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Persimmon Loaf Cake for our Virtual Tea Party

We have a Fruit & Veg Fairy Godfather. When the pandemic first hit, my parents received large quantities of slightly bruised fruit & veg from a Neighbour Friend – his brother imports these and had excess. We were happy recipients and made apple crumble, lemon drizzle cake, along with many stir fries with our bounty.

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Cheddar & Scallion Scones for a Virtual Tea Party

With the abundance of rain our scallion crop is flourishing. We have been making all manner of scallioned goodies to use up these yummies.

Chanced upon this recipe last week on KingArthurFlour and all four of us love it (a cause for celebration in our quirky household)! Sharing it with you for our Virtual Tea Party, deliciously hosted by Su at zimmerbitch.

Ingredients

  • 240g flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (original recipe asked for 1/2 tsp)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 85g cold butter, cut into pieces
  • 113g grated or chopped sharp cheddar cheese
  • 3 stalks scallions, cleaned, trimmed, and chopped (both white and green parts)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 74g milk
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, optional, for flavour
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional, for zing
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°FC Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.
  2. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
  3. Work in the butter with your fingers to make an unevenly crumbly mixture.
  4. Toss in the cheese and scallions.
  5. Mix together the eggs and milk, and the mustard and hot sauce (if you’re using them).
  6. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until everything is evenly moistened; the dough will be very sticky.
  7. Liberally flour the counter and your hands. Pat the dough into a 10″ x 2″ rectangle. For larger, flatter scones, pat into a 15″ x 3″ rectangle.
  8. Cut the rectangle into 5 squares; then cut each square in half diagonally, to make a total of 10 triangular scones.
  9. Place the scones on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1″ between them.
  10. Bake the scones for 20 to 23 minutes, until they’re nicely browned.
  11. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm or at room temperature. Store, well-wrapped, at room temperature, for several days; freeze for longer storage.
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in search of Apple Pie for our Virtual Tea Party

One of my fondest memories of living in Texas in the 1980s is dessert Pie. I took to this quintessential American dessert like a duck to water. Pumpkin, pecan, apple, rhubarb, key-lime, black bottom, peach, peanut butter … the list goes on. I abashedly claim that in my heyday, I polished off most of a full-size pumpkin pie! I paid for it shortly – I don’t think I touched another pumpkin pie for months after that.

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Satisfying Experiments: Basque Burnt Cheesecake

Thank you Amanda & Sandy for inviting me to be a guest for Friendly Friday Photo Challenge. I am so thrilled to share Something Different with you both!

In the spirit of experimentation, we made several versions of this delightfully different cheesecake to suit the the varied palates of the household. We (including neighbourly taste-testers we roped in) are still split after several attempts. Some of us love the taller silkier version. The others prefer the uniformly firmer texture of the shorter slice. We do all agree that we love the intense, smokey caramelised top & bottom of both versions.

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