Blueberry Muffins with meyer lemon glaze

Here are some recipes from Clemence from the Santa Monica Place, cooking school. They are delicious & so easy to do I love this school if you are in Los Angeles  and have a bit of time, book yourself a class they are  fantastic, professional & so fun  The Gourmandise School   of Sweets and Savories   Santa Monica, California Blueberry Muffins with Meyer Lemon Glaze makes about 20 muffins 1 1/3 cups sugar 5 oz butter, cut into pieces and at room temp. 1 cup milk 1 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche or whole milk yogurt) 4 eggs 3 1/2 cups flour 4 tsps baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup blueberries (fresh are best, but if frozen do not defrost)! 1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter and eggs.  Add the milk and sour cream and mix until well combined. 2) In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  Toss in the blueberries. 3) Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined (a few streaks of flour are ok)!.  4) Spoon into muffin tins and place pans over cookie sheet. 5) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until golden all over. Glaze 2 Tbsps Meyer Lemon juice 1/4 cup sugar 6) Stir the juice and sugar together and spoon over warm muffins.

Feathery Fennel, Blood Orange and Avocado Salad  2 Fennel bulbs with stalks and leaves 3 blood oranges 2 ripe avocados 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 Tbsps honey a handful of mint, torn into pieces 1/2 tsp salt fresh ground pepper, to taste optional: fennel or coriander seeds, fennel fronds (leaves) for garnish   1) Wash fennel and slice off stalks at the bulb.  Cut bulb lengthwise and remove the core.  Slice the fennel thinly crosswise to make half moons.  Place in a bowl.  Strip the stalks of feathery leaves and mince for garnish later.  Thinly slice the remaining stalks and add them to the bowl.   2) Peel and section the oranges.  You can leave the pith on or take the flesh out of its casing.  Chop into chosen size pieces.   3) Pit, peel and slice or chop avocado into chosen size pieces.   4) For dressing, squeeze juice out of one orange into a bowl.  Add lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk to emulsify.   5) Toss fennel in dressing along with mint.  Add oranges and avocado and toss. Plate and garnish with minced leaves and fennel or coriander if desired.   Wishing you a delicious day, Clémence and Hadley

Lemon Meringue Cake There are weeks when I get a bit stumped about what I'll write and share with all of you.  We try to balance the sweet with the savory and keep it seasonal, but sometimes and old standby, with a little tweaking, nudges you to bring it back. We updated this recipe by switching out the white cake with a sponge cake similar to the one Hadley uses for her famous Caramel Cake and made the lemon curd extra special with market-fresh Meyer lemons. While our version piped the meringue on (and was expertly photographer by sweet friend Kara Frans just moments before the facade of the cake fell under the hot lights)!, we encourage a more rustic approach using the back of a spoon.  Move your spoon in a circular fashion and swirl for an lovely, easy look. Lemon Meringue Cake     Hot Milk Cake  Adapted from Miette 2 -2/3 cups flour 1 Tbsps plus one tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 sticks butter 1 cup whole milk 3 cups sugar 6 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 whole vanilla bean zest of one lemon 1) In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.  Butter two 6 or 8" cake pans. 2) Melt butter in warm milk with the vanilla and set aside 3) Place your eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Fill a saucepot halfway up with water and bring to a simmer.  Place the bowl over this double-boiler and whisk continuously until eggs and sugar and warm to the touch 4)Place the bowl on the stand mixer and beat until the bowl feels room temperature again. 5) Sift the flour mixture over the eggs and mix just until it all comes together. 6) Pour the milk in three additions into the batter, again mixing until it just comes together 7) Pour into cake pans and bake at 350 until the sides pull away from the pan (25-35 minutes).    Lemon Curd 3 eggs ¼ cup sugar ½ cup meyer lemon juice 2 Tbsps butter 1) Place a saucepot, ½ filled with water, on the heat and bring to a simmer. 2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon zest.  3) Whisk in the lemon juice.  Set the bowl above the pot and reduce heat to medium to continue the simmer. 4) Stir the mixture over heat until until a thick custard forms (this may take 5- 10 minutes). 5) Remove from heat and stir in the butter until smooth.   Chill to set. Assembly: Cut your cooled cakes in half.  Spread lemon curd between layers, careful not to spread too close to the edges of the cake. Repeat until all layers are stacked.  Chill cake in the fridge or freezer to set while you make the meringue: Meringue 1 cup sugar, divided pinch of salt 3 egg whites 1) Place all but 2 Tbsps sugar with a 1/2 cup water in a small saucepot and heat to about 240 degrees. 2) While the syrup is heating, beat the eggs in a stand or hand mixer to just past foaming and add the remaining sugar and salt.   3) Add hot sugar syrup to egg whites, slowly over medium speed, for another 10 minutes or so.  Pipe or spoon onto cake right away.  Torch if desired.   Wishing you a delicious day, Clémence and Hadley

Double Chocolate-Blood Orange Cookies 1 stick butter, at room temperature 2 cups sugar 1/3 cup blood orange olive oil * 2 eggs 2 tsps vanilla 2 cups flour 3/4 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chocolate chips/chunks/doesn't matter so long as it's good chocolate 1) Cream butter and sugar with a hand held mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy; this usually takes 3-4 minutes. 2) Add olive oil, eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute, or until well combined. 3) In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Toss in the chocolate pieces. 4) Add this flour mixture to the batter and stir until just combined (and I mean it, JUST combined, or I will make my way to your kitchen and scold you for trying to turn these into chocolate hockey pucks). 5) Drop by scoop or spoonful onto parchment-paper lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or just until the start to set on the very edges of the cookie.  They will continue baking after you remove them from the oven.