Happily Ever After

Those of you that know me, know I have been eagerly anticipating William and Kate's royal wedding since Buckingham Palace announced their engagement last November. So, it will come as no surprise that yesterday morning I got up at the crack of dawn to ensure that I didn't miss one minute of the coverage beginning at 4:00 am. The entire event was breathtaking, and I immediately fell in love with Kate's dress! It was graceful, elegant, and befitting of a princess. Of course, Prince William looked quite dashing himself. Cheers to the happy couple!

In honor of this very exciting occasion, I decided to experiment and whip up a batch of cranberry orange scones to nibble on while I watched the festivities. I was delighted with how well they turned out, and can't wait try some different variations. I've posted the recipe below.

absolute perfection

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp orange zest (you can be generous with this ingredient)

8 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg

1 tsp sugar, reserved

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange zest. Grate butter into flour mixture using large holes of a box grater. Use your fingers to work in the butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal) then stir in cranberries.

In a small bowl whisk sour cream and egg together until smooth. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press dough against bowl into a ball. (It might seem like there's not enough liquid at first, but as you press the dough will come together)

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-8 inch square (3/4 inch thick). Sprinkle the top with remaining sugar and cut into 8 triangles. Place on a greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart and bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

**For lemon blueberry scones, replace orange zest with lemon zest and replace dried cranberries with dried blueberries

**For cherry almond scones, add 1/2 tsp almond extract to sour cream mixture and replace dried cranberries with dried cherries.

I haven't tried these variations yet, but they sound amazing and I will certainly try them in the future!

ready for the oven!

warm and delicious

Happy Easter!

First and foremost, I would like to wish everyone a belated Happy Easter! Ours was a blissfully relaxing weekend filled the company of good friends and lots of yummy food...

On Saturday, I enjoyed a lovely "girls night" with two of my fabulous friends, Lillian and Allie. We left the hubsands at home and started our evening with dinner at Vivace. For anyone who loves Italian food, this North Hills restaurant is a MUST try. I have never eaten anything there that was less than excellent, and this weekend was no exception. I decided to try something new, and ordered the shrimp risotto. It was rich and creamy, and absolutely amazing. I highly recommend! For dessert and cocktails we ventured across the street to Coquette, the charming French Brasserie on the other side of North Hills. For dessert, Lillian recommended the profiteroles: three puff pastries filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a warm chocolate sauce. I've heard quite a bit about Coquette's profiteroles, and I must say, I was not disappointed. The pastries were light and sweet, and the chocolate sauce added just the right amount of decadence.

Profiteroles... mmmmm

On Sunday Jason and I put together a small brunch to celebrate our first Easter as a married couple! On the menu was a spiral cut glazed ham and a potato and bacon quiche. Those of you who know me, know that I don't typically eat pork (which obviously means that I don't cook it, either). My husband, however, can't seem to get enough of it... so, this weekend I officially cooked my first ham. I was a little scared, but Jason said it turned out great, so I'll just take his word for it. I was much more excited about the quiche. Typically, I would make it with turkey bacon, but it doesn't crumble as well as pork bacon so I caved in and bought the "real" stuff, as my Mom would say. I was very happy with how it turned out: light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! I'll definitely make this one again. For anyone who loves quiche, I've posted the recipe below.

Ingredients:
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used milk instead and it worked just fine)
Salt and pepper
2 cups of sliced or diced potatoes, cooked but not too well done
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Combine the eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Layre the potatoes, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top.

The Ingredients

layered and ready to bake

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

fresh out of the oven

delightful!

The Study Elf

When I was in college, I used to love getting "care packages" in the mail from my parents. It was always so much fun to open the box and find out what kind of yummy treats and other surprises Mom or Dad had sent to get me through exams. So, in that same spirit, I decided to do some baking for friends of ours who are currently enduring the stress of law school exams.

After looking through numerous recipes, I decided to make a coconut cake. I had never made one before, but it seemed to turn out pretty well. See below for the recipe:

Cake:
3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups white sugar
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup milk
4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Frosting:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted
6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease 2 round cake pans.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled, don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flower, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45-55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto the baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts together with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the confectioner's sugar and mix until just smooth.

Once cool, place 1 cake layer on a plate (top side down) and spread with 1/3 of the frosting. Place the second layer on top (top side up) and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. To decorate, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Voila!

A Weekend by the Sea

This past weekend, Jason and I took a much needed reprieve to the charming coastal town of Wrightsville Beach with our very dear friends, The Goddards. A tradition since 2006, the four of us make the two hour drive to the coast every April to celebrate the arrival of Spring and warmer weather.

On Friday, the boys enjoyed an afternoon of fishing, followed by some quality time at their favorite beach bar, Buddy's. Despite less than ideal weather, Saturday was a successfully relaxing day, which included a delicious lunch at Tower 7 Baja Grill (if you've never eaten there, you absolutely MUST go) and a few long walks on the beach and around the island. I can't seem to get enough of the sound of the ocean. It is wonderfully peaceful!

As it always does, Sunday came entirely too soon, and before we knew it we were on our way back to Raleigh. However, our annual beach trip wouldn't be complete without stopping for breakfast at Sweet and Savory on our way out of town. This little cafe and bakery might be one of my favorite places to eat...ever. They make their own breads, muffins, and pastries daily. What's not to love?!?!

I indulged in the K.I.S.S. breakfast sandwich - a freshly baked 120 layer croissant filled with scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese, and served with a side of homemade hashbrowns. Despite knowing that my week would be filled with hours at the gym trying to work off my breakfast, I couldn't leave without sampling one of their incredible breakfast pastries. Totally worth it! What a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend....

Wrightsville Beach

K.I.S.S. breakfast sandwich

Raspberry Cream Cheese Pastry

A Slice of Heaven

Over the past few years I have developed a reverent appreciation for the art of baking. I would like to think that, given the chance to start my career over, I would have become a pastry chef. There is something divinely therapeutic about being in the kitchen and creating beautiful works of art that (hopefully) taste even better than they look! Unfortunately, my culinary experiments are still a work in progress, and I remain endlessly captivated by the talents of others.

Yesterday evening, my darling husband and I enjoyed dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Point, with two of our dearest friends, Anna and Landon White. After dinner, and in a moment of weakness, I was persuaded to walk across the street with Anna to Hayes Barton Cafe for dessert. All of their desserts are homemade, and are some of the most beautiful cakes, pies, tortes and cheesecakes I have ever laid eyes on! After much debate, we finally decided on the the Heath Bar Cake - YUM!

This decadent dessert is three layers of chocolate cake, soaked with Kahlua, and filled with chocolate pudding and heath bar pieces. It is iced with a dark chocolate ganache, sprinkled with more heath bar pieces, and garnished with homemade whipped cream. Needless to say, we were in Heaven! After eating entirely too much of the best cake I've ever had, I left completely satisified (with a wee bit of a tummy ache) and eagerly anticipating our next visit to try yet another delectable treat!