APRIL SHOWERS

Well, it's raining again & I actually have a day off from work.

So I told my husband I would make him some yummy warm muffins.

I found a recipe for Coffee Cake muffins & thought they 

looked pretty good and sugary.

Great way to start the day.

Ingredients:

PART 1:

CRUMBLE TOPPING

1/3 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

1 3/4 cups of cake flour

PART 2:

MUFFIN MIX

1 3/4 cup of cake flour

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/3 cup of buttermilk

1 teaspoon of cinnamon (this was not in the original recipe)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line the muffin pan with baking cups.

Time to make the crumbly topping.

In a medium bowl, mix together both sugars, cinnamon & salt.

Pour the melted butter in with the sugary mixture and mix well.

Then add the cake flour and mix until it resembles a thick dough, slightly crumbly.

Set this aside for later.

Now its time to make the batter.

In another bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon & salt.

Using a mixer, mix in the butter until it resembles parmesan cheese.

 (the kind in the plastic bottle)

Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract & buttermilk.

Now spoon in the batter into the paper cups, the cake batter rises a bit so don't

 put too much in .

Then add the crumbly mixture on the top. No need to pat the mixture down. 

Keep it loose and crumbly.

Also add a decent amount, its really good.

Pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Take them out and let them cool on a wire rack.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy.

4 out of 5 stars

✭✭✭✭☆

TASTE TESTERS:

LAUREN: These were pretty good. I wish the crumbles were more prominent on the top of the muffins. I also wish that the original recipe told me to add cinnamon in the cake mixture. 

CJ:I'm a big fan of coffee cake and these were delicious.  The crumbles were perfect but the cake could have used more cinnamon.  Great with the morning coffee.

CHALLAH FOR YOUR MAMA

 Okay, so I've never made bread before.

I've always been intimidated about using any kind

of yeast. Sounds scary, smells funny & is not a girls best friend.

However, I decided to get over it and try to make some. 

I'm an American & love me some good bread, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

 After looking up a few different recipes it seemed like Challah was one of the easier

ones to try to make, although time consuming.

 CHALLAH AKA BRAIDED EGG BREAD

Ingredients:

3/4 cup plus 2 tsp. heated milk 115 degrees

1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. active drive yeast

4 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter

plus more for greasing the pan

2 eggs

4 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp. of salt

1 egg yolk

sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

Stir together the heated milk, 1teaspoon of sugar & the packet of yeast in 

a large bowl; let sit until foamy.

In a small bowl mix together the melted butter & eggs.

Add this to the yeast mixture & stir.

Then add the flour, remaining sugar & salt.

Mix with your hands until a dough forms.

Move the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Once smooth move the dough to a lightly greased bowl & cover it with plastic wrap.

Let the dough sit for about an hour until it increases in size.

Uncover, punch the dough down and recover for another 30 minutes.

Uncover the dough & divide it into 4 equal parts.

Roll each portion into long 16"ish ropes.

Lay them side by side, braid the ropes & pinch the ends.

Move the braided bread to a lined baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap 

for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

After about an hour mix together an egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in 

a small bowl.

 Brush the mixture over the surface of the loaf.

Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool.

I like to put honey on mine.

2.5 out of 5 stars

✭✭☆☆☆

TASTE TESTERS:

LAUREN: This was my first time making bread & won't be my last... even though it was SO time consuming! It looked really pretty but turned out really dense & a bit crumbly.

CJ: This was my first time trying Challah so I don't really know what to compare it to.  It was good.  Semi-dense, kinda sweet, looked amazing too.

EDIBLE FLOWERS

♡ Artichokes ♡

They are such cool veggies, they have their own self defense mechanism, the choke.

This part is not edible, if you try it you will have hundreds of tiny needle like daggers

in your mouth. Not pleasant. 

I have rarely had a bad artichoke...in fact the only bad part was the 

dum dums leaving part of the choke in my crepe. 

My grocery store was having a sale, 3 for $5 which is pretty great.

We decided to get them and try cooking them ourselves.

BAKED ARTICHOKES

Ingredients:

Artichokes (I used 3)

Parmesan Cheese

Chopped Garlic

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup ofWater

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash the artichokes under cold water. 

Cut off the stems so they can stand straight up.

Time to trim the petal tips, take a pair of kitchen scissors

and take off the spiny tips until you reach the top.

Now, take a knife and slice off the top quarter so the insides show.

Spread apart the petals and place the artichokes in a baking dish, stem side down.

Smear LOTS of crushed garlic on top and in-between the petals.

Sprinkle on salt & pepper.

Take your parmesan and sprinkle it over the tops.

Then take some olive oil and drizzle it over the whole artichoke.

Take that 1/4 cup of water and put in on the bottom of your baking dish.

Cover with Aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Once that hour has passed take them out of the oven and enjoy.

If you have never had an artichoke before here are some tips.

Pull the petals off one by one, work your way form the outside to the inside.

Use your teeth to remove the meaty part of the petal, the bottom part...although

that top has lots of flavor so go ahead a suck off all that flavor.

Once you get to the center you will see the spines.

Take a knife and cut the spines out, you will be left with the heart.

You can eat the entire heart, its soooooo good.

5 out of 5 stars

✭✭✭✭✭

Taste Testers

LAUREN: So time consuming but so worth it. That top layer was soooo flavorful and delicious. 

CJ: I loved the crispy cheesy garlicy layer on top  Artichokes make you work for it, but they were delicious.