Peach Æbleskiver with Habañero Honey Whisky Glaze

Our August ingredients for the #ImprovCookingChallenge are the unlikely duo of Peaches & Peppers. Usually my go-to with these two ingredients would be a salsa sorta like the one I created here five years ago... But, since my sis handed me down a cast-iron æbleskiver pan, I figured it was about time we tried that out -- making some peach-filled itty-bitty round Danish pancakes/doughnuts.

(The hot-pepper glaze was just a happy little afterthought!) 

If you have never made æbleskiver before, I recommend you try a recipe using regular flour.

Also, I will suggest that having a filling (many cooks serve plain with jam or syrup on the side) makes these more difficult to turn properly. Other than that, these little guys are fun to make & eat.

Let's start with the glaze: Boozed + Infused is where I found the recipe for the Habañero Honey Whisky. It was quite simple to make. 

• 1 habañero pepper, quartered & seeded (unless you want it super hot!)
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• zest from 1 small lemon
• 1.5 oz. water
• 1 c. whisky

Put the first 5 ingredients in saucepan, simmer on low for 5 minutes. Remove pepper and let the remaining ingredients cool. Strain honey mixture into jar & combine with whisky. Shake once or twice a day for 3 days. Strain through coffee filter into decanter. Let infusion rest a few days before using.

 

 To make the glaze:

• 1 T. butter, melted
• 1 T. Greek yogurt
• 1 c. confectioners sugar
• 1 T. habañero honey whisky

Mix yogurt & melted butter until smooth. Stir in sugar. Whisk in the whisky!

This glaze was amazing! It totally elevated those peach-filled pastries.

Now for that æbleskiver recipe -- the first batch I made with coconut flour, and they weren't bad; we just prefered the ones made from almond flour.

• 1.5 c. almond flour
• 1 T. honey
• 1/2 c. Greek yogurt
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 peach - peeled, pitted & finely diced

Separate eggs and whip the whites. Whisk first 5 ingredients and egg yolks together in a bowl until batter is smooth. Gently fold in the whites. Allow batter to stand at least 15 minutes.

Heat (maybe a half teaspoon in each cup) oil in æbleskiver pan over medium heat. Drop about a tablespoon of batter into each cup, top with around a teaspoon of the peaches, then top with another teaspoon of batter.

Cook until bubbles form around the edges, then turn the batter a quarter turn with a chopstick. The wet batter should slide down into the cup while the browned portion rolls upward. Repeat process until the pastries are browned all around.

Makes 24 æbleskiver. 

Now you don't HAVE to enjoy your æbleskiver with a bottle of iced coffee, but I highly recommend it!

OK -- so go check out the links below where my friends share their peaches & peppers recipes:

An InLinkz Link-up

A Few of May's Makes & Bakes

May can be a pretty crazy month for us... We had 3 birthdays to celebrate:
My bff turned 50 this year, so her husband planned a little "Seis de Mayo" shindig. (Last August they helped me surprise Mr. ElisabethJean for his 50th, and then in September was Mr. BFF's 50th, so we're pretty good at this...) My job was to bring cheesecake.

This was my first attempt at baking a slab, but it turned out pretty well!

Next was the red-headed middle child's day.

Unfortunately, his birthday frequently gets tossed into the
Let'sCelebrateGrandpa'sBirthdayMother'sDayToo - mix, but this year we let him have his own day & his own cake. He chose to order pizza (which we smoked -- try it, it's fantastic!) and wanted a brownie-bottomed chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache

(I found the recipe here)that was quite indulgent!

Then I made a t-shirt for my daddy's birthday. I put a heart where he was born in the state (...and still owns a sliver of the old farmstead...)

It was beautiful until the last pass of the iron - the cover sheet I was using had static electricitied a scrap that was lingering nearby.

ARGH!

Fortunately, I had another shirt on hand...


We also had some graduation announcements that I needed to send cards for.

(They were a little different from last year's...)

 

And then I made a special onesie -- but that's a story for another day...

GF Lucky Jack® Wacky Cake

Well, here we are – 2nd day of #Choctoberfest and I promised you a simple cake. (Oh, by the way, did you enter that Rafflecopter to win prizes from our sponsors? You can find it here.)

Wacky Cake was developed during the Depression when often you couldn’t afford to use eggs or milk in your desserts. I’m always amazed at how deliciously moist this cake can be – and even more so because I made this one with gluten-free flour!Also impressive is the fact that you don’t dirty any extra utensils. I just used an 8x8 glass dish & a fork (aside from measuring cups & spoons, that is…)

You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 350°. Into the dish (don’t even need to grease it!) you’re going to measure:

• 1 & 1/2 c. gf flour blend (I used  Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. baking cocoa
• 1/2 t. Kosher salt
• 1 t. baking soda

You could sift this all together, but I just dumped it in & mixed carefully (that dish might not be as deep as you think…) with a dinner fork. After it’s thoroughly blended, you’ll need to make three holes, or “wells,” in the powder.

Into the first you will put 1 t. Kahlúa (mine is home-made, leftover from Christmas gifts…) and in the second you’ll pour 1/3 c. coconut oil (melted) and 1 T. vinegar goes in the last. (Don’t be surprised if that one fizzes a bit with the presence of the soda.) Lastly, you will pour one cup of Lucky Jack^® Double Black over all the ingredients. (Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’ll just have to drink the remaining 2 oz.)

Carefully stir until everything is completely combined. Pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. Let cool.(mine cracked a bit… No worries! We’ll soon cover that up!)

While your cake is baking, measure out 2 T. whipping cream and dissolve 1 t. instant coffee crystals. After the cake has cooled, pour 2 c. cold whipping cream, 3 T. honey and the dissolved instant coffee into the Blendtec (or food processor, or mixer, or metal bowl with French whisk…)Seriously, 5 or 6 seconds on “high” gave me luscious Honey Java Whipped Cream. (Please ignore that finger-swipe strange crease, I have no idea how it got in there!)Toss a dollop on a slice of cake and you’re ready for a tea coffee party!

Check out all of today’s #Choctoberfest recipe links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Strawberry “Cashtella” Galette

For my very first #Choctoberfest post I decided to incorporate my new-found favorite “health” food – CASHEW BUTTER. It was but one short month ago I blended up my very first batch…

Since Nutella^® is made with ground hazelnuts, I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to recreate it with ground cashews… In order to save time, I ground my cashew butter at the store, but their machine didn’t get it anywhere near as smooth as the Blendtec^®. That means the final product was much granier than intended, but none of my test subjects minded, at all !

 

Needing to make a dent in my 25# bag of Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour , I decided to try my hand at a gluten-free pie crust.

If you wish for a sweeter crust (the filling was sweet enough for us!) you can add one tablespoon sugar. You could also do an egg wash prior to baking, but I knew that this flour mixture would brown nicely on its own at this temperature.

After the dough chilled for about an hour, I rolled it out on parchment paper. I spread about a cup of “Cashtella” around the center (make it as thick or thin as you desire) then added a cup of strawberry jam on top of that.(Tried to) gently fold up the edges of the pastry and baked in a preheated 350° oven for about 20 minutes.

The crust was amazingly flaky (as far as gf items go…)Unfortunately, when it came time to serve our galette, “all” I could find to top it was Chocolate Fudge Ribbon ice cream…

 

Come back by tomorrow because I’ve made you a chocolate cake with very little effort, but GIGANTIC flavor! And be sure to enter the sponsors’ giveaway. In the meantime, you should probably check out the recipes in the #Choctoberfest linky down there ↓

An InLinkz Link-up

#CHOCTOBERFEST

Today is one of my favorite days of the year... because it is the first day of #Choctoberfest 2016! #Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you’ll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. What’s not to love?

Thank you to the sponsors who make #Choctoberfest possible! This year, Imperial Sugar is back as our Gold Sponsor. They have been a trusted name in kitchens since 1843, and their website is home to thousands of sweet recipes tested in the Imperial Sugar Kitchen. You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, or join their Sweet Community so you can share your own recipes, save recipes to a virtual inbox, print Imperial Sugar coupons, and connect with other sugar lovers.

Imperial Sugar and our silver sponsors have banded together to offer a huge #Choctoberfest prize pack, which you can enter to win below! One lucky winner will be chosen at random to receive the following:

• From our Gold Sponsor Imperial Sugar: 1 case of granulated sugar (40 pounds), 1 case of brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of dark brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of powdered sugar (24 pounds bags), and an Imperial Sugar red ruffle apron
• From our Silver Sponsor Nature Nate's: 32 oz. Raw & Unfiltered Honey bottle, Honey Syrup, Honey Packets, a Nature Nate’s T-shirt, various kitchen supplies, and $50 Amazon gift card
• From our Silver Sponsor Barlean's:16 oz Barlean’s Butter-Flavored Coconut Oil, 9.52 oz canister of Chocolate Silk Greens, and 8oz bottle of Essential Women Omega-Swirl Chocolate Mint
• From our Silver Sponsor Caveman Coffee: 1 Bag of Coffee (you choice of blacklisted or sabertooth), 1 coconut MCT oil, and 1 Cacao Butter
• From #Choctoberfest blog hosts The PinterTest Kitchen: 1 specialty chocolate gift pack (your choice of dark or milk chocolate), 1 tin (14 ounces) drinking chocolate, and Divine's Fair Trade Gift Set

Enter now to win our #Choctoberfest 2016 prize pack! We'll be picking a winner at random winner on Saturday, Oct. 15, so enter by Friday to make sure your name is in the drawing:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a list of all of the bloggers participating in #Choctoberfest 2016. Visit any of their blogs to get delicious chocolate recipes throughout the week:

The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin’ Mamas • A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures • addicted 2 recipes • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • An Affair From The Heart • Balancing Motherhood • Body Rebooted • Bottom Left of the Mitten • By the Pounds • Canning and Cooking at Home • Coconut & Lime • Cook with 5 Kids • Cook's Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking with Carlee • CopyKat Recipes • Cricket's Confections • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Elisabeth Jean • Fairyburger • Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice • Family Around the Table • Fantastical Sharing of Recipes • Feed Your Soul Too • Feeding Big • Frankly Entertaining • Full Belly Sisters • Get the Good Stuff • Grumpy’s Honeybunch • Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks • Hostess At Heart • Ink and Sugar • Jane’s Adventures in Dinner • Join Us, Pull Up a Chair • Karen's Kitchen Adventures • Kate's Recipe Box • Kudos Kitchen by Renee • Kylee Cooks • Letz Eat • Life Currents • Life on Food • Making Miracles • Monica's Table • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • My Catholic Kitchen • My Gluten Free Miami • Our Good Life • Palatable Pastime • Restless Chipotle • Seduction in The Kitchen • Sew You Think You Can Cook • Simple Food 365 • Southern With A Twist • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • Tampa Cake Girl • Teaspoon of Goodness • That Recipe • The Crumby Cupcake • The Flavourista • The Food Hunter's Guide To Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Pajama Chef • The Redhead Baker • The Spiffy Cookie • Tramplingrose • Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the yummy recipes posted on these blogs. Check them out throughout the week and don't forget to follow our sponsors and bloggers using the Rafflecopter giveaway widget above for your chance to win our sweet prize pack.

Matcha Macs with Honey Buttercream

When our Improv Cooking Challenge moderator Lesa posted the 2016 monthly themes back in November, my eyes roved the list making mental notes of what recipe(s) I would attempt to complete. I cross-referenced with Pinterest pins that have been sitting unused for years… February’s challenge being TEA & HONEY, I decided I would finally try Brave Tart’s “nutless” macarons which utilize ground pepitas instead of almonds for the flour. Since they (pepitas/pumpkin seeds) are green-ish, matcha seemed the likely companion.I first ordered matcha powder back in October. I’ve been gagging down trying to drink the stuff as part of my daily regimen. Usually I just bury its bitterness in our morning protein shake. So, maybe all that powdered sugar can tone it down…

I lightly toasted the pepitas and tossed them into my Blendtec along with the sugar & matcha. A couple seconds on low speed ground the mixture fine enough to pass through my sieve.The egg whites whipped beautifully using Stella’s method of 3 minutes on “4”, then 3 minutes on “6”, 3 minutes on “8”, then a final minute on the highest speed.I piped the batter onto the waiting pans. (Because it’s been a year since I last made macarons, my rounds were a little off!) I loved that I could see the little green specks that were pepitas.Macs were baked, cooled & matched.Next was filling them with the honey buttercream I’d whipped up the day before.Too late I realized the star tip made the beautiful filling quite ragged.  

Oh well…Now for the taste test:Oh dear, they’re hollow this time. (In doing a little research I learned that those cute flecks of the seed might have deflated the meringue while baking…)

Here’s the recipe for the Pepita Matcha Macarons (not going to waste space here with the method, ‘cause you can find such detailed information on other sites.)

• 115g lightly toasted pepitas
• 1 T. matcha powder
• 230g confectioners sugar
• 144g egg whites
• 2g Kosher salt
• 72g granulated sugar

And here’s how I made my Honey Buttercream. (So delicious! It reminds me of the honeybutter my mom used to make when I was a kid!)

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 1 t. cornstarch

Whisk together in saucepan. Heat until it thickens, but don’t allow to boil. Cool to room temperature.

Beat 1 cup salted butter (softened to room temperature) in mixing bowl. Continue beating while adding spoonfuls of cooled custard alternating with drizzling in 1/4 cup honey. Whip until combined & smooth. Chill until use.

My fellas were allowed to taste the macarons after dinner tonight. Mixed reviews on the flavor of the cookie; but all of one accord praised the honey buttercream! (I even caught a couple of them dipping pretzels into the leftover filling…)

I used a locally produced honey that is soooooooooo deliciously sweet. It is a Citrus/Mesquite Blossom honey that we use by the gallon!

 

Now you can follow these links to see what my co-contributors made with TEA & HONEY:

An InLinkz Link-up