Supporters Dinner - Slow Food International Congress

Time has gotten away from me, and I realize that I haven't posted about my Supporters Dinner that I held for the many people who supported me in going to Slow Food's International Congress - Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto. I was so blessed to have Amanda Roelle, come in all the way from Italy to help me pull of this meal.  Ok, ok... she didn't come in specifically to help me, but what are the chances that I had scheduled this meal featuring what I learned in Italy at the exact same time she had a job here in the States!  I mean she was the one who told me about Terra Madre in the first place!  Life continues to blow me away!  To see the presentation I gave about my experience at the Conference please go to this link. I would love to talk to you about this experience if you are interested.

Ok to the dinner. I really tried to use as much local ingredients as possible, really highlighting what our area has to offer. If it's not a local ingredient then some of the ingredients were brought in from Italy.

The first two photos are me prepping for the L’ouvo en Raviolo (I learned this recipe in the Theatro del Gusto "Theater of Taste") It is homemade pasta, with a whole egg yolk in the middle with a beet green ricotta filling.

The table settings

The coffee bean decoration was from Les's Roastery, Deeper Roots Coffee, where we were having the dinner. The rosemary was from our garden. All of the table settings were from our wedding at Gorman Heritage Farm including the burlap coffee bag table runners (sewed by my mother - thank you, thank you!).

Some of the supporters were:
Sandra and mike Murphy
Denise and Mike Eck
Dennis and Lyda Stoneham
Amanda Roelle
Les Stoneham
Sue and John Clark
Cynthia and Fred Bullard
Jim and Flo Ullrich
and many many more!!
Thank you!!


This was the Cincinnati dinner. Soon I will be doing my Tennessee dinner for my supporters in Tennessee. Don't worry it's still coming!

Because I used so many of the egg yolks for the raviolo I had a bunch of egg whites. What do I make with egg whites? A TON of meringues. My mom use to make these for us every Christmas season. They were and continue to be some of my favorite cookies!

The day couldn't have been any nicer. Temperature was perfect, and the freshly picked flowers from Gorman Heritage Farm just hit the spot.

FIRST COURSE

Whole Wheat Bread
whole wheat flour - Carriage House Farm, Lebanon, OH

Olive Oil with Salt
olive oil - Puglia, Italy (our friend, Amanda’s, land)
salt - Slow Food Presidia - Morocco (from Terra Madre)

Paisano Oregano and Tomato Cheese
My Artisano Foods, Cincinnati, OH

Honey
Desert of Egypt (from Terra Madre)

Proscuitto
Krause’s at Findlay Market

I forgot to take a photo of this course, but this is a picture of the ones I made in Italy during the session "Cooking without Waste – It’s raining Rissoles"

SECOND COURSE

Risolles with Garlic Basil Aioli

beef/eggs/potatoes/basil flowers - Gorman Heritage Farm
Egyptian walking onion/herbs/garlic - our backyard

The beautiful Amanda, serving our tasty Third Course.

THIRD COURSE

Fresh Green Salad with Apple Honey Vinaigrette

lettuce, honey, arugula, oven roasted cherry tomatoes, radishes -
Gorman Heritage Farm
kale, arugula, purslane, zucchini, garlic - our backyard
apple peels (used in vinaigrette) -  local farm at Madison’s Market at Findlay Market
Olive Oil - Puglia, Italy (our friend, Amanda’s, land)

This is what the finished product of the first two images became.

FOURTH COURSE

L’ouvo en Raviolo

eggs, beet greens,  - Gorman Heritage Farm
kale, sage - our backyard
ricotta, parmesian-reggiano, butter - Krause’s at Findlay Market

This dessert I didn't learn from Terra Madre. It's a Scandinavian dessert. So so tasty!

FIFTH COURSE

Ginger Apples with a Lemon Creme topped with dark chocolate and meringues

ginger, apples, lemon - Madison’s Market at Findlay Market
chocolate - Dean’s Mediterranean at Findlay Market
eggs - Gorman Heritage Farm
heavy cream - Snowville Creamery, OH

If you can't tell this was a spectacular night. It went off without a hitch thanks to all my help from Les and Amanda. The company was beautiful and great conversation!  Thank you thank you!!!

What you get when both Les and I have a whole day without working

This weekend was so relaxing and wonderful. We finally got a break in this terribly cold winter. To celebrate we decided to cook some really really delicious food! I didn't use a recipe for these, so these amounts might not be perfect. Use your best judgement and taste, taste, taste.  The first thing we made was:

Scallops with Beluga Lentils and a Cranberry Gastrique

Beluga Lentils:

• 1 cup beluga lentils (they look like beluga caviar)
• water
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
• 1/2 medium onion, small dice
• salt/pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• olive oil

1. Heat olive oil in a stock pot and add diced onions. Heat until golden and add garlic. 
2. Add beluga lentils, salt, and pepper to taste and stir until the lentils are coated with oil.  Add enough water to cover the lentils by 1 inch.
3. Bring to a boil. Add sundried tomatoes, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
4. Take out the sundried tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 more minutes until the lentils are tender.

Cranberry Gastrique:

• 1 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened)
• little less than 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp ground fresh ginger
• salt to taste

1. Heat a small sauce pan and add all ingredients. Simmer vigorously for about 25 minute. Taste and add more ginger if necessary.
2. Strain the liquid from the cranberries. Set aside and also save the cranberries.

Scallops

I bought frozen scallops from Whole Foods because I got a coupon for $2 off, but for the record. I don't recommend buying them from Whole Foods. There was a lot of sand in them. I wasn't happy with how these turned out. I need to make scallops again to make these better.

• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 7 scallops
• salt/pepper to taste

1. Pat dry scallops and lightly salt and pepper. Heat pan on medium high heat. Add butter and olive oil.  Once the pan is hot add the scallops. Cook about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on each side. It should have a golden look on each side. I didn't get the pan hot enough and I didn't pat the scallops dry enough.

The next day, I didn't want to waste anything so with the left over cranberries that were drained from the gastrique, I decided to make a chutney for a delicious appetizer. We also had a lot of the beluga lentils and cranberry gastrique left over, so we added to those and made a second meal...

Cranberry Chutney on Creamy Cheese and a Fresh Sourdough Crisp

Cranberry Chutney

• Cranberry mixture left over from Cranberry gastrique
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 granny smith apple, small dice
• 1/4 onion, small dice
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F.
2. Heat pan on medium heat and add 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Add dice onions, apples, and salt to taste Cook until golden. 
3. Add 1 tsbp white vinegar and cook for about 1 minute
4. Add onions and apple to the cranberries mixture and process in a food processor until jam consistency. 
5. Cut sourdough pieces and place a good creamy cheese like brie on the sourdough slice. We used a cheese that was on special at Silverglades at Findlay Market. I can't remember what the cheese was, but wow it was so good!
6. Add chutney to the top of the cheesy crisp. 
7. Enjoy!

Baked Butternut Squash and Apples with Beluga Lentils, Cranberries Gastrique, and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Butternut Squash and Apples

• 1 butternut squash, small dice (from my garden last fall)
• 1/2 granny smith apple
• 1/4 large onion
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp hot pepper flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Mix together all ingredients and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. 
3. Bake for 15 minutes then raise temperature to 400˚F and bake for 15 more minutes.

 Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

• 1/2 lb Asparagus
• 6 pieces of bacon (from Gorman Heritage Farm)
• olive oil

1. Cut asparagus into 2 inch pieces
2. wrap 4 pieces of asparagus with a slice of bacon.
3. Sprinkle with olive oil and bake at 400˚F for 15 minutes.

Les and I felt inspired and wanted to practice with food styling. You know real fine dining. This is how ours turned out. I would say a job well done!!

CashewFest Continuing

So now that we made this delicious Curried Mushroom Cashew Pâté, what do we do with it?  Make some pizza of course.

This time I used Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza dough recipe from  My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. Yum! I think, however, I like my trusty traditional pizza dough recipe from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice a little better, but Jim Lahey's  is easier to do.

It's all about the toppings though. I don't typically make my pizzas with red sauce. It seems to distract from all the other fabulous tastes. Since we had so many cashews we decided to use them as a topping for our pizza also.

Cashew Pear Pizza

• Bosc Pears - from Madison's at Findlay Market
• Fontina Cheese - from Silverglades at Findlay Market
• Blue Cheese - from Silverglades at Findlay Market
• Rosemary - from our garden
• Olive Oil - from our Honeymoon to Italy
• Arugula - from Gorman Heritage Farm (GHF)
• Cashews - from Rachel Maher (thanks!)

Bacon Mushroom Pâté Pizza

• Curried Mushroom Cashew Pâté
• Bacon - from GHF
• Caramelized onions - from Madison's at Findlay Market
• Sauteed baby sweet peppers - from Madison's at Findlay Market
• Fontina Cheese - From Silverglades at Findlay Market

Quinoa Flour Crepes

Oh how I love crepes! They are so easy and you can fill them with anything! I mean literally anything!

As long as you know the ratio for crepes you can substitute pretty much any liquid or type of flour.

The ratio is:
1/2 part flour
1 part liquid
1 part egg

For the liquid, be creative. Think juices, stocks, milk, water, etc.  For the flour, be inspiring. Think quinoa flour, buckwheat flour, garam flour, whole wheat flour, etc.

This particular crepe has the following:

• 10 oz milk from Snowville Creamery
• 5 eggs from Gorman Heritage Farm (GHF) (1 large egg = about 2 oz)
• 5 oz quinoa flour (Thanks Megan Divelbiss for giving me some to try!)
• salt and sugar are optional - I didn't use either

After whisking all the ingredients together until there are no lumps. Set in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the flour to completely absorb all the liquid.

Then heat a pan on medium heat - cast iron or non-stick are the easiest to use. melt about 1/2 teaspoon butter to coat the bottom of the pan to keep the batter from sticking. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter (that will depend on the size pan you use) into the center of the pan then rotate the pan to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. The crepe should be very thin! Cook for about 30 seconds - 1 minutes. Flip the crepe and cook another 30 seconds. You can make a lot of crepes at a time and then refrigerate them.  I love doing this on the weekend then reheat them and fill them with different ingredients throughout the week.

The one pictured is filled with:

• arugula from GHF
• bacon from GHF
• caramelized onions in balsamic vinegar and rosemary
• oven baked grapes
• White cheddar (if I was going to do this again - I would use goat cheese, but I didn't have it at the time)

Another day I filled it with:

• hard-boiled egg from GHF
• bacon from GHF
• creamy homemade mustard dip
• arugula from GHF
• white cheddar

Another day I filled it with:

• Oven baked butternut squash thinly sliced with rosemary (both from my garden) and olive oil
• arugula from GHF
• bacon from GHF
• Boursin Cheese

The options are limitless!

What are your suggestions for crepe fillings?

Wine & Coffee Tasting - International Congress

The Wine & Coffee Tasting - International Congress at Gorman Heritage Farm on September 30th went very well.

On a beautiful fall day at Gorman Heritage Farm people from around Cincinnati came to taste delicious wine, coffee, and local food. To start the afternoon off, Matt Anthony, Slow Food Cincinnati's Board President, spoke to the crowd about what Slow Food Cincinnati is up to these days and what the Slow Food Movement is about.

Then Remo Belluci (pictured above), Terra Madre delegate from the Abruzzo region of Italy, shared with us his experience at Terra Madre and why Terra Madre and the Salone del Gusto is such an important event. In fact, it is the largest food event in the world.

Later in the evening I then shared with the group my trip to the Salone del Gusto - Terra Madre and International Congress. I also discussed Slow Food's policy document "Central Role of Food" which we will be having a world debate over while at the Congress. If you would like to see my presentation, click here. 

We showcased the following wines:

Taste the different grapes:

- Quattro Mani - Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (from the region Remo grew up)
- Benziger Family - Cabernet Sauvignon

Taste the different terriors:

- Chardonnay - Valley Vineyards, Morrow, Ohio
- Chardonnay - Henke Winery, grapes from West Field, New York, vinted and bottled in Cincinnati, Ohio

 We provided the following local foods:

- local cheese (Kenny's Farm House, Middlefield Original Cheese, Blue Jacket Dairy)
- goat cheese with GHF honey and almonds 
- homemade Lavash
- homemade miso & parsley hummus
- homemade kale chips
- creamy pesto (basil from GHF)
- spicy arugula pesto (arugula from GHF made by Alan and Grace Wight)
- herb bread (made by Alan and Grace Wight)
-  farm fresh veggies (from GHF)
- dessert tray (from Servatii's )

You can view what coffees we featured in my previous blog post. 

Special thanks to: All the people who volunteered at the event, Gorman Heritage Farm, Party Source, Valley Vineyard, Henke Winery, and Slow Food Cincinnati

Mushroom Agnolotti with Corn and Tomato Pan Sauce

 In the midst of summer what do you have a lot of?  We have a lot of sweet corn and tomatoes so this recipe is fabulous if you have an excess of both!

Mushroom Agnolotti with Corn and Tomato Pan Sauce
(adapted from Better Homes and Garden - Sept. 2012 issue)

2 ears sweet corn on the cob (came from Gorman Heritage Farm)
18 oz. wild mushroom agnolotti or ravioli (we amazingly had one package of this in our freezer but we added another package of three cheese tortellini)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced (Egyptian walking onion from our garden)
2 cloves of garlic minced (from our garden)
2-3 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped (orange paste, ponderosa beefsteak, and Opalka paste from our garden)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp chives, chopped (from our garden)

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Shave corn off the ears with a serrated knife and reserve. Add the cobs (to release corn starches and add richness. Les was also making a salsa verde sauce so he boil some tomatillos in the water before I put the past in. You definitely don't need to do this!) and agnolotti to water. Boil for about 6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for pan sauce, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; cook until fragrant, about two minutes. 
3. Add corn kernels and garlic to skillet; cook until bright and crisp and tender, 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and toss until they begin to release some juices, about 2 minutes more.
4. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup liquid. discard cobs. Add pasta back to the pot with the reserved cooking water, corn mixture, and butter. Gently toss over low heat to melt butter. (The original recipe put arugula in at this time which would be very tasty but arugula isn't in season right now - way too hot for that). Sprinkle in chopped chives and serve. 

Makes about 4 servings

Lavender Scampi

After putting on an event at Gorman Heritage Farm like Savor the Season, what do you do the next day?  Get inspired to cook something of your own that savors the Spring season in Ohio!  Les and I went on our Sunday morning walks to Findlay Market this morning to gain some more inspiration.

Lavender Scampi with fresh homemade pasta was decided on after we indulged ourselves in pastries at Skirtz and Johnston, and Honey Lavender gelato and espresso at Dojo Gelato.

Homemade Pasta


Ingredients:

• 9 local eggs (from Madison's at Findlay Market)
• 27 ounces of flour
• 4 tbsp olive oil

1. Put flour in a bowl and make a hole in the middle of the flour. 
2. Crack all eggs inside of hole in flour. Slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs with your hands. This is fun. You get quick messy.
3. Add enough olive oil to make dough firm buy pliable.
4. Turn out dough and kneed for 5-10 minutes until the dough is shiny (not just from the oil). 
5. Wrap up in a reusable plastic bag and set aside for at least 30 - 1 hour. (you can also let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours.)
6. Cut into 12 pieces and roll out using a Kitchen pasta attachment. 
7. We used only 1 piece for the following recipe. So we put the rest on a pasta dryer that Les made for me. That can be saved dried for about a month (but it's definitely better completely fresh.)

Lavender Scampi

Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 lb asparagus - from Gorman Heritage Farm
• 1/2 cup olive oil reserve 2 tbsp for pan
• 1 tbsp capers (can sub pickled nasturtium seeds)
• 1 tbsp ground lavender flowers - From Gorman Heritage Farm
• 1 tsp honey
• Juice of 1 lemon and peel + juice of half another lemon for topping
• 2 cups white wine (look for something dry and mineral tasting) - bought at Market Vines
• 4 tbsp butter
• salt/pepper
• 5 cloves garlic coarsely chopped - from Madison's (our sprouted already sadly)
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped - from our garden

1. Marinate shrimp in olive oil, lavender, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and honey for 1 hour. After 1 hour drain shrimp and set aside marinade
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive in bottom of pan. Place garlic and shrimp in the pan and cook evenly for 2 minutes. Flip shrimp and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon to keep oil in the pan.
3. Throw in asparagus and marinade and boil. Scrape any brown bits of the pan into the sauce. Once asparagus is tender, about 5-10 minutes, toss shrimp with chopped parsley back to the pan.
4. While preparing the scampi bring water to boil with salt (the water should be quite salty - like the Mediterranean Sea). Toss fresh pasta into the water and boil for about 4 minutes. (this will be longer if you are using dry pasta)
5. Strain pasta and top with the scampi. Garnish with a good amount of fresh lemon juice and a spring of parsley. We also added some delicious sourdough bread.

Crepes filled with spinach and fondue-style spinach artichoke Dip

So this is how Les and I eat breakfast everyday. We break out the big wine glasses and garnish our breakfasts. Ha! Just kidding, but today I did get inspired. On Friday I had a cooking class at the farm and the talented Laura Robinson was our guest chef. She taught about cooking with ratios and how if you use simple ratios you can achieve different types of food. One of the items on the menu was a simple crepe, and we had so much crepe batter left over that I was able to bring it home and experiment with the fillings myself.

This recipe reminds me of the crepes I had when I lived in France, and also the crepes I made when I managed the Speckled Bird.

Recipe for the Crepe:

The Ratio: 1 part liquid: 1 part egg: 1/2 part flour

We had one girl in the class who was lactose intolerant so we used water for our liquid. Laura made a great handout for the class which some of the info is below.

Ingredients:

• 8oz Water (Liquid)
• 8 oz Egg (1 large egg is 2oz)
• 4 oz Flour
• pinch of Salt
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla (the vanilla extract we use was homemade by putting about 3 vanilla bean pods that you cut lengthwise into vodka and let stand in a mason jar for at least 3 months.)

STEPS
Weigh flour and add to blender along with other ingredients
Blend for 7-9 seconds, or until just combined
Let batter rest in fridge for an hour to ensure tender crepes
Heat 6-7” skillet over medium heat and grease slightly with butter
Add 1/8 cup of batter to pan, tilting to evenly coat the bottom
Let set untouched for about a minute, flip and cook 30 seconds longer

NOTES
1 egg = 2 ounces
1 fluid cup = 8 ounces
Refrigerate cooked, cooled crepes for a week or freeze for a month
If I didn't use the leftover crepe batter I wouldn't have included the sugar or vanilla in the crepe batter since it was a savory crepe

VARIATIONS
Use different liquid base – soy/almond/coconut milk, water, stock, juice
Add a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped herbs
Add ground spices (cayenne, cinnamon, etc)

WHAT TO DO WITH CREPES
Fill with leftovers
Layer with filling and slice like a cake
Use as a base in muffin tins and fill with custard
Use with any number of sweet applications
o Lemon curd
o Jam
o Sauteed apples
o Nutella

For our filling we used something totally different. for my next class on Friday "Cooking with Wine," I'm making a spinach artichoke dip. I was experimenting with it yesterday and had left overs. So I thought yum. Lets add the artichoke dip into the crepes with some of our left over fresh spinach. Yum.

Spinach Artichoke Filling (Fondue-Style)
For this recipe, we used homemade mayo (recipe below), but you can use store-bought mayo just as easily.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 8 1/2 oz. can artichoke hearts
• 1 cup home-made mayonnaise (see next recipe)
• 1/2 cup Meier’s White Table Wine (it's a local winery in Cincinnati)
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese
• 1 cup fresh finely chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1 medium boule of bread (I made some homemade bread using the ratio of 5 parts flour: 3 parts water (plus salt and yeast). I also doctored it up with olive oil, subbed some local buckwheat and rye for standard bread flour.)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Drain artichokes and chop finely. Mix gruyere cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and oregano in a bowl. Set aside.
Gradually add wine to mayonnaise, blending well.
Fold Parmesan cheese mixture, spinach, and artichokes into the wine mayonnaise.
Place in an ungreased 1 quart baking dish and bake, uncovered for 25-30 minutes until hot and
bubbly.
Cut top of boule like a pumpkin. Leaving 1 1/2 inch thick crust, pull out the soft sourdough from the center of the boule, and pour mixture into bowl that is left.
Serve immediately with bread from the inside of the boule, crackers, or vegetables.

Home-made Mayonnaise

The Ratio: 20 parts oil: 1 part liquid (plus yolk)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 egg*
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or any kind of acid; lemon, wine, lime, etc. - I used this because it's from a local farm in Indiana.)
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup light olive oil (can use any kind of oil; canola, vegetable, sunflower, etc.)
• 1 tbsp whey (optional) **

Makes 1 cup
In the bowl of a food processor or bowl, combine egg yolk, vinegar, water, and salt. Whisk until ingredients are combined.
Continuing to blend, stream olive oil drop by drop until it starts to look creamy. It is important that the oil is added very slowly. Once emulsion starts to happen add the oil in a very small
continuous stream.
Once 1/2 cup of oil has been added, oil may be added at a slightly increased speed. Keep
whisking until all oil is added and the mayonnaise sticks to the whisk. Store mayonnaise in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Mayonnaise will thicken more during the chilling process.

NOTES
** Lacto-Fermented Option - After making basic mayonnaise, stir in whey. Store in an airtight
container for 7 hours at room temperature before transferring to refrigeration. Fermentation will extend the mayonnaise shelf life from several days to a month or more. (I haven't tried this yet, but I want to. I'll have to make some farmer cheese to get the whey. That's for another day)
* You can also use just the yolk, if you do this, freeze your egg white until you can use it like in a meringue. I found using the egg white makes the mayo a lighter color and it seemed more creamy to me.

Because of the gruyere cheese and wine the artichoke dip has a rich winy fondue-taste. I got the ratios from the book Ratios by Micheal Ruhlman. Thanks Brian for getting this book for me! It's great and I highly recommend getting it if you like to cook/bake!

Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting

One of my co-workers is leaving the farm (Gorman Heritage Farm) and for her going away luncheon I made some Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting. This recipe uses some of our lavender, and I used the eggs from Findlay Market. I just love being able to cook more with local ingredients. I've actually started teaching cooking classes at the farm now that uses as many local ingredients as possible. I'm hoping to keep this more up to date with what is prepared in the classes. But for now, here is the cupcake recipe.

Lavender Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons lavender petals
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

I first infused the butter with lavender using the following method (the ingredients above account for the butter infusion process).

Infused Butter Method from Cupcake Project

* Slightly more butter than your recipe calls for. When you make the tea-infused butter, some of the butter will get stuck on the tea leaves and you’ll end up with less usable butter than you started with. How much more butter should you use? You’ll have to experiment. It will vary depending on the type of tea that you use and how good you are at pressing the butter out of the wet tea leaves. I found that I needed 1 cup of butter to end up with 3/4 cup of butter.

* 2 grams (or approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons) of whole-leaf tea per tablespoon of butter. As Robert says, “The key to flavor is freshness so be sure that you are using only tea that is highly aromatic and butter that has no off aromas or flavors.”

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter until just liquid.

2. Add the tea leaves.

3. Continue heating the mixture for about 5 minutes on low heat.

4. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for another 5 minutes or until the butter is discernibly tinted by the tea leaves.

5. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the tea leaves and then discarding them. This is the part where you will undoubtedly end up with some butter that you can’t get off of the leaves. I encourage you to press as hard as you can, but not to obsess about lost butter – it’s for a good cause.

6. Let the butter come to room temperature and then use it as you would regular butter in your baked goods.

via Baking with Tea – How To Get the Flavor of Tea Into Your Baked Goods ~ Cupcake Project.

Frosting:

1. Beat lavender-infused butter and cream cheese with a fork (if you have a mixer it probably would make it easier) until fluffy. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time; mix until smooth.

Lemon Cupcake:

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake, and sprinkle with lavender petals.

Adapted from From Martha Stewart Cupcakes, May 2009

via Lemon Meringue Cupcakes and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com.

via PrissyCook » Blog Archive » Lemon Mergingue Cupcakes.

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