Studio of Good Living Blog

Waffles with Caramelized Walnuts

under: Main Dish

I love lazy Sundays.   Who doesn’t?  For me that means, sleeping in a little later, strong coffee, jazz, the paper and these waffles.  These waffles are delicious and the best part about them is that the batter has to be made the night before so it is super easy to whip them up for a really quick breakfast.  If you have the time definitely make the caramelized walnuts. They are totally addictive.

Waffles with Caramelized Walnuts

Adapted from The Secrets of Success Cookbook Signature Recipes and Insider Tips from San Francisco’s Best Restaurants by Michael Bauer

½ cup warm water,

1 package active, dry yeast

2 cups of milk

2 cups of all purpose flour

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

2 eggs

¼ tsp. baking soda

Caramelized Walnuts

2 cups walnuts

1 Tbsp. water

½ cup sugar

Waffle Batter

In a large bowl, combine the water and yeast.  Set aside until the yeast dissolves and the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the milk, flour, butter, vanilla, salt, vanilla extract and sugar to the yeast mixture. Stir to blend.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside overnight at room temperature.

Caramelized Walnuts

Oil a large baking sheet or line a baking sheet with a silpat. Combine the nuts, water and sugar in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Stir occasionally until the sugar caramelizes, about 5 minutes.  Pour the caramelized nuts onto the prepared baking tray. Allow the nuts to cool, then transfer to a storage container and store at room temperature.

In the morning:

The next morning, heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Just before cooking the waffles, whisk the eggs and baking soda into the yeast mixture. When the waffle iron is hot, pour about ½ cup of batter onto the waffle iron.  Cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Most waffle irons have a timer—if yours does not, simply crack open and check to see if your waffle has an even golden brown color.  Serve with the caramelized nuts and maple syrup.  Whipped cream and berries would be a nice touch too!

Enjoy!

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Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

under: Dessert

There are some things in this life that are good, some that are really good and some that are so good it’s just plain stupid.  These pralines fall into the last category. Bacon is a very fashionable ingredient in desserts recently. These delicious little bites are perfect served with champagne or cocktails or as an after dinner treat with a single malt whisky or top shelf bourbon.  When you bite into these pralines the first flavor to hit is creamy, crumbly brown sugar scented with vanilla, within a few moments, the sweetness fades and sweet smoky bacon comes through. The pralines finish on a high, clean note of orange zest that enlightens and enervates your palate.

Although these are delicious on their own, the inclusion of a savory ingredient such as the bacon really makes this ‘candy’ a crossover taste sensation.  Champagne will highlight the orange notes, while bourbon or scotch picks up on the smoky overtones. I used walnuts instead of pecans for this treat—I’m all out of pecans in my pantry.  And hey, since walnuts are higher in omega threes and lower in fat than pecans my substitution makes this virtually a health food. ;)

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

Adapted From Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose

Makes 24 small pralines

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp light corn syrup

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (Macadamias or almonds would be a good choice too.)

½ tsp grated orange zest

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled.  (I chopped mine finely with a very sharp chef’s knife.  You could also use a food processor.)

In a heavy bottomed, deep saucepan, combine the sugars, the buttermilk, corn syrup, baking soda and salt.  Cook slowly over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the mixture reaches 235F on a candy thermometer. (Soft Ball stage.)

Remove from the heat and add the butter, vanilla, nuts, orange zest and bacon.  Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy.  *Be very careful with any exposed skin.  Sugar burns happen quickly and are downright awful.  That’s why it’s so important to use a deep saucepan.  You have less of a chance of splattering yourself if you are careful.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a silicone mat or buttered parchment paper.  Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool and firm. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

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Flip Out Cake

under: Dessert
Nectarine
Image via Wikipedia

This week I had an excess of nectarines and peaches—you know when you buy a batch and they all ripen at the same time? That’s what happened to me and as much as I love fresh peaches, eating six in a day seems excessive. So, I turned to my brand new very awesome ‘From My Home to Yours’ baking book by Dorie Greenspan and this is what I found:  ‘Flip Over Plum Cake’.  It was so good (and easy) that my husband dubbed it ‘Flip Out Cake’. This cake rocks.  Once you have made it once, you will want to make it again and again. It’s super easy too. You can use any stone fruit or combination thereof that you like.  If you don’t have fresh fruit on hand you can use frozen.  Later in the week I made it for a client and they too ‘flipped out’ over it.  Enjoy it!  I hope it becomes a Family Classic!  It’s tasty enough to serve at a dinner party in bowls with top notch vanilla ice cream paired with Late Harvest Riesling, Coteaux du Layon or Sauternes.

Flip Over Plum Cake

*This is called ‘Flip Over’ because the fruit sinks to the bottom and the batter rises to the top.)

Adapted from ‘Baking: From My Home to Yours’ by Dorie Greenspan

  • 2 pounds ripe stone fruit, pitted
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. ground ginger
  • ¼ ground coriander
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. pure almond extract
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.   Have ready a 9×12” pyrex baking dish.  (I used an 8×8” square pyrex dish, and that worked out just fine.)

Cut each stone fruit half into 4 to 6 pieces and toss into a bowl with ½ cup of the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and coriander.  Let them sit, stirring from time to time while you prepare the batter.  They will give up some juice and a syrup will develop.

Put the remaining 1 cup sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl.  Whisk to blend, then pour in the milk and extracts and whisk again so you have a nice smooth batter.

Put the butter in the baking pan and melt it in the oven, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven.

Give the batter a light whisking and pour it over the hot butter—it will probably set around the edges immediately. ( Mine did.)  Scatter the stone fruit over the batter and drizzle over whatever syrup has accumulated in the bowl

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the top is golden and a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Transfer the cake to a rack and cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes, or let cool to room temperature.  Enjoy!  It won’t last long…..

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