Apple Butter Crumb Coffee Cake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.