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Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios

Two weekends each year (in April and in October), my family gathers with other members of our faith worldwide to participate in the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over two days, we listen to the general authorities and officers of the Church as they provide us with messages of hope and inspiration to guide our lives for the coming six months.

Modern communications allow us to participate in the conference from the comfort of our own home. And so we have turned the conference into a culinary experience as well as a spiritual one.

I like to make sweet rolls for our conference breakfast. In October, I made cinnamon rolls using challah dough as the foundation. But I’m always game for something new, so my eyes got big when I came across a recipe for Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios in the Breakfast 2020 issue of Fine Cooking magazine. Spoiler alert: it’s as good as it sounds.

Sweet raspberry preserves blend well with the tart lemon glaze. Toasted pistachios provide additional crunch and flavor. What a great way to start your day.

Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls with Pistachios

The Best of Fine Cooking: Breakfast 2020

Dough

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon yeast
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter,  softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup raspberry preserves
  • flour as needed

Glaze

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • Heavy cream as needed
  • 1/4 cup toasted pistachios, chopped

Making the Dough

In a small pan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Watch it closely so it doesn’t boil over. Remove the milk from the heat, and melt the butter in the milk. Let the milk cool to 110* to 115*.

In a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, lemon zest, and salt on medium speed. Add the milk mixture and eggs and mix just to combine.

Knead the dough on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes in the mixer. If mixing by hand, turn out the dough onto the countertop and knead for about 12 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball. Place it in a buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set the dough aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours).

Shaping the Rolls

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. Mix the sugar and salt in a small bowl.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 12×16 inch rectangle. Using a spatula or our hands, spread the softened butter evenly across the dough. Then spread the preserves across the entire surface of the dough. Coat the preserves evenly with the sugar and salt mixture.

Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the long seam and the ends closed. Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 12 one-inch wide pieces. Place the rolls into the buttered dish. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise at room temperature until the rolls are touching (about 1 to 2 hours). During this second rise, preheat your oven to 350*.

Baking and Glazing

Whisk the egg yolk and about 2 teaspoons of water to form an egg wash. Brush the wash across the top of the rolls. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

While the rolls are cooling, mix the powdered sugar, butter, and lemon zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add heavy cream to bring the glaze to your desired consistency. Spread the glaze on the warm rolls. Sprinkle the pistachios over the glaze.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

It’s been a while since I last posted.

During the interlude, we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Civil Rights Day, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents Day.

I’ve graded student papers, traveled to Waco, Texas for a week of studies with my colleagues in the Executive LL.M. program in Litigation Management, completed my own final exams, prepared written materials for a continuing education course, and taught the course. And because the second trimester of my studies started on the heels of the first, I have plunged into another round of classes, while trying to keep up with my day job.

It’s been a busy few months.

Friday night, I asked Rebecca what she wanted for our Saturday breakfast. She suggested we have Lemon Poppy Seed Scones, something we had not tried before. Well, now we have, and so can you.

This is the same recipe that I regularly use when making scones, with the addition of lemon flavoring and poppy seeds. Try out the recipe, and let me know what you think in the comments.

ingredients

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 to 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
zest and juice of one medium lemon
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450*.

Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to mix.  Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of grains of rice. Mix in the poppy seeds.

Add the lemon juice and zest. Slowly blend in the heavy cream until the mixture forms a dough.

Roll (or pat) out the dough until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the scones using a biscuit cutter or knife. I use a 2-inch cutter, which typically gives me 12 scones.

Place the scones about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Glaze the top of the scones with heavy cream. You also can sprinkle on turbinado sugar if you like.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll be tempted to eat the scones as soon as they come out of the oven, but wait a few minutes first. The flavors intensify as the scones cool.

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Southwestern Eggs Benny with Tomatillo Sauce

It’s the holiday weekend, so it’s time to cook.

in anticipation of the weekend, I spent some time reviewing my collection of cookbooks to get some ideas. I came across a great idea for Green Chile Eggs Benny in The Essential Southwest Cookbook (available at Amazon.com https://tinyurl.com/y4r3tdeb).

My Sweetie has a sensitive stomach, so I revised the recipe to make it less spicy. It looked and tasted great.

The original recipe calls for English muffins as a base for the Eggs Benny. I decided to mix it up a bit and use sourdough biscuits instead. We also added some homemade tomatillo sauce, which brings a robust smoky flavor to the meal.

We started off our weekend with a Southwestern breakfast for dinner. Try it, you’ll like it.

Southwestern Eggs Benny with Tomatillo Sauce

  • 2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed
  • 2 cups sweet corn
  • 3 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • juice of one lime
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup Mexican crema
  • 1 roasted Hatch chile, peeled, seeded, and diced
  • zest of one lime
  • 1 teaspoon chile powder
  • 8 poached eggs
  • cotija cheese, crumbled
  • tomatillo sauce

Combine the black beans, corn, green onions, tomatoes, and lime juice in a medium saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the beans and corn are heated through. Reduce the heat to low, and keep the mixture warm. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the crema, the diced chile, lime zest, and chile powder. Season with salt and pepper.

Poach the eggs.

Split four English muffins or biscuits and set them on your serving plates. Spoon the bean and corn mixture onto each half of bread. Gently place a poached egg on each half. Spoon tomatillo sauce and crema onto each egg. Top with cotija cheese.

Learn how to make tomatillo sauce here: https://legalchow.com/tomatillo-sauce/.

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Double Chocolate Pancakes

 

Hear! Hear! for Administrative Professionals, the women and men who help us serve our clients well and who make our lives easier. Your assistance is invaluable.

In 1952, the United States Secretary of Commerce, Charles Sawyer, declared June 1-7 as National Secretaries Week. In 1955, the week was moved to the last full week of April, and in 2000, the unofficial holiday was rechristened as Administrative Professionals Week to acknowledge the expanding roles of office workers.

At my law firm, we formally recognize our administrative staff by cooking and serving breakfast during the last week of April. I’ve been in charge of planning the menu for the past five years. Our staff is talented and “over the top,” so each year I try to come up with a menu item that is new and sufficiently “over the top” to recognize their contribution.

This year’s “over-the-top” recipe was Double Chocolate Pancakes with Chocolate Ganache, based on a recipe submitted by zerrin on www.giverecipe.com. This recipe has everything chocolate — cocoa, chocolate chips, and an amazing smooth ganache. It’s like eating cake for breakfast!

Days after we served breakfast, I’m still getting compliments on the recipe. My favorite comment came in an email from one of my colleagues: “They were awesome! I thought my tongue was going to slap my brains out.”

Try them. Then hold on to your brain so that it doesn’t get slapped out of your head.

Double Chocolate Pancakes with Chocolate Ganache

  • 1 large egg
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Whisk the egg and sugar until creamy. Add in the milk and oil. Whisk until combined.

In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients until well mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined. The batter will be thick. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Cook the pancakes over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes per side. Serve with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache

  • 4 oz. chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat the cream in a saucepan until it shimmers. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Do not stir the mixture for 5 minutes. Then whisk the chocolate chips until they form a silky ganache. Serve at room temperature.

Makes about 8 pancakes.