Rising Again

Hello Blog World!! I am so happy to be back! My surgery went perfectly, although they did discover that I have arthritis at the age of 24, but other than that all is fine. I am now in my recovery stage. Today was the first day, in three weeks, that I was allowed to take my stiff-leg brace off. And boy does it feel good to bend (slighty) my knee!

As with todays' TWD, I feel like I am rising again, on my way back to my full potential. It's gonna take some time to be completely 100%, but like a good Kugelhopf (chosen by Yolanda of the All-purpose Girl), it's all about the waiting process! I don't think there couldn't have been a better chosen recipe to represent these last few weeks for me!

I must admit, I was a little nervous about making this recipe, not only because it had been a few weeks since I have even looked at my mixer, but also because of the dreaded word Y-E-A-S-T. As you may remember from the TWD Sticky Buns I was very apprehensive about a yeast recipe, because all of my previous attempts with yeast had failed. But I tell you, there's something about Dorie's recipes that always seem to work out. I now have two successful yeast baked recipes under my belt, and am slowly starting to warm up to the bubbly, fermenting little guy!

I wanted to switch up my Kugelhopf, maing it a little more suited for the fall season that has hit New Mexico like a shcokwave. So, I opted to used dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. And boy what a match. The sweet/tartness of the cranberries gave the perfect zing the the airy, buttery dough, and the scattered bite of white chocolate was a sweet, melty surprise. And who says you need a traditional Kugelhopf pan? I made half the dough in my Brooche molds, and the other half in a tube pan, and they worked perfectly. I can't wait to make this recipe again, but try different additions!

...Making up for the non-exisiting marble

Today's TWD is brought to you from Ashley of A Year in the Kitchen. Little Miss Ashley chose a most scrumptious looking Black and White Banana Loaf (aka chocolate Marbled Banana Bread). I am a huge banana bread lover, and was really excited to try this one out, because I have never actually had chocolate and banana together in a loaf...I know call me crazy.



This was the first TWD recipe that I was actually a little disappointed with. After reading so many people's comments on how they didn't like the nutmeg taste, I knew right away that I would be omitting that from my recipe, I was too afraid to chance it. After I got my batter mixed up, I found it to be very runny, which was my first indication of an "un-marbled" loaf.



I did like Dorie said and dolloped blobs of one batter on top of blobs of the other batter, took a knife and being my marbling technique. But, since my batter was so runny to begin with both batters started melding together...which didn't really bother me, because it was gonna taste the same either way...right? (I have to ask those of you who had a perfectly marbled bread :) )

The oven timer dings, I pull out my big brown loaf from the oven and am immediately happy with the smell. Now I wait to see if my marbling turned out. 20 minutes later, and the answer is...NO. I have hardly any marbling in my bread, but hey, looks can be deceiving. So, I cut a warm slice and hungrily take a big bite out of it. My reaction was...mixed...the bread was very moist, but I don't know if I really cared for the flavor. It actually seemed a little bland.



So, I got to thinking. I needed a way to cover up the blandness and I knew just the thing. I pulled out my Starbucks Java Chip Ice Cream, put two whopping scoops on top of my chunked up Black and White Loaf. I then proceeded to amaze myself...and my tummy...and flambeed some bananas, bananas foster style!! Yeah you heard me!



And now I had a Black and White Loaf that I truly adored!!

I'm A Believer!

So I must admit when I saw this week's TWD recipe I was a little reluctant. I remember about a year ago when I bought Dorie's book I read through every page, as I'm sure most of us do. I was making notes of things that I thought I just couldn't live without, which of course was almost the entire book. One of the few items that didn't make my expanding list were the Apple Cheddar Scones. I mean I like apples and cheese, but together in a scone just didn't sound right. So I just completely skipped over that page without a second thought...until last week when I visited the amazing TWD webpage and saw that Karina of The Floured Apron picked this recipe.



I was debating whether or not I wanted to make them, and I finally decided I'll never know unless I try. And what is life if you don't take chances, right? So I set out to the store, bought all my ingredients and brought them home ready to make the best, of what I thought was the worst :)



I of course am a batter taster, so the second I had the batter all prepared (which is my fav scone recipe, because they come together soo quickly) I had to stick my lightly sun kissed index finger into the golden yellow batter. Straight into the mouth and a slight turn of the head was my response. The batter tasted sweeter and better than what I had thought, but still not convinced I told myself that I wouldn't be swayed until I tasted the actual baked product.



As the minutes on the timer ticked away, the most amazing, sweet, fruity aroma filled my apartment. My barrier against this recipe was slowly starting to deteriorate! The second the timer went off I ran to the oven and pulled out these gorgeous, sunshine yellow with orange speckled scones. It was hard for me to let them cool before tasting them, but the minute I put them into my mouth and was able to process the flavor my barrier completely crumbled, leaving me standing there wanting another bite of these sweet scones.



I think the combination of the sweet yellow corn meal, dried apples and apple juice really helped to mellow out the sharp cheese. So I must say thank you so much to Karina for widening my horizons and to try not to prejudge a recipe before I've tasted it. To see other TWD Blogger experiences check out the famous Tuesdays With Dorie Blog!

A Good Luck Gift

Andy, my boyfriend, is a golf-aholic...he manages a golf store, he plays golf (and is trying to go pro), his idol is Tiger Woods, and he drives a VW Bug that is painted to look like a golf ball with a big red tee on the top of it. Ok, stop laughing! He's also not a very "well-balanced meal" type of guy. His daily eating routine is a Mountain Dew and a bowl of Fruity Pebbles for breakfast, two Mountain Dews for a snack, a Whopper Value Meal from Burger King (with a large Sprite) for lunch, a Mountain Dew and Tiger-ade (Tiger's Gatorade) for an afternoon snack, a healthy dinner prepared by me with a Mountain Dew, and ice cream with five Oreos, 1/2 a bag of Sour Patch Kids and a Coke for dessert. Then he stays up until 2 in the morning and will have some scrambled eggs and cereal for a midnight snack! Surprisingly, and frustratingly, he doesn't gain a pound! He is a little stick figure, which is totally not fair...but that's a whole other story.



So, when he told me that he was playing in a golf tourney this weekend I decided that I would make him a healthy, filling, portable snack for him to take to the course. The first thing that popped into mind was scones, especially since he was teeing off at 7:30 am. Scones are also easy to transport in a golf bag, unlike big muffins. My Honey Oatmeal Scones would be sure to give him the boost that he needed, and would also last in his tummy for a few hours, thanks to the hearty oatmeal.



When he called me to tell me that he had made it on to the next round I secretly told myself that it was due in part to my special good luck gift! Hey I have to get credit somehow!!


Honey Oatmeal Scones
1 egg
1/2 c cold buttermilk
2 tablespoons honey
1 2/3 c flour
1 1/3 c old-fashioned oats
1/3 c sugar, plus some for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stir eggs, buttermilk and honey together, set aside.
Whisk flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and working with your fingertips rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.
Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with fork until the dough just starts to come together, it'll be sticky so don't get scared, and don't over work the dough. Still in the bowl gently turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut into 6 wedges and place on the baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with remaining sugar. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until their tops are golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving, and serve plain or with jam, honey, peanut butter, yada-yada!

Pumpkin Patch

With the air getting a little crisper in the morning and the leaves slowly changing colors, it can only mean one thing. Fall is here! And with Fall comes pumpkins, and I mean lots of pumpkins! So to get a jump on my pumpkin baked goods, I decided to try out two recipes that really grabbed my attention.

The first was a scrumptious looking recipe from the wonderful Peabody, whose blog (culinary concoctions) is one of my favorites. Peabody made these adorable little pumpkin muffins but had the surprise of chocolate covered raisins inside! I can't tell you how simple this recipe was to make. And the pumpkin was spot on, you know how sometimes you'll have a pumpkin loaf and the taste is just overwhelming? Not these babies, they were absolutely perfect. And the smell of pumpkin baking in my oven was enough to make me pull out my hair. I just love the smell of fall baking flavors filling the house. It just reminds me so much of the holidays, family and plain ole good memories. My only complaint with this recipe was the fact that I couldn't quit eating those damn chocolate covered raisins!! I should've wait to open the bag until I was ready to dump them all into the batter, but for those of you that have been keeping up with my posting, you would know that batter covered chocolate raisins wouldn't even have stopped me :)


The only thing that I changed in this recipe was to make my muffins in a mini muffin tin. I planned on taking them to work and wanted to make sure that I would have enough to go around. The mini muffins were a perfect bite sized portion, but only helped to make me think that eating 7 of them was ok, since they were so little :) Damn those muffins!! Check out Peabody's blog, Culinary Concoctions for this amazing recipe!

The second pumpkin recipe that I made was a take on the classic Pumpkin Pie. I saw this recipe on the cover of Holiday Baking and almost wet my pants I was so excited!! This pie is a triple layer pumpkin pie!! Yes, that's right...T-R-I-P-L-E L-A-Y-E-R!! The first layer is a cream cheese base, infused with orange zest. The second layer is the pumpkin pie layer. And the top, most amazing third layer is a mixture of chopped pecans, chopped health bars and brown sugar. TO DIE FOR!! I cheated a little and bought a pre-made Pillsbury pie crust, which I have never used before, and am amazed at how good the crust was. That is definitely a product I will use for future pie projects! Can I just say this pie was so yummy, and the textures and flavors were out of this world! My tongue and brain couldn't figure out if I was having pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie with pecan topping, or pumpkin cheesecake with pecan topping! But I will tell you one thing, my stomach was not at all confused, all it knew was that this recipe was a winner and belly pleaser!! With a nice dollop of whipped cream on top, this pie was a no fail way to kick off fall!!

You Put the Lime In the Coconut

So for all of you out there that L-O-V-E banana bread, here's a great recipe that has a tropical twist for those days where you wanna just getaway! I found this recipe in a Cooking Light magazine and was hooked from the minute I saw it! I don't know what captured me more, the picture, the flavor combinations, or the fact that this bread was named the "best bread recipe" for Cooking Light. Well, no matter what it was I'm glad that I tried this one out! The coconut flavor was very subtle, but blended wonderfully with the lime flavor. And I wouldn't have guessed that banana and lime would go well together but I'm a believer!! The recipe also calls for plain yogurt, but poor fridgy only had flavor yogurt, fortunately one of them was Key Lime Pie and it worked out soo great, I actually think that was a better choice than plain yogurt. This was truly one of the best banana breads I've ever had...and you can ask my co-workers for their stamp of approval, because this bread didn't even make it through the first hour at work! Hope you all like it as much as I did! I give you Coconut Banana Bread w/ Lime Glaze, courtesy of Cooking Light!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.
Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

How Do You LIke Your Buns?

It's the age old question, that could only be answered by the Daring Bakers...do you prefer cinnamon or sticky? This month's challenge was Cinnamon and/or sticky buns, and I must admit I was very excited for this challenge. Like I've said before I HATE working with yeast, but am starting to enjoy the challenges that call for yeast, that way I can break outta my shell :) Not to mention how much I love cinnamon/sticky buns! I decided that I was going to make both recipes, because I am one of those people who will eat buns any way they're made...I'm not too picky!




I first started out with the cinnamon buns and I have to say this was almost a near disaster, which would've left me in tears. Everything was going fine until I added the dreaded yeast and turned on my mixer. Not noticing the "mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball" part, I quickly released that I had over mixed my dough. Praying that my dough would still rise I put it into the lightly oiled bowl and walked away. Returning to my dough after about two hours I noticed that my dough had risen, but not enough, so I decided that I would start anther batch of dough (this time for the sticky buns), and leave the first batch to proof a little longer.

Making sure not to over mix my dough, I had high hopes for this batch! I wasn't as nervous, because I had already realized where my mistakes were the first time. Needless to say this batch came out perfectly, the two hours passed and my dough had risen beautifully! I took both batches and prepared to make them into buns. I had a really hard time with my first batch. The dough kept ripping, and I noticed that by spraying the counter with cooking spray didn't help AT ALL! The dough was sticking so bad, which made me decide not to use the spray for my sticky bun batch. Instead I used flour, and that was my key to success, I had no ripping, no sticking, only pure rolling perfection! Now that I had both logs rolled out it was time to cut into buns, and of course the cinnamon bun batch was such a pain, the buns kept splitting open, but I somehow managed to get some decent buns outta the log. The sticky buns were problem-less, and came out looking the way a bun should :)

After both batches proofed again, the cinnamon buns were the first to hit the oven. While those baked I made the yummy-yummy topping for the sticky buns, which I kept dunking my finer into and licking :) For my topping I used dried apricots, golden raisins and pecans, which all went really well together, adding the right amount of sweetness without being overbearing. The timer went off for the cinnamon rolls and I nervously went to open the oven door. To my surprise the buns looked like, well, buns!!! YAHOOO, I was so excited and couldn't waiting to pour the frosting on them and take a bite! My cinnamon buns were definitely a little more dense than normal, but they were still very tasty, and the buns that I thought would've been a disaster (the ones that kept bursting open a spewing their cinnamon sugar guts) ended up having this crunchy cinnamon-sugar exterior which was sooo good. So I was so glad that I didn't throw away that batch, because I ended up really, really liking them.




As for the sticky buns...these were DEVILISH!!! The minute they came outta the oven I stuck a fork in between the buns to have a bite of the topping, and I was in pure sticky bun topping heaven! After letting the buns cool for just a minute I inverted the pan onto a sheet tray and was hypnotized by the caramely-sticky goodness that was slathered all over my buns. I couldn't take it any longer I had to eat one, so I did! These were so buttery and moist, but bursting with flavor from the apricots and raisins! I can't even express to you the state of bliss I was in, and of course had to eat another one...oh well :)

I really enjoyed this challenge, and was glad that, despite my troubles at first, this recipe was fairly simple and easy to do. And I WILL be making both buns again, because I still can't answer my question as to how I like my buns!!

Ingredients:
6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 ounces) shortening or unsalted butter(I used 3 TBSP shortening and 2 1/2 TBSP butter)
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) unbleached bread
2teaspoons instant yeast*
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, or any other spices you want to use, cardamom, ginger, allspice, etc.)

White fondant glaze(recipe follows)

Sticky bun topping (recipe follows)
*Instant yeast contains about 25% more living cells per spoonful than active dry yeast, regardless of the brand. Instant yeast is also called rapid-rise or fast-rising.

Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand); if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, and add the water with the flour and yeast. Whip in the egg and lemon extract/zest until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter.(A) Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don't roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump. (B)Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough and (C) roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 pieces each about 1 3/4 inches thick for larger buns, or 12 to 16 pieces each 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller buns.)Line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment.
For cinnamon buns: line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately 1/2 inch apart so that they aren't touching but are close to one another. For sticky buns: coat the bottom of 1 or more baking dishes or baking pans with sides at least 1 1/2 inches high with a 1/4 inch layer of the caramel glaze. Sprinkle on the nuts and raisins (if you are using raisins or dried fruit.) You do not need a lot of nuts and raisins, only a sprinkling. Lay the pieces of dough on top of the caramel glaze, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) with the oven rack in the middle shelf.Bake the cinnamon buns for 20 to 30 minutes or the sticky buns 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are baking sticky buns, remember that they are really upside down (regular cinnamon buns are baked right side up), so the heat has to penetrate through the pan and into the glaze to caramelize it. The tops will become the bottoms, so they may appear dark and done, but the real key is whether the underside is fully baked. It takes practice to know just when to pull the buns out of the oven.Cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops, while the buns are warm but not too hot. Remove the buns from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait for at least 20 minutes before serving.


Toppings for the Buns:

White fondant glaze for cinnamon buns
Cinnamon buns are usually topped with a thick white glaze called fondant. There are many ways to make fondant glaze, but here is a delicious and simple version, enlivened by the addition of citrus flavor, either lemon or orange. You can also substitute vanilla extract or rum extract, or simply make the glaze without any flavorings.
Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract and 6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick, smooth paste.
When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whisk over the tops. Or, form the streaks by dipping your fingers in the glaze and letting it drip off as you wave them over the tops of the buns. (Remember to wear latex gloves.)

Caramel glaze for sticky buns
Caramel glaze is essentially some combination of sugar and fat, cooked until it caramelizes. The trick is catching it just when the sugar melts and lightly caramelizes to a golden amber. Then it will cool to a soft, creamy caramel. If you wait too long and the glaze turns dark brown, it will cool to a hard, crack-your-teeth consistency. Most sticky bun glazes contain other ingredients to influence flavor and texture, such as corn syrup to keep the sugar from crystallizing and flavor extracts or oils, such as vanilla or lemon. This version makes the best sticky bun glaze of any I´ve tried. It was developed by my wife, Susan, for Brother Juniper´s Cafe in Forestville, California.NOTE: you can substitute the corn syrup for any neutral flavor syrup, like cane syrup or gold syrup.
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature.
2. Cream together for 2 minutes on high speed with the paddle attachment. Add 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1 teaspoon lemon, orange or vanilla extract. Continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
3. Use as much of this as you need to cover the bottom of the pan with a 1/4-inch layer. Refrigerate and save any excess for future use; it will keep for months in a sealed container.