orange poppyseed bread

most of the recipes I've seen for this sweet, light tea bread call for artificial butter flavoring and lemon extract, neither or which are ideal ingredients, IMO. also, most of those recipes make two loaves, and I only want to bake one at a time. it's easy enough to double the recipe if you want an extra loaf.

for the bread:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk (just about any kind of milk will work; I used homemade almond milk, because it's what I had on hand)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange (or lemon) zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon into measuring cup and level off to get an accurate measure)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut oil*, warmed so it's liquid (I used refined, but if you want the flavor of regular coconut oil in this, feel free to use it)

for the glaze:

• 2 tablespoons orange (or lemon) juice
• 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange (or lemon) zest
• a tiny pinch of salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter a 9" by 5" loaf pan. in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, citrus zest and vanilla. measure the flour and baking powder into a sifter or fine mesh sieve, and sift it into the liquid mixture. whisk just to combine. add the salt, then pour in the coconut oil while whisking to incorporate -- this prevents it from solidifying when it hits cool ingredients (which is why I never try to mix it into the eggs and milk first). mix just until combined, without lumps, but don't over-beat. pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes; until lightly browned. a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. place on a rack to cool.

in a small bowl, whisk the citrus juice, confectioner's sugar, zest and salt until sugar is dissolved. this will make a relatively thin glaze. while the bread is still warm, gently poke holes in the loaf at even intervals (about 1" apart), then spoon about half of the glaze over, distributing fairly evenly. allow a minute for the glaze to be absorbed, then spoon the remainder over. after the last bit of glaze has been absorbed, remove the bread from the loaf pan (I ran a butter knife around the edges to be sure it wouldn't stick, then placed a plate over the top of the loaf pan and inverted it, then flipped the loaf over so it ended up right-side-up). allow to cool. slice to serve.

this should keep for a few days at room temperature, covered.

*note: I'm especially perplexed at other recipes' use of imitation butter flavor, because I think the flavor of butter interferes with the floral citrus and toasty poppyseed notes here. refined coconut oil adds no scent or flavor, which is how I prefer it, but the tropical scent of regular coconut oil would be an interesting change of pace. butter just isn't the right flavor here for my tastebuds. however, if butter is the right flavor for you, substitute a stick of melted, unsalted butter for the coconut oil.

fresh raspberry mousse pie with lemon shortbread crust

a light, refreshing pie that surprises with hidden fresh raspberries and a lemony crust

lemon shortbread crust

• 1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolks
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

raspberry puree:

• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• ½ cup sugar (more or less to taste, depending on how tart or sweet your raspberries are)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• tiny pinch of salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons gelatin
• 2 tablespoons water

stabilized whipped cream

• 1 ½ teaspoons gelatin
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• tiny pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

to assemble pie

• 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries

make shortbread crust: preheat oven to 375 degrees F. butter a deep dish pie pan (or a 2-quart round glass casserole dish). using a wooden spoon, cream butter and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. stir the egg yolks in one at a time, incorporating the first completely before adding the next. stir in the lemon zest. then add the flour and salt, and combine (but try not to overwork it). it may seem a bit dry, but a pinch of the dough should hold together nicely. press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the dish, making it as even as you can. prick the bottom of the dough with a fork three or four times, then place in oven and bake for 18-22 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown. set on a rack to cool completely.

make the raspberry puree: while the crust is baking, sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan, and let bloom for 1-2 minutes. place the pan over low heat and stir just until gelatin is dissolved. allow to cool (speed the cooling a bit by placing the pan in the freezer, or over an ice bath) to room temperature. wash and gently dry the raspberries, then puree them in a food processor or blender with ½ cup sugar, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. press the puree through a metal mesh strainer and discard the seeds. whisk in the cooled gelatin, cover the puree and refrigerate to allow it to thicken a bit while you do the next step. 

make the stabilized whipped cream*: using the same saucepan you previously used for gelatin, bloom 1 ½ teaspoons of gelatin in 2 tablespoons of water. place on a burner on low heat, and stir just until gelatin is dissolved. cool as you did before. pour the cream into the stand mixer’s** bowl and beat on low for about 30 seconds. increase speed to medium and beat for another 30 seconds. increase speed to high, and add sugar, salt, and then the cooled gelatin. continue beating for another minute or so, until it forms very stiff peaks. scoop about 1 to 1 ½ cups into a smaller bowl, whisk vanilla into this smaller portion, and set aside in the refrigerator. scrape the remaining whipped cream out into a large bowl.

make the mousse: pour the refrigerated raspberry puree into the stand mixer's** bowl and beat on high until foamy. scrape the puree into the large bowl of whipped cream and fold together thoroughly, working quickly and carefully to keep it from deflating as much as possible. refrigerate mousse for at least an hour to allow it to firm up.

assemble the pie: set 3 of the prettiest raspberries aside to garnish the finished pie. scatter the remaining fresh raspberries in a single layer on the the crust. scoop the finished mousse into the crust, on top of the raspberries. smooth the top with a spatula. fetch the vanilla-flavored whipped cream from the refrigerator and use it to decorate the top of the pie. I put it in a pastry bag and piped little mounds around the perimeter and in the center; you decorate it however you’d like. arrange the reserved raspberries in the center to garnish the pie.

*you need to stabilize the whipped cream (rather than using regular whipped cream) for several reasons: 1) it improves the texture of both the mousse and the whipped cream decorations on top of the pie, 2) it keeps it shape better, so the mousse won’t deflate; it will stay fluffy and be easier to cut.

**if you don’t have a stand mixer, either use a hand-held mixer, or a bowl and a whisk. it truly can all be done by hand, but it’s a bit of a workout, so be prepared.