Meyer Lemon Bars

Meyer Lemon Bars

My folks have a Meyer Lemon tree in the backyard. Thus, lemons galore! When life gives you lemons, you need to make some lemon bars!

I adapted a recipe from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich. Oh, by the way, the FTC says I'm supposed to disclose that the link to Alice's cookbook goes to Amazon. I'm in the Amazon Affiliate program where I get a few cents if you click through this link and buy stuff on Amazon (don't worry, I never know who buys what so you can add that Fifty Shades of Grey to your cart too). Anyway, I have to tell you this with all the links now! Oy vey. And what do I do with those few cents? I plow them back into Amazon buying cookbooks...so the cycle of Amazon is complete.

I really like the crust. It'll be my go-to lemon bar crust from now on. It uses melted butter and is super easy to assemble. The "blob" (yes, I think that is a baking term) of dough gets pressed into the bottom of the pan. Because it is "wet", you can get a really smooth surface. I used an off-set spatula to spread and smooth out the crust. The crust is on the thinner side...if you like a big, hardy crust, then this one may not be for you.

Here's a photo of my mom and dad last year holding their Meyer Lemons!

I increased the amount of lemon juice from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup. I like a big, thick layer of lemon on my lemon bars!

Meyer Lemon Bars
My yield was 25 bars (cut 5 x 5)
Adapted from by Alice Medrich's "Very Tangy Lemon Bars 2.0" (page 182) of her book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-your-Mouth Cookies


Crust:
7 Tbsp unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp sugar
¾ tsp  vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 cup (4.5 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (I used 7 ounces of sugar because Meyer lemons are milder than regular lemons. Alice suggest using 4.375 ounces but I missed that note in her recipe!)
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (I didn't measure my zest...used zest from two Meyer lemons)
2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained (Alice Medrich's recipe calls for 1/2 cup juice, but I just kept squeezing my juicy Meyer lemons and just threw all the juice into the bowl!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with foil or parchment (create a sling for easy removal).

Crust: In a bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan (I used a small offset spatula). Bake 25-30 minutes until fully baked and golden brown.

Topping: While the crust is baking, stir together sugar and zest until damp. This will release the lemon oils. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the eggs. Add lemon juice and zest and stir until combined.

When the crust is baked, turn the oven temperature down to 300 degrees. Slide the rack out and pour the filling over the hot crust. Baked for an additional 20-25 minutes until center no longer jiggles. Let cool completely in pan before slicing. (I tightly wrapped and refrigerated my bars overnight)

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It's official: We're opening a new roastery and coffee shop!

Some of you might have already heard the rumours, but we wanted to wait with making it official until we knew it would really happen. We're opening a new roastery and coffee shop in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen.

A few months ago we signed the lease for an absolute dream space. An old factory building on Godthåbsvej 34B in Frederiksberg. Just 10 minutes from Jægersborggade and in an area we know really well. The building is just three levels and we've taken the entire floor plan of around 400 square meters. This will host our new roastery, a good sized office space, storage and shipping, and a new coffee shop.

Since the beginning of the new year we've worked on renovating the interior. The walls and the beautiful old concrete floor have been kept, but made ready for use for food production. We especially love the floor, which have been sanded down and treated with something called liquid glass. We wanted to keep the history of this 100-year-old factory building. There's lots of big bright windows in the old style with iron mullions and even though the building is off the main road, there's great light. The renovation has taken quite a lot of time and we've needed to draw in new water, plumbing, radiators, electricity, build inner walls and so on. But we're getting very close now and things are taking shape nicely. Our good friend Søren Ulrich and his company Plain Crafts have been instrumental in this process and he's currently finishing the beautiful bar constructed in two kinds of Oak and raw iron.

For the roastery we've invested in a 35 kg Loring SmartRoast. That machine deserves a blog post on it's own, and we will try to write that up soon. It will be visible through a large glass wall so the noise from the roasting won't bother our guests, but everything will remain transparent. This will also be a much needed expansion of our roasting and packing space, which all our guests at Jægersborggade know we've been needing for a while.

To be honest, we didn't really think we'd be building a third coffee shop so soon after the huge project of opening and optimizing Torvehallerne. We did consider just opening a roastery and wait with a coffee shop. But it just didn't feel right. It's been a central vision for us straight from the beginning of The Coffee Collective, that you should be able to see how we roast and be able to enjoy that coffee on the same premises. So since we have no wish to become a chain, we decided to try out something new with the coffee shop. Just as our two current shops are very different, this third place will hopefully present a completely new experience. And exactly the coffee experience is what we want to focus on.

The goal in our new shop will be to get our guests to experience and talk much more about the flavour of the different coffees. We wish to create an environment that is relaxing and de-stressing. Table service is one of the things that will help us to do this. Another is a long bar, with ample leg space and pleasant seats. From our experiences on Jægersborggade we want to bring in more closeness between the guests and the barista. Presence, service and openness will help us eliminate the stress we often see in people when they are waiting in line at a register. And we hope to create an atmosphere that encourages trying out new things and being open minded to new experiences.

There's a lot of ideas and things we want to try out and we look forward to get the journey going. Everything is shaping up nicely. A La Marzocco Strada EP is installed and already producing some amazing shots of espresso. The Uber Boiler has arrived too and grinders, water filters and so on is in place. We're still waiting for a few things to be in place before we dare to share an opening date, but it's getting close. We'll be back soon with an invitation to you all.


The space before putting up inner walls:

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Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Hellllllo! Been gone for a bit...how have you been? I went to Orlando for a library conference...it was very hot so I was happy to head back to the cool breezes of Los Angeles.

Last week, my co-worker mentioned a craving for cranberries. I said I was craving pumpkin and other fall spices. Hence, Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins!

I adapted Dorie Greenspan's delicious Pumpkin Muffin recipe. I skipped the raisins and sunflower seed topping, and added cranberries and walnuts. I also topped it with some raw sugar.

Muffins are always a welcome start to a day! I hope you make some soon... nothing like putting in a little fall in the middle of summer.

I use a ice cream scoop to dish out my muffin batter. This recipe made 14 muffins. If I have a couple extras, I put a cupcake liner in a ramekin and pop them on a half-sheet tray along with the cupcake tray.

This muffin is super moist and just really yummy. I'm glad I added the cranberries - a nice touch of tart with the mellow pumpkin.

From my Instagram account. Are you on Instagram? Oh, I love it! They recently made it available to us Android users. I'm "foodlibrarian" and the photos are 80% food, 19% dogs, and 1% Los Angeles.

Recipe:
Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Pumpkin Muffin (Baking from My Home to Yours)


2 cups flour (I used 280 grams)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp groung ginger
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
1/2 cup brown sugar (100 grams)
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla (Dorie uses 1/2 tsp)
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (no need to thaw), cut in half
Raw sugar, for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Dorie's recipe is 400 degrees but I tried that and my muffins burned) Prep a 12-cup muffin tin. This recipe makes 12-14 muffins.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmet. Set aside.
3. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating one minute after each addition.
5. Beat in vanilla, pumpkin puree and buttermilk. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled at this point.
6. On low speed, add the flour mixture a little at a time. Don't overmix - better to undermix and finish it by hand.
7. With a spatula, fold in walnuts and cranberries.
8. Dish out into muffin tins and top with raw sugar.
9. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until done.

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New Danish Barista Champion: Torfi

Big congratulations to Torfi Þór Torfason - the 2012 Danish Barista Champion !

Also congratulations to Omar Hossain for the 2nd place and Allan Juhl for 3rd place.

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Danish Barista Championship

This weekend the Danish Barista Championship as well as Latte Art and Cupping competitions is being held at Frederiksberg Hallerne, Jens Jessens vej 20, 2000 Frb. C.

Three of our baristas will be competing: Torfi, Peter E and Omar. So come by and cheer for them this weekend.

Saturday at 10.00 the Latte Art Competition will start and at 14.00 the Barista Championship takes off with 6 participants in total.

Sunday at 10.00 is the Cupping competition and Samuli, our new bar manager at Jægersborggade and previous Danish cupping champion will compete. The at 14.00 it's the Finals of the Danish Barista Championship.

From what we know it's going to be a small event, but it's open to anyone.

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Torvehallerne Closed Friday

Due to the strange Danish public holiday Store Bededag - literally means Big Praying Day - our shop in Torvehallerne will be closed tomorrow. Jægersborggade will still be open. We hope to see some of our inner city customers make it out to beautiful Nørrebro.

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Chocolate Chip Toffee Scones

Chocolate Chip Toffee Scones

I love scones! Soooo easy to make. I often make them in the morning and take a shower while they are in the oven!

Um, these were really good and very sweet (much sweeter than a regular scone). The topping of Heath Toffee Bits melts a bit so it can be a little sticky...but not in the gross 10-napkin sticky, but the "oh, I guess I just need to lick my fingers a bit after eating a yummy scone" kind of sticky.

And, before you ask, that beautiful cake stand is by Whitney Smith of Oakland, CA. Isn't it stunning? My friend Sumi got me the cupcake stand (see here) and my co-workers gave me the cake stand! I treasure them immensely.

This scone has both mini chocolate chips and Heath English Toffee Bits. I don't use the Toffee Bits enough...need to incorporate them into more foods in the future.

I almost always make square scones...because I'm lazy! I'm too lazy to pull out a circle cutter and cut rounds, then re-roll the remaining dough. With square scones, you can use a bench scraper to make the cuts and be done with it all! Easy peasy!

You mix all the chocolate chips and some of the toffee bits into the dough. After cutting the squares, additional toffee bits are pressed into the dough.

It is easy to make and freeze these scones too. The cookbook says you can wrap the unbaked scones in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours as well. You should enjoy them the day they are made...not a problem in my library! :)

Recipe:
Chocolate Toffee Scones
From the Art & Soul of Baking (page 154)
Find it on Amazon or in your library

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup (3½ ounces) mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup (2½ ounces) plus 1/3 cup (1¾ ounces) toffee baking bits
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. (The book has instructions for making it in a food processor, but I like to make my scones by hand...less clean-up).
3. Cut the cold butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembled course sand.
4. Add the mini chocolate chips and the 1/2 cup toffee baking bits.
5. In the small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
6. Pour the egg mixture mix until the dough holds together in large, thick clumps. (I used my hands a bit to quickly mix it together).
7. Use a spatula to scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently squeeze or knead the clumps together until they form a cohesive dough—it may seem a bit dry at first, but will come together with a few kneads.
8. Pat the dough into a circle or square about 1 inch thick. Cut into wedges or squares and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Recipe yields 8 wedges (I cut mine into 16 small squares).
9. Lightly press the remaining 1/3 cup toffee chips onto the tops of the scones, dividing evenly. Bake for 14 to 17 minutes, until golden brown, especially around the bottom edges. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

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