Lemon and Cinnamon Scented Flan...and Citrus Love Month

Since I'm into my second week of the WeightWatchers diet program, you would think that I gave up after this super delicious flan...but I did not give up, I am continuing with more enthusiasm, as ever! I lost an additional pound...4 lbs, loss, as of this morning. Yesterday, I went to the gym to work out for 50 minutes, and I mean...really work out, cardio, 30 minutes, and weights, another 20 minutes. I wanted to join in on the Citrus Love Month with something used with citrus. I can't be spending too much time with desserts, knowing that I can only have one bite, or maybe 1 cookie for a treat, so I'm sharing my flan to link up! Also, I will show off my very well planned out dinner...but only, when I have dinner at my daughter Lora's is when I get enthusiastic about it...otherwise, it's dinner for one, and it better be from the WeightWatchers, or similar type of dish!

Lemon and Cinnamon Scented Flan
inspired by Food & Wine

2 1/2 cups whole milk
Peel of half lemon
1 medium cinnamon stick, broken
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
5 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 300°. Set six 5- to 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups in a medium baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, lemon peel and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes; discard the lemon peel and cinnamon stick pieces.
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, cook 1/2 cup of the sugar with the water over moderately high heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat to moderate and let the sugar syrup simmer, without stirring, until a deep amber caramel forms, about 15 minutes. Immediately pour the caramel into the ramekins, tilting them as necessary to evenly coat the bottoms.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Slowly whisk in the warm milk, then strain through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup or a bowl. Pour the custard into the ramekins. Pour enough hot water into the baking pan to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for about 40 minutes, until a knife inserted into a flan comes out clean. Transfer the ramekins to a rack and let the flans cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the flans for at least 4 hours or overnight.
5. To serve, run a thin knife around each flan. Top each flan with an inverted dessert plate and unmold, letting the caramel run over the flans. Serve at once.

Make Ahead: The flans can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in the ramekins.

Linking to: Citruslove @ Mis Pensamientos

                   Full Plate Thursday 1-12-12 @Miz Helen's Country Cottage

                   Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherines Corner

Hungarian Nut Roll...and Counting Our Blessings

The holidays are almost over, and the new year will begin, in less than one week. We have so much to be thankful for...but mostly for our life, our freedom, to enjoy our choice of practicing our religion, our ethnic tradition, and respect one-another. This is the time of year when families get together and celebrate the "gift of giving!" It's not about how expensive, or how bright the gift should be...it's about the true meaning of our giving from the heart, and not putting a price on it!

My daughter Lora specifically asked me to make her Kalács (Hungarian Nut Roll) and I just put it off not realizing that it's the traditional value of the holiday season that she still remembers from the time she was little and my aunt making all the wonderful bake goods every Christmas! So, on Christmas Eve...just a few hours before we went to our dear friends for their Southern American/Italian dinner, I, at the last minute literally threw this wonderful quick nut roll together to have it for Christmas day! I rarely make yeast dough, but I made this with the full recipe, and freezing half of the dough! The filling is the same filling, that I used for my Kifli, in my previous post. I just did not have the time to make it the traditional way.

Googled the recipe, for the dough...just did not have the time to figure out the metric system to our American system. Turned out real moist, and everyone loved it. I got the nicest compliment from Lora, telling me that this was the best Christmas gift...better than any other present!

Hungarian Nut Roll
Adapted from Taste of Home

2 packages (1/4 ounce each active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm 2% milk
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter softened
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour




Filling:
my own recipe

1/2  lb. walnuts
1 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup light raisins (optional)

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the sugar, salt, butter, sour cream, eggs, and 3 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.( Dough will be sticky.)

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-9 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.


This is how the dough will look, doubled in size, nice and puffy!

Recipe calls for dividing dough into 4 portions, I divided mine into three. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Roll each into a 12x10 inch rectangle. Spread filling within 1/2 inch of edges. Roll up jelly roll style, starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. This is how it looks after 30 minutes...doubled in size. You can use egg wash with 2 eggs beaten with about 1 Tbsp. water, and with a pastry brush, just paint the tops and sides. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool.


For traditional walnut filling:

4 cups walnuts
1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. brandy
1/3 cup hot milk

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor, ending with the brandy, and hot milk. Spread on the rectangles, and roll up jelly roll fashion, and proceed with the instructions!

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

This fresh blueberry recipe of mine is adapted from a 1986 Food & Wine magazine of mine, page neatly kept in a binder with a plastic jacket, but I will have to make copies of this so I will not loose it. It calls for 2 1/2 in. dimension size  which this is perfect. Notice it's stainless steel, from Goodwill, for $.69 each pan. It was brand new, and I imagine as old as my recipe. I gave my extra large  nonstick muffin pan, and another which is about this size, non stick, of course, which holds 12 muffins or cup cakes. Like a good mother, (pat on my shoulder) as a matter of fact, I've given all my good and expensive wares to my daughter, because I rarely had a chance to use them when I worked so many hours. So now, it's fun for me to go thrifting, and finding great wares. The original recipe calls for actually buttering the muffin pans, generously, but I don't think we had cooking spray back in 1986. I just love PAM, for every baking use. They have a good variety of them. I just use the original.

Just look at all the fresh blueberries, and the yummy streusel topping. The batter is quite thick so it will not overflow when you spoon it or scoop it into the muffin pans. Any leftovers, if you have leftovers, you have to refrigerate, and it can easily be reheated in the microwave, for less than 60 seconds. or in your over, on 325 degrees F. for about 10 minutes. I prefer the short cut way. Who wants to wait 10 minutes?
Fresh Blueberry Muffins with Sreusel Topping
2 cups all purpose flour 
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg
2 cups fresh blueberries
dash of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. Muffin pans should be 2 1/2 inches in diameter.In a large bowl, place the 1/2 cup sugar, and the 1 teaspoon lemon zest; crush them together until the sugar absorbs the lemon flavor. Add the flour, and baking powder, and toss to blend.well. Whisk the egg in a small bowl with the milk, and whisk in the slightly cooled melted butter.Slowly add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, and just incorporate by hand, with a wooden spoon. Just barely, about 3 or 4 turns. Batter will be thick, but not to worry. Carefully fold in half the blueberries, and with an ice cream scooper, or a spoon, spoon mixture in evenly, into the 12 muffin cups. Keep the batter loose, don't pack it into the cups, just work with it, gently. Now, you can put the rest of the 1 cup blueberries on top, carefully sticking them into the batter, and spoon streusel mix on top. Bake for no longer, than 25 minutes. (check to see doneness after 20 minutes.) Should be nice and rosy on top. Yield, 12 muffins.


Streusel Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup of flour
1 tablespoon (1 pat) unsalted butter


Mix all together with a pastry cutter, or a fork, until it resembles, like pieces of green peas. Sprinkle mixture on top of studded blueberries in the muffin pan, and bake as directed.


Note: The original 1986 Food and Wine recipe is so confusing, because all the ingredients are listed together; the streusel ingredients are listed in with the rest of the ingredients, and they call for too much butter, including buttering the pan. With all that extra butter in the original recipe was too heavy. This adapted one of mine, is very light, not too sweet, and is so good with a nice cup of Cappuccino, or Caffe Latte, any time of the day.