Cardamom & Mango Biscotti

This was yet another kitchen experiment that turned out well. I love cardamom in anything, and I couldn’t find any dates, so I used dried mango instead. These are spicy, sweet, and perfect with coffee or tea!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup dried mango

Extras: 1 egg white and 1/8 cup of sugar for the top of the biscotti

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and mix all of the dry ingredients together. Sift the flour to avoid any lumps.

Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla together and add to the dry mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined. The dough will be a bit sticky, so add more flour if you need to.

Roll the dough into a log on a lightly floured surface. It should be about 2 by 10 inches.

Butter a baking sheet and place the roll on it. Press the top down to flatten it a bit, and cook for 30 minutes.

Once the biscotti is slightly golden and cracked, remove it from the oven. Lightly beat the extra egg white and brush it over the biscotti. Sprinkle the 1/8 cup sugar over it, and place back in the oven for 15 more minutes until golden and fragrant.

Transfer the biscotti to a cutting board and cut into 3/4 to 1 inch slices. Arrange these on another buttered baking sheet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned and slightly hard to the touch.

Cool on wire racks until hard.

Enjoy with coffee or tea, or my favorite spiced latte. I made Naomi a cute latte today with touch of chocolate when I brought her a sample of my biscotti.

A little messy, but yummy (or so I heard). I had mine with ceylon tea and it was delicious!

The fun part about biscotti is that you can experiment with different ingredients. Try adding cocoa powder, cinnamon, pecans, dates, dried cranberries, or crystallized ginger.

Have fun!

Xoxo,

Lily

Citrus and Falernum Pudding with Candied Lemons

This was my first time making my own pudding recipe. I was originally going to make a lemon pudding since we have a bunch of freshly picked lemons from my grandfather’s garden, but then I saw the tangerines and the Falernum syrup and I decided to experiment as well as using up some lemons.

This is a very creamy pudding and not too dense. The Falernum creates a rich flavor because of its hints of almond and spices. It is not overly sweet or sour, and makes a nice light desert when garnished with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and candied lemons.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup fresh citrus juices (I used 1/2 cup lemon and 1/4 cup tangerine)
• 3 tablespoons citrus zest
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Falernum syrup (non alcoholic bar syrup found in most liquor stores)
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 3/4 cups whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks slightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of butter

Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a large saucepan. Then add the Falernum, citrus zest, and egg yolks, stirring together until combined

Pour in the milk and heat on medium low as you stir.

Stir continuously until the pudding has thickened and remove from heat. Then add the citrus juice and the butter and keep stirring until smooth.

Pour the pudding through a sieve into a large bowl to strain out any chunks or seeds. Carefully spoon the pudding into small pudding dishes or use pretty glasses like I did. Or you can leave the pudding in the bowl if you prefer to serve it that way. Leave some room at the top for whipped cream!

Refrigerate the pudding for 3-4 hours or over night.

While the pudding is cooling, start on the candied lemons. These are super easy to make!

Put a small pot of water on to boil and slice a lemon into thin circular slices. Once the water has boiled, toss in the lemons and stir for about 1-2 minutes or until they are soft.

Remove the pot from the heat and fill a bowl with ice water. Strain the lemons from the hot water and then toss them into the ice water. Then strain them again and place them in a bowl.

Heat 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar in a skillet on medium low, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn in down to a simmer and place the lemon slices in. Try to make sure they do not overlap too much.

Keep the lemon slices simmering in the sugar-water for about an hour, checking frequently to keep them from burning. Once most of the liquid is gone and the lemons have become almost translucent, remove the skillet from the heat.

Using tongs or a fork, place the lemon slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment or freezer paper. Allow them to cool and dry for an hour or two before using as a garnish.

Once your pudding has cooled and set and you are ready to serve, whip up some heavy cream with a whisk or blender. I actually used my tiny IKEA milk frother and it worked quite well (but only if you are whipping small amounts!) I chose not to sweeten my whipped cream so that it would be a refreshing contrast to the pudding.

To garnish just add a dollop of whipped cream, a sprinkle of bittersweet chocolate shavings, and one or two candied lemons.

Serve right away and enjoy!

I may be sharing more pudding adventures soon!

Xoxo,

Lily

DIY Shutters to Jewelry Boxes

Hi All!.

My name is Tess Whitney. Lily is a great friend of mine and I love this blog, so when I decided to convert some old shutters into jewelry boxes, I thought I would share. They are a great way to add character to a room and display your favorite jewelry or photos. Enjoy!!

Materials:

one or two old shutters (don’t worry if they are beat-up–it will add to the retro style of the finished product)

Scissors

Stapler

marker

fabric of your choice (I cut up a striped yellow sheet so that it looked like sunshine peaking through when the shutters are closed)

glue gun

super glue (optional)

sand paper (optional)

roll of cork with adhesive backing (you can get one at your local craft store) it may seem strange to buy a roll instead of a cork board, but it needs to be thin enough to fit in the shutter and is easier to cut to the size that you will need. Mine looks like this:

Directions:

1. If you want your shutters to have a really old/worn look, you can start by taking the sandpaper to the edges of the shutter and other areas of your choice to remove a bit of the paint and scuff them up a bit.

2. Next, make sure your shutters are clean. Because they are being recycled, they probably accumulated some dust and dirt. I just stuck mine in the shower and scrubbed them with an old cleaning brush.

3. Open the shutter as if it is open and fanning out from a window. On the inner portion of the two panels of the shutter, measure the length and width of the rectangle that the slats are in and subtract an eighth of an inch from the length and width. Here’s an example; the arrows indicate what portion of the shutter you should measure:

4. Now mark the dimensions you just took (don’t forget to subtract an eighth of an inch, you’ll need the extra space to allow for the fabric) on the roll of cork board and cut accordingly.

5. Cut a rectangle with the same measurements from your piece of cardboard and attach it to the adhesive side of the section of cork you just cut. Its okay if you have to cut two pieces of cardboard to accommodate the length; however, if you need to do this, use your glue gun to reinforce the space where the two sections of cardboard meet on the back of the cork board. You should now have a rectangle of cork-covered cardboard (or two, depending on how many shutters you have decided to convert) that looks like this:

6. Cut a piece of fabric that is at least two inches longer on each side than the rectangle of cork and cardboard that you have. Don’t worry about imperfections on the edges of the fabric, they won’t be visible because they will be tucked under the side of the cork. However, if you have striped fabric, make sure you cut along the stripes, otherwise your finished product will seem off-center.

8. If the fabric is super wrinkled, iron the worst of the wrinkles out. Either way, I found that an ironing board is a great surface for the next couple of steps because you can adjust the height. You might want to place something in between yourself and the ironing board when you star using glue though; hot glue on an ironing board can ruin clothes later when it melts because of heat from the iron.

8. If you do have a striped fabric or a pattern that needs to be centered, place your fabric face up on a flat surface and the rectangle of cork on top of it, making sure to center it the way you would like to have the fabric appear in you jewelry box. Now take a marker and make small dots on the outside corner of the board on the fabric to give yourself a reference point when you begin gluing the fabric to the board. This step is not necessary if you are not concerned about the alignment of your fabric.

9. Now lay the fabric face down and put the cork board face down on top of it. Align the corners of the board within the marks you made on the fabric (that is, if you made them). Next, fold the pieces of fabric on opposite ends of the board over and attach them to the upturned cardboard side. I used staples for this first part because I wanted to pull the fabric tight, but I would suggest glue because the staples show on the other side of the board.

10. Don’t give up yet! You’re almost there!! Cut of the fabric that over laps on the corners to keep the board thin enough to fit into your shutters.

11. Heat up your glue gun and attach the rest of the fabric to the other sides of the board, pulling the fabric firmly over the back of the board.

12. On the other side, the board should look like this:

13. Now its time to attach the cork board to the shutter.  Make sure that the slats are pushed flat (you shouldn’t be able to see through any gaps). I found that a glue gun works best, but if you’re not too handy with one, I would use super glue because its easy to get annoying drops and strings of hot glue everywhere and you have to work quickly with a glue gun.

14. Now carefully place the cork board within the area of the rectangle that you measured earlier. Now go back and add glue to any places that may need it.

15. Use push pins to create hooks to hang your jewelry from. Your new shutters can also double as a way to display your favorite pictures; I decided to include both. You can either mount these on a wall or place them on top of your dresser. Be careful hanging them on the wall though, you will need to remove the hinges on the back of the shutters. The shutters are also pretty heavy, so make sure you find a beam in the wall to nail them into for enough support. Here are a few pictures of my finished shutters:

That’s all for today, I hope you had fun!

Tess