u/morgarnian

Kept it simple with this one! I added frozen blueberries to a basic wheat scone recipe that only calls for one tablespoon of added sugar. (From The Nordic Baking Book by Magnus Nilsson.) They turned out just a bit bland for my taste--I think citrus zest and a little more salt would have helped. Also I would normally add a glaze or coarse sugar on top, but I was determined to adhere to the spirit of low sugar week.

I am perpetually running late on the weekly themes, but I think it worked in my favor this time--ended up timed perfectly for Mother's Day! Mother's Day and brunch are like.... best friends.

When I was a kid my mom always made her banana bread with chocolate chips. Imagine the crushing disappointment of learning this practice is not universal! 😅 Accept no substitutes!! Chocolate chips or no banana bread at all 😤

Sadly this is the only picture I have from this bake 😭 I forgot to take any process photos and didn't remember to snap the whole cake before it was cut. Ah, well!

I had intially planned to do something savory for this theme, but the strawberries were looking delicious last week and I had a bunch on hand. I decided to experiment a bit with mojito flavors and incorporate mint.

The cake is an easy "Busy Day" one-pan cake. (Recipe from the BH&G New Cook Book.) I flavored it with lime zest, citric acid, and a splash of concentrated spearmint tea. Folded some chopped strawberries at the end and baked. I topped it with a glaze made with lime juice, zest, and just a drop of mint extract.

Good news: it tasted great! Very tart and fresh. Bad news: the mint did not come through much at all. I was worried too much extract would make things toothpaste-y. Next time I'll be less tentative!

Puff pastry is definitely one of those "trust the process" kind of recipes. I have only made it successfully once before this, and the key really seems to be thorough chilling. I used Sally McKenney's method for the rough puff and for the palmiers, spacing the whole process over four evenings. (Basically any time the recipe had you fridge the dough, I chilled it overnight and came back for the next step the following day. I wasn't taking any chances with under-chilling this 😂 plus it was easier for my schdule to space things out.)

The fussiest part of making these was flipping them partway through baking. They wanted to uncoil a lot in the oven, and I could only reshape them so much. The second batch got chilled a bit more before hitting the iven and that seemed to help them stay coiled a lot better, plus I flipped them earlier into the bake time. Lesson learned for next time, I'll just plan to chill the sliced palmiers a bit more before baking.

It was 100% worth the time it took, these things are INSANELY GOOD! They're crisp and flaky, SO buttery, and the orange zest is perfect with the warming spices. I'll be dreaming of these palmiers for a while after this!

Recipes: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/rough-puff-pastry/

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cinnamon-spice-palmiers/