook Challenge"><img alt="I won the Sweet Melissa Cookbook Challenge" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtwwbfIND1xgew61Wxtoa0lm4PA52moBJVioG_rvn5kpQxNL0ZL_r3wRZd1HghyphenhyphenqjXTgUvVHfhXr86bCZb7JokGz2bn0bn0qyfKncvVcVsfwaOCS41GGhi_GtUASrWbiMlLUZ9ng/s200/250+seal.gif" /></a>





This is what it will look like on your site:










Copy & paste this code into your site template:


<a href="http://abstract2collective.blogspot.com/2008/05/and-winners-are-drum-roll-please.html" title="I won the Sweet Melissa Cookbook Challenge"><img alt="I won the Sweet Melissa Cookbook Challenge" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-cCgBGH48JLEJUdv_JdQw-tRaYbyT-tN1836MlBfWqU5LAjkLTZbz5re0ROz9TDxnnBuKbWksuHHCXcypfoUwEOWjc6oApSESEI8Pm2ROu3fXEcFc3P7MSJcsSSLs13PX4K50g/s400/115seal.gif" /></a>




Related Posts:

• Contest : Cookbook For 5 Lucky Random Winners

• Review: Sweet Melissa Baking Book
• Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter

The Sweet Melissa Baking Cookbook Giveaway - Deadline is TODAY! 2

Which 5 RANDOM contestants will emerge victorious and win the ultimate prize? A FREE Cookbook? We will find out Tomorrow!


Thanks to everyone who participated! The contest is going smoothly. If you haven't entered The Sweet Melissa Baking Book Challenge yet, you need to do so before Midnight 04/30/2008 , tonight!

To enter the contest - just bookmark http://abstract2collective.blogspot.com (click on the links) to : (stumbleUpon ) (add it to del.) (Digg it!) (add to technorati favs ) or (blogroll it) . You can also see the original post.

Once you have added Renaissance Culinaire to any one of these 5 sites, email me at renaissanceculinaire [at] gmail [dot] com with :

1. your name
2. user name on the bookmark site you used

There is a link at the bottom of this post, which reads "contact me" -you can also use that.

All contestants will be assigned a number, and those numbers will be entered into a processor at random.org to create truly 5 random winners.

GOODLUCK!



Related Posts:

• Contest : Cookbook For 5 Lucky Random Winners

• Review: Sweet Melissa Baking Book
• Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter

Contest : Cookbook For 5 Lucky Random Winners 3

I am having a contest! The first one in a series of many to come. The winners will all receive a new copy of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. You can read the review of this book here.


Once all emails have been submitted to me, I will use Random.org , to choose the final 5 winners. This will create a true random selection. For the sake of your privacy , I won't enter your email addresses into this sites form, because it is not secure, I will assign numbers to each email I receive. Then use the numbers to draw the random winners.

The rules are simple:

1.) You must click on the links below to submit this site to any of these 5 bookmarking sites:

del.icio.us Digg.com Technorati Favorites

Blogroll Me Stumble Me

2.) Once you have submitted Renaissance Culinaire using one of the above links, please email me with an email that you check often:


renaissanceculinaire [at] gmail [dot] com
Email me :

• Your real name (first name is fine)
• User name of the bookmarking site you used.

The Deadline is April 30th

Once the results have been collected, I will email the 5 winners to get their name and address information. This will then be sent to the publisher who will ship them right out to you.



Good Luck!



Related Posts:

• Review: Sweet Melissa Baking Book
• Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter

Review: Sweet Melissa Baking Book 2

On first glance, this book is a slightly smaller than the average
glossy cookbook, you know the kind - almost ready to feature as
a coffee table book, rather than a cookbook that goes on your shelf.
That kind of cookbook has really become a standard trend.

Unlike allot of other cookbooks, The Sweet Melissa Baking Book gets right to the point. There is no lengthy forward, just a few pages mentioning Melissa
Murphy's schooling and where she has gotten her restruant experience.
She explains her love of baking and why she bakes certain items at her bake shop - Sweet Melissa Patissarie in New York, which has been going strong for 10 yrs .

Reading the forward is enough to make you love this cookbook even more. The forward really sets the tone, and you began to see Melissa's thoughtfulness shine through in each and every recipe she features in this book. The recipes are all easy to follow and have detailed instructions from the procedure, through baking of the final product.

When it comes to cookbooks the trend is to have a glossy full size picture on every other page. This sometimes can deter the purpose of a cookbook - to showcase the recipe it's self. The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is mainly recipes, with a short insert of assorted glossy pictures, but the pictures in noway detract from the main purpose of this cookbook.

As for skill level, I would say that this book is great for all skill levels --- just pack a love of baking and an attention to details, so your recipes will come out just as yummy as they sound in this book.

As you start to delve into the contents, you will notice throughout the book Melissa offers her commentary with personal antidotes on how she feels about the baked goods, she features in each chapter. Also throughout the book there are special notations with instructions to "do it like the pros".


Highlights of this cookbook by Chapter:

01 The first section offers a fine selection of Quick breads, muffins, scones and other breakfast fare.

"...I've realized that it may seem odd to some of you to to eat dessert for breakfast...so I disguised it. But who are we kidding? You love sticky buns first thing in the morning just as much as I do!" - Melissa Murphy on Dessert for Breakfast.

My favorite recipes from this section include: Hot Pepper Muffins with Orange Maple Butter ; Guinness Gingerbread; and Raised Waffles with warm brown sugar bananas.

01a Prefaced with a story of her childhood involving her older brothers tricking her into eating creme donuts that had the least amount of creme, and her disappointment in the lack there of . She devoted this section to creme filled sweet buns - spawned from her love of donuts, but lack of equipment in her bake shop to fry them, she ingeniously created a great formula to bake in the oven.

" I Love the resulting compromise - sweet tender brioche style buns filled with pastry cream then dipped in honey caramel...Mm-mm-mm-yummy!" - Melissa Murphy on Bee Stings.

She outlines the formula for both the sweet buns and the pastry creme.

02 Devoted to yummy after school treats cookies and brownies - such as Double Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies, Black Bottom Brownies, and Pistachio Linzer Thumbprints.

"..The highlight of my day I remember was ...just baked batch of my favorite cookies. "- Melissa Murphy on After School Snack

03 Features a Step by step guide to assemble, crumb coat and frost a layer cake. Filled with tantalizing layer cakes , complete with lovely frostings and the fillings to accompany them.

"..one thing is for sure: You have to start with a great cake. This is essential, and to me, the best part." - Melissa Murphy on Special Layer Cakes

These recipes can all be used for wedding cakes, without any special formulation, just double or triple the recipes for more layers.

04 This section has many crust recipes. Your mouth will water when you read the titles of these recipes for various pies, tarts and and a master recipe for preserves. Examples are: Pear Cranberry Pie with Ginger Snap Crust, Strawberry-Ruby Grapefruit preserves.

05 Luscious recipes for puddings, Specialty Pies, Cheesecakes and more. Just read some of the titles : Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie, Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake with Cornmeal Crumble Crust, Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake with Blackberry Glaze, Pumkin Bread Pudding with Caramel-Rum Glaze.

"My mom made dessert to end our meal, but she always made it on Sundays...you could smell it at the end of the driveway...she knew how to get her children to the..table" - Melissa Murphy on Sunday Suppers Grand Finale

06 The Last section deals with gifting of homemade candies, brittles and truffles.

" ..recipes in this chapter are even more special for gift giving because these are things people rarely make themselves. Honey Cream Caramels, Butterscotch Pralines, Peanut butter Truffles, Chocolate Peppermint Meringues---You can't buy these presents." - Melissa Murphy on Favorite Gifts

I think that The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is a purchase well spent. It will become a favorite addition to any cookbook or baking library.



Related Posts:

• Hot Pepper Muffins with Orange Maple Butter
• Contest : Cookbook For 5 Lucky Random Winners

Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter 6

Thanks Darwin Bell For Use of his Photo.

I found this recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, Which I will review in a future post.

This recipe sounds so good. I love ginger and cardamom. And maple butter is one of those taste memories from childhood- my grade school would have waffle days, and they would serve these waffles made from scratch, big pale yellow round ones the size of a plate. The waffles were barely browned - so that they were soft and warm and not crusty on the outside. And on the top they would serve a scoop of fluffy maple butter, so when you spread it onto the waffle, the maple butter would sink into the individual spaces in the grid, exploding into your mouth at each bite....yumm! I have never forgot that taste.


To Make Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins:
Preheat oven to 350°F , use the center rack. Line your muffin tin with muffin papers (or grease / spray).
Makes 12 muffins
(you can refrigerate this batter over night if you need to, just fill your muffin tin cups, then refrigerate.)

Ingredients :

• 1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. powdered dry mustard
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 freshly ground white pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 TBsp. freshly grated gingerroot (use a microplane - best tool for the job)
• 2/3 cup strong boiling hot coffee

Procedure:

1. In a medium bowl whisk these dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, salt, powdered ginger, dry mustard, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, cardamom.
2. You will need a kitchenaide or other electric mixer with a whip attachment. Beat eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar until thick. With a slow steady pour - add the oil and molasses. Stir in the ginger.
3. On medium speed add the dry ingredients in three batches. alternate with the hot coffee, mix well after adding each ingredient. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Pour the muffin batter into the prepped muffin tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Orange Maple Butter

Ingredients:

• 8 TBsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature.
• 2 tsp. freshly grated orange zest
• 2 TBsp. pure maple syrup
• 1/8 tsp fine grain salt

Procedure:In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, zest, maple syrup and salt until smooth. Serve at room temperature.


Serve the muffins with the orange maple butter. This butter keeps refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Allow it to soften to room temperature, whip if necessary.

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book Recipe © Melissa Murphy. All Rights Reserved.


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