Quarterly Human Recipe - Strawberry Shortcake

Nothing says summer like strawberries and nothing says easy summer dessert like Strawberry Shortcake. We recommend macerating the strawberries (cutting off the tops, cutting them in half, and putting them in a bowl with some sugar and allowing to sit for an hour or more - this helps bring out the sweetness and juice in the strawberries) and then add either whipped cream or lemon curd for a delicious summer treat. This recipe serves six.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 egg, beaten (the easiest way to accomplish this is to beat an egg in a seperate bowl and then use approximately half of it)
little bit of milk (for brushing top of shortcakes)
little bit of sugar (for sprinkling on top of shortcakes)
strawberries, whipped cream, lemon curd, other topping

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350degrees F (175degrees C)
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cream of tartar into a bowl. Cut in the butter with either a pastry cutter, two knives, or your hands (you do not want the butter creamed - just cut it so that there are small pieces of it throughout the dough as this will make the shortcake flaky).
3. Mix in cream and egg and stir until well combined.
4. Remove dough from bowl onto a smooth, floured surface and knead for several minutes.
5. Press dough down to 1/2 inch height and cut out shortcakes. We prefer to use large round fluted cookie cutters for a classic shortcake shape.
6. Place shortcakes on baking sheet, brush top lightly with milk and add a sprinkling of sugar. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden.
7. After the shortcakes have cooled, split them in half and add strawberries, whipped cream, lemon curd, or other favorite toppings.

Quarterly Human Recipe - Lemon Curd

Winter seems to be refusing to fully let go and allow Spring to come into bloom. It's typically during this time of year that everyone starts craving warmer weather. While it won't help you with your tan, Lemon Curd is a delicious and versitile way to taste yourself to warmth. This curd is fantastic simply eaten on toast or it can be mixed with whipped cream for a light and refreshing cupcake frosting. Our favorite use for it though is to pour the curd into a pre-baked tart shell and refridgerate it until the curd has fully hardened for a lemon tart you won't soon forget. (Top the tart with strawberries and it'll be a lemon tart no one will soon forget!)

Lemon Curd
4 lemons, zest and juice
8 oz unsalted butter cut into pieces
12 oz sugar
4 eggs

When zesting lemns be sure to only take the zest and not the pilph (the white stuff). Take the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter and place in a non-aluminum pot, as the lemon juice will react poorly to aluminum. Placce pot on heat until it begins to boil, be sure to stir with a whisk while heating.

While the juce and butter is heating, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk well.

Once the lemon liquid mix reaches a boil add it slowly to the sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly is the key word so as not to literally acramble the eggs. Once all the lemon mixture has been added to the eggs place everything back in the pot and h eat until it thickens. Don't worry if the curd boils as it will not hurt it.

Once the curd has thickened run it through a sieve to get rid of the zest and place it in a shallow container in the refridgerator to cool.

Lemon curd can be easily frozen since it's such a stable product or it can be kept in the fridge for up to one month.

Quarterly Recipe - Cheaters Coffee Cake

Even pastry chefs cheat from time to time and don't make everything from scratch. Our pastry chef shared this human recipe with us and says it's perfect when you're craving some warm comfort food but don't have the time or energy to make an entire coffee cake from scratch. Best of all, she promises that no one will know you cheated!

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 small box instant butterscotch pudding
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Baking Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375degrees F.
2. Combine cake mix and puddings and mix until all lumps are broken up. Add in eggs, water, oil, and vanilla, and mix until well blended.
3. In a seperate bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. This will act as the cake topping.
4. Grease a large bundt pan or other large baking pan and sprinkle with half the cinnamon sugar mixture.
5. Pour in half of the cake mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cake topping over the dough and then pour the rest of the cake mixure on top.
6. Bake 20-30minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 325degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes (may require change in time due to pan shapes and sizes). Coffee cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then invert onto a wire rack and allow to finish cooling upside down. Cake should release from pan while cooling.
8. Coffee cake can be kept covered for up to three days. Enjoy!