Peanut Brittle

I've been waiting for a chance to try this recipe from Kate Zuckerman's book The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle, and a "Food Day" at work tomorrow is the perfect excuse. I like this book a lot; it's well written and contains a ton of information and tips. She shares the pastry chef perspective and that adds so much to a recipe that a novice like myself can understand more than just ingredients and cooking times but also methodology, presentation, and repeatability.

This recipe is a perfect example. Just about every peanut brittle recipe I've seen is basically boiling the sugar, adding the nuts, cooling in a pan, and then breaking into pieces. No frills. The steps Kate lays out allow for variation at certain places while still maintaining your ability to recreate a well-finished piece. Cooling the caramel and grinding it allows you to change nuts within the same batch. Want to do some almond and some peanut? No problem. Another benefit of grinding? It gives you more control over what the final product will look like so you can make circles or tubes instead of broken glass-like pieces. That's just a great way to impress your friends.

Following this recipe made me feel more like a "chef" than a cook, if I may be so bold so obviously I can't recommend this book enough.


Thin and Delicate Peanut Brittle
from page 204 of the The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelleby Kate Zuckerman

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1/4 tsp. finely ground sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350° F and prepare a 11"x17" baking pan with parchment, nonstick baking pad, or aluminum foil.

In a small, heavy-bottomed pan combine the water, sugar, and cream of tartar and heat over high heat. When the mixture begins a rolling boil, reduce the heat to about medium-high. Once the color changes to a golden brown caramel color, remove from the heat and pour into the prepared pan to cool.

Once the caramel has cooled, break it up into small pieces. Use a food processor or coffee grinder to grind the caramel into a fine table sugarlike consistency. Combine this with the ground peanuts.

Prepare your baking pan again. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and spread very thin (1/8 inch thick). Bake the candy for about 4-6 minutes, until it melts and bubbles. Remove from the oven and evenly sprinkle the salt over the candy. Let cool and break into pieces to serve.

This will keep for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container in a cool, dry place. Humidity will rob this brittle of its crunch.

Irish Dairy Bread

I believe this is the first time I've recognized St. Patrick's Day by baking something instead of drinking something. Previous celebrations took place in various drinking establishments, the best being a little country bar just north of Milwaukee actually owned by an Irishman and not some dork wearing a plastic green hat and calling himself "O'Lucas" all night. But hanging out at Finbar's wasn't about getting drunk. You were there with friends, having a great time, enjoying the atmosphere of real Irish music and food.

Now one of the things you may get during an Irish meal is a couple of pieces of soda bread. This bread is dense but tasty and requires few ingredients and just a little bit of time to make. The leavening is performed by the reaction between buttermilk and baking soda so there's no yeast and no waiting for the dough to rise. I have to admit I was impressed how much this bread rose too. Many muffins use the same buttermilk-baking soda reaction but they don't double in height like this bread did (near the end off baking it came dangerously close to the rack above it).


Irish Dairy Bread
from page 122 of the The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

Makes one 9-inch loaf

4 cups (17 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375° F and prepare a baking sheet or cast-iron pot by lightly flouring it.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk together thoroughly. Add the butter and distribute the butter evenly through the flour mixture. Create a hole in the center of the flour and pour the buttermilk into it. Stir to combine the ingredients.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface. Once the dough comes together, form a ball and then press down until it is about 1.5 to 2 inches thick. Cut an "X" into the top and place in the pan. If you are using a cast-iron pot with a lid, put the lid on. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes (for baking sheet) to 40 minutes (for cast-iron pot). Once done, cool on a wire rack. Do not cut until completely cooled.

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I've submitted this to Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte and her St. Pat's Day: Green or Irish round-up. I found this blog when I first started reading food blogs, it always has great pictures of bread which I imagine probably taste pretty good too. She also has many of these events, with my favorite, the culinary Advent calender (2005 and 2006).

Blackberry Oat Muffins

A couple of weeks ago, the question was posed to Lorrie on what she would do if she couldn't have wheat and would have to lead a gluten-free lifestyle. She loves bread and pasta and she thought it definitely would be very tough. I don't think she was aware of all the resources available online with recommendations and recipes for gluten-free food. So my next trip to the store, I picked up some gluten-free flours. Oat flour was among them. Now I was thinking that since oats aren't wheat, that means gluten-free. I went ahead and made these muffins, thinking I was making something without gluten. Later, after talking to Lorrie about bringing some in for a coworker with Celiac Disease, I double-checked the recipe and the ingredients to be sure. I was using Bob's Red Mill oat flour and when I examined the package, I couldn't find the gluten-free blurb. I thought this was odd and went to the website and found they did not consider it to be gluten-free. Apparently Bob's has a whole facility devoted to gluten-free products and oats are not processed there so their oats are processed in the same facility as wheat, thus contaminating them. I learned something new.

These muffins came out great. Slightly dense and moist, the flavor was wonderful. The blackberry and oat flavors complimented each other well. I had mentioned to Lorrie that she can take them to work and she told me no, we would be keeping these to ourselves. We did and I don't feel bad about that at all.


Blackberry Oat Muffins

Makes about 12-14 muffins

3 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup instant oats
1 Tbls. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 cup roughly chopped blackberries

Preheat the oven to 425° F.

Combine the eggs, oil, and milk in a bowl, mix well, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (all the remaining ingredients except the blackberries) and whisk to combine. Now add in the blackberries and give a quick stir to cover with the flour mixture. Finally, add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until everything is just mixed. Don't over mix.

Spoon the mixture into greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Fill each to the top and mound slightly in the center if possible.

Bake for 16-20 minutes. About halfway through, rotate the pan 180°. The muffins are done when a cake tester comes out clean and they spring back when pressed lightly. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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These muffins were submitted to Sweetnick's for her ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday feature. This is also now a post at Just Baking as well.

Biscuits in a box

A while back an activist blogger made some disparaging remarks about a fellow blogger's site. Specifically about the site's subject, Rachel Ray. You don't have to love Rachel (or Sandra or Paula or Emeril etc.), but making comments like that blogger did in a public forum was uncalled for. She had her own blog; she should do it there. Well, the same thing bothered Mimi at French Kitchen in America, who declared March 15th "Biscuit Baking Mix Day" and this is my entry.

I thought I would do some variations of biscuits, nothing too complex. I always liked the sweet biscuits - cinnamon, raisins, lots of frosting so that was my direction. Now, one had to be apple, my favorite fruit. The other one, peach, was inspired by a post I read the other day.

The apple was a Granny Smith, the Bisquick mix was the regular one, and I tried a new Amish, non-homogenized, organic milk. The apple cinnamon is the one with the darker glaze, the "Peaches and Cream" biscuit has the lighter glaze, and the biscuit in the background is the regular biscuit just prior to it being smothered in sausage gravy.

Both biscuits turned out well. The biscuits themselves were a little flour-y and needed the glaze to get each fruit's full flavor.

Apple Cinnamon Biscuits

For Biscuits
3 cups Bisquick Mix
1 cup diced apples
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbls. sugar

For glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
apple cider

Preheat the oven to 450° F and prepare 2 baking sheets if you are doing small biscuits. Combine all biscuit ingredients in a medium bowl and turn out onto board "floured" with Biquick mix. Knead 10 times. Roll out the dough to about a half inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. I used the smallest from my set (1 1/2 inch I believe) for a more bite-size biscuits.

Bake for 10 minutes. About halfway through, rotate the pans 180° and switch the pans on the racks. The biscuits are done when they are a golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Mix the powdered sugar and cinnamon and then add the apple cider until the glaze reaches the consistency you would like. Dribble the glaze over the biscuits.


"Peaches and Cream" Biscuits

For Biscuits
3 cups Bisquick Mix
1 cup diced fresh peaches
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbls. sugar

For glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
peach juice

Preheat the oven to 450° F and prepare 2 baking sheets if you are doing small biscuits. Combine all biscuit ingredients in a medium bowl and turn out onto board "floured" with Biquick mix. Knead 10 times. Roll out the dough to about a half inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. I used the smallest from my set (1 1/2 inch I believe) for a more bite-size biscuits.

Bake for 10 minutes. About halfway through, rotate the pans 180° and switch the pans on the racks. The biscuits are done when they are a golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In a small bowl put the powdered sugar and then add the peach juice until the glaze reaches the consistency you would like. Dribble the glaze over the biscuits.

Who eats all the stuff you make?

I get asked this question occasionally from friends who've seen the site. Sometimes it's me and Lorrie. More often than not though, it's Lorrie's coworkers. They get many of the bars, cookies, muffins, and candies I make. Some of the things were made specifically to celebrate some achievement at work for Lorrie, like the orange cookies in the picture. Others were just recipes I wanted to try or an item I needed to make for another site, like the heart cake.
Don't get me wrong, Lorrie and I get our share but neither of us want 2 dozen cookies sitting around just begging to be eaten!

But there is an additional benefit for me. Feedback. How things taste, how they look, etc., I hear what they liked and what they didn't. I can't do better without it.

Thank you. It really is appreciated.

Apple Pizza

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the whole wheat pizza crusts I made. Well, one crust was used for the regular pizza, the other I used to make a dessert pizza. If you get a dessert pizza from one of the big pizza chains, you're probably going to get a can of pie filling on a crust with some kind of crumble and icing. I tried avoiding that. Instead I used thinly sliced apples and cranberries and topped that with a granola and brown sugar crumble. It really is a version of a tarte fine, a French tart of puff pastry with thinly sliced apples.

This pizza came out really well. I poached the apples in a simple syrup to prevent browning (I was cutting the apples well before I was baking) and to add sweetness. I was a little worried about the crumble because I winged it but it turned out good. The whole wheat pizza crust worked well because its savory flavor and hint of spice cut the sweetness of the other ingredients very well.

Apple Pizza

Makes 1 pizza

1 crust
2 large apples (I used Granny Smith)
1/2 cup dried cranberries

For the simple syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water

For the crumble
1/2 stick butter (room temperature)
1 cup granola
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and put on medium-high heat. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and let the syrup simmer. Slice the apples as thin as you can (this was a good excuse for me to try my new mandolin). Put the apple slices in the syrup and turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Once the syrup starts boiling again, remove the apples and let them drain and cool.

Once the slices are cool enough to handle (careful,boiling sugar is just as dangerous as boiling oil), layer them on the pizza crust. Sprinkle the cranberries on top of the apple slices.

In a medium bowl combine the butter, granola, and light brown sugar. Use a fork or a knife to "cut" the crumble up into little pieces and sprinkle over the pizza.

Place in oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly, slice, and eat!

Checking in...

I'm still here, just been busy. My computer crashed last weekend and the good news/bad news is I had some data backed up, some data I was able to squeeze out of the old computer, and now I have a new computer I have to reload software/data and reconfigure to my liking.

Also Lorrie has been feeling a bit under the weather so I've been spending more time with her.

I have baked and have posts in mind and will post them when I have a chance.

February 2007 Just Baking Round-Up

Just highlighting some of the posts I did as editor at Just Baking in February (and one from January) that didn't appear here.

Jan. 31 - Amaranth Flour - Brief overview of Amaranth flour and its uses.

Feb. 6 - In The News - Baking in the news round-up. Layer cakes, madeleines, personal achievement, baking competition, and Ace Of Cakes.

Feb. 7 - A note from the editor - Introducing myself and direction of Just Baking.

Feb. 12 - Welcome to Valentine’s Week - All the Well Fed Network sites ran posts with Valentine's Day themes.

Feb. 16 - A Tip For Your Heart - Tip on how to make a heart cake without a heart pan.


*Update* - As Just Baking no longer exists, I have removed the actual links but left the post names as a source for ideas

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

A common dinner for Lorrie and myself is a couple of individual pizzas. I'll get a package of flatbreads from the store and a couple of toppings to put on them. Flatbreads on the pan, toppings on the flatbread, oven, bake, pizza. Pretty simple but tastes great. The past couple of weekends I've been creating my own flatbreads for the pizzas. The recipe I'm using is based on a whole wheat pizza recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. Honestly, I could tell you I researched the recipes and chose this one because of so-and-so reason but really I chose the recipe because it didn't use pre-ferments or need to sit overnight. The usual ingredients for our pizzas are garlic, olive oil, spinach (wilted in a hot pan first), sliced tomato, and provolone cheese.


Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
based on the Herbed Whole Wheat Pizza with Mushrooms and Spinach on page 134-136 of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains cookbook.

Makes 2 12-inch rounds

3 3/4 cups (15 oz.) white whole wheat flour (I used the King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat)
1 Tbls. + 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) cool water
1 Tbls. honey
1 Tbls. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. dried oregano
1 Tbls. dried basil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

In a medium bowl put 2 cups of the flour and all of the yeast. Measure out the water and add to that the honey and stir until it's combined. Add the water-honey mixture to the flour and yeast and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour.

After the hour, remove the plastic wrap and add in the remaining ingredients and mix. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes or so. Stop kneading when the dough is shiny and elastic yet soft. Have a baker's bench knife handy to help if the dough sticks because you don't want to over-flour this. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover, and let sit for another 90 minutes. After about 90 minutes the dough should have doubled in size.

Once this second rise is done, turn the dough out onto the lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a round. Cover these rounds and let them rest for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375° F (with a baking stone if that is what you use). Roll each round out to a 12-inch round and put on your pan, baking sheet, or parchment paper. Use a fork to prick the crust all over (if you look at the first picture you will see the dough puffed up; I missed this step the first time through). If you want a traditional end crust, roll up the edges. Bake the crusts individually for 10 minutes and remove from the oven.

At this point you have 2 crusts for use. Use immediately or let cool completely and freeze. When you add your toppings and bake, bake the pizza at 425° F.

Lemon Squares

On nights when temperatures are below zero, it's hard not to let the mind wander and think about warmer times. When I do this, my thoughts drift towards the approaching spring season. My first round of golf for the year may only be a month a way, time to start hitting the driving ranges. Garden planning should begin now. It won't be totally pitch black when I leave work. While I like the colors and hues of winter, when I think of spring I start thinking of bright colors like yellow. This is the reason when I saw this recipe for lemon bars, I thought of spring.

Lemon Bars
from the Spring 2007 issue of The Baker's Companion magazine, page 47.

Crust
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (1 oz.) powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Topping
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 oz.) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz.) lemon juice
1/4 cup (1 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. lemon zest (2 lemons worth) or 1/2 tsp. lemon oil
powdered sugar for sprinkling

While preheating the oven to 350° F, grease a 9x9 inch (or similarly dimensioned) pan.

Make the crust first. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and mix thoroughly. Cut in the butter using your fingers or a pastry blender. Mix until the crumbs are coarse. Put the crumbs in the pan and press to form the crust. Bake this for 20 minutes. It's done when the color is a light brown.

For the topping, cream the eggs, sugar (granulated), and lemon juice until it's smooth. Fold in the flour, lemon zest or oil, and salt. Pour this over the crust once it is finished with the pre-bake and bake for another 25 minutes. These bars are done when the topping appears set. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan. Just before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

A tip for one of Lorrie's coworkers: Use a cookie cutter or a stencil to give the sprinkled powdered sugar a shape.

Almond Honey Caramel Chews

These candies might just be the best thing to ever come out of my kitchen. Better than the sugar almonds. Better than any cookie I've ever made. Heck, better than anything to come off of my grill.

The flavor and texture is incredible. A little crunchy when you first bite into them that dissolves into a wonderful caramel and almond chewy candy with a hint of honey. These are perfect for a party, be it a Super Bowl party or just having friends over.

These are not hard to make, they just take time. The cooking process is slow so there is no worrying about the candy heating or cooling too fast.

Almond Honey Caramel Chews
from page 193 of the The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelleby Kate Zuckerman

Makes about 50 candy pieces

14 oz. (about 4 cups) sliced, blanched almonds
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 sticks (16 Tbls.) butter
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbls. light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. They are done when their color is brown and there is a noticeable nutty smell. Take out of the oven and place in a bowl.

Prepare a 12x8 inch pan (or a pan with a similar area) by greasing the pan and placing parchment or aluminum foil on the bottom.

In a heavy bottomed pan with a candy thermometer attached, combine all the ingredients but the almonds and heat over medium-high heat. Make sure the pan can hold four or five times the initial ingredients. I used a 4 qt. pan and it nearly overflowed when it reached the boiling point. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once the color changes to a light golden brown, reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue cooking until the temperature reaches 260° F, stirring about every two minutes. Once it reaches 260° F, remove the pan from the heat.

Fold in the almonds. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan. Bake the candy for 10-12 minutes. It is done when air bubbles appear all over the candy. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 4 hours.

Carefully cut the cooled candy into desired shapes.

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Also appearing at Sugar Savvy.

A real treat, Kate Zuckerman found my site and left suggestions for variations of these candies! Check out her comment in the comment section and her wonderful site PastryChat. She mentions my attempt at her recipe here. Very cool!

Changes over at Just Baking

As of this past weekend, I have taken over editorial duties at Just Baking. I'm looking forward to the task ahead. That said, things shouldn't change much here or there. So c'mon by and check things out!

Granola Grabbers

I was looking for a cookie I could bake for a Super Bowl party. I wanted something that was hearty and could hold it's own with the various dips, hors d'œuvres, and brownies. These cookies are perfect. Filled with almonds, peanuts, coconut, and raisins, there's a little something for everyone here.

These are also great as a midnight snack. The cookies are crunchy and chewy at the same time, a combination that just begs to be paired with milk.


Granola Grabbers
from page 82 of the Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 40 cookies

3 cups granola (no fruit)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 3/4 sticks (14 Tbls.) unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375° F and prepare 2 baking sheets.

Combine the granola, raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut, and wheat germ in a bowl and mix well. Set aside for later.

In a mixer beat the butter for 2 minutes at a medium speed. Add the brown sugar and the granulated sugar and cream for 3 minutes or so. Add the salt and the egg and mix thoroughly. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour and once it is just mixed, add the granola mixture. Stop the mixer once all the granola, nuts, and fruit are just combined. You do not want to over beat this batter. Use a spatula to incorporate any remaining dry ingredients.

Take a heaping tablespoon of the dough and gently pack. Place each cookie about 1 1/2 inch from each other though these won't spread a lot. Flatten them down a tiny bit using your fingertips.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. About halfway through, rotate the pans 180° and switch the pans on the racks. The cookies are done when they are a golden brown but not hard. Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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Also appearing at Just Baking and featured on the Well Fed Network.

Bourbon Bread Pudding

Bread pudding, in some form or another, has probably been around as long as man has been baking bread. Thought to be first made by thrifty cooks as a way to use stale bread, bread pudding may have started from simple and plain roots but over time it has developed into the decadent dessert we know today.

Early recipes often were little more than bread soaked in water or milk and then sweetened and then baked/steamed. As time went on and cooking techniques evolved, ingredients became more readily available, and recipes became more sophisticated, things like butter, cream, eggs, fruit, liquors, etc were added for flavorings. Today's recipes have come a long way from the days of hollowed out bread loaves filled with milk and spices.

Popular in England and the southern United States, it is not uncommon to find bread pudding on a menu as an alternative to chocolate and/or fruit desserts.

I found the recipe below while searching for a dessert for a meal I made last weekend. This slightly sweet bread pudding with the flavors of bourbon and vanilla was the perfect end to a meal of beef tenderloin, pan-seared scallops with pancetta and pomegranate seeds, and grilled asparagus.


Bourbon Bread Pudding
from page 407 of the Baking: From My Home to Yoursby Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 8 servings

8 oz. baguette or egg-based bread, preferably stale
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of freshly grated nutmeg
1 Tbls. bourbon
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. pure almond extract

Boil a pot of water and turn off the heat once it starts boiling. While the water is coming to a boil, cube the bread into 1-inch pieces. If the bread is not stale, spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 350° F oven for 10 minutes. Put the stale bread cubes in a glass or ceramic 9-by-5 inch loaf pan.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the milk and cream just to the point where they start boiling and then turn the heat off. While they are boiling, mix the eggs, yolks, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Once the milk and cream mixture is ready, start adding it a little at a time while whisking. This will temper the eggs; add the milk and cream too fast and the eggs could curdle. It is important to keep whisking while slowly adding the remaining milk. Now add in the bourbon, vanilla, and almond extract. If you are a fan of Justin Wilson and are so inclined, go ahead and check the bourbon to be sure it's fine. Once blended, gently tap the bowl on the counter to remove any air bubbles and then pour the custard mixture over the bread. Using the back of a spoon, gently press the bread cubes down in the pan, allowing the custard to completely cover the cubes. Cover with some wax paper and let the bread soak for about an hour, making sure to press the bread down occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place a couple of paper towels in a roasting pan large enough to hold the loaf pan. Remove the wax paper and cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil. Poke a couple of holes in foil. Put the pan of bread pudding in the roasting pan and place in the center rack of the oven. Add the water you boiled previously until it comes halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. The pudding is done when it is puffed up, golden, and a cake tester or similar item can be inserted deeply into the middle and be removed cleanly. Remove from the water bath and let it cool on a rack. Serve warm or at least at room temperature. Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for a day. Bring back to room temperature to serve.

The whip cream in the picture was made from whipping a cup of cold heavy whipping cream by hand and when peaks form, add about 3 Tbls. powdered sugar and 2 tsp. of the bourbon. It is slightly sweet but highlights the flavor of the bourbon in the pudding.

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Also appearing at Just Baking and featured on the Well Fed Network.

Sources:
Baking: From My Home to Yoursby Dorie Greenspan
Food Timeline-- history notes: puddings

Menu for Hope

I was very happy to come home from work today and find that I've won two prizes in the Menu for Hope raffle! Food bloggers join forces to provide prizes for a raffle. The money from this raffle goes to the United Nations World Food Programme, a fitting charity for foodies. Prizes range from signed books to rare wine to restaurant visits to meeting your favorite chef. Amazing prizes really. This year Menu for Hope raised $60,925.12, up from about $17k last year. Truly generous people out there and I am proud to be one of them.

The prizes I won?

• A signed copy of Tartine, the cookbook from Shuna Fish Lydon at eggbeater.
• A personal food history for the day of my choice from the Old Foodie.

The added bonus? I found these sites through Menu for Hope. Both are wonderfully written and I couldn't be happier to have these two blogs on my blogroll.

Pistachio & Apricot Muffins, Again

You can see the other two posts in this "series" here.

When I started the second batch of these muffins, I thought I would do a series. Each month, I would try changing a single ingredient, hopefully different results each time. Maybe good, but more importantly, show how changing one ingredient affects things. My own little kitchen laboratory! These muffins were perfect as a test subject. The first batch was not so good but it had potential. The flavors were there but they were trapped in a cast of flour. I couldn't help thinking, you had these flavors to work with and yet this is the recipe you published?

Last time, I sweetened the muffins with honey instead of sugar. This month the plan was to just reduce the flour. But I stopped to think about all the other things I want to do and I asked myself, do I want to make a batch of these muffins every month?

No, I do not.

So my plan changed. I did more than just reduce the flour. I added baking powder to provide more lift. I don't think the self-rising flour was doing a good job on its own. A couple people who tried the previous batch of muffins said they couldn't really taste the pistachios. Well, the honey was partly to blame for that but still I ground some pistachios and added that to the flour so there is a slight hint of pistachio throughout without turning these into mini-nutbreads. I kept the brandy in and it was much easier making the apricot puree this way. The glaze adds some shine and a touch of sweetness.

OK, this time I think I've got it. I like how these turned out. Still not light as air but definitely not the hard flour biscuits they were before. You can taste the pistachio throughout and it was the apricot supplying the sweetness this time. The chopped pistachios gave it a little tooth also. This is a good recipe to end this "series" on.


Pistachio & Apricot Muffins
even more remotely based on the Pistachio & Apricot recipe on page 274 of the 500 Cupcakes: The Only Cupcake Compendium You'll Ever Need by Fergal Connolly.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

1 1/3 cups (8 oz) + enough for decorating dried apricots
4 tbsp. brandy
3 cups (12 3/4 oz) self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz) + 1 oz. + enough for decorating shelled pistachios
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. water

Give the apricots a rough chop and soak them in the brandy for about a hour. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Using a food processor, grind the 1 oz. of pistachios into a meal, as fine as you can get it. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the ground pistachios, flour, and baking powder together. Place the apricots and the brandy in a food processor and puree them until smooth. In another bowl, beat the eggs slightly to break up the yolks. Add the sugar, buttermilk, and the apricots and mix them together. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Combine all the ingredients into the bowl with the flour and butter and stir until everything is just combined. Spoon the mixture evenly into baking cups. I use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to measure and place the batter in the cups. Decorate with a bit of apricot and some pistachios. Bake for 25 minutes, checking after about 20 minutes. These are done when a cake tester or toothpick comes out cleanly. Let sit in the pan for 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack. While they are cooling, mix the honey and water and warm a bit to make it easier to combine. Brush a light coating of the glaze onto the muffins.


OK, all said and done, if I do make these again I would probably swap out the buttermilk for a full cup of whole milk. Oh, and I also started thinking the dryness comes not only from the amount of flour but dried apricots soaking up liquids which hindsight being 20/20, I should have thought of sooner. All right, I'll stop.

Happy New Year!

Lorrie and I just returned from spending the weekend at a B&B up in Door County. We love it up there and go back whenever we can. The bed and breakfast is the Inn at Cedar Crossing in Sturgeon Bay. We stayed in the Anniversary Room and it was really nice. The restaurant is excellent and we ate there both nights. I had elk the first night and Filet Mignon the second; Lorrie had chicken risotto the first night and halibut the second.

This capped off our week-long Christmas celebration. We spent time with my family and her family while wildly driving all over eastern Wisconsin. Due to the generosity of our families and Lorrie's and my tendency to go overboard when giving each other gifts, it was a good year for Cookies, Et Cetera. Baking related gifts include a Oberon Design leather journal for my culinary thoughts, a homemade apron with a raven on it, a marble pastry board, a Sil-pin,KitchenAid food grinder attachment,and a Cuisinart stainless steel bowl set.

I also have a whole new slew of cookbooks and kitchen references: a membership to Cook's Illustrated online, The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelleby Kate Zuckerman, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchenby Harold McGee, What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explainedby Robert L. Wolke, Oktoberfest: A Fest Feast : A Book of Traditional Recipes,Baking: From My Home to Yoursby Dorie Greenspan, and Grandmother's Kitchen Wisdom Gold Edition by Dr. Myles H. Bader.

Since the new year is upon us and I'm now more prepared, I thought I'd come up with some resolutions and goals for 2007. Maybe some general things to improve on or specific items I can check off. OK, here it is:

• Incorporate more whole grains into my baking. I can still make cookies, muffins, and other sweets while using whole grain flour.
• More work with candy, especially things other than chocolate. I have a little tendency to focus on chocolate and there are so many other things out there to try.
• More fruit in what I make.
• More cookies. I think I need to live up to the name a little more.
• More healthy recipes. At most for every 3 or 4 posts that use a lot of sweet, sugary ingredients or feature an item with a lot of calories, include 1 that doesn't.
• Take better pictures.
• Specific things to make: a tart, a fruit pie with a filling not from a can (not apple or cherry), a custard pie (with meringue), ice cream, a pudding (not Jell-O), something using puff pastry, a torte, something using ingredients from a local farmer's market, jam (and use as a filling), and petits fours.
• Redesign the site. I used the basic template when I started because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or if I'd be enjoying myself after doing the site a while. Well, I am enjoying it so I want the site to reflect that and me a little more. I will have to put my coding skills to work here.
• Have fun!

Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen is a form of gingerbread common in Germany. The difference between Lebkuchen and what we Americans typically think of gingerbread is it's made with honey instead of molasses, hence the lighter color. Lebkuchen was developed in the 13th century by Franconian monks though the development of the name Lebkuchen is still a mystery. The most likely explanation is it comes from the Latin word for a flat, unleavened loaf, libum. However the more popular (and less academic) belief is the name comes from the German word Leben, which means life. In fact, it is believed that eating these "life cakes" can chase away the winter blues.

The city most famous for its Lebkuchen is Nuremberg. Located on a major spice route, records show Lebkuchen was baked in Nuremberg since the late 14th century. Nuremberg Lebkuchen is a protected food product in Europe and its production is strictly controlled. The highest quality Lebkuchen of Nuremberg is given the title Elisen, supposedly named after a daughter of a Nuremberg baker.

This particular recipe uses crystallized ginger instead of the more common candied fruit. This change causes the spicy flavor of ginger to be strong in these bars. The bars themselves are dense but soft. The bars do rise slightly while baking but they will basically be the thickness you roll them out to be. If you try to roll them out thin like a sugar cookie I believe you would get a hard, dense cookie that might be tough to chew. The dough is sticky, very sticky. It was probably the toughest cookie/bar/etc. dough I've worked with yet. And there is the time factor. The dough must chill overnight in this recipe (and many others). I recommend that when chilling the dough, gently work it into a ball shape so only a small portion of the dough touches the bowl. It will be much, much easier to remove from the bowl the next day. Still, the rewards of this delicious bar outweighed the work involved.


Lebkuchen
from page 198 of the The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

Makes about 24 bars

3/4 cup (9 oz) honey
1/2 cup (4 oz) light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp chopped lemon zest or 1/4 tsp lemon oil
2 tsp chopped orange zest or 1/4 tsp orange oil
2 1/4 cups (9 1/2 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cups (2 oz) finely chopped blanched almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
3 rounded Tbls (1 3/4 oz) diced crystallized ginger
6 Tbls brandy
1 cup (4 oz) powdered sugar

Combine the honey and the brown sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Once boiling, remove from heat and let it cool until it's only slightly warm. Using a food processor, chop the crystallized ginger until it is fine. Mix the honey-brown sugar mixture, egg, lemon zest or oil, and orange zest or oil in a large bowl until they are well mixed. Add in the spices, flour, crystallized ginger, baking soda, and almonds and mix until they are thoroughly mixed. This produces a stiff and very sticky dough. Very sticky. Cover the bowl, put in the refrigerator, and let sit overnight.

When you are ready the next day, preheat the oven to 350° F and grease a 9x13 inch or equivalent sized pan. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to fit into the pan. The dough will be very sticky but try not to over-flour everything. Put the dough in the pan. I rolled it onto the rolling pin and then unrolled it in the pan. Fit the dough into the pan the best you can but don't press down too hard. I greased my fingers and that worked pretty well. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes. In the meantime, mix the brandy and the powdered sugar. This glaze isn't very thick. The bars are down when a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack immediately and begin glazing. Apply the glaze in layers so each layer has time to soak in and harden. Once fully glazed and cooled, cut into 1x2 inch bars. If you store these in an airtight container with a slice of apple, they will stay soft.

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Also on Just Baking.

Sources:
Lebkuchen at Wikipedia
German Embassy in Washington DC
Nuremberg Gingerbread Tour
The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
Germany's Regional Recipes
German Cookery: The Crown Classic Cookbook Series (Crown Classic Cookbook)
The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking

Merry Christmas!

Via: VideoSift


Via: VideoSift

A little something for Christmas

I entered December with the start of a plan. I envisioned two weekends where I would be able to bake cookies like pfeffernusse, try my hand at lebkuchen, maybe tackle a mincemeat pie. But the plan changed, neither weekend could be used. Weekday nights are tough because by the time I get home from work and get ready, it's already well into the evening.

Still, I wanted to do something. This led to two late nights of making nut clusters, barks, and dipping. I was able to do this by using chocolate flavored and vanilla flavored almond bark. Made to be melted and dipping, almond bark (sometimes referred to as candy coating) works well as a time saving and cost saving alternative to real chocolate. Especially for dipping, where the most important flavor is the item dipped and not what it's dipped in. Plus, a few people in my family don't eat chocolate but they can still have the vanilla version. Time is saved because there is no tempering, just melt and go. Need more? Just add it and melt. Much, much simpler and no worrying about bloom. Qualitywise, let's be honest and say this isn't going to wow any chocolatiers or chocolate sophisticates who sample hand-rolled truffles infused with basil and topped with sea salt. Really, the quality is on par with a chocolate bar from Hershey's or Nestle and most people will appreciate the effort you put into making it.

All in all, I was able to make a selection of items for small gifts. Lorrie and I both brought some to work. A little bag to a friend here and there. Enough to bring with use to both family Christmas celebrations. Below is a list of things I made.

• Cherry vanilla bark
• Vanilla-covered and chocolate-covered toasted coconut marshmallows
• Vanilla-covered and chocolate-covered shortbread
• Chocolate-covered Nutter Butters
• Mint chocolate-covered graham crackers
• Mint-covered Oreos
• Vanilla-covered Oreos with crushed peppermint candy canes
• Vanilla-covered peanut butter and Ritz cracker sandwiches
• Cranberry and pistachio vanilla mendiants
• Various chocolate-covered nut clusters
• Vanilla almond bark
• Peanut clusters, Almond clusters, and mixed nut clusters

I wish I had the time to bake though. I was looking forward to having some fun trying recipes though now I won't feel guilty about showing up empty-handed.