Not a TWD: I did some other baking instead

Sorry, but there are no Chocolate Pots de Creme to see here. I did enough other baking, that this one fell to the wayside.

Christine of BlackCatCooking has gorgeous photos (I'm sure), so go visit her blog.

TWD: Toasted Almond Scones

I love a good scone. My affair started in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was a student studying in London. A group of us took an overnight bus to Edinburgh. We arrived at about 6:15 am tired but mostly hungry. We walked around for a bit until we saw a cafe. The four of us were standing in the doorway when we realized that it didn't open for about another 15 minutes. The owner saw us, took pity on us, and let us in. She told us that we were welcome to sit for a few minutes until they were ready to open. There was tea, but the scones needed a few more minutes. We were willing to wait. About ten minutes later, she came to our table with a tray piled high with hot scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam. I don't think I had tasted anything better in my life. It still ranks in the top five of favorite food experiences.

I don't tend to make scones that often, which is a shame. These were simple to put together. I happened to have heavy cream and whole milk left over from the bread pudding. Bonus! I had almond meal, so instead of grinding my own almonds, I used it. I decided to keep my slivered almonds whole instead of chopping them. 20 minutes or so in the oven, and scones!

I didn't put sliced almonds on the outside. I prefer a coarse sugar to finish things like this. Mmmmm. Craggy and sugary.

A scone flower!

These were just the right amount of sweet for me, which is to say, not very. Other than the coarse sugar on the outside, there was only 2 T. of sugar. Surprisingly, these were not very almond-y. I was expecting more. I wonder if the almond meal was the culprit. Ground toasted almonds may have had a bit more flavor. Perhaps a bit more extract next time?

I can't find a link for Mike's blog, but when I do, you'll be able to see his fabulous photos and the recipe! Here it is!

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

I love me some cookies that I can rationalize. These have oatmeal in them. They're healthy. And you don't have to wait for butter to come to room temp, so they are easy as well. Sounds like a winner!

See, oatmeal. Right on top there. Well, you can sort of see. It's a little blurry...

These cookies had a combo of cocoa powder and melted bittersweet chocolate. These were deeply flavored. Dorie says they're sort of a brownie/cookie. She's right on the money.

I thought these were easy to put together. Apparently, though, I didn't beat up the liquid ingredients quite enough. I had a little butter separation while the dough was waiting to be scooped. It didn't really affect much as far as I can tell. The edges were a bit lacy in some cases - as if they had been fried a bit - but the taste was still delicious. I'd love to try these again.

More goofy kids with goofy photos. Clearly, these were a hit.

Thank you Caroline and Claire of Bake With Us for letting me try this fabulous recipe.

TWD: Bourbon Bread Pudding

I will admit that I had no intention of making this one. Then the Husband was invited to a Super Bowl party, and I realized that I could pawn it off on him and it wouldn't be in my house tempting me.

This was not difficult to put together. I did have to go buy whole milk and heavy cream because those things are rarely in my house. (Those two items combined with six egg yolks, sugar, and challah were the reason I didn't want the bread pudding around.) I weighed out eight ounces of home-baked challah and let it get stale. The custard was easy to put together. The milk and cream were boiled together and then combined with the liquid ingredients. I read in a couple of places that 1 T. of bourbon didn't impart enough flavor. I upped it to 2 T. The custard is poured over the cubed bread and left to soak for an hour.

I got a pan ready for a water bath and baked thepudding for about 10 minutes more than the recommended time. I like mine golden brown. It left the house for the game about 30 minutes after it came out of the oven.

Here it is just out of the oven. Mmmmm.

It was a big hit at the party. It was given a universal thumbs up. However, all of the tasters thought it needed a bit more bourbon flavor. I think a bourbon sauce might be the ticket here. The husband brought a bit home, so I did get to taste it. I prefer a pudding that has a bit different bread to custard ratio. This one won't replace my favorite recipe, but I may need to start adding bourbon to that one...

Ready to celebrate the Super Bowl!

Thanks to Sharon from Simply Southern for picking this one.

TWD: Great Grains Muffins

This is a photo-less post until I get my act together and locate the cord that connects my computer and camera.

Anyway.... this is a tasty, pretty basic muffin. I think that the title implies that this is a "healthy" food item, but one stick of butter and 12 muffins is not a good ratio. This was a snap to put together. The aforementioned grains are wheat (whole and otherwise), oatmeal, and cornmeal. Put together, they make a good muffin. Add in some buttermilk, sugar, and a blend of dried fruit (in my case it was cherry, cranberry, raisins, and blueberries) and it's a cupcake/muffin. They were good hot with some butter and scotch marmalade that the Husband happened to have.

These were enjoyable, but without some tweaks, these won't be joining my rotation. Go to Happy Tummy blog to see the recipe.