Desserts Archives - Homemade Toast

Lemon Basil and Raspberry Napoleon (with basil-infused lemon curd)

June 7, 2014 by homemadetoast 2 Comments

Welp, it’s time to wrap up this week’s lemon-basil shenanigans with a little cheater’s napoleon. That’s right, we’re using store-bought puff pastry and Cool Whip, people. Normally against my rules, but this little combo sounded so good – so I’m pulling the ~~lazy~~ pregger card once again.

Fun Fact: Did you know that neither the store-bought puff pastry or Cool Whip (at least the lite kind) have any real dairy in them? But we’ll be loving it in this recipe because we’ll have less dishes to do and more chemicals-laced calories to eat sooner. We’re using an herb-infused lemon curd after all, so it all balances out. I’m over it!

So, first – we will be a little bit fancy and make our own lemon curd. You can buy this at the store, but it’s super easy to make. Plus, we’re adding in a little basil that turns a traditional lemon curd into something so outstanding.

Basil-Infused Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 lemon, finely zested
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
4 Tablespoons butter

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, mix together basil, sugar, eggs and lemon juice.

2. Slowly bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the curd becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Immediately remove from heat.

3. Run the curd though a mesh sieve into a large bowl to remove the basil and any egg that may have curdled.

4. Add in butter and lemon zest to strained mixture

5. Stir until smooth, cover, and let chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Lemon Basil and Raspberry Napoleon

makes 6

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry
1+ cup lemon curd (start with one cup and add more for a stronger flavor)
12 ounces Cool Whip
Raspberries (about 1 pint)

Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions then cut into 9 pieces. (Cut along folded crease, then cut each section into thirds again). Place on lightly greased cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper. Use a fork to pierce the middle of each section, to prevent it from over-pillowing in the middle.

2. Bake according to package directions until golden brown (I baked mine at 400-degrees for about 15 minutes).

3. Gently fold Cool Whip into lemon curd.

4. Once the Cool Whip has been completely incorporated, transfer into a gallon-size plastic bag.

5. Gently flake each puff pastry pillow apart in the middle – so each becomes two squares (a top and a bottom).

6. Assemble each napoleon by first layering a half-sheet of the puff pastry, then layering raspberries and the lemon-curd “mousse”. Cut the tip off of the baggie to pipe onto the pastry.

I alternated the mousse and raspberries on the outside edge, then filled in the middle with more mousse. Layer so that there are three sheets of pastry, and two filling layers.

7. Top each napoleon off with a little dusting of powdered sugar and garnish with a few basil leaves and candied lemon curls.

Lemon Basil Fruit Pizza

June 6, 2014 by homemadetoast 3 Comments

If you haven’t stopped by this week on Toast, we’re all things lemon and basil, sweetened up. Check out how to make both candied lemon curls and candied basil leaves, as well as a twist on one of my all-time favorites, lemon-basil panna cotta.

A few weeks ago, Aimee from Like Mother Like Daughter posted a recipe for fruit pizza. The pregger in me immediately craved it and so I set out to make my own version of this traditional treat.

This fruit pizza has a soft lemon sugar cookie crust, out-of-this-world lemon-basil cream cheese frosting, and is topped with fresh fruit and a candied basil leaf. The combo of flavors and textures is perfect – if you are a fruit pizza lover, this recipe is for you!

Lemon Sugar Cookie Crust

(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
– 2 1/2 cups flour
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– pinch of salt
– 1 cup butter, softened
– 1 1/2 cups sugar
– 1 egg
– 1 teaspoon vanilla
– 1 lemon, finely zested
– 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325-degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add in egg and beat well, until the mixture turns a light color. Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice, then gradually add in the dry ingredients, being sure not to over-stir.
3. Line a cookie sheet (18×12″) with parchment paper, or lightly grease. Pat the dough into the entire sheet to a uniform thickness. (I use my Grandma’s old trick of using the butter wrapper to press down the dough.)

4. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown.

Lemon Basil Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lemon, finely zested
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup loosely-packed fresh basil leaves

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Rinse and dry basil, then place in mortar.

3. Use the mortar and pestle to squish down the basil into a paste. (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, mince the basil as finely as possible)

4. Transfer a small amount of the cream cheese and butter mixture into the mortar to help pick up all of the pieces of basil inside. Stir to combine, then transfer the entire mixture back into the large bowl with the rest of the cream cheese and butter.

5. Stir to combine, then add in vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually mix in powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.

Lemon Basil Fruit Pizza

1. Spread out lemon basil cream cheese frosting on the completely cooled lemon sugar cookie crust. Let chill in fridge for about an hour to set frosting.

2. Top the entire cookie with fresh fruit, or cut into squares and top individually. Don’t forget to garnish with a candied lemon curl or candied basil leaf!

Candied Basil Leaves

June 5, 2014 by homemadetoast 1 Comment

This week on Homemade Toast, it’s all about lemon & basil – the perfect summer duo. Since I posted on how to make candied lemon curls, it seems only right that we give our lemon’s counterpart the same respect: a little sugar.

These candied basil leaves are so easy to make, and SO addicting – they make the perfect garnish in lets say, lemon-basil fruit pizza (coming tomorrow!).

Candied Basil Leaves

Ingredients:

Simple syrup (leftover from your candied lemon curls, or 1/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water)
20-25 basil leaves
1/2 cup sugar (granulated, or super fine)

Directions:

1. Make your simple syrup by bringing 1/4 cup of water + 1/4 cup of sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. After it has come to a boil, set aside to cool completely to room temperature. (Or, use your leftover syrup from your candied lemon curls.)

2. Carefully dip each basil leaf in the cooled syrup and lay out on a cooling rack so that excess syrup can drip off.

3. Place each basil leaf in a shallow bowl of sugar. (I used granulated and pulsed it in my blender for a few minutes to make it “fine” – totally optional)

4. Carefully coat each leaf with the sugar, gently rubbing it in.

5. Lay out on parchment or wax paper to dry, about 6-8 hours. The syrup + sugar combo will harden and the leaf will become “crunchy” when it’s ready.

Use as a garnish right away – as a whole leaf, or chopped! These don’t keep super well, you will probably want to use them the same day – depending on how fresh your leaves are they may keep up to 24 hours uncovered in the fridge.

Lemon Basil Panna Cotta

June 4, 2014 by homemadetoast 1 Comment

Panna cotta is one of my all-time favorite desserts, ever. Add in a little fresh lemon and basil, and I’m in heaven. Or, at least forgetting that I’m 8-months pregnant for a few minutes, which is practically equivalent.

Top it off with a little fresh basil and candied lemon curl, and you’ll have a fancy little dessert that is almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Lemon Basil Panna Cotta

Ingredients (makes 4-6 servings):

1 pint whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons (about one packet) of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
12-15 large basil leaves
1 lemon, finely zested
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Pour 1/4 cup milk into a small saucepan and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin. Allow gelatin to sit to absorb, at least 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to mash basil leaves into a paste. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, mince the basil and finely as possible.
Add 1 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of sugar to the milk and gelatin, and stir to combine. Heat over medium-low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 7-8 minutes, stirring constantly. Try to not let the mixture come to a boil, if it does – remove from heat immediately.
Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla and the basil paste (or mined basil). Use a fork to remove any large chunks of basil from the mixture, if any. (You could strain it if you wanted it smooth – but I like the texture the leaves add). Then, zest 1/2 lemon into the mixture, and stir to combine.
Pour the basil layer equally among 4-6 ramekins or glasses, and let chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge. (Do not cover with plastic wrap until after at least an hour, to prevent condensation from building up inside the glass.)

I stuck a ball of playdough into my large muffin tins to hold my glasses at an angle in order to create the first slanted layer.

After the first layer has chilled and is slightly firm, make the second layer exactly as before, omitting the basil. Pour over the first layer and return to fridge for at least 8 hours. (I poured my second layer with the glasses upright, then stuck directly in the fridge.) Serve cold.

Candied Lemon Curls

June 3, 2014 by homemadetoast 3 Comments

This week on Toast, its all about one of my favorite summer flavor combos… lemon & basil. Typically, basil is used as an herb in savory dishes (like my Lemon Basil Pasta) – but I’m here to testify that it is just as good (if not better!) when sweetened up (Basil Lemonade is one of my summer FAVES)! I’m so excited to share a couple of my favorite lemon & basil desserts with you this week!

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We need to talk garnish first.

When I made my lemon-basil panna cotta last week I knew I needed some cute little candied lemon curls to seal the deal. I searched for tutorials on how to make them, and while there are plenty on how to candy the actual lemon peels, I couldn’t find any on how to make these perfect little curls! So, internet, Homemade Toast is here to make up for your lack of lemon curl tutorials. You’re welcome, internet.

Candied Lemon Curls

For about 10 of these cute little curls, you’ll need:

1 lemon
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3-4 plastic drinking straws, cut into 2-3 inch pieces

First, cut the ends off of your lemon.

Then, carefully cut down ONE side of the lemon. Use a fillet knife, if you have one.

Continue the same cut through the FRUIT of the lemon, stopping at the peel. Do NOT cut through the peel.

Carefully open up your lemon, and make more cuts through the fruit so that it will lay flat(ish).

…

Custard Tartufo

May 23, 2014 by homemadetoast 1 Comment

There is this little Italian restaurant in Provo called Gloria’s Little Italy with the best desserts. One of our favorites is their chocolate “tartufo” – basically a giant ball of cake filled with their Italian creme, and served hot. I am pretty sure they make it from their cake trimmings and fill it with the extra Italian creme that they also use in their cakes (which are delicious!).

I am really not very familiar with authentic Italian food – so after a little Google research at an attempt to recreate it – I found out that the dessert that they serve at Little Italy is a little different than the traditional tartufo. Typically, a tartufo is a fancy way to serve gelato – usually a scoop of the Italian ice cream with some type of coating on the outside. Many of the recipes I found online suggested rolling the gelato in cookie crumbs after placing a cherry in the middle of the scoop.

So although this version has a different taste than Little Italy’s (using custard in the middle instead of Italian creme), it is inspired by the same dessert. I decided to use one of my favorite custard recipes for the center, and my go-to dark chocolate cake recipe for the coating. And, of course, I topped with an almond ganache. It’s the perfect combo for a rich, decadent dessert! Bon appétit!

This dessert is made up of three parts – the custard center, chocolate cake coating, and ganache glaze. First, you will need to make your custard.

Custard

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
3/4 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
zest from 1/2 lemon (about 1 packed teaspoon)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
pinch of nutmeg
6 Tablespoons butter

Directions:

Pour 3 cups of milk into a large heavy pot and gently bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.
While the milk is warming – cream together egg yolks, sugar and salt. Blend until the mixture turns a lighter color. Add in flour, and mix well. Then, add in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and mix until all of the lumps are gone.
When the milk begins to boil, immediately reduce the heat to low. Very slowly, wisk in the egg mixture. Turn the heat back up to medium-high, and bring back to a boil. Simmer the cream for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, and stir in lemon zest, vanilla and nutmeg.
Let the cream cool for about 10 minutes, then add in butter. Let it melt from the heat of the cream, then stir to combine.
Let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Stir it well, then move to freezer for at least 8 hours, or until firm.

Once your custard is completely frozen, use an ice cream scoop to form 2-inch scoops. Return the scoops of frozen custard to freezer while you prepare your cake.

Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

…

Bolo De Coco – Brazilian Coconut Cake

July 20, 2013 by homemadetoast 4 Comments

Two of my baby sisters took off early this month to go serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are both headed to Brazil, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

I made this Brazilian cake for them before they left. It was out of this world – a coconut lover’s dream! I had actually never tried it before, but combined a few recipes I found online and added in my own little twist – and it turned out perfect!

The cake is made up of a regular, lightly sweetened cake and then soaked in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk.

Bolo de Coco – Brazilian Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs – separated into 3 whites and 3 yolks

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup (about 1/2 can) coconut milk or coconut cream

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch round pans. (Or make it a single layer in a 9×13)
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir extracts into OJ.
Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually add in sugar until stiff peaks have formed. Fold in egg yolks.
Gently alternate folding in flour mixture and OJ.
Pour batter into pans.
Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown. (40-45 for 9×13)
Remove from oven and use a fork to poke holes all over the top of the cake, about 1-inch apart.
Mix together coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and almond extract. Evenly pour over the cakes, and then sprinkle with shredded coconut.
Let child until cold, at least 4 hours. If desired, remove cakes from pan, stack – and sprinkle with more shredded coconut.

Gracie is headed to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Olivia is going to Florianopolis, Brazil.

We will miss them!

Recipe for Love: Raspberry Bavarian, Nutella Mousse and Dark Chocolate Layered Cake

February 9, 2013 by homemadetoast Leave a Comment

Planning a date-night-in for Valentine’s Day?

Try out these little lovelies for dessert. Layered dark chocolate cake, Nutella mousse, and raspberry Bavarian make for the perfect combination of edible elegance.

A few months ago, my friend Lindsey sent me a link to this beautiful Chocolate-Raspberry Bavarian Torte at Sprinkle Bakes. I tried it a few weeks later with just a few slight variations (subbing out the liqueur), while taking the lazy route and layering it all in a in a trifle dish. It was still pretty, and very yummy, and I loved the combo of flavors – but I thought it needed something a little different, just out of personal preference.

So, the second-go-around I switched out the genoise with my favorite dark chocolate cake from allrecipes.com, and added in a Nutella mousse. I’m a little obsessed with tiny desserts – so, of course it needed to be single-serving.

Anatomy:

The Bavarian and mousse are both light, but have different textures that really compliment each other. Of course, you can’t really go wrong with the two-ingredient Nutella mousse, and the dark chocolate cake just wraps the whole package up! And, to make it even better – you can make these days, even weeks in advance. They freeze up perfect, and thaw out as if they were fresh.

Dark Chocolate Cake

recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 cups boiling water

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare pans by greasing and lining with parchment (optional, but recommended). I used one half-size cookie sheet (18×13-inch) and one 9×13-inch pan. You could also use 3 9×13’s or two smaller-sized cookie sheets.
In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the prepared pans (so that they are all the same thickness).
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 40 minutes (depending on size), or until done. Allow to cool.

Assembly

Once the cake has cooled, cut out small circles using a cookie cutter or glass. Mine were about 2 1/2-inches wide, and I made about 36 total.

Then, wrap a strip of freezer or parchment paper around each piece – enough to overlap about one inch, and about 3-inches high. Secure with a piece of tape. I would definitely suggest using freezer paper – its sturdier and holds together much easier than parchment. (Tape does not stick well to parchment)

Set these aside while you make the other two layers…

Nutella Mousse

Ingredients

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup Nutella

Directions

Whip cream to stiff peaks, fold in Nutella.

Assembly

Spoon your mousse into a pastry bag, or if you are fancy like me – a Ziploc with the corner cut off. Pipe the mousse over the cakes in their little paper tubes, about 1-inch thick. Use a knife or toothpick to spread it around so that they layer is somewhat flat-like.

Raspberry Bavarian

recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients

3 bags (12 ounces each) frozen unsweetened raspberries

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin powder (1/2 oz.)

1 teaspoon raspberry extract (optional)

3 cups heavy cream

Let raspberries thaw in the bags. Combine raspberries (along with whatever juice/ liquid is in the bags) and sugar in a saucepan. Heat to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl. Cool to room temperature.
Combine water and gelatin in heatproof cup and let stand 5 minutes. Heat in microwave for 10 seconds or until gelatin turns to liquid.
Whisk liquid gelatin and extract into raspberry purée – make sure there are NO gelatin chunks!
Beat heavy cream in bowl until stiff peaks form, using electric mixer at high speed. Fold raspberry mixture into whipped cream.

Assembly

Just like the Nutella mousse, pipe the Bavarian over the Nutella mousse about 1-inch thick.

Chill in fridge for at least four hours, or freeze the cakes for two hours – in their paper sleeves. When ready to plate, carefully cut or remove the tape from the paper and unwrap the cake. Serve with Nutella drizzled underneath or on top of the cakes. If frozen, letthaw for about 20 minutes before eating.

Poppyseed-Almond Bread

November 6, 2012 by homemadetoast Leave a Comment

This recipe comes straight from a pin from The Girl Who Ate Everything – a wonderful blog full of phenomenal recipes and photos. I tweaked just a few ingredients, and made a different glaze – using what I had on hand.

Love.

I may, or may not, have eaten this bread for 2/3 meals yesterday. Or 4/3.

Oh, and PS – If you haven’t already, check out my first ever GIVEAWAY! It’s a neat thing. Make sure to leave your comment on Sunday’s post by Friday night to enter.

Poppyseed-Almond Bread

Ingredients

Bread

3 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce (or replace this with 1/2 cup vegetable oil)

2 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons butter flavored extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 cups flour

Glaze

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter flavored extract

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon milk, +/-

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans by lightly greasing, or lining with parchment. Makes 2 large, 3 medium, or 6 small loaves. (I always line my quick bread with parchment. I never seem to have good luck getting the loaf out clean otherwise.)

2. Combine all of the bread ingredients, except the baking powder and flour – mix well. Gradually add in flour and baking powder, allowing the flour to be absorbed by the wet ingredients, stir until smooth.

3. Bake at 350 for 40-60 minutes, depending on loaf size. (I baked mine in 3 medium pans for 55 minutes.) Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan.

4. For the glaze: Mix together the extracts, powdered sugar, and just enough milk to bring the glaze to a runny/pouring consistency. Drizzle over warm bread. Let the loaf cool completely before cutting.

*Even better on day two – will freeze well. But, let’s be honest…

Thanks a Million, Giveaway & Fig Bars

November 2, 2012 by homemadetoast 4 Comments

First of all – thank you all so much for all of the kind comments and messages on the girl’s dresses, you are all too nice!

Second – I am so excited to announce Toast’s first…

GIVEAWAY!!

Well, almost announce it. For now, know it’s happening. And know you will NOT want to miss out! I’ll let you know all about it this weekend, so make sure to stop by then! Seriously. So cool.

– – –

So earlier this year, our good friends challenged us to a month without white sugar. I was really hesitant at first, because I have such a strong sweet tooth – and I don’t like making commitments I can’t follow-through on. After a little self-deliberation, I decided I wanted to give it a shot. The Hubs and I decided to do it together – it ended up being such a good experience for us!

We were pretty strict the first few weeks (sugar is in EVERYTHING), but toward the end we relaxed a bit and allowed ourselves to have crackers, store-bought bread, and other foods that sneak sugar into their ingredient list.

At the end of the month, when we rewarded ourselves with our favorite candy – we didn’t even want to eat it! Our sugar cravings were completely gone.

Another thing that I loved about our sugar-free month- was that I tried out so many new, healthy, recipes – that probably would not have made my list otherwise. These fig bars were my favorite, by far. I have never been a fan of Fig Newtons – they are too awkwardly sweet, even for me. However, Winco started carrying a new variety of fig bars in their bulk section – we bought a little package on a whim – and fell in love with these yummy treats!

Our favorite are the whole-wheat blueberry and whole-wheat raspberry bars. I love them because the don’t have any white sugar or white flour – they are such a good treat for the girls! These have become our go-to snack, we always have a little stash in the car just in case the girls (or Mommy and Daddy) need to nibble on something on-the-go.

Because we love these so obsessively much, I thought I would try to make my own. While .50 for a two-bar package is a good deal (Winco price), at the rate we eat these – it adds up quick.

I found a recipe (posted on wildyeastblog.com, original recipe from Green Market Baking Book) that looked promising, and after making them several times, have tweaked it to my own liking.

Oh my yum.

These homemade bars aren’t identical to the store-bought variety, they are even better! And, I love knowing every exact ingredient that goes into what we eat, and especially love that my kid’s favorite treat is actually very healthy for them!

You’ll have to give these a try. No white sugar, no white flour. The perfect balance of blueberry, fig and orange wrapped up in a healthy little cookie!

Blueberry-Orange Fig Bars
adapted from wildyeastblog.com, original recipe from Green Market Baking Book

Ingredients

Whole-wheat cookie dough:

3/4 cups honey 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Filling:

1/2 cup honey
2 cups figs, de-stemmed (I use half black mission figs, half kadota)
1 cup dried blueberries
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest

1/4 cup wheat bran (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream 3/4 cup of the honey with the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and combine. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 2 hours, until firm (or overnight).

3. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor with a metal blade, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of honey, the figs, orange juice, orange zest, and chopped nuts (if using). Process until the figs are finely chopped. Set aside.

4. When the dough is well chilled, dust a work surface and the dough with some flour. Roll half of the dough out into an 8×14-inch rectangle. Trim edges and cut in half lengthwise to form two long rectangles.

5. Spread 1/4 of the fig mixture evenly down the middle third of both dough rectangles. (I use my cookie scoop to place five scoops of filling across the dough, then spread out with the back of a spoon dipped in water.) Gently fold one side of the rectangle over the filling, then fold other over the right so they overlap slightly. Pinch the ends to seal.

6. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling (makes 4 bars). Carefully place the dough logs seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with wheat bran, if using.

7. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Cut into 2-inch bars.