Because of my previously mentioned new job, I opted not to compete in my local county fair this year.  As you may know, if you read my about page, the county fair is something that is near and dear to my heart.  But it wasn’t in the cards this year.

Frankly speaking, I did well enough last year (hello, Grand Champion of Breads, that’s me!) that I felt a little like I couldn’t top it. Sure, it’s always good to see  the ladies get their denim jumpers in a snit when the younger, pierced, and non-traditional baker takes top honors.  But even that has become a little stale.

So this year, I am upping my game and taking my baked goods to the Indiana State Fair.  I can drop off goods on a Saturday, and I am taking the Friday beforehand off to bake up a storm.  I plan on entering all of my usual categories and then some.  And this year is doubly exciting because I’ll be entering the King Arthur Flour baking contest.

If you’ve read this blog at all, and I am assuming you all have been reading it at least somewhat, you know how much I love King Arthur Flour.  It’s not just their flour product.  It’s their entire philosophy.  They are employee-owned.  They care. They produce a good product and aren’t afraid to be transparent about why it is more expensive (by pennies per ounce).  It’s just superior.

So this year is the year I go for the King Arthur Gold and enter their competition.  It’s a dinner roll competition, which means I should be a serious contender.  But now my problem becomes choosing which dinner roll to make.  One of the very first posts I ever made was my recipe for Amish Dinner Rolls.  It’s actually an adaptation of a KAF (that’s what those of us who are unhealthily obsessed with King Arthur Flour call it) recipe.  It’s the kind of dinner roll that you have once and never want anything else again.  It’s versatile – whole wheat, half white-half whole wheat, it’s all good – and easy to make.  It goes with everything.

But then I have other dinner rolls.  I can do a Parker house, which people don’t really do all that often anymore, or a creative knot.  You see, I don’t just want to submit any dinner roll, it has to be my  best dinner roll.  So then I started thinking of my wonderful version of croissants.

So what are your favorite dinner rolls?  If you were me, and going for the crowning glory of your baking competition career, what would you bake?

Okay, okay.  It has been WAY too long since I have posted here.  But a lot has been going on.  I started a new job, for example.  This new job is fabulous, and I love it, but let me tell you, the commute leaves me almost too tired and without time to do a lot of baking.  I have a 30 minute drive, then a 90-minute train ride – EACH WAY – every day.  So go easy on me. Oh, and I can’t find my digital camera, so, you’ll have to make do with cell phone photos.

Completely tasty vegetarian meal, with fried eggplant

My husband is a vegetarian.  I try to eat mostly vegetarian, but I was raised in rural Wisconsin in the sort of town that just gave the whole week of Thanksgiving off, because it was also the start of hunting season, and no one would really show up otherwise.  So I like to call myself a selective omnivore.  Like “flexitarian” but less trendy sounding.

Anyhow, one of the few restaurants in our area that we find to be worthy of our hard-earned dollars is Sahara. It’s locally owned by a hottie Lebanese man named Moe, and the food is never disappointing.  The service? Well, it is anything except consistent.  Yet still, the quality of the food is so stellar, that even the terribly picky Annalise (that’s me!), with years of restaurant experience, can mostly overlook an off night of service.

We always eat the Mezza dinner there, which consists of four hot dishes and four cold ones, tapas style.  One of my hands-down favorite selections is called Mom’s Eggplant.  I happen to like this simple dish so much, that I am often tempted to order an extra of it, simply because I want it all to myself.

So last night, I decided to make my own version of it, as a side dish to another veggie staple in our house, a curry flavored veggie sautee over couscous. It would also go remarkably well with some homemade pita bread.

The fried eggplant is not complicated, and as such, I would challenge everyone to make this dish this summer.  I prefer it cold, so I started it first.

Fried Eggplant Recipe

1. Slice the eggplant, arrange on a plate or platter, and sprinkle salt all over the slices.  Eggplant is bitter otherwise, so this draws out the bitterness.  It’s ideal to let it sit for at least an hour (or several, if you can), but in a pinch, a half hour will do.

Salt draws out the bitterness of raw eggplant

Once you have let it sit for awhile, give the eggplant slices a good rinse under cool water, and then pat them dry.

2.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in an appropriately sized skillet, and allow it to get nice and hot.  You will want to heat a little more oil than you think you will need.  The eggplant is like a sponge, and will soak it up.  So, make sure you have plenty in the bottom of the skillet.

3. This next step is optional. Sahara doesn’t use panko, but I like a little extra crunch from time-to-time.  And truthfully, I have way too much panko sitting around my house for me not to use it.  So once the eggplant was rinsed, I dredged it (no egg or anything, jus the moisture from the eggplant was fine) in panko crumbs.

Eggplant, coated with panko

4.  Once the olive oil was ready for frying the eggplant, place the slices in the pan and let it sizzle.  I personally think this works better when you fry it over low-to-medium heat, and you use a skillet with a thick, even, bottom.  I used my Le Creuset small Dutch oven for this, because it heats so evenly, and as a result, I can control how “done” everything gets, even though I am stuck with a crappy electric range top.

5.  As you fry away, it’s important to flip the eggplant now and then to make sure the slices fry up evenly.  The eggplant will get dark in color, but that’s okay.  The end result should be a dark brown, almost black in color.  My panko crisped up nicely, so I stopped when it was a deep golden color.  If you’re making this without it, remove the slices when they’re deep brown in color, and cooked through without being burned.

The finished fried eggplant

Once they are done, drain on a towel (we don’t use paper towels in our home, so any clean kitchen towel will do), and place in the fridge to chill.

After I got the eggplant done, I went on to make the rest of the meal.  Making the eggplant first was convenient, because I could use the leftover olive oil for the next dish.

Annalise’s Vegetable Curry Dish Thingy Recipe

This recipe is more something that I just do, rather than follow:

1. Saute onions, then when translucent, sautee minced garlic

2. Add one can of garbanzos (chickpeas).  If using prepared dry garbanzos, use about 1.5 cups worth.

3. Add one can diced tomatoes (or, if your tomatoes from the garden are ready, dice a few)

4.  Add cubed zucchini.  If you are like me, you likely have monster-sized zucchini to use:

One of my smaller zucchini to choose from

Then let it saute away, until the veggies are pretty much cooked through.  Add curry powder to taste.  I like to also add a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg to the curry, because they compliment one another well.  I also throw a touch of oregano in the mix, and whatever else feels especially tasty.

Then, top over prepared couscous and enjoy!

Completely tasty vegetarian meal, with fried eggplant

I love pita bread.  I especially love homemade pita bread.  It’s one of those breads that so many home bakers never think of taking on.  But it is one of the EASIEST breads to make.  It’s a quick mix and a quick bake, and the end result is a dozen or so pitas just waiting to be stuffed with yummy filling or dipped into hummus.

Pita!

Like a lot of my favorite recipes, this one is adapted from King Arthur Flour.  You’ll notice that one of the ingredients called for is their Easy Roll Dough Improver.  I have this ingredient, but it is optional. I’ve made the recipe with and without it.  When I don’t use it, I add about 1/4 tsp baking powder, to help the pitas puff.

Recipe:
3 cups All-Purpose Flour (King Arthur is the best, no, it really is!)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver (OPTIONAL) (or 1/4 tsp baking powder)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix and knead all of the ingredients. If kneading by hand, you’re looking at 10 minutes of kneading. But this dough isn’t stiff enough to make it a chore. I, for one, love to knead by hand.

Once it is all kneaded, place in an oil-rubbed bowl, cover, and allow it to rise about an hour. It’s not going to double like some bread recipes, but it will get a touch puffy.

After it has risen, dump the pita bread dough out onto an oil-glazed surface and divide into 8 -10 even pieces. Using my “how to roll perfect dough” technique, form each piece into a little sphere. Preheat your oven to 500 whopping degrees and move one of the oven racks to the lowest in the oven. Yes, this part is important.

Divide the dough into pieces

While the oven is preheating, roll out 2 -3 spheres of pita bread dough and place on a slightly greased cookie sheet. Cover the spheres not being rolled out.

Roll out the pita bread sphere

Let the dough rest about 10 – 15 minutes. Then, put on the lowest rack of the oven for five minutes. You’ll see the pita bread puff up. Then, move the cookie sheet to the middle oven rack for the last two minutes of baking.

Puff!

Remove from the oven, wrap in a soft, clean towel (to keep the pita soft) and enjoy!

Once baked, just cut and stuff, and enjoy!

Some tips:
Time the rolling out of the dough spheres so that you always have two more pieces heading into the oven when you take the baking ones out. It sounds complicated, but you do it once, and you’ll see what I mean.

If the pita bread recipe isn’t puffing up right away, the oven isn’t hot enough. Adjust accordingly, but don’t burn your pitas.

Anyone who has been paying the least bit of attention to this blog in the last week or so knows that I’ve been doing a lot of spring and Easter related baking.  I thought I would do a little roundup of the themed cupcakes, hopefully in time for you all to be inspired into making some of your own.

Unlike cupcake pops, which take a lot of time and effort, all of these ideas are easy to whip up in no time flat.  And, they’re great for kids (I’m looking at you Melissa!), too!

Scroll down for more ideas, and details about how to make them!

Little lamb cupcakes

These lambs are a lot of fun.  I made one dozen regular cupcakes and a dozen mini cupcakes.  Completely cool, then frost with a white frosting (I did one with buttercream and let’s say I won’t be going there again).

Place the mini cupcakes on top of the big cupcakes, making a nice little lamb head.  Use whole mini marshmallows to decorate the large cupcake.  Then, cut some in half for the head (use a scissors for the easiest way).  Stick the marshmallow halves into the frosting on the head.  Then, use little decors of choice to make a lamb face.

Voila!

Rabbit Cupcakes for Easter

These are probably my favorite of the bunch, if only because they use my leftover bunny ears from the cupcake pops.  To make these, start with a completely cooled cupcake.  Then, using a small star tip on a pastry bag (or whatever you prefer to simulate a pastry bag, like a plastic bag with a tip), pip small stars all over the top of the cupcake.

Then, insert the bunny ears (instructions here), and use whatever decors you desire for the adorable little face.  I tried a couple with licorice or Sour Patch straws whiskers, but they looked “too much” and I took them out.

Easter Basket Cupcakes

Everyone has seen the cute little Easter cupcakes that use coconut for grass and jellybeans for the eggs. But I wanted to do something different. I saw this somewhere (and forgive me for not remembering where), and decided to go about making my own little version.

I tinted some white frosting with food coloring (I used Wilton gel colorant, in Leaf Green) and frosted the cupcakes. Then, I poured some green sanding sugar in a bowl, and dipped the edge of the cupcakes into the sugar, creating the green sugar border.

Finally, I cut short lengths of those pull-apart Twizzlers (three wide) and stuck the ends into the frosting to create the handles and placed some jelly eggs on the top.

Bunny Cupcake Platter

Mini Banana Bread - Mmmmm!

I rarely get to make banana bread in my house because my husband likes his bananas when they’re still partially green.  He doesn’t like them too ripe.  In fact, he manages to eat most of them before a hint of brown is detected on the peel.  But every now and then I get lucky, and am able to make banana bread.

Now before I get to the recipe, I want to address something that many people do not realize about quick breads: they come across as easy, but they can be very hard to master.

Quick breads (zucchini bread, banana, etc.) are challenging because their tenderness, crumb, and taste all hinge on how they are mixed.  If you overmix the dough, the bread will become tough and dense.  If you don’t mix it enough, there will be a line where the fat in the recipe (oil, butter, etc.) has fallen to the bottom. I’ve seen both of these results more times than I can count, not to mention streaks of poorly incorporated dry ingredients throughout a loaf.

With that said, pay attention to those things when you mix this recipe up, and you’re sure to have a beautiful, tender, tasty end result.

Recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (light, if you have it)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (or more if you wish) ripe, mashed bananas
Nutmeg and Cinnamon and other spices you wish

Preheat the oven to 350.

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the brown sugar.
2. Add the beaten eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and mix until thoroughly incorporated.

Combining all the wet ingredients together

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda and salt, and add any spice you wish.
4. Slowly, add a little of the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, scraping down the sides as you go.
5. Once mixed, pour into one greased 9×5 loaf pan (or six mini loaves) and bake about 50 minutes for a full-sized loaf, or 45 for the minis. Or, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Bake those banana loaves!

A tender crumb without streaks or a line in the bottom of the loaf

Fabulous Bunny Cupcake Pops!

My previous post showed off the cutest little chicks in the form of cupcake pops.  While I was making those, I also wanted to make bunnies to go along with the whole Easter theme.  Bakerella, who has demonstrated her cupcake pops on Martha Stewart, had a version of bunnies on her site, but I was lacking access to a few of the same decorations.

Rather than get all “woe is me,” I decided to use some of the Wilton Candy Melts I had, and some of the little chocolate crunch sprinkles that came in the mix I used for the Chick Cupcake Pops.

To make the bunny version, follow the steps that I used for the Chick Cupcake Pops.  Instead of the yellow melts, I used the White Wilton candy melts, but before you go dipping the cake balls into the color, you need to make the bunny ears.  And it’s fun.

Candy melts are fun to work with because they’re easy.  I personally find that using a squeeze bottle is the best.  Squeeze bottles are not only easy to design and draw with (freehand or trace), but they are remarkably easy to clean if you know how (make sure to read through to the end to find out how!).

Create the bunny ear outline

1.  Cut a sheet of wax paper and place on a hard, flat surface.  Don’t try to skip the wax paper, it’s really the best for the job.

2. Follow the instructions for melting the candy melts.  I filled my squeeze bottle halfway, then microwaved it at 50% power until melted.  If you do this, make sure you stop every 30 seconds to “knead” the bottle.  And you MUST use a reduced power, or the bottle will melt and that’s just wrong.

3. Draw the ears.  As you can see, my ears look kinda like a heart.  If you aren’t comfortable “freestyling” it, print out a template from a word processing program, using their clip art.

4. Let the white outline dry, then prepare the pink candy melts the same way.

5. Fill in the outline.

Fill-in the Ears

6. Once hardened completely (about 10 minutes to be safe), lightly lift from the wax paper and they’re ready to use!

As you can see, I played around with a few shapes.  It was fun, because it gave the bunnies their own little bits of personality, if you can believe that.  The ones near the top in the center of the photo made the bunnies more cartoon-like.  The ones with the more leaf-like shape make the bunnies more carefree.  I made long-eared ones, and the heart-like ones.  They were just fun.  And this whole sheet of ears took only about 10 minutes to make!

Once the ears are done, go ahead and dip your cupcake pops into the melted candy.  Let it settle for about 30 seconds, then add the chocolate crunch eyes, and the pink crunch nose.  Lastly, stick the bunny ears into the cupcake ball.  I found it easier to get them to stay by lightly pushing it into the cake part, rather than trying to make them only connect with the melted coating.

To clean the squeeze bottles: Squeeze out all the leftover melted candy.  Then, place the bottle in the freezer.  Let it sit there for 15 minutes or so.  Then,  squeeze it.  All the candy will break into little, re-meltable shards.  Rinse with super hot water and let it dry completely before using again.

Anyone who enjoys reading baking blogs will know the this design is not my creation.  While there are a good many of us who wish these adorable cupcake pops were from our imaginations, these fine little creatures are from Bakerella.

Spring has just sprung and Easter is a short time away.  I am headed to a folk art-craft-food fair this weekend and I wanted to bring something I knew would do well there.  It’s my first time making an appearance at this show, and the crowd likes to buy up all things cute.  As you can see, these little chick Easter cupcake pops are pretty freakin’ adorable.  And stay tuned for the coordinating bunnies I made to go along with them!

Chirp!

The recipe for these is deceptively easy.  But that isn’t to say that this is one of those recipes you can whip up right before you head out the door to a party.  They do take some forethought and a touch of planning, but in the end, they’re worth it.

Recipe

1 box of your favorite cake mix, with ingredients to bake as directed
1 can of frosting (suitable to the cake mix)
Colored candy melts
Little decorations (see my notes for what I used and how)

You will also need: Lollipop sticks, a block of styrofoam, and decors.

1. Bake the cake as directed, then let it cool entirely. And I mean entirely, no cheating.
2. In a large bowl, crumble the cake apart without feelings of guilt. I used yellow cake for these cupcake pops.
3. Add almost an entire can (about 3/4 can) of frosting to the crumbled mix, and combine until thoroughly mixed.

4. Ignore the weird, almost gross texture as you mix. It doesn’t get any less weird as you go along. It will feel fairly wet and gooey, as it should.

5. Once combined, roll into small ball shapes and place on a cookie sheet. Wash your hands every so often, as it can otherwise hinder the ease of which the balls are made.
6. Put cookie sheet in the fridge for 15 minutes or so, then remove.
7. Melt candy melts that match the end result of the cupcake pop.
8. Dip one end of the lollipop stick into the melted candy coating, then insert into the pop, until the stick has been poked into about half the pop. Place back on the cookie sheet to harden some.
9. Repeat with the rest, re-melting candy as needed, then place the pops back into the fridge for a half hour.
10. Remove, and melt the candy coating again as needed.
11. Dip the full pop into the melted candy coating, allowing the excess to drip off back into the bowl.
12. Stick into a chunk of styrofoam, keeping the pop uprights. While still melted, insert the decors for the wings and the feet.

13. Repeat until finished.
14. When dry, dip a toothpick into some melted chocolate (like chocolate chips or chocolate bark), and make eyes.
15. Listen to everyone ooh and ahh over the cuteness of the cupcake pops.
16. Enjoy being the favorite aunt (or uncle) for a while. Not sure if this happens for everyone, but I anticipate it being so when Kennedy, Esther, and Jaxon get some of these in the mail.

NOTES:

• For this recipe, I used Wilton Yellow Candy melts.  These are often found at craft stores, like JoAnn Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, or Michael’s.  Estimate about one 14-ounce bag per cake, but have some extra on hand in case you’re a heavy dipper.
• I used candy coated chocolate crunch decor (also Wilton, as it was what was available to me) for the nose.  They are usually sold in a shaker jar with a rainbow of colors, so just pick the orange ones out ahead of time, so that it is easy to get them attached right away.
• The wings and feet are made of orange (and some yellow) little petal and star decors.  They can be found in most grocery stores.

TIPS:

I made a version of cake pops over a year ago that were not nearly this cute.  They require a bit of time and patience.  Don’t rush.  A pop or two may not make it out of the dipping process, but that’s normal and okay.

If you can’t find exactly the same things for decoration, don’t worry, and find what works for you.

Come back in a couple of days to see how to make the bunnies, too:

Crumb cake, which is not to be confused with good ole streusel-topped coffee cake, has been around for ages and ages.  In New York, it arrived in the late 1800s, when the German immigrants  started sharing their recipe for krummel kuchen. New York bakeries started making their own version, using a traditional yeasted Danish dough, but nowadays, you’re unlikely to find anything like the original.

The finished New York-style Crumb Cake!

Anyone who has been in a supermarket in the last 20 years has seen the Entenmann’s crumb cakes.  When people think of a traditional crumb cake, it’s the Entenmann’s preservative-laden, boxed up version that comes to mind.  But the crumb cake I am sharing with you today, is classy, preservative free, and perfect for many occasions.  Even better, it’s easy to make, and requires ingredients that most home bakers have on hand to begin with.

Beautifully balanced slice of crumb cake!

This recipe is not overly sweet, which makes it great for brunch or breakfast, especially if you pair it with some fresh fruit or berries. Though it has plenty of butter, it isn’t greasy or oily in the least.  It’s the perfect recipe! I highly recommend it with a tall glass of milk or steaming hot cup of tea (or coffee for those of you who go that way).

Recipe:
Fits a standard 9×9 square pan, or nicely in a 9-inch round cake pan. Double the recipe for a 13 x 9 pan.

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (yes, you need to use dark, and naturally, it should be packed)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (fresh ground is ideal, if you have it)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 whole stick of unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour (DO NOT use all-purpose flour, see my notes below!)*

Cake Batter

1 1/4 cups cake flour (DO NOT substitute flour, see my note below!)*
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, but not melted
1 large egg
1 yolk from a large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk or 1/3 cup plain yogurt (but the buttermilk is best!)

1. Make the topping first. Combine the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Then add the cake flour and stir until the dough is thick and cohesive. Set aside and let it cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. It should be about ready when you’re all set with the batter for the cake.

The "dough" for the crumb topping

2. Make the cake batter. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and make sure the rack is in the upper middle position. Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

3. This works best with a stand mixer, but a hand mixer is okay, too. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed until combined. Then, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture has a moist crumb appearance. There shouldn’t be any visible chunks of butter.

The flour and butter combined, without any chunks

4. Add the egg, the yolk, the vanilla, and the buttermilk and continue to beat at a medium-high speed until the batter is light and fluffy. It will have a beautiful pale yellow hue to it.

5. Pour into the cake pan, scraping out as much batter from the bowl as possible. Smooth into a nice, even layer.

The cake batter, evenly poured into the pan

6. Going back to the crumb topping, begin by breaking it up into pieces. It will be a little hard, but kind of like stiff, wet sand. Taking pea-size pieces, press together the topping, until the pieces are fairly uniform. No need for perfect spheres, but you want the crumb to look nice.

Shape the crumbs into pea-sized bits

7. Place the crumb over the top of the batter, covering as much of the batter as you can.

Place the crumb (don't push them!) on top of the batter

8. Bake until golden, about 35-40 minutes. A toothpick placed in the center should come out clean, demonstrating the cake has finished baking.

9. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before removing. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving. Reheat slightly if desired.

Notes

Cake flour is essential to produce the tender crumb in a traditional crumb cake. All-purpose flour will make the cake turn out too dry and tough. It will also make the crumb too dense, which will make it sink into the batter, which is not good! So yes, you HAVE to use cake flour for this recipe.

If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute 1/3 cup plain yogurt. However, do not try to use powdered buttermilk. It makes the batter too thin, causing the crumb topping to sink.

Amazing Deep Dish Pizza

Deep dish pizza, especially homemade deep dish pizza, is one of those things that literally oozes with satisfaction.  To me, the perfect deep dish pizza crust has a slightly crisp outside edge, but a gooey, chewy, tender all around crust.  I’ve tried about ten different deep dish pizza recipes in the last few years and none of them can top this one, which is adapted from Baking Illustrated (every home baker should own this book).

I’d like to preface this recipe by saying that it looks harder and more time consuming than it actually is.  Read through the whole thing before beginning.  Also, you can easily freeze this dough.  Like my Amish Dinner Rolls recipe, this dough calls for the use of a potato.  You can also use instant mashed potatoes if you wish.  Do not omit or try to substitute this ingredient.  It’s an essential part to this fabulous homemade deep dish pizza recipe.

Notes:

• If you do not have a food processor, no worries.  Just mix it all by hand and knead it up until the dough feels smooth and supple.
• Yes, it’s a lot of olive oil, but this helps the crust crisp up nicely and in the end, it’s just right.

Makes one 14-inch deep dish crust or two 9-inch crusts.  It’s also good in a 13×9 pan, as illustrated above.

Ingredients:

1 medium russet potato, about 9 ounces, peeled and quartered (or 1 and 1/3 cup instant potatoes, prepared)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for coating the bowl
Toppings as you wish

1. Bring 1 quart water and the potato to a boil.  Cook until tender.  Drain and cool until it can comfortably be handled.  Press through the fine disk on a potato ricer, or grate through the large holes on a box grater.  Measure 1 1/3 cups lightly packed potato and discard the rest.

2.  Adjust one oven rack to the highest position and the other to the lowest.  Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Once it reaches 200, maintain the heat for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat.

3. Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a food processor.  With the motor running, add water and process until until dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Add the potato and process for several seconds, then add 2 T. of the oil and process several more seconds, until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky. Transfer to a lightly oiled medium bowl, turn to coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the warmed oven until the dough is soft and spongy and about doubled in size, about 30-35 minutes.

Add Potatoes to the Dough

4. Oil the bottom of the 14-inch deep-dish pizza pan with remaining 4 Tbsp of oil.  Yes, it seems like a lot of oil, but the oil is what browns the crust while it’s baking in the oven. It’s VERY important. Do NOT sub spray if you want that nice, golden crust.  Remove th dough and gently punch down on a clean, dry work surface.  Pat into a 12-inch round and transfer to the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest about 10 minutes, until it no longer resists shaping.

Mmmm. Olive Oil.

5. Place a pizza stone or inverted rimless baking sheet in the oven on the lowest rack (do NOT use an insulated cookie sheet) and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Uncover the dough and pull it into the edges and up the sides of the pan to form a 1-inch lip. Cover again, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for about 30 minutes, until about doubled.  Uncover and pierce generously with a fork.

Getting the crust ready for baking

6. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake on the heated stone or inverted baking sheet until the crust is dry and lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

7. Now add your desired toppings and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Move the pizza to the top rack and bake until the cheese is golden brown in spots, about 5 minutes longer.

The crust, before topping

Valentine’s Day always provides a good excuse for baking.  So this year, I made  a bunch of sugar cookies.  I’ll be the first to admit that sugar cookies are not my forte.  They have either been too thin, too dense, too flavorless, or the icing is just not right.  So this time, I set out on a mission to find the perfect sugar cookies recipe and the perfect icing with which to top it.

Recipe:

In large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  In separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Then, add the dry ingredients a little bit at a time until the dough has formed.

Chill the dough at least an hour, or overnight.  Personally, I find that the longer it is chilled, the better the flavor.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Layout parchment paper, and dust lightly with powdered (confectioners’) sugar.  Roll out the dough on top of the parchment.

Then, using your heart-shaped cookie cutter (or whatever cookie cutter you desire), cut out cookies.  Then casually pull the scrap dough away from the cut-outs.  This part is easy when you roll it out on the parchment.  Not only do you avoid the edges of the cookies getting all wonky when you transfer them to the pan, you have a great non-stick surface without any extra oils.

Cut out the cookies right on the parchment

Bake for about 6 – 8 minutes, then let the cookies cool completely before you even attempt to frost them.

Icing:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 4-6 teaspoons milk
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• assorted food coloring

>Combine everything and mix until the icing is shiny and glossy.  Then divide into different bowls and color (I prefer paste colors or gel colors to liquid food coloring) as you desire.

Mix up the icing

To make a nicely decorated cookie, begin by tracing the outside of the cookie, creating a sort of “dam” along the edge.

Start on the edge, then fill in

Then, fill in the rest of the cookie with some icing.  Spread it around, closing in the gaps with a toothpick.

Filled-in cookie

Ready to go!

Pot Roast in the Oven

My husband and I have been eating a lot less meat recently.  It’s part of our overall goal to become healthier, and live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.  But, we still have those cravings ever now and again.  For me, a big winter craving is my easy pot roast recipe.

This pot roast is so simple that you’ll wonder why you never made it before.  We personally prefer grass-fed beef, for its exceptional flavor, overall health benefits, and the support of our local farming community.  This recipe is also exceptional with bison or buffalo meat, because it tenderizes the meat so nicely.

Ingredients

• One nicely sized hunk of chuck roast, which is great for pot roast
• Vegetables – carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, potatoes, etc.
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Water or beef stock

1.  In a large Dutch oven on the top of the stove, add several Tablespoons of olive oil, and heat. Preheat the oven to a low 250 degrees.

2. Place the roast on the heating oil, and sear each side for about five minutes a piece.

Sear the Roast

3. Then remove the roast and set it to the side.  Add a little extra oil and sautee the onions.  I like to use about 2 small-to-medium onions in my easy pot roast recipe.  Use more for a larger roast, and less for a smaller roast.

Sautee the Onions

4. Once the onions are soft and translucent, put the pot roast back into the Dutch oven, and fill it with water or beef stock until the liquid comes up to half the side of the meat.

5.  Add the seasonings, like salt and pepper, rosemary, thyme, anything you want.

Preparing the Pot Roast for the Oven

6.  Place the lid on the Dutch oven and put it in the oven.

7. Every half an hour, using tongs, flip the meat over.

8. About three or four hours into cooking, add the vegetables that you would like.

Add the Vegetables

9. Continue flipping the meat every half and hour, until the meat is falling completely apart and the vegetables are tender.

10. Serve immediately, and enjoy completely.

Pot Roast in the Oven

Quizno's Flat Bread Copycat Recipe

One of my favorite breads to have around the house is this Quizno’s flat bread copycat recipe.  If you’ve ever had a Quizno’s “Sammy” and loved the bread, then this is the recipe you’ll want to make at home.

Not only is this recipe remarkably easy to make, it’s flavorful and good for so much more than sandwiches.  It’s a little too thick to make wraps out of it, but I love this flat bread when its slathered with a good hummus, some fresh veggie strips, and a little balsamic glaze.

This flat bread recipe is also made on the the stove, not in an oven.  Kids will have a good time with it, especially because it’s a little different.

My husband regularly requests my Quizno’s copycat recipe, and I am always happy to oblige.  I typically get 12 pieces of this flat bread from one recipe, though sometimes a few more.  I don’t worry about making each piece perfectly round and pretty.  They get eaten far too fast for that.

Quizno’s Style Flat Bread Recipe Copycat

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup warm (not hot) water
• 2 tsp instant yeast (or one envelope active dry yeast)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Scald the milk.  Be careful not to burn the milk.
2. In a large bowl,  place the butter, honey, and salt.  Pour the scalded milk into the bowl and stir until the butter has melted.
3. While the mixture is cooling, combine the sugar, yeast and water in a separate, small bowl.  Cover, and allow the yeast to get bubbly.
   

   I would say this yeast is quite active!

4. While the yeast is getting bubbly, add 1 1/2 cup of the flour to the milk mixture.  Add the egg, then stir well.
5. Add the yeast mixture and the rest of the flout, and mix until the dough is sticky.
6. Knead the dough until it is soft and supple, about 6 minutes.  The dough will still feel sticky, because of the honey, but resist the urge to add more flour.
7. Put the dough back into the large bowl (oil the bowl beforehand for easier handling later on), and allow the bread to double in size, about one hour.
8. Dump the dough out onto the counter and divide into equal pieces.  Most likely about 12 – 16 pieces.  Cover them, and let the rest for 15 minutes.
9. Roll the dough into individual dough balls.  I highly recommend using the same technique as seen in my video about shaping dinner rolls.
   

   Quizno's Style Flat Bread All Rolled Up!

10. Roll each piece out into a round about 8-10″ and about 1/8″ thick.  Use your judgment.
    

    The Flat Bread Rolled Out

11. In a large skillet (NOT greased!!!) cook one piece of bread at a time over low-to-medium low heat.  It takes about 15-25 seconds per side.
    

    Quizn's Copycat Bread Recipe Cooking

12. Transfer to a cooling rack, then to a pile on a plate.

Anyone who regularly reads food blogs has heard of Pioneer Woman.  She’s been in the food blog scene for a long time and she has wrangled herself plenty of fans.  As I have been on a mission to find the most perfect cinnamon roll recipe, I thought I would try the one that fans of Pioneer Woman have stood by so steadfastly.

I am still on the mission for the perfect cinnamon roll.

Don’t get me wrong, these are very good.  There were elements to the recipe that I enjoyed, but overall, I think this is just another over-hyped recipe that is not bad, but not worthy of the big O.

And as a warning, this recipe is ridiculously huge.  Half it if you want a normal-sized batch that can be eaten within a week.  My half yielded two 9-inch pans full.

The following recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman:

• 4 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tsp instant yeast
• 9 cups of flour (1 cup separated)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1.5 sticks of butter (at least, to your taste)
• Cinnamon

1. Mix milk, oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan.  Scald the mixture and let it cool to a lukewarm temperature, around 105 degrees.
2. Then, add the yeast, stir, and let it sit for about ten minutes.
3. In the largest bowl known to man, measure and dump into it the 8 cups of flour.  Then, add the milk mixture and stir.
4. Add the 8 cups of flour.  Go ahead and stir a little to get the dough moistened, but don’t try to stir this completely.  If you have a mixer, use your dough hook.  If not, I recommend turning the dough out onto a countertop and kneading it all together.  It’s SO much dough, that working the dough by hand is strongly recommended.
5. Once the dough is combined, place in a large bowl, plastic bucket, or proofing container, and let the dough rise for about an hour.

1. Turn the dough out, and add the baking soda, salt, and extra flour.  I didn’t need the extra cup of flour because its winter, my kitchen was dry, and adding it would have made the dough ridiculously tough.  Only add the flour if your dough feels wet and is sticking all over the place.
2. Let the dough rest, covered, 20 minutes.  Resting the dough makes it SO MUCH EASIER to roll out.
3. Divide the dough in half,  letting one half sit covered.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll the other half into a large rectangle, or something resembling a rectangle shape.

1. Drizzle with about 1/2 cup of melted butter.  Brush it all over the surface with a pastry brush if needed.
2. Sprinkle with a generous amount of white sugar, followed by a generous amount of cinnamon.
3. Then, begin the rolling.  You want it to roll up in a log the long way, not the short way.  Roll the dough tightly, so that it tends to stick together, forming a nice roll.
4. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
5. Slice the rolls.  I highly recommend that you see my video on the easiest way in the world to cut cinnamon rolls.

1. Place the rolls in greased pans and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the frosting.  This was actually my favorite part of the recipe, mostly because I’ve never tried a maple frosting with cinnamon rolls.  It’s a tasty option and I will certainly try this again.

• 1 bag powdered sugar (use your judgment on this one, but you need a lot, and one bag is two pounds)
• 2 -3 tsp of maple flavoring
• 1/2 milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee (cold)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional – I preferred this frosting when I added this of my own volition)

Mix it all thoroughly in a mixer.  It should be a thick consistency, almost like syrup, but heavier.  You want to be able to just pour it out of the mixing bowl, and it should be free of lumps.

Pour the frosting over the rolls immediately after you remove them from the oven.

Enjoy!

I made this dish for Thanksgiving, as I already had made a smorgasboard of food.  This year, instead of making my mashed sweet potatoes, I wanted to do something a little more colorful.  Taking a break from my usual recipe, I nabbed this inspiration from the November 2009 Food and Wine magazine.

Making this recipe is simple, but the results are quite delicious.  It’s autmnal, seasonal cooking at its simplest and best.  Here is how I did it:

1. Gathered, washed, and prepped veggies as need:  parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, butternut squash, and celery
2. Assembled them in a large Dutch oven.
3. Drizzled with about 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4. Tossed with fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme, with a little salt and pepper to taste
5. Roasted at 350, with the cover on, for about 60 minutes, until everything was tender, but not squishy.

They were a huge hit at my holiday dinner table.  One of the nice things about this melange of veggies is that you can easily use any leftovers for another dish, like a winter vegetable soup or a pot pie with leftover turkey.

We have a giant pear tree, and awhile back, I posted one pear tart recipe, which was really, really tasty.  But for Thanksgiving, I wanted to do something a little different, since I already had made a pecan pie, and the previous tart had more of a “pie” type crust.

Homemade Pear Tart - II

Instead of using a traditional crust, I made this with the same patisserie dough that was featured in my homemade croissants (a/k/a the most delicious things known to man).   To make this recipe, you’ll want to start the process of making the same dough as the croissants.  Make that recipe all the way up to the point where you roll out the dough into a rectangle and are about to start cutting the dough for shaping.

Then:

1. Trim the four sides of the dough with a pizza or pastry wheel to even out the sides and make them straight.
2. Trim two strips of identical widths from both sides of the long end of the tart dough and two from the short end of the tart dough.  Set aside.
3. Repeat.  So that you have four long strips and four short strips in total.
4. Then, stack them on top of their corresponding sides in the dough, as illustrated below.  No need to use egg wash to keep the pieces together.  Just press a little and you’ll be fine.

Stack the strips along the sides to create a slightly raised edge

As you can see, I just placed it on some parchment and a cookie sheet, and it was ready for the pears!

Then, using the recipe for my previous pear tart, fill the inside with your sliced pears and seasonings.

Fill the center of the pear tart

Bake at 350 about 15-20 minutes or until golden and the pears are soft, but firm, not mushy.

Enjoy the pear goodness!

One of my favorite food blogs to read is The Cast Iron Darling.   So when one her recent posts linked to a recipe for one of my utmost weaknesses, dinner rolls, I was intrigued.  I *love* good dinner rolls.  In fact, my very first post here at Knead To Be Loaved was a dinner roll recipe that simply cannot be beat.

One of the major complaints that people have about making bread from scratch is that they think it takes a lot of time.  And in some cases, it does.  But what they forget is that “so much time” does not immediately translate to “so much effort.”  Much of the time spent in making homemade bread is waiting for the bread to rise.

Today, however, people do not want to wait for anything.  As a staunch supporter of always going the speed limit, people pass by me all of the time (only to end up stopped at a light when I catch up).  So I can see the allure of a 60-minute dinner roll.

I am posting the adapted recipe here with hesitation.  I like to post recipe successes, and while this one was a success, it isn’t a recipe that I would make again, except in truly extenuating circumstances.

See, one of the reasons good bread has to rise multiple times is to develop flavor.   As the yeast multiplies, and dies off, there is a whole world of amazing flavor being developed.  To cut that process short is to me, a die-hard fan of naturally flavored bread, almost criminal.  Instead of allowing the flavor to develop on its own, this recipe uses a ridiculous amount of yeast.  This forces the bread to rise fast, but in the end, the flavor falls flat.  It just doesn’t have that tender, yeasty, complex flavor that a dinner roll should.  It didn’t melt in my mouth, or elicit any sort of comfort from eating for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, this recipe is not so bad that it is inedible.  But after making and experiencing the feedback from the Amish dinner rolls I usually make, any dinner roll recipe I try has a pretty high mark to meet. In the end, this recipe for 60-minute dinner rolls is easy and will make dinner rolls in an hour or less.  But if the time is the priority over flavor, save yourself the headache and just buy a roll of Pillsbury rolls in the refrigerator section of your store.

As for me, I plan to use these to accompany soup or warm them and have them with jam in the morning. The below recipe was used exactly as adapted at Erin Cooks.  I tried out my jumbo muffin pan and made four-leaf clover rolls out of half, just for kicks.  The others, I rolled up and baked in a 9×13 pan.

Check out my video to learn how to easily shape and roll dozens of dinner rolls in under 5 minutes!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
6 and 3/4 tsp. instant yeast (told you, it’s ridiculous!)
1 1/2 cups warm water
5 – 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also work), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan. (Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

As a child, I never enjoyed pecan pie.  It was full of nuts and that, to my child brain, meant it was somehow healthy.  Little did I know that pecan pie is sweet, salty, syrupy, and oh-so-delish.  So when I got older, I started to enjoy pecan pie.  But not all of the time.

I’ve had pecan pie that is sensational.  But not as often as I’ve had pecan pie that is lacking in flavor, goopy, too sweet for its own good, or paired with a soggy, lackluster crust.   So it has always been my mission to find a perfect homemade pecan pie recipe.

Yesterday, I did.  It’s the perfect pie recipe for Thanksgiving, or, in my case, for my father-in-law’s birthday, as was the case yesterday.

This recipe is adapted from Baking Illustrated: The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker.  If you’re a home baker who doesn’t have this book, then you need to have it.

Perfect Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
A favorite pie crust recipe
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup packed dark brown sugar (light is okay, but dark will provide a better taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, beaten and set aside
3/4 cup light corn syrup (dark will work, but light is better in this case)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups of pecans, toasted and chopped into irregular pieces

Directions:

1.  Pre-bake your pie crust.  Make sure you use pie weights or line the unbaked crust with foil and fill with dry beans.  It will otherwise shrink, and no one likes a shrunken crust!  Bake it only until golden, being carefully to not baked too much.

After shaping the crust, it's time to blind bake it!

1a.  Reset your oven temp to 275 degrees.  Yes, 275.

2.  While your pie crust is baking up, start the filling.  The method in the book calls for a double boiler sort of setup.  But instead, in a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.

3. Stir in the brown sugar and the salt until the butter is absorbed.

4. Add the beaten eggs, the corn syrup and the vanilla.  Stir until well blended, and heat until the mixture is shiny and hot to the touch, about 130 degrees.  It will be a beautiful caramel color.

5. Once the mixture is hot and read, stir in the pecans.

6. Pour into the pie shell and back in the middle rack until the pie looks set and soft, like Jello, when gently pressed with the back of a spoon.  It will take about 50-60 minutes of baking time.

7.  Allow to cool on a rack.  Best to cool completely (4-5 hours) before slicing.

The finished pie (with bad lighting, sorry!)

I’ve been trapped up in the house since Thursday with the flu (ugh, I know), and since I don’t quite have the energy to get into the kitchen and bake, I thought I would blog about a great pear recipe that I made for dessert last weekend.

One of the best things about my yard is the remarkable amount of produce we get from our trees.  With two large apple trees and one pear tree, we get more than our fare share of pomes.  But the pears are always what I look forward to most.

Unsure of the variety, they are firm and almost apple-like in texture, even when allowed to ripen to the fullest.  They never get terribly soft and juicy, like I prefer my pears.  But, they’re great for baking, adding to salads, and on their own, they are fairly delicious, too.

My sister-in-law, niece, and mother-in-law were all coming to dinner on Sunday night, and as usual, our pear tree had provided us with quite the number of pears.   I’m talking BUCKETS and BUCKETS of pears.  So I decided to make a pear tart.

Mmmmm - Pears!

Ingredients:

One pie crust (if you’re not in the mood to make it yourself, which I prefer, a store-bought crust will do)
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2-3 large pears, peeled with ends trimmed
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 Tablespoons butter
Nutmeg
Cinnamon

1. Make the crust.  Or, if buying it, roll it out so that it fits your tart pan.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Spray your tart pan with non-stick spray, and then press the crust into the pan until it fits nicely.
4. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese onto the crust, lightly pressing it in place.
5. Sprinkle a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg over the cheese.
6. Slice the pears lengthwise into quite thin pieces, then lay them out, slightly overlapping, from one end of the tart to the other.  Make several rows as needed. Pour lemon juice over the top.
7. Melt 3 T of butter in the microwave. Pour about 1 T. over the pears and pour the rest over the brown sugar, and stir.  Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.
8. Sprinkle part of the brown sugar over the pears, about half the mixture.  Make sure it is not too thick in any one place.
9. Cube 1.5 T of the remaining butter into small pieces, and place evenly over the tart.
10. Bake for 10 minutes.
11. Remove tart from oven, and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar evenly.  Cube the remaining butter, and place over the top of the pears.
12. Sprinkle with a touch more cinnamon and sugar.
13. Bake an additional 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the pears are soft.

Completed Pear Tart

I love to use a touch of cheddar cheese whenever I bake a crust that is meant for pears or apples.  The flavor isn’t strong at all, but it perfectly compliments the texture and the flavor of fruits in the pome family.  In fact, my mother-in-law was surprised to even know that it was in the recipe.

I also made fresh whipped cream to serve with this.  It’s not only a nice garnish, but anytime you can fresh whipped cream with something, you should.  The tart was really just an excuse for me to have my way with a little whipped cream.  And besides, leftover cream is great with hot chocolate!

Pear Tart Ready to Eat, with Fresh Whipped Cream

Inspired by two upcoming events — Halloween and my nephew’s first birthday — I decided to try my hand at making some of the animal cupcakes in the adorable book, Hello, Cupcake! I decided to choose a recipe and decorating scheme that seemed only moderately labor intensive, but still fun.

Decorating cupcakes, for me, is something outside of my normal skill set.  I can bake just about any yeast bread known to man, but put some frosting in my hands and I kind of freak out.  So this exercise, is definitely a challenge for me.

I adapted the recipe here slightly.  I found a couple of steps from the book to not be beneficial for me.  I also changed up the candies in the ingredient list, simply because I couldn’t find their recommendation.  I think such experimentation is in the spirit of the book.

Isn't this a cute halloween cupcake?

One of the nice things about the recipes in Hello, Cupcake! is that they use box cake mixes, but change it up a bit to make a sturdier cupcake.  I personally love this idea, because it’s less work, but the buttermilk enhances the flavor of the cake mix nicely.  They taste less like they came from a box.

As always with my recipes, I am writing out my adaptation from the recipe I used.  It varies slightly from what you’d find in the book itself.

Cupcake Recipe Ingredients:

1 box devil’s food chocolate cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
The amount of oil called for by the cake box (mine called for 1/2 cup)

In medium mixing bowl, combine cake mix, buttermilk, and oil. Then add eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined. Preheat oven to 350. Fill cupcake liners.

As a side note, I like to fill a pastry bag with the cake mix and pipe it into the cupcake liners. I find that I can control the portions better, and that they bake up with an even, consistent top of the cupcake. It’s nice and flat with a slight dome.

For the Cupcake Decorations:

1 bag of Oreos
1 small box of Junior Mints
1 box of Starbursts
1 recipe of chocolate frosting (link goes to my preferred recipe)

While the cupcakes bake, separate the Oreos so that you have two sides with cream for each cupcake baked, and one cream-free side for each cupcake. I found that removing the specks as described in the book wasn’t effective for me, so I just used a knife and spread the cream filling of the Oreo around to make it look a little more homemade.   Also, if you can’t twist off all the frosting, you can just use a butter knife to scrape it off the cookie and then blend it onto the half with the cream.  I actually prefer my results to the polished and perfect results in the book.

Twist the Oreos apart to create the "eyes" of the cupcakes, then spread the cream filling around

Also, the book recommends microwaving a few cookies to make it easier to leave the cream only on one side. I tried this, and didn’t find it any easier for me. Then again, I like to eat my Oreo cookies all separate, so I’ve had years of practice.

It took me about 15-20 minutes to do all of the Oreo eyes, which is about how long it took for me to bake the cupcakes.  I always use my convection setting, so my time is a little reduced.

While the cupcakes cook, you can assemble the eyes, and prep the beaks.  To assemble the eyes, just take a little bit of frosting (in my case, I used a little vanilla from a can that I had leftover from another project), and put it on the bottom of a Junior Mint.  Then, press the mint onto the cream-filled side of each Oreo cookie.  Set aside.

Making the eyes for our owl halloween cupcakes

Before I frost the cupcakes, I like to make sure that all of them are cool.  So this would be a good time to go ahead and make your chocolate frosting.  It is perfectly acceptable to use frosting from a can.  I prefer the taste of homemade frosting, and for me, the little bit of extra work is worth it.  But in a pinch, or if you prefer canned frosting, any chocolate flavor will do.

Go ahead and frost the cupcakes with the chocolate frosting, then begin prepping the owl ears with the cream-free parts of the Oreo cookies.

To do this, you’ll need a serrated knife and a cutting board.  Simply place the cookie half on the cutting board, and saw the cookie in half.  Don’t try just pressing down to slice the cookie.  It’s too firm and will just crack into pieces.  Repeat this until you have two halves for each cupcake.

Making the "ears" of our owl cupcakes

This is also a good time to unwrap the yellow and/or orange Starburst candies and cut out little triangular wedges to make the beaks.  The book recommends using the bananas from Runts, which I would have done had I been able to find them in my local store.  Since they were not available, I found an alternative.  I also think that candy corns would make cute little beaks, too.

Now begins the fun.  Using just another small bit of frosting, press the ears into the cupcake.  The round edges of the cookies should be on the inside, toward the center, of the cupcake.

Press the owl ears into the top center of the cupcake

Then, place a little frosting on the back of the owl eyes that you created earlier.  Press them into the cupcake, overlapping the ears slightly.  For fun, you can choose to place them in different ways, to give each owl a little bit of individual personality.  Then push in a piece of beak.

Press the eyes and the nose into the cupcake

The final step is to frost the owl ears with chocolate frosting.  While Hello, Cupcake! has instructions for making it more like feathers and fur, I didn’t really want to mess with that this time.  So I chose to use a small star tip and just cover them that way.  It still gets the job done and the result is fairly cute, indeed.

Your owl Halloween cupcakes are ready!

Everyone should have a go-to easy chocolate frosting recipe.  This is a recipe that I’ve used as an all-purpose recipe for years.  Unlike canned frosting, it has a rich, buttery taste and it dries down to a more solid finish.  That makes it nice for decorating, too.

Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1 stick of butter, cubed
2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or you could use milk if you really wanted to)
1/2 cup plus 1 T. unsweetened cocoa
1 pound confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
Enough milk for consistency (about 1/2 cup)
Vanilla to taste (1-2 tsp).

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate chips, taking care to make sure it does not scorch. Add the cocoa and stir until smooth. Transfer to a medium-to-large mixing bowl and beat. Add the powdered sugar and the milk, alternating as you go, but beating continuously. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl, if needed. Add the vanilla, and continue to beat until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Homemade Twix Bars – Chocolate and Caramel and Yum – Oh My!

I’ve been a very busy woman over the last few months.  I worked in a happenin’ little restaurant through Labor Day weekend, and I started a new job in the beginning of August.  Combined, I was on duty seven days a week, and that meant my baking time suffered.

I have a lot to post, but I’ll spread it out.  This summer, I entered only five things in our county fair.  I am terribly pleased to report that I not only placed in all of them, I won every category but one.  I thought I won them all, but I must have misheard (not an impossible thing for the hearing impaired such as myself.)  Making matters even more exciting is that I took home another “Grand Champion” ribbon in the Yeast Breads category.

To win the Grand Champion award, I not only had to place first in one of the yeast bread categories, I had to be considered the best of show for yeast breads against all of the other yeast bread category winners.  I knew I stood a solid chance, because I had placed first in several yeast bread categories.

In the end, my braided bread entry took home top honors.  I made a six-stranded braided sweet bread filled with raspberry filling and topped with my version of the icing that comes on Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.  It pretty much rocked, and because it came out so perfectly, I knew it was a solid, special entry.  But I will post more about that when post my award-winning bread recipe, complete with photos and a braiding tutorial.

Today’s comeback entry, however, is a recipe I have wanted to try for the last few months.  I first learned about the recipe at a food blog I enjoy, Cooking Books.  It’s a great blog to read and feel inspired by.  Then, the recipe started appearing in some of the baking forums to which I subscribe, which made it even more intriguing.

The recipe is for Sherry Yard’s Homemade Twix Bars.  I love Twix Bars.  They’re one of my favorite candy bars, though I am still a little bitter that they no longer make the specialty flavors I recall from childhood summers.  Specifically, the Cookies and Cream Twix Bars.  Remember those?

The recipe is very easy to make, and while to does take some time, it’s mostly waiting time.   And the thing that bakers often forget is that “waiting” is part of the ingredients list.  In some recipes, waiting is just as important as accurately measuring ingredients.

So, as you read this recipe, remember that you should begin this recipe when you have the right amount of time to wait.  Without it, you’ll end up wasting ingredients and you’ll end up with a sub-par end result.

To make it easy, I am listing the recipe in the three sections: the shortbread crust, the caramel middle layer, and the top chocolate layer.

I’d also like to insert a note: In the caramel part of the recipe, it calls for golden syrup.  While it can be found in the United States, those of us who live away from bigger cities may have a hard time finding it.  It can be ordered online, or you can use a substitution of your choice.   I chose to use a syrup that is part corn syrup and part cane syrup, called Alaga Syrup.  I chose to use that product because the golden syrup the recipe calls for come from cane.  I thought it would give an approximate taste.  Alaga syrup isn’t nearly as sweet to me as straight up corn syrup, and while that made me nervous in the start, I really think it was the right decision in the end.  It has a great caramel flavor, without being so sweet that your teeth hurt.

This recipe is by Sherry Yard and can be found in Desserts By the Yard.

Homemade Twix Bars

Shortbread Crust:
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter (5 1/2 ounces), softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons ground rice

With a rack in the lowest portion of the oven, preheat to 350.  Spray a 9×13″ baking pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, then spray the paper.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  It should be fluffy.

Properly Creamed Butter and Sugar

Gradually add in the flour and the rice until the dough comes together.
Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes.  Rotate the pan and continue to bake for another 8 minutes.  The shortbread should be a deep golden brown.  Cool on a rack to room temperature, still in the pan.

Layer One - The Shortbread Crust - Baked and Cooled

Note: To make the ground rice, just use a coffee bean grinder or your food processor. Measure the rice grains whole, then grind.  This product is NOT the same as rice flour, so do not try to use that as a substitution.   I just cave my husband’s grinder a good wipe and clean before grinding.  Even if you don’t get all the coffee out, that’s okay.  A tiny bit of coffee is almost undetectable, but it enhances the chocolate in the end.

Do not start the caramel until the shortbread has been cooling  for at least 20 minutes.

Caramel
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk

In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, syrup, water and lemon juice.  Wet the sides of the pan with a little water if any of the ingredients have crept up.  Cover the saucepan and cook it over medium heat for 4 minutes.

Remove the lid, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Do not stir.  The mixture will bubble, and if sugar appears on the sides of the pan, brush them back down with a wet pastry brush.  The bubbles will continue to get larger.

In the meantime, bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan.   Remove from the heat and set aside.

Return to the sugar mixture, which will turn golden brown after 5 or 6 minutes.  With a candy thermometer, make sure the mixture has reached 300, then remove the pan from the heat and let it rest for 1 minutes, until the bubbles subside.

Whisk in the heavy cream off the heat and whisk in the condensed milk.  Continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth.

Return the saucepan to medium heat and stir constantly until the caramel reaches 240.  Pour over the shortbread and allow to set.

Layer Two - Caramel - Poured Over The Shortbread Crust

Note: The caramel really take some time to set.  I let mine cool for about 45-50 minutes, and could have and should have waited at least another 20 minutes.  It was set up nicely, in that it wasn’t super fluid, but the additional twenty minutes would have made the last step a little easier.

Chocolate:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
In a double boiler or in the microwave set on half strength, melt the chocolate and butter.  Stir until smooth.  Pour evenly over the caramel and let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until set.

Note: For a 9 x 13 pan, I felt that this wasn’t quite enough chocolate to do the job.  This will provide a very thin layer on the top.  Next time I make these, I’ll add another 3 ounces of chocolate and 1 more T. of butter.  It will just make them more balanced, I think.

The restaurant where I work is known for providing the area with a generous lox platter unlike anything else to be found for miles.  It’s one of our most popular dishes, selling like mad every weekend.

I am the resident baker (surprise, surprise) and when I saw the bagels and lox cupcakes in the wonderful book, Hello, Cupcake!, you could say I was a little more than inspired.

The owner of the restaurant, a woman who I simply cannot describe in mere words (who is also my biggest fan, I daresay), was born and raised in Brooklyn and loves, loves, LOVES her Jewish cuisine.  Especially her lox.

So, this weekend, I am surprising her by bringing a dozen “bagels and lox cupcakes” to the restaurant.  She has no idea what the special cupcake will be this weekend, but I have a feeling she’ll be thrilled.

Though the recipe in the book is slightly different (it recommends lemon poppy seed, of which I am not a fan), here’s what I did.  I highly recommend the book for inspiration and fun.  As a bread baker, I often need to be inspired to move beyond my beloved gluten.  This book definitely does that.

Recipe: (yields 24)

• One box yellow cake mix (without pudding in the mix!)
• 1 cup buttermilk (to replace the water on the box instructions)
• 4 eggs (more than what the box says)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

For the decoration:

• One strand of green Twizzlers (from the rainbow licorice pack), with little slices cut at an angle
• One orange Starburst Fruit Chew for each cupcake
• One mini-donut for each cupcake (plain cake is best, or the crumb will work for an “everything bagel”)
• 2 T. light corn syrup
• 2 T. poppy seeds
• One 16-ounce can of cream cheese frosting at room temperature

In large mixer bowl,  combine all of the ingredients, mixing on low for about 30 seconds.  Then mix on high for another two minutes, until the batter is thick.

Fill the paper cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full.  Bake on convection at 325 degrees (350 without convection) for about 10-15 minutes until golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool completely.  I like to leave them in the tin for five minutes to let everything settle, then I remove them and cool them on a cooling rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling, assemble the bagels and lox decorations.

1. Slice the mini-donuts in half
2. Spread the bottom of the “bagel” with white cream cheese frosting, set aside.
3. Microwave corn syrup for 15 seconds.  Dip a finger in the syrup and lightly coat the tops of each of the “bagels.”

The "bagel tops" garnished with poppy seeds

It really looks like a bagel, eh?

1. Sprinkle poppy seeds on the tops of the “bagels.”
2. Microwave a few Starbursts for about 4 seconds.
3. With a rolling pin, roll them into a flat shape, resembling lox, and score a few times with a knife, to look like lox scales.
4. Bend/fold the “lox” to look like, well, lox, then place on the lower half of the “bagel.”

Assembled Bagel and Lox waiting for a cupcake

When the cupcakes are cool enough to frost, do so.  Then, place the bottom half of the mini-donut bagel in the center of the cupcake.  Place the top half tilted on the top of the cupcake.  Sprinkle with the cut up green Twizzlers (these are scallions!) and set aside.

You’re finished!!!

Completed Bagel and Lox Cupcake

So, have you made anything from Hello, Cupcake!?  If so, please link to it in this post, and stay tuned as I make my way through more of these inspiring cupcake creations.

While there are many reasons your bread dough won’t rise, I’m breaking them out into little posts all on their own.   Figuring out why bread doesn’t want to rise is like sorting out a complicated puzzle sometimes, so I figure a few tips to get you started might be in order.

For this first possibility, I am going to suggest a problem with the yeast – old or bad yeast.

I am not a big fan of active dry yeast, if only because I know it sits on the shelves of grocery stores, often for quite some time.  Yeast is a living organism and its life is fairly limited. So, if you’re using active dry yeast, one of the first stops is making sure the little imprinted expiration date is in order.

To be clear, any yeast can expire so it’s important to check the date on all yeast.  I have just noticed that whenever I see expired yeast as an issue, it’s usually grocery store active dry yeast.

If you want to make sure your yeast is in order before you dive into a weekend of bread making, I highly suggest activating the yeast first.  It’s easy to do, regardless of what kind of yeast you’re using, and it can sometimes save you from going through all the work of measuring and kneading, only to find a lumpy, dense loaf that refuses to ride.

Simply dissolve the yeast in warm (not too hot and not too cold) water, add a pinch of sugar, cover and let it sit in a warm spot for about ten minutes.  It should be bubbly, like the photo in this post.  In fact, a really active batch will have a sort of “head” on the top of the water, almost as if you poured a nice cold beer.

If the yeast is active, you’re one step closer to a nice rising loaf of bread.

One night before bed, I was paging through a borrowed copy of Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook when I stumbled upon a gorgeous loaf of what appeared to be a chocolate lover’s wonderland:  Chocolate Babka. My husband, seeing my wide eyes and the drool rolling down my chin, declared that it looked like something right up my alley – yeast bread, chocolate, rolled, twisted and in a loaf pan.

I’ve never had babka before, so making it was entirely new to me.  I live in a rural enough area that I have to drive 45 minutes to dine on anything that resembles Indian food, so you can only imagine that we don’t have any spectacular Jewish delis anyplace near.

Babka’s origins come from Eastern Europe, in countries like Poland and Belarus, and it is a popular sweet bread, especially at various holidays throughout the year.

The Recipe: (makes three loaves!)

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm milk (about 110 degrees)
• 2 envelopes active dry yeast (I used 4 1/2 tsp instant)
• 1 and 3/4 cups, plus a pinch, of sugar
• 3 whole egg, plus two yolks at room temperature
• 6 cups AP Flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 and 1/2 sticks butter at room temp
• 2 pounds semi-sweet chocolate, very finely chopped
• 1 T. plus 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used only 1 T.)
• 1 T.  heavy cream (2% or whole milk will suffice, also)
• Streusel Topping

Streusel Topping Recipe:

• 1 and 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 and 1/3 cups AP flour
• 1 and 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature

In a small bowl,sprinkle the yeast and the pinch of sugar over the warm milk.  Stir until dissolved and set it aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 of the eggs and the yolks.  Add the yeast mixture and whisk to combine.

In a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt.  Add the yeast mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is mostly incorporated.  Switch to a dough hook and add two sticks of butter.  Beat until completely incorporated and a smooth, soft dough has formed, about 10 minutes.  The dough will be slightly sticky when squeezed.

*I don’t have a dough hook, so at this point, I turned the dough out on a floured surface to knead.  I kneaded the bread 8 minutes.  Make sure to knead quickly, so the bread doesn’t stick to your hands.  It takes at least 6 minutes of fast kneading for the dough to start to become smooth on its own.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few more times until smooth.  Place dough in a well greased bowl and turn to coat.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

In a bowl, stir together the chocolate, remaining cup of sugar, and the cinnamon.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the remaining 1 1/2 sticks of butter until combined.  Set aside.

Generously butter three 9 by 5 by 2 3/4 loaf pans (I used three different loaf pans, whatever you have will work just fine) and line with parchment paper, leaving an inch and a half overhang.  Grease or butter the parchment paper and set aside.

Punch down the dough (don’t assault the dough, just turn it out on the counter) and transfer to a clean work surface.  Allow it to rest 5 minutes (I let mine rest for ten and it rolled beautifully!).

Meanwhile, beat the remaining egg with the cream.  Cut dough in three equal sections (Mine were just over one pound each).  Roll out one piece of dough to about 16 inches square.  Brush edges of the square with egg wash.  Crumble one-third of the chocolate mixture over the dough, leaving a half-inch border on all sides.  Roll up dough in a tight log, pinching the ends as you go.

Once rolled completely, twist the log a full five or six times.  This part kind of confused me at first, but what she wants you to do is gently wring the dough, as if it is a wet towel, to create twists in the dough.

Then, brush the twisted log with egg wash.  Crumble 2 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture down the center of the log, taking care to make sure it doesn’t slide off.

Fold the log in half, as if in a horseshoe shape, then cross the right half over the left to make a figure-8 shape.  Pinch ends together to seal the dough.  Twist a few more times, if possible, and fit into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the other two sections of dough.

Brush the tops of the loaves again with egg wash, and sprinkles each with one-third of the streusel topping.  Allow the loaves to rise for another 40-50 minutes, until the dough has nicely expanded and looks rather pillowy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes.  Then, reduce the temperature to 325 and continue to bake another 20-30 minutes until a deep golden color.   If they begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.  Transfer pans to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.

These can be stored up to three days in plastic.  They can also be shaped and frozen in the pan for up to a month before baking.  Just let it sit at room temperature for a few hours before baking.

When it comes to home baking, there are few yeast breads that are as popular as cinnamon rolls or sticky buns.  For some reason, home bakers love to make them.  I love to make them, too, but I do have a pet peeve with most of the rolls coming out of home kitchens.

I hate to see a soft dough sliced with a knife.  I know instantly when someone has cut (or attempted to cut) their cinnamon roll dough with a knife.  The ends look kind of pinchy, from the pressure of the knife cutting the dough.

Call me a food snob, but when something looks beautiful, it tastes even better.  So when I see a nice cinnamon rolls or sticky bun that’s been hacked into shape by a knife, I cringe.  If you’re taking the time to actually make cinnamon rolls from scratch, then it’s worth making them look pretty, too.

With that in mind, I created a little video demonstrating how to easily cut your cinnamon rolls and sticky buns into perfect portions every time.  It not only keeps the integrity of the roll in place, it also takes about half the time that struggling with a knife consumes.

I’ll post the pictures and the recipe when the rolls have finished baking.

Happy Kneading!