Baking Unlimited

Thanksgiving

2008-12-19T17:49:00.006-05:00

David and I celebrate our first Thanksgiving with both families together. We had a total of eleven people including ourselves. Oh my, was it a lot of work. My mom brought two pies and David's mother brother 4 dishes and I was still cooking all afternoon. I made a turkey, ham, and a few sides dishes plus two pies. Below is my pecan pie. I cheated and used Pillsbury roll out pie crust. No time to make my own. David's friends were suppose to bring pies but they didn't so I scrambled that afternoon. This pecan pie recipe is by far the best I've made and so simple too. Not that I am a pecan pie expert or anything but the last one I made from Dorie Greenspan's From My Home to Yours didn't go over so well. This recipe is from the back of the Karo Dark Corn Syrup bottle.

The turkey noodle soup is what I did with leftover turkey. Very easy, make stock with turkey bones, add some diced celery, carrots, onions, egg noodles, season with thyme, salt, and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat, add the cooked turkey and simmer.

The cranberry bars are a modification of a strawberry streusel bar recipe from BHG. I used leftover cranberry sauce in place of the strawberry jam. I omitted the icing. The bars were quite good. I thought 4 cups of flour was an awful lot but they turned out just fine. Next time I will use less crumb mixture for the base and use more for the topping. The 2 cups the recipe specifies is not enough. You end up with a thick base and little streusel on top. Still tasty though and are nice with coffee for breakfast.

Cupcakes

2008-12-19T17:19:00.007-05:00

I've been on a cupcake craze as of late especially any cupcake that goes well with cream cheese frosting. I started with pumpkin cupcakes, recipe from King Arthur Flour's website then ventured into banana walnut cupcakes, red velvet (actually cake recipe but did well as a cupcake) again from King Arthur Flour's website then gingersnap cupcakes from Baking Bites. I forgot to take a pic of the gingersnap cupcakes but will definitely be making them again as they were wonderful. Will post a pic next time. The banana walnut cupcakes are from Greg Patent's Baking Across America cookbook. This was my first attempt and red velvet cupcakes and they were delicious. Recipe is very simple to follow and has a nice mild chocolaty taste. I only used half the amount of red food coloring as I only had a 2 oz bottle. 4 ozs is an awful lot of food coloring. The cupcakes came out just fine with 2 oz of food coloring.

Catching Up

2008-12-19T17:10:00.002-05:00

David and I bought a house in late September and since then my baking has slowed down significantly. Home ownership is ALOT of work. I have baked some since we've moved but just not as much. I haven't had a lot of time to post either. My goal for the new year is to stay up to day on my blog. I was doing well for awhile and then fell by the way side when we moved. I am going to post pictures some of the goodies I've made the past couple of months. I am doing my Christmas baking this Sunday and will definitely post the recipes. Will be baking some favorites mint brownies, lemon bars, snickerdoodles, and chocolate fudge. New for this year are chewy chocolate cookies with red and green white chocolate morsels, oatmeal cookies with cranberries and walnuts, soft gingerbread cutout cookies, and peanut butter fudge. If I have more time, I may bake one or two other items. David and I are headed in different directions for Christmas so I am making a nice dinner for us. On the menu is rosemary leg of lamb (leg of lamb), mash potatoes and gravy, green beans, and dinner rolls.

S'more Bars

2008-08-08T16:15:00.014-04:00

I've tried two different s'more bars recipes. Still trying to search for a recipe that was similar to the s'more bars that I had eaten during my high school tennis years. I have a recipe that I printed from the Hershey's website in 1997. 1997!!! I never actually got around to making these. The recipe is no longer available on their website, however you can find it through About.com Southern Food. If look for a s'mores bar recipe on the Hershey's website you'll find a recipe for S'more Cookie Bars. This recipe uses much more flour and marshmallow creme. It is define more like a cookie. The combination of the marshmallow creme and milk chocolate was too sweet for my taste. The 1997 version of the S'more Bars taste much more like real smores. The recipe has less flour and a little more butter which gives the graham crackers a nice crunch, plus it calls for miniature marshmallows. The milk chocolate is still a little too sweet for me. Next time, I am going to try Hershey's special dark. For the graham crackers, I used a rolling pin to crush them which worked well. You get a nice mix or crumbs with tiny pieces of graham crackers. I used 3 giant milk chocolate bars rather than 8 individual bars which worked just fine.

S'more Bars

3/4 C butter, softened

2/3 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 C graham cracker crumbs, crushed

1/2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

8 Hershey's milk chocolate bars

3 1/2 C miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. In a larger bowl, beat the butter. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, flour, and salt. Set aside 2 1/2 C of graham cracker crumb mixture. Press remaining into baking pan. Place candy bars on top, side by side, breaking to fit if necessary on top of the mixture. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over chocolate bars. Crumble reserved graham cracker crumb mixture on top of the marshmallows. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Cool completely.

Summer Berry Crumble Bars

2008-07-27T11:32:00.010-04:00

Feeling baking deprived, I also made Summer Berry Crumble Bars from the King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion this morning. David likes them for breakfast...easy to pack for work. Over the 4th of July, my mom and I went to the Raleigh Farmer's Market and came back with a couple quarts of blueberries. They were terrific, nicely plump and sweet. I've been hooked on the blueberries since then. I love the crunchiness of the crust and topping. Who doesn't like streusel topping? I think blackberries or even an apple filling would be yummy. The recipe calls for sunflower seeds but but didn't have any on hand. I am not sure I would add the sunflower seeds even if I had some. Not so sure about the combination of the blueberries with sunflower seeds. The recipe also includes a glaze but skip this also. I think the glaze would make the bars too sweet for my taste and take away from the streusel topping. A warning, do not store them on the counter top or they will get soft. Keep them in the fridge.

Summer Berry Crumble Bars

Crust and Topping

2 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 C brown sugar

1 1/2 C rolled oats

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground cardamon

1 C unsalted butter cut into chunks

3/4 C sunflower seeds (optional)

Filling

3 C fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw)

1/4 C light brown sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground cardamon

3 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

Glaze

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 to 3 tsp water

1 C confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 9 x 13-inch pan

Crust and topping: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Using a mixer or pastry blender, cut int eh butter until the mixture is crumbly. Transfer 2 C of crumbs to a bowl and combine with sunflower seeds if using them. Pat the remaining crumbs into the pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes and remove from the oven.

Filling: While the crust is baking. In a large bowl, mix the berries with the brown sugar, lemon juice, zest, melted butter, cinnamon, and flour. Distribute the filling over the bake crust.

Sprinkle the reserved crumbs mixture over the filling and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and crumbs have browned.

Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Drizzle the glaze over the bars while they are still warm. Cool completely before cutting.

King Arthur Flour's Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

2008-07-27T10:48:00.018-04:00

It has been a busy month at work so I haven't had a lot of time to bake or felt like baking much on the weekends. I had to travel three weeks in row.....Providence (lovely city), Virginia Beach, and South Plainfield, NJ. My trips are typically short, fly or drive in the night before, work the next day and leave for home. These are the worse because you never get time to adjust. No travel in the near term, yeah!!

I love the Levain chocolate chip cookies but finally decided it was time to make the King Arthur Flour's Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from The King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion. These have the vinegar and corn syrup. I understand the corn syrup which adds a nice chewiness to the cookies but vinegar?? The vinegar actually works as a leavener to give the cookie a little lift. The recipe says to lightly grease the cookie sheet which is a no, no if you want your cookie not to spread. Nope, the cookies did not spread at all so the vinegar does the trick after all. The cookies have a nice chewiness with loads of chocolate (3 whooping cups of chocolate chips) which I think also helps the cookie hold its shape. The cookies are not too sweet either which is a plus. I like the fact that this is a one bowl recipe since you don't have to mix the dry ingredients separately.

So, this is my current order of favorite recipes: Levain, King Arthur's, Mrs. Fields, and Dorie Greenspan.

The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

3/4 C softened unsalted butter

2/3 C dark brown sugar

2/3 C granulated sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour

3 C semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper/

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, corn syrup, and vinegar, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips. Drop by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet. Bake the cookies or 10 minutes, until they're just set; the centers may still look underdone. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a baking rack.

* I baked the cookies at 350F for ~12 minutes with my Chicago Metallic baking sheet.

Double Peanut Butter Joy Cookies

2008-06-13T15:38:00.014-04:00

Taking a break from chocolate chip cookies. I made another batch of the Levain cookies when my parents were here last weekend. This recipe is from one of those Favorite Brand Name Recipes cookbook that you find at the checkout aisle at the grocery store. "Butter Flavor Crisco American Cookie Celebration" is devoted to cookies made with Butter Flavor Crisco, Hershey's chips, Quaker Oats, and Jif Peanut Butter. I bought this cookbook for a whooping $0.25 at the Goodwill back in 1998. The cookies are fairly standard peanut butter cookies but with peanut butter chips and shortening rather than butter. They have a nice chewy texture because of the shortening and certainly doesn't spread. You can flatten these cookies but I chose not too. My taste tend towards the chewy rather than crispy cookies. Next time I am going to reduce the amount of peanut butter chips. The recipe calls for 2 cups of peanut butter chips. Too much, by the end I had more chips than batter left. I am going to try 1 1/2 cups of chips next time. As always, used my Chicago Metallic cookie sheet which meant I had to reduce the temperature to 325 F. I baked them for 10 minutes.

Double Peanut Butter Joy

1 C granulated sugar

1 C packed brown sugar (used light brown)

1 C Jif Creamy peanut butter

1/2 C Butter Flavor Crisco

2 eggs

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 C Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 350F. At medium speed, beat the sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter and Crisco in a large bowl until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Shift the flour, soda, and salt. Add gradually to the creamed mixture. Mix until just blended. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten and make crisscrosses with a fork if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are moist. Cool on baking sheet for 8 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Mrs. Field's Blue-Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-06-04T21:00:00.008-04:00

Not sure if it was the weather, very storming out again, but I was in the mood to bake. Could be too that I was reading about Mrs. Field's recipes online today. I have a number of Mrs. Field's cookie recipes that I photocopied from her cookbook, Mrs. Field's Cookie Book way back when in high school. King Arthur's Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie was next on my list to try but afterall it is 9:00 pm on a Wednesday night. So, I opted to try Mrs. Field's recipe as it is super easy. For 2 1/2 cups of flour she only uses 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Another major difference is that the cookies are baked at 300F for 22-24 minutes. We are not talking jumbo cookies either. I used my trustworthy Chicago Metallic baking pan, however didn't lower the temperature to 275F. That just seems too low. Rather, I reduced the baking time to 17 minutes. The recipe also has a high ratio of brown sugar to white granulated sugar. Kind of reminds me of a blondie. I didn't have salted butter so I just increased the salt to 1 tsp. They don't spread that much. I used my cookie scooper so they were small. Kind of like a minature verison of the Levain cookies. Certainly not flat like the Dorie Greenspan recipe (disappointed with these the next day, definitely not as good the next day). Actually, they taste very similar to the Levain cookies. Slight crispy edge with a nice chewy middle. For now, the recipe ranking is as follows: Levain, Mrs. Field's, Dorie Greenspan.

Mrs. Field's Blue-Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 C white sugar
1 C salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300F. In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In large bowl, with an electric mixer, blend the sugars at medium speed. Add the butter adn mix to form a grainy paste. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the flour mixture on low speed until just mixed. Do not overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Baking for 22-24 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Chip Cookie

2008-05-31T14:43:00.006-04:00

Continuing on with my chocolate chip cookie recipe experiment, I made "My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" from Dorie Greenspans Baking From My Home to Yours. The recipe only uses 2 cups of flour and higher ratio of granulated sugar to brown sugar. Thus, the cookie is definitely not your chunky type. I omitted the nuts which made them even less chunky. They are crisp on the edges with slightly soft chewy centers. I baked the first couple of batches at 350F for ~12 minutes, rotating mid-way through. Directions says to bake at 375F, but I used a heavy Chicago Metallic cookie sheet which recommends that you lower the baking temperature by 25F. The last couple of batches I baked at 325F for ~13-14 minutes. I liked the later batches better, not so brown around the edges. Not that the crisp edges aren't tasty but I prefer a more chewy cookie. Of the two recipes that I've tried, I like the Levain copycats. Next recipe on the list to try is the Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. The recipe has vinegar which should be interesting.

My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks (8 oz) softened unsalted butter
1 C sugar
2/3 C light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate, chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks
1 C finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
With a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the butter for ~1 min until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for 2 mins. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for one minute after each egg. Reduce mixer speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon slightly round tablespoons of dough spaced 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake one cook sheet at a time for ~10-12 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Rotate the sheet midway through. Let the cookies rest for one minute then transfer to a cooling rack.

One Heck of a Big Cookie

2008-05-29T17:20:00.005-04:00

I've been craving chocolate chip cookies since this past weekend. My parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came out to visit this weekend. We made the obligatory trek to DC to see monuments and museums. We also watched the Rolling Thunder parade through the city which was really cool. The Rolling Thunder come to town ever Memorial Day Weekend. The choices for inexpensive places to eat is limited near the Mall. However, the Ronald Reagan Building has a nice food court. After my lunch of lamb kabobs I shared a jumbo chocolate chip cookie with my sister. While the cookie was good, I thought my homemade cookies were better. I am on a chocolate cookie experiment. I usually rely on the Nestle Toll House recipe but thought I should try some others. My first recipe experiment is from the Vanilla Sugar blog via Slashfood. This is a recipe for the Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookie. Three cups of flour which is quite a lot for cookie recipe that only uses 2 cups of butter, and 1 1/2 cups of sugars. The cookie was great though, a slighly dense with a nice chewiness. I thought it might be too dense because of the high amount of flour but not at all. I used an ice cream scope and made 17 cookies. I chilled the dough between bakes. I baked the first batch at 375F for 8 mins then lowered the heat and baked them at 325F for additional 10 minutes. I baked the others at 325F for 18 minutes which turned out just fine.

Seven Layer Bars aka Magic Bars

2008-04-18T19:13:00.007-04:00

David's going on a trip so I wanted to send some goodies with him. Since the trip was on short notice (today and he's leaving tomorrow), I decided to make something easy. I had all the ingredients on hand and he has never had seven layer bars before. These bring back good memories of high school tennis meets. My high school tennis team was not great by any means but we did know how to have fun. For a lot of meets, we use to bring baked goodies...caramel brownies, Special K bars, seven layer bars. Seven layer bars are super easy to make. The most involved task is grinding the graham crackers, otherwise it's one, two, three....

Seven Layer Bars
Preheat oven to 350 F
1) Melt 1/2 C butter or margerine in 9 x 13 inch pan in the oven.
2) Add 1 1/2 C crushed graham cracks
3) Sprinkle 1 C (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips over graham crackers
4) Sprinkle 1 C shredded coconut over chocolate chips
5) Sprinkel 1 C (6 oz) butterscotch chips over chocolate chips
6) Dribble 14 oz can of condensed milk to cover the pan
7) Sprinkle 1 C chopped nuts on top
Bake 25 mins.

Pita Bread

2008-04-06T19:21:00.008-04:00

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've made pita bread and it shows. I forgot that thinness is important or they don't puff. My first batch were whole wheat pita's from the King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook (gift from David from my B-day), only two puffed. Determined to get this right I went to a recipe from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads that I've made in the past. No such luck. Only one puffed nicely and the other semi-puffed. At least I captured pictures of the two that puffed nicely. It's hard to tell from the picture, the one in the oven is the whole wheat pita.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread
1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1 1/2 C unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 C lukewarm water
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients, and mix and knead them together—by hand, mixer, or bread machine—to make a smooth dough. This will take about 8 minutes by hand, 5 minutes in an electric mixer, or use the dough setting on your bread machine. Cover the dough, and allow it to rise till it’s doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven. Or line a baking sheet with parchment (or grease it lightly). Preheat the oven to 450°F. Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into eight pieces, shaping each piece into a rough ball. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes, covered, while your oven comes up to temperature. Lightly spray a rolling mat, or clean work surface, with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Use a rolling pin to roll one ball of dough into a 6" circle that’s slightly less than 1/4" thick. Repeat with another ball of dough. Place the pitas on the hot pizza stone, or place them on the prepared baking sheet, and put the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the pitas for 4 to 5 minutes, till they puff up. Turn them over, and bake for another minute or two; total baking time should be about 6 minutes (about 7 minutes, if you’re baking on a pan rather than a stone). Remove them from the oven, stack them on a kitchen towel, and fold the towel up over them; this will keep them from becoming crisp as they cool. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Pita Bread
2 1/2 C bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
1 C lukewarm water

In a large mixing bowl, measure 1 C flour and stir in the dry ingredients. Add the oil and water. Beat vigorously with a spoon for 2-3 mins. Stir in balance of flour 1/2 C at a time. The dough should be a rough, shaggy mass that will cling to the sides of the bowl. If the dough is moist, add a small amount of additional flour. Turn the dough onto a slightly flour surface and knead for 6 mins.

Preheat the oven to 500 F. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into a ball. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and allow to rest for 20 mins. \

Flatten the dough into a round disk. finish with a rolling pin and roll them into 6 inch diameter and 3/16 inch thick. Place each piece of dough on a 7 inch square of aluminum foil. Carefully place 2 to 3 breads on the oven shelf. Bake for 8 mins, or until puffed. Remove breads from the oven and wrap in a large piece of foil. Repeat with remaining disks.

Blonde Brownies

2008-04-06T13:06:00.006-04:00

I was craving something sweet but not chocolate. In the past few weeks, all I've had for sweets has been chocolate ranging from thin mints, samoas to brownies and more brownies. Wanting to make something easy, I went for blonde brownies. I have tried severely recipes and finally stumbled on a winner from the King Arthur Flour website. The original recipe is actually entitled "Crazy Blonde Brownies" but I made them a little simpler with just white chocolate chips. The combination of chocolate chips, butterscotch, cinnamon, caramel, macadamia, or chips of your choice along with diced pecans or walnuts seem like too much for me. The white chocolate chips compliments the brownies nicely. For the brown sugar, since the recipe didn't specify light or dark, I used a combination of 1 cup each since I have ample light and brown sugar on hand. No, I did not use organic white whole wheat flour, just 1 3/4 cup of unbleached all purpose flour.

Blonde Brownies
1/2 cup butter or vegetable shortening
2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and preheat your oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the brown sugar, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat, pour the butter-sugar mixture into a medium-sized bowl, and allow it to cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Whisk the flours and baking powder together, then add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture, stirring to combine. Finally, fold in the chips and nuts. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, and bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, until they're light brown on the edges and top.

Apple Butter Crumb Coffee Cake

2008-03-15T12:56:00.006-04:00

Yippee!! I am on spring break. Finally some time to do some baking. I am only taking one class this semester but work has been incredibly busy. As of late, I've been on a big coffee cake kick. It's the strudel. I can't get enough of the stuff. Right before Christmas, scored a bunch of new cake baking books - The Cake Book by Tish Boyle, Great Cakes and Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins, and More by Carol Walter. As soon as I saw the butter crumb coffee cake recipe from Great Coffee Cakes, I knew I had to make this. Lots and lots of strudel. I added a grated granny smith apple for something extra. I think the coffee cake would be good as is but the grated apple adds a nice flavor. I don't have a 10 inch springfoam so ended up using a 9 inch stead. It came out just fine. I had to add an extra 25 mins to the baking time though. I absolutely love the streusel. I made it with the pecans which compliments the granny smith apple nicely. Next time, I may try the crumb cake with cinnamon chips.

Butter Crumb Coffee Cake
1 large recipe Carole's Favorite Streusel
2 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large egg
2/3 C. milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Large Streusl
2/3 C. unsalted butter
1 1/2 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
scant 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C. finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Streusel: Place the butter in a 3 quart heavy bottomed saucepan for and heat until almost melted, remove from heat and cool to tepid. Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nuts. Add to the butter and stir with fork until blended and mixture begins to form crumbs. Gently squeeze the mixture with your hand to form large lumps, then break them apart with your fingertips. Set aside.

Coffee Cake: Heat oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 10-springform pan (or 9 inch springform pan), line the bottom with baking parchment then butter the parchment. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and work with fingertips until fine crumbs are formed. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the liquid. Gradually push the crumbs into the liquid, beat for about 1 minute or until batter is smooth. Spread the batter into prepared pan. Take a handful of the streusel crumbs and sprinkle on batter. Repeat until all streusel has been used. Press lightly into batter. Set pan on 12 in square of aluminum foil in the oven. Bake 40-45 min for 10 inch pan or 60-65 minutes for 9 inch pan. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Cinnamon Date Pecan Swirl Bread

2008-02-17T13:22:00.005-05:00

Since I came back from my trip, I haven't been baking much. I think I was still exhausted from the holiday baking and just sick of sweets and chocolate. Any baking I have done has been breakfast foods. Some bluberry scones and white chocolate cherry scones for my sister and nephew when they came to visit one weekend in January and loaf of cinnamon swirl bread with dates and pecans.

I came back from Vietnam with kilos and kilos of candy and some dried fruit. Why the dried fruit? They were all natural and tasted so much better than the packaged dried fruits you get in the states. And oh so cheap which was a bonus. The original recipe for the cinnamon swirl bread is from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I modified it ever so slighly by adding chopped dates and pecans. I have never made any breads with dates since they are not my favorite but I was quite happy with this loaf. The dates added a nice moistness to the bread and tasted great with the pecans. I pretty much love anything with strudel so this bread is a winner. I used potato flakes rather than potato flour which works just fine. I usually have to add a couple of tablespoons of water to the 1 C. the recipe calls for.

Cinnamon Date Pecan Swirl Bread

Dough
3 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 C. potato flour or 1/3 c. potato flakes
1/4 C. nonfat dried milk
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast
4 tbsp. butter
1 C. water

Filling
1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C. dates
2 tsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
Egg wash, made form1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water

Topping
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C. unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough: In a large bowl, combine all the dough ingredients, mixing until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for ~10 minutes until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.

Filling: Pulse filling ingredients except the egg wash in a food processor.

Topping: In small bowl or mini food processor, combine all the ingredients until the mixture is crumbly. Don't over process if you use a food processor or you end up wiht a lumpy mass.

When the dough is ready, roll the dough into a 16 x 8 inch rectangle on a lightly oiled work surface. Brush the dough with some of the egg wash (save rest for later) and pat the filling gently onto the dough. The original recipe says to roll the dough starting from the short edge into a log, pinch the side seams and ends close. I split the rectangle into 3 parts and roll them into small logs and form a braided loaf. Place the log in a slightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan (I used 9 x 5 inch loaf pan). Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap adn allow to rise at room temperature for 1 hr or until it's crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan. Preheat the oven to 350 F during the last few mintues of rising time. When the dough has risen, brush the top of the loaf with some of the egg wash and gently press on the topping. Bake for about 45 minutes. For the 9 x 5 inch pan, I baked the loaf for 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes than remove the loaf from the pan. Best eaten warm.

Vietnam

2008-01-14T03:32:00.000-05:00

I am currently in Vietnam on holiday. What an amazing country. The cities are modernized yet the country is still very rural. I've been here for a little over a week. I started my holiday in Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City (most people, including natives still refer to the city as Saigon. Fansinating city crowded with millions of people and their mopeds. My first two days were primary spent recouping from jetlag and shopping and trying the local fare with my mom. Lots of exotic fruits. Most of the dishes I've eaten, pho, bun bo hue, chow mein, stir fries are dishes I've eaten in the states. But, they taste that much better here. Most people buy fresh vegetables, meats, noodles daily for their noon and evening meals. After a couple of days in Saigon, we trekked off on a 5 day tour to the middle of the country. We started in Da Nang then headed off to a small town, Hoi An, just south of Da Nang and finished our trip in Hue. We visited a number of historic sites including the Imperial Citadel of the Nguyen Dynasty in Hue, temples, mosoleum, and a cemetry. The food in the middle regions of Vietnam didn't impress me that much but I guess that's partly because I am use to Southern Vietnamese food. That's it for now. I'll post pictures and post more when I get back.

Holiday Baking

2008-01-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

I am behind in posting as usually. Life was quite hectic this past December. I did not finish my last final until December 19th! I managed to do a couple of days worth of holiday baking in time before heading down to NC to spend the Christmas with the family. I wasn’t planning on going hog wild baking this year but ended up baking quite a bit just not as many different kinds of baked goods. Day 1 of baking, I made lemon bars, mint brownies, a modified version of the Nestle Toll House Chocolate chip cookie using Nestlé’s holiday morsels. Day 1 of baking was for my co-workers. Day 2 of baking for the family, I made two loaves of pumpkin bread, more lemon bars, fudge, a different version of mint brownies, and more the modified Toll House cookies. On Day 3 I wrapped up my holiday baking with a pumpkin pie for the family. The recipes for the lemon bars and mint brownies are below.

The lemon bars were a huge hit with my co-workers and dad (he is not a chocolate fan). This recipe is one that I clipped from the Washington Post’s annual Holiday cookie feature in their Wednesday food section. The lemon bars are sweet but not overly sweet with just the right amount of lemon tartness. The Post says the recipe was adapted from Cookies Unlimited” by Nick Malgieri. I have his A Baker’s Tour cookbook but not this cookie book. I need to add this one to my list of books to buy. For Day 1, I used bottled lemon juice. For Day 2, I used freshly squeezed lemon juice. The juice from two lemons is more than enough to equate to 6 tablespoons. Parchment paper sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray works like a charm. I used a handheld mixer instead of my Kitchen Aid, just shear laziness on my part. I sprinkled the confectioner’s sugar before cutting them into squares.

Ultimate Lemon Squares
8 oz softened unsalted butter plus some for the baking dish
½ C. confectioner’s sugar plus some for finishing
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C. flour
4 large eggs
2 C sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
6 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Set an oven rack on the middle level. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch pan lined with oversized buttered parchment paper or aluminum foil.
In a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and beat until light, ~1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in the flour. Pat the dough evenly in the baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs just enough to break them up in a large bowl. Without over mixing, add the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. As soon as the crust is baked, pour the lemon topping over the crust and return the baking dish to the oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the topping is set and firm. Transfer the baking dish to a rack to cool completely. Lift the parchment paper to a cutting board, work surface, etc to cut the squares. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar just before serving.

The mint brownies I made for Day 1 baking is just a brownie recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion jazzed up with some Guittard mint chips that I bought from The World Market. The thick brownies were nice and fudgy. I only use 1 cup of mint chips as I did not want overly minty brownies. One cup was just fine. I bought some peppermint extract which I am going to throw into the recipe next time. When you stir the flour into the melted chocolate/butter mixture, it looks awful. No worries, when you add the mixture to the egg mixture, it comes out beautifully. I really wanted to lick the bowl after the spread the batter into the baking pan.

Brownies
6 oz unsweetened chocolate
12 tbsp unsalted butter
5 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
2 ½ C. sugar
1/3 C. light corn syrup
1 1/3 C. unbleached all-purpose flour
Optional add-ins: 1 ½ C. chopped walnuts or pecans, 1 ½ C. mini marshmallows, 1 C. melted caramel, 1 C. chocolate chips (my mint chips here)

Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a 9x13 inch pan. In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar, and corn syrup until light and fluffy. Takes a few minutes.
Stir the flour into the melted chocolate/butter mixture. Fold the mixture into the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Stir in optional add-ins.
Spread the battered into the greased pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Top should be crisp and toothpick inserted into the brownies should be coated with chocolate.

For Day 2 brownies, I used the same brownie base with a nice layer of minty green frosting followed by a chocolate layer. I’ve made these brownies before years and years ago in high school but unfortunately lost my recipe. This is the original recipe for the mint frosting and chocolate topping. I had to double the recipe since recipe is for a 9 x 9 inch pan of brownies. I used 3 drops of food coloring to get the nice minty green color. I found the mint frosting and chocolate topping recipe from http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/printrecipe?id=40783 via Google.

Mint Frosting
¼ C. softened butter
2 ½ C. confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ to 3 tbsp of milk
½ tsp peppermint extract
Green food coloring
Chocolate Topping
¾ C. semisweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter

Cream the butter and confectioner’s sugar. Add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, beating until it is smooth and spreadable. Beat in peppermint extract and food coloring. After the brownies have cooled completely, spread the mint green frosting over the brownies, chill for 1 hr.
Melt the chocolate chips and butter in the microwave until the chocolate melts. About 1 ½ minute on high in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Spread the chocolate over the frosted brownies. Chill for 45 minutes before serving.

All things Cinnamon

2007-11-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

I am back! Well, at least for the time being until things get hectic again. It has been one ultra stressful semester. I am barely treading water at work and school. All the commuting back and forth is killing me and my poor Honda. It has been a while since I posted so I figured I better break my hiatus. I've been lazy about posting more than anything. Still baking, once a week or every other week.

I've been on a huge cinnamon kick since my trip to Pittsburgh in August. I picked up a couple of bags of Hershey's cinnamon chips (can't get them around here) and have been baking all sorts of goodies with cinnamon (not necessarily with cinnamon chips). Right now I am on a big cinnamon roll kick. I baked pecan sticky buns too but have more of a hankering for cinnamon rolls. I tried the Cinnamon Buns recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. The recipe from BBA is better. The rolls were not too rich but not too bread like tasting either. Very satisfying. The dough is very similar to a recipe for sticky cinnamon rolls from Farm Journal's Homemade Breads. I have yet to try the recipe from the Farm Journal but will have to do so to compare. Both use shortening which I have never seen in a recipe for cinnamon rolls, but no worries the shortening obviously works since the rolls were terrific. I won't bother posting the BBA recipe here since it is all over the Internet. It was September's Daring Bakers Challenge (I haven't joined yet but may once the semester is over). Check out Pip in the City for the recipe. I will post the recipe from the Farm Journal when I try it. Maybe this weekend. The pics below are BBA cinnamon rolls. Yes, I like icing. I use ~2 C. powder sugar with about 4-5 tbsp of milk. Use more or less milk depending on the consistency you want for the icing.

Zucchini and Mint

2007-08-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

It's been a long hiatus. July was an extremely busy month. Relatives over the 4th of July, visited parents twice, and tennis tournament another weekend. Plus, I finished my summer class! Now that I have a little down time before school starts, I've been cooking and baking a ton. As of late, I've been into summer vegetables and fruits. My mother gave me a huge bag of mint and a few very large zucchini so I've been working through these. With the mint, I made Vietnamese spring rolls (fresh, not fried), chicken street kebabs from Flatbreads and Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Cookbook snag off of Amazon), and two rounds of Tzatziki sauce. The recipe for the Tzatziki sauce is from the Washington Times compliments of David who saves the food section for me every week. I love this sauce! It's a little thicker than what you would get in Greek restaurant but still tastes great. You can buy the Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods but go to TJs if there is one near you. The Trader Joe's brand is just as good and cheaper than the Paage brand that both TJs and Whole Foods carry. Recipe says you can serve immediately or marinate for several hours. It taste that much better if you marinate it.

Tzatziki
2 cucumbers, seeded, peeled, and grated

Salt

2 C. Greek yogurt

2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp minced fresh mint

Place cucumber in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let drain for 20 minutes. In bowl, mix yogurt, garlic, and mint. Add drained cucumber to yogurt mixture, stir, marinate in the refrigerated for several hours or serve immediately. Season to taste with salt.

With the zucchini, I made a zucchini chocolate cake, zucchini bread, and zucchini corn bread. I was looking for something different to try with the zucchini. My main staples have been the zucchini chocolate cake and bread for years now (have both recipes since high school). The zucchini cornbread recipe is from Nicole at Baking Bites. Mine came out dark than hers but that is probably from the molasses, might have added too much. It still taste great though. I love the addition of molasses. Here is the recipe for the zucchini chocolate cake. I'll post the zucchini bread recipe another day. Making another batch!

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 C. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 C. butter

1 3/4 C. sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 C. zucchini, unpeeled, grated

1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp salt

1/2 C. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 C. buttermilk

1 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk into the creamed mixture. Stir in zucchini. Pour into greased 13 X 9 inch pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Baked for ~55 minutes or until inserted toothpick is clean. Cool completely pan on baking rack.

Banana Bread

2007-06-18T10:42:00.000-04:00

I had some very brown bananas in my fridge that my mother left when she visited over the Memorial Day weekend. Reading my Runner's World magazine on route to Halifax, I came across a recipe for banana bread from Joanne Chang, the pastry chef and owner of the Flour Bakery and Cafe in Boston. It is the best recipe that I have tried yet. For a while I've been making the banana bread from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion cookbook, but I like this much more. The high ratio of bananas to flour makes a very moist bread. I made the low fat version of the recipe which was also provided. I used my Pampered Chef stoneware loaf pan which usually results in a longer baking time. I had to bake it 10 minutes longer than directed. Since I've been on a strudel kick, I made a strudel topping taken from Robin Hood Flour's recipe for Banana Crunch Bread. I substituted the coconut with chopped walnuts. Thank goodness I run! Otherwise, I would not be baking all these goodies.

Flour's Famous Banana Bread

1 2/3 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C. vegetable oil (or 1/4 C. vegetable oil and 1/4 C. unsweetened applesauce)
3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 C. walnuts, toasted and chopped

Strudel Topping

1/4 C. chopped walnuts
1/4 C. brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the ingredients for the strudel topping and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Beat the sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy. Drizzle in the oil (and add the applesauce for low fat version). Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture and nuts. Pour batter into a buttered 9 x 4 inch loaf pan and sprinkle with the strudel topping. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cinnamon Puffs

2007-06-16T14:34:00.000-04:00

I actually made these last weekend but haven't had a chance to post. Been extremely busy. Was in Halifax for work the week before and I am taking a distant-learning class. Been playing catch-up for my class. Lots of lecture watching!

I bought 3 bags of cinnamon mini chips from King Arthur Flour a couple months ago and since have been playing around with recipes. My favorite thing to do with them is to bake cinnamon chip bread with a crunchy topping. I am trying to duplicate the topping from my local Great Harvest Bread Company. Still experimenting. I am also experimenting with different muffin recipes. This recipe is from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. The recipe doesn't call for cinnamon chips but I thought it would be a good compliment. I substituted buttermilk for the milk which I think produces a more tender muffin. The recipe uses nutmeg which I didn't care for, next time I using cinnamon. I used brown sugar and soft butter for the topping instead of sugar to get a strudel-like topping.

Cinnamon Puffs

Muffins (makes 12)

3 C. all-purpose flour

1 C. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (I think cinnamon would be better)

3/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1 1/4 C. milk (used buttermilk)

5 1/3 tbsp (2/3 stick) butter, melted

1 C. cinnamon chips

Topping

1/4 C. sugar (used brown sugar)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, melted (used soft butter)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs slight, then add milk and melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture well. Stir just until evenly moistened. Fold in the cinnamon chips. Fill lightly greased muffin cups about 3/4 full. For the topping, mix sugar, cinnamon, and belted butter until blended. Sprinkle topping over the batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Original instructions for topping are to bake the muffins. Mix the sugar and cinnamon. When they are cool to touch, dip the muffin in the melted butter then in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated.

Lemon Curd Muffins

2007-06-03T15:55:00.000-04:00

I had some lemon curd left over that I bought so I was looking for a recipe to use it in. I settled on lemon curd muffins using a basic muffin recipe, "All-Star Muffins" from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. The muffins looked better than then tasted. I thought the muffins were too dense and somewhat dried. The recipe calls for sour cream but next time I think I will try buttermilk. The muffin recipe says it makes 16, but I only made 12. Here is the recipe.

All-Star Muffins with Lemon Curd

3 1/2 C. unbleached all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 C. butter

1 C. sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C. sour cream

1 1/2 C. lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 400 F and lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at time. Add the vanilla and sour cream. Add the flour mixture, mix on low speed until smooth. Fill the muffin cups ~1/2 full with batter. Add 1 tbsp of lemon curd then top will more batter. Bake 20 to 24 minutes until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool on a rack.

Book Bargain and Chocolate Loaf Cake

2007-05-24T16:53:00.000-04:00

I scored a terrific book bargain during my trip in Orlando. I bought a copy of Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid at the Borders Outlet store near Walt Disney World for $7.99! I was so excited, I spent that evening combing through the book. I have already marked some of the recipes I want to try. What I love about the book is that most of the recipes are ethnic and there are a wide range of recipes from sweets to breads. The photos are also beautiful.

When I got home the next day I was dying to bake. I wanted to bake the Beirut Tahini Swirls (I have an unopened jar of tahini just wait to be used) but did not have enough time that evening. The swirls will have to wait! So, I settled for a chocolate loaf cake instead. This recipe is from Susan at Farmgirl Fare. It is entitled "Chocolate Cake Emergency". Very simple cake to make. I baked the cake in a Pampered Chef Stoneware Loaf pan which I find tends to take a longer baking time than a standard metallic pan. I had to bump up the baking time by 15 minutes. It is a terrific cake, very moist with a nice chocolaty taste that is not too overpowering. I doctored the recipe slightly and added a 1/4 C. of mini chocolate chips.

Campbell's Bacon and Bean Soup

2007-05-20T13:53:00.001-04:00

I am off to Orlando tomorrow for a conference and will not be back until Wednesday. Just so David does not starve the next couple of days, I made a pot of "Campbell's" bacon and bean soup. This recipe is from http://www.recipegoldmine.com/. Like a lot of my cooking, I modified the recipe slightly. The soup tends to be thick so I used more water than what the recipe calls for and threw in a ham hock as the soup was simmering. The ham hock gives the soup much more flavor, but beware and do not over salt as the ham hock is naturally salty.

Campbell's Bacon and Bean Soup

2 C. navy beans
6 slices of bacon
3 small to medium carrots diced
3 medium celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp dry thyme
2 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 oz tomato paste
dash of dried red pepper flakes
6 to 8 C . water
1 ham hock
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Soak beans overnight. Rinse and discard the water. Fry the bacon to a crisp, drain and crumble into small pieces. Saute the carrots, celery, and onions with the garlic until soften. Add the red pepper flakes, tomato paste, and beans. Stir well. Add the water and ham hock. Bring to boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the beans are tender, about 3 hours. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Original recipe says to puree 1 to 2 cups of soup and return it to the pot after simmering. I find the soup to be plenty thick so I do not puree any of the soup.

Weekend of Baking

2007-05-19T15:46:00.000-04:00

Free at Last! I finished my last final on Tuesday so now I can resume a semi-normal life. I told David, my significant other, that I am going to bake (and cook) up a storm the next couple of months (taking a summer class in July). I have a number of recipes from my cookbooks and recipes that I found on the Internet that I want to make.

My baking this weekend started out on the wrong note. David said he missed dessert the other night so I said I would bake him a cake. I decided to bake the "Wacky Cake" as I have been meaning to try it. The "Wacky Cake" is an eggless cake, leavened with baking soda and distilled vinegar. What a disaster! I baked the cake in my new bundt pan that bought a couple of months ago off of Ebay. I mentioned to David after I took the cake out of the oven that it didn't look like it rose much. I made a chocolate ganche frosting for the cake anyway. Later that evening, we had the cake for dessert. Yuck! It was so incredibly dry. We ate the chocolate ganche and tossed the pieces of cake. David ended up eating ice cream for dessert.

I googled "Wacky Cake" this morning and think I know where I went wrong after browsing different versions of the cake. Too much flour, not enough vinegar, or water. I found a recipe on www.epicurious.com that I am going to try next weekend. In the mean time, I cheated and made a Duncan Hines yellow cake with chocolate frosting. No time to make a cake from scratch this morning.

However, I did make a loaf of peanut butter and jelly bread for breakfast. I made the dough in my bread machine. Threw all the ingredients in my bread maker and went out for my morning run. I shaped the bread after my run, allowed it to rise a second time, and bake it. In between I stretched and took a took shower too! This recipe is from Bread Baking with Father Dominic, a PBS show. I don't think it is around anymore (at least not in the DC area). I printed the recipe for the dough off of his website a few years ago. The website doesn't exist anymore either. I modified the recipe slightly by adding jelly and peanut butter chips.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread

3/4 C. luke warm milk
1/4 C. luke warm water (may need a 1 or 2 teaspoons of additional water)
1/3 C. peanut Butter
1 tsp salt
3 C. all-purpose flour 1/3 C. sugar
2 tsp. instant yeast
1/2 C. grape jelly or jam
1/2 C. peanut butter chips

To make the dough:
Bread machine instructions: add the flour, salt, sugar, yeast. Allow to mix for a couple of minutes, add the peanut butter, milk, and water.

By hand: Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until foamy. Stir in the warm milk. Add the sugar, salt, and flour. Stir until you get a soft manageable dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 6 to 8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a bowl, cover with a clean cloth, and allow to rise for 1 hour.

After the first rising, roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 18 X 12 inches. Spread the grape jelly on the dough. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips. Roll the dough tightly until you have a jelly roll shape. Pinch the ends to seal the dough, place the dough seam side down in an oiled 9 x 5 inch pan. I usually roll the dough into 3 small rectangles, roll the rectangles, and form a braided loaf. Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft free spot or until double in size. Bake the bread in preheated oven at 350F for 40 minutes.

It is best to allow the loaf to cool before slicing into it.