Chocolate Bourbon Cake

When Sam & I decided to host another dinner get together this last Friday, I wanted to follow up my last cake with one that involved waaay less frosting and more class.  One that was attractive with less work, but sexy with the hint of some robust flavor.  Then, I saw what Elise Bauer referred to as

"Chocolate. Bourbon. Cake. I think the moment my father spied this recipe in the New York Times he was a goner. ("You had me at chocolate.") Nothing was going to stop him from making this cake. When he found out I possessed a 10-cup bundt pan, that was it, he was half-way to the store getting chocolate and instant espresso for the recipe." 

As you can see, we foodies take our recipes very seriously.  Elise's father went on a shopping rampage with the suggestion of the recipe, and I too, went on a similar cooking rampage.  Not nearly as humorous, but certainly as delicious.

The below cake is the moistest of dark chocolate cakes I've ever made.  It's rich without being decadent and quite literally "melts" in your mouth.  Although one of my food fans said the cake was a little too "boozy," I think the best way to articulate the bourbon's mix with dark chocolate is that some bites are richly chocolatey and others remind you of a nice shot of bourbon.  With these two lingering tastes, this cake is clearly delicious!

Chocolate Bourbon Cake
This recipe, like many of mine, comes from Master Foodblogress Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and can be found here.  As the recipe's legend has it, her father saw the below recipe in the New York Times food section and could hardly contain himself with the idea of baking up a dark, moist, chocolatey cake infused with the magic of Bourbon.  Well, upon reading this recipe, I too was similarly impressed.  Follow the recipe to a "T" as it is very difficult to alter.  The one area in which moderation is possible is the "instant coffee" or "espresso" option.  I used a 1/4 cup of coffee and skipped the steeping instant coffee alternative.  I'd suggest doing the same as no one likes instant coffee...not even when it's snuck into the deep recesses of a cake batter.

Ingredients
* 2 sticks butter, slightly softened
* 2 cups all purpose flour; or, for my version: 1 cup wheat flour, 1/2 cup cake flour, and 1/2 cup bread flour (I was feeling daring and the result was delicious!)
* 6.5 ounces dark chocolate, the nice variety, melted
* 1/4 cup brewed coffee
* 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 cup bourbon whiskey, I used Jim Beam as I had it leftover from the Bourbon ham recipe
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract + 1 teaspoon almond extract
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar for dusting

Special Equipment Needed:
* 1 10 cup capacity bundt pan
* 1 sifter

1.) Preheat oven to 325F and grease and flour a large bundt pan.  Set aside.

2.) Begin by preparing the coffee, bourbon, + cocoa mixture.  Pour coffee, Bourbon, & Cocoa into a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  Add salt and stir.  Set aside and allow to "cool" if necessary.

3.) Chop up 6.5 ounces of dark chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl.  Sprinkle with water and heat on high for 30 seconds.  Stir after 30 seconds and continue these two steps until chocolate is fully melted.

4.) Beat softened butter until fluffy (about 2 minutes in the Kitchenaid Mixer) and add sugars.  Mix to integrate and scrape down sides of bowl to fully incorporate ingredients.  Add eggs one at a time, allowing for each one to be fully integrated.  Mix in baking soda, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate.  Scrape down sides and proceed to step 5.

5.) Now, add the bourbon and flour mixtures.  Begin by adding 1/3 of the bourbon mixture and mixing to fully integrate.  Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to fully integrate.  Add half of what's left of your bourbon mixture.  Then, add the last of the flour mixture, mix to integrate.  Finally, add the remaining bourbon mixture.  This process may seem tedious, but it's the best way to properly integrate both the wet and dry components of this cake.

6.) Scrape down sides of bowl to make sure your batter is fully mixed up.  Your batter will be a creamy almost pudding-like consistency and this is good! Scrape batter into prepared bundt pan and smooth on top.  Pop into oven and cook for 45 minutes or longer.  Cooking times vary on this recipe.  I checked my cake at 40 minutes and it was almost done, whereas Elise calls for an hour and fifteen minutes.  The best rule of thumb here is to check at around 40 and see what your oven's cooking temperament is.

7.) Remove from oven when a knife comes out clean.  Allow to sit for five minutes, and then, carefully, loosen the cake from the pan.  I like to scrape along the perimeter with a knife and then tap the bundt pan all around the outside with the handle. This scraping and taping procedure seems to loosen a cake nicely and decrease risk of sticking.

8.) Place a plate over the top of your bundt pan and with the help of oven mits, luck, focus, and charm, quickly flip the pan & plate upside down.  Set plate on a level surface and slowly lift up the bundt pan.  If you do this last step too quickly, you risk the cake sticking and tearing.  So, as you're lifting up the bundt pan, check to feel if the cake pulls at all.  If it does, set the pan back down on the plate and proceed to tape all around the bundt to loosen the cake some more.  It will eventually, but you must be patient!

9.) Once cake is fully loosened, allow to cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving.  I use a sifter for an even snow-fall effect.  Enjoy!

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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

By and large asparagus is HANDS DOWN one of my favorite foods (what can I say? I like my vegetables!).  Plus, wrapping fresh asparagus with a thin layer of bacon, or prosciutto (as this recipe suggests) adds amazing flavor and texture to the asparagus.  Serve with a little olive oil, fresh pepper and salt, and you've got a dish that's easily clearly delicious. 


Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
This recipe can be adapted to any easily wrapped pork product like bacon.  Prosciutto, however, has a special texture, and smokey flavor that really works nicely with asparagus.  However, I suggest only using thinly sliced prosciutto because too much pork and you won't be able to taste that yummy asparagus!

Ingredients:
* 1 bunch of fresh asparagus, woody ends trimmed
* 4 oz of thinly sliced prosciutto
* olive oil
* Salt & Pepper to taste

1.) Preheat oven at 350F.  Wash asparagus and trim woody ends.  Line them along a clean cookie sheet.

2.) Wrap asparagus with prosciutto.

3.) Drizzle with olive oil and spread thinly over asparagus with a silicone brush, or cook's brush.  Crack fresh pepper over the asparagus and sprinkle with salt.

4.) Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, but still retain their crunchy shape.  Enjoy!


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Alexander's Perfect Guacamole

One of my favorite foods is guacamole--that perfect mixture of avocados, tomatoes, onions, and spices to create a dip for tortillas and Mexican cuisine.

Monday night, Alexander came over for dinner with Lydia and me.  Looking for something to do in the kitchen, I quickly put him to the task of making guacamole and boy, was it delicious. Alexander used my new mortar and pestle and made this green appetizer the "way they do in Mexico." This recipe is a perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and creamy textures that make a clearly delicious treat.  Also, make the full recipe for a double batch of guac, or half the recipe for a smaller appetizer.




Alexander's Perfect Guacamole
This recipe is a traditional guacamole one consisting of avocado, tomatoes, onion, and spices.  Although it calls for a mandarin orange to sweeten the dish, feel free to use a regular naval orange if you do not have a mandarin orange on hand. 

* 5 ripe avocados, pitted and cubed
* 1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine
* 2-4 tablespoons jalapeno peppers chopped, or juice
* 2-3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
* 1-2 tablespoons lime juice
* 1 mandarin orange, juiced (half of a regular orange works here too)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* freshly grated black pepper, to taste
* 1 ripe tomato, chopped

1.) Begin by pitting the avocados and shaving the green pulp into an over-sized mortar & pestle or bowl.

2.) Chop onion, jalapenos (if using peppers and not juice), tomatoes, cilantro, and add to the bowl.

3.) Add remaining seasoning (black pepper, salt, orange juice, lime juice, and/or jalapeno juice) to bowl.  Mash ingredients until silky/smooth and no avocado lumps are left.

4.) Taste to preference and serve when Clearly Delicious!

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Bourbon Glazed & Cookie Encrusted Ham

In the midst of making Sam's birthday cake and frying a 15 pound turkey (recipe forthcoming), I made sure to put even more meat on the table: HAM.  I've never actually roasted a ham before and this is the first one.  Yet, I have fabulous memories of family cooking ham during the holidays, and I always wanted to try cooking a giant loaf of well, pig's meat.

So, when you've never done anything in the kitchen before, who do you turn to? EASY.  Alton Brown. Alton is like the father of cooking--he explains how everything works, the science behind "everything," and couples some fantastic recipes with his didactic-style cooking show.  I caught the episode he did on hams--"Ham I Am"--a few months ago and this particular recipe stood out: not only was a delicious city ham packed with brown sugar and mustard, but a ham spritzed with Bourbon and graham cracker cookies on top. What's not to love? If you buy the ham pre-cooked, in natural juices, and yes, spiral cut, the below recipe is easy, fast, and clearly delicious.






Bourbon Glazed & Cookie Encrusted Ham 
This recipe comes from Alton Brown over at Food Network and can be found here.  Alton's recipe is brilliant--take a fantastic roast of ham, cover it in a brown mustard, brown sugar, bourbon, and graham crackers and OH MY GOD.  It's soo good.  I've made no changes to the recipe below and I can promise that it is a huge hit.  One important note though: this calls for a "city" ham and after preparing this recipe, I've discovered that not all hams are the same.  Some have water added, some are cooked in natural juices, and some are just processed meat packed on a bone.  To insure that you don't fall into the latter category, check out Alton's episode "Ham I Am" from Good Eats to clarify that you're getting the best ham for your dinner table.

* 1 city style ham (brined, hock end)
* brown sugar, enough for sprinkling over ham (about 2 cups)
* Bourbon bottle & spray spout, 1 ounce
* 2 cups crushed ginger snap cookies

NOTE: The following recipe is part II of Alton's recipe.  Why? Well, I bought a pre-cooked ham (saves you A LOT OF TIME).  For an uncooked ham, check Alton's direct recipe for the first few steps.

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Remove ham from packaging, rinse, and dab with a paper towel to remove excess water, oil, or fat.  Place on a roasting pan and brush with a liberal coat of brown mustard.

2.) Sprinkle on brown sugar and press in to stick as much as possible.

3.) Spritz this layer lightly with bourbon.  Laugh at your Jim Beam spritzer bottle.  Proceed....

4.) Pack on as many of the crushed cookies as you can manage.  Make sure to cover the whole surface area.

5.) Tent the ham with tin foil (don't wrap fully, but "tent" loosely, and cook for 1 hour, or until the inside temperature is 140F.

6.) Let roast rest for 15 minutes until serving.  If cooking an uncarved roast that was not pre-cooked, allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving.  Enjoy!


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Fondant & Sam's Chocolate Chocolate Cake

I'm beginning to become a bit of a cake lady.  I've always been the first to offer to bake a cake for a friend's birthday and have, for years.  But, the last couple of cakes I've made have been more ambitious than anything I've made before now--they've involved homemade fondant, hand cut shapes, colors, designs, and so much more.  (See the Coconut Cake recipe for Lydia's birthday to see what I mean!).

This weekend I made the ultimate black & white hipster cake for my friend Sam's birthday--a dark, dark chocolate cake covered with black chocolate fondant and a top layer of vanilla cake with vanilla bean icing and vanilla fondant.  I served the cake at a fabulous birthday party for my friend Sam last night, and by and large, rumor had that it was clearly delicious!

Chocolate Cake
This cake comes from Elise Bauer's friend Suzanne over at Simply Recipes and can be found here.  This cake is fantastic: an intense amount of chocolate mixed with an intense amount of chocolate makes for a moist, decadent cake. 

Ingredients
* 3 cups cake flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 2/3 cups sugar
* 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa
* 1 cup + 2 tablespoons water
* 1 cup + 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 5 large, or 4 extra large eggs
* 3/4 cup water, additional
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Frosting
*1 pound (16 oz) powdered sugar
* 1 cup dark cocoa
* a flavoring liquid--almond extract, vanilla extract, rum, or water
* 1 1/4 cup - 1 1/2 cup butter

1.)Preheat oven to 350F.  Begin by mixing the dry ingredients in a separate bowl--flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa, baking powder.  Use a whisk or sifter.

2.) In a separate container, preferably your Kitchenaid mixer, mix 1 cup and 2 tablespoons water and 1 cup and 2 tablespoons canola oil.  Mix on low-medium for one minute.

3.) Add eggs, 3/4 cup water, sugar, vanilla and almond extract.   Mix for 3-4 minutes with your Kitchenaid Mixer (a couple of minutes longer with your hand and whisk).

4.) Grease 4 regular size cake pans (either 8 in. or 10 in.).  Pour cake batter evenly into each pan and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

Prepare Frosting
1.) First, whisk cocoa and powdered sugar, or pulse several times in a food processor.

2.) Drizzle in--until the consistency of firm butter--several tablespoons of flavoring liquid (I used an amalgam of almond extract and vanilla, but you can use rum, or even water).

3.) Add 1 1/4-1 1/2 cups butter (firm, but not too soft or hard) to powdered sugar + flavoring liquid mixture.  I used my Kitchenaid and its paddle to properly integrate the two ingredients.  Mix on low speed for several minutes, or until dark chocolate in color.  Scrape down sides of the bowl and taste.  The consistency should be smooth enough to spread, but also firm enough to hold the cake together.

4.) Ice cake--between the layers, the top, and all around the sides.

FONDANT
This recipe comes from a chef named Peggy Weaver whose food and cooking website--Peggy's Baking Corner--is certainly worth checking out for all of its useful tips on cake baking, fondant, and the like.  You can find this basic fondant recipe here.

Ingredients
* 16 oz. white mini marshmallows
* 2 to 5 tablespoons water
* 2 pounds powdered sugar
* 1/2 cup Crisco

OTHER INGREDIENTS
* 1 small bottle of McCormick's black food coloring (if you're preparing the black layer, then use the below recipe and the entire small bottle of black food icing.  It will be very black and you will be very pleased!).

1.) Begin by melting the marshmallows.  Peggy suggests you use the microwave, but the quantity of fondant this recipe yields is better suited for a large deep skillet on your stove top.  Using a big deep skillet, add all of the marshmallows, 2 tablespoons water, and the bottle of food dye if you're making the black layer of fondant (it's water based, so the food coloring will easy substitute as the water necessary for this recipe).  However, if you're not dying this layer of fondant, add 2 more tablespoons of water.

2.) Stir constantly until mixture is smooth.  Add 3/4 of the powdered sugar (just short of 2 lbs of powdered sugar) and mix in until fully integrated.

3.) Grease clean surface or counter and add the remaining 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.  Empty pan onto surface and thoroughly grease your hands.

4.) Begin kneading the fondant like dough.  Add the powdered sugar thoroughly and continue to knead until a stiff, but sticky dough forms.  If your dough tears too easily, add a tablespoon of water until the texture feels stiff and stretchy.  If the dough is too wet, add more powdered sugar, or a teaspoon of corn starch at a time.

5.) Wrap fondant in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Fondant will keep in the freezer for a couple months, but I prefer to use it within 24 hours. 

6.) When ready to roll out the fondant, thoroughly flour your surface with corn starch and the dough ball.  The fondant will be stiff and will need a lot of kneading until it begins to yield to your pressure.  Roll with a standard rolling pin to the desired layer of thickness (but not too thin).  Lay over iced cake and trim excess fondant off with a pizza cutter.

7.) Serve final cake to hungry hipsters and ENJOY!

Say hello to Sam and his fellow birthday friend:

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Cranberry Nut Bread with Citrus

There are a handful of sweetbreads that I regularly make for my friends--banana bread, pumpkin spice bread, and this one, cranberry nut bread.  When scrolling through Elise Bauer's "Bakery" section on Simply Recipes, I was thrilled to see this variation--a cranberry nut bread that calls for citrus and juice.  The first time I saw this recipe, I was lying in bed, thinking about what I wanted to bake that morning (yes, baking urges often come first thing in the morning) and I thought, "My...with a little bit of spice and vanilla extract, that would be clearly delicious!" Below is the resulting hybrid recipe from Simply Recipes & Clearly Delicious.  See Elise's for a basic recipe, and mine for a spice and apple sauce infused item that really is clearly delicious.



Cranberry Nut Bread with Citrus
The original of this recipe comes from Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes and you can find it here.  However, the below recipe calls for multiple changes--instead of using orange juice (which works FANTASTICALLY), I use a combination of apple sauce and apple juice, whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, and a handful of spices to give it a little oomph.

Ingredients
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon almond extract
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon orange peel, freshly grated, or preserved
* 1 cup chopped cranberries
* 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, or pecans
* 1/2 cup apple sauce
* 1/4 cup apple juice
* 4 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1 egg, beaten

1.) Preheat oven at 350F.  Begin by combining dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and mix to integrate.  Add chopped cranberries and nuts and stir to coat thoroughly with the flour mixture.  Set aside. 
2.) Hookup your Kitchenaid mixer (or other electronic mixture) and add the following ingredients into the metal basin: melted butter, beaten egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel, sugar, apple sauce, apple juice, and extracts.  Mix on low until fully integrated.
3.) Add dry mixture to wet mixture SLOWLY. Remember Alton Brown's anthem: "Speed Kills" both in baking and other arenas (as I have been told).
4.) Coat a bunt pan with butter and flour and pour batter into pan.  Smooth out thoroughly (as this version yields a rather thick batter) and bake for 30-45 minutes.
5.) Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy!


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Beef Wellington

A couple of Fridays ago, I got it into my head that I was going to make Beef Wellington.  I didn't really know what Beef Wellington was, but I did know that it had beef in it...and pastry.  So, with fellow foodie Alexander at my side, we made two stops--one to the local grocery where I do all of my shopping, and one to Whole Foods for a beautiful cut of 3.5 lbs of beef tenderloin. What ensued was a a brilliantly flavorful--ableit pricey--dinner of the sweetest, tenderest beef I have ever had with a flaky, light pastry casing.  But before these two essential ingredients come together, you must smother it with a mushroom puree and Dijon mustard, then wrap it in ham and finally, wrap it puff pastry.  The final baked item is juicy, richly flavorful, and clearly delicious.




Beef Wellington
This recipes comes--as usual--by way of Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes (you can find it here).  Elise's recipe calls for 1lb beef tenderloin whereas the one below calls for 3.5 lbs.  I highly suggest making this dish on a smaller scale the first time you make it--one, so that you don't sabotage a fantastic roast with dreams of grandiosity, and two, because this tenderloin is...well...very pricey. 

Ingredients:
* 3.5 lbs. beef tenderloin
* 2 sheets pre-made puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm has a FANTASTIC box of 2 puff pastry available in your local grocer's freezer section)
* salt and pepper
* Olive oil
* 2.5 lbs. bella mushrooms
* 10-14 slices ham
* 6-8 tablespoons djon mustard
* 2 egg yolks, beaten

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
*Meat Thermometer

1.) Preheat oven to 400F.

2.) Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and season your filet with salt and pepper to taste (or "generously" as Elise suggests).  Then, sear fillet on all sides in saucepan until browned.  Elise suggests to NOT move the fillet until it has had time to brown on one side.  Remove from pan and allow to cool and chop mushrooms.

3.) Puree chopped mushrooms in a food processor or heavy duty blender.  Heat saucepan on medium-high heat.  Scrape down food processor's pureed mushrooms into saucepan and cook until mushrooms have not only released their moisture/juices, but also cooked away.  Once the moisture has cooked away from the mushrooms, remove pan from heat and allow to cool.

4.) Prepare the first stage of the Beef Wellington wrap.  Layout a large sheet of plastic wrap and cover with ham so that your slices overlap.  Spread mushroom over the ham slices and beef fillet on top of these two layers.  Pause to spread djon mustard fully over the entire fillet.  Then, roll the ham and mushrooms over the fillet and use the plastic wrap layer to tightly seal your rolled ham-mushroom-fillet bundle.  Ensure that your plastic wrap is tight by using rubber bands to secure the ends, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Remove puff pastries from the freezer/fridge and allow to defrost for these 20-30 minutes.

5.) On a clean surface, spread open your two sheets of puff pastry in a surface that is large enough to cover your fillet.  If you're cooking a 1 lb fillet, you may only need one sheet of pastry.  However, if you're making 3.5 lbs (like this recipe), you'll need to lay out both sides of pastry side by side and combine the two at their edges.

6.) Unwrap beef fillet and place in the center of your pastry dough.  Beat 2 eggs and use a silicone brush to brush all around the edges of the pastry dough with this egg mixture.  Fold pastry around the beef fillet and cut off excess pastry.  NOTE: Elise notes that pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all of the way and remain doughy.  Thus, don't go crazy on the pastry here; one layer is enough.

7.) Place on baking sheet and flip pastry covered fillet to SEAM SIDE DOWN.  Brush the top layer with your egg mixture and score incisions into the top of the pastry dough, but do not go all the way through the pastry.

8.) Bake for 25-35 minutes.  Pastry should be golden brown when removed from oven and meat temperature (yes, you should invest in a meat thermometer!) should be 125-130F for medium-rare.

9.) Remove from oven and allow roast to rest for 10 minutes.  Cut into 1 inch slices (I prefer on a diagonal) and enjoy!

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Cinnamon Scones

The setting: Saturday morning.  The meal: Brunch.  The menu: Eggs... bacon... frittata... and SCONES.  Let's just have a moment to meditate on SCONES... SCONES... SCONES....yum.  Few people I know have ever had a REAL scone--the dense, cake-bread hybrid popular in England (and even New England) from whole wheat flour, barley, and/or oatmeal, and leavening.  Scones were originally a Scottish dish that looked like a flattened plate and were lightly sweetened.  However, today's modern version of the scone has any number of sweetened and spicy recipes--blueberry, cinnamon raisin (like this post), buttermilk, etc., but overall, the scone is a basic fruit or spice flavored baked good.  Serve with jam, and/or butter, and you'll have a treat that is clearly delicious!

Cinnamon Raisin Scones
This recipe comes by way of Alton Brown over at Food Network (you can find the recipe here).  Alton's recipe is a basic scone recipe and can be adjusted in terms of flour, fruit, and spice.  The below version of Alton's calls for cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins.  However, you can easily substitute any other dried fruit (i.e., cranberries) or fresh fruit (i.e., blueberries).  Regular flour instead of whole wheat will work nicely as well.

Ingredients
* 2 cups whole wheat flour, and extra for dusting and dough texture (i.e., if dough is too moist)
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons shortening
* 3/4 cup cream, or half and half
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup raisins, craisins, or blueberries*
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon*
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg*
(*ingredients can be adjusted according to personal preference)

GLAZE
* 1 egg yolk, beaten
* 1 tablespoon milk

1.) Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix well.  Cut in butter and shortening (in very small pieces) and mix with hands until flour mixture resembles course meal.
2.) In a separate bowl, mix beaten egg and cream.  Stir in fruit and spices.
3.) Combine wet and dry ingredients.  If you have a Kitchenaid mixer (or other electronic mixer), mix wet and dry ingredients with the flat dough paddle.  Pay close attention to the texture of the dough during this step--if it's too wet, like a cake batter, you'll want to add more flour.  A good technique to use when making any scone or bread-like dish (i.e., a pie crust especially) is if you pinch the dough between two fingers and it holds together, but does not stick to your hands like glue, you've got a fantastic batter.
4.) Flour surface and place dough in a well molded ball onto surface.  Roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick and cut into circular rounds, triangular cuts, or any other shape you have available (we used a heart-shaped cookie cutter).
5.) Transfer dough to a well greased baking sheet.
6.) Prepare glaze by beating one egg yolk with one tablespoon milk.  Brush over scones in a thin, but consistent layer.
7.) Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until "done": golden brown, stiff, and clearly delicious.
8.) Transfer to serving plate or cooling rack and enjoy!

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Dinner Party Impossible!

For over a week, I have been too busy to post recipes to Clearly Delicious due to massive amounts of school work, life, and the like.  However, while in this interim of cooking and busy business, I thought I'd give a photographic preview of an upcoming post: Beef Wellington.  These photos were taken Friday night at a dinner party at my house, and the food was as good as the quality of these pictures.  Major thanks to Jeramey Jones for his camera and amazing photographs! Although many Clearly Delicious readers will recognize food blog model Joe Gregory, please say hello to two new foodies on Clearly Delicious: Alexander and Pete (Alexander is the red head, and Pete is the very enthusiastic gentleman in one of the closeup photos).

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