Cherry Lemonade Donuts

These are wonderful baked mini donuts

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1/2 cup cherry juice
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp cherry juice
1 – 2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and position a rack in the center. Butter and flour your mini doughnut pans and set them aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs and blend them until they're just incorporated. Mix in the 1/2 cup of cherry juice.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt then combine it well with the cherry mixture until the color is smooth.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip with the batter and pipe it carefully into the prepared mini doughnut pans. I found that filing each circle about 2/3 – 3/4 of the way makes perfect mini doughnuts. Filling them any more than that will create shrunken or non-existent doughnut holes.

Bake them for about 5 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the tops are matte and springy to the touch. Don't be afraid of under-baking, be more afraid of over-baking. Gooey doughnuts can be fixed with a little more oven time and crunchy burned doughnuts can't. Allow the doughnuts a few minutes in the pans to cool off before flipping them out onto a cooling rack. The pan may need a few encouraging taps, but they should come out easily.

In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, cherry juice and powdered sugar until you get your desired consistency. When stirred, the glaze should leave swirls on the surface that disappear slowly but are not permanent. If the swirls disappear almost instantly, you need more powdered sugar. Dip the top of each doughnut in the glaze, give it a few taps then set it on a rack to drip and set. For easy cleanup, place a piece of wax paper under the rack to catch all the drips. Enjoy!

London Fog Layer Cake

This is a delightful cake. I made it with cream cheese frosting with a vanilla bean added, but your preference of vanilla frosting would be fine too.

Ingredients:
2/3c milk
4 early grey tea bags
2 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.25c + 2Tbs cake flour (160g)
1c sugar
2.25tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1/2c butter, room temp
blue or purple food coloring, if desired

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line two 8" round cake pans with parchment paper.  Grease and flour.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk until simmering.  Remove from heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes.  Remove the tea bags and allow the milk to cool completely.

Whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Set aside. 
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the butter and cooled milk to the dry ingredients.  Beat on low until well-blended.  Raise the speed to medium and beat for another minute.

Add the egg/vanilla mixture in three additions, beating well after each addition. If desired, beat in food coloring.

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Layer Cake

This recipe comes in several steps. Make the cake, make the caramel, make the buttercream, assemble the cake, make the ganache. Phew!

CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Oil and flour three 8-inch baking tins.  Begin by filling a sauce pan with water.  Set it on high heat until it boils. While you are waiting for the water to boil, whisk to gather the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda until it is completely blended.  You can begin to add in the wet ingredients, starting with the oil and milk. Continue beating in each egg, one at a time, into the mixture.  Next beat in the vanilla .  

Ok, remember that boiling water? Beat 1 cup of boiling water into the batter.  THE BATTER WILL BE REALLY THIN, don't worry! Immediately fill you cake tins with the batter and put it in the oven.

If making cupcakes, bake for exactly 18 minutes, no more, no less.  If making cake, start by checking them at 22 minutes, and continue to check on the cakes using the "stick a for in it test".  My cakes usually take between 25 and 30 minutes.

SALTED CARAMEL SYRUP (this gets added to the buttercream)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 stick of butter, softened and cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Sea salt to taste

In a medium saucepan with high sides, combine the sugar and corn syrup with 1/2 cup water. Stir the mixture gently so you don’t slosh any of it up the sides of the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and continue stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high, stop stirring, and allow the mixture to boil. Once it begins to turn a rich caramel color (if you don’t want to eyeball it, take the caramel to 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer), remove it from the heat, add the butter and cream, and a generous amount of sea salt and stir until combined. 

SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM
Ingredients:

1½ cups sugar 
1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 cups whole milk 
1⁄3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄3 cup plus 2 tablespoons Salted Caramel Sauce (above), at room temperature

In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter and vanilla; mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add 1⁄2-3/4 cup of the caramel (to taste) and continue mixing until combined. 

CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING

Ingredients:

12 oz. good quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup very hot water

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Pinch of salt

Sea Salt for finishing

To make the chocolate ganache frosting, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Set aside and let cool to room temperature.  In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and water and stir until smooth.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually blend in the melted and cooled chocolate until well incorporated.  Blend in the cocoa powder-water mixture until smooth.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE
To assemble the cake, level the cake layers if necessary.  Place one of the cake layers on a cake board or serving platter.  Top with half of the caramel buttercream and smooth in a thick, even layer.  Place a second cake layer on top and smooth the remaining salted caramel buttercream over that.  Place the final cake layer on top.  Cover the top and sides of the cake with the chocolate frosting and smooth with an offset spatula.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Before serving, sprinkle with sea salt.

Biscuit-style Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

3 cups Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth or your favorite

1½ cups onions, chopped

1 cup potato, peeled and cubed (½ inch cubes)

1 cup sweet potato, peeled and cubed (½ inch cubes)

1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped

1 cup celery, sliced

1 lb chicken breasts (boneless, skinless), cut into bite-size pieces

1½ cups frozen peas (not defrosted)

1½ cup reduced-fat milk

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 pkg. Pillsbury Golden Layer Flaky Biscuits (100 calories for each biscuit)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan, add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

2. Stir in onions, potato, sweet potato, carrots and celery. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 6 minutes.

3. Add chicken pieces and frozen peas, breaking them up. Bring back to a boil, turn heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Place a colander into a large bowl. Pour chicken, vegetables and broth into colander. Add strained broth back to the pan. Set aside chicken and vegetables.

5. In a separate small bowl, add flour. Gradually add milk to the flour stirring with a whisk, until well blended.

6. Increase heat to medium with the broth. Stir in milk/flour mixture with a whisk. Cook for 5 minutes or until thicken. Stir often.

7. Add back chicken and vegetables, along with thyme, salt and pepper. Mix well.

8. Coat an 11 x 7 baking dish with cooking spray and pour in the chicken stew.

9. Open the package of biscuits, separate them and place on top of chicken stew. Line them evenly over top.

10. Place the pie on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.

11. To serve, spoon into each bowl and top with 1 biscuit. There will be two extra biscuits for whoever wants it.

Serves 8 (each serving, ⅛ of recipe and 1 biscuit); 7PP

Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken Ingredients:
• 2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• orange chicken sauce (ingredients below)
• toppings: thinly-sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds, orange zest
Orange Chicken Sauce Ingredients:
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup honey (add more to sweeten, if desired)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• zest of one orange
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Whisk all the sauce ingredients together.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for about 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and nearly cooked through.

Pour in the orange chicken sauce, and stir to combine. Let the sauce come to a boil, then boil for an additional minute or two until thickened. Remove from heat and serve immediately over quinoa or rice. Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds and additional orange zest.

Crockpot Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (14.5 oz)

1 onion thinly sliced

4- 6 garlic cloves, whole

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

12 pitted kalamata olives

palmful Italian herb mix (thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano)

ground black pepper and salt to taste

Pour the olive oil in to the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the chicken breasts into the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Top each breast with sliced onion, garlic cloves and Italian herbs.

Mix vinegar, tomatoes and tomato sauce and pour over chicken. Cook on high about 4 hours. 

Remove the chicken breasts, slice on the bias, and place back in the tomato/vinegar sauce. Add olives and let them warm through for ten minutes. Serve with crumbled feta over whole wheat spaghetti.