Contrast | CranHoney Raspberry Scones

The season of raspberries has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest! It has taken a long time due to the weather, but the wait is always rewarding when you eat your first fresh raspberry. We picked a lot off of our row and there are still more to pick! I looked at Smitten Kitchen and saw the Raspberry Scone recipe she posted today and knew that I needed to try it with the fresh raspberries and our CranHoney.

What you need:
1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/8 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/8 cup of CranHoney
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup (136 grams or 4 3/4 ounces) fresh raspberries
3/4 cup (189 grams) whole milk ricotta
1/3 cup (79 ml) heavy cream
1 bag of vanilla chips.

How you do it:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

With a pastry blender: Add the butter (no need to chop it first) and use the blender to both cut the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. Toss in raspberries and use the blender again to break them into halves and quarter berry sized chunks. Pour CranHoney into the mixture.

Without a pastry blender: Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Roughly chop the raspberries on a cutting board. In a small bowl, mix together the raspberries and CranHoney.

Both methods: Add the ricotta and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula.

After mixing the heavy whipping cream and the ricotta pour into the butter mix. Using your hands, blend the mixture together. It will be sticky with the CranHoney so use extra flour if necessary.

With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7-inch square about 1-inch tall.

With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula. Bake the scones for about 11 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges.

After the scones cool for a little while drizzle with melted white vanilla chips.  

Adapted by: Smitten Kitchen

Hope you all enjoy this amazing scone recipe! Try it with you favorite tea!

Sarah

Herbs | Lavender & Honey Cupcakes

I'm a little late on this post due to the fact that life has been rather busy lately. We started cherry harvest and are still doing the farmers' markets! I'll post some photos of the whole process of the harvest of a marachino cherry in the next couple of days.

My friend Natalie came up with this idea for a recipe and made the cupcakes. She is very creative and had fun using the Lavender Honey! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we all did!

What you need:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Lavender Honey
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup warm coffee or strong tea
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup rye or whiskey
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)

How you do it:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease cupcake pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Make a well in the center, and add oil, Lavender Honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, orange juice and rye or whiskey, if using. (If you measure your oil before the honey, it will be easier to get all of the honey out.)

Using a strong wire whisk or in an electric mixer on slow speed, stir together well to make a thick, well-blended batter, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom.

Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). Sprinkle top of cake(s) evenly with almonds, if using. Place cake pan(s) on two baking sheets, stacked together (this will ensure the cupcakes bake properly with the bottom baking faster than the cake interior and top).

Bake until cupcake tests done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake center. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Let cupcakes stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan.

For the frosting, use your favorite brand and spread on top. Sprinkle with culinary lavender and enjoy!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and  Marcy Goldman’s Treasure of Jewish Holiday Baking

If you have any good ideas for the Lavender Honey, let me know!

Sarah

Cinnamon| CranHoney Apple Pie

Ohh the sweet taste of apple pie on a summer night is a taste that we will always love! My friend Courtney baked this CranHoney Apple Pie for a send-off party for my sister who was headed overseas. It tasted amazing and so here is the recipe!

Crust:- Puff pastry or other crust you normally use for pies.

Filling:- 5-6 cups sliced Granny Smith Apples
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup margarine or butter (1/2 stick) melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1/2 cup CranHoney

Streusel Topping:- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 cut cold margarine or butter

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350

Roll out pie crust large enough to cover bottom and sides of pie dish. Brush lightly with melted margarine or butter. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp white sugar, then bake for 10 minutes.

Filling:Slice apples and put them in a large bowl with flour, sugar and cinnamon. Mix, and let rest. Then drizzle melted butter and honey over the apples and toss. Let the apple mixture set while you make the streusel topping.

Topping:Whisk flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Place mixture in food processor and add the cold margarine or butter cubes. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Toss the apples again and evenly distribute them  in the pie dish, then top with the streusel topping.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the apples are tender


Serve with whipped cream or ice cream!

Thanks again Courtney! :-)

Sarah


If you have a recipe or product you would like me to try send me an email at: sarah@littleoakfarms.com

Spice | PlumHoney and Ginger Cookies

So this was a very fun recipe to make! I had my friend Hannah and Susanna create this with me! We at first thought of making a molasses cookie with our PlumHoney, but then when we started making the recipe we thought that we should just completely switch out the molasses with the PlumHoney...It turned out amazing and everyone loved them!

What you need:
3/4 cup of oil
1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup PlumHoney
2 Eggs
2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger
1 tsp. Cinnamon
Addtional flour and sugar for rolling

How you do it:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl stir together the oil and sugar. Mix in the PlumHoney and eggs. Once it is mixed, add the dry ingredients. If needed, add in a little more flour if it looks to sticky.

Flour your hands and roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. They will look like they expanded a lot, but they will shrink when they begin to cool. Sprinkle on a little more sugar and then let cool for few minutes. Transfer over to a wire rack to cool completely.

adapted from My Romantic Home

-Sarah

By the way, if you have a product you would like me to try with our honey send me an email at: sarah@littleoakfarms.com

Strawberries and Honey | PassionHoney Strawberry Crepes

Crepes and Strawberries....it definitely does not get better for a morning breakfast!  I've been noticing that the local strawberries are starting to pop up at the farmer's market and stores and it made me excited! The fresh summer fruit tastes amazing! Some of our friends grow the best strawberries in town and if you are in this area you should check out their store. http://www.ungerfarms.com/ 

For this recipe I used a basic crepe recipe from All Recipes, which was super easy and quick! For our family we always need to make things which are easy to make otherwise it would take forever to feed the 11 in our family! Cut up the strawberries first and then make the crepes!

For the Crepes-

What you need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

How you do it:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.

When the crepe is done, take it off the pan and fold in a desired amount of strawberries. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy the sweet and tropical taste of these PassionHoney Crepes!

For the Strawberries-

What you need:

• Strawberries
• PassionHoney
• Powdered Sugar

How you do it:

Cut up the strawberries into a large bowl and add about 1/3 cup of PassionHoney into the strawberries. Stir it together and set aside for the crepes.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! They taste amazing! Let me know what you think of the strawberries and PassionHoney combination!

See you next week with an amazing PlumHoney Ginger Cookie!

-Sarah

Pile of Cookies | CranHoney Spice Cookies

My friend Candace and her husband came by the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago and told me about this recipe! I was super excited about it and told her to send me the recipe! Since there are a lot of us living in our house when a recipe is amazing it won't last a day! These cookies were gone by the end of the day! I love using honey in recipes because it makes it very moist and melts in your mouth. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we all did!

Frozen Lavender & Honey Cream

Mhmmm....icecream. Homemade and wonderful! It is very easy to make and tastes amazing!!!

What you need:

1 3/4 cups cold heavy cream

2/3 cup Lavender & Honey

4 large egg yolks

How you do it:

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat heavy cream to stiff peaks, then refrigerate. In a small pot, bring Lavender Honey to a boil over medium-high and cook 2 minutes.

In another medium bowl, using mixer, beat egg yolks until pale yellow. With mixer running, add hot honey in a slow, steady stream. Beat on high until mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 5 minutes.

With a rubber spatula, fold in whipped cream. Transfer mixture to a 5-by-10-inch loaf pan.

Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until set, 2 hours (or up to 1 week).

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Serve it with some shortbread or butter cookies!

Sarah


Recipe adapted from: http://www.marthastewart.com/332396/frozen-honey-cream